IT Contractor - IT Contracting in Denmark

Unfair restriction on Eu Free Trade

2009-06-09T22:17:00.001+02:00

It's been over a year since I last added anything to this blog, and the main reason for that is that I no longer live in Denmark...wooohooo...all the shopping I do on Amazon and ebay right now!

Anyhow, I was shocked to learn that one of my all-time favourite websites, Book Depository, no longer does the free shipping and UK prices on books to Denmark. In fact, they no longer post to Denmark full stop, which is a real pity. I can only guess, with 99.999% certainty, that some pedantic Danish c*** (c being for customs officer, of course) spotted the budding cross-border EU trade that was developing, and found some obscure law to stop it, or at least make things so awkward for Book Depository that they've decided it isn't worth bothering selling to Denmark any more. Note that Book Depository stills ships to EVERY OTHER EU member country, including Sweden, and non-EU scandinavian reknowned high tax regimes such as Norway and Iceland.

Hang on a sec...wasn't free border trade what we were sold on the EU about in the first place? Hmmmm............

I won't bore you again with my views on excessive socialism, high taxes and the nanny state either. In this case, the evidence is so clear it isn't even worth repeating.

Carrying two Danes on your shoulders

2008-09-05T22:28:00.005+02:00

There seems to be some confusion over my complaints about Denmark. Firstly, everyone I worked with (aside from Ken Primby of course), was fair, honest and hard-working. In fact, you have to have a high work ethic because every worker in Denmark carries at least two lazy, useless Danes on their shoulders, through the high taxes they pay. Even worse is that it means you have very little left for the people who actually matter in your life, which in my case is my wife and our four children.

So there you go, just in case anyone I ever worked with reads this!

Roskilde Bank Nationalised...and "Social Duty" in Denmark

2008-08-30T19:08:00.003+02:00

As Denmark is now officially the most-personally-indebted nation in the entire world on the basis of debt versus disposable income, at 260%, it's no surprise that they are suffering under the credit crunch. Following on from what happened with the Northern Rock in the UK, Denmark's Roskilde bank went into administration and, taking similar mistaken steps to the UK government, it has been nationalised. What I found most amusing were the Danish central bank governor, Nils Bernsteins' comments about how the "bank was not fit to survive", "shareholders getting no compensation" and finally, how the bank "abused the credit system for breakneck growth without proper regard for social duty".

Well, of course, I agree shareholders of ailing businesses should never be compensated for their risk when things turn bad, just as they should not be taxed when things go well. The major comment of note, and a major insight into the Danish mentality, is the comment on how the bank didn't have proper regard for social duty. Okay, I run my own business, so should I have any regard for "social duty", or do I run the business to make as much profit as I can within the law?

Perhaps Mr Bernstein needs to look in the mirror and question if the Danish central bank and government has been neglecting it's own social duty. In the opinion of old-school economists, the main role of a central bank is to "maintain a strong and sound trusted currency for the citizens of the nation, backed by real assets, for the conduct of trade", and taking that into account, the Danish central bank and government fail, with their ludicrous tax reliefs on any personal loan taken out and the consequent flood of paper money created out of nothing these past ten years or so. The national currency is not something you should play with to win votes or induce a temporary boom.

Denmark...Happiest Nation in the world again...Well, I'm laughing anyway.....

2008-08-25T21:55:00.003+02:00

Yet again, the BBC nee "British Brainwashing Corporation", feeds us more tales of Denmark being the happiest nation in the world. Well, I cannot think of a worse place to work than Denmark, and unlike these closet communists, I tried for 3 years for my Danish partner's sake.

Can anyone enjoy knowing that over 50% of your pay doesn't even make it as far as your pocket, but goes to fund the benefits of the lazy majority, so they can continue living in the employment-free style to which they've become accustomed. Conversely, this makes it a fantastic place for those to live who are not interested in working, although the Danish state has a myriad of rules to ensure non-Danes cannot claim any benefits or even come to live in Denmark unless they have a load of cash in the bank. This does not fit in with the supposed EU free movement regulations, but since Denmark is so small and irrelevant, the EU doesn't really care.

In Denmark, what is the point in trying harder? Everyone just tries to drag you back down to their own mediocre standards of starting at 8.30 and leaving around 3pm. People were honestly stunned I stayed until 5pm. If anyone is in any doubt about the Danish workplace, look up "Jantelov".

Woe betide anyone completely qualified in their chosen profession, but not actually having Danish qualifications. This little known xenophobic attitude pervades most of the heavily-unionised professions such as teaching and healthcare.

As for the much quoted "Denmark - happiest nation in the world..." waffle, you need to understand that the place is so extreme, anyone motivated and with a bit of "get up and go", does exactly that and gets up and goes to a different country. With over 50% of the remainder on some form of welfare payment or other, who wouldn't be happy about getting something for nothing?

Unsurprisingly, they have major shortfalls in skilled workers in IT, doctors, engineers, etc. I wonder why. I'd recommend anyone gives it a try though. It's a bit like that film Mr destiny, where you think the grass could be greener but then you realise how much worse life can get!

Useless Danes Named and Shamed

2008-07-19T01:02:00.004+02:00

Following the famous 80:20 rule, I expect generally that any country I go to, I'll find 80% of people to be generally helpful, friendly and law-abiding, while 20% might be rude, unpleasant, criminal or generally otherwise best avoided.

During my time in Denmark, however, I found the reverse applied. Probably only about 20% fitted into the first category, while it often seemed like 80% were rude, unpleasant, disrepectful and criminal. The last category, the criminal one, is what amazed me most, beginning with the huge chunk of people who think it's OK to feign illness or an inability to work, so they can claim huge chunks of government benefits and other various freebies, right through to the builder, Ole Grønlund, who made an appalling job of restoring our house, before failing to return to finish the job, Morten Høgenhav, the worst bunch of cowboy painters even seen, and the children who stole our childrens' toys from our own garden, then proceeded to treat our garden as a playground for 2 weeks, destroying yet more, unstopped by the various adults who must have witnessed it, probably including their own, useless, benefit-claiming parents.

Next, a dishonourable mention must go to Ken Lynge Primby and his Connect Resourcing/Recruitment Agency. Ken has a nasty and previously proven habit of accidentally letting his business fall into liquidation once every few years, leaving the debts (like mine) with the unfortunate encumbents, while a new Connect rises like a phoenix from the ashes. It's now looking like I'm only going to get a few percent of what I'm owed.

Finally, who could forget the biggest thieves of all, the Danish government. Who through various taxes end up helping themselves to approximiately 70% of your income and a huge chunk of your savings.

Needless to say, if I ever see a Dane in distress, they can expect little help from me. And if any of the above should step out onto the road, not seeing the huge lorry chundering towards them, I can only hope I'm there to see the moment of impact.

A World First for Denmark...yippee!

2008-07-19T00:56:00.002+02:00

In case you weren't so economically aware as to have noticed it, Denmark is officially the first country in the world to fall into recession. The way these things are measured, that means three consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. Well, you can only inflate the currency for so long before the balloon starts to lose some air. And in Denmark's case, given that 70% of the economy is owned and run by the state, the private sector doesn't really have much room for manouevre.

Of course, this would be the time to start cutting taxes and benefits big time, thus encouraging more productivity. I very much doubt all these socialists will do it though. Expect increased taxes, although income tax won't rise, it'll be inflated property values and "environmental" taxes that take the extra cut here. There isn't much scope to increase income taxes when they're already the highest in the world at 68%. Even the stupidest Dane going (and there about 5 million of them), would see through that one.

A Trip to legoland, Billund, Denmark

2008-06-09T21:53:00.002+02:00

Just come back from a 2 day break at Legoland in Billund, Denmark, including an overnight stay at the Legoland hotel, which put us conveniently close to the theme park, as well as direct tickets into the park, with no queues.

While I so far sound like an unpaid affiliate link, its worth noting that not everything was rosy. For starters, the theme park is much smaller than I expected, although I guess that is due to the fame and cachet of the LEGO branding more than inadequacies in the park itself.

What surprised me mostly, going on a Sunday and Monday, was the shortness of the queues to get on the rides. The weather both days was sweltering hot, so I'm not sure that had much to do with it, but the theme park, with signs for approx minutes wait times, etc. is obviously built to do much brisker trade than it got. while this could be a forbinger of the credit crunch and less free cash in consumer wallets, maybe LEGO is losing its trendiness? Either way, if this is an indicator of regular trade levels, it seems like an excellent time to consider a trip. Overall, I can honestly say, all our kids loved it, and they range from 7 to 20 months, so there is plenty of range there to test the rides available to all ages. Especially great is the pirate ship, where you can fire water gun broadsides with competing ships, and also at innocent passers-by who happen to get in range.

Anyhow, so far the good bits. Not so good is one my bugbears, a captive audience theme park that also charges you for parking, in this case 49 kroner. We stayed at the hotel, which offers free parking, and this leads onto my tip, which is to park at, or near to, the hotel, which has plentiful free parking and also a nearby swimming baths with extended free parking, then walk to the theme park itself (I guess if the wife complains, you could drop them off at the gate then park up for free and walk back)

The second bugbear is that the food inside the theme park is awful. Yes, I don't expect Egon Ronay standard at these places, but even a basic chicken salad contained only reconstituted mush passed off as barbecue chicken pieces, and the family buffet at the pizza restaurant was pathetic. Fries generally tended to be laced with dangerous levels of added salt, which even our kids refused to eat. The safest option, therefore, is a Danish hotdog, since at least these were made to a decent enough level. Be prepared for the higher prices you find at theme parks, which also makes the awful standard stand out even more. As a comparison, Djurssommerland in Northern Jutland does similar catering, but much better quality, funnily enough.

By the way, my food criticisms do not extend to the morning breakfast buffet at the hotel. This is really good, and a highly recommended part of the trip.

Mere Løn

2008-06-09T21:44:00.003+02:00

Right now, a lot of the public sector workers in Denmark are holding various strikes. While a lot of them would probably not be missed if they decided to hold a permanent strike (fact, 38% of working Danes have direct government jobs, to say nothing about another 30-odd percent indirectly employed by the government), two of the most interesting ones are the pædagogs (childcare workers) and nurses. Since at least they contribute something useful.

The first response to this must be the old time-honoured tradition of: If you're so unhappy with your current pay levels, why not go and find another job that pays better? But the main thing, for me, to consider is that these workers are already probably the best paid in the entire world for the jobs that they do. Given that, the real solution for the economy must come in the form of lower taxes. Any foreigner coming here can see that, but all these Danes, with their long tradition of suffocating socialism seem unable to see it, instead concentrating on the free rides they have been used to getting off the miracle of the welfare state.

Of course, lower taxes also means the capitalist scum these people despise so much will also benefit, conveniently forgetting the point that its the same "scum" who paid their wages in the first place.

If Denmark has to live through a 1970s UK-style depression to change, then I'm all for it. Bring it on.

Domain Name Investment

2008-06-07T00:18:00.004+02:00

Domain Name Investment is the new Holy Grail amongst thousands of investors throughout the whole world today.

The concept that you can buy a name for a small fee then resell it for millions of dollars is the rags to riches story we all dream of.

Truth is, that that kind of story happens very rarely, but there are people out there who do it, and even more people or businesses who simply make a living from the purchase, development and resale of domain names.

Domain Name Investor, my latest creation, specialises in what I perceive to be important parts of the internet which I believe will see further growth in future years.

I mainly invest in .co.uk and .eu Domains, which I especially feel has room for future expansion as the EU expands to include more Eastern European countries with younger, more tech-savvy populations, but also own domains as far afield as India and the USA.

And where to buy these domain names? Well, the cheapest .eu domain name seller I've found is BuyDomains, which works out about £6 per .eu domain, while 123-reg seems to be a decent balance between cost, at approx £3 per .co.uk domain.

If you're looking for just a single domain, with high traffic potential, I highly recommend One. They are a Danish company but provide their domain and hosting services worldwide in many different languages. The price and the service are both superb.

You can also visit Servage for web hosting of multiple sites and if you just want to buy domain names, visit BuyDomains.

My personal belief in life

2008-06-04T22:08:00.003+02:00

My core belief in life is that no man has any right whatsoever to the earnings or productivity of another man, unless the other man assigns him that right.

Obviously, in todays taxation nation society, this right is not being given, and in fact, governments probably need to become more understanding of the fact that many people today are outwardly resentful of the way others are helping themselves to their earnings, pruductivity and past earnt wealth.

Government is finished long term, simply because for now they choose to spend the earnings of the productive segment of society on schemes to secure the votes of the non-earning, parasitic portion of society.

In fact, the more you look into life in general, the more you realise everything is set up to steal your productivity and "redistribute" it to the lazy and the useless.

But thanks to the internet, globalisation, and the greater and freer movement of people, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Deep down, I'm quite optimistic that governments control over their more productive citizens is coming to an end, although there are many years of struggle on the way. It's a secret war that's already going on in many places, witness the USA and it's "patriot act", supposedly a law to counter terrorism, but really an attempt at controlling its citizens, or the EU savings directive.

Exciting and potentially troubling times ahead. I recommend we all watch governments like a hawk, and be prepared to move if the going gets too tough.

Now I've said all that, you can probably see why communist, socialist, Denmark disagrees so much with me. I've never seen so many lazy useless unproductive people before in my life, and considering I originally come from Consett, a hotbed of council estates, single mothers and lifetime benefit claimants, that's really saying something.

If you feel the same, and you're considering moving to Denmark, I urge you to think twice.

The Nordic Model on Wikipedia

2008-05-11T13:22:00.003+02:00

There's been an unknown battle going on on Wikipedia these past few months.

After finding one of the most biased pieces of pro-socialist junk ever on there, I did a few key modifications to correctly represent the truth of placing yourself in the Nordic Model.

Funnily enough, some pro-socialist (Wolfman?), came along and took out the newly added facts covering High taxation (undeniably true), and the capital flight of high-worth, highly productive people such as Ingvar Kamprad (Ikea, himself and the business), Janus Friis (Skype), Mikkel Kessler (just before his big prize fight), and finally, even Stephen Kinnock, son of former UK Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, and the husband of the Danish Socialist party leader Helle Thorning Schmidt doesn't base himself in Denmark, probably because of the high taxes.

Finally revisited the page after 2 months, and those key facts are all back in. Well done that someone else saw the light.

Ken Lynge Primby - the story grows

2008-05-09T20:33:00.005+02:00

As people who read my posts in the past probably know, I suffered big time in Denmark, thanks to a certain Ken Lynge Primby and his numerous Connect business companies.

Well, good to see the man getting the publicity he deserves, as evidenced by this article here.

Would you do business with this man?

Should Britain join the Euro?

2008-05-07T22:49:00.000+02:00

I used to be strongly in favour of a single European currency, and my partner is from the continent, but after living over there for 3 years, I've completely revised my opinion.

Culturally, Europe is much more socialist and controlling, when compared with the historic British attitude of an island nation based on international trade and financial freedoms, as evidenced by our reputation as one of the best places to conduct international business, and our base as the world's leading financial centre.

Using the old dictum that "he who controls the currency controls the nation", by giving up the national currency, you are also giving up much of the control and handing it to another power, with vested interests of its own.

Fortunately, at this point in time, most Britons realise this and are opposed to the single currency. We all know this, so why even bother going to the expense and hassle of a referendum?

Building Work : The Good

2008-04-11T12:50:00.002+02:00

After all that, it's worth mentioning some of the firms in Hobro I'd recommend.

Valsgaard El.
Knew what they were doing and had some good recommendations of rewiring to place the meter better.

Holger's Gulvservice
This guy has a good work ethic and a lot of skill in his profession. Our oak parquet floors now look superb.

MP Byg
Restored the steps and terrace around the house. If in doubt, you can always view the house, Montana, if you're walking past!

Rørbæk Oliefyr
This was the only guy with any good advice on how to replumb an oil central heating system. The rest seemed too scared to come up with anything.

Building Work : The Bad and the Ugly Part 2

2008-04-11T12:45:00.002+02:00

The next worst was Ole Grønlund, also the most expensive.

Quite simply, even though we agreed with Bent Madsen that the windows of Montana should be replaced if the costs rose too high, he ignored us and then presented us with a bill for window repairs of 170,000 kroner than originally agreed. The guy then left the company without telling us, leaving the restoration of the house incomplete. When we phoned Ole Grønlund, he told us, quite simply, that he wasn't interested in coming back.

The interior windows still await repainting to this day, and the balcony and terrace still stand incomplete.

An expensive mistake. next time it'll be Poles, not expensive Danish planks.

Building Work : the Bad and the Ugly

2008-04-11T12:38:00.002+02:00

Given the prices for Danish building work, you might be forgiven for expecting high quality.

The worst story I can relate, is living in Hobro, we employed a VVS (translation : plumber) company with a name related to the town (hint!), to put some new plumbing in for our kitchen. As the job dragged on for days, the chap made several trips out of several hours each to "buy parts" and nothing was getting done. Next day, my wife popped out with the kids and I stayed in to work on something at home on the PC. 5 mins after my wife left, so did the VVS guy, finally returning a few hours later. It looks as though he thought I'd gone out too and thus could sneak away.

We called VVS company boss and told him to get rid of this bloke and send a new one out, as it turned out he was working on a cash-in-hand job on a house down the road. This wouldn't be so bad, but aside from not completing our job, the final bill showed he was actually trying to charge us for the hours he was away!!!

We eventually settled on 5000 kroner for the job, as originally agreed, although this took quite a while with the VVS company initally sending a bill for 13000 kroner. They also sacked the employee for pulling the same trick elsewhere, apparently.

Getting Building Work Done in Denmark

2008-04-11T12:30:00.002+02:00

Denmark is one of the most expensive countries in the world to get building work done. Standard daily rates right now are approximately 350 kroner per hour, plus 25% MOMs / VAT.

To be fair, the builders themselves do not see much of it. Of a notional 500 kroner per hour, 100 krone comprises sales tax, so that leaves 400 kroner. Of this, the builder must pay his business expenses, business taxes (25%), then personal taxes on top (at least another 15%). Therefore, out 500 kroner, he probably ends up with about 160 kroner in his pocket.

It's no surprise therefore that "sort arbejde", or black labour / cash in hand work, is so common in Denmark. Furthermore, due the excessive welfare state, many people who would work as labourers, etc., in other countries, find it easier to take the welfare payments and sit on benches in the town drinking beer, rather than bother getting their hands dirty with an honest days graft.

as a foreigner , of course, you are not so likely to have the family or social contacts to employ cash in hand workers, so us foreigners end up footing the bill twice over.

Bear this in mind, if your dream house (eg. The Villa Montana, Hobro) comes up for sale and you need to get a lot of work done.

Next time, I'll give you some personal experiences of Danish Building contractor quality.

Denmark's Shortage of Skilled Workers

2008-04-07T20:04:00.003+02:00

Surprise, surprise, as mentioned in ITContractor Denmark by me well over a year ago, Denmark is suffering a shortage of skilled workers. Can't imagine why, given my own well-documented experiences of trying to make a go of working in socialist hell.

Fair enough, I applaud these companies like www.lifein.dk for offering to help expats fit in, but don't forget to read up www.itcontractor.dk, where it's an expat who's gone through it dishing out the advice, rather than Danes indoctrinated into the dubious benefits of the welfare state from birth.

www.workindenmark.dk is still one of the most comedic sites I've ever read, although the joke is one you, as you only understand the irony once you've lost all your money living here.

Print on Demand Publishing subsidiary

2008-04-06T21:01:00.004+02:00

One good thing about being in Denmark was the opportunity to spend those cold winter nights reading books..And then, I even started writing my own. This all culminated in the creation of a publishing offshoot, which can be seen at http://www.adpublishing.eu/ and http://www.podpublisher.co.uk/.

So it wasn't all bad. At current rate of return, I'll make back what http://www.connect.dk/ stole from me by the year 2200.

IT Contractor Directory

2008-04-05T22:45:00.003+02:00

I found this website useful for identifying some of the latest offerings relevant to the world of IT Contractors : ITContractor.Org

And before you say anything, yes, it is only a drop page with google Ads, but there were a good mix of advertisers. Consulting firms, job sites looking for candidates to register, Companies offering IR35 protection insurance, P&I (Protection and Indemnity) or tax investigation insurance. All very relevant factors for the modern IT Consultant.

Another "Northern Rock" exits Denmark

2008-04-05T22:16:00.004+02:00

From the same part of the world as myself, I was very interested to see one of my recommended financial institutions exiting Denmark, scarcely a year after starting up the venture.

At the time, the offered probably the best savings interest rate in the country, and stirred up a lot of sleeping Danish banks into finally offering something half-decent for their own customers, since Denmark has never struck me as the most financially competitive banking nation.

Well, since then Northern Rock have had their own well-documented problems in the UK, which I covered on the Do it YourSelf ISA blog. Funny thing was, despite everyone racing to withdraw your savings, everyone's savings were protected up to £30k, and the way these banks lend to each other means hardly anyone can tell which are safe and which aren't.

Now the UK government has decided to streamline the Rock operations and I guess a Scandinavian branch was not part of the plan. Check out Eik Bank, the new owners of skandiaBank, an institution I also recommend, instead, as they are offering to match Northern Rock's deal.

CHEAP LAPTOP OFFER

2008-03-20T00:29:00.001+01:00

3 of my favourite things in the entire world are :-

1) Shopping online at reputable net stores
2) Getting a bargain
3) paying NO Sales Taxes to Greedy Goverments

And thanks to my contacts in the industry, Play.com, one of the stars of tax-free shopping, have allowed me to pass on this discount code ACER40, which enables you to claim an amazing EXTRA £40 off when you buy an Acer Laptop from them here.

The laptops are available here on the Play.com site and the code to enable the discount on the laptops is ACER40.

The laptop code is only valid against the four products listed and will expire at midnight on Wednesday 26/3/08.

What is life like in Denmark?

2008-03-09T23:48:00.001+01:00

I remember once in junior school, my teacher relating a parable about how some men sat around a cauldron of boiling water. One man had some carrots, another some potatoes, another some meat, another some herbs and spices. After talking amongst each other, they all agreed they could make a delicious broth between them. The first man stepped forward, and unbeknown to the others, pretended to drop his portion of the broth into the cauldron, the next stepped forward and did the exact same thing, followed by the next and then the final man, each only pretending to drop his personal share of the broth into the cauldron. At the end, the men all sat expectantly waiting for the delicious broth they were about to receive. It was served up with anticipation, but each man was left with a bowl of nothing more than boiling water. They all looked at each other, each blaming the other for what had happened, but underlyingly experiencing some shame about their part in this outcome. I can't even remember why she told us this story, but it is the best summation of socialism and in particular, Denmark that I have ever heard in my entire life.

Connect and Ken

2008-02-29T01:17:00.002+01:00

In order to bring this blog back on track, any further comments on the allegedly underhand activities of Ken Lynge Primby and Annette Nørgaard, will be covered at the new connect.dk blog.

It's fair to say, as I sit here back in the Uk, missing my wife and 3 children who are still in Denmark, my wife 8 months pregnant, trying to cope alone, while I'm trying to earn enough to keep the family going, that Ken and Annette are responsible for my current situation.

One can only hope that "what goes around, comes around", as the saying goes and that natural justice does exist out there somewhere.

Blogging away

2008-02-04T02:03:00.000+01:00

If anybody out there is wondering why my blog isn't being updated so often nowadays, the reason is simple enough. Following the latest debacle with Ken Lynge Primby and his "allegedly" fraudulent activity at mine and others expense, I decided to leave. Truth is, this was the last straw in a series of bad experiences in this unpleasant country.

If you read this and you're thinking of moving to Denmark, I'd ask you please to consider very carefully before committing yourself, and, if you do, don't bring any money with you, otherwise they'll get it off you somehow. I have never seen a country more obsessed by money than Denmark, although, since the taxes are so high, criminal activity and theft, which starts with the government and their ludicrously high tax rates, are the only way for anyone to make a bit of money on the side.

I may be financially much, much poorer for the experience of living in this hell, but much wiser in life. I've been more sure of where I stand on the issue of whether the welfare state actually works, thats for sure.

A bit more on Ken Lynge Primby and Connect

2008-01-07T20:47:00.000+01:00

A bit more information follows on the Connect Agency in Tvangsopløsning. I have also got plenty of stories and rumour, but what follows is free information, provable from sources such as http:\\www.cvr.dk (The danish central companies register).

In August 2005, as Connect IT Rekruttering CVR Number on 25201604 slipped into konkurs (Liquidation), 2 new Connect companies were opened by Ken Lynge Primby and Annette Ladefoged Nørgaard, both of Borgbjergalle 13, Odder. The first was CRA Holding ApS CVR Number 28976356, described as an investment business whose main business would be investing in the shares of other businesses - main Director was Annette Nørgaard. The second was Connect Resorce Agency ApS CVR No. 28976496, 100% owned and funded by CRA Holding. Note that Ken Lynge Primby, my sole contact during my time working at the Agency has no legal role in either company.

In May 2007, with the first set of accounts overdue, CRA Holdings is put into closedown /Tvangsopløsning state, and a certain Mr Ken Lynge Primby is appointed liquidator by Annette Ladefoged Nørgaard - nice move Annette!

Ken then files for closedown that the company has no assets. Interesting! Myself and at least 5 other contractors are working for them, but it has no assets? Hmmm....

CONNECT I TVANGSOPLØSNING

2007-12-11T23:11:00.000+01:00

My agency, Connect is in Tvangsopløsning.

If there are any other IT Contractors out there affected by Ken Lynge Primby and his Connect Resorce Agency, CVR Nummer 28976496, Søren Frichs Vej 38 C, 8230 Åbyhøj going into tvangsopløsning, then please contact me or leave comments here. Connect can be viewed at this website http://www.connect.dk/

I note the business went into tvangsopløsning on 17/9/07, but he still kept quiet and agreed a new contract with me starting 1/10/07.

This just about sums up my entire time here. If anyone still thinks Denmark is some kind of socialist idyll, full of nice fluffy, fair-minded people-this is more or less how my partner sold it to me-then I suggest they try living here.

I see Ken Lynge Primby is already back in operation through his new business, also called Connect; or perhaps more correctly; Connekt, at the same website http://www.connect.dk/. But new address Banegårdsgade 20 1 mf8000 Århus C. Nice.

The guy has traded through a number of different Connect Companies during his time, including :-

Connect Resorce Agency
Connect Resource Agency
CONNECT CONSULTING APS
CONNECT CONTRACTING APS
CONNECT IT REKRUTTERING APS
CONNECT VIKARSERVICE APS
Connect

Please, please let me know if you are having problems with him, or even remember the last time this happened to Ken Primby with Connect Rekruttering Aps in 2005. Ev entually resolved by Konkurs.

Denmark, the worlds richest country in 2025?

2007-11-24T22:47:00.000+01:00

Okay, a bit of a ludicrous sounding headline, but one of my reasons here was really trying to think ahead for the sake of the kids, and I reckon Denmark is potentially one of the worlds future commodity resource hotspots.

Right now, per capita, they supply huge amounts of oil and fish products, which generates (my guess), a lot of the excess money that the government uses to fund the welfare state I am so not fond of. anyone who thinks the welfare state is great should live here for a while and see the mindset it creates.

social comment aside, on top of this, they also happen to own a huge chunk of the world's future resource hotspot, the North Pole. Honestly, I hope the government is prepared to do whatever it takes to hold onto Greenland, because that will become a serious wealth generator. Regardless of whether you believe in permanent global warming or just a temporary natural climate change, fact is that the ice in Greenland is receding and the miners are moving in to explore and mine.

Now, and I believe the great Jim Rogers, commodities are going to be hot in the years ahead. Oil is already up to $100 and once those bankers devalue the Euro a little bit, petrol is going to get a lot more expensive here too. And then as for Gold and Silver, overdo it on the currency devaluation and they will be hot and a half.

When you think about the populations of Denmark (5.1m and 100,000 respectively), you can really see how few people will be sharing it out, so if anyone knows any sure fire ways to invest in this potential, aside from mining companies with no earnings (property prices are already VERY expensive up there), then let me know.

How to Euro Shop Online and Get the Best Prices Delivered to Your Door!

2007-11-24T22:37:00.000+01:00

Living in Britain, I'd become used to logging on to the net and ordering whatever I fancied from sites like Amazon, VAT-free and no delivery costs, but two years ago, life took me to Denmark (or rather the missus did!), and boy, was I in for a shock! Get this...a 25% sales tax, or MOMs, as it's called here on everything you buy, including food! Even so, after I'd been here a few months, I naively logged onto Amazon to buy a few English books I fancied. Everything looked fine as I added to my basket, but once at the checkout, the price of all the items more than DOUBLED, simply as a result of where they were being sent to.

So, get this, Amazon is selling the same goods to you, from the same warehouse, but you have to pay twice the price? Why? Well, turns out it isn't Amazons fault at all. You can blame the EU for this one, and this after all those years of cheek we were sold the EU with the excuse that it was going to be a free trade bloc of one big European Nation. Just because your books are going to be delivered to Denmark instead of the UK you have to pay delivery (okay, that one you can cope with) and an extra 25% sales tax. Ha ha, how I laughed as I gave up on my attempted purchase and prepared myself for a life of no reading ever again.

But then I discovered, completely by chance, a rather nifty outfit called Play.com, who based themselves in a small island off the coast of France, called Jersey that has zero sales tax. Better still, these guys even do free delivery to Denmark, and best of all to buy from them (or anywhere else in the world for that matter), is 100% legal, subject to certain limits.
Wow, I was like a pig in.....err excuse me. Anyhow, to say the least I was a very happy man and logging on every other night from thereon buying all of the books I could possibly get my hands on to make up for lost time.

After this I really got into buying a lot of things I wanted elsewhere in the EU, and once you start getting into this buying abroad off the internet lark you'll realise that Amazon is the exception in charging Sales Taxes at the buyers' rate. Most EU based companies will only charge their local rate, 100% legal again. Well, this little bit of info opened up another new horizon! Blimey, I even found a little-used, SECRET way of buying from Amazon and avoiding the Sales tax. 100% LEGAL again, and you can read about it here as I'm happy to give you this secret for free.

Then I started thinking...how many other websites or shopping opportunities are there out there like this? Completely legal opportunities to beat the taxman and keep more of your own money in your own pocket, while buying exactly what you want. Hell, half this stuff isn't even available here! The same probably applies to whatever European country you happen to be living in right now. Am I right?

Now, just think about all those people out there who know nothing about these sites. Maybe this even includes you? You come back from the UK with a holdall full of English books or decent underwear (my partner does!) simply because you think you'll never get the chance to stock up again. Well, forget it! Now you can buy from the comfort of your own home with delivery to your door!

There is now a site of my favourite online shops! These are personally tested and recommended shops with great prices, a fantastic range, and best of all, free or low delivery costs to Denmark and most of the rest of Europe. You can visit it right now at www.expatshop.eu.

Danish Election Results

2007-11-22T12:02:00.001+01:00

Forgot to comment on the Danish election results. No surprises there, in fact, I'm pleased to be proved right, since Helle Thorning Schmidt's Socialist party got their lowest ever share of the vote. Great, so Danes are finally getting sick of socialism.

Furthermore, Venstre with their promises of no more tax rises (though taxes can hardly rise much above 70%, can they?), have teamed up with New Alliance (40% flat tax), so you can only be hopeful that something might give, even a bit.

Amusingly enough, the other part of the Venstre coalition is the Danske Folkeparti. Who are opposed to immigration, Denmark for the Danes (well white ones, some might say), and all that. While Alliance are all for more immigrants and more benefits for them, so those two should cancel each other out on this issue.

Pound in freefall, but the dollar hides it

2007-11-22T12:01:00.001+01:00

I must admit that I have been worried about the Pound for some time, what with the trade deficit, budget deficit and now the Northern Rock crisis.

Actually, the trade deficit bothers me least of the problems, as Britain has a large reputation for investing abroad. The others are not so good. especially the Northern Rock crisis, since the implication is the government have magically created the necessary backup reserves out of thin air (is there any other method?)

Now, I notice that in the past couple of months, the Pound has dropped about 6% against the Euro and Danish Krone. This has hardly got a mention, as all the media are going on about the weakening Dollar and the bargains available for those taking a shopping trip to the USA.

So please, Germany and Holland, don't give in to whingeing France and Italy about needing a weaker Euro, and the usual rubbish about generating exports. A devalued currency helps no-one long term.

If it carries on like this, the Euro could become the world's new reserve currency, especially for pricing oil, at least until China is ready to claim its spot.

Just a thought.

As for me, I'm off to browse the internet for some bargains from Britain...

The truth behind the Miners Strike

2007-11-20T11:12:00.000+01:00

Just in case anyone considers me to be some elitist Brit who went to public school, I can honestly say that I come from a North Eastern coal mining background and in fact, my Dad worked in the mines right up to the end in the 1980s and my family was badly affected by the miners strike. In fact, this was probably a pivotal moment in my life for realising the con of socialism and how the world is "every man for himself" whichever way you look at it.

While Arthur Scargill ran the campaign in the style of a World War 1 general, sitting 20 miles behind the front lines sipping claret and sending men and their families to their economic deaths, some of his cohorts really would have come around and put a brick through your window (or worse) had you dared to be a black-leg and go back to work. Ironically, these were the same guys who, a year later, were leaping around at the prospect of 30 grand redundancy money. A little known fact of the miners strike is that many of the collieries closed weren't even on the closure list that had triggered the strike, but a year of being left empty had led to flooding and other high maintenance costs that made it cheaper to pay the men off. And boy, how they all voted for closure when they realised how much money they would get! Sod you "comrade", became the prevailing attitude, and the younger blokes, like my Dad, missed out on the full redundancy and pensions offered to those of more senior years.

God, how Consett was boom town in those next few years. You could tell who the ex-miners were by the new extensions on their houses, new cars and flash new electricals like VCRs, while they all desperately tried to run down their redundancy money enough to qualify for the dole. Years later, you could definitely tell who the ex-miners were by their enormous beer bellies from a retirement life of spending all day in the club.

Socialism? Don't make me laugh.

Some Men are More Equal than Others

2007-11-12T13:27:00.000+01:00

Imagine living in a country that takes huge taxes from you, including a huge cut of your worldwide income.

Imagine that this country prides itself on the alleged principles of fairness and equality.

Imagine then that a chance for the people to decide who runs the country you live in comes around. At last, a chance to make a small difference by voting on the person/party you feel is most likely to improve the lot of the country you live in.

Imagine then that you get told to f**k off since no-one cares what you have to say and you don't even get the chance to vote.

Sounds unlikely? Well, when my Danish partner and I lived in the UK, we could both vote no problem, but move to Denmark and it turns out that foreigners are NOT allowed to vote in the general election.

I can see why, since foreigners aren't brainwashed into Danish socialism from an early age and can see right through it, so imagine the dangers of them enforcing some change for the better, eh?

Funny too that my partner, once she'd lived outside Denmark more than 2 years lost the right to vote in Danish elections. Denmark obviously realises that any Dane living abroad for more than 2 years will be de-indoctrinated in socialist thinking and thus vote sensibly with clear-headed thinking.

Some men are indeed more equal than others, and Stalin would be proud.

Why are Socialist countries like Denmark so apparently rich?

2007-11-12T09:05:00.000+01:00

A lot of people, usually academic economists and fans of socialism who've never actually lived in Denmark make the Nordic model out to be some great utopian society, but they forget two things:-

1) The Scandinavian countries are all very rich in natural resources, even if it is often claimed otherwise. Denmark and Norway are, per capita, two of the world's biggest oil producers. Iceland and Denmark (esp. through Greenland) are two of the biggest seafood producers, then finally Sweden and Finland are so full of trees they supply much of the timber and pulp paper throughout Europe. Without these assets, these countries would run massive trade deficits and be unable to afford their generous welfare state.

2) These countries have successfully monetised many aspects of private family life that was previously outside the scope of inclusion in official economic figures like GDP. Take childcare and elderly care, for example, in Denmark, you'll often find 2 women work as childcarers, and as part of the system they drop their own children off with other childcarers! It's the same as paying someone to paint your house while you pay them to paint yours. A no-brainer for government, since it's more tax-collection opportunities, but bad news for individuals.

Can anyone even put a cost of the long-term social damage it does to families? Funnily enough, Danes are reknowned as "serial mongamists", IE drifting from one relationship to another, collecting kids from various relationships and partners along the way. You almost feel weird here if you keep the same partner for more than 5-7 years (the old 7 year itch, eh?)

Full Employment for all, the socialist way

2007-11-05T22:11:00.000+01:00

I've been thinking about this for a few days and I have the perfect "socialist" solution to much of Denmarks problems, sick of hearing about the rough life the huge number of care-workers have here, (and believe me there are millions of them), how about we all become care workers...for each other?

Thinking about it, it fulfills many socialist criteria; for starters, we'll all get paid the same, secondly, there'll be full employment, and thirdly, what could be more caring and socialist than being a cuddly care-worker?

Okay, okay, I know what you're saying, and yes, long-term there will be minor issues with the fact that the country isn't producing anything to sell to foreigners in return for all the goods we need. but hey, a small price to pay, wouldn't you agree?

More Notes from the Danish election

2007-11-05T21:42:00.000+01:00

Witnessing a Danish election first hand, three things spring to mind

1) The amazing number of candidates in our town, which only has a population of 17,000. Some parties even seem to have two or three potential candidates to vote for. By my reckoning, it looks like half the population of Hobro are standing for election! For a country that claims to care about the environment, they certainly do waste a lot of cardboard and printing facilities on election posters of the candidates. I kid not, no lamp-post has been left untouched. All grinning, smiley, smug faces, the lot of them. Now, where's my air-rifle or dartboard?

2) The age of the candidates. So many of them seem to be young people in their 20s or early 30s. I wouldn't vote for anybody who hasn't had at least some experience of real life in the unforgiving commercial world, but giving people who've done nothing more than come straight out of cushy "political studies" at University with their idealised theories unbased on the realities of the world, (Helle Thorning Schmidt, anyone?) the ability to decide - what's really sad is the power they could potentially wield over us all.

3) On the basis of 1) and 2), comes the conclusion that with suffocating socialism and the forced income redistribution of high taxes, that the only way to get around it is to become a member of the government, get a nift free ministerial car and a load of other freebies, then spend the rest of your life spending other peoples money.

Hey, did I just describe "Animal farm" by George Orwell, or what? (and the stark realisation that I'm "Boxer"?)

At last, A Danish Bargain

2007-11-01T10:06:00.001+01:00

Having lived in this country for almost 3 years now, the only thing I'd discovered that is cheaper than the UK is wood. Yep, plain old wood, whether it's for your fire, garden fence or the finished product for building some shelves in your house, invariably it's a lot cheaper. But probably not a total surprise, for a country that is, apparently,25% wooded, has a population of 5 million and is right next to Sweden.

Anyhow, the big news is that I have discovered a commodity that is FREE in Denmark, but costs over £100 in the UK for the identical commodity. What could this commodity be, you ask? Well, I'm not saying...if I do, they will doubtless introduce some kind of tax on it!

The Hunt for Red Old Volvo

2007-10-30T20:24:00.000+01:00

Following on from the forced new car purchase, my estimate of 30,000kr on IT Contractor DK was almost spot on, because that's exactly what the garage put it up for sale for.

Word of warning, it's got some weird juddering problem that means it loses power at certain speeds. Nasty when you're trying to overtake a truck on the motorway and you suddenly find you can't go faster than 110 kmph. This happened twice and 2 different garages looked at it. Fix was only temporary and hence our decision this time round to just get rid. Well done to the garage if they managed to fix properly this time though.

Anyhow, it disappeared from the garage after 2 weeks and we thought maybe they'd sold it, but probably not. Driving past another garage outside Hobro and what do I see in the window? A metallic red Volvo 460 1.7. Worth stopping to have a look thought I, and hey presto, it turned out to be the same year and mileage (sorry, in the EU way of metricism, I guess that should be kilometerage). I won 't name the garage, but it specialises in old Volvos, so if you live here you'll know it. Price has mysteriously risen to 36,500 krone. Which just shows how much a crap old car costs here.

If anyone knows who buys it, I'd like to play "Hunt for Red Old Volvo", a bit like the russian submarine film with Sean Connery, and find out where it ends up.

New Alliance & Danish politics

2007-10-29T22:54:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to clarify from this article here that I do not agree with all of Khader's policies. Firstly 1% of GDP on foreign aid. I say either lower taxes or that money spent on better services for the people living here who paid it in, I am sick to death of "foreign aid", all it seems to do is keep the recipients down in poverty, except for a landed few in the recipient country who divvy it out amongst themselves. Bottom line Free Trade, not Foreign Aid. Secondly, longer school education, well, this one horrifies me, since part of the reason for moving here was to keep my kids away from starting British schools at age 4. The less time my kids spend in any government-sponsored brainwashing institution the better. Yet another reason to be thankful for the almost-free private school system in Denmark. And as for free school meals - arghh! Has no-one seen how the British school meals system has turned out???? Rye Bread is the healthiest thing going for kids. I already commented on the School Meals system previously.

Were the last two comments me praising something about Denmark? Good god i think it was! and I didn't choke on my words either...

but hey, first step to progress here is to smash the awful Danish tax system, and I'll tolerate a load of stuff just to see that one happen...

Holidays in Denmark

2007-10-29T22:46:00.000+01:00

One thing I really find it hard to get used to is the amount of holidays Danes take. and they all usually go away at the exact same time. In fact, the office then is usually empty with me and a couple of other sad souls who forgot to take the week off around.

A lot of this comes from the fact that the tax rate rises to nearly 70% once you dare to earn over 360,000 kr (about £34,000!). I can't say I blame them, after all it really isn't worth bothering to work in those circumstances, is it? The other thing that becomes apparent is the lost productivity for Denmark that those high taxes are causing.

Upshot is, to fit in here you must learn to work less. Or something like that. Maybe one day I'll have had the drive to try and do anything knocked out of me too.

Getting a Mention on Wikipedia

2007-10-27T23:12:00.001+02:00

Nice to see the site IT Contractor Denmark was considered worthy of inclusion in this Wikipedia page about the Nordic model. Should even up the score against all those people brainwashed into thinking Scandinavia is some kind of socialist utopia. It is, as long as your kind of socialism means doing as little as possible and sponging a regular income coerced from the hard-working, honest and self-reliant.

Denmark calls a General Election

2007-10-25T20:36:00.000+02:00

...wooo!

Just when you thought Danish television couldn't get any worse, we'll be subjected for the next few weeks to constant drivel from politicians. Thankfully I've only been in Denmark for a few years, so I won't understand most of it, but most of them are socialists talking the same old rubbish but with slightly different undertones.

Thankfully, Helle "we choose welfare, my husband chooses elsewhere" Schmidt doesn't seem to have much chance of winning. You can read more about Stephen Kinnock, husband of Helle Thorning Schmidt here. I'm glad, since it does mean there are plenty of Danes out there sick of this welfare state they're stuck with right now. Apparently Anders Fogh's lot called the election early so they can "..push through sweeping reforms under a new mandate..." hmm. can only imagine how sweeping - top rate tax down to 67% from 70% or something as sweeping as that is my guess. Can only hope he means seriously cutting benefits and making a few of the excess state employees redundant. unlikely though.

And for more insight into how Denmark and Danish Socialism really works, read on.

I'll make sure I'll vote New Alliance. Khader is originally from Syria so doesn't have the stigma of old guard Socialism stuck with him, and is promising top rate tax down to....43%!!!

New Car in Denmark

2007-10-24T09:00:00.000+02:00

Horror of horrors, I finally had to bite the bullet and buy a new car in Denmark!

In case you didn't know, this place has the most unpleasant taxation on buying a car in the entire world. Whatever a car costs in your home country, I can almost guarantee it will cost 2-3 times as much here since vehicle duty is a whopping 170% and then 25% MOMs is added on top (a tax on a tax).

Tragic thing is that WITHOUT the taxes Danish cars are really cheap. In fact, a lot of internet car importers buy their cars from Denmark and then add the duty on applying to the country the car is being imported into.

Anyhow, with 3 kids and a fourth on the way, our 12 year-old Volvo saloon broke down again and we decided that was it.

So fastforward and we now have a brand new Fiat Doblo 7 seater. Tragically, it cost the equivalent of about £18,500 whereas the identical model in the Uk is £10,500. Every other people carrier we looked at

My key tip here is that new cars in Denmark are, despite the prices, comparatively a bargain as against used cars. For example, a 6 or 7-year old Fiat Doblo still sells for 80,000 or 90,000 krone (about £8,000), and everyone knows the risks a used car of this age entails, plus, considering how damp a country Denmark is, cars do not tend to wear too well as the years progress. Dealers make very little profit on selling new cars - they hope to make their money from the servicing afterwards. Their profit margins on used cars are much bigger.

You can read more on buying and driving a car in Denmark here.

Yet again, it just shows who's really running the show and raking the money in here. The Government. Next time I see the usual bunch of drunks hanging around outside Føtex, at least I can feel that warm feeling inside of knowing that my money was spent on a good cause....

Honest Financial Advice at No Price

2007-10-20T21:51:00.001+02:00

Don't forget to visit my investing sites for financial information to help you save money. First, there's Successful Tax Free Investing. Then IT Contracting in Denmark. Then, if you live in the EU, loads of tips on how to Shop Online and Save and finally, visit Invest Gold and Silver to find out how to invest on the two things likeliest to save you from financial collapse in the uncertain future awaiting us all.

The Penny (or Krone) Finally Drops

2007-10-17T12:15:00.001+02:00

Amazing article in "Ekstra Bladet" today, where the newspaper managed to track down and interview the only Dane in Denmark who hasn't got any consumer loans!

In case you're not aware, ANY loan for ANY purpose you take out in Denmark attracts tax relief of 33% on the interest. So, you can hit the shops for a new 42" LCD TV and know that it means less tax on your payslip. Bizarre, and probably explains why Denmark is one of the 5 most personally indebted countries in the world.

Whether or not you agree with tax relief on homeloans, I cannot believe anyone would consider such a system that promotes consumer spending over saving to be fair. I'm glad therefore that finally some media has mentioned it, and would expect this to be the first step in abolishing this concession, as more people cotton onto it. The UK abolished MIRAS (20% mortgage relief) on loans in the mid-1990s, and it had zero effect on house prices, or anything else for that matter. It's probably quite an expensive tax relief to administer as well.

Worth saying that I don't have any consumer loans either, but then again I'm not a Dane indoctrinated into their system from an early age.

Social Democrats & We choose Welfare....

2007-09-17T09:57:00.001+02:00

Just saw the new political posters out for the Social Democrat party here in Denmark.

The slogan translates as "We choose Welfare". This made me laugh, since Denmark already "chose welfare" sometime in the 1970s, as far I can tell. With half the country on some kind of handout, and the other half paying the most horrendously high taxes ever seen, what this country needs is a lot less welfare and maybe a lot more people getting a kick up the backside.

Given the new money-making attitude among younger Danes, I suspect they are on a loser with this election strategy. Thank god.

In case you're not aware of who the leader of this party is, it's someone called Helle Thorning Schmidt, who is married to Stephen Kinnock, son of Neil Kinnock. The Labour PM who held a celebratory winning party after the 1993 general election in the UK, except it then turned out he hadn't won after all...whoops.

Mr Kinnock, her husband has already made his own decision on the Danish welfare system by choosing to live outside Denmark and visit his wife, I would guess just enough to be inside the 180 days non-resident rule. What a great example of the true socialist mantra "...do as I say, not as I do..." I wonder how their finances are arranged? My guess would be he probably has all their savings held abroad in his name. I know I would if I was them. Ah the joys of being a politician trying to spend other people's money.

Of course, this is only likely conjecture on my part. If they read this and want to correct me then I'm happy to publish it on my blog.

Site Relaunch

2007-09-15T23:36:00.000+02:00

Okay, maybe not quite. But I've had a bit of a rejig of my three main Danish sites and the results can be seen at :-

http://www.ingenmoms.dk
http://www.sparmoms.dk
http://www.itcontractor.dk

Would appreciate some feedback on the results.

Buying Domain Names

2007-09-14T09:21:00.000+02:00

I've been buying quite a few domain names recently. In the main this is to protect long term business interests.

Moving to Denmark has also meant nabbing some .dk versions too.

I'd highly recommend this lot as selling the cheapest domain names going - excellent prices and you can even pay in a number of different currencies, including Dkr by bank transfer...

Schooling in Denmark

2007-09-07T13:46:00.000+02:00

We deliberately timed our move from Britain to Denmark just before our daughter was due to start school in the UK, simply because our experience is that the British schools are hammering on the kids.

In Britain there are even state school league tables and this creates intense competition for places at the "best" schools and for schools to concentrate on grading the children from the start. My Dad worked in a junior school and it was common knowledge that the teachers of kids this age hated doing it. Along with that, my nephew in the UK is 5 and after being off ill in his first year his mother even got a letter complaining that his attendance was below 95%!

The downside of being in Denmark is moving somewhere else where the education system requires your kids to start younger because your kids are, temporarily at least, well behind.

I'd suggest anyone coming to Denmark considers sending their children to a private school. Teachers are more motivated and our daughter is so much happier since she switched...even doing a letter a day instead of one a week (!). Sounds flash, but the state subsidises it and we only pay 550 krone a month, and with the SFO in, it actually works out cheaper than the state school! You can read about it here .

By the way, one of the most hilarious books I've ever read on the reality of the modern British education system is It's Your Time You're Wasting by a teacher...anonymously!

Lottery Obsessions

2007-09-05T10:15:00.000+02:00

I have been thinking about this for quite a while, and have you noticed how the lottery is very popular in Denmark? Everyone goes on about winning the lottery all the time.

I reckon it's a socialist thing, with a life of high taxes, eternal debt and thus lifetime slavery, the lottery is advertised as your ticket out. Working hard will never get you anywhere, since most of the extra you earn disappears with the higher tax rates.

Britain's introduction of the lottery about 12 years ago coincided with the end of Thatcherism and a beginning of the decline into higher taxes and more socialism (child tax credits, IR35, etc.)

All very reminiscent of the film "The Island". In case you haven't seen it, all these people live in a complex, convinced that the world outside is polluted by a major nuclear war. There is a lottery - and the winner gets to go and live on an unspoilt desert island. In reality they die...hmmm....

Use the EU

2007-08-30T23:00:00.000+02:00

I cannot stress this enough, but you have probably guessed by now that one of my major bugbears is the excessive taxation here.

So I recommend we all use the EU for the purpose it was originally sold to us all for IE Free Trade with No Borders.

Despite what we're all told you can buy your goods from any EU retailer willing to sell them to you. So if you find it cheaper in Britain, Germany or Sweden and they're willing to sell it to you, take it! It's the only way we'll ever see true harmonisation and integration in the EU.

My latest saving is nearly 2000 kr (yep, £200) on a new tumble dryer, just for spending an hour on the net. Check out the Ingen MOMs Blog.

Hey there wait a minute, Mr Postman...

2007-08-30T15:41:00.001+02:00

It turns out the new postman has not been delivering our mail last 2 weeks because we don't have our names on a nameplate on the door, which is a legal requirement here apparently.

The fact that we had never been told about this and have successfully being receiving it for the last 2 years seems to have been missed.

Worse still, rather than ask or consult a telephone directory, this person (I shall restrain myself from calling him anything else) has been simply returning the mail as "address unknown". No list or record of what he might have returned anywhere either.

We have no idea what mail has been missed during this time, and as I run a business from home I expect some hassles in the near future.

The socialist state and it's excessive rules indeed. I've been thinking about why a nameplate is so important and I think I know. I'll bet it's used as evidence of Danish residency when it comes to those awkward tax cases involving Danes who retain a house here but claim to live in Sweden or Germany so they can drive a half-decent car and keep some of their money in their own pockets.

Shopping Cheaply While in Denmark

2007-08-27T16:06:00.000+02:00

Denmark is seriously expensive so I highly recommend you visit the IngenMOMs website for shops abroad.

Amazon goods for Denmark are delivered from the UK site, and while I'm not knocking them for their base prices, you have to pay postage to DK as well as MOMs being added at 25%. When you're shopping for books it's pretty horrific seeing the price almost double once the postage gets added.

I therefore HIGHLY RECOMMEND Play.com . With an amazing choice of VAT-free (they're based in Jersey) Books, CDs and DVDs as being the place to shop.

Same goes for Magazines. The choice in Denmark is pitiful and the prices are appalling. You can visit isubscribe and subscribe to any of the vast range of English Magazines out there and avoid paying the MOMs.

As always, do your own research, but seriously, who out there wants to donate money to the Danish Nanny state by choice????

Denmark clamps down on foreign workers avoiding tax...honest

2007-08-26T23:59:00.000+02:00

A lot of publicity at the moment is being given in the Danish media to this "huge tax loophole" that allows foreign workers to come to Denmark and pay less tax.

This is one of the most hilarious bits of scandal-mongering I've ever seen. Newspapers and top politicians all jumping up in arms about abolishing the foreign worker scheme that allows foreign workers to pay 25% tax on their earnings if they work here for less than 3 years.

What's laughable is that in reality, the rules are so onerous that I have never known anyone ever be able to take advantage of this scheme except probabyl professional footballers (handy for a 3 year contract before the move on to pastures new), or, I would guess, cushy University posts. You have to be getting paid something like over 50,000 krone per month AFTER tax, have the exact job agreed and sponsored before coming here, etc. etc. So you might guess that a Polish worker coming to do a bit of bricklaying for a few months doesn't even qualify from the off.

I will point out thought that I'm glad it's going. I'm not in favour of any tax system that gives favourable incentives to one person over another for doing the exact same job, which is plainly what could happen here.

But the way it's reported in the media makes it sound like every foreigner in Denmark is here on this cushy scheme (and it isn't even really 25% since you have to pay 9% Social security on top!). It simply isn't true but highlights the xenophobic underlying attitude of many Danes, including politicians that they wish to gain political capital on a problem that probably doesn't really exist.

Denmark and School Dinners

2007-08-26T23:47:00.000+02:00

A bit off-topic, tobut something that is really nagging at the me at the moment is all the positive publicity earmarked to the "school dinners in Denmark" campaign.

Are these people thick? The only thing keeping Danish kids from being as obese as British kids is that they are forced to eat something healthy for lunch, ie Rye Bread. This really is the Nanny State gone mad.

Did any of these people study the British School dinners system or watch "Jamie's School Dinners"? 5 year old kids living on Turkey Twizzlers and 6 chips (believe it or not, when my Dad worked at the local junior and infants school, the canteen staff told him they were ordered to count out the oven chips for each plate!). As someone brought up on the British schools dinner system, I remember a lot of people I went to school with managed to spend the whole week eating nothing else but chips and sausage or the occasional burger for a bit of variety.

Okay, when introduced in Britain in the 1950s it was a fantastic idea with good motives of a healthy diet, but like all great ideas it ultimately becomes something to run as cheaply as possible and sod the consequences. I just about caught the end of the good stuff in the early 1980s, but then came a school canteen menu with reheated mush and it all fell apart.

Denmark is the one country in the world that does not need school dinners - the daily "madpakke" of ryebread and toppings is one of the healthiest things kids could ever eat and I predict that however noble the motives seem now, just look to Britain for the reality of where it'll go.

1and1 Internet - A firm to avoid

2007-08-15T09:26:00.000+02:00

I am having the most appalling problem with 1and1 internet, who are now threatening me with court action over non-payment of some domain names I ordered about a month and a half ago.

Thing is, I actually paid for them three weeks ago.

They initally rejected my debit card payment, even though it worked the prior purchase time. They then asked for direct bank transfer, which I made immediately.

Fair enough that these problems occur initially, but my bank has confirmed the money was successfully sent so you think they'd be more thorough about checking up before subsequently sending me SIX threatening letters.

And it's still not resolved...my account is now LOCKED.

A quick look around the net reveals a lot of other people having hassles with this mob, so I'd certainly put them down as one to avoid.

Needless to say the domains will shortly be transfered. I've never had any problems with 123-reg, touch wood.