North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | 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 >>
Britain?s De Facto Blasphemy Laws Have Been Decades in the Making Tue Oct 14, 2025 19:30 | Will Jones
The overturning of Hamit Coskun's conviction for burning a Quran shows Britain doesn't have blasphemy laws. But in truth a fear of violent reprisals has created a de facto blasphemy law for decades, says Clarissa Hard.
The post Britain’s De Facto Blasphemy Laws Have Been Decades in the Making appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Climate Lunatics in Hamburg Pass Referendum Committing Germany?s Leading Industrial City to Deindust... Tue Oct 14, 2025 17:34 | Eugyppius
Hamburg ? Germany's leading industrial city ? has just committed to deindustrialise completely in 15 years after a referendum on Net Zero by 2040 passed with 53.2% of the vote. This is utter insanity, says Eugyppius.
The post Climate Lunatics in Hamburg Pass Referendum Committing Germany’s Leading Industrial City to Deindustrialise Completely in 15 Years appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Miliband Approves UK?s Biggest Solar Farm on 3,000 Acres of Prime Farmland Tue Oct 14, 2025 15:28 | Will Jones
Ed Miliband has approved the UK?s largest solar farm to date, covering 3,000 acres ? that's 2,000 football pitches ? of prime farmland in a "mass industrialisation" of Britain's countryside.
The post Miliband Approves UK’s Biggest Solar Farm on 3,000 Acres of Prime Farmland appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Ban on Trans People Using Female Lavatories ?Risks Breaching ECHR Rules?, Says Council of Europe Tue Oct 14, 2025 13:15 | Will Jones
Implementing the Supreme Court's gender ruling by banning transgender 'women' from female lavatories risks breaching the European Convention on Human Rights, the Council of Europe has warned.
The post Ban on Trans People Using Female Lavatories “Risks Breaching ECHR Rules”, Says Council of Europe appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Parents Being Banned From School Sports Over Their ?Bad Behaviour? Shows What is Wrong With ?Safegua... Tue Oct 14, 2025 11:18 | Mary Gilleece
The banning of parents from their children's sports events by a London school over the parents' 'bad behaviour' shows what is wrong with our officious safeguarding culture, says Mary Gilleece.
The post Parents Being Banned From School Sports Over Their ‘Bad Behaviour’ Shows What is Wrong With ‘Safeguarding’ 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 >>
international |
anti-war / imperialism |
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Tuesday November 15, 2005 19:35
by R. Isible
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Comments (13 of 13)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13I would think that knives, bullets, bombs, white phosphorous, napalm, nuclear weapons all do the same thing - kill and maim human beings. Why would it be especially shocking if one of these weapons is used rather than another?
One type of weapon is specifically illegal in the situation of war. It further reinforces the point that this is an illegal war carried out by illegal methods by people that are willing to violate every norm of civilised western society.
The weapons that are illegal in warfare.
Check the Hauge convention,not the many times quoted Geneva conventition
Any weapon that is designed to cause injury or mutilation,or blindness,or unnecessary suffering.
Bullets that are hollow,pointed,not coverd with a full metal jacket,barbed, or coverd or contains poision.
Remembering that this was written in 1905 and has been used as the standard ever since.It was outdated by 1918 with chemical warfare.It is nowadays about as much as a sponge to dry th Atlantic with.
But OTOH punji pts filled with bamboo spears smeared with human shit,mutillator mines, knee cappings ,or cutting heads off civillian hostages with swords also goes against the norms of all civillised behaviour as well.
Theres certainly no such thing as a nice way to kill someone . Unfortunately substances like white phosphorus and napalm are particularly horrific ways to do so , not to mention being very indiscriminate . The deaths caused by them are agonising beyond imagination .That these weapons are being used in built up civilian areas against guerilla fighters among the population is unbelievable
Hey Risible don't getcha knickers in a twist. Didnt'cha know that Winston Churchill used poison gas against the Kurds post WW I and in fact wanted to use it against the German civilian population in WWII but then settled for a bit of harmless carpet bombing .......
But let's not forget he was one of the good guys defending "every norm of civilised western society" just like Blair and Bush .......
Yeah "every norm of civilised western society" - ahem what planet do you guys live on ?
• Monbiot credits the Blogosphere:
'...the documentary broadcast on Italian TV last week, which has generated gigabytes of hype on the internet. It's a turkey, whose evidence that white phosphorus was fired at Iraqi troops is flimsy and circumstantial. But the bloggers debating it found the smoking gun.'
The Bloggers that found this info were from DailyKos.com
read the details they found here:
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/11/9/164137/436
And then he Monbiot a key point....
'Saddam, facing a possible death sentence, is accused of mass murder, torture, false imprisonment and the use of chemical weapons. He is certainly guilty on all counts. So, it now seems, are those who overthrew him.'
If Saddam can be called inhumane for using chemical weapons, then what does it say about W Bush?
But this is just a point of rhetorical point to compare and contrast.
WP should not be used because it:
• Melts the Skin Off of Children
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/11/9/174518/797
QUOTE: "Didnt'cha know that Winston Churchill used poison gas against the Kurds post WW I and in fact wanted to use it against the German civilian population in WWII but then settled for a bit of harmless carpet bombing"
So, your point is that because western capitalist governments engaged in war crimes in the past it's OK to do it now? Sorry, I don't buy that logic.
Maybe, you're a simple minded jingoist and didn't treat the phrase "civilised western society" carefully enough. To me that includes the pacifists that were given white feathers for refusing to fight in any of the capitalist wars, the volunteers that fought in the International Brigades in Spain, or as part of the leftwing resistance movements in Europe. It excludes the drones that signed up to fight because it was their patriotic duty or they were scared of the social pressure if they didn't. It leaves a grey space for those that were opposed to fascism for political reasons and saw a temporary alignment of their interests with those of the capitalists.
It doesn't include the planners and politicians that firebombed Dresden or nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Now, can I have my knickers back if you've finished wearing them on your head?
and undiscoverd historical fact.Could you please quote where the British used nerve gas/chemical weapons in the second world war?????As they had signed up to the non use of such in the leauge of nations.The only two countries who didnt sign up to it was the USA and Japan. I would have tipped more towards Germany using it as they developed Sarin,but it was not orderd to be used by Hitler,as the Germans feared the British did have somthing worse,they did VX.It was contemplated to be used by Churchill in a "doomsday" situation if the Germans invades the UK.But actually used in bombing raids on Germany......please inform us??
Firstly, 'dr strangelove' refered to post WW1, not WW2. Secondly, this is far from undiscovered. "Churchill was particularly keen on chemical weapons, suggesting they be used "against recalcitrant Arabs as an experiment". He dismissed objections as "unreasonable". "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes _ [to] spread a lively terror _" In today's terms, "the Arab" needed to be shocked and awed. A good gassing might well do the job."
Quote Dontcha know that Winston Churchil used poision gas against the Kurds post ww1,AND WANTED TO USE IT AGAINST THE GERMAN CIVILLIAN POUPLATION IN WW2,but settled for abit of harmless carpet bombing. Unquote [dr strangeglove].
[maybe you should go to Specsavers?]
Proof please of this?As I said it was known that both sides had developed Sarin and VX,but neither side was willing to initate it,as remember it wasnt too effective in WW1 and both sides had experianced it first hand. As for carpet bombing,well both sides used that,and not surprisingly as there wasnt very much accuracy in those days in bomb sights.
Tom asked the above question.
Well, Tom, if the reason to invade Iraq was to oust a brutal dictator who ordered the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians from their homes (the Anfal campaign) and whose airforce allegedly used chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians in Halabja, then
BY THE SAME CRITERIA,
those who supported the invasion must also condemn the actions of a regime which ordered the mass expulsion of hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes in Fallujah and whose armed forces then used chemical weapons against those who stayed behind.
Also, if an armed occupation force of utterly inadequate magnitude is to achieve its strategic objectives, it might be thought that every effort must be made to "win hearts and minds". So, even if you considered the invasion justified, you might conclude that the use of gruesome weaponry in Fallujah was a heavy-handed boo-boo that has exacerbated the lose-lose situation created by the invasion.
Best regards,
Coilín.
In case anybody is in any doubt as to the fact that white phosphorus was used in the offensive in Fallujah in November 2004, I refer to the article below, which appeared in Field Artillery Magazine March-April 2005:
The Fight for Fallujah
TF 2-2 IN FSE AAR:
Indirect Fires in the Battle of Fallujah
By Captain James T. Cobb, First Lieutenant Christopher A. LaCour and Sergeant First Class William H. Hight
...
9. Munitions. The munitions we brought to this fight were 155-mm highexplosive (HE) M107 (short-range) and M795 (long-range) rounds, illumination and white phosphorous (WP, M110 and M825), with point-detonating (PD), delay, time and variable-time (VT) fuzes. For the 120-mm mortars, we had HE, illumination and WP with PD, delay and proximity fuzes. ...
...
b. White Phosphorous. WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE. We fired “shake and bake” missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out.
...
http://sill-www.army.mil/FAMAG/Previous_Editions/05/mar-apr05/PAGE24-30.pdf
Either somebody has been hacking into a dot-mil site and successfully maintained this PDF file there for a very long time, or this is the real mccoy.
Note the mission statement of Field Artillery Magazine:
Mission Statement
Field Artillery is a bimonthly magazine published by the US Army Field Artillery, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for Army and Marine Field Artillerymen stationed around the world.
As stated in the Field Artillery Journal, first published in 1911, the purpose of the magazine is “to disseminate professional knowledge and furnishing information as to the artillery’s progress, development and best use in campaign; ... all of which objects are worthy and contribute to the good of our country.”
http://sill-www.army.mil/FAMAG/
I doubt that the use of white phosphorus in Fallujah actually serves the good of the United States.
Best,
Coilín.
Good link on a previous thread dated 11/11/2005 with video of the use by US forces of white phosphorus . If the amount dropped by these mass murderers was for illumination purposes only then every US pilot must be in urgent need of an eyesight test. The spread of this chemical weapon could in no way discriminate between civilians and insurgents and US military commanders must have known that in the quantities used many deaths would have been inevitable.
Iraqis murdered by chemical weapons, prisoners tortured and starved an economy and infrastructure in ruins surely the Americans must invade to stop this ruthless regime. Oh shit they have invaded, it is their regime bring on the Russians quick.