THIS is TRUE #808: 6 December

[This is True]

SINCE 1994 and reaching more than 107,000 subscribers in over 200
countries, this is the 808th weekly issue of...

THIS is TRUE: 6 December 2009 Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MR. POTATO HEAD, ESQ.: Attorney Sam Kepfield was defending a woman in a
Hutchinson, Kan., court who said she had participated in a check
forging scheme because a man had threatened to kill her dog and harm
her daughter if she didn't. To demonstrate the concept of "imminent
threat" to the jury, Kepfield pulled a pin on a hand grenade and set it
on the ledge in front of the jury box, asking them "Are you afraid
now?" District Judge Richard Rome ordered Kepfield to remove it, and
deputies took the grenade -- a fake -- into evidence, since
unauthorized possession of any weapon in court, even fake ones, is a
crime, said Reno County Sheriff's Capt. Wayne Baughman. The jury took
15 minutes to convict Kepfield's client. (Kansas City Star, AP) ...So
his defense tactic was a dud too.

POLYESTER PROPHECY: Joanne Nelson, 39, was sentenced to 3 years in prison
after a 3-day vandalism spree in St. Joseph, Mo. She drove her teen son
and his friend around so they could vandalize cars, paint vulgarities
on a garage, and break out windows, causing thousands of dollars in
damage. And when the cops showed up, they noted the message printed on
her t-shirt: "It's All Fun & Games Until the Cops Show Up". (St. Joseph
News-Press) ...And now the real fun begins.

----------==========**********O**********==========----------
Stretch the Holiday Cheer with Thinking Putty

* Stretch it! Bounce it! Tear it! Shape it!
* The perfect stocking stuffer in amazing holiday colors!
* Don't know what to give this season? Discover Thinking Putty!

http://www.puttyworld.com/tis
----------==========**********O**********==========----------

VEILED THREAT: When a robber held up a betting parlor in Leeds, West
Yorkshire, England, he probably thought his disguise was pretty good:
he wore a baseball cap to hold a veil over his face. He escaped with
400 pounds (US$665). But when police detectives viewed security camera
footage, they could see right through the veil -- two officers
immediately recognized the robber as Michael Clough, 20. Clough, was
quickly apprehended in his flat just a few hundred yards away from the
scene of the crime. He confessed and was jailed for four years. (London
Telegraph) ...Support local business: when you rob, rob local.

AND DAMNED IF YOU DON'T: Gary Tudesko went bird hunting at sunrise in
Willows, Calif., but apparently came up empty-handed. He didn't have
time to go home or he'd be late for school, so he went straight there.
Since his school has a "zero tolerance" policy regarding firearms, and
he still had his unloaded shotguns in his truck, he was careful to park
on the street so his guns would not be on the Willows High School
campus, even in the parking lot. But a random search of parked cars on
the street by dogs revealed the guns, and Principal Mort Geivett said
he was justified in suspending the junior on the grounds that the
school is responsible for students both on the way to school, and on
the way home. "I'm erring on the safe side of protecting staff and
kids," Geivett said. The Willows Unified School District board of
trustees voted 4-0 to expel the boy indefinitely, in part because of
Tudesko's recent poor grades -- which he got because he was already on
suspension when several assignments and tests were given, his mother
said. (Chico Enterprise-Record) ...Area residents are hunting for
common sense in the schools, but will come up empty-handed.

NOT ALL OF THEM, ANYWAY: "Geek Realises 'All Hot Girls Aren't Evil'" --
Sydney (Australia) Daily Telegraph headline

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

IF YOU'RE READING THIS, that means you're on the OLD e-mail server and
REALLY need to re-subscribe. We're actually having significant delivery
problems with this server, most notably with Comcast and POBox.com, so
if you've been missing issues, that's why. Please go right away to the
web site and subscribe again: http://www.thisistrue.com -- well over
10,000 subscribers already have, and they're not missing issues. It
only takes a minute. Thanks!

I KNOW THE SLUG (title) for the first story doesn't make sense, but it
did in Premium: there were three more "Potato" stories above it that
puts it all in context, and were all related to each other, but it was
easier to take those out than do something else. So just trust me: it
was an amusing juxtaposition....

NEED A THOUGHT-PROVOKING GIFT, even at the last minute? You can give a
Premium TRUE upgrade, and if you ask we'll even send a gift
announcement on Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day. The regular
shopping cart has a place to put in gift instructions (including BOTH
the recipient's name and e-mail address, please), and we'll take care
of the rest. And don't forget the most deserving recipient: yourself!
http://www.thisistrue.com/upgrade.html

TEN YEARS AGO this week I was taken to task by a reader who thought I
might be an "a*hole history revisionist" for a story I did on turning
an ICBM silo into a museum. It's a pretty amusing exchange in my blog:
http://www.thisistrue.com/blog-museum_of_geopolitical_insanity.html

THIS is TRUE is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ThisIsTrue
Get Out of Hell Free, too: http://twitter.com/GOOHF
Is Twitter useful, or a time-sink? http://thisistrue.com/d-twitter

And what the heck, while I'm at it:

TRUE on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/ThisIsTrue
GOOHF on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/GOOHF
Me personally on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/Cassingham (where I
DO accept links from readers, but note that has some duplication
with the TRUE Facebook page.)

o o o

AND AMONG THE LATEST postings to Jumbo Joke: What some students are
telling their professors as they try to leave to go home for the
holidays: "I *Have* to Pass This Class!" 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:

http://www.ProjectManagementWonk.com
----------==========**********O**********==========----------

COMING UP FAST ON GROXX today: "Woman Gets Letter: 'Sorry You're Dead'"
Submit stories and vote on what submissions are best, register for free
at http://Groxx.com

PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS got LOTS MORE stories on Monday: Man takes unspent
ordnance to fire station. Woman takes unspent ordnance to police
station. Man calls cops to come for unspent ordnance -- but not until
he ran over it a few times to "see what would happen." Victims bite off
home-invasion robber's nose. PLUS: results of the December Reader
Tagline Challenge. Want to read the extra stories? Ask for your upgrade
to start with the 6 December issue: http://thisistrue.com/upgrade.html

TEN YEARS AGO IN TRUE: The funny part isn't THAT the guy delivered his
wife to court, it's how and why: http://thisistrue.com/6924
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 H. Harrison Hurt. A lot of
motorcyclists owe Hurt their lives, since... For the full story see
http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com/h._harrison_hurt.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 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, mailto:ar...@thisistrue.com -- Please include
your first name and location.
Distribution sponsored by Lyris Technologies, Inc. <http://www.lyris.com>
This copy sent to: [peta...@gmail.com]
TO UNSUBSCRIBE, DO NOT reply to this message! Simply click this URL:
http://wood.lyris.net/u?id=2639436.24544e78a46cf96f20e7c82621fac850&n=T&l=this-is-true&o=14055209