"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. 

(Sun) May 30 Estero, “Vee-Dub Fest,” The LOVE Club. Miromar Outlet Mall. Pre-registered $20. Day of Show: $25. Vendors: $40. More info: call Lore at (239) 267-6658. Website: www.vwloveclub.org

RED EARTH NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL FESTIVAL  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
June 4-6, 2004     
Oklahoma City, OK  
http://www.redearth.org/v2/index.htm           405-427-5228  

For three extraordinary days, Red Earth, America's Greatest  Native American Cultural Festival will welcome the descendants of over 100 American Indian tribes. They will  gather in Downtown Oklahoma City to share the richness and diversity of their heritage with visitors from all over the  world. It is one of the largest cultural festivals of its type and has been voted one of the Top 100 Events to see in the United States according to Frontier Country.  

NANJING, China - An incensed husband in China's eastern city of Nanjing divorced his wife after learning she hired a group of men to kill their family dog. The state Xinhua news agency said the unidentified woman was concerned the wolf- hound would make a mess of the couple's newly furnished apartment, so she contracted a "hit" with four men while her husband was away on business. She said she tried many times to drive the dog away, but it kept coming home. When her husband returned and learned what she had done, he immed- iately filed for a divorce, saying he could "no longer live under the same roof with a murderer." He decided that a divorce was the only way out, Xinhua said. 
FLFLHTC: Stupid bitch!

The bill being considering in New York would make 18 year olds wait a year before smoking. A bill introduced in both houses of the state Legislature in Albany, N.Y., would raise the legal age to buy cigarettes from 18 years old to age 19, the Albany Times Union reports. Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, says his group is opposed to the legislation because there's no evidence raising the age limit will cut underage smoking. Horner says the opposite happened when the legal age to consume alcohol in New York was raised from 18 to 21. 
FLFLHTC: I wonder how long it is going to take for the do-gooders to realize that prohibition simply does not work.

Buffalo Supporters,

May 15 is the "zero tolerance" date for wild bison outside of Yellowstone National Park, according to the Interagency Bison Management Plan.  Although the plan is an "adaptive management" plan which allows for discretion to be applied in hazing bison back into the Park before May 15, after Saturday the plan calls for bison to be "captured or shot to ensure none remain outside the Park in the western boundary area during the applicable temporal separation period."  Never mind the lack of public lands cattle allotments on Horse Butte or along the Madison River.  Fortunately the Horse Butte Trap was dismantled and hauled away earlier this week, but the stakes for the last free ranging bison are about to be raised.

Why do the cattlemen feel the need to keep native wildlife off of our public lands in Montana?  Why can't wild buffalo be left in peace during their calving season?  Why does the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) insist on wasting millions of our tax dollars every year to play cowboy, chasing down wild bison with horses, ATV's and helicopters?  Where exactly are the cattle that they are busy protecting?

Despite these lingering questions, the militarization of the Yellowstone border continues.  A helicopter drones overhead today seeking out the handful of fugitive buffalo with the courage to follow their instincts.  DOL agents scour the national forests in search of grazing buffalo mothers and their calves.  How many government agents does it take to track down less than a dozen buffalo?  It's a trick question when you have a fat budget to spend before the buffalo return to the Park in the coming weeks.

LAS VEGAS – Four more motorcycle gang members are charged with murder in a fatal casino melee during a rally in Laughlin in 2002.