Rather than enjoying any festive cheer, reporters have had the melancholy task of combing through thousands of documents and photographs looking for any evidence of misdeeds — be they criminal or moral — by the great and the good.
No "smoking gun" has been found in the files so far, although not for the lack of trying.
Not that that will reduce the frenzy involving the files one iota: people will either claim that it has yet to be found, or that it has been covered up.
The "covered up" claimants have been handed plenty of ammunition for such claims by the clumsy, hamfisted way in which the release of the files — as ordered by an Act of Congress — has been handled.
Despite being ordered to release everything it had, all at once, the Justice department is still drip-feeding out documents, lending credence to those who claim redactions are being made to protect the powerful rather than the powerless.
Adding fuel to the fire is the march of the megastars, from Michael Jackson on down, who have appeared in the files thus far.
As US President Donald Trump, a former friend of Epstein, has stressed, being in a photograph with the man is not evidence of wrongdoing.
He is, of course, correct — Epstein seemed to go to parties for a living and no doubt appears in thousands of such snaps.
That said, given that Epstein seemed not to go to great lengths to hide his lifestyle from view you do have to question the judgement of those who allowed themselves to get close to him.
But what the argument about the prompt, or otherwise, release of the files clouds, is that behind those black squares alongside the great and the good are real people who quite probably endured grotesque experiences due to their path having crossed that of Epstein or his partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell.
The story of Virginia Giuffre, who bravely revealed the criminal network Epstein and Maxwell were operating and paid the consequences, is well-known. Her autobiography tells a truly horrendous tale.
In the rush to find out who did what, the "to whom" can be overlooked.
Whom matters. They, rather than Epstein, Maxwell or their clients, should be at the heart of this scandal, their safety and wellbeing of the utmost concern.
Instead, a daily parade of the tawdry is being played out, as yet another photograph of the benighted Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor emerges.
The crimes perpetrated by Epstein and Maxwell happened decades ago, but the prevailing attitudes then to young women which allowed their cancer to spread far and wide are likely no different now. Women are exploited today as they were then.
Greater recognition of that truth, and more determined efforts to stamp out such behaviour, would be a worthwhile legacy of the Epstein files.
What seems more likely is that this scandal will be recalled for being celebrity-studded, rather than the appalling act of human trafficking which it was.
Goodwill to all
It is a hardy Christmas perennial, but there is something uplifting — as well as slightly dismaying — about the annual charity dinners held throughout the country for the less well-off on December 25.
That people are prepared to donate time, food and their professional skills to provide, prepare and serve a meal for those less fortunate is commendable and inspiring.
The Dunedin Christmas Charitable Trust hosted about 550 people for a communal meal in the town hall on Thursday. Other smaller gatherings were held throughout the city, and region, for people who — for whatever reason — had nowhere else to be or no-one else to be with on Christmas Day.
The efforts of the organisers are commendable, but that well-earned praise comes with the caveat that it would be better that society not have people in such a position at all — and a reminder that those people are hungry for the other 364 days of the year as well.
