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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 Gaza Ceasefire Will Begin Tonight, Israel Announces Thu Oct 09, 2025 11:13 | Will Jones
A ceasefire in Gaza will come into effect this evening ahead of the release of the remaining hostages after the first?stage of a peace agreement was signed by Israel and Hamas this morning.
The post Gaza Ceasefire Will Begin Tonight, Israel Announces appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Are Advertisers Finally Realising They Need to Stop Over-Representing Black People? Thu Oct 09, 2025 09:00 | Lee Taylor
Black people make up 4% of the UK but appear in over half of adverts, according to a new Channel 4 report. Is the industry finally realising that such fake over-representation is off-putting, asks Lee Taylor.
The post Are Advertisers Finally Realising They Need to Stop Over-Representing Black People? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Cutting CO2 Emissions Remains Conservative Party Policy, Says Environment Network Head Thu Oct 09, 2025 07:00 | Paul Homewood
The head of the Conservative Environment Network has just confirmed that cutting CO2 emissions remains Conservative Party policy. So it's Net Zero by the back door, says Paul Homewood.
The post Cutting CO2 Emissions Remains Conservative Party Policy, Says Environment Network Head appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Thu Oct 09, 2025 01:07 | 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 Two-Tier Justice on Full Display as Epping Protesters Get Longer Sentences Than Sex Attacker Whose C... Wed Oct 08, 2025 19:36 | Will Jones
Two-tier justice was on full display as three Epping protesters received longer prison sentences than the asylum seeker whose sex attack on a child they were protesting about, says Laurie Wastell.
The post Two-Tier Justice on Full Display as Epping Protesters Get Longer Sentences Than Sex Attacker Whose Crime They Were Protesting 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 >>

Water Commission a trick to leave the door open for water charges – Attempt to let Fianna Fail off the hook

category national | bin tax / household tax / water tax | press release author Wednesday November 30, 2016 22:58author by pbp Report this post to the editors

Any ‘Bertie-Style stroke’ by Michael Martin to replace water charges with a new tax will be opposed

Press Release - 30th Nov 2016

At a press conference this morning on the Dail Plinth, AAA-PBP TDs reacted to the findings of the Expert Commission on Water Charges.

Paul Murphy TD said “The report by the Expert Commission is a political fudge to allow Fine Gael to claim water charges are still in place and for Fianna Fail to say that water charges are gone.

“The report acts as a Trojan Horse to allow for the future re-introduction of water charges. The idea of ‘excessive usage’ and a free allowance keeps the principle of paying for water in place.
aaa_pbp_outside_dail.jpg

“It makes no financial sense to keep a charging regime in place if it is only for a tiny minority of people unless they intend to charge a broader layer of people in future through reducing the allowance and increasing charges as happened with the bin charges.

“The water metering programme should now be halted immediately. It has been a waste of half a billion which could have been invested in fixing pipes or locating leaks on a district level.

“The anti-water charges movement demanded the full abolition of charges not their amendment. If they accept this report Fianna Fail will have broken their election pledge, people should get ready for further protests.”

Bríd Smith said, “The expert commission report is merely a method to try to get water charges in the back door. It is a scam that the Irish people will not accept.

“90 TDs were elected on a mandate of scrapping water charges. Fianna Fail made a commitment in their election manifesto to scrap water charges and this commission is designed to let them off the hook.

“The Right2Water parties and unions will be meeting to discuss preparations for a big mobilisation on the streets in the New Year to remind the government and Fianna Fail that water charges are to go in their entirety.

“On the same day that we receive this report we have also found out that Ceribus paid €1,900in tax. If we have applied the 12.5% tax rate we would have collected €9 million.”

Mick Barry TD said “It is incredible for Fianna Fail to try to claim that they have abolished water charges while at the same time Michael Martin is reported to be proposing a sneaky plan to roll it into the property tax. Rather than abolishing the charge it amounts to a ‘we will get you one way or the other approach’ – a Bertie style stroke.

“Any attempt to impose a new ‘dedicated tax’ on working class people will be opposed by the movement. Fianna Fail will put themselves in the cross-hairs of the anti-water charges movement if they try to do anything like this – simply replacing one tax with another.

“Minister Simon Coveney has said that he plans to pursue non-payers – that will pit him against 73% of the population who boycotted the last bill. Rather than staging a last stand, he should instead reimburse people who paid.

“A national demonstration in the New Year is already being discussed to maximise the pressure on Fianna Fail to fully abolish the charge and to back off on any plans for a new tax.”

Richard Boyd Barrett said “There is nothing expert about this report it is just an enormous political fudge- the role of which is to save the political blushes of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael and allow for the return of water charges at some point in the future.

“People should not be fooled by this con trick or the spin and media management of this issue that we have seen for the last couple of days. The early leaking of the report was a deliberate ploy by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to manipulate opinion and make it appear the whole issue was done and dusted.

“We have been down this road with water charges where there were promises of waivers and keeping charges low. The waivers soon disappeared and charges rocketed. We will not be fooled again.

“We will be urging people to take to the streets again early in the new year to say to Fine Gael and Fianna Fail that water charges must go.

“What we need is a major investment programme in actually fixing the water infrastructure and encouraging real conservation.”

Related Link: http://www.peoplebeforeprofit.ie/2016/11/water-commission-a-trick-to-leave-the-door-open-for-water-charges-attempt-to-let-fianna-fail-off-the-hook/
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