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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 >>
News Round-Up Tue Sep 23, 2025 01:12 | 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.
Hamas Executes ?Israeli Collaborators? in Streets of Gaza Mon Sep 22, 2025 19:30 | Will Jones
Hamas?has executed three Palestinians accused of "collaborating" with Israel on the streets of Gaza, just hours after the UK, Australia and Canada announced their?recognition of a Palestinian state.
The post Hamas Executes “Israeli Collaborators” in Streets of Gaza appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Covid Response Was Not a Mistake ? It Was Just Wrong Mon Sep 22, 2025 17:35 | Dr David Bell
The Covid response was not an error, and it was not the result of rushing to counter an unknown pathogen. It was a lot of people, mostly professionals, systematically doing what they knew was wrong, says Dr David Bell.
The post The Covid Response Was Not a Mistake ? It Was Just Wrong appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
School Accused of ?Brainwashing? Children After 14 Year-Olds Told to Read Book ?Blaming Them for The... Mon Sep 22, 2025 15:11 | Will Jones
A parent has accused a secondary school of "brainwashing" after?he learned that 14 year-old pupils were told to read a book that "blames them for their white skin" ? and his daughter was forced to read it out loud.
The post School Accused of “Brainwashing” Children After 14 Year-Olds Told to Read Book “Blaming Them for Their White Skin” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
No Benefits for Foreigners Under Reform, Says Nigel Farage: Stricter Visa Tests and Deportation for ... Mon Sep 22, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Nigel Farage?today vowed to block foreign nationals from getting benefits, slashing the welfare bill "by ?234bn", and to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants with 'settled status' by bringing in stricter visa tests.
The post No Benefits for Foreigners Under Reform, Says Nigel Farage: Stricter Visa Tests and Deportation for Those Who Fail Under Crackdown on ‘Settled Status’ Migrants appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Lockdown Skeptics >>
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Voltaire Network >>
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opinion/analysis
Monday February 18, 2013 23:53
by éirígí PRO - éirígí
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Comments (13 of 13)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13Great job on the video éirígí . I have showed it to a few people and we will be buying a bag of cement at the weekend .
Any plans on the property tax ?
If you pitch together with neighbours you can control your own water,all you need is to share a few tanks for the week,it can be done with the right planning permission and the right backing,go to a neighbourhood watch meeting and bring the topic up,see if everybody is in agreement to pitch in a few euros each per year.
Aside from that ,you can reduce your own water intake by not letting the taps run when washing dishes,use the same dish water in a basin for the whole 3 days(not after 3 as it gets stagnant and builds up germs).
Another thing i would advise people to collect rainy water in buckets and tanks on rainy days,there is plenty of water to catch,you can even make your own makeshitf water collecting devices if you put your mind to it.
Not letting taps run when brushing teeth i think is one of the most obvious ones..
wow. This is a great inititiave by éirígí.
A simple guide that deserves to be shared widely.
Come one people, Boycott the Water Tax!
I wish it was as simple as boycotting the water tax. Really i do.
However the property tax is less legitimate and they know it too.
It scares them when they see people protesting the property tax,they know they are in a weak position,the council already get their money from PAYE for all council stuff.
The level of PAYE should be lower as a result of this tax,and rubbish and water charges should be included in this erronious ''property tax''.
This is purely a scam.
Ive seen potholes down the end of my road that still need doing
Well done on this, i think a little intro piece and maybe an outro would benefit this worthwhile mesage and call to action, outlying where the meters are found, by who and when, size of pipe and an outro mentioning ones legal standing if caught etc and also tips and guide on not getting caught
Love the action, hope it inspires many more acts...
I am afraid I am one of those people who believe that a modest charge for water is appropriate and desirable, especially if it encourages people to moderate their water usage.
The welfare state has encouraged people to live lives that they cannot afford. If you want to have 4 or 5 children, do not expect the state to subsidise that. Make the rational decision to plan your family based upon what YOU can afford.
The unfortunate thing about these charges is the timing, those in massive negative equity-like myself-being asked to pay a house tax. We should have been paying those charges, and broadening the tax base years ago. Even if we didn't have to bail out the banks the criminal/mafia bonholders, the state is still insolvent.
Sabotaging water meters is all very well but isn't a solution and isn't addressing the issue.
Take a look at the opinion polls: FF are zooming up the ratings. It's enough to drive you insane, however, it is the conservative nature of Irish people that is, in part, responsible for the mess we are in. Irish people want centre right parties(FF,FG,Labour) and until that changes, we are, to some extent, getting what we deserve. We, as a people, have consistently voted for the policies that predominate the history of the state. Post colonial, or what?
To overcome the state, try to live, as much as one can, independently of it. Welfare and the consequent dependency culture is a trap.
Having read the comments here - and seen what you propose to do, there seems to be only 1 person on this site with any degree of sense - Rational Ecologist.
Water charges WILL happen. Why do what is proposed here and increase the costs. Yes I think everything that is going on is a disgrace - especially when you see another E50M thrown away on 'consultants' fees.
Would it not be better to try and live independently - set up a rain water collection and stop bitching.
In the states property taxes and water charges are a LOT more than is proposed for us to pay.
Solution - conserve, conserve, conserve. Yes it will still cost you money, but there are ways to reduce the amount, and I think there is no harm teaching people that they can turn off taps, gardens DON'T need to be watered and so on. If you use it - pay for it.
People in rural area should consider reviving family wells that fell into disuse when group water schemes became commonplace during the '60s and '70s. Everybody in rural and urban areas should catch rain water in barrels.
If people collect rainwater, it is quite likely it will be deemed illegal and I am sure there will be something about water quality used to prevent people from doing this. Having said that, rainwater collection would be ideal to use for toilet flushes and low grade usage like that, or for storing for periods in the summer when the garden needs it. It is unlikely though that more than a tiny fraction of people will do this, so therefore it doesn't change anything especially those at the mercy of the profiteers who just want to gouge people of their money.
As for property taxes, people would object a lot less if our income taxes were reduced by approximately the amount of the property taxes. Instead in a period of recession, they increased income tax in the form of the USC, various levies, reduction in social spending, increasing fees for a range of services, and then of course introducing the Property Tax, to be followed by the Water Tax. They would also object less if it was seen that corporations paid their fare share of tax which they don't. As we know from recent scandals, with Apple, Google, and Starbucks, none of them even pay the pathetic low rate of corporation tax, they are actually paying substantially less.
Also your points do not take account of the fact that people should be entitled to a basic minimum amount of fresh clean water per day at no cost.
This proposed action makes no sense.
Who will pay for the remidial work required to the holes?
Answer the taxpayer (You me and everyone else)
There is no doubt that people that are caught doing this will be charged, as they are interfering with public property.
So a bit of common sense is required in the Republic of Ireland this type of stunt serves no one.
Yeah you're right.
We should just be good little sheep, do nothing, bend over, drop our economic trousers and take it right up the ass yet again. As good irish folk do.
After all, we are no longer a society of human beings. We now exist solely to work every day until we reach 68 (or die) in order to to prop up european gambling banks and to enrich vulture capitalists and their political cronies who are hoovering up all our property and public assets and utilities at firesale prices after their leveraged buyout of Ireland.