Good Reads: Ideas for Obama, the creep of capitalism, millionaire count, work at the top

This week's round-up of Good Reads include foreign policy advice for President Obama, how entrepreneurs are slowly revitalizing North Korea, a look at what makes a millionaire in the United States, and a dizzying visit to the window washers who clean the nation's highest buildings.

US presidents traditionally turn to foreign policy in their second terms. The executive branch operates with greater freedom in the international realm than in domestic policy, and world affairs are an appealing arena in which to cement a presidential legacy.

The January/February issue of Foreign Policy magazine observes tongue in cheek that the paper required to print all of the white papers and op-eds urging President Obama to take various actionsBurning Man – 2009

On a parched desert landscape in Central Nevada they come in droves from across the country, across the world. In a cloud of white dust and scorching daytime temperatures upwards of 50,000 revelers build a city reminiscent of some giant crop circle from the ground up. Their pilgrimage takes them home to The Playa, where, for one week each year freedom of expression is the tenet of this movement. Like many of its inhabitants though, the city is a transient beast and like the hundreds of art installations ceremoniously burnt to the ground over the course of the week is dissolved in the blink of an eye and a retreating cloud of powder-white.

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My first Burning Man experience began in the thrift stores of Eugene, Oregon.