Boston Magazine released its annual power issue, which is an annual must-have for any lifestyle magazine. This power list leads to the inevitable question, what does "power" mean, anyway?

Does "power" refer to one's title? If you looked at how Deval Patrick's casino proposal turned out, you might argue that Patrick certainly didn't merit fourth place. But he does get to have "governor" in front of his name.

Does "power" refer to popularity? Of course, Mayor Menino was first, which bolsters the opinion poll indicating that the entire city and its ladies love him and that he has carte blanche. One line in the article declares, "Tom Menino owns this town." Uh, yay democracy?

Does "power" refer to the ability to crush others? One can only imagine the debate at BoMag when deciding how to rank Governor Deval Patrick and House Speaker Sal Di Masi, who seems to have made it his personal mission to stop any and all of Patrick's proposals. Patrick wound up under Di Masi at 4th, while Di Masi was 2nd.

Should "power" apply to anyone at the Globe? Not to be mean to the staff who puts out the paper, but, from a business perspective, in the face of all the layoffs and writer buyouts, it seems as if the New York Times Company, which owns the Globe, clearly has the upper hand.Yet BoMag ranked Marty Baron, Globe editor, at number 10.

Does "power" mean you deserve unflattering lighting? One last note--what was with the pictures that came out with the magazine? Granted, our mayor is no Gavin Newsom, but that picture makes him look scary, and it appears that someone at BoMag really doesn't like the Beacon Hill Civic Association.

Does "power" mean you're Tom Brady? Yes, BoMag put Tom Brady at number 43. He isn't even in the city the bulk of the time, and Jacoby Ellsbury should have been higher. He got us free tacos. That's power.

Image of the BoMag power cover.