Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds

MORE ON THE NRA’S unanimous Supreme Court victory.

Related: “The ruling was 9 to 0. This included wise brown and black women with lived experience. Watch for gun-industry lawsuits against those who initiated strategic anti-gun lawfare a decade ago.”

Make them pay, then make the rubble bounce. Also, I think the Court’s strong and unanimous line on the First Amendment impact of government coercion aimed at private entities bodes well for the Murthy case.

DOES SUNSHINE HELP? A New Way To Treat Obesity? UV Light Found To Prevent Body Weight Gain. “Recent evidence has suggested that UV exposure limits body weight gain in mouse models of obesity. Subcutaneous fat is a critical organ in regulating energy homeostasis. Alongside previous studies on the effects of UV exposure on obesity and metabolic disorders, our team was inspired by our prior discovery that, although UV rays do not directly reach subcutaneous fat when exposed to the skin, they can regulate the metabolism of subcutaneous fat. . . . They found that UV radiation inhibits weight gain by enhancing the secretion of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which not only decreases leptin but also increases energy expenditure through the ‘browning’ of subcutaneous fat.”

THERE’S AN ISSUE WITH THESE: Lithium-ion battery explodes in Chelsea apartment: ‘This could have been a very different story.’

Firefighters across Massachusetts are facing the “nearly impossible” task of extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires more than ever, according to data the state released last month. The figures showed how such blazes have spiked sharply since last October. Roughly 38 cities and towns identified 50 lithium-ion battery fires between last October and the middle of April, more than double the annual average detected by a national fire data reporting system.

They’re extremely difficult to extinguish.

NEW YORK’S POLITICIZED LEGAL SYSTEM TAKES A LOSS: Sotomayor hands NRA victory in Supreme Court free speech case. “The question before the justices was whether Vullo used her regulatory power to force state financial institutions to cut off ties with the NRA in violation of constitutional First Amendment protections. . . . Although the gun rights group is typically involved in litigation surrounding the Second Amendment, the case marked an unusual departure to a First Amendment claim that even had backing from the American Civil Liberties Union, which has historically targeted the gun rights group in other cases before the high court.”

Here’s the full opinion.

CHANGE: U.S. girls begin menstruating at younger ages. “A girl’s weight appears to partially explain why periods are starting earlier, researchers said. In other words, childhood obesity — already known to be a risk factor for early puberty — could be contributing to earlier menstruation.”

TRUE:

THE ENEMY WITHIN: Whooping cough toxins shipped to China by U. Florida student leader: report.

The leader of a Chinese student organization is facing federal charges for her alleged role in shipping whooping cough toxins and illegal drugs back to China.

Nongnong “Leticia” Zheng and others “have been implicated in an illegal, multi-million dollar scheme investigated by the Justice Department to fraudulently buy thousands of biochemical samples of dangerous drugs and toxins,” according to the Associated Press.

I wonder whqt else is going on out there.