North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
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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.
Fraud and mismanagement at University College Cork Thu Aug 28, 2025 18:30 | Calli Morganite
UCC has paid huge sums to a criminal professor
This story is not for republication. I bear responsibility for the things I write. I have read the guidelines and understand that I must not write anything untrue, and I won't.
This is a public interest story about a complete failure of governance and management at UCC.
Deliberate Design Flaw In ChatGPT-5 Sun Aug 17, 2025 08:04 | Mind Agent
Socratic Dialog Between ChatGPT-5 and Mind Agent Reveals Fatal and Deliberate 'Design by Construction' Flaw
This design flaw in ChatGPT-5's default epistemic mode subverts what the much touted ChatGPT-5 can do... so long as the flaw is not tickled, any usage should be fine---The epistemological question is: how would anyone in the public, includes you reading this (since no one is all knowing), in an unfamiliar domain know whether or not the flaw has been tickled when seeking information or understanding of a domain without prior knowledge of that domain???!
This analysis is a pretty unique and significant contribution to the space of empirical evaluation of LLMs that exist in AI public world... at least thus far, as far as I am aware! For what it's worth--as if anyone in the ChatGPT universe cares as they pile up on using the "PhD level scholar in your pocket".
According to GPT-5, and according to my tests, this flaw exists in all LLMs... What is revealing is the deduction GPT-5 made: Why ?design choice? starts looking like ?deliberate flaw?.
People are paying $200 a month to not just ChatGPT, but all major LLMs have similar Pro pricing! I bet they, like the normal user of free ChatGPT, stay in LLM's default mode where the flaw manifests itself. As it did in this evaluation.
AI Reach: Gemini Reasoning Question of God Sat Aug 02, 2025 20:00 | Mind Agent
Evaluating Semantic Reasoning Capability of AI Chatbot on Ontologically Deep Abstract (bias neutral) Thought
I have been evaluating AI Chatbot agents for their epistemic limits over the past two months, and have tested all major AI Agents, ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, Perplexity, and DeepSeek, for their epistemic limits and their negative impact as information gate-keepers.... Today I decided to test for how AI could be the boon for humanity in other positive areas, such as in completely abstract realms, such as metaphysical thought. Meaning, I wanted to test the LLMs for Positives beyond what most researchers benchmark these for, or have expressed in the approx. 2500 Turing tests in Humanity?s Last Exam.. And I chose as my first candidate, Google DeepMind's Gemini as I had not evaluated it before on anything.
Israeli Human Rights Group B'Tselem finally Admits It is Genocide releasing Our Genocide report Fri Aug 01, 2025 23:54 | 1 of indy
We have all known it for over 2 years that it is a genocide in Gaza
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has finally admitted what everyone else outside Israel has known for two years is that the Israeli state is carrying out a genocide in Gaza
Western governments like the USA are complicit in it as they have been supplying the huge bombs and missiles used by Israel and dropped on innocent civilians in Gaza. One phone call from the USA regime could have ended it at any point. However many other countries are complicity with their tacit approval and neighboring Arab countries have been pretty spinless too in their support
With the release of this report titled: Our Genocide -there is a good chance this will make it okay for more people within Israel itself to speak out and do something about it despite the fact that many there are actually in support of the Gaza
China?s CITY WIDE CASH SEIZURES Begin ? ATMs Frozen, Digital Yuan FORCED Overnight Wed Jul 30, 2025 21:40 | 1 of indy
This story is unverified but it is very instructive of what will happen when cash is removed
THIS STORY IS UNVERIFIED BUT PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO OR READ THE TRANSCRIPT AS IT GIVES AN VERY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT A CASHLESS SOCIETY WILL LOOK LIKE. And it ain't pretty
A single video report has come out of China claiming China's biggest cities are now cashless, not by choice, but by force. The report goes on to claim ATMs have gone dark, vaults are being emptied. And overnight (July 20 into 21), the digital yuan is the only currency allowed.
The Saker >>
Does Trump Not Realise How Globally Toxic Tony Blair Is? Mon Oct 06, 2025 19:30 | Ramesh Thakur
Trump's peace plan for Gaza might yet succeed, but why on earth does Tony Blair feature, asks Professor Ramesh Thakur. Does Trump not realise how globally toxic the Blair brand is?
The post Does Trump Not Realise How Globally Toxic Tony Blair Is? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Stupidologiology Mon Oct 06, 2025 18:15 | James Alexander
William Davies has written an article titled 'Stupidology' which Prof James Alexander summarises as: 'Trump is stupid. Brexit was stupid. I am not stupid. Neither are my friends. Why do stupid people have power?'
The post Stupidologiology appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Backlash as Nando?s Limits Customers to One Coke per Visit Under New ?Nanny State? Rules Mon Oct 06, 2025 15:11 | Will Jones
Nando's has sparked a backlash after restricting customers to a single glass of Coca-Cola Classic under new 'nanny state' Government rules aimed at cutting sugar consumption.
The post Backlash as Nando’s Limits Customers to One Coke per Visit Under New ‘Nanny State’ Rules appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
?Nudge? Has a New Evil Twin: ?Stochastic Terror? Mon Oct 06, 2025 13:30 | Nick Rendell
'Nudge' has a new evil twin, says Nick Rendell: 'stochastic terror'. When all else fails, the Left foments the conditions for random political violence and then sits back and waits for someone to pick off Trump or Farage.
The post ‘Nudge’ Has a New Evil Twin: ‘Stochastic Terror’ appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Green Party Votes to Abolish Landlords Mon Oct 06, 2025 11:17 | Will Jones
The?Green Party?has committed itself to "abolishing landlords" after party members at its conference in Bournemouth passed a motion to seek the "effective abolition of private landlordism".
The post Green Party Votes to Abolish Landlords appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en
Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en
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Voltaire Network >>
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Comments (14 of 14)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14The Public sector bill is dragging this country into the ABYSS.
Even the Goddam Taoiseach pays himself more than Barack Obama.
The unions HAVE to be met head on and defeated or this country spirals into ruination.
There is an excellent analysis of the DIRE state this country is in today's Indo:
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myer....html
"Survival of the Irish State" doesn't seem to worry the public sector unions though...as the Private Sector disintegrates all around them.
What put this country into the Abyss (and we're well "in it" now we teetered on teh abyss 2-3 years ago!) was a massive speculative bubble driven by the Uber-rich bankers, developers and their Fiana Fail friends.
That tiny group of economists who are not direct employees of banks and stock exchange companies has this sussed from 1998 - not that any one was listening to them...
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_ud...9e93f
If your sources of information on the economic crisis is the semi literate ramblings of Myers I'd hardly give a high degree of credibility to it!
When the IMF take over the running of this broke state,and impose their horrible corrective methods, (god forbid) we will find out WHO are the semi-literate ones.
It's as if our teachers cannot even ADD UP!
As John Waters said in last Sunday's Sunday Mail:
"Which bit of "THE STATE IS BROKE " do teachers not understand?"
.
Brilliant - from relying on the ravings of Kevin Myers as a reliable source, you've moved on to citing John Waters - possibly the only man in Ireland with less credibility than Myers. Which part of "these pair are lying scumbags with zero integrity" don't you understand? The banks and the building developers have dragged Ireland into a recession - they are the ones endangering the future of the Irish economy with their boundless greed and limitless demands for bailouts from the State. The €90 billion bill for NAMA dwarfs the public sector pay bill for this year, next year and many years to come. Try thinking for yourself instead of relying on proven liars and charlatans who rant and rave from the security of their highly-paid jobs sure in the knowledge that whoever pays the price of the recession it won't be them. Why do you think newspaper columnists with six figure salaries should be opposed to tax increases on people with six figure salaries? Figure that one out and you're well on your way.
WRT the IMF. We should be wary of all this scare mongering about the IMF because, in fact, the IMF is far more critical of government acquiescence to the oligarchs than we are led to believe. The people who really fear the IMF are the oligarchs themselves - though it is undeniable that the IMF is pretty ruthless on the public sector as well. This report is essential reading for anyone interested in what the IMF actually thinks about how capitalist goverments are dealing with this crisis. It's 4 pages long but well worth the read:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/imf-advice
Having read this report, I'm wondering if we wouldn't all be much better off in the long run if the IMF did come in.
**************
Why are people who do not contribute to pension schemes or are prevented from participating in them nevertheless being forced to pay a pension levy? Where does their money go? Where's the outrage about this?
http://www.politics.ie/economy/61981-vecs-taking-pensio....html
When the IMF take over the running of this broke state,and impose their horrible corrective methods, (god forbid) we will find out WHO are the semi-literate ones.
Well as one of the vast majority people whose wages, and pensions are being siphoned off to save the criminals in Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide (or whose private pension schemes have all but disappeared down the drains) - I can't see any vast difference between Fianna Fail or the IMF - purely tactical questions of speed and methodology - either way the badly paid off in whatever sector will bail out the rich.
Plus ca change on that front.
Meantime it turns out that
"we spend a lesser proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on our public services than any developed European country and the proportion of people employed in them is actually on the low side of average in the OECD" according to SIPTU
(http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/Speeches/Name,10560,en.html)
And I doubt Myers and Waters are underpaid by their respective papers for drivel they're spewing though you "private sector" worker do seem to present a shocking indication of our declining standards of education...
Back to work!
kp
Pure bull, I'm afraid, pure, utter, fantasy. Public sector wages in Ireland aren't higher than in other European states - they're lower than most. Many public-sector workers on temporary contracts have already been laid off, many more are at risk of losing their jobs. Lay off the capital letters and start thinking for yourself. 90% of what's written about the Irish economy by columnists like Myers is dishonest, ignorant drivel by people who are happy to make things up from the top of their head and ignore the reality. Just look at the trouble Michael Taft had trying to get Sarah Carey of the Irish Times to retract her false claim that Ireland has the most generous social welfare system in Europe - a false claim that will be used to justify an attack on the growing army of unemployed (IBEC are already sharpening their knives):
http://www.irishleftreview.org/2009/04/21/sarah-careys-...onse/
This is what the Nobel Laureate Economist Paul Krugman has to say about us:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/opinion/20krugman.html
Our image is pretty dire around the world now.
P.S.
I wish I joined the Public Service years ago.
Private sector worker:
To pay the most over payed Public Sector in all of Europe.
At the risk of repeating myself (or actually SIPTU's researchers)
"we spend a lesser proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on our public services than any developed European country and the proportion of people employed in them is actually on the low side of average in the OECD" according to SIPTU
(http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/Speeches/Name,10560,en.html)
Of course I wouldn't like to let the facts get in the way of your repetition of what the meeja feeds ya!
Now should you not be working?
No wonder you can't bring yourself to lay off the capital letters - you are clearly working yourself into a frenzy of excitement at the thought of people losing their jobs - Myers and Waters have you well schooled, obviously.
The economy is in a mess because of criminal bankers and building developers, and the government's determination to protect them from paying any price whatsoever for destroying the economy. All the public-sector cutbacks the government is demanding are dwarfed by the massive bailouts for the banks - that money could be better spent on a job creation programme, the banks should just be taken over without compensation instead of pouring more cash down a black hole. We could slash ten thousands or twenty thousand public sector jobs and it wouldn't do any good for private-sector workers who have been laid off (in fact it would just ensure that more of them would be laid off since there would be less demand in the economy). If spending money on public sector jobs and wages was the cause of our economic problems, you'd expect every other EU15 state that spends far more on public services to be in much worse shape. Why do you think that isn't the case? Try thinking for yourself instead of grasping for another hysterical Myers/Waters hack job.
It's all on the document I came across recently.
Click to enlarge.
Not that much to be saved
This proved to be a good enough meeting - about 50 people across a number of unions - SIPTU, INTO, ASTI, UNITE, INO, IMPACT and a few more.
There was a decent discussion and it was decided to
*organise a protest at the Central Bank, as part of the European Trade Union Confederation day of action on May 16th.
*call a rank & file conference to bring together oppositionists in the unions
*organise a campaign of opposition if there is a vote on a renegotiated partnership agreement
*call ourselves 'Grassroots Unite'
Work is currently under way on getting a leaflet and poster together for 16th May. A website and Facebook account etc. are being set up. Further details will follow in the next couple of days.
Gregor
Well done. A brilliant piece of literature. You are absolutely corrective we need a collective responsibility of all trade unions to sit down and get together and formalise a backlash against the penal levies against teachers and members of the public sector.
I hope the talks are transparent and open otherwise they will go nowhere but to the sin bin. Everybody has a responsibility now and we all must share some pain to get this economy back on the road again.
Kevin T. Walsh
With respect Kevin, we don't all have to 'share some of the pain'. This is the line that keeps getting put forward by trade union leaders and politicians. But there's a simple enough answer to it - They didn't share the wealth, why should we share the pain?
Unless workers and the unemployed get together and stand up for ourselves, we're going to continue to shoulder the pain while the wealthy get away scot free.
Let's try and make May 16th the starting point of re-building a fightback.