ReasonTV

"Despite clear interests on almost all sides against a regional war [in the Middle East], all sides are acting in a manner that makes such a war increasingly likely," writes Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, in an October 15 article calling for the Biden administration to push for "de-escalation" between Israel and Hamas. He says that although the Biden administration is "well aware" of "escalation risks" that might lead to a broader regional war, talk of de-escalation remains off-limits. The Huffington Post reports that it has obtained State Department memos instructing employees to avoid terms like "de-escalation/ceasefire," "end to violence/bloodshed," and "restoring calm" in press materials and statements. But is de-escalation even feasible after Hamas slaughtered Israeli civilians and continues to hold close to 200 hostages? How should Israel respond to the worst terrorist attack in its history? What can U.S. policymakers do to make the prospect of a bigger war less likely? JoinReason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe for a live discussion of these questions and more with Trita Parsi this Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Reason's YouTube channel or Facebook page. Sources referenced in this conversation: Trita Parsi: “Biden refuses to talk ceasefire even though it could prevent a regional war,” Oct. 15, 2023 https://responsiblestatecraft.org/biden-ceasefire-israel-gaza/ HuffPo: “Stunning State Department Memo Warns Diplomats: No Gaza ‘De-Escalation’ Talk,” Oct. 13, 2023 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-internal-emails-gaza-israel_n_65296395e4b0a304ff6ff95d?ykm Axios: “Iran warns Israel through UN against ground offensive in Gaza,” Oct. 14, 2023 https://www.axios.com/2023/10/14/iran-warning-israel-hezbollah-hamas-war-gaza Reuters: “Iran says ‘pre-emptive action’ by resistance front expected in coming hours,” Oct. 16, 2023 https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-preemptive-action-by-resistance-front-expected-coming-hours-2023-10-16/ Reuters: “Talks fail to let aid reach Gaza; Israel evacuates Lebanon border,” Oct. 16, 2023 https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-border-crossing-set-reopen-israeli-troops-prepare-ground-assault-2023-10-15/ NYT: “Biden is expected to request $100 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other crises,” Oct. 18, 2023

Kamala Harris recently said America needs "an assault weapons ban.” Meanwhile, in wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks, Israel is making it easier for civilians to acquire and carry firearms for self-defense. #Israel #Ukraine #secondamendment

Is The New York Times giving readers bad information about Israel? Watch this fact check for the full story about the Gaza hospital bombing. #israel #palestine #gaza #facts

Gas Cars vs. Electric Cars ---------- The Manhattan Institute's Mark Mills and InOrbis CEO Rosario Fortugno debate the resolution, "Between now and 2035, electric vehicles in the consumer market will disappoint environmentalists by remaining a product bought mainly by the well-heeled minority." Taking the affirmative is Mills, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow, a faculty fellow at Northwestern University's engineering school, and a partner in Montrose Lane, an energy-tech venture fund. He is author of the book The Cloud Revolution: How the Convergence of New Technologies Will Unleash the Next Economic Boom and a Roaring 2020s. Taking the negative is Fortugno, the CEO of InOrbis, a company that works to develop technologies for electric vehicle fleet management, autonomous vehicles, and machine learning. He blogs at ApplyingAI.comon the topics of free markets, electric vehicle adoption, and the benefits of artificial intelligence.

Being able to take risks and having the freedom to try out wild ideas is the only process that leads to successful innovation. Full texts and links: https://reason.com/video/2023/10/18/what-failed-products-teach-us-about-capitalism/ Everyone knows that Thomas Edison found 2,000 ways not to make a lightbulb. James Dyson made 5,126 prototypes before hitting it big with his dual cyclone vacuum cleaner. And Apple nearly went bankrupt in the 1990s because the Newton PDA and the Macintosh LC were no match to Microsoft or IBM products at the time. The failure of a product is not something to shame or hide but to celebrate. Entrepreneurs must continue taking meaningful risks—that will sometimes end in failure—in order for society to both advance and solve some of the world's biggest problems. The beauty of capitalism is that it fosters experimentation through trial and error because, in many cases, it's impossible to predict consumers' desires. Being able to take risks and having the freedom to try out wild ideas is the only process that leads to successful innovation. The Museum of Failure in Washington, D.C., highlights that essential phenomenon by displaying many commercial flops—some of which were before their time while others were just a blip in some companies' otherwise very successful product lines. Reason spoke with Johanna Guttmann, one of the organizers of the exhibit, about the importance of failure and how some industries, like tech, are better at learning from failure than other industries. Produced by Natalie Dowzicky; edited by Regan Taylor; and sound editing by Ian Keyser. Photo Credits: Eden, Janine and Jim, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Polygoon-Profilti (producent) / Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid (beheerder), CC BY-SA 3.0 NL, via Wikimedia Commons; NotFromUtrecht, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Appraiser at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; mageBROKER/David Talukdar/Newscom; EyePress/Newscom; Bryan Olin Dozier/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Thomas Trutschel/picture alliance / photothek/Newscom; Jaap Arriens/Sipa USA/Newscom; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Bill Ingalls - NASA via CNP/Newscom; JOE MARINO/UPI/Newscom; Imagine China/Newscom; Prelinger Archive; Envato Elements.Music Credits: "Dove Laria Ce," by Silvia Rita via Artlist, "New Car," by Rex Banner via Artlist, "Blanket," by Van Stee via Artlist, "Busy Day Ahead," by MooveKa via Artlist, "Presto," by Adrián Berenguer via Artlist, "Goals," by Rex Banner via Artlist.

The right has embraced cancel culture and the left has embraced absolute stupidity in response to the Hamas attack on Israel. #israel #palestine #hamasattack

"The amount of totally ignorant, if not outright evil, vitriol we are seeing spewed from so many corners of the American progressive left has been highly disturbing to watch," Reason's Liz Wolfe says of the reactions to Hamas' attacks on Israel. Watch the full replay of Liz and Zach Weissmueller's live conversation with Max Abrahms: youtube.com/watch?v=CBoHZ86x4dc

The relationship between school funding and school quality is extremely weak, since many public schools overspend on administration and employee benefits. #school #education

"Should we be pro-Israel or pro-Arab or anti-Israel or anti-Arab? ... But I think there's a third option to this that we so often forget about—why can't we be pro-American?" then-U.S. Rep. Ron Paul said on the House floor in 2001. Amid a new surge in violence in the region, is Paul's message still relevant? Watch the full replay of Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe's live conversation with political science scholar Max Abrahms: youtube.com/watch?v=CBoHZ86x4dc

A heckler’s veto is a form of censorship where people shout down a speaker. It’s becoming increasingly common on college campuses, but students call it free speech. #college #freespeech

"This is not just an attack on Israel. This is an attack on America because they hate us just as much," GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley told CNN this week. Max Abrahms, author of "Rules for Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History," reacts to GOP politicians' calls for more U.S. involvement in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Watch the full replay of Abrahms' live conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=CBoHZ86x4dc

President Biden is well-meaning but he’s absolutely wrong to send more military aid to Israel. The country has received over $260 billion from the U.S. since its founding. #israel #joebiden #military

"The first thing smart militants do is recognize that civilian attacks are a recipe for political failure," writes Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University and author of Rules for Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History, a lengthy study of terrorism and insurgency. "You might say that the first rule for rebels is to not use terrorism at all." It's for this reason that Abrahms believes that Hamas' brutal attack on Israeli civilians is not only immoral but "a major strategic mistake" for the Palestinian cause. Abrahms traveled to the West Bank shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks amid a wave of Palestinian terrorism known as the "Second Intifada." What he found became the subject of his dissertation. While a previous influential study had concluded that Palestinian terrorism often resulted in "success" in achieving "significant territorial concessions," what Abrahms discovered by talking with Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank is that the terrorism "eroded support for territorial concessions while creating support for a fence" and likely blocked the possibility of independent statehood. JoinReason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe this Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Reason's YouTube channel or Facebook page for a live discussion with Abrahms about how the lessons of his work apply to the current Israel-Hamas war, what is likely to happen to Gaza in the short- and long-term, and what the role of the U.S. should and shouldn't be in the conflict. Source material for this discussion: Times of Israel: “Egypt intelligence official says Israel ignored repeated warnings of ‘something big’” https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-intelligence-official-says-israel-ignored-repeated-warnings-of-something-big/ WSJ: Iran helped Hamas plot attack over several weeks - https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-israel-hamas-strike-planning-bbe07b25 Congressional Research Service Report, 2021: Total US aid to Israel - https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL33222/44 Congressional Research Service Report, Total US aid to Palestine (over $6.3 billion since 1950): https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46344/3 Biden provides half a billion in aid to Palestine: https://www.state.gov/u-s-support-for-the-palestinian-people/ “UNICEF estimates that there are roughly 1 million children living in the Gaza Strip, meaning that a little under half of all 2.1 million people in Gaza are children.” “But the blockade also tightly limits Palestinians’ access to basic supplies and food staples, and the U.N. estimates that it has cost the territory’s economy as much as $16.7 billion over 11 years.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/14/gaza-strip-history-geography/ Newsweek: Iran admits to providing Hamas with ‘skills’ to carry out attacks https://www.newsweek.com/iran-admits-providing-palestinian-fighters-skills-israel-attacks-hamas-gaza-1833795 Thomas Chatterton Williams tweet: https://x.com/thomaschattwill/status/1712147866427248784?s=20 The total blockade of Gaza announced by the Defence Minister of Israel, Yoav Gallant, October 9, 2023 https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/no-electricity-no-food-no-fuel-israels-defense-minister-orders-total-blockade-on-gaza/ar-AA1hUWWZ CNN: Mustafa Barghouti, Leader of Palestinian National Initiative on Israel in Gaza, Oct. 8, 2023 https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/07/mustafa-barghouti-palestinian-national-initiative-hamas-attack-israel.cnn Ron Paul speaks to House of Representatives in opposition to a bill condemning bombings of Israel, Dec. 5, 2001 - https://www.c-span.org/video/?167636-1/house-session

Al Sharpton is wrong about gun control. He’s right that it's a civil rights issue, but not in the way he claims. Gun control has historically been used to disarm minority groups, meanwhile gun ownership helped secure the freedom and civil rights of black Americans. #history #blackhistory

Texas' restrictions on internet porn went "far beyond the interest of protecting minors," a federal judge ruled this year. Adult content creator Aella discusses the effects of anti-porn laws. Watch the full replay of Aella's live conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=BsL1FgOVsXA&t=394s

"I think it really destroyed my brain. And I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn," singer Billie Eilish told Howard Stern in 2021. Sex researcher Aella is skeptical of Eilish's take. Watch the full replay of Aella's live conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=BsL1FgOVsXA&t=394s

Remy does a looting parody of Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do." Stop enabling thieves by owning stuff.

"The sexual revolution is the winner of the culture war. We finally found a way to have it all, and yet we're still not happy," Anna Khachiyan said at the recent sexual revolution debate hosted by @thefreepress and @TheFIREorg. Watch the full replay of Aella's live conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=BsL1FgOVsXA&t=394s

Tariffs are really just taxes on imported goods. Trump and Biden love them, even though 93% of tariffs are paid for by American consumers, not China.

Lawmakers find culprits for the recent uptick in theft—the victims. Parody of Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" written and performed by Remy. LYRICS I was on a walk so brisk Just minding my business Out with my walking stick Can't you see? Innocently… But I'm just human, oh it's true yes, I am just a man What else could one do seeing luggage in a minivan? I have no choice in the matter, do you not understand? I check it once, then I check it twice, ah! Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me… They don't want to steal whiskey But he must feed his family My newborn loves Pappy He's a boy, and he likes blue… How do you expect someone not to shatter all this glass? When he sees this while only carrying the 14 Max? Any chance you might step up to defend property rights? I check it once, and I check it twice, hmm Ooh, look what I always do Look what I always do Just look at what I like to Look at what I like to do

"We have made the difficult decision to block access to our site in Mississippi and Virginia, as we have also recently done in Utah," reads a June 30 statement from Pornhub, the world's second-most trafficked porn site and the thirteenth most trafficked site overall. Pornhub was reacting to the passage of age-verification laws passed in those three states. Similar laws have passed in Louisiana, Texas, Montana, and Arkansas, leading Politico to declare that "A Simple Law is Doing the Impossible. It's Making the Porn Industry Retreat." The industry is fighting back, however, and won a preliminary injunction against Texas' law. JoinReason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe this Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Reason's YouTube channel or Facebook page as they discuss the anti-porn laws with sex worker and data scientist Aella. They'll also talk about the psychological literature examining online porn consumption, the privacy implications of age verification laws, and a recent debate Aella attended hosted by the Free Press and FIREabout the effects of "the sexual revolution" on American society. PornHub statement on new age verification laws, June 30, 2023: https://twitter.com/Pornhub/status/1674774396773318658 Reason: In Scathing Rulings, Federal Courts Block Arkansas and Texas Age Verification Laws, September 1, 2023: https://reason.com/2023/09/01/in-scathing-rulings-federal-courts-block-arkansas-and-texas-age-verification-laws/ Preliminary injunction in NetChoice v. Griffin (Arkansas social media law): https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GRIFFIN-NETCHOICE-GRANTED.pdf Preliminary injunction in Free Speech Coalition v. Colmenero (TX porn law): https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/gov.uscourts.txwd_.1172751222.36.0-1.pdf Politico: A Simple Law Is Doing the Impossible. It’s Making the Online Porn Industry Retreat: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/08/08/age-law-online-porn-00110148 Aella: Women prefer more violent porn - https://aella.substack.com/p/women-prefer-more-violent-porn-and U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee: U.S. Marriage rate 1900-2018 - https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/2020/4/marriage-rate-blog-test SimilarWeb: PornHub monthly traffic and rankings: https://www.similarweb.com/website/pornhub.com/#overview Skeptic: How Porn is Messing with Your Manhood: https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/how-porn-is-messing-with-your-manhood/

We don’t lose other Constitutional rights for using illicit substances, so why is the Second Amendment an exception? Don't prosecute Hunter Biden, and others, for possessing guns and drugs.

How to battle identity politics and defend liberal values of universalism, free speech, and open inquiry reason.com/video ________ My guest today is Johns Hopkins professor Yascha Mounk, the founder of the online magazine Persuasion and the author of the important new book The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. The Identity Trap explains how identity politics and social justice discourse have come to dominate contemporary discussions of just about everything, analyzes their negative influence on society, and shows how to confront and defeat them in the name of liberal values of free expression and open inquiry. Yascha was a prime mover behind the 2020 open letter on "justice and open debate" in Harper's magazine and is one of the most powerful defenders of free speech and the marketplace of ideas at work today. This interview took place at the Reason Speakeasy, a live, unscripted monthly conversation held in New York City with outspoken defenders of free speech and heterodox thinking. Go here for information about upcoming events.

The FTC says Amazon Prime’s subscription fee makes customers feel like they’re not getting their money’s worth, but that doesn’t make it a monopoly.

Despite their popularity, food trucks at the National Mall are paying a hefty price to operate. https://reason.com/video/2023/10/04/d-c-s-food-truck-underworld/ _______________ Every year, over 25 million tourists flock to the iconic National Mall in Washington, D.C. Yet as they explore some of the nation's greatest museums and monuments, visitors often find themselves faced with limited dining options, which boil down to either pricey cafes at the Smithsonian museums or food trucks parked along the Mall. The food trucks have, unsurprisingly, become a favorite among tourists. "The diversity is incredible. The food is so well cooked. You could see they really poured their hearts into it. The prices are extraordinary. You can't beat it," Jason, a visitor from Massachusetts who bought a gyro from a food truck nearby, tells Reason. Yet to serve the hungry tourists at the Mall, D.C.'s food trucks have to pay a hefty price, since their operation is technically illegal. To serve their customers and make a living, food truck operators often have to park in illegal spots along the Mall, or stay parked in legal spots after their meters have expired. They are often fined up to $300 a day by the D.C. parking police. Food truck operators also face fierce competition for coveted parking spots. Vendors like Maged Naeem, who runs Chicken Friendly just outside the National Museum of American History, resort to parking dummy cars overnight to keep their prized spots, ultimately leading to more parking tickets. Meanwhile, the fines rack up. In 2022 alone, the city collected $467,000 in parking tickets along the Mall. This wasn't a problem until the COVID-19 pandemic. Before lockdown restrictions and work-from-home policies, the food truck business was booming in other parts of the district, particularly with the lunch crowd. "That wasn't only just good for the food truck owners, although it was great for them. It was good for the city as a whole. Right? Get more options for customers, tastier options, more awareness of different cultures and their cuisines, better choices for tourists. It was wonderful for everyone," explained attorney Justin Pearson, who directs the National Street Vending Initiative at the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm. The pandemic destroyed much of the food truck scene in the district. While trucks can still legally operate in other areas of D.C., foot traffic has dropped significantly, driving many food truck owners to close shop, Pearson added. "The pandemic obviously closed all of the office buildings. That lunchtime business went away overnight virtually," Doug Povich, owner of the Red Hook Lobster Pound food truck, which went out of business in 2020, tells Reason. "Trucks then had to find other places to vend." Now, the only spot in D.C. that continues to have reliable lunchtime foot traffic is the National Mall. The challenge for the food trucks, however, arises from the division of authority in the area: The roads where the food trucks park fall under the jurisdiction of the district, while the sidewalks where the transactions take place are overseen by the National Park Service. The D.C. government therefore lacks jurisdiction to create legal parking spots for the trucks along the sidewalk. Neither the National Parks Service nor the district is willing to assume enforcement responsibilities, meaning the trucks technically remain illegally parked. "There's inter-bureaucracy apathy, I guess. Nobody wants to be in charge of actually taking care of the trucks down there," Patrick Rathbone, owner of the Big Cheese Truck, tells Reason. Until the district and the National Parks Service come to an agreement on operating permits, food truck operators will remain stuck in the middle, continuing to pay large fines as they serve the hungry lunch crowds at D.C.'s National Mall. Produced by Justin Zuckerman; Audio Production by Ian Keyser; Editorial Support by Katarina Hall Music: "Prelude Carmen" by Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra via Artlist; "Life's Journey Begins" by idokay via Artlist; "Thoughts" by ANBR via Artlist; "Cherubinos Aria Voi che sapete" by Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra via Artlist; "Little Things" by ANBR via Artlist