This is true is a weekly email newsletter about off beat and rather bizarre news for the past week. Here's this week's issue:
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 20:00:00 -0700 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: This is True <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: THIS is TRUE for 1 June List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Don't Mail Here! See Bottom of Message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Dispatched this week to 116,000+ readers in 196 countries, including at least 11 in Malta, it's... THIS is TRUE for 1 June 2003 Copyright 2003 www.thisistrue.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MORON OF THE WEEK: Kevin Barnes, 20, made a pipe bomb with gunpowder from fireworks. Apparently trying to shock his friends -- and his girlfriend -- in his flat in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, Barnes stuck the bomb in his mouth and repeatedly flicked his lighter near the fuse. What happened to him next was ruled by the coroner "accidental death." (PA) ...And was ruled by his girlfriend's parents "significantly preferable to marrying our daughter." IDIOT OF THE WEEK: A homeowner in Fulton County, Ga., was awakened at 2:40 a.m. by the sound of one of his windows smashing and someone coming inside. He ran into the hallway and yelled at the man to leave, but the intruder ran past him into his bedroom and slammed the door in his face. His wife escaped, and police officers dragged the man out from under the bed. The man, who had entered the house by diving through a window, severed an artery during the stunt and bled to death before an ambulance could arrive. Meanwhile, Obadiah Videau, 21, went on a "mini-rampage" in Fremont, Calif., police say. "A strong-arm robbery, a purse snatching and then ... two [attempted] burglaries," a detective said, ticking off the events of the day. In one of the burglary attempts, Videau fell through an apartment window and severed an artery. He bled to death. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, San Francisco Chronicle) ...Leaving this week's Idiot contest a tie. ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- WHO NEEDS NAPSTER WITH MUSIC THIS CHEAP! And not just music! We carry both VHS & DVD Videos, as well as Video Games for all of the major consoles! Hundreds of titles are added daily, so the disc you can't find today could be here tomorrow! For all your home entertainment needs visit http//www.kto-e.com now! ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- GULLIBLE DEFINED: "I'm a cold-hearted bitch and I want his money," Dorothy Maree, 38, of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, told an undercover Australian police officer when she tried to hire him as a hitman to kill her husband Gerry, 51. Gerry has previously been hospitalized twice after suspected poisonings of sleeping pills or rat poison. "She obviously made some wrong decisions, got in with the wrong crowd," Gerry told an Australian judge, "but that's in the past." He asked that charges be dropped so they could reconcile and return to Canada. The judge refused, even though Gerry testified that he has changed his will to disinherit his wife. (The Vancouver Province) ...Gullible, yes. Stupid is harder to decide. OVERKILL DEFINED: A 14-year-old boy in Barnstable, Mass., was arrested after distributing drugs to several classmates -- Viag_ra. "This is not something we generally come across," a police spokesman said, adding the boy gave pills to three friends. "One of the boys took it and nothing happened." (AP) ...Of course not -- that's like lighting a match on the sun. JUST AS YOU SUSPECTED: "Slump in Visitors Leaves Lions and Tigers Hungry at Chinese Zoo" -- Washington Post headline DID YOU FIND an error? See http://www.thisistrue.com/errata.html I'M PUTTING THIS ISSUE TOGETHER on Tuesday, since as this goes out I'll be on the road (but back Saturday). Thus there are no eBay auctions running right now, and no Honorary Unsubscribe this week. RETURNING TO the periodic feature where readers tell about where they live, Richard says: "I am writing to you from Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, and recently voted the friendliest city in the world. New Zealand is just to the southeast of Australia, and we are often mistaken by people as part of Australia -- completely not true, and an easy way to cause offence. We are often well known for our sporting prowess, including RUGBY, cricket, sailing and extreme sports (skiing/snowboarding and bungee jumping!), and sheep farming, with approximately 12 sheep for each person -- 46 million sheep and almost 4 million people. We are responsible for actors Russell Crowe and Sam Neill, the first man to climb Mt Everest Sir Edmund Hillary, Pavlova (the cake), and we are the first country other than America to successfully defend the America's Cup, despite just losing it a month ago to the landlocked country of Switzerland, owing to some of our best sailors 'jumping ship' to their team. Our native people are the Maori, and we were the first country in the world to give women the vote." Kerry writes: "I don't really think I'm in an unusual place, but my situation may be unusual: I am a truck/bus driver for the entertainment industry. I use a Sprint data card as my modem. My laptop is mounted on the dash via a docking station on a shock resistant pedestal. I have a GPS system, printer, fax, copier, satellite TV, XM and Sirrius satellite radios, DVD-RW, CD-RW and USB 80 gig hd all installed in a roll-behind toolbox that I can take out, thus preventing myself from becoming featured in your newsletter when some lowlife decides they want what I've got, and I decide they can't have it! I am currently enroute to Las Vegas for a Microsoft convention, then L.A. to N.Y. for Letterman, then N.Y.C. back to L.A. for a Hugh Hefner Party. Some week and a half, huh?" I'll say. Just make sure you keep an eye on the road, eh? And John: "I am an American in dispersion living in the wonderful Kingdom of Sweden. I live in Harnosands kommun in the 'landskap' (folk land, not landscape) of Angermanland (fjord man country) in the province of Vasternorrland (West Northland), which is on the east coast of Sweden. This makes sense only if one knows that East Northland is on the west coast of Finland. We are still rising out of the sea after the last ice age at the rate of 1 cm per year, which has gained the High Coast (the stretch of coast from here up to Ornskoldsvik) a place in the UN World Heritage list." For the record, John used proper diacritical marks on the "foreign" words in his note, but TRUE is sent out in "plain text" to make it readable by any e-mail program. If you're in an interesting location, tell me about it. Give some detail as to WHY it's interesting. Contact info is below, as always. JASON IN GEORGIA writes, "Thanks for having the free edition. I, with an ashamed, sheepish look on my face, have been receiving it for maybe two or three years. I appreciate your patience. As I'm starting a Ph.D. in forestry, I decided I couldn't wait any longer. The worst part of the free issue is seeing all the great sounding stories that I missed. Well, no longer. Again, thanks Randy. I really appreciate your hard work and sense of humor." No need to be ashamed, Jason. If you can afford it, great -- I appreciate the support. If not, there's no reason not to enjoy the free edition! All I ask is that free subscribers help TRUE grow by "spreading the word" a bit. The copyright notice (below) does allow you to forward issues to friends. Adding your personal recommendation is the best "word of mouse" possible. THE LAST WORD on commas -- at least for now -- comes from Michelle, a professional editor in Pennsylvania: "To all the folks expending so much time, energy and research on the earth-shattering topic of whether or not to use a comma when referring to your lovely wife, I offer my humble wish that they might spend even half that much energy working to improve their neighborhoods and communities, their government or their environment. (In other words, get over it. And get a life, people.) ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- LOVE YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA, BUT HATE YOUR INKJET PRINTS? There is now a REAL Photo Lab that uses REAL Photographic Paper and Chemicals to make quality photographs from digital cameras. Jim's Photo Lab in El Paso, Texas (a real brick & mortar photo lab) can make BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHS from your digital camera. True readers get free shipping for a limited time by going to: http://www.JimsPhotoLab.com/True.html ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS got LOTS more on Monday: Woman "spoils" her children -- with alcohol and sex. Man fleeing police picks the wrong house to hide. Woman fleeing police finds the "home free" principle is a myth. City council flag "a few stars short". State's display features the wrong Constitution. WD-40 company asks politicians to stop calling themselves "the WD-40s" to denote they're "white Democrats over 40 years old". AND a Premium-exclusive Tagline Challenge -- readers supply their best tags for a story about a college tutor who was caught taking exams for students. And upgrades start at a mere 10 bucks! For details see http://thisistrue.com/upgrade.html NO HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE this week due to my travel. SICK OF DUMB URBAN LEGEND "lawsuit" stories told as if they were real? Get the TRUE Stella Awards -- a sister "This is True" publication by Randy Cassingham -- more proof that "Truth is Stranger than Fiction". See sample issue and subscribe free at http://www.StellaAwards.com or send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBSCRIPTIONS to "This is True" are FREE. Just send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or see our web site. Published weekly by Freelance Communications, PO Box 17326, Boulder CO 80308 USA since 1994 (ISSN 1521-1932). TRUE is available to newspapers as a regular feature column. "This is True" is a registered trademark. FOR INFO on TRUE subscriptions, our book collections or other products, see http://www.thisistrue.com COPYRIGHT 2003 by Randy Cassingham, All Rights Reserved. All stories are completely rewritten by Randy Cassingham using facts from the noted source(s). 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 "Dispatched to" 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:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Distribution sponsored by Lyris Technologies, Inc. <http://www.lyris.com> This copy sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO UNSUBSCRIBE: DO NOT reply to this message! Simply send any message mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] This method works no matter what address you send from. -- Larry C. Lyons ======================================================== Life is Complex. It has both real and imaginary parts. ======================================================== Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
