Free Republic

Jim Chilton doesn't just admire cowboy values. He believes in them. And, like any true believer, he's eager to share the gospel in well-rehearsed sound bites, whenever the situation allows. Ask him, for example, why he decided to sue one of the West's most prominent environmental groups. "I laid in bed at night, wondering if I was a cowboy or a wimp," he'll reply. "If you're a cowboy, you stand up and fight for truth, justice, integrity and honor. If you're a wimp, you lay there and go to sleep." Or, ask about nature. "For a cowboy," he'll tell you,...

SAO PAULO, Brazil - The rancher accused of ordering the slaying of American nun Dorothy Stang surrendered to police on Sunday, authorities said. Vitalmiro Moura, known as Bida, was taken into custody after turning himself in to federal police in Altamira, about 80 miles from where 73-year-old Stang was shot dead on Feb. 12, police said. Moura had been a fugitive since an arrest warrant was issued for him on Feb. 15.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela plans this week to take land from four private farms, including a British-owned cattle ranch and an eco-tourism reserve, as part of President Hugo Chavez's agrarian reforms for the poor, authorities said on Sunday. National Land Institute director Eliezer Otaiza told Reuters the government would take parts of El Charcote farm, run by British meat producer Vestey, and the Hato Pinero reserve to develop state-sponsored agriculture projects. "The land is going to pass over to us now," Otaiza said in an interview. "Tomorrow starts the rescue process." Chavez says the agrarian reform campaign will respect...

Judge Confirms $600,000 Libel Award and Finds Fault with Environmentalists (Tucson) Judge Richard Fields entered formal judgment on March 2, 2005 against the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental activist corporation, and found that they must pay $600,000 in actual and punitive damages to Arizona rancher Jim Chilton and the Chilton Ranch and Cattle Company. The formal judgment confirmed a Tucson jury’s verdict, delivered on January 21, 2005, finding the Center for Biological Diversity guilty of making “false, unfair, libelous and defamatory statements” against Jim Chilton, a fifth generation Arizona rancher whose pioneering ancestors drove cattle into Arizona in the...

Venezuelan authorities backed by troops are on Saturday expected to seize a 32,000-acre ranch owned by Lord Vestey, an English aristocrat and meat tycoon. The move, the first in what is likely to be a number of Zimbabwe-style expropriations of big estates, appears to signal a renewed radicalisation in the leftwing government of President Hugo Chávez. Lord Vestey, known as “Spam” to friends because his family's wealth comes from the meat trade, is one of Britain's richest men and a close friend of Prince Charles. With interests that have ranged from overseas cattle ranches to a chain of butchers' shops,...

What is Private Property? Wayne Hage's battle to protect private property -- his and yours After fourteen years of courtroom battles to regain control over the property he claims was taken from him, you could say that rancher Wayne Hage knows a thing or two about private property, the law and government coercion. Tonight, Michael Shaw, Abundance Ecologist, will host a discussion with Hage during a special two-hour edition of the Freedom 21 radio show. Hage, whose wife Helen is a former member of Congress, will tell of his winding journey through the courts after federal agencies pushed him off...

LOGAN, Utah - A rancher who authorities allege habitually lets his cattle run loose was arrested for manslaughter after a woman was killed in an accident involving one of his steers, police said. An arrest warrant alleges that Darrell Kunzler, 69, has demonstrated a 30-year pattern of failing to properly contain his livestock, despite repeated requests by law enforcement. The warrant cites 31 police reports from the last four years regarding Kunzler's stray cattle, including five collisions involving cows that escaped from the field onto the highway. "It would have to be outrageous before we felt like it was appropriate...

TUCSON - Three young girls said they feared for their lives when Cochise County businessman and rancher Roger Barnett allegedly confronted them and two adults with a loaded rifle on Oct. 30, accusing the five of trespassing on his property. Monday, the girls spoke about the incident east of Douglas in a press conference arranged by the Border Action Network, a long-time foe of Barnett. Friday, a civil lawsuit against Barnett, his wife and brother, was filed in the Cochise County Superior Court seeking $200,000 for assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligence, gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Still...

Claims Barnett aimed his rifle By Ignacio Ibarra ARIZONA DAILY STAR A Douglas rancher known for armed patrols of his property and roundups of illegal border crossers is being sued by two families who claim he threatened them with a loaded rifle last month as they hunted on state land. The families, American citizens, do not ask for specific damages in a lawsuit filed Friday in Cochise County Superior Court against Roger Barnett. But they have notified the court that they want a jury trial and will seek damages in excess of $200,000 for the October incident. They have also...

TUCSON - A Douglas rancher known for detaining illegal immigrants faces a lawsuit from a local Hispanic family that accuses him of pointing a loaded rifle at them. The family is asking for at least $200,000 for emotional distress following an encounter with rancher Roger Barnett on his ranch, according a lawsuit filed Friday in Cochise County Superior Court. Ronald Morales, his father, his 9- and 11-year-old daughters and their 11-year-old friend were deer hunting on Oct. 30 when they encountered Barnett. Morales said Barnett pointed a cocked and loaded AR-15 rifle at the group - all U.S. citizens who...

RAUL Hernandez, a Cuban rancher, claims to have bred a family pet that pays its way - a mini-cow about the size of an Alsatian dog. Although the same basic shape as any of the world’s famous breeds of cattle, such as Holstein or Aberdeen-Angus, those bred by Mr Hernandez are less than half the size. Standing about 23 inches (58 centimetres) to 28 inches (71 centimetres) tall, the mini-cows can be kept in a small area, graze simple grasses and weeds, and are, Mr Hernandez says, "a perfect source of milk for Cuban families". "They are patio cows -...

Sheriff Warns Hage of Possible Cattle Confiscation and Arrest August 17, 2004 Nevada Live Stock Association For Immediate Release Contact: Ramona Morrison 775.424.0570 rhmorrison@sbcglobal.net Nye County, Nevada - According to Nye County Sheriff, Tony DeMeo, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in the midst of finalizing post-trial briefs in a thirteen-year old lawsuit with Nye County rancher, Wayne Hage, and in a move of apparent direct defiance of the several recent court decisions, are preparing to confiscate Hage’s cattle on his ranch in Nye County, Nevada. Hage was notified Friday, August 13, 2004, by Sheriff DeMeo,...

LAS CRUCES— Rancher Kit Laney remained behind bars Wednesday after a federal judge refused a second request to release him pending a trial on charges that he assaulted Forest Service officers. Federal Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen said she remained concerned that Laney would return to his Diamond Bar grazing allotment in the Gila National Forest and try to disrupt a court-ordered roundup of his cattle. The original two charges against the southwestern New Mexico cattleman multiplied when a grand jury on Tuesday handed down an eight-count indictment, including two counts of obstruction of justice, five counts of assaulting and interfering...

Today: March 19, 2004 at 11:16:41 PST Nevada rancher at heart of court fight ID law has national implications By Suzanne Struglinski <suzanne@lasvegassun.com>LAS VEGAS SUNWASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday will begin examining a Nevada law that requires people to identify themselves to police upon request even if they have done nothing wrong. The case stems from the arrest of Larry "Dudley" Hiibel, a Northern Nevadan who refused to give his name to a deputy sheriff. On May 21, 2000, Humboldt County Sheriff Deputy Lee Dove got a call that someone saw another person hitting a female passenger in...

Diamond Bar Herds Face Removal Starting Feb. 7 (Note: Anyone that discusses the Diamond Bar issue needs to read [the Wayne Hage] article -- immediately below the two Diamond Bar articles. For much truth on this nightmare, please visit the excellent Gila National Forest Permittees Association website: http://www.cowboysandcattlecountry.0catch.com/diamondbarfrms.htm "The permit denial letter -- http://www.cowboysandcattlecountry.0catch.com/articles/united_states.htm -- was identical for every permit the Laney's filed for between Spring of 2000 and winter of 2002. They applied for the permit 3 times and were denied. Meanwhile the same ranger who kept denying the permit was also trying to purchase the Black Canyon Camp...

WASHINGTON — Land rights advocates (search) are scratching their heads as to why the White House has asked the Supreme Court not to hear two cases challenging seven controversial national monuments named by President Clinton in the waning days of his administration. During his race for president in 2000, then-Gov. George W. Bush campaigned against the monuments, giving hope to many western landowners who found their private property subject to strict federal protections. Three years later, the monuments remain, encompassing millions of acres of land in places like Montana, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho, where the government already owns huge chunks...

Has Wally Klump Failed The Law, Or Has The Law Failed Wally? By J. Zane Walley Luther Wallace "Wally" Klump recently marked his 70th birthday. He could not celebrate his threescore and ten on the family ranch in Arizona with his wife, and children and grand children. The old rancher turned 70 in a penitentiary cell with only convicts to commemorate the juncture. Klump was not in prison for murder, rape, drugs or any of the common offenses against society. His offense was one that astounded the most hardened and cynical of the criminals in the penal complex where he...

The latest large-scale loophole in the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba goes moo -- nearly 150 times. A Naples rancher, J.P. Wright & Co., announced Thursday that it had delivered 148 dairy cattle to the island this week in what the firm said was the largest successful U.S. shipment of cows to Cuba since the communist revolution. The shipment, the latest of several summer deliveries, raised to nearly 450 the number of U.S. cattle that have been sent to Cuba since Congress in 2000 exempted U.S. food and agricultural products from the overall trade embargo, provided Cuba pays cash. ''This...

Luther Wallace "Wally" Klump recently marked his 70th birthday, but he could not celebrate his threescore and ten on the family ranch in Arizona with his wife, children and grandchildren. The old rancher turned 70 in a penitentiary cell with only convicts to commemorate the juncture. Klump was not in prison for murder, rape, drugs or any of the common offenses against society. His offense was one that astounded the most hardened and cynical of the criminals in the penal complex where he is housed. Klump's "crime" boiled down to "trespassing" cows on Bureau of Land Management property in Arizona's...

I was watching Fox and Friends this morning, and they said that Michael Jackson is moving next door to Rush Limbaugh! Can anybody confirm this?