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The issue of TIME scheduled to hit newsstands Friday is described in a news release today as the "most anticipated issue of the year." Why? Because it features Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the cover as the magazine's "2009 Person of the Year."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made runner-up as Time Magazine's person of the year, losing out to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. In a glowing profile, Time says Pelosi has "consolidated more power than any other Speaker in modern history." In an interview with reporters in the Capitol today, Pelosi outlined what is in fact an astonishingly long list of accomplishments this year, from a hair-raising bank rescue to the largest fiscal stimulus in U.S. history, to a climate change bill to health care legislation and millions of acres of wilderness, food safety, labor legislation and other major bills that have gotten...

She may not be the Person of the Year, but Time considered her influence significant enough to put her on the list of PEOPLE WHO MATTERED in 2009. Here's their explanation : ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you thought Sarah Palin was just going to fade back into the Alaskan wilderness after she and John McCain lost the 2008 presidential election, then you don't know Sarah. America's favorite Rorschach political figure is still going rogue, whether quitting her job as governor — who needs a bully pulpit when there's Facebook? — or spending her hour on Oprah dissing the 19-year-old father of her...

Here is video of Time Magazine's Managing Editor Richard Stengel on the Today Show this morning, where he revealed that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been named Time's "Person of the Year" for 2009. . . . . (VIDEO)

Dear Chairman, Congratulations on Time's Top Tick of your career. With a 79% disapproval rating, you are now one of the lest deserving Men of the Year.

A bald man with a gray beard and tired eyes is sitting in his oversize Washington office, talking about the economy. He doesn't have a commanding presence. He isn't a mesmerizing speaker. He has none of the look-at-me swagger or listen-to-me charisma so common among men with oversize Washington offices. His arguments aren't partisan or ideological; they're methodical, grounded in data and the latest academic literature. When he doesn't know something, he doesn't bluster or bluff. He's professorial, which makes sense, because he spent most of his career as a professor. He is not, in other words, a typical Beltway...

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Time's cover story denouncing the Bush era (plus a year of Clinton and a year of Obama) as "The Decade from Hell" is overwrought. But Time's guru Andy Serwer tries to claim it's not: Calling the 2000s "the worst" may seem an overwrought label in a decade in which we fought no major wars, in historical terms. It is a sadly appropriate term for the families of the thousands of 9/11 victims and soldiers and others killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the lack of a large-scale armed conflict makes these past 10 years stand out that much more. This...

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Time Inc. released a video walkthrough as well as a working model of its digital magazine format designed for touchscreen tablets. Less than a month after competitor Conde Nast revealed that a digital version of Wired magazine would be available by the middle of next year, publisher Time Inc. released information Wednesday on its plans for making digital magazines a reality. Time announced that Sports Illustrated would be the first magazine to undergo the digital transition, and produced not only a video walkthrough but also a working example. ...various features and capabilities including: multi-touch controls, live links and sports scores,...

"Government Distrust and a Dead Census Taker."“...[W]as it part of the recent rage at what right-wing commentators decry as the big-spending, socialistic government of the first African-American President? Al Cross, a former reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal who covered the area for 30 years, believes that the conditions underlying the murder go back much farther and are much deeper — and more local — than the recent spate of ire. (Read TIME's cover story on Glenn Beck.)” Well, now it turns out that Kentucky investigators have concluded that poor Sparkman committed suicide, faking his own death in order to let...

In one tidy cover story—The Decade From Hell And Why The Next One Will Be Better—Time sums up the last decade and the one to come. Things were "hell" under George W. Bush, but will be better under Barack Obama. Class dismissed: that's really all you need to know. But just to drive home the Manichean message, Time editor Rick Stengel and Andy Serwer [of Time stable-mate Fortune], who wrote the cover story, appeared on Morning Joe today. Of course there's the inconvenient detail about Barack Obama having been elected in this decade. But not to worry. Serwer explains "you...

The list of staffers downsized from Time Inc. yesterday grew by another 25 people, even though it appeared that CEO Ann Moore and Editor-in-Chief John Huey would wait until after Thanksgiving to begin this round of cuts. Fortune was the hardest-hit title. Including yesterday's layoffs, about 30 staffers have left the company rather than the expected 40, with about 22 from the edit side. Yesterday, three assistant managing editors were whacked: Eric Gellman, John Brodie and Brian Dumanie, who ran the recently shuttered Fortune Small Business. Two writers were also laid off, Suzanne Kapner and Telis Demos. Managing Editor Andy...

e21 has a very perceptive post about the Medicare payroll tax that Harry Reid has inserted into his bill to pay for his health care proposal. Link here: http://www.economics21.org/commentary/payroll-tax-increase-loophole-and-ticking-time-bomb The Democrats are double-counting the money raised from the tax. They're counting it to reduce the coming deficit in Medicare and they're also counting it to help pay for the present bill. Revenues from the HI tax are “deposited” in the Medicare Part A Trust Fund, which is running a $20.5 billion deficit (p. 56 of pdf) in 2009. The Trust Fund is expected to continue to hemorrhage money for the...

Clocks are clocks are clocks – or so you may think. However, some clocks are astronomical both literally and metaphorically. Here is a great selection of astronomical clocks of Europe.

The biggest magazines in the Time Inc. empire — People, Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money — should find out today how many volunteers have stepped forward to accept buyout packages. Time Inc. is said to be looking to slash more than 500 jobs from its ranks, with the bulk of the layoffs to happen next week before the process is wrapped up by year-end. While not all titles outlined how many volunteers they need, sources said that Time Inc.'s biggest magazines could eliminate as many as 90 editorial positions. Fortune is expected to see the deepest cuts at about...

As an army psychiatrist treating soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Major Nidal Malik Hasan had front row seat on the brutal toll of war. It is too early to know exactly what may have triggered his murderous shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood — Hasan is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 32 others before he was wounded by a police officer — but it is not uncommon for therapists treating soldiers with Post Trumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.) to be swept up in a patient's displays of war-related paranoia, helplessness and fury. In medical parlance it is known...

Fortune and Sports Illustrated will be the hardest hit magazines in the mass layoffs that just began at Time Inc. About 40 people will be laid off from Fortune, with Managing Editor Andy Serwer looking to cut roughly 24 from the 80-strong edit staff, insiders said. Although he didn't reveal numbers, in an e-mail to staffers yesterday Serwer asked for volunteers by Nov. 18. Fortune had already said that starting next year it will go from 25 issues to 18. SI will be making similar reductions, a source said. Time Inc. is expected to eventually cut just over 500 jobs....

There are 29 of 'em. And they can be handily compared with the Newsweek Obama covers (here: http://trackacrat.com/2009/10/09/5007/), which number 30, both in terms of frequency and tone of coverage. I can safely report that the findings conform to the pattern established earlier: namely, that President Bush was consistently treated like a leper, while President Obama receives the all-star treatment. Some choice Newsweek Bush covers include the wonderfully objective titles of, “Bush’s $87 Billion Mess“, “The Price of Denial“, “How Much Power Should They Have?“, “Will Bush Listen?” and the awesomely condescending “Father Knows Best.” Follow the jump for links...

The guillotine has begun its descent at Time Inc. Sources at the publishing company (which is part of the same conglomerate as DailyFinance parent AOL) say executives have asked for an emergency meeting with representatives of the Newspaper Guild to discuss job eliminations. A Time Inc. spokeswoman declined to comment, but John Shostrom, chairman of the company's Guild unit, said the meeting will take place "soon." He said it was Time Inc. that called the meeting. "They act, and we react," said Shostrom. "The Guild doesn't lay people off. We just fight back when they make proposals to lay people...

"I completely forgot that I get an extra hour of that precious, precious thing called sleep tonight. Since I'm probably not the only forgetful Lucy around, here's a reminder to set your clocks back and snooze a bit longer."

When All Else Fails… What Then? First a few statements of obvious fact: President Barrack Hussein Obama has never been properly certified as being Constitutionally eligible to hold the office of President Of The United States. For that to have happened, members of the DNC Elections Certification body would have to have seen and personally witnessed a certified version of Obama’s long form birth certificate to verify his eligibility. Yet we know that Obama has never shown such. In fact, not only has he never produced this document (nor has any member of the DNC ever claimed to have witnessed...

Signaling that worse times are ahead for magazines, Time Inc. is expected to announce next week that it will cut $100 million from costs, including another big round of layoffs. The timing is coordinated with parent company Time Warner’s third-quarter earnings announcement, sources said, scheduled for Wednesday morning. Time Inc., the publisher of titles like Time, Fortune, and People, has already cut costs dramatically: a year ago, it announced it was dismissing 6 percent of its work force, or about 600 people. That was apparently not enough to make up for revenue declines. The $100 million in costs is expected...

Orders are coming now for my chosen ones that have been waiting for the timing of my will . The sweeping of the penduluum's timing is poised before my throne as a gravitational pull holds you to earth , so the hearts of my children are laid before me and as no other time before my humble servants are about to enter into an opened door revealed only to the few( obedient) , the Chosen(overcomers) and this door is an entryway into not only the all of me but the paradise of my love abiding ,eternal , flowing yet existing...

Time Inc. is bracing for another round of cutbacks. Sources say the layoffs will be most severe in the division that includes Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Time and Money, and will be carried out before the Thanksgiving break. Since many of the old-line titles at Time Inc. are covered by union contracts with the Newspaper Guild, the company will likely have to offer voluntary buyout options as part of the downsizing. Time is running out if it hopes to complete the layoffs and write off the costs in the fourth quarter. Ann Moore, CEO of Time Inc., personally took over supervision...

We are approaching the time of year that Time's "Man of the Year" will be discussed and debated. I'm thinking that the biggest story of 2009 is the re-emergence of the Great Silent Majority, as represented by the town-hallers and then the Tea Partiers. I know there are many who could be credited with lighting the match that made these trends happen. If I had to single out one individual and one "call to arms", I'd give it to Rick Santelli on CNBC with the "rant heard round the world." So my recommendation to Time: give it to the Tea...

Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N) magazine division Time Inc plans another round of job cuts as advertising declines erode revenue, a source familiar with the unit said on Thursday. The job cuts at Time Inc -- which publishes Time magazine, People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune -- would be at about the same level as the division cut last year, the source said. Time Inc. cut more than 600 positions, or more than 6 percent of its workforce, in that round. The company declined to comment, though a spokesman for Fortune magazine separately said that it plans to shave the number of...

And you may recall from my previous post that there have also been 27 TIME Obama covers, so far: http://trackacrat.com/time-magazine-%E2%99%A1%E2%99%A1%E2%99%A1-obama/ With the difference, of course, being that Dubya’s tally appeared over a span of seven and a half years, whereas Barry’s have been concentrated into three years. In addition to the fact that The One has years – nay, decades - of sycophantic coverage left to run. Plus, there's a bit of a discrepancy between the tone of the coverage received by the two men. Gallery after the jump...

Somewhat unbelievably, there are even more Newsweek covers featuring the Obamas than there are TIME covers. TIME's racked up 28 (one more than the last time I posted here because I found a past TIME Europe exclusive cover featuring Barry), whereas Newsweek has 29 - and there may be more, as I've a few more searches to do. Way to go! For the Newsweek covers: http://trackacrat.com/2009/10/09/5007/ For the TIME covers: http://trackacrat.com/time-magazine-%E2%99%A1%E2%99%A1%E2%99%A1-obama/ Or follow the jump...

Reading this is like watching an unassisted triple play in baseball. You see it, you pause to make sure you’ve seen what you think you’ve seen, and then you marvel at the sheer odds of it having happened. Would a big name at a big magazine like Mark Halperin really sign off on something so absurd, and so fawning in its absurdity, as to be instantly destined for infamy in the blogosphere? Of course not. The odds against it are a million to one. And yet. This is a magic moment, my friends. Instantly comfortable and highly skilled at the...

Apologies all for the previous post with the link missing (http://trackacrat.com/time-magazine-%E2%99%A1%E2%99%A1%E2%99%A1-obama/). You can also follow the jump for a gallery of all 26 TIME covers featuring the Obamas. Bet you just can't wait to witness its glory...

Follow the jump for a gallery of all 26 TIME covers featuring the Obamas (lucky us!). Warning: not for the faint-hearted.

In attempting to make a comparison of time and eternity, one finds there is no real comparison at all to be had. The chasm between them is actually so vast it practically defies description. Chronicling Biblical history from the creation of Adam and Eve to the end of the thousand year “millennial” reign of Christ, human existence on the earth is only about 7000 years. In light of the “foreverness” of eternity, this amounts to only a “brief moment” of time. In fact, any finite amount of time is negligible (nothing) next to an amount which is infinite. As humans...

There's a side of America that scares Frenchmen, French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand was quoted by Time magazine Paris-based writer Bruce Crumley, and it's the side of American determination that doesn't let a 32-year-old rape case die, even if the perpetrator is an elderly survivor of the Holocaust. Seeking to explain the "cultural divide" that's as "wide as the Atlantic" between America and Europe, Crumley noted that Europeans are "shocked and dismayed that an internationally acclaimed artist" such as Roman Polanski "could be jailed for such an old offense." Of course, at no point did Crumley cite any public opinion...

Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX - News) will eventually sell the Time Inc magazine unit and could buy holdings in its core entertainment category, Gordon Crawford, managing director of its largest shareholder, said during a presentation this week. "Time Warner just spun off their cable division, they are going to sell their print division, they are going to spin off AOL and they're just going to be Warner Brothers, HBO and the Turner Networks," said Crawford, managing director of The Capital Group. "Now, they will make acquisitions ... but they're probably going to buy just stuff in their wheel house of...

Ralph Nader has been many things: lawyer, consumer-rights bulldog, political activist and perennial third-party presidential candidate. He has now added a new title to his business card: fiction writer. His latest book, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, is a 700-page populist fantasy in which a small group of billionaires and media moguls — led by Warren Buffett and including Ted Turner, George Soros, Bill Cosby, Yoko Ono and Phil Donahue — pool their massive resources to reform the U.S. With the help of a $15 billion war chest and a p.r. campaign starring a talking parrot, the group successfully...

Anger -- it's not just for liberals anymore!

His question about God's death startled and shocked the world, and set off a firestorm of controversy. But when John T. Elson died, few people noticed. The New York Times didn't run this remembrance until 10 days after his passing. But I think it may be worth noting -- as one person says -- that Elson was "catholic with a capital C and a small c." His story: All journalists want to write a story that makes a big splash. John T. Elson, the religion editor at Time magazine, was no exception. But in 1966 he got more than he...

Here is video of Glenn Beck tonight talking to Bill O'Reilly and reacting to Beck being on the cover of Time Magazine. He's on the cover with the title, "Mad man." Beck did not cooperate with Time, but they chose to put him on the cover anyway. Beck said he believes it is largely a result of Van Jones' resignation. . . . (VIDEO)

The recent U.S. comments that China poses a military threat to itself is "totally groundless and irresponsible", Spokesman with China's Ministry of National Defense Hu Changming said Thursday.

As we noted yesterday when news broke about Time Magazine’s cover story on Glenn Beck, the image used is from a photo shoot last year by Jill Greenberg. It’s an interesting choice. Greenberg is known for her liberal views – and she’s being very upfront about her use of this opportunity to take revenge on those who attacked her. Greenberg brought up the cover on Twitter (she goes by the ironic handle @JillManipulator). Here’s her comment: exactly a year after my right wing attack, i am retouching one of my attackers for a magazine cover. leaving blemishes of course. Time...

Rep. Ron Paul being interviewed by TIME magazine and answering questions [Click Here to Watch]

I almost lost my breakfast in the grocery store checkout aisle this morning. Have you seen this?

Glenn Beck is named Man of the Year! Oh no wait.... they just called him a Mad Man? Look whether, you like Glenn Beck there's no denying they incredible impact he has made. Van Jones anyone? How bout Acorn? See the recent rallies in Washington? 9-12 groups?

In many ways, black holes are science’s answer to science fiction. As strange as anything from a novelist’s imagination, black holes warp the fabric of spacetime and imprison light and matter in a gravitational death grip. Their bizarre properties make black holes ideal candidates for fictional villainy. But now black holes are up for a different role: heroes helping physicists assess the real-world existence of another science fiction favorite — hidden extra dimensions of space. Astrophysical giants several times the mass of the sun and midget black holes smaller than a subatomic particle could provide glimpses of an extra-dimensional existence....

Saw this in the checkout lane at WalMart... We gotta really keep an eye on what our children are exposed to...

In a speech to the AFL-CIO, the president accuses critics and special interests of using scare tactics and spreading 'lies' in healthcare debate. Reporting from Cincinnati - In a combative Labor Day speech, President Obama said that the healthcare debate had gone on too long and accused opponents of spreading "lies" meant to persuade Americans that his proposed overhaul would cruelly deny care to the elderly. The president, speaking at an AFL-CIO picnic, said that "special interests" were determined to "scare the heck out of people.

Time doesn’t exist. The universe isn’t really expanding. And if you want a theory of quantum gravity, look to the man who inspired Einstein, says Julian Barbour. For someone who believes time doesn’t exist, Julian Barbour sure has a head for dates. He remembers exactly when he started to have doubts about time: It was October 18, 1963, and he was reading the newspaper. He spotted an article about the physicist Paul Dirac and his quest for a theory of quantum gravity—a theory linking Einstein’s ideas about gravity to the clashing doctrine of quantum mechanics. Today, Barbour is on that...

Presidents, like normal people, tend to seek in others what they admire about themselves. Which brings us to the par-5 12th hole at Woodlawn golf course in Fort Belvoir, Va., on Father's Day. Vice President Joe Biden, an 8 handicap, has leaked a 3-wood into the trees near the green. He stands amid the underbrush, talking with his match-play teammate, the President of the United States. Take a drop or risk the trees? A few inches off either way, and the ball will ricochet into the forest. The stakes aren't high: Barack Obama, who has golfed almost every weekend since...

Time magazine's August 10 edition with President Barack Obama on the cover (“Paging Dr. Obama”) trying to heal the nation in a photo illustration as a physician, wearing a white smock with a stethoscope around his neck, brings to seven the number of issues the magazine's cover has featured Obama just since November's election -- make that eight for the First Family if you add in June 1's genuflecting “The Meaning of Michelle.” Amongst the seven of President Obama: “Person of the Year” and Obama as FDR.