BEDFORD, Pennsylvania—A highly anticipated Christmas display in Pennsylvania that is both delicious and whimsical is when the Omni Bedford Springs Hotel in Bedford County transforms one of its main entrances into a culinary delight whose aroma hits your sensory palate long before you walk through the nearly 200-year-old front door. What began as a small decorative house has become a full-scale work of culinary art under executive pastry chef Harshal Naik. Known for his appearance on Food Network’s “Holiday Baking Championship,” he has taken it to the next level over the past five years. Guests and day visitors feel immersed in every display, from sprawling villages to candy cane streets to last year’s functioning gingerbread carousel. Naik is standing outside of his masterpiece—a 4-foot-wide, 9-foot-deep, 11-foot-tall gingerbread home—trying to get the coconut snow from clogging the train tracks of the Polar Express train that is chugging along inside the window of the life-size gingerbread home. “Everything is edible. Well, almost,” he says with a smile. The lobby is filled with people, young and old, peering in the window and all around the white picket fence (also edible). A family is gathered around the fireplace waiting to see what Santa will bring them as Saint Nick himself is leaving through the top of the chimney. Naik points to the fondant clothing, marshmallow and coconut snow, and intricate details that give the display texture, illustrating that, yes, everything is edible (except for the train). “We had several pastry women whose ages span 40 years who worked several hours a day for over a month constructing this,” he explained, adding that “everyone was up for the challenge.” All in all, they used nearly 400 pounds of gingerbread dough to make over 5,000 bricks held together by 50 gallons of royal icing instead of grout. Naik was adding the final starlight candles and miniature gingerbread men when we visited. The Bedford Springs resort is one of the nation’s oldest hotels. Its beginnings are traced to our frontier days when people first enjoyed the seven mineral springs that flow through this valley. In 1805, an enterprising doctor turned the center of the springs into America’s first grand resort. The “Springs,” as it is known both colloquially and by treasured guests from around the country, is drenched in classic Christmas revelry. Blitzes, the resort’s “speakeasy” tucked behind the luxurious indoor pool, is a step back in time, offering unique seasonal cocktails and mocktails. Children love the festive Shirley Temples. Visiting families can enjoy “Breakfast at the North Pole,” and Sunday featured the Grand Illumination, when guests and seemingly the entire town of Bedford gathered outside the hotel where Santa Claus led a countdown and lit the towering Christmas tree that sits on top of the space in the center of the roundabout outside the inn. Since its reopening 20 years ago, after sitting dormant for an equal amount of time, Bedford Springs hasn’t just welcomed visitors to its majestic lobby, restaurants, taverns, golf club, and cozy rooms; it has changed the fortunes of the community through employing 450 people, revitalizing the picture-perfect small town that is lined with unique small businesses in the Main Street grid with barely a trace of national stores in sight. There isn’t a shop or restaurant to be found in town that doesn’t credit the Springs for its prosperity—the hotel generously recommends shops and restaurants to visitors. Drive through the town, and each post along the street has garland draping along the sidewalks, evergreen bells with bright red ribbons crossing between the telephone poles like a scene out of “It’s a Wonderful Life’s” Bedford Falls street scape. If you are looking for a place that evokes a nostalgic sense of place for Christmas, Bedford Springs does just that, whether for a day trip or a night or two spent walking through the halls decorated with trees and dioramas. You can sit in the library and enjoy the rich collection of books, play chess, or sit by the fireplaces in the lobby. Each room tells a story that welcomes you for the day or the night, and it is what small-town America does best: celebrating your presence with a welcome mat that feels like you’ve just come home. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Bedford Springs Delights With Small-Town Christmas Charm appeared first on The Daily Signal.

“There was no ‘kill them all’ order.” That is what Navy Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley told lawmakers this week in a classified briefing on the Sept. 2 military strike on an alleged narco-terrorist boat in the Caribbean that killed 11 people. What set this incident apart from the roughly 20 other strikes that have reportedly killed about 80 people was the second round of fire, which killed two individuals who had survived the initial attack. The controversy centered on a Washington Post claim that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered, “Kill them all.” President Donald Trump defended the campaign, saying, “Every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives.” And while military airstrikes on drug boats are indeed new, the use of military power against narco-terrorists is not. The modern war on drugs began in June 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one” and launched a national campaign to confront it. Two years later, he created the Drug Enforcement Administration to choke off the supply entering the U.S. In the 1980s, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, the war intensified dramatically. But has the war on drugs succeeded? And will eliminating the cargo and crew of drug boats bring victory? The evidence says something is missing. For a president so skilled in business, Trump should appreciate the basic law of supply and demand. After more than five decades of the war on drugs, the risk of dying from overdose has not fallen; it has skyrocketed. In 1971, the U.S. recorded 3.3 overdose deaths per 100,000 people. By 2024, the number had risen to 24.3 per 100,000—more than a sevenfold increase. History and the inescapable law of supply and demand make clear that reducing supply alone does not eliminate the problem; it makes the trade more lucrative. The enterprise theory of crime holds that organized criminal groups arise only when there is a profitable demand for illegal goods or services. In other words, supply follows demand. One detailed study of darknet drug markets found that vendors cluster in high-consumption countries, not merely in producer nations. Their presence tracks where customers already are—demand pulls supply into place. If the war on drugs is ever to succeed, its focus must move beyond the criminal suppliers to the broken users who sustain the market. Reducing demand is essential, and that responsibility extends far beyond government. Drug use is fueled by social breakdown—family instability, isolation, peer pressure, economic despair, glamorizing media, and weakened institutions—and most prominently, spiritual emptiness that leaves individuals without purpose and hope. People without hope, purpose, a sense of identity, the freedom that comes from forgiveness, and a sense of God’s presence, which gives meaning to life, often turn to substances for escape. These social and spiritual deficits reinforce one another, meaning true recovery requires restoring relationships, addressing real-world pain, and confronting the spiritual void that leads people toward false comfort. Failing to confront the demand side of the drug crisis will only escalate the costs—to families, communities, and the nation. The real battle is not merely on the seas but in the hearts, homes, and institutions that shape the character of our people. Originally published by The Washington Stand. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Supply, Demand, and The War on Drugs appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told participants in the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, “I’m here to help.” He also said of state officials, “Let’s just go fight these people,” according to a 2021 audio recording now receiving renewed scrutiny after more than 50 guilty pleas in the scandal. The audio, which Ellison has not denied, reveals fraudsters complaining that Minnesota agencies refused to reimburse them for money they claimed to have spent feeding children—claims found false in court. The fraudsters accused agencies of racism, and Ellison seemed to take these claims seriously, saying he would forward them to his staff. Ellison’s press secretary, Brian Evans, flatly denied that the AG took any action to fulfill the implied promise to “fight” state agencies. “During the meeting, Attorney General Ellison very clearly asked attendees to share examples of the discriminatory or unfair conduct they claim to have faced,” Evans told The Daily Signal. “They did not do so, and no action was taken in support of them.” After the meeting, during which fraudsters suggested they would support Ellison’s reelection campaign, donors connected to the fraud ponied up cash. “AG Ellison returned every contribution from the handful of people associated with Feeding Our Future as soon as he was made aware of those connections,” Evans told The Daily Signal. In an April op-ed, Ellison wrote that these “professional scammers” tried “using outrageous claims of discrimination as a pretense to cover for their scheme to defraud the federal government.” Bill Glahn, a policy fellow with the conservative-leaning Center of the American Experiment, first published the audio recording. “Yeah, I have an ax to grind, sure, but the facts are the facts,” Glahn told The Daily Signal in a phone call Thursday. He noted that meeting attendees mentioned a Feeding Our Future lawsuit. “Attorneys working for Keith Ellison were representing the Department of Education in this lawsuit filed by the people in the room, and he’s pledging his support to the plaintiffs while he’s representing the defendants,” Glahn said. Glahn called this “highly unethical.” Rather than just saying, “I’ll look into this,” Ellison gave “pledges of support” and added “his own anecdotes about how state government is racist,” Glahn explained. He also noted that Ellison didn’t have time to act on his pledge “because the FBI raided [Feeding Our Future] offices five weeks later.” The Timeline Federal authorities charged 78 defendants connected to the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme, 56 of whom have pleaded guilty. Authorities say Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock launched the fraud scheme in April 2020. Feeding Our Future sued the state’s Department of Education for racism in November 2020, but the department settled one month later. The department suspended payments to the nonprofit on March 30, 2021, and the nonprofit again sued, leading to more payments three months later. Ellison met with the fraudsters on Dec. 11, 2021, and some Feeding Our Future associates gave thousands to his campaign shortly afterward. Federal agents executed search warrants on Jan. 20, 2022, leading to the first indictments in September 2022. Glahn said he acquired the audio from Kenneth Udoibok, the defense attorney for Bock, who was convicted in March. Udoibok did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. What Did Ellison Say? The recording reveals Ellison echoing racism complaints. “Every time East African business owners enter a market segment, these various departments and counties come in arbitrary fashions, create unnecessary roadblocks and hurdles, and at times conduct business in a very racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic manner,” complains Abshir Omar, a consultant for Feeding Our Future who has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Ikram Mohammed, another Feeding Our Future consultant who faces fraud and bribery charges, describes the denial of funds as “a form of violence against our community under the color of law.” Ellison says of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, “he knows that there’s a lot of unfair discriminatory stuff going on with East African businesses, I know it.” He notes he does not trust Jodi Harpstead, then commissioner of the Department of Human Services, to stop discrimination. Harpstead stepped down in February. Ellison’s press secretary told The Daily Signal that the AG had no role in her departure. “We are in the middle of a battle with the agencies now,” Ellison says in the recording. Ellison’s press secretary, speaking to The Daily Signal, noted that the AG asks for evidence of alleged discrimination. In one case, Ellison notes, “That’s super unfortunate, but it may not be malicious.” The press secretary also pointed out that when the fraudsters warn Ellison he might suffer politically for supporting them, the AG replies, “I’m not here because I think it’s going to help my reelection.” “The attorney general very clearly rejects their implicit offer of campaign support,” Evans said. “Instead, he affirms that he took the meeting to do the work of the office and stand up to injustice.” Yet, immediately after that statement, Ellison says, “So, let’s just go fight these people. The question is figuring out exactly how to put a stop to it, right? The how is the real question for me, here.” “I’m telling you, sue, sue, sue,” he later advises. The AG repeatedly says he is forwarding attendees’ concerns to his team. “I already got my team digging into this,” he says. “When should we come together again to discuss this?” Returning Donations Many of those connected to Feeding Our Future contributed $2,500 to Ellison’s campaign on Dec. 20, 2021. Gandi Mohamed, who faces fraud and money-laundering charges, did so, as did other business partners who have not been indicted—Mahad Hassan, Jamal Hashi, and Khadija Ali. Liban Alishire, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, contributed $2,500 on May 27, 2022. Ellison returned Alishire’s contribution on Sept. 20, 2022. Ellison’s press secretary suggested the contributions from the other four individuals had been returned. If so, that should show up on the next round of campaign finance disclosures, Glahn said. ?FAILURE OF ASSIMILATIONMost of the Minnesota fraudsters are of Somali descent—to a degree that raises questions about the community.That said, some of the best whistleblowers opposing this fraud are of Somali heritage, too.Here's what I told @JesseKellyDC about it. pic.twitter.com/LMgII86ozz— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) December 7, 2025 The post Minnesota AG Said, ‘Let’s Just Go Fight’ State Officials on Behalf of Feeding Our Future Fraudsters, Audio Reveals appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Religion plays a larger part in the lives of Republican voters than in the lives of their Democrat counterparts, according to a new survey. A report from the Pew Research Center released late last month found that two-thirds (66%) of Republicans believe “with absolute certainty” in God, compared to only 41% of Democrats who said the same—a 25-point difference. Roughly half of Republicans also said that religion is “very important” in their lives (48%) and that they pray daily (52%), while only 28% of Democrats described religion as “very important” and just over one third (35%) said that they pray daily. Regular church attendance (at least once a month) scored lower among both groups: 41% among Republicans and only 24% among Democrats. In comments to The Washington Stand, Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council, shared his insights on the data. “I think there are a couple things happening here that are related. First, modern progressivism is inherently secular,” he explained. “It is based on the idea that personal fulfillment is the greatest good, feelings determine truth, and the satisfaction of personal desires is the only path to happiness. It stands in opposition to the idea that we are ultimately to submit to the will of a power greater than ours.” Backholm continued, “So the more progressive you are, the less you will see the idea of God as true or helpful, so the more likely you are to be secular. Of course, there are people who try to be both religious and progressive, but they end up worshipping a God that requires nothing of them and agrees with them about everything, so it’s the same as not having a God at all.” “There’s a chicken-and-egg component to the relationship between religion and politics,” Backholm said, addressing whether Republicans are more religious than Democrats because their political views foster faith or whether the more religiously-devout tend towards Republican politics because they align more nearly with their faith. “There’s no doubt that political beliefs shape religious beliefs. In fact, in recent years, we’ve seen people’s journey to Christianity begin with a realization that leftism doesn’t work and wanting to understand why. So, politics can influence religion,” the Biblical Worldview scholar explained. “But sometimes our politics becomes our religion. If we don’t believe truth exists outside of us, once we make up our mind politically, we create a community and even a religion that affirms our political convictions,” he continued. “In this sense,” he explained, “our politics becomes our religion because it is the North Star around which we orient everything else. This can happen on the Right and the Left, but it’s more common on the Left, because the Left is philosophically opposed to the idea of fixed truth,” Backholm posited. “Conservativism, at least in the sense that I understand it, requires us to acknowledge an authority above us and encourages us to submit to that authority. Secularism denies an ultimate higher power.” The Pew Research study also discovered that while Republicans tended to maintain similar religious trends when examined by racial demographic—for example, 48% of white Republicans and 49% of both black and Hispanic Republicans say that religion is “very important” to them—Democrats differ more widely on religious matters depending on their race or ethnicity. Among white Democrats, 29% said that they believe in God, 24% said that they pray daily, and only 17% described religion as “very important” or said that they attend church services regularly. Among black Democrats, however, 75% said that they believe in God, 65% reported that they pray daily, 60% classified religion as “very important,” and 42% said that they attend church services regularly. Hispanic Democrats fell in between the two demographics but were still almost twice as likely to believe in God, pray daily, describe religion as “very important,” and attend church services regularly as white Democrats. Backholm suggested that “cultural realities partially explain the ethnic difference. Being a Democrat was not always so closely related to hostility to God in the way it is today.” He explained, “Black and Hispanic communities were Democrats for different reasons than white communities, and that relationship became personal and emotional as much as anything else. So, while the Democratic Party is hostile to the religious values many of them still hold, they find it difficult to leave the party for some of the same reasons it would be hard to leave your family and say you’ll never see them on Christmas again.” “White secular people and religious black and brown people end up in the same place, but it’s often for different reasons,” Backholm expounded. “Those reasons are not reconcilable, which is why we’re seeing a fracture of the traditional Democratic base. The rich white secularists are moving over the Democratic party while poor and middle class black and brown people are finding their beliefs increasingly incompatible with the Democratic Party and leaving as a result.” In the 2016 presidential election, for example, 82% of black men voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. By 2020, only 79% of black men voted for the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, and only 77% voted for Biden’s deputy, Kamal Harris, in 2024. “These kinds of cultural shifts don’t happen all at once, but they are happening because they must happen,” Backholm postulated. “Biblical Christianity is incompatible with modern progressivism. Of course, that doesn’t mean the Republican Party is a paragon of virtue, but its principles are not antagonistic to God and the creation order.” According to the Pew Research Center, 78% of white Republicans, 61% of black Republicans, 70% of Hispanic Republicans, and 41% of Asian Republicans identified as Christian, as did 42% of white Democrats, 76% of black Democrats, 63% of Hispanic Democrats, and 28% of Asian Democrats. In total, 74% of surveyed Republicans identified as Christian and 20% as “religiously unaffiliated,” while 50% of Democrats identified as Christian and 40% identified as religiously unaffiliated. Originally published by The Washington Times. The post Data: Republicans Two Times More Likely to Be Religious Than Democrats appeared first on The Daily Signal.

With the 2026 midterms in sight, one major question on Capitol Hill is if Republicans will vote on the Chloe Cole Act, a bill that seeks to end the chemical or surgical mutilation of children. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., in September and is currently cosponsored by more than 30 Republicans in the House, and supported by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont. in the Senate.  Onder’s office referred The Daily Signal to the congressman’s September statement on the legislation. “As a member of Congress, a doctor, a parent, and an American, I am committed to protecting our nation’s children. That’s why I am proud to introduce the Chloe Cole Act, a landmark bill that will put a permanent stop to one of the most dangerous and barbaric medical procedures in modern history,” Onder said. “This is a massive issue that played a huge role in the last election cycle,” Mary Frances Devlin of the American Principles Project told The Daily Signal. “It’s something that Republicans should act on so that they can run on it again in the midterm cycle.” The legislation is named in honor of Chloe Cole, a former trans-identifying child who was put on puberty blockers and testosterone when she was just 13 and had a double mastectomy when she was 15. Now an adult, Cole publicly advocates against the practices that mutilated her as a child.  The bill comes as other legislative efforts to codify the Trump administration’s efforts to end these so-called treatments that harm minors. While President Donald Trump has sought to end transgender procedures being used on minors through Executive Order 14187, an executive order signed in the first few weeks of his presidency, his executive action on the issue could be undone by a future president. The act aims to enshrine the Trump administration’s policy into federal law, and it was transmitted to Congress by the Department of Justice. According to the bill, the legislation’s purpose is to “prohibit health care professionals, hospitals, or clinics from participating in the chemical or surgical mutilation of a child and to provide a private right of action for children and the parents of children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical professionals practicing chemical and surgical mutilation.” The legislative proposal does provide exemptions to the prohibition for issues like the treatment of infections and traumatic bodily injuries. Notably, the private right of action would apply to procedures that occurred before the enactment of the act. Putting the legislation up for a vote would test the Democratic Party’s commitment to protecting “transgender Americans’ access to health care and coverage, including medically necessary gender-affirming care,” as the 2024 Democratic Party platform positively framed the Biden administration’s policies. “I think this would be a really good opportunity to see how [Democrats are] going to approach social issues as they look towards 2028 and kind of see where the base is, where they’re more extreme members, where they’re more moderates are in this issue,” Devlin said. “But also, it’s really important to be able to use this issue as an election issue in those Senate races.” She compared the vote to the one taken on protecting females in women’s sports at the beginning of this Congress. “Obviously, it’s the right thing to do, but it also is incredibly useful to be able to target Democrats in narrow races for taking votes that the American people just absolutely are not on board with,” Devlin concluded. The proposed legislation comes after prominent western European countries have reassessed and restricted their medical interventions on trans-identifying minors after review of the treatments. That list includes Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The German Medical Association, which is one of the highest-ranking medical bodies in Germany, has also called for the restricted use of medical interventions for minors with gender dysphoria. The post Will House Vote on Chloe Cole Act to Ban Trans ‘Treatments’? appeared first on The Daily Signal.