“OPTIMISTIC BUT CAUTIOUS”: Update on Wounded Guardsman Andrew Wolfe.
Author Archive: Stephen Green
December 4, 2025
CUE THE WORLD’S SMALLEST VIOLIN: 2025: The Year Late-Night TV Collapsed.
As Hollywood continues to contract on several fronts, late-night shows are not as sustainable as in the past.
Colbert found that out the hard way in July. CBS announced Colbert’s “Late Show” gig will end in May of 2026. Even more dramatic? No one is slated to replace him. “The Late Show” will end as Colbert signs off.
The shocking part? Reports said the show was costing CBS roughly $40 million a year. Why would any business take that kind of a fiscal drubbing in the first place?
That came on the heels of “The Tonight Show” shrinking from five nights a week to four, “Late Night with Seth Meyers” losing his house band and several late-nighters losing their gigs.
Period.
Think Samantha Bee, Desus & Mero, Trevor Noah, James Corden and Amber Ruffin.
That, plus news that late-night TV revenues have plunged in recent years (along with their audiences), suggested Jimmy Kimmel’s prediction might come true faster than he anticipated.
Late-night TV has much less than 10 years left. This year proved it.
It’s Christian Toto, so read the whole thing.
TIP OF THE ICEBERG? Miles from Nation’s Capital, ICE Arrests ISIS-K Afghan Terrorist Who Was Released into the U.S. Under Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem today announced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents arrested Jaan Shah Safi, an Afghan national who entered the United States under Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome,” who provided support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K). He also provided weapons to his father who is a commander of a militia group in Afghanistan. This terrorist was arrested in Waynesboro, Virginia.
Safi is an illegal alien terrorist who entered the U.S. on September 8, 2021, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome. He applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) but his application was terminated once Secretary Noem ended TPS for Afghans. On December 3, 2025, under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE arrested Safi.
If this were fiction, the Biden administration releasing an Islamic terrorist as part of Operation Allies Welcome would be too on the nose to be believable.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO “TAX THE RICH?” Gavin Newsom opposes California ‘billionaire tax’ as he eyes 2028 White House bid.
If enacted, tech titans like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang could see colossal tax bills running in the billions. Five percent of Huang’s estimated net worth is equivalent to roughly $8 billion, and Zuck’s tax bill could total more than $12 billion.
The revenues are intended to fund health care services and the state’s struggling school system, according to supporters.
Backers of the billionaire tax, who include the SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, Los Angeles nonprofit St. John’s Community Health and former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, claim it’s needed in light of federal funding cuts to Medi-Cal and other health care programs.
But: “Supporters of the billionaire tax, dubbed the “2026 Billionaire Tax Act,” have filed paperwork with the Attorney General’s Office and must gather 874,641 signatures to place it on the November 2026 ballot.”
BREAKING: J6 Pipe Bomber Arrested.
HMM: Small businesses cut 120,000 jobs in November, ADP says.
ADP chief economist Nela Richardson described November’s jobs data as a “slowdown” that was “broad-based.” The drop was “led by a pullback among small businesses,” she said.
Small firms with fewer than 50 employees led the contraction by far, shedding 120,000 jobs.
Smaller businesses have less money and fewer resources than larger companies to contend with higher costs from tariffs, rising utility bills and other economic pressures.
The headline number might not tell the full story, however:
"Weak" job growth but no layoffs.
It's almost like there's simply fewer people — like, say, 2 million illegals 🙌 https://t.co/lVfUBHA6we
— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) December 4, 2025
How much of that broad-based slowdown was just illegals leaving the country, and small businesses — say, local contractors used to hiring illegals — not yet picking up the slack?
UGH: Did a Dem Senator Just Call for a Military Coup Against Trump? “Far less clear, however, was what Warner meant by his reference to the military saving us from Orange Man Bad.”
HOW MUCH OF THE AFFORDABILITY CRISIS WAS REALLY JUST THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRISIS?
Who knew?
There's plenty of housing, once the illegals go home! @TaraServatius @instapundit— Ralph Cassitto (@RgCassi) December 4, 2025
The violent rogue’s gallery includes the likes of Cuban national and convicted killer Jose Antonio Andreo-Quezada, an illegal alien with a criminal history involving homicide, larceny, disorderly conduct, possession of stolen property, dangerous drugs, burglary, trespassing and assault, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
He was released from Rikers Island, only to be picked up again on a parole violation, with ICE promptly putting in a detainer for him Aug. 16.
Another is Anastacio Tejada Almonte, a criminal and Dominican national with a rap sheet including homicide, assault, illegally carrying a weapon and flight to avoid prosecution, DHS said.
Despite an ICE detainer being lodged in May, he was released from the New York Department of Corrections on July 27.
The men are just two of the 6,947 criminals released from New York jails in the past year, despite having active ICE detainers requesting they be handed over to immigration authorities for deportation.
New Yorkers keep voting for this, and shockingly, they keep getting it.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: When Does the Part Where Obamacare Fixes Everything Happen? “What affordability it did provide happened the only way that Democrats know how to reduce the price of anything — by getting American taxpayers to pay for steep subsidies. Somebody always ends up paying more when the Democrats reduce the price of something.”
MAKE AFFORDABLE CARS AGAIN: Trump signs executive order to end Biden-era fuel standards.
“Today, we’re taking one more step to kill the ‘Green New Scam'” Trump said, referring to the “Green New Deal” programs backed by the far-left Squad.
“They imposed expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems,” Trump said of the Biden administration. “It put tremendous upward pressure on car prices.”
“These policies forced automakers to build cars using expensive tech that drove up prices and made the car WORSE,” Trump went on.
“The action is expected to save the typical consumer $1,000 off the price of a car.”
Thank you.
ICYMI: Washington’s Spending Train Is ‘Unstoppable.’ “We have to talk about that thing again — you know, that thing everybody else squinches their eyes shut and plugs their ears and says, ‘NANANANANA-I-CAN’T-HEAR-YOU,’ whenever it comes up.”
GOODER AND HARDER, WASHINGTON: Democratic socialist lawmaker introduces statewide payroll tax.
On the steps of the legislative building in Olympia, the first-term Democrat told a dozen reporters that “progressive revenue” is needed to ensure that the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.
The representative’s payroll excise tax proposal is intended to offset federal funding cuts that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4.
Scott’s legislation aims to generate more than $2 billion annually for social service programs that are facing funding cuts at the federal level.
The bill would target private employers whose workers earn more than $125,000 a year. It would impose a 5% tax on payroll expenses above that salary threshold. Companies with more than 50 workers, a payroll exceeding $7 million, and gross receipts exceeding $5 million would be subject to the tax.
Tax the rich? In the Washington suburbs, $125,000 is solidly middle class, and probably sits at the lower end of the middle class in Seattle proper.
ANYTHING LESS THAN SEIZING THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND KILLING THE KULAKS IS CENTRIST; SEIZING THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND KILLING THE KULAKS IS CENTER-LEFT: New York Times Laments Failure of Far-Left European Governments While Calling Them ‘Centrist.’
December 3, 2025
THREAD:
Quick and depressing thread🧵
The tragic killing of two National Guardsmen kicked up some horrific reactions from the legacy press and lefty commentators blaming their deployment to DC for the savage, fatal terrorist attack last week.
I pulled together some of the worst. ⤵️
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 2, 2025
DOG BITES MAN: Democrats reject idea of constitutional amendment mandating balanced budgets.
In light of the nation’s $38 trillion national debt, U.S. House lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss ways to structure a constitutional amendment mandating that Congress pass deficit-neutral budgets.
The House Judiciary subcommittee, however, produced no concrete plan and lawmakers mainly engaged in partisan blame games, even as multiple witnesses there to testify outlined possible solutions.
The U.S. has spent more money than it takes in for decades, resulting in skyrocketing deficits each year. In fiscal year 2025, the federal deficit – the gap between spending and revenue – amounted to roughly $1.8 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.
“The debt ceiling is a joke…a political football,” David Walker, chair of the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation, told lawmakers. “The only thing that can bind current and future congresses and presidents is a constitutional amendment.”
Republicans, who mostly support such an amendment, say the debt and deficit problem is caused by excessive spending, and that the solution is enforced spending restraint.
Exactly.
THEY PLAY THE LONG GAME: Dems Set Trump Up for False Healthcare ‘Fail.’
CUE THE WORLD’S SMALLEST VIOLIN: Tim Walz is crumbling, along with his 2028 hopes.
The past year has not been kind to Walz. Kamala Harris’s recent book, “107 Days,” makes clear she was thoroughly disappointed by Walz’s performance as running mate. She describes watching him in the vice-presidential debate on TV and saying, “You’re not there to make friends with the guy who is attacking your running mate.”
After the debate, when Walz tells Harris that he wishes he had done better, she reassures him — but fumes in the book that she thought, in choosing Walz, she was getting an experienced politician who’d know what he was getting into. In the acknowledgments, full of effusive praise for her campaign staff, Harris writes simply, “To Tim Walz, thank you for joining me on this journey.”
Walz’s approval rating in Minnesota as governor is evenly split, as of September. But keep in mind, this is a heavily Democratic state. The gubernatorial primary isn’t until June. If you’re a Minnesota Democrat, do you really want to roll the dice on a not-so-popular guy going for a rarely pursued third term? Republicans are likely to nominate Lisa Demuth, the state’s House speaker, who’s already hitting Walz because he “let fraud run wild.”
Of all the schadenfreude in this report, my favorite part is that Walz actually had — has? — 2028 hopes.
THE NEW SPACE RACE:
NASA Administrator Nominee Jared Isaacman delivers a powerful and urgent opening message at his confirmation hearing:
“The last time I sat before you, I introduced myself, my qualifications, and the challenges and opportunities ahead. This time, I'm here with a message of… pic.twitter.com/DRsJFxt9ZY
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 3, 2025
HMM:
I cycle between ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, and Gemini on a daily basis.
ChatGPT is politically correct.
It’s safe.
It’s sycophantic.
It has a clear left-leaning bias.
I can’t trust it.
These aren’t computing issues – they’re values issues. https://t.co/QlvoyETd3e
— Kaizen D. Asiedu (@thatsKAIZEN) December 2, 2025
I haven’t noticed GPT showing any bias — but it wouldn’t for what I use it for. I keep GPT in what I call “sandbox mode,” where it helps me edit longer pieces for structure and flow, but never for content.
For facts and news, I haven’t found anything better than Grok. On the other hand, Grokipedia is riddled with obvious factual errors. As always, caveat emptor and double-check every LLM’s work.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINES: Resist the AI apocalypse: Students want to be ‘capable humans, independent thinkers.’
Like many other humanities professors, he’s retooled his classes. “An A.I.-resistant English course has three main elements: pen-and-paper and oral testing; teaching the process of writing rather than just assigning papers; and greater emphasis on what happens in the classroom,” Rotella writes.
Professors are using more short quizzes to hold students accountable for doing the reading. He now tells students to “scan and turn in their mark-ups — underlinings, marginal notes, highlighting — of the hard copy they’re reading, which is as close as I can get to watching them think as they read.”
Some “emphasize teaching the process of writing — breaking it down into a series of steps that a teacher can see and respond to — rather than simply grading the product.”
Rotella has students write brief responses to the reading that can be turned into first drafts and then final drafts. Reading all the drafts is more work for him, but it means he’ll notice if the final paper doesn’t reflect the student’s thinking. He’s also added “a conference in which the student tells me about conceiving and writing a paper.”
Smart.
CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN:
🚨#BREAKING: An 18 year-old in Charlotte NC is being held on a staggering $5.3 MILLION bond after he was charged for 16 (!!!) shootings across Charlotte.
This is his 3rd arrest in 3 months…
…AS AN 18 YEAR-OLD!!!
Due to Iryna's Law, he's being held in jail. pic.twitter.com/bKu380iseL
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) December 3, 2025