Stop by your local newstand...this issue is worth reading

Since graduating from college, I have been really bad at keeping up with world news and current events.

I have never had a love for history and am awful with geography. It is also really hard for me to catch the news because I work evening shift. The combination of these things can leave me dreadfully clueless with what is going on in the world sometimes...which is horrible(and embarrassing to admit) and I am attempting to work on it. Perhaps it will be a New Year's resolution for '07.

To start me in the right direction, I read the December 4 issue of TIME magazine from cover to cover tonight and really enjoyed it(I already know that I am a total geek). Here are some interesting things I read:

--People with personalized license plates or have names for their cars are more likely to express road rage.

--There was a thought provoking snippet on Ian Thorpe, an Australian swimmer that has 9 Olympic medals(5 of them gold) that has retired at the age of 24. Ian reported that he had met all of his swimming goals and wanted to start the rest of his life, stating, "You can swim lap after lap, staring at a black line, and all of a sudden you look up and see what's around. That's what it feels like for me."

--An interesting analysis of Bob Gate's options on the Iraq war as Bush's nominee for Defense Secretary.

--As of January, Henry Waxman will have subpoena power as the new chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and why that should strike fear in the heart of every government official.

--A great article on the irrational fears of humans and how they worry about the wrong things.

--Of course, I was interested in the article, The Year in Medicine A to Z. The most interesting fact I read is that driving while using your cell phone(hands free or not) is roughly the same as driving with the blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08%...the same amount that will get you arrested for driving under the influence in all 50 states and D.C. If that isn't a reason to hang up and drive, I don't know what is.

--Sewing is coming back in style. YAY!

--TIME gave Jay-Z's new album a bad review...but I like it a lot.