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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link News Round-Up Fri May 02, 2025 00:52 | 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.

offsite link Ethnic Minority Candidate Given Police Job Despite Failing Interview Thu May 01, 2025 19:00 | Will Jones
Senior officers in?West Yorkshire Police ? the force recently in the news for blocking white job applicants ??intervened to ensure that an ethnic minority candidate who failed her interview was given the job.
The post Ethnic Minority Candidate Given Police Job Despite Failing Interview appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Migrant Channel Crossings Hit 10,000 in Record Time Under Labour Despite Starmer?s ?Smash the Gangs?... Thu May 01, 2025 17:05 | Will Jones
The number of migrants?crossing the Channel so far this year?has hit 10,000 in record time under Labour, as the total runs 40% higher than last year despite Starmer's pledge to "smash the gangs".
The post Migrant Channel Crossings Hit 10,000 in Record Time Under Labour Despite Starmer’s “Smash the Gangs” Pledge appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Which Ideology is Most Receptive to Bullshit? Thu May 01, 2025 15:04 | Noah Carl
Which ideology is most receptive to bullshit? A Swedish study found that social conservatives are more receptive than social liberals but that Greens were the most receptive of all.
The post Which Ideology is Most Receptive to Bullshit? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link COVID-19 Started in America, Not China, New Chinese Government Report Claims Thu May 01, 2025 13:04 | Will Jones
COVID-19 started in America, not China, a new Chinese Government report has claimed, in the latest salvo in the five-year long propaganda war over the origins of the virus.
The post COVID-19 Started in America, Not China, New Chinese Government Report Claims appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Defeating the water charges - Don’t be fooled by the concessions

category national | bin tax / household tax / water tax | other press author Tuesday December 02, 2014 23:28author by wsm Report this post to the editors

4 page PDF paper from the WSM

This article was written by the WSM and appears on their website and is the text for a 4 page PDF leaflet which you are encouraged to print and distribute.

In the face of massive opposition to the water charges, the government have made several clumsy attempts to placate us, while their partners in the media seek to frighten us off the streets. The latest attempt, delivered by Alan Kelly, Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government in the Dáil on the 19th of November, is the plan to charge us €160 per year for our water and to give ‘eligible households’ a water conservation grant of €100.
defeating_the_water_charges_4_page_pdf_cover_image.jpg

These allegedly ‘very attractive’ and ‘reasonable’ double charges for our water remain the real issue, despite government claims that there has just been a ‘communications failure’. That is, they think the problem is that they didn’t soften us up with enough propaganda first, not that we simply won’t accept double charges, commodification and privatisation of our water supply. The government will promise us anything and everything in order to get us to lie down and accept these charges, including the laughable claim that if we use a low enough volume of water that we’ll each actually make money off the water charges! Rest assured that any temporary and limited reductions in charges from the figure they initially stated will be swiftly removed if we were to pay up come April. Though, with the credibility of the Irish political class at an all time low, no one is buying the lies the government are selling. Even a concerted media onslaught has failed to scare people off the streets and into silence.

It’s worth noting that the reason that the Fine Gael/Labour government is throwing concessions at us is because of the scale and militancy of the anti water charge protests, rather than because of the actions of any government party. It is above all ordinary people, who perhaps have never considered themselves political before, who have stopped the government in its tracks. The democratic self-organisation that underpins the recent protests is what the State really fears. The reason the media have been foaming at the mouth, con- demning militant working class protest is because the system can handle a few dissenting voices elected to the Dáil but it cannot handle a risen population.

Even as Denis O’Brien’s media machine tries to scare us, and the government parties attempt to divide and conquer, we must continue to educate ourselves, to organise and to protest the water charges at every turn. Protests, marches and pickets on the current scale are impossible to ignore and are putting politicians under serious pressure to comply with our demands. If we keep it up, we will see off this latest attempt at squeezing more money out of our already struggling communities.

PDF Leaflet of above text
You can download and print out extra copies
from the PDF files we have included below
Colour version: http://www.wsm.ie/sites/default/files/WSM4pageWC.pdf
Ink saving Black & White version: http://www.wsm.ie/sites/default/files/WSM4pageWCbw.pdf

Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie/c/defeating-water-charges-2014dec
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