December 16, 2009 by Anthony W. Orlando

Best of the Week: November 29-December 5, 2009

10. Seven Answers to Climate Contrarian Nonsense — John Rennie and The Lancet Medical Journal: Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Has Major Direct Health Benefits — Joseph Romm and Warming Increases the Risk of Civil War in Africa — Marshall B. Burke, Edward Miguel, Shanker Satyanath, John A. Dykema, & David B. Lobell

9. Black in the Age of Obama — Charles M. Blow

8. Healthcare Tests the Senate’s Credibility — Steven Hill and Are We Going to Let John Die? — Nicholas D. Kristof

7. The Hostage Business — Nicholas Schmidle

6. The Trial of Thomas Lubanga — Adam Hochschild

5. Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy — Adam Ciralsky

4. It’s Just a Texas-Governor Thing — Robert Draper and The Retro Man — Michelle Cottle and Conservatives Want Republican Purge Trials — Thomas Frank and Leaving the Right — Andrew Sullivan

3. Ten Ways to Move the Budget Back Toward a Sustainable Path — Jeff Frankels

2. The Bank Job — Bethany McLean and Wall Street Meets Its Match — Robert Kuttner and How Some Near-Death Banks End Up Looking Alive — David Reilly

1. Something from Nothing– Nir Rosen and Pentagon’s War Pitch Belied by Taliban-Qaeda Conflict — Gareth Porter and A Plan in Need of Clarity — Sen. Jim Webb and Obama’s Surge: Has the President Been Misled by the Iraq Analogy? — Juan Cole

BONUS: On Assignment: Afghanistan in Free Fall — Moises Saman