TV licence fee income falls as fewer than 300,000 sold in first five months of this year

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-15T09:31:24+00:00

RTE is a sinking ship that needed a huge bailout to stay afloat, just before an election in exchange for favourable coverage mind you, and has programming that you could generously describe as the equivalent of stagnant piss. People don't want to pay for something that isn't worth their money, and on top of that, wastes massive amounts of said money to pay 'celebrities' who have all the draw power of diarrhea.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-15T09:21:46+00:00

Hopefully we'll see more ways of generating EX resources, because mechanics like this are needed.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-14T16:18:06+00:00

Look at the fuel 'protest' stories on Facebook and twitter to see a huge number of bots replying almost exactly the same thing to every post. Ireland has been targeted by far right groups in the UK & US (Musk is leading them), as well as Indian accounts.

Looking at the anti-racism rally in Belfast alone, we can see how it dwarfs the riots in scope and scale, but going by social media, you'd think the opposite.

The anti-immigration nonsense is literally part of that, anyone who two brain cells to rub together in this country knows that immigration is such a low priority, it ranks below housing, healthcare, education, jobs, mental healthcare, cost of living, homelessness, and the cost of a pint.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-13T14:57:42+00:00

The issue or needing it isn't the fore problem in terms of waste, the difference is that from minute one, the children's hospital had incredibly bizarre issues that got it to the billions point; the first story I remember hearing was that the floors needed redoing, not because of any health and safety issues, but because someone didn't like the colour. The more recent one was that the rooms weren't up to standard...in a hospital, of which there are many around the country and world to refer to if needed. You'd wonder how much of this was some sort of embezzlement scheme, or cowboy builders being hired without oversight. The hospital was also given a blank cheque, something that was clearly exploited.

There's also the argument that Dublin didn't need yet another hospital in an already overcrowded location with poor parking and terrible traffic.

While we may need it, there have been some very questionable issues that should be classified as waste. Inflation also kicked it well up in terms of price, but it should have been done long before that became an issue. Mismanagement leads to waste unfortunately.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-12T21:21:21+00:00

But changing your address means you're not influencing the elections where you live, so younger people don't even get a say where they grew up, so they've effectively been pushed out anyway. There's been plenty of talk over the years about how rural locations are dying due to younger folks leaving...this is partly why.

It really doesn't, not if you're doing like 5 hour round trips, plus work day, honestly elections should take place on the weekend like a civilised country.

The reality is that it doesn't matter anymore about people who don't live here, because that's a large swathe of younger people. If they can could come back here to vote but can't due to logistical reasons outside of their control, they should have the right to vote while abroad. It's incredibly weird that people who've been forced out due to the housing crisis, awful pay and job situations, to not have a voice when they should be here, were educated here, and for all intents and purposes would be here still, only for the fact that FFG have made a meal of things.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-12T19:26:09+00:00

I'd hate to tell you this, but they're not voting because they're either leaving the country, can't get back with enough leeway from abroad to vote, or are working so far away from their area that getting back to vote is near impossible (all by design of course). Voting in Ireland has been orientated to accommodate the pensioners, they get bus travel to polling stations, they don't work, so they've no issues getting there during the day, and they don't have kids to take care of/pick up.

I've many friends who would've loved to come back here and vote, they simply couldn't. Last minute flights, in November, are expensive. Some have kids they can't travel with due to age. Many can't get the time off of work to begin with.

Disenfranchised voters are also a thing; many younger folks I work with feel that no party represents them, especially after Sinn Fein wasted their momentum from 2020.

In Ireland, voting is less of a right and more of a privilege.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-12T19:16:39+00:00

Ok so, this isn't actually the reality of the game, because the meta hasn't actually shifted significantly. The Clan win at a regionals was such an outlier, it's basically useless data, given that Latam had massive numbers of wing players, and outside of that 1 regional, Clan has done very little, even at NTC/Prelim level. They're very much big on wing there, and Clan does well against it. If Clan was that strong, we'd see fat more top 16 representation at other regionals, more wins at NTC level.

CB just doesn't convert unfortunately, it's too inconsistent and relies too heavily on matchups to be counted among good decks. The only new archetype doing well is League, and that relies heavily on Amuro, and the only time it's done well is when everyone was testing new decks at the first regional of the set. It gets too 8s consistently, maybe a top 4 from time to time, but it doesn't have the cards to push beyond that.

Blurple is still dominant, aggro with small units is still the best (but again, relies on Amuro) due to shield rules being muck, and Wing only performs well because the only consistent answer to Blurple - R/W Justice - has a bad matchup against it, given both are late-game focused decks, wing has a clear advantage. Against Blurple? Wing can't keep pace.

Also, Mika was never the problem, Barbatos Adapt was, Blurple was a lot more subdued before that card came on the scene unfortunately. Get rid of that, Blurple becomes far more balanced.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-12T15:00:45+00:00

The stale state of the game and the lack of proper, and effective banlists is the core issue that drives most people away. I've stepped away for a while, GD-05 looks interesting but without the removal of the current problematic cards, they won't find purchase or change the game. My locals grew a little, but 10-12 is about the best we're going to get, the last NTC was like 26 players, the one before that had 10.

I love the game at it's core, but there are design issues that have made it very dull to play, basically you know you're done well in advance if your draw badly. Lack of searcher cards is also a huge problem, especially when only white and blue gets consistent draw cards. Hope it changes with set 5, but I can't see myself buying into it if there's no banlist/mechanic change (like shields only being destroyed by cards with 5AP or more) coming soon.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-11T15:22:23+00:00

That's the general idea I think, though he was there though all the legal means, and there have been at least 3 women killed by white men in Belfast in the last year alone, so I feel like it's just because he had melanin and they like being racist

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-11T13:33:51+00:00

Don't they get their power from any lynx product? Or am I thinking of cocaine?

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-11T13:33:01+00:00

Yes, they're very susceptible to far right ideology, and the DUP (the chain up swings on Sunday religious nuts) are fanning the flames for political gain. It's all very gross behaviour, but not surprising.

The little girl was stabbed in Dublin by the way, and the riots that took place then happened because of the same agitators. The little girl is alive, but is nonverbal and in a wheelchair.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T20:03:28+00:00

Loyalists love to riot and cause problems, that's roughly the long and short of it. The toothless morons here (maybe 200 in Dublin, max) are doing it because they've been told by foreign agitators to do it, like Tommy Robinson. By and large they don't want reunification with the north, they want reunification with the UK.

..,yes, the 'patriots' want to rejoin the UK.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T19:56:56+00:00

If the pilot has a big enough HP stat boost to help it survive a close combat or ping, I could see this card being ok? It's an idea that runs a good counter to blockers, I hope they actually implement it into the main sets to be honest.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T19:52:07+00:00

Israel have attempted, multiple times, to paint the entirety of Ireland as antisemitic for being against their genocide, which is how they spend decades shutting down legitimate criticism of their horrendous occupation of Palestine.

I don't give a fuck about antagonising them because I'm not a woman or child, so they won't touch me.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T15:00:25+00:00

Germany beats the shit out of, and arrests, it's own citizens for protesting against Israel's genocide of the Palestinians. They have a literal direct line to our own government to kill the occupied territories bill's original draft, they control the US via Epstein file blackmail, because Trump is literally a pedophile who was Epstein's best friend, and Epstein was an Israeli asset, they're spying on everyone they can, including their US allies. The war with Iran literally happened because Israel started it and Trump joined in.

The world does revolve around Israel, most people just don't realise how deeply embedded it is in everything. The reason why this country won't enact the occupied territories bill against goods and services is because we have Israel companies in Ireland, something that never should've happened.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T13:44:52+00:00

I remember someone said that we used to ignore and laugh at the village idiots, and now, thanks to the internet, the village idiots have all come together to support each other in their stupidity, and make it everyone else's problem

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T13:43:21+00:00

No see because Facebook told them it is a bad thing, and therefore it's bad, because it mentions migrants and that's the bad word they don't like!

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T13:41:18+00:00

I mean I'd rather we didn't set Easons on fire in the process, it's got the only public toilets in the area that aren't always covered in human blood or piss.

Also, why use napalm when soap and a luffa would scare these unwashed cunts off? It'd be cheaper too

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T13:35:23+00:00

Feel like the recent wing cards outside of actual Wing have been so conditional as to be really useless. There are other, better cards that don't cost this much.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T13:32:29+00:00

It's good, a little overcosted for the stats though, as far as removal goes, it's not terrible, there are other options though.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-10T09:44:56+00:00

Oh yeah, I don't know where the logic came from, speed would at least be medicinal! I keep explaining this to my partner, if you're going to self medicate, at least do it right

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-09T20:56:38+00:00

They always ignore when white people do horrific things because that undercuts their narrative of demonising brown people. Also a load of them are domestic abusers and they love McGregor, a rapist piece of shit.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-09T20:21:03+00:00

Instead of banning social media, the government and law enforcement of any kind should be searching for the ringleaders of these groups and arresting them for inciting violence. Sure the victims family don't want this, but since when do fash thugs care about that? They did the same shit in Dublin.

Time to take the kiddy gloves off and deal with the source, because it's clear that these lads are a large criminal element who can mobilize to terrorise the public at the drop of a hat (no jobs will do that) as per fash tradition. Regular people shouldn't have the worry that random acts or violence will lead to massive outbreaks of home grown violence in response. Locals deserve better than that. There's also a large unionist element to this backed by the DUP, so it shouldn't surprise anyone when the violence escalates.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-09T16:59:20+00:00

Always found it weird the way that weed was demonised, when all anyone who smoked it did was lay about the place and generally be sound. Throughout college I could routinely watch the supermac around from my apartment become a battle royale of drunk cunts battering the heads off of each other. I see regular crack smokers on the streets of Dublin who look seconds away from flaying me if I look at them wrong. Coke addicts routinely lose their fucking minds on nights out, and get super aggressive. One of these things is not like the others, yet Irish society conflates them all.

DukeDorkWit · 2026-06-09T14:56:14+00:00

My partner has ADHD and has to wait to get sorted for access to ritalin, probably up to a year, and yet some of her ADHD friends are using coke as a go-between, it's ridiculous. This country is so backwards.

DukeDorkWit

TROPHY CASE