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.

Posted at 1:47 pm by Stephen Green

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.

Posted at 12:45 pm by Stephen Green

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW:

Posted at 12:31 pm by Glenn Reynolds

THIS TERM, “BLUDGEONSPEAK,” SPEAKS TO ME:

Posted at 12:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

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.”

Posted at 11:43 am by Stephen Green

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:

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?

Posted at 10:41 am by Stephen Green

SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: Chat GPT vs. Grok. A good illustration of why I prefer Grok.

Posted at 10:08 am by Glenn Reynolds

HOW MUCH OF THE AFFORDABILITY CRISIS WAS REALLY JUST THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRISIS?

Posted at 9:54 am by Stephen Green