Free Republic

(Mar. 20, 2026) — Author’s Note: If parents have existing foreign citizenship, the 14th Amendment ‘born in the United States’ citizenship at birth clause DOES NOT APPLY to their children. WHY? Because the child already has the citizenship of their parents. The 14th Amendment was drafted from the 1866 Civil Rights Act to ‘cure’ stateless children whose parents had no nationality to confer, NOT to create ‘dual’ or ‘hybrid’ citizens which is a Conflict of Law. Modern nationality law began in the 1700’s, changing with the age of exploration, colonization, and the decline of feudal monarchies. The jus feudalis ‘feudal’...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) isn't in a good place right now. He's ticked off the people in his party on the left who believe he has been ineffective and should retire. They likely will try to primary him, but that isn't coming until 2028. Meanwhile, they're fuming at him, and even if he wins, they may not re-elect him as leader. On the other hand, he appears to be trying to appease the left by pulling bad moves like blocking funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) right as we are in the middle of a battle...

Such teams are deployed across the country as part of a constantly evolving effort to counter the low-cost loitering munitions that have become a deadly weapon of modern warfare, from Ukraine to the Middle East.While waiting, the crew from the 127th Brigade tests and fine-tunes their self-made interceptor drones, searching for flaws that could undermine performance once the buzzing threat appears. When Shahed drones first appeared in autumn 2022, Ukraine had few ways to stop them. Today, drone crews intercept them in flight with continually adapting technology.In recent years, Ukraine's domestic drone interceptor market has burgeoned, producing some key players...

The once mighty Royal Navy is but a shadow of its former self, reduced to a tiny handful of often broken warships by generations of political mismanagement. This was cruelly exposed recently when Britain found it difficult to dispatch at short notice a single destroyer to Cyprus following an attack on the British base there.

Yes, cigarette smoking is declining and has been for decades. Globally, the number of tobacco users dropped from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024. In the United States, 11.6% of adults smoked cigarettes in 2022, down from roughly 21% in 2005 and over 42% in the mid-1960s. The trend is clear and consistent, but the decline is uneven, with certain populations and regions lagging behind. The Global Picture About one in five adults worldwide still uses tobacco or nicotine products, roughly 20% of the global adult population. That’s a significant number, but it represents real progress. The...

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced Sunday that House Republicans plan to block bills passed by the Senate until that chamber takes action on the SAVE America Act. “This is the issue of our time! I am fine with holding Sen. Thune hostage until we get this done. Figuratively, not literally,” the congresswoman said. She continued by noting agreement across demographic and political lines on the core principle, explaining that “every single person in [the] country agrees it only citizens should vote in our election.” Mace added that the measure represents the best step “to protect democracy.” The SAVE America...

As the search for Nancy Guthrie hit its 50th day Sunday, leaving the local sheriff desperate and humiliated, a legendary cold-case detective insisted to The Post that the case is still ripe with potential leads. “Nancy’s case is still very fresh,” said Brian Martin, the crack detective from Fort Payne, Ind., who helped catch the killer of 8-year-old April Tinsley almost 30 years after her murder. Martin said he is optimistic that law enforcement will track down the abductor of the 84-year-old mom of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, after Nancy vanished with nary a trace from her home near...

George Lucas could be forgiven if he felt triumphant on March 22, 1976. That was the day cameras started rolling on Star Wars, his epic movie project that had already been underway for two years. Despite the success of his previous film, the coming-of-age story American Graffiti, the director struggled to secure studio support for his new movie, and he even considered quitting the business before studio Fox decided to back him. “I really wanted to hold on to my own integrity,” he told Rolling Stone later. “So, I was going to try to write a very interesting project. Right...

David Gilmour's “Black Strat” $14,550,000 World Record Jack Kerouac's Original Typescript Scroll for “On the Road” $12,135,000 World Record Jerry Garcia's custom-built Doug Irwin guitar “Tiger” $11,560,000 World Record Kurt Cobain's “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video Fender Mustang $6,907,000 World Record Eric Clapton's 1939 “MTV Unplugged” Martin 000-42 $4,101,000 World Record John Lennon's Broadwood Upright Piano $3,247,000 World Record Eric Clapton's Gibson SG “The Fool” $3,003,000 World Record Ringo Starr's Beatle logo drum head used in the Ed Sullivan Show $2,881,000 World Record Bob Dylan's handwritten lyrics for “The Times They Are a Changin” $2,515,000 World Record Ringo Starr's First...

Explanation: What would it look like to leave planet Earth? Such an event was recorded visually in great detail by the MESSENGER spacecraft as it swung back past the Earth in 2005 on its way in toward the planet Mercury. Earth can be seen rotating in this time-lapse video, as it recedes into the distance. The sunlit half of Earth is so bright that background stars are not visible. The robotic MESSENGER spacecraft orbit around Mercury from 2011 to 2015 has conducted the first complete map of the surface. On occasion, MESSENGER peered back at its home world. MESSENGER is...

It's a reaction/commentary video (uploaded around March 22, 2026) responding to a segment from Caleb Hammer's "Financial Audit" series. In the original clip, Hammer interviews a blue-haired woman (described as a liberal) who has accumulated significant debt and expresses a desire to leave the U.S. to escape "Trump's America," believing Europe (e.g., Germany) offers better opportunities, especially for artists, easier side hustles, stronger social safety nets, and less excessive capitalism. Main content summary: Hammer challenges her views head-on, arguing that: The U.S. federal budget actually allocates far more to social programs (Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, veterans' benefits, etc.) than to military...

3,000 Jewish children vanished from the face of Nazi-occupied Europe. They weren't deported. They weren't found in concentration camps. They simply evaporated. And the most unlikely place on earth became the perfect hiding spot: a small Protestant village in the heart of occupied France, where pastors and farmers transformed their homes, barns, and schools into underground sanctuaries. But here's the detail that will make you question everything you know about World War II. These children weren't hidden in secret basements or distant forests. They walked the streets. They attended classes. They played in public squares. And the Nazis, with all...

A California sheriff and top Republican candidate for governor seized over 650,000 votes from the state’s November elections this weekend. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco launched an investigation into the state’s November 2025 special election on Proposition 50 after a third-party organization, the Riverside Election Integrity Team, claimed it found roughly 45,000 excess votes. California elections officials have dismissed the team’s findings, but Bianco says his office will conduct another count. “This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes recorded,” Bianco told reporters at a Friday press conference. Proposition 50 was a...

Donald Trump shared a video clip from the U.K.’s version of Saturday Night Live on Truth Social Sunday morning depicting Prime Minister Keir Starmer cowering in fear of the U.S. president. The skit opened on the prime minister’s residence at Number 10 Downing Street, where a worried-looking Starmer sat at his desk making a phone call. “Oh, woah. Oh, golly!” Starmer exclaimed. “What if Donald shouts at me? What do I say?” “Just be yourself, prime minister,” Starmer’s aide advised. “Yourself is whom everyone likes.” When a voice that sounded like Trump answered the call, the Starmer character yelped, “Ah!”...

Lindsey Graham on Kharg Island: "We did Iwo Jima. We can do this."

https://larrys.substack.com/p/a-short-musical-bio Sometime in the late 1970s I abruptly became a history professor. Prior to that, I was a rocker who was "almost famous." Here is a little of my drumming bio, experiences, and influences.

A 37-year-old Florida woman named Mandolyn Shaffer-Brockwell was arrested after allegedly unleashing a violent road rage tirade in Orlando, beating a pregnant driver, attacking an elderly bystander, and biting a police officer who tried to arrest her.(snip) According to police, the incident occurred on February 23 in the middle of a busy Orlando roadway near the Mall of Millenia. Shaffer-Brockwell is accused of repeatedly stopping her vehicle abruptly and refusing to let the pregnant victim change lanes, leading the victim to honk her horn. This allegedly triggered Shaffer-Brockwell, who then burst from her car, charged at the victim's SUV, and...

A Muslim preacher calls on Muslims to show themselves during a banned demonstration in support of Palestinians at Richardplatz, Neukölln, Berlin on October 11, 2023, four days after the October 7 Hamas pogrom in Israel. JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP. The last thing Berlin needs is a day against Islamophobia—what it does need is better politicians. Last Sunday, March 15th, was Berlin’s first “Day of Action and Commemoration against Islamophobia”—an event the city’s senate claimed was intended to strengthen “diversity and social cohesion.” It might better be described as a ‘day of intimidation’ directed at the many Berliners who disagree with...

A California-born American citizen is reportedly rising to lead Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel, and his U.S. citizenship could shield him from the intelligence tools that helped take down his predecessor. Juan Carlos Valencia González, 41, began consolidating control of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel shortly after Mexican special forces killed his stepfather, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, in early March, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Two senior commanders reportedly stood aside rather than contest his takeover, keeping the organization intact, WSJ reported. Valencia González was born in Santa Ana, California. His biological father, Armando Valencia Cornelio, founded the...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just dropped some new merchandise referencing a line from a hearing related to the Epstein files. Upon learning that Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert leaked a photo of her there, she stormed out, expressing that she didn’t care if the panel held her in contempt. “You can hold me in contempt from now until the cows come home,” she said. While this played well with her fans, some find the related merch distasteful. Hillary Clinton’s Epstein hearing merch Footage from the late February hearing started spreading on social media last week. As Clinton answered questions...