The Style Guide

The Style Guide, a vital tool for journalists, contains the rules a writer must follow if he or she wishes to remain a reporter for his or her paper.
Orson Welles played the dynamic and tragically flawed character, Charles Foster Kane, in the classic motion picture "Citizen Kane." During one early scene, Kane, who had already purchased a newspaper, puts forth his so-called "Declaration of Principles", the rules his paper will follow as it puts out the news to its public. A style guide is really not that. It is the reporter's tool book of sentence grammar, punctuation, and other rules particular to the paper.
I realize that what I am writing here is going out to the public. I want to make sure that I do not abuse that privilege. Blog Spot has its own set of rules that allows it to be a free site. I really appreciate the fact that I could be that crazy person, blabbing on the street corner, without really abusing people's ears. It allows all of us a free and open forum of opinion, a cornerstone of what this great country is all about.
With that in mind, I have given myself the following rules:


1. This rule deals with the use of the "F" word. I believe that our obsession with the "F" word is moronic. I am allowed to write the word "War" without penalty because it is not considered like the "F" word offensive. Believe me, dear reader, if women ran the world instead of men, the so-called "F" word would not be considered obscene. However, even though I consider the "F" word a clean word, I will never use it in any of my articles (Blogs). I respect the home of the person allowing me to express myself. Besides I have a wide enough vocabulary that I don't have to always use such words in order to make a point.

2. I will always try write the truth of what I see. The reader's agreement with or lack thereof is his or her right in this free land.

3. I will always make sure my blog is free of spelling or grammar errors to the fullest extent possible.

4. Whenever I can, I will site my sources. But I feel I am old enough to present my own opinions as facts , but not necessarily the reader's.

5. The rest, we can work out as we go along.