The art of finding people lost at sea: Weekend Edition

[Bloomberg]( [Portrait of an Inessential Government Worker]( — Michael Lewis I found Art Allen standing on the lawn just outside his front door, a few miles inland from some uninviting Connecticut beach. He was in his mid-60s, and a scientist — but a scientist with a man-of-action feel to him. He wore a Coast Guard Search and Rescue polo and a massive Fenix 3 GPS watch, and he had this snow-white Hemingway beard. Six canoes hung from hooks inside his garage, a scrum of mountain bikes leaned against the wall, and all looked as if they had a lot of miles on them. So did he. For nearly 40 years, Art Allen had been the lone oceanographer inside the U.S. Coast Guard’s Search and Rescue division. Among other subjects, he had mastered the art of finding things and people lost at sea. At any given moment, all sorts of objects are drifting in the ocean, a surprising number of them Americans. The Coast Guard plucks 10 people a day out of the ocean, on average. Another three die before they’re found. Which is to say that 13 Americans, every day, need to be hauled out of the water or off some crippled sailboat or sea kayak or paddleboard. “I’ve only thought about one problem in my life,” said Art, with an odd little laugh, which sounded half like a chuckle and half like an apology for speaking up. “Which is how to improve Coast Guard search and rescue.” Read the [whole thing](. [A True Public Servant Deals Trump a Crushing Blow]( — Timothy L. O’Brien [The World Economy Is Stumbling Toward Disaster]( — Bloomberg’s Editorial Board [How Do You Like We Now?]( — Matt Levine Trump Outsmarts Putin With Syria Retreat]( — Zev Chafets [Saudi Arabia’s Best Bet Is to Crash the Price of Oil]( — Julian Lee [Brazil’s Supreme Court Is Out of Control]( — Mac Margolis [Chile’s Violence Has a Worrisome Message for the World]( — John Authers [Democrats Face Their Fears in Wisconsin]( — Francis Wilkinson [Trump’s Quid Pro Quo Is Unconstitutional]( — Noah Feldman This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the 10 most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this week, based on web readership. New subscribers to the newsletter can [sign up here](. [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( SEND TO A FRIEND [Share with a friend] You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022