A Minneapolis daycare center run by Somali Americans said that its facility was broken into and vandalized early Tuesday morning. Nasrulah Mohamed, the manager of Nokomis DayCare Center, said at a press conference on Wednesday that “important documents,” such as employee documentation and children’s enrollment papers, were stolen. The daycare blamed the recent viral video from independent journalist Nick Shirley for inspiring the break-in. In Shirley’s video, the journalist went to numerous daycares in the Minneapolis area that receive government funding, but the facilities appeared closed in the middle of the day, sparking accusations of fraud. “This is devastating news, and we don’t know why this is targeting our Somali community, as one video made by a specific individual made this all happen,” Mohamed said. “We’ve been receiving hateful messages through our voicemails, threatening us in the past couple of days, including one that happened yesterday morning after the break-in.” Nokomis DayCare Center was not featured in Shirley’s video, but many daycares and learning centers linked to the Somali community have been accused of committing fraud following Shirley’s revelations. The Minneapolis Police Department confirmed that Nokomis reported a break-in on Tuesday morning and informed police about the items allegedly stolen, Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reported. The police department is investigating. Mohamed was joined by a group of supporters at the press conference, some of whom held signs, including one that read, “Racism has no place in childcare.” Many people were skeptical of the daycare’s claims of a break-in that was motivated by Shirley’s video, including President Donald Trump, who commented on the story, saying, “A total FRAUD!” The Trump administration deployed federal agents to Minneapolis to look into the fraud allegations and also froze funding for all child care payments to Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families said that each of the daycares featured in Shirley’s video was recently visited by state inspectors for annual licensing reviews. The department added that it would follow up to investigate claims of fraud at the daycares. Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships “We have high-quality daycares, and this is very sad news that one individual who made a false claim about fraud that is happening in daycares can get everyone else to come and do this to us,” Mohamed said. The manager of a Minneapolis daycare that was featured in Shirley’s video also shot back at the fraud accusations and said that Shirley’s reporting was an attempt to “put out a certain message about a certain group [of people].” Ibrahim Ali, the manager of the daycare that misspelled its sign, Quality “Learing” Center, told reporters earlier this week, “Kids come to us, clients come to us, their parents come to us – they’re here daily, they leave on time, they come on time. There is no fraud going on whatsoever.” Minnesota’s social programs have been at the center of fraud investigations. One of the recent fraud scandals involved the “Feeding Our Future” program, which received federal funds and claimed to distribute meals to hungry children during the COVID pandemic but allegedly never did so. The vast majority of those charged in the fraud scheme were of Somali descent.

Ron Howard’s first major role as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show changed his life at just six years old. He went on to act in numerous roles, including Richie Cunningham on Happy Days. Ron has been part of some of television’s most iconic shows, but left acting to begin his directing career. His achievements on both sides of the camera earned him two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1982, Ron Howard directed Michael Keaton in the comedy Night Shift. That led to a series of collaborations, including several films such as Clean and Sober and Inventing the Abbots. Ron and Michael worked great together, and many hope they’ll collaborate again soon. View this post on Instagram A post shared by RealRonHoward (@realronhoward) Ron Howard Loved Working with Michael Keaton According to People, Ron Howard had a very special relationship with Michael Keaton. While accepting his second star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015, Ron spoke about his incredible career. “I’ve been so lucky in this business, I’ve worked with so many great people,” Ron said. He spoke about his time in Hollywood and what he would do differently if he could. Ron is pleased with his life, but mentioned wanting to work with Michael again. “I have so few regrets, practically none, and one of them is just only that it’s been far too long since Michael [Keaton] and I made a movie together, so I’m hoping to rectify that sooner rather than later.” But that wasn’t the first time Ron Howard spoke about his desire to work with Michael Keaton again. Per People, he also mentioned his friend during the 2013  British Academy Film Awards. “Michael Keaton is great, and I’m dying to work with Michael again. If I find the right role, he’ll be my first call. I’d love to,” he began. What do we have to do to make this happen? Sounds like a cinematic dream come true. This story’s featured image is by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images

'Unwilling to include any facts'

Is Trump's schtick failing?

'I feel bad for my family'

'Hereby fully suspended'

'a turning point in the civic history of New York City'

When Jan. 1 rolls around, New York City will have its first self-avowed socialist mayor. As a New York resident and a keen observer of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s rise to power, I thought it worthwhile to write what I expect of him in the new year. A lot is riding on Mamdani’s success for the Left. He’ been touted as the way of the future for the Democratic Party. He’s the Barack Obama for a new generation, just as the old Obama becomes passe. Whereas Obama carefully laid the groundwork for the radical turn in American government and institutions leading up to the Great Awokening of 2020, my feeling is that Mamdani will be more open and aggressive in the way he promotes his agenda. Obama insisted he was neither a Muslim nor a socialist. His replacement proudly says he’s both and is hardly concerned about being lumped in with some seriously radical folks. He wants to show everyone that real socialism is going to be tried this time, and it will work great when the cameras are rolling. While Mamdani can’t run for president, given that he wasn’t born an American citizen, he will almost certainly have a huge amount of influence in state and national politics. The media will amplify his every action, downplay his setbacks, and tout every policy as a remarkable and incredible success. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was already browbeaten into endorsing him, will have a difficult time refusing Mamdani’s demands. Any attempt by New York state leaders to constrain his ability to act will likely be treated as a betrayal of the energized voters who put him in office. What will the Zohran Mamdani era mean for Democrats?Nothing good ever came from socialism—and I suspect Americans will quickly sour on his misguided ideas.? @NEWSMAX pic.twitter.com/C8wolpb6Yn— Rob Bluey (@RobertBluey) December 31, 2025 Universal childcare, free buses, and even the government-run grocery stores he promised will need significant funding and approval from the state government. Will Democrats who effectively run the state be able to tell him “no” when the money runs out or isn’t there to begin with? And if at any point the city, state, or federal government refuses to foist over money to pay for his numerous programs, he’ll have a built-in excuse for why they failed and enemies to pin the blame on when they do. Though I’d almost certainly bet on Mamdani’s project ultimately failing in New York, let’s not set the bar too low here. This is perhaps in part why President Donald Trump held his fire when Mamdani came to visit the White House. It never helps to be hysterical. The expectation should be that things will work out. After all, New York is one of the great cities of the world, the heart of American finance, and has proven to be quite functional when managed successfully. You can be sure that if the city doesn’t immediately turn into a real life “Escape from New York” the day Mamdani enters office it will be spun as proof that his critics were wrong. That shouldn’t be the standard. If Mamdani’s socialist ideas are so great and can make an unaffordable blue city a suddenly affordable socialist paradise, his standard for success shouldn’t just be modern Venezuela with worse weather. I suspect that Mamdani won’t be pleased just to keep the free buses running on time. His 400-person transition team is so filled with loonies that you could post a list of the names on a wall, throw a dart at it, and expect to find someone who demands the police be abolished on a committee for safety, a transgender rabbi working on a committee for health, or a literal career criminal among a crowd of Democratic Socialists of America organizers, radical academics, and staffers of the previous disastrous regime of former Mayor Bill de Blasio. The best thing that could be said about Mamdani’s transition team is that perhaps he is simply awarding campaign loyalists and will simply jettison them later when he doesn’t need them. More likely, he will be using the New York government apparatus as a training ground for his activist army. But there are other signs that Mamdani really means to carry through with the far-left’s war against human nature. In early December, Mamdani announced that he will stop shutting down homeless encampments in the city. In 2022, the soon-to-be former Mayor Eric Adams wisely decided to shut down the homeless encampments that were popping up in the city and provided opportunities for those on the street to enter homeless shelters. I hesitate to elevate this move the level of “wisdom.” It was simply common sense. Pockets of homeless people, where drug use was rampant, were popping up through the city. Mamdani apparently saw that and thought that he’d rather turn New York into San Francisco, where open air drug markets and tent cities are the norm. This doesn’t seem like a person who will suddenly tack to the center and work on bringing high quality, competent governance to the city. That would be the shrewd thing to do. Promise socialism but make sure it works by not following through and pretending it did. That outcome seems unlikely. I’d expect Mamdani to use every tool at his disposal to ensure that the perception is that he’s ushering in an irresistible tide of socialism in America. He will do television appearances, he’ll make slick social media posts about how he’s stopping Trump, and he’ll do his part to ensure that the Democratic Party’s socialist faction emerges triumphant in 2028. He will also push through with his most high-profile programs and make a grand show demonstrating that they “work” as the city slowly deteriorates. That’s what I predict is in store for the Big Apple’s new mayor. The city is in for some interesting times. The post What’s in Store for Mamdani’s ‘New Era’ in New York appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Judge Dugan Could Be Impeached Before She Gets Sentenced

The New York Times is not your most reliable narrator on all stories about NPR: their weekday podcast The Daily runs on hundreds of NPR affiliates, which creates an obvious rooting interest for the network. On Tuesday, Times media reporter Benjamin Mullin poured on the sympathy for almost 2,500 words, starting with the headline: NPR’s C.E.O. Was a Right-Wing Target. Then the Real Trouble Started. Katherine Maher has taken an unyielding approach to NPR’s biggest battles — which has sometimes put her at odds with her colleagues in public media. As usual, Mullin and the Times line up the "right-wingers" and avoid the "L word." Start with paragraph 2: Right-wing activists dredged up her old posts on social media and tried to get her fired. Congress stripped more than $500 million in annual funding from public media. She has become a target not just of NPR’s traditional opponents on the political right but of some within the tightknit world of public broadcasting, who wanted her to take a more pragmatic tack. So NPR has "traditional opponents," but that doesn't exactly mean they're on the liberal side. Mullin touted Maher's hard line against the right, after "her predecessors were accused of bringing a tote bag to a knife fight." Ms. Maher, 42, stood by her strategy. “The government targeted public funding to punish specific editorial decisions it disagreed with,” she said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “That’s not a funding dispute dressed up as a constitutional case; that’s textbook First Amendment retaliation.” Ms. Maher’s stance brought support pouring in for her organization. NPR emerged from the biggest political battle in its history on firm footing, generating record donations. In a previous statement, Maher called it "retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! They engage in retaliatory discrimination all the time. Mullin didn't interview any conservatives to rebut this First Amendment bilge or anything else. That L word did pop up in the middle of the piece: In early April 2024, two weeks after she started, Ms. Maher and NPR faced an unexpected crisis. Uri Berliner, a senior editor at NPR, published an essay in The Free Press accusing the network of a liberal bias in its news coverage. The crisis deepened a week later. Chris Rufo, the conservative activist who ran social media campaigns against figures including Claudine Gay, the former Harvard president, circulated years-old social media posts from Ms. Maher that criticized Donald J. Trump and supported liberal causes. (“Also, Donald Trump is a racist,” read one.) Maher had a pile of outrageously radical posts that would have made juicier quotes, which were no doubt a plus in getting the NPR gig. Mullin noted NPR's critics "seized the moment" and requested in May of 2024 that she "testify on allegations of bias." He did not note she skipped that hearing -- so much for accountability. I testified then about how Maher should have to face Congress.  NPR and PBS responded to conservative arguments of liberal bias by denying reality and attempting no moderation in the daily drumbeat of that bias. Maher stiff-armed any compromisers:  On a call this spring, Patricia Harrison, the chief executive of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, asked Ms. Maher whether she would be willing to say anything to members of Congress or the press to acknowledge concerns from listeners who viewed NPR’s reporting as biased, according to two people familiar with her remarks. Ms. Maher rebuffed that suggestion. She didn’t believe that NPR was biased, and she thought saying so would undermine the organization and fail to placate those who were critical of the network, according to a person familiar with her thinking. After she refused, months of simmering tension between the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR came to the surface. Ms. Harrison told Ms. Maher she should resign her position for the good of public media. Mullin offered another cursory treatment of the March 26 hearing where the NPR and PBS CEO's ridiculously denied their systematic leftist tilt. It had a "you say tomato, I say to-mah-to" sound:  The hearing was predictably divided along partisan lines. The Republicans, who argued that NPR and PBS were outmoded, a waste of taxpayer money or liberally biased, interrogated Ms. Kerger and Ms. Maher, asking the NPR chief executive about her social media posts and the network’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop. The Democrats praised NPR and PBS and mocked the proceedings (“Is Elmo now, or has he ever been, a member of the Communist Party?”). This also happened when Mullin and his colleague Michael Grynbaum covered the hearing. As we noted at that time, the Times included absolutely none of the Republican questions loaded with examples of taxpayer-subsidized propaganda, and they never mentioned conservative witness Mike Gonzalez of the Heritage Foundation. This left the impression that the Republican “dark pronouncements” had no basis in fact. Who needs to confront our truckloads of evidence?