One last word about my being called “anti-God” for a recent story. I’m not going to name the reader or her location so she can’t be identified:
Reader Feedback
Why is a Touch of Equal Time a Problem?
As I put this week’s issue to bed, I thought I had done a terrific job of handling what could have been a very controversial story. But let’s go to the start — here’s the story from the 3 June 2007 issue:
Keeping the Balance Balanced
Yes, True is sometimes a touch raw. Usually it works out fine — it’s balanced well between tragedy (like a school committing a grievous Zero-Tolerance punishment on a truly innocent kid) and comedy. But now and then, after I’ve written an issue, something comes up that tilts the balance, and the result is awkwardly off-kilter.
The Public Be Damned
In the 28 January issue I ran a story about two murderers who escaped from prison in England. I noted the story was an example of “zero tolerance” mentality migrating to the real world:
Another Day, Another Cry-Baby
Quite a few Premium subscribers actually stay on the free distribution specifically to see the advertising. That’s cool: the advertisers pay for the free distribution, so it’s nice that people actually look at the ads! But now and then people whine about the ads. That’s dumb: without them, they wouldn’t be getting the newsletter at all, would they?!
Peace Sign
In the 3 December 2006 issue I led with this story:
Political Correctness II
Speaking of pointing out the foibles of politicians (as I did in last week’s entry), and speaking of political correctness, last week’s story about the U.K. Member of Parliament who called people in his district “inbred” brought quite a few comments, with most being hard on me.
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:
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?
A “Letter”? From an “Editor”!
Do the ! and ? in the title above, in relation to the quotation marks, bother you? Vindicate you? Make you wonder? Maybe you’ll enjoy this little debate, which opened in the 22 January 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.”
Should Readers be Exempt?
My conversational style brings lots of response from readers. Usually, that response is intelligent, thoughtful, and sometimes even very entertaining. Now and then, the response is stupid, ill-thought-out, and sometimes even very entertaining. While I obviously love the first kind, it’s a lot more fun to deal with the second type.
Is There Too Much ZT in True?
After several ZT-in-schools stories over the last month, Laine in Utah complained:
True: It’s Not for Everyone
Some people even whine when I say maybe they wouldn’t like to upgrade. Really.
Here’s what I said in last week’s newsletter:
Happy Politically Correct Holiday
Last week’s issue included this story, which naturally brought an incredibly whiny complaint by someone who clearly didn’t understand the concept at all:
Psychic Pay Increase
I often say that the “psychic pay” I get for doing this job is as good, or sometimes better, than the paycheck. Maybe you’ll see what I mean when you read this letter from reader Byron in Colorado — and my comments below it:
Another Self-Proclaimed Religious Scholar
So I got this email from a reader demanding to know why I make my world-famous “Get Out of Hell Free” cards available. I’ve written about that quite a bit over the years, so I don’t intend to repeat it all here (see the GOOHF site if you’re not already aware of the story. The basic answer, though, is “Because people like them.”)
Got GOOHFy
I think it’s an obvious concept, but Richard in (I think) Connecticut writes:
Did You “Get” It?
An illustrative letter from reader Georges in France:
The Dumb Leading the Blind
Last week I ran a story about how hundreds of celebrities were on the defense witness list for the Michael Jackson trial. The tag: “…Stevie Wonder is particularly upset at being named. ‘Yeah I was there,’ he admits. ‘But I didn’t see anything!'”