[DM] “On potentially unsustainable immigration in Singapore”

I’ve a post up at Demography Matters taking a look at the very unpopular plans of the Singaporean government to counter population aging and eventual decrease with massive immigration. Singaporean demographic policy generally–at least the desire to maintain higher levels of fertility–is compromised by its economic policies which make family life difficult. Singapore’s government needs to adopt smarter policies than unlimited replacement migration to compensate for the problems it imposes on its citizenry.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Bruce Sterling picks up on an analyst’s prediction that by next year, more computers–including mobile devices–will be running Google’s Android than Microsoft.
• Centauri Dreams remembers late British astronomer and popularizer Patrick Moore.
• Claus Vistesen doesn’t think much of predictions that a low American birth rate will lead to economic ruin. (Frankly, it’s not nearly low enough.)
• Will Baird at The Dragon’s Tales reports on evidence found in geological strata as to an abundance of sulfur-metabolizing bacteria 2.7 billion years ago.
• Daniel Drezner seems as interested by the ways in which analysts will react to the new Global Briefs 2030, with its predictions of American decline, as anything else.
• Geocurrents notes the highly scattered and thin population of Australia.
• The Grumpy Sociology links to a series of posts he made analyzing different aspects of slavery in modern-day Thailand.
• Language Hat notes the Italian imprint in mid-19th century Odessa.
• Language Log suspects that Cantonese, by virtue of its base of Hong Kong, is resisting the pressures of Mandarin to a much greater extent than other Chinese regional languages.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer has noted that Chinese sabre-rattlings has succeeded in making the Philippines’ government welcome Japanese militarization.
• Window on Eurasia observes that China is starting to compete for the scarce water supplies of central Asia.

[BLOG] Some Friday links

• Daniel Drezner notes that Chinese sabre-rattling over maritime borders is starting to encourage other East Asian countries–ASEAN member-states and Japan to start–to form a coalition to counterbalance China.
• Eastern Approaches reports on the baffling and horrible decision of a Jobbik MP to call for a list of Jews. What does this say about Hungarian politics?
• At Far Outliers, Joel posts an excerpt from J.H. Elliott’s Imperial Spain: 1469-1716 which makes the point that, as New World populations crashed over the 16th century while New World industries prospered, Spain’s initial economic advantage from its captive market disappeared.
• Still writing at False Steps, Paul Drye describes a recently aborted proposed mission to a Near Earth Asteroid.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money’s Erik Loomis takes issue with an essay arguing that the Latin American left has a conflicted relationship with indigenous peoples.
• The Map Room’s Jonathan Crowe is disappointed by the maps of the new Game of Thrones atlas collection.
• Joshua Foust at Registan takes issue with a confident Kazakhstani national identity that’s compromised by extensive censorship.
• Torontoist covers the reaction of the Don Bosco Eagles, the high school football team coached by Rob Ford, to their loss at the Metro Bowl.
• At The Volokh Conspiracy, Eugene Kontorovich asks how Israeli settlement in the West Bank managed to become uniquely controversial, given the existence of other comparable situations elsewhere in the world.

[CAT] “Paper Industry Decimating Indonesia’s Tigers”

Indonesia is an emergent global force, a country of significant current heft and greater promise, a country that–as it continues to grow–arguably has at least a good a claim if not greater as Russia to be counted as a member of the BRIC, or BRIC, club of emergent global economic powers. Like other countries which are making this ascent, and which have made the ascent, this comes at a significant cost to its natural environment. Charundi Panagoda notes at Inter Press Service that the growing Indonesian paper industry is threatening the endangered Sumatran tiger.

The survival of Sumatra’s tigers, elephants, orangutans, rhinos, as well as indigenous communities, is threatened by the “world’s fastest deforestation rate”, caused by none other than the pulp and paper industry, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

In a recent report, WWF named the Indonesian-based company Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) as “responsible for more forest destruction in Sumatra than any other single company”. APP and competitor Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) have consumed the majority of the wood harvested from commercial forest clearances and agriculture conversion.

“In central Sumatra, the impact of APP’s operations on wildlife has been devastating. The company’s forest clearing in Riau Province has been driving Sumatran elephants and tigers toward local extinction,” the report said.

The companies have also begun clearing peat swamp forests. According to Indonesian ministry of forestry estimates, deforestation associated with peat decomposition and burning totals 1.2 gigatonnes of carbon emissions per year, making Indonesia the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter.

[. . .]

What APP calls “degraded land” is what WWF calls “tiger habitat,” WWF forest programme manager Linda Kramme told IPS. She believes many of the sustainability statements made by APP and Oasis are misleading. Suggesting APP is only impacting a small amount of Indonesia is like saying the recent Gulf oil spill only impacted a small amount of the U.S., she added.

“(WWF) believes they are mischaracterising their practices happening on the ground. Many U.S. customers and companies don’t have the ability to go to Indonesia and see what’s happening, so it can be easy for them to read materials that APP and companies that market their products like Oasis say – that they have different certification, that they are doing things with conservation. But our teams for two decades have seen impacts on ground and we see and obligation to raise the questions and to raise the facts,” she said.

[. . .]

In 2010, APP was affected by the U.S. Commerce Department imposing anti-dumping duty orders for certain coated paper imported from Indonesia. “Dumping” is a predatory pricing practice in international trade that allows companies to sell their imported products at very low prices, driving out the competition.

“There is an environmental component to the fact that (APP products are) less expensive. One of the reasons they can afford lower costs is because they are getting fibre illegally (by illegal logging, for example). They are not engaging in the kind of business practices which cost a little bit more if you want to do things legally and that result in lower prices,” Johnson said.

Still, the U.S. can prosecute companies like APP only if the government of the producer country has criminal penalties for the same activity. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the Indonesian government to effectively implement conservation laws, activists say.

Johnson says a strong case can be made that Indonesia has affectively subsidised the pulp and paper industry by not enforcing its own laws.

[CAT] “Paper Industry Decimating Indonesia’s Tigers”

Indonesia is an emergent global force, a country of significant current heft and greater promise, a country that–as it continues to grow–arguably has at least a good a claim if not greater as Russia to be counted as a member of the BRIC, or BRIC, club of emergent global economic powers. Like other countries which are making this ascent, and which have made the ascent, this comes at a significant cost to its natural environment. Charundi Panagoda notes at Inter Press Service that the growing Indonesian paper industry is threatening the endangered Sumatran tiger.

The survival of Sumatra’s tigers, elephants, orangutans, rhinos, as well as indigenous communities, is threatened by the “world’s fastest deforestation rate”, caused by none other than the pulp and paper industry, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

In a recent report, WWF named the Indonesian-based company Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) as “responsible for more forest destruction in Sumatra than any other single company”. APP and competitor Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) have consumed the majority of the wood harvested from commercial forest clearances and agriculture conversion.

“In central Sumatra, the impact of APP’s operations on wildlife has been devastating. The company’s forest clearing in Riau Province has been driving Sumatran elephants and tigers toward local extinction,” the report said.

The companies have also begun clearing peat swamp forests. According to Indonesian ministry of forestry estimates, deforestation associated with peat decomposition and burning totals 1.2 gigatonnes of carbon emissions per year, making Indonesia the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter.

[. . .]

What APP calls “degraded land” is what WWF calls “tiger habitat,” WWF forest programme manager Linda Kramme told IPS. She believes many of the sustainability statements made by APP and Oasis are misleading. Suggesting APP is only impacting a small amount of Indonesia is like saying the recent Gulf oil spill only impacted a small amount of the U.S., she added.

“(WWF) believes they are mischaracterising their practices happening on the ground. Many U.S. customers and companies don’t have the ability to go to Indonesia and see what’s happening, so it can be easy for them to read materials that APP and companies that market their products like Oasis say – that they have different certification, that they are doing things with conservation. But our teams for two decades have seen impacts on ground and we see and obligation to raise the questions and to raise the facts,” she said.

[. . .]

In 2010, APP was affected by the U.S. Commerce Department imposing anti-dumping duty orders for certain coated paper imported from Indonesia. “Dumping” is a predatory pricing practice in international trade that allows companies to sell their imported products at very low prices, driving out the competition.

“There is an environmental component to the fact that (APP products are) less expensive. One of the reasons they can afford lower costs is because they are getting fibre illegally (by illegal logging, for example). They are not engaging in the kind of business practices which cost a little bit more if you want to do things legally and that result in lower prices,” Johnson said.

Still, the U.S. can prosecute companies like APP only if the government of the producer country has criminal penalties for the same activity. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the Indonesian government to effectively implement conservation laws, activists say.

Johnson says a strong case can be made that Indonesia has affectively subsidised the pulp and paper industry by not enforcing its own laws.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Far Outliers’ Joel describes the rather remarkably thorough Stalin-era imprisonment and massacre of ethnic Poles–even people associated with ethnic Poles–in modern Belarus and Ukraine.
• GNXP’s Razib Khan analyses genetic data from Southeast Asians suggesting that after substantial migration from South Asia in antiquity, Tai expansion south not only occurred quite recently but resulted in the replacement of the local population.
• Laywers, Guns and Money takes a look at the unconvincing, and deeply anti-human, Deep Green ideology of Derrick Jensen. Calling human extinction a plus is somewhat misanthropic, especially when you welcome billions of dead.
• Marginal Revolution has two interesting posts, one noting that new studies of the economy of Ghana suggest the country is richer than previously believed, the other observing that the income gaps between North and Latin America (in the north’s favour) have always existed.
• Mark Simpson notes how, despite his allegiances to traditional masculinity, in his self-care–his plastic surgery, say–Breivik was unknowingly metrosexual.
• Slap Upside the Head notes that supporters of the Alberta oil sands project are trying to garner support by pointing out that Canada (including Alberta) supports human rights, including gay rights. Progress, right?
• Strange Maps features an interesting map, a reimagining of Denmark as a colony of Greenland complete with Greenlandic placenames and human geographies.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Far Outliers’ Joel describes the rather remarkably thorough Stalin-era imprisonment and massacre of ethnic Poles–even people associated with ethnic Poles–in modern Belarus and Ukraine.
• GNXP’s Razib Khan analyses genetic data from Southeast Asians suggesting that after substantial migration from South Asia in antiquity, Tai expansion south not only occurred quite recently but resulted in the replacement of the local population.
• Laywers, Guns and Money takes a look at the unconvincing, and deeply anti-human, Deep Green ideology of Derrick Jensen. Calling human extinction a plus is somewhat misanthropic, especially when you welcome billions of dead.
• Marginal Revolution has two interesting posts, one noting that new studies of the economy of Ghana suggest the country is richer than previously believed, the other observing that the income gaps between North and Latin America (in the north’s favour) have always existed.
• Mark Simpson notes how, despite his allegiances to traditional masculinity, in his self-care–his plastic surgery, say–Breivik was unknowingly metrosexual.
• Slap Upside the Head notes that supporters of the Alberta oil sands project are trying to garner support by pointing out that Canada (including Alberta) supports human rights, including gay rights. Progress, right?
• Strange Maps features an interesting map, a reimagining of Denmark as a colony of Greenland complete with Greenlandic placenames and human geographies.

[LINK] “US, China vie for influence among Indonesian riches”

At Asia Times Online, Sara Schonhardt describes how the promise of Indonesia–an emerging economy I’ve blogged about before, one that many say should be considered for BRIC membership (BRICS now) on account of its size and development–is encouraging Sino-American competition for access to Indonesian markets and resources.

The battle for influence between the world’s economic powerhouses, China and the United States, is intensifying across Southeast Asia. Both countries are rushing to take advantage of robust growth rates and rising consumer demand, and the focus of their recent competition is the region’s emerging gem: Indonesia.

The country was practically wiped from investors’ sights after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, when the national coffers ran dry and the currency collapsed. But annual growth of around 6%, a middle class of nearly 30 million and a long period of political stability have made it a darling among businesses eager to gain influence and market share.

As Southeast Asia’s largest economy and the world’s biggest supplier of coal and palm oil, investors have recently plowed into the country as a play on rising commodity prices. More recently, foreign businesses, including from the US and China, have seen the benefits of selling to Indonesia’s large and expanding middle class, providing a new boost to manufacturing after falling off steadily since the late 1990s.

“Southeast Asia is in China’s backyard,” said James Castle, the founder of corporate advisor Castle Asia and one of the leading market-entry strategists in Indonesia. It’s natural that the Chinese would want to spread their technological and economic strengths beyond their borders, he said.

The US, meanwhile, is vying for a slice of the pie by promoting technology-sharing deals and investments in commodities and renewable energy.

Go, read the whole thing.

[LINK] Two links on the mainstreaming of Facebook (and Twitter!) globally

I owe thanks to Facebook’s Patrick for letting me know that Friendster is going under. See CNet’s Caroline McCarthy.

Social network pioneer Friendster, as we know it, will be gone on May 31. The company today announced to members that as part of its conversion from would-be Facebook competitor to “the social gaming destination of choice,” it would be keeping accounts alive but deleting all user photos, comments, blog posts, and other profile content. Users interested in preserving that data are encouraged to use a tool to export their profiles to their hard drives.

It’s another sad chapter for the company that could have become the social network that everyone used–basically, what Facebook is now. Or maybe it never could’ve been. For the past few years, after losing out first to MySpace and then Facebook in the U.S., Friendster has been focusing on the Southeast Asian markets where it’s proven to have some lasting power. Late in 2009, it sold to MOL Global, a digital payments company based in Malaysia.

[. . .]

Friendster would miss its chance to be the first social network to “make it big” among mainstream users. But it was the first site that actually had a chance. The people who used Friendster were, for the most part, young adults looking to add a digital extension to their real-world social lives. They weren’t necessarily the uber-geeks who populated early social sites like Tribe.net, nor were they the angsty teenagers typing out anonymized accounts of high school cafeteria drama. (Disclosure: I may or may not have been one of them circa 2000.) This was the first glimpse we had of the Internet as a place where everyone would be socializing online, where the physical and virtual were blurred.

But while Friendster became a sensation, it didn’t get big enough. Its users hadn’t lain down the roots that would keep them interested even when something newer and shiner came along. That’s the hurdle that Facebook got over that MySpace didn’t, and that Friendster before it didn’t either–becoming such a routine part of so many peoples’ lives that it no longer seems to require any effort. Of course you check your Facebook news feed. You’re not about to forget about it.

Or maybe Friendster’s mini-heyday in 2003 was still just too early. I knew plenty of people who created Facebook profiles as soon as the young social network was available at their colleges in 2004 because, given that it was restricted to people who shared their university affiliation, they were finally comfortable joining a social network. In the early 2000s, the idea of creating a profile on a social network was something unusual to most people–potentially dangerous, potentially creepy, and potentially an indicator that you didn’t have enough going on in your real life and so were forced to turn to the Internet. Friendster was on the right track by encouraging members to only “friend” people they knew in real life. But just by offering a worldwide network of membership, it might have been too much too soon.

Yes, it looks like instead of a global ecology of social networking platforms each with their different geographical and cultural niches–Southeast Asia, the Russophone world, Brazil, Latvia–we’re heading towards a global hegemony of Facebook backed up bt Twitter. Even the Netherlands, which stands out in western Europe for the popularity of the loca Hyves network, is assimilating to the norm.

A much higher than average percentage of internet users in the Netherlands are using social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn. So much so that the country ranks number one worldwide in penetration for the two social networks.

LinkedIn and Twitter reach 26.1 percent and 26.8 percent respectively of the total internet-using population in the Netherlands.

Local social network Hyves sees even higher rates of usage in the country but may soon be eclipsed by Facebook, a site which has seen a 76 percent increase in local visitors in just one year.

[. . .]

Ninety-six percent of the online population (about 11.5 million people, out of a total population of about 16.67 million) in the Netherlands visited a social network in March, up 18 percent from last year’s 9.7 million visitors.

Around 7.6 million people in the Netherlands visit Hyves each month while just under 6.6 million internet users in the Netherlands head to rival social network Facebook.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• Acts of Minor Treason’s Andrew Barton likes television and wishes it a good future.
• Behind the Numbers’ Carl Haub observes that the collapse in Singapore’s fertility rate to radically sub-replacement levels continues unabated.
• Bluejacket 1862 notes that Malta is quite exposed to the mess in Libya.
• Eastern Approaches features discussion about the revelance of post-1989 central Europe to the post-2011 Middle East, with particular emphasis on Poland as the largest successful country.
• Geocurrents Events’ Martin Lewis notes that Libya, unlike other North African countries, has its population dispersed in two widely settled enclaves in west and east.
• The Invisible College’s Mel O’Brien lists a series of genocide-related academic conferences upcoming.
• Language Hat reports on a study suggesting that infants speaking Spanish or Catalan natively can determine whether people in silent videos are speaking English or French based on facial cues alone.
• At Lawyers, Guns and Money, Paul Campos takes on the misuse of historical memory associated with the belief that the United States is poorer–it’s not, there’s been strong economic growth, it’s just that the very rich have taken it all up.
• The Loom’s Carl Zimmer suggests that we should look to blue whales–and other cetaceans–for tips on treating cancer, since they don’t suffer from this malady nearly as much as their body mass should have them.
• At Love and Fiction, Clifford Jackman makes the point that the question of why people do good is just as important, if not more so, as reasons for doing evil.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer disagrees strongly with opposition to solar power plant construction in California, commenters disagree.
• At Spacing Toronto, Jessica Lemieux meditates on the reality that Toronto’s green spaces, like (I would add) the Toronto Islands, are conscious products of city planning.
• Understanding Society’s Daniel Little is critical of John Searle’s contention that language is necessary for intention, pointing out that intention is expressed capable in humans and non-humans without.
• Japan, Scott Peterson at Wasatch Economics lets us know, is outsourcing science and engineering to neighbouring countries. Since advanced technology and science drives the export-driven sectors of the Japanese economy that keeps the entire thing afloat, this isn’t good.