What do Barack Obama, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett all have in common?Answer:  many things.  Aside from not getting this newsletter, I hear that their wives all secretly think that Buffet's version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" is the weirdest thing they have heard in quite some time.  So they have that.But hey, when you are the richest man on the planet, who's going to tell you otherwise, right?  "No music, no life" as the folks at Tower Records used to say (btw, check out the Last Word below for a really cool documentary on the rise and fall of Tower).  Jokes aside, one thing these distinguished gentlemen do have in common is that they read -- a ton.  So this week I included a few longer reads at the start to get you thinking and threw in a bunch of easier to digest follow on articles to finish things off.  You can take your own mini Gates-ian "reading vacation" of sorts if you would like.  You may not end up being a billionaire or leader of the free world, but you do owe it to yourself to get wicked smaht.Enjoy the articles, the utter giddiness of a potential reading vacation, and your weekend. If this issue makes you smarter, please be sure to pass it along, invite your friends to subscribe and join the party.  The more the merrier!XOXODave