Reason Roundtable, 07/07/25
Source: Reason
“The Insanity of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.” (07/07/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/07/07/the-insanity-of-trumps-big-beautiful-bill/
Palestine: Five Israeli soldiers killed, 14 injured by roadsize bomb in Gaza
Source: Times of Israel [Palestine]
“Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded by a roadside bomb in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday night, the military announced on Tuesday morning. … According to an initial IDF probe, the infantry soldiers were hit by a bomb planted by terror [sic] operatives on the side of a road shortly after 10 p.m. during ground operations in Beit Hanoun. The soldiers were operating on foot and were not inside a vehicle. During attempts to extract the casualties, the forces came under fire in the area, according to the probe.” (07/08/25)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-idf-soldiers-killed-14-injured-by-roadside-bomb-in-northern-gaza/
Ethics and Insecticide
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“Mike Huemer is the greatest philosopher. It is no hyperbole to say that he ‘taught me how to think.’ He is also a confirmed ethical vegetarian who practices what he preaches. Nine years ago, I wrote this piece arguing that insects provide a strong reductio ad absurdum to Huemer’s view. If animal suffering is morally important, then insect suffering is morally important, which implies that even the most seemingly innocuous activities — driving a car, building a house — are morally monstrous. … In terms of persuasion, I have probably never failed so badly in all my life. At least two smart friends subsequently told me that my arguments were bad enough to convert them to the opposite of my position. Predictably, though, I still say I’m right and Huemer is wrong.” (07/07/25)
TX: Man killed after injuring three in attack on notorious gang’s lair
Source: NBC News
“A man was killed after exchanging gunfire with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in southern Texas, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The McAllen Police Department received a call reporting shots heard in the area of the U.S. Border Patrol McAllen Station at around 5:53 a.m., the FBI said in a statement. The police department alerted the FBI’s San Antonio division and responded to the scene. The city of McAllen identified the suspect as Ryan Louis Mosqueda. … A border patrol employee and two officers were injured in the shooting, according to [“Homeland Security” gang] spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who added that one of them was shot in the knee. All were taken to a hospital.” (07/07/25)
On Immigration Now
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“The freedom to migrate is, on my view, absolutely required by serious libertarianism. No serious libertarian can endorse forcibly constraining individuals acting peacefully and productively. To deny people elsewhere the right of entry is to forcibly constrain them from acting peacefully and productively. To deny people here the right to hire, marry, house, sell to, or otherwise engage with, people from elsewhere by bringing them here is to forcibly constrain them from acting peacefully and productively. … Given that, I have always been a fan of open immigration, believing the only justified limits were those designed to keep out known criminals — those known to do actual harm, actively violating the legitimate rights of others (not merely breaking the law by entering the country). Still, there are arguments against allowing immigration.” (07/07/25)
https://prosociallibertarians.substack.com/p/on-immigration-now
Trump announces new taxes on American consumers
Source: CNN Business
“President Donald Trump cranked up the pressure Monday on America[n consumers], firing off letters to heads of several countries, informing them of their [American customers’] new tariff rate. But at the same time, Trump took some of the edge off by signing an executive action Monday to extend the date for all ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, with the exception of China, to August 1. Those ‘reciprocal’ tariffs were expected to go into effect Wednesday. In some cases, the letters Trump sent specify new “reciprocal” tariff rates that are higher or lower compared to April levels. … Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung were the first recipients of Trump’s letters. [American buyers of goods from b]oth countries will face a 25% tariff come August 1, according to the letters, but both nations said on Tuesday they plan to engage in further talks with the US, with Japan saying it was working towards a trade deal.” (07/08/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/economy/trump-letters-tariffs
Are We About to Have Labor Camps in the United States of America?
Source: The New Republic
by Michael Tomasky
“If you think that’s far-fetched, then you really haven’t been paying attention to what the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have been up to lately.” (07/07/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/197619/trump-immigration-labor-camps
EU: Von der Leyen Faces No-Confidence Vote in “Far-Right” Challenge
Source: New York Times
“Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, is expected to face a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament this week. While the measure is likely to fail, it will be a symbolic challenge to the European Union’s top official at a time of high tension. Ms. von der Leyen appeared before Parliament on Monday for a debate to address the complaints against her ahead of the vote, which is scheduled for Thursday. The challenge originated from Europe’s far right: Gheorghe Piperea, a parliamentary newcomer from Romania who belongs to a political group that is often critical of the European Union, accused Ms. von der Leyen’s commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, of ‘failures to ensure transparency.'” (07/07/25)
The Department of Education Is in Limbo. Let’s Kill It.
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“The fate of the U.S. Department of Education is currently in limbo. President Donald Trump came into office promising — among other things — to rid us of this unnecessary federal bureaucracy. Democrats, closely aligned with teachers unions, vowed to prevent him from doing anything of the sort. The Trump administration has offloaded many of the department’s responsibilities and dismissed staff, but without a congressional vote to abolish the department, those decisions have been challenged in court. As it now stands, the bureaucratic behemoth has been hobbled but not yet disposed of.” (07/07/25)
https://reason.com/2025/07/07/the-department-of-education-is-in-limbo-lets-kill-it/
Anti-Genocide Activism: Terrorism In The Empire Of Lies
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“British police have been arresting anti-genocide protesters for holding signs expressing support for activist group Palestine Action, which London has now officially designated a terrorist group for putting red paint on war planes that were being used in the Gaza holocaust. That’s right, welcome to the empire, where peace activists are called terrorists, where hospitals are called military bases, where facts are called blood libel, where people opposing genocide are called hateful Nazis, where genocidal soldiers are a protected group and chanting for their death is a hate crime. … Israel has banned journalists from Gaza in order to hide its war crimes, making doctors and other specialists the de facto western reporters on the ground.” (07/06/25)