1) “Bachmania: Michele Bachmann invites tea partiers to Washington for another swig,” by Christopher Beam. Thousands of fringe Republican protesters attended a health care reform protest at the Capitol and were embraced by many congressional Republicans.
2) “All Locked Up: Did Joe Sullivan, sentenced to life at 13, have a fair trial?” by Amy Bach. The Supreme Court case Sullivan v. Florida demonstrates some of the flaws in our judicial system.
3) “Geezers Win! Geezers Win! The old-as-dirt New York Yankees take the 2009 World Series,” by Tim Marchman. Old-timer Yankee veterans played an integral role in the team’s World Series success.
4) “Schabowski Shrugged: The unanswered phone calls and misunderstood memos that helped bring down the Berlin Wall,” by Michael Meyer. East German guards found themselves at a checkpoint of history, and their apathy—and some Communist Party blunders—helped end the Cold War.
5) “What Ever Happened to the Amazon Rain Forest? Did we save it or what?” by Brendan Borrell. We may not hear about rain forest destruction as often as we used to, but the problem still exists—and Copenhagen negotiators and Sting are on it.
6) “Good Cop, Bad Cop? How do we make sure Afghan police officers aren’t Taliban?” by Christopher Beam. An inadequate vetting process allowed a Taliban member to penetrate the Afghan police force and kill five British soldiers.
7) “What Does It Look Like To Win a War on Terror?: In Sri Lanka, it’s fewer suicide bombers, a real estate boom, and hundreds of thousands of Tamils still packed into overcrowded camps,” by Lionel Beehner. Sri Lanka’s success against the Tamil Liberation Tigers serves as a case study in the war on terror.
8) “Awkward Suggestions: Let’s have fun with the Google search box,” by Michael Agger. Popping just a couple of words into Google Suggest can turn up intriguing and bizarre inquiries, ranging from “how 2 tie a tie” to “what is up with kate gosselins hair.”
9) “It’s So Hard To Say I’m Sorry: The financial and personal ramifications that come when a doctor apologizes to a patient,” by Rahul Parikh. Nobody likes to hear their doctor say “sorry,” but sometimes an apology is the best medicine.
10) “The Sex Toy Talk: Should a 16-year-old tell her mother she wants a vibrator?” Prudence gives vibrator advice to a curious teen. She also tackles testicular infection, daddy issues, and office bathroom politics.
The Week’s Best From the “ Slatest”
1) In the wake of Thursday’s shooting at Fort Hood, some people are asking whether the shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, a Jordanian American and a reportedly devout Muslim, should be considered a terrorist.
2) Iran may have tested technology that allows for a nuclear warhead to be fitted to a missile.
3) The U.K. government admits that, at the Copenhagen climate change summit, political agreements are far more likely than binding treaties.
4) Training Afghan forces quickly may not be feasible given the low recruit retention rate and lack of American trainers and training facilities.
5) Wall Street bankers got first pickings on the H1N1 vaccinations.
