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Gun Law Before Supreme Court Most Often Used as a Deterrent (Maria)
The author writes, “The federal law at the heart of a major Supreme Court case that could help determine the scope of gun rights in the United States deals with one of the country’s most vexing problems. While the statute has not been used to prosecute a substantial number of people subject to domestic violence orders who are carrying guns, its greatest effect has been as a deterrent. It is primarily used to stop domestic abusers facing restraining orders from getting guns. … Over the past 25 years, people who tried to buy guns at licensed gun stores were rejected because of having active protection orders about 78,000 times, according to the FBI.”
Danica Roem Becomes Virginia’s First Openly Transgender State Senator (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Virginia Democrat Danica Roem was projected to win her election Tuesday, according to Decision Desk HQ, becoming the commonwealth’s first openly transgender state senator and the first out transgender person elected to a state Senate anywhere in the South.”
What the Founders Would Think About Trump (Al)
From The Bulwark: “America’s revanchist stable genius shared some of his Deep Thoughts about History the other day. Amidst his usual rant about his various and sundry criminal prosecutions, Donald J. Trump mused about The Founders and what they might be thinking if they could see us now. … He raises an interesting question: What would the Founders make of the Rise and Return of Donald J. Trump?”
What Palestinians Really Think of Hamas (Gerry)
From Foreign Affairs: “Some of Israel’s top officials, invoking Hamas’s success in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, have in effect declared that all Gazans are part of Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure and complicit in the group’s atrocities—and are therefore legitimate targets of Israeli retaliation. The argument that the entire population of Gaza can be held responsible for Hamas’s actions is quickly discredited when one looks at the facts.”
US Troops Came Home Feeling ‘Cursed’ and Seeing Ghosts After Intense Artillery Battles With the Islamic State (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “When the United States intervened in Iraq and Syria to destroy the Islamic State, it relied on local militias to do most of the actual on-the-ground fighting, largely sparing US soldiers from the worst of it. But many of those troops have nonetheless come back with debilitating psychological issues … an apparent product of that US strategy.”
Who Were the Worst of the Worst Climate Polluters in 2022? (Laura)
The author writes, “Emissions from the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the U.S. were down slightly in 2022, but thousands of industrial facilities with substantial emissions remain, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently released Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data. Emissions from large industrial sources decreased by approximately 1 percent to 2.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022, according to the annual update of emissions data released on Oct. 5. The data represents emissions from 7,586 industrial facilities across nearly all sectors of the economy and represents about half of all U.S. emissions.”
Tens of Thousands of Ancient Coins Have Been Found Off Sardinia. They May Be Spoils of a Shipwreck (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A diver who spotted something metallic not far from Sardinia’s coast has led to the discovery of tens of thousands of ancient bronze coins. Italy’s culture ministry said Saturday that the diver alerted authorities, who sent divers assigned to an art protection squad along with others from the ministry’s undersea archaeology department. The coins dating from the first half of the fourth century were found in sea grass, not far from the northeast shore of the Mediterranean island.”
