Must Read

• Popehat, Fear And Loathing In Falls Church

Should Read

• Martha Schwendener, Richard Serra at the Gagosian Gallery
• Teresa Tritch, Why Bankers Have Gotten a Pass
• Brad DeLong, This Is Yet Another in the 56-Month Straight Series of Disappointing and Awful Bureau of Labor Statistics Household Employment Surveys
• Paul Krugman, A Hammock In Kentucky?

Economics

• Bloomberg, Boomers Face Modest Retirement
• Paul Waldman, The Moral Calculus Underlying the Debate Over Unemployment Insurance
• Jesse Myerson, Five Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For
• Adam Davidson, Thinking Outside the (Big) Box

Environment

• NY Times, Colorado River Drought Forces a Painful Reckoning for States

Media Criticism

• Media Matters for America, What’s The Matter With 60 Minutes?: Cleantech Edition

Politics

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Is the NSA Spying on Congress?
• NY Times, Christie Faces Scandal on Traffic Jam Aides Ordered
• Charlie Pierce, The Passion of Big Chicken, Day Two
• Michael Kelly, A 40-Second Guide To The Crisis In Turkey That Sent Markets Tanking And Put The Government In Its Weakest Position
• Josh Barro, Why Not Throw People In Jail For Being Fat?

Health Care

• Matt Taibbi, A New Low in Health Care Rhetoric

Education

• Jared Bernstein, The Decline in Education Jobs, Properly Measured

Sports

• Chad Finn, There’s not much happening with Red Sox now, but their prospects sure look good
• Tyler Kepner, Mussina Deserves More Than ‘Almost’ From Hall
• Tyler Kepner, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas Elected to Hall of Fame

Human Interest

• BBC Radio 4, Gardeners’ Question Time
• 99 Bottles, Spencer Trappist Ale launches in Mass.
• NY Times, 52 Places to Go in 2014

Notes on this week’s Digest:

1. Tip of the hat to Eli Rabett for calling attention to the Popehat piece.  If your reaction to reading it is “Why the hell is that a Must Read?” then you’re probably not familiar with Hunter S. Thompson.  If not then read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972.   Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is funny.  Campaign Trail is funny too but, more significantly, is probably the most astute piece of political reporting I can recall reading.   I have no idea whether HST was as sharp a reporter as he was because of his penchant for alcohol and controlled substances or in spite of it but he was a fine reporter.   David Brooks is the anti-HST.
2. Schwendener’s review of Serra’s work is good but, having watched the interview with Rose, she sells Serra’s response short.   Watch the show here.  Yes, Rose goes on about it looking like a cemetery to him, Serra pushes back, and they go back and forth longer than is productive but Serra makes a significant but kind of subtle closing point.  From memory (watch the show to confirm):  Rose puts a sheet of paper of two mugs and asks Serra, “It is art?”  Serra responds that if Rose claims that his art then Serra will accept that but – and this is the significant point – if Rose is going to claim that it’s art then it needs to be considered in the context of all the work that came before it – and that’s where he gets into trouble calling it art.  Sure, he can legitimately call it art but it doesn’t look like much in context.  Years ago I went to an exhibit of Charles Sheeler‘s work at the MFA.  They had a letter wrote where he described how he approached his art.  He indicated that he felt he was part of – was trying to carry on – an artistic tradition which dated back hundreds of years.   He was trying to build upon what the creations of prior generations.  It was a great show.  His connectedness with the past – his appreciation of history and of context – came through in his work.  Serra’s work is unique.  As with Sheeler, his appreciation for context also comes through.  (See also Rose’s 2001 interview with Serra here.  I haven’t watched it in ages but my recollection is that Serra got even more annoyed with him then.)
3. If I’ve learned nothing else from DeLong, it’s that the Employment-to-Population Ratio is much more meaningful than the official unemployment rate.
4. Mussina deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.  If I was voting I’d also have voted for Jack Morris.  @#$% his ERA.  He won games when it counted.
5. The Trappists make pretty good jam.  Besides the jam, my other connection to the Trappists is that I used to take troops of Boy Scouts to the abbey for sunrise services.  Kind of fun that they’ll be making ale.