Issue August - September 2015 (2024)

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Reason is the monthly print magazine of "free minds and free markets." It covers politics, culture, and ideas through a provocative mix of news, analysis, commentary, and reviews. Reason provides a refreshing alternative to right-wing and left-wing opinion magazines by making a principled case for liberty and individual choice in all areas of human activity.

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in this issue

DepartmentsFlamin’ Hot Cheetos Are the American DreamTHE STORY OF Flamin’ Hot Cheetos is the story of America. The illegitimate offspring of a cheese puff and a Dorito, the snacks are a triumph of food science. With their finger-staining red pigment, infinite shelf life, sui generis squiggly shape, and well-calibrated esophageal burn, Flamin’ Hots flaunt qualities impossible to find in nature, brought into existence by applying advanced technology to frivolous goals.The creation story of this irresistible snack is quintessentially American, too. Richard Montañez, a longtime janitor at the Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California, was watching someone cook corn with butter and chile when inspiration struck: Why not add Mexican spices to the famous corn-based puff? Montañez— who spoke no English—whipped up a test batch, designed some mock packaging, and soon found himself convincing the top brass…6 min

DepartmentsContributorsGUSTAVO ARELLANO is the editor of OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, California, where he delights in “exposing fake libertarians, making fun of the real ones for loving Ayn Rand too much, and watching Mexican libertarians take over the county, one taco truck at a time.” He’s also the author of the award winning syndicated column “¡Ask a Mexican!” In “Drop That Snack!” on page 18, the 36-year old Arellano explores the way municipal nanny statism limits innovation (and tastiness) in the marketplace for food.In “Why Does Cadbury Taste Worse in America?” (page 35), reason Associate Editor SCOTT SHACKFORD, 43, unpacks how government regulations are keeping certain chocolate treats out of the hands of consumers. In “Battlefield: Cake” (page 76), he explains why florists and photographers have been…1 min

Departments30 years ago in reason“Cellular telephones could conceivably become one of the new law-enforcement tools of the ’80s and beyond. This possibility raises disturbing questions about citizens’ constitutional right to privacy and their ability to protect that right. Given the fast pace of technological change and the comparatively slow pace of legal change, technology promises to outstrip the law. How, then, can individual privacy survive the threat of growing government intrusion in the new communications age?”—Robert L. Corn, “Wireless Tapping”“Some people are starting to fight fire with fire—or, more literally, to fight over-65 lobbies like the powerful American Association of Retired Persons with a new baby-boom membership organization, Americans for Generational Equity (AGE). The group plans to develop positions and conduct original research on the budget deficit, entitlements for the elderly, and other issues…1 min

DepartmentsCitingsDeath by policeRiots in BaltimoreEd KrayewskiON MAY 1, following the death in police custody of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged six police officers with a series of crimes ranging from official misconduct to murder. Gray reportedly ran when officers made eye contact with him on April 12, and cops pursued him. He was then arrested for allegedly carrying an illegal knife and placed in a police van, where he suffered a spinal injury and went into a coma, dying one week later.In her indictment, Mosby said the knife was legal to possess, but at least one officer’s attorney insists that it wasn’t. The indictments the grand jury returned don’t include false imprisonment charges, reflecting uncertainty over the knife.Demonstrations for Freddie Gray started a few days after…10 min

DepartmentsQuotes“Let’s give it up for the Secret Service. I don’t want to be too hard on those guys. You know, because they’re the only law enforcement agency that will get in trouble if a black man gets shot.”—Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong, during her White House Correspondents’ Dinner remarks, April 25“I’m not an upstanding citizen. I’m the evil that goes bump in the night in this city. Whoever don’t know my name, know my face. But goddamn, can we at least get due process? Send me to jail for life, if I’m a criminal. I don’t want anyone to get hurt tonight.”— Yusha Hasim Al-Fahd, a Baltimore gang member who helped form a barrier between protesters and police during the Freddie Gray riots, quoted in Bloomberg Politics, April…1 min

Issue August - September 2015 (2024)

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