Blue America is best for families. For years, America’s elites have insisted that <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32782">blue states</a> — with their higher incomes, better-<a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32782">educated residents</a>, and expansive public services — are the best places to raise a family. Progressive policies such as paid family leave, childcare subsidies, and gender-neutral bathroom mandates, we were told, would draw parents in droves. Such policies prove “that one major party cares about children and families, and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/30/jd-vance-childless-cat-ladies/?itid=lk_inline_manual_27">the other does not</a>,” according to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/30/jd-vance-childless-cat-ladies/?itid=lk_inline_manual_27">liberal journalist</a> Catherine Rampell. 
But the data tell a different tale. Across the country, families are packing up and leaving blue states for red states. They are also more likely to have children in red states to begin with. 
The <a href="https://familystructureindex.org/">2026 Family Structure Index</a>, just released by the Center for Christian Virtue and the Institute for Family Studies, tracks family health across all 50 states. It focuses on three measures: marriage rates, fertility rates, and the share of children raised by married parents. These factors shape everything from child poverty to the health of the American Dream. 
What it reveals is a growing divide in where families are choosing to live — and where they are choosing to start a family.
Call it the Great American Family Sort.
Married couples with children are increasingly moving to red and purple states. From 2019 to 2024, 840,000 married families with children moved from blue states to red ones, while 470,000 moved in the opposite direction — a net gain of 370,000 such families for red states. 
Red states also enjoy higher fertility rates, all of which helps explain why red states have <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-lefts-family-problem-marriage-and-kids-cratering-among-liberal-young-adults">seen</a> a 7.3% increase in their child population since 2000, while blue states have seen a 7.1% decline. That shift is another indicator that Red America is proving more hospitable to family life.
In other words, <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-blue-state-family-exodus-families-are-migrating-to-red-and-purple-states">blue states</a> long seen as the best places to raise children by liberal elites — states like California, Massachusetts, and New York — are steadily losing them.
Why? Start with what families actually need: jobs, homes, and safe neighborhoods. On each of these fronts, many red states are delivering. Over the past decade, states like Texas, Florida, and South Carolina have seen strong job growth, especially in sectors that support middle-class life. When young adults can find steady, well-paying work, they are more likely to marry and start families.
Housing is just as critical. Affordable single-family homes provide the space and stability families <a href="https://ifstudies.org/report-brief/homes-for-young-families-a-pro-family-housing-agenda">want</a>. Yet in many blue states, especially on the coasts, restrictive zoning and high costs have pushed homeownership out of reach for young families. In much of red America, that dream remains attainable.
Taxes also shape family <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/americans-moving-to-states/">migration</a>. Lower tax burdens in many red states leave families with more room in their budgets, whether for childcare, a good private school, or saving for the future.
<div id="attachment_1073407" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1073407" class="size-large wp-image-1073407" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-864x576.jpg" alt="San Francisco, CA, USA - August 17, 2020. Image of a moving truck parked in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-1329602381-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />James Rice. Getty Images.</div>
Safety matters as well. Parents want to raise children in communities where they feel <a href="https://ifstudies.org/report-brief/homes-for-young-families-a-pro-family-housing-agenda">secure</a>. States and cities that keep crime and public disorder low have a clear advantage in attracting and retaining families, even as many blue states are “plagued by homelessness, crime and dysfunction,” all of which are turnoffs to families, as even the liberal columnist Nick Kristof has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/15/opinion/progressives-california-portland.html">admitted</a>.
Still, economics alone does not explain what is happening. Family culture also matters. In many red states, there remains a stronger expectation around marriage and family formation, often stemming from deeply held religious beliefs. Social norms shaped by churches, civic life, and local leadership still influence how people live. Faith remains a powerful driver of American family life.
The <a href="https://familystructureindex.org/">Family Structure Index</a> underscores this point. Frequent religious attendance accounts for 57% of the variance in fertility rates across states. States with high religious attendance, such as Utah and Mississippi, have far higher birth rates than states like Vermont or Massachusetts, where churchgoing is rare.
None of this suggests that red states have solved every problem. Marriage and fertility are down nationwide, and no region is immune. But the trend is clear: families seem more likely to thrive in some states rather than others. That should tell policymakers something important. If states want to attract and keep families, the formula is straightforward: make housing attainable, foster job growth, keep communities safe, and support a culture that encourages marriage and child-rearing. 
The deeper lesson is harder to accept. For too long, liberal elites have assumed that higher incomes and more government spending automatically lead to better outcomes for families. The evidence suggests otherwise. Public safety, good jobs, affordable homes, and culture matter just as much, if not more.
The Great American Family Sort is more than a demographic shift. It is a signal. Families are making their priorities clear through where they choose to live and have children. The question is whether the rest of the country is paying attention.
* * *
Aaron Baer is president of the Center for Christian Virtue. 
Brad Wilcox is Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia and senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies.

Asheville and Johnson City exit sign on highway in Tennessee on interstate 81 road

Turns Out Families Are Voting With Their Feet And Headed In One Direction

Blue States

Conservatives

Crime

Democrats

family

Florida

Homelessness

Jobs

Opinion

Red States

Social Issues

Tennessee

Texas

It was the Sunday after Charlie Kirk was assassinated last fall. Professional soccer player Elizabeth Eddy was at church with her now-husband. The two attend church regularly, so while it wasn’t Kirk’s assassination that got them in the church pews, it was that tragedy that became the subject of the preacher’s sermon that day.
The preacher told the congregation that the attack on Kirk was an attack on free speech. It was that sermon that nudged Eddy, after 10 years in the National Women’s Soccer League, to speak up about a part of women’s soccer that she saw being jeopardized by the lie that men can compete as women—so in her final season, she spoke up.
“It&#8217;s like, this is way bigger than my playing career,” Eddy told The Daily Wire. “This is like, changing the landscape of women&#8217;s soccer at the professional level, which sets a precedent for all other women&#8217;s sports in America.”
Eddy announced her retirement from the NWSL on Tuesday knowing she gave her all to the league as a player both on and off the pitch.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
After months of consideration and prayer, I have a special announcement to make. 😊 <a href="https://t.co/03ii9LyfTi">pic.twitter.com/03ii9LyfTi</a>
— Elizabeth Eddy (@elizabetheddy2) <a href="https://twitter.com/elizabetheddy2/status/2036553794373210317?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
It’s ironic that the toughest test of her career would end up happening outside the lines, and in the headlines. After penning a piece in the New York Post on protecting women’s spaces, and even suggesting creating new spaces for trans-identifying players, Eddy was labeled a “racist” and “transphobe” by her Angel FC teammates.
These teammates weren’t just players on the roster; they were Eddy’s friends—close friends, actually, already invited to Eddy’s upcoming wedding. After Eddy stood for biological truth, they didn’t attend.
“It was like, pretty personal, and one of them even helped my fiancé plan our engagement,” Eddy said. “It was really tough, but like, at the end of the day, I need to answer to God, not to my peers or my success level on earth or whoever else I might want to please.”
“Although I&#8217;m hurt, I&#8217;m holding out hope that one day we can have reconciliation.”
The pushback was painful, but Eddy has no regrets about her statements on women&#8217;s sports. As she looks to her post-soccer chapter, she plans to continue advocating for women to have opportunities to play in a protected category.
“I&#8217;d love to have like a bunch of kids, a bunch of boys and girls, and I want the girls to have a chance to compete and play versus having an uneven playing field from the get-go because they&#8217;re a girl,” Eddy said. “I was like, if I have any ability to affect that, I will happily spend time and effort to do that because again, people have paved the way for all of us girls in America. For example, Title IX and now that is kind of under question. I was recently in D.C. at the Supreme Court on the steps doing the part of this rally and speaking about Title IX, and that’s where I realized how fragile the current policies are and how important it is to actually engage in how to shape the policies for the future.”
In addition to her advocacy for women, Eddy is continuing to compete—trading her shin guards for surfboards. The Newport Beach, California, native grew up hitting the waves and, now that her schedule allows, she’s excited to pursue a solo sport that she says is a different kind of challenge, channeling her “competitive energy” into a “flowy state” on the water.
“I just got back actually three weeks ago from my first pro-surfing contest. It was in Barbados and it was for the World Surf League. Although I got out in the first round, I was like, this is like the coolest thing ever,” Eddy said.
She’s excited to still be a professional athlete who is actively in the fight for women’s sports. She was a utility player on the soccer pitch, meaning she could play multiple positions. Now she’ll have multiple career obligations, which include public speaking, plus a full surfing schedule. The chaos, she says, will be worth the extra work because Eddy firmly believes the more female athletes stand up for their sports, the quicker their category will be protected.
“I was completely delegitimized by how my soccer team responded and the league,” Eddy said. “So then it&#8217;s like, when the next person speaks up, they probably won&#8217;t get as delegitimized, and then a few more might speak up and it will snowball. We&#8217;re moving in a really good direction, and the more people that speak up and the sooner they do it, the better it is for all of our daughters in the future.”
It was Eddy&#8217;s faith that gave her the courage to speak out in the first place, and it’s still her faith that guides her decision-making as the veteran soccer player boldly takes on her next chapter.
“God is not changing,” Eddy said. “He&#8217;s faithful yesterday, he’s faithful today, and faithful tomorrow.&#8221;

Credit: Elizabeth Eddy/ Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images

How Charlie Kirk Inspired A Pro Soccer Player To Speak Out For Women In Final Season

Elizabeth Eddy

Sports

Transgender Athletes

U.S.

Women's Soccer

Women's sports

In 2001, Joseph Edgar Foreman, better known as Afroman, burst onto the scene with the now classic song “Because I Got High,” the title track to his second album. Though he’d been honing his craft since middle school, that song introduced him to the masses. Since that time, he’s released 17 more albums, though “Because I Got High” remains his most famous. 
His most infamous album, however, is 2022’s “Lemon Pound Cake,” which was a direct salvo against the police officers who raided his home on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping, two crimes which he did not commit. That didn’t stop officers from seizing $5,000 in cash — $400 of which was never returned — and causing $20,000 in damages to his home. Afroman, whose first song was a <a href="https://yourtahoeguide.com/2023/01/afroman-when-rap-comedy-meet/">diss track</a>, wasn’t inclined to stay quiet about that injustice. 
Instead, he turned <a href="https://x.com/CountDankulaTV/status/2034623015346987494">the saga</a> into the 2022 album. On it, he called the officers out by name. He used footage of them from his CCTV cameras for the videos. He implied that their wives were cheating on them, one with him. He called one fat and said he was eying the lemon pound cake on his counter during the raid. He was relentless, which is unsurprising given he <a href="https://yourtahoeguide.com/2023/01/afroman-when-rap-comedy-meet/">once said</a>, “A skunk has its spray. If you mess with me, I rap about your ass. It works. It’s funny.” The officers, though, were not amused, hitting the entertainer with a defamation suit in 2023. 
Afroman, though, remained undeterred and on March 19, 2026, he was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-afroman-legal-saga-is-the-most-interesting-thing-on-the-internet-today?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Lynden+Blake&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=The+Afroman+Legal+Saga+Is+The+Most+Interesting+Thing+On+The+Internet+Today">found innocent of all charges</a>, saying, “We did it America. We did it, freedom of speech.” He forgot to add freedom from unlawful search and seizure. For a man who rose to prominence by rapping about how getting high was sapping his motivation, this unlikely hero proved doggedly fierce when it came to fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. 
As a nation, we should be thankful for Afroman. Most would not go to the lengths, would not risk the financial implications of failure, would not go scorched earth over $20,400 and a ruined day. But not Afroman. He still believes in the Constitution, in freedom of speech, and in the importance of good and trustworthy police to the community. 
Moreover, he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cR-WiGKZtg">rampaged</a> with style. For the final day in court, he wore a suit and tie with an American flag pattern. He <a href="https://x.com/CountDankulaTV/status/2034623015346987494">afromaxxed</a>. His only witness was the ex-wife of an officer whom Afroman claimed to have slept with prior to the divorce. When the officer was asked if he knew for sure that Afroman was not having relations with his wife, the officer responded, “I don’t know,” thereby undermining his own defamation suit. 
<div id="attachment_1063119" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1063119" class="size-large wp-image-1063119" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-864x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 20: Afroman attends the 2019 Daytime Beauty Awards at The Taglyan Complex on September 20, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic )" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic/Getty Images</div>
In short, Afroman tapped into the rugged pioneer spirit that helped build this nation and showed that, even in 2026, great men can still achieve great things if they put their minds to it. Lesser men would have folded, afraid of the millions in damages the officers were suing for. They would have worried about the risks of tangling with local law enforcement. They would have sucked up the $20,400 they lost and moved on with their lives. And for many, that’s okay.
We can’t all risk everything to fight injustice. Not everyone has the sort of career and flexibility that affords us the opportunity to stand up for basic rights and dignity. As such, we need heroes out there fighting for us. But not all heroes wear capes. Some wear <a href="https://local12.com/resources/media2/16x9/1920/1320/center/90/df93163e-1d50-46e9-803a-1f2eaf88fcbb-CH12AFROMANINTERVIEW_frame_7352.jpeg">fur coats</a> over their American flag suit.
Thank you, Afroman, for your service, for your tenacity, for your humor, for your style, and for taking a stand for all of us. Though your troubles may have been related to the fact that you sometimes get high, you didn’t sit on the couch eating cookies and complaining about &#8220;the man.&#8221; Instead, you took the sage advice of another entertainer and hero, one Ric Flair, and said, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” 
Afroman, you beat the man and, in the process, you not only won, but we as a nation also won. Your victory is our victory. Your fight is an inspiration for anyone facing injustice, whether young or old. May your success inspire us all to be as resilient when faced with the specter of a boot pounding down on our cake, forever.
* * *
Rich Cromwell is a writer living in Northwest Arkansas. He produces the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/47LCsh6lIWl7w1hJk7yhQc">Cookin’ Up a Story</a> podcast. You can also follow him on X: @rcromwell4
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Saturday Night Live – Season 48

Afroman’s Victory Is America’s Victory

Afroman

Food

Music

Police

Rebecca Bendheim, the author of a YA book for teen readers, posted on social media about deliberately designing the cover art to hide the book’s theme from parents while simultaneously advertising it to children.
“When Penguin [Random House] asked me what I wanted for my cover, I said I wanted it to be gay enough for queer kids and teens to clock it, but for homophobic parents to just think it’s a friendship story,” the author and middle school teacher bragged on Instagram.
The book in question is called “When You’re Brave Enough” and has a publication date of April 7, 2026. According to the <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/774613/when-youre-brave-enough-by-rebecca-bendheim/">publisher</a>, it is recommended for children ages 10 &#8211; 14.
“So I said, no holding hands, make my character look gay…” She went on to point out the subtle details she and the cover artist agreed on, including flowers growing between the pair to represent a crush that’s “growing.”
“So what do you think? Would you guess this was a queer book?” Bendheim asked her followers.
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In a follow-up video, the author shows her book cover to random people on the street to see if they can guess what it’s about.
“Shoutout to the people who answered and to librarians who help kids and teens find subtle queer books if they need them,” she <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DVuH_7CDZfj/">wrote</a> in the caption. “I’m a firm believer that positive representation saves lives!! Would you be able to tell?”
Her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/good-morning-america-book-pick-for-teens-features-rape-threesomes-necrophilia">comments</a> come just after another YA book, “Sibylline” by Melissa de la Cruz, made headlines for including graphic sex scenes of necrophilia, threesomes, and rape. “Sibylline” is being promoted as a &#8220;Good Morning America&#8221; Book Club selection in their Young Adult category.
This has been a hot topic in the publishing community recently. There was a discussion about the importance of “representation” and a lot of hand-wringing over so-called book bans during a SXSW EDU panel on March 11. The panel was called, “Beyond Bans: Defending LGBTQ+ Stories and Literary Freedom.”
“The worst thing we could possibly do is let that fear stop us from continuing to make art,” author Casey McQuiston <a href="https://people.com/lgbtq-authors-targeted-by-book-bans-exclusive-11925852">said</a> at the time, per People. “And not only to make art, but to go out into public libraries to visit, to go out into schools.”
McQuiston’s author page describes her as a “bestselling author of queer romantic comedies.” The most famous of these, “Red, White, &amp; Royal Blue,” is for adults, but she also wrote the YA romantic mystery, “I Kissed Shara Wheeler.”

Book with bookmark and rainbow ribbon of LGBT pride.

Author Proudly Says She Made Book Cover Gay Enough For Kids But Invisible To Parents

Books

Children's Books

Entertainment

LGBTQ

When one thinks of Whole Foods, one might think of its selection of cheeses and organic yet processed offerings. Perhaps one thinks of the pizza and all-natural deodorants and lotions. Maybe one thinks of the patchouli that struggles to mask the aroma that comes with all-natural deodorants. (If so, you’re <a href="https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/grocery/search?k=patchouli">out of luck</a>, though parent company Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=patchouli&amp;crid=3K7552CU37UUZ&amp;sprefix=patchouli%2Caps%2C236&amp;ref=nb_sb_noss_1">has you covered</a>.) 
What you most likely do not think of, though, is jail. This is a mistake for, unlike patchouli, when it comes to being detained, Whole Foods is <a href="https://www.curbed.com/article/whole-foods-theft-shoplifting-wealthy-new-yorkers.html">there for you</a>. 
When talking about Walmart or Target, theft is a given. If your local supercenter switches back and forth from self-checkout to human checkers, theft — or shrink, as it’s known in the retail world — is the real reason. It’s just so easy to bag a few items that didn’t get scanned.
Shrink is one of the prices of doing business. Its presence is factored into budgets, both in expected amount and the cost of hiring people to thwart it. General employees are instructed to ignore it thanks to America’s surplus of lawyers. Instead, as is done in Whole Foods, you deploy specialists to combat the problem. 
This isn’t new. Back in the mid ‘90s, when I worked at Hastings Books, Music, and Video, which for the younger readers was one of the various places people could go to buy books and music and rent videos before streaming was a thing, we knew our most prolific shoplifters. We could never catch them in the act, though, so they were free to steal with impunity. We didn’t have a Mike, as the Fort Greene Whole Foods does, but we had a Toni. Toni, a former state trooper, never caught them either. It didn’t help that they were certain traveling people who only came through periodically.
There were also teenagers who couldn’t afford the latest from Wu-Tang Clan. They were sporadic and small potatoes, though, unlike those who preferred to steal CDs that they would later sell back to us a few months later when they swung back through the area. Most importantly, all of them knew they were stealing. There was no rationalization.
For those who end up in Whole Foods jail, it’s all rationalization. It’s not that they can’t necessarily afford “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlqB8jARITw">Bonestorm</a>,” it’s that, like punching someone in the dark, they view shoplifting as a victimless crime. This isn’t exactly shocking coming from a collective that thinks Bernie Sanders is correct about <a href="https://freebeacon.com/politics/thinkprogress-attacks-sanders-for-changing-rhetoric-on-millionaires-after-he-becomes-one/">millionaires — make that billionaires</a>, doesn’t understand that assets aren’t necessarily walking around money, and just really needs a sushi tray before therapy. 
The therapist, presumably, does not get stiffed, though this piece in <a href="https://www.curbed.com/article/whole-foods-theft-shoplifting-wealthy-new-yorkers.html">Curbed</a> on Whole Foods jail doesn’t specify. (Journalism is dead.):
<blockquote>For years, she had thought of the California rolls, brownies, and protein shakes she stole as a kind of artist’s subsidy while she got her own practice off the ground. But on this particular day, her luck had run out. Astrid was late for therapy and hadn’t eaten, so she stopped in for a quick lunch. As usual, she began her meal in-store, moving toward the door with confidence, while ripping open a sushi tray. Soy-sauce packet between her teeth, one foot out the door, she felt a hand on her arm.</blockquote>
As with all the people mentioned in the piece, Astrid is a pseudonym. Her story is amazing. California rolls, brownies, and protein shakes are not exactly sustenance foods. She could have stolen bananas, which I am not condoning, even as some extoll <a href="https://x.com/jarvis_best/status/2032115230428577809">the benefits of shoplifting</a>, which are super healthy and also low cost, but no, Astrid had to go elite. This also gets to the other problems with this attitude.
First, shrink is really <a href="https://x.com/KelseyTuoc/status/2031855465626476651">detrimental to business</a>. In the early days of Walmart, founder Sam Walton gathered a group of store associates around him early one morning. He had a coffee can with $1 in pennies in it. He starts taking pennies out for overhead, utilities, merchandise, payroll, and the other obvious costs of doing business. When he was done with those, only four pennies remained. He then took two of those, explaining that those two cents represented shrink, meaning that despite starting with a dollar, profits only equaled two cents.
Walmart famously operates on razor-thin profit margins, usually in the 2-3% range, though. What about Whole Foods? Surely hippie Walmart is pulling <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-aapl-net-profit-margin-021910677.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAISnplhmtBjdDa40Y2mOHblKTAuhqObCSV4ECnIsB-TqrZz-KPPz5N_-oqrQl61gnqA0SfK787vzWrLnfc2KS_jnv-WQ0DVsKNWhXIF_X1PQDVzzCaaxnzJE_y1PCIVidLFanX4fAjJQz6FR21OTPNURAqIoy-yXr3ngGRNqhTxd">Apple-esque numbers</a>, right? Wrong! Whole Foods is operating on … razor-thin profit margins comparable to Walmart. Stealing eye cream, sushi trays, tuna rolls, soft French cheeses, steaks, and the like means the company has to pass its increased costs onto paying customers. In other words, if you see something, say something.
The other, and to my mind larger, problem with hipster heists is there is a much better solution, especially for those who are presumably concerned about food waste, climate change, and inequality: dumpster diving.
And look, I get it, dumpster diving isn’t as sexy as committing crime, but it is victimless. You don’t even have to call it dumpster diving. Just become a <a href="https://freegan.info/">freegan</a> and really lean into “strategies for sustainable living beyond capitalism.” Commit, people! It may even provide your life with enough meaning to get you out of therapy.
Will you have to learn to live with bread that’s maybe a little stale, not that I’ve ever had a prototypical freegan give me such a loaf, or strawberries that are a little mushy. Toast the bread. Enjoy fruit when it’s at its sweetest. Wonder why you didn’t go dumpster diving with and learn from your anti-capitalist acquaintance who’s now building a <a href="https://www.vastspace.com/">private for-profit space station</a>.
You can start tonight. And it won’t even require you to give up Whole Foods, though I’d steer clear of the sushi if I were you. The cover of darkness may be required to become a successful freegan, but if you fly too close to the sashimi, you’re going to feel that punch to your stomach.
* * *
Rich Cromwell is a writer living in Northwest Arkansas. He produces the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/47LCsh6lIWl7w1hJk7yhQc">Cookin&#8217; Up a Story</a> podcast. You can also follow him on X: @rcromwell4
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Whole lotta trouble

Whole Foods Has Its Own ‘Jail’ For Shoplifters — Just Ask The Sushi Thief

shoplifting

Walmart

Whole Foods

For years, the radical Left has treated America’s civilian universities as laboratories for anti-American indoctrination — peddling &#8220;whiteness studies,&#8221; seminars on gender-based genocide, and even the celebration of Hamas. On Thursday, War Secretary Pete Hegseth made it clear that toxic &#8220;woke&#8221; rot ends at the doors of the Department of War.
Hegseth delivered a blistering ultimatum to the military’s educational bureaucracy, directing the Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness to establish an immediate task force. Hegseth announced a 90-day &#8220;scorched earth&#8221; assessment of the nation’s senior service colleges, including the Army War College and National Defense University. The mission? To &#8220;rip out&#8221; the DEI playbook and return the focus to what actually matters: lethality, meritocracy, and winning wars.
“Seminars on genocide through the analytic of gender. Hmm, sounds interesting,” Hegseth mused. “So-called ‘whiteness studies.’ Courses that celebrate the history of Hamas, where a professor calls Islamist militants and their attacks ‘astounding’ and ‘incredible.’ Graduate studies that focus on the abolition of law enforcement. Classes on leadership that are just recycled garbage from the old DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion playbook: These are examples of classes that our leaders in our civilian colleges and universities too often celebrate.”
“The truth is, they help cultivate a radical hate America agenda, and we can&#8217;t afford that same toxic ideology in America&#8217;s War Department,” he declared. “It degrades our readiness. It&#8217;s a risk to our forces. And it undermines our mission of peace through strength.”
He continued:
<blockquote>
At the Department of War, we have a duty to ensure that our professional military education develops real leaders, warfighters who dominate into the future. We&#8217;re committed to making our own senior service colleges maintain the highest of standards, that those places align with President Trump&#8217;s commitment to the American people, that our military will remain the strongest in history.
That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m directing the Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness to establish a task force effective immediately. The mission of that task force is to evaluate our senior service colleges, where we educate our own. Think places like the Army War College, or National Defense University, the Naval War College, Marine Corps University, or the Air War College, where our senior officers go to continue their education.
We&#8217;re going to ensure that the professors, administrators, and curriculum of those institutions are focused on national security, strategy, history, and overall excellence, confirm that high standards and meritocracy are forefront, and make sure that what we&#8217;ve seen in our civilian institutions never surface in our military education institutions.
Trust me, I&#8217;ve heard the stories. I know some of our own senior service colleges, some of those that I just listed, have similar courses and similar ideologies. We need to rip ‘em out, and we&#8217;re going to.
This task force will have 90 days to assess whether our senior service colleges — the list I just provided — are actually effective. They&#8217;re going to identify any deficiencies and make sure they&#8217;re focused on core national security issues.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Professional Military Education should produce warfighters and leaders—not wokesters.
That’s why we are establishing a Task Force to evaluate our Senior Service Colleges and ensure the focus is where it belongs.
No distractions. Just warfighting. <a href="https://t.co/zQhUA2bk9I">pic.twitter.com/zQhUA2bk9I</a>
&mdash; Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/2032271118665396517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The move is a sharp course correction from the Lloyd Austin era under the Biden administration, where the Pentagon became a playground for Critical Race Theory and gender-neutral linguistics. In 2021, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-cotton-reveals-military-whistleblower-complaints-on-woke-training-bidens-secdef-insists-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-is-important-to-this-military?utm_source=chatgpt.com">exposed</a> hundreds of whistleblower complaints from service members forced into &#8220;privilege walks&#8221; and told that the U.S. military was a &#8220;fundamentally racist&#8221; institution. In 2022, academics even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marines-receive-woke-report-which-says-to-stop-calling-drill-instructors-sir-maam?utm_source=chatgpt.com">pressured</a> the Marines to drop &#8220;sir&#8221; and &#8220;ma&#8217;am&#8221; to avoid &#8220;misgendering.&#8221;
Hegseth’s directive signals a total rejection of those priorities. By targeting the curriculum and the administrators of senior service colleges, the War Department — a name restored to emphasize the military’s true purpose — is shifting back to the warrior ethos. Hegseth emphasized that if the military is pulling officers out of civilian universities because they have become too &#8220;woke,&#8221; the military’s own institutions must be beyond reproach.
The Secretary’s mandate is clear: the task force will evaluate whether these schools are effectively producing critical thinkers grounded in the principles of the Founding Fathers. No more &#8220;white fragility&#8221; readings; no more &#8220;abolition of law enforcement&#8221; studies. As Hegseth noted, the focus is now on ensuring those rising to the highest ranks are prepared to dominate the battlefield.
Under the new leadership, the era of treating diversity and inclusion as a &#8220;warfighting imperative&#8221; is over.

US-IRAN-ISRAEL-WAR

‘RIP ‘EM OUT’: Hegseth Declares War On Wokeness In Military Schools, Launches 90-Day Review

Department of War

Pete Hegseth

Politics

Wokeness

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1929-iran-the-least-popular-war-ever-launched?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
Self-help guru Tim Ferriss, one of the biggest names in the modern “optimize your life” universe, has apparently just arrived at a conclusion I’ve been yelling about for years: self-help is very, very bad for you. Self-help is self-harm.
Now, I have to admit something up front: I don’t know much about Tim Ferriss. I’ve heard the name before. But I avoid all self-help. It should be clear to you by now that I don’t like self-help literature. It smells like a scam from 100 miles away.
I want to improve myself, yes. I want to improve. But the self-help stuff? No. 
When I was a teenager, I read a little bit of it like &#8220;The 48 Laws of Power&#8221; by Robert Greene. Or the really famous one by Dale Carnegie, &#8220;How to Win Friends and Influence People.&#8221; That’s the classic of the self-help category.
And, as I remember it, all it boils down to this: be nice to people and remember their names. 
That’s it. I just saved you ten bucks on Amazon. 
And I guess that’s good advice.
But a lot of the self-help stuff is pretty noxious. I’ve thought this for years. And apparently Tim Ferriss agrees — at least partially.
<h3>Ferriss’ “Road To Damascus” Moment</h3>
Ferriss seems to have had a Road to Damascus moment — not necessarily with a religious conversion, but with a recognition that what he’s been doing might be wrong.
According to an article in <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/09/tim-ferriss-self-help-may-be-harming-people/">The Telegraph</a> titled, “The self-help guru who decided he might be doing more harm than good,” Ferriss is confronting his most profound insight yet in his latest blog post, “The Self-Help Trap.” The piece is about 3,000 words. It’s got all the usual &#8220;optimization&#8221; language — optimizing is one of the words they all use.
Ferriss, now 48, asks whether his own industry might, with some important caveats, be making desperate people worse rather than better.
And then he says, quote:
<blockquote>“The older I get, the more I think that self-help can be a trap. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. I say this after around 20 years of writing self-help, and a lifetime of consuming it &#8230; What if self-help itself is actually creating or amplifying unhappiness?”</blockquote>
Ferriss says modern self-help contains a &#8220;built-in flaw: to continually improve yourself, you must continually locate the ways you are broken.&#8221;
He gets so close. I love so much of what he’s saying — and then he totally misses the point. The point just goes right over his head. But he gets very close, and so I give him credit for the introspection.
Some people are reading this cynically: is he just doing a new kind of self-help? Has Self-help ruined your life? Read my new book: &#8220;Ten Easy Steps to Get Over Self-Help,&#8221; by Tim Ferriss! 
No. That&#8217;s not what he&#8217;s doing here. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I think maybe he’s being sincere. He’s in the middle of his life’s journey, and he’s had this realization.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1929-iran-the-least-popular-war-ever-launched?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-1054531" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
<h3>Self-Help Is A Trap And You Can See It In The People Who Buy It</h3>
Ferriss says, “I think self-help can be a trap.” That’s true.
The people who are most obsessed with self-help, in my experience, are the most messed up, depressed people.
And you might say, well, yeah — they’re messed up. They’re trying to get help.
Well, it ain’t working.
It’s like your friend or relative who’s been going to the therapist — usually just means drug dealer, but, you know, the psychiatrist — for 30 years. They never get any better. And maybe they get more dope, but they don’t ever get any better. 
And you say, hey, have you thought about trying something different?
And they say, oh, I couldn’t, I’m so messed up—could you imagine if I lost my psychiatrist?
Hold on. Maybe you’re going that backwards. Maybe your psychiatrist is actually not helping but even compounding the problem.
I think that’s what happens with self-help, but not for the reason Tim Ferriss gives.
<h3>The Problem Isn’t “Finding What’s Broken.” It’s Denying What’s Broken.</h3>
Ferriss says self-help has this in-built flaw: to continually improve yourself, you must continually look at the ways you are broken.
That’s not the problem.
You know what else impels you to continually reflect on the ways in which you’re broken? Christianity does that, when you examine your conscience, and especially when you go and confess your sins to a priest. You have to sit down and think of the number and kind of all the ways that you are broken.
The problem with self-help is that it doesn’t do that.
The whole premise of self-help, actually, is a denial of the fundamental ways in which we are broken, because self-help, at its root, I think, denies original sin.
The whole point is that you really can help yourself. And not just help yourself a little bit. You can save yourself. You can optimize your life.
And ultimately you can’t.
You can exercise. You can work-out. You can practice certain habits of virtue. But ultimately, you can’t save yourself.
This is what the Church formally declared when it condemned the heresy of Pelagius. The problem with self-help is it misses out on the best way you can help yourself, which is looking to Someone beyond yourself.
Not looking to Tim Ferriss. Not looking to Dale Carnegie. Not looking to whatever other guru is trending on the internet this week. But looking to Someone who is greater than you — who is so far beyond humanity and yet mysteriously takes on humanity, and so understands us intimately. Not only who created us, but who has lived as one of us — who is like us in all respects, except sin.
That’s what it’s about.
<h3>A Christian Offshoot With All The Fun Parts And None Of The Obligations</h3>
Just as liberalism is a perversion — it’s kind of a spin-off of Christianity that tries to keep all the fun parts of Christianity without any of the obligations and the duties and the limits — this is the same thing with self-help.
The self-help literature I’ve read, some of it, it spins out of Christianity, and it takes away all the limits and all the essential stuff. It takes away the parts that acknowledge that not only are you broken, but you’re so broken that there is essentially nothing you can do without grace.
So, if you want to read some self-help literature, a good writer on this would be Saint Thomas Aquinas, who points out that without grace, every human being will fall into mortal sin. And even if you’re in a state of grace, you’ll still fall into venial sin.
That’s how broken we are.
<h3>The Ferriss Moment We Should All Root For</h3>
Ferriss is close. He’s very close.
We’ve got to help Tim Ferriss be great.
Wouldn’t it be great if one of the big proponents of self-help actually turned people on to real help?
Because the trap isn’t noticing your flaws. The trap is believing you can fix the deepest ones alone — believing that the answer is always inside you, always one more habit, one more hack, one more optimization away.
And that’s not liberation.
That’s just a nicer-looking cage.

OMR Festival 2024 In Hamburg

Tim Ferriss Says Self-Help Is A Trap. He’s Right — But For The Wrong Reason.

Christianity

Michael Knowles

Psychology

At the high-profile United Nations Commission on the Status of Women this week, the United States was the only nation in the world to vote against a woke document that failed to define what a woman is and promoted gender ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion principles, The Daily Wire can first report.
Thirty-six nations are members of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and every single year during the commission, there is an agreed-upon document that focuses on topics affecting women around the world, including injustices.
This year&#8217;s document was a disappointment to Bethany Kozma, Director of Global Affairs (OGA) at the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the other members of President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration who had traveled to the commission in New York.
The document was filled with mentions of DEI, gender ideology, and ambiguous language about &#8220;reproductive rights,&#8221; but was bereft of language unique to womanhood, according to Kozma. &#8220;No mention of motherhood or unique female experiences,&#8221; she said, adding, &#8220;and it failed to define what a woman is.&#8221;
In short, The Daily Wire has learned, it was not aligned with the Trump administration&#8217;s policies and views on these issues. Since the president took office again in 2025, the United States has clearly defined what a woman is, banned boys from girls&#8217; spaces and sports, fought back against transgenderism in the medical world, and shut down many DEI projects in corporations and academia.
&#8220;The UN Commission on Women is supposed to be for women, yet for years, it’s been co-opted to include men pretending to be women,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;Many countries claim to support and empower women, yet some of them cannot even answer the simple question: &#8216;What is a woman?'&#8221;
&#8220;Thanks to the moral leadership of President Trump, the tide is changing and we&#8217;re standing up for women and girls,&#8221; she emphasized. &#8220;And I really was hopeful that we could come to an agreement.&#8221;
Kozma and her delegation from the United States worked hard to participate in good faith, offering amendments to the document that they knew some countries might sign onto. Natalie Dodson, senior advisor to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shared that their delegation worked aggressively to negotiate with the other countries in order to include language defending the integrity of women.
&#8220;The text was not something that the U.S. liked at all,&#8221; Kozma explained. &#8220;It would not have been something that we would have ever put out on behalf of the United States government, but we had offered several amendments that were just very common sense.&#8221;
One amendment that they had been asking for, over and over, was an amendment that essentially defined men and women so that there would be no ambiguity.
<div id="attachment_1056463" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1056463" class="size-full wp-image-1056463" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/IMG_6039-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1920" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/IMG_6039-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/IMG_6039-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/IMG_6039-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/IMG_6039-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/IMG_6039-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Members of the United States Delegation at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.</div>
The Commission on the Status of Women wasn&#8217;t interested in the American amendments, Kozma and Dodson explained to The Daily Wire. Minutes before midnight on Sunday night, the council sent the final draft to the United States without acknowledging any of the American red lines that Kozma&#8217;s team had outlined.
And when it came time to vote on the amendments, which were intended to be voted on separately, the council bundled all the amendments together. Some nations might have voted for one amendment but not another, and bundled together, the amendments failed.
During Monday&#8217;s vote, the United States was the only nation in the world to vote against the document. Six nations abstained: Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia.
Kozma believes it was a deliberate attempt at &#8220;isolation&#8221; by the council to make the United States look like &#8220;we won&#8217;t don&#8217;t defend women and girls.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m really proud of us,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire over the phone. &#8220;We were the only country that was voting to protect women and girls.&#8221;

World Leaders Gather For The 80th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly

U.S. Stands Alone Defending Women In Gender Identity Fight At United Nations

Department of Health and Human Services

Transgender

United Nations

Women

The national chain Smoothie King has issued an official response to a viral video that appears to show a customer wearing pro-Trump apparel being refused service at one of its locations, saying the employees involved have been fired.
It all started when TikTok user @enl1986 posted a video that appeared to show two employees refusing to take an order from a man she identified as her husband, Jake. 
The stated reason for the refusal of service was that Jake was wearing a sweatshirt with Trump’s name on it.
The interaction reportedly occurred at a Smoothie King location in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect,” a <a href="https://x.com/SmoothieKing/status/2028689603314458713">statement</a> from the company said. “Following an investigation into an incident involving a guest who was refused service at a franchised location in Michigan yesterday, the franchise owner has taken immediate action and the two employees involved are no longer with the business.” 
The company added that both the franchise owner and corporate representatives had reached out to the guest multiple times to apologize and would continue to follow up. It also said the local owner will implement &#8220;mandatory retraining&#8221; for all employees.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
location in Michigan yesterday, the franchise owner has taken immediate action and the two employees involved are no longer with the business. Both the franchise owner and Smoothie King corporate have reached out to the guest several times to apologize and will continue to follow
— Smoothie King (@SmoothieKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/SmoothieKing/status/2028617911451930774?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In the video, the woman can be heard telling the employees, “We were just wanting a smoothie and you literally looked at us and I asked you if everything was OK and you said: ‘We don’t feel comfortable serving you’ because of my husband’s hoodie. That is discrimination.&#8221;
One of the employees responded, &#8220;OK, well, have a great day.&#8221; 
&#8220;That is illegal,&#8221; the woman replied. A second employee then chimed in, saying, &#8220;I said, &#8216;Trump discriminates [against] us.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Woman claims Smoothie King in Michigan wouldn’t serve them because her husband was wearing a Trump hoodie
Any comment <a href="https://twitter.com/SmoothieKing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SmoothieKing</a>?? <a href="https://t.co/ASmMBDE7gG">pic.twitter.com/ASmMBDE7gG</a>
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2028398745184817217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“That has nothing to do with us getting a smoothie,&#8221; the woman recording said. An employee responded, &#8220;OK, well, that’s who you support, though, that’s who you love.&#8221;
Later in the video, the woman recording added, &#8220;What’s embarrassing is that we’re American citizens and I wanted to get a smoothie.&#8221; 
At one point, an employee said the store had the &#8220;right to refuse service,” while the man accompanying her described the service refusal as a “crime.” 
The exchange quickly sparked debate on social media, with users divided over whether the employees had the right to refuse service.
“You can be denied service for any reason the retailer decides, it&#8217;s that simple, it doesn&#8217;t matter if the customer is wearing a Trump or Biden hat,” one user <a href="https://x.com/L0rdMoore/status/2028430837432119715">insisted</a>.
Others compared the situation to the infamous Masterpiece Cakeshop case, in which a Colorado bakery owner declined to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, a dispute that reached the Supreme Court.

Smoothie King

Smoothie King Refused To Serve Customer In Trump Hoodie, Employees Face Consequences

Business

Discrimination

Donald Trump

Michigan

Just a few years after boasting about how transgender surgeries were “huge money makers,” Vanderbilt University Medical Center will no longer perform the procedures.
The Nashville-based health care center confirmed to The Daily Wire that the surgeries, which include procedures like crafting pseudo-genitalia for gender-confused individuals and removing the breasts of women who identify as men, were being phased out for logistical reasons.
“Due to operational limitations and lack of surgical coverage, Vanderbilt Health will cease providing gender-affirming plastic surgeries for adults,” a spokesman for the hospital told The Daily Wire. “Vanderbilt Health continues to provide nonsurgical gender-affirming care for adults 19 years and older. Vanderbilt Health does not provide any gender-affirming care for patients younger than 19.”
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, also known as Vanderbilt Health, is a separate entity from Vanderbilt University.
The hospital’s transgender medical program first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/huge-money-maker-video-reveals-vanderbilts-shocking-gender-care-threats-against-dissenting-doctors">faced criticism</a> in September 2022 when Daily Wire host Matt Walsh published videos highlighting comments from Dr. Shayne Sebold Taylor discussing how lucrative transgender surgeries were.
“It’s a lot of money,” said Taylor, the program’s director at the time. “These surgeries make a lot of money.”
Taylor discussed how “chest reconstruction” could bring in $40,000 per patient and described “female-to-male bottom surgeries” — where a fake penis is constructed by taking skin from the forearm, abdomen, and thigh — as “huge money makers.”
“These surgeries are labor intensive, there are a lot of follow-ups, they require a lot of our time, and they make money,” Taylor said. “They make money for the hospital.”
Vanderbilt Health&#8217;s transgender center opened in 2018, and Taylor <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2018/08/21/vanderbilt-transgender-health-clinic-nashville-tennessee/1054571002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> its purpose was “to coordinate” patients&#8217; “care wherever they are in the transition process.”
Taylor has since left VUMC and now runs a primary care center in Massachusetts and <a href="https://www.bluecanyonprimarycare.com/about">describes</a> herself as an expert in “general LGBTQ Health and Adolescent Medicine.”
The investigation from Walsh prompted a statewide probe from Republican officials who moved quickly to pass a ban on transgender procedures for kids. That ban was challenged by the ACLU, but was upheld in June 2025 by the Supreme Court.
Over two dozen states have passed laws to shield minors from transgender surgeries and hormonal procedures. The Trump administration has come down hard on hospitals that offer transgender procedures to kids, pulling federal funding and initiating investigations into hospitals across the country.
One <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=HB2498&amp;GA=114">bill</a> currently making its way through the Tennessee legislature would prohibit dollars from TennCare, the state’s health funding program for impoverished people, from funding transgender procedures.

Four Surgeons discuss each Other Surgical Precision and Healthcare Expertise  before the Operation case

After Boasting About $40K Trans Surgeries, Vanderbilt Health Reverses Course

Nashville

transgender surgery

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers can now detain refugees who haven&#8217;t obtained green cards within their first year in the United States as part of a larger crackdown on fraud and potential national security threats, according to a new federal memo.
The Trump administration is now instructing federal officers to arrest the refugees and &#8220;re-vet&#8221; them, according to the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-gives-ice-broader-powers-to-detain-legal-refugees-citing-security-concerns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a>, which was obtained by CBS News. The Feb. 18 memo states that refugees who haven&#8217;t become legal permanent residents after one year, meaning they never obtained a green card, must avail themselves to federal immigration authorities to have their cases reviewed.
If they fail to do so voluntarily, they may face arrest by ICE.
ICE can then hold them &#8220;for the duration of the inspection and examination process,&#8221; according to the memo, which came from acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow.
&#8220;The detain-and-inspect requirement ensures that refugees are re-vetted after one year, aligns post-admission vetting with that applied to other applicants for admission, and promotes public safety,&#8221; the memo reads.
&#8220;The changes are designed to better enforce the statutory requirement that aliens admitted as refugees who have been present in the United States for at least one year return or be returned to DHS custody for inspection and examination for admission as an LPR [legal permanent resident]. They further reflect the public policy interest in thorough vetting of aliens admitted as refugees, including vetting for national security, public safety, and fraud-related issues.&#8221;
Former ICE New York field office deputy director Scott Mechkowski told The Daily Wire that the move is &#8220;essential,&#8221; given &#8220;evolving global threats.&#8221;
&#8220;This ensures that our immigration system remains resilient against potential fraud or emerging risks and thereby protecting American communities and upholding the integrity of our humanitarian commitments without compromising public safety,&#8221; Mechkowski said.
Previously, refugees couldn&#8217;t be detained solely because of their failure to get residency within their first year in the United States, according to CBS. ICE also had just 48 hours to decide whether to release refugees or place them into deportation proceedings if there were any red flags.
Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and current resident fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Wire &#8220;that the prior policy was not consistent with the language of section 209(a) of the INA [Immigration and Nationality Act],&#8221; which states that refugees who fail to obtain a green card in the first year &#8220;shall, at the end of such year period, return or be returned to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security for inspection and examination for admission.&#8221;
&#8220;The whole idea behind that refugee scheme is that certain foreign nationals are so endangered that we must allow them in, and then we will complete the inspection after they have been here for a year &#8212; a fact that should be clear from the statute,&#8221; Arthur said.
Many refugees let in during the Biden administration &#8220;may not have met the definition of &#8216;refugee'&#8221; as spelled out in the Immigration and Nationality Act &#8220;because they lacked a well-founded fear of persecution on account of the five factors (race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion) therein,&#8221; Arthur said.
Last year, the Trump administration set the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sets-refugee-limit-to-lowest-level-in-history">refugee cap</a> at the lowest level in the country&#8217;s history, allowing just 7,500 immigrants to enter. The federal government also commenced a review of refugees brought into the country during the Biden administration, according to CBS.
An Afghan national who <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/lakanwal-newly-indicted-shooting-guardsmen-near-white-house-killed-sarah-beckstrom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was brought into the country</a> by the Biden administration in 2021 shot two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 26. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom tragically succumbed to the injuries she sustained in the ambush.
The attack sparked a pause on all immigration applications from foreigners who hail from &#8220;high risk&#8221; countries.
Refugee advocates say the latest move by the Trump administration will open the floodgates for the Trump administration&#8217;s deportation campaign.
&#8220;This policy is a transparent effort to detain and potentially deport thousands of people who are legally present in this country, people the U.S. government itself welcomed after years of extreme vetting,&#8221; said Beth Oppenheim, the CEO of HIAS, which helps with refugee resettlement, according to CBS.

US-AFGHANISTAN-CONFLICT-ARRIVALS

A Little-Known Rule Surfaces As Trump Admin Reopens The Books On Refugees

Department of Homeland Security

Refugees

Trump Administration

Kansas will enact legislation banning males who identify as female from using women’s bathrooms after Republican lawmakers overrode Democrat Governor Laura Kelly&#8217;s veto. 
The Kansas House <a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/sb244/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> 87-37 on Wednesday to overturn Kelly’s veto of a <a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/sb244_enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill,</a> which requires that multi-occupancy private spaces in public buildings be separate by sex. The state Senate previously voted 31-9 on Tuesday to do the same. 
“Today, Speaker Hawkins and I signed the veto override for SB 244. Common sense has prevailed against Laura Kelly and the radical left, and now women and girl&#8217;s (sic) private spaces will be protected from biological men,” Senate President Ty Masterson wrote on social media on Wednesday, sharing a photo alongside House Speaker Dan Hawkins. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, Speaker Hawkins and I signed the veto override for SB 244. Common sense has prevailed against Laura Kelly and the radical left, and now women and girl’s private spaces will be protected from biological men. <a href="https://t.co/8UCu7tUzzK">pic.twitter.com/8UCu7tUzzK</a>
— Ty Masterson (@TyMastersonKS) <a href="https://twitter.com/TyMastersonKS/status/2024248789918196154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The law applies to multi-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower facilities designated for use by males or females.
The legislation also defines “gender” for purposes of state law as a person&#8217;s biological sex and requires driver’s licenses to reflect a person&#8217;s sex rather than gender identity. Birth certificates must also list a person’s sex. 
Responding to the override, Kelly <a href="https://www.governor.ks.gov/Home/Components/News/News/926/56">said</a> the bill was “poorly drafted” and would have “far-reaching consequences.” 
She claimed it would prohibit “brothers from visiting sisters’ dorms and husbands from wives’ shared hospital rooms.”
The bill&#8217;s passage was condemned by leftist groups such as the ACLU of Kansas. 
“This discriminatory bill undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. 
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) praised the state legislature for overriding the veto. 
“Congratulations to the Kansas Legislature on this important win for our state. Grateful for the strong leadership of Senate President Ty Masterson, Speaker Dan Hawkins, and the entire Legislature for standing up to radical left gender ideology, and delivering commonsense protections for Kansas girls,” <a href="https://x.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/2024276721168765012">said</a> Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) on Wednesday. 
The veto override was also praised by American Principles Project President Terry Schilling.
“Gov. Laura Kelly tried to smuggle boys into your daughters’ locker room. And when Kansans blocked her, she pretended it was about hospital visitation,” he told The Daily Wire. “What Laura Kelly and Democrats lack in common sense, they make up for with bald-faced lies and indifference to the safety of children.”
Last year, Kansas&#8217;s GOP supermajority <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-republicans-override-dem-governors-veto-to-ban-trans-procedures-on-kids">overrode</a> Kelly&#8217;s veto to enact a law banning transgender medical procedures for children.

Friends applying make-up while looking at mirror

Battle Over Women’s Bathrooms Delivers A Biological Reality Check

Bathrooms

Kansas

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