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SINCE 1994 and reaching more than 106,000 subscribers in over 200 countries, this is the 816th weekly issue of... THIS is TRUE: 31 January 2010 Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXHIBIT A: "I think the record should reflect that the witness is vomiting," said the defense attorney in a murder trial in Winnipeg, Man., Canada. Danny Simao, who was being cross-examined, explained he suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and acid reflux, and often vomits when he's under stress. His testimony was expected to take up to five days, but the judge excused court for the day when Simao couldn't stop being sick. (Edmonton Sun) ...Usually it's the jury that pukes during murder trials. WHY THE BRITISH EMPIRE ISN'T ONE ANYMORE -- ANOTHER IN A LONG SERIES: Nicole Mamo, 48, tried to place a help-wanted advert in Thetford, Norfolk, England. The owner of an employment agency, Mamo said applicants for the 5.80-pound/hour (US$9.35) position of cleaner "must be very reliable and hard-working." But the Thetford Jobcentre refused the ad. "She said it was because they could have cases against them for discriminating against unreliable people," Mamo said. "We supply the [National Health Service] with staff, so it's very important for the patients that we have reliable workers." (London Telegraph) ...And really, isn't the term "worker" discriminatory against the lazy, too? ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- SEX, OR ROMANCE? What type of Adventure do YOU want on Valentine's Day? Take our quick survey and get a FREE Adventures subscription! http://www.AdventuresOfRustyWaters.com/sex-or-romance ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- HARD-HEADED GUY: Travis Copeland, 19, was in court in Lake County, Ill., when he saw an opportunity to escape, sheriff's deputies say. Facing a charge of aggravated battery on a police officer, Copeland ran out of the felony courtroom with bailiffs in hot pursuit. As he ran through a skyway over a street, he saw that deputies were closing on him from both ends, so he turned around and tried to dive through the glass. Bad idea: the glass is "bulletproof", and he bounced right off. Had he made it through, he would have fallen 30 feet to the heavy traffic of the street below. (Arlington Heights Daily Herald) ...Hey, he wasn't facing felony charges because he's smart. INSULT TO INJURY: A police officer in Portland, Ore., was sitting at a stoplight when she saw a man who was on fire. The unidentified officer grabbed a fire extinguisher out of her patrol car's trunk and doused the man. It wasn't until later that it was discovered she didn't grab a fire extinguisher, but rather a riot-sized can of pepper spray. The spray "didn't have any additional reaction" on the man, said Kim Kosmas of the Portland Fire Bureau, "with him already being on fire." Police Bureau Chief Rosie Sizer said that "in many, many ways, her acts were heroic," but the mentally ill man, who was committing suicide, died anyway. (Portland Oregonian) ...The officer: not very seasoned. The victim: definitely was. EXCESSIVE FORCE: "Cops Stop Cyclist with Butcher Knife-Pool Cue Axe" -- AP headline DID YOU FIND an error? See http://www.thisistrue.com/errata.html DID THE BRITISH Jobcentre story sound familiar? It sure did to me, and sure enough: http://thisistrue.com/7190 (note the date on that...). THE OTHER HALF of this week's stories included: Governor's special prosecutor and head of anti-gambling task force wins jackpot at casino. Man literally coughs up the evidence in stolen jewelry case -- right in front of the cops. Cat called for jury duty -- and jury commissioner refuses to excuse it from service. Woman doesn't take boyfriend's breakup idea very well -- ends up with felony charges. Politician wants to replace "negative labels" like "poor children", the "disadvantaged" and "at-risk" with politically correct alternative. It's not too late to read these stories: just ask for your upgrade to start with the 31 January issue: http://thisistrue.com/upgrade.html I'M HAPPY TO SAY that the Hard-Headed Guy's escape attempt was captured on security camera video. I'm even happier to say I was able to get my hands on it! It's posted, with his mug shot, on my new site Mug Shot Museum: http://www.MugShotMuseum.com/hardheaded_guy.html I'm *thrilled* at the uptake on the new site: By Monday, it had already broken the world's top-million site list -- 891,415, according to Alexa -- and on Monday it was only a week old! Today, just 11 days after launch, Alexa had it as the 476,664th most-popular web site in the world, and number 44,741 in the U.S. Astounding! It now has a Facebook "fan page", too. If you're on Facebook, you can join the group at http://www.facebook.com/TheMugShotMuseum and click the "Become a Fan" button. TRUE also has a fan page: http://www.facebook.com/ThisIsTrue as well as Get Out of Hell Free cards: http://www.facebook.com/GOOHF We all have Twitter presence too: http://twitter.com/MugShotMuseum http://twitter.com/ThisIsTrue http://twitter.com/GOOHF We're still working on adding some archive mug shots to the museum, but mostly it's new stuff, including some GREAT new postings since last week. There's a place to sign up for e-mail updates if you'd like notice when new items are added (I'm making sure that a maximum of one e-mail alert is sent per day, which should settle down to several per week over time). Last, today I added a place to submit mug shots you find when browsing news sites: there's a link in the footer of every page to that. Enjoy! o o o EARLY WARNING! I'm discontinuing the Get Out of Hell Free card. Well, sort of: the original "classic" black-print-on-orange-stock card will no longer be printed in favor of the MUCH more popular "Deluxe" card, which is printed in color on both sides on heavy coated stock, which ironically costs less to produce. I recently got a big batch of the older cards, so I have PLENTY of packs of 50 and "Jumbo Packs" (boxes full) in stock. I told Premium subscribers about this at Christmastime to give them a chance to stock up, but I was amused to see that while sales of the cards spiked, just about everyone was getting the newer "Deluxe" cards! I always carry a stack of the Deluxe cards, but don't bother with the "classic" ones anymore. I've noticed that when people are wondering what the cards are about, they virtually always turn it over to look at the back; the "Classic" cards don't have anything there, but the Deluxe version has a brief explanation. They're much more "impressive" to the recipient, too. But YOU may prefer the older version; if so, then stock up while you have the chance, because there won't be any more made after current stock is gone. See the buggy old shopping cart at https://secure.thisistrue.com/goohf to see everything currently available in the GOOHF category. (The cart is going to be upgraded "soon".) o o o AMONG THE LATEST postings to Jumbo Joke: Zero Gravity Bureaucracy -- the Real Story. I got tired of the old "space pen" joke that turned into a "this is really true!" urban legend, so I explain what the truth is -- which you may actually find more funny! http://www.JumboJoke.com ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- YOU'RE ASKED AT WORK to supervise a Project Manager. Quick: how do you learn more without looking like an idiot? Learn the basics of Project Management so you can get up to speed quickly on the topic and not look stupid. A New Article Every Week: http://www.ProjectManagementWonk.com ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- TO SUBMIT STORIES and vote on what submissions are best, register for free at http://Groxx.com TEN YEARS AGO IN TRUE: The British Empire might not be an empire anymore, but America is in their footsteps: http://thisistrue.com/7012 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.CaringBridge.org -- CaringBridge. This non-profit site allows people to create special web sites to keep family and friends informed during "difficult times" (medical problems, military deployment, etc.) The CaringBridge software does the work so people can just use it to communicate, rather than try to learn how to create web sites. More than 183,000 sites have been created for families to keep in touch at no cost to them, and with no advertising on the site. To keep things private visitors have to know an exact URL to get to an individual site, and the family can add password protection for extra privacy. -- Bonzer Sites archive: http://www.BonzerSites.com THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Ralph McInerny. A religious scholar, McInerny is better known for his novels, including a series that was made into a popular TV show. For the full story see http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com/ralph_mcinerny.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. 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 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 2010 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. 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