December 22, 2025

MILE MARKERS ON THE ROAD TO DETROIT: Once-thriving shopping mall in ailing Democrat-run* city is eerily empty on last Sunday before Christmas.

The [San Francisco Centre, formerly known as the Westfield Mall], which was valued at $1.2 billion about a decade ago, was foreclosed on in November.

It was sold to lenders, including JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, for $133 million.

The banks have hired real estate brokerage CBRE to find a new buyer for the mall – and the firm’s executive vice president, Kyle Kovac, told CBS News that the sale signals a new era for the property.

He told the outlet: ‘Amid renewed civic leadership, three consecutive years of positive population growth and surging demand from artificial intelligence and technology firms, San Francisco Centre & Emporium is uniquely positioned to anchor the next chapter in downtown San Francisco’s recovery.’

But others are less convinced that the mall’s much-needed comeback is tangible.

Local Neil Wotherspoon, who told CBS in November that he visits the mall about once a week to order from the Panda Express in its basement – one of the only businesses still open – said he does not think the establishment’s future is bright.

‘I think these will be the last people to put the lights out,’ he said. ‘I think you’ll end up with the only people who will come here will be like me to enjoy the food. Just for the Panda, that’s right.’

Others noted how unsettling shopping in the massive mall has become since it transformed into a ghost town.

* You spelled “Democrat monopoly city” wrong; San Francisco’s last Republican mayor left office at the beginning of 1964.

Related:

And considering that Schwarzenegger was the very definition of a RINO, which party has controlled Sacramento for decades?

 

Posted at 6:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

ENDORSED:

Posted at 6:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

SEE BS: 60 Minutes Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, Who Cried Foul Over Delayed Immigration Piece, Was Behind ‘Intentionally False’ Hit Piece on Ron DeSantis That Even Democrats Said Was Wrong.

In her leaked email to her colleagues, Alfonsi accused CBS News and Weiss of engaging in “corporate censorship” and of “betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism.” Reporters at CBS News are threatening to quit over the Weiss decision, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported (it’s unlikely that anyone will actually quit due to the fast-shrinking job market for television reporters).

Weiss, who was appointed CBS News editor in chief in October, said in a statement Monday that the story “did not advance the ball” on what has already been reported about CECOT. “We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera,” she said.

There’s precedent warranting additional legwork on Alfonsi’s segments. Alfonsi was the lead correspondent on a debunked story in 2021 that DeSantis gave preferential treatment to the supermarket chain Publix to distribute coronavirus vaccines because the company donated $100,000 to DeSantis’s campaign.

“How is that not pay-to-play?” Alfonsi asked DeSantis when she confronted him after one of the governor’s press conferences.

Alfonsi’s producer for that story, Oriana Zill de Granados, also produced the “Inside CECOT” report.

Several Florida officials, including Democrats, blasted the 60 Minutes report, saying that DeSantis’s office was not involved in awarding contracts to Publix.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D., Fla.), who oversaw Florida’s emergency management division in 2021 and is known for tangling with the GOP, said that the division recommended Publix for the contract because other pharmacies were not equipped to distribute vaccines.

“No one from the Governor’s office suggested Publix. It’s just absolute malarkey,” he said.

But think of the long tradition of excellence at CBS News!

 

Posted at 5:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Jimmy Kimmel to Face Ultimate Free Speech Test in UK. Far-left host tapped to address Great Britain, but will he finally speak truth to power?

No. Next question?

Kimmel teased the comments will address “fascism,” and it’s clear it’ll be an extension of his nightly rants against President Trump.

Channel 4 elaborated on the speech to air on Christmas Day.

“Donald Trump’s return to the White House and wide-ranging impact on the world has been the story of 2025, and it would be hard to think of a better person to address it than Jimmy Kimmel, who has found himself on the frontline of America’s battle over free speech,” the spokesperson said.

If you’re afraid of fascism, look no further than Mother England. Here is the indispensable City Journal detailing the horrors coming out of the U.K. in recent years.

According to police records analyzed by the London Times, over 12,000 Britons per year are arrested for speech-related offenses—an average of 30 per day and nearly a fourfold increase over the 2016 figure. Recent cases have reportedly included arrests for derogatory comments about migrants, displays of the national flag that others found offensive, and even silent prayer near abortion clinics. Since 2014, police can record comments merely perceived as offensive as so-called “non-crime hate incidents,” which remain on the offending party’s record even if no charges are filed.

Exit quote: “If Kimmel is set to discuss ‘fascism’ and fails to mention this sorry state of affairs, his free speech hypocrisy may be viewable from outer space.”

Oh, it will be.

Posted at 5:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Paramount’s new, hostile offer to Warner Bros. Discovery: Larry Ellison will personally guarantee $40 billion.

The Warner Bros. board of directors has rejected Paramount’s bid multiple times, opting instead to go with an offer from Netflix, which WBD says is more valuable. The board also said Paramount has misrepresented itself to WBD shareholders, calling into question the legitimacy of the deal’s “illusory” proposed financing.

To counteract that critique, Paramount said Oracle founder Larry Ellison – the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison – will guarantee all $40.4 billion of the equity he’s putting up to finance the $78 billion deal. That’s a big guarantee, putting Larry Ellison on the hook for about a sixth of his roughly $250 billion net worth if something falls through.

More: “Paramount offered $30 per share for WBD, including CNN and the rest of its cable channels. Netflix offered $27.75 per share for Warner Bros. and HBO. But Netflix and WBD argue that plans to spin off the cable assets will increase those stations’ overall value and will, in total, value the company more highly than Paramount’s deal.”

I find it very hard to believe that the package of limping cable channels that WBD is spinning off as Discovery Global will increase in value.

Posted at 4:50 pm by Stephen Green

ICYMI: Russia’s Space Program Just Took Another Embarrassing Hit. “This is a bit like planning to buy a new car, but then looking at the expense and saying you’ll buy most of a new car. Instead, you’ll pull the engine out of your 1998 Accord — the engine that needs a full rebuild — and drop it under the hood of your ‘new’ car.”

Posted at 4:19 pm by Stephen Green

THE CHIP WARS: Japan Halting Photoresist To China? “I haven’t been able to verify this yet, but according to China Observer, ‘Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry may have escalated export controls on November 20-21, adding 12 types of core semiconductor materials and related services to its ‘End User List,’ placing about 110 semiconductor-related entities from mainland China under heightened scrutiny. Mainland China is more than 60% reliant on imports for photoresist, with ArF/EUV almost entirely dependent on Japan and the Netherlands.’

Posted at 3:48 pm by Stephen Green

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN: ‘Kill Switch?’ Bari Bombshell Explodes on 60 Minutes:

Did Bari Weiss give the White House a “kill switch” on honest reports from CBS News? Or did she yank the chain back on one of its most biased platforms to remind everyone that times have changed?

One can imagine which narrative the Protection Racket Media will flog.

Weiss issued a last-minute order to yank a 60 Minutes exposé on Donald Trump’s decision to partner with El Salvador on deporting criminal illegals, citing the need for more reporting and better balance. All of the usual suspects have been losing their minds ever since:

CBS News pulled a segment on Trump administration deportations of Venezuelan immigrants to an El Salvador prison from “60 Minutes,” causing staffers and media onlookers to question whether the decision was politically motivated. …

Driving the news: “60 Minutes” announced on social media around 4:30pm ET Sunday that it was dropping the segment, called “Inside CECOT,” from that evening’s broadcast lineup, but said that it would air at a later date.

  • Sharyn Alfonsi, the segment’s correspondent, alleged in an email to colleagues that she learned Saturday that new CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss had “spiked our story” after Trump officials refused to be interviewed, per multiple reports.
  • “Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote, per a copy of the email that journalist Liam Scott shared on X.

I’ve watched 60 Minutes and CBS News’ practical application of “standards and practices” for decades. This is not the flex that Alfonsi thinks it is. Twenty-one years ago, CBS News and 60 Minutes II ran a prime-time hit piece on George W. Bush based on fabricated documents in an attempt to influence a presidential election. “Rathergate” only cost CBS some embarrassment and retractions, and perhaps a momentary blip in sponsor support. Almost exactly twenty years later, they botched a re-edit of their softball interview with Kamala Harris so badly that the manipulation was once again easily exposed by critics and commentators. That escapade cost Paramount $16 million to settle in a lawsuit Trump filed, who most definitely preferred direct action more than Bush did at the time.

Alfonsi’s past performance is helping her case, either:

Brian Stelter has thoughts:

I can remember when 60 Minutes suffered the ultimate blow to its credibility, a moment that has never once bothered Stelter:

UPDATE:

Posted at 2:55 pm by Ed Driscoll

SPACE: Japan’s H3 suffers second-stage anomaly, QZS-5 satellite lost.

The H3 rocket lifted off at 8:51 p.m. Eastern Dec. 22 (0151 UTC, Dec. 23) from Tanegashima Space Center carrying the Michibiki 5 (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System 5 (QZS-5)) satellite. The liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen first stage performed nominally, but issues with the second stage meant the satellite was not inserted into its intended geosynchronous transfer orbit.

A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) press release later stated that the second stage engine’s second ignition failed to start normally and shut down prematurely. As a result QZS-5 could not be put into the planned orbit and the launch failed.

A post-launch press conference revealed that the first second stage engine cutoff occurred 27 seconds later than planned, while the second ignition was delayed by 15 seconds and terminated almost immediately after startup. Telemetry showed that hydrogen tank pressure in the second stage began falling during the first-stage burn, a behavior now under investigation.

That’s two failures in seven H3 launches, but the rocket only came into service about three years ago and reliability tends to increase over time.

Posted at 2:46 pm by Stephen Green

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES:

Posted at 1:57 pm by Stephen Green

2026 PREVIEW (SORT OF): Beware Of Central Economic Forecasts For 2026.

This is a central scenario that includes a lot of “dispersion,” and not just domestically. Internationally, the U.S. significantly outperforms other major economies. Hampered by structural rigidities, the eurozone and the United Kingdom remain trapped in a low-growth, low-investment equilibrium. With China’s efforts to upgrade its growth model progressing slowly, the U.S. will serve by far as the global economy’s primary engine—a concentration that creates its own set of risks.

As for the “fat tail” scenarios, their probabilities are roughly equal, offering reasons for both hope and anxiety. On the right-hand side, one finds a tantalizing vision of an economy that doesn’t merely grow but accelerates, while also expanding future capacity. In this scenario, faster-than-anticipated AI adoption, combined with robotics, is translated into tangible, economy-wide productivity gains, enabling the U.S. to pull further ahead of other major economies.

If this “productivity promise” materializes rapidly enough, the U.S. could experience a non-inflationary boom. Because the supply side expands rapidly enough to meet rising demand, inflation remains in check. This is a Goldilocks scenario on steroids: a technology-driven expansion that expands corporate margins and increases tax revenues, potentially alleviating fiscal pressures and enabling the Fed to cut rates more aggressively.

But equally probable is the downside scenario: not a standard recession born of exhausted demand, but a surge in volatility, stemming from financial instability, policy error, election-year politics, and geoeconomic developments.

Translation: Predictions are hard, especially about the future.

Posted at 1:44 pm by Stephen Green

GEORGE MF WASHINGTON: Making Movies in a Low Trust Environment. “Washington” compares and contrasts 1993’s top movies with today’s choices being proffered by DEI-infected Hollywood and compares the results to a once dominant sports team now constantly having losing seasons. “Don’t we become hyper-critical of even the smallest mistakes, mistakes of the kind we might forgive a competent team that is otherwise playing well? Worse, don’t we sometimes start to expect that our team will lose even before a single minute of game time has been played?”

And that is exactly what has happened to Hollywood over the last 20 years. The studios have performed the task of entertaining us so poorly, so regularly, that audiences feel burned. They no longer trust that the movies they pay to see will be any good, and they have begun to give up… even in the case of big blockbuster titles based on popular franchises, characters or IP of the kind audiences would have flocked to see in the 80’s and 90’s when Hollywood was releasing movies in a high trust environment.

We can debate what has changed. Some think it’s the high cost of movie tickets and popcorn combined with the inconvenience of theater-going when compared to streaming from the couch. And I know many in my right-leaning audience will blame Progressive politics, the powerful urge of Hollywood stars and directors to lecture us as if we are bad people to be taught a lesson rather than friends who deserve to be entertained… what the Critical Drinker calls “The Message.” And while that has clearly been a part of the problem, Hollywood’s woes are about much more than just politics.

The problem is that Hollywood has forgotten what movies are supposed to be about. The industry which once released “Mrs. Doubtfire”, “Schindler’s List” and “The Pelican Brief” in the same month has forgotten that movies must first entertain. They have forgotten that audiences want to see all kinds of movies, not just movies about Superheroes. They have forgotten that movies shouldn’t look like a corporate product created in a lab for the sole purpose of raising the stock price of the studio’s corporate parent. And perhaps most importantly, they have forgotten that movies need not focus obsessively on the goal of bending the arc of history towards justice… and certainly not at the expense of telling a great story.

The Critical Drinker and his cadre recently looked back on the tenth anniversary of The Force Awakens, the first Star Wars movie made under the Disney brand name. In his blockbuster “Lost Generation” article, Jacob Savage wrote, “In retrospect, 2014 was the hinge, the year DEI became institutionalized across American life.” Not coincidentally, The Force Awakens was released the following year.

In contrast to George Lucas’ constant writing and rewriting of his Star Wars concepts in the mid-1970s, as the Drinker et al note, the lack of worldbuilding by Disney as they were setting up shop on a new run of Star Wars movies was shocking. Apparently Kathleen Kennedy believed that printing up loads of “The Force is Female” t-shirts would suffice instead.

To borrow from what I wrote last week, Hollywood’s decline, a decade of DEI-driven slop coupled with the shocking murder of Rob Reiner, is a textbook example of Hemingway’s description for how one goes bankrupt: Gradually, then suddenly.

Speaking of which, one way or another, Warner Brothers being on the chopping block could likely accelerate the end of the moviegoing experience as well: Larry Ellison guarantees $40.4 billion in Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Posted at 1:22 pm by Ed Driscoll