the House of Representatives was at a virtual standstill when Kevin McCarthy’s short tenure as Speaker of the House came to an end and there was a lengthy and dysfunctional process to name his replacement. autoworkers were also on strike and in Washington, D.C. Worldwide, the effects of global warming were more apparent than ever, with record temperatures and rampant forest fires.įears over AI, among other issues, meant that dual actor and writer strikes shut down Hollywood for months, while at the same time U.S. inflation eased, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupted when Hamas attacked Israel and the latter declared war on Hamas, leading to a truly tragic situation and lots of civilian deaths (with over 20,000 Palestinians killed and over 1,400 Israelis dead). In 2023, the WHO ended its global health emergency status in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. Here we go again, racing to December’s finish line, eager to put another chaotic year in the rearview and nervous about what the next 12 months have in store for us.
