Oil Ends The Year At $98 A Barrel

Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts last Thursday, and Republicans are really not taking it well. House Speaker Mike Johnson wants the Supreme Court to wave its magic wand and make the whole thing go away. VP wannabes like South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem took to social media to whine about the unfairness of it all.

Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Clinton) objected, “just another step by the governor and Democrats to have the government provide everything for you, which leads to communism." Borowicz has a litany of stupidity attached to her, including recently trying to decertify the election results in Pennsylvania, introducing a resolution calling COVID God's "punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins," and introducing a bill modeled after Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law. Source: Pennsylvania Capitol Star A Republican state lawmaker said Tuesday she opposed a bill that would make pads and tampons free for public school students because it could lead to communism. House Bill 851 would create a grant program to provide public schools with funding to distribute menstrual hygiene products free to students.

A person in Mexico died after contracting a strain of bird flu that hasn’t been confirmed in humans before, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The virus was detected in a 59-year-old who had been hospitalized in Mexico City. The person died one week after developing a fever, shortness of breath and diarrhea.

NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday indefinitely delayed implementation of a plan to charge motorists hefty tolls to enter the core of Manhattan, just weeks before the nation’s first “congestion pricing” system was set to launch. The announcement dealt a stunning blow to a program, years in the making, that was intended to raise billions of dollars for New York’s beleaguered subways and commuter rails while reducing gridlock and air pollution on the city’s streets. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Hochul, a Democrat, delivered the news in a pre-recorded video statement, saying she had arrived at the “difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences at this time.” She cited the city’s fragile economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the financial burden that the fee would impose on New Yorkers struggling with inflation, as reasons not to go through with the program. “A $15 charge might not seem like a lot to someone who has the means but it can break the budget of a hardworking or middle class household,” Hochul said.

Global temperatures have broken records for 12 consecutive months, and last month was the warmest May ever recorded, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced on Wednesday. In May the global average temperature was 1.52 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, marking the 11th consecutive month where the global average temperature was at least 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

This could be a costly interview for William Saunders. The former safety researcher resigned from OpenAI in February, and—like many other departing employees—signed a non-disparagement agreement in order to keep the right to sell his equity in the company. Although he says OpenAI has since told him that it does not intend to enforce the agreement, and has made similar public commitments, he is still taking a risk by speaking out.