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Since 1994, this is the 1658th issue of Randy Cassingham’s...
| 22 March 2026: Waltzing Matilda | Copyright ©2026 https://thisistrue.com |
Missed Signals: California Highway Patrol officers closed a section of U.S. Highway101 to investigate a night-time crash in San Mateo. One officer watching traffic saw a white pickup truck drive right over the flares marking the closed lane, headed straight for the patrol car he set up to block the lane, its emergency lights flashing. There wasn’t much the officer could do other than step farther away from his car to avoid being hit, and activate his body camera to ensure everything was recorded as the pickup driver plowed into his car. It wasn’t a case of DWI, but rather DWO— driving while obliviot: the unnamed man told officers he was watching Youtube videos while driving, and “didn’t see” the burning flares or flashing lights. (RC/KTVU San Francisco) ...ASMR videos: best binged after you get home.
Graduated Results: High School grad sues her school for giving her a diploma (3.87 GPA!) even though she could only read at a first-grade level. [Premium Only]
Lost in Translation: The funniest inept robber story of the week. [Premium Only]
Mother Russia: Russia wants women who don’t want to have children to get psychiatric therapy. [Premium Only]
Still No Ad this week as the new scholarship fund slowly ramps up. The idea: those who want to help True but don’t want to upgrade themselves can contribute toward the goal of 5 upgrades/week to omit ads. That page has a quick summary of the first five recipients, who I funded myself. Contributors benefit by providing support (and not seeing ads), as well as knowing exactly whattheir contribution goes toward. Examples: Contribute $22 to pay for half of a one-year scholarship. Contribute $440 to pay for ten scholarships. Of course, upgrades also count toward keeping ads out. To contribute, see this page and choose the new Scholarship option. True really does need support, and I am trying my best not to return to ads.Please help, or upgrade, as you can. Right now there are just 2 of 5 upgrade credits left, plus 2.8 scholarships available. Thanks much to all!
Booked: Woman writes book to help her children deal with their father’s death is convicted for his murder. [Premium Only]
For Extra Volume: Health supplement contains a surprising (and undisclosed) prescription-only drug. [Premium Only]
Der Weinersobbin: The German man who would have won this year’s Stella Award, if it still took new cases. (But I can still write about them in True!) [Premium Only]
Far from Fargo: Angela Lipps, 50, has never been more than one state away from her home inTennessee. Until, that is, police in Fargo, N.D., with the help of facial-recognition software, decided that a person caught on camera withdrawing money with a fake I.D. was Angela Lipps. Last July she was arrested, but not extradited until October. On Dec. 5, Fargo police say, they learned she was in custody, and two weeks later, they finally met with her and her lawyer, who says her bank records place her in her home state when police thought she was doing crime in Fargo. The case wasdismissed. The Tennessean, in her summer clothes, was released to the white, winter streets of Fargo. She had lost her car, home, and dog. She says the police haven’t apologized. Police Chief Dave Zibolski says she’s not off the hook: the case was dismissed without prejudice. (AC/WDAY Fargo, Minnesota Public Radio) ...After having been investigated without prudence.
Deer ME: Hikers find a body, but.... [Premium Only]
Brunch Bunch: Woman gets the beatdown on the dude breaking into her car, and holds him down until police arrive. Her “secret” is the amusing part. [Premium Only]
Chicken Run: Residents of the “Old North” area of Sacramento, Calif., say at least 100 chickens run wild in their neighborhood, and the number is growing. “They’re everywhere,” Alvin Mayers said. “It’s annoying.” Locals have asked the city of Sacramento for help, but the city says it can’t because of “a large and ever-replenishing number of higher priority calls.” Instead, they recommend residents capture and rehome the chickens themselves, or if the chickens have an owner, there is anenforcement process. “If the owner doesn’t comply, citations would be the next step,” the city said. (MS/KCRA Sacramento) ...They used to promise a chicken for every pot, now it’s just a promise for more paperwork.
Dumbasses, Eh? A couple of Canuck yobs leave a mess for volunteers to clean up. [Premium Only]
The Goodness of Strangers: Brittany Smith was surprised when she reviewed her doorbell-cam at her home in Manchester, Tenn.: a DoorDash driver delivering foodwas old enough that he had trouble climbing the several steps to her front door. “This poor guy is struggling to get up my stairs to deliver my very capable daughter her Starbucks,” she posted online, asking if anyone could identify the driver. They could: she discovered that 78-year-old “Richard” wasn’t doing gig work because he wanted to get out of the house, but because his wife needed expensive medication, and there was little left for other necessities, like food, after paying for it. Smithput up a fundraiser online to “help Richard go back into retirement!” It broke a third of a million dollars in a few days. When DoorDash CEO Tony Xu found out about the story, he threw in $20,000 himself, saying Richard had completed more than 6,000 deliveries for the company. Smith stopped the fundraiser as it got to nearly $1 million, noting “You all made it possible for him to retire and live comfortably for the remainder of his life!” (RC/WZTV Nashville) ...Or until drug companies crankup drug prices even more, whichever comes first.
Fire Sale
State Department Slashes Fee to Renounce U.S. Citizenship by 80% to $450
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 Melbourne, Vic., Australia. It was a special place for us, more here (with plenty of pics).
You want to read this week’s Honorary Unsubscribe in the archive, because you simply have to see his portrait. And yes, for blind readers, there is descriptive alt-text on photos in the Honorary Unsubscribe archive.
ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is a relaxing paresthesia some people feel in response to certain soft, repetitive sounds or visuals. Online videos designed to trigger it often feature whispering, tapping, brushing, or other gentle noises meant to calm the viewer. Many people use ASMR content as a kind of relaxation aid or sleep help. There are quite a few channels on Youtube dedicated to trying to trigger theeffect ...which doesn’t work on me.
Last Week I wrote a bit about trying to do a bit of life/work balancing. For operational reasons we had to miss a port in New Zealand, which sucked for me because we were going to see a friend there — Jacob is one of the guys from my First Responder team who left Colorado a year or so after we did. (He is part of the “brain drain” I wrote about in my blog last year: I was thinking specificallyabout him as I wrote that entry.)
New Zealand and Australia were definitely part of my Bucket List, and This is True readers were a big part of making Melbourne special.
[pause]
Well, this got longer than I intended, and I realized it would be a good article for the Residential Cruising site, so I published it there on Monday. It’s better to have it on the web anyway, since it’s packed with seven photos and a short audio file. And yes, Residential Cruising has alt-text on its illustrations too.
Ten Years Ago in True: The original! — or is it? Well, read about Boaty McBoatface, what led up to the meme, and what has happened with it since, including my own very-well-deserved slam at Boeing in 2019.
This Week’s Story of the Week (you’re welcome to share it), about helping Richard retire, is the Story of the Week, which means you’re welcome to share it from Telegram, Mastodon, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and/or Facebook, or grab from any of those to post elsewhere, and again there is more about the story in my blog.
This Week’s Sunday Reading: You wanna piece of me?! When an obliviot doesn't learn the first time ...and then claims to be a hero(!!?!) From my blog in 2010. Animals Love Him, Too (Nom Nom Nom).
The Latest Honorary Unsubscribe goes to Pockets Warhol. No, really. Even if a little sad, this one is actually a fun 2-minute Honorary Unsubscribe.
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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