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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 >>

Human Rights in 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 Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy

offsite link Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy

offsite link It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy

offsite link Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left

offsite link Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Why I Fear What Labour Will Do to the Education System Sun Jul 28, 2024 11:00 | Stephen Curran
We are facing a radical agenda set by the progressive wing of the educational establishment, says Dr Stephen Curran. We should build on the past 14 years' foundation, not tear it down.
The post Why I Fear What Labour Will Do to the Education System appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Labour Has Just Betrayed a Generation of Young People Sun Jul 28, 2024 09:00 | Richard Eldred
By dropping the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, the Education Secretary has declared war on the culture of free speech on campus. The fight-back starts here, says Claire Fox in the Telegraph.
The post Labour Has Just Betrayed a Generation of Young People appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Extreme Weather We?re Experiencing Is Not Man Made, According to the IPCC Sun Jul 28, 2024 07:00 | Mark Ellse
Day-to-day weather, with all its extremes, is "just weather", according to the IPCC. With their authority onside, we can shrug off the BBC's melodramatic climate reports and misinformation, says Mark Ellse.
The post The Extreme Weather We?re Experiencing Is Not Man Made, According to the IPCC appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Sun Jul 28, 2024 01:17 | 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 Green MP Proposes Sweeping Reforms to House of Commons in Maiden Speech Sat Jul 27, 2024 19:00 | Sean Walsh
The sweeping House of Commons reforms proposed by Green MP Ellie Chowns are evidence that the Mrs Dutt-Pauker types have moved from Peter Simple's columns into public life. We're in for a bumpy ride, says Sean Walsh.
The post Green MP Proposes Sweeping Reforms to House of Commons in Maiden Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en

offsite link Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en

offsite link Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en

offsite link Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en

Voltaire Network >>

The first national prayer day for Houricane Katrina in the USA

category international | history and heritage | other press author Friday September 16, 2005 18:45author by iosaf = o as if = sofia Report this post to the editors

President Bush junior is presently the most unpopular occupant of the White House since modern polling methods began.

Yesterday he announced his "marshall plan" for the gulf coast on prime time US national TV networks.

Today he spoke again to the nation, from the national cathedral in Washington. The speech has already been hailed as his finest ever. & it only ended 15 minutes ago. Whilst I wait for the transcript which will be appended in the comments here is the other speech yesterday.
"the indifferent power of nature" good line don't you think?
"the indifferent power of nature" good line don't you think?

it hasn't been transcribed yet, but I'll tell ye, its a good one. Little gems included-

"those who had their earthly possessions wiped away".

"time to put the legacy of inequality behind us"

"now our task is to find unity"

$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*

In the meantime here's the complete transcript of his speech yesterday which is also winning praise:-

"Good evening. I am speaking to you from the city of New Orleans -- nearly empty, still partly underwater and waiting for life and hope to return. Eastward from Lake Pontchartrain, across the Mississippi coast, to Alabama and into Florida, millions of lives were changed in a day by a cruel and wasteful storm.

In the aftermath, we have seen fellow citizens left stunned and uprooted, searching for loved ones, and grieving for the dead and looking for meaning in a tragedy that seems so blind and random.

We have also witnessed the kind of desperation no citizen of this great and generous nation should ever have to know -- fellow Americans calling out for food and water, vulnerable people left at the mercy of criminals who had no mercy and the bodies of the dead lying uncovered and untended in the street.

These days of sorrow and outrage have also been marked by acts of courage and kindness that make all Americans proud. Coast Guard and other personnel rescued tens of thousands of people from flooded neighborhoods.

Religious congregations and families have welcomed strangers as brothers and sisters and neighbors. In the community of Chalmette, when two men tried to break into a home, the owner invited them to stay and took in 15 other people who had no place to go.

At Tulane Hospital for Children, doctors and nurses did not eat for days so patients could have food, and eventually carried the patients on their backs up eight flights of stairs to helicopters. Many first responders were victims themselves -- wounded healers, with a sense of duty greater than their own suffering.

When I met Steve Scott of the Biloxi Fire Department, he and his colleagues were conducting a house-to-house search for survivors. Steve told me this: "I lost my house, and I lost my cars, but I still got my family, and I still got my spirit."

Across the Gulf Coast, among people who have lost much and suffered much and given to the limit of their power, we are seeing that same spirit: a core of strength that survives all hurt, a faith in God no storm can take away and a powerful American determination to clear the ruins and build better than before.

Tonight so many victims of the hurricane and the flood are far from home and friends and familiar things. You need to know that our whole nation cares about you, and in the journey ahead you are not alone. To all who carry a burden of loss, I extend the deepest sympathy of our country.

To every person who has served and sacrificed in this emergency, I offer the gratitude of our country. And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. And all who question the future of the Crescent City need to know: There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again.

The work of rescue is largely finished. The work of recovery is moving forward. In nearly all of Mississippi, electric power has been restored. Trade is starting to return to the Port of New Orleans, and agricultural shipments are moving down the Mississippi River.

All major gasoline pipelines are now in operation, preventing the supply disruptions that many feared. The breaks in the levees have been closed, the pumps are running, and the water here in New Orleans is receding by the hour.

Environmental officials are on the ground, taking water samples, identifying and dealing with hazardous debris, and working to get drinking water and waste water treatment systems operating again.

And some very sad duties are being carried out by professionals who gather the dead, treat them with respect, and prepare them for their rest.

In the task of recovery and rebuilding, some of the hardest work is still ahead, and it will require the creative skill and generosity of a united country.

Our first commitment is to meet the immediate needs of those who had to flee their homes and leave all their possessions behind. For these Americans, every night brings uncertainty. Every day requires new courage, and the months to come will bring more than their fair share of struggles.

The Department of Homeland Security is registering evacuees who are now in shelters, churches, or private homes -- whether in the Gulf region or far away. I have signed an order providing immediate assistance to people from the disaster area.

As of today, more than 500,000 evacuee families have gotten emergency help to pay for food, clothing, and other essentials. Evacuees who have not yet registered should contact FEMA or the Red Cross. We need to know who you are, because many of you will also be eligible for broader assistance in the future.

Many families were separated during the evacuation, and we are working to help you reunite. Please call this number, 1-877-568-3317, that's 1-877-568-3317, and we will work to bring your family back together and pay for your travel to reach them.

In addition, we are taking steps to ensure that evacuees don't have to travel great distances or navigate bureaucracies to get the benefits that are there for them.

The Department of Health and Human Services has sent more than 1,500 health professionals, along with over 50 tons of medical supplies -- including vaccines, antibiotics, and medicines for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes.

The Social Security Administration is delivering checks. The Department of Labor is helping displaced persons apply for temporary jobs and unemployment benefits. And the Postal Service is registering new addresses so that people can get their mail.

To carry out the first stages of the relief effort and begin the rebuilding at once, I have asked for, and the Congress has provided, more than $60 billion. This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis, which demonstrates the compassion and resolve of our nation.

Our second commitment is to help the citizens of the Gulf Coast to overcome this disaster, put their lives back together and rebuild their communities. Along this coast, for mile after mile, the wind and water swept the land clean.

In Mississippi, many thousands of houses were damaged or destroyed. In New Orleans and surrounding parishes, more than a quarter million houses are no longer safe to live in. Hundreds of thousands of people from across this region will need to find longer-term housing.

Our goal is to get people out of shelters by the middle of October. So we are providing direct assistance to evacuees that allows them to rent apartments, and many already are moving into places of their own. A number of states have taken in evacuees and shown them great compassion -- admitting children to school, and providing health care. So I will work with Congress to ensure that states are reimbursed for these extra expenses.

In the disaster area and in cities that have received huge numbers of displaced people, we are beginning to bring in mobile homes and trailers for temporary use. To relieve the burden on local health care facilities in the region, we are sending extra doctors and nurses to these areas.

We are also providing money that can be used to cover overtime pay for police and fire departments while cities and towns rebuild.

Near New Orleans, Biloxi and other cities, housing is urgently needed for police and firefighters, other service providers and the many workers who are going to rebuild those cities. Right now, many are sleeping on ships we have brought to the Port of New Orleans, and more ships are on their way to the region.

And we will provide mobile homes and supply them with basic services as close to the construction areas as possible, so the rebuilding process can go forward as quickly as possible.

And the federal government will undertake a close partnership with the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, the city of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities, so they can rebuild in a sensible, well-planned way.

Federal funds will cover the great majority of the costs of repairing public infrastructure in the disaster zone -- from roads and bridges to schools and water systems. Our goal is to get the work done quickly. And taxpayers expect this work to be done honestly and wisely, so we will have a team of inspectors general reviewing all expenditures.

In the rebuilding process, there will be many important decisions and many details to resolve, yet we are moving forward according to some clear principles. The Federal government will be fully engaged in the mission, but Gov. Barbour, Gov. Blanco, Mayor Nagin, and other state and local leaders will have the primary role in planning for their own future.

Clearly, communities will need to move decisively to change zoning laws and building codes, in order to avoid a repeat of what we have seen. And in the work of rebuilding, as many jobs as possible should go to men and women who live in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Our third commitment is this: when communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm. Within the Gulf region are some of the most beautiful and historic places in America.

As all of us saw on television, there is also some deep, persistent poverty in this region as well. And that poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action.

So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality. When the streets are rebuilt, there should be many new businesses, including minority-owned businesses, along those streets. When the houses are rebuilt, more families should own, not rent, those houses.

When the regional economy revives, local people should be prepared for the jobs being created. Americans want the Gulf Coast not just to survive, but to thrive, not just to cope, but to overcome. We want evacuees to come home, for the best of reasons -- because they have a real chance at a better life in a place they love.

When one resident of this city who lost his home was asked by a reporter if he would relocate, he said, "Naw, I will rebuild, but I'll build higher." That is our vision of the future, in this city and beyond: we will not just rebuild, we will build higher and better.

To meet this goal, I will listen to good ideas from Congress, state and local officials and the private sector. I believe we should start with three initiatives that the Congress should pass.

Tonight I propose the creation of a Gulf Opportunity Zone, encompassing the region of the disaster in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama. Within this zone, we should provide immediate incentives for job-creating investment: tax relief for small businesses, incentives to companies that create jobs and loans and loan guarantees for small businesses, including minority-owned enterprises, to get them up and running again.

It is entrepreneurship that creates jobs and opportunity. It is entrepreneurship that helps break the cycle of poverty, and we will take the side of entrepreneurs as they lead the economic revival of the Gulf region.

I propose the creation of worker recovery accounts to help those evacuees who need extra help finding work. Under this plan, the federal government would provide accounts of up to $5,000 which these evacuees could draw upon for job training and education to help them get a good job ... and for child care expenses during their job search.

To help lower-income citizens in the hurricane region build new and better lives, I also propose that Congress pass an Urban Homesteading Act. Under this approach, we will identify property in the region owned by the federal government, and provide building sites to low-income citizens free of charge, through a lottery.

In return, they would pledge to build on the lot, with either a mortgage or help from a charitable organization like Habitat for Humanity. Home ownership is one of the great strengths of any community, and it must be a central part of our vision for the revival of this region.

In the long run, the New Orleans area has a particular challenge because much of the city lies below sea level. The people who call it home need to have reassurance that their lives will be safer in the years to come.

Protecting a city that sits lower than the water around it is not easy, but it can and has been done. City and parish officials in New Orleans, and state officials in Louisiana will have a large part in the engineering decisions to come. And the Army Corps of Engineers will work at their side to make the flood protection system stronger than it has ever been.

The work that has begun in the Gulf Coast region will be one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen. When that job is done, all Americans will have something to be very proud of. And all Americans are needed in this common effort.

It is the armies of compassion, charities and houses of worship and idealistic men and women that give our reconstruction effort its humanity. They offer to those who hurt a friendly face, an arm around the shoulder, and the reassurance that in hard times, they can count on someone who cares.

By land, by sea and by air, good people wanting to make a difference deployed to the Gulf Coast, and they have been working around the clock ever since.

The cash needed to support the armies of compassion is great, and Americans have given generously. For example, the private fund-raising effort led by former Presidents Bush and Clinton has already received pledges of more than $100 million.

Some of that money is going to governors, to be used for immediate needs within their states. A portion will also be sent to local houses of worship to help reimburse them for the expense of helping others.

This evening the need is still urgent, and I ask the American people to continue donating to the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, other good charities and religious congregations in the region.

It is also essential for the many organizations of our country to reach out to your fellow citizens in the Gulf area. So I have asked USA Freedom Corps to create an information clearing house, available at usafreedomcorps.gov, so that families anywhere in the country can find opportunities to help families in the region or a school can support a school.

And I challenge existing organizations -- churches, Scout troops, or labor union locals to get in touch with their counterparts in Mississippi, Louisiana or Alabama and learn what they can do to help. In this great national enterprise, important work can be done by everyone, and everyone should find their role and do their part.

The government of this nation will do its part as well. Our cities must have clear and up-to-date plans for responding to natural disasters, disease outbreaks or terrorist attack -- for evacuating large numbers of people in an emergency and for providing the food, water and security they would need.

In a time of terror threats and weapons of mass destruction, the danger to our citizens reaches much wider than a fault line or a flood plain. I consider detailed emergency planning to be a national security priority.

Therefore, I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to undertake an immediate review, in cooperation with local counterparts of emergency plans in every major city in America.

I also want to know all the facts about the government response to Hurricane Katrina. The storm involved a massive flood, a major supply and security operation and an evacuation order affecting more than a million people.

It was not a normal hurricane, and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to it. Many of the men and women of the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United States military, the National Guard, Homeland Security, and state and local governments performed skillfully under the worst conditions.

Yet the system at every level of government, was not well coordinated and was overwhelmed in the first few days. It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.

Four years after the frightening experience of September 11th, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency. When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I as president am responsible for the problem, and for the solution.

So I have ordered every Cabinet secretary to participate in a comprehensive review of the government response to the hurricane. This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. We are going to review every action and make necessary changes so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men that could threaten our people.

The United States Congress also has an important oversight function to perform. Congress is preparing an investigation, and I will work with members of both parties to make sure this effort is thorough.

In the life of this nation, we have often been reminded that nature is an awesome force and that all life is fragile. We are the heirs of men and women who lived through those first terrible winters at Jamestown and Plymouth, who rebuilt Chicago after a great fire, and San Francisco after a great earthquake, who reclaimed the prairie from the dust bowl of the 1930s.

Every time, the people of this land have come back from fire, flood, and storm to build anew -- and to build better than what we had before. Americans have never left our destiny to the whims of nature, and we will not start now.

These trials have also reminded us that we are often stronger than we know with the help of grace and one another. They remind us of a hope beyond all pain and death -- a God who welcomes the lost to a house not made with hands.

And they remind us that we are tied together in this life, in this nation and that the despair of any touches us all.

I know that when you sit on the steps of a porch where a home once stood or sleep on a cot in a crowded shelter, it is hard to imagine a bright future. But that future will come.

The streets of Biloxi and Gulfport will again be filled with lovely homes and the sound of children playing. The churches of Alabama will have their broken steeples mended and their congregations whole. And here in New Orleans, the street cars will once again rumble down St. Charles, and the passionate soul of a great city will return.

In this place, there is a custom for the funerals of jazz musicians. The funeral procession parades slowly through the streets, followed by a band playing a mournful dirge as it moves to the cemetery. Once the casket has been laid in place, the band breaks into a joyful "second line" -- symbolizing the triumph of the spirit over death. Tonight the Gulf Coast is still coming through the dirge, yet we will live to see the second line.

Thank you, and may God bless America."

______________________________________
(((we once had a lengthy debate on the newswires of nyc indymedia and bcn indymedia on what exactly the "god bless America" line means, [is it imperative ordering God to bless or is it subjunctive hoping that God might bless {I insisted its a subjunctive rather like bless you! or f*ck off!} and interestingly thereafter Bush became the first president on record to add the "may" confirming it is a subjunctive.)))

_______________________________________

The "Washington national cathedral" some info:
http://www.answers.com/topic/washington-national-cathedral
If you can't be bothered and just want measurements, the building whose corner stone was laid by Teddy Roosevelt is Length (outside): 517’ 8” Length (inside): 457’ 8”
Width (outside across the nave aisles): 142’ 6”
Width of transepts: 289’ 9” Heigth of west towers: 234’ Height of central tower: 301’ Height of nave (inside): 102’ 6” Total weight: 150,000 tons
Total area: 83,012 sq. ft.

+$+$+$+$+$+$+$+$+$+$

Present at the prayer day were representatives of all TV networks, and some major religions.
The rev. Pat Robertson did not however attend. & his fans in Ireland might be interested to know the rev. PR has now apologised completely for the Chavez thing, and has moved onto Clones.
(the artificial creation of exact copies of humans by manipulation of DNA and embryos & not the town in county Monaghan)

author by Seán Ryanpublication date Tue Jan 31, 2006 23:14author address author phone Report this post to the editors

If you'll widen the scope a bit, I'll give you 2 to 1 that he makes more than 10 references to God and God's plan for America.

author by iosafpublication date Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:59author address author phone Report this post to the editors

the state of the union 2006.
here's the link to the full text of the last one "state of union 2005"
http://indymedia.ie/article/68480
& coz I know you're all very clever and can guess whats on the agenda here's the link to his speech on "Palestinian Statehood" June 25, 2002
http://indymedia.ie/article/68480?&condense_comments=fa...14855
you'll notice though it occured 3 years before last year's "state of the union" it is archived as a comment to that speech.
That's coz we're all clever.
except of course for Bush.
he's the number one wookie.
I bet ye all a gazebo he gives Jesus at least 3 mentions.

 
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