Mitchell Report?

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

If what Vick did was not wrong, why are there laws against it and why is everyone sickened by it? We don't prosecute hunters because they perform a service by thinning out the overpopulated herd. Killing dogs is just cruel.

I loved his defense that it was a "cultural thing." I'm still trying to figure out to which culture he was referring.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by GarthB

I loved his defense that it was a "cultural thing." I'm still trying to figure out to which culture he was referring.

Must be SAUmp's culture. I think he has consumed too many dog tacos.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by SAump

How can you confuse me for being from Butswanee.

Or Nuevo Laredo. Or Dien Bien Phu.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by GarthB

I loved his defense that it was a "cultural thing." I'm still trying to figure out to which culture he was referring.

Dog fighting is largely a southern and rural activity. Just like hunting deer is a rural Midwestern cultural activity. I live in the Chicago area now, but I do not know many people in this metropolitan area that openly talk about going hunting. It is not in the culture of this area. Just like cock fighting is something you see in rural areas in the south you would not likely see this activity in California for example.

I have an officiating friend that goes hunting all the time and he talks all the time about when they went out hunting. I worked a game with him recently and we took a detour to a relative's house so he could get a gift for his hunting. While I was sitting there all the hunting talk was Greek to me, but it was something he grew up doing and many folks in that part (where I grew up) do often. This not something widely talked about in the area I currently live.

Peace

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Dog fighting is largely a southern and rural activity. Just like hunting deer is a rural Midwestern cultural activity.

Just because an activity takes place in a particular part of the country does not mean it is a "cultural thing."

Child molesting occurs in Chicago. In fact, each year there are more arrests for child molesting in Cook county than there are arrests for dog fighting in all of the state of Virginia. Is it a cultural thing? Probably not.

[UmpJM]

Jeff & Garth,

Hey, have you guys seen the new Michael Vick chew toy for dogs?

I can only say I wish I'd thought of it first.

http://www.vickdogchewtoy.com/

Have a great holiday.

John

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by GarthB

Just because an activity takes place in a particular part of the country does not mean it is a "cultural thing."

All the word "culture" means is the beliefs, customs, practices, and social behavior of a particular nation or people. And just like certain people listen to certain music and participate in certain activities and eat certain foods, people that get involved in things like hunting and dog fighting are doing so based on some cultural behaviors. Also I do not recall anyone from the Vick camp ever saying anything about this as a cultural issue. I think that was something some media people tried to use in as an explanation.

Originally Posted by GarthB

Child molesting occurs in Chicago. In fact, each year there are more arrests for child molesting in Cook county than there are arrests for dog fighting in all of the state of Virginia. Is it a cultural thing? Probably not.

There are probably more arrests in Cook County because there are more people in that area and it is a crime that the authorities care about. I do not see a major push to cut down on dog fighting as they do on child molestation. I do not see shows on TV called, "To catch a dog fighter."

Peace

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by SAump

Garth this must be one of your weakest post to date. Out of respect I defer.

Before deferring, you should try reading with comprehension. Good preparation for that might be to start with the dictionary entry of sarcasm.

You have seen the silly house-to-house combat training military pesonnel and policeman undertake across our nation today. You have seen the technolgical demand for electronic/robotic vehicles. One immediate solution we have are plenty of well-trained K-9 companions. Armored vehicles, ballistic shields, body armor, night vision and electronic equipment will never replace the capability hunting dogs bring to the battlefield. Isn't dog breeding, by its very nature, a cultural thing?

No.

People even win wars with fighting gamecocks. Chickens behaved eratically during B52 bombing missions in Vietnam. This helped save the life of many a villager. Nothing better than a mean ole rooster guarding the hen house for an ole farmer prior to dawn. Damn roosters warned VC guerillas to climb back into their holes before American night patrols arrived with their more sophisicated night vision gear. VC carried roosters in their arms as they made their way safely through the jungle at night. A hungry VC never thought of eating his rooster. Isn't the raising of roosters a cultural thing?

Can be. Not always.

RIF, SA. I wrote that the simple locale of an activity did not make it a "cultural thing" as Jeff had said.

I did not write that a specific activity was not a cultural thing. An activity can indeed be "cultural" in some societies and not in others. The mutilation of women in female circumcision is a cultural activity in some societies and a felony in others.

My post simply referred to assigning an illegal activity to cultural status based on in what in part of the US it occurs. Fact is, illegal dog fighting occurs in most states. It is not solely confined to the redneck back woods of Virginia.

[SanDiegoSteve]

I submit that dog fighting is more of an activity for those with twisted, sick minds, rather than anything "cultural." It is about as socially acceptable as is the child molesting of which Garth referred.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I submit that dog fighting is more of an activity for those with twisted, sick minds, rather than anything "cultural." It is about as socially acceptable as is the child molesting of which Garth referred.

I disagree, but that is why we can debate these issues.

Peace

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I submit that dog fighting is...about as socially acceptable as is the child molesting of which Garth referred.

Only in a culture where the head of PITA is the Ayatollah. No, wait... in that case dog fighting would be worse than child molesting.

As it is, in our twisted USA pop culture, dog fighting is worse than murder of a domestic partner.

Cruelty to animals as a spectator sport / gambling activity is unacceptable behavior, but it is hardly in the same class as child molestation or murder. Not even close.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Only in a culture where the head of PITA is the Ayatollah. No, wait... in that case dog fighting would be worse than child molesting.

That would be PETA. Pita is a bread that you can eat.

The rest I agree with.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by Dakota

As it is, in our twisted USA pop culture, dog fighting is worse than murder of a domestic partner.

May I assume that the above is hyperbole, or can you really name a state in which the prescribed penalty for dog fighting is more severe than that for murder?

[MichaelVA2000]

Originally Posted by Dakota

As it is, in our twisted USA pop culture, dog fighting is worse than murder of a domestic partner.

Unless your domestic partner has ever been referred to as "dog ugly".

[Tim C]

"Your fragment is exactly that, a fragment. Please complete the fragment so that I can understand it properly."

Help me out . . . what the he11 are you talking about?

Thanks,