Attn, DC Reasonoids: Happy Hour Next Tues., Oct. 24; Come Meet Our Newest Hire, Radley Balko—and Say Goodbye to Web Editor Extraordinaire Tim Cavanaugh!

We'll be having a Reason Happy Hour next Tuesday, October 24, at the upstairs bar at Dragonfly, 1215 Connecticut Avenue NW, in Washington, DC. The fun starts at 6.30PM and will go as deep into the night as you make it go.

Among the things we're celebrating:

—the addition of Radley Balko to our staff as a senior editor, effective October 30. Currently a policy analyst at Cato, a columnist at the Fox News website, and the force behind the excellent blog, The Agitator, Radley is also the author of the great investigative piece in our October issue about Cory Maye, the Mississippi man originally sentenced to death for killing a cop during a no-knock raid. (Radley's work on the case has actually helped Maye gain a reprieve from his death sentence.)

—the naming of Reason's Hit & Run as one of the "Top 10 Political Blogs" in the newest issue of Playboy. In naming us as some of "the best brain food on the web," the bunny mag enthuses that Hit & Run is "a fine source for all the latest news on what you're not allowed to do today and a relief from the left-right bickering." For details–and absolutely no pictures!–go here.

—the publication of our November issue, featuring the widely discussed cover story, "Attack Ads Are Good For You!", whose author, David Mark, has appeared on C-SPAN, The Daily Show, and other shows to defend good old-fashioned negative campaigning.

Among the things we're not celebrating but will have a drink to anyway because it will dull the misery a little bit:

—the loss of Reason's longtime web editor and Cthulhu enthusiast Tim Cavanaugh, who is leaving Reason to become the web editor of the Los Angeles Times' opinion page. Tim's contributions to the print and web editions of Reason are massive and incalculable, and he'll be sorely missed. We wish him the best of luck in his new gig, which starts in November. In the meantime, he'll be at Dragonfly next Tuesday and you can buy him a drink and tell him he's making a big mistake in person.

The coordinates again: Tuesday, October 24, 6.30PM, upstairs at Dragonfly, 1215 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

Comments

[mediageek]

Tim, sorry to see you go.

Adminning a website and discussion board is thankless work.

Thanks for all you’ve done, the pithy headlines, late nights, and enduring epic bitches about the squirrels.

[t.j.]

nooooooo!!! don’t go, tim!!

[David]

Good bye, and good luck to Tim. The silver lining is that we’ll have another libertarian voice at a major newspaper. Can’t have enough of those.

[biologist]

congratulations, Tim, but laments on your departure from Reason magazine

[Happy Jack]

Does this mean that corn syrup boy gets a reprieve?

[Stevo Darkly]

I’ll miss Cavanaugh, but I’m glad to hear that he’s got a decent new gig, as opposed to “leaving to spend more time with his family” or “explore other options.” Now he can help Matt Welch libertarianize the Los Angeles Times.

I haven’t read a lot of Balko yet but I’ve heard a lot about him, and I welcome him.

[VM]

Good luck and thank you, Tim!

[Stevo Darkly]

By the way, also — thank you, Tim, for all you’ve done here. The squirrels aside, you made it a fun place to hang out.

[smerkin]

first Matt now Tim to the LAT; the Suck eXodus continues…

[Jennifer]

Aw, rats, I’ll miss Tim too. Hope your new job works out for you.

[Rogus]

Good luck on your new job!

[joe]

I can’t imagine this place without Tim Cavanaugh.

Congratulations on the new gig. Making old media new sounds like an interesting project.

[Terry]

Tim to the LA Times. Was he hired by Matt Welch?
If the LA Times keeps this up, they might be worth buying again.

How come no one at “Reason” smiles. Look at the Balko and Cavanaugh pics. No smiles.
Whats it mean?

[Larry Hastings]

Shucks! With Tim gone, who’s going to make the old-school Star Trek references in H&R posting titles?

Those are sacred Yang worship words,

larry

[MUTT]

Jeez! rather new here, but I sure as hell appreciate your hard work & hard headed refereeing. Damn.
Hope to hell The New Guy can fill yer combat boots.
Ill be lookin for your baleful influence in the LA Times- i subscribe.
Damn. You are good at this, Tim. Bon chance, Mutt, AKA Nick Velvet…..

[kohlrabi]

Dang! Best of luck, you will be missed!

[Terry]

Nick Gillespie,
I subscribed for three years a month ago, over a month ago. When am I going to get my first issue?

Where can I get a profile of the Libertarian 2006?
You know, like his education, what section of the country, male or female, education, guns owned, etc…
Thanks.

[Kwix]

Well, from a strictly selfish standpoint, I’m sorry to see you leave Tim. You have made reading HnR fun and I appreciate the level-headedness and notable lack of snark in your entries. May the LA Times not know what hit them!

[Garth]

ChChChChanges…..

I would hop a flight and attend the festivities but it happens to be my wife’s birthday and we have plans…

But did you guys know that Oct 24th is also United Nation’s Day?

Quick q: am I gonna have to subscribe to the LA Times now??

[NoStar]

You can buy him a drink and tell him he’s making a big mistake to his face, but….He still won’t fuck you.

[Gary Gunnels]

When’s Cavanaugh leaving again? Just curious, that’s all.

[Pro Libertate]

Tim, good luck! Watch out for the Chicago Tribune people–they don’t like you L.A. Times folk and seem to feel the need to purge editors every few weeks or so. Just nod and say you’re the token libertarian and can’t be fired under California law (under California Business and Professions Code ? 17200 somewhere–no one understands that law, anyway).

Unless it’s the L.A. Trib that you’re actually working for. . .then watch out for that Lou Grant fellow.

[Sandy]

Aw, damn. I’m happy to see Radley join, but it sucks to have Tim leave. He could teach our clients many things about creating online communities, and he’s one of the best writers Reason has ever had.

[Paul]

Thanks, Tim. Good luck. We’ll miss the grammar corrections. No, really, we will.

You’re/Your going to/two/too be mised.

[Paul]

Oh, I’ve noticed that the server squirrels have been behaving lately. Coincidence? I think not…

[BrianTerrel]

Now who’s going to send me searching through wikipedia for information on obscure pop culture phenomena from decades past?

Seriously though, thanks for some of the best headlines evar,

[lunchstealer]

Those are sacred Yang worship words,

Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe. Good luck taking the Riddle of Steel to the LAT.

This sucks though. With Tim, I had a fighting chance of groking the obscure pop-culture references. Now it’s back to scratching my head at Julian’s.

[Godfrey]

Man, Tim, I’m gonna miss your articles. I was getting to the point where I could tell it was your writing without even looking at the byline. You are a spectacularly talented writer and a superb thinker as well.

I hope your contract with the LA Times allows you to moonlight occasionally. Your departure is a huge loss to reason fans everywhere (both with and without the capital “r”)…although I secretly share Stevo’s desire to see a libertarian coup at the Times. It need not be bloodless.

If that is indeed your plan, you are forgiven.

Seriously, best of luck.

[t.j.]

i’d like to see tim get into film by writing a script or something. i loooooved reading anything he had to say about film, even if i didn’t agree. it’d be great see more libertarian ideas in film. anyway, tim will be missed

oh heres my lame film blog i’m working on (pathetic self promotion)

http://www.tjsfilmblog.blogspace.com

[Buckshot]

Tim, since your leaving I would like to say good bye, good luck, and thank you for not banning me from Hit & Run.

[lunchstealer]

and thank you for not banning me from Hit & Run.

You know, I feel like less of a man for never having even been threatened with an H&R ban. It seems like all the cool kids have been banned at one point or another.

[Frank_A]

Belated congratulations Mr. Balko. You are one of the finest libertarian writers in the blogosphere and it’s a pleasure to see you here.

Tim, what can I say, you were one of the guys who made Hit&Run awesome.
You always knew how to turn any bit of news into pure golden snark. You’ll be sorely missed.

[James Ard]

Doubtful anyone will ever be able to provide the headings Tim did. Radley will need to hire two or three geeks to maintain the obscure references we’ve come to love on H&R.

[Stevo Darkly]

You can buy him a drink and tell him he’s making a big mistake to his face, but….He still won’t fuck you.

No, no — it’s Julian who won’t fuck you. Tim will fuck you like you wouldn’t believe.

[M]

Come back, Shane!

[Ken Shultz]

Tim leaving? Hit & Run? …huh?

Congratulations to Tim. Congrats to the LA Times.

Now I’m gonna have to start paying attention to my hometown paper?! What’s the world coming too?

[jf]

This doesn’t have anything to do with IMs to interns, does it?

Congratulations, Tim. You’re a good man, and the complete opposite of the idiot I once (twice) called you.

[smacky]

Tim,

I know it (probably) won’t keep you from leaving, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for all of the threads I’ve derailed. Also, that one time you banned me — I probably deserved it. I was being a douche.

Good luck, and don’t hesistate to guest blog now and then. I will miss your writing, even if I didn’t get half or more of the sci-fi references you made. I still thought they were cool.

Likewise, your pop culture posts were unparalleled.

[Paul]

It seems like all the cool kids have been banned at one point or another.

Lunchstealer

Never even gotten a stern warning. I guess what they say is true: to make a difference, you gotta be controversial.

[Phileleutherus Lipsiensis]

I thought the L.A. Times was under a hiring freeze?

[Ruthless]

I’m now gazing longingly at the handwriting of Tim in the front of the book my daughter procured for me, “Choice: the best of Reason.”
Damn he has good handwriting! The dt’s have yet to settle into his hand as they have in mine.
My wish for Tim is what he wrote: “Keep speaking truth to power!”

[Jim Walsh]

Cthulhu be with you, Tim. Seriously, best wishes and godspeed.

[Ken Shultz]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but this must be kind of what it felt like when the Beatles broke up. …with the LA Times playing the part of Yoko.

God knows I’ll still read everything Gillespie writes, but it won’t be the same without Cavanaugh. Individually, the Beatles put out some really great music, but it wasn’t…the Beatles, y’ know? I guess everything changes.

I’m sure the LA Times online is gonna be great, but damn!

[Ayn_Randian]

YO TIM, YOU GO TO HELL AND DIE!

No; just kidding, thanks for teaching me not to swear and use all caps; I was an asshole and I will always remember your fatherly touch…not your Fatherly one, ’cause that’s just gay, but you know…(awww *sniff*)

never mind…Objectivists don’t cry.

[dhex]

aw that kinda sucks.

question: does radley balko like the boo radleys?

[SM]

Good luck, Tim.

[sarcasmo]

Congrats to Mr. Balko, I’m a big fan. And hopefully the addition of Mr. Cavanaugh will cause the LA Times to finally-notice who’s actually-on-the-ballot in DeLay’s old Texas district (reversing what has arguably the most-blatant example of antiLibertarian bias in the news media this entire YEAR).
JMR

[Russ 2000]

Tim,

I’ll really miss your writing.

Don’t forget, the Tribune Company owns the Cubs. You’ve been warned.

[ed]

As a former Tribune employee who was downsized but managed to roll over his stock before it lost half its value, I say good luck, Tim, and I hope you enjoy your new masters before they sell you.

Tick…tick…tick…

[NoStar]

Stevo,
My bad!

[NoStar]

BTW, what is Mr. Balko’s stance on this issue?

[rob]

Tim,
Congrats and good luck at your new gig – you’ll be missed here. Cheers!

I’m thinking there’s only one guy who is REALLY glad to see you go, and I’ve always wondered what Gary Gunnels does in real life…

[thoreau]

OK, this is what happens when I pay less attention to H&R for one day. Belated farewell, Tim! And good luck!