News of the Week for March 22nd, 2026
- 2026 Election
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Socialized Medicine
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
2026 Election
US Senate candidate convicted of tossing live tarantula into Airbnb in ‘Home Alone’-inspired harassment campaign
A US Senate candidate was just convicted of tossing a live tarantula into a home she rented out on Airbnb — admitting she got the bizarre idea from the flick “Home Alone” to try to get her tenant to flee.
Illinois Democratic Primary Voters Don’t Want Nobody Nobody Sent
Perhaps there’s something to be said for insularity. After last night’s primary elections, Illinois — which in terms of its Democratic vote, is geographically concentrated in Chicagoland now more than ever — seemingly retains the old spirit: They know who they know, and they don’t want any new blood just yet.
Republicans top California’s confounding race for governor, new poll shows
Two Republicans lead in California’s gubernatorial primary, creating a historic possibility that both could advance to the general election in November and potentially shut out Democrats in a heavily blue state. Democrats remain fractured among eight top candidates with no clear front-runner, while voters stay largely disengaged less than 60 days before ballots arrive in their mailboxes. Affordability dominates voter concerns, with 4 in 10 Californians citing the cost of living as the most pressing issue for the next governor to address.
California Republican Party Plans To Block Candidates Aligned With Nick Fuentes
In a February memo, the California Republican Party urged county organizations to tighten vetting procedures to block supporters of podcaster Nick Fuentes from gaining influence in the party.
California Democrats May Have To Choose Between 2 Republicans in November’s Gubernatorial Race
California initiatives will fuel an already fiery November election, and the state’s top-two primary might end up excluding Democrats in the governor’s race.
Abortion
Court Cases & Legislation
‘Slap in the Face’: Major Pro-Life Group Unloads on Trump Admin After DOJ Moves to Dismiss Abortion Pill Suits
The rift between the institutional pro-life movement and the Trump administration is growing wider as the administration continues to resist red-state efforts to restrict the availability of abortion pills.
Georgia Woman Charged with Murder After Taking Abortion Drug
A Georgia woman has been charged with murder after taking the abortion drug misoprostol while in her second trimester.
Gun Rights
Virginia’s Impending ‘Assault Firearm’ Ban Is Logically and Constitutionally Dubious
The ban, which targets guns based on criteria that make little sense, seems vulnerable to a challenge under the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment precedents.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Dramatic New Ice Core Evidence Shows Current Century Warming Common Throughout the Last 400,000 Years
Lies, disinformation and fictional accounting are the order of the day as a desperate hard-Left UK government, aided by its pet Climate Change Committee, tries to keep its impossible Net Zero controlling agenda intact. The bedrock unproven science claims surround the suggestion that recent limited global warming presents an existential threat to the planet.
University Pushes ‘Tree Rights’
The University of Sussex has published a “toolkit” to enable political and legal action to grant “rights” to trees. This is consistent with the radical environmentalist activism seen in many universities, such as Harvard Law, which is now teaching “nature rights” principles and strategies to students.
The Lasting Damage of Paul Erlich’s Pessimism
He lived long enough to see how wrong his predictions were, but never changed his beliefs.
Wisconsin Governor Vetoes Anti–’Nature Rights’ Legislation
The Republican bill ultimately passed, and as I suspected he would, Governor Tony Evers just vetoed it. In his veto message, he claimed (laughably, in my view) that it was to protect the prerogatives of local governments.
Socialized Medicine
Government in Healthcare
Emotional four-hour debate ends with Scotland’s assisted dying bill failing
Members of the Scottish Parliament vote 69 to 57 against legalising assisted dying. One member abstained
Medicare-for-all makes a comeback
But don’t expect any Democrats to have an easier time selling it.
Review: Did the Feds Finally Crack the Food Pyramid Code? Probably Not.
It’s far more likely we’ll be back to revise the pyramid again a decade from now.
War & Terror
Trump Finally Starts to Play Hardball with Xi
The Trump administration’s approach to China and Xi Jinping has left a lot to be desired, but as the pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers mounts, there are some encouraging signs that President Trump is taking a tougher line with Xi. On paper, the U.S. war against Iran is bad news for China, but that could change if the sense grows that the U.S. is tied down in another Middle East war. Meanwhile, three new details make the government’s actions regarding the Old Dominion University terrorist even worse.
Damn Strait
We have to be perfect, and they just have to hit a ship here or there to make the point that the Strait isn’t yet completely safe.
Trump Hunts for Allies to Help Reopen the Strait of Hormuz
Typically, a president would assemble an international coalition of the willing, so to speak, before the outset of a fraught military campaign against a hostile adversary, not after. That is not this president’s style. But for all his willingness to test the staid parameters of conventional wisdom in Washington, Donald Trump seems to be learning that gratuitously antagonizing your allies can invite undesirable consequences.
An Anti-Manifesto on the Iran War
Getting on the bandwagon, whether pro or con, would be dishonest.
The Case for Trump’s War Is the Case for Bush’s War
‘It’s not 2003.” So say some fervent Donald Trump supporters who are desperate to distinguish the U.S. attack on Iran from the U.S. invasion of Iraq 23 years ago. And since it’s not 2003, “this is not a time for neocons to be spiking the football.” So said Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and, by saying so, inadvertently made the case that the “neocons” he takes to have been responsible for the Iraq War do have excellent reason to spike the football over Iran. The Trump of Roberts’s imagination would never do anything like what the “neocons” of his wild and convenient imaginings cooked up for Iraq. Except that Trump just did.
Drones over base where Rubio, Hegseth live raise security concerns
U.S. officials detected unidentified drones above the Washington Army base where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live, according to three people briefed on the situation. Officials have not determined where they came from, two of the people said.
Is NATO a Partnership or Just a Series of Deals?
Do the member nations of NATO see the organization as a true community of interests, or simply a set of bilateral deals that require continual renegotiation? And is that community of interests tied to a common global vision and order, or is it narrowly an alliance against Russian territorial aggression in Europe?
Maybe Trump’s ‘Nixon to China’ Moment Is ‘Boots on the Ground’
Throughout much of Donald Trump’s career in politics, Washington insiders speculated that the president was poised like few others in the GOP to engineer a “Nixon to China” moment when it came to immigration.
Iranian and Romanian charged after allegedly trying to enter UK nuclear naval base
The pair were arrested after reports on Thursday of two people trying to enter Faslane base where submarines carrying the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent are kept.
Iran fired missiles at Diego Garcia
Neither projectile hit target, with one intercepted by a US warship and the other failing in flight
Germany pushes new military cooperation deal with Japan
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is proposing a new agreement to make it easier for troops from both countries to operate on each other’s territory.
National
In undercover videos, Arizona State U. admins admit DEI continues despite ban
Two newly released undercover videos show Arizona State University administrators admitting that diversity, equity, and inclusion practices are still embedded in the school despite a ban on the ideology.
The Real Nuclear History of Iran
The regime never stopped seeking a weapon, and Obama’s deal didn’t end its pursuit.
Sheriffs rebel against Donald Trump’s, Gov. DeSantis’ mass deportation efforts
Florida’s Republican Sheriffs want President Donald Trump to end mass deportations of undocumented immigrants who haven’t committed crimes, a striking shift from law enforcement in the nation’s most aggressive anti-undocumented immigration state.
Man charged with planting bombs near the Capitol claims he’s covered by Trump pardon
Attorneys for Brian Cole Jr. argue he’s included in the broad clemency president granted for Jan. 6-related offenses.
The First American Liberation
250 years ago today, Boston was freed from eight years of occupation — thanks largely to 25-year-old Henry Knox.
DOJ sues UCLA over anti-Semitism, unsafe campus conditions
The Department of Justice alleges that UCLA violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing for violence and discrimination toward Jewish students and faculty. The DOJ cites instances of violence and harassment at student-led UCLA blockade
Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years
An investigation by The New York Times found extensive evidence that the United Farm Workers co-founder groomed and sexually abused girls who worked in the movement.
The Horrible Truth Comes Out About Cesar Chavez
Credit the New York Times for doing the legwork to deliver a bombshell. Cesar Chavez, arguably the highest-profile icon of the American labor movement in the second half of the 20th century, emblem of the U.S. Latino community, and one of the most influential American leftists of all time, was a horrific serial sexual abuser of women and teenage girls. The man died in 1993, and in the ensuing decades, he’s been hailed and celebrated as a hero of the downtrodden. But now we know he was a particularly heinous type of oppressor.
California’s unfinished wildlife ‘bridge to nowhere’ tops $100M
In 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a project featuring an overpass for animals atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California.
The Supreme Court’s Biggest Arguments This Term Reveal Who is Driving the Conversation
A rundown of the numbers from Supreme Court oral arguments so far this term
Political operatives with Trump ties raked in millions of dollars in commissions from DHS ad campaign
Two companies with ties to veteran political operatives received at least $23 million in commissions for their role in the controversial Department of Homeland Security ad campaign that helped lead to Secretary Kristi Noem’s ouster.
Some DHS contractors told White House officials they were asked to pay Corey Lewandowski
Some companies complained to the Trump administration that Lewandowski has stood to personally profit from the DHS contracting process. Lewandowski denies the allegations.
U.S. Prosecutors Investigate Colombia’s President, a Onetime Trump Foe
The Justice Department is examining whether President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has ties to drug traffickers.
Chuck Norris, Action Icon and ‘Walker Texas Ranger’ Star, Dies at 86
Chuck Norris, the martial arts champion who became an iconic action star and led the hit series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” has died. He was 86.
Trump Told Inner Circle Some Mass Deportation Policies Went Too Far
President directs a new approach as some advisers believe immigration is no longer as strong a political issue for Trump
ICE Is Using Phone Extraction Software Linked to Russia’s FSB-Connected Network
Over the past decade, federal agencies have dramatically expanded their use of digital surveillance and extraction tools, embedding mobile forensics software into immigration enforcement, criminal investigations, and national security operations. One of the tools currently used by ICE traces back to a company connected to Russia’s mobile forensics industry — and to an FSB-linked network tied to one of the FBI’s most wanted hackers.
Robert Mueller, Former FBI Director Who Led 2016 Russia Investigation, Dead at 81
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who also served as special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, has died. He was 81.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Civil unrest, true threats, and South Carolina receptions.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seizes more than half a million ballots
Bianco’s investigation, which includes all the ballots cast in Riverside County in November, raises questions about how he would handle the election denialism movement if he is elected governor. The sheriff said his investigators are looking into allegations that the county’s tally was falsely inflated — a claim that local election officials have refuted. The unusual probe drew a sharp rebuke from California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.
Calif. Democrats advance measure to allow race-based preferences in financial aid
GOP, conservative watchdogs sound alarm on new effort to circumvent California’s longstanding ban on affirmative action
Economy & Taxes
Wholesale prices rose 0.7% in February, much more than expected and up 3.4% annually
The producer price index, a measure of pipeline costs that producers receive for their products, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7% on the month. Core PPI was up 0.5%. On a 12-month basis, PPI inflation was at 3.4%, the most since February 2025, while core was at 3.9%, according to the BLS. Food prices rose 2.4% while energy was up 2.3%. Within food, the index for fresh and dry vegetables soared 48.9%.
No, Mr. President, Oil Prices Are Not “Already Coming Back Down”
In the past few months, I’ve been particularly critical of President Trump’s comments on the economy, reiterating that you can’t spin people’s perceptions of their own finances. People know how much they’re making, how much they’re paying for groceries and other expenses, how much they have left over at the end of the month, and if they have a 401(k), how it’s doing.
Powell: Job creation is near zero
Fed sees unemployment holding at 4.4% amid low labor force growth driven by immigration declines and lower participation rates.
Red Ink Rising: National debt tops $39 trillion
Senate again votes down ‘war powers’ resolution on Iran conflict
Congress Rewards Mediocrity
Yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions held an oversight hearing on the Export–Import Bank of the United States. The sole witness: former Ex–Im Chairman John Jovanovic, who sat before legislators to discuss the Export–Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2026.
The ‘Armageddon Scenario’ for Middle East Energy Exports Arrives
Energy industry analysts warn that the Iranian strikes on Qatari liquefied natural gas have triggered the “Armageddon scenario” for that industry, as getting those facilities back up and running like before will take years. Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres lets the world know that he is quite upset with the United States, Israel, and Iran, to no consequence. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy is unwilling to send warships to the Middle East because the threat posed by Iran means the situation “too fluid.” But you know who is sending warships to the Persian Gulf for escort duties? India and Pakistan.
International
Ethiopia starts to bury its Marxist past
Floating the currency and selling off state assets could make the country a model for Africa’s closed economies.
Opinion
‘We’re going to have a problem’: Republicans want Trump to move on from 2020
Facing a difficult midterm landscape, there’s a growing view in the GOP that revisiting election grievances risks distracting from the issues that matter most.
Paul Ehrlich’s Disastrous Legacy
“I was a college student when I read Mr. Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb,” wrote Wall Street Journal reader Kenneth Emde of “population scientist” Paul Ehrlich’s most famous work in a 2023 letter. “I took it to heart and now have no grandchildren, but 50 years later, the population has increased to eight billion without dire consequences. I was gullible and stupid.”
The Nazi philosopher behind the postliberal right
Carl Schmitt wrote the legal justifications for Hitler’s seizure of power. His ideas are now in the White House.
Transparency Requires More Than Half a Syllabus
The UNC System should address the flaws in its new syllabus policy.
Brendan Carr, minister of truth
The FCC chairman keeps showing why his agency shouldn’t exist.
Two Strange Omissions in Remembering the Work of David Keene
Legendary conservative movement leader David Keene passed away March 8, at the age of 80 years. Here at NR, Grover Norquist wrote a beautiful tribute to Keene and his many accomplishments.
How Many Integralists Can There Possibly Be?
Pertinent question 1: If the U.S. were to outsource its governing principles to a specific religion, why on earth would it be Catholicism? The country was not founded by Catholics and has never had a Catholic majority.
‘Common-Good Constitutionalism’ Is No Alternative to Originalism
Harvard’s Adrian Vermeule would trade the security of written law for a might-makes-right contest that conservatives should neither expect nor want to win.
President Softie Pushover
That is not exactly a forceful denunciation of Russian assistance to a country currently firing missiles and drones at the armed forces of the United States as well as civilians, nor was there any warning or message to the Russians to knock it off or face consequences.
Jury Clears Afroman of Defamation for Mocking Cops Who Raided His House
Ohio sheriff’s deputies raided Afroman’s house in 2022 based on a bogus tip, then sued the rapper after he released music videos mocking the deputies.
Valuable Lessons from the ‘Afroman’ Trial
A search warrant inadvertently led to an exceptionally entertaining civil trial.
