The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović
Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left
Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy
Human Rights in Ireland >>
News Round-Up Mon Jul 29, 2024 00:40 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Labour?s VAT Plan for Private Schools Flunks Revenue Test Sun Jul 28, 2024 19:00 | Richard Eldred
New analysis suggests Labour's tax on private schools could bring in less than half the expected amount because of the extra cost of adding more students to the state system.
The post Labour?s VAT Plan for Private Schools Flunks Revenue Test appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Far-Left Group Claim Responsibility for Paris Arson Attacks Sun Jul 28, 2024 17:00 | Richard Eldred
A far-Left group has claimed responsibility for crippling Paris's rail network with arson attacks, stranding 800,000 passengers, just before the Olympic opening ceremony.
The post Far-Left Group Claim Responsibility for Paris Arson Attacks appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
DESNZ Has Net Zero Competence Sun Jul 28, 2024 15:00 | David Turver
David Turver casts a critical eye over the new crop of ministers at the Department of Energy and Net Zero, revealing a batch of public sector lifers with no commercial savvy and zero energy know-how.
The post DESNZ Has Net Zero Competence appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Hate Cleric Raises £3 Million to Create Islamic Homeland on Scottish Island Sun Jul 28, 2024 13:01 | Richard Eldred
A radical cleric has raised over £3 million to transform a remote Scottish island into a self-governing Islamic state with its own army, justice system, school and hospital.
The post Hate Cleric Raises £3 Million to Create Islamic Homeland on Scottish Island appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en
Voltaire Network >>
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (5 of 5)
Jump To Comment: 5 4 3 2 1TheyWorkForYou.com is a great website and certainly one that Irish activist should look towards developing. It would take a lot of dedicated work to pull off though.
It was actually part of the inspiration for my site Contact.ie.
Mark.
keeping a website record of TDs voting records? A user-friendly website where we could see who is voting for what in the Dail might go some way to helping people make the connection between voting for gobshites and the gobshitery they inevitably get up to afterwards.
Goerge Monbiot was able to make mince of a UK politician recently by referring to a UK website like this called TheyWorkForYou.com:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/10/haz...nbiot
It might be easier for people to use www.contact.ie to email all TDs than copying and pasting from the Impact list.
Regards,
Mark Conroy
The problem with the Saturday protest was that most of the marchers were from the public service and left-wing groups. Except for a few high-profile groups with specific issues like the Waterford workers and the Dublin bus-workers, the private sector was largely absent.
I would fear that far from this being the precurser of a general strike, this was merely a token gesture by working people who have accepted in their hearts that cuts and job-losses are inevitable. The private workers stayed at home and probably have no appetite for a fight. They are keeping their heads down, accepting pay-cuts, and just trying to keep their jobs and body and soul together. The public sector workers are even less likely material for any prolonged action. Most of them are locked into mortgages, and history tells us that servicing their ticket to middle-class house-ownership comes much higher on their list of priorities than protest.
Over the weekend a new worry began to be voiced privately by the better off public servants and their union representatives. They fear that the government might take the unions at their word and offer a rebalancing of the levy to take most of the workers earning less than €30K out of the net. The corrollary is that the middle and higher-ranking administrators, teachers, doctors, and other public-service professionals would have to make up the shortfall.
Had this melt-down happened prior to 1989 it might have gone somewhere. Unfortunately the credibility of left-wing solutions died with the Soviet Union. None but the highly committed minority already involved in radical politics really sees socialism as a solution to the crisis. Most believe that it would only make matters worse by causing a flight of capital (the small bit the bankers didn't blow) and enterprise.
The more real (but equally slight), and more frightening possibility is a lapse into a period of right-wing authoritianism on the South American model as the middle-classes in both public and private sectors, faced with fiscal collapse and hyper-inflation, see "strong" government as their best hope for preserving their assets and privileges.
We live in interesting times.
Let's start circulating the phone numbers and e-mails of every TD, and their clinics, and let's fill their mailboxes with complaint. Pack their clinics, and make sure they get no smiley photo-ops from here on in.
Let's get a real grass roots momentum going.