The 24 September 2006 issue had a couple of stories which proved to be a bit controversial, so I did a bit more research on them.
First, the stories:
Editorial
Define “Political Correctness”
A story this week is notable not just because of my offered “definition” of “Political Correctness,” but for some interesting commentary it brought. First, the story, from True’s 28 August 2006 issue:
Sadly, This Isn’t a Lawyer Joke
I Expect to Get a Few Complaints from lawyer readers about the lead story this week — a lot of my readers are lawyers. (I also have a relatively high number of cops and preachers in my distribution. Apparently those three professions particularly like this kind of reading.)
Why Publish Letters from “Idiots”?
Now and then there’s a story or item that brings a nearly violent response from a small subset of readers. Even though they are usually represent a very small minority of my readers, I’ll often publish such letters. Why?
Zero Tolerance — the Next Step
The lead story last week brought an outraged response from a reader. First, here’s the story, from the 2 July 2006 issue:
That’s Not Funny!
Now and then a reader will write to say they’re outraged by a story — that it’s “not humorous.”
Is There Too Much ZT in True?
After several ZT-in-schools stories over the last month, Laine in Utah complained:
Help! I’ve Been ZT’d!
My Zero Tolerance page gets lots of readers who presumably find it via web searches. One of those this week was David, a high school senior in California, who has some insight of his own into the problem. He writes:
What Actually Works Against ZT
This week’s issue had several “Zero Tolerance” stories. The stories themselves don’t matter to the following point: Whenever I run stories like these, readers write to suggest I put the principal’s/administrator’s/school board’s email address in the issue to make it easy for you to write and berate them. Please don’t; it’s not useful for you to write nasty letters to these people.
Professional Thieves
The 11 December issue was reruns from 1995 since I was down with the flu. One of those stories was this one (which dealt with trying to embarrass journalists into better writing so there aren’t so many errors in the paper). It was only the second “rerun column” ever in 11-1/2 years of weekly True issues.
Civil Rights: Justice for All, or…?
Read the story, then decide: why did I include it in a weird news column?
Still Fundamentally Wrong
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I dubbed Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson “The American Taliban”. In the four years since, not much has changed. In 2005’s 9/11 issue of True came this story:
The Truth about PETA
Does PETA protect and nurture the animals placed in its care? Find out — this story is from True’s 17 July 2005 issue.
Letters and More Commentary have been added farther down the page (jump there) — and be sure to see the several Updates (jump there).
One Solution to Zero Tolerance
When a fourth-grade girl got nabbed by her school on “Zero Tolerance” grounds, her parents didn’t lie back and take it. Here’s the story, from my 26 May 2005 issue:
Saaya Irie Photos
Saaya Melts Hearts — But May Break Yours
A photo is “worth a thousand words,” so yes, I’ve got the photos (below). But usually you need some words to put the photos in context.
Skirmishes in the War on Drugs
This is True’s 4 September 2005 issue had a line-up of several stories about druggies doing incredibly stupid things. It’s a fairly common theme in True, in fact: drug and alcohol abuse very often makes people do stupid things.
We Don’t Need No Education
This is True often deals with education. That’s due to several factors, including: 1) We all spend so many of our formative years in school, 2) Kids have a knack for doing really dumb things sometimes, and 3) School administrators and teachers always want to outdo the kids, and thus pull even dumber stunts.
Dick Ebersol’s Plane Crash
You may have heard about the plane crash last weekend (November 28, 2004) in Montrose, Colorado, mainly because a “celebrity” was aboard (NBC Sports head Dick Ebersol; his wife is actress Susan Saint James).
Binge Drinking in College: No, Not Funny
I periodically remind people: the stories in This is True are not always meant to be funny. Even the funny ones are often chosen to drive home a point, but sometimes being funny isn’t the way to do that. A good example is this two-story line-up from True’s 3 October 2004 issue:
Live Free or Whine
After seeing my note from last week, and then seeing a paid ad for the Free State Project in True, Tim in New Hampshire wrote to complain: