"Globalisation is here and cannot be stopped. With cheap and easy transportation around the globe (unless a country walls itself off--like North Korea--with similar meaning and consequences), the differences in race and culture of 100 years ago are going to melt away.

"Take the worldwide growth of English, and American English in particular. The French reportedly hate the growing use of English words. It cannot be stopped. Take the growth of interracial marriage, unheard of 60 years ago. It cannot be stopped. Neither can interfaith marriages and other 'mixed marriages.' ...

"You may bemoan the loss of national or regional identity, but it cannot be stopped.

"Generally, what goes into the mixing process are the best elements of each culture. Or so it seems to me, and it makes sense: why would people of culture B value the things about [a] culture A that are objectively inferior? ...

"So, to the extent that people feel turned off or threatened by people coming into their country who look different and act differently, that concern is going to fade into the background over the next 20 years.

"Differences over ideas, not foods or dress, are an entirely different matter. The difference between Islamic jihadists and [others] is a matter of literal life and death, not something optional. Even there, globalisation will have a big impact. The ultimate defeat of Islamism will be accomplished by young people in the Islamic countries seeing the rational values of the West. That's unless the West commits suicide---a distinct possibility.

"The oft-noted "moral weakness of the West" has become "God damn America!" [and god damn the West]. The cause is not immigrants; the cause is the (Kantian) ideas taught in our schools and universities.

"The danger to [the West] comes not from a handful of terrorists crossing the border[s], but from the millions of university graduates crossing from academia into [adulthood]. ... "

~ Harry Binswanger from his post 'Immigration—some mostly new thoughts'

Jimmy Kimmel recently barked at critics who slammed him for not being funnier on his ABC showcase.

We can’t laugh during the end of democracy, the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host defensively told podcaster Michelle Obama about Trump 2.0.

Jimmy Kimmel tells Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson that he HAS to talk politics “it just seems obvious and unavoidable. And I don’t see that—I just can’t imagine on those nights talking about anything other than what we are talking about…It would be shameful. Not that I think… pic.twitter.com/HS9KLo1LMG

— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) April 15, 2026

Stephen Colbert hasn’t admitted the same yet, and he’s running out of time. “The Late Show” is set to expire May 21.

Colbert, once a bright and subversive talent, still lives by a similar ethos. Sometimes laughter bubbles up on the show all the same.

RELATED: 

GOODBYE, STEPHEN COLBERT: THE VAX SCENE CRINGEFEST

GOODBYE, STEPHEN COLBERT: THE C*** HOLSTER CRACK

In 2024, Colbert invited CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins on his program. Collins, like most of her CNN colleagues, brings an overtly leftwing bias to her reportage.

She wouldnt be there if she didn’t.

And Colbert wouldn’t have a “news person” on his show if he wasn’t looking to push a progressive narrative.

This August 2024 exchange, though, revealed far more than either person realized. In the process, we got a rare moment of laughter from an increasingly shill presentation. 

“I know you guys are objective over there [at CNN], that you just report the news as it is.” Colbert said before his adoring studio audience burst into laughter.

“Is that supposed to be a laugh line?” Collins said.

“It wasn’t supposed to be, but I guess it is,” Colbert said, defeated.

Yes, it is. Everyone knows that CNN is both anti-Trump and pro-Democrat. It’s been that way for some time. Previous CNN boss Chris Licht attempted to lure the news channel back toward the center. He fired far-Left media analyst Brian Stelter, for example, along with Don Lemon and Jim Acosta.

To be fair, Acosta quit after receiving a less than plum new time slot.

Licht’s plan never came to fruition. The workers revolted, and Licht eventually left. It’s been steady as she goes on the Good Ship Progressive ever since.

Colbert and Collins are either the last two people on earth to understand that reality. Or, both are playing dumb and their audience saw right through it.

Here’s guessing it’s the latter, but that unplanned moment is still worth savoring.

The post Goodbye, Stephen Colbert: A Rare Moment of Comedy appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Strike Force Five is back, baby!

The five late-night talkers who read from the same Democratic playbook reunited this week to send off one of their own – Stephen Colbert.

It turns out that losing a reported $40 million for your bosses isn’t good for job security.

Sources inside CBS have suddenly become much more forthcoming about the economics of late-night television—go figure!— revealing that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has recently been running at an annual shortfall of $40 million. https://t.co/N0H1wR1qHp

— LateNighter (@latenightercom) July 18, 2025

Tell that to the quintet. The members take turns playing The Victim, each afraid that the next joke attacking President Donald Trump will be their last.

They’re safe, unless their names are Gina Carano, Roseanne Barr or M.I.A.

Late Night TV wasn’t always this way.

Yes, Americans fondly recall the Carson era, when “The Tonight Show” was the best way to drift off to sleep each night. Johnny Carson was the format’s master, a performer who poured everything into his art and kept audiences top of mind.

His legendary status endures.

What followed was, at times, as entertaining off-screen as it was on. David Letterman, NBC’s 12:30 pm superstar, felt he was the heir apparent to Carson. NBC disagreed, giving the gig to Jay Leno who offered a less subversive brand of humor.

The duo may have put on a happy face for millions of viewers, but the behind-the-scenes rivalry proved relentless. Author Bill Carter wrote a book about the industry slugfest – “The Late Shift.”

RELATED: 

LATE NIGHT WOULDN’T TOUCH SOMALI SCANDAL, SO …

JOHNNY CARSON WARNED US ABOUT JIMMY KIMMEL

COLBERT SPREADS EVEN MORE FAKE NEWS

Here’s Carter reminiscing about some of the crazy antics that made the book pop.

That is largely because so many people still talk to me about details in the book: about the bruising machinations of Jay’s manager Helen Kushnick to win him the job; about Letterman’s counter by hiring the then-zen god of Hollywood agenting, Michael Ovitz; about the internal conflict at NBC between supporters of each star; about the almost surreal late-minute offer to Dave to get the Tonight show (if he’d only wait a year for it); about the role Carson himself played in Letterman’s ultimate decision; about Jay’s sly-fox maneuver to eavesdrop on an NBC meeting determining his fate.

They even made an HBO movie about it.

Leno proved to be the right choice, lasting 22 years in the position. Letterman fought back, snagging his own program on CBS – “The Late Show.”

Editor’s Note: It’s a brutal time to be an independent journalist, but it’s never been more necessary given the sorry state of the corporate press. If you’re enjoying Hollywood in Toto, I hope you’ll consider leaving a coin (or two) in our Tip Jar.

The rivalry ended up being one-sided, with Leno keeping NBC’s late-night ratings supremacy intact. Both hosts drew respectable crowds, though, and TV critics preferred Letterman’s acid wit over Leno’s heartland humor.

Still, that healthy competition made each host smarter, sharper and more engaged. It’s the American way, and there’s a reason both hosts lasted as long as they did.

Sadly, those days are gone.

Now, the Strike Force Five members are all on the same team, acting like brothers, not rivals. Why? They’re all pushing the same political agenda. Trump bad. Democrats good.

It’s that simple.

Some even transformed into campaign staffers toward that end. Both Colbert and Kimmel hustled up cash for President Joe Biden during his failed 2024 re-election campaign.

“The Tonight Show’s” Jimmy Fallon is part of the Five, but he’s essentially the odd man out. He’s not nearly as dogmatic in his progressive propaganda, and he consistently trails behind both Colbert and Kimmel in the ratings.

He might have avoided that fate by embracing the Carson/Leno model. Just the jokes. No bias, please.

Instead, Fallon embraced a softer version of the Colbert/Kimmel activism. And it worked out rather badly for him and the franchise.

Maybe he should quit the Five and start slinging some mud. It might wake up his inner Leno or Letterman in the process.

The post When Late-Night Rivals Fought Like Cats and Dogs appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

“This ... has come to define much of the New Right across the West. And ultimately, it is a problem of ideas. The return of the Right in 2016 and again in 2024 was not an intellectual revival. It was not driven by theory or political philosophy, but by visibility and reach: Jordan Peterson debating feminists, Charlie Kirk confronting campus socialists, Donald Trump dominating the podcast circuit. The Right returned culturally, but with an intellectual vacuum at its centre: most notably, a lack of serious economics.

For classical liberals looking back decades from now, this revival of the Right is unlikely to inspire them in the way Thatcher and Reagan still do today. The politicians of the 1980s were what George Will called ‘conviction politicians’: figures who entered politics with a coherent social creed. Politics for them was not merely about remaining in power, but about pursuing a broader mission of prosperity. That mission was not to control the economy toward a collective goal, but to empower individuals to make their own decisions.

Today’s Right, by contrast, is dominated by political entrepreneurs: figures highly skilled at attracting attention and mobilising voters. By nature, they are populists, and populism is the direct translation of public emotion into government policy. Without intellectual grounding, politics becomes purely oppositional. Today, lacking any clear sense of direction in economics, the Right is often effective at identifying problems but incapable of solving them.”

~ Mani Basharzad from his article 'Has the Right given up on economics?' [hat tip Samizdata]

After recently learning that infectious disease expert Amesh Adalja has a podcast, I listened to a few episodes while out yesterday. They're all short, but very interesting. One of these episodes, about Measles and the Avian Flu, mentioned a web site I'd never heard of before, Back to the Vax, which is run by two former anti-vaccine activists.

The site is devoted to promoting good health by fighting back against the anti-vaccine movement:

Heather Simpson is a former anti-vaxxer who dug deep into the science, and finally put her fears to rest. She is passionate about science communication as a way to overcome the most common vaccine fears. She has an 8 year old that inspires to create needle-less vaccines for all children. She is enrolled in school as a Biology major with a focus on Communications.

Lydia Greene was an anti-vaxxer for 12 years and wrote a story on her journey to changing her mind, and bringing her 3 children up to date. She is now in nursing school to get into public health, to deal with vaccine hesitancy on the front lines.

Together we share our story with anyone that will hear us. To our surprise, we have been welcomed back with open arms. We now give other people like us support and a platform to share their experience if they choose to.

Their stories and those of others appear on the site's blog. If I recall correctly, one of the founders bought the lie about vaccines causing autism -- only to learn that her unvaccinated son was autistic.

The site also features a 70-page booklet titled Vaccine Fears Overturned by Facts, which is a collaboration with the Immunize Kansas Coalition. I have not read the whole thing, but I am impressed by a few things I read that I already understood well-enough to evaluate, one example being its discussion of thimerosal, which reads in part:

Remember, "mercury" was removed from most childhood vaccines over twenty years ago! So how many vaccines still contain mercury? While none actually contain "mercury," multi-dose flu vaccine vials do contain thimerosal, a preservative that contains an ethylmercury group.

...

Yes, thimerosal is used as a preservative in multi-dose influenza vaccines, however it is also used in cosmetics, tattoo inks, eye drops and contact lens solutions, disinfectants, as well as in products used to treat contact dermatitis.

Methylmercury is the type of mercury found in fish. It can be toxic to humans at high exposure levels. This is why the FDA recommends limiting your intake of some types of fish.

Compounds containing ethylmercury, on the other hand, are cleared from your body faster than methylmercury and don't appear to be toxic. For example, methylmercury takes around 20-80 days to be cleared by half from the body, whereas thimerosal takes around 7 days to be cleared by half from the body...

Each section is listed in an annotated Table of Contents and includes a QR code by which anyone can go to the list of references for that section, an innovation that shortens the booklet, so that it doesn't seem like an inaccessible tome that nobody ever is going to have the time to trudge through.

I recommend perusing the booklet, because, while it is aimed at the vaccine-hesitant, it is also a handy catalogue of the myths driving the anti-vaccination movement, as well as refutations of the same.

The site's inclusion of the stories of recovering anti-vaxxers is good for a couple of reasons I can think of: (1) it helps the questioning anti-vaxxer feel seen, rather than preached to, and (2) it helps humanize anti-vaxxers to those of us who have never been anti-vaxxers and might be puzzled or even smug about them.

The first will motivate anti-vaxxers to help themselves, and the second will help the rest of us understand where they came from, and reach out to them more sympathetically and effectively.

With our Federal Government platforming a very evil person in Bobby Kennedy, Jr., we need efforts like this to fight back, and it is encouraging to see that this is indeed being done, and being done well.

-- CAV

The Census Bureau is still moving full speed to promote racial profiling to support disparate impact and DEI objectives. Strong executive action is required to stop and reverse this refusal to change.