Pension Ponzinomics and Abenomics

If all of the pension systems of the world are Ponzi schemes,
(http://www.economist.com/node/21530106)

Is "Abenomics" a Ponzi scheme on top of a Ponzi scheme? This becomes extremely hairy when considering the ageing population and economic stagnation Japan is experiencing.

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10045933/Japan-is-adding-a-Ponzi-scheme-to-a-Ponzi-scheme.html)

The Lipstick Effect (Economics and Sociology related)

Interesting piece at the Huffington Post...

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/lipstick-effect-female-mating-strategy_b_3363955.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

My two cents on the matter...
Evolutionary psychology and sociology 101. Males offer survival value, women offer replication value.
The strongest, fastest, tallest, caveman or warrior alpha males get more partners as they offer better survival to their mates.
Kinda messed up even more during the industrial age, when survivability became equated with financial stability, property, and status. Now, fame and fortune are also factored in.
As it is understandable to see an athlete, soldier, or policeman to be attractive due to their physical prowess and command of violence, nowadays it is also very common to see old ugly millionaires with "sexy" trophy wives.

These are hardwired into societies over time, seen even in the way people clothe themselves... which is why skirts and dresses exists even when jeans and t-shirts already offer better features and protection. Think about it, what does the design of the skirt offer (or show)?
On the flip side, guns, big cars, and military uniforms are perceived to be qualities of survivability. Capacity to violence is also misinterpreted as a survivability trait: "if the guy can hurt me, he can hurt other bad people too, and will defend me" (c.f. Stockholm syndrome).

These things even bleed towards gender stereotypes and reinforce the patriarchy when attempts are made to mitigate/control it. Whenever the roles are reversed, societies see them as aberrations (e.g. Cougars, Matronas, Tomboys,repressed women, etc.).

Tsk,tsk. So people should start asking how the everyday things they do relate to the survivability/replication paradigm. Doing so however, will tend to lessen their chances to attract a (mainstream) partner. Ironic that people spout "being yourself" in the realm of dating and romance, but what really is happening is to become in line with thousands of years of societal programming and expectations.  

Storm in a bamboo cup

The current row between the Philippines and Taiwan is an example of the kind of problems that Le Miere(2011) and Holmes (2012) foresaw with the rising use of paramilitaries in the South China/West Philippine Sea. I can also understand why Taiwan is quite concerned, as coast guards shooting fishermen and going "unpunished" sets a bad precedent that the 5 Dragons of China will be more than willing to exploit in future skirmishes.
These armed escalations spell trouble for all those with claims in the region, but will offer an advantage to those who already have immense maritime paramilitary fleets at their disposal.

Even if countries paint all of their navy ships white and call them coast guard, they would still be vastly outnumbered by the 5 dragon (un)armada (plus fishing fleets).

This ongoing conflict must be quickly de-escalated and a pragmatic code of conduct for paramilitaries within the region to be immediately adopted. Otherwise, this might turn out to be another "War of Jenkin's Ear" or "Cod War". Dunndunndunndunn!

Earth System Governance

Here's the abstract of the draft paper I presented at the United Nations University last February during the Earth System Governance conference:

This paper explores the relationship between environmental attitudes, governance discourses, and drivers of environmental politics. Data from the International Social Science Program (ISSP) environmental modules from 1993 and 2000 contain discernible patterns among countries for items dealing with ecocentric and pessimistic environmental attitudes broadly related to the DSP and NEP.

A proposed conceptual model is utilized to interpret the results of the ISSP datasets, through a bi-axial dimension scale: Ecological consciousness together with epistemological commitment, to indicate the environmental knowledge orientation of the respondents among four archetypes. Attitudes of people and changes over time are relat ed to overarching environmental discourses, such as ‘green governmentalism', ‘ecological modernization', and ‘civic environmentalism' through movements within the typology. Moreover, drivers of environmental politics that include: Political opportunity structures, environmental NGOs, natural disasters and conditions, and cultural dynamics, may also be considered in order to understand specific contexts of different regions and countries.

Initial findings show that majority of industrialized countries are clustered in the rational ecologist categorization with respondents possessing strong ecological consciousness and optimism towards the role of modern institutions, science, and technology in solving environmental problems. Though certain countries such as Japan and those from the developing world seem to have varying propensities within their respective populations, the general disposition for most of the respondents in the ISSP datasets may be interpreted as conducive to principles and approaches of green governmentalism and ecological modernization. 

Off with their hands :-)

Off with their hands!
A long time ago, some colleagues of mine were discussing over lattes about the "Hudud" and "Maliki judicial school of thought", particularly on how criminals who commit offences such as theft etc. would have their arm(s) amputated as punishment. Many of my friends immediately denounced it as barbaric and inhumane. As for me, I though that it was indeed cruel, but did however serve certain functions if done properly and justly... in the physical aspect it would not allow thieves to use their hands (now gone) to steal, and in the psychological and social sense it would both deter potential thieves due to the gravity of the consequences, and also immediately allow identification and ostracization of the offender.

As such, I thought of how it can related to elections in the Philippine context. I am always frustrated to see politicians spouting countless promises to the voters during campaign periods. Promises that would never happen. These not only insulted one's intelligence if one did not buy the pitch, but at the same time spat at concepts of honor and even basic decency for those who naively believed the trapos (traditionally corrupt politicians). If amputation could be used as punishment in the most mundane cases of petty theft, would it not be more appropriate to apply it to those who not only blatantly steal from the coffers of the country, but also rob the country's youth of the future and the chance for better governance by better candidates?

However, in the real world, one cannot expect the amputation of hands of these corrupt scoundrels to ever happen (notwithstanding human rights issues)... the most corrupt of politicians are already entrenched in the legal and judicial systems, they make the laws. Even if they are caught breaking the law they personally know people in high (and low) places, and pay enough people to become above it. Plus the fact that they can afford the big time lawyers and firms that are also well-connected.

Hence, one may resort to the only place where magical things can happen... No, not Disneyland. The Internet. Here are some possibilities for those who wish to visually express the "Maliki judicial school of thought" without breaking the law (libel/slander/internet laws etc., which are mostly made to protect the trapo scoundrels).

1) Obtain a picture of your favorite trapo waving during campaign period. (You should own the rights to the photo or use Wikimedia commons etc.)
2) Go through the promises of your trapo during their election campaign and number them from one to ten. Include these in the side of the picture as captions.
3) For each promise that he/she failed to keep cut off one of his/her fingers (by Photoshop airbrush,silly)
4) Post and share that nice composite picture of the trapo waving his mangled hand, symbollizing dishonesty and dishonor in Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler etc.
Who knows, it may become a viral thing...

Hopefully two things may happen: The trapos stop promising bogus things; or people realize how crummy their candidates are and stop voting for them. A picture paints a thousand words, now start MSpainting and try to make elections better.

PhD positions at Stockholm University

Might be of interest for some...

Doctoral studies in Political Science and/or International Studies at Stockholm University

The Department of Political Science at Stockholm University announces three PhD positions – two positions within the regular PhD program and one position within the Stockholm University Postgraduate School of International Studies (SIS). Deadline for applications: April 15, 2013. For more information, follow the link below.

http://www.statsvet.su.se/english/research/phd-studies/application/apply-for-phd-positions-at-the-department-of-political-science-1.127725