Holiday Post 2015: What the heck happened?

With Epiphany, or Three Kings Day as it is known in much of Latin America, the 12 Days of Christmas come to an end, although if you go to Puerto Rico, the party will likely go on at least a couple more weeks in what is known as the octavitas. So I am still in holiday frame for a while longer yet.

I would like to end my series of Holiday Posts for this season with a look at what the heck happened in 2015. Now, most news sources do their usual summaries of the year, and there is some of that here. But I also tried to find a few different things to see what else happened in 2015 besides the usual.

Note that I am not including books and reading here. If you are interested in items about books,  you can check out my holiday post on books and reading. 

News Stuff

 

Yes, we have to acknowledge I suppose that some stuff happened on the news during 2015. Some of this I do find helpful as a reminder. Though I do my best to keep up with news and the world around me, I still miss quite a bit. Thus it is interesting to me to see things I missed. So, let's have a look.

• For starters, here is a four minute video that summarizes what happened in 2015:

•  The Atlantic has a compilation of their "25 Top News Photos of 2015."
• The Morning News asked some writers what they thought were the best and the least important news stories of the year. In the piece, Roxane Gay had this to say of the clown circus that was the GOP Presidential Candidate debates: "The Republican debates have been the biggest waste of time and energy. In each showing, the candidates reveal themselves to be narrow-minded buffoons who are desperately ill-equipped to govern. Staring at a screen saver for the same amount of time the debates have aired would have been a more productive use of the public’s time." That pretty much sums it up. Then again, you may not hear from me much longer since, in the same article, Aminatou Sow says that "Men are basically over." Then again, given I had to look up who the heck she was, I think it buys me some time. (Snark aside, she seems a fairly accomplished individual despite some of her comments). Anyhow, TMN did cast a wide net when they asked, and your mileage may vary.
• The United States is a force when it comes to fueling armed conflicts and wars around the world. Salon has a list of "10 Destructive armed conflicts the U.S. fueled in 2015, Explained." Yes, they also take the time to explain just what the heck is going on. 
• The Washington Post has a compilation of the best and worst education news for 2015.
• Wired has a compilation of the most important climate stories of the year. The big news for many was the Paris Climate Agreement, which is highlighted in their list.
• ProPublica has their "10 Best 2015 Investigative Reports on Political Money." If you are interested in following the money in politics, and I believe part of being well informed is doing so, this should be of interest. 
• GOOD magazine has the most fascinating space stories of the year. 
• Ms. magazine has the top 15 feminist moments of the year.
• Bill Moyers has a listing of most undercovered stories of the year, part one and part two. A lot of this is very important stuff that most of the mainstream media pretty much ignored. 
• Interested in business and management? Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge has the compilation of their most popular stories and research papers for the year.
• Going around the world, Global Voices offers "32 Stories that Capture the Happiness, Heartache, and Resilience of 2015." This for me is one of the better compilations of news out there. Yea, contrary to what U.S. media would have you believe, a lot of stuff happens around the world. Their staff also handpicked a set of best stories for 2015, and they took a look back at Southeast Asia and Latin America.
• Now, you can have some fun with the news as well. BuzzFeed has a compilation of some news broadcast bloopers for your amusement.

Entertainment and Pop Culture

Meme by Todd Mecklem (https://www.flickr.com/photos/toddmecklem/4357055264), use by CC license

A lot of stuff happens in entertainment and pop culture. Much of it I could not care less about. However, I do find some trivia interesting, so in that light, let's see what happened in entertainment and pop culture.

• I will be honest. A lot of the stuff on this list I did not see, and I could not care less. But I know some folks out there love this stuff, so feel free to go down memory lane once more with IO9's list of best and worst TV moments of 2015. The Dr. Who one, however, was pretty cool.
• Interested in music? Here are some best of lists for albums and music. 
• Here is The New York Times list. 
• Fact magazine has a list of best 50 albums of the year.  
• The Root has the list for best singles in hip-hop. 
• Apparently some singer named Adele had some hot number last year, but Mother Jones begs to differ and offers their own list of the best albums for 2015.  
• Sounds and Colours has a nice list of best albums with a focus on Latin America. 
• And if you are one of those kids who cannot be bothered with albums, well, here is Spotify's list of most streamed music.
• And what do you know? Apparently some people still make music videos since there is a list of at least 20 of them considered best of the year, according to Fact magazine.
• More into film? Yes, there were other movies this year besides that one Disney-owned juggernaut that came out in December. Perhaps you even watched one or two of those other films. Well, for starters here is a countdown of best films, according to David Ehrlich. It's a little bombastic at times, but it does the job.

•  The New York Times has their list of best movies of the year. 
• Ms. magazine has a list of 15 or so best feminist films.  
• The Advocate lists 10 LGBT films they consider the best of the year. 
• Word and Film has their 10 best book to film adaptations. 
• Sound and Colours has the top 8 Latin American films of the year.
• Bill Moyers has a list of social justice documentaries worth watching.
• Other pop culture trivia: 
• COED has the "Most Popular Women on the Web (According to Google) 2015."  People still look for Britney Spears? (She is number 48). Marylin Monroe also makes the list (at 46). Still quite popular 50 or so years after her death. The list features women from various walks of pop culture life.
• According to Observer, here are the 10 most influential Twitter topics in the year.
• For a Kitty Break, here are "the 27 Most Important Things Cats did on the Internet in 2015." Via BuzzFeed.

The Library World

World War I Camp Library, Camp Sheridan, 1918 (via Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_War_I_Camp_Library.png)

I am a librarian, so I suppose I should at least feign some interest to what may have been happening in my profession and the world of libraries. Don't get me wrong. I love what I do, and I love the world of libraries. I do not particularly care for the many soap operas you often find in the profession. 

• The Library Loon reviews how 2015 went. She also gives her predictions for 2016. 
• The Annoyed Librarian does a 2015 in review for libraries and librarianship. She also looks ahead to 2016 and offers her predictions after reviewing the ones she did for 2015.

Some News from the World of Erotica and Sex and Gender

19th Century French Erotica book cover. Via Traveling Man at Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelingman/2179123171). Used by CC license.

All sorts of interesting things happened in the world of erotica, sex, gender, sex work, and education. Many of these stories often slip under the radar unless you pay attention and/or you choose to follow sources in those areas. So here is a small sampling. The usual warning: some sites may have NSFW content.

•  Good Vibrations has a roundup of sexy newsy news for 2015.
• Ms. Naughty has a porn for women retrospective for the year. A big news item in this category was the passing of Candida Royalle. 
• Em & Lo have "2015: The Year in Bad Sex."  As they write, "beautiful, honest, egalitarian sex took a lot of hits this year." Read some of the highlights of very bad behavior.
• Bustle looks at how porn changed in 2015, much of it in favor of women or more female friendly. There were also some tech innovations in sex tech.
• About.com has an obituary list of sex and gender activists, educators, and artists we lost in 2015.
• Violet Blue has a bit of a round up of sex news for 2015. There really is a bit of everything here. Among the highlights, yes, sex on a hoverboard is apparently a thing.
• Global Voices points out that "2015 was a Breakthrough Year for Sexual Diversity."

Fuckery

Yes. 2015 was a year full of what can best be described as fuckery. Assholes, bigots, plagues, and other assorted bullshit, ignorance, and stupidity happened this year. Yea, the stupid was strong in 2015.

• A bunch of diseases apparently made a comeback in 2015. Delights such as bubonic plague, dengue, and ebola made an appearance. Via BuzzFeed.  
• The U.S. Government apparently wasted a lot of money last year. That is not really news, but there is an annual highlight done every year. Keep in mind the list is compiled by a Republican Congressman, so heed it accordingly.  In other words, his definition of waste could be someone else's essential project in their district.Via The Washington Post.
• AlterNet highlights some ridiculous lawsuits from 2015.
• There were some serious scandals in the world of science. Read about them via Gizmodo.
• 2015 saw a lot of bigots and assholes come out of the woodwork. Salon has a compilation of the biggest ones in 2015. 
• COED has a list of Top 50 assholes and worst people of the year. From frat boys to dentists to celebrities, we saw a lot of assholes this year. I think you will agree who made number one on their list. 
• Radar also has a list of worst people of 2015.
• Right Wing nutjobs, religious or not, made all sorts of doomsday predictions for 2015. We are still here, which means they did not go anywhere. So, let's go down memory lane with "Five Failed Right-Wing Prophecies and Predictions of 2015" via Right Wing Watch.
• Esquire has the worst Internet hoaxes of 2015. Yes, the people who perpetrate this are assholes, but they also prove people in general are seriously naive and often stupid as fuck. Once more, the Facebook guy is NOT giving away free money, and sure as hell not to you nor me.
• Fox News had a great year of hate and lies. Their fuckery knew no bounds this year, so bad even French television laughed at them and high school kids schooled them. Story via News Corpse.
• Guns and the not-so-smart people who use them were a big theme in 2015. So, for our amusement, here is a small compilation of gun fails for 2015. In some cases, it's a miracle they are still alive. (Link to YouTube).