Is it guns? Is it violent TV shows, movies, or video games? Is it crazy America?
Editorial
There Are Still Adventures
There are no more great adventures to be had. Been there, done that, seen it, ho hum …right?
Wrong.
What Nightmares Are Made Of
The first and last stories from this week’s issue (7 October 12) are posted here: the first because you’ve got to shudder at the thought of the poor kid trying to escape a kidnap attempt …when you see the guy’s mug shot. And the last because I want to talk about how the tagline came about — and give you a place to politely discuss the story, if you wish.
Ethics Train Wreck
Last week, my BS-o-Meter failed, and a fake story made it into This is True.
“Gay-Baiting”
I’ve made no secret that I’m pretty much 100 percent egalitarian. I’ve defended the religious, the non-religous, the “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians,” and many others in True’s stories. I’m interested in whether people walk their talk, not whether they’re religious, gay, atheist, pagan, Muslim, employed, educated — whatever.
Another Week, Another Pack
of Clueless School Officials
Two stories this week deserve some follow-up: one that’s pretty light-hearted, and the other …much less so.
Let’s start with the comedy; both stories are from True’s 13 May 2012 issue:
Two Tiny Scandals
Two stories this week will, I think, generate some comments from readers. One has a zero tolerance theme, and the other is a minor political scandal. They’re both from True’s 19 February 2012 issue.
The Worship of Joe Paterno
I posted this on Facebook on Sunday (22 January). The response was amazing:
Sydney Spies’ Yearbook Photo
You don’t really need the photo that the girl submitted to the yearbook to “get” the story in this week’s issue (8 January 12), but she did release it to the media, so I’ll bring it to you — along with some additional details.
Zero Tolerance: Alive and Well
When I run a string of zero tolerance stories, readers typically respond, “What should we do about this?” What I don’t want you to do is emailbomb the school officials or school boards involved.
Rural Electrification, Meet the Rural Internet
Back in the early years of the 20th century, as cities were starting to get electrical power, that was the problem: only cities were getting electrical power.
Are You Liberal, or Conservative?
I think a couple of stories this week will make some people’s heads explode.
The Few, The Proud, the Falsified News Story
There’s a story that’s going around (and around, and around) that’s so full of crap, I thought it was time to set the record straight — it has turned into an urban legend. It also has some profound implications on how someone is trying to manipulate you.
Honorary Unsubscribe: Yueyue
I don’t often copy Honorary Unsubscribe write-ups to the True site: there’s an archive for those. But I suspect readers are going to want to talk about this one, from True’s 23 October 2011 issue:
The Burned and the Bees
A story last week brought a lot of objection from readers. Well, actually, the tagline did. Let’s start with the story, from the 25 September 2011 issue, by Alexander Cohen:
No Parking — Lithuanian Style
I’ve had a couple of complaints about a story in the 7 August 2011 issue. Let’s start with the story:
The Euphemism Treadmill
I ran a story in this week’s issue in part to provoke. Before my editorializing here’s the story, from the 19 June 2011 issue:
Remembrance and Reconciliation
There were a couple of stories I found earlier in the month, but decided to hold until the Memorial Day issue. And they get to be in the blog, since one of them has illustrations you need to see for the complete effect.
Ooh! Do It Again!
Last week I did a harder-than-usual “push” for subscription upgrades. You might like to know the excellent result: 32 upgrades. Just 32 upgrades is “excellent”?! Yep. The week before, it was four. The week before that was better: 15.
The End of the World: 2011 Edition
I can’t just title this page “The End of the World” because that has been predicted before. And before that. And before that, and — well, you get the idea.