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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 >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link The Covid Response Was Not a Mistake ? It Was Just Wrong Mon Sep 22, 2025 17:35 | Dr David Bell
The Covid response was not an error, and it was not the result of rushing to counter an unknown pathogen. It was a lot of people, mostly professionals, systematically doing what they knew was wrong, says Dr David Bell.
The post The Covid Response Was Not a Mistake ? It Was Just Wrong appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link School Accused of ?Brainwashing? Children After 14 Year-Olds Told to Read Book ?Blaming Them for The... Mon Sep 22, 2025 15:11 | Will Jones
A parent has accused a secondary school of "brainwashing" after?he learned that 14 year-old pupils were told to read a book that "blames them for their white skin" ? and his daughter was forced to read it out loud.
The post School Accused of “Brainwashing” Children After 14 Year-Olds Told to Read Book “Blaming Them for Their White Skin” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link 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.

offsite link 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.

offsite link 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.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

OPPOSE THE BIN CHARGES - CORK

category cork | bin tax / household tax / water tax | news report author Wednesday December 03, 2003 21:00author by Kevin Doyle - Householders Against Service Chargesauthor email corkhasc at eircom dot netauthor phone 021-4503262 Report this post to the editors

Don't Pay And Survive Bin Charges

Threatening letters continue to issue forth from Cork City Hall as the City Council looks set to begin a policy of non-collection of domestic rubbish in the city – for the second time in as many years.

Threatening letters continue to issue forth from Cork City Hall as the City Council looks set to begin a policy of non-collection of domestic rubbish in the city – for the second time in as many years. Readers may remember that Cork City Council attempted the same thing two years ago but very forced into an embarrassing retreat after a campaign of direct action organised by Householders Against Service Charges (HASC). HASC organised a public disposal of domestic rubbish on the steps of the City Hall in a year long campaign that saw the City Council use the Litter Act and other legal means to attempt to force city wide compliance. They failed, even after jailing a host of HASC activists in both Cork and Limerick jails. At the time CCC came to an agreement with HASC to desist from its non-collection of domestic waste policy. But this agreement has now been torn up.

Cork City Council’s new hard-line policy is weak at the seams however. Waivers are being handed out all over the place to lure payers, as are the usual threats directed in particular at the elderly and less physically able who are very reliant on council collection of their domestic waste. The CCC claims massive public compliance but the evidence on the streets of Cork indicates otherwise – be prepared for a massive increase in uncollected waste, sadly.

HASC is calling on people to continue their resistance to the new hard-line policy. The text of the leaflet – offering advice – which is being handed out city-wide, is reproduced below. In a late development, CCC has withdrawn unreservedly from the proposed prosecution of two long-standing members of HASC for non-payment of their service charges. CCC withdrew from the scheduled court cases after it became clear the hard-line City Manager ‘Thatcher’ Gavin would be forced to appear in court to defend his disgraceful behaviour to date. A prospect many were looking forward!

TEXT OF LEAFLET

OPPOSE THE BIN CHARGES - CORK
SAY NO TO THE CITY HALL BULLYING!


THE FIANNA FÁIL/ PD Government and Cork City Council want you to pay twice for your bin collection! But bin charges have always been difficult to collect so now Cork City Council is going down the disgraceful road of non-collection of domestic waste.

Householders Against Service Charges (HASC) have campaigned long and hard against service charges and double-taxation. As PAYE taxpayers we have already paid once for these services. Cork City Council now wants us to pay again. We are OPPOSED to Bin Charges and we are especially opposed to this new policy that will lead to hardship and an accumulation of rubbish around our city. We urge you NOT TO PAY you bin charges and overleaf we suggest ways in which you can survive the current attack from City Hall.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Cork City Council can’t be trusted. Two years ago they came to an agreement with HASC to abandon non-collection. Back then HASC organised a successful public campaign of resistance. Members of the campaign had to go to jail but eventually City Hall was shamed into a sensible course of action by the mounting public opposition to the jailings. Now Thatcher is back! (Sorry we mean Joe Gavin, the City Manager.) Behind this new attack is a long term plan to MAKE YOU PAY more. Here is what City Hall has in store:

 PAY AS YOU GO: CORK City Council wants YOU to pay for everything you use in the city. Bin Charges and a bogus ‘concern’ for the environment are being used to push through a strategy that will also see the introduction of water charges. The idea here is to shift the tax burden from the more well-off to the less. So called “flat-charge” taxation is levied irrespective of income. A millionaire will only pay as much as you or I.
 PRIVATISATION: City Hall's longer-term plan is to off-load as many services as it can to the private sector. Introducing charges is a way of making the sell-off attractive. But privatisation is a disaster. Wages fall. Most ‘private’ operators are anti-union. Services will crumble and DON'T FORGET privatisation will also mean the end of the waiver scheme.

Cork City Council claims the people of Cork support their policies. But we don’t and we won’t. Last month CCC issued summons against two prominent members of HASC claiming that the Council was owed bin charge arrears. HASC announced it would contest the cases in court and summon "Thatcher" Gavin. Cork City Council withdrew from the cases! The message from all of this is we can defeat these double taxes. If we stand together and refuse to pay, Cork City Council is powerless.


Don’t Pay And Survive Bin Charges

Although HASC is opposed to these charges, we are not opposed to improving waste management and building a cleaner environment. Below we list a number of ways in which you survive this new attack by the Council AND still reject the charges:

 MINIMIZE YOUR WASTE: Segregate your waste. Bring your cans, bottles, cardboard, newspaper etc. to your local recycle centre (see below). If you have a garden then compost your food waste - compost bins are available from most garden centres and even some from councils.
 PUT IT IN THE BIN LORRY YOURSELF: Simply take your rubbish in a black bag and when the bin lorry comes around your area, throw it in. Under the Litter Pollution Act (1997), Section 5, you are entitled to do this.
 SHARE YOUR WASTE: Have you got a neighbour (unemployed, pensioner etc.) on a waiver? Then approach them and ask for permission to put a bag in their bin. Offer to put out the bin for them occasionally. Most people on waivers oppose the charge also.
 TAKE IT TO WORK: Many work places have convenient skips to take your unwanted domestic waste… use them.
 RECYCLE CENTRES: Blackpool Shopping Centre: Glass Bottles, Cans, Paper, Cardboard. City Hall Car Park, Anglesea St: Bottles, Cans, papers, magazines, batteries. Ballinlough Pk: Bottles, cans, textiles, paper, cardboard. Blackrock, Pier Head: Bottles, cans. City Hall Multi Storey, Carpark ­ 5 levels: bottles. Clashduv Pk: bottles, cans. College Road, Brookfield Holiday Village: Bottles. Curraheen Rd, Dunnes Shopping Centre: Bottles, cans, textiles. Lee Fields Car Park: Bottles, cans, textiles. The Marina, near Pairc Uí Caoimh: Bottles, Cans. Togher Rd, Supervalu Shopping Centre: Bottles. Tory Top Road, Tory Top Park: Bottles, Cans. Wilton Shopping Centre: Bottles, cans, textiles, paper, cardboard. Civic Amenity Centre (City Dump) South Link: Glass bottles, cans, clothes, paper etc. Bishopstown Leisure World: Bottles, paper, cans.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the PDs and Labour have consistently voted for service charges since first introduced by the FG/Labour Coalition in 1983.

Issue by Householders Against Service Charges. e-mail: corkhasc@eircom.net
Northside: Mick @ 087-2052722 or Southside Joe @ 087-7756297

author by Mikepublication date Thu Dec 04, 2003 21:43author address author phone Report this post to the editors

WHAT is the proposal, exactly? That if you want your bin(s) colelcted that week you put them out and afix one 6 Euro tag (then I could see your 310 Euro/year estimate). Or is it one 6 Euro tag per bin, so if you put out an average of 2 bins of trash per week that's 620 Euros per year.

Of course if it's the latter sort of system, SOME people, poor or rich (plenty of rich people are "tight or "careful") will minimize their trash production, will take the time and bother to separate out all recyclables and returnables, take time and bother to crush non recylable cans so that they take up less room in the bin (so more fits in a bin). Those people might not need to put out a tagged bin every week, maybe just once a month (72 Euros per year) while some real slobs who can't be bothered, just pitch everything, why they might need three bins a weeks and so pay 930 Euros per year.

NO -- that's not "class" oriented. But you know something, the supposedly "class" oriented solutions aren't really. Now if I were proposing a true "class" solution it would be something like this. General taxes (on the rich, say income based) would be used for a certain number of tags that everybody got -- say on a per person basis enough IF YOU WERE VERY CAREFUL WITH TRASH (make that free). Any extra tags you needed becuase you CHOSE to produce more bins full you pay for. See, I'm at least as much anarchist as left --- good solutions empower people to make choices about their own lives and don't treat poor folks as moral inferiors.

PS --- We have a "tag" system here where I live in rural Western Massachusetts --- except there is no trash collection, you take it to the "transfer station" yourself (unless you want to pay a private collector to come to your house). No charge for the recyclables but trash bags cost a buck (must be in an offical town(ship) bag). Guess what? From what I see there is little to no "class" distinction between those who bring in few bags and lots of recyclables and those who just pitch everything into a trash bag and so bring lots. OK, we're older folks, no kids in the house anymore (no grandkids living here either and thank goodness no great grandkids yet ). Still, being VERY careful, we don't take a paid "trash" bag to the "dump" (used to be) any more often than every two months.

author by Terrypublication date Thu Dec 04, 2003 13:36author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Recently residents in Dublin South have received letters demanding that they pay up all outstanding charges in full by the end of the year. [What a brilliant thing to do around Xmas, when we all need money].

The letter then goes on to further say that from Jan 2004 a tag scheme will be introduced and it will cost 6 euro per tag.

For 52 weeks (i.e. 1 year), this amounts to 312 euro a year. At the moment they won't be charging for collecting the recycling bin, but you can be sure this will not be the case if they succeed in privatising waste collection.

The waste companies will soon discover that they don't make enough profit for themselves using a tag scheme and will very likely either introduce a flat rate on top of which the tag scheme will exist or they will scrap the tag scheme altogether.

Nobody should be bullied into paying these charges.

 
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