posted from maryland talk page with acknowledgement from thisisbossi i'm getting the sense of a double standard for maryland here why is maryland the focus of this brigade when other state intros are equivalent i ve avoided posting in these discussions because it seems you guys are reluctant to seeing the truth and now i have to write a book to get my point across even still you will believe what you want to because of personal preference or you don t feel it belongs most of all i m sure you could care less about the state itself otherwise you wouldn t object but you want an answer so here it is if you think the intro to the maryland page needs a rework then you have your work cut out for you because you re going to have to change just about every other state case in point this is the last paragraph from the commonwealth of virginia intro virginia is known as the mother of presidents because it is the birthplace of eight u s presidents george washington thomas jefferson james madison james monroe william henry harrison john tyler zachary taylor and woodrow wilson more than any other state most of the united states' early presidents were from the state virginia has also been known as the mother of states because portions of the original colony subsequently became kentucky indiana illinois and west virginia as well as some portions of ohio how is that anymore relevant than proclaiming maryland donated the land for washington d c doesn't talk about presidents from decades past and ceding portions of land belong in the history section according to you not convinced here s part of the intro from the state of wisconsin this should put your economic fears to rest wisconsin's rural economy was originally based farming especially dairy mining and lumbering in the th century tourism became important and many people living on former farms commuted to jobs elsewhere large scale industrialization began in the late th century in the southeast of the state with the city of milwaukee as its major center in recent decades service industries especially medicine and education have become dominant wisconsin's landscape largely shaped by the wisconsin glaciation of the last ice age makes the state popular for both tourism and many forms of outdoor recreation in previous version they were proclaiming fur trade but it's a sin to proclaim the life sciences which has become the foremost important industry in maryland right now didn t get the message try the commonwealth of massachusetts during the th century massachusetts transformed itself from a mainly agricultural economy to a manufacturing one making use of its many rivers for power to operate factories for shoes furniture and clothing its economy declined in the early twentieth century when industry moved south in search of cheaper labor a revitalization came in the s when nourished by the graduates of the area's many elite institutions of higher education the boston suburbs particularly those around route became home to dozens of high technology companies massachusetts' colleges and universities as well as its technology sectors continue to thrive the state is also considered a haven for progressive liberal thought and often sends political candidates to the national scene however the four most recent presidential aspirants ted kennedy michael dukakis paul tsongas and john kerry were all unsuccessful massachusetts was the home state of us presidents john adams john quincy adams calvin coolidge and john f kennedy and the birth state of george h w bush as of massachusetts is the only state in the union to legalize marriage of gay and lesbian couples must i continue it should be clear by now said my version was hardly all about geography it had a sentence touching upon its civil war history as well as some information on its population and economy this is what you left posted in the intro maryland ipa m l nd nicknamed the old line state and the free state is located along the east coast of the us historically a border state it exhibits characteristics of both the northern and southern regions of the united states consequently it can be considered both a mid atlantic state and a south atlantic state '''''maryland comprises a mountainous western panhandle a fertile coastal plain and a central region chesapeake bay is largely within the confines of the state the broad central region includes a stretch of the eastern megalopolis an entirely metropolitan r