The Atlantic: National

President Obama tours the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma in July 2015. Kevin Lamarque / Reuters President Obama has issued executive actions to ban the use of solitary confinement for juvenile offenders in federal prisons across the country.

In my earlier note featuring “Born in the U.S.A.” and “America,” I asked readers if they knew of other songs that convey the kind of complicated patriotism their refrains might betray.More | Talk | Read It Later | Share

A reader remarks on a video flagged by a previous reader showing old images of U.S. immigrants juxtaposed with David Bowie’s rendition of Paul Simon’s “America”:

Several pro-guns readers pounce on an email from a previous reader, Michael Gomez: I am writing in reply to Gomez’s point about semi-auto rifles and concealed handguns not being protected by the Second Amendment because these items did not exist at the time the Constitution and its amendments were adopted.

The Kenai Peninsula Ben Margot / AP Some Alaskans were woken up in the middle of the night by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rattled buildings, knocked out power for thousands, and led to some evacuations.

Saya the robot, dressed as a teacher at right, was developed by Hiroshi Kobayashi.

Rogelio V. Solis / AP Slow snow: There’s now heavy snow falling in Tennessee, West Virginia, and parts of North Carolina and Virginia. In D.C., district denizens are still waiting for the snow to arrive.More | Talk | Read It Later | Share

Corn in Iowa, ready to be turned into … fuel for your car! Like some 40% of the corn the U.S. grows, it will be turned into an ethanol additive for gasoline, under a program that Ted Cruz is the only major running-in-Iowa candidate brave or crazy enough to criticize.

We’ve heard from many of you about your first experience with guns, so thanks to everyone who’s emailed so far. The details of this reader’s account jumped out among the dozens in our inbox:

Larry Downing / Reuters The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it would consider a legal challenge to President Obama’s immigration plan, setting up a decision on one of the president’s most extensive executive actions just months before he leaves office.