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 >>
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Parse failure for http://humanrights.ie/feed/. Last Retry Monday September 22, 2025 15:22
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.
When it Comes to Reparations, the Church of England Doesn?t Care About Evidence or Ethics Mon Sep 22, 2025 11:00 | Nigel Biggar
The Church of England has shown that it doesn't care about evidence or ethics, says Prof Nigel Biggar. Why else, when presented with proof its ?100 million reparations giveaway is groundless, would it press on regardless?
The post When it Comes to Reparations, the Church of England Doesn?t Care About Evidence or Ethics appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Sensational New Measurements of Uncorrupted Air Temperatures Destroy UK Met Office Constant Claims o... Mon Sep 22, 2025 09:00 | Chris Morrison
New data shows the Met Office's 'record' heat spikes are junk, weaponised by Net Zero activists to scare the public witless and push the no-hydrocarbons fantasy, says the Daily Sceptic's Environment Editor.
The post Sensational New Measurements of Uncorrupted Air Temperatures Destroy UK Met Office Constant Claims of ?Records? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Making Tax Digital ? a Disaster in the Making or a Brilliant Innovation? Mon Sep 22, 2025 07:00 | Guy de la B?doy?re
Making Tax Digital is set to hit sole traders and landlords from 2026, promising more admin, costs and chaos than clarity, and Guy de la B?doy?re is already throwing in the towel rather than get swamped.
The post Making Tax Digital ? a Disaster in the Making or a Brilliant Innovation? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Mon Sep 22, 2025 00:43 | 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. Lockdown Skeptics >>
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Super Size Me
 international |
consumer issues |
news report
 Monday January 26, 2004 21:04 by Gaz - Libertarian
Last February, Morgan Spurlock decided to become a guinea pig. His mission: To eat three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald's and document the impact on his health. Spurlock charted his journey from fit to flab in a tongue-in-cheek documentary, which he has taken to the Sundance Film Festival with the hopes of getting a distribution deal.
"Super Size Me" explores the obesity epidemic that plagues America today - a sort of "Bowling for Columbine" for fast food.
As well as documenting his own burger-fueled bulk-up, Spurlock travels to 20 cities across America, interviewing people on the street, health experts and a lobbyist for the fast-food industry.
Scores of cheeseburgers, hundreds of fries and dozens of chocolate shakes later, the formerly strapping 6-foot-2 New Yorker - who started out at a healthy 185 pounds - had packed on 25 pounds.
But his supersized shape was the least of his problems.
Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car, and doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock's entire body deteriorated.
"It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days," Spurlock told The Post.
His liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered headaches and depression.
Despite making dozens of phone calls, Spurlock fails to get anyone from McDonald's to agree to an on-camera interview. A spokeswoman for McDonald's told The Post yesterday that no representatives from the corporation had seen "Super Size Me."
"Consumers can achieve balance in their daily dining decisions by choosing from our array of quality offerings and range of portion sizes to meet their taste and nutrition goals," McDonald's said in a statement.
Over the course of the film, Spurlock is regularly examined by a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist and SoHo-based general practitioner Dr. Daryl Isaacs.
"He was an extremely healthy person who got very sick eating this McDonald's diet," Dr. Isaacs told The Post.
"None of us imagined he could deteriorate this badly - he looked terrible. The liver test was the most shocking thing - it became very, very abnormal." Spurlock has since returned to normal health. "The treatment was to just stop doing what he was doing," Dr. Isaacs says.
Spurlock, who says he ate at McDonald's only sporadically before his total immersion in the Mickey D's menu, says he even began craving fat and sugar fixes between meals.
"I got desperately ill," he says. "My face was splotchy and I had this huge gut, which I've never had in my life.
"My knees started to hurt from the extra weight coming on so quickly. It was amazing - and really frightening."
Spurlock's girlfriend, Alex Jamieson, was horrified - she's a vegan chef.
"She was completely disgusted by me, not happy at all," he says. "But she realized what my goals were in trying to educate people." Spurlock, a film producer who grew up in West Virginia and studied ballet for eight years, was spurred to make his first feature film while watching TV on Thanksgiving Day, 2002.
"I was feeling like a typical American on Thanksgiving - very bloated and happy on the couch - and at some point on the news they were talking about two women who were suing McDonald's.
"People from the food industry were saying, 'You can't link kids being fat to our food - our food is nutritious.'
"I said, 'How nutritious is it really? Let's find out."
Not surprisingly, Spurlock has steered clear of the Golden Arches since filming wrapped.
"I have not had McDonald's for seven months, but yesterday, during an interview, I had a bite of a Big Mac," he says.
"I chewed it up, swallowed it and I said, 'You know what, I'm pretty much done after that bite.' "
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Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Good idea. I must admit this is a new idea that I am surprised someone has not come up with before. I can't say I totally agree with every aspect of the results. I mean, eating nothing but McDonalds for 30 days, not a balanced diet. And I don't McDs have ever claimed to provide a truely balanced diet. I don't think McDs have ever tried to claim you should eat nothing but McDs food for 30 days. But nonetheless it is a very embarassing situation for em. I might also add that any person who would eat fast food, any fast food, at that rate would obviously be expected to get some sort of unnatural health aspects. You are not meant to eat Fast foods like that. They are designed to provide you with food for when you are on the go. I doubt McDs would ever try to claim they are healthier of better for you than your average home cooked meal. If they have said so, Id like to read it.
But other than that. Of course his health is gonna be affected. They cook red meat in Fat,and chips in Fat. They don't really provide nutritious alternatives to fatty foods. But people, if you don't want to eat it, then DON'T. If you don't want to watch porn, the DON'T. McDs food while it could possibly be addictive to some people, has never been proven to be fully addictive as Nicotine has. When that is proven then they should get royally fucked. All these people in American and around the world who are complaining about McDs making em fat, well they willingly paid for the food and they cannot claim that McDs ever claimed that their food was healthier than fruit. Its a choice they made and they have to pay the price. If I buy a gun and accidently kill myself with it, my family can hardly sue the company for providing the weapon. Its me who does it, they merely provide the means. Whats the alternative, Psych profiling before you order McDs.
And don't say McDs should be taken off the market. Its not going to happen and its over reacting. Hell they never took Cigarettes off the market when they were proven to be more addictive than Coke and Heroin combined. McDs fulfill a part of the food sector that people want. If they didn't, people would not eat there.
I must admire the guys nerve though, very ballsy.
I eat shit food all the time it's kinda harrd to avoid it!
But I avoid Mc D's shiite not just because of the shite food but because ...........
it promotes intensive farming thus destroying natural environment and ecology (mostly in poorer Latin America), thus encouragi the use of gm foods. cloning, deforestation, loss of an agricultural community, jobs, livlihoods, fucking with culture, the environment, animal rights, labour exploitation,
oh and it turns you into a fat lazy brained zombie
Anyone stupid enough to eat nothing but McDonald's for a month DESERVES to die.
This is a nothing but a worthless publicity stunt along the lines of David Blaine's 'Above The Below' nonsense.
this guys film shows, and why or should he have made it is beside the main points about MC Shites greed and it's consequences on society and the environment. sorry dude that's just the way it is....
or did he cheat by eatin g the odd orange inbetween meal deals?
McDonalds have NO nutritional value worth mentioning, and from my personal and annecdotal experience it is more addictive than cannabis and more damaging to your health. Mcdonalds and Coca-Cola are without doubt more damaging to western lives than Saddam Hussain and Osama Bin ladin combined
Without even mentioning the environmental impact these corporations are having, their intensive, unimaginably cruel farming practises (that facilitate the spread of disease such as bird flu)
Cannabis isn't addictive though. :P
Regarding BK's comment, this would probably have had less impact if it focused on what MuckDonald's do abroad. People in this part of the world tend to care about themselves above all else, so if you point out what this shite food can do to someone, it's more likely to have a lasting effect.
Yes people, but is it art?
While it can be said that the film could focus more on the impact Mc Donalds has on third world countries and within the rural areas of the US itself (Fast Food Nation anyone?) it is important to bear in mind that fast food in the US is a socio-economic issue.
It is a frequent treat for all American kids to be taken out to eat. The better off people go to places where the fryer is not the centre piece, others mostly low-income families go to Mc Donalds. Mc Ds also becomes a source of meals to be eaten instead of homecooked meals. Fresh produce, cheeses and meats are almost twice the price they are in Ireland (despite our inflation). In the US single mothers most work in voucher schemes sometimes up to 40 miles away from where they live. Anyone feel like cooking up something good for the kids upon their return? No, me neither.
some years ago I drove throug the American midwest. Big Mac and Fries was 99 cent.
hard to prepare a nutritious meal at those prices.
Tell your kids the chicken nuggets are made from budgies.