I really don't think that such political discussion belongs on this list.  

I hesitated to make my dissenting response to the original political postings because I was concerned that it would create the same flurry of political agruments that I have seen clog other list-served forums that are intended to support non-political activities.  

Interestingly, of the 6 people who responded, 3 agreed and 3 disagreed with me, and all who disagreed responded ON-list and all those who agreed responded OFF-list.  The odds of that happening from purely random choice is only one-in-sixty-four. 

As one of the off-list respondents said, "I'm with you Steve, but good luck getting much traction with those thoughts in this venue."  While another said "I live in Okinawa, and despite the fact that you do pay extra for plastic bags at a supermarket checkout, the landscape is still littered with plastic bags." 

So, it appears clear that there is a strong urge of those who favor this type of legislation to proselytize here on what they perceive as a sympathetic venue.  BUT, please recognize that there are probably just as many folks who do NOT agree with you, and will feel compelled to speak-out if you hijack this forum for political proselytizing, even for so called "environmental" causes.

For that reason, I will make all future responses on this subject off-list.

And, I urge others to NOT start threads on other political issues that are not related DIRECTLY to birds and birding.  

I know that is a hard distinction for some to make, but let's TRY.  Otherwise, we can get to either of 2 situations pretty easily, and neither is good.  The first is that this list gets sullied by the type of political agrument that is invading almost every other part of our lives.  Or, the list-owner suppresses such discussions by booting off the list anybody who disagrees with his position, so that all political discussion becomes "preaching to the choir."

I have seen both happen to other lists, and don't want to see it happen here.

Respectfully,
Steve Long