Since I am unable to offer a signed photo of Quinn, Esq. in ANY sort of compromising position, Dan K will have to deal with Q on that one...I ain't touchin' it.  Or Dan can photoshop some coke goin' into that nasal-gastric tube yukky-thing and just call it "in flagrante delicto."  Ewww. 

Zo!  There were too many grand entries to make this easy, and too many different angles.  I am going to confer prizes, then, in different categories:

                                       Serious and Sober category:

First prize:  9/11 Decade     Readytoblowagasket    (Here is her reasoning, and I agree): 

  'Yes, for the Iraqis and the Afghans, in a very direct, traumatic, devastating, and permanent way.

But I'm also thinking about how 9/11 affected everything and nearly every country: the "Coalition of the Willing" who have lost troops and, inevitably, their faith in the U.S.; FISA; the Patriot Act; the Department of Homeland Security/immigration abuses/border "control"; torture (secret renditions and waterboarding specifically); Guantanamo/Abu Ghraib/Bagram/etc.; the New York Times's suppressing of the warrantless wiretapping story before the pivotal 2004 presidential election; the New York Times's boostering for the Iraq war in the first place; a new generation of veterans. I could go on if I really put my mind to it, but it sickens and saddens me.

A recession followed the 9/11 attacks, and our self-indulgent bloodlust and decade-long hard-on with the war-making industry certainly laid the foundation for the current recession. If the world and especially U.S. citizens weren't distracted by Iraq and Afghanistan, if our national budget weren't inflated to bursting by defense spending, then Lehman *might* still exist today and if it did exist, there would be no TARP. Because while everyone was looking the other way, watching the spectacle of war and trying to gather the evidence of war crimes, a fake economy was created and the Treasury doors were thrown open to thieves.

The only beautiful and profound thing I can remember about the entire decade was the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when the world stopped to mourn with us.'

Posted by readytoblowagasket in reply to a comment from Rutabaga Ridgepole

Second Prize:  The Last Decade --Zipperupus     His reasoning: As in "that's all folks!"

I figure name it that now and rename it once we prove it wrong... I know I wouldn't want this decade to be the last on human record... but it is starting to look like the Mayans were on to something.

Posted by Zipperupus in reply to a comment from wendy davis

Third Prize:  The Nightmare Decade  -- theoldgrouch   (self-explanatory)

                                   Humorous/ Snark Category:

First Prize:  Don't Cash Your Reality Check Decade -- Stratofrog

Second Prize: The Years of Living Stupidly - Desidero

Third Prize:  Decade Accomplished - Destor

                                   Naming the Global Decade:

First Prize:  The Development Decade - Obey      (His Reasoning):  Seriously, I was covering UN affairs at the beginning of the decade and their ridiculous Millenium goals for poverty "eradication" and such. And thanks to China's amazing rise, and he relative success of Brazil, Indonesia, India, they've gotten pretty close to achieving their goals.

Second Prize:  Decade of the Developing Nations - Boyd Reed

Honorable Mention:  FUBAR Decade -me   (an homage to the military and well, everything else.)

                                              UPDATED PRIZES:

The only appropriate prize I can think of is the Blue Moon, which astronomy will really give you.  Tomorrow night, December 31, is a Blue Moon, the name accorded to the Second Full Moon in a calendar month.  What a wonderful way to mark this Decade of Shite and Fear and Anxiety.  (Pace to the Glass-half-full People at the Café.)  And Nanci Griffith gives you this song:

                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qXIfK4iJg8

Thank you all for playing; it was fun, and helped my spirits immeasurably.  There were so many great entries that is was impossible to choose; I just took a shot!  For all the entrants, here is another good tune from Nanci:

                               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS7OytTB8UI