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How to Use This Website
First... Please read all of the information on the Main page and look through the Articles.

Many of the questions and confusions that have surfaced over the time since this project was commissioned, will not arise if you clearly understand what the reformat project is and what it is not. Click on the section heading, for example Section I is "Individual Rights and Civil Order," and once the program has taken you to that index page, click on the specific plank you want to view, for example, #23 "Families and Children." This will take you to the page with that plank. At the top of the page is the existing plank as approved by the delegates of the 2002 National Convention, so that you may refer to it throughout your evaluation of the reformatted plank. On that same screen, the bottom portion shows the reassignment of the existing plank's language into the four categories of formatting, according to the function the existing language most closely performs. Where it was felt that none of the existing language performed a function, the words "No Suitable Language" will appear under that format heading. This means that the committee member who was tasked with that plank's reformatting, felt that there was no language in the existing plank that performed that function. For example, in Plank I.5, "Safeguards for the Criminally Accused," it was felt that none of the existing language made a clear statement of "The Issue." Click on the button on the right of the heading bar that says "Suggestions for New Language." Where there has been no suitable language from the existing plank for a specific format, or where the committee member felt that something more was needed, suggestions for new or changed language will appear in red in the appropriate position. Remember that these are suggestions only, not approved changes. Consider for yourself if the suggestions perform the function required by the format heading. Does the suggested language clearly spell out the issue in I.5? If you think that something in the existing plank states the issue, or if you have a better suggestion for stating the issue, click on the workshop button for "The Issue," and you will be taken to the page which will allow your feedback, suggestions and comments to be forwarded to the committee and the individual member who reformatted that plank. If you would like to read the input and comments from others who have looked at a specific plank, click on the little guy at the right and you will go to the page that records the feedback of others who, like you, are on the "give-a-damn committee." Any feedback will be considered, but please recognize that comments along the line of "Throw the whole platform out," or "Throw out this plank," miss the point of what the reformatting project is about. The reformatting is a project to create a form that any plank, present or future, must take if it is to be included in the platform. We strongly believe that this logical format will solve the problems that the platform has suffered from for many years, and will make the platform a strong tool for the party and an effective weapon for our candidates. Again, valuable comments are along the lines of: "I think a better statement of the issue is..." "Libertarian principle applied to this issue would say that..." "The solution, the Libertarian world we see, is where the following is the case...rather than..." "Here are some steps already taken toward the solution that need to be recognized..." "If you clearly state the issue in plank #X as follows, you will see that this plank is no longer relevant and should be removed..." It is still a while before the '04 Atlanta Convention, where the '04 Platform Committee and the convention delegates will decide if this project does the job. Your input may well be the determining factor if we are succesful in moving the party's platform forward to being that better tool. Join us in the effort, we welcome you. George Squyres, Lorenzo Gastanaga, Strategy 3 Champions Platform Reformat Project