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What you want to say – 22nd June 2016 June 22, 2016

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.
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As always, following on Dr. X’s suggestion, it’s all yours, “announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose”, feel free.

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1. Admin - June 22, 2016

Articles on changes in bourgoeis ideology, popular attitudes etc:

Bourgeois ideology. . . popular attitudes. . . shifts. . .

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2. Phil F - June 22, 2016

From New Zealand on 90-day fire-at-will legislation:

“In 2009 the government introduced legislation which allowed bosses in workplaces with less than 20 workers to take on people in trial 90-day periods; within this 90 days they could fire at will. In 2011, the legislation was extended to all workplaces. Fairly quickly, the ‘opposition’ Labour Party declared that it would not repeal this legislation if it got back into office. John Key’s rationalisation for this anti-worker measure was that it would make employers more likely to hire young people, migrants, beneficiaries, Maori and Pasifika workers.

“Opponents of the legislation, like ourselves, pointed out that while the legislation was unlikely to have any devastating effect on the working class, it was essentially a sop to business, especially small business, which sought greater control over workers and more ‘flexibility’ on the part of workers – ie working as and when the bosses dictated.

“Now a Treasury report has been issued confirming precisely what people like ourselves said back in 2009 and 2011.

It’s official – the fire-at-will legislation hasn’t worked!

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3. Gerryboy - June 22, 2016

Carla, the kind of French woman you’d like to introduce to the mammy, was overwhelmed when Irish soccer supporters serenaded her in Bordeaux. Here is how a regional newspaper covered the story. Sud-Ouest also carries videos. Get out your French dictionary.

http://www.sudouest.fr/2016/06/21/celle-qui-a-fait-chavirer-les-coeurs-irlandais-2407764-2780.php

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4. Tomboktu - June 22, 2016

I had cause to look at the wordng of the eighth amendment this morning.

It’s an example of pretend equality. The right to life of the mother is stated to be equal to that if the ‘unborn’, but the grammatical structure of the sentence inserts this equality in a parenthical clause, making it an afterthought, secondary to the main point of the sentence:

“The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”

Also, in this sentence, the State (a) guarantees (b) to respect, defend and vindicate that right (with a ‘practicable’ caveat on those second and third verbs).

In the main article in the Constitution on the right to life, the verbs are ‘protect’ and ‘vindicate’. And the obligation to vindicate applies only when there is ‘an injustice done’, a restriction that doesn’t apply to the so-called equal right of the unborn.

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5. lcox - June 22, 2016

Latest issue of Interface now free online at http://interfacejournal.net. Subjects include struggles against neoliberalism in academia, Living Wage movement in Canada, climate action, hunger strikes in Ireland and elsewhere.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Looks good – some news of movements I never new existed. The world of resistance is a much bigger place than we ken.

Great that it’s open access!

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lcox - June 22, 2016

Thanks G’schaftler!

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6. sonofstan - June 22, 2016

Anyone fancy a game of Brexit prediction? Nothing fancy, just predict the result to within half a percentage point. Winner gets to win.
I’m going 51.5/ 48.5 Remain.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Sure, I’ll play.

2%-6% win for remain. I think the polls have underestimated them consistently.

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leftcooperation - June 22, 2016

I always felt the remain side would win but wavered a little in recent weeks but I think the Cox murder and the Farage/UKIP posters among others will tip it back……53%-47% Remain.

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irishelectionliterature - June 22, 2016

Remain to win 56% to 44% .

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Wow IEL you’re more remainy than me!

To conform to the developing standard here I’d say between 51%:49% to 53%:47% in favour or Remain.

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RosencrantzisDead - June 22, 2016

Remain to win by I would guess around 3%. I have a sneaking suspicion that Wales, Scotland and NI will have strong remain majority while England will have a slim leave majority. I am not sure of the demographics and whether those two results are mutually exclusive but it is a feeling I have.

I am unconvinced about the claims that ‘remain’ have been under-represented at the polls. Some very thin justifications have been advanced in my view.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Just re-read the rules. So a pair of numbers.

52% Remain 48% Exit. In the middle of my range.

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lcox - June 22, 2016

Remain 50.5 to Leave 49.5!

Really it all depends on differential turnouts given the huge discrepancies between generations, classes and locations (gender not so much but presumably ethnicity very high).

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WorldbyStorm - June 22, 2016

Not sure if the Scottish referendum gives us any greater insight but here are the polling and actual figures on the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_Scottish_independence_referendum,_2014

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benmadigan - June 22, 2016

I have no idea how the vote’s going to play out but here’s your playlist for the Brexit Night Party to while away the hours as we watch the results come in. Feel free to add anything you like!!

Brexit Night Party

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Michael Carley - June 22, 2016

Hope I’m wrong, but 51/49 Leave.

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sonofstan - June 22, 2016

Hope you are too – but yesterday that would have been my reply. I’m totally wavering on this (not with my vote, but with what I expect) I honestly can’t tell, but am going on the remainers more likely to vote crossed finger metric.

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Michael Carley - June 22, 2016

I’m going on the leavers more likely to vote, and the youth being less likely to vote and more likely to want to remain.

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sonofstan - June 22, 2016

Yeah – Leavers = older, so more likely to vote, but also C2DE, so less likely – V -Remainers younger so less likely but ABC1 so more likely….

So yeah, haven’t a clue.

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Liberius - June 22, 2016

That logic with the demographics is persuasive to me, and has been for some time. Leave 52%: remain 48%

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sonofstan - June 22, 2016

http://opinion.co.uk/article.php?s=orb-final-published-voting-intention

The rationale here may be phooey for all I know, but it makes the kind of case I’m happy to be associated with, so willing to give it a go.

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Tawdy - June 22, 2016

I would agree with your figure and not with your hopes.

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Tawdy - June 22, 2016

That was to Michael Carly

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Joe - June 22, 2016

60:40 Remain. No need for a vote. Joe has spoken.

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sonofstan - June 22, 2016

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Puleeeez SoS.

I’ve just had lunch!

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sonofstan - June 22, 2016

There’ll be none of your euro ‘lunches’ in the middle of the day after tomorrow here in the new, free Albion.

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Joe - June 22, 2016

Ah feck sake. Any Joe but yer man please. Dimaggio, Ninety, Public, Working Class, McNally.
Any Joe at all bar Stalin … and McDonnell.
Thanks.

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Michael Carley - June 22, 2016

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Joe - June 22, 2016

:), Outed.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Please make it stop.

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ar scáth a chéile - June 22, 2016

Assuming City usually gets what it wants, 52.5/47.3 remain.
We need a prize though – a copy of the acquis communtaire perhaps … with the the neo-lib bits underlined

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ar scáth a chéile - June 22, 2016

– before some one suggests prize of an abacus yes I can add – 47.5

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ar scáth a chéile - June 22, 2016

…and before a real smart alec suggests a French dictionary, yes I know it’s “communautaire”

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7. Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

An exclusive in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the EU is about to promise (quite another thing from delivering) 7bn yoyos for development help for countries from which people are being driven by (civil) war and climate change.

That’s fine, as far as it goes, and at least recognizes that fighting the causes of the migration. But

a) It’s a drop in the ocean compared with what is needed in these countries to effectively make life bearable there for people currently forced to flee

b) It’s a gestural pat-on-the-back to cover nation states and transnational structures like the EU moral bankruptcy who’s current policy is to keep refugees in Turkey, if they manage to reach there without being shot at the border, or in Greece under appalling underfunded conditions.

What’s interesting about the initiative, in terms in internal EU politics, is that the European Investment Bank is being mobilised to achieve this. People like Varoufakis, Galbraith et. al. have long argued that the EIB should be used for an internal stimulus to repair crumbling infrastructure and services in a sustainable way within the EU.

Now I don’t know whether the current structure of capitalism in the EU is amenable to Keynsian stimulus through the EIB. I suspect it is, but it’s so long since anyone’s tried printing money and giving it to anyone other than the rich, that we’d have to suck it and see.

All the above will only occur in a parallel universe where Wolfgang Schäuble doesn’t have effective veto over all EU financial decisions.

Ironic however, that the EIB can be used to essentially print and give money away outside the EU and not inside.

At the same time we should never forget that the ECB is printing and giving away €80bn a month (!!!) under OMI. What for? To stop banks who have lost their business model going bust and now to keep the share prices and management dividends of other European companies artificially high.

Now that kind of expenditure by the EIB on real infrastructure and public services would make a difference.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Lot’s wrong with the above:
OMI -> OMT = Outright Monetary Transactions
… that fighting the causes of migration … is conceivably part of the solution.
And the usual grammatical idiocies.

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8. irishelectionliterature - June 22, 2016

Naturally I have a ton of material but was asked by someone doing a Masters…… Would anyone have any Irish/UK sources (preferably journal/academic articles) on negative campaigning during an election?

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9. roddy - June 22, 2016

For what it’s worth,up here the unionist community seem more worked up about the issue and are overwhelmingly leave.Unusually a handful of protestants have asked me how I’m voting (politics would rarely be mentioned in everyday conversation).When I said remain they could’nt fathom how anybody could possibly want to stay.That and a fair ammount of apathy on the Nationalist side could result in a much closer result.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

Interesting – and it figures. That’s a sizeable group of voters.

To what extent do you think the unionists will get the vote out?

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CMK - June 22, 2016

There’s a funny meme going round facebook with a picture of Martin McGuinness with a speechbubble saying ‘Brits In’ and one of Arlene Foster saying ‘Brits Out’.

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10. Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

I met some Spanish comrades over the weekend and so to cleanse your retinas here’s hopefully the Unidos Podemos campaign logo for the forthcoming Spanish general elections this Sunday.

Nicely LGBT/Feminist friendly I thought.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

In case anyone hasn’t heard Izquierda Unida and Podemos are running on the same ticket as Unidos Podemos.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 22, 2016

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Aonrud ⚘ - June 22, 2016

And polling ahead of PSOE! (Perhaps should have saved that for the signs of hope thread 😉 )

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11. roddy - June 22, 2016

Unionist turnout will definiitely be much higher..

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sonofstan - June 22, 2016

what reasons are unionists giving for ‘leave’?

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benmadigan - June 22, 2016

border controls – watch towers – approved roads – customs posts – british Army soldiers on patrol – maybe even a “shoot to kill the illegal immigrant”policy – is any other reason needed?

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12. Dr. X - June 22, 2016

If you have a good copy of CJH’s collected speeches, you could make some sweet, sweet green:

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=haughey&sortby=17&tn=spirit+of+the+nation

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13. Tomboktu - June 22, 2016

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14. sonofstan - June 22, 2016

lo-o-o-o-o-o-w li-i-i-i-i-i–eeeee, de feels uv athenryeeeeee!!!!!!

Excellent stuff entirely there.

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Michael Carley - June 22, 2016

England in the quarter final and an all-Ireland final.

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WorldbyStorm - June 22, 2016

I’m not much of a fan but great to see.

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15. sonofstan - June 23, 2016

Busy enough at polling station in Wycombe at 7.30. No canvassers on either side. Are we having a rolling voting/ count thread?

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Gewerkschaftler - June 23, 2016

Polls close at 10.00 p.m BST and the result should be callable by 4:30 BST – so I think I’ll wait till I get up tomorrow at 5:30 BST.

But the turn-out should be some kind of indicator.

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Gewerkschaftler - June 23, 2016

No exit polls apparently.

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Michael Carley - June 23, 2016

Quiet enough in Bath at 0845, about the same traffic as for an election: there was one person ahead of me in the queue. The polling station is next to a school though, so I think it gets a rush from parents after they have dropped their kids off. Only one scrutineer outside (for `In’).

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16. Tomboktu - June 24, 2016

What fit of madness induced me to take on the role of a union rep where I work?

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fergal - June 24, 2016

Cos it’s the right thing to do- now people can be sent to Tomboktu with a purpose!!

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Tomboktu - June 24, 2016

It would be nice if the pair of demanding members actually had a valid purpose when they want me to help them.

And it would be nice if the employer didn’t try to pull stunts with union recognition – it’s a public sector employer which is required to have a industrial relations structure in place (in part to compensate for the fact that the employees don’t have access to the likes of the Labour Court).

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Michael Carley - June 24, 2016

I have the paper version of this pinned to the wall in my office:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2006/apr/01/careers.work1

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17. ewolc - June 24, 2016

The European Attac Network’s statement on the Brexit result:
http://www.attac.ie/statement-attac-ean-on-brexit/

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WorldbyStorm - June 24, 2016

Good statement.

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18. Tomboktu - June 27, 2016

The crew on BBC Radio 4’s I’m Sorry, I Haven’t a Clue can be wonderfully sharp.

This evening, in a round where they complete a well-known phrase, we got:

“Two’s company, three’s a…”
“…super-injunction.”

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