Required Reading: "Time" Top Ten Lists

Paradoxically, despite its questionable leanings, I like Time magazine.

I like it because it is well written, comprehensive, and not nearly as nakedly partisan and obnoxious as other similar broad-scope commentary magazines tend to be. Let's be honest: Newsweek is just about unreadable these days, what with its replacement of good writing with inflammatory, subpar, college-level snarkiness. If I had a nickel for every time that Newsweek gave President Obama an "up" arrow rating in its weekly, over-simplified "who's up, who's down" featurette, I'd be rich. (Actually, I'd be richer if I had a nickel for every "down" arrow that they've given Dick Cheney, who seems to be the target of Newsweek jeers every day; maybe they're running out of other stuff to talk about).

Anyways, Time it is, and the Time year-end feature is now online, consisting of fifty separate top ten lists for the year (everything from the usual Ten Best Movies to more obscure stuff, such as Ten Most Awkward Moments and Ten New Weird Species). I highly recommend parsing this for at least a little while. There is some useful information here, and if nothing else, the exhaustive lists will jog your memory of 2009's most interesting news stories and events.

It can be both depressing and enlightening to relive a year in public affairs. Here you will be reminded of the heroism of our soldiers in the Middle East, and you will relive the irrelevant hype surrounding Octomom. You will read about the monumental debate surrounding congressional healthcare bill, and you will see the faces of Lindsay Lohan, Susan Boyle, and Miley Cyrus. The panorama of America, in all its complication, gloriousness, and stupidity, is such a thing to behold.