Call it Schadenfreude if you must, but this is pretty funny.  And if you’ve ever have a complaint against America (which is close to impossible, but hey, even we admit we’re not perfect) you have to admit at least we don’t recycle our covers.  Mens Fitness, the Bible of six-pack abs and fancy digital gizmos, has been caught recycling a cover from 2007.  (On the left is the 2007 version; on the right, their cover this month.)  Cf: Six-Pack Abs!: See Results in Just 9 Days.  Granted, that’s on pretty much every men’s magazine’s cover, but it doesn’t stop there: Dress for More Sex; Gain Muscle, Lose Pounds (Tap Your Secret Source); Eat Better, Think Smarter, and 1,293 blah, blah, blah.  Their editor said it was intentional, as a way of “branding” the magazine.  Gawker notes that there are just four templates for the covers since 07.  That certainly must make layout meetings easier.  (But couldn’t they have even changed it to 1,294?) Next week in America: Dress for More Ecclesiastical Success; Gain Consolation, Lose Desolation (Tap Your Secret Source–God); Ora Better, Labora Smarter; and 1,293 Ways to Spice Up Your Homilies!

The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author, editor at large at America and founder of Outreach.