There are numerous measurements and indicators for which to measure success by. Many pertain to the area in which we want to measure success in. In regards to business many people measure success by wealth, power, or customer value.  http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/how-do-you-measure-success/.

Is a successful business or business person (CEO) better measured in terms of wealth accumulated, power over shareholders or other businesses with which they work with, or their customers/clienteles satisfaction with their workplace. Personally I believe that customer/clientele satisfaction is not a significant measurement of success as it is subject to personal biases laden with the workforce and therefore not fully representative. Power is a measurement that is hard to find an accurate indicator for. We could use percentage of stocks, number of shareholders, or even ability to intimidate workers into carrying out tasks and duties. But again I believe that this measurement doesn’t fully caputre success. That leaves us with wealth; another controversial measurement of success. I believe that wealth is the better of the three possible measures because it can be reliably and accurately measured by indicators. By measuring annual income or net profits in comparison to other fiscal year reports we get a hard figure not subject to personal or subjective biases.

In order to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and one of literature’s most iconic men, Mr. Darcy, I decided to dedicate by blog post to it. From costume parties, to book clubs, screenplay adaptations, parodies, Oscar nominations and corresponding sequels/prequels Pride and Prejudice has seemed to grow ever more popular over time. Some blame it on the popularized Victorian time period, the simplicity of Bennet and Darcy’s romance, or that Ms. Bennet was one of the first female characters to defy gendered stereotypes about women. No matter the reason, Pride and Prejudice has withstood the test of time and in doing so managed to cross transnational boundaries, generations, and educational discourses.

Despite country’s prominent and glaring differences that lead to scarred trade relations, war and ethnic conflict, how is it that something so simple as a novel can transcend those differences and create a common ground between people? The BBC interviewed women from Britain, America and India this morning about Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice anniversary and all women despite their economic, racial, ethnic and geographic differences reported similar views about the book. It left me wondering if there was more Jane Austen in the world would there be more commonalities in the world? Would we be more willing to look past blaring racial and economic differences and confide in someone due to fictional preferences? Is the simplicity of the Jane Austen era something we should strive for in this day and age? What would politics be like if political leaders were forced to read Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park per se? Maybe all this world needs is a dose of Bennet and Darcy.

In light of Egypt’s President Morsi declaring a State of Emergency in Egypt I thought this would be a good time to discuss the undemocratic nature of this act. Under a State of Emergency the President/Prime Minister has the ability to limit constitutional rights and freedoms guaranteed to citizens in a democracy. Many cities in Egypt– such as Port Said, Ismalia and Suez– are all under a curfew, and the Egyptian Cabinet wrote a draft law to allow the army to participate in policing and arresting of defiant civilians. Amnesty International condemned this ‘excessive use of force’ as unconstitutional.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21240604 

With this temporary suspension of civilian rights, and fast-tracked legislature can a country in a State of Emergency maintain its democratic composure and characteristics? Or is Egypt still a democracy because President Morsi is calling for a national dialogue involving all political parties and would be willing to step down upon the calling of elections? Under a minimal or an adjective definition can we still describe Egypt at this time period as democratic?

So I am a huge fan of Suits and I am hoping some of you in 423C will share my love for the TV show. As this past Thursday was the mid-season premiere I wanted to get a discussion going about what you think will happen in the remaining episodes of the season.

Louis. He finally made senior partner a few episodes back, but since he had a bit of falling out with Jessica and could have potentially exposed Mike Ross as a fraud; he is restricted from exploiting his senior partner privileges. Will Louis ever attain equality against Harvey Spector? We just saw Harvey hire a new junior associate when Louis was denied the right too. To tie it into the democracy theme of the course: is this fair and just workforce practices? Though Louis is part of the majority that voted out Hardman is it fair for Jessica and Harvey to act like a ‘tyranny of the majority’ and subordinate him?

Mike Ross. WILL HE AND RACHEL EVER END UP TOGETHER??? Is the closing of season two finally the time that Mike and Rachel can be together? Or will another girl swoop into the picture and distract Mike?

The phrase “oligarchic democracy” is the adjective being employed to define the political democratic system in the Ukraine. Oligarchic democracy describes the big business and political group interaction. Democracy becomes subjected to the big business forces in the country. http://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-studies/2012-10-16/oligarchic-democracy-influence-business-groups-ukrainian-politics. Oligarchic democracy would place lower on Sartori’s ladder of generality in Collier and Levitsky’s article as by adding the subtype ‘oligarchic’ to democracy; we can stretch the conceptual meaning of democracy to cover political systems subjected to big business forces.

The article http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/social-democracy-across-sea “Social Democracy across the Sea” is the adjective used to describe Egypt’s system by the Egyptian Social Democratic Party in Egypt. Past and present Egyptian social democratic parties include egalitarianism, secularism and peace in the defining characteristics of a social democracy.

Both of these articles address conceptual innovation. How to make a concept– democracy– more precise by adding defining attributes such as adjectives like ‘social’ and ‘oligarchic’. The trade-off in these articles is that we have a more complete and well-rounded perspective of democracy in Ukraine and Egypt by adding these adjectives onto the democratic noun root.

Today was the start of the fast-track process for the trial of six men accused of gang raping a 23 year old Indian women. Due to the global public outrage that persisted from the death of the young women the trial was fast-tracked to the Delhi courts to begin immediately. The six men — minus the one who is 17 and being tried as a juvenile— could face a punishment as severe as the death penalty. Is the death penalty a democratic — fair and just punishment—  for citizens charged with the death of another human being? Not many democracies to date still use the death sentence penalty.

In response to the global public outrage on the case more fast-track courts have been erected to give women justice more swiftly. The hope among women in India and internationally is that stronger sexual assault laws will be legislated to protect women.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21115351 

The article raises questions about the level of democracy in India. Is increasing the legislation to protect women a sign on democracy? Is having the death penalty a fair and just penalty under democracy? Thoughts or comments?

Herrera and Kapur begin there piece on “Improving Data Quality: Actors, Incentives and Capabilities” with a brief definition on data construction: an operation performed by data actors according to their own incentives and capabilities. Through their use of the adjective ‘own’ I came to interpret that the actors behind data quality and data construction were the primary actors behind the problems and therefore of manifesting solutions to such problems. However I came to realize throughout the article that the actors are subordinate to incentives and capabilities that aren’t falling under the category of being their ‘own’. Data actors don’t have control or ownership over factors such as norms or which countries are rich and poor and therefore provide accessible or feasible data collection. Lower down on the data supply chain we see factors such as fear, punishment and saying yes or no to material gain; which data actors can have more ownership and control over in the data construction punishment. It means lowering possible benefits to the data actor though; but I do believe that the data actor has the ability to make such decisions because these incentives and capabilities are fostered by him/herself. They are of his/her own manifestation. What the data actor can stand to personally gain or what opportunity cost values the actor places on different options. Yet further along the data supply chain there is a decrease in the data actors ability to manifest their own incentives and capabilities and therefore the problems associated with data set construction begin to fall out of the hands of the actor.

What I am left wondering is if we can better improve data quality at a lower level on the data supply chain? Thoughts or comments?

So I kind of strayed from the political side of things when finding interesting links for you three people.

Jamie: I watched the movie Argo to and thought it was absolutely amazing. However, there has been a constrast between American and Canadian responses to the movie. Many Canadians and some people in Hollywood who are judging the Oscars and Golden Globes believe that Ben Affleck downplayed the Canadian aspect and role of the Canadians in saving the six American embassy workers lives. http://www.linknewspaper.ca/argo-downplays-canadas-heroic-role/ 

Zach: On my tablet I subscribe to an app called Political Jokes which has really nerdy poli-sci jokes. But I coulnd’t find any links to that online so I settled with this link; a interview with filmmaker Joss Wheldon on how if Romney had been elected President America would have turned into an apocalyptic nation filled with zombies. http://www.indecisionforever.com/blog/2012/10/29/joss-whedon-bestows-unto-obama-the-nerd-vote 

Matt: Hate to tell you, but Whistler is the best skiing out of all Vancouver mountains. If you want to try and ski Whistler cheaply the most affordable time to do so is in April when they have there discounted spring skiing day passes (around 60/day). However, if you want to ski in Vancouver cheaply Seymour has student nights where you can partake in night skiing with a valid student card for $22 on Thursday nights!!!! Unreal. http://www.mountseymour.com/today#post574.

Due to the unfortunate events of the elementary shooting this past semester US states have been trying to reform American gun laws. As of today, the NY Senate is one step closer to implementing reformed gun laws. The conditions of the new reforms are targeted at “assault rifles, high-capacity clips of ammunition and requires reports of the mentally ill who pose a threat to others with illegal guns”.

http://online.wsj.com/article/APac54f3a0b0244dc4b9de764b46ae5f73.html

Is it democratic to restrict the freedom of gun possession specifically to those believed to be mentally ill? Is the elementary school shooting, Batman theatre shooting this past summer, and Virgina Tech shooting years ago enough evidentiary support to support a law targeting a specific sector of the American population? Therefore, is this new gun law justifiably democratic?

So because I am a student and constantly find myself running out of groceries and not having the time to replenish my food stock (such as tonight), I would like to know what are some good take-out places close to campus. The last three times I ordered take-out was from One More Sushi and inconveniently they are closed on Sundays. So I am in need of some suggestions!