You would think the only magazine I read is The New Yorker, but this really isn't true. The New Yorker, however, is the gift that keeps on giving . . . and giving . . . and giving. An issue appears every week, at least 50 weeks out of the year. Back issues tend to pile up because almost every issue contains lots of articles worth reading, and some weeks one just doesn't have the time.

The other day I picked up an issue (January 12, 2009) I hadn't done justice to and found a fascinating article about Barney Frank. The title is "Barney's Great Adventure, and it is subtitled "The most outspoken man in the House gets some real power."

Frank is fiercely intelligent and hard-working, and he has a caustic sense of humor. The quote I love best from him is "Conservatives believe life begins at conception and ends at birth."

If you want to learn more about one of the most powerful present-day figures in Washington, D.C., I highly recommend this article by Jeffrey Toobin.