Over the time my wife and I lived around the Gulf it seemed that cruisers are fighting against that old adage, "All politics are local". Beating against power blocs requires power, period. Associations and groups are fine but unless your interests are shared by locals we are an afterthought. Afterthoughts are occupied, mostly, by non-voters, live-free-or-die types or non-residents. Just because we pay sales tax doesn't make us any kind of a resident. You may note that tourist destinations have low income tax but high transaction taxes, there is a reason for that. Why should locals pay anything when there's a tourist born every millisecond. I ask my kids who they voted for in the local, municipal races. They are learning that those are as important as any other offices up for grabs. Sorry for the diatribe. -- Tom & Wilda Theobald Lying Marathon