  Biggest news story of the year The recession that never goes away.. The "Great Recession" began while Bush was in office, continued during Obama.. and seemingly is getting worse for real people in their real lives. Maybe not on Wall Street. Maybe not for the wealthy.. but for those stuck in the middle class. The recession continues to make its brutal way down the economic ladder like a virus infecting people as it goes. Jobless numbers continued to be high in 2009. Many who found employment saw their salary cut at least in half. Some others only found temporary employment. The federal government tried stimulus funds to repave roads.. They gave away cash for clunkers.. They increased funding for anything dealing with workforce development. But yet as the calender pages turn to a new year, the recession continues. Some economists are enthusiastic about small hints of recovery.. Others are worried about the recession turning into a jobless recovery. And still a few are warning that the monetary system has been so weakened that major inflation will occur. But Ben Bernake was named the TIME magazine person of the year.. as though his actions as FED chairman had nothing to do with economic distress..  WORST CHOICE OF THE YEAR Ben Bernanke as TIME magazine person of the year. It could even be argued that short-sighted monetary policy gave the economy even less breathing room. Mr. Bernanke, however, was shown in his FED gym playing basketball for TIME magazine. They also told us the books he likes to read. Few mentions of his involvement with the bankers bailout of 2008.. But hey, he 'saved' the world.  Person of the year The Obama teleprompter. It was busy all year, got the President through quite a bit. He rarely went without you.. and you even broke on the floor in an embarassing moment. But through it all, you perservered, stronger and better in 2010..  Hero of the year Zachary Boyd, a soldier in Afghanistan, who woke up to an ambush, wore pink boxers and flip flops and fought the enemy. The photo made its way around the world.. but the soldier had no reason for embarassment.  Most ridiculous item of the year Exercise contraption named the Shake Weight, which appears to be more of dirty ad.. or even a complete joke. The actors in the commercial hold the shake weight next to their faces.. or the women in the ad aim the shake weight towards their breasts while the tool is in motion. The shake weight is most likely is a waste of money, but the advertisement for the product is priceless.  Most frightening scare tactic of the year Sid the Science Kid gets the shot.. But before he does it, a frightening song is bantered about by characters on the show. In the episode, Sid has fears about getting his swine flu vaccination (as well he should.) But in this world, the school nurse is joined by other children to tell Sid why he should get the jab.. The school nurse in the episode can't even control herself: On two occasions her voice appears to devolve into a scary laugh, muhahahahahaha. In the end, Sid gets his innoculation. No word on whether the shot was filled with mercury or other cancer causing additives. Muhahaha  Artist of the year Her music dominated charts, her images were everywhere, and her presence is huge in modern pop culture: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.. or Lady Gaga. Her songs were played, and played, and overplayed. Her iconic appearance on MTV caused a stir when during her song PAPARAZZI, she began to bleed and acted out a death scene during the conclusion of her song. She was rumored to have both male and female parts, but denied it.. she said she likes being with both men and women, but never was in love with a female.. whether she is playing us all for a fool is almost second to the true point of her popularity: Her catchy music that lights up dance floors and envigorates long drives with an urgency of energy that infiltrates the entire body.  The 'we've had enough of it' of the year Cops going too far.. Tasing old women in the face for relatively no reason. Other cops helping kids cover up the death of an illegal immigrant in Pennsylvania..Or even choking an EMT worker on video. The appearance of honest cops are hurt by the dishonest officers.. It seemed to be fashionable to use excessive force in 2009.. here's a hope that 2010 will take us back to earth..  Most disgusting magazine cover of the year NEWSWEEK magazine preaching that there is a case for killing granny.. and that maybe pulling the plug is good. As though the Nazis never tried this and eugenics never caught on... NEWSWEEK's sick attempt at trying to sell magazines was disgusting and perverse..  Worst marketing of the year Telling football fans to go see a geek flick about blue people named AVATAR..  Creepiest advertising of the year The seemingly endless Obama football ad on Thanksgiving day..  Best movie of the year PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was the return to real horror. Frightening and mind blowing horror.. scary scenes from the low budget film caused a sensation.. Theaters soon began to fill up and the impossible occurred: Peli's PARANORMAL beat SAW at the box office. It was a long time coming..And PARANORMAL ACTIVITY deserved all of the hype it received in 2009. READ FULL STORY HERE  Best marketing of the year Paramount's marketing of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was genuis. Use little money, blog and advertise on Facebook, begin the film's exposure in college towns.. and boom. The most was an overnight hit and everyone else who didn't see it wanted to know why it would be so frightening to see it. And finally, the best part of the ad: The fact that Paramount showed audiences watching the movie to sell the movie. It didn't hurt, either, to have Stephen Speilberg say that he believed his movie was haunted..  Best invention of the year Kentucky Grilled Chicken  Scariest thought of 2009 The chance that the internet could come alive  Biggest flop of the year Copenhagen. The world leaders gathering for their climate summit were buried in snow and shivered in cold temperatures. Not to mention the major cities along the East Coast had a major blizzard a week later, and the nation enjoyed a 66% snow-covered white Christmas, with Houston receiving its first white holiday in 80 years. Bad timing. Maybe next climate cycle..?  Biggest flop of the year: Runner up The swine flu.  Biggest issues not addressed in 2009 North Korea's nuclear tests. Iran's nuclear development..  Biggest regret in 2009 The fact that the Hadron Collider didn't stay broken. I really don't want to fly into a black hole in 2010.  The year of famous death Walter Cronkite.. Ted Kennedy, Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, Patrick Swayze.. and many more. Lots of fame left earth in 2009..  PREDICTIONS FOR 2010 Christmas will come just as fast as it did this year.. The world will keep moving as fast as it always does.. But in the meantime the world will be on edge over Iran, and maybe again North Korea. Afghanistan may get difficult.. Health care reform will pass but reform may not occur. Real global environment problems will be permitted to continue, such as GMO crops and industrial farming. The net will begin to stop being free.. AVATAR will win best picture even though it's not the best picture. People will still have difficult times finding jobs. Republicans will win the House back, but not the Senate. And before you know it, 2010 will come to a close, leaving the same question we are asking this year: Why do our lives fly by so fast..? |
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