2016: The Rant

CrimsonShark 2016 is nearly coming to an end (Yeah, I know it's November, but I don't care) so I think it's time we finally look at from the 1st of January to today and reflect upon what has happened during the year.

Before I get into what would probably be the "Interesting Part", I just wanted to express some good things that have happened this year.

Dragon Ball Super: Me being a DBZ fan, the latest saga this year has been an amazing blast, with Future Trunks returning as a prominent character and featuring a rather good plot, high-octane action sequences and memorable moments. Special praise goes to Goku Black and Zamasu, who have cemented to be at least on par with Frieza as Dragon Ball's best villains.

Deadpool and Captain America: Civil War: Marvel does it yet again, with Deadpool finally getting the character (and movie) he deserves and Civil War being among Marvel's finest films with great character dimension and great action sequences.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End: What a way to wrap up an incredible series WITH a bang. Naughty Dog must be proud of what they have done in resolving Nathan Drake's final treasure hunt.

Punk Rock Music: Blink182 and Green Day have released pretty solid albums that have actually topped the Billboard 200, proving that Rock Music is still alive and going strong. Sum 41 has also released an amazing album and I'm really proud of Deryck Whibley, considering he almost died of alcohol poisoning years ago.

Thrash Metal: Megadeth and Anthrax return and hit the top ten in the Billboard 200, reminding us that the original titans of Thrash are alive and strong. Testament and Metal Church have released their newest albums to good critical reception and decent chart-toppings and Avenged Sevenfold has also attempted a Thrash/Progressive Metal approach with "The Stage", which is actually quite good for a concept album attempt. All that's left is Metallica to release "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" and see it top the Billboard 200, just to show us how relevant and awesome Metallica is, even after 35 since they formed.

Nintendo Switch: From what I've seen, the Nintendo Switch seems to be Nintendo's opportunity to blend into what Microsoft and Sony are doing with the XBox One and PS4 respectively, whilst also doing it's best to be innovative. Being a Nintendo fan for a decade, I am obviously surprised and I am really curious to see how the Switch would turn out.

With the goods being described (for me at least), now let's get into the "Interesting Part": All the sh*ts that made this year so miserable and frustrating, to begin with.

Personal stuff: Before I get into detail, I just wanted to go through what I personally had to go through during this year. First off, my great-uncle died of natural causes and it really pains me that the last time I saw him was 3 years ago at Pakistan. Because he passed there, it makes me more depressed that I couldn't get to say a few last words to him and I've yet to visit his grave, which is quite frustrating. I failed Maths a third time, it' gotten to a point where I'm starting to develop a grudge against the subject. And lastly, I left my old college abruptly and barely have any friends left. At least my new college isn't too bad as I'm getting along, but retaking Maths once again seems like an eternity :/.

With that done, let's talk about why all of us practically hated this year:

Terrorist Attacks: The very first attack that comes to our mind chronologically is the bombing at an airport in Brussels at March 22nd. The bombing was obviously carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which left 32 innocent people dead and over 300 injured. Five days later in March 27th, a suicide bomber belonging to the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Taliban blows up a portion of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore, Pakistan, killing 75 people and injuring around 340 more. Despite Lahore being the bigger casualty, more attention was still given to Brussels, which aggravates me as even after we have known so much, we still cater onto media bias.

Cut to June 12th in Orlando, Florida where Omar Mateen enters Pulse, a gay nightclub, and massacres 50 innocent people, before Mateen is stopped fatally by the police. The attack happened only 2 days after another tragic incident, which also happened in Orlando, but we'll get to that later. Once again, Islam has to be demonized thanks to western media bias, even though American Muslims clearly condemned the attack. Ten days later in June 22nd, renowned Pakistani singer Amjad Sabri is murdered by the Taliban close to his home in Karachi, sometime after finishing a talk-show, just because he sang in the name of Islam. Then on June 28th, ISIS strikes again, this time in Atatürk Airport, where another 45 lives were needlessly taken away, with 230 more needing medical attention. Despite massive international media attention around Orlando, barely any was given to the latter two, although Sabri's murder was broadcasted heavily in Pakistan.

ISIS hits the news once again in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 1st with yet another suicide attack which kills 22 civilians and 2 police officers who tried to stop the perpetrator. On July 11th, a delusional Muslim rented a cargo truck in Nice, France and on the 14th in Bastille Day, drives through a busy street on a celebrating crowd, fatally plowing through 86 lives and injuring 434 more before the perpetrator was killed during a police standoff. Then on July 23rd, during a peaceful protest rally in Kabul, Afghanistan, twin bombings occur, killing 97 people and injuring 260. ISIS claims responsibility yet again, but then later deny it (Make up your mind at least).

Quetta, Pakistan may have had the worst. On August 8th, terrorists claiming responsibility for either ISIS or Jamaat-ul-Ahrar bomb a government hospital of all places, killing 93 people and injuring around 120. On October 24th, ISIS troops sided with another terrorist fraction, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, to storm a police cadet, taking 200-500 people hostage. The siege ended with 65 people dead and another 120 needing medical attention.

Overall, there has been an unusually large number of terrorist attacks this year. A very big number of people have been needlessly murdered, and most of them seem to be an excuse used by the media and corrupt politicians to demonize Islam, which is worrying because I am a Muslim and a really reserved and nice one at that. The attack at Lahore felt very personal because it occurred at a park where I usually visited a lot with my family and I am relieved to know that none of my friends or family in Pakistan are hurt. And at the end of the day, I feel really hurtful for the loss of so many innocent lives, regardless of which state or race. May God bless them all and forgive them of their sins.

Celebrity Death Toll: To be honest, I wasn't affected too much when I heard of David Bowie's sudden death. But that could be because I never really grew up even knowing Bowie which is a real shame. Now that I see why so many people love him, I feel tempted to try out his music and works out of his honor. The same could be said for the deaths of Prince, Harper Lee, Frank Kelly and Gene Wilder. While I understand why fans are upset of their passing, I am saddened by the fact that I never really got to grow up looking at their works, which kind of makes me feel a little left out when it comes to classical media :(.

Alan Rickman's death was a shocker for me, but then again, who doesn't know the Harry Potter franchise. But I was genuinely saddened to hear his passing. Now that I'm a recent fan of Thrash Metal band Megadeth, I was surprised to learn of Nick Menza's sudden passing. Muhammad Ali really hit me hard too as a lot of my friends and family view him as an inspiration. I remember clearly when I heard of Anton Yelchin's death where I became quite despondent for a while. The same could be said for R2-D2 himself, Kenny Baker. I yelled "NO!" the moment I found out R2-D2 passed away.

But the one that saddens and angers me the most is Christina Grimmie. For someone who was so talented, yet so sweet and full of love, you wouldn't expect someone like her to be taken away WAY too soon at age 22, and all because someone was a delusional lunatic who was desperate for her to love him back. This might sound weird, but Grimmie's death also played a role in me developing a rather pessimistic political mind. When I think of Christina Grimmie, I also refer back to Dimebag Darrell in 2004. It just makes me think why hasn't America learned much from Gun Crime. I get that guns are important, but when there's so much crime involving firearms, a tighter and stricter policy must be undertaken, and unfortunately, I don't see that being bought up by the American government and it worries me a lot.

A select few celebrities I need to mention include British band Viola Beach and guitarists Matt Roberts (3 Doors Down) and Tom Searle (Architects). Also included is the aforementioned Amjad Sabri and philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi.

This year has been really relentless when it comes to celebrity deaths. And I am aware that the list I've mentioned is just a small fraction. May those who've lived to love and to strive for inspiration, peace and hope rest in peace. God loves us all, no doubt.

Brexit: As if Christina Grimmie's murder wasn't enough, Brexit basically made me give up all hope in expecting much in politics, or in other words, I'm now an anarchist. I live in London, so the area I reside in is extremely multi-cultural, with a lot of black people, South Asians (Hey, I am one myself), Eastern Europeans and more and I've made friends with a lot of people of different races and cultures. Hence this is why I'm demoralized by Brexit as most of the voters who chose to leave the European Union were from smaller parts of England or from Wales and Southern Ireland and the majority of the population there barely have any interaction with people of different ethnic or racial origins and thus become frustrated and jealous. To sum this up, they become racists and bigoted idiots who claim that immigrants are taking away "our" jobs when they actually are determined to study to provide for their family, friends and themselves whereas those who complain are too lazy to do anything about it.

Brexit gets worse when Theresa May is sworn in as the newest prime minister of the United Kingdom. Never before have we had a leader who is more than willing to use nuclear bombs on enemies, even if it means the lives of several innocent people and a permanent polluted area/scar on Planet Earth which could prove disastrous to any species of fauna and flora in a targeted area. She also envisions a repopulation of grammar schools which would basically give rise to more elitists and leave the rest all alone to fend for ourselves in education. And that's not to say the UK's education is bad, but it does keep getting worse (Especially in Grade-High Schools) and grammar schools would (personally for me) makes things even worse as the rich would be given more access to educational equipment whereas we would be needing more help. Socially, the sudden increase of grammar schools could potentially result in a rather large division between people, with a majority being looked down other whereas others would be getting all the praise and attention. Not to mention racism is becoming more noticeable in the UK thanks to Brexit.

United States Presidential Election Run: The fact that Hillary Clinton was chosen to represent the Democratic party over Bernie Sanders (Who was more positively viewed upon) and Donald Trump securing the Republican position would set a course in what would be known as an embarrassment in American and Political History. We all know the two really well: Clinton is a self-centered liar who would do anything to trick others only for her interests and has been referred to being totally unethical in a case 40 years ago. Also, let's not forget the case where she defended a rapist (Who should have been guilty) and the 2012 Benghazi attack which led to the deaths of 4 American officials, the latter of which she took responsibility of as Secretary of State. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is a xenophobe who represents everything negative about the United States (And I respect the United States, mind you) and an elitist who obviously isn't going to give a damn about different cultures or races, which is really frightening for a country which is well-known for having one of the biggest number of immigrants in the world. Add the fact that he hates Muslims, Mexicans, is offensive towards the disabled and towards women and his reputation as a businessman (*cough* 4 bankruptcies and several failed projects *cough*) and you'd begin to wonder why is this guy being the representative of the Republican Party of the United States president.

Well anyway, Donald Trump won, to the frustration and disappointment of several people around the world. This worries me as the United States, under Trump's presidency, could lead to a massive spike in racism, corruption and hate in a country that is already suffering from financial, academic and social problems. It would also lead America to lose a great deal of respect towards other countries and foreign relationships would potentially drop down really quick. And worst of all, Trump's ideas, while most would be overturned, could be quite disastrous if used for military or offensive purposes and could up killing thousands more in the Middle East (Due to an increasingly pointless war) and in America itself. The worst thing about all this is that most of the work Barack Obama (As much as I am not favorable to him) has put into his country for 8 years would be heavily negated, causing a massive step-back for the United States and another potential recession could occur, causing yet another outbreak of jobless people, increased crime and widespread hate and superiority complex.

Miscellaneous: This could seem biased, but there were a lot of disappointments in this year as well. "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" wasn't just a critical disappointment, but it failed to even gross $1 Billion and this is coming from a film featuring TWO of media's most revered and important superheroes ever made. "X-Men: Apocalypse" and "Suicide Squad" weren't too impressive either, despite massive media hype over these two films (After all, superhero films have received a huge spike since 2008's "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man"). Another list of dissatisfaction is the revelation of Captain America being a NAZI, which was (IMO) disrespectful towards the creators of the character who were JEWISH by the way. I know it's been retconned, but no way is it going to be forgotten as one of Marvel's dumbest twists (Looking at you "One More Day" and "Ultimatum"). On the plus side, this stupid moment has given us a good meme to laugh at. Just type "Hail Hydra Memes" on Google Images. It's at least worth a shot :).

What's up with the news these days? Hearing the story of a 2-year-old boy being dragged underwater and suffocated by an alligator while on a visit to Disneyworld Florida is certainly something someone would bring up to justify how crap this year was. Add the fact that a Zika Virus outbreak was announced in January, resulting in a lot of deformed infants :(. Another letdown was the game "No Man's Sky". You'd think this game would be amazing, considering it's graphics and concept, but what we've got instead was a game that lacked multiplayer when it was advertised to have one and technical issues upon release date, which really left many players disappointed. In addition, we also had Hurricane Matthew in the southeastern United States, which caused a lot of damage and had its fair share of casualties. Harambe is a popular topic for this year, considering he is a victim of child neglection, and the aftermath of his death has resulted in a myriad of relentless memes, which, while some were clever and annoying, were usually annoying.

And lastly, there was the passing of a user on this website, "DisneyAnime1234", who also happened to be the sister of another user "MontyPython". May God bless her soul and be pardoned upon forgiveness. My deepest condolences to MontyPython.

So there you have it: My reasons to hate this gigantic mess and frustration of a year that is 2016. And while I might not be the most hopeful person in the world, let's just expect 2017 to be better, or at least not as depressing or aggravating as what had happened this year.

Thanks for reading my rant. Want to talk about this thread, than leave a comment or if you wanna have a chat with me, just leave a message cheers :).

Comments

I'm so sorry about your uncle, here if you need to talk. - visitor (11/10/2016)

Great post. - anonygirl (11/14/2016)

Great rant, @CrimsonShark. - visitor (11/15/2016)

Yes! 2016 needs to die itself. I've gone through so many things this year that I can't talk about it because it tears me up. Just hopefully 2017 will be a better year. But I'm still alive fighting through my depression and I'm trying to get out the school I'm currently in and going to an actual school where people actually care about me and not leave me out of things! In 2017 so many potentially good things might happen to me like I might get out the school I'm currently at, I'm possibly having a sweet 16 party, so much good stuff. - visitor (11/24/2016)

#RIPUncleShark - TwilightKitsune (12/30/2016)

2016 was horrible, at least for 21rst century standards - Martinglez (1/6/2017)

S*** got worse, Carrie Fisher died in December - visitor (9/7/2017)

This post was made before Fisher's death. But retrospectively, Fisher's death concluded how bad 2016 really was. It's still the worst year of the 21st century for now (Deaths, Attacks, Political Mishaps, Disappointments etc.). But there are worse years from the past though. - CrimsonShark (9/8/2017)

I agree, at least it's not as bad as 1939 - visitor (9/8/2017)

Who honestly voted for a racist? I mean might as well just get Reegan back he's a improvementI really liked Obama - visitor (9/9/2017)

666+666+666+6+6+6=2016

Just thought I bring that out here. - visitor (9/18/2017)

AKA, the year of the beast. - visitor (9/19/2017)

Strongly agree! - Lucy1402 (10/26/2017)

2016 was bad but 2017 is slowly becoming worse. - visitor (10/11/2017)

Sure we've had the horrible Las Vegas Shooting, and some notable deaths, but not nearly as bad as 2016 in my opinion. - visitor (10/14/2017)

2017 is just as bad if not worse than 2016 - railfan99 (12/21/2017)

This year was pretty overhated in my opinion. Yes a lot of bad things happened but bad things happen every year. It's just a sad part of life. For Entertainment this year was ok. The enterainment like games and movies and T.V. was better than 2017 and even 2018 so far. A flawed year but honestly no year is flawless to be fair. - B1ueNew (11/4/2018)

I liked 2016 - iliekpiez (11/23/2018)

^ - visitor (1/5/2019)

I indeed have no confidence in Theresa May - iliekpiez (11/23/2018)

2020: Am I a joke to you? - railfan99 (9/12/2020)