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I've been ignoring this for one huge reason: This video was posted on December 26th. If anyone approached my children's preschool today, they would find 0 children there. Not 0 people, because it's also a Lutheran church and there's always some kind of social happening somewhere. But 0 preschool-aged children. They're all home for winter break.
If a stranger tried to go to my child's preschool during a business day, they would not be let into any classroom. They can call the office or send an email to schedule a walkthough. But if you don't have the phone app for parents or an appointment, you're not getting through the double doors.
The fact that it's a 23 year old doing this "investigative journalism" makes my eyes roll so hard. He has no idea what "normal" would look like in the first place. I'm very tired of this genre of "Watch me make unreasonable demands of people and watch as they're weirdly defensive for no reason."
I'll admit the misspelled "learing center" was a nice touch . I'm not going to make the positive claim that these institutions are all above board and the victim of selective editing. There's enough journalism indicating that this kind of fraud is rampant. I'm just perpetually annoyed that this is what makes people pay attention and become outraged, when this sort of thing has been reported on for a while now across America:
https://journalistsresource.org/home/how-they-did-it-minneapolis-kare-11-team-uncovers-medicaid-fraud-in-peer-recovery-services/
https://kstp.com/tracking-your-tax-dollars/whistleblower-minnesotas-child-care-assistance-program-has-fraud-cases-dating-back-12-years/
https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/09/17/a-former-autism-center-employee-tried-to-report-fraud-to-the-state-nobody-responded/
I think the real story is that many dozens of less flashy whistleblowers, like the older man in the video, have been investigating this stuff for years. Many of the people involved have already been charged with crimes since months ago, and the fraud centers shut down. Nick Shirley didn't really uncover anything, he just made a fun video demonstrating it to the general public. I agree that some of his presentation is a bit deceptive, but it's directionally correct in that it shows how blatant and widespread the fraud was, in a short punchy format that regular people can watch.
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I believe the video was shot a week or two before the post which whilst late in the year also isn't a public holiday. Plus I'd expect the Somali diaspora to not all be big people of Yule
If so, that's good. A lot of the people responding to the video are saying, "I'm going to go out right now and investigate my nearby publicly-subsidzied daycare today!" Which is just dumb.
I can't remember the post but I saw somebody on Twitter posting screenshots suggesting it was 16/12 that atleast some of the visits took place on.
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I've seen some of the online right try to dunk on the Somali immigrants for that, but the irony of it is that the daycare owners are making an obvious Shakespeare reference the online right is just too bigoted and uneducated to get. King Lear illustrates the importance of empathy and social justice (values that the right lacks), which children can learn—errr, acquire understanding of—at that childcare center.
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Do you think it was filmed the day it was released?
Yeah, misspelling your school's name on it's front door is a 'nice touch'.
So what are you claiming? You seem to just be swatting lazily enough to not have to think any harder about it. Come on out with a prediction here. Of course Nick Shirly, a 23 year old youtuber isn't going to be a button up investigator, which makes it all the more damning if he's the one to whistle blow massive fraud.
So massive fraud or not?
There's probably massive fraud involved, but a twenty three year old man knocking on the door of a daycare asking to see the children will have the police called on him, and not see any kids(they will be locked down). This video doesn't show anything at all.
The kids of course are being stored in a bunker far below sea level, handled by elite security personel.
I've done a lot of childcare tours/pickups if one is even somewhat active you'll be able to hear it. Even if these are all a unique form of windowless secure child storage the lack of even stroller parking is pretty indicative.
I don't know what stroller parking is, but in this video you can clearly see kids get dropped off at one of the locations: https://x.com/i/status/2005779133947650471
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They will be kept in their classrooms with the doors locked and the windowshades drawn.
At all times? Have you ever been near a child?
I'd agree if it were an active shooter drill but you're saying the random childcare workers are immediately going on DEFCON7 every time somebody pulls up in the driveway?
At bare minimum a functional childcare would have some sort of outdoor play area as is literally state-mandated, generally I'd expect to see stroller parking and the building being noisy and active.
And the red tribe/blue tribe split shows itself again.
When I lived among the blues... honestly some childcare institutions were this paranoid, deranged as it seems. Loudoun County Schools called the police on a father who showed up to collect his raped daughter because he was a little too upset that his daughter was raped. I believe they didn't even allow him in the building, locked down classrooms, and sent out an email that a parent had caused a disturbance.
I don't live among the blues anymore. That level of neuroticism and inverted priorities is just too cruel for me to live under. But though you may scoff and think he's exaggerating, depressingly he may be describing how childcare institutions actually behave around him.
They really are completely different from us.
I live in a low population red-tribe town surrounded by farms and our elementary school and preschool are locked and no unauthorized adults are allowed in. If one tried to force their way in it would be treated seriously.
Let me clarify.
The allegation is that, when this amateur reporter comes to the door of a supposedly not at all fake daycare, the children are placed on lockdown such that they cannot be heard or seen at all. As if he were an active shooter. Right out the gate, just as soon as he shows up, because they don't know him.
I'm not saying red tribe daycares/schools let any random person have free reign of the place. If they aren't an obvious threat though, at least into the lobby to have a discussion about why they are here. You'll be able to hear kids around at least. Maybe see one bring a note up on some errand from a teacher.
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I'm not saying people can't lockdown a childcare center, my point is more that an active childcare center tends to be quite obvious on account of the accoutrements and noise of children. Unless the presupposition is that they immediately shuffled everybody into the bunker as soon as these guys got out of the car.
I have never seen a school, preschool or day care in which it was not painfully obvious if there were kids around.
Relatedly, I know for a fact that one of the ones my kids went to had a ton of fraud going on. Employees paid partially under the table to maximize government benefits. There was a system where some of the parents got this card from the state where they were supposed to swipe in to prove they dropped the kid off, but most of them just left it with the employees to bill the government for extra days. Owners were a pair of rich Indian women who bought the place as a net-loss vanity project - and still ran it as a scammy money laundering front.
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Yes, massive fraud. No, this video isn't proof of it. This video is just outrage bait.
Was this filmed the day it was released? No, could have been filmed... December 25th? December 24th? It clearly wasn't filmed in the Summer. It's not like this was a culmination of years of investigation.
There's enough CONFIRMED fraud going on in the Somali community that your priors that this sort of business is fraudulent, at least to some large degree, should be high enough to make an educated guess rather than outright dismissal.
Plus, the Boomer guy straight up says he's been paying attention to this for years.
So in a sense, yes, yes it is a culmination of years of investigation.
See my comment here: https://www.themotte.org/post/3430/culture-war-roundup-for-the-week/395401?context=8#context
There's a pretty simple argument to suggest that fraud, if it can be proven to exist at all, is probably pretty rampant in Somali communities.
Premises:
The Somali community in Minnesota is probably tight-knit and interconnected, moreso than most other groups in the state. Lots of communication channels amongst them and between different circles of them.
The Somali community would thus likely be aware that there's a bunch of sketchy daycare business operated in their area, and these receive federal/state funds.
Nobody notable in the Somali community has raised an alarm as to this practice, and I've not heard a single word of condemnation from any of them. Quite the opposite.
What might we conclude about the Somali community?
Do we conclude that they are harsh and intolerant of fraudulent behavior in their midst? That they are quite honest and rule-following on average?
Or is the obvious implication the precise opposite, that the majority of them are probably cool with fraud going on (maybe they don't even see it as immoral) even if they're not participating, and good many of them are participating?
Or which premise do you take issue with?
Are Somalis NOT tight knit in this area? Do they somehow NOT know that their family and neighbors run these sketchy daycares? Or are they actually coming forward and reporting on fraud all the time, but they're ignored?
Which premise fails?
Your analogy falls apart the second you notice that Christians are constantly calling each other out and even condemning each other for preaching falsehoods (as they see it) and are not prone to covering for each other merely because of shared theological beliefs.
Famously, individual denominations take massive issue of tiny disagreements in interpretation and are quite happy to make their disagreements known, and distance themselves from 'heretical' street preachers and the like.
What exactly do you think I am saying here. I take issue with 0 of the premises. I also hate this video. What is being misunderstood?
My analogy to a Christian street preacher does not fall apart because the whole point is that it's not all that weird to call out arguments you hate that are on your side! I am against fraud and against Somalis that don't assimilate remaining in America. I also hate that the video is what got people interested in the problem. Just like I would be alarmed if a video of a street preacher acting crazy was getting attention as the one true proof of Christ's divinity.
Guess I misunderstood the thrust of your point.
Me, I have accepted that you don't get to choose how certain issues make it to mainstream prominence.
(I've been aware of the Epstein situation for like twenty years, and I'm just happy that people at least notice it now)
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Of course it’s not proof. It’s a spotlight, and a question begger about what’s going on and why it took him to highlight it
“well of course there’s fraud, a this guy is pointing to it, but see he’s pointing wrong, so can be dismissed or agreed with where convenient”
It’s just cake-eat-having commentary.
It's like being a Christian and suddenly a street preacher video is blowing up online. The preacher's argumentation isn't sound and he's weirdly confrontational towards a handful of people just going about their day (and yeah, those people are sinners, but it's still confrontational.)
Wouldn't it be kind of frustrating for this to be the thing that takes off as proof of Christianity, and not all the actual scholarship? If I were to say I wasn't a fan, but I still was a Christian, would that be having and eating cake?
The video's author could personally come to my dwelling and fart loudly in my face, cheeks spread wide open and splattering me with the fecal remnants of his last shit and his observation would still be valid: the daycares that don't admit new children and conspiciously don't have any sounds of children (they are not quiet, let me tell you) are frauds and you should be ashamed that you are even defending this position.
Anyone who goes 'he's right, but he didn't say it in GOOD FAITH' should be shot by a firing squad.
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