Instead of a post about occultism, for a change I will deal today with “Voodoo Statistics” (i.e. please don’t shout at me too much in regard to my methodology) – in order to answer the question, what are the Top 10 Countries in which market an ebook in the English language?
By my calculations they are (biggest potential market first):
| Rank | Country | % of potential world market for English language ebooks |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | 42% |
| 2. | United Kingdom | 10% |
| 3. | Germany | 8% |
| 4. | Canada | 4% |
| 5. | France | 4% |
| 6. | Australia | 3% |
| 7. | Philippines | 3% |
| 8. | The Netherlands | 3% |
| 9. | Italy | 2% |
| 10. | Spain | 2% |
“Wait!” I hallucinate that I hear you ask. “Germany above Canada? How can that be so?” Quite simple: there are more people in Germany who speak English as a second language than there are in Canada who speak it as either a first or second language. This indeed is the reason why non-anglophone countries make it onto the list at all.
Other factors used to determine ranking include % of people with Internet access and relative poverty / richness. India for example has 125,000,000 English speakers, but because over half the population live below the Poverty line (defined by the UN as earning less than $2 / day) and only 7.5% have access to the internet, the potential market for ebooks must logically be a mere fraction of this number.
Of the countries of the rest of the world, most of the member states of the European Union ranked highly. The highest ranked country in Asia was Turkey at number 14. The highest ranked country in Africa was Nigeria at number 22, whilst Brazil was the highest ranked country in South America at number 23.
Witchcraft: Punishing the Innocent Along With The Guilty Part 2
You can tell it’s been a slow-news day for me when I lower myself to reading something in The Independent, but here here goes.
Not long ago I reported on the successful conviction of Magalie Bamu and Eric Bikubi for the murder of Kristy Bamu. It now appears that in light of this, police are to be given specialist training to help child victims of “witchcraft.”
Well, I can confirm that I will not be the course-tutor for them, but if I were, here is the first piece of training I would give them: you can start by stop calling it “Witchcraft!”.
This is really just irrational “Fear of the Other.” Here is something they do not understand – a belief system from outside what a Middle Englander would call spirituality – so, being impoverished in terms of their vocabulary, the only name they can call it is “witchcraft.” Whereas we occultists know that witches are in fact quite nice people who do not practice any of the behaviours complained about.
Now, I’m no fan of political correctness, but I have to say that the Independent is being remarkably crass in its attempt to turn misunderstanding of a foreign culture into a salacious news story. Worse though: by labelling a violent and illegal activity or set of activities with the term “Witchcraft” they are managing to invent a whole new prejudice: WICCAPHOBIA.
Please, British newspapers! For once in your life try to educate and inform, instead of using every desperate measure to boost your circulation!
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Tagged as Kristy Bamu, The Independent, wicca, Wiccaphobia, Witchcraft