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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 >>

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 News Round-Up Tue Sep 23, 2025 01:12 | 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 Hamas Executes ?Israeli Collaborators? in Streets of Gaza Mon Sep 22, 2025 19:30 | Will Jones
Hamas?has executed three Palestinians accused of "collaborating" with Israel on the streets of Gaza, just hours after the UK, Australia and Canada announced their?recognition of a Palestinian state.
The post Hamas Executes “Israeli Collaborators” in Streets of Gaza appeared first on 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.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Shale gas firms face EU methane emissions regulation

category national | environment | press release author Monday October 07, 2013 23:52author by p mc c - UFA Press officeauthor email info at unitedfarmers dot ie Report this post to the editors

Shale gas companies operating in Europe will soon have to monitor, log and account for methane emissions at drill sites or else face regulation, the EU’s top climate officer has said.

The amount of methane released into the atmosphere during shale gas drills is disputed, with one new industry-funded report suggesting it could be less than previously thought.

But asked whether there should be mandatory testing for methane leaks at European shale drills, Jos Delbeke, the director of the European Commission’s climate department told EurActiv: “We must know what the methane emissions are going to be.”

“Either the companies are going to put it on the table or a regulation is going to come at the European level,” he added. “I leave that open.”

Delbeke was speaking on 3 October at a presentation for a new methane emissions report by Dr David Allen, organised by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) in Brussels.

Methane is a greenhouse gas at least 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a shorter 100-year period. Scientists believe that it could be particularly dangerous trigger for global warming feedback loops.

The issue of how to regulate it could be crucial, as Brussels weighs the wisdom of a legislative package for shale gas, ahead of an announcement planned for this December.

The EU executive could decide on a standalone instrument such as a new directive, amendments to existing legislation, or ‘soft guidance’ to industry in the form of voluntary obligations.

As a taster of what lies ahead, the European parliament will next week vote on forcing shale gas firms to undertake Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) before drills can begin.

Environmental Impact Assessment vote

Debate has split along unconventional lines, with Conservative and Liberal MEPs whose constituencies cover potential shale gas sites taking uncharacteristically environmentally-friendly positions. At this stage, it is unclear whether impact assessments would include testing for methane leaks.

But the issue is unlikely to be ignored in the long-term. “We are learning that there are severe problems with the development of methane,” Delbeke said.

Even so, amendments to the EIA bill could exempt shale gas drill sites that retrieve less than 500,000 cubic metres per day from assessments. That figure compares to existing laws for conventional fuels, but would open the door to unregulated hydraulic fracturing.

In the US, the maximum foreseeable production rate of drills in the Marcellus shale formation in the Appalachian basin is 250,000 cubic metres, and figures for the Haynesville shale basin, and Barnett shale basin are less than that.

According to David Hughes, a fellow at the Post Carbon Institute in the US, any drill retrieving 500,000 cubic metres “would be an extremely rare well”.

The first Polish shale gas well in Lebien has a daily production rate of just 8,000 cubic metres per day, a sum that Lane Energy - the ConocoPhillips subsidiary running it - described “an amount unseen in Europe to date”.

Some scientists question whether such drill sites will ever face meaningful regulation.

Battle of the studies

“Industry will have to provide information in Europe, perhaps” said Professor Robert Howarth of Cornell University in emailed comments, “but how will anyone know if the information is accurate?”

“Industry certainly has a very strong interest in trying to project that methane emissions are low,” he added.

A 2011 Cornell University study that Howarth co-authored found that methane emissions from shale gas drills could have a carbon footprint between 20% and 100% greater than coal. The methane readings in the study were obtained from overhead airplane samples.

But a research team led by Dr Allen at the University of Texas, which was given unprecedented access to shale gas sites at ground level, has found emissions from well ‘completions’ lower than previously thought, even if leaks from pneumatic controllers and equipment were higher.

Measurements were taken at 190 production sites owned by nine US companies – such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell – that collectively own nearly 12% of the country’s shale wells. Total methane emissions were 0.42% of gross gas production, Allen found, compared to the 0.47% logged in the 2011 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inventory.

Several other studies had estimated higher methane findings but Allen told EurActiv that his team had been granted unique access to shale sites, allowing them to exclude methane emissions from other sources, such as oil wells, which could distort results.

“Typically when one flies over a geological region, like Utah, you are measuring not only gas production but also gathering, clean up operations, initial transmission and compression, a variety of parts of the supply chain that will lead to differences,” he said.

Industry-funded research

Critics say that Allen’s team was industry-funded and had to inform shale gas companies of the dates and sites they wanted to visit, up to a week in advance. Nine of the 12 members of the report’s steering committee come from the oil and gas industry, they say.

Allen accepts that his team did not measure methane emissions from midstream and downstream shale production – in processing units, pipelines, storage and distribution systems – but new papers measuring these will be released in the months ahead.

Drew Nelson from the Environmental Defense Fund, a green group which is supporting all these studies, said that Allen’s research paper suggested “a net benefit for the climate by switching from coal to shale gas”.

“The study shows that regulation in the US works,” he said. “Green completion is highly effective and there are opportunities to reduce leaks even more.”

The EPA has determined that all shale gas firms must, by 2015, use ‘green completion’ techniques that capture methane so that it can be sold.

Flaring criticisms

“That's the best environmentally, although some methane is still probably released during the operation,” Howarth said. “But it has not been commonly done in the US. It takes time, and companies would rather push ahead as fast as they can and move on to develop and frack another well.”

Howarth professed himself “very worried” that exemptions already granted to industry would be incrementally added to, “and I worry about how the regulations will be enforced.”

“[The] EPA does not intend to send inspectors out to observe what is going on but instead will rely on industry reporting of what they are doing. Venting is invisible to the naked eye. Unwatched rigs seem likely to cheat at least some times, given the history of the US oil and gas industry in complying with regulations in the past,” he said.

Venting methane into the sky is the most environmentally damaging disposal method. Flaring is also commonly used to prevent gas from reaching the atmosphere, and this was observed in Allen’s paper.

But public hostility could obstruct its use in a more densely-populated Europe, given the jet-like noise and flames – sometimes towering hundreds of feet in the air – that flaring can create.

“I can’t see a company winning their public fight [to drill] if there is going to be a huge flame day or night which is a symbol of spoiling resources,” Delbeke said.

Roland Festor, OGP’s EU affairs director said that the industry was doing all it could to stop the practice of flaring. “Unfortunately, sometimes there are no (alternative) solutions except stopping to produce oil and gas,” he said.

POSITIONS:

“One of the findings of Dr Allen’s study is that if you use the best available technology you can mitigate some risk and in that sense, the industry could deal with some of these climate impacts,” said Antoine Simon, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth Europe. “In that sense it is important that the Commission makes the use of these technologies mandatory for the industry and not just voluntary.”

“On the other hand, the study also shows that there are a number of technological limits in our ability to deal with these impacts. There are still a lot of fugitive emissions during the production phase that the industry hasn’t been able to mitigate and the same goes for issues related to well integrity and the corrosive effect of chemicals and naturally occurring materials. These can significantly impact on water and air quality and the health of local populations. The best available technologies may mitigate some risks but they wouldn’t make the shale industry all of a sudden safe and clean. There are so many issues that the industry doesn’t have any answer for at the moment that it would still not be acceptable to us.”

NEXT STEPS:

·

Dec. 2013: European Commission to unveil results of public consultation on unconventional fossil fuels, including shale gas, and decide on regulatory steps.

Arthur Neslen

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