The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog): Top Stories -- New Format -- May 31, 2025

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Locator: 48649TOPSTORIES.

Top stories over past few days:

Is California insolvent? Link here. Newsom’s Medi-Cal proposals suggest the state may, in fact, be insolvent. The state is (at least) $12 billion in debt and his newest proposal would save $94 million this year. Even Sophia can do the math on this one. Newsom has bigger problems than Medi-Cal.
US Supreme Court -- NEPA --> No-EPA

the big story: the US Supreme Court was unanimous in this decision; WSJ;
without question, one of the biggest stories of the year -- on so many levels -- and the reason I decided to go back to some format of "top stories" for the blog
also at PowerLine.

allows Trump to step up immigration, deportation actions
again, a huge, huge story as the US Supreme Court tries to get a handle on the chaos in the US judicial system
my hunch: Chief Justice Roberts knows exactly what is at risk
tea leaves: Chief Justice Roberts:

understands the importance of the three branches of government; and,
does not want the judicial branch to become the legislative and executive branch

tea leaves: the three justices with the least gravitas are starting to mature, starting to realize what is at stake; starting to be adults

these three "weak" justices pale in comparison to Ginsberg, Breyer, Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan, Jr; Earl Warren;
if these three want to have a legacy, they need to emulate that group

sixth industrial revolution -- Nvidia -- supercomputers -- Nvidia has become a metonym for AI

Google monopoly -- most important breaking news with regard to tech: the judge overseeing the Google monopoly case seems to "get" the picture based on the story at this link

an aside: it's easier for me to use ChatGPT than Google and ChatGPT is quickly becoming my "go-to" search engine.
background: filed October 20, 2020; went to trial in September, 2023; ongoing into 2024 - 2025; almost guaranteed to be appealed; the appellate court: the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit; and then, of course, the US Supreme Court which would likely not take the case;
with regard to search, Google is already facing an existential threat; if the states' AGs are successful the suit would probably end Google as we know it
folks have already forgotten how this case even started, think Charles Dickens' Jarndyce vs Jarndyce
although ChatGPT and Google search compliment each other, it's very obvious that ChatGPT will end Google as a search engine as we know it now

losing Google as a search engine would have minimal effect for the end user (for "you and me," for example)

there's no less than half a dozen AI platforms ready to step into the void
existing search engines (Bing, DuckDuckGo) would not replace Google search on Apple's Safari; that's a fac', Jack

once Apple loses that $20 billion / year from Google, Apple will move to another AI platform, most likely OpenAI's (think ChatGPT) based on financial considerations
see more in-depth discussion over at "Backstory" -- link here.

is Israel about ready to take out an Iranian nuclear research site? See this post.
this was a NYT breaking story May 31, 2025, but I believe it was reported some weeks ago, but apparently now it's been confirmed

Muhammad Sinwar, a Top Military Leader of Hamas, Is Dead, Israel Says
next up: Izz al-Din al-Haddad (next in line in northern Gaza) and Khalil al-Hayya (in exile) (whack-a-mole)

Russia is said to have suffered casualties of as many as one million (dead and severely wounded)

in the first half of 2024, Russia reported just under 600,000 births, annualized to 1.2 million
lowest number of births since 1999
for June, 2024: monthly births fell below 100,000 for the first time ever (actual number: 98,600)
just half of these, or 600,000 would be males

US crude oil production hit all-time high in March, 2025; fourteen months of 13-million-plus bopd
US inflation -- most recent report -- drops unexpectedly -- drops to 2.1% -- clearly reaching the Fed's target -- but the Fed won't move on interest rates -- says it won't make moves that would be interpreted as "political"
Geoff Simon's quick connects, May 30, 2025.
Taylor Swift buys back her first six albums and associated material

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour: set unprecedented records in the music industry, both in total revenue and per-show earnings.

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Museums of Fine Art

The best exhibits include a mobile device with an app that provides a most boring, soporific description of the paintings.

Suggestion: three genres of music to accompany the tour, tailored to match the artwork (app, headphones):

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Must Watch On YouTube

Top of the Pops, 1964 - 2006

The most watched episode: