Protect "The Everglades of the North" - Commisioners' Sample Letters

As part of the ongoing effort to protect the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding marshlands, below is a sample letter to use if you decide to write the Mayor of Cambridge and the Cambridge and County commissioners - all who have supported the resort project.

A few formalities first.

1. The sample letter below is a guidline to help you get started on your own. However, you may feel free to use it ver batim especially if you're uncomfortable writing your own.
2. In order of most impressiveness on elected officials:
   -Snail mail followed by phone call
   -Snail mail
   -Phone call
   -Email
3. Proper envelope addressing will be "The Honorable" for mayor and "Commisioner" for city and county commisioners.

Contacts

City of Cambridge and Cambridge Mayor:

Mayor Cleveland L. Rippons

Commisioners Kenneth P. Knox, Donald Sydnor, La-Shon M. Brooks, Gilbert (Gil) Cephas, Walter Lee Travers

[Elected official's full name]
City Hall
307 Gay Street
P.O. Box 255
Cambridge, MD 21613

Phone:
410-228-4020
410-228-4554 (Fax)
1-800-735-2258 (TTY)

Email:
info@ci.cambridge.md.us

County Commisioners:

Glenn L. BrambleWork:
(410) 228-5272
E-Mail: gbramble@docogonet.com

Effie M. Elzey
Home: (410) 228-8736 (Please note that the home phone is publically listed on the Dorchester County Government's official website.)

E-Mail: effie@shorecable.com
E-Mail: eelzey@council.docogonet.com

William V. Nichols
Home: (410) 221-1371 (Please note that the home phone is publically listed on the Dorchester County Government's official website.)

E-Mail: mailto:wnichols@docogonet.com

David Yockey
Work: (410) 943-4025

E-Mail: dyockey@docogonet.com
dyockey@comcast.net

Ricky Travers

Work: 410-228-4313
Home: 410-228-1532 (Please note that the home phone is publically listed on the Dorchester County Government's official website.)

E-Mail: travers@fastol.com

Jane Baynard
Work: 410-228-1700
Fax: 410-228-9641

E-Mail: jbaynard@docogonet.com

Address for all:

Commisioner [full name]
County Council of Dorchester County
County Office Building
P.O. Box 26
Cambridge, Maryland 21613
(410) 228-1700

Sample Letter:

Dear Mr. (Ms.) [mayor's or commisioners' full name here]:

I am writing you with regards to the proposed Blackwater resort project. While I do recognize your sincere desire to spurn economic growth in Cambridge and Dorchester County, I believe the site location for the proposed project will do more harm than good in the long run.

I urge you to seriously consider the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's reccomendation to move the proposed resort closer to the heart of Cambridge or another suitable location already approved for development and designate the present 1,000 acre site as a buffer zone between Cambridge's future growth and the wetlands encompassing and surrounding the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge.

Since 1938, over 8,000 acres of marshland has laready been lost primarily due to natural causes. Despite the best efforts of the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge managers, Army Corps of engineers, and the Baltimore National Aquarium, the marsh still looses about 130 acres per year primarily from rising sea levels due to global warming and wave action from the increased area of open water. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey ran a conservative model of the refuge showing a good portion of it will be under water within the next forty-five years. Despite the best efforts of many organizations trying to save the drowning marsh, rising sea levels can't be stopped. Hopefully, the marshlands will have time to adjust by slowly moving inland as the water levels rise.

Placing a resort on the edge of the refuge and allowing it to cut into over three hundred acres of designated critical bay areas will surely speed up the demise of the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding marshlands. Storm runoff will inundate the marsh with pollutants from paved surfaces; and fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides from homoeowners lawns and the golf course. The greater increase in the freshwater flow into the marsh will surely alter the salinity levels. All this can only spell disaster for the fragile ecosystem.

And even if the above scenario fails to play out as the experts fear, the marsh will have nowhere to move inland as the sea levels rise. The resort will be in the way.

The big attraction for building the resort is the refuge and marshlands. That is what people will come to see and enjoy. While the short-term spurt in economic growth may be an economic boon for a few years, once the marsh disappears so will all the people who come to enjoy it. The harmful effects won't stop at he county line, either. The death of the marshlands will have a ripple effect up and down the Chesapeake Bay's shores and will be felt by the hundreds of thousands of Marylanders - if not more - who depend, directly or indirectly, on the Bay for their livilihood.

The Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and surrounding marshlands are one of Cambridge's and Dorchester County's greatest and most valuable asset. Planned growth to benefit the citizens should be made around protecting this asset for today's and tomorrow's generations.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]

Protect "The Everglades of the North" - Update

In my previous post, point one directs you to an online petition. If you notice, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation provides a printable version for people to circulate in their communities and return to them by 23 Jun.

I just received an email from Mr. Terry Cummings of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation confirming that the deadline has been extended to 21 Jul! He stated that because of an unexpected large response to new signatures, they extended the deadline.

So please, sign the online petition and if you are inclined, gather signatures and mail the petition to the Foundation.

Protect "The Everglades of the North" - Intro

The Blackwater Wildlife refuge, a 27,000 acre refuge of marshland for the threatened bald eagle and endangered Delmarva fox squirrel, is under attack. Designated a critical wetlands area, the marshes provide important habitat for over 250 species of birds, is a major wintering route under the Atlantic flyway (the main route taken by many migratory birds), is home to the largest colony of nesting bald eagles in the 48 states except for Florida, and acts as a major nursery for much of the Chesapeake Bay life - seafood many watermen up and down the Bay depend on for their livilihood. It has earned the nickname of "The Everglades of the North" because of its size and variety of wildlife.

Since 1938, over 8,000 acres of marshland has been lost at the rate of about 130 acres per year. Once recognizable channels and ponds are now submerged. A US Geological Survey study predicts that by 2050, most of the marshland will be open water. In effect, the marshland is drowning.

The largest contribitors to the marsh's decline has been the introduction of nutria, a South American rodent broght to the marshes to boost the fur trade, rising sea levels that alter the salinity of the marsh, and an increase in wave energy produced from the ever-expanding open water.

While the managers of the wetlands work with Baltimore's National Aquarium and the Army Corps of Engineers to restore the marsh, a new threat looms on the horizon. A developer has won approval to build an 800 acre resort comprising of 2,700 homes, a 100-room hotel, a conference center, a retail center, and a golf course next to the refuge. Three hundred thirteen of the acres will cut through the designated critical habitat of the wetlands. Normally, that means very strict building guidelines need to be followed in critical areas. For example, new homes must be separated by 20 acres of land; every tree a property owner cuts down must be replaced with a new tree; vegetation destroyed for other than maintence of an existing lawn must be replaced in certain percentages elsewhere on the property. These laws are waived for the developer of the Blackwater resort.

To date, no environmental impact study has been completed. Mangers of the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge, however, have expressed their concern. The project is only hundreds of feet away from the Little Black River, which feeds directly into the wildlife refuge. They estimated the project would add 12-13% more impervious surface to the area (roads and parking lots). With soil already sitting on a high water table, storm runoff from the development would inundate the marsh with pollution from the road surfaces and fetilizers, insecticides, and herbicides from the golf course and home owner lawns. Previous studies on wetlands have already shown that a 10% addition of impervious surfaces result in substantial loss of fish life in the surrounding wetlands and sharp drop in quality of the water.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is more outspoken in its opposition to the proposed project. Recognizing the city of Cambridge's desire to attract new business and spurn economic growth, they encourage the project to be moved into the city itself or in areas already designated for growth and make the presently proposed site for the project a permanent natural barrier between Cambridge's growth and the delicate wetlands.

And what do the residents of Dorchester County think? They are, after all, the ones who stand to gain the most (economic opportunities) or lose the most (loss of quality of life, destruction of their environment, loss of economic growth - those who depend on the marsh and the bay for their livilihood). A full 73% of voting residents oppose the Blackwater development plan.
But if the Dorchester County and City of Cambridge councils get their way, groundbreaking for the new resort will begin in October.

With this background, I urge all Marylanders to do any or all of the following to protect the wetlands: (You may use any letter samples ver batim or as a guidline to creating your own):

1. 
   Sign the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Petition (http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=bw_home)
2. 
   Write the Dorchester County and City of Cambridge council members, the two councils that have given the green light for the project. (Sample letter and contacts to follow.)
3. 
   Write Governor Ehrlich asking for state intervention. (Sample letter and contact to follow.)
4. 
   Write Mayor Martin O'Malley of Baltimore and gubernatorial candidate. Force the project to become an election year hot button. (Sample letter and contact to follow.)
5. 
   Write the major news stations encouraging them to cover the story. (Sample letters and contacts to follow.)
6. 
   Write an editorial/letter to the editor to the two popular newspapers. (Sample letters and contacts to follow.)
7. 
   Write the state senator and rep urging state intervention. (Sample letters and contacts to follow.)
8. 
   Write the Department of Interior urging federal intervention. (Sample letter and contact to follow.)
9. 
   Write MD Senators and District Rep urging federal intervention. (Sample letters and contacts to follow.)

Obviously, I have quite a few letters to write. Over the next two weeks or so, I'll be posting them. But I wanted to get this up so any Marylanders can at least sign the petition (the first thing in my long list to do) before Thursday's town meeting. I reckon if you don't live in MD, but have visited the refuge, there's no reason why you shouldn't voice your concern, too. And heck, if after visiting the website of the refuge and seeing what is all there, I reckon it wouldn't hurt to voice your opinion through one of the appropriate outlets listed above like a letter to the editor or something.

Single Is Not A Disease

I happened to watch the Today Show this morning. I know, who in their right mind gets up before twelve noon on a Saturday? Trust me, I don’t do that often. But my getting up way too early on a Saturday morning is not the subject I want to talk about. A story they had on about being single rubbed me the wrong way. Being single is what I want to talk about.

The authors of a new book tell us why we’re single, and if you’re single, it’s your fault. No, I don’t know who the authors were nor the name of the book. My impression is they are a couple and now want to teach everyone else how to suffer with a mate. The only point I got out of the five minute interview with them was a flashback years ago to a Newsweek cover story proclaiming unmarried women over forty had a better chance of falling victim to a terrorist attack than they did falling in love and marrying.

Of course some couples would tell you that marriage is an act of terrorism.

I really want to know why so many people look at being single as some sort of disease that needs a cure. If I can get a solid answer to that question, then I am dying to know why married people are so eager to hook their single friends up as if there’s a hurry to get them married.

From a man’s perspective, I can understand the desire to get married before middle age. Thinning, gray hair can’t rightfully be called attractive. And the beer gut really gets in the way of chasing women. It slows one down and most of the pretty, young things can out run the middle aged man. All he’s left with is women judging the size of one thing in his pants – his wallet.

Women, though, seem to be in a hurry to marry, too. The other day I was smoking a cigarette at work and two young women barely out of college came out to smoke and talk. I’m not normally an eavesdropper, but they were talking loud enough that I couldn’t help but catch their conversation.

The one boasted about meeting this really nice guy at the nightclub over the weekend. He wasn’t tall like she likes nor broad-shouldered. On top of that, he’s Jewish, which she felt might clash with her Christianity if the relationship moved on to raising a family. What won her heart, though, was his being a really nice guy with a gentle personality and the fact that he had a very good paying job didn’t hurt.

Now, I really don’t understand this. She’s young with a whole life ahead of her. She has a good job that could turn into a successful career if she wanted. She knows she wants the Marlboro man, but is willing to settle for a pudgy Jew with a sweet personality and money.

What the Hell is her hurry? She’s not anywhere near the age where all she has to look forward to is a terrorist attack.

Being single is not a disease. Focusing on marriage as being important, the goal to achieve, and willing to settle for less just to get married is a disease.

ACLU Lynch Mob

Ok, he makes this way to easy. I met his challenge this week.

For those of you who may be new to this blog, I am referring to Mark Hyman, general manager of Sinclair Broadcasting, home station of Fox News. I run a challenge over at my MSN group, Boston Tea Party Protests. The challenge is simple; watch your local Fox News program for the general manager's editorial and respond to it. (Complete challenge with past responses, Fox News - The Point.)

His point this week criticized the ACLU for challenging a North Carolina ordinance that would ban sex offenders from the parks. Hyman artfully led his audience to believe that the ACLU was defending child molestors. The conservatives do have a knack for twisting the facts to spread hysteria.

So here goes, and feel free to click on the links above and give your opinion to Mark Hyman.

Mark Hyman wrote:

Court-ordered pre-trial negotiations broke down last month. Town Administrator Jason Young told The Point his side isn't backing down. So Woodfin, North Carolina and the ACLU are headed for a court date as early as this summer. Get pen and paper handy. You'll need it in a moment.

At issue is an ordinance banning registered sex offenders from the town's three public parks. The law was enacted after a 16-year old girl was raped in a park and after a pedophile living in property overlooking a park had molested several children. Child sexual predators often frequent locations popular with children. The ACLU sued this western North Carolina town of 6,000 on behalf of a registered sex offender, who was convicted of attempted sexual battery with a handgun, and is now demanding access to the parks. One of the busiest parks is adjacent to an elementary school, which uses the park for recess.

There are 21 known sex offenders living in Woodfin or in close proximity. Town officials know from first-hand experience that mingling pedophiles with young children is a tragedy waiting to happen.

Police Chief Brett Holloman, who is being sued along with the town, told The Point his job is to enforce the law.

It is disgusting that the ACLU, that is, the Anti-Children Litigation Union is anxious to support sex offenders, but shows no compassion for the safety of our children.

You can share your thoughts with the ACLU of North Carolina at (919) 834-3466 or at their website, www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/.

And that's The Point.

I'm Mark Hyman.

I responded:

I see the conservatives are whipping up a frenzy and forming a lynch mob again. No one wants to give pedophiles free access to our children, not even the ACLU. To imply otherwise is disingenuous at best, outright lying at worst.

The ACLU objected to the Woodfin law on several grounds including the right to free travel and the protection from retributive punishment once all terms of a sentence has been completed. The law, itself, is written too broadly and punishes people based only on their status and not on any threat they may pose to the public.

More disturbing is your connection of the case to child molestation. The case was filed on behalf of an adult convicted of a crime against another adult back in 1987. The plaintiff has completed all terms of his sentencing including prison and probation. Sex offender does not automatically equate to child molester. I would expect a member of the news corps to understand the difference and not purposely mislead the public simply to tell a rousing story to make a point.

Sex offenders have the lowest recidivism rate of any criminal, as can be verified through the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports. Many sex offenders return to their families and live out normal, law-abiding lives. Is it right that we tell them they can’t take their children to the park because of a crime they committed twenty years earlier? If we allow this law to take hold, where do we stop with the retributive punishments? Should murderers be confined to the empty deserts of the southwest? Should thieves be barred from entering a business establishment? Should speeders be permanently taken off of our roadways?

Sorry, I can’t join your lynch mob. The ACLU got this one right.

Top Ten Worst Songs Ever

I decided to post a little something fun for a change.

What are the ten worst songs ever recorded that made a hit? You know, the songs that come on the radio and you absolutely have to change stations before you barf. Even if the button lands you on a country station, or even a rap station, it's better than being tormented by that song.

Here's my highly subjective list because, let's face it, musicians are dime a dozen and there's way too much music out there for any one person to be able to listen to in a lifetime.

10. Muskrat Love by Captain and Tenille. What perverted mind would create a love song about horny rodents?

9. We built This City by Starship. Nothing but a sellout to 80's commercialism.

8. I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. Dolly Parton wins with this song hands down. Poor Whitney tried too hard.

7. YMCA by the Village People. Heck, make that anything by the Village People. Or was that their only song?

6. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? by the Culture Club. I hesitated adding this one to the list because it was funny in Shrek, but deep down, yes, I really did want to hurt Boy George for having the balls to torment us with this song.

5. My Way or the Highway by Limp Bizkit. It might have been better if Fred Durst actually broke out in tears during the song. Whining through the whole song as if he's on the verge of tears, though, doesn't cut it.

4. 2004 by Rueben Studdard. If American Idol weren't a rigged competition, we all could have been spared this tragedy.

2. Bob Dylan. Pick a song, any song. He made legendary status because all the hippies were high --- and still are.

1. Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. Aside from being boring and out of tune, the metaphor was too obvious and cliched. Goes to show you that even legends lay an egg once in awhile.

Ok, here's one song that is so far in the lead as the worst song ever, I give it a spot all its own separate from the list because I didn't want anyone to think that I even consider it in the same league as the above ten.

Roxanne by Sting. Dragging your fingers deeply across a chalk board as the nails scrape backwards, peeling off your fingers is a slightly better sound and experience than listening to this...nope, I can't do it. I can't say song.

Open Letter to the President

Sure, I know. Today, the Senate is expected to reject a proposal for a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. But the issue is far from dead. The House is expected to take it up again later this summer. And then there is the Replay of 2004 principal at play here.

I figured it would be best to start letting our elected officials know how ridiculous they really sound. So I wrote the letter below to President Bush. I wonder if he'll have someone read it to him so he can understand what I have said...

At any rate, you, too, can write the President - and your senators and representative too! I even provide a way to write the President anonymously if you are worried about his tendency to snoop into our lives. Get the details here.

If you're really ambitious, check out other things you can do to promote same sex marriage...or just tee somebody off.

Now, back to my letter to President Bush:

Dear President Bush,

What do murderers, rapists, thieves, child molesters, alcoholics, and drug addicts have in common?

They can marry.

What do death row inmates and lifers with no chance of parole have in common?

They can marry, too.

Here’s a clincher. What can an illegal alien do that a native born, law abiding, US citizen, who is gay, cannot?

That’s right. The illegal alien can marry, too.

All those marriages are condoned and recognized by the federal government and all fifty states without question. A gay couple, however, is viewed as a threat to the institution of marriage and an undermining force to the American family.

This summer the House is expected to take up the issue of gay marriage and an amendment to the Constitution to define marriage as being only between a man and a woman. I urge you to make an about face on the issue and oppose the amendment effort.

First, marriage has been and always should be a state issue. Second, the proposed constitutional amendment serves only to enshrine discrimination and bigotry into our laws and society in general. If it were about protecting the American family and the great institution of marriage, the people I mentioned above wouldn’t be allowed to marry either.

Highest regards,

Mark Darien

Build Your Own Platform - The War on Terror

(For details on the build your own platform project, please visit my outline in the Boston Tea Party Protests MSN group. And feel free to participate either here or over there.)

As a card carrying Republican, I’d like to see the Republican party do an about face on its approach to the War on Terror. The present overt, “we’re going to kick your ass” approach costs too many American lives, distances many of our allies from us, and foments more distrust and hatred among nations that already didn’t like us much.

There is no War on Terror any more than there ever was or is a War on Drugs or a War on Poverty. Such campaigns are destined to fail because the scope is much too broad.

The first victim in this about face on the War on Terrorism would be the Department of Homeland Security. Their three primary missions are prevent terrorism within the US, reduce our vulnerability to terrorism, and “minimize the damage from potential attacks and natural disasters”.

I quoted the last part directly from the Homeland Security’s website because it struck me funny. “Potential attacks” don’t cause any damage. Real attacks do. The Department’s own mission statement clearly illustrates its ineffectiveness not to mention its redundancy. Instead of creating a new department to handle what existing departments are supposed to be doing, we should be tightening, redefining, and coordinating the efforts of existing agencies to accomplish the same objectives. Preventing attacks, reducing our vulnerability, and minimizing damage is already the responsibility of the FBI, CIA, federal and state law enforcement, the military, and FEMA. More bureaucracy solves nothing.

The Patriot Act needs to be scrapped, or at least parts of it. The sections that help redefine the roles of our existing agencies to better coordinate intelligence sharing and communication should stay. Everything else should go.

Tightening our borders shouldn’t be physical barriers designed to keep Mexicans out because they don’t speak English. It should be more coordination between our law enforcement agencies and the Mexican and Canadian law enforcement agencies to better identify potential terrorist threats entering or exiting all three countries. Illegal immigration is another issue and shouldn’t be confused with our efforts against terrorism.

Identifying the terrorists’ funding sources should continue and the sources interrupted. Countries openly harboring terrorists or turning a blind eye to the activities within their border should be dealt with diplomatically. Effort should be made for them to take an active role in fighting terrorists within their borders. Isolating uncooperative nations from the world community both diplomatically and economically should be our first course of action. Our most effective tool to make this approach work effectively would be winning the trust and support of our allies. If we make the issue as important to them as we feel it is to us and make them the key players in the diplomatic battle, the fight is half over.

No country has a need for WMD. However, it is near impossible to convince any nation to scrap their WMD or shelve efforts to develop them as long as the major world powers have their own stockpiles. A moratorium should be placed on the development of any new weapons or increases in current stockpiles. For nations that currently have stockpiles, a plan to reduce and eventually eliminate them should be in place and clearly promoted. Such a plan may reduce the incentive for other countries to develop their own weapons.

Military action against nations that harbor or aid terrorists or is perceived as a possible threat against the US or her allies should be a very last resort move only. Pre-emptive strikes against nations should never be an option. One thing we have that a terrorist nation doesn’t have is time and lots of it. With worldwide cooperation, sanctions can be at least somewhat effective and a rogue nation leashed to its localized influence. Only when its activities reach beyond its borders despite all diplomatic attempts and sanctions against it should military force be considered and only with a truly international coalition. The one exception – a direct attack on the US. Just as we would support one of our allies if it were attacked, we should expect support from our allies if we are attacked, but we don’t need their permission to protect ourselves.

Lastly, we must lead the way in preventing new terrorist-friendly countries from developing. An adopt-a-nation program needs to be developed. The major industrialized nations should be encouraged to adopt a poorer, developing nation and help them become a more stable, richer nation. The goals of the adopt-a-nation program would be to help nations fight poverty and raise the standard of living of the average citizen. This would be accomplished by bringing new agricultural techniques to the country, helping to build basic civil engineering projects like dams to provide irrigation and clean drinking water, building new schools, providing basic medical care and helping to build new hospitals and training new doctors and nurses, and aiding the country in developing the necessary economic infrastructures to ensure its own self-reliance.

Because of the potential for abuse and fraud by both the sponsoring nation and the leaders of the nation being helped, the world community should closely monitor the program, perhaps through the UN. Just like corporations that have all sorts of internal controls and audits to ensure their legit operation, the adopt-a-nation program could develop similar controls. For example, let’s say country A adopts country B. Both countries make quarterly reports to the UN detailing the money spent, projects built, and programs instituted. The reports can be reviewed by the other nations and other nations could step in and perform independent audits and make suggestions. If enough nations think there is something seriously going wrong with the program, they could vote to end the sponsorship by country A.

In effect, the adopt-a-nation program isn’t much different than what nations currently do on their own accord. The only difference is that there would now be a formalized program and countries that normally get neglected may actually get the help they need and, some day, may be in a position to join the world stage and take a bow.

Build Your Own Political Platform

Over at my group, The Boston Tea Party Protests, I have encouraged the members to build their own political platform. I figured I'd share it here. Of course, you are always welcomed to join the discussion over there, too. The more we talk about it, maybe the more our politicians will listen.

Worth a try anyway.

Preamble:

The 2008 elections are still two years away. Right now, the three major parties are building their platforms that they will present at their conventions in two more years. The average American, however, will align themselves with one or the other party, but have little to nothing to do with the development of their party's platform and many more will only understand bits and pieces of it.

The BTP group's platform aim is three-fold:

1. Help members become familiar with the three main parties' platforms (Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian).
2. Help members understand what the planks of the platforms actually say, debate them, and help them solidify their own opinion of what the planks should be.
3. Provide a tool so that members can easily compare their own platform they will formulate here to that of the three main parties' platform to help them make more sound decisions come the 2008 election.

Recognizing that this is a huge task, at minimum, each topic will be afforded at least a one month debate time before, as a group, we move to a new plank. By the end of two years (maybe even sooner), the BTP group platform should be done and each member will have his/her own platform to compare to the national platforms of the three major parties'.

Each member is encouraged to write their own platform as the debate and formulation of BTP group's platform progresses. Probably the best way to do this would be to keep track of it in a word document, adding to it as each topic is discussed here. When we're completed with the platform, it'd be up to each member whether they want to share their version or not.

The posted BTP group's platform will only be a subjective compilation of what appears to be the majority consensus on any topic and will be used only as an example for other members to use as they build their own platform. It will not be an official stance of the group in any way nor should it be construed as such. How and when I will post the BTP group's version will be decided at a later date.

We'll be using the parties' 2004 platforms as a guideline as we develop our own platform for 2008. The following links take you to the respective party's 2004 national platform: Republican, Democratic, Libertarian.

General outline, table of contents, if you will, fo BTP group's party platform:

Overall Vision for America

International

1. War on Terror
   Overall Goals
   Afghanistan
   Iraq
   Anticipated Future Problems/Solutions
2. Middle East Relations
   Overall Goals
   Israel
   Palestine
   Iran
   Saudi Arabia
3. Asian-Indo-Pacific Relations
   Overall Goals
   China
   North Korea
4. European Relations
   Overall Goals
5. Latin/South American Relations
   Overall Goals

Domestic

1. Immigration
   Overall Goals
2. Native Americans
   Overall Goals
3. Health Care
   Overall Goals
   Every American Insured
   Malpractice Lawsuit Caps
4. Social Security
   Overall Goals
   Privitization
5. Families
   Overall Goals
   Same Sex Marriage
   Home Ownership
   Education
6. Crime
   Overall Goals
7. Jobs
   Overall Goals
   Outsourcing
   Creating Jobs
8. Economy
   Overall goals
9. Environment
   Overall Goals
10. Energy
    Overall Goals
    Energy Independence
    Alternative Fuels
11. Military
    Overall Goals
    Future Roles

There is the general outline we'll take one at a time to discuss so each member can formulate his/her own plank to compare with the national parties' planks.