Welcome to my Substack newsletter. You will get this free newsletter during the week showing you some of the stories the media ignores.

 

 

What’s the real poverty line? Don’t put your money on recent viral claims

A recent viral essay claims that a typical household needs $140,000 per year to live. The current official poverty line of $32,000 for a family of four, writes Wall Street portfolio manager Michael W. Green, amounts to “measuring starvation.”

The claim is startling, but economists say it doesn’t add up.

Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl says Green is wrong for three main reasons: He ignores changes and improvements in how poverty is calculated, drastically underestimates how much income Americans have, and dramatically overestimates how much people need to spend on basic items.

Scott Winship with the American Enterprise Institute notes that there are multiple measures of “poverty” done by the federal government. And no matter which one you pick, “far fewer Americans are poor today than in the past.” Click here to read more.

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No Marriage. No Babies. No Future. Will America Reverse Its Downward Trend?

A new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows that, absent immigration, America’s population will begin to shrink by 2030. As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, this projection underscores a hard truth: the collapse of marriage and family life represents the gravest threat to our great nation’s future.

That is why The Heritage Foundation has released the first in a series of special reports on “Saving America by Saving the Family.” The central argument is straightforward. Our country cannot afford to continue ignoring our declining marriage and birth rates, as lawmakers on both the left and the right have done for decades.

The discussion ranges from eliminating all marriage penalties embedded in welfare programs to new tax credits for married families, to offering public honors to couples for every decade they remain married. Click here to read more.

‘Melania’ Director Brett Ratner Gives First Lady ‘All the Credit’ for Documentary’s Opening Weekend Success

Melania documentary director Brett Ratner told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview – hours after the film hit theaters worldwide – that First Lady Melania Trump deserves “all the credit” for the picture’s historic opening weekend success.

Melania is set to haul in more than $8 million in its opening weekend, which would be the best at the box office for a documentary in the last decade. A humble Ratner told Breitbart News via a phone interview Saturday that he gives “all the credit” to the first lady, the film’s subject, for its extremely successful box office performance.

“I have to give all the credit to Melania because this was something that she came up with, even, obviously, before she met me. The fact that she had hired a feature director like myself to do a documentary was very surprising, and for me as well. But she said to me from day one, I want this to be very cinematic. Click here to read more.

 

Biggest revelations from final Epstein documents include lavish gifts to top Obama lawyer

Never-before-seen emails were included in the newly-released Jeffrey Epstein case files on Friday.

The emails from the U.S. Justice Department files show the convicted sex criminal gave former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler luxury gifts, including a Hermes-branded Apple Watch, a $9,400 Hermes handbag, and a spa treatment package at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Correspondence between Washington Commanders and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris and Epstein were included in the latest files released.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Harris had correspondence with Epstein after his guilty plea in 2008 for solicitation of prostitution with a minor, but prior to his arrest on child sex trafficking charges in 2019. Click here to read more.

 

New SNAP work requirements kick in for more states Feb. 1: What to know

New work requirements are expanding across more states Sunday for SNAP, the nation’s largest federal assistance program.

Starting today, adults between the ages of 18 and 64 without dependent children must work, participate in employment and training programs, or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to be eligible to receive SNAP benefits. Those who do not meet the requirement can receive benefits for only three months within a three-year period.

The new requirements expand work rules to additional groups that were previously exempt, including adults ages 55 to 64 and parents with children ages 14 or older. The law also eliminates prior exemptions for veterans, homeless people and individuals ages 18 to 24 who were in foster care when they turned 18, according to federal guidance. Click here to read more.

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Whitmer’s Michigan: Population increases by 0.27% from 2024 to 2025 — due entirely to migrants

Michigan’s population increased by a scant 0.27% between July 2024 and June 2025, due entirely to migrants, according to new U.S. Census numbers.

The state’s population stood at an estimated 10,127,884 in June 2025, or about 27,922 more residents than a year prior, despite nearly 5,000 more deaths than births.

Deaths over the year totaled 104,678, while there were 99,680 births, a deficit of 4,998, MLIVE reports.

Domestic net migration from other states totaled 1,796, while international migration was 30,706, which combined to offset the birth-death deficit by 27,992. That figure is roughly 10,000 less than the number of residents added between 2023 and 2024.

Without the international migration, Michigan’s population would have declined by about 3,202 residents, based on the Census figures. Click here to read more.

 

How a Kids’ Soccer Game Became a Child Welfare Case

Heather Bryant, a teacher in Park City, Utah, only learned that a Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) worker had interviewed her three kids after the fact.

“I got a call from the DCFS investigator,” Bryant said in a phone call. “I was sitting at work and was absolutely knocked sideways by it. My hand was shaking—I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation.”

The investigator informed Bryant that someone had called DCFS to report overhearing a conversation between their son and Bryant’s middle son. The 8-year-old boys were talking about how Bryant’s 12-year-old son had been rough with them during a neighborhood soccer game.

This was labeled “child-on-child physical aggression during play” by the DCFS. Click here to read more.

 

Jury finds city of Seattle liable for teen’s death in CHOP zone; awards family $30-million

SEATTLE — A jury has awarded the father of a teen who was shot and killed in the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone in Seattle in 2020 approximately $30-million after finding the city was negligent in how it handled the weeks-long protest zone.

The family of Antonio Mays Jr., 16, filed a lawsuit alleging his death was the result of unsafe conditions in the CHOP Zone, which the city of Seattle had known about for weeks by the time he was killed in late June of 2020.

The lawsuit alleged Mays had been ‘lured’ into the CHOP zone by a statement from city officials who supported the CHOP zone during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. Click here to read more.

 

How The Military Gave A Homeless Lesbian’s ‘Minority Contracting’ Firm $19 Million

Rhonda Valles is an aspiring California musician who once played in a band with her ex-lover, Monica Salci. In between writing and performing songs, Valles and Salci formed a company that purported to make clothes.

The company never produced a stitch. The federal government paid it $19 million.

The spectacle demonstrates the absurdity of 8(a) contracting law, which requires that that 5% of all federal government contracts be “set aside” for minority-, women-owned, and other “disadvantaged” businesses. The program — which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said this month has resulted in $100 million contracts going out the door without competitive biddingn nearly every day — has led to paydays for flagrant middlemen who use their disadvantaged status to win government contracts, only to subcontract the work to larger firms. Click here to read more.

 

Florida nurse’s license revoked after viral post promising to refuse anesthesia to ‘MAGA’ patients’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Thursday that Erik Martindale is no longer a registered nurse in the state, following a viral social media post in which Martindale reportedly vowed to refuse anesthesia to patients supporting the “MAGA” movement.

The decision comes after a week of intense public pressure and calls for disciplinary action spearheaded by the attorney general’s office. Martindale, a graduate of the University of Miami, drew widespread condemnation after a Facebook post circulated showing him in uniform with a message stating he would not provide anesthesia for “MAGA” surgeries or procedures.

“Effective today, Erik Martindale is no longer a registered nurse in Florida,” Uthmeier stated on X. “Healthcare is not contingent on political beliefs, and we have zero tolerance for partisans who put politics above their ethical duty to treat patients with the respect and dignity they deserve.” Click here to read more.

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Liberty Township calls state police to eject group of elderly quilters who refused to leave community hall

After 137 years helping disabled veterans, families suffering tragedies, and premature newborns in Wexford County’s Liberty Township, the Liberty Ladies Aid is struggling.

In July, township trustees dissolved a contract with the group of about a dozen elderly women who sew quilts and assemble gift baskets for folks in need, ending the Aid’s free use of the township hall that dated back to 1932, the Cadillac News reports.

Township trustees later reversed course under pressure from locals who rallied behind the ladies, though the relationship between the Aid and township remains tense.

On Thursday, the township’s elected officials called state police to force the women from the township hall as trustees reconsidered a public information request from the Aid in a closed session, WWTV reports.

Aid President Mary Hallett told the news site the group had moved to the foyer, but that wasn’t good enough.

“I’m not trying to cause a problem. We had left right after (clerk) Amanda (Kimbel-Sparks) said, we’re calling the cops. We left,” Hallett said. “We didn’t fight … against it or anything.” Click here to read more.

 

Disarming Millions of Americans Simply Because They Use Marijuana Is Unconstitutional, a SCOTUS Brief Says

Judging from federal survey data, nearly a quarter of Americans 18 or older used marijuana in 2024, while 16 percent reported using it during the previous month. Those numbers suggest that somewhere between 43 million and 62 million Americans are disqualified from gun ownership because of their cannabis consumption, even if they live in one of the 40 states that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use. Marijuana users who nevertheless try to exercise the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms are committing up to four federal felonies.

In United States v. Hemani, a case the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on March 2, the Trump administration is asking the justices to uphold that policy, which it says is perfectly reasonable and constitutional. Click here to read more.

Trump Finds California Illegally Hid Gender Identity From Parents

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education found that California violated federal parental rights law by pressuring schools to hide children’s so-called transgender identity from their parents.

A U.S. Department of Education investigation found that the California Department of Education violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA.

The state’s policies “have created state-directed pressure for schools to violate FERPA by concealing student records about a child’s so-called gender transition from a child’s parents,” an official for the U.S. Education Department said.

“During our investigation, we uncovered a systemic problem of schools maintaining secret records, such as gender support plans, and other records of the like, and claiming that they are not part of a student’s cumulative record, which is accessible to parents under FERPA.” Click here to read more.

 

Dog dies after owner’s door allegedly kicked in by teens trying TikTok challenge

DELTONA, Fla. - Authorities in Florida plan to make an arrest after taking a second look at a case in which teenagers allegedly kicked a woman’s door in, leading to the death of her dog.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office says a group of teens was playing “ding dong ditch” in a Deltona neighborhood in December when things escalated. Investigators say one of the teens kicked in the front door of Dissany Cid’s home.

Cid wasn’t home at the time, but her dogs were. One of them, a 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier named Spookie, got out and ran away because he was scared. He was later found dead after being hit by a car.

“It’s devastating,” Cid said. “I feel like I failed him.” Click here to read more.

 

Florida suspends license of nurse who wished childbirth injury on Karoline Leavitt

The former labor and delivery nurse, identified as Alexis Lawler, posted a video on social media last week in which she wished Leavitt would experience a “fourth degree tear” during childbirth. She was fired over the post.

The emergency suspension order, which was obtained by FOX News, bans Lawler from working as a registered nurse in the state.

“Effective today, Lexie Lawler is no longer allowed to practice nursing in Florida,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said on X. “Making statements that wish pain and suffering on anyone, when those statements are directly related to one’s practice, is an ethical red line we should not cross. I’m proud of [Ladapo] for taking this decisive action.”

Lawler has not commented on the order, but her actions were denounced by her former employer, Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, who told Fox News that Lawler’s comments “do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of healthcare professionals.”

Leavitt announced that she was pregnant with her second child in December.