<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Johannes Siig &#187; Economy</title>
	<atom:link href="http://johannessiig.com/category/economy/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://johannessiig.com</link>
	<description>Political correctness is overrated.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:12:23 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Advertisements &#8211; there&#8217;s a time and a place</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/advertisements-theres-a-time-and-a-place/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/advertisements-theres-a-time-and-a-place/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2010 17:13:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advertisements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[estonia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[streets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://johannessiig.com/?p=407</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As you can probably see, there are a couple of advertisements on this site of mine. However, the problem with most advertisements is, they don&#8217;t work for the spot they occupy. Let me explain. There are some ads, that work &#8230; <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/advertisements-theres-a-time-and-a-place/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fadvertisements-theres-a-time-and-a-place%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fadvertisements-theres-a-time-and-a-place%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>As you can probably see, there are a couple of advertisements on this site of mine. However, the problem with most advertisements is, they don&#8217;t work for the spot they occupy.</p>
<p>Let me explain. There are some ads, that work for certain types of sites. For instance, the ads that work brilliantly on blogs don&#8217;t work at all on portfolio or video sites. The ads that work on the streets don&#8217;t work on the Internet and vice versa.</p>
<p>On television, however, it is much worse. The ads do not fit the show they&#8217;re interrupting. I don&#8217;t care about the new BMW when I&#8217;m trying to watch Grey&#8217;s Anatomy. I don&#8217;t care about the elections when I&#8217;m trying to watch Top Gear. I don&#8217;t care about what the local equivalent of <em>Lidl </em>has to offer when I&#8217;m trying to watch a film. I really don&#8217;t.</p>
<p>And usually, the advertisement doesn&#8217;t fit the bloody market it is in? I mean, seriously, I live in a northern, very cold country. I don&#8217;t need to know which drink will keep me cool during a hot summer&#8217;s day. What I need to know is which drink will keep me from fucking dying if I take out my bins in the winter (it&#8217;s bloody  cold here during the winter).</p>
<p>And even if the ad fits the place, the ad is of crap quality. Seriously, how hard is it for you to produce a proper, good quality, funny ad that could actually draw people to your product, and not just piss people off?</p>
<p>And on television, the ads are just way too fucking loud compared to the rest of it. How hard is it for you to do it properly, without blowing out my eardrums every time the advertisements start.</p>
<p>How fucking hard is it to produce a proper advertisement, and not one that makes people hate your product?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/advertisements-theres-a-time-and-a-place/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Censorship and freedom of speech.</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/censorship-and-freedom-of-speech/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/censorship-and-freedom-of-speech/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 May 2010 20:43:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://johannessiig.com/?p=384</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[READ DISCLAIMER BELOW. I am quite literally enraged and offended by the latest efforts by the biggest retards the society has ever seen to enforce censorship on us. I am terribly on fire. Freedom of speech, the free circulation of &#8230; <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/censorship-and-freedom-of-speech/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fcensorship-and-freedom-of-speech%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fcensorship-and-freedom-of-speech%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>READ DISCLAIMER BELOW.</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am quite literally enraged and offended by the latest efforts by the biggest retards the society has ever seen to enforce censorship on us. I am terribly on fire.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Freedom of speech, the free circulation of ideas is what has kept our western civilisation going for all those years. I am completely, one hundred percent enraged by these people.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">About a week ago, Viacom got threats from Muslim extremists, because they had depicted their prophet mohammed. Yes, only depicted. They received threats that they would end up like Theo Van Gogh. Don&#8217;t remember Theo?</p>
<blockquote><p>Bouyeri shot Theo van Gogh eight times with an HS 2000 handgun, and Theo died on the spot. Bouyeri then attempted to decapitate him and stabbed him in the chest. Two knives were left implanted in his torso, one attaching a five-page note to his body. The note threatened Western governments, Jews and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (who went into hiding).</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">All because he was critical of Islam.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If that doesn&#8217;t make you filled with rage, you really must be one of them. In which case, go die somewhere in the desert, where you belong, with your worthless paedophile coward of a prophet. And I hope people draw him on May 20th, and post it to the internet, as a way of protesting against the Islam occupation of the First World. I know I will.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yes, I said it. <strong>Don&#8217;t like it? </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Fuck off.</strong> This is how it works in the first world, the thing that you are oh-so-sacredly fighting against. Someone offends you? So what. Nobody cares. You fucking crybabies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I&#8217;m offended by many things. Blasphemy is a victimless crime.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">You have no place in the first world.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Islam vs South Park<br />
</strong> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IhCjv9EcLpw&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IhCjv9EcLpw&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Is islam a hate crime?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xi34wL4KIfo&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xi34wL4KIfo&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>DEATH THREATS TO THOSE CRITICAL OF ISLAM<br />
</strong><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZcJwRCv9g88&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZcJwRCv9g88&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;hd=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: left;">And now, as a complete shock to me, my Government has blocked 175 online poker sites. Not because they were fraud sites. They were completely legal within the laws of the European Union, to which my country belongs. EU Law reigns supreme. Look, I&#8217;m not a gambler, but this is clearly censorship. And you know the worst part? They left one major one unblocked. Guess which one? The biggest one in Estonia: Olympic.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Yes, Estonian government. I am accusing YOU of  possibly accepting bribery from <em>Armin Karu/Olympic Group</em>. Bring me to court for libel? No, it is just an accusation. It may not be this way, but for some reason I think it is.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am standing up against censorship, against your pointless efforts on restricting the free Internet. This site is based somewhere where free speech matters. I don&#8217;t care about your pointless efforts.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am blaming you for not doing what is right. I am blaming you.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The only thing you can do in a crisis is raise taxes, so that you could still &#8220;drive&#8221; that 2009 BMW Luxury car with your drivers. That is all you are good for, you worthless pieces of scum up there in <em>Toompea.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am blaming you, yes, you, Government of Estonia for screwing up the lives of ordinary Estonians. The Liberal Centre party&#8217;s advertisement &#8220;<em>Ansip [the prime minister] has a Job. You don&#8217;t. He&#8217;s fine with it</em>&#8221; is actually pure, 100% truth, and you know it. You raise the VAT when people are quite literally starving because they don&#8217;t have a job, and that is YOUR fault, for not taking action when YOU were supposed to. Shops can&#8217;t raise the prices because they would lose customers, but they will have to let people go because of the raising of the VAT.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">You live on Western European wages, and have drivers, personal assistants, expensive cars&#8230; All you do is make poor decisions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">You, you incompetent pricks we have for Ministers and Prime Ministers. I am ashamed as an Estonian to be represented and ruled by you. I am ashamed that we have elected such terrible, worthless pieces of scum as our parliament.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It&#8217;s your call. Shut me up? The world will know and you will go down.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this post is supposed to represent facts or the opinions of anyone BUT me.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>It is a clear expression of a personal opinion, and should definitely not be regarded upon as hate speech. </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>I am not to be held liable for any damages that may occur from this blog post: physical, mental, emotional, financial or other. If any damages may occur, they were caused by the misunderstanding or misuse of this post. </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Republishing this post in its entirety or any excerpt of it for any other purpose but those listed under US law as fair use is prohibited. ©Copyright Johannes Siig.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Any offence taken is your own fault.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Any action taken (or not taken) by any government, organisation or corporation expressed or implied by this post is unverified by any trusted source, and can change any time. I am not to be held liable for out of date information or information that may turn out to be completely wrong.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>I am not to be held responsible for any (mis)definition of any word or sentence expressed in this post.</strong></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2010/05/censorship-and-freedom-of-speech/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Immigration INTO Estonia?!?</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/immigration-into-estonia/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/immigration-into-estonia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:16:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://johannessiig.com/?p=323</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently, there has been a lot of talk about immigration and whether the United States should limit immigration into the United States. And similar talks have been going on in the United Kingdom for some time now. But, never, not &#8230; <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/immigration-into-estonia/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fimmigration-into-estonia%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fimmigration-into-estonia%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>Recently, there has been a lot of talk about immigration and whether the United States should limit immigration into the United States. And similar talks have been going on in the United Kingdom for some time now.</p>
<p>But, never, not once has anyone, ever, mentioned immigration into Estonia, whether anyone would come and whether we should allow them to, if they did.</p>
<p>Personally, I think we should allow it, endorse it and make it easier.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m sure it would boost our economy, as well as boost our understanding of other cultures, and help us become more tolerant people, since Estonians are quite racist, very intolerant (for example, of homosexuality) and not very intelligent people in general.</p>
<p>We&#8217;re the European equivalent of Rednecks, if you will. Except we&#8217;re not as religious.</p>
<p>When I take a look at other countries, for example, the United States, a country built on immigration. These days, immigration is good for their economy.</p>
<p>Well, it&#8217;s either that, or the fact that it keeps the average weight of Americans below 400lbs&#8230; (around 200kg)</p>
<p>The United Kingdom, however, &#8220;suffers&#8221; from immigration. Or at least, a lot of them think so. &#8220;Those Polish people, coming over here, stealing our jobs. With their work ethic and reasonable charges&#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p>The Brits deal with multiculturalism better than any country in the world does.</p>
<p>The reason I&#8217;m bringing up Britain, is if we were to allow more immigration into the country, then we would have a lot to learn from them.</p>
<p>Over here, I propose a one-year-trial system. It would be really simple. You can legally immigrate into the country, and you can stay here for a year, no questions asked.<br />
But then there&#8217;s the tricky bit&#8230; You can only stay here if you can speak the language, and you don&#8217;t have any criminal offenses on your record.</p>
<p>Unless you meet all these requirements, you will be deported back into your native country.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/immigration-into-estonia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Socialised medicine. Social democracy. Liberalism.</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/socialised-medicine-social-democracy-liberalism/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/socialised-medicine-social-democracy-liberalism/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:03:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://johannessiig.com/?p=311</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[These days, there is a lot of discussion whether the world’s richest country should have socialised medicine. And a lot of people argue against it, because they think it’s going to be expensive for them&#8230; Well, add up all your &#8230; <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/socialised-medicine-social-democracy-liberalism/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fsocialised-medicine-social-democracy-liberalism%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fsocialised-medicine-social-democracy-liberalism%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>These days, there is a lot of discussion whether the world’s richest country should have socialised medicine. And a lot of people argue against it, because they think it’s going to be expensive for them&#8230; Well, add up all your income taxes, sales tax, medical insurance and compare it to any country’s which has socialised medicine.</p>
<p>Believe me, the ones with the higher tax rate are not going to be the ones with socialised medicine. And you would never, ever have to worry about losing your house because you lost your job and fell ill, and now you can’t pay your medical bills.</p>
<p>And long waiting times? That’s only a myth. They may be longer, but not nearly as long as you make it out to be.</p>
<p>To be honest, there are some things wrong with our system as well. For example, in Estonia, we have a 1.5 year maternity leave with 80% salary&#8230; And you can keep your job, by law. Which really isn&#8217;t so much about socialised medicine, but more about social democracy in general.</p>
<p>As an Estonian, I think I&#8217;d rather have no maternity pay, if the average pay per month was €2500, rather than 1.5 years of maternity pay of 80% if it was €600&#8230; as it is now.</p>
<p>But I do love the healthcare system around here. It really is a lot easier to understand than the one in the US. Plus, you&#8217;d never be able to lose your&#8230; err, what&#8217;s the most valuable thing the average Estonian has?</p>
<p>No, not his house&#8230; Since the average Estonian lives in a tiny apartment/flat in a city&#8230; Oh, I know, his car! Which is usually a top-of-the-range BMW or Audi&#8230; Which he can not afford, and is in huge debt due to that. Which he doesn&#8217;t need either, since he only travels within city limits&#8230; which means public transport is not only faster, but cheaper as well. And more comfortable, most of the time. But that&#8217;s another topic.</p>
<p>80% maternity leave for 1.5 years is nothing when your life is too depressing to have children in the first place.</p>
<p>But to be honest, what&#8217;s so bad about social democracy, anyways?<br />
You pay higher taxes when you have a job, and if something happens to you, the government will help you.</p>
<p>What would you rather have, lower taxes &#8211; but as good as dead if you lose your job, or higher taxes at first &#8211; but if something were to happen, you would be able to count on the government?</p>
<p>After all, you do not need to pay for health insurance, so it evens out quite well&#8230; Except only in the cash department, since you would be left to die if something were to happen.</p>
<p>Think about it.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2010/02/socialised-medicine-social-democracy-liberalism/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why music sales are declining&#8230; oh, no, they aren&#8217;t!</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2009/12/record-labels-are-shit/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2009/12/record-labels-are-shit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:53:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apple/Mac]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://johannessiig.com/?p=280</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Record labels always tell us the same old story&#8230; If you don&#8217;t know what this story is, I will tell you now: &#8220;Music sales are declining because people are downloading our music illegally. Piracy is wrong! Boo-hoo. We are such &#8230; <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2009/12/record-labels-are-shit/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F12%2Frecord-labels-are-shit%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F12%2Frecord-labels-are-shit%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>Record labels always tell us the same old story&#8230; If you don&#8217;t know what this story is, I will tell you now:<br />
&#8220;Music sales are declining because people are downloading our music illegally. Piracy is wrong! Boo-hoo. We are such a bunch of crybabies and lobbyists who can&#8217;t adapt to the changing market.&#8221; or something in those lines. It&#8217;s pathetic. Really pathetic.</p>
<p>If you know me, you&#8217;d know that I sometimes download music illegally. Why? Because the music you make isn&#8217;t worth buying. And because illegal downloading is faster and easier. You say, how can it be faster? For me it is. Since there isn&#8217;t an online store in this part of the world and I couldn&#8217;t be bothered to go outside to buy music, only to find out that they don&#8217;t sell this album&#8230; And never will.</p>
<p>And I can&#8217;t use the UK or US iTunes store to get my tunes either. Well, unless you actually go to the UK or US and buy an iTunes gift card&#8230; It&#8217;s all way too f*cking pointless.</p>
<p>One thing springs immediately to mind: Why the f*ck not?</p>
<p>And another thing that makes me want to throw <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">a brick</span>&#8230; <a title="Molotov Cocktail - It BURNS" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov_cocktail">a molotov cocktail</a> through some b*tch-ass lobbyist&#8217;s window.</p>
<p>These days they are complaining about lost sales and all that bullsh*t. But the real reason the music is getting less sales&#8230; well, it is mainly two things:</p>
<p>1) Music sucks these days. Gaga sucks. Cirus sucks. Jonas Brothers suck each other off..</p>
<p>2) The recession. Have you guys heard of it? No, seriously? Maybe people can&#8217;t afford to buy your sh*t music anymore?</p>
<p>And you know, what? Record sales are up through the roof.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2009/12/record-labels-are-shit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Listen up, WMG!</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2009/11/listen-up-wmg/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2009/11/listen-up-wmg/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:25:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Everything]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://johannessiig.com/?p=232</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Have you ever heard of a concept called &#8220;free promotion&#8221;? Basically, the product you sell gets advertised, without you paying for the advertising&#8230; Well, how does it work? Let&#8217;s take an example &#8211;  youtube. A user posts a video containing your &#8230; <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2009/11/listen-up-wmg/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F11%2Flisten-up-wmg%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F11%2Flisten-up-wmg%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>Have you ever heard of a concept called &#8220;free promotion&#8221;? Basically, the product you sell gets advertised, without you paying for the advertising&#8230; Well, how does it work?</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s take an example &#8211;  youtube. A user posts a video containing your music. Or a music video by an artist that&#8217;s signed under your label.</p>
<p>You think to yourself &#8211; &#8220;oh my god they are stealing our music.&#8221; First of all, why do you assume that they are stealing, and why do you assume it will create a loss in profit?</p>
<p>In fact, common sense tells us that if a song is advertised *anywhere* and people like it, people will probably buy it. But if the song isn&#8217;t available on, for example, youtube,  then your song will be unheard, and probably bought a lot less.</p>
<p>I agree on one point, though. If the author of the song isn&#8217;t credited or any mention of the song&#8217;s name and performer isn&#8217;t there, then it should count as copyright infringement. But if the author and/or performer is credited and the song&#8217;s title given and (preferably) a link to the song on, let&#8217;s say, umm, iTunes is given, then what&#8217;s the f**king problem?</p>
<p>Have you heard of these things, called, err, common sense and independent thought?</p>
<p>Because if you had any of either, you&#8217;d realise disabling audio on <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">infringing</span> promoting videos is clearly&#8230; retarded.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2009/11/listen-up-wmg/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The economic situation &#8211; these f***ing idiots</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2009/10/the-economic-situation-these-fing-idiots/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2009/10/the-economic-situation-these-fing-idiots/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:05:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://johannessiig.com/?p=106</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This blog post has a bit more of a local tone. Look, I&#8217;m not the person who is going to fix the economy. In fact, I know only a little about it, but more than them&#8230; But these f**king a*sholes &#8230; <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2009/10/the-economic-situation-these-fing-idiots/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fthe-economic-situation-these-fing-idiots%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fthe-economic-situation-these-fing-idiots%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>This blog post has a bit more of a local tone.</p>
<p>Look, I&#8217;m not the person who is going to fix the economy. In fact, I know only a little about it, but more than them&#8230;<br />
But these f**king a*sholes who are trying to &#8220;fix&#8221; the economy!</p>
<p>Who the hell fixes an economy by <strong>RAISING </strong>the taxes (VAT)? Are you F***ING insane?</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not EVEN a temporary fix! It&#8217;s a death trap, locking you in a deep pile of s**t for the next couple of years with no chance to get out!</p>
<p>It only helps the government cover their own asses. These f*cking selfish pricks.</p>
<p>My logic is this: VAT Rise-&gt;Product prices rise-&gt;People can&#8217;t buy products anymore-&gt;Stores don&#8217;t make enough profit to pay to all the employees-&gt;Stores, and, soon, other companies start letting people go-&gt;People are unemployed-&gt;People can&#8217;t afford to buy products from stores to help them afford to pay for more people-&gt;Product prices rise-&gt;Even less people afford the products-&gt;Stores make even less profit one way or another-&gt;Stores let go of more people-&gt;VAT and other tax rise again due to the government not making enough from taxes-&gt;<strong>EVERYTHING TURNS TO F***ING SH*T!</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">So, VAT Rise -&gt; Everything turns to SH*T. WHAT THE F***? HOW DO YOU NOT FIGURE THAT OUT?<br />
</span></strong></p>
<p>What am I not getting here?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2009/10/the-economic-situation-these-fing-idiots/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Live in the US, complain about prices? Think again. [Price comparison of Apple products between 3 different countries]</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/live-in-the-us-complain-about-prices-think-again-price-comparison-of-apple-products-between-3-different-countries/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/live-in-the-us-complain-about-prices-think-again-price-comparison-of-apple-products-between-3-different-countries/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:44:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
                        Look, I understand that with the economic crisis the world is in right now and all the problems about prices, but you really don't have any reason to complain.<br />
<br />
But hear this: The prices in the US for <b>anything</b> are... *the suspense is killing you at this moment, or maybe not* ... cheap!<br />
<br />
No, but really, they are! Lets take a look at the rest of the world.<br />
For example, let's compare three different countries:<br />
<br />
1) USA<br />
2) UK<br />
3) This, little, northern-european country called Estonia, in which&#8230;                     <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/live-in-the-us-complain-about-prices-think-again-price-comparison-of-apple-products-between-3-different-countries/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F08%2Flive-in-the-us-complain-about-prices-think-again-price-comparison-of-apple-products-between-3-different-countries%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F08%2Flive-in-the-us-complain-about-prices-think-again-price-comparison-of-apple-products-between-3-different-countries%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>                        Look, I understand that with the economic crisis the world is in right now and all the problems about prices, but you really don&#8217;t have any reason to complain.</p>
<p>But hear this: The prices in the US for <b>anything</b> are&#8230; *the suspense is killing you at this moment, or maybe not* &#8230; cheap!</p>
<p>No, but really, they are! Lets take a look at the rest of the world.<br />
For example, let&#8217;s compare three different countries:</p>
<p>1) USA<br />
2) UK<br />
3) This, little, northern-european country called Estonia, in which I happen to live in</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a couple of good examples:</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s take the price of a MacBook Pro (13&#8243;) (The low-end, 2.26Ghz model)</p>
<p>In the US, it costs $1199.<br />
In the UK, it costs £899 (approx. $1460)<br />
In Estonia, it costs EEK 18690 (approx. $1670)</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s take the price of the Snow Leopard Upgrade (from Leopard)</p>
<p>In the US, it costs $29<br />
In the UK, it costs £25 (approx. $41)<br />
In Estonia, it costs EEK 469 (approx. $43)</p>
<p>(Sources: apple.com; apple.com/uk; mac.ee)</p>
<p>
The average Estonian earns two times less than the average American and the prices are 1.5 &#8211; 2 times as high on anything.</p>
<p>I think most <i><s>European Geeks</s></i> <b>hell, anyone who&#8217;s not from the US</b> would agree with me on this:<br />
<b>So, if anyone from the US dares to complain about prices again&#8230; For crying out loud&#8230; Shut up.</b>                    </p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/live-in-the-us-complain-about-prices-think-again-price-comparison-of-apple-products-between-3-different-countries/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What the ****: Laws make no sense.</title>
		<link>http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/what-the-laws-make-no-sense/</link>
		<comments>http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/what-the-laws-make-no-sense/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Johannes Siig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
                        (This is the second post in the series of my "What the ****" posts)<br />
<br />
<br />
1)<br />
<br />
There's a new language law passed in Estonia, the Northern European country in which I live in.<br />
It requires me to <b>blog</b> in fluent Estonian. Sorry, but that's... well, retarded. First of all (although I live in Estonia and consider me somewhat Estonian, I speak better English than Estonian, even though Estonian is my mother tongue) I don't blog in Estonian. I blog in English. It is the language I speak best. It is the&#8230;                     <a href="http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/what-the-laws-make-no-sense/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fwhat-the-laws-make-no-sense%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjohannessiig.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fwhat-the-laws-make-no-sense%2F&amp;source=johannessiig&amp;style=normal&amp;service=is.gd" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>                        (This is the second post in the series of my &#8220;What the ****&#8221; posts)</p>
<p>
1)</p>
<p>There&#8217;s a new language law passed in Estonia, the Northern European country in which I live in.<br />
It requires me to <b>blog</b> in fluent Estonian. Sorry, but that&#8217;s&#8230; well, retarded. First of all (although I live in Estonia and consider me somewhat Estonian, I speak better English than Estonian, even though Estonian is my mother tongue) I don&#8217;t blog in Estonian. I blog in English. It is the language I speak best. It is the language that I am taught daily in school. Yes, 5 days a week. Every day. 45 minutes of English. (And 2 days a week of Estonian grammar and 2 days a week of Estonian Lit.)</p>
<p>I am astonished by this new law and I don&#8217;t know if me blogging in English is alright anymore. But I think it is alright, as both my blogs are hosted in the United States.</p>
<p>Edit: A quick mention: The law &#8220;Might extend to blogging&#8221; as there is such a law already in existence (not on the Internet).</p>
<p>2)</p>
<p>A law requires all hardware devices imported into Estonia via mail to have a CE sign on them and be some EU-bull**** compliant. What? <b>I don&#8217;t care</b> if the device I buy doesn&#8217;t comply these standards. It is not your business.</p>
<p>This one seriously makes me wonder, what the **** is going on?</p>
<p>
3)</p>
<p>The copyright laws of the world. First of all, what the **** @ country restrictions on videos/songs on youtube / other sites.</p>
<p>Why the **** does the fact that I don&#8217;t live in the US or UK matter? It&#8217;s not like it is meant to stop piracy as showing the content to me that is FREE to the citizens of the United States / United Kingdom is not preventing you or anyone from getting profits.</p>
<p>
And the online stores&#8217; restrictions. My god it is just bloody idiotic. Why can&#8217;t I use the United States&#8217; or United Kingdom&#8217;s iTunes music store if I live in Estonia? Why? You are MAKING me pirate as <b>there is no Estonian iTunes Store.</b> I want to pay for the content. <b>But you are not letting me.</b></p>
<p>And then you wonder why so much content is pirated outside the United States.</p>
<p>View this post uncensored on my blog:</p>
<p>http://johannessiig.info/2009/08/09/fuck-estonia-fuck-ansip-fuck-reformierakond/</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://johannessiig.com/2009/08/what-the-laws-make-no-sense/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
