Worth Reading and Watching I

Some online stories and videos that are worth reading and watching. Why one professional cyclist refused to quit a race, even when most of his fellow cyclists dropped out.

A tragedy that hits close to home: A Manhattan mother jumped eight stories to her death with her infant son strapped to her chest. Miraculously the baby not only lived but his only injuries were a few scrapes and bruises.

This short 30 second clip shows that digital isn't a good replacement for all paper--at least not yet.

Sometimes teenagers can be really stupid. I say this as someone who may have done equally stupid things. Thankfully, smartphones weren't around to record any of it.

Several writers are trying their hand at writing stories about Mormon missionaries. So far they've failed to find an audience. The reason? Apparently they don't feel authentic. (And, might I add, you can only tell the same story so many times.)

The future of typing: Smartphones are reinventing—and ditching—the keyboard. (Link may expire.)

A man who dressed as a superhero to fight petty crime has hung up his outfit after he was beaten up. Below you'll find an interview he did with a UK TV station.

Worth Reading VIII

Articles I'd love to comment on if I had the time. All are worth reading. The Courage of Detroit by Mitch Albom (SI.com) This was Christmas night. In the basement of a church off an icy street in downtown Detroit, four dozen homeless men and women sat at tables. The smell of cooked ham wafted from the kitchen. The pastor, Henry Covington, a man the size of two middle linebackers, exhorted the people with a familiar chant.

All Bets Are Off: How Rick “The Free Capitalist” Koerber’s Real-Estate Scheme Helped Wreck Utah’s Economy by Eric Peterson (Salt Lake City Weekly) Critics say Rick Koerber has done his share to contribute to the state’s economic meltdown: home prices sinking into a seemingly bottomless pit, a frozen-stiff credit market and growing unemployment.

Obama's Early Stumbles by Camille Paglia (Salon.com) Readers ask, Camille dishes: On Democratic woes, the Weather Underground, Kanye West, Freud, alleged gay genes and "the long sleep."

Worth Reading VII

Pyramid Schemes Are as American as Apple Pie by John Steele Gordon (Wall Street Journal)But Wall Street's most famous Ponzi scheme was, like the present one, no small affair. And its principal victim was a man few associate with Wall Street at all -- Ulysses S. Grant.

“The End” As a Weapon by Tom Krattenmaker (USA Today) Some environmentalists have their own fixation with the apocalypse — just not the biblical one. This involves the wrath of nature and the ecological end times. But fear is an ineffective tool for any cause.

Apple and the Peril of Innovation by Don Reisinger (cnet) Although I'm sure that some Apple zealots out there won't want to hear this, I'm afraid that Apple's capacity to deliver groundbreaking products every few months at its various events is severely diminished.

Worth Reading V

The Uses of Adversity by Malcom Gladwell (The New Yorker)Can underprivileged outsiders have an advantage?

Nationalizing Detroit by The Wall Street Journal Editoral Page In the Washington mind, there are two kinds of private companies. There are successful if "greedy" corporations, which can always afford to pay more taxes and tolerate more regulation. And then there are the corporate supplicants that need a handout.

Sometimes ‘Rights’ Are Wrong by Thomas Sowell (Jewish World Review) None of us has a right to other people's approval.

Worth Reading IV

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? by Orson Scott Card (The Ornrey American)Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That's what you claim you do, when you accept people's money to buy or subscribe to your paper

How Capitalism Will Save Us by Steve Forbes (Forbes) What started in August 2007 was not the failure of free markets but the outcome of bad government actions.

So Long Suckers by Andrew Clark (The Guardian) Millionaire hedge fund boss thanks 'idiot' traders and retires at 37.

Worth Reading II

Dodd and Countrywide by The Wall Street Journal Editoral PageThe Senator Should Take the Witness Stand

How To Get Rich by Mark Cuban (Blog Maverick) It doesn't suck to be rich. It just takes a lot of work to get there.

Nobody's dummy by Camille Paglia (Salon.com) Liberals underestimate Sarah Palin's vitality and -- yes -- smarts at their own peril. Plus: Obama's presidential air, Biden's condescending mugging, feminism's lost sisters.