Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 94, No. 63, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 23, 2001 Page: 4 of 10
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PAGE 4. Seminole (Texas) Sentinel. Wednesday. Mav 23. 2001
Opinion
What's made in USA?
By M. Gene Dow, Publisher
Vv*
Job layoffs, especially among the technology
companies have been much in the news lately. We have
read that many companies are even paying severance
bonuses to college graduates they had contracted to hire
before graduation, but no longer need A i the same time
skilled laborers are much in demand in the oil patch and
in the service industries.
Just this past week was a report
that this country’s trade imbalance
(the difference in the amount of
American made products we ship
out compared to the amount
shipped in from foreign markets),
reached $31.2 billion during the
month of March alone.
This should not be much of a
surprise to you if you have kept up
with the number of U.S. factories
that have been closed down, only
to be reopened in foreign countries
where the labor costs and raw
materials are much cheaper. Add to this Americans’
appetite for imported cars, clothes and toys and sometimes
the inability to buy anything but products imported from
other countries, has ballooned the import imbalance.
Let’s take for instance the following example of
American consumer—Joe Smith.
Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm
clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6:00 a.m. While his
coffee pot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved
with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He
put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer
jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and shoes (MADE IN
KOREA).
After cooking his breakfast In his new electric Skillet
(MADE IN INDIA), he sat down with his calculator
(MADE IN MEXICO), to see how much he could spend
today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN), to
the radio (MADE IN BRAZIL), he got in his car (MADE
IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good
paying AMERICAN JOB.
At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless
day, Joe decided to relax a while. He put on his sandals
(MADE IN ITALY), poured himself a glass of wine
(MADE IN FRANCE), and turned on his TV (MADE
IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can’t find
a good paying job in AMERICA.
It should be obvious that all we Americans have to do
is to stop buying all these foreign-made products, but
MADE IN USA products are getting harder and harder
to find these days. Even our agriculture and energy
products are being threatened by foreign imports.
Is it a losing battle? Only if we, as individual consumers
continue buying the foreign-made products.
I'M WITH YOU,
PADRE—I FIRMLY
BELIEVE IN TH'
HEREAFTER...
* * *
THE OLD INDIAN CHIEF SAYS— "Why is it that
every time you have something to sell, prices are low?
But when your bins are empty or the calves are too light,
prices are sky high? It’s the market, ruled by supply and
demand to and of fickle consumers."
SO, WHAT
WUZ I HERE
AFTER?
>*'
IMMAGE
2
STATE CAPITOL HIGHLIGHTS
The Lone Star Edsel Ranch
Shelley Cleaver lives just south of Jacksonville in the
Craft community. He acquired the nickname Shamrock
when he was in high school. He spent some nights in the
Shamrock hotel while attending a fat stockshow in
Houston and was always talking about it.
The name is just right for the hobby he has had for
nearly forty years. He collects Edsel cars and things
related to Edsels.
“The Edsel colors were green and white when Ford
came out with the Edsel and my name being Shamrock
worked pretty good. Everything I wore was always
green, anyway, so I just fit right in to the Edsel
organization.”
He goes to Edsel shows ail over the country and takes
his Edsel to car events every chance he gets. He’s a
regular qntry in East Texas parades.
* ;:Hc jays EordMotor Companyhas benefited from the
Edsel because they used it as an experimental car. “A lot
of the things in cars today were introduced in the Edsel .”
The Edsel made its debut on September 4,1957. That
was Henry Ford the second’s fortieth birthday and the
car was named for his son, Edsel Bryant Ford. 110,000
Edsels were made. The last one came off the assembly
line on November 9, 1959.
“The have the 1960 model I bought at the Jacksonville
dealership. It’s all original and I enjoy displaying the
car.”
He owns fifteen Edsels, but he just has two that are in
show condition. He uses the others for parts. “There’s
not many people still married that went on their
honeymoon in a 58 Edsel. My wife and I have been
Edseling all these years.”
Tumbleweed
Smith
Proposed 'granny tax" in nursing '*
home bill killed by committee
by Mike Cox, TP A
He has won a number of trophies at different car meets
around the country.
• “The Edsel Club is a friendly bunch of people. We’ve
got 1500 members in all fifty states, all provinces of
Canada and fourteen foreign countries. We look forward
to getting together every year. I’ve been to 32 national
meetings.” j
His son,'3 recent graduate of Texas A&M, has traveled
with his parents to 25 national Edsel meets. He has a
complete collection of mini Edsels which have won
awards. The small models have become collector’s
items.
Shelley has been president of the Edsel Owners Club
and is not its PR director. “I like this job like a hog loves
slop. I love to get publicity for the Edsel because it was
such a loser and I’ve always been for the loser.” When
he’s cm radio or TV talking about Edsels, he uses the
name Shamrock Shelley, leaving off his last name.
“It’s a big part of my life. I guess if it hadn’t been for
me, the Edsel would have been forgotten.”
The most expensive Edsel today is the 1960convertible
because only 76 were built. It sold for $2,500 new. Now
it’s worth at least $40,000.
A TEXAS VOICE
There is no fail-safe lunch
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, we’re told.
While I’m still not prepared to convert that old saw into
a personal doctrine, it did prove itself true recently.
Friday morning, I was not able to send out my daily
commentary because of problems with my local Internet
Service Provider. Actually, In defense, the problem was
By Steve Martalndale h .
AUSTIN —Like many
other issues being considered in
the Legislature this session, the
matter of elder care is
complicated and controversial.
The controversy has
centered on Senate Bill 1839,
which would have instituted a
$5.25 per bed daily fee for
nursing home patients. The
money raised by what some
started calling a “granny tax”
would have been used to
leverage needed federal money
for nursing homes.
The fee portion of the bill
died in the House Human
Services committee on May 16,
but it was replaced by the
earmarking of $175 million from
the appropriations bill.
Gov. Rick Perry had said he
would veto the bill if it made it
through with the “granny tax.”
Though funding would corrle
from general revenue and not a
bed fee, if signed into law, the
measure will enable nursing
homes in Texas to pay their
staffs more and buy needed new
equipment.
Those lazy, hazy, crazy
days of summer...
classes during the first week of
that month.
But it looks like school
children will be picking up a
little extra summer time starting
with the 2002 school year.
The House has passed
Senate Bill 108, a measure that
will mandate thqt schools not
begin prior to Aug. 21. But the
version was weakened
somewhat, at least in the eyes of
its advocates, by addition of a
provision that would allow
school districts to get a three-
year waiver of the rule from the
state education commissioner.
Even with the change,
schools still must provide 180
days of instruction.
Criminals will no longer
make a “killing” on
memorabilia
Convicted killer Henry Lee
Lucas, who died in prison earlier
this year, was one inmate who
sold his artwork over the
Internet.
Texas Department of
Criminal Justice spokesman
Larry Todd said the new law
would give the prison system
better control over the money-
making schemes some inmates
try to run.
HOWttt Contactyour
Representatives
90-120 minutes!” and “No credit card required unless
you actually try to use the service!”
My plan wa& that the service actually could be
Aging Baby Boomers may
have their share of aches and
pains these days, but there are
happy memories.
One of those memories is of
Convicts are no longer going
to be able to make a “killing” by
selling crime memorabilia.
Gov. Perry has signed
Senate Bill 795, a law that
prohibits criminals or their
agents from profiting from the
sale of “tangible property the
value of which is increased by
the notoriety gained from the
conviction of an offense...”
Under the new law, which
goes into effect Sept. 1, any
money made by criminals
trading on their notoriety will t>e
on
forfeited to a special fund.
Victims’ families will have five
years to collect from that fund,
any damages they might have
been awarded.
Any money left over in the
fund after that time would go
into the Texas Victim
Compensation Fund.
Similar legislation, spurred
by the sale of crime memorabilia
on Internet auction websites, has
been passed in other states.
If you have questions, and want an-
swers, to any subject that involves our
elected lawmakers, both state and na-
tional, here is how to get in touch with
them: j
U.S. SENATORS:
Phil Gramm, Republican
Room 179, Russell Bldg.
Washington, D. C. 20510
Telephone: (202) 224-2934
Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican
Room 703, Hart Bldg.
Washington, D. C. 20510
Telephone: (202) 224-5922
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Larry Com best, Republican
19th Congressional District
1511 Long worth HOB
Washington, D. C. 20515
Telephone (202) 2254005
Fax # 202-225-9615
STATE SENATOR
Teel Bivins
31st Senatorial Disirict
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station, Room 118
! *
not so much with the ISP as with its communications
provider. A phone call to the ISP early Friday morning
got a recorded message that a fiber-optics phone line had
been cut and that the ISP was at the mercy of the phone
company. *
With that knowledge, I immediately instituted a backup
plan. Several weeks ago, my ISP had some trouble
staying operative. Actually, it might have been doing
some upgrading and did so when there was less traffic,
overnight and/or in the early morning hours. Trouble is,
the early morning hours is when I research, write and e-
mail the daily commentary (which, by the way, is truly
free, but that’s beside the point right now). It would be
prudent to have a backup plan since I rely on the Internet
so much and since any provider can have problems at a
crucial lime.
Then one of those little AOL packages came in the
mail and, for the first time, I welcomed it. AOL-Amcrica
Online-has probably sent me a dozen CDs trying to get
me to try its service. I did try it and others several years
ago after first getting online and decided to go with a
local provider instead. But the CDs kept coming, a
particular hassle (he past year since they won’t fit into
the post office box and I have to go to the window. It’s
quite a letdown when you’re anxious to get a package
and all they hand you is an AOL disk.
PLAN B
So, the latest disk was stuck back in a drawer with the
plan that I would sign up and use the one month of free
service when my ISP went down at a bad time. That was
what I was facing Friday, sol found the package with the
leaflet that promised “you’ll be online in minutes!" and
the sticker that proclaimed “No credit card requiredF*
What they should have said was “you’ll be online in
operational within a few minutes. After all, the software
was on the CD and did not have to be downloaded
through a modem. But, as time dragged on, I gave up the
idea of getting online to get out a commentary before
going to work and simply hoped to be able to send
subscribers my regrets and an explanation.
Finally, I made a connection and thought I was ready
to take care of business, but no, they wanted my credit
card. That’s when I backed out of everything, writing
this off as a very bad idea.
PLAN C
Saturday, we were in Kmart and I picked up a free CD
at checkout. Kmart calls it BlueLighl.com and provides
something like 12 free hours of connection time a
month. Of course, the desire is that the user will like it
and upgrade to the paid plan. Also, they run a Kmart ad
at the bottom of your screen.
This will be the perfect backup. I really should need it
for just a short time and would only be out the long- >
distance charges.
I popped the CD into the computer, started the
download, and was pleased to find that, contrary to
AOL, it took only a couple of minutes. Then I clicked to
start it running, connected through a number in a nearby
city, and tried it out. It worked, though everything was
slow, but then my browser window froze up on me.
Well, that happens sometimes. It should still be OK for
emergency use, 1 thought.
After restarting the computer, I tried to go online
through my ISP and nothing was working right. BlueLight
had taken over everything! I eventually had to deinstall
the free program and go into my computer settings to
restore my preferred connection.
Bye-bye, BlueLight Now on the lookout for Plan D.
the time when summer vacation
amounted to a full three months
of no school.
In the good old days, at least
from the perspective of those
bom between 1946 and 1964,
school ended in late May and did
not start again until after Labor
Day.
These days, while school
ends a bit earlier than it used to,
it resumes in early to mid-
August. Some districts start
Austin, Texas 78711
Telephone: (512) 463-0131
Fax: (512)475-3733
P. O. Box 1673-Ph. (915)682-0455
Midland, TX 797702
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Gary Walker
District 80
c/o House of Representatives
P. O. Box 2910
Capitol Station, Room 305
Austin, Texas 78768-2910
Telephone: (512) 463-0678
Fax: (512) 463-1966
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Itna appearing in these columns will be gladly and promptly
ceiractad upon being brought to the attention ef the manage-
PsMtahtd each Wednesday aad Sunday at The Seminole Sentinel
BnMIng, 406 S. Main, nnder the act ef March 3, lg79.
Entered ae Second Clam Matter at the Seminole, Tama, Faat Office,
i« 7f3d0.
Publication No. 48-9400
David Baber____
Misty Ramins...
Barbara Pester..
Pauicu Roberson
Onifty Hawkhu
Dianna Benavides, Noma Onrnian,
M. GENE DOW
Editor aad PuMMier
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Dow, M. Gene & Fisher, David. Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 94, No. 63, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 23, 2001, newspaper, May 23, 2001; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth832142/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gaines County Library.