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December 31 always marks the end of the year, but in 2019, it marks the end of a decade. In Florida, the past 10 years were defined by horrific tragedies, natural disasters, historic court cases, iconic sports teams and the quintessential (and often bizarre) "Florida Man" story. Tears were shed, local activists strove to make national change, a banana was duct-taped to a wall and was sold for millions of dollars and the Sunshine State was the epicenter of all things tragic, wonderful and weird.

Heres a look at the stories that defined the past decade.

No hurricanes had hit Florida since 2005 before Hermine made landfall near the Big Bend in 2016 as a Category 1. In 2017, Hurricane Irma hit Florida as a Category 4 storm: 12 patients at a Hollywood nursing home died of heat exposure after Irma knocked out the air conditioner. Three nurses and an administrator were charged recently with their deaths. The strongest hurricane was Michael, which struck the Panhandle as a Category 5 in October 2018, killing 43 and devastating the town of Mexico Beach.

Four times Florida found itself in the 2010s dealing with a high-profile mass shooting, leaving 74 victims dead, changes to its gun laws and a group of motivated young survivors who pushed their message nationally.

It began in June 2016 when security guard Omar Mateen attacked Orlando's Pulse nightclub, killing 49. During the standoff, Mateen told negotiators he had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and the attack was revenge for U.S. intervention in Iraq and Syria. He died when officers broke through a wall to engage him. The assault on the gay nightclub was deemed a terrorist attack.

In January 2017, Iraq War veteran Esteban Santiago flew from his Alaska home to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where he fatally shot five people. Santiago pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence.

A year later, also in Broward County, a 19-year-old former Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student returned to the Parkland campus on Valentine's Day and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, killing 17. Suspect Nikolas Cruz had a history of violent behavior, but calls to the FBI and Broward Sheriff's Office warning he might attack a school were not investigated. Weeks later, Scott and the Legislature outlawed the sale of rifles to most people under 21 and allowed judges to ban those deemed dangerous from owning guns for a year. Stoneman Douglas survivors founded the March For Our Lives" movement that has pushed for tougher gun laws nationwide. Cruz is awaiting trial next year.

This month, Saudi Arabian air force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani opened fire at Naval Air Station Pensacola, killing three American sailors before a sheriff's deputy killed him. Investigators have called it a terrorist attack.

In 2010, basketball's biggest star Lebron James kicked off the decade by announcing he would be taking his talents to South Beach. His arrival in Miami completed a series of off-season moves that created the Big Three: James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

After four straight trips to the NBA Finals, which resulted in two championships and two MVPs for James, the trio disbanded in 2014. Lebron returned to his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Bosh and Wade were forced to keep the magic alive. Unfortunately, Lebron's departure left a void in Miami's championship ways, but the banners still hang in what will soon become the former American Airlines Arena.

At the tail end of the decade, unofficial ambassador to Wade-County Dwyane Wade announced his retirement. The Miami legend went on a successful farewell tour and ended his career with one final all-star appearance.

Florida murder trials captured national attention twice in the early 2010s. In both, the suspect was acquitted.

The first was Casey Anthony, who went on trial in 2011 for the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, whose body was found near the family's Orlando home five months after she disappeared. Prosecutors said Anthony, 25 when the trial began, killed her daughter because she hated parenting and then lied to investigators. Anthony's attorney stunned observers during opening statements when he alleged Caylee accidentally drowned in the family's pool and Casey's father dumped the body. The attorney presented no evidence supporting that claim, but the jury acquitted Anthony of murder, finding her guilty only of lying.

The next year, neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin during a fight that began as the African-American teen walked to his father's fiancee's house in the central Florida city of Sanford. Prosecutors charged Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic, with second-degree murder, saying he stalked the teen, provoking the altercation. Zimmerman's attorneys argued that Martin attacked Zimmerman and was bashing his head when the neighborhood watchman fired. Zimmerman was acquitted, but has been arrested since on domestic violence and other charges. He recently sued Martin's family, prosecutors and others for $100 million, saying they fabricated evidence against him.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft found himself in an embarrassing plight in February when prosecutors charged him with paying for sex at a Palm Beach County massage parlor. He apologized but challenged the legality of video recordings that allegedly show him and others engaged in sex. The judge threw out the video, but prosecutors have appealed.

When 2010 began, Rick Scott was nearly unknown. The wealthy former hospital CEO had been forced out in 1997 after Columbia/HCA came under investigation for Medicare fraud. Scott was never charged, but the company paid $1.7 billion in fines. Scott, riding the tea party wave, announced early that year he would seek the Republican gubernatorial nomination against state Attorney General Bill McCollum. Scott won and narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink in the general election, spending $75 million of his own money. Scott won re-election in 2014 over former Gov. Charlie Crist, who changed his registration from Republican to Democrat. In 2018, Scott challenged Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who was seeking a fourth term. Scott narrowly won, ending Nelson's long career that included stints in state government and the U.S. House.

When 2016 dawned, it appeared Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio could be the Republican presidential nominee. But Trump beat both and then carried the state that November, edging Hillary Clinton. In 2019, Trump announced he was changing his official residence from New York City to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.

In 2018, Republicans won their sixth straight gubernatorial election as former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis edged Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

In 2013, Miami-born Steven Sotloff was working as a freelance journalist before he was kidnapped after crossing into Syria from Turkey. The following year, he was beheaded by ISIS, and the brutal killing was recorded and distributed around the world.Sotloff's beheading, along with fellow journalist James Foley's death a month prior, raised awareness of the Islamic State. The 31-year-old told stories about conflict in the Middle East and was remembered as a "voice for the voiceless."

In February 2010, a SeaWorld Orlando killer whale named Tillikum fatally attacked trainer Dawn Brancheau as terrified spectators watched. Her death was the focus of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which criticized SeaWorld's captivity of killer whales. The company's income and SeaWorld parks attendance fell after the movie's release. SeaWorld eventually ended the orca shows.

On July 8, 2011, NASA launched Atlantis on the 135th and final space shuttle mission. Since then, no astronauts have rocketed into orbit from Florida or anywhere else in the U.S. The drought may end next year; SpaceX and Boeing are getting closer to launching astronauts to the International Space Station under NASAs commercial crew program.

Moonlight, a film shot and based in Miami, won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2017. The movie is based on a true South Florida story about a young man growing up in a tough neighborhood, grappling with his sexuality. It was directed by Miami native Barry Jenkins, cost just $1.5 million to make and brought in just $22 million at the box office making it one of the lowest-grossing films to win the best picture award.

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The Top Florida Stories of the Decade - NBC 6 South Florida

What a difference a decade makes. From 2009 to 2019, women around the world have made monumental strides challenging the status quo in media, politics and activism. There have been some wins, some hard lessons, and some new beginnings.

In no particular order, here are 29 times women and girls around the world made a positive dent in the decade in the name of equality and saving the planet. There are many more were these came from. Please add any that come to mind in the comments section below!

2016: When The Women Of Standing Rock Protected Their Water

In the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Native American women instrumental in inspiring action across the U.S. Since early 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, have been resisting the construction of the $3.7 billion-dollar pipeline, which would transport 470,000 barrels of oil every day and threaten the land and waterways, including the Missouri River, which provide drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux.

2014: When Malala Yousafzai Was Named Youngest Nobel Laureate In History

In October 2014, then 17-year-old Yousafzai became co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight against the suppression of young people and for the right of all children to have an education. On 9 October 2012, while on a bus in her native Swat District of northwest Pakistan, Yousafzai and two other girls were shot by a Taliban gunman in an assassination attempt against her activism. Following her recovery, Yousafzaico-founded the Malala Fund, a non-profit that advocates for girls education, and in 2013 co-authored the international bestseller I Am Malala.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai poses for photo session during the G7 Development and ... [+] Education Ministers Meeting, in Paris, on July 5, 2019. - France is hosting the rotating presidency of the G7 in 2019. The 45th G7 Summit will be held in August 2019 in Biarritz. (Photo by Christophe PETIT TESSON / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/AFP via Getty Images)

2013: When Womens Leadership in Rwandas Parliament Skyrocketed

Following the genocide of Rwanda in 1994, the country was left in turmoil with a death toll between 800,000 to 1 million. Holding a population of 6 million, 60 to 70 percent were womenmeaning more women needed to step up to the plate for leadership positions. And they did. In the 2003 election, 48 percent of parliamentary seats went to women. Five years, later womens representation rose to 56 percent. In 2013, the number climbed to 64 percent. Rwanda is the first country in the world which women have moved beyond half of political leadership.

2010: When Ai-jen Poo Led Americas First Domestic Workers Bill Of Rights Campaign

Community organizer and founder of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen Poo, has been advocating for the rights of domestic workers for more than a decade, and with good reason. Most nannies, house keepers, and hired caregivers have lacked basic protection, such as minimum wage, unemployment benefits, and protection from abuse. Poo led Americas first campaign for the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, which was designed to ensure overtime pay, paid vacation, and basic human and civil rights protections for over 200,000 workers in the state of New York.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA - FEBRUARY 02: National Domestic Workers Alliance director Ai-Jen Poo ... [+] speaks at the AOL 2016 MAKERS conference at Terranea Resort on February 2, 2016 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

2018: When Saudi Women Activists Campaigned For The Right To Drive & Won

In June 2018, Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on womens right to drive. While this was a win for women of the country and for those who led the campaign for years, a number of the human rights defenders involved in moving the culture forward including, Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef were put in prison. According to Amnesty International, Nafjan, Yousef and Ruqayyaa al-Mhareb were provisionally releasedon 28 March. But the others are still detained. So in some ways, this was a partial win and a total call to action.

Saudi Majdoleen Mohammed Alateeq, a newly-licensed Saudi driver, prepares for driving her car near ... [+] her home in the Saudi capital Riyadh, on June 24, 2018. - Saudi Arabia ended its longstanding ban on women driving on June 24, 2018 -- and the second the clock struck midnight, women across the country started their engines. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

2016: When Beyonc Broke The Internet With The Premiere of Lemonade

When Queen Bey dropped her visual album Lemonade and shredded the internet, many music critics and fans across social media said the piece was an ode to black feminism. But that didnt stop women of a number of races from feeling like she was singing to and with them. Through the songs and short films of Lemonade, Beyonc delivered poetic prose and anthems paying homage to New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina, Malcolm X, black men shot by white police officers, the mothers of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, her daughter Blue, and a number of her friends in entertainment and the arts. As Miriam Bale wrote in Billboard, the album emphasized the concept of turning nothing in something. Lemonade is even stronger than blood.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Beyonce Knowles-Carter attends the European Premiere of Disney's "The ... [+] Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)

2013 - When The Women Of Black Lives Matter Started A Worldwide Movement

Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi initially tweeted #BlackLivesMatter in response to the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, FL. Shortly after Zimmerman was acquitted the hashtag quickly evolved into a movement and global network of more than 40 chapters. In 2013 and 2014, #BlackLivesMatter was used as an organizing too, as other groups harnessed it to combat racism across the U.S. In October, the project announced that it is currently fighting disinformation about black organizers.

Alicia Garza, from left, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, co-founders of the Black Lives Matter ... [+] movement, arrive at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards at NeueHouse Hollywood on Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

2018 - When Emma Gonzalez Called BS On The Trump Administration

Days after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, senior Emma Gonzalez, delivered the speech of a lifetime in an emotionally charged anti-gun rally. She addressed President Trump and politicians who accept money from the NRA as part of the national problem. In response, to the incident, Gonzalez co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD.

2017 & 2014 - When Naomi Kleins Books Debuted As A NYTs Bestsellers

The force of nature that is author, activist and filmmaker, Naomi Klein, comes through time and time again in her fearless journalism and analysis of climate justice. Shes an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and international and bestselling author of No Is Not Enough: Resisting the New Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need (2017), This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate(2014), The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (2007) and No Logo (2000). Her criticism of corporate globalization and research on how it impacts the environment will go down in history as some of the most forward thinking and important writing of our generation.

BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 12: Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein speaks at the "Willy Brandt ... [+] Lecture 2019" at the Willy Brandt Foundation on December 12, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. Klein, known for her critique of corporate capitalism, is advocating a Green New Deal as a means to mitigate climate change and save the planet. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

2010, 2016 & 2018:When The Women of Iceland Went on Strike

On October 24, 2018, the women of Iceland went on strike at 2:55pm Icelandic time to protest the gender wage gap. The monumental occasion commemorated the original Womens Day Off, which took place in 1975. This event is emblematic of why the small island has topped the World Economic Forums survey for gender equality for nine years in a row. Out of 144 countries, Iceland ranks number one in political empowerment among women, number one for closing the gender income gap (government ambitions look to finalize this in 2022), and corporate quotas ensuring women represent 44% of company boards.

2014: When Jane Goodall Published Reason for Hope

Renowned primatologist and anthropologist, Jane Goodall, is most well known for her studying and interactions with wild chimpanzees. Evolving from science to advocacy, she opened the worlds eyes up to a higher level of humanity and shared her discoveries in her memoir Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JULY 10: Jane Goodall attends the National Geographic Documentary Films' ... [+] premiere of "Sea of Shadows" at NeueHouse Los Angeles on July 10, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

2016: When Women In Argentina Protested Crimes Against Women

Following police inaction after the rape and killing of a number of women, specifically 16-year-old Lucia Perez, hundreds of thousands women in Argentina and across Latin Americafloodedthe streets chantingthe slogan Ni una menos (not one less).Four yearsprior, Argentina sanctioned a law defining the escalating problem of violence against women as femicide.

2009 - WhenMichelle Obama Became First Lady & So Much More

In 2009, Michelle Obama not only became the first African AmericanFirst Lady of the United States, she quickly evolved into a iconic beacon of hope for the rest of the world. That year, she hosted a womens rights reception in honor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 Pay Equity law. In her memoir, Becoming, Obama describes her four primary initiatives as First Lady: Let's Move!, Reach Higher, Let Girls Learn, and Joining Forces, a nationwide initiative calling all Americans to rally around service members, veterans, and their families and support them through wellness, education, and employment opportunities.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JULY 06: A conversation with Michelle Obama takes place during the 2019 ... [+] ESSENCE Festival at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on July 06, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)

2017 - When Survivors Said #MeToo

Originally founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke to support survivors of sexual violence, particularly black women and girls, #MeToo experienced a second phase two years ago when Alyssa Milano called for people to post their sexual harassment incidents across social media using the hashtag #MeToo. What subsequently erupted was a movement and cultural reckoning overflowing with survivors and supporters shining a light on sexual misconduct in the workplace across sectors. Since then, several states have passed laws prohibiting the use of nondisclosure agreements in sexual misconduct cases. There is more work to be done, but some positive shifts are unfolding on state and federal levels.

In this Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, photo Tarana Burke, founder and leader of the #MeToo movement, poses ... [+] for a portrait in New York. Burke is using the second anniversary of the movement to launch a new effort intended to mobilize voters heading into the 2020 election. The new hashtag #MeTooVoter was unveiled Tuesday, Oct. 15 on the same day as the fourth Democratic presidential debate and reflects a frustration among activists that issues of sexual violence and harassment have largely been absent from the debate stage and campaign trail. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

2011: When Hillary Clinton Declared Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights

Reminiscent of her famous 1995 speech in Beijing as First Lady, when she said "human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a speech on Dec. 6, 2011, to the United Nations saying, "Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights."

2014: When Emma Watson Launched HeforShe

In 2014, actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson, addressed men and women at the UNs headquarters in NYC in a highly applauded speech about gender equality that went viral almost instantly. Her remarks launched the HeforShe campaign, an invitation for men and people of all genders to stand in solidarity with women to create a united front for gender equality.

2019: When Indigenous Women of The Amazon Took To The Streets

As the worlds lungs, the Amazon rainforest, ferociously burned in August and September, indigenous women mobilized to protest the policies ofBrazils president Jair Bolsonaro, which they say have violated their indigenous rights and escalated racism, violence, and high rates of deforestation in the Amazon. Marking the countrys first Indigenous Womens March, they rallied across their countrys capital carrying signs with the slogan Territory: our body, our spirit.

13 August 2019, Brazil, Brasilia: Indigenous women are taking part in a protest against right-wing ... [+] President Bolsonaro's environmental policies and the loss of their traditional settlements. Bolsonaro wants to make greater economic use of the Amazon region in particular and allow further deforestation. Photo: Tuane Fernandes/dpa (Photo by Tuane Fernandes/picture alliance via Getty Images)

2015: When Jennifer Lawrence Called Out Hollywoods Pay Gap

Plenty of people publicly offered anything but sympathy for Jennifer Lawrence when she released her essay, Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars? Some criticized her taking this stance because she earns millions of dollars per movie, while others applauded her candid, direct approach to an important issue.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 04: Jennifer Lawrence attends the premiere of 20th Century Fox's "Dark ... [+] Phoenix" at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 04, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

2019 - When Greta Thunberg Sailed Across the Atlantic to NYC

Sixteen-year-old climate activist, Greta Thunberg, rocked headlines and got under the skin of certain politicians when she sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in a solar powered racing yacht to speak at climate conferences in New York and Chile. Prior to her carbon free voyage, she spent school days outside the Swedish Parliament demanding aggressive action to reduce the risks from future global warming. Other young people joined her, and soon after, a youth-led global climate action movement spread like wildfire.

Greta Thunberg on December 13, 2019 in Turin, Italy.The 16-year-old environmental activist Greta ... [+] Thunberg, just been elected Time Magazine's Person of the Year, on her way back from Madrid (where COP25 is happening) to Stockholm decided to partecipate to 50th Friday For Future in Turin. (Photo by Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

2019 - When Women Won Leadership Of Finlands Political Parties

In December, 34-year-old Sanna Marin became Finlands and the worlds youngest prime minister. This now makes a party of five women leading Finlands Social Democrat Coalition, which has agreed to stay together to execute policies the group announced in June. The four other female party leaders in the coalition are Li Anderson, 32, who heads the the Left Alliance; Maria Ohisalo, 34, of the the Green League; Katri Kulmuni, 32, from the Centre party, who was named finance minister on Monday; and Anna-Maja Henriksson, 55, of the Swedish Peoples party.

Sanna Marin the Prime Minister of Finland at the European Council - Euro Summit - EU leaders ... [+] meeting, during a press conference with President of European Council Charles Michel and President of Europe Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The Social Democrat Finnish prime minister is in office from December 10, 2019 and is currently the world's youngest serving pm. Finland helds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

2014: When Trans Rights Activist Laverne Cox Graced The Cover of Time

In 2014, Laverne Cox became the first transgender person nominated for an Emmy for her performance in the Netflix series Orange is the new Black. GLAAD, an NGO that fights discrimination against the LGBTQ community in the media,notedthat Cox repeatedly breaks barriers in her advancement of the LGBTQ cause. That same year, she was the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine, breaking boundaries around the world for the transgender community.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 11: Laverne Cox attends the Premiere of Columbia Pictures' ... [+] "Charlie's Angels" at Westwood Regency Theater on November 11, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

2016: When The Women Of Poland Stopped Anti-Abortion Legislation

In Poland, after the drafting of a law that would have banned abortion across the country, women wore all black and went on strike to protest the legislation. And it worked. The parliament, along with the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), backed away from the controversial proposal, which wouldve made all abortions illegal unless a mothers life was at risk. If the bill had become law, it wouldve been illegal to terminate a pregnancy caused by rape or incest. Additionally, the law called for doctors who facilitate an illegal abortion and women who seek one to be jailed for up to five years.

2018: When Oprah Gave Her Monumental Golden Globes Speech

The women of Poland arent the only ones who wore all black as a symbol of solidarity. At the2018 Golden Globes, the women of Hollywood donned black evening gowns to show support for the anti-sexual harassment initiative Times Up, which was formed in response to the outpouring of #MeToo movement voices. Times Up publicly launched after allegations against former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein proliferated the news media. That evening, Oprah Winfrey received the Cecile B. DeMille Award, and delivered a moving speed declaring, So I want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say, Me too again. Thank you. Her words had a few people in the audience encouraging her to run for president.

2018: When A Record Number Women Ran For Office

While Oprah opted not to run for office, a record number of women in the U.S. did, specifically for the House, Senate and state legislatures. A record 3,379 women won nomination for state legislatures across the country, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Meanwhile, 235 women won nominations in U.S. House races, breaking the previous 2016 record of 167. Twenty-two women won major-party nominations for U.S. Senate, breaking the record of 18 set in 2012. Sixteen women were nominated for gubernatorial races. The previous record, set in 1994, was 10. Whether it was in direct response to the Trump Administration, the #MeToo movement, or an increase in programs encouraging women to get elected is difficult to determine. Whatever the cause, a cultural shift transpiredone that will continue to progress in years to come.

2019: When AOC Introduced The Green New Deal

Shortly after becoming New York's 14th District congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez garnered support for the Green New Deal, drafted to combat climate change andincome inequality. The draft says that within 10 years from the start of execution of the Plan, the country will be fully powered by renewable energy sources. Cortez also proposed providing all Americans with the opportunity, training, and education to be full and equal participants in the countrys clean energy transition, universal health care programs that would support green energy start-ups, and a jobs guarantee program that would assure a living-wage job for all.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 14: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a news conference ... [+] to introduce legislation to transform public housing as part of her Green New Deal outside the U.S. Capitol November 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. The liberal legislators invited affordable housing advocates and climate change activists to join them for the announcement. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

2017 & 2018When Women Around The World Marched In Unison

The day after President Trumps inauguration in 2017, women (and men) across the globe came together to protest his election, along with a number of injustices including the rollback of reproductive rights, issues around immigration, civil rights and more. The main demonstration took place in Washington D.C., as additional marches made noise in at least 408 different U.S. locations and 673 total worldwide. During the D.C., event, legendary feminist activist, Gloria Steinem said to the crowd: Make sure you introduce yourselves to each other and decide what were going to do tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow. Were never turning back!

WASHINGTON,DC-JAN19: The Women's March, January 19th, 2019. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The ... [+] Washington Post via Getty Images)

2017: When Elizabeth Warren Persisted

The words Nevertheless, she persisted evolved into a popular feminist battle cry and meme after Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke out against the nomination of Jeff Sessions to become Attorney General, citing his anti civil rights record. While she was reading a letter supporting her objection to Sessions leadership, she was interrupted by Mitch McConnell. Following that, the Senate voted for her to be silenced during the rest of Sessions confirmation. McConnell, later said of Warren: She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted. And were so glad she did.

MANCHESTER, NH - DECEMBER 12: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) ... [+] gestures as she delivers an economic policy speech on December 12, 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Iowa Caucuses are less than two months away. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Originally posted here:
2009-2019: 27 Times Women & Girls Fighting For Equality Slayed the Decade - Forbes

Eddie Gallagher is apparently so violent and sociopathic that he reduced his former military comrades Navy SEALs who aren't known for being the most tender-hearted of people to tears. In video interviews of witness testimony obtained by the New York Times, some of these hardened warriors, so shaken by the things Gallagher had done, choked up, called the Navy petty officer "freaking evil" and claimed he particularly delighted in trying to murder women and children.

The picture that emerges from their testimony is of a sadist who "just wants to kill anybody he can," as one SEAL put it, and who saw the Navy as an opportunity to be a serial killer without facing the legal consequences that usually follow indiscriminate murder.

Gallagher has also become a hero on the right, so much so that he's cashing in by launching a clothing line called "Salty Frog," after the slang term for retired SEALs profiting off people who think murder is cool, as long as it's done in the name of right-wing politics and the victims are people of color.

On New Year's Eve, Dave Phillips of the New York Times published an article about Gallagher's attempt to profiting from being accused of a stunning array of violent crimes while serving overseas. Phillips' piece, unfortunately, also ended up illustrating how traditional mainstream media reporting methods fail to capture the true seriousness of the current moment.

The story isn't bad, to be clear. Phillips does what he can to contrast the gory details of Gallagher's alleged crimes with the incongruous world of a social media influencer who is "modeling his own lifestyle clothing brand" and "endorsing nutrition supplements."

But still, the piece has an arch, bemused tone that ends up downplaying the ugliness on display here and, worse yet, fails to tell the bigger story of what it means that the American right following Trump, who reversed Gallagher's conviction last year now sees an accused war criminal as a hero to their cause. This is not the story of American conservatives being a bit kooky in their understanding of patriotism. This is a story of how right-wing propaganda is converting American conservatism into a fascist movement.

It's doubtful that Trump, who has called Gallagher "one of the ultimate fighters" and invited him to party at Mar-a-Lago, or Gallagher's other right-wing fans, actually imagine that he is innocent of the charges against him. I don't think they believe that the seven SEALs who testified against Gallagher, at great personal risk, are lying. Rather, Gallagher is being lionized because of what he allegedly did in Afghanistan.

This is about the American right embracing racialized violence against people they hate in this case, Muslims. It's about American conservatives adopting a fascist narrative of the redemptive, cleansing power of violence.

This love for Eddie Gallagher needs to be understood in the context of other grotesque moves toward fascism over the past few years.

There has often been a drumbeat of apologetics for racist violence in American conservatism, but things really started to escalate in 2012, when a man named George Zimmerman killed a black teenager named Trayvon Martin, who had been walking home from a convenience store after buying snacks. Zimmerman, who had a history of overreacting to the sight of black teens and men walking through his Florida neighborhood by making hysterical calls to 911, decided Martin was scary. He followed Martin, even after a 911 dispatcher told him not to, and ended up killing him.

Despite the obvious racism of that tragic incident, or perhaps because of it, the overwhelming response of American conservatives was to fiercely defend Zimmerman and to demonize Martin.

Ever since then, there's been a predictable pattern, in which efforts by progressive activists to fight racialized violence are met with resistance and bad faith theatrics from conservatives. For instance, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement has created a counter-movement on the right of arguing that "blue lives matter," which implies any effort to curtail police killings of black people will somehow make the streets less safe for police. When white supremacists rioted in Charlottesville, killing one anti-racism protester, Trump himself took to the podium to defend the honor of the "very fine people" who caused the riot.

Unsurprisingly, these defenses of racialized violence have led directly to more white nationalist terrorism, such as the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh and the Walmart massacre in El Paso. Every time such things happen, conservatives get huffy, denying that there's any link between routinely defending racial violence or, as in Gallagher's case, celebrating it and the fact that more racists are feeling empowered to kill people.

That's why so many people online were griping about the New York Times' coverage of Gallagher's attempt to reboot himself as an Instagram influencer. The writing in the piece may have been wry, and the reporting accurate, but we need more than that to combat a conservative movement that is increasingly enthusiastic about lethal violence against black or brown people. Worse, the marketing of the Times story did even more to downplay the dire significance of the fact that someone as uniquely terrible as Gallagher has become a right-wing hero.

The Times headline, "From the Brig to Mar-a-Lago, Former Navy SEAL Capitalizes on Newfound Fame," doesn't even mention that Gallagher is famous because he's been accused of serious war crimes. And the original tweet that accompanied the piece which has since been deleted made it sound like a light and fluffy story about a lifestyle brand.

The retired Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher has a his new apparel line called Salty Frog Gear, which is a described as a coastal lifestyle brand with an edge"

Needless to say, none of this captures the depths of depravity on display in Gallagher's brightly lit Instagram pictures, which include an image of a custom-made hatchet he told the maker he hoped he could use "on someones skull!"

A nearly incomprehensible darkness is billowing over our country, as the 40% of Americans who stand with Donald Trump increasingly adopt a sadistic, anti-democratic worldview where anything, even murder, is treated as a virtue, so long as it's about thumbing their noses at "political correctness." Unfortunately, the traditions of wry journalistic detachment when reporting on bizarre or unsettling cultural phenomena are no longer sufficient. Especially in these chaotic times, reporters need to focus not just on the facts of stories like this, but on the big-picture meaning. On its own, the story of Eddie Gallagher's sudden metamorphosis into right-wing culture hero may feel like an odd little trend piece. Considered in the larger context of history, it's about the growth of American fascism.

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Eddie Gallagher isn't a "lifestyle brand" story: It's a story about the rise of American fascism - Salon

When the clock strikes midnight on January 1, an unparalleled decade comes to a close: one that saw everything from NASAs first all-female spacewalk to the aftermath of natural disasters and the death of Osama bin Laden.

There were times of real change and hope. The White House was lit up in rainbow colors when the Supreme Court struck down same-sex marriage bans. The world watched in awe as a Thai soccer team and their coach were rescued one-by-one by a group of brave diving experts after being trapped for more than three weeks.

And there were moments so shocking we were left feeling helpless. Twenty-six people were killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and eight parishioners and their pastor were gunned down during Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Revolutionary moments made history in real time as anger and passion turned into movements like the one made up of thousands of students who skipped classes worldwide to demand action from their leaders on the climate crisis.

Heres a look back at some of the news stories that defined the past 10 years.

The decade produced scandals that upended institutions from the Catholic Church to elite universities.

The controversies began less than a year into 2010, when the US State Department was pushed into damage control mode after WikiLeaks released thousands of classified documents on July 25. WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is now facing charges related to the leak. Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst who helped the site get access to the classified documents, is currently jailed for refusing to testify before the grand jury investigating Assange.

A year later, another release this time, a grand jury report made public in November 2011 marked the beginning of a scandal that would ripple through Penn State University and lead to the termination of the schools beloved football coach. The report contained testimony that former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abused eight young boys, a number that would eventually increase to 10, over a period of at least 15 years. University officials purportedly failed to notify law enforcement after learning about some of these incidents. Sandusky was found guilty in 2012. Football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier lost their jobs in the scandal.

Sexual abuse within the Catholic Church was similarly far-reaching. In 2017 and 2018, the church in the US spent more than $300 million including $200 million in legal settlements on costs related to clergy sexual abuse. The payouts were only part of the fallout of the massive worldwide scandal in which the church was accused of repeatedly covering up sexual abuse.

USA Gymnastics was likewise disgraced after Larry Nassar, a former USAG and Michigan State University doctor, was sentenced in 2018 to up to 175 years in prison after more than 150 women and girls testified he sexually abused them over two decades.

Earlier this year, about 50 people were accused in a college admissions scandal of either cheating on standardized tests or bribing college coaches and school officials to accept students as college athletes even if they werent. Among those named by federal prosecutors were actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.

From #MeToo to Black Lives Matter, the 2010s were shaped by activism, beginning in 2011 with the Occupy Wall Street protest movement. The demonstrations against income inequality, corporate greed, and the influence of money in politics began in New York but spread to cities across the United States.

Anger over the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin and the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in 2014 gave rise to the Black Lives Matter. What started as a social media hashtag quickly grew into an international movement protesting against police brutality and inequality.

Another social media hashtag went offline when survivors of sexual abuse shared their stories with #MeToo. Although the hashtag was created years earlier by activist Tarana Burke, it caught fire after people in Hollywood used it to take down Harvey Weinstein. Not only did it spark a conversation about consent and harassment, but the global movement also contributed to powerful men like producers, actors, anchors and executives and politicians being called to account on harassment accusations.

The decade also brought catastrophic natural and environmental disasters to points across the world.

Haiti and Japan both were hit with the largest earthquakes ever to strike those countries. The 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and 9.1-magnitude quake followed by a tsunami the following year in Japan left hundreds of thousands of people dead and thousands more displaced.

The first year of the decade also saw an explosion on board the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people and released 168 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

The strongest hurricane to strike the Bahamas made landfall in 2019. Hurricane Dorian slammed the island over Labor Day weekend and stalled there for more than 48 hours. It was one of five Category 5 hurricanes to form this decade. The others: Matthew, Irma, Maria, Michael and Lorenzo.

Hurricane Maria, which made landfall on the island nation of Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane and hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm in 2017, caused about $90 billion in damage and resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths.

The same year introduced a yearslong spate of wildfires in California, including the deadliest in the states history.

Mass shootings in the United States shook the countrys sense of safety as targeted places included an elementary school, nightclubs, colleges, a music festival and places of worship. More than half of the 10 deadliest US mass shootings took place in this decade, including when a gunman opened fire inside Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016. At least 49 people were killed. In October 2017, 58 people were gunned down at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas.

The shootings raised a debate across the nation about access to firearms.

Violent attacks werent limited to the United States. ISIS showed its global reach in 2015 with a terror attack in Paris and a series of attacks in Tunisia, including at a hotel where 38 people were killed.

At Garissa University College in Kenya, four gunmen killed 147 people and wounded scores more during morning prayer in April 2015, making it the deadliest attack in Kenya since the 1998 United States embassy bombings. The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

An act of terrorism also devastated the city of Boston in 2013. Two bombs exploded 12 seconds apart near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killing three people and injuring at least 264.

But bloodshed this past decade didnt only come in isolated attacks. The decade was scarred by humanitarian crises and devastating conflicts like the yearslong civil war in Yemen, which has taken the lives of more than 100,000 people.

In 2012, the American government came under fire after four Americans were killed in Benghazi, Libya. Critics said the State Department may not have done enough to protect its employees.

Back home, Americans faced a rise in extremism. A 2017 government report found far-right-wing violent extremist groups were to blame for the majority of deadly extremist incidents in the country since 2001. The total number of fatalities from far-right wing violent extremists and radical Islamist violent extremists was about the same. The words white nationalism began leaking into headlines after the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed as a car plowed through a crowd protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. James Alex Fields Jr., the man accused of driving into the crowd has been sentenced to life in prison on hate crime charges.

Across the ocean, Europe was fighting its own battle against racism. A CNN poll in 2018 recorded frightening anti-Semitic attitudes across the continent while many blamed a substantial amount of Brexit votes on a rise in racism.

With millions fleeing from violence in the Middle East and Africa, Europeans began taking measures against the influx of immigrants. A heartbreaking image of 3-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi shook the world and offered a glimpse into just how badly the European migrant crisis was handled.

Four years later a similar photo surfaced: a father and daughter from El Salvador lay face down in murky waters. The devastating picture offered a glimpse into the dangers and challenges migrants face trying to cross from Mexico into the US. The crisis at the border was center stage during the 2016 elections, with then-candidate Donald Trump vowing to build a wall to curb illegal migration.

Trumps administration would later draw worldwide condemnation for its practices of separating children from their parents at the border and holding migrants in overcrowded cage-like units.

The past decades politics have been marked by polarization and division.

In a bitterly fought referendum, the United Kingdom voted in June 2016 to leave the European Union. The deal, called Brexit, eventually led to the resignation of British Prime Minister Theresa May and the election of hardline Brexit supporter Boris Johnson.

In another divisive decision, the United States elected businessman Donald Trump, a Republican, as president over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat in November 2016. Three years into his term and following dozens of controversial decisions and tweets Trump, this month, became the third US president to be impeached. The House of Representatives voted to charge him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Meanwhile, citizens of countries took on their leadership and protested for change. Thousands took to the streets in Venezuela in 2019 in failed effort to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office.

In Hong Kong, protests began in June 2019 in response to a bill that would have allowed citizens of Hong Kong to be extradited to China. The protests have continued for months nonstop and resulted in violent clashes with police. The focus of the protests also has shifted to demand greater democracy and an inquiry into allegations of police brutality.

But among division and disasters, the world took major strides toward change.

In 2011, American troops pulled out of Iraq after nearly nine years in the country fighting a war over which many high-ranking officials were criticized for not putting an end to earlier.

In a landmark opinion, the US Supreme Court ruled in June 2015 that same-sex couples can marry nationwide. The divided courts decision established a new civil right and gave a historic victory to gay rights advocates.

Later that year, in December, about 195 nations agreed to begin tackling the climate crisis head-on by reducing greenhouse gas emissions the primary driver of climate change and entering into other agreements. The agreement became known as the 2015 Paris Climate accord. In 2019, the Trump administration announced that the US would pull out of the agreement following the Presidents claims that it would punish American workers and benefit foreign countries.

And this year, the most diverse class of lawmakers to date took office in the US Congress, bringing greater gender, racial, religious and sexuality representation.

View post:
The 2010s were relentless. Here are some of the most fascinating news stories that shaped the decade - WGNO New Orleans

Concern over a theoretical World War 3 is high, and people are expressing their anxiety through memes.

Following a drone strike carried out by the United States that killed two prominent Iranian officials, many Americans are concerned. People took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter and quickly turned to memes to communicate their feelings. Unsurprisingly, the waves of WWIII memes now sweeping the web are not sitting well with everyone.

Me: This decade I'm gonna get married, have kids, buy my first car, travel the worl-#WWIII: pic.twitter.com/rHKC8Bacct

good morning to the west coast pic.twitter.com/NniquMnDTg

Most of the memes poked fun at fear of getting drafted. Many draft-aged users are expressing their fear of the draft through funny, but ominous, posts. Me after I fake my death to avoid getting drafted, one user captioned a video.

Me after I fake my death to avoid getting drafted #WWIII pic.twitter.com/kZK6Skqkq3

Me chilling at home after ignoring my draft notice #WWIII pic.twitter.com/fMRtvRg3ZV

Me dodging bullets on the battlefield after getting drafted for #WWIII pic.twitter.com/a1PtzFKvS9

Other memes centered around millennials and Gen-Z joking about their general lack of preparedness for war.

Me and the boys on missile duty during #WWIII pic.twitter.com/pdfh29eT9n

Me and my boys when we in Iran and run out of ammo and have to make our own redneck shit #WWIII pic.twitter.com/t7Qeb32SKD

Me having no fucking idea what Im doing in #WWIII pic.twitter.com/r1DUCgvLvq

As the WWIII memes picked up speed online, they were met by a swift and fierce backlash. Disapproving users chided memers for their nonchalance, and for using memes as a coping mechanism. Stop saying ur making memes about war as a coping method, one user wrote. Every single one of u will be fine the people of iraq and iran will continue to suffer u people have nothing to be fucking coping for.

stop saying ur making memes about war as a coping method every single one of u will be fine the people of iraq and iran will continue to suffer u people have nothing to be fucking coping for

so funny that americans think they CAN cope over this with jokes ... what the fuck are you coping? youre not going to die and your homeland will not be destabilized. you are not in a position to cope by any means.

also, all world war 3 jokes are inappropriate. this war will not be fought on us soil. you will not be affected. this is not about american lives.

War is not a fucking joke, another user wrote. It is a destructive and selfish act. 4,424 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 600K Iraqi civilians died in the Iraq war over WMDs that did not exist. So please stop with these #WWIII memes and instead call your Congress members and tell them #NoWarWithIran.

War is not a fucking joke. It is a destructive and selfish act. 4,424 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 600K Iraqi civilians died in the Iraq war over WMDs that did not exist. So please stop with these #WWIII memes and instead call your Congress members and tell them #NoWarWithIran.

americans joking about commiting more imperialism and genocide in another country and saying 'it's a coping mechanism' is peak 2020 and we're literally only two days into this year https://t.co/Lf0XgkUtnD

Accusations that Black users, in particular, were at the center of the influx of memes suddenly shifted the focus for critics. Some started going after Twitter users of color, heaping criticism on their tweets for not taking the situation seriously. Honestly, Im not believing a lot of you right now when you say that war is not funny, one user shot back at critics. Twitter is such a performative space, I find it likely that many of you are declaring how unfunny Black Twitter is just for some retweets. All of it is pretty disgusting at this point.

Honestly, Im not believing a lot of you right now when you say that war is not funny. Twitter is such a performative space, I find it likely that many of you are declaring how unfunny Black Twitter is just for some retweets. All of it is pretty disgusting at this point.

I know how this space works. We all do in fact. Literally combing over other folks tweets to see how well you can chastise and educate folk about war, to get more likes and retweets. The jokes are pathetic and so are some of you.

I remember being awake all night and day on Twitter when the Ferguson uprisings were happening, then spilling into other cities.

We were scared then. We were not joking like this.

But coping.

A lot of Black liberals are so used to playing the oppression olympics that they now want to equate Black folks experience here with that of folks in the global south, living under the bullseye of the worlds most lethal military. Pls dont do this.

everything is hahaha until somebody says the united states is george zimmerman to the world, then it's too far. people act like mindless americans and then wanna grow a politic when it's a superficial showing of Black solidarity that takes 0 study, rigor or sacrifice.

Black Twitter, meanwhile, remained entirely unfazed by the criticism. All of black twitter chillin in jail when we refuse to go to war, one user wrote.

we really shouldnt joke about the war-black twitter: pic.twitter.com/3N00VP6AMt

I dont know why people thought black Twitter wasnt about to get these jokes off about #WWIII. Black folk even had jokes when they was IN the last world war lol. They spelled Hitler name on an artillery shell like it was a Starbucks cup pic.twitter.com/ScuxUWc61W

We goin to war soon

All of black twitter: pic.twitter.com/tcPJnGy2Ky

America: If Yall Dont Enlist Yall Not getting Yall Tax Money

Black Twitter: pic.twitter.com/wa1Kajx3a3

All of black twitter chillin in jail when we refuse to go to war pic.twitter.com/wv94VyBJ5s

Everybody Else: Oh my god, WW3 is coming, we gotta fight this.

Black Twitter: pic.twitter.com/tvVX4mYGvH

*World War 3 starting*

*black Twitter not taking it serious*: #WWIII pic.twitter.com/hEWb6q94LW

As of press time, the memes show no sign of slowing down.

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Original post:
The World War 3 memes are hereand they're dark - The Daily Dot