Today’s political consensus crosses all ages, demographics and party lines: 3 out of 4 Americans think the economy is in a slump. It is not just in their heads. Economic growth this year has been practically stagnant, save for one exception, economists say.

Billions of dollars invested by California-based tech giants in artificial intelligence infrastructure accounted for 92% of the nation’s GDP growth this year.

But, so far, little evidence exists that their ventures are expanding opportunities for everyday Americans.

“You have to watch out for AI investments — they may continue to carry the economy or they may slow down or crash, bringing the rest of the economy together with them."

Even in California itself, where 4 of the top 5 AI companies are, the AI boom has yet to translate into tangible pocketbook benefits. Consumer confidence in the state has reached a five-year low. And AI fueled a wave of cuts, cited in 48,000 job losses nationwide this year.

“It is evident that the U.S. economy would have been almost stagnant, absent the capital expenditures by the AI industry,”

The top 10 stocks listed in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index far outperforming the rest of the market. And the few who benefited from dividends fueled much of the rest of this year’s economic growth, with the vast majority of U.S. consumption spending attributed to the richest 10% to 20% of American households.

“There were ripple effects into high-end travel, luxury spending, high-end real estate and other sectors of the economy driven by the financial elite."

“Obviously, that’s not a recipe for sustainable growth,” he said.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2025-12-18/u-s-economy-was-stagnant-in-2025-with-one-exception

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epstein-files-redaction-over-500-pages-entirely-blacked-out/
The Justice Department released thousands of new records on Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, but at least 550 pages in the documents are fully redacted, CBS News has found.

The newly released files included photos of several prominent people in Epstein's orbit, images from his homes and investigative records that detail disturbing allegations against the late sex offender. But the heavy redactions in many of the records have drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, as the department defends its handling of the files.

One series of three consecutive documents — totaling 255 pages — is entirely redacted, with each page covered by a black box. A fourth 119-page document labeled "Grand Jury-NY" is also entirely redacted. It's unclear what proceedings it stemmed from, but the document listed immediately before it is a transcript in which a prosecutor asks a grand jury in 2020 to consider evidence for a superseding indictment of Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

At least 180 blacked-out pages appear in files that are mostly but not entirely redacted. In some cases, a cover page, a photo of a folder or something else that isn't fully redacted precedes several pages that are entirely obscured by a black box.

In other cases, the redactions were more sparing. For example, a 96-page police report on a Florida investigation into Epstein in the mid-2000s redacts the names of victims and other details, but leaves many other details in.

And some of the thousands of photos included in Friday's release are partially redacted, with some people's faces obscured by boxes. Photos that include former President Bill Clinton, pop star Michael Jackson and other notable people have partial redactions (though Clinton and Jackson themselves are fully visible).

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-officials-race-meet-friday-deadline-epstein-files-2025-12-19/
WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department released a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, bowing to pressure from lawmakers who forced their disclosure with a new law.
The release follows months of political wrangling amid rebellion by some of President Donald Trump's staunchest supporters over his administration's reluctance to make public all records tied to probes into Epstein.
Reuters is in the process of reviewing the latest documents.
The Justice Department added a note to the webpage where it posted links to the documents that said "all reasonable efforts have been made" to redact victims' personal information, but warned that some could be disclosed inadvertently.
The agency's website appeared to be struggling with visitor traffic, telling some that their attempts to view the material had been rejected.

>NOT ALL DOCUMENTS TO BE RELEASED
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News earlier in the day that the department would release hundreds of thousands of documents on Friday but not the entire cache of files relating to Epstein. He said he expected hundreds of thousands more to be released in the coming weeks as the department reviewed them to protect victims' privacy.
Trump had initially urged fellow Republicans in Congress to oppose the new law, warning that releasing potentially sensitive internal investigative records could set a dangerous precedent.
But many Trump voters accused his administration of covering up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscuring details surrounding his 2019 death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail, where he was awaiting trial on charges of trafficking and abusing underage girls.

https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/u-s-flips-history-by-casting-europenot-russiaas-villain-in-new-security-policy-cbb138fa
BRUSSELS—For years, the U.S. government has published an annual National Security Strategy that lays out how Washington sees the world and its approach to dealing with looming threats, from China to Russia to drug-traffickers in Latin America.

This week, the Trump administration’s version seemed to reserve its harshest tone for a new target: America’s closest allies in Europe.

The 30-page document painted European nations as wayward, declining powers that have ceded their sovereignty to the European Union and are led by governments that suppress democracy and muzzle voices that want a more nationalistic turn.

It says the continent faces “civilizational erasure” through immigration that could render it “unrecognizable” in two decades—as well as turning several North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies into majority “non-European” countries. It concludes the region could grow too weak to be “reliable allies.”

The document underscores how radically the Trump administration is reshaping traditional American foreign policy, and it is likely to deepen divisions in the trans-Atlantic alliance, which has largely kept the peace in Europe since World War II and promoted Western values across the world.

The document landed like a bucket of cold water in European capitals. European leaders reading the document need “to assume that the traditional trans-Atlantic relationship is dead,” said Katja Bego, a senior researcher at Chatham House, a think tank in London.

Timothy Garton Ash, a prominent British historian, described the document “as the mother of all wake-up calls for Europe.”

“We’re in this extraordinary position where the U.S. is still objectively an ally of Europe, but subjectively at least in the Trump administration and the view of many Europeans we’re no longer seeing each other that way,” he said.

https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-12-18-2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions on transgender Americans.

The proposals mark the administration’s most significant moves to restrict the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical interventions for transgender children — running counter to the recommendations of most major U.S. medical organizations.

More than half of U.S. states already ban or restrict gender-affirming care.

The proposed rules also cut off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children, imperiling access in nearly two dozen states where drug treatments and surgical procedures remain legal and funded by Medicaid.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his deputies announced the moves, which are not final or legally binding and are likely to face legal challenges.

https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/doj-redacted-names-of-politically-exposed-individuals-in-epstein-files-report/
The Department of Justice redacted the names of government officials and “politically exposed individuals” in its latest release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Department of Justice posted documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act on its website Friday afternoon in accordance with the midnight deadline set by the statute signed into law by President Donald Trump last month.

Many viewers reacted with disgust over the amount of blacked-out information within the almost four thousand files, despite Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s claim that the administration was attempting to protect “every single victim.”

However, a recent report on the document dump from Fox News Digital notes that the redactions were put in place to protect more than just Epstein’s victims and accusers.

“The Justice Department redacted the names and identifiers of victims. Fox News Digital has learned that the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials,” read the report.

Fox News Digital also attached a letter from Blanche addressed to members of Congress regarding the review process of files.

Blanche claims that blacked-out information included any evidence that could jeopardize pending investigations and any information deemed to be in the interest of national defense or foreign policy. Further information could be redacted if it fell under legally protected privilege.

Information that may pertain to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recently opened investigation into Epstein’s past associations could seemingly be redacted under these restrictions.

This crucial distinction relating to the information actually released comes amid a wave of outrage over the lack of transparency in the files.

Cambodia based Chinese scam gangs defraud Americans of billions but US won't sanction Cambodia... because Amerimutt retards think they can lure Cambodia to their side against China.

FYI Cambodia voted for China in every ASEAN resolution on the South China SEA.

American senior citizens had their entire retirement savings wiped out and the US refuses to sanction Cambodia which willingly hosts these gangs.

https://dw.com/en/how-the-battle-against-asian-scam-networks-went-global/a-75181724

>Even with the recent announcements of sanctions and criminal investigations, countries like South Korea and even the US appear reluctant to criticize the governments of China or Cambodia and instead target the criminals and their networks directly.

>According to Sims, as long as Phnom Penh performs just enough cooperation to preserve the illusion that it remains strategically "in play," Western capitals have proven reliably willing to tolerate industrial-scale scams targeting their own citizens.

>"Many governments hesitate to confront Cambodia directly because they still view it as a pivotal chess piece in a China-versus-the-West geopolitical game," he said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgmneem1e89o

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government will crack down on hate speech following Sunday's deadly shooting at Bondi Beach that targeted a Jewish festival.

Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire at an event to mark the first day of Hanukkah.

New laws will target "those who spread hate, division and radicalisation", Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

The home affairs minister will also be given new powers to cancel or refuse visas for those who spread hate and a new taskforce will be set up to ensure the education system "prevents, tackles and properly responds to antisemitism".

The new laws will also include penalties for preachers and leaders who promote violence, a new federal offence of "aggravated hate speech", and the introduction of "hate" as an aggravating factor in sentencing crimes for online threats and harassment.

"Every Jewish Australian has the right to feel safe, valued and respected for the contribution that they make to our great nation," Albanese said.

"The terrorists, inspired by ISIS... sought to turn Australians against each other. Australians have responded to that act of hatred with love and sympathy for those in mourning."

Daniel Aghion, the President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak body representing Australian Jews, said he would "need to see the details before making an assessment as to whether the measures are likely to live up to their billing."

"We warned of the risk of not dealing with antisemitism in this country promptly and effectively after 7 October. It is an absolute tragedy that it has taken a massacre of Jewish and other Australians for that step to be taken."

The Timeline of Republicans Fleeing to Save Themselves from Epstein fallout (So Far):

Wednesday- Dan Bongino announces he's stepping down as Deputy FBI Director
Thursday- Mike Johnson abruptly announces he is adjourning the House for the rest of the year
Friday morning- Trump's DOJ releases a redacted, incomplete trove of Epstein files in violation of a law signed by Donald Trump himself last month
NOW- Performative Trumpist Elise Stefanik abruptly announces she is withdrawing from the New York gubernatorial race and will not seek reelection for her House seat next year

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/gop-rep-elise-stefanik-drops-new-york-governors-race-rcna250154

>Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said Friday that she is ending her campaign for New York governor and will not run for re-election to her House seat next year.

>In a lengthy post to X, Stefanik, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, wrote that she had "not come to this decision lightly for our family."

>"As we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York. And while many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom," Stefanik said.

>Stefanik's surprise decision comes just days after she drew her first major challenger in the Republican primary in Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County county executive who is also a Trump ally. The party's eventual nominee will face an uphill climb in the solidly blue state, though Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul's approval rating has been under water.

>After Trump pulled Stefanik's nomination to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in March, she had teased a run for governor for months before officially launching her campaign in November.

> 12/7/2025 (Pearl Harbor Day)
Okay let’s do this!
Kristi Noem might be getting out of the Administration.
> https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-considering-move-to-oust-homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem-report/
Gulp!: Pam Bondi & Trump FBI making list of American ‘Extremists’…
> https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/leak-fbi-list-of-extremists-is-coming
JD Vance: Trump’s Penis Joke…
> https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/jd-vance-reveals-what-its-36365937
Trump Administration promises illegals are going ‘ho-ho-home’ this Christmas.
> https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/ice-launches-horrifying-youre-going-1547586
Holiday parade in California town cancelled over deportation fears.
> https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/12/07/31600077christmas-parade-canceled-in-california-coastal-town-over-fears-ice-will-show-up/
“Plead the fif!”: 3 year old forced to testify on her immigration status… (Red Text)
> https://coppercourier.com/2025/12/05/childrens-immigration-court/
Does the United States miss Rosie O’ Donnell?
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ar-AA1RPE5s
It’s hard to enter this fast-growing Atlanta church…
> https://apnews.com/4c7505c9bf6178bb3ea57b977480576e
Guy with 400 Obie’s to his name says now is the most difficult time to make one.
> https://archive.is/jSgqX

Love them movies, such as Pixar.