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Since 1994, this is the 1655th issue of Randy Cassingham’s...
| 1 March 2026: The Owl and the Pussycat | Copyright ©2026 https://thisistrue.com |
Other Good Reading: With the goings-on in Iran, it’s hard to remember that the Russian incursion into Ukraine is now starting its 210th week — the start of its 5th year. A reporter from the Times of London went to Ukraine to report on the fighting, and his coverage is as eye-opening as his dark headline: The village where Russian soldiers have a life expectancy of 12 minutes. (If that does not come up because of your location, try this archived version.)
(As always you’re welcome to copy out that paragraph and forward/post it as desired; credit True if you care to — not required.)
We Fake-o de Translation-ato: Last summer, when Maya Edwards’ husband needed to call the Washington State Department of Licensing to deal with a license problem, the wait was long, but he had the option to “press 2” for help in Spanish. Being bilingual, he pressed 2 to speed things up. “Your estimated wait time is less than tres minutes,” the automated voice said — in English, but with a Spanish accent. “It was hilarious to us in the moment because it was so absurd,” Maya said, but all of the subsequent prompts were similarly in accented English, not Spanish. They got the license problem sorted out, but last month Maya wondered if the Spanish help was now actually presented in Spanish. Nope. She had recorded the session and posted it on TikTok, where it quickly blew up to 2 million views. A WaDOL spokeshuman blamed Amazon-provided A.I. “This is due to technical issues,” Christine Anthony said, “and we are working to fix them as quickly as we can. We apologize for the inconvenience.” (RC/Spokane Spokesman-Review, AP) ...¿Que?
Skynet Is Behind Schedule, but Only by a Few Years: Another A.I.-gone-wrong story, this one not in the U.S. [Premium Only]
Pennies on the Euro: The first time a hacker attack like this has been detected. [Premium Only]
Woo Hoo! No ad this week: there is now an accumulation of 6 new upgrades; we need 5 to omit the ad, so one of those will carry over. But there are also now 9(!!) returning lapsed upgraders, so there will also be no ads for the next two weeks, plus perhaps more upgrades will come in to help keep that going. Plus, I’m working on another idea too. The bottom line is, taking your favorite independent online features for granted means they cannot continue. Please don’t depend on others to support what you love. Upgrade if you can, and thanks.
Innocent, AFAIK: Is being forgetful a defense for criminal behavior? [Premium Only]
Pennies from Heaven: Money literally rains from the sky, but.... [Premium Only]
Mom’s Special Juice: The South Fulton County (Ga.) Police Department posted a warning to parents: “Why are we getting reports of juice boxes sitting next to... Cutwater margaritas?” their Facebook post read. The post included a photo of a canned martini in a lunchbox, along with chips and snacks. “Your child shouldn’t be the only one in the cafeteria with a beverage that requires an ID. If it says 12% ABV it does NOT belong next to a PB&J,” the post continued. “Check the lunchbox before the Fulton County Schools Police resource officers gotta do inventory at recess.” A later post clarified that “This did NOT happen in the City of South Fulton or in Fulton County Schools,” the department said. “We’re sharing this because media outlets have started contacting local schools asking where it happened, and we don’t want any confusion in our community.” (MS/WJBF Augusta) ...Too late.
Escalation: When “Federal agent” becomes a psychiatric diagnosis. [Premium Only]
Stealing the Light: A Canadian Florida man? [Premium Only]
Hero in Cleats: Soccer team makes the most out of losing. [Premium Only]
Still Not a Safe Investment: The lottery ticket was already a winner when Robert Gawlitza bought it. A customer at the Scottsdale, Ariz., Circle K where Gawlitza is store manager had come in the previous day and replayed previously losing lottery ticket combinations. But after $85 worth of tickets had been printed, the customer only paid for $60 worth, abandoning the rest. The day after the drawing, Gawlitza learned that the ticket that won $12.8 million had been printed at his store; he checked the abandoned tickets and found it. After going off the clock, he bought the set from a colleague for $10. That, at least, is the story Circle K tells in a lawsuit. In a statement, the company said it is seeking “clarity from the court to determine rightful ownership of this lottery ticket.” (AC/KPNX Mesa) ...The first question should be: who was on the hook for the $25?
Dipstick Mystic: In 2022, four students at the University of Idaho in Moscow were stabbed to death. About two weeks later, Ashley Guillard, 41, of Houston, Texas, posted a video on TikTok saying she knew who the murderer was: Prof. Rebecca Scofield. She repeated the claim in several subsequent videos, also “doxing” Scofield, publishing her contact information so viewers could harass her — which they did. What led to this conclusion? Guillard testified her Tarot cards “told” her; she claims to be a psychic, receiving her “training” from Youtube videos. Around six weeks after the murders, police found the real murderer: Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, a student from Washington State University in Pullman, just across the state border. Kohberger pleaded guilty, but Guillard’s unsubstantiated videos continued. Prof. Scofield, the university’s History Department Chair, sued Guillard, asking for $1 million in actual damages, with punitive damages to be determined by a jury. The jury awarded her $7.5 million. (RC/Moscow-Pullman Daily News) ...Tarot: not admissible as testimony.
How Much is That?
Sleepy Owl Found Resting among Items on a New York Antique Store Shelf
AP headline
Did You Find an Error? Check the Errata Page for updates.
This Week’s Contributors: MS-Mike Straw, AC-Alexander Cohen, RC-Randy Cassingham.
Stories This Week were Written/Edited in rough seas between ports in New Zealand. The ship was remarkably stable as I worked. But it got worse overnight: waves were around 5m (>15 ft), which can sometimes “slap” the side of the ship very hard, causing it to shake.
There’s a snippet of video on Facebook, on both the This is True and Residential Cruising pages.
Why are we so often “at sea” when I write and edit stories? Because Sunday is a good day for longer sailings, when shops, museums, and tour operations tend to be closed on Sundays. Can’t always do it that way, of course, but it’s one of a multitude of factors the planner does when setting the itinerary.
Department of Environmental Conservation photo of the antique store owl from the Headline of the Week. They simply reached up and gently grabbed it, carried it outside, and let it go. The eastern screech owl flew away to a tree so it could go back to sleep. The story didn’t mention what time of day it happened, but hey: the store, in East Durham, was open, so presumably it was daytime.Larry in California renewed his Premium subscription this week, and I was intrigued by his comment: “I’m behind in my reading, but slowly catching up. It has been really interesting to read about events (like COVID) from the future perspective!”
Wow, he really is behind! But indeed that is an interesting perspective. (I asked: Larry, have you gotten to the part about our moving away from Colorado? 🙂 )
He replied that he wasn’t that far behind anymore (Covid-era) — he’s up to the end of 2024 — but by skipping some of the Author’s Notes he had missed that we moved away from Colorado. He wondered, “Did you end up in Virginia?”
I don’t know why he might have guessed that, but I sent him the URL to my August 2023 announcement (in my blog) of our decision. “Wow; I’m speechless,” he replied. “I never knew such a thing [residential cruising] even existed. Sounds like things are working out for you and Kit and your body is coming around. This is great news.”
“Coming around” is right: 2+ years after leaving Colorado, I’m still not fully recovered from the battle my body was going through. This week I gave myself permission to not catch up on writing Part 3 of my David Farber profile until I have more energy. Meanwhile, New Zealand is the 58th country of our journey ...so far! Still loving it.
Ten Years Ago in True: Watch Where You’re Going. Police apparently did not take my tagline suggestion.
New Randy’s Random this week: I created the artwork last year for a dancer friend, and recently found a quote to go with it. I love it when two things come together so powerfully! The Last Dance.
This Week’s Story of the Week (you’re welcome to share it), about about the kid’s lunchbox martini, is on Telegram, Mastodon, Bluesky, [Testing!] Digg, Instagram, Threads, and/or Facebook, or grab from any of those to post elsewhere.
This Week’s Sunday Reading: The bottom line on this brief 2002 blog post is important: “Don’t presume to speak for those who are fully capable of speaking for themselves.” The Voices in My Head.
This Week’s Honorary Unsubscribe: Paul Brainerd was in the right place in the right time to create an industry, which he himself named. You’ve probably used the technology he invented. The story in 5 minutes.
Basic Subscriptions to This is True are Free at https://thisistrue.com. All stories are completely rewritten using facts from the noted sources. This is True® (and Get Out of Hell Free® and Stella Awards®) are registered trademarks of ThisisTrue.Inc. Published weekly by ThisisTrue.Inc, PO Box 666, Ridgway CO 81432 USA (ISSN 1521-1932).
Copyright ©2026 by Randy Cassingham, All Rights Reserved. All broadcast, publication, retransmission to email lists, web site or social media posting, 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 email to friends is allowed if 1) the text is forwarded in its entirety from the “Since 1994” line on top through the end of this paragraph and 2) No fee is charged. I request that you forward no more than three copies to any one person — after that, they should get their own free subscription. I appreciate people who report violations of my copyright.
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