Posted on 09/21/2002 12:19:58 PM PDT by farmfriend
We too are being forced out of business here by poor government decisions--our tomato crop has been killed by cheaper paste from off shore (NAFTA)--result=our Heinz production plant is closing for good. NO MORE TOMATOES!
Several of our dairies are now out of business--cheaper milk from South America.
This makes us ripe for the willing seller role because the government is "protecting our resources and our farmers" while they cripple our ability to make a living farming. Now they can get our land cheap as we go broke, and then they can return it to the swampland it originally was. Sound like Florida to you?
Saturday, September 28, 2002
8:00 am Stage at Fern Valley Corners in Idyllwild near the offices of the Center for Biological Diversity.
9:00 am Depart Idyllwild, traveling north on Hwy 243 to Banning, then west on I-10 to west on I-210 to west on Hwy 134 to north on US-101. The exit will be approximately 12 miles north of Santa Barbara for the rally site at Dos Pueblos Ranch.
2:00 pm Rally at Dos Pueblos Ranch, includes live music, BBQ, speakers and auction of shovels and buckets. Rally will focus on Sawgrass issues and the proposed national park along the Gaviota Coast that would threaten homes, ranchers, farmers, and national defense since it would include Vandenberg Air Force Base. Post Rally Drive north on US-101 to spend the night in San Luis Obispo.
Sunday, September 29, 2002,
7:00 am Depart San Luis Obispo north on US-101 to west on Hwy 156 then north on CA-1 to Santa Cruz.
10:00 am Rally at Liberty Garden to advocate private property rights and the Constitution of the United States. Bring-your-own picnic. Rally is invitation only. To request an invitation log onto web site at www.freedom21santacruz.net.
12 noon Depart Santa Cruz north on CA-17/I-880 to north on I-680 to east on I-580 to east on I-205b to outskirts of Tracy.
2:00 pm Several convoys branches from California will be staged on the outskirts of Tracy so all can converge on the rally site at Park and Ride adjacent to West Valley Mall and I-205 at the same time.
3:00 pm Rally starts with lead-off featured speaker Congressman Richard W. Pombo. The rally will feature great food and entertainment and several speakers on property rights and farm issues faced in the Sacramento River area.
Monday, September 30, 2002
11:30 am Activities are scheduled to begin on the South Steps of the Capitol building.
For the remainder of the convoy route and other rally stops please view the web site at http://www.sawgrassrebellion.org/
The Convoy will end in Florida with a two-day rally near Naples on October 17 and 18, with a grand finale rally scheduled for Homestead on October 19.
Where are all the Texas Freepers that need to be setting up something for Amarillo, Dallas, Austin and Houston.
Could someone please get me a link to that information?
This applies to any freeper who is DIRECTLY involved in CONVOY activities.
Just click here and include the basic info below in your email.
U.S. Freepers take note - we may have won the war for our independence
But the Brits show the world how to protest!
UK march for Farmers, Hunters and Recreationists
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2274129.stm
Huge turnout for countryside march
Protesters with banners filled the central London streets
Around 400,000 people from across the country have marched through central London to highlight the needs of rural communities.
Crowds were so big it took people queuing at the start of the official route more than six hours to filter through, according to police.
This is a march for the people and by the people and not simply rural people
Countryside Alliance
Organisers say the demonstration, officially called the march for Liberty and Livelihood, is the biggest in recent times.
Following months of organisation the Countryside Alliance hailed the march as a huge success and it called on the government to make a "considered response".
The main focus of the protest is opposition to a ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales, but a wide range of other grievances from rural communities are also being linked with the demonstration.
Hunting horns blared, whistles shrieked and bagpipes wailed as the march snaked its way past Downing Street.
And while many protesters carried banners proclaiming: "Buy British food", "Save our farms" or "Town and country not town over country", these were far out-numbered by pro-hunt slogans.
"Blair, ban hunting and we will boot you out", read placards held aloft by demonstrators as they marched 20 abreast through the streets and brought much of the city to a standstill.
Rural concerns
Protesters, some young enough to be carried on shoulders, others old enough to need wheelchairs, carried signs reading: "I love my country, I fear my government", and waved cardboard cut-outs of foxes.
Not everyone obeyed the request to leave animals at home
A second march embarking from Blackfriars Bridge was quieter, with farming issues the main concern of many taking part, according to some participants.
Both marches converged on the heart of government at Whitehall, where about 150 anti-hunt supporters were also staging a peaceful protest in a cordoned-off area of Parliament Square.
The Countryside Alliance, formed originally to oppose a ban on fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs, says it represents all rural people who feel their way of life is under threat.
Chief executive Richard Burge said he was overwhelmed by the huge turnout, and was proud to see history being made.
"This is a march for the people and by the people and not simply rural people.
"The strength of support, not just from the countryside, but from towns and cities across the UK makes us feel both humble and proud."
International support
Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith was marching, as were actors Vinnie Jones and Edward Fox, TV presenters Melvyn Bragg and Anne Robinson, comic Jim Davidson, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Earl Spencer.
March supporters flew in from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and across Europe.
More than 2,500 coaches and 31 specially chartered trains carried protesters to London.
And police drafted in 1,600 extra officers.
The event had been planned for last year, but was postponed by the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
But animal welfare campaigners said the large turn-out did not necessarily show public support for hunting, and they disputed the 400,000 plus tally on participants.
Protesters were heading for Parliament Square
Douglas Batchelor of the League Against Cruel Sports said: "This march has been promoted as many things - as a march for Post Offices and affordable housing, as an anti-government march, as well as about hunting with dogs.
"There will be many people on the march who do not support hunting."
Among these was protester Paul McNally, 40, of Westminster, who said he was disgusted by the march.
"Some of the rural issues we agree with but we are against hunting, this is a political movement, these people are not poor farm labourers they are wealthy people who want to protect a cruel sport," he said.
Earlier on Sunday, rural affairs minister Alun Michael said the government would be bringing forward proposals on hunting "within weeks".
The Alliance will also be delivering a 10-point open letter to the prime minister at the end of the march.
Website: http://www.countryside-alliance.org/
Thanks for the info, PARKFAN.
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