Weekend Reading 7/29/11

I’ve got this week’s recommendations all to my lonesome. Here’s the lineup:

• The timeliest thoughtpiece this week was Chuck Wolfe on the demise of Borders and the importance of “third places” in the city.
• The most politically relevant graphic this week was the Atlantic with the chart that should accompany all discussions of the debt ceiling.
• The geekiest thing this week (in a good way) was a comprehensive review of energy ratings in commercial buildings, as a roadmap to better building energy policy.
• The most peculiar thing this week was the NYT on evolution in urban environments.
• The most encouraging thing this week was the Seattle Times on the revival of an endangered Northwest turtle.
• The most depressing thing this week was a new Census-based analysis showing that the wealth gap between white and minority households has widened to a 25-year high.
• The most uplifting thing this week was the NYT audio portraits of newlywed couples at the New York City marriage bureau.
• The funniest thing this week—in a gallows humor sort of way—was this Onion News report:

Nation’s Climatologists Exhibiting Strange Behavior (Season 1: Ep 5 on IFC)