Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Constitution Day event at James Madison University about "Rage and the Republic." and various constitutional issues. During the event, organized by the James Madison Center on Civic Engagement, one student asked me what I would change about the U.S. Constitution. I said that I would amend the Constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship, as have other nations who once followed this ill-considered practice. Well, Sen. Rand Paul (R., Kentucky) has wasted no time. He just reintroduced his bill to ban birthright citizenship.
I have previously written about the possible need for such an amendment after the decision in Trump v. Barbara.
With that decision, the matter now rests not with the court but with the country. We have never truly had a national debate over the practice. The basis and future of birthright citizenship have remained matters almost exclusively for the courts.
Most countries in the world reject this controversial policy. Our closest allies in Europe reject birthright citizenship and follow the common practice of "jus sanguinis," or right of blood. We are part of a smaller number of countries following "jus soli," or right of soil.
Various countries that once followed the practice later amended their constitutions or laws to get rid of it. That is what would need to be done with a 28th amendment.
It is time that we have a civil and substantive debate over birthright citizenship in the United States. Given that the states are Democratic-controlled, it is unlikely that an amendment would pass; as noted, we have never been given this decision at the national level. Even with the 14th Amendment's ratification in 1868, there were differing views on the meaning of the critical line: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Both sides have good-faith arguments, but the time for that debate is long overdue.
Here is the language of the amendment:
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect United States citizenship.
That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:
"article -
"Section 1. For purposes of the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States, a person may be considered to be 'subject to the jurisdiction of the United States' only in accordance with section 2.
"Section 2. A person born in the United States may only be considered 'subject to the jurisdiction of the United States' if the person is born in the United States of parents, one of whom is -
"(1) a citizen or national of the United States;
"(2) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States whose residence is in the United States; or
"(3) an alien with lawful status under the immigration laws performing active service in the Armed Forces.
"Section 3. Congress shall have the power to carry out this article through appropriate legislation."
Tyler Durden Thu, 09/17/2026 - 15:05Kremlin sources are sounding the alarm over increasing NATO flights observed flying closely to Russia's border, amid dangerously heightened rhetoric over alleged Russian drone incursions in the Baltics and Poland, as well as accusations of a Russian-backed UAV sabotage campaign in Germany and central Europe.
State media reports, "German, French and UK military aircraft have been spotted flying near the Russian border, according to flight data analyzed by Sputnik on Thursday."
Example of a French Air Force Airbus A330 MRTTThe heightened Western military aerial activity is further described, with the outlet writing, "A German air force aircraft took off from the German Nordholz airfield at around 6:12 a.m. (GMT) and as of 8:50 a.m. it was spotted patrolling over the Baltic Sea."
"A French air force Airbus A330-243MRTT military aircraft was circling in Finnish airspace near the Russian border as of 9:42 a.m., while a UK air force Boeing Poseidon MRA1 patrol aircraft with the call sign RFR7045 was circling near Russia's Kaliningrad Region in Polish airspace as of 10:30 a.m.," the report indicates.
We earlier detailed how recent drone spillover from the conflict, including explosive-laden drones coming out of Belarusian territory and threatening the Baltics, has resulted in Western officials increasingly alluding to NATO 'collective defense'.
This kind of rhetoric strongly suggests the situation could rapidly escalate into full-blown Russia-NATO direct confrontation on the basis of a single aircraft shootdown.
Earlier this week Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to allegations of European officials that Moscow seeks to expand the war beyond Ukraine.
"I would like to emphasize that we have no interest in engaging in this [attacking Europe], but if Europe, which is talking about preparing for war against Russia on a daily basis, attacks Russia, it will be a completely different war, and it will be very short," Lavrov said in translated remarks. There was clearly a whiff of nuclear threat behind these remarks.
Ukraine war spillover into NATO 'eastern flank' members' airspace is now becoming a weekly reality, which presents added pressure and dangers which could potentially lead to broader disaster.
Poland border train station strike was by far the biggest event this month, taking the jingoistic rhetoric and tit-for-tat threats higher:
Russia has hit a border control point at the border with Poland.
Russian drones have been terrorizing Western regions of Ukraine yesterday and last night.
It is reported that air raid alerts also sounded in several regions of Poland. pic.twitter.com/cY6mSAgYsB
Given there have been instances where even Russian-crewed jets have either briefly violated European airspace or come close to it, we are possibly one jet intercept and downing away from something that triggers a shooting war between Russia and NATO.
Tyler Durden Thu, 09/17/2026 - 14:45Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times,
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a measure put forward by Republicans that would provide a federal blueprint to ensure data centers pay for their use of local energy grids.
It was adopted in a 417-3 vote.
The legislation would impose new requirements that AI and other data centers - which draw huge amounts of electricity from local power grids, straining supplies and leading to utility bill shocks for households across the nation - make deals with local providers to cover "the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission, or distribution upgrade necessary" to serve their energy needs.
Ahead of the vote, it was unclear whether the legislation could win the backing of progressive lawmakers, who have broadly expressed concerns that the legislation would not go far enough to tackle the issue in view of its reliance on voluntary action.
At the same time, the law was endorsed by the Problem Solvers Caucus, a powerful contingent of centrist lawmakers whose members helped introduce and champion the legislation.
"Economic growth should never depend upon shifting private costs onto working families. That principle is at the heart of the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act and of my work with families across Bucks and Montgomery Counties who are already feeling the strain of rising utility costs," wrote Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chair Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
"We need energy infrastructure that supports American technology, but American families cannot be expected to foot the bill," said Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chair Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.).
Data centers are top of mind for many American voters this year.
The data centers used to power AI services like ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Grok, and others - aside from their extensive land requirements - require massive amounts of energy.
Estimates indicate that currently, data centers use about 4 percent of the U.S. electric grid, according to online energy shopping and consultation platform Electric Choice.
Drawing roughly 176 TWh (Terawatts) of electricity per year, the energy used to power these facilities could otherwise be used to power 16 million homes, according to Electric Choice.
The Energy Department and other analysts have estimated that share could skyrocket to 12 percent of the national power grid in the coming years.
Despite promises by many data centers to provide their own power, residents in areas where such centers have been built have reported spikes in their energy bills.
Anxiety over the possibility of such utility price jumps has driven many voters to be skeptical or outright hostile to the construction of such facilities in their area.
Likewise, cooling the computers that execute AI queries requires significant amounts of water, raising fears that energy might not be the only utility cost affected by the data centers.
Other residents living near data centers have reported that the facilities are noisy. According to these residents, the massive fan and cooling system used to keep the servers from overheating is loud enough to travel through walls and disturb sleep.
Tyler Durden Thu, 09/17/2026 - 14:25