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SINCE 1994 and reaching more than 107,000 subscribers in over 200 countries, this is the 804th weekly issue of... THIS is TRUE: 8 November 2009 Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE DIRTY RATS! When flags started going missing from graves at a cemetery in Hampton, N.H., locals -- especially veterans' groups -- expressed outrage at the desecration. But people need to chill, a cemetery official said. "Several years back we had the same situation," said Cemetery Trustee Richard Bateman. The conclusion: "it was the squirrels." The rodents were snatching the flags to line their nests, he said, and that's probably what's going on now, too. "I don't think it's squirrels," said the dubious Commander of the local American Legion Post, Ralph Fatello. "But, if it's squirrels, we are going to prosecute them and I'm going to make an example out of them." And, Fatello added, they need to be more patriotic. "I don't know how I'm going to teach a history lesson to squirrels, but I would be willing to sit them down and try to talk to them." (Portsmouth Herald) ...Squirrels or not, there are clearly nuts involved here. EATING DISORDER: Trinda Barocas, a teacher at a special education school in Indianapolis, Ind., was getting ready to take her students on a field trip to the zoo, but allegedly didn't want to take one student along -- the 7-year-old is autistic and has a severe peanut allergy. "I wonder what would happen if he had peanuts?" she allegedly said to an aide. "I could touch it, and then touch him." Then, the aide says, she tossed him a peanut-filled candy bar, saying "Maybe he could get sick enough not to attend and we won't have to deal with it." Giving peanuts to someone with a peanut allergy can cause extreme illness, and very often death. The boy didn't eat the candy. The teacher's aides notified school administrators, who called in child welfare officials, who "substantiated" the charges. In a previous teaching position, Barocas was accused of restraining, slapping, and forcing a student to eat. She has denied the allegations, but has resigned again. (Indianapolis Star) ...You know, maybe teaching just isn't the best career for her. ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- TOO MANY BUSINESSES AVOID BEING "GREEN" ...because they think it will cost too much money. Being ecologically friendly can actually ADD to your bottom line. In fact, our articles show how "being green" is not only Ecologically Sound, but Economically Sound. Learn how: http://www.ECOnomicallySound.com ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- HEY, WHO COULD IT HURT? William Seago, 52, of Paulton, Bath, England, is blind in one eye, and thus not eligible for a large-truck driver's license. He got one anyway by memorizing the chart used for his eye test, and took a job driving a trash truck. While on his route, his two partners were outside the 26-tonne truck as he was turning around in a cul-de-sac. "Mr. Seago appears not to have seen [co-worker and friend Keith] Warman in front of his vehicle," prosecutors say, and ran him over, killing him. Seago admitted careless driving and making a false statement, but was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. (Bath Chronicle) ...Maybe, but he will still be serving a life sentence. WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, THERE'S OBFUSCATION: Marc Grizzard, the pastor of a church in North Carolina, wants to "light a fire" under the faithful -- by having a good old-fashioned book burning. On top of his list of books to burn: the Bible. According to Grizzard, every version except the King James translation is "satanic" and a "perversion" of God's word. His church is the Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, N.C. (AP) ...He definitely has an amazing concept of grace. WORSE, IT WAS THE WRONG ONE: "One-Legged Suspect Caught with One Stolen Shoe" -- AP headline DID YOU FIND an error? See http://www.thisistrue.com/errata.html THIS ISSUE IS LATE AGAIN, due to a bug in the mail system software. You may have noticed in earlier issues that I've been URGING you all to go to the TRUE web site and subscribe again: that adds you to a new version of the distribution list at a different provider that runs multiple servers, so if one has a problem, another will take over. That's not the case at my old provider, Lyris, which (if you're getting this paragraph!) is the one you're subscribed to. So to avoid such problems in the future, PLEASE go to http://www.thisistrue.com now and subscribe again, and when you confirm your subscription I will delete your address from Lyris so you won't get duplicate issues. The thousands of people who have already done that got their issue on time on Friday, and I want to ensure you don't suffer delays in the future. Thanks! I PREPARED MONDAY's Premium issue onboard a completely full flight home from San Francisco, after speaking at a fantastic conference there. I'm coming away from it really energized with ideas for internal business changes that should make me more productive, though you likely won't SEE any changes in TRUE itself. The flight was full (and there were about *50* people waiting on standby) because an earlier flight had been canceled. Understandably, people were pretty cranky, there was FAR more luggage being hauled onboard than could possibly fit in the overhead compartments, and the customer service folks were helping get bags out of the cabin and into the luggage compartment. People were tired, some were angry, and the flight attendants were doing their best to keep things moving. One had stepped into the row right behind me to direct traffic a little. A young (20ish) gal commiserated with her about the cranky passengers, and the flight attendant kept smiling, but said she'd be glad when this flight was over. As I was listening to all of this, I was digging into my backpack to grab a stack of "Get Out of Hell Free" cards, and I handed one to the stew, saying "You may need this." She looked at it and started giggling. "I need this!" she said. "I'll need it every time I make a mistake! I'll probably need it by tomorrow," she said. "You'll probably need it before we land," I said, and she giggled even more. ("Where did you get it?" she asked. "I print them, right here in 9A," I said, which got me yet another smile.) The pretty 20ish blonde gal had a quizzical look, so I handed her one also, and she beamed me a huge smile too as she headed back toward her seat. See, THAT's what GOOHF cards are "for". When I talk to people about them, some don't "get" it; why would anyone want to bother with them? I wasn't in a terrible situation, but it was tense, people were cranky, and after seeing and getting the card, they felt better. And even though I wasn't really affected by the earlier flight cancellation myself, it felt good to *give* a couple of them too. What a nice win- win. More at http://www.GOOHF.com (and check out the "Stories" tab there, too, for stories submitted by readers who have given out cards, and a couple from the recipients, too!) o o o I'VE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF LETTERS lately in this vein, from Lynda in California: "Thanks for keeping the thought processes going. I have been a 'free' subscriber since the mid-90s, only becoming a 'premium' subscriber a couple of years ago. I decided to upgrade to the premium edition when I graduated from college as a gift to myself. Your thought processes got me through some really tough times - they make me laugh, they sometimes make me angry, I don't always agree with your points, but always they make me THINK. I have shared your insights with others and forwarded your free edition to a bunch of my friends and student colleagues. That's how I found your newsletter, so I figured I'd pay it forward so to speak. Keep up the good work!" I don't have a lot of investment over whether people agree with me or not, though I hate it when they don't understand what I'm saying, and argue based on that misunderstanding. But I do care that people come to a conclusion after THINKING, and it's fantastic that readers are not only doing it more, they're understanding just how important it is, since we see in the stories every week just how stupid it looks when people "do" without thinking. I mean really: in MY opinion, giving a kid with a severe peanut allergy a peanut candy bar isn't just malpractice, it's attempted murder. We could scream "WHAT was she THINKING?!" -- but we could ask that with most of the stories. And the answer is, of course, that they're NOT thinking. They're just "doing", reacting, sleepwalking through life. And that's just not the kind of reader I want. I want readers who think. I want *citizens* who think. Voters who think. Politicians who think. Doctors who think. Flight attendants (and pilots!) who think. And really: don't you? TRUE is, in its essence, about people who don't think, and while we can be entertained by that, we can also learn from it. We're ALL "stupid" sometimes; even smart people can do dumb things, and frankly that's one of the reasons that the GOOHF cards list the "7+1 Deadly Sins" on the back (at least, the new "Deluxe" cards do). The "+1" "sin"? Stupidity. It's a reminder that we need to forgive ourselves when we screw up, because we're all humans, and we all screw up. And if you are in a position to help support this mission like Lynda is, I hope you'll also upgrade. You will help keep TRUE going in tough economic times, and you'll be rewarded with twice the stories. http://www.thisistrue.com/upgrade.html AND AMONG THE LATEST postings to Jumbo Joke: Ghost Story. Yeah, it SAYS it's a "true story," but see if you agree. I sure don't, but it's still funny! http://www.JumboJoke.com ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- TECH QUESTIONS? GET ANSWERS 30 years of industry experience at your disposal. You have questions? Come and find the answers fast. Browse the archives or ask a new question at http://ask-leo.com/d-tr ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS got LOTS MORE stories on Monday: Drunk driver figures he can get away with it -- by jumping into the back seat and telling the cop he wasn't driving. Fake bomb threat caller might have gotten away with it -- if he hadn't posted details of the crime online. Drunk driver wearing a cow suit drives into river -- explains that's where the GPS told him to turn. Drive-by shooter misses his ex-girlfriend's house -- which might have something to do with the fact that he forgot to roll down the window before opening fire. And Premium subscribers sound off on Yet Another Outrageous Zero Tolerance Story for the November Tagline Challenge. You can still read it all: just ask for your upgrade to start with the 8 November issue. http://thisistrue.com/upgrade.html TEN YEARS AGO IN TRUE: A new class of bigotry? http://thisistrue.com/6744 And don't forget http://i.thisistrue.com for a new story every day on your iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, or other web-enabled phone! BONZER WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: http://www.kayak.com -- Kayak. Simply the best way to find a flight on the Internet. I travel most every week, and this site has more search features, reaches more airlines, and finds better flights than anything else out there. The key is they don't sell flights directly, so they aren't beholden to the airlines. You can search by departure time, arrival time, include nearby airports and use flexible dates. You can filter by airline or frequent flier program, while excluding connections, redeyes, and small planes. Best of all, the interface is slick and fast, so you don't have reenter a bunch of information when you tweak your travel plans. Don't believe it? Kayak will even launch the other travel search engines with your details so you can compare! (TC) -- Bonzer Sites archive: http://www.BonzerSites.com THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Comic-Con founder Shel Dorf. For the full story see http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com/shel_dorf.html NOTE: The full Honorary Unsubscribe is included in the Premium edition -- you don't have to click to a web site to read it. Support the publication that brings it to you! http://thisistrue.com/upgrade.html HONORARY SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE: http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com YOU CAN REALLY HELP TRUE: Send this issue (in its entirety, please) to a friend with your personal recommendation. A friend told YOU about this newsletter, right? Pass the favor on! Thanks. SUBSCRIPTIONS to "This is True" are free at http://www.thisistrue.com Published weekly by ThisIsTrue.Inc, PO Box 666, Ridgway CO 81432 USA (ISSN 1521-1932). TRUE is available to newspapers as a regular feature column. "This is True" is a registered trademark of ThisIsTrue.Inc COPYRIGHT 2009 by Randy Cassingham, All Rights Reserved. All stories are completely rewritten by Randy Cassingham using facts from the noted sources. ALL broadcast, publication, retransmission to e-mail lists, WWW or any other copying or storage, in any medium, online or not, is STRICTLY PROHIBITED without PRIOR written permission from the author. MANUAL FORWARDING by e-mail to friends is allowed IF 1) the text is forwarded IN ITS ENTIRETY, from the "Since 1994" line on top through the end of this paragraph and 2) NO FEE is charged. We REQUEST that you forward no more than three copies to any one person -- after that, they should get their own FREE subscription. We ALWAYS appreciate people who report violations of our copyright to us. TO COMMENT to the author, see http://www.thisistrue.com/contact.html -- Please include
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