Culture / Politics

2015: The Year In Review

by Burt Likko · December 31, 2015

Offered, for your consideration, a chronological summary of significant events — in the world of politics, cultural events, and a recollection of significant events here on these very pages — of things that happened last year. I selected most of them, which means the list says something about me; Tod assisted with identifying a lot of the “greatest hits” of the blog over the last year. But because Tod is too modest about the quality of his own writing, I filled in a few more of his, and I included the top ten most-viewed posts written in 2015. Below the chart, I offer a high-level assessment of how Ordinary Times performed as a website.

Without further ado, here’s the year in review as it looks from my chair:

Date	Politics	Culture	Blog
January 18, 2015		Deflategate
January 22, 2015	Coup in Yemen		The Bridges of Konigsberg and Instant Insanity
January 29, 2015			Freddie on Chait (2,898 hits, #4 hits for all posts written in 2015); Tiny Doo, Billie Holiday, and the Longstanding Crime of Black Music
February 2, 2015			On Being A Good Borrower of Library Books
February 6, 2015			How To: (Not) Break Your Ankle Like A Man
February 11, 2015		Craig Stephen Hicks arrested for murder of three Muslim neighbors in Chapel Hill, NC	The Promise of Dubious Prisoner Claims of Religious Freedom: An Opportunity for Real Prison Reform
February 13, 2015	Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber resigns in corruption scandal
February 20, 2015			Subtle Biases Against The Team
February 22, 2015		Birdman wins Academy Award for Best Picture.
February 24, 2015		Alaska legalizes use but not sale of marijuana
February 26, 2015		Washington D.C. legalizes marijuana
March 3, 2015	Former CIA Director David Patraeus pleads guilty to mishandling classified information in sex scandal		When Text And Context Collide
March 7, 2015			A Taxonomy of Homelessness
March 12, 2015		Net Neutrality
March 15, 2015			Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Is Great, Not Good, And That’s Okay (2,419 hits, #8 hits for all posts written in 2015)
March 23, 2015	SCOTUS upholds Wisconson’s voter ID law; Ted Cruz formally announces Presidential bid
March 25, 2015	Indiana Governor Mike Pence signs religious freedom law		The Last Man On Earth Is Great And Will Probably Be Canceled Soon (2,265 hits, #9 hits for all posts written in 2015)
April 1, 2015		California Governor Jerry Brown declares severe drought in California	Is It Funny and/or Offensive?
April 4, 2015		Walter Scott shot by North Charleston, SC police officer
April 7, 2015	Rand Paul formally announces Presidential bid
April 8, 2015		Dzhokhar Tsarnaev found guilty for Boston Marathon bombing
April 10, 2015			The Fatal Flaw in Using Faith as Permission to Discriminate
April, 12, 2015	Hillary Rodham Clinton formally announces Presidential bid
April, 13, 2015	Marco Rubio formally announces Presidential bid
April 19, 2015		Freddie Gray dies in police custody in Baltimore, MD
April 25, 2015		State of emergency announced in Baltimore as protests concerning death of Freddie Gray turn violent
April 29, 2015	Bernie Sanders formally announces Presidential bid
May 1, 2015			Dignitas Versus Auctoritas
May 2, 2015		Floyd Mayweather defeats Manny Pacquaio in controversial high-profile boxing match
May 3, 2015		Two gunmen killed while unsuccessfully attempting to attack exhibition of drawings of the Prophet Muhammed in Garland, TX; Daesh claims responsibility
May 4, 2015	Ben Carson and Carly Fiornia formally announce Presidential bids
May 5, 2015	Mike Huckabee formally announces Presidential bids
May 7, 2015			Fatherhood & Conservatism
May 9, 2015			I’ve Never Been There, But The Brochure Looks Nice
May 11, 2015			Three Cadaver
May 14, 2015			The Hidden Guilt of Leaving Academia
May 20, 2015		Final broadcast of the David Letterman show
May 22, 2015	First set of emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton concerning Benghazi attack published; more follow later in year
May 26, 2015		IRS hacked
May 27, 2015	Rick Santorum formally announces Presidential bid	Nebraska repeals death penalty
May 28, 2015	George Pataki formally announces Presidential bid
May 29, 2015			Blanket Training (2,669 hits, #5 hits for all posts written in 2015)
May 30, 2015	Martin O’Malley formally announces Presidential bid
June 1, 2015	Lindsey Graham formally announces Presidential bid
June 2, 2015	USA Freedom Act passes Senate, restricting bulk data surveillance by NSA
June 3, 2015	Lincoln Chafee formally announces Presidential bid
June 4, 2015	Rick Perry formally announces Presidential bid
June 5, 2015		Video from pool party in McKinney, TX shows police officer brandishing weapon at unarmed teenage girl
June 6, 2015		American Pharoah wins Triple Crown
June 6, 2015		Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, comes out as transgendered woman
June 15, 2015	Jeb Bush formally announces Presidential bid	Spokane, WA NAACP President Rachel Dolezal resigns amid controversy about her racial identification
June 16, 2015	Donald Trump formally announces Presidential bid
June 17, 2015		Nine people shot dead at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC; accused gunman purportedly had racial motive for attack
June 18, 2015			Charleston Shooting and the Multiple Choice Public Response (2,261 hits, #10 hits for all posts written in 2015)
June 19, 2015		Delaware decriminalizes marijuana	Beware of Crows
June 23, 2015			Modeling The Physical World
June 24, 2015	Bobby Jindal formally announces Presidential bid
June 25, 2015	Supreme Court upholds Obamacare health insurance subsidies nationwide
June 26, 2015	Supreme Court rules in favor of right to same-sex marriage nationwide
June 27, 2015		Bree Newsome arrested for removing Confederate battle Flag from South Carolina State Capitol
June 28, 2015			A Qatari Travelogue (And Conversion) (2,633 hits, #7 hits for all posts written in 2015)
June 29, 2015	Supreme Court upholds the use of three-drug cocktail for lethal injection executions and strikes down EPA rrestrictions on airborne toxic emissions
June 30, 2015	Chris Christie formally announces Presidential bid
July 1, 2015	Greece defaults on IMF payments; US and Cuba normalize diplomatic relations	Oregon decriminalizes marijuana; Undocumented Mexican national Francisco Sanchez allegedly murders Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco
July 2, 2015	Jim Webb formally announces Presidential bid	First death by measles in USA since 2003
July 10, 2015		South Carolina legislature removes Confederate Battle Flag from non-museum display
July 13, 2015	Scott Walker formally announces Presidential bid	Sandra Bland found dead in Waller County, TX jail cell following arrest for traffic violation
July 14, 2015	United States and Iran reach nuclear weapons deal	New Horizons spacecraft flies by Pluto; First of several controversial videos concerning purported unethical business practices of Planned Parenthood released
July 16, 2015		Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez attacks military recruiting center and Navy reserve base in Chattanooga, TN
July 17, 2015			We Don’t Need Golden Rice (2,654 hits, #6 hits for all posts written in 2015)
July 20, 2015			A Failed Search for an Asian Barbie
July 21, 2015	John Kasich formally announces Presidential bid	Extramarital affair hookup website Ashley Madison hacked
July 23, 2015		Gunman kills two people and suicides at movie theater in Lafayette, LA
July 24, 2015			Changing Tides, Social Conservatives, and the Price of Swinging for the Fences in Politics
July 29, 2015	Jim Gilmore formally announces Presidential bid
July 31, 2015			Queen Anne’s Lace ¹
August 2, 2015			It’s Always Good To Shroud Your Sexism In Racism (4,492 hits, #1 hits for all posts written in 2015)
August 3, 2015			Waiting For The Light To Change ²
August 6, 2015	First Republican Presidential debate	John Stewart’s final show as host of the Daily Show
August 18, 2015			Black Jobs Matter
August 26, 2015		News reporter and cameraman shot on live TV by gunman, who later suicides
August 28, 2015			The Richard Feynman Guide to Parenting
September 3, 2015		Rowan County, KY Clerk Kim Davis found in contempt of court for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses
September 5, 2015			Let Me Explain Mansplaining to You
September 8, 2015		Stephen Colbert begins hosting The Late Show
September 9, 2015			How To: Hit Yourself In The Face With A Golf Ball (3,314 hits, #2 hits for all posts written in 2015)
September 10, 2015			I Didn’t Skip the Readings
September 11, 2015	Rick Perry ends Presidential bid
September 16, 2015	Second Republican Presidential debate	Barack Obama invites 14-year-old Ahmed Mohammed to visit White House, using Twitter
September 18, 2015	Volkswagen admits to worldwide rigging of fuel emissions testing
September 21, 2015	Scott Walker ends Presidential bid
September 22, 2015		Pope Francis begins trip to United States
September 25, 2015	Speaker of the House John Boehner announces resignation
September 30, 2015	Russia begins campaign of airstrikes in support of Assad government in Syria, including attacks against Daesh
October 1, 2015		Nine people shot and nine more injured in shooting rampage at Umpaqua Community College, Roseburg, OR
October 3, 2015	US Air Force bombs Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan
October 7, 2015			My Friend with the Midlife Crisis
October 8, 2015	Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy withdraws bid to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House
October 13, 2015	First Democratic Presidential debate
October 15, 2015	President Obama announces extenstion of military mission in Afghanistan to end of 2017
October 20, 2015	Jim Webb ends Presidential bid		Return to Qatar: A Second Qatari Travelogue
October 23, 2015	Lincoln Chafee ends Presidential bid
October 26, 2015		Video of high school student seemingly violently pulled from chair by police in Spring Valley, SC enters public debate
October 28, 2015	Third Republican Presidential debate
October 29, 2015	Paul Ryan becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives
November 3, 2015			Louise Glück and the Aspiration of Poetry; America Indentured, Part I : What it Really Means to be MADE IN AMERICA
November 8, 2015			An Ordinary Halftime Report
November 9, 2015		University of Missouri President Timothy Wolfe resigns after football game boycott
November 10, 2015	Fourth Republican Presidential Debate
November 14, 2015	Second Democratic Presidential debate
November 17, 2015	Bobby Jindal ends Presidential bid
November 24, 2015	Turkey shoots down Russian fighter jet in disputed incident near Syrian border; pilot survives
November 27, 2015		Gunman murders three people at Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, CO
December 2, 2015		Married couple kills 14 and injure 22 at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA
December 12, 2015	Global carbon emissions treaty reached in Paris.
December 14, 2015		Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens released in United States
December 15, 2015	Fifth Republican Presidential debate
December 17, 2015			An Odd Price To Pay
December 19, 2015	Third Democratic Presidential debate
December 21, 2015	Lindsey Graham ends Presidential bid		An Open Letter to My Friends on the Left… about Donald Trump’s Hair, Unfortunately (3,089 hits, #3 hits for all posts written in 2015)
December 24, 2015			Swimming Like Frankenstein’s Monster
December 26, 2015			Star Wars VII and the Ultra-Real
December 29, 2015	George Pataki ends Presidential bid
December 31, 2015	Top Campaign Aides for Ben Carson campaign resign

Concerning our own community centered around the posts and comments appearing on this website, we received a total of over 1.56 million page hits (84% of which came from the United States), from just under 390,000 different site visitors, and approximately 92,000 comments were made to the approximately 1,450 posts published here in 2015.

We’re looking forward to more of the posts like the ones identified above in 2016 and doing things which we hope will make this community of thought even better next year. Let us hope that next year brings peace, civility, and happiness.

We hope to see you then.

Image by sophiea

This was among my personal favorites of all posts written the whole year.
And if not that post, then this one.

Tags: Year In Review

Burt Likko

Pseudonymous Portlander. Pursuer of happiness. Bon vivant. Homebrewer. Atheist. Recovering Republican. Recovering Catholic. Recovering divorcé. Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Ordinary Times. Relapsed Lawyer, admitted to practice law (under his real name) in California and Oregon. There's a Twitter account at @burtlikko, but not used for posting on the general feed anymore. House Likko's Words: Scite Verum. Colite Iusticia. Vivere Con Gaudium.

greginak says:

January 1, 2016 at 12:36 am

Happy New Year to one and all. Those who are already in 2016 and those of us still in 2015 and glad we didn’t be $$ on an OK vs MS final game.Report
Michael Cain says:

January 1, 2016 at 10:32 am

For June 29, in a column titled “Politics”, I would have picked Arizona v. Arizona instead of Michigan v. EPA. Coal-fired power plants are going to be cleaned up eventually (or shut down). The Court said the EPA didn’t do its work properly, not that it was overreaching its authority. Putting their stamp of approval on extensive governing by citizen initiative is much more a political decision, at least IMO. Also interesting from a cultural perspective, since Kennedy — the only justice left that was elevated from outside the northeast urban corridor, and from a state with a long initiative history — was the swing vote.Report
Saul Degraw says:

January 1, 2016 at 10:40 am

Hey #4 is not bad.Report
Kazzy says:

January 1, 2016 at 12:21 pm

Is there a way to see how many different commenters we had? And to break that out into frequency (e.g., 1-5, 5-25, 25-100, 100+ or something). That could be interesting data.Report
Sam says:

January 3, 2016 at 8:56 pm

It was an honor to appear anywhere in here and I appreciate it.Report
Miss Mary says:

January 7, 2016 at 4:37 pm

I love this 🙂Report
- Burt Likko in reply to Miss Mary says:
  
  January 7, 2016 at 4:41 pm
  
  Thank you! (It was rather a lot of work to put together in this form; so it’s good to be appreciated.)Report
North says:

January 7, 2016 at 5:06 pm

Well done Burt.
God(ess?)! It’s been just barely a year since the Dish folded up shop? It feels like four. Guh!Report
Jaybird says:

January 7, 2016 at 5:45 pm

I can’t believe I’m on here! (And, moreover, that I’m on here with that!)Report
- Jaybird in reply to Jaybird says:
  
  January 7, 2016 at 6:05 pm
  
  (And, yes, thank you for all the effort you put into this.)Report