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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 Lord Brooke and the Malthusian Mind Virus in Our Time Mon Sep 29, 2025 07:00 | Tilak Doshi
Lord Brooke's wild House of Lords speech about abortion, gays and climate change wasn't just odd ? Tilak Doshi shows it's the same old Malthusian doom-mongering that elites have been peddling for centuries.
The post Lord Brooke and the Malthusian Mind Virus in Our Time appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Mon Sep 29, 2025 01:10 | 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.

offsite link Farage?s Mass Deportation Plan Is Racist, Says Starmer Sun Sep 28, 2025 19:00 | Richard Eldred
Sir Keir Starmer has slammed Reform UK's mass deportation plan as "racist", warning that Nigel Farage's idea of kicking out hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants would "tear Britain apart".
The post Farage?s Mass Deportation Plan Is Racist, Says Starmer appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Fury After Woke NHS Supports First-Cousin Marriages Despite Risk of Birth Defects ? and Oppression A... Sun Sep 28, 2025 17:00 | Richard Eldred
The NHS is under fire for defending cousin marriage as a cultural "benefit" despite the serious health risks, claiming it brings "stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages".
The post Fury After Woke NHS Supports First-Cousin Marriages Despite Risk of Birth Defects ? and Oppression Against Women appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Is the Tech Giant Who Gave Blair ?257 Million in Line for Huge ID Card Contract? Sun Sep 28, 2025 15:00 | Richard Eldred
A cronyism row has hit the Government after it emerged Tony Blair secretly lobbied for his tech billionaire backer, who gave him ?257 million and could rake in millions from Labour's digital ID cards.
The post Is the Tech Giant Who Gave Blair ?257 Million in Line for Huge ID Card Contract? 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 >>

A 4 Day Week

category national | worker & community struggles and protests | opinion/analysis author Sunday June 12, 2011 14:38author by ordinary citizen Report this post to the editors

The possibility of radical positive change

The system is creating the backlash that could allow new ways of running the country, new ideas to be given a chance, a path of inclusion over competition

A 4 day week

As the lies of neo-liberal economics become more and more apparent, the possibility of a new direction in our society is becoming ever more tangible. A system that demands constant growth for an decreasing few is not only unsustainable environmentally but also socially.

The top 1% increased their wealth from 36% to 38% between 2007 and 2009. The system that has been set up to benefit those with capital has drained the Third World dry and now has its eyes on the ordinary workers of the First World, all to benefit a Premier World which has no nationality only huge bank accounts. The problem is that the people of the Developed nations are more educated, more informed and thus have more power than the mostly helpless people the system has attacked up to now.

Most of the mainstream media is right wing and for years now has been doing a good job in distracting people from the real issues that they should be concerned with but the power of the internet is slowly breaking this cycle. Lies are being exposed at ever faster rates, the old rules of spin are being replaced by transparency, an idea that frightens the ruling elite.

A great example of transparency in action can be seen in the open tax system of Norway and Sweden whereby all the tax records of its citizens are free to be accessed by its citizens. If this was in place here it would immediately end the Sunday pay rates issue. For if you saw that your boss was earning very little you would be willing to take a pay cut but if you saw that they were still earning good money then it would become obvious that they are just taking advantage of the Recession to push through agendas unpalatable before the crisis, as explained by Naomi Klein in “The Shock Doctrine”.
The longer we try and hold onto the fallacy that we are going to pay off this national debt, which will reach between €200 billion and €250 billion by 2014, the stronger the voice for change will become. The model we are using to balance the budget is one that affects the poorest in our society most while leaving the elite either in the same situation as before or often better off. Fine Gael put into the new Programme for Government that there would be no new taxes on the rich, as times get harder this core issue is going to be harder and harder for grass roots Labour supporters to accept. The fact that we are expected to knock another €9 billion off the budget in the next three years is going to make this government very unpopular on top of crushing our economy.

There is going to be a massive backlash that will eventually force Labour out of government and create the possibility of a dramatic shift in Irish politics never seen since the foundation to the state. Ideas like a maximum wage will be accepted as a real option, thus reversing the stranglehold IBEC have had on wage discussions.
As the inevitability of default becomes ever more apparent Morgan Kelly’s idea that we will have to balance the budget immediately will become ever more obvious a solution, in fact a necessity. Fintan O Toole’s idea to not pay any public servant over €100.000 will be easier to implement if people like Joe Higgins and Sinn Fein are in power as they have been living by example on the average industrial wage.

There will be a few public servants whose massive mortgages will need to be subsidised by the state but if you look at the older members of our society who bought houses when they were relatively cheap and who now have little or no mortgages to pay, they can easily afford a pay cut. A recent report found that older people in Ireland have over €700 a week disposable income, compare this to young families who are barely able to feed their children.

There is going to be a battle between the young and the old. I would not agree with all that John Waters has to say but I do agree with his premise that Irish society is controlled by an elderly elite, especially in journalism. Yes they had it hard in their past but they did not have the massive debt over their heads that modern families are dealing with thanks to neo-liberal politicians, like McCreevy and Harney getting into power at the worst possible time.

What is needed is people in power who will break this cozy cartel of well paid people in Irish society. To get ahead and succeed in Ireland for the last few decades you had to play by the rules, those who stood up for what is right were often shot back down, while those who played by the rules of their keepers were well paid for their lack of morals. People with no allegiance to this system, that has been built to defend itself, are essential for the radical change that is needed to balance the budget without unnecessarily impacting the weakest in our society.

If this can be achieved and our budget is balanced then we can implement the investment in alternative energy that Morgan Kelly spoke of. This is the one area that the markets will give us money towards. It has been estimated that we have the potential to export up to €50billion worth of alternative energy on top of our own use, thus making us the Saudi Arabia of alternative energy and unlike the Arab nations our winds, waves and tides are not going to run out.

Stepping back from our present situation and analysing our assets we can see that we have enough housing built to do us for the next 20 to 30 years or so. The ghost estates can be the future homes of the agricultural workers that will be needed to provide us with organic food as oil prices make the conventional model of farming obsolete. So we can be self sufficient in food, energy and housing, thus getting the core essentials right as opposed to the obsession with getting the banking system back on track that is destroying our country.

When we default, who is in power will have a dramatic effect on what direction our society is going to take. If we have Labour/Sinn Fein/ ULA/Independent left alliance we have the potential to make massive changes never considered possible in the neo-liberal model. Historically we can look to the truly left wing Labour government that was elected in Britain in 1946. From the chaos and destruction of the war this government was able to bring in free health care for all, something that over 60 years later Obama was crucified over trying to do, on top of them starting a massive house building project for the poor.

If we go even further back it was in the madness of the trenches in World War 1 that the left wing political parties grew strong, it was the obvious nonchalance of the ruling elites in positions of power who threw more and more brave men at machine guns that created the backlash that saw its fruition several decades later. This I feel is what is gradually happening in modern Ireland and beyond. The arrogance of a relatively small minority propped up by PR Gurus and other professionals who are well paid to attack any dissenters, is becoming more and more obvious daily. The simple message of tax the rich, lock up a few white collar criminals and bring some balance to the distribution of wealth is ringing through to an ever larger audience.

If you look at modern wages approximately 40% goes towards the mortgage. Now if we default these debts could be rearranged requiring only 20% to go towards the loans on the condition that instead of working the other day that the days work saved will be given to someone unemployed. Thus for every four people in this situation one person will have a four day week job and people will have an extra day to spend with the ones they love. In Ireland due to our weather a four day week is all the more important as there are too many wet and miserable weekends for our lives to find the fulfilment required to get us through another week at work.

There can be many other options available due to a massive shift in the way our country is run. We can truly start to invest in our young by bringing disadvantaged children out to the country on adventure breaks, thus making them feel a part of society and not only ever seeing the system as the officer hassling them. Here I will use the strangest example; Nazi Germany. The Nazis brought young people out on adventure breaks in nature and brought a certain amount of fun into their lives. When these young men fought in the front lines they fought to the very end. When Normandy was attacked by the Allies the older German soldiers retreated to fight another day whereas the 17/18 year olds did not retreat and fought to the death.
Can you imagine this type of commitment used productively? Can you imagine a society that invests in its young from an early age and what type of place we could become if such grass roots changes were implemented. We could become a happier, safer and more balanced society that has truly evolved from the cut throat, aggressive, competitive neo-liberal model to a more inclusive, co-operative, transparent and just society.

I believe that the path of division that we are following is making this dream a possible reality, that from the ashes of this forest fire or greed, new saplings of positive change are possible. That with the mistakes of our past as a guide of what not to do and the trials and errors of our new ideas brightening our lives with the knowledge that we are finally on a path that is built on the concept of what is good for the majority and the planet takes president over the wishes of a well healed minority. These changes will not be fast and there will be many bumps along the way but when we have hope in our hearts and truth in our words we can overcome all obstacles in our way and truly make this world a better place for our children to live in.

author by happy for a changepublication date Tue Jun 14, 2011 13:16author address author phone Report this post to the editors

yes yes yes brilliant idea bualadh bus

author by ordinary citizenpublication date Tue Jun 14, 2011 18:26author address author phone Report this post to the editors

thanks for the encouragement
may the apparent chaos we now find ourselves in allow the fruits of change to grow and to springboard our society into a happier, more balanced, more fulfilling environment for all

author by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite partypublication date Wed Jun 15, 2011 13:38author address author phone Report this post to the editors

But be well sure these bucks have contingency plans in place for every eventuality, and set your teeth for a loooong haul.

One of the RH policies(back inthe 80's on initiation) was a 28 hour week, so the work and the remuneration get distributed. With robotics and global population expansion we should all be working less and benefitting from the technology they use to increase their obscene accumulated wealth mountains.

By the way, not all us wrinklies are on 700 notes a weeks.If only. But your general case is spot on.

Power to ya. And your generation, mine are a wuncha bankers.

author by ordinary citizenpublication date Wed Jun 15, 2011 14:58author address author phone Report this post to the editors

the mechanisation of work has primarily benefited employers to date, helping them require fewer staff. we need a system in place that recognizes this fact and works towards balancing technological advances with worker rights. this combined with fewer resources will mean that there are going to be fewer jobs in the future. the obvious solution is to shorten the working week but in the present cut throat neo liberal economic model we are following this is not going to be an option, saying that this same system is creating the vacuum that ideas based on a more balanced workplace can fill.
i agree there are many old people who are barely getting by which means that for the average to be over 700 that there are a lot of people with a thousand or more disposable income available to them, these are the people who can afford to take a hit the most and i am sure many of them are working in the public service
i believe that a hard left wing government combined with a transparent tax/income system can create a society where those who can afford to, will pay the most towards our country getting its finances back on track and when we do balance the books and start truly investing in alternative energy projects like "the spirit of Ireland" plan to store excess wind energy in giant reservoirs, that they will have to pay less and less and live in a less divisive and thus more balanced society. for there are many reports to show that the more equitable a society is, the less violent it is and the quality of life is better for all

author by ciarrrrrrranpublication date Wed Jun 15, 2011 22:40author address author phone Report this post to the editors

when the day comes - you're writing my manifesto!
;)

 
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