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SINCE 1994 and reaching at least 43,787 subscribers, this is the 987th
  weekly issue of Randy Cassingham's...

THIS is TRUE: 12 May             Copyright 2013 http://www.thisistrue.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZERO TOLERANCE -- MIGHTIER THAN A SWORD DIVISION: Two second-graders from
  Driver Elementary School in Suffolk, Va., were suspended. The 7-year-
  old boys' crime: using pencils as "guns." They pointed the writing
  instruments at each other and made "shooting noises," which violated
  the school's zero tolerance policy prohibiting "look-alike guns."
  That's "intimidating and threatening," said school spokeswoman Bethanne
  Bradshaw. "It doesn't have a place in the classroom." She added that
  doing the same thing with fingers is also forbidden, as is drawing a
  picture of a gun. "It's an effort to try to get kids not to bring any
  form of violence, even if it's violent play, into the classroom,"
  Bradshaw said. "There has to be a consequence because it's a rule."
  (RC/Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot) ...As a rule, I'm beginning to
  dislike government school spokesdroids.

ZERO TOLERANCE, SCIENCE DIVISION: Polk County, Fla., school officials
  said Kiera Wilmot, 16, committed a "serious breach of conduct." A local
  prosecutor said Wilmot committed a felony: "possessing or discharging
  weapons or firearms" on campus. What did Wilmot do? She put toilet bowl
  cleaner and aluminum foil in an 8 oz. bottle near a lake by her school
  and watched it explode. Wilmot called it a science project, and said
  she'd only expected it to produce smoke. Principal Ron Pritchard said
  Wilmot was "a good kid" and had been "very honest" about the incident,
  and that no injuries or damage to school property resulted.
  Nevertheless, Wilmot was arrested and expelled. "In order to maintain a
  safe and orderly learning environment," said school officials in a
  press release, "we simply must uphold our code of conduct rules."
  Scientists have rallied behind Wilmot online, posting essays in her
  defense and tweeting about what they'd blown up in school. "Most of us
  didn't become scientists because of something that happened in a
  classroom," Danielle Lee explained. But police said Wilmot's science
  teacher hadn't known what she was doing. (AC/WTSP St. Petersburg,
  Toronto Star) ...Because it's only science if the authorities approve
  -- just ask Galileo.

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                         LAST WEEK's newsletter:
                 http://www.thisistrue.com/lastweek.html

ZERO TOLERANCE, UNEQUAL TREATMENT DIVISION: David "Cole" Withrow, a
  senior at Princeton (N.C.) High School, was expelled from school and
  now faces felony charges because he accidentally brought an unloaded
  shotgun onto school property. The Eagle Scout and Honors student had
  gone skeet shooting, and after arriving at school he realized he had
  never taken the gun out of his pickup truck. He called his mom to come
  get it, but school officials overheard the call and called the sheriff;
  they say their zero tolerance gun policy mandates expulsion.
  "Administration reacted promptly and the proper procedures and protocol
  were followed," says school spokeswoman Tracey Peedin Jones. "The law
  is very clear when a person knowingly and willingly brings a weapon
  onto educational property." Students and community members both
  protested, pointing out that two different school officials
  accidentally brought guns to local schools in recent years, but they
  were neither fired nor arrested. One was an assistant principal at the
  same school, who brought a loaded handgun to school. A teacher at
  another school also brought a gun, and decided to resign. The Johnston
  County Sheriff's Office confirmed that when it comes to guns on campus,
  school officials are normally charged with a misdemeanor, and students
  are "automatically" charged with a felony. (RC/WTVD Durham) ..."No
  state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
  protection of the laws." --14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

UNARMED, NOT DANGEROUS: Steve Simonar, 55, was pulled over in Saskatoon,
  Sask., Canada, and asked why he was not wearing his seatbelt. "Nobody
  ever gave me a seatbelt ticket because, you know, I can't wear one. I
  can't put it on," Simonar says. He lost both arms at the shoulder in an
  electrical accident in 1985, and has always been exempt from the
  seatbelt law. His cars are specially modified so he can drive with his
  feet. Saskatchewan Government Insurance has approved of every one of
  his modified vehicles, and he has a letter from his doctor saying he
  needs to be exempt from the seatbelt law, but SGI is now requiring a
  special exemption issued only by themselves to get a pass. Simonar says
  he wasn't notified of the change, and Saskatoon Police gave him a $175
  ticket, even though it's rather obvious he'll be granted an exemption
  as soon as he applies for it. "I'm a rare bird," Simonar says, "and
  that's what kind of makes this whole thing stupid. I'm the exception to
  the rule and it has to be treated that way." Police spokeswoman Alyson
  Edwards shrugged it off. "Wearing a seatbelt is the law," she said. "We
  can't just simply look away and say, 'drive on.'" (RC/Toronto Star)
  ...Isn't that exactly what happens with a warning?

WHO COULD HAVE POSSIBLY ANTICIPATED SOMETHING GOING WRONG HERE? "Houston
  Teen Injured When Plan to Blow up Turtles with Homemade Bomb Goes Awry"
  -- KHOU Houston, Texas, headline

DID YOU FIND an error? See http://www.thisistrue.com/errata.html

THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS: MS-Mike Straw, AC-Alexander Cohen, RC-Randy
  Cassingham.

I WRITE WEIRD STORIES. I get weird e-mails from readers. I get weird
  *complaints* from readers. And now: weird "unsubscribe" comments from
  readers: http://www.thisistrue.com/blog-unusual_unsubscribes.html

THE FIRST THREE STORIES this week have been THE most-suggested stories of
  the past 10 days. They're more examples of how we are making being
  bright -- or just being a child -- more and more punishable by law.
  Which will have WHAT effect on us in the long run? Well, kids grow up
  and, for example, become cops who ticket armless drivers for not
  putting on their seatbelts. (Or judges: Simonar has been to court
  before, for not putting money in a parking meter. He appeared before a
  judge to show why he can't put coins in a parking meter. The judge
  found him guilty, suggesting he use his *teeth* to put coins in the
  meter. Picked up from WHERE, exactly? He apparently didn't have
  suggestions for that. And remember, this is Canada: the U.S. doesn't
  have a monopoly on the ZT mindset!)

  There is an update already on the second story, about the girl charged
  with a felony for making a "bomb" in an 8oz bottle. The State
  Attorney's office announced it extended "an offer of diversion of
  prosecution to the child" -- essentially, a probation-like program of
  community service. Then, "The Polk County School District will take the
  State Attorney's decision into consideration in determining what, if
  any, further disciplinary action is appropriate," said a spokeswoman
  for the school district.

  Meanwhile, former NASA engineer Homer Hickam (whose book "Rocket Boys"
  was made into the film "October Sky") offered to pay for a scholarship
  for Wilmot to the United States Advanced Space Academy. She has
  accepted. Details: http://bit.ly/11L53J3

  I have said over the years that what will REALLY turn the tide on zero
  tolerance is for enough people to push back. That pushback is slowly,
  but surely, gaining momentum.

                                  o o o

WHEN PEOPLE UNSUBSCRIBE from This is True, they have the opportunity to
  leave comments. Most don't, and oddly some think they "have to" (I mean
  really: "No comment."?) And of course some use it as an opportunity to
  protest -- like when I tell the truth that they don't want to hear.

  And then there are the weird ones.

  Continues: http://www.thisistrue.com/blog-unusual_unsubscribes.html

MAN SPENDS $2,600 trying to win $300 video game (and then he gets mad).
  Man says he didn't think it was the police pulling him over for a
  traffic violation (and then it gets REALLY weird, since it's in
  Florida). Man gets into tussle with flight attendant; it's now in court
  to see who gets the last laugh. Man leaves scene of accident; his next
  victim is the definition of irony. Man gets in tussle with clerk at
  tractor supply company; the employee gets the last laugh. Another
  example of school obliviocy: zero tolerance for the kids, massive
  tolerance for adult employees. An example of WHY it's illegal for
  felons to possess firearms or ammunition. PLUS the results of the May
  Reader Tagline Challenge. Take that, add it to this free edition, take
  out the outside ads, and what you have is the Premium edition. Try a
  four-month "Sample" of expanded issues for just $10! For details see
  http://www.thisistrue.com/upgrade.html

THE LATEST POSTING TO JUMBO JOKE: Warning: Read This Warning (supposedly
  true warning labels from real products). http://www.JumboJoke.com

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TEN YEARS AGO IN TRUE: When cop arrives to quiet down a loud party, the
  women partygoers start to undress him. http://www.thisistrue.com/8619

  And don't forget http://i.thisistrue.com for a new story every day on
  your Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, or other web-enabled phone!

THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Al Fritz. An engineer, Fritz
  started a new bicycle craze -- and a new sport -- with the Sting-Ray (I
  had one!) See http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com/al_fritz.html for his
  story.
-- Honorary Unsubscribe archive: http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com

YOU CAN REALLY HELP TRUE: Send this issue (in its entirety, please) to a
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TIRED OF BEING TOLD WHERE TO GO? "Get Out of Hell Free" with our popular
  and (in?)famous cards, created in response to a reader telling Randy he
  was doomed. http://www.GOOHF.com

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