[StBernard] THIS is TRUE #656: 7 January

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Sat Jan 13 12:39:50 EST 2007


Randy Cassingham sends out these emails once a week and they are all as
outrageous (not in a Jerry Springer way) as this one.

Visit his web site to get your own free subscription, be sure to mention you
heard about it from me.

Westley

-----Original Message-----
SINCE 1994 and reaching more than 120,000 readers in over 200 countries,
this is the 656th weekly issue of...

THIS is TRUE: 7 January 2007 Copyright http://www.thisistrue.com
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DOG GONE IT: John Cave, 14, is deaf, but it doesn't keep him from going
to public school. He even has a new specially trained assistance dog to
help him. But that's the trouble: the W. Tresper Clarke High School in
Westbury, Long Island, N.Y., says the boy "doesn't need the dog" at
school and, when the boy brought the dog anyway, school officials
called the police. Responding officers refused to arrest the boy after
confirming state law says public facilities cannot bar disabled people
from having service dogs. Still, principal Timothy Voels refuses to let
Cave bring the dog on school grounds if he has the dog with him,
closing the door when he arrives. "All I wanted to do was give my son
one more step toward independence," says John's mother, Nancy. (New
York Newsday) ...There's your mistake, Nancy: Zero Tolerance-
subscribing school officials don't want kids to be independent, since
that would give them an advantage.

ZT TOO: Ryan Morgan, 13, heard a rumor that there was a gun in the boys'
restroom at Troy Middle School in Joliet, Ill. He looked and found a
pellet gun in the trash can; he pulled it out and took it to the vice
principal. The school's reaction to his heroic act? It suspended him.
When his parents complained, the school board cut the boy a deal --
instead of expelling him, they ordering that he be home schooled. "I
think the decision wasn't the best decision," Ryan said, adding he
thought he did "the right thing." (Joliet Herald News) ...Zero
tolerance isn't about the right thing, it's about not having to think.

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ZT III: The La Vega Independent School District in Bellmead, Texas,
suspended a student for "inappropriate physical behavior interpreted as
sexual contact and/or sexual harassment." Sounds serious, but what did
the student do? He hugged a teacher's aide, and during the hug his face
was pressed into her breasts. The student was 4 years old at the time.
The boy's father, DaMarcus Blackwell, went to the media, getting
worldwide press coverage. In response, the school dropped the sexual
contact references from the unnamed boy's file, amending the complaint
to "inappropriate physical contact." The pre-kindergarten boy, now 5,
has been moved to a different classroom at his parents' request, and
the parents have filed a "level 2" complaint with the district to clear
the boy's record completely. (Waco Tribune-Herald) ..."Zero" tolerance
plus enough media attention equals "some" tolerance.

ZT FOR PEE PEE: After a confrontation with a 12-year-old at Danville
(Penn.) Middle School, teachers summoned the principal. The principal
"frightened" the girl, her parents said -- and she wet her pants. The
unnamed girl is a retarded special education student. Her parents say
she has never become violent, and has wet herself before when
confronted by the principal. Still, this time principal Kevin Duckworth
called the police and insisted they charge her with disorderly conduct.
Embarrassed officers told her parents they could "probably" avoid a
fine by having the girl perform community service. (AP) ...Her parents
have already performed a community service -- by taking the story to
newspapers.

OBVIOUSLY IT'S ALREADY TOO LATE: "Utah Risks Loosing its Best Teachers"
-- Salt Lake Tribune headline

DID YOU FIND an error? See http://www.thisistrue.com/errata.html

THINK THE LEAD STORY IS an outrage? (Well, yeah, I know: they're ALL an
outrage!) But here the school seems to think they're above clear-cut
law, too. Sure enough, the school is NOT backing down. You'd think the
principal's superior would step in and overrule, but district
superintendent Robert Dillon actually backs the principal! He says the
district "has taken the appropriate steps to evaluate this issue and
has determined that the student does not need the service dog to access
the district's programs" -- no matter what state and federal law says.
The dog presents a "safety" issue, he claims, because of "allergy
considerations" and "problems in navigating class and staff flow in the
hallways and stairwells". So what's next? According to an update in
Newsday, the New York State Division of Human Rights has started an
investigation -- the first time in over a decade that the agency has
instigated its own investigation without receiving a complaint first. A
spokeswoman explained that just from the press coverage, it seemed
obvious there was a violation of the law going on. Well, yeah.

Certainly this isn't the first ZT case where officious officials don't
just bluster, but even knowingly violated clear-cut law. I mean really:
obvious discrimination against a retarded child?! And they think that
this is OK, after years of VERY clear precedent in criminal and civil
law that it's not? Clearly not, but we need to ensure they hear about
it, loud and clear.

So what will happen? First, ZT will continue to get worse until schools
get the message loudly and clearly that we won't let them get away with
it. How does that happen? "By being fired" would be a great start, but
as we see above, even their supervisors think ZT is a great thing.
So then what? I'm finally starting to see a real backlash with not only
lawsuits being filed (with a couple of examples reported on in this
week's Premium edition), but WON by students. Sometimes it's just
principle involved: demands by students to be reinstated to school.
Other times the schools are paying *significant* monetary damages. It
absolutely SUCKS that taxpayers have to pay out for the OBVIOUS
mistakes of school officials, but if that's what it takes to get the
message across, then that's what it takes.

But that's only schools. The Premium edition had a couple of non-school
ZT stories. It's to be expected: when kids raised in a ZT environment
grow up and go out in the world, they do what's so deeply ingrained in
them at school: there is no gray, there's only black and white -- and
boy, is it easy to get to the "black" side! When a photograph of a gun
is thought to be the SAME THING as a gun, and punished accordingly, it
can only lead to trouble. (Same thing? May as well bring a real gun,
then!)

So yes, the problem will continue to get worse until there's a backlash
not only against schools, but other institutions that think ZT is a
good idea. Lawsuits against schools have started, and it's about time.
Lawsuits against other institutions will surely follow.

Again, as I've explained on http://www.thisistrue.com/zt.html -- my
still-needs-to-be-updated ZT page -- I'm NOT advocating tolerance for
REAL transgressions. Kids who actually sexually harass other students
(and you can be sure that does happen) SHOULD get real punishment. But
a 4-year-old pressing his head on an aide's boobies during a hug IS NOT
sexual harassment, and how does anyone think it's OK to punish such a
young child for that? And there are plenty of other outrageous examples
on my ZT page -- and in TRUE's archives. This MUST stop; we're
destroying our children -- the next generation of teachers, cops, and
judges.

Comments? See http://www.thisistrue.com/blog.html (Added attraction:
the copy posted there includes useful LINKS, including to the two
updates in Newsday.)

o o o

A BLOW-IT-OUT SPECIAL: I was really surprised that the laser-engraved
"Get Out of Hell Free" sticky notepad holder (with custom-printed
sticky notepads) didn't sell very well. In order to get it custom made,
I had to order a *thousand* of them -- and 5,000 of the pads. AND pay
for it all by the end of the year. Unfortunately, I didn't sell enough
of them to pay the bill (though I paid it anyway: a deal's a deal!), so
I'm having a special to help my bank account recover: HALF PRICE on
*several* different GOOHF products, including the holder, plastic GOOHF
cards, and the special limited-edition lenticular (moving image) GOOHF
postcard. (Note: SHIPPING is NOT half price, since I tend to charge
about what it costs me already -- unlike many companies, I don't want
"shipping and handling" to be a profit center.) The catch: the special
is available ONLY to Premium subscribers, so you have to upgrade to get
it (hey: you've been meaning to anyway!) It's until the end of January
only, and this is the LAST CHANCE to get the holders engraved with your
name if you wish (sorry, but of course that extra service isn't half
price either). https://secure.thisistrue.com/goohfpack.html has all the
details.

A WONDERFUL LETTER from Kelly in Virginia to remind me that people really
do appreciate the "extra features" in TRUE: "Thank you for featuring
Allen Carr as the 'Honorary Unsubscribe' in your 3 December 2006 issue
of This is True. Your article inspired me to find out more about Mr.
Carr and his Easyway method of quitting smoking - neither of which I
had ever heard about before. I had been smoking since I was a teenager
(I'm now in my 30's) and thought I was a pretty hopeless case, but I
figured it couldn't hurt to read his book and give it a chance. All I
had to lose was a couple bucks and a few hours of my spare time. So I
bought the book, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was
extremely helpful to me. I smoked my last cigarette on January 3 and
since then, I have had absolutely no desire to start up again. Though I
haven't been an ex-smoker for very long so far, I am confident that I
will remain that way, thanks to Mr. Carr's book - AND to you, for
introducing it to me through This is True. My only regret is that poor
Mr. Carr had to die in order for me to find out about his Easyway
method. Again, many thanks, and keep up the good work! I am proud to
support your outstanding publication with a Premium subscription." I'm
sure Carr would be proud of you, Kelly. Anytime you want to know more
about the subject involved with an H.U. (or even a Bonzer site), the
archive has more info in a section called "Suggestions for further
reading" -- it's a list of books from Amazon on the subject. Carr's
entry, indeed, shows several of Carr's books (just like this week's
honoree has several of his books showing). Of course not every H.U.
honoree has written any books, and the search matching doesn't ALWAYS
work out perfectly, but it's usually a great place to start.

And a delightful letter from Pat in California: "I've been getting your
newsletter for, oh, maybe a year or so now. Figured it was time I wrote
in to thank you. I've been working on college applications (hooray
senior year!) pretty much all week (sent in Yale, Columbia, Harvard,
Duke, UVa, and Stanford already, just need to finish up Princeton and
UPenn, oh-what-fun) and it's now about 3 AM. I've got Mock Trial
practice in the morning, or, in a few hours, and then I have to come
home and finish up those applications. I probably shouldn't have been
playing video games for the past few hours--oh well. Anyway. On to the
point. In the midst of all this...this 'stuff,' I get your newsletter
and it's nice to just sit and read for a bit, chill out, drink some hot
chocolate, laugh. It's relaxing. Not only that, TRUE gives me food for
thought; long-lasting gum for my brain, if you will. I'd like to thank
you for putting your time and effort into TRUE. I appreciate the fact
that you do the free version for, well, for free. I would love to buy a
subscription to Premium. Unfortunately, there are a few blocks in place
that prevent me from doing so: 1) My mom is still asleep, 2) It's her
credit card, 3) I'm not sure if I can justify the $24/year unless she
reads and enjoys TRUE too, and the chances of her reading it in its
entirety are slim. Enjoy, yes. Read, no." Then there was this: "PS:
Princeton knows I read TRUE. PPS: That alone should get me in." Well, I
sure think so! (So did a couple of Premium readers, who upgraded Pat's
subscription.)

One more letter, from Ken in New Mexico, who was replying to a Premium
renewal notice: "Which of the options costs you less, PayPal or credit
card over your secure web?" What a nice thought: he wanted to use what
cost me less! The answer: they're the same, but Paypal is *easier* to
deal with -- both for you, and for us. The shopping cart is more
*flexible*, allowing you to order a bunch of different things all at
the same time if you wish, as well as use your choice of Paypal,
credit/debit cards, or even a check (it'll tell you exactly how much to
send, etc.), but for something simple, like an upgrade, the "one click"
Paypal buttons are REALLY easy.

o o o

SIX YEARS' WORTH of stories and headlines are now included in TRUE's
online archive -- the full text of thousands of TRUE items, and it's
even searchable. http://www.thisistrue.com/archive.html is the gateway
to a lot of fun stuff.

AND AMONG THE LATEST postings to Jumbo Joke: An amusing real headline and
photo combination. http://www.JumboJoke.com

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PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS got FOUR MORE ZT stories on Monday: 10-year-old brat
calls police asking them to "come and take his mother away" because she
was "pressuring him to do his homework" -- and they DO! British kid
tosses french fry to seagull -- and is charged with littering by the
town council, citing ZT. Students sue for reinstatement to school after
being expelled in ZT case -- and they win. Student sues his school in
another ZT case -- and wins. Want to read these stories, including the
two triumphs over ZT? Just ask for your upgrade to start with the 7
January issue. http://thisistrue.com/upgrade.html has all the info. And
don't forget the https://secure.thisistrue.com/goohfpack.html special!

BONZER WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: http://www.astropix.com -- Astrophotography.
If this was simply a site showcasing great photos of the cosmos from
both film and digital cameras, it'd be great. But it ALSO includes an
Astrophotography Techniques guide so YOU can take such photos too,
interesting stories about how the photos were taken, and plenty more.
-- Bonzer Sites archive: http://www.BonzerSites.com

THIS WEEK'S HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE goes to Yvonne De Carlo. Born Peggy
Yvonne Middleton in British Columbia, Canada, she moved to Hollywood to
find work and fame as an actress. She found it, first in uncredited
walk-ons in "Harvard, Here I Come!" (1941) and "The Deerslayer" (1943),
but soon she started getting starring roles. She worked alongside such
leading men as Burt Lancaster, Joel McCrea, Ricardo Montalban, Rock
Hudson, Clark Gable, Alec Guinness and David Niven. She even played the
wife of Charlton Heston's Moses in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), and
ended up as "one of the legendary glamour queens of the 40s and 50s,"
said producer Kevin Burns. But what she'll be remembered for is a
leading role on a TV show that lasted only two seasons: "The Munsters",
a campy 1964 show that became a cult classic. Playing the wife of
Herman Munster, a Frankenstein-like working stiff who didn't realize
her family was somewhat odd, she moved into permanent youth in TV Land.
She had later roles, and in fact appeared in more than 100 films, but
she ended up in the Motion Picture and Television Country House and
Hospital, where she died January 8 from heart failure. She was 84.
-- Honorary Unsubscribe archive: http://www.HonoraryUnsubscribe.com

TRUE'S FREE DISTRIBUTION this week is supported by "Healthy Gourmet
Recipes" -- one of many independent sites at http://www.1024ads.com

IF YOU LIKE TRUE's HONORARY UNSUBSCRIBE, see http://www.HeroicStories.com
for TRUE's sister publication, an H.U. spinoff about cool people that
*don't* have to die to get their stories told! Free subscriptions.

SUBSCRIPTIONS to "This is True" are free at http://www.thisistrue.com
Published weekly by ThisIsTrue.Inc, PO Box 666, Ridgway CO 81432 USA
(ISSN 1521-1932). TRUE is available to newspapers as a regular feature
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COPYRIGHT 2006 by Randy Cassingham, All Rights Reserved. All stories are
completely rewritten by Randy Cassingham using facts from the noted
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