Wrt. Amazon and ebooks, I don't believe a word they say.
Amazon include free ebooks in their "sales" figures, and have most of Project Gutenberg online for Kindle. (When was the last time you went into a branch of Waterstones and they were giving away free books?)
The actual word I'm getting from my publishers are that sales of real for-money ebooks are up to around 8-9% by sales volume. Revenue lags slightly. But Amazon has 80% of the ebook market and around 10-20% of the physical book market, so of course Amazon has got a disproportionately high level of ebook sales, even before you take into account their desire to push the Kindle (because it cuts their fulfilment cost per purchase to near-zero while retaining the traditional high margin they get by extorting huge discounts off SRP from the publishers).
Death of Books: Utter bollocks. Amazon is not the only book retailer on earth, even if they are the easiest [arguably] to track. When there are no bookshops or libraries left, I will agree the paperback is dead.
Does the US actually train their troops? Do they get *any* target practice? That figure - while believable - is utterly absurd. But hey, that's what happens when you have all the money in China and zero sense of accountability.
it is little surprise that our system of Democracy is not considered the best. I *am* surprised that US is ranked higher.
It's really annoying to just see an overall ranking of democracies, rather than the actual breakdown of individual countries' ranks on each subject. In particular, I'm surprised at Belgium's high ranking, given what a basket-case that country is.
Chiquita, you know, the banana company, gave money to paramilitary groups in Colombia. A lot of money.
Hell, look at what can happen to poor migrant workers in Britain!
The world is not all made of magic fairy dust. The cheap electronics, exotic ingredients in your food, the functional yet stylish clothes you like - people probably bled and worked to death or damn near it for those.
If you look closely enough at almost anything that's part of a western lifestyle, you're not going to like what you see. Go to a nice farmers' market on the weekend, and you're still running the risk of buying products that might have been picked by migrant workers who don't get anything like the minimum wage and sometimes things are worse but it's okay because it's organic and local.
Sadly, it comes down to a question of what you can choose to ignore, and what you can choose to live with. For many, buying fair trade "when you can" is enough to allay that guilty fear that someone pays for your lifestyle. It's like original sin, but for western capitalism.
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Amazon include free ebooks in their "sales" figures, and have most of Project Gutenberg online for Kindle. (When was the last time you went into a branch of Waterstones and they were giving away free books?)
The actual word I'm getting from my publishers are that sales of real for-money ebooks are up to around 8-9% by sales volume. Revenue lags slightly. But Amazon has 80% of the ebook market and around 10-20% of the physical book market, so of course Amazon has got a disproportionately high level of ebook sales, even before you take into account their desire to push the Kindle (because it cuts their fulfilment cost per purchase to near-zero while retaining the traditional high margin they get by extorting huge discounts off SRP from the publishers).
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•Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Re: •Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
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Amazon is not the only book retailer on earth, even if they are the easiest [arguably] to track. When there are no bookshops or libraries left, I will agree the paperback is dead.
Does the US actually train their troops? Do they get *any* target practice? That figure - while believable - is utterly absurd. But hey, that's what happens when you have all the money in China and zero sense of accountability.
it is little surprise that our system of Democracy is not considered the best. I *am* surprised that US is ranked higher.
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I want.
*headesk* *embarrassment* *headdesk*
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh good grief. Talk about cultural hysteria.
I love your posts. :)
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I KNOW and it's really annoying
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Hell, look at what can happen to poor migrant workers in Britain!
The world is not all made of magic fairy dust. The cheap electronics, exotic ingredients in your food, the functional yet stylish clothes you like - people probably bled and worked to death or damn near it for those.
If you look closely enough at almost anything that's part of a western lifestyle, you're not going to like what you see. Go to a nice farmers' market on the weekend, and you're still running the risk of buying products that might have been picked by migrant workers who don't get anything like the minimum wage and sometimes things are worse but it's okay because it's organic and local.
Sadly, it comes down to a question of what you can choose to ignore, and what you can choose to live with. For many, buying fair trade "when you can" is enough to allay that guilty fear that someone pays for your lifestyle. It's like original sin, but for western capitalism.