12 June 2010

Carlton Audio Visual - Tivoli HiFi

The illustration shows a Tivoli Model 1 Radio, which at the time of writing of this post, retails in Australia for approx $350.

It is hailed by some as:

"The best sounding table radio ever made" by MSNBC in the USA. Quality audio components is one secret, right down to the cabinet - it's handmade real wood, not cheap veneer."

It also has a headphones plug together with an Ipod socket.



Also pictured (below) is a Generic Brand (Arch Audio HS5400A) or Dick Smith Electronic Classical Wooden AM/FM Radio Model No. A1676, which retails in Australia for $20.





Whilst anyone can argue with plausible results that a $350 is / must / has to be better than a $20 unit one has to be dubious about HOW MUCH better sound come out of ONE speaker.

Items with an Ipod socket are generally much higher priced, as also there are ROYALITES involved to Apple for using the Ipod connection.

Carlton Audio Visual are also stockists of JAMO products which are made in CHINA, BUT this is NOT clearly visible to the consumer, as it is written in small writing that it is made in PRC, which is the PEOPLES REPUBLIC of CHINA.

Goods manufactured in China are sold for HUNDEREDS of % in mark up values to the unsuspecting customer.

A recent trip to China confirms that RJ45 telephone connectors sold at a retail cost in China for 10 cents are sold in Australia at (e.g.) Dick Smith for $10.



11 June 2010

Court rejects ex-wife's claim for $278k a month

One of the most expensive divorce cases in Australian history is being contested in Adelaide, The Australian reports.

The Family Court has rejected a woman's bid to claim $278,000 a month in spousal maintenance for herself and her autistic son.

The woman, who cannot be named, applied for the money before a final settlement from her Hong Kong-based ex-husband, who is thought to be worth between $77 million and $110 million.

She also tried to claim a $24 million property settlement, including a $3.3 million chalet in Switzerland, as well as $1.2 million per year to pay for her son's care.

The woman has already spent $16 million from the pool of marital assets, which she claims has been used on legal fees and living expenses.

She claimed their 14-year old son requires the support of four full-time carers to deal with his autism, three of whom are her siblings who are being paid $110,000 a year.

The ex-husband's lawyers are contesting that claim, as the court heard that the boy had become "very much the little prince" in his home.

A child psychologist told the court that the care of the son has become a "cottage industry" for the wife's family and that they have made a career out of their involvement with "the little prince phenomenon."

The father has been fighting in court since 2007 to see his son but the wife has failed to deliver the teen to meetings set up by the court, claiming that he gets anxious when told he must see his father.

The father, whose declared income is $300,000 a week, remarried in 2008 and now lives with his new wife in Hong Kong.

He proposed paying $10,788 a week, or $560,000 a year, to pay for his son's care and education.

He also recently placed $691,000 into a trust fund for his son.

The ex-wife attempted to justify her claims with a statement of recent expenses, including $4624 spent on balloons and flowers for her son's 14th birthday party and $125,000 a month in legal fees.

Her own weekly expenses were listed at $6524 a week, including $2300 for holidays and $800 for clothes.

The court has granted the ex-wife $375,000 in a lump sum payment to last her until the full hearing later this year.

The couple, from Adelaide, met in the late 1980s and married in 1994.

This latest hearing was the 29th in the case so far.

09 June 2010

Your DNA Government Property FOREVER

Just recently, the United Kingdom has announced that it will keep the DNA records of people on file, which means FOREVER.

The government starts of with the cataloging of 'criminals', and then naturally justifying it's actions that it is for the greater / benefit for humanity, as the DNA is used for 'research' into what makes a person e.g. a sociopath.

Governments frequently mask military activites with official reports of 'research'.

Once your DNA has made it into the government's hands it will be in their databse forever.

Conditions are doctored to create a need for this to occur.

In Australia, there is no formal need to collect the populations DNA.

In the near future there may be an occurence that will facilitate the need for the collection of the masses DNA.

This could be, a health threat, e.g. an epidemic, or a threat to 'National Security'.

This is the way of the Novus Ordo Seclorum.

08 June 2010

Desperate shops slash prices to survive

MAJOR retailers try to entice wary shoppers by dropping their prices as much as 70 per cent.

Department store rivals Myer and David Jones will go head to head on Wednesday when they launch their highly anticipated winter stocktake sales, with some prices reduced by up to 70 per cent.

Myer and David Jones have been on a discounting spree for months to attract customers through the door.

A lack of consumer confidence has been blamed on increasing interest rates, the higher costs of living, continuing economic uncertainty and warmer weather.

Myer corporate affairs manager Damian Glass said the company was reacting to a "challenging period".

"Factors such as interest rates, problems in Greece and Thailand, volatility on share markets and increases in the cost of living mean disposable income is under pressure," Mr Glass said.

Australian Retailers Association director Russell Zimmerman said: "I expect them to be very, very big sales due to slow trade and warm weather.

"It really hasn't been a cold winter yet and it's already the end of May. At the end of the day, there is no sense in holding on to stock. You need money to pay your suppliers and summer stock arrives mid to late July

At Target, the biggest bargains are to be found in clothing and homewares. Managing director Laura Inman said that retail had been "highly competitive" and less profitable than the same period last year, when the store benefited from increased spending directly following the federal Government's stimulus package.

"Customers are more cautious in their spend, with higher mortgage interest rates and petrol prices eating into family budgets," she said.

Shoppers at Westfield Miranda last week said the almost constant stream of sales negated the need to buy items at full price.

"There is always one shop that has sales on, so you always look for a sale," Miranda teacher and mother-of-two Kat Bender, 34, said.

Friends Brittany Magson, 20, a student, and Gabriella Calpis, 18, an administrative assistant, both of Jannali, were spending their day off shopping for shoes.

"In stores like Wanted and Wittner, they're usually quite expensive, but now they're at market price," Ms Magson said.

"I will pay full price if I really, really need something, but everybody's displaying '50 per cent off' signs.

More LIES that the MAJOR BRANDS are suffering.

The mark up prices in the retail clothes industry is anything from 300 - 500%.

MYER made it into the headlines many years ago that it was importing clothes for $1, then selling them for $10, or a mark up of 1000%.

MYER justified this by saying that the clothes 'changed hands' or realistically went through 'shelf companies'.

It is through the sweat shop conditions in 'poor' countries that companies can expolit for HUGE profits.