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Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Anti-Empire >>

The Saker

Indymedia ireland

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.

offsite link 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.

offsite link 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.

offsite link 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.

offsite link 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

offsite link 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 >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Could Lithium Batteries Be Programmed to Explode? Mon Sep 29, 2025 19:05 | Dr R P
Israel's pager attack on Hezbollah highlights a frightening possibility: that lithium batteries could be programmed to explode. Yet another reason to avoid Chinese EVs, says the Daily Sceptic's robotics expert.
The post Could Lithium Batteries Be Programmed to Explode? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Sadiq Khan?s Plan to Spend ?66 Million on Wokery in Crime-Plagued London Mon Sep 29, 2025 17:10 | Will Jones
Crime is soaring in London, but Mayor Sadiq Khan is planning to spend ?66m on woke projects over three years ? and has just awarded himself a pay rise to ?170,282, making him the highest paid politician in the land.
The post Sadiq Khan’s Plan to Spend ?66 Million on Wokery in Crime-Plagued London appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Ryder Cup Parable: What Europe Gets Right and the EU and USA Get Wrong Mon Sep 29, 2025 15:31 | Clive Pinder
Europe's Ryder Cup victory shows that, unlike the DEI-obsessed EU, the nations of Europe win when they respect merit, says Clive Pinder. And unlike the USA big shots, they know how to work as a team.
The post The Ryder Cup Parable: What Europe Gets Right and the EU and USA Get Wrong appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link J.K. Rowling: Emma Watson Poured Petrol on Trans Attacks Against Me and is ?Ignorant of How Ignorant... Mon Sep 29, 2025 13:12 | Will Jones
J.K. Rowling?has accused Emma Watson of "pouring more petrol on the flames" of an attempt to cancel her by trans activists and said the Harry Potter actress is "ignorant of how ignorant she is".
The post J.K. Rowling: Emma Watson Poured Petrol on Trans Attacks Against Me and is “Ignorant of How Ignorant She Is” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Taliban Commander?s Nephew Granted Asylum in UK Can be Joined by Seven Family Members, Judge Rules Mon Sep 29, 2025 11:11 | Will Jones
A?Taliban?commander?s nephew granted refugee status in Britain can ?be joined by seven family members currently living in Turkey even though none of them speaks English or is able to work, an immigration judge has ruled.
The post Taliban Commander’s Nephew Granted Asylum in UK Can be Joined by Seven Family Members, Judge Rules appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Toward a Greater Israel? The Struggle for Hebron

category international | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis author Tuesday December 03, 2013 10:59author by FTA69 Report this post to the editors

Recently returned from a stint in Palestine, the place that most struck me was the city of Hebron. It is here that the illegal settler policies of the Israeli government has led to the most conflict and it is here where I saw some of the worst poverty in the West Bank.

To glance at a road map of the West Bank, the route between Ramallah and the ancient city of Hebron would seem relatively straightforward; the reality however, is somewhat different. Under the occupation, the road system has been divided into a complicated network of restricted and semi-restricted roads which severely limit Palestinians’ ability to travel between the major cities.

Most of the roads around Jerusalem (as well as the multitude of illegal settlements in the West Bank) have been designated Israeli-only and Palestinians caught driving on them face harsh consequences. The inter-city routes upon which Palestinians are permitted to travel are punctuated by a multitude of Israeli Army checkpoints which have the power to stop and detain cars at a whim. As a result of this system, travelling south from Ramallah is an arduous process which entails a long detour around Jerusalem thus doubling the length of what the journey should be.

As our car finally rounds Jerusalem, we begin to travel through the rolling hills and valleys which make up the West Bank. While many of the troughs and hillsides are interspersed with small Palestinian villages and olive groves; many of the hilltops are now home to Israeli settlements and military bases of varying sizes. Despite these being illegal under international law and in contravention of a raft of UN Resolutions, the bulldozers and construction equipment which can be seen busily working illustrate the fact that expansion continues unabated. Some of the larger settlements have recently been effectively annexed into Israel with the construction of their 700km segregation barrier which surrounds the entire West Bank.
The city of Hebron is in many respects typical of most cities in this region but it is the Old City which has become the scene of most of the conflict here. Dating back to the Canaanite period, the Old City is one of narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed sandstone buildings and numerous obscure lanes which lead between them. This area centres on the Ibrahimi Mosque and Tomb of the Patriarchs, two of the holiest sites in Islam and Judaism (built on the same steppe) and scene of a notorious massacre in 1994 when a US-born Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein, murdered 29 Palestinian men and boys with an assault rifle during Friday prayers. The community of settlers from which Goldstein came is approximately a thousand strong and represent the most fanatical elements of the settler project. It is an unfortunate fact that Goldstein remains a hero to many of them today, as evidenced by the well-tended shrine to him that was only removed recently by the Israeli military.

Under the auspices of protecting this community, the Israeli Army retains exclusive control over a part of the city which has been designated “H2”. H2 has (a rapidly falling) population of 30,000 Palestinians and includes most of the Old City, including the holy sites. As a consequence of the occupation, the Old City is punctuated by scores of checkpoints where Palestinians often face arbitrary detention, searches and harassment. The flat roofs of Hebron are also chequered with military outposts where soldiers survey the population below, often through their rifle scopes. In keeping with the wider road system in the West Bank, some streets have also been declared Israeli-only. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is Suhana Street. Once a thriving economic thoroughfare, it is now barren walkway which bisects the city. As the road is closed to Palestinians, all of the shops have now folded with some losing everything. Most ludicrously of all, Palestinians whose homes face Suhana Street are forbidden from opening their front door; thus many of them are forced to utilise ladders in their back garden in order to traverse the roofs and alight on a different street.

Coupled with the military restrictions, Palestinians in H2 and the surrounding villages also have to contend with systematic and organised attacks from the settlers. As I walk through a deserted market street, I wonder as to the purpose of the netting and steel cages above the walkways. I don’t have to wait long for an answer as a rock thrown from the settler apartments above crashes off the thick steel frame. As well as rocks, Palestinian shoppers and traders are also pelted with rubbish, bags of human excrement and most sinister of all, chemicals such as bleach and acid. Houses facing onto the settler-designated areas have also been targeted with windows being broken and racist graffiti being daubed on doors and walls. Most Palestinians on this interface have now left. Economic activity and life in general in this zone has almost been made impossible. Unsurprisingly, no settler in Hebron has been convicted of attacking Palestinian inhabitants. As a result of the H2 occupation, people in this part of Hebron are suffering some of the most extreme poverty you will find in an already-impoverished country.

As I leave Hebron, I can’t help but get feelings of guilt. While I can jump into my rented car and leave H2 far behind, those living here have to suffer the daily violence and indignity that military occupation entails. To listen to Israeli propaganda, one could be forgiven for thinking that they are a beleaguered state under siege and simply securing their own safety. In reality, they are presiding over a grinding occupation which is aimed at encouraging forced migration and subsequent illegal settlement; all with a view to strengthening the prospect of a “Greater Israel” which will be built at the expense of the Palestinian people.

It is clear that if the rest of the world is serious about challenging Israel’s occupation, it must work against the narrative that Israel is a normal state. Like another apartheid state before it; its goods, sporting fixtures and cultural events must be boycotted and activists must work within their own countries to apply pressure on their governments to follow suit. When change in Palestine comes, it will come about on the back of international solidarity. Let’s redouble our efforts to build that today.

author by anonpublication date Thu Dec 26, 2013 21:08author address author phone Report this post to the editors

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