We’ve finally reached the final month of 2018, and since it has felt like an eternity and it’s easy to lose track of all the good things that have happened this year, we’ll focus on the worst events of 2018.

Probably the most memorable events in 2018 were all pop culture related. Recently, the Grammy nominations have caused a major stir and reviving old fanwars. Who decided to let generic & subpar songs with paint-by-the-numbers lyrics such as “The Middle” be nominated for Record of the Year? How is Cardi B, who’s been using the same rap flow since “Bodak Yellow” and can’t even write her own songs, be nominated five times? More importantly, how is Reputation by Taylor Swift not nominated for Album of the Year although it outsold all nominees combined with pure sales alone? Also, way to snub two artists with one oversight by not nominating “Everything is Love” by The Carters for AOTY.

The worst celebrity beef of 2018 has got to be between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. Nicki should focus on getting herself her coveted #1 Billboard song or album, and Cardi should focus on, well, whatever it is she does. However, the absolute worst type of celebrity to come out of 2018 are the mumble and SoundCloud rappers. At this rate, I might as well start rapping since there’s apparently room for everyone to become famous.

Now that I’ve got your attention, it’s time for the serious matters.

Mass shootings have been on the rise, and they’re much too prevalent this year. With school shootings alone accounting for 94 of the 329 individual shooting incidents in America, 2018 has been the deadliest year so far. With rising casualties, comes the rising arrogance of the NRA. Their incessant bashing of victims of gun violence and brazen behavior has only made the debate on gun violence worse.

Mother Nature has also been bent on destruction. Strong Californian winds in November caused the Woolsey Fire and Camp Fire to spread rapidly, which turned them into California’s deadliest fires ever recorded. Meanwhile, Hurricane Florence & Michael took the East coast by storm. On the other side of the world, Indonesia was hit by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that set off a tsunami.

Politically, the turmoil that 2018 caused has widened the gap between political parties. It’s become Democrats versus Republicans versus Trump. With the Trump administration dishing out highly controversial actions, such as rolling back transgender protections, alleged Russian coalition, and reinforcing ICE, it’s turned into a free-for-all.

Something that has not been getting tons of media coverage when it should be, is the discovery of China’s internment camps. China has detained as many as 1 million Uighurs, a group that’s predominantly Muslim, in their self titled “reeducation centers” where they’re forced to undergo indoctrination programs, such as studying Communist propaganda, giving thanks to the Chinese president, and surrendering their religion.

As 2018 comes to an end, we also remember all the great people we’ve lost. Rest in peace to Avicii, Aretha Franklin, Kate Spade, Stan Lee, Stephen Hillenburg, and many more. Here’s to a better year in 2019.