Archives: April 2023
Excerpts from Reason's vaults
Latest
Biden Embraces the Fearmongering, Vows To Squash D.C.'s Mild Criminal Justice Reforms
In rebuking the legislation, the president showed that he may not know what's in it.
The Flap Over Biden's Comment About 2 Fentanyl Deaths Obscures Prohibition's Role in Causing Them
Both parties are complicit in the lethal policies that gave us fentanyl disguised as Percocet.
Conservatives Turn Further Against War—Except Maybe With Mexico
While a conservative skepticism toward military aggression would be welcome, Republican standard-bearers are all too happy to sign off on war powers in other ways.
Inside the Weird World of Niche Conservative Businesses
"The country is that divided," said one business owner. "We kind of want to be with our own people. We want to stick together."
Federal Appeals Court Upholds First Amendment Right To Warn Drivers of Police Ahead
Michael Friend was arrested in 2018 for holding a sign that read "Cops Ahead" near a police checkpoint. That arrest violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The Problem With the 'Abundance Agenda'
True abundance requires a minimal state and free markets.
Congress Should Not Give Any Government Agency Financial Free Rein
Lawmakers should proactively retake the power of the purse from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.
Joe Manchin Is Once Again Telling Republicans and Democrats What They Don't Want To Hear
But it's exactly what they need to start talking about.
Remy: Learn To Fly (Foo Fighters Parody)
Asian adversaries aerially admire American angst and apathy.
The Mandalorian, Troops, and the Fan-Filmification of Star Wars
Today's Star Wars fulfills the promise of the late '90s internet.
TikTok Admits It's as Clueless on Teens as the Rest of Us
A new 60-minute screen time warning on TikTok won’t stop kids from scrolling.
All Porn Is 'Violence Against Women,' U.K. Parliamentary Committee Says
Plus: The SAFE TECH Act, Reason talks to young conservatives at CPAC, and more...
The SAFE TECH Act Is Anything but Safe
The latest bid to amend Section 230 would threaten free speech and creators' ability to monetize content while also subjecting tech companies to a flood of frivolous lawsuits.
Just Say 'No' to New Forms of Prohibition
It doesn't make sense to create laws that restrict activities enjoyed by the general populace to protect a tiny minority that will undoubtedly partake in those activities anyway.
How To Save American Mass Transit
For transit to continue to serve a valuable role in the few places where it can compete, policy makers will need to rethink how service is provided.
Review: Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
Jason Statham in an underpowered Guy Ritchie spy flick.
My Son Did His Taxes for the First Time. Rage Ensued.
Nothing focuses the mind quite so intently on the sheer stupidity of government as doing your taxes.
Review: Are Memes Upending Democracy?
In Meme Wars, so-called "disinformation" experts call for the suppression of more ideas and speakers to protect democracy.
Review: Pelosi in the House Is a Nepotistic Puff Piece
The glowing documentary makes no mention of her failures or even shortcomings as speaker.
Do Young Conservatives Still Care About the Free Market?
"It's not about money or jobs or fiscal conservatism," one CPAC attendee told Reason.
Conservatives at CPAC Criticize—and Misunderstand—Section 230
A senator, a state attorney general, and a former congressman excoriated the law while getting much of it wrong.
SCOTUS Questions the Government's Absurdly Broad Definition of 'Aggravated Identity Theft'
According to the Justice Department's reading of the law, the crime need not involve impersonation or even fraud.
Ousted Fox News Politics Editor on Dominion Lawsuit Revelations: 'It Feels Really Good To Be Vindicated'
In an interview, Chris Stirewalt contends that Fox is "not…willing to suffer the consequences of being a news organization."
Decades of Subsidies Have Made the Essentials of Middle-Class Life Increasingly Difficult To Afford
The basics of middle-class life are too expensive. But more subsidies won't help.
Be Skeptical of the New Artificial Sweetener Scare
Plus: Liberal teens are more depressed than conservative ones, the outsize role of immigrants in U.S. innovation, and more...
The Government Is Subsidizing Microchip Firms—While Making It More Expensive To Produce Microchips
Politicians say they want to subsidize various industries, but they sabotage themselves by weighing the policies down with rules that have nothing to do with the plans.
Fox's Excuses Reinforce Dominion's Defamation Case
Although Rupert Murdoch admits that Lou Dobbs and other hosts "endorsed" the "stolen election" narrative, Fox's lawyers insist that is not true.
FDA Cracks Down on Animal Tranquilizer That Is Sometimes Mixed With Fentanyl
The agency's action ignores the government's own role in creating a black market in the first place.
Dr. Vinay Prasad: Stop Trusting the Public Health Establishment
Join Reason on YouTube at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion of mRNA vaccines and America's public health establishment with UCSF's Vinay Prasad.
Ohio Woman Says Cops Broke Her Wrist for Recording During Traffic Stop
"The Officers' actions were unreasonable, deliberately indifferent, reckless, willful, wanton, and shocking to the conscience," a new legal complaint states.
DeSantis' Disney Drama Turns Culture War Into Political Gains
In the old days, conservatives would have viewed unelected officials being appointed to oversee corporate decisions as a worrying intrusion of state power into private affairs. DeSantis has figured out how to get them to cheer for it.
Former Arizona AG Found No Evidence of 2020 Election Fraud. He Kept Quiet.
Mark Brnovich left office without issuing a final report, according to documents released by his successor.
Hester Peirce, Nic Carter: The Government vs. Cryptocurrencies
Meet the SEC commissioner who hates regulation and the bitcoin booster who says the crypto industry needs to police itself better.
A Tavern Keeper's Last Stand at the Alamo
Vince Cantu says the eminent domain threats to seize his property are "stupidly ironic" and "completely un-Texan."
Pentagon Experts Don't Trust Young Men With Guns, Red Bull
Plus: FBI director says COVID's origins "are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Supreme Court justices seem skeptical of student loan forgiveness, and more...
The Department of Homeland Security Turns 20. Its Legacy Is Disastrous.
Surveilling American citizens without due process, separating undocumented children from their parents, the TSA—the DHS has been a failure.
Sheriff's Employee Embezzled Funds in Keeping with the Spirit of Civil Asset Forfeiture
One guy with gambling debts is a news story, but a formal policy of legalized theft is a national scandal.
The Jones Act Is Driving Up Prices and Making Crises Worse
The legislation, which forbids shipping anything between American ports in ships that are not U.S. built and crewed, is just another a special deal that one industry has scammed out of Congress.
How SCOTUS Promoted Pernicious Myths About Sex Offender Registries
Twenty years ago, the justices deemed registration nonpunitive, accepting unsubstantiated assumptions about its benefits and blithely dismissing its costs.
Is Investigating a School Sexting Incident the Same as Possessing Child Porn? A Judge Says No.
Bradley Bass' case in Colorado says a lot about just how powerful prosecutors are.
Prominent Climate Change Activist Researchers Finally Call for Solar Geoengineering Research
Reason first argued for researching such a planetary emergency cooling system 26 years ago.
Alabama Set To Resume Executions. But Will They Stop Botching Them?
"No one buys this sham of a review," wrote one critic. "And the reason we don't buy it is because we all have functioning brains."
Ex-Lawmakers, Socialist City Councilmember Fight Putting New Housing on Shuttered Denver Golf Course
An oddball coalition of neighborhood activists and left-wing politicians have opposed plans to convert the privately owned site to housing, citing the loss of open space and impacts on gentrification.
