Heading into the weekend, check out these must-reads:

The Grand Rapids Press looks at polling data showing Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Rep. Peter Hoekstra as the leading candidates to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2010.

Meanwhile, we're reporting on a non-politician who might seek the office, too.

The Globalist puts together in a simple, easy-to-digest format, a look at the troubles facing General Motors.
Note: It doesn't seem to be a marketing problem or a product problem. It's a health care problem.

Bloomberg News reports that Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, plans to award $2 billion in extra compensation to about 1 million U.S. hourly workers this year after sales jumped in the recession. Through freep.com

How'd the president do on "The Tonight Show?" Well, except for that little Special Olympics gaffe ... Read about it in The First Post.

The New Criterion reports that while supposedly living in a market economy, today’s Russians understand making money by stealing, but not by producing. Efficiency remains a foreign concept. One scholar remarked that Russian spirituality allows people to deal with abstractions but leaves them unable to repair an elevator or television.