Month: August 2025

Alabama’s Porn Tax Starts Soon

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Alabama can’t seem to decide whether it wants to discourage porn consumption or profit from it. Starting in September, it will levy a 10 percent tax on adult website proceeds from any porn produced or sold in the state.

Adult websites are reportedly being told to create their “Material Harmful to Minors tax accounts” now.”

https://reason.com/2025/08/04/alabamas-porn-tax-starts-soon/

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Imperils the Fourth Amendment Rights of U.S. Citizens

Posted on by Lone Candle

“the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit largely affirmed a lower court ruling that found that the Trump administration was likely guilty of conducting illegal immigration raids in the greater Los Angeles area that violated the Fourth Amendment rights of multiple U.S. citizens.

Generally speaking, Fourth Amendment caselaw requires that an officer must have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in order to stop someone. In the immigration context, a federal officer must have reasonable suspicion that a person is in violation of immigration law in order to detain them.

In this case, Perdomo v. Noem, the lower court held, and the appellate court agreed, that the Trump administration was apparently carrying out immigration raids and arrests without any semblance of reasonable suspicion, which invariably meant that U.S. citizens were also getting caught up in the federal dragnet.”

https://reason.com/2025/08/05/trumps-immigration-crackdown-imperils-the-fourth-amendment-rights-of-u-s-citizens/

Boss Time: Summits, Cold Wars, and Universities, with Condoleezza Rice | GoodFellows

Posted on by Lone Candle

Companies are worried about quarterly earnings. The U.S. does not have a plan B for long-term research. We need to maintain the funding and focus on research in universities. Many technologies that are changing the world today are based on university research from decades ago.

Trump’s trade agreements are not trade agreements. They are not even trade deals. They are more press releases. It’s likely that many of Trump’s tariffs won’t even be legal under U.S. law.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-HvpdbtJSA

I don’t know how to cover this anymore

Posted on by Lone Candle

The Israel-Hamas conflict is surrounded by so much misinformation, and people latch on to the misinformation and propaganda so unquestionably, that it makes it hard to tell what’s going on and many professionals don’t want to even touch the story. Everything is so he-said-she-said and stories always change after bad information has already spread, that it is difficult to know what the truth is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaOOi-d-bOU

Why Ghislaine Maxwell’s Transfer to a Minimum-Security Prison Camp Stinks

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Sex offenders are supposed to be ineligible for minimum-security federal prison camps, but the rule was waived for Maxwell.

…

“Maxwell’s transfer raised eyebrows not only because it appeared to be part of an obvious quid pro quo between a rather infamous public figure and a president trying to downplay his connections to Epstein, but because it’s practically unheard of for a federal inmate with Maxwell’s record to get transferred to a minimum-security camp after serving only a fraction of their sentence.”

https://reason.com/2025/08/06/why-ghislaine-maxwells-transfer-to-a-minimum-security-prison-camp-stinks/

A First Amendment Lawsuit Highlights the Chilling Impact of Speech-Based Deportation on Student Journalists

Posted on by Lone Candle

A First Amendment Lawsuit Highlights the Chilling Impact of Speech-Based Deportation on Student Journalists

https://reason.com/2025/08/06/a-first-amendment-lawsuit-highlights-the-chilling-impact-of-speech-based-deportation-on-student-journalists/

Flickers of Hope for Afghans Caught in Legal Limbo

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Currently, parole has been revoked for a portion of the 8,100 Afghans who entered the U.S. through the southern border using the Customs and Border Protection’s now defunct One app, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was revoked from around 11,700 Afghans in July. Additionally, Afghans who arrived in the U.S. during Operation Allies Refuge in August 2021 were granted two years of humanitarian parole. Their parole was extended in 2023 but is soon set to expire, which will leave an unknown number of parolees in precarious legal standing.

…

In late 2024, Nasrin, who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity, fled to the U.S. to escape her abusive ex-husband, who sought to marry her daughter to a member of the Taliban after the terrorist group’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. Upon arrival in the U.S., Nasrin, along with her daughter and two of her sons, was placed in ICE detention. Nasrin and her daughter were released, but both of her sons remain in ICE facilities. Nasrin “worries a lot” about the unknown future of her sons.

Former interpreter Mahmud, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, entered the U.S. in 2014 through the SIV program. His brother, Fawad, applied for an SIV through work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and fled to Mexico after his half-brother was murdered. After waiting eight months in Mexico for a CBP One app appointment, Fawad crossed the border in March 2025 and was immediately detained. ICE rejected his claim for asylum and now insists Fawad must be deported to Afghanistan.

Mahmud reports that Fawad has not been granted a credible fear interview and is being moved to different ICE facilities around the country, which makes it difficult for his family to acquire expensive legal representation. Mahmud says Fawad’s depression and other health issues are “getting worse in detention centers.””

https://reason.com/2025/08/07/flickers-of-hope-for-afghans-caught-in-legal-limbo/