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No Parking

August 3, 2008August 3, 2008 by John Jay

My friend Nathan and I differ greatly in our perspective of how and when film crews ought to be allowed to close off parking in the maze that is Manhattan’s Chinatown. You can catch some of our debate here and here.

What it comes down to for me, as a libertarian, is that the film studios are using the coercive power of the state to force (see if the police won’t clear away any protests before you object to my use of the word “force”, especially if the protestor is a lone businessman) the neighborhood into accepting something that will benefit the private film company, and a minority of the businesses there. The difference from the Suzette Kelo case is only a matter of degree.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

July 23, 2008 by leifsmith

Tony Ryan, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, writes: “LEAP’s first ever billboard now showing at 108th and I street in Omaha, NE. It is up high, where many can see it, and it shows a new website for us which we can use to measure response and effectiveness.”

Cross-posted at the Explorers Foundation blog [link].

Mug Half Empty, But It’s Also Half Full

April 27, 2008April 27, 2008 by Ginny

Belmont Club links to the following news story:

The British military expressed cautious optimism at the progress. Major Tom Holloway, a spokesman, said: “The Iraqi security forces have made a real difference; this is going to be a long operation by its nature. However, rule of law is returning to the streets.”

Perseverance pays off and long operations require a core optimism. But perhaps it’s all nurtured by a bit of black humor, a bit of irony. After all, WWII was won by people who invented the term SNAFU. So, here’s some merchandising – the question is, does it toughen us or lead us to despair or, well, merely, make us smile? Whatever – I want that mug. There may well be a providential order, but today things look screwed.

And, longer term, perseverance isn’t just a trait, it’s a duty. And so Wretchard follows that story with this one by Wretchard.

A Marketing Challenge

February 11, 2008 by David Foster

If the marketing class will come to order, we have an interesting case study today. We’re going to focus on a product, the market penetration of which is being limited by an attribute that–on first glance–would seem to be a good thing.

On War, Comprehension and Persuasion

September 24, 2007September 23, 2007 by Zenpundit

There must be something in the water lately as I have been getting an upsurge of inquiries and public comments regarding information operations, public diplomacy, “soft power” agents of influence, 5GW and similar matters. There are other blogs I can recommend as being better on this score – Beacon, MountainRunner, Kent’s Imperative, Swedish Meatballs Confidential and Whirledview to name but a few. Also, I would suggest that interested readers search the archives of Studies in Intelligence, PARAMETERS, The Strategic Studies Institute, Combined Arms Research Library and the threads at The Small Wars Council. Genuine expertise may be found there and for discussions of theory and emerging trends, I recommend Dreaming 5GW.

That being said, I will offer my two cents anyway.

One point of agreement across the political spectrum and that of informed opinion is that the USG has not done a particularly good job of managing “the war of ideas” in the conflict with Islamist terrorism. Or against state adversaries. Or with persuading neutrals and even our own allies to our point of view. When you are having difficulty drawing even in global popularity contest with a crowd of bearded fanatics who put beheading videos on the internet, it’s time to admit there’s a problem.