# Enlightening Internet Reads **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702 "2007-11-16T16:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/1 "2007-11-16T16:18:11Z")
I just finished reading about [the guy who deposited the $100,000 fake check](http://www.goodthink.com/writing/view_stories.cfm?id=11&page_id=2) (thanks **Shagnasty** ). While it’s a long read, it’s an interesting story in addition to being fairly educational. Another classic is the [Confessions of a Car Salesman](http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html), about a journalist who goes “undercover” by being hired at a number of used and new car dealerships. There’s also [Wanted: Gullible Lawyers](http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=2497), about a law school graduate who gets taken in by a bizarre Craigslist employment scam. What other interesting reads are out there? ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/2 "2007-11-16T19:17:43Z")
Hmm. Nada, huh? I would have thought there would be at least a couple additions. Maybe people are still reading? ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/3 "2007-11-16T19:33:16Z")
Well, here’s an interesting piece on whether [criminal profilers](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/12/071112fa_fact_gladwell) are any more credible than psychics. ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/4 "2007-11-16T22:24:33Z")
Hey I can still post, I wonder when my subscription expires. Anyway, here is a selection from my best of the internet file: [SUV Safety](http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html) [Japaense Prison System](http://www.stippy.com/japan-life/gaijin-in-a-japanese-prison-1/) [Life of a Chinese Gold Farmer](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/magazine/17lootfarmers-t.html) [Gimli Glider (767 Lands with No Power)](http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gimli.html) [Evolution of Meal Times](http://www.history-magazine.com/dinner2.html) [More Curiosities from Japan’s Porno Shops](http://www.demonbaby.com/blog/2007/06/more-curiosities-from-japans-porno.html) ] [The Thoughts of the Average US TV watcher](http://www.cracked.com/article_14854_thoughts-average-american-as-imagined-by-network-executives.html) [20 000 Leagues Under the Sea (SNL)](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/93/93qleagues.phtml) [Amish Sexual Abuse](http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2005/feature_labi_janfeb05.msp) [Dawkins, Trial By Jury](http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Dawkins/Work/Articles/1997-11-16trialbyjury.shtml) [CO2 Lake Explosion](http://www.neatorama.com/2007/05/21/the-strangest-disaster-of-the-20th-century/) [Duck Genitile Arms Race](http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1277) [Breeding a Better Human](http://www.slate.com/id/100331/) [The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion](http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/anti-tales.html) [One in 30 Babies Survive Medical Abortions](http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23393315-details/One+baby+in+30+left+alive+after+medical+termination/article.do) [12 Virtues of Rationality](http://yudkowsky.net/virtues/) [An Elephant Crack up](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08elephant.html) [Sex Slavery in San Franscisco](http://www.humantrafficking.org/updates/466) [Why Nerds are Unpopular](http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html) [Confessions of an Ebay Opium Addict](http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=34614) [White Collar Prison Experience](http://www.american.com/archive/2007/may-june-magazine-contents/enter-a-2018hellish-place2019) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/5 "2007-11-16T22:35:02Z")
The one in thirty aborted babies actually surviving is a joke, right? ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/6 "2007-11-18T10:35:45Z")
On luxury chocolate that [isn’t](http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=78). ([via](http://www.metafilter.com/57166/Nice-margins)) ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/7 "2007-11-18T10:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=II Gyan II] On luxury chocolate that [isn’t](http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=78). ([via](http://www.metafilter.com/57166/Nice-margins)) [/QUOTE] Seconded. That’s a great read. Also, if you aren’t strictly limiting yourself to “online stuff,” you can read the stories that were awarded Pulitzer Prizes from 1995-2006 online at [http://www.pulitzer.org](http://www.pulitzer.org) (just click the year in the top banner, then the story you want, then the “works” tab). They aren’t all light reading, but there are some gems, such as a 2005 Chicago Tribune series about a [tornado](http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2005/feature-writing/works) that hit a small town in Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/8 "2007-11-18T12:11:37Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] The one in thirty aborted babies actually surviving is a joke, right? [/QUOTE] I clicked… guess again :eek: Now, this is in the UK. Maybe US ones are more efficient. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/9 "2007-11-18T18:05:38Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] I clicked… guess again :eek: Now, this is in the UK. Maybe US ones are more efficient. [/QUOTE] Ugh. Well, it did talk about giving the drug (Mifepristone…sp?) to women who are more far along. I had thought that it was only given up to seven or eight weeks. Maybe that’s an issue? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/10 "2007-11-18T18:21:41Z")
Nothing to contribute but I just wanted to thank **Jayrot** for the Wanted: Gullible Lawyers link. Wonderful story, with a great payoff! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/11 "2007-11-18T18:42:25Z")
**True Porn Clerk Stories** by Ali Davis [http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/tpcs.html](http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/tpcs.html) I was fascinated by this when I first read it and I purposely forced myself not to read the whole thing in one sitting because I wanted to spread it out. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/12 "2007-11-18T18:58:12Z")
I’m rather enjoying [this](http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.deadwood/browse_thread/thread/8a686b2dafc0d228?hl=en). If it’s fiction, it’s well-written and entertaining. If it’s really the daily record of someone being persecuted by MI5, it’s **still** well written and entertaining, if a bit sad. No one in the group ever responds, even to ask “What does this have to do with Deadwood?” It’s like everyone’s standing back in respectful silence, and I like that. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/13 "2007-11-18T19:03:51Z")
[Human Action](http://www.mises.org/resources/3250). It is both astounding and wonderful that this entire treatise is available online to read for free. No doubt in my mind that it’s the most important (and correct) book every written about economics. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/14 "2007-11-18T19:18:08Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I’m rather enjoying [this](http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.deadwood/browse_thread/thread/8a686b2dafc0d228?hl=en). If it’s fiction, it’s well-written and entertaining. If it’s really the daily record of someone being persecuted by MI5, it’s **still** well written and entertaining, if a bit sad. No one in the group ever responds, even to ask “What does this have to do with Deadwood?” It’s like everyone’s standing back in respectful silence, and I like that. [/QUOTE] That guy has been placing adverts about his harrasment in the British satirical/investigative magazine _Private Eye_ for many years. [Here](http://mi5.com/index.html) is his website. From the FAQ on his site > [@](#): > > The harassment has several faces; in the broadcast and print media, people in the world of television know there is a conspiracy to spy, BBC newsreaders peek while reading the news, radio presenters interject abusive remarks in their commentary. I’m sure the poor chap is delusional. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/15 "2007-11-18T19:33:58Z")
Ken Silverstein has some great reads out there for Harper’s, but my favorite has always been [The Radioactive Boy Scout](http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html). If you haven’t read it before, give it a look: it’s the classic tale of a kid with too much free time and more brains than sense, only in this case instead of building a working automobile out of Lego, or an X-Wing that actually flies, the kid built a miniature nuclear reactor. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/16 "2007-11-18T19:54:55Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] I’m sure the poor chap is delusional. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the link! Delusional, but articulate and intelligent, and that’s a well-designed website. He’s nothing like other “crazies” I’ve run into online. I’m impressed, despite myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/17 "2007-11-18T21:16:42Z")
[QUOTE=Jurph] Ken Silverstein has some great reads out there for Harper’s, but my favorite has always been [The Radioactive Boy Scout](http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html). If you haven’t read it before, give it a look: it’s the classic tale of a kid with too much free time and more brains than sense, only in this case instead of building a working automobile out of Lego, or an X-Wing that actually flies, the kid built a miniature nuclear reactor. :eek: [/QUOTE] Regarding this story - check out the followup at [his Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn). Sounds like his childhood misadventure didn’t discourage him from trying to play with radiation. The picture is from a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/18 "2007-11-18T21:23:58Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Thanks for the link! Delusional, but articulate and intelligent, and that’s a well-designed website. He’s nothing like other “crazies” I’ve run into online. I’m impressed, despite myself. [/QUOTE] Hey, the National Vanguard website looks pretty nice, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlightening-internet-reads/426702/19 "2007-11-19T19:34:19Z")
[Forever Diamonds](http://www.jewelry-paideia.com/reference/ref-diamond-jewelry-2.php) - How DeBeers invented the tradition of the diamond engagement ring. Probably not news to many of you but engagingly written. No pun intended.