Twilight at the waterfront

January 9, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand 

Sometimes you just need to take a walk.

Why is New Zealand so scared of bloggers?

December 7, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand 

OPINION: Bloggers are nervously waiting for the publication of the Law Commission’s report on “new media” next Monday.

Former Commerce Minister Simon Power raised their blood pressure when he ordered the review in October last year, commenting that there was a “wild west out there in cyberspace”.

InternetNZ chief executive Vikram Kumar said at the time that if that was what Power really believed, “we’ve got reasons to be very, very worried”.

Power was concerned about breaches of suppression orders, libel on the Internet, and whether bloggers and online publications should be subject to oversight by the Press Council or Broadcasting Standards Authority.

Now this is just one huge overreaction to the fact that Whale Oil published on his blog a set of clues which led to the identification of several “celebrities” and big-wigs who had name suppression after being accused of child abuse or paedophilia. He was prosecuted and in the end found guilty and has a conviction. Compare and contrast the “well known comedian” who tried to have sex with his 4 year old daughter who despite having leaded guilty was deemed funny enough by the judge to have escaped a conviction – and his name is protected.

Of course – the name is all over the Internet if you want to find it.

Not on a blog though.

And just this week, the Dom Post has printed an article about a ex-All Black accused of assaulting a child. He has name suppression because hes famous. The article right next to it is about a mother who slapped a girl that had beaten up her daughter. She asked for name suppression to protect the identity of her daughter as the case was already in the news. She was denied.

The Dom post printed enough details for anyone with access to google to identify the All Black.

Not on a blog though.

So I have to wonder why the continuing belief that somehow bloggers in New Zealand are responsible for so much evil? It’s getting to the point where we will be the only people in the country who do not have the right to voice an opinion solely because we use a specific type of website to do it on.

I believe I may have mentioned that the IAA rules on blogs was the thin edge of the wedge.

I do hope that the report basically boils down to “Don’t be so *bleeping* stupid and get a grip”. But somehow I doubt that.

Occupy Wellington – discussions about discussing things.

December 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand 

There is the most bizzarre article in the Dom Post today – which I can only assume was written by someone who does not agree with the Occupy Movement – either that or it was just unintentionally humorous.

It quotes a protester who is proud of the fact that he hasn’t showered in 47 days. Which kinda doesn’t really help the stereotype that many people have of the Occupy Movement as being just a bunch of unwashed hippies. Apparently – humans only started using perfumes to disguise their smell in the 1920′s. Actually we have been doing it ever since we started our major civilisations – Ancient Egypt, Greek and Rome all had perfume. It’s actually not a sign of political or financial corruption to wash and smell nice.

Apparently you can’t tell is someone is lying if they smell nice either.

They have been badly affected by the storms over the last few weeks – which have been buffeting my nice cozy apartment building like a goodun.  They were down to 17 hardy souls after that.

“It’s not easy when you’re sleeping in 140kmh winds pushing down on your tent, but it’s a struggle to change society and part of that means you have to grit your teeth and tough it out,” said Joel Cosgrove, who has also been with Occupy Wellington since it began.

So, how are they looking at changing a society that it still seems most of us are actually quite happy with?

 The protesters held a meeting on Wednesday night to discuss the future of the movement, Mr Cosgrove said.

After more than three hours of discussion, the conclusion was that more discussion was needed. `Nothing has changed … financial chaos continues to happen. We could well be here at Christmas time.

Funny that – how sitting around in the Civic Square for 47 days discussing all that is wrong with the world hasn’t actually eventuated in any change whatsoever other than honking off a lot of the people you claim to represent. Don’t get me wrong – I heartily believe in whinging and complaining. Way too much of this blog is taken up with it I think. But when you complain – it does help if you have a solution to go with it. Some answers. An alternative. Something that might actually work. Sitting round just whinging about a problem doesn’t actually solve it.

Now clearly there a lot of people who, even in New Zealand, support this protest – including some of my friends. I happen not to, not because I don’t think people have a right to protest – but because I honestly don’t believe that the New Zealand movements have a point – even they don’t seem to know if they have one or not. It seems to simply be a “Protest everything” movement here.

But the comments in the dom post are clearly showing that certainly many Wellington people are sick of the protest, and sick of being “represented” by people who do not in fact represent anyone but themselves. You can speak for yourself – you cannot speak for another unless they have given you permission. The 99% have not given permission.

I also find it particularly annoying that the protesters commenting keep suggesting that those of us who do not support them fail to do so because we are blind. Fooled by the government into slaving away for a financial system that makes us slaves.  Ignorant of the “truth”. Too in love with money to understand how the world really works.

No.

I disagree with the protesters because I HAVE read a lot about this. I’ve read about what is behind this – who started it and why. Because I DO understand. Because I want to have the freedom to decide for MYSELF what I think and believe. Because I do not want to be forced to live according to the ideals of the protesters. Because I refuse to allow them to speak for me and take away my voice. Because a handful of people sitting on the grass do not represent the 99% – they represent a handful of people sitting on the grass. Because not showering for 47 days has stuff all to do with global poverty, social inequality, or the debt crisis, and having a shower will not in way cause further harm to those situation.

Because the 1% have done more to help with global poverty, improving global health and infant mortality,social inequality and the ability of people to afford a shower and enjoy basic hygiene than any amount of discussing it will ever do.

Grants made by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.

You need to add 3 zeros onto each of those numbers. Bill Gates is currently the richest man in the World. He’s Rich,and hes doing something to help make the world a better place.

He’s not sitting around discussing how screwed up the world is and expecting it to change while he does so.

 

UK Leveson Inquiry vs NZ TeacupGate

November 23, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand 

The Patriot Act: basically gave the US government unprecedented powers to spy on its on people so as to apparently protect them against terrorists. People and media, not just in the US but all over the western world were up in arms over the destruction of basic freedoms.

So it is with some utter shock that here is New Zealand we currently have what can only be termed a pathetic farce occurring, where the media here have obtained an illegally recorded taped conversation between the Prime Minister and another wannabe MP, and are screaming at the top of their lungs for the right to publish the chit chat – and the Government is arguing against it.

Today, a court will decide whether the taped conversation can be released. With the “journalist” Bradley Ambrose arguing that a conversation in a public place is not private. That this is occurring at the same time that the UK faces the Leveson Inquiry, where they are finally trying to put a stop to the UK media illegally hacking peoples private conversations is pure irony.

The Police have to have a warrant in order to intercept communications you make. Apparently the media just have to “forget to pick up the microphone”, claim it was an accident, then argue in court that they didnt do anything wrong.

I find it just unbelievable how many people damn the USA or the UK Media for their tactics – but when it comes to the TeaCup Gate saga – really don’t care – as long as they get to know what John Key said to John Banks, and who they slagged off. Oddly it’s mostly the media and opposing politicians who want the tape released. According to straw polls – the vast majority of people don’t.

And my shock over this got worse a few days ago when I saw a comment on Facebook from a  Political Editor saying

A neat illustration of the cognitive disconnect between what we in the media think is a good story and what the public actually care about .

This was because new polls (apparently carried out after the media have been banging on about this for days already) show that it has made no difference whatsoever, and the National Party are way out in front. After a bit of discussion, he went on to say

I think it’s because the media are bored with covering the so-called ‘real issues’ because normally there’s the horse race to get excited about. But because the horse has well and truly already bolted, they’re looking around for something – anything – to make a pretty dull campaign more interesting. I don’t blame them – I’d be doing the same – but agree it’s pretty frustrating for those punters who do actually want some serious analysis.

So basically – we can get a back-door Patriot act cos the media are bored? Well, I suppose eventually we would find a more pressing reason than jumped up fears over terrorism. I kinda hope I’m not the only one concerned about this. If they get away with this, then how do argue against it if the NZ government wants to give the police the power to intercept our communications without warrants?

And what are we doing this for? Because the conversation MAY contain some juicy gossip about what John Key said about Don Brash and Winston Peters. Which is clearly vastly more interesting that rebuilding our second biggest city, climbing out of a global recession, and generally running a country like a group of grown ups instead acting like 12 year olds. I cant help but wonder why it shocks these people that it doesn’t change the votes.

We will know by 2:30 today whether Bradley Ambrose’s right to sell tabloid crap illegally obtained is more important that the right for our private conversations in cafes not to be taped and sold to the media for a fast buck.

Guilty ‘cos I say so

If there was ever doubt that legislation could be bought in NZ, then the Copyright (Infringement File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011 demonstrates that sufficient money can buy you legislation. The RIANZ official line on this can be found here. Avalon’s Guide is not of course advocating the illegal sharing of copyrighted materials.

We never give away second hand books for free.  Unless it’s to charity, or friends, or colleagues or indeed anyone else who can’t afford to buy books as much as we do.  And that’s why (illegal) downloading is such an issue in NZ, buying ‘original’ is just too expensive for a lot of people. Especially given that so many people (especially those on low incomes) do not have access to Debit or Credit cards and can’t buy over the internet and access cheaper overseas prices.

Most copyright holders don’t make their material available online if you’re in NZ.  Just try watching The Big Bang Theory on CBS’s website for example.  So instead you have to pay for overpriced copies in the shops.  {Not that I feel TBBT is overpriced, it’s the most laughter packed into 20 minutes every episode we seen in ages – but why on earth would you pay $67 for Season 4 at Whitcoulls when it’s just $30 from Amazon?}.

Anyway. This is probably going to be a complicated post with lots of links, so bear with me on this.   There’s plenty of blog posts out there in the interverse that discuss different aspects of the legislation, I’d recommend Sophos, The Register, plus of course Google is your friend.

I would also recommend you consult with your ISP and their approach to the legislation.  Vodafone’s can be found here, which gives a good explanation and some pictures to go with it. Telecom here, I can’t find 2Degrees or Telstra’s info – although I’m told the latter have a good description.

The Act itself has picked up a variety of nicknames; the SkyNet bill, the anti-piracy act and so on.  It’s even generated some attention from Anonymous.  Beyond the posturing from different interest groups, what does it come down to? And how will it effect you?

1. The legislation makes it illegal, subject to civil penalty, for making available for download copyrighted material.  i.e. Illegal Sharing.

Right – this is the first important thing.  If you download something, this legislation doesn’t apply to you.  If you share something – you’re in the spotlight.  It’s only those who are sharing the stuff that the copyright folks are going after.  Which makes sense.  Stop the stuff being available, rather than going after the larger number of people who consume it. If the information you are sharing isn’t copyrighted, or is subject to Creative Commons, then you’re (probably) okay.

2. It applies to all copyrighted material, CD’s, DVD’s, Books, Pictures whatever.

Again, while the focus has been on people downloading bootleg copies of Lady Gaga albums and so on, the legislation applies to anything which is Copyrighted.  It can be exercised by anyone who owns that copyright.  So on the plus side, if someone who has bought a softcopy of Avalon’s Guide then makes it available for download, we can take the matter up with their ISP.

  3. It only applies to land lines – at the moment.

So if you’re on a wireless broadband connection, such as we are with WizWireless, then we’re currently not in the spotlight.  Also, if you’re using a mobile broadband connection for your laptop you’ve got until 2013 to stop sharing stuff out.

4. It does apply to businesses.  And Universities.

So if people come into work and make stuff available for sharing, you as the account holder as far as the ISP is concerned, are liable.  Not the business owner, not your manager, not the guy in accounts who pays the ISP Bill. You.  The name on the account. So, don’t let anyone put your name on the internet account at work.   5. It doesn’t apply to schools.

In an attempt to demonstrate their ‘we’re here to educate not disconnect people’ credentials, the RIANZ have said they wont take schools to task if illegal sharing is found to be happening from schools.  They’ll help them, educate them etc. Which is kinda funny, as the rural component of the Billions of dollars being invested into fibre for NZ’s cities is actually going to be over Vodafone’s wireless service.   So they’re not in the spotlight yet anyway.

Not that any school children (or University students) would be as irresponsible as to copy CD’s and share them with their friends.  ’Course not. And parents wouldn’t dream of sneakily heading to the school to download the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Clearly.

6. You can’t be disconnected – yet.

The other big headline related to this legislation is that the final penalty will be that your internet is disconnected.  After you’re paid a bundle of fines etc. Only the ‘disconnection’ penalty isn’t active as an available option yet.  For the moment you can only be fined. The disconnection option is in the legislation, so it’s something that can be enabled.  But it’s not an option available to the copyright holders or the Copyright Tribunal yet.

7. Remember the Copyright holder has to prove themselves.

While the issuing of a notice from your ISP is the bit that makes you guilty until proven innocent, the Copyright folks still have to prove to a tribunal that you did make their material available for download.  You get to challenge their claims.  So the burden of proof is still with the Copyright holders and you still get to have your say. Eventually.

8. It’s an Award not a Fine. NZ has this pay or stay legislation.  If you owe fines for speeding, parking, child support, or other court fines, then if you try flying out of the country on holiday you can be stopped.  And you have to pay up. Interestingly enough this legislation has resulted in a whole load of outstanding fines being paid.  It seems people heading away on holiday can suddenly find the money to pay fines they hadn’t previously been able to afford. Shocking!.

Anyhow.

The Copyright bill penalty is an Award.  This means that if the copyright tribunal  decides you are guilty, they make an award to the Copyright holder.  That Copyright holder still has to try and get the money from you.  So by the looks of it – having an outstanding Award against you won’t stop you going on holiday. This all begs the question of why overseas mega-corporations can send you warning letters and attempt to fine you without having to prove their allegations first – yet I as a New Zealand citizen cannot take Agile Property Services (Eric Voice) to the disputes Tribunal for ripping me off and letting his mate live rent free in my house because he refuses to acknowledge my dispute.

Money talks – in New Zealand more than most places.

9. There are so many loopholes it’s just funny.

I think this is where the folks involved in drafting this legislation on behalf of RIANZ have fouled up.  There are so many way’s around this legislation, and so many opportunities to challenge it should you get a Detection,  Warning, or Enforcement notice.  Clearly they’re not really thinking like a pirate and trying to really stop this activity, they’re only worried about getting their money back.

I wont go into the detail of all the loopholes here. ‘Cos that would be irresponsible and I might need them for my defence.  Since my name is on the ISP bill at home and all the LoL cats living here seem surprisingly adept at using the internet.

 

In the end, it’s just another badly written law that makes no sence. And in New Zealand, a country where we cannot legally buy tv shows or films online, and are forced therefore to pay rip of prices for DVDs – surely the simple  answer is just to make content available legally – online – and let us pay for it at a reasonable price?  But hey – why do that when you can turn the population into criminals?

Blowing up the damn Wellywood sign.

November 11, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand 

Despite a great deal of opposition – and the CEO “leaving”, Wellington International Airport are set on throwing thier weight around and forcing the city to have a Sign on the Miramar Hill mucking up a perfectly fine view.

Having faced derision and condemnation for trying to stick a “Wellywood” sign on the hill – rather than let it drop they have said “Well – you tell us what you want on the hill then”.

The new CEO then threw out some insults telling Wellington that our idea were all boring (Wellywood being really original in their warped minds I guess), and a “panel” were put together to choose 5 of the best ideas for us to vote on.

Only there is no option for “Leave the damn hill alone you tossers”

So there is still no way to stop the Airport doing what the hell they want.

Ok – it’s their land. But I really despise the way they have behaved. They have been incredibly abusive to the people of this city – they have insulted us, called us names and behaved like a bunch of power crazy madmen in forcing something that it still seems most people do not want.

Creating a vote is just a cynical attempt to try and justify what they will do anyway.

But as long as the Airport insists on riding roughshod over us – there will be people lining up to take the piss out of them:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Pa2H5ubbKDI

Only in New Zealand: The Duck vs Whale bike race.

August 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Only in New Zealand 

On Sunday, a leading Labour MP cycled in a 60km Bike Race in Auckland against a right wing blogger. It really is the kind of thing that could only happen here – I cannot imagine a UK MP ever paying enough attention to political bloggers to lower themselves to engage in this kind of thing. I don’t really know whether that is a good or bad thing.

So what happened?

Well, as far as I can make out there is equal loathing between the two: Trevor Mallard (the Duck) who used to be the Finance Minister under the old government, and Cameron Slater (WhaleOil). Mallard is a keen cyclist, and races frequently, but crashed a while back and broke his femur. Whaleoil called him a cripple (whaleoil calls a lot of people names so this is not exactly news) and Mallard called him Blubber Boy back (he is quite overweight).

Mallard then challenged Whale to a bike race. Whale agreed on the basis that there should also be a round of sport based on something he was good at but that Mallard wasn’t – so he chose boxing.

Mallard refused the challenge, but whaleoil went ahead with the Bike Race. It seems he hadn’t been a bike on many years – and was basically a couch potato – who was suffering with well publicised depression. Well, he got off the couch. He spent 3 months training – lost loads of weight – has apparently beaten the depression, and can now cycle 60km in a race against a stronger opponent.

WAY TO GO!

Trevor Mallard won the race - something that no one seems awfully surprised by. But I cant help thinking that Whaleoil utterly won the contest – hands down. I do not know WhaleOil – other than what I read in the papers, and what I read on blogs, and I don’t know Mr Mallard either (other than he thinks people like me are “Rich Pricks” and need to be destroyed financially). But I cant help but admire the sheer guts it took for someone to get off the couch, and turn themselves into a cyclist – and having to overcome some pretty hard obstacles to do so.

The other thing of course is that you may well find yourself completely bewildered by the antics of a lot of Kiwi Politicians. Clearly I don’t have much to compare it with – only with the UK – but they do seem to be very much amateurs here.  Challenging an overweight, depressed blogger to a race you know He won’t win seems a bit – um – pathetic really.  Perhaps not quite as bad as charging the UK tax payers for moat cleaning – but not exactly statesman like either.

Ah well, at least if you do migrate to New Zealand, you can be highly enteratined by the politicians – while you bang your head against the wall as they make your life increasingly difficult.

Don’t you dare get used to being warm!

Last week (just as we got back into New Zealand from Fiji), is snowed.

Now it was very pretty for most people – though living in a central city apartment we really didn’t get to see all the nice bits. We just saw it snowing, but due to traffic volumes it didn’t stick. However – the excitement from the Kiwis at this highly unusual event was electric. Very little work got done on the Terrace if the number of people coming out of the high rises to gawp at white flakes was anything to go by.

me – I stayed indoors and made a cup of coffee.

I’m used to snow. And while I love the soft crunch of walking through untouched snow, and the slight;y muffled sound of a blanketed world – I preferred to admire the snowstorm from the comfort of floor to ceiling windows. And a blanket.

But many Kiwis have never seen the stuff.

And the snow did in fact cause a great deal of trouble. Many roads throughout New Zealand were closed. We could not have got back to the Wairarapa as the Rimutaka hill was closed for days. That’s the main trunk road from Wellington to the east side of North Island. So its a big deal. Many of the suburbs surrounding the central city – because they are on steep hills, were difficult to get to – and for Kiwis who are actually not used to driving in snow – impossible to navigate. Plus – why would you when you get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay home and build a snowman???

But wait – don’t you dare have too much fun in the snow! Don’t you know how huge your electricity bill is going to be because you “guzzle”too much electricity cos its cold?

Don’t Panic. The Dom Post is there to rain on your fun and gie you a heads up that you are going to broke next month cos you made an extra cup of coffee, cranked up the radiators and had the electric blanket on all night.

 Domestic Electricity Users Network spokeswoman Molly Melhuish said the next power bill would be a shock for many.

To save money and cope with blackouts, she advised people to use an alternate form of heating, such as a woodburner or gas heater.

“Turn your heatpump off, get your fire going nice and warm and you will keep warm and save the whole country from having to build new power stations and new power lines, just to meet demand on the coldest days.”

Apparently, Molly thinks gas and wood are free. Idiot. And why is it that we shouldn’t expect New Zealand already to have the capacity to deal with cold weather? Cold isn’t unheard of here. It has honestly been no colder in our apartment this last week than on any day when a southerly is blowing.  And yet, even in the capital city – there were rolling brown and blackouts for a few days. On the Terrace we lost power for an hour and it really did make a difference. I Missed our rural way of life and logburner at that point I can tell you!

The prize for the most stupid comment though goes for this one:

Heatpumps were efficient but deceptive because people got used to the warmth, Mrs Melhuish said.

Gosh. You don’t say. People actually want to be warm in winter. How dare we!

Stuff being cold – I quite like having a heatpump in the Wairarapa. It actually makes a cold house (even insulated) warm. Its not hot – it’s just pleasant – and livable. Interestingly, when we installed our heatpump – it did nothing to the size of our power bill. It remained the same if not slightly cheaper. The difference was that the heat was more evenly distributed and we didn’t have one room warm with 3 radiators and the rest of the house an icebox.

The comments are well worth a look in the article. One of the early ones from an ExPat pom had me in stitches:

“Heatpumps were efficient but deceptive because people got used to the warmth, Mrs Melhuish said.”

Oh yes – people must not get used to warmth in the 21st century. Disgraceful idea…!

As a Pom who had never even known houses without central heating and insulation even existed in the modern world until he time travelled back to the 50′s a couple of years ago when moving to NZ, this sort of comment is bizarre.

The Romans had central heating in AD40. Why should modern NZ be any different? We need more cheaper power and the answer to that is that, as Ian #2 says, we will be needing nuclear soon.

“Were there blackouts? No.” Actually, Clint # 1 yes. We here in the Wairarapa, a whole 80km from the nation’s capital, had no power in our part for 19 hours.

I burst out laughing when the woman at Meridian told me that 6 inches of slushy melting snow constituted “extreme conditions” and suggested she get the line company to take lessons from Canada or Sweden.

 

 

TelecomNZ *Facepalm*

August 19, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand 

I get that the bloody Rugby World cup is supposed to be good for New Zealand. My own dislike of any sports notwithstanding. Why then do we seem to be hell bent on screwing up such a supposed opportunity and making ourselves look like right plonkers?

The latest cringe inducing stupidity comes from TelecomNZ and Saatchi&Saatchi. In what S&S call an “edgy” campain (you know it going to be trite and pretentious when advertising execs call it “edgy”).

Telecom thought it would be funny to ask everyone to abstain from sex for the length of the RWC as a way of supporting the All Blacks. I am sure there is actually a way that you could do that and have it be funny. This really isn’t it. I guess that there will also be people who actually get the funny bit – it just looks stupid to me.

In what I think IS a funny response – Vodafone (who are not sponsors of the event, but clearly know who to pull a fast one at the expense of their competitor) have apparently come out with this:

 

(For those not here yet and haven’t had the privilege of aghast looks from co-workers – Rooting is rude word here!)

TelecomNZ – after at first defending the ad have now decided to pull it as most people just think it’s embarrassing. Where on earth do they get these ideas???

 

 

 

 

Overcharging – it’s not just rugby shirts.

So Adidas hae been given one helluva kicking over here for charging about $220 for a new All Blacks jersey, when they charge less than half that overseas. The people of New Zealand have (rightly in my opinion) expressed utter disgust at being blatantly ripped off. The jerseys are manufactured like most things- in China – so the price paid at the till has nothing to do with the cost of making the product. But that aside – why do Kiwis have to pay twice as much here for their home shirt as someone in the UK?

It has been all over the news. Boycotts were planned. It became a PR disaster that just got worse as the big wigs tried hard to justify the price with the usual bull crap about currency fluctuations, local conditions oh – and they have paid hundreds of millions of dollars of sponsorship to New Zealand rugby – so the price of the jerseys has to be higher.

Now I personally don’t give a toss about rugby, and wouldn’t pay anything at all for a jersey. But without a doubt there is a captive market who want to buy the new strip to support their team in the world cup. Why should they be ripped off?

This has shown up how much people spend on Internet shopping here though. Even John Key talked on TV about the fact that its cheaper to by and import books from abroad. But many Kiwis actually cant access Internet shopping because they don’t have credit cards and eftpos cards cant be used to buy anything online. That will change as the NZ banks join the 20th century and bring out proper debit cards 0 but still it means that a large proportion of people have no choice but to pay too much.

My main issue is that this has focused on a Rugby Shirt.

What about books, dvds, CD’s. Medicines, clothes, shoes.All of these things cost way more than they should, and are cheaper to import individually from the UK or the US.

Food is also hideously overpriced, with the extra downside that you cannot exactly import fresh food, and even the stuff you can import yourself, you have to try and find a supplier who will ship it here.

Medicines are also a bit harder to import – the best way being to ask friends to buy for you and post them here. And you have the downside that some medicines you cannot import as they are restricted anyway. But WHY are we being asked to pay way over the odds for goods. We are not talking luxuries here – basics are overpriced as much as things that could be considered wants rather than needs.

I would really like to know where the money we pay for these things goes – because I actually doubt its going to the retailers to be honest. I know in the Adidas cock-up the issue was that Adidas set different wholesale prices depending on the country they were selling to. Is that what happens with books and the rest of it?

 

 

 

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