The American Mind has an interesting article on the issue of birthright citizenship, as granted by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

Birthright Citizenship: Game On! is an analysis of the crucial clause in the amendment "... and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which forms the foundation on which President Trump has based his Executive Order regarding the same.

Please read the article to educate yourself on this issue, which is sure to become a major news topic as the lawsuits against the Executive Order make their way to the Supreme Court, as they will certainly do.

UPDATE (January 24, 2025, 10:00 am)

Joe Cunningham on RedState has an alternate view in his piece entitled Can Trump's Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship Survive the Courts?  It references one of the cases in listed in the piece linked to above, in just the way the The American Mind said would be referenced.  Both pieces are well written, and worthy of your time to read them.

OK… for all my lib friends and Never Trumper friends, here’s my first “call out” of President Trump.  But I want to be clear… this is one of the things I knew about him before I voted for him, and I don’t regret having done so because I think it would have been just as bad, if not worse, if Harris had won.  It's less a Republican vs. Democrat thing than it is a human thing.

So what am I calling him out on?  He’s high on AI.  But with regard to this issue, he’s just in line with what’s been a problem in society for decades:  we never seem to take the time to ask the questions “Yes, we can do this, but ought we?  And if so, what are the risks and foreseeable unintended consequences?  What restrictions should we put on this?  Is it even possible to restrict?  What can we put in place to protect against it being misused?

I think I’m more concerned about where this technology will take us than almost any other issue, despite the obviously good things it can bring.  Humans do not have a very good record of refraining from using powerful tools for evil, even if their record is better on using them for good.

This is something that should concern everyone, regardless of your politics.

Oh, yeah... there's this prediction from Larry Ellison, one of the technocrats Trump fêted in his announcement yesterday of a $500 Billion (with a 'B') investment into developing AI.

All that being said, Trump is right in his belief that we can't let other nations get "there" before us.  Wherever "there" is, is what scares me.

Is it possible that Adams has been red-pilled?  Maybe a little bit?  Boy, this looks interesting!  I can't wait to see the whole thing.

Fast forward to 2:30.  Whatever you think about Marco Rubio, he knows how to speak extemporaneously.  Whether or not he knows his stuff, he sure gives the impression he does.  The confidence and fluidity with which he speaks is amazing.  It will be a great asset in a Secretary of State.

https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-delivers-remarks/654726

Without any comment on the need or appropriateness of Biden's pardon of Fauci et al, he has certainly given cover for any pardons Trump gives to the J6 prisoners.

Perhaps this gives us an opportunity for a new start.

However, just for full context and to pre-emptively avoid any comments to the contrary, the Supreme Court decided long ago that granting a pardon imputes guilt, and accepting it admits guilt.

This is why a pardon has no effect unless the person to whom the pardon was granted actually accepts it.  Further, accepting a pardon means that the person can no longer invoke the 5th Amendment against self-incrimination, since there is no longer any risk of punishment.  See:

Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79 (1915)

I'm continually amazed at the Vatican and the American bishops.  The hypocrisy and disingenuousness with which they treat the issue of immigration is especially galling.

Here's an English translation of a portion of a decree, issued on December 19, 2024, by the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State concerning Illicit Entry into the Territory of the Vatican City State (original in Italian at: https://vaticanstate.va/.../N.%20DCCX%20-%2020241219.pdf, emphasis mine).

Article 1 - Entry with Violence or Deception into the Territory of the Vatican City State

Unless the act constitutes a more serious crime, entry into the Vatican City State using violence, threat, or deception is punishable by imprisonment from one to four years and a fine of €10,000 to €25,000.

Entry "with deception" includes fraudulent evasion of security and protection systems or bypassing border controls.

Article 2 - Aggravating Circumstances

The penalty from Article 1 increases by one-third to one-half if the act involves firearms, offensive instruments, corrosive substances, masked persons, or groups.

The penalty increases by up to two-thirds if the individual drives a vehicle to gain entry, evades or forces border controls, or disregards law enforcement orders to stop.

Article 5 - Violation of Access Prohibition

Violating an access ban results in imprisonment from one to five years and a fine of €10,000 to €25,000.

A subsequent 15-year access ban applies after conviction.

I've been seeing the word "decimated" being used in various news reports about the fires in California, as in "the entire neighborhood has been decimated," when the context and the photos show that the neighborhood has been devastated.  I think that would have been a better word to use.  But I've seen "decimated" used repeatedly.

It kind of reminds me of the time I became conscious of how centralized and incestuous the news media really are.