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It started with a cough, an autumn hack that refused to go away. Then came the fevers. They bathed and chilled the skinny frame of Oswaldo Juarez, a 19-year-old Peruvian visiting to study English. His lungs clattered, his chest tightened and he ached with every gasp. During a wheezing fit at 4 a.m., Juarez felt a warm knot rise from his throat. He ran to the bathroom sink and spewed a mouthful of blood. I'm dying, he told himself, "because when you cough blood, it's something really bad."

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Between the infidelity, the physical assaults, and the shameless self-promotion, 2009 has been a very naughty year for some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

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Did America slip into a semiliterate, polarized, pre-fascist state over the past decade or so, allowing greedy oligarchs and corporate elites to run the government? Two books I recently read offer reasonably persuasive evidence and arguments that the country did, and a third suggests that dictatorial mindsets could besiege Americans, with an assist from the Internet, if they don't come to their more deliberative senses. Each of the books offers an informed diagnosis of the dangers that widespread ignorance and ideological polarization pose for American democracy, though none offers a comprehensive treatment for the malaise. I read the three books in less than two weeks; friends ask how that was possible. The trick is to avoid not only Facebook and Twitter but also: celebrity news, cable news, Oprah, Jerry Springer, American Idol, The Swan, other reality-TV shows, professional wrestling, violent pornography, positive psychology and right-wing Christian fundamentalism.

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Now more than ever, it's critical that all women tune into their inner guidance and the fact that their bodies were designed to stay healthy for life. It has long been my experience that what we call women's health in this country has very little to do with actual health. It's simply disease screening. Instead of viewing symptoms as indicative of underlying imbalances, we prescribe drugs to quell them. This is not the same as health either. Rather, it disconnects our intellect from the wisdom of our bodies (what I call the mind/body split). When I look back at the top women's health stories of the last decade, I'm cautiously optimistic that they will bring change. Not only do they point to the limitations of the current model--drugs, excessive screening, and surgery are not better health care--they also support something every woman knows deep down inside of her. Whether she admits it or not, whether she is in touch with it or not, she can always improve her health by working with the wisdom of her body.

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A South Korean group won a landmark deal to build and operate four nuclear reactors for the United Arab Emirates, beating more favored U.S. and French rivals to one of the Middle East's biggest ever energy contracts. Under the $40 billion deal announced on Sunday, which Seoul said it hoped would kick-start an export drive for its nuclear technology, the first nuclear plant in the Gulf Arab region is scheduled to start supplying power to the UAE grid in 2017. In stark contrast to the development program launched by northern Gulf neighbor Iran, the UAE's nuclear ambitions carry the blessing of its ally the United States. A consortium led by state-owned utility Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) aims to complete the UAE's four 1,400 megawatt reactors by 2020.

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Charlie Sheen and wife Brooke Mueller are planning to undergo counseling after a heated fight at a dinner party in Aspen, Colo., that landed Charlie in jail on domestic violence charges Friday morning. "They were fighting at a dinner in a friend’s house and it continued until the next morning," a source close to Mueller tells PEOPLE. "Both of them were drinking and neither was supposed to be. They both have histories of alcohol abuse and have made every effort to stop. But things got out of hand." Sheen, 44, was booked at 11:20 a.m. for second-degree assault, menacing and criminal mischief, according to a spokesperson for the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department in Aspen, Colo. The actor posted an $8,500 bond Friday night and was released from jail at 7 p.m. He is due in court on Feb. 8, 2010 at 10:30 a.m.

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The damage to Jon Gosselin's apartment is far worse that we thought -- according to his attorney, a "butcher knife" wielding maniac sliced and diced the entire place into a million pieces. Jon's attorney tells TMZ ... when Jon entered his Manhattan apartment this afternoon, he found his "shoes, shirts, luggage, bed, curtain, rugs and other furnishings" had been slashed by a "sick perpetrator" -- and it doesn't stop there. We're told Jon's television, CD player, coffee maker, a Nintendo Wii game, dishes, pots and pans were taken from his apartment. Jon's attorney also says a Ming vase, believed to be over 100 years old ... was "smashed to pieces." As for the note that was left behind ... it was "speared" to Jon's bedroom dresser with a butcher knife.

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Winter in America 2009. Passing through the darkest period of the winter solstice, shrouded by the gloom and doom of climate destruction, war, and economic depression, making our way around the broken promises of "change we can believe in," we nonetheless find ourselves celebrating life and the redemptive power of a global grassroots revolution. In the wake of the failure of the Copenhagen Climate conference, and the "business as usual" insanity of Obama and the governing elite, millions of us are terminally fed up and fired up for action. A critical mass of food and farm activists, North and South, are becoming aware that the second decade of the 21st Century likely marks the end of the road for chemical, energy, and water-intensive food and agriculture. And, as the energy, climate, and economic crises converge, a growing corps of climate activists understand that we are witnessing the beginning of the end for fossil fuel-based industry and transportation, energy-intensive housing and suburban sprawl, and a "profit-at-any-cost" economy based upon over-consumption, war, and commercial conquest.

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Around this time last decade, I was wading through clouds of tear gas and dodging rubber bullets from the Seattle Police Department. I was 24, it was the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests and a moment that I thought signaled the inauguration of a new youth activism that would hit the ground running with the new millennium. I was right about the arrival of a new political engagement of young people for the decade, but wrong in my presumption that it would look and feel like the activist movements in America’s past that I had read about. I thought young people, 16 to 24-year-olds, were going to continue what my generation did -- fight for inclusion, to be part of the ongoing struggles over civil rights, immigration and the environment. Instead, they decided to lead them. They did so by redefining what it means to be an "activist," who could be one, and new ways to get the job done. They made history in the process, and did so on their own terms.

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Federal officials claim mustang numbers are growing so rapidly that there could be mass starvation due to a shortage of forage in the drought-plagued region. Having rejected a mass cull, Ken Salazar, the US Interior Secretary, favours a plan to move thousands of wild horses and burros, or feral donkeys, to the Midwest and eastern United States. In a hearing this week near Reno, Nevada, members of the US Bureau of Land Management clashed with dozens of wild horse advocates who say the proposal is cruel and unnecessary. The roundup – which would use helicopters to drive the mustangs towards and cowboys wielding lassos – has been attacked by a string of Hollywood stars including the singer Sheryl Crow, actors Ed Harris and Lily Tomlin, and the comedian Bill Maher.

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The George W. Bush Institute -- the "action- oriented think tank" that is part of Bush's Presidential Center -- will co-produce a public television show hosted by its executive director, Ambassador James Glassman, in a rare convergence of public broadcasting and a partisan research organization. "Ideas in Action" will premiere in February and will be co-produced by Andrew Walworth, who produces PBS's "Think Tank." Glassman, the former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy under President Bush and one-time moderator of CNN's "Capital Gang Sunday," will lead a discussion on public policy issues in front of a live audience at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He will remain executive director of the Institute.

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It was thrilling and tumultuous, a decade that took us to the heights of excellence and depths of disgrace with regularity. This page is your portal to our look back at all of it -- the dominant athletes, greatest games, biggest stories, fiercest rivalries, stunning upsets, spectacular flops, most brilliant minds, record-breaking performances and more. A wide pool of SI.com writers contributed picks in a vast array of categories covering 15 sports plus the Olympics as well as forays into movies, television and other pop-culture themes. You may not always agree with us, but that's the glory of debating the best and worst of sports, and there was plenty of each in the 2000s.

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Our top 20 lists of the best male and female athletes of the decade were a team effort. We asked a group of writers and editors at SI.com to consider on-the-field achievements and come up with the best of the best. Each voter's top choice was awarded 20 points, followed by 19 for their second pick, 18 for their third, etc. There were no restrictions on athletes who have admitted to using or have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs, though many voters acknowledged that such considerations did influence their choices.

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'Tis the season to be jolly...and annoyed by your family...and resentful to those people at the mall who look happy. Let's face it, we can all use a laugh this time of year and these folks have supplied them for us. WE WANT YOUR PICS TOO! If you have a funny Christmas photo send it our way or upload it below.

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We've been hard at work these past weeks gathering the 25 funniest sketches of the 2000s, but our list is incomplete. We want you to choose the last three, dear readers. Did we leave off your favorite SNL bit? Favorite viral Web series? Favorite Funny or Die sketch? Tell us in the comments! And make sure to watch the first 22! We think they're amazing!

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Christmas trees have been lit around the world. Take a look at these for inspiration and send us yours!

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In this season given to tidings of comfort and joy, word has come that we New Yorkers are the sad sacks of the United States. This is something of a surprise. Sure, we complain a lot. Grumbling could qualify as the official state sport. But are we really the unhappiest of them all? It seems so, judging from a study by two economics professors, newly published in Science magazine. The academics — Andrew J. Oswald, of the University of Warwick in Britain, and Stephen Wu, of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. — examined piles of data, tossed them into a research Cuisinart and came up with a guide to American happiness, ranked by state. On the smiley scale, New York landed on the bottom.

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Brittany Murphy's husband and mother made a frantic attempt to revive her before paramedics arrived ... this according to notes written by an investigator from the L.A. County Coroner's office. And, there were a shocking number of strong prescription meds on Brittany's nightstand. TMZ has reviewed the documents, written by Investigator Blacklock. According to his notes, Brittany Murphy "had been complaining of shortness of breath and severe abdominal pain" for 7 to 10 days prior to her death. According to the notes, Murphy went into the bathroom at around 7:30 AM Sunday and shut the door. A half hour later Brittany's mother, Sharon Murphy, went to check on her daughter, opened the bathroom door and "discovered the decedent lying on the floor unresponsive." According to the notes, Sharon yelled for help. Brittany's husband, Simon Monjack, who was in bed, heard the screams and ran to the bathroom.

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According to a report in Tuesday's Washington Times, Steele -- who has sparked controversy within his party -- is personally profiting from speeches at colleges, trade fairs and other groups. He charges as much as $20,000 per speech, plus first class airfare and hotel accomodations. $20,000 is nearly the poverty line for the annual income of an American family of four ($22,050). "Mr. Steele, elected in January to the $223,500-a-year RNC post, is working with at least four outside agencies in Washington, New York, Boston and Nashville that book the speaking engagements," the Times reports. "He charges between $8,000 and $20,000 for an address."

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TMZ has learned Brittany Murphy's autopsy is complete. There were no signs of foul play, we've learned, and there was nothing that pointed to a cause of death. The cause of death has been "deferred" pending other tests. Sources say the L.A. County Coroner will wait for the toxicology report, as well as the histopathology (study of her organs and tissues) and neuropathology (study of her brain). One source said the body appeared "normal." In addition, we're told she did not appear overly thin -- in contrast to some photos that surfaced several weeks ago. There was no evidence of trauma to the body. We're told the Coroner will not determine cause of death until the other reports are submitted -- in 4 to 6 weeks.

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