THIS is TRUE #824: 28 March
This is True
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FINAL NOTICE BEFORE STAND-ALONE MESSAGES
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SINCE 1994 and reaching more than 106,000 subscribers in over 200
countries, this is the 824th weekly issue of Randy Cassingham's...
THIS is TRUE: 28 March 2010 Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com
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UNTIL DEATH DO THEY PART: After a fight with his wife, a man in Houston,
Texas, allegedly fired a shot, which brought police. Gerald Lancaster
was apparently upset when his wife decided to walk out during the
argument. It was about 1:30 a.m., and a SWAT team was called out when
Lancaster wouldn't come out to speak with officers. At 5:30 a.m.,
police fired teargas into the house, but Lancaster held firm. "It
seemed like it didn't even faze him," said a police lieutenant. "He's a
pretty tough gentleman." At 7:30 a.m., SWAT officers went in after him
-- and apparently woke him up; Lancaster was arrested quietly, police
say. Lancaster said the argument started over his drinking. He is 84
years old. He told police he had been married "too damn long." (Houston
Chronicle) ...Somehow, I'll bet it has been longer for his wife.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? An unnamed man in Bonita Springs, Fla., got upset at
the clerk in a cell phone store; he says the clerk skipped him to help
someone who came in after him. The man admits he threw his coffee on
the floor and stomped out. But the clerk chased after him, telling the
man to "get back inside the store and clean up your mess." The man
instead got into his car, and the clerk stood in the way, saying he was
going to call police. The clerk told police the man ran into him, but
the customer says the clerk jumped on the hood of the car. The man
"panicked" and drove off, police say, but he left one thing behind at
the store: his wife. (Naples Daily News) ...That could be the best
thing that could happen to her.
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NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LAUNCH: The NASA Inspector General has criticized
the space agency for buying snacks for attendees at a conference in
Baltimore, Md. It wasn't really the snacks, but what the agency paid
for them: $62,611 to the Hyatt hotel for bagels, cookies and juice for
317 attendees -- about $66 per person per day for what was called
"light refreshments." The audit said the agency also didn't bother to
price-shop to find cheaper locations for its conferences. A NASA
official defended the snacks, saying they keep attendees from
"wandering away." The subject of the conference in question: training
for procurement agents -- people who buy goods and services for NASA.
Example seminar: "How to determine a reasonable price." (AP) ...They're
from the government. They're experts on that.
HE HUFFED, AND HE PUFFED: Pennsylvania state troopers were called to a
highway in Oliver Township on a report of a man trying to perform
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation -- on roadkill. Trooper Jamie Levier said
several witnesses reported to him what the man was doing with the run-
over opossum, and said when he arrived, the man "did have his mouth in
the area of the animal's mouth, I guess." Not surprisingly, he also
observed the man was "extremely intoxicated." Donald Wolfe, 55, was
arrested and charged with public drunkenness. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
...If the thing wasn't dead already, his breath would probably have
finished the job.
YEAH, WELL, IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS: "Polk Man Dies of Morphine
Overdose While Celebrating His Clean Drug Test" -- St. Petersburg
(Fla.) Times headline
DID YOU FIND an error? See http://www.thisistrue.com/errata.html
BRIAN IN ALASKA writes, "Is it just me, or have readers' testimonials
intensified over the years? I feel shamed each week as I read from your
Premium readers about how much superior their subscription is to ours.
They flaunt their TRUE paraphernalia and extra stories, almost like
they forget we are family! After all, are not we all TRUE readers?"
Cousins, at least! But it's probably just you. Seriously: I actually
don't run that many "our Premium is better than yours" letters --
certainly not every month, let alone every week. As for your "shame",
perhaps that's why you're thinking it's intensifying. I don't mean to
shame anyone -- really. I don't mind if anyone stays on the free list
forever without ever upgrading. What I'm trying to overcome in my
pushes from time to time is inertia -- the very large number of people
who "mean to" upgrade, but just haven't gotten to it. The number one
thing I hear from people after they upgrade is some variation on "It's
fantastic, and I wish I had done it sooner." The Premium subscribers
are THE force behind TRUE, in that their subscription payments keep the
whole operation running, but I also want to help them not kick
themselves for not doing it sooner.
That's especially true now, in this sucky economy. Despite the rising
employment numbers released today, things are still bad for a LOT of
people, including of course many TRUE readers. That has hit TRUE pretty
hard, starting early: income-wise, 2007 was significantly down over
2006; 2008 was down from 2007; 2009 was down from 2008. And the first
quarter of 2010 is WAY down from the first quarter of 2009. I'm happy
to say that *doesn't* mean TRUE is in danger of bankruptcy, since I've
really been working on reducing costs the past few years, but obviously
this has to reverse pretty soon, "or else".
So, if you're one of those who's suffering from the economy, you have
my sympathy! If you're one of the lucky ones who has managed to stay
pretty even, TRUE could *definitely* use your support. Especially if
you've been "meaning to" upgrade. The best way to support TRUE is to
upgrade your subscription, getting you double the number of stories and
other great benefits. http://www.thisistrue.com/upgrade.html has the
details.
There are great ways to help TRUE without spending cash, too, of
course, including "telling a friend" about it. After all, a friend told
YOU about this newsletter, right? Maybe with a link on their site, or
by forwarding the newsletter? Please pass the favor on! For other
suggestions see http://www.thisistrue.com/helptrue.html
Whatever you do, thanks: SO many great online publications have died
over the years because their readers didn't care, and did nothing to
support them. I want to make sure TRUE isn't one of them, and hope you
feel that way too.
o o o
I'VE BEEN THINKING of reviving my "Cranky Customer" site. As I was
finishing up with this issue, a friend sent out a crank about a
shopping stop he made today. He addressed it to several friends, and I
thought it was a lovely rant, so I asked him if I could put it on CC.
"I'd be honored," he replied. He talks about "The World's Most Advanced
E-Book Reader": http://www.CrankyCustomer.com
More crankiness to come "soon". >:-(
THERE HAVE BEEN SOME GREAT mug shot write-ups this past week. The
funniest is probably "Call Ahead for Fastest Service". "Snippy" and
"Just Another Drunk Driver" are among the most astounding. "Poetic
Justice" will just make you smile. See http://www.MugShotMuseum.com for
those and many others.
I'm testing a new ad service there: you'll see a block under each
story. It's from a new service I'm testing, and it shows the price
right under the ad. The price right now is an amazing 60 *cents*. Per
click? Per view? Nope: PER DAY. If more than one person goes for it,
then it gets into a bidding process until it reaches its own "market
price" for what it's really worth. The ad block gets 3,000-5,000 views
per day; at 60 cents, that's $0.0002 per impression (or less!) That's
so cheap, I signed up with the service to BUY ads too. In the past 24
hours my ads have received 8,500+ impressions (6,200 of those are
"unique" impressions) for a grand total of 52 cents! My best-performing
ad has 31 clicks for 18 cents' worth of exposure -- that's $0.006 each
(six-tenths of a cent per click). ANYONE trying to make money online
can afford that! So you may want to give it a try. And be sure to try
some spots on the Mug Shot Museum, too! :-)
YEAH, WE'RE ALL OVER Twitter and Facebook:
http://twitter.com/ThisIsTrue
http://www.facebook.com/ThisIsTrue
http://twitter.com/MugShotMuseum
http://www.facebook.com/TheMugShotMuseum
http://twitter.com/GOOHF
http://www.facebook.com/GOOHF
AND AMONG THE LATEST postings to Jumbo Joke: Expert Predictions (they'll
make you feel better!) http://www.JumboJoke.com
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WRITING AND PUBLISHING: Get up to speed quickly and learn about writing
and publishing -- without looking stupid. Whether you're interested in
art publishing, poetry, publishing your own book, or getting into
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and publishing. Please visit us at http://www.PublishingWonk.com
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THE OTHER HALF of the stories this week included: Man sues airline
because flight attended refused to come to the restroom to look at the
man's crotch (yeah, really!) Co-worker lets school bus drive off with
kids -- even though he smelled booze on her breath. Map in ad placed by
India's government shows capital city New Delhi located in Pakistan.
Man leaves more than 100 snakes behind when he moves out of his
foreclosed-on home. Stop missing half the content! Upgrades start at
just $10: http://thisistrue.com/upgrade.html
TEN YEARS AGO IN TRUE: OK, when *I* chuckle at an old story, I know it's
worthy of being featured in this space: http://thisistrue.com/7091
And don't forget http://i.thisistrue.com for a new story every day on
your iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, or other web-enabled phone!
THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Marty Lederhandler, an
eyewitness to more history that just about anyone. For the full story
see http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com/marty_lederhandler.html
AND SO LONG to actor Robert Culp ("I Spy"), dead after a fall March 31 at
79.
AND TO actor John Forsythe ("Bachelor Father", "Charlie's Angels" and
"Dynasty"), dead April 1 at 92 from pneumonia.
HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE: http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com
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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