COVER
How Americans Are Living Dangerously (Science)
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
When the Democrats Take Back K Street
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
The Russian Roulette
The fatal poisoning of an outspoken former KGB agent adds to the chill of Vladimir 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
Global Viewpoint: 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
An African Miracle (Medicine)
How a few doctors and some antiviral drugs brought a child with AIDS--and thousands like him--back from the dead
Inside An AIDS clinic
In a small country in Africa, one clinic is making progress on the fight against pediatric AIDS. TIME's Christine Gorman reports from Lesotho
Long-Term Prognosis: Lessons from America (Medicine / Long-Term Prognosis)
SOCIETY
Circling Back To Sewing
An old craft is gaining new appeal among the young, hip and nimble-fingered
BRIEFING
Numbers: Dec. 4, 2006 (Numbers)
They Just Won't Bow Out (Notebook)
Verbatim: Dec. 4, 2006 (Notebook)
Social Insecurity (Notebook)
What Daddy Couldn't Say (Notebook / In the Arena)
Olympic Forecast? (Notebook)
Punchlines: Dec. 4, 2006 (Punchlines)
Milestones Dec. 4, 2006 (Notebook)
What's Next: Dec. 4, 2006 (Notebook)
Mini-Pimp is Mad (Notebook)
Wanna be a Rock Star? Fake It (Notebook)
BUSINESS
Danger Caution Ahead
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
Books: The Revenge of the Dork (Books)
What do you do when your erudite punk-rock band stalls? Of course! Write a novel for teens
Culture Complex: 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
Music: The Un-Retirement of Jay-Z (Music)
Three years after quitting, he returns with an album that flirts with maturity, then loses its nerve
Books: Ten Years Beyond Infinite (Books)
Revolutionary or unreadable? The long, strange afterlife of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest
Architecture: 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
Trends: How to Get the Party Started (Trends)
Why Women Aren't Richer (Money)
PEOPLE
People: Dec. 4, 2006
Q & A: Wyclef Jean
10 Questions for Al Gore (Interview)
LETTERS
Letters: Dec. 4, 2006
My Person of the Year (Forum)
To help us make this year's selection, TIME asked people who were chosen in previous years for their 2006 nominations. A sampling:
ESSAY
Cartoon: Let Us Now Praise Resentful Men (Cartoon)
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Going It Alone (Time Bonus Section December 2006: Generations)
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)
Former Motown star Martha Reeves has 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