https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/us/politics/gun-manufacturing-atf.html

WASHINGTON — The United States is in the middle of a great gun-buying boom that shows no sign of letting up as the annual number of firearms manufactured has nearly tripled since 2000 and spiked sharply in the past three years, according to the first comprehensive federal tally of gun commerce in two decades.

The report, released by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Tuesday — three days after a mass shooting in Buffalo left 10 dead — painted a vivid statistical portrait of a nation arming itself to the teeth. Buyers capitalized on the loosening of gun restrictions by the Supreme Court, Congress and Republican-controlled state legislatures.

The data documented a drastic shift in consumer demand among gun owners that has had profound commercial, cultural and political implications: Starting in 2009, Glock-type semiautomatic handguns, purchased for personal protection, began to outsell rifles, which have been typically used in hunting.

Embedded in the 306-page document was another statistic that law enforcement officials find especially troubling. The police recovered 19,344 privately manufactured firearms, untraceable homemade weapons known as “ghost guns,” in 2021, a tenfold increase since 2016. Law enforcement officials say that has contributed to the surge in gun-related killings, especially in California, where ghost guns make up as many as half of weapons recovered at crime scenes.

(Excerpt)

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/17/amber-heard-johnny-depp-trial-social-media

The defamation trial between actors and former spouses Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has quickly amassed more online attention than some of the country'sy biggest and most pressing news stories, including the leaked Supreme Court decision and Russia's war in Ukraine.

Why it matters: While political America hangs on an impending Supreme Court verdict on abortion, many more eyeballs are focused on developments in the Depp-Heard trial.

Driving the news: News articles about the trial, which began April 12, have generated more total social media interactions (likes, comments, shares) than coverage about abortion and the Supreme Court or inflation, according to exclusive data from NewsWhip.

On a per-article basis, the trial has dwarfed all other major topics in the news (see chart above).

(Excerpt)

Regarding the trial, this is the first I’ve heard of it.

https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/2-dead-2-arrested-after-dekalb-home-burglary/

AUBURN, Ind. (WANE) — An Auburn homeowner shot two suspected armed intruders dead and held two more at gunpoint early Sunday.

It was just before 6 a.m. when four people reportedly broke into a home at 1650 S.R. 8, near the Walmart Distribution Center on Auburn’s far west side.

Indiana State Police said investigators believe the four burglars entered the home with a gun and confronted the homeowner, who produced his own firearm and fired at the suspects.

Two were shot dead by the homeowner and the other two were held at gunpoint until the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and the Auburn Police Department arrived, according to Indiana State Police.

(Excerpt)

https://www.newsweek.com/buffalo-shooter-saw-new-yorks-gun-laws-his-advantage-1706982

The suspected Buffalo shooter reportedly saw New York's strict gun laws as an advantage in the recent attack that left 10 people dead.

According to the Buffalo News, law enforcement officials said that they believe an online manifesto was written by the suspected shooter, identified as 18-year-old Payton Gendron. In the manifesto, Gendron allegedly wrote about how he planned to "kill as many Blacks as possible" in the attack and decided to carry it out in New York due to its strict open carry gun laws, which would make it harder for someone to stop him, the Buffalo News reported.

The Giffords Law Center states that New York State residents are prohibited from openly carrying a loaded handgun outside of their homes without a carry license.

"The state also prohibits any person from possessing a 'loaded' short-barreled shotgun or rifle or an assault weapon outside of his or her home or place of business," the Giffords Law Center said. "New York does not issue licenses to carry handguns openly."

(Excerpt)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/willing-to-endure-the-world-s-longest-flight-for-12-000-qantas-is-banking-on-it-1.1765214

Bloomberg) -- Wanted: Hundreds of people to sit in a plane for 20 hours. Must be willing to pay lots of money. Claustrophobes needn’t apply.

Conceived prior to the Covid crisis, Qantas Airways Ltd.’s plan to operate the world’s longest nonstop commercial flights from southeast Australia to New York and London is being resurrected in a much-changed aviation landscape, with global carriers reeling from the pandemic and people wary about travel.

Qantas, which lost over A$22 billion ($15 billion) in revenue due to virus-related border curbs, is banking on passengers being willing to pay a premium to avoid layovers and get gargantuan journeys over and done with in one go.

But some regular fliers are balking at potentially paying 30% extra for a direct flight compared with a two-leg journey. While fares may differ by the time the flights start, a return nonstop Sydney-New York business class ticket could cost more than A$18,000 -- enough to buy a new compact car -- based on October flights listed on Kayak for the same route with a stop in Los Angeles.

(Excerpt)

No problem in business class, but in economy? Ouch…

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lapd-police-clash-abortion-protest-supreme-court-175537208.html

Police and protesters clashed in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday night during an abortion rights rally over the Supreme Court's possible overturning of Roe v. Wade.

According to Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore, police were escorting a group of about 250 demonstrators marching from the federal courthouse to Pershing Square when a segment of the crowd began to throw rocks and bottles at police. Moore said that one officer was injured.

One police vehicle was seen with its window smashed, and a citywide police tactical alert was was briefly declared.

Videos posted to social media showed a chaotic scene as an officer tackled a protester, nearly hitting a fire hydrant, while another officer struck protesters with a baton.

(Excerpt)

https://www.mediaite.com/news/police-swiftly-put-barricades-around-supreme-court-after-reported-leak-of-draft-opinion-overturning-roe-v-wade/

Journalist Gabe Fleisher tweeted later that there were two police officers and a crowd of about 50 people on the scene. The officers told him that the barricades were put up “by order of the [Supreme] Court Marshal.”

Fleisher added that a police officer confirmed the barricades were put up on Monday night.

(Excerpt)

https://katv.com/news/nation-world/pre-k-students-given-anti-racism-fight-club-presentation-at-dc-public-school

WASHINGTON (TND) — An elementary school principal in Washington, D.C. spurred outrage after she sent a letter to parents indicating their pre-K through third graders had been exposed to an “anti-racism” presentation, at which they were also given a “fistbook” to carry on what they had learned.

In a “Letter from the Principal,” Principal Daniellle Singh announced student involvement in an “Anti-Racism Fight Club” presentation. The letter noted each student received a “fistbook” to continue the dialogue introduced during the presentation.

“If a Black person says something mean to a white person, he has no power over him,” reads an excerpt from the “fistbook” handed out to pre-K through third graders. “It’s as if white people walk around with an invisible force field because they hold all of the power in America.”

The “fistbook” also goes into extensive explanations about “white privilege,” and asserts that asking, “Why does everything have to be about race? Can we talk about something else?” is a form of subtle racism.

(excerpt)

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/space-hotel-orbital-assembly-scn/index.html



(CNN) — Waking up in a chic hotel room with a view of the solar system could be the future of travel, at least if space company Orbital Assembly has anything to say about it.

The US-based company has revealed new information and concepts for its space hotel idea, designs for which have been orbiting since 2019.

Originally premiered by Californian company the Gateway Foundation -- and then called the Von Braun Station -- this futuristic concept consists of several modules connected by elevator shafts that make up a rotating wheel orbiting the Earth.

The project is now being overseen by Orbital Assembly Corporation, a space construction company that cut links with Gateway.

Orbital Assembly is now aiming to launch not one but two space stations with tourist accommodation: Voyager Station, the renamed original design, is now scheduled to accommodate 400 people and to open in 2027, while new concept Pioneer Station, housing 28 people, could be operational in just three years.

(excerpt)

Don't think I have enough frequent flyer points for this, sadly.