Reason Magazine
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The Reason Magazine covers hard-hitting independent journalism on civil liberties, politics, technology, culture, policy, and commerce. Founded in 1968, Reason is the nation's leading libertarian magazine. As the magazine of free minds and free markets, Reason exists outside of the left/right echo chamber.
Reason Magazine
5h ago
The economy is growing, unemployment is low, wages are up, and inflation is down. However, the American people remain grumpy about the state of the economy. This puzzle was just investigated by four economists. They found that people often know that something is wrong even if statistics don't reflect the problem. In this case, people are perceiving that inflation is still, in fact, high.
For months now, Americans have been told that inflation's downward trend, from almost 9 percent annually to around 3 percent, should make them feel good about the economy. But it isn't working. A recent Gallu ..read more
Reason Magazine
11h ago
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge figures to snarl traffic around Baltimore, but the bigger problem might be the downed bridge's effect on maritime activity.
Until the bridge's wreckage can be cleared away, the Port of Baltimore is cut off from the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and the global supply chains beyond. It remains unclear how long the port will be closed, but federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that there could be a "long and difficult path" ahead.
In the meantime, trade flowing through the port will have to be redirected to other po ..read more
Reason Magazine
11h ago
Recovery efforts remain underway in the aftermath of the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was struck by a container ship early on Tuesday. Vehicles and multiple construction workers fell into the river below. Two men were rescued from the water, while six are still missing and presumed dead.
Little is known about why the ship struck the bridge. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident, is still assessing reports that the vessel lost power before the collision. Numerous far-fetched theories about the incident are now circulating to fi ..read more
Reason Magazine
11h ago
Two weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Ronna McDaniel, then chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), let Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's lawyer, hold a press conference at the RNC's headquarters in Washington, D.C. During that bizarre presentation, Giuliani and Sidney Powell, another member of the Trump campaign's "elite strike force team," crystallized the craziness of the president's stolen-election fantasy by describing a baroque international conspiracy that supposedly had delivered a fraudulent victory to Joe Biden.
On January 29, 2021, three weeks after angry Trump suppo ..read more
Reason Magazine
12h ago
Flag of Texas. (NA)
Earlier today, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled against Texas in a case where the federal government challenged the legality of the state's SB 4 immigration law. SB 4 is a new state law that criminalizes unauthorized migration, expands state law enforcement officials' powers to detain undocumented migrants, and gives Texas courts the power to order removal of migrants convicted under the law.
Today's decision is not a final ruling on the merits. Technically, all it does is uphold the district court's preliminary injunction blocking enfo ..read more
Reason Magazine
13h ago
In February, Reason reported that Georgia lawmakers were considering modest changes to the state's film and television tax credits. So far, the state senate is backing off even those meager modifications.
For more than a decade, films or TV shows that filmed in Georgia and spent at least $500,000 in the state could qualify for a 20-percent tax credit; putting a "Made in Georgia" logo on the final product would boost the credit to 30 percent. Last year, the state certified $1.24 billion in production tax credits.
Auditors routinely find the production credit program to be a waste of money: Mos ..read more
Reason Magazine
15h ago
Column A is a symbol of New Jersey's notoriously un-democratic Democratic Party primary. Under the "county line" system, party bosses in each county get to choose which candidates show up in the first column of primary ballots, then urge members to "vote Column A, all the way."
Both parties in all but two counties use this system for primaries. Because New Jersey is a safe blue state, putting a Democrat in Column A is basically coronating them for office. "Column A, all the way" has even become a slogan that politicians use to shout down protesters.
But the county line system may soon become ..read more
Reason Magazine
15h ago
From Norgren v. Minn. Dep't of Human Servs., decided Thursday by the Eighth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Ralph Erickson, joined by Judges Michael Melloy and Davis Stras:
We take the facts from [Aaron Norgren's complaint]…. Aaron, who continues to work at DHS, has served as a security counselor with the Forensic Mental Health Program for nine years….
[Aaron and his father, Joseph, who so worked at DHS, received an email] … instructing him to complete [online] workplace trainings titled, "How to be Antiracist (CRT Training)" and "Understanding Gender Identity and Expression: Moving Beyond th ..read more
Reason Magazine
16h ago
What if you come home and find strangers living in your house?
I assumed you order the squatters out, and if they resist, call the police, and they will kick them out.
Wrong.
Pro-tenant laws passed by anti-capitalist politicians now protect squatters. If a squatter just lies about having a lease, the police won't intervene.
"It's a civil matter," they'll say. "Sort it out in court."
Great. Court might cost $20,000. Or more. And courts are so slow, eviction might take years.
In my state, New York, homeowners can't even shut off utilities to try to get the squatter out. That's illegal. Worse, o ..read more