New Events

Mayo

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

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 Labour Sinks to Lowest Ever Poll Rating ? as Andy Burnham Fuels Starmer Challenge Rumours Fri Sep 19, 2025 17:00 | Will Jones
Labour has sunk to its lowest ever poll rating as Andy Burnham fuels rumours he is preparing to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership by refusing to commit to serving a full term as Greater Manchester Mayor.
The post Labour Sinks to Lowest Ever Poll Rating ? as Andy Burnham Fuels Starmer Challenge Rumours appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Oxford and Cambridge Drop Out of Top Three in University Rankings Because of ?Misguided Attempts at ... Fri Sep 19, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
Oxford and Cambridge universities have?failed to get into the top three in the Times's prestigious annual university ranking for the first time, with experts blaming "misguided attempts at equality".
The post Oxford and Cambridge Drop Out of Top Three in University Rankings Because of “Misguided Attempts at Equality” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Jeremy Corbyn?s New Hard Left Party Descends into Chaos as Zarah Sultana Says She?s Been ?Frozen Out... Fri Sep 19, 2025 13:16 | Will Jones
Jeremy Corbyn's new hard Left party has been plunged into chaos as his co-founder Zarah Sultana claimed she had been "frozen out" from the "sexist boys' club" and Corbyn threatened her with legal action.
The post Jeremy Corbyn’s New Hard Left Party Descends into Chaos as Zarah Sultana Says She’s Been “Frozen Out” of “Sexist Boys’ Club” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Sadiq Khan?s Officials Suppressed Report Showing LTNs Don?t Cut Car Use Fri Sep 19, 2025 11:00 | Will Jones
Sadiq Khan?s officials suppressed taxpayer-funded research that showed low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) do not reduce car use after the London Mayor spent five years baselessly claiming LTNs are good for the planet.
The post Sadiq Khan’s Officials Suppressed Report Showing LTNs Don’t Cut Car Use appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Europe?s Days of Carbon Colonialism are Numbered Fri Sep 19, 2025 09:00 | Tilak Doshi
The delusional EU believes it can wield carbon tariffs as weapons. But its grandiloquent Net Zero scheme is destined to collapse under the weight of the bloc's utter economic irrelevance, says Tilak Doshi.
The post Europe’s Days of Carbon Colonialism are Numbered appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Questions For Government On Subject Of Shell In Mayo

category mayo | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis author Monday July 18, 2005 11:49author by roisin (supporter of shell to sea campaign) Report this post to the editors

The situation raises many questions, which the Dublin Government has to answer.

Demands of Shell to Sea Campaign

We call on the developers, authorities and state to:

* Stop all illegal development in Rossport
* To cease all operations in Erris, onshore and offshore, pending a full hearing of the issues
* Clean the gas and hydrocarbons at sea,
* Vindicate the Rossport 5 and expunge their criminalisation by Shell
* Renegotiate the overall deal for the Irish people
* Make those responsible for the project accountable, including calling for the resignation of Noel Dempsey, Dermot Ahern and Frank Fahey who have presided over this scandalous affair.
carrowmorelake1.jpg

Questions for the Dublin Government

Five people from Mayo have stood against the state and three of the world’s largest oil conglomerates, have been forced into jail, criminalized, brought to Court to be threatened by the President of the High Court, of loosing their few possessions, and told their request for a court hearing of their case is ludicrous.

The situation raises many questions, which the Dublin Government has to answer.

Why was Shell given a High Court injunction based on an illegality? It was not legal for Shell to construct the pipeline until the Minister gave his consent. Consent, despite Shell’s off repeated claims in court, to the contrary, has not been given. In the court on Monday (July 11th) Shell agreed that there was no consent. Yet Shell had sought and secured leave of the court to have five people jailed because they were interfering with something Shell wanted to do which was illegal.

Why has Minister Dempsey not established an "independent monitoring and auditing regime" before any gas passes down any pipeline, as he promised to do?

Why has the minister not learned from the government’s mistake, 26 years ago, in its bland acceptance of Gulf Oil’s assurances concerning safety at the Whiddy Island terminal in Bantry Bay, (where 51 people lost their lives in the Betelgeuse disaster) that the oil industry cannot be trusted to put safety before profits or even to provide reliable safety information.?

Why did minister Dempsey first commission a report from BPA, a company part owned by Shell, to review the health and safety aspects of Shell’s proposed project? And why then did he subsequently commission a report from AEA Technology, a company which does business with Shell, and which sanctioned British Nuclear Fuel’s Sellafield plant, which has been dogged by notorious lapses in Safety?

Why did Bord Pleanala agree to the pipeline, overruling the opinion of its own technical and expert advisor, Kevin Moore, that the pipeline should not go ahead?

Why was legislation governing the conditions for Oil and Gas exploration, which imposed royalties and fiscal terms ensuring some benefit to the Irish people from exploration of our resources, changed by Ray Burke in 1987, such that no benefit whatever accrues to the Irish Nation from the resources found in Irish waters?

After the Tribunal’s discovery of Ray Burke’s corruption, why has the government not begun an inquiry into the perverse changes, which are treacherous to the interests of Ireland, which he, and his government, made to the legislation which was in place?

In particular why has there been no attempt by the state to discover what passed in the meeting Burke held with the oil companies, against the advice of his civil servants, after which the terms and conditions previously attached to the licenses were changed?

Why did Dessie O’Malley give away the exploration rights in Irish waters to Marathon, for the sum of £500, such that all companies wanting to take up the current round of licences have henceforth to sub-let them from Marathon?

Why did successive governments not insist on access to the results of prospecting for hydrocarbons in Irish waters, especially after Shell was caught lying about the extent of the reserves they claimed to have in Nigeria, which forced the resignation of Philip Watts, their CEO at the time?

Why has Minister Dempsey called for applications for new licences, without a review of the 1992 terms and conditions upon which they are to be issued?

What was the quid pro quo from the Fianna Fail Party made in return for the funding of their Galway race tent by the oil companies?

And why, when it was realised the immense wealth represented by the Corrib Field alone, (estimated to be in the region of between E12 billion and E21 billion) did the Government not seek to rectify the extraordinary position that Ray Burke had treacherously left – whereby the entire value of the gas had been given to the Shell consortium, without any contribution whatsoever to the Irish economy, (except perhaps some 25 jobs, which are unlikely to go to Mayo people)?

Why didn’t the government welcome with open arms every objection the local community raised to the Shell plan?

Maybe because they got brown envelopes!


****FOLLOW THE MONEY BOTH ENDS OF PIPE BLOG****
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=70888

Related Link: http://www.shelltosea.com/
author by John Masonpublication date Mon Jul 18, 2005 09:40author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Corporate greed and degenerate government
To: Malcolm Brinded Executive Director - Shell
irish-corporate@shell.com

communicatie@shell.com

Mayo Pipeline

What the hell do you and the decadent Irish government think you are doing, trampling on peoples' right to protest your greed-ridden, dangerous schemes?

Locking innocent people up "indefinitely" because they want to safeguard their lives!!

Ireland is not Nigeria where you and the equally corrupt government were directly responsible for the murder of decent men who dared to challenge corporate theft.

No wonder the "Business Principles" section on your webpage is currently unavailable.

You disgust me.

John Mason (Dr)

Zuidlaren
Netherlands

author by ciarrog eilepublication date Mon Jul 18, 2005 13:04author address author phone Report this post to the editors

....for your excellent input today. To keep on task in the face of any and all ¨spin¨ that may appear in corporate media must remain
the priority. Clearly stated and clear-headed
this is. Pleae keep pounding it in.

author by Elephant in the roompublication date Mon Jul 18, 2005 16:57author email elephant_room at yahoo dot co dot ukauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

Check out some articles below from the original Follow The Money investigator Greg Palast.
Somebody in Shell to Sea should give this guy a call!


http://www.gregpalast.com/searchresults.cfm?searchtype=columns&keyword=shell&option=Search


http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=321&row=1

Bush Supporters Raise $1.2 Trillion
Saturday, March 27, 2004
.
.
"Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain met yesterday in Tripoli with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, signaling the end of Colonel Qaddafi's estrangement from the West."

- New York Times, page A1

British-Dutch oil company, Royal/Dutch Shell, "signed a break-through deal yesterday with Libya's state oil company to explore for oil and natural gas, a plan that could give Shell access to as much as $1 billion worth of fuel in North Africa."

- New York Times, page W1

Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair talks with Muammar Qaddaffi who ordered the assassination in London of Libyan dissident Al Mehmet Abu Said. Mr. Blair explained that Britain's Labour Party, "employs character assassination" as the preferred means of eliminating dissent.

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=437&row=2

Palast for Conyers: The OTHER ' Memos' from Downing Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
.
.
Fall 2002 - Philip Carroll, former CEO of Shell Oil USA, is brought in by the Pentagon to plan the management of Iraq's oil fields. He works directly with Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith. "There were plans," says Carroll, "maybe even too many plans" -- but none disclosed to the public nor even the US Congress. ...

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=419&row=2

Secret U.S. Plans For Iraq's Oil
Spark Political Fight Between Neocons and Big Oil
BBC Television exposé plus an interview with reporter Greg Palast by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!
Monday, March 21, 2005
.
.
GREG PALAST: Resistance to the plan to sell off Iraq's oil bubbled up from a most unlikely source: U.S. oil chieftains. Former Shell C.E.O. Philip Carroll was called up long before the tanks rolled.

PHILIP CARROLL: I received a call from someone in the Pentagon saying that they were doing some contingency planning in association with the possibility of war in Iraq. They needed some help and assistance from someone who had spent time in that industry.

GREG PALAST: But the oil man refused to carry out the neo-con plan.
.
.
GREG PALAST: So I asked Shell's former boss if the neo-con's agenda matched that of the oil industry.
.
.
PHILIP CARROLL: I would agree with that statement. To privatize would be a no-brainer. It would only be thought about someone -- by someone with no brain.

GREG PALAST: Headless or heartless, America has given Iraq a state-controlled oil monopoly, big oil and OPEC will have their $56-a-barrel oil, and Wolfowitz and the neo-cons are looking for new jobs.
.
.
AMY GOODMAN: An explosive report on these two plans. And tie them in now to the nomination of John Bolton to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank.

GREG PALAST: Well, only in weird Bush world is nomination to the presidency of the World Bank considered a punishment job. Basically Wolfowitz is being tossed out head first out of the Pentagon because he decided to take on one enemy too big for his own teeth, which is big oil.

The main spoils of the war in Iraq is a seat on OPEC. It's not just the fields; it is a seat on OPEC. What do we do with that seat? The neo-cons wanted to use our control of Iraq's oil to smash OPEC, to smash the power of what they see as an Arab-controlled monopoly and Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, that also meant smashing $56-a-barrel oil prices, and the oil industry was deeply unhappy.

So, there was a neo-con plan put out. In fact, you broke the report here two years ago when we were on the air saying that there was a plan to privatize and sell off all of Iraq's oil fields. There was. Then Phil Carroll of Shell Oil was assigned by George Bush to baby-sit the situation in Iraq. The oil man went in and said there ain't going to be no privatization on my watch. We don't work that way.

You have to understand, oil companies, when they privatize, the big oil companies never get it, it’s always the cronies of Chalabi and who’s ever in power in any country. So, the oil companies did not want to be locked out, so they weren't going to go along with it.
.
.
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=417&row=2

To watch the original Newsnight report use the link below,
http://www.gregpalast.com/video/palastmarch'05.mp4


http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=383&row=2

Adventure Capitalism - The Hidden 2001 Plan to Carve-up Iraq
TomPaine.com
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
by Greg Palast
Why were Iraqi elections delayed? Why was Jay Garner fired? Why are our troops still there? Investigative reporter Greg Palast uncovers new documents that answer these questions and more about the Bush administration’s grand designs on Iraq. Like everything else issued during this administration, the plan to overhaul the Iraqi economy has corporate lobbyist fingerprints all over it. ...


POSTCARDS FROM THE DE-VALUATION CARNIVAL
The London Observer
Wednesday, March 1, 2000
.
.
***
Interview notes. Why was that man cutting down trees? For wood for cooking. He can’t afford to buy bottled gas. Its price rose by 350% in one year.
And why was that? Because the Cardoso government eliminated subsidies and controls on bottled gas.
Why raise the price of bottled gas? So that those who could afford to choose would take piped-in gas over bottled.
Why did the government promote piped gas? To make the privatisation of the state’s gas company, Comgas, more attractive to foreign investors.
Why sell Comgas? Cardoso needed US$10 billion a month just to pay down the failed currency-saving loans.
Who bought it? Shell and British Gas.
When? A year ago, just after Peter Mandelson’s visit with President Cardoso.
Why was Peter Mandelson in Brazil? Don’t ask.

***

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1336960.stm


http://www.winstonsmith.com/
http://www.gregpalast.com/images/card_IraqStratLarge.jpg
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050718/oilcontrol_formula.php
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050321/a_view_from_the_peak.php

author by Gyropublication date Fri Jul 22, 2005 23:41author address author phone Report this post to the editors

"Nigeria Shows how national clout can be exercised.

There was a sharp disagreement on the 30th May 2002 between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its joint venture partners over execution of work-programme designed to substantially raise Nigeria's crude oil reserves. The joint Venture Partners which include all the top Oil Multi.nationals were lax in keeping to their agreement in searching for new oil wells off Nigeria, so they were called to heal and told to pull their socks up and spend a few shillings. The Nigerians invest a lot in their Oil exploration programme through its investment arm of NNPC, The National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS). Those who pay the Piper call the tune!" taken from an article 'The Irish and UK citizen gets the worst deal in the world from the exploration of the hydrocarbon resources around their coastline' which appeared in the Mayo Acssociation Year Book 2003.

The fallout of the above plus subsequent revised guidelines for the measurement of Oil Reserves introduced by SEC in the States was the resignation of Philip Watts, the CE of Shell. Shell had greatly overstated its reserves of oil.

Now, if Shell can fool it's partner i.e. the Nigerian Government who invest substantial resources in its hydrocarbon industry. What role and clout does the Irish Government have as a bystander? None it seems! The Irish Government has stated that it more or less can do nothing about the Rossport Five who were put in jail by Shell. IS THIS FOR REAL!

Incidentally, the UK government realised that its 'take' from North Sea Oil and Gas exploration fell after it ended its direct participation in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) via the British National Oil Corporation/Britoil and British Gas during the sell off of State Assets by the Thatcher Government. Enterprise Oil was then founded with the hubby on the board. The Blair gov. has substantially increased its Taxes on operations in the UKCS. Did the Mayo Assocaition article prompt them as to the rip-off? Shell and the Blair Goverment can be 'All Pally' again. I refer to the Shell introduction to Lybian resources by Blair's new buddy, Gadaffi! In the meantime, the Irish Government takes no active interest in oil/gas exploration and Five of its Citizens languish in Jail!

 
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy