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?
Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?
US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty
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 30, 2025 00:41 | 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en
The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en
Voltaire Network >>
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4As leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe he guided the South African people to their liberation and affected the whole world.
Freedom is indivisible. Those who lead others to freedom must realise that others elsewhere are not free. If a freedom fighter allows himself to be deified in his lifetime he may in turn rule like a god and make his rule unquestionable. Nelson Mandela achieved greatness on account of his oratorical and organisational abilities and his willingness to endure years of suffering in pursuit of his ideals. He led his people to freedom by example, and dismantled a racially-based ideology of tyranny. He thus liberated the white suprecamicists from their self-entrapment in an ideology of hate. He also achieved greatness because, after ruling for several years during which he made significant gentures of racial reconciliation, he voluntarily retired to allow younger talents to continue from where he stopped. Mandela was one of three distinguished African liberationists who handed over power to other Africans. Leopold Senghor of Senegal was the first African President to step down, and Julius Nyerere, dedicated socialist, stepped down willingly in Tanzania. Greatness is not measured only in a lifetime: it is measured in the long term by its example to and influence on succeeding ages. Mandela and Nyerere will for a long time continue to influence new generations of Africans. May those who now praise Mandela's life and ideals sincerely try to emulate the same. Nkosi sikelele Afrika.
Mandela undoubtedly saved his country from a blood bath and his release from prison may have been the thing that diffused that. Looking back it was clear to the white regime that the writing was on the wall and things were coming to an end but the problem was if a bloodbath started there was no guarantee big capital would hold onto the gold and diamond mines in South Africa and many of the other mining companies and numerous heavy industries.
In the early years Mandela rightly wanted to see the fair share of wealth going to the black population and promoted the idea of a massive programme to build social housing, providing clean water and health services to all black South Africans. Wanting such things are of course considered communist and as such evil by certain quarters.
It would seem to me that there was some kind of deal done for Mandela's release and it was this, but first remember that this man was 27 years in prison and that is a very very long time and for most people would be the best years of your life in terms of your energy and health. So the deal presented was most likely that he gets to be released and a black government is put in power. The violence is kept to a minimum and then most importantly of all, capitalism in South Africa stays largely intact. As we know from our own recent history, the real power flows out from the wealthiest sections of society whether that be industrial, financial or whatever and in the case of South Africa that would appear to be industrial.
In many ways the deal was reasonably good, because potentially millions could have died and there could have been real devastation. The flip side though is that for many South African blacks, nothing much has changed in the last two decades. They are still living in the same shanty towns, civil society is still very unsafe as South Africa has one of the highest crime and murder rates in the world. Basic housing and clean water is still lacking for many and life is still very rough. We even have the situation where white people fly down from Europe at considerable cost either to themselves or via fundraising (e.g. the Niall Mellon charity) to build house in the slums. We have to ask ourselves, if one took the anywhere from €1,000 or more and used this cash to buy material and pay locals to build the houses, then surely a lot more could be done. Are the locals really incapable of doing a bit of bricklaying, plumbing and electrics? I very much doubt it, although it is possible the educational infrastructure to train apprentices is close to non-existant. But then that begs the question why would we need to even transfer cash? The country is rich in mineral resources. There are millions in need of work and would be happy to have both work and to acquire skills & trades. Where is all the money going? And where is the State programme to finance and carry out large scale housing, provision of clean water, and educational outfits to give skills and training to the millions?
What people here should remember is that after the foundation of the state here, there were large government programmes to redistribute land and it was one of the most comprehensive ever and explains the reason why the FF political party were in favour for so long especially in rural areas. But as many know, we had a large government programme to electrify the country and to lay telephone cables to link up the whole country. In the cities and especially Dublin the inner slums of Dublin were over a period of decades demolished and the vast areas of Crumlim, Finglas, Ballymum and many other areas were built and consisted entirely social housing where the residents -in the 1940s, 50s and 60s transplanted to. Whether these were ultimately successful is a separate issue, but we don't see this in South Africa and were it to be proposed now or carried out, it would be still be labelled as extremism or communism or otherwise generally somehow considered a dangerous and evil act. How strange indeed, but not really because the power of example would spread elsewhere like wildfire and the iron grip of capitalism cannot possibly allow that to happen.
So when we look at South Africa today and the lack of progress, although it has to be admitted there has been some progress just not the type original hoped for and not nearly enough, we certainly can't blame Mandela for this, for he was stuck in a bind and anyone would have made the deal -assuming there was a deal but it looks like it, for after all, he very likely saved the country from absolute horror and for that alone, he is to be commended and honored and rightly should be proud.
An interesting article from the WSWS.org site says that all is not well there and that: The country’s social and class divisions, however, are headed for a breaking point, driven by the highest level of income inequality in the world.
In some ways, this is happening to one degree or another everywhere else. The report goes on to suggest that the presence of Mandela had been a break or constraint on the ambitions and attacks on their poor but with him now gone there will be nothing to hold them back from looting the wealth of the country. Again this is often a common problem after any great social change in country, when the original people who sacrificed so much are no longer around.
Interviewing a number of people these were some of the concerns:
And the article goes on to give some background to recent events and the situation in South Africa which certainly does not bode well for the future.