In the 25 August 2002 newsletter, there was a paid ad for an anti-Bush bumper sticker. The ad’s headline: There’s Dirt Under Every Bu$h. That led to (ahem) several reader letters:
Reader Feedback
True — You Doubters!
Let’s start with the story. It was in True’s 2 June 2002 issue:
Spawn of Satan
I’m “anti-Christian” again (darn it!) — according to a few Catholic readers, anyway. I refer to the story about the fastest-growing religion in Australia:
HUs: Unclear on the Concept
“Chaos” (i.e., he didn’t stand by his own comment enough to sign a real name) in Massachusetts writes:
ZT: Too Much Coverage?
A couple of letters regarding Zero Tolerance, starting with Wayne in NWT, Canada:
ZT: Reactions from Readers
I’ve gotten plenty of feedback on a recent rash of Zero Tolerance stories. Julie in Iowa (Iowa?! Sheesh. ZT has infiltrated!):
ZT Madness is Spreading!
You might think “Zero Tolerance” is a playground issue — just a way for school administrators to deal with violent kids. If you did, you would be wrong.
Diamond Girl
The following story is pretty good. What happened after could only happen in the Twilight Zone of the Internet.
Isn’t Life Already Short Enough?
A story in the 22 July 2001 issue really captured my interest — it amazes me how people will adapt to their technology, rather than make their technology adapt to them.
Response to ZT: Let’s Mailbomb the Schools!?
After yet more recent “zero tolerance” stories, the tenor of readers is “we want to do something about this!” I’ve had several questions like this, from Aaron in California:
Get to Know a Cop Today
I figured last week’s headline (Black Skin Gives Better Protection than White: Study — AFP) would raise a few eyebrows. Well, not the headline, really, but my lead-in “slug” for it: “Except From the Police”.
Rocket Science?
I personally assign very great value to “job satisfaction.” I mean, I’m a space nerd — I grew up watching the astronauts skipping on the moon — and managed to get onto the engineering staff of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working 10 years there before I quit to devote full time to This is True.
Grasp Of The Obvious
Email makes it easy to complain. Too easy. I find people will literally complain about anything they see online.
Religious Freedom: Only for Christians?
Bryant in Kansas, responding to a couple of recent stories that touched on religion, says: “I’ve grown weary of your newsletter, and your anti-Christian bent. I always wonder why anything ‘Christian’ gets blasted and not any other religion? Don’t tell me that it’s because Christians are so narrow minded. I won’t buy into that one.”
Idiots, or Not Idiots — That is the Question
I got this most interesting letter from a reader:
They’re Trying to Make it Hot in Here
Blasphemy! Yep, that’s what I’m guilty of, if you believe “Santa”, one of several people who wrote about a story in the 23 April 2000 issue. Here’s the story:
Is Nothing Sacred?
The Headline of the Week in last week’s edition, from the Associated Press, noted “Strike Over, Twinkie Shortage Ends”. It was slugged by my comment, “And All of America Breathes a Huge Sigh of Relief”. It’s pretty rare that people comment on the headlines, and even more rare that the comment is negative.
Why oh Why2K?
or, Ponderings on the New Millennium
“I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence.” –William F. Buckley, conservative newspaper columnist.
It all started as a bit of musing in my author’s note in the first issue of the year 2000. Then, the more comments from readers I published, the more they streamed in. Let’s recap. In the issue published 7 January 2000, I pondered:
Museum of Geopolitical Insanity
My recent story on preserving a nuclear missile silo brought a fair amount of mail. Let’s start with the story:
A Real Honorary Unsubscribe
This week the Honorary Unsubscribe marks the first time that I know that the “honoree” was indeed a This is True reader (it’s called “honorary” for a reason!) But in this case, Jerry was, in fact, one of my best friends — and a Premium subscriber.