This has been quite a year for America and the world. By most yardsticks, our nation seems to be going backwards: We have a billionaire president that shows no hesitation to making claims that are patently false. We have deepened the gap between rich and poor, made healthcare and college education further out of reach, eliminated environmental protections, and gave hefty tax breaks to the ultra wealthy. Here is a bit of this turbulent year in photos.

You may be paying more for your Big Mac as well as many other consumer goods as a large storm continues to hit parts of the Gulf Coast with historically heavy rains. Large parts of the energy and petrochemical industries are based there and companies with a lot of stores in the area stand to lose business. While gas price spikes will be temporary, other effects of the storm will last for years.