The Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 31, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 3, 1999 Page: 4 of 12
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PAGE 4, Seminole (Texas) Sentinel. Wednesday, February 3,1999
Opinion
Couldn’t remember
By M. Gene Dow, Publisher
IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK-Demur Broncos
won their second straight Super Bowl.
* 0 0
In just a period of two months, it’s amazing that I
forgot some of the things with which I've been most
familiar. When I sat down lo type a story, I couldn’t
remember which key
combinations to hit to bring up
the directory of stories, or
which ones to select a new type
face, to seieci bold or ualic,
different column widths, etc.
things have I done
automatically, without thinking,
for years.
I even had to go back and dig
out some of the rules for
writing.
* • *
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive
redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren’t necessary and shouldn't
be used.
• 12. Do not be redundant; do not use more words
than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
13. One should NEVER generalize.
14. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
15. Don't use no double negatives.
16. Eschew ampersands it abbreviations, etc.
so-HOW
MANY PEOPLE
VA GOT WORK IN'
mere?
depends
ON THE SNOW
—WHEN THE SNOW'S
REAL £At> OUT
THERE, WE
WIGHT HAVE SIX
OR SEVEN...
* 17. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
18. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a
snake.
19. The passive voice is to be ignored.
. 20. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.
Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in
commas.
THE OLD INDIAN CHIEF SAYS-What a day
may bring, a day may take away.
Here is the set of "Rules for Writing " that /
found:
1. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences
with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old
hat.)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be morp or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are
(usually) unnecessary.
21. Never use a big word when a diminutive one
would suffice.
22. Kill all exclamation points!!!
23. Use words correctly, irregardless of how
others use them.
WHEN
IT'S REAL
GOOP
—WE HAVE
NOBOPVf
'dm,
©
24. Understatement is always the absolute best
way to put forth earth-shaking ideas.
25. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and
omit it when its not needed.
26. If you’ve heard it once, you've heard it a
thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in
a million can use it correctly.
27. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
Andfinally...
28. Proofread carefully to see if you any words
(
!'.s§?
out.
OK, now I’m back in business.
The devil made Texas
STATE CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS
There is an old poem that has been researched
and researched by Texas scholars for generations
and still its origin is uncertain. Some say the poem
can apply to any area or state, but I don’t think so.
On a recent CD released by the Gillette Brothers
of Lovelady, Texas, Pip Gillette sings the poem. It’s
called THE DEVIL MADE TEXAS and goes like
this:
O, the devil in hell
they say he was chained
and there for a thousand years he remained.
He neither complained nor did he groan
but decided to start up a hell of his own
where he could torment the souls of men
without being shut in a prison pen.
So he asked the Lord if he had any sand
left over from the making of this great land.
Well the Lord he said yes I’ve got plenty on hand
but it’s way down south on the Rio Grande.
And to tell vou the truth
the stuff Is so poor I doubt it will do for a hell any
more.
Well the devil went down
and looked over the truck
and said if it came as a gift he was stuck
for after he’d examined it careful and well
he decided the place was too dry for a hell.
Well the Lord just to get the stuff off of his hands
he promised the devil he’d water the lands
for he had some old water that wasn't no use
a regular bog hole that stunk like the deuce.
So the grant it was made, the deed it was given,
the Lord he returned to his place up in heaven.
The devil soon saw he had everything needed
to start up a hell and so he proceeded.
He scattered tarantulas over th^road,
put thorns on the cactus and horns on the toads.
He sprinkled the sand with millions of ants
so the man that sits down must wear soles on his
Tumbleweed
Smith
Governor Bush focuses on
,o ’ ' / •
education in State of State
by Lyndell Williams & Ed Sterling, TP A
//,
\t
The rattlesnake bites you, the scorpion stings,
the mosquito delights you by buzzing his wings.
The heat in the summer’s a hundred and ten,
too cool for the devil and too hot for men
and all who remained in the climate soon bore
stings, bites and scratches and blisters galore.
He quickened the buck of the bronco steed
and poisened the feet of the centipede.
The wild boar roams in the black chaparral
it’s a hell of a place that we’ve got for a hell.
He planted red peppers beside all the brooks
the Mexicans use them in all that they cook.
. Just dine with a Texican and you will shout
I’ve got hell on the inside as well as the out.
Pip’s singing is found on the CD The Gillette
Brothers’ LONE STAR TRAIL" available at Rt. 4
Box 131, Crockett, Texas 75835,409-636-7165.
Bits and Pieces...
pants.
He lengthened the horn of the Texas steer
and added an inch to the jackrabbit’s ear.
He put water puppies in all of the lakes
and under the rocks he put rattlesnakes.
He hung thorns and brambles on all of the trees,
he mixed up the dust with chiggers and fleas.
If your plan is for a year, plant rice. If your plan
is for a decade, plant trees. If your plan is for a
lifetime, educate children.
Confucius (551-479 B.C.)
Philosopher
FAR AND AWAY the best prize that life offers
is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
26th U.S. President
A TEXAS VOICE
Come on in and stay a spell
By Steve Martaindale
Heard about yet another jail break over the
weekend. Nothing as dramatic as the Thanksgiving
Day escape from Texas’ Death Row, just three
small-time convicts who squeezed under a fence at
the Kaufman County Jail in Kaufman, Texas. But it
struck me, "What are we doing wrong that people
are so fired up to not stay in jail yet won’t act right
to keep from going there in the first place?"
You see where I’m going? You would think,
judging from the blatant disregard some people
have for the law and for others' rights, that they
really want to end up in jail or prison. So,
eventually, we comply with their wishes and lock
them away. But no sooner than they are where they
apparently wanted to be, they are trying to get out
again. Most do this with the aid of lawyers filing
appeals and making motions and working their
various forms of magic. But others take matters
into their own hands, or feet, and take flight.
INS AND OUTS
Of course, escaping from a state prison or t.„
county jail may not be as easy as it sounds, but
judging from the number of times it makes the
news it must be easier than most of us think.
Especially if you consider that, generally speaking,
the guys in jail are not usually the most intelligent
examples of mankind. I mean, not only could they
not follow society’s rather simple laws, but they got
caught breaking them.
All this leaves us in a sticky situation. We want
our penal system to serve as a discouragement to
crime. That is, when some guy is standing on a
street comer trying to decide whether or not to steal
that new Mustang, we want him to say, "Aw, better
not, 'cause I really don’t want to spend any time in
the county jail."
AUSTIN — Re-inaugurated
Govi George W. Bush on Jan. 27
focused on education in his annual
State of the State address.
“TAAS scores have increased
across the board for every ethnic
group in every subject at every
grade level tested,” Bush said. ...
“Our curriculum is one of the
most rigorous in America.... [and]
“We are proving that when you
raise the bar, people rise to the
challenge.”
Bush said he will submit a bal-
anced budget and propose a $2
billion property tax cut amounting
to 13 cehts for every $100 pf prop-
erty value.
He also proposed:
■ Eliminating consumed taxes
on diapers, over-the-countei\medi-
cines and Internet access;
■ Cutting small-business
taxes; and
■ Enacting a research-and-
velopment tax credit to foster in-
novation and new technology.
Bush’s address contained re-
peated references to “the national
spotlight.” And although the gov-
ernor may have been speaking
only of Texas, his words re-
sounded with a “presidential” ring.
- Better Scores, Fewer Transfers
Fewer schools are subject to a
law allowing students at “poor-
performing schools” to transfer to
better schools, the Texas Educa-
tion Agency reported last week.
That’s because more students
But the more unpleasant we make it, the more are passing the T>vnc Acc»„mf,n,
driven the inmates will be to break free. And that
makes it even more difficult and more costly to
keep the jails and prisons in operation.
Looking from the prisoner retainment end, we
could probably make them less likely to skedaddle
if we do such things as faller them to order first-
class meals from a menu, allow conjugal visits,
provide each with their own sleeping quarters with
plenty of space, air conditioning in the summer and
heat in the winter, television and VCR with access
to recent video releases...in other words, dam near
anything they want. If we can do that, we might be
able to cut down drastically on jail breaks.
But the more pleasant we make it, the more
incentive it provides bad guys to do something for
which they can be arrested and jailed. We would be
encouraging people to improve their lifestyles by
becoming crooks. And don’t even think about how
much more it would cost us, not only in the
increased amenities but also in the increased
numbers of prisoners.
BLADE JUSTICE
Easy answers escape me.
But all this does seem to explain justice in some
other societies. If a thief is caught, taken almost
immediately before a judge and convicted and then
taken almost immediately before a surgeon for the
removal of the thief’s hand, you solve a lot of our
problems. The deterrent factor is there and is
reinforced every time you see a one-handed person.
There is so little time in jail that maximum security
should be no real problem. And the cost is much
more reasonable.
Of course, restitution is tough if the state loses
an appeal.
Slower Growth Predicted
The Texas Index of Leading
Economic Indicators points to
slower growth in 1999 than in re-
cent years, according to new Texas
Comptroller Carole Keeton
Ry lander.
“As 1 pointed out to the Texas
Legislature in my biennial review
estimate, the Texas economy is
healthy, but future economic
growth will occur at a slower,
more moderate pace,” Ry lander
said.
, Texas’ economy, however, will
continue to grow at a faster rate
than the U.S. economy, she said.
State Rep Seeks Ban on Ads
The Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department would be prohibited
from mentioning the name of any
^brand-name alcoholic beverage in
campsite catalogs and park bro-
chures under legislation filed by
state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyier.
Banning commercial messages
would blow a hole in funding the
fagency has been receiving from
corporate sponsors.
But Berman says mixed mes-
sages are inappropriate.
“If they’re going to advertise on
television against drinking while
boating or hunting, then it’s a
double standard when they display
Budweiser signs all over the
place,” Berman was quoted by the
Austin American-Statesman.
Judges Get More Respect
A study released last week by
the Texas Office of Court Admin-
poll conducted by the Survey Re-
search Center at the University of
North Texas.
Other Highlights
■ Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-
Austin, wants to curb unwanted
telemarketing calls. He has filed
legislation that would allow the
state to fine telemarketers who call
Texans who have placed their
names on a no-cail list.
■ Public school teachers rallied
outside the Capitol last week, call-
ing for a $6,000 across-the-board
pay raise.
■ Joblessness plagues the oil
industry. Texas Independent Pro-
ducers and Royalty Owners Asso-
ciation reports unemployment
claims increased from 1,200 to
more than 4,700 in 1998.
■ The three-member Texas
Railroad Commission last week
elected Commissioner Tony Garza
as chairman of the oil- and gas-
regulating agency. Garza said
steps must be taken to help mar-
ginal oil and gas wells survive cur-
rently depressed prices.
■ U.S. District Judge William
Wayne Justice of Austin is presid-
ing over what is expected to be a
multi-week hearing on conditions
in Texas prisons. In 1979, Justice
declared the prison system cruel
and unconstitutional, resulting in
a series of reforms.
Briefly
of Academic Skills — the math,
reading and writing test by which
schools are rated.
Two hundred and 81 of Texas’
7,053 schools appear on the list of
poor-performing schools.
Improvement is the trend. In
1998, 575 schools made the list,
while 1,150 schools were listed in
1997.
istration shows 71 percent of Tex-
ans consider judges “very” or
“somewhat” honest and ethical.
Lawyers fared not as good —
40 percent — while journalists
were slightly better at 48 percent.
Politicians, however, drew an
honest-and-ethical rating of 26
percent from the 1,215 Texans
who responded last summer to the
Credit Counseling
If you or someone you know
is having a financial problem,
there is help. Consumer Credit
Counseling Service is a non-
profit organization offering free
local financial counseling for
debt, credit cards, and other
financial problems.
For an appointment, call 1-
800-374-2227.
The Seminole Sentinel
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appearing In these columns will be gladly and promptly corrected
upon being brought to the attention of the management.
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Seminole, Texas, Post Office,
Seminole, Texas 79360.
M. GENE DOW
Editor and Publisher
David Fisher......................................... News Editor
Joyce Dow................................................... Social Editor
John Hasscbneier........................... Sports Editor
Misty Ramirez.......................National, Classified A Composition
Barbara Parker........................................Retail Advertising Sales
Patricia Roberson, Dustin Johnson Office Supply/Radio Shack
Gene Gaines..............................................................Photography
Christy Hawkins....................*..............Bookkeeping/Circulalion
Betty Wiebe, Lori Hatley...........................................Distrihrtion
Letters policy: Letters to the Editor are welcomed. All letters
should be kept as brief as possible. They must be signed with name,
address and telephone number, in case need for verification arises
(address and phone number will not be printed). The Sentinel
reserves the right to edit letters to prevent libel, In vasion of privacy
or untasteflil language without changing the desired context. If
requested, editors will use Initials only, but only rarely and for
compelling reasons. A signed letter carries more weight with
readers. Letters doTiot necessarily reflect the editorial policies or
beliefs of this newspaper. No letters about candidates seeking
election or "Thank You" letters will be accepted.
MEMBER 1999
WEST TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
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Dow, M. Gene & Fisher, David. The Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 31, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 3, 1999, newspaper, February 3, 1999; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1049419/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Gaines County Library.