"Winds of Change" 
will be the theme of the 19th annual NCOM Convention, being held May 6-8, 2004 at the Biltmore Hotel in Oklahoma City, located at 401 S. Meridian, and hosted by ABATE of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Confederation of Clubs. For room reservations call (800) 522-6620, and mention NCOM for a special room rate of $64.00 single/double. 

8th Annual Leesburg Bikefest 2004
Sponsor/Organization: Leesburg Partnership & City of Leesburg
Type: OPEN       Event ID: 1225
Location: 111 South 6th Street, Leesburg, Florida   
Event Dates: 4/23/2004 Through 4/25/2004
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 23, 24, 25, 2004 in Historic Downtown Leesburg. Lake County comes alive with the roar of over 80,000 thousand of bikers from throughout the South. Downtown is closed to motorcycles only! Live bands, Ms Bikefest Contest, Rat's Hole Custom Motorcycle Show, Biker Games, Festive Food, Vendors. Non-Stop Street Party! Presented by the Leesburg Partnership and the City of Leesburg, call 352-365-0053 for further information or on the web at leesburgbikefest.com

RATTLESNAKE DERBY AND FLEA MARKET 
~~~~~~~~~~~
April 23-25, 2004 Mangum, OK 580-782-2434 Make your way over to Mangum, Oklahoma where you will find yourself in Rattlesnake Territory! Magnum is nestled in the rolling plains of Oklahoma's Southwest. I can't think of a better way to conquer your earliest childhood fears, than at the annual Rattlesnake Derby. Enjoy the rattlesnake hunt and the many exhibitors as well. 
FLFLHTC: HOW DO YOU SPELL STUPID!

Cardiac arrhythmias, also called cardiac dysrhythmias, are irregularities or abnormalities in the beating of the heart. Arrhythmias are surprisingly common. They can arise in a wide variety of settings and can range from the totally insignificant to the life-threatening.
The insignificant. If each of us were hooked up to a 24-hour, continuous electrocardiogram, we would find that all of us have a few "extra" heartbeats and a few "skipped" heartbeats. Technically, all these are cardiac arrhythmias. 
Yet, for the vast majority of us, these minor irregularities carry absolutely no health consequences. 

The life-threatening. More severe cardiac arrhythmias, however, can be deadly. 

Outsmart heart disease and other cardiac ailments with Heart Disease For Dummies, by James Rippe, MD. 
From Dummies.com

A British politician is offering tourist packages to France so constituents can get cheaper and faster dental work. For $215 a person, residents of the Isle of Wright can get a ride by ferry to Cherbourg, France, stay two nights, get routine dental care and still have time for shopping and sightseeing, the Daily Telegraph reports. Upset with a shortage of National Heath Service dentists, which results in long waits for routine dental care, Bernard Buckle took it upon himself to launch operation "The Tooth Ferry." Buckle says the cost of a filling in France is about $21 for non-residents, compared to $90 in Britain. 
FLFLHTC: Perhaps Austin Powers should learn French.

Eric Clapton attended Kingston College of Art, but his original career path in stained glass design ended forever when the blues obsessed youth was expelled at age seventeen for playing his guitar in an art class. Clapton worked as a manual laborer and spent most of his spare time strumming the electric guitar he had persuaded his grandparents to purchase for him. 

Mandeville, LA - On March 30, Linda Spagnoli, Director of Communications for Code Amber, was invited to Capitol Hill along with Joe Brucia (Carlie's dad), and Ernie Allen (President of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) to support Katherine Harris (R-FL) and Nick Lampson's (D-TX) introduction of "Carlie's Law" legislation. 
     The legislation strengthens the federal parole system by increasing penalties for repeat offenders. There are also provisions for notification of non-custodial parents when there is criminal activity in the child's home 
     We have received hundreds of offers from across the country to create organized letter writing campaigns. By visiting CarliesLaw.org you will also find contact information for your representatives to let them know how you feel about this legislation. If you don't see your representative's name on this list, it's time to contact them and ask for their support.

PLANKINTON, S.D. - Reopening of the former state reform school and juvenile prison here by a private company next month will be a psychological and economic boost to the area, residents say.

     Cornell Companies of Houston has scheduled May 3 for the reopening of the 40-bed juvenile prison as a regional detention center. An open house is set for April 28.
     Plankinton, a community of about 600, was hit hard when former Gov. Bill Janklow shut down the State Training School in December 2001. Ninety-five employees lost their jobs, Kristensen says.
     It was the culmination of a stormy 2 1/2-year period that began with the death of 14-year-old Gina Score of Canton, who succumbed to heatstroke when forced to run as part of the physical regimen in a girls' boot-camp program.
     The reform school opened Nov. 3, 1888. At its peak, more than 200 troubled youngsters were housed there and employees came from a five-county area. Adolescents from the Training School were once welcomed into Plankinton, mingled with residents and helped around town. 
Conditions started changing in 1995 when Janklow noted the long list of juveniles waiting to get into the reform school and pressed the Legislature to approve a $3.5 million juvenile prison.
     The prison was needed because juveniles were becoming increasingly violent and hardened, Janklow said. He also ordered other high-risk offenders to be housed at the Training School, and the focus changed from rehabilitation to control and seclusion.

Boot Camp

     Janklow also decided there was a need for juvenile boot camp programs. Boot camps were set up near Custer for boys and girls, but the girls' program was moved to Plankinton in July 1998. It was moved back to Custer after Score's death caused a political and legal firestorm, but the girls' boot camp eventually closed altogether.
     Although Janklow blamed Score's death on lower-level "rogue employees," a staff shake-up began at the upper levels and many changes were made in the way juveniles were handled. Wary judges began sending fewer kids to the Training School, and Janklow ultimately said it should be closed because the number of juveniles had declined to the point that the reform school and prison were no longer economical.," Greenwood says. "It made good public relations in the community."
FLFLHTC: AFTER WORKING IN JUVENILE DETENTION, I feel I can talk with a little more knowledge than most on the subject.  While being politically popular with the knee-jerk reaction crowd, boot camp type facilities have a very low success rate in comparison to other juvenile programs. At best what you get are a group of polite criminals who will say 'yes sir and no sir' As far as Jerklaw blaming the unfortunate incident on 'rogue employees' nothing new there. Jerklaw does subscribe to the idea of THE BUCK STOPS HERE!

Jayne Mansfield - April 19, 1933 Died June 29, 1967 Actress. Mansfield would become one of Hollywood's brightest and outrageous celebrities in the 1950s. Jayne's desire to become a huge success led her to pulling some of the most bizarre publicity stunts, including "stranding" herself on a deserted island. She was the epitome of 1950s extravagance and decadence. Bigger than life, she was a caricature of blonde stereotype starlets of the era. Little did Tinseltown know, she would be one of the biggest phenomenon during the 
1950s. She reveled in her position in Hollywood and basked in every experience it had to offer, from the crass and crazy to the glamourous and glitzy. Few other starlets who reached their pinnacle of stardom embraced it like Jayne. She never considered her fame a burden like most. Mansfield is one of the most remembered icons of 1950's culture today.