Vol. 168 No. 23
COVER
We worry too much about overhyped threats, and ignore the things that really put us at risk
The Year In Medicine From A to Z (Cover Story / The Year In Medicine)
It was a year of old scourges and new drugs, from the first vaccine that prevents cancer to a bug that spoiled an entire crop of California spinach
NATION
Democratic lobbyists are enjoying a comeback after 12 years of exile. Never mind those promised reforms
A Mormon as President?
Mitt Romney's challenge will be to explain a faith that remains mysterious to many
The Scariest Guy in Washington (Profile)
With subpoena power, Henry Waxman could be the Republicans' worst nightmare
When Public Schools Aren't Color-Blind (Education)
Louisville's racial guidelines keep its schools from having too many or too few black students. Most parents like the policy. Will the Supreme Court strike it down?
WORLD
Putin's Russia
Options for the New Secretary of Defense
With Iraq sliding into civil war, TIME looks at the tough choices facing Bob Gates
Why We Need to Talk to Iran (Global Viewpoint)
The Face of Iraq's Brutality
Exclusive: A warlord tied to some of Baghdad's worst atrocities talks to TIME about the roots of Iraq's hate
HEALTH & MEDICINE
How a few doctors and some antiviral drugs brought a child with AIDS--and thousands like him--back from the dead
Lessons from America (Medicine / Long-Term Prognosis)
SOCIETY
An old craft is gaining new appeal among the young, hip and nimble-fingered
NOTEBOOK
They Just Won't Bow Out
Verbatim
Social Insecurity
What Daddy Couldn't Say (In the Arena)
Olympic Forecast?
Punchlines
Milestones
What's Next
Mini-Pimp is Mad
Wanna be a Rock Star? Fake It
BUSINESS
Hot cars and a cool CEO saved Nissan. But has success taken the edge off the brand's potential?
Hello, Hedge Funds
Big money and big questions push hedge funds--those below-the-radar investments for the rich--to do the unthinkable: show their faces
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
What do you do when your erudite punk-rock band stalls? Of course! Write a novel for teens
The Kramer in All of Us (Culture Complex)
As Hollywood goes nuts, maybe the audience needs to examine itself too
5 Boffo TV Boxes
These small-screen DVD collections will keep on giving long after the holiday season
The Un-Retirement of Jay-Z (Music)
Three years after quitting, he returns with an album that flirts with maturity, then loses its nerve
Ten Years Beyond Infinite (Books)
Revolutionary or unreadable? The long, strange afterlife of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest
First Thinking, Then Building (Architecture)
Diller and Scofidio were architects who never built anything--until they did. And it's remarkable
Kate in The Raw (Profile)
How one actress worked--and stripped--her way from stardom to respect and back again
YOUR TIME
Why Women Aren't Richer (Money)
PEOPLE
Q & A: Wyclef Jean
10 Questions for Al Gore (Interview)
LETTERS
My Person of the Year
To help us make this year's selection, TIME asked people who were chosen in previous years for their 2006 nominations. A sampling:
ESSAY
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
People who have had a happy marriage may find it easier to move on after the death of their spouse
Her Second Act (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Generations)
elected to work in front of a new audience, the citizens of Detroit
Golden Gadgets (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Generations)
Cool technology is no longer just for kids. There is great stuff coming up for the aging market too
¡Viva El Gringo! (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Generations)
A couple enjoys la vida loca by retiring south of the border
made by vagrant (ÀË×Ӥθߴï)