Last week we heard large-scale layoffs are hitting Forbes this week. An insider tells us "at least three" sales staffers were canned today. FishbowlNY got an internal memo from Steve Forbes telling his staff about what's to come:

• Bad news for CNN: The network now occupies fourth (and last) place in the cable news ratings. Not only did it fall behind Fox News and MSNBC in October, it also dropped below its sister network HLN as well. [DF, NYT]
• More bad news for newspapers: Sales were down 10 percent between April and September; the New York Times' weekday circulation has now fallen below 1 million for the first time in two decades. [AP, NYT, AdAge]
• As rumored, Forbes carried out a round of job cuts today. [NYT]
• Ricky Gervais will be the host of the 67th Annual Golden Globes. [LAT]
• If you love Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, you'll be pleased to hear that a third iteration, Top Chef: Just Desserts, will debut on Bravo next year. [THR]
• Rosie O'Donnell's new Sirius XM show debuts next week. Get excited! [USAT]
• Self editor Lucy Danzinger has no need for the Town Cars normally provided to Condé Nast editors. After she's finished running six miles in Central Park in the morning, Condé's bravest editor straps on a helmet and bikes to work! (Except when it's snowing or she has an important meeting, of course.) [NYT]

In your foreboding Friday media column: Rumors of impending Forbes layoffs, more details on the Conde Nast Traveler cuts this week, an editor quits over her commute(!), and a former AP newsman kills himself.

In your downright fraudulent Friday media column: A fakester is claiming to work for W, Forbes is losing a top editor and National Lampoon will help your weekend arrive sooner.

A source close to Forbes tells us another layoff round is imminent, the third this year. Ouch.

The magazine bloodbath continues today. Condé Nast laid off staffers at Brides this morning, two days after shutting down Modern Bride and Elegant Bride. And rumor has it a big round of layoffs at Forbes is imminent. The good news? At least one former Condé employee got a free lunch today:

You know who was a good leader, according to Forbes "Leadership" columnist Sangeeth Varghese? Hitler. Showed a lot of gumption in WW1. And civil improvement? He was big on civil improvement. Of course, he had his drawbacks.

Remember how brightly Peter Thiel's star was shining just last year? The PayPal co-founder's early Facebook investment started looking brilliant, his hedge fund returns were stellar and he debuted on the Forbes 400 list. My, how things change.

Forbes' annual list of the richest Americans, the Forbes 400, was released today. The bad news? It was a pretty rough year for the super-rich, not surprisingly, with the collective net worth of Forbes 400 members falling $300 billion over the past 12 months. The good news, at least for those poor people who have had to deal with the indignity of only being worth in the high nine figures: You don't need to be a billionaire to make the cut this year. A mere $950 million will suffice. [Forbes, NYDN]

Forbes, September 2: "Scott Gould happily ditched the securities market for a restaurant job." WSJ, yesterday: "Scott Gould went from trader to waiter-by choice." It's almost as if one followed the other for some easily determined reason. We'll never know.

Sheila Bair, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, may not be worthy of coverage in the eyes of Vogue editor Anna Wintour. But maybe she can take some comfort from Forbes' new "100 Most Powerful Women" list. Bair comes in at No. 2, right behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who nabbed the top spot for the fourth straight year. [Forbes, NYDN]

In its maniacal zeal to crank out endless lists of arbitrarily arranged names, Forbes has ranked the world's women by power. Did you know that Guler Sabanci, the chairman of Turkey's Sabanci Holdings, is more powerful than Oprah? It's true

You'd think Steve Forbes would be content having his name slathered all over his various properties. You'd be wrong, because Forbes wants to be the author of a bestseller, too. Badly. Badly enough to spend company money buying his book.

The best college in the country? That would be the U.S. Military Academy (otherwise known as West Point), believe it or not—at least according to Forbes, which just issued its list of "America's Best Colleges":

If half the rumors about Dennis Kneale are true, the CNBC host has good reason to fear bloggers and curse them on air. So why is he telling people privately that he manufactured his feud with bloggers for buzz?

• McGraw-Hill, which announced recently that it's looking to get rid of BusinessWeek, has now announced plans to get rid of 550 employees. [WSJ]
• Jim Spanfeller, the president and CEO of Forbes.com, either decided to leave the company or was forced out, depending on who you talk to. [DF, NYT]
• As expected, the new Harry Potter movie raked it in yesterday. [THR]
• Donald Trump's long-running libel lawsuit against author (and New York Times business editor) Timothy O'Brien has been dismissed by a judge. [NYP]

Between the Wizards and the Avatar there's a lot of money floating through Hollywood right now. Vast riches unknown by the average shmo! Sure glad we have the Jews to take care of it for us.

• The Harry Potter frenzy kicked off last night when the latest installment debuted at midnight last night and raked in $22.2 million in the process. [THR]
• Jared Kushner's struggling Observer is still hunting for a new editor. [DF]
• Time Inc. has "assembled a high-level SWAT team" to revamp Fortune. [NYP]
• The most successful magazine at the moment? Fitness. Obviously! [Folio]
• Ukraine's Culture Ministry has banned Brüno because "it's immoral." [THR]
• A hacker accessed the computers of several Twitter employees, made off with a big bunch of documents, and is now leaking the info online. Technology! [TC]
• Is NBC's wacky, new terrorist-hunting reality show going to put war correspondents in danger's way? Guess we'll find out shortly, right? [NYO]

Exploiting a loophole in Twitter's gateway for external software, a Forbes reporter posted what the magazine claims is the longest tweet ever. What did fearless Taylor Buley do with all 247 characters? Buttered up publisher Steve Forbes, of course.

In your intermittently gloomy Monday media column: a new font at the New York Times, a fantastical price for the Boston Globe, black people would like to be invited on television sometimes, and the recession proves Steve Forbes right: