“Discard the junk…you are far better off to read a much smaller amount of good material with care and thoughtfulness.”
– Barton Biggs

Food for Thought

Obviously it has been a tragic start to the year with the terrorist events in Paris.  Here are 3 thought provoking articles:

• NYTimes – David Brooks – I Am Not Charlie Hebdo – David Brooks reflects on the challenges of supporting freedom of expression in a democratic society.
• USA Today – People know the consequences: Opposing view.  USA Today surprises the world when it publishes this response to the events by a radical cleric.
• AM – Theological Extremism in a Secular Age.  It seems instructive to look at what other religious fundamentalists are saying about the events.  This response is by Albert Mohler, who heads The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
• VF – Trial by Ebola.  When Ebola reached America, arriving in Dallas on September 20, the city had no real plan to handle the outbreak. Nor, it appeared, did the federal government. As epidemiologist Wendy Chung, county judge Clay Jenkins, and other local officials quickly realized, they were largely on their own. Bryan Burrough has the untold story of their heroic response.
• Outside – Man vs. Food.  Exercise enough and you can eat whatever you want…Right? Wrong. Trust me, I spent a full year dieting. What I learned could change your life
• NYTimes – Growing Up on Easy Street Has Its Own Dangers
• PS – My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward.  We met at 18. We wed at 24. At 27, I checked my wife into a psych ward—for the first time. How mental illness reshapes a marriage.
• Fox Sports – Motley Crew: The incredible story of the Dirty Dozen Rowing Club

Business/Economics/Investing:

• Economist – Meet the Market Shapers.  A new breed of high-tech economist is helping firms crack new markets
• BusinessWeek – Amazon Bought This Man’s Company. Now He’s Coming for Them
• Fast Co – How Lego Became the Apple of Toys
• WSJ – The $250 Econ 101 Textbook.  We economics professors are missing a chance to teach a cardinal lesson about the unchecked rise of prices.
• PG – Entrepreneurs – Don’t Talk to Corporate Development
• Stable Investor – 6 Deadly Sins of Investing

Life/Culture/Art/Science:

• WSJ – Urban Meyer: The Once and Future King of College Football.  How the Sport’s Ultimate Imitator Made His Comeback to the National Championship.
• WSJ – The Ohio State Diet That Cooked the Ducks.  Coaches Asked the Buckeyes to Lose Weight Before the National Championship Game.
• Wired – Stephen Hawking on Black Holes and Why He’d Be a Good Bond Villain
• WSJ – The Future of Medicine Is in Your Smartphone.  New tools are tilting health-care control from doctors to patients.
• WSJ – How Often Should I Weigh Myself?.  First, Assess Your Goal: Are You Trying to Lose Weight or Keep It Off?
• GP – Detroit 2015: The Cars that Matter