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 26 Jul 2005 @ 21:39, by silviamar. Ideas, Creativity
I wonder why children cry at night. My mother told me that I cried almost every night when I was a baby, and my niece did the same in her first years. Babies still don't have to worry about their future, no job to do, no responsabilities... but they cry. Do they have any fear? Do they feel lost?
This simple poem was inspired one night by these thoughts.
More >
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26 Jul 2005 @ 12:45, by bapty. Investigation, Intelligence
We might think that the opposite of diversity is sameness, but ideally we would conform to the true norm in all practical matters while indulging our divergent interests in the abstract. More >
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 25 Jul 2005 @ 11:53, by scotty. Philosophy
A few weeks ago I happened to come across a site that is changing my way of thinking ... changing my way of living...
changing my way of Being !
I would just like to share with you some of the things that I've found that have really set me free and helped me to find at last the answers to so many of my questions .
Road Signs ... [link]
Abraham Hicks ... [link]
Inspiration Articles For Wellness by Life Dynamix [link]
Your Influence in this Vibrational Universe [link]
(p.s. - the water was Freeezing !!!)
. More >
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 25 Jul 2005 @ 01:42, by bushman. Science
Ha, found the X-Acto knife, with a fresh blade, of corse. Cutting thru The Alien Orb is..., like trying to cut thru a ping-pong ball, with an X-Acto knife. It's skin is like a thin polished celulose. Whew, so far no blood.
[link]
Tomarrow: We will pull the lid off, The Alien Orb. More >
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 24 Jul 2005 @ 22:24, by koravya. Environment, Ecology
Little things change along the way.
Migration patterns.
Breeding seasons.
Diet.
Let us count the ways.
Let us count the days.
***---___///
Here are a couple of articles,
shedding a little thoughtful light,
through the clouds of distractions.
******-_/ More >
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 24 Jul 2005 @ 08:49, by jazzolog. Conspiracy
Charles Dharapak/Associated Press
President Bush said in the fall of 2003 that no one wanted to get to the bottom of the C.I.A. leak case more than he did.
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
---Crowfoot
While thinking about the future, and about tomorrow's livelihood, if you don't let go of wordly affairs, if you don't practice the Way, and if you pass your days and nights in vain, you'll regret it. You should rouse your mind, and determine that even if there is no livelihood for tomorrow, and you might freeze, or starve, or even die---still today, you should hear the Way, and follow Buddha's intention. If you do this, you will certainly achieve practice in the way.
---Dogen
If you have the idea of superiority and are proud of your ability, this is a disaster.
---Yuan-Wu
The Sunday New York Times used to hit the streets in Manhattan at about 10:00 Saturday night. I'll bet it still does because it's a great tradition. If I was downtown, I loved to buy it at a newsstand. The subway ride up to The Bronx, where I lived, took about 45 minutes...and the Entertainment section, or The Magazine, or News Of The Week In Review made great company and possibly a diversion from the dramas unfolding in the car around me.
If I were home in the apartment a block off Grand Concourse, I probably was up listening to jazz DJs on the radio at 11:00 on Saturday nights, when the paper became available at newsstands up there. I liked going out at that hour to buy The Times. Maybe I could have afforded to have it delivered, but finding it on Saturday nights was more exciting...and for me very much a part of enjoying New York. Besides, it was great to have it already on the breakfast table when I got up Sunday morning.
These memories were revived this morning when I came down to the computer and found that my wife already had posted an amazing article in this morning's Times to me and her list. My online edition (the actual paper costs many dollars this far out in the Midwest) arrived in my emailbox at 3:00 AM, but Dana had sent this out at 11:30 last night, the old Bronx time for such discoveries. Like many husbands I like finding stuff first, but in this case I really appreciate the scoop!
It's another article by Frank Rich. This guy has really been cranking up the heat lately. He started at The New York Times in 1980, when he was the theater critic. But another of his interests is politics, and so gradually he has evolved into a journalist who writes a "weekly 1500-word essay on the intersection of culture and news," as his columnist biography reads. Now, if you're a president who nominates somebody to the Supreme Court on TV primetime AND a week before you said you were going to, you're asking for one of his reviews. In this case, he's also wondering why another certain somebody, who read for the part, didn't get it. More >
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 22 Jul 2005 @ 14:37, by redstar. Spirituality
Today, while taking a walk though the litter strewn streets of my current hometown, I happen across one of the beggars, an old, badly crippled sorry looking character that I often encounter on my trips around the town.
This time, however, possibly triggered by conversations on this very network, maybe a combination of various factors, but I find myself seeing him through new eyes. More >
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 21 Jul 2005 @ 03:48, by faith1. Recreation, Fun
I know, new NCN friend, it's an old story, but it's a good one! Let's just call it "a whale of a tale"
~*~
Dear Faith,
I just received my first copy of Angels Speak. My entire being is vibrating with the awesome emotions your stories elicited in me. What a wonderful e-zine/newsletter! I am so grateful I found it and subscribed. Such spectacular experiences with the dolphins and the whales! You are very blessed. I can understand your trepidation at swimming among something as huge as whales but if I were given such an invitation, I wouldn't ever forgive myself for not accepting it. I just felt moved to let you know what a wonderful, powerful publication, you offer to the world. I am overcome with gratitude for the gift from my angels who led me to find it.
Hugs and Blessings,
Lois
===================================
Dolphin and Whale Stories
February 1999 by Faith O'Neill
"Just Dolphins!" HAWAII IN FEBRUARY 1999! More >
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 20 Jul 2005 @ 11:15, by jazzolog. Broadcasting, Media
Every day you must say to yourself, "Today I am going to begin."
---Jean Pierre De Caussade SJ
One day a nonbeliever visited the Buddha, and said: "Question with or without words?" The Buddha remained silent. After some time, the nonbeliever bowed deeply before the Buddha and said, "Because of your great compassion, I am relieved of all illusion and see the Buddhist Way clearly before me." He bowed again and left.
Afterward, Ananda questioned the Buddha: "What did the nonbeliever find that caused him to see the Way?"
The Buddha replied, "A good horse is one that runs merely on seeing the shadow of a whip."
---Zen story
We now know that the moon is demonstrably not there when nobody looks.
---N. David Mermin
A Late Afternoon in Summer - (Thomas Moran - 1909)
Last night my wife sent out an article by David Corn, who is a writer I like and whose stuff for The Nation sometimes shows up at Yahoo News. Mr. Corn was lamenting about the right-wing disinformation machine and, like many folks I guess, it made me wonder what will become of Rove/Libby and the Plame case now that John Roberts is here. Some analysts this morning are worried the President announced his Supreme Court nomination on primetime television in order to push his administration's problems right out of the public's mind. More >
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18 Jul 2005 @ 18:07, by raypows. Activism
To me water rights are one of the most important issues in our lives. Though we read about what is happening in other parts of the world, privatization is happening here in the US as well. There are counties in Californina looking at selling water rights to outside investors and doing so under the radar of the media and consumer groups. Alos, our own governments abuse of water rights in Africa is killing entire communities. What to do? Educate ourselves and follow our hearts.
-------------------------------------------------
Privatization of Water in India Ignites Water Wars
July 14, 2005 By Vandana Shiva
1. Will Muradnagar be the next Tonk?
On 13th June 2005, 5 farmers were shot dead in Tonk during a protest demanding their share in the water from Bisalpur dam, which is diverting water from villages to the city of Jaipur under an ADB project for water sector "reforms" in the State of Rajasthan currently ruled by a BJP government.
Sonia Gandhi, President of the Congress Party, rushed to Tonk, called the firing barbaric and offered relief to the families of the farmers killed.
Yet the Congress government in Delhi is determined to create another Tonk in Muradnagar, with its demand to divert 635 million litres of Ganga water per day to the Sonia Vihar Plant, which has been privatized to Ondeo Degrement a subsidiary of Suez.
The real politics of water is not Congress vs BJP. It is World Bank/ADB and other aid agencies creating water markets for global water MNCs while robbing the Indian people both hydrologically and financially.
Delhi, India's capital has been sustained for centuries by the river Yamuna. Two decades of industrialization have turned the Yamuna into a sewer and toxic drain.
Instead of stopping the pollution, using the scarcity created by the pollution, the World Bank started to push the Delhi government to privatize Delhi's water supply and get water from the Tehri Dam on the Ganges, hundreds of miles away.
The privatization of Delhi's water supply is central on the Sonia Vihar Plant. The Sonia Vihar water treatment plant, which was inaugurated on June 21, 2002 by Chief Minister of Delhi, is designed for a capacity of 635 million litres a day on a 10 year BOT (build-operate-transfer) basis, at a cost of 1.8 billion rupees (approx. 50 million dollars). The contract between Delhi Jal Board (The Water Supply Department of the Delhi Government) and the French company Ondeo Degremont (subsidiary of Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux Water Division - the water giant of the world), is supposed to provide safe drinking water for the city.
The water for the Suez-Degremont plant in Delhi will come from Tehri Dam through the Upper Ganga Canal upto Muradnagar in Western Uttar Pradesh and then through the giant pipeline to Delhi. The Upper Ganga Canal, which starts at Haridwar and carries the holy water of Ganga upto Kanpur via Muradnagar, is the main source of irrigation for this region.
Delhi's ever growing water demands have already led to major diversions of water from other regions. Delhi already gets 455 million litres from the Ganga. With the Sonia Vihar plants demand of 635 million litres, this is 1090 million litres per day of diversion from Ganga. Further diversion of 3000 million cubic metres per second from the Ganga is built into the Sharda and Yamuna river link.
Delhi is also demanding 180 million litres per day to be diverted from Punjab's Dhakra Dam. Water will also be diverted to Delhi from the Renuka dam on Giri River (1250 million cubic litres per day) and Keshau Dam on Tons River (610 million cubic litres per day) from distant Himachal in the Himalayas.
On December 1, 2004 water tariffs were increased in Delhi. While the government stated this was necessary for recovering costs of operation and maintenance, the tariff increase is ten times more than what is needed to run Delhi's water supply. The increase is to lay the ground for the privatization of Delhi's water, and ensure super profits for the private operators.
Increasing tariffs before pivatisation is part of World Bank's "tool kit".
It is part of a stepwise approach to "secure at least some private sector involvement in risky countries". Before full privatization, the "private-public partnership" is to increase tariffs through a public utility, so that increased tariffs can support a commercial operation (ie "guarantee profit margins"). Service and management contracts can be introduced while the government increases tariff.
The tariff increase is not a democratic decision, nor a need based decision. It has been imposed by the World Bank. The Delhi Jal Board cites the justification for increase in tariff as based on a study done by Price Waterhouse Cooper under the World Bank study on privatization. It also cites World Bank technical paper No. 386 of 1997 on water pricing.
Delhi's water operation and maintenance budget is Rs. 3.44 billion. The public utility has been recovering Rs. 2.7 billion due to 40-50% non-revenue losses such as leaks and thefts. During a conference on public-public participation, we showed how public and community participation can recover revenues of Rs. 5.00 by preventing leaks and theft. This allows Rs. 7 to 8 billion recovery, which is twice the amount needed to operate and maintain the water system.
However, the tariff increase will allow a recovery of Rs. 30 billion, tenfold more than needed, guaranteeing a super profit of Rs. 26.66 billion to the corporations waiting to grab Delhi's water supply. A 10% increase is built into the tariff restricting which will double the profits for water privateers in 7 years. This profit is created not by better services but by doubling the financial burden on citizens, especially the poor.
The tariff increase hides significant increases through changes in
categories. Schools and agriculture have been redefined as "industry". "Piaos", a core part of India's culture of the gift of water, must also pay for water. How will they give water to the thirsty? Cremation grounds, temples, homes for the disabled, orphanages which paid Rs. 30 will now pay thousands of rupees, the cash strapped social institutions cannot pay.
The World Bank driven policies explicitly state that there needs to be a shift from the social perception to a commercial orientation. This worldview conflict lies at the root of conflicts between water privatization and water democracy. Will water be viewed and treated as a commodity, or will it be viewed and treated as the very basis of life?
Many privatization myths have been used to justify the tariff increase. The first is the myth of "full cost recovery" the mantra for privatization. However, as far as operations are concerned, the tariff increase implies a "ten-fold recovery", ten times more than "full cost". As far as investments are concerned, the private operators have made no investment, but will harvest public investment of Rs. 1 trillion. The "full cost recovery" logic when applied fully requires that water systems stay in the public domain as a common good.
At the National Development Council Meeting on June 28th 2005, Shiela Dixit,
the Chief Minister of Delhi called for the federalization and prioritization
of drinking water. (Pioneer, 29th June, 2005) However, the World Bank
driven 24x7 scheme is not to provide drinking water to Delhi's slums, it is
to provide rich colonies with the luxury of 24 hour running water seven days
a week in a period of severe water crisis. The water crisis demands
reductions in water use Privatisation is encouraging increased water use.
This increase in urban consumption will come at the cost of rural areas.
This is part of the privatization process. Four global companies are already in the bid for the 24x7 distribution including Suez, Bechtel and Saur.
The common argument for privatization and price increase is that higher costs will reduce water use. However, given the extreme income inequities.
A tariff increase that can destroy a slum dweller or poor farmer is an insignificant expenditure for the rich. Privatisation as dictated by ADB and the Wrold Bank thus means that water will be diverted from the poor to the rich, from rural areas to urban/industrialized areas. And each diversion will create water wars as it did in Tonk. This is why U.P. has been refusing to divert Ganga water to SoniaVihar. Non-sustainable and inequitable use will increase with privatization because the rich can afford to pay for water waste.
2. The Planning Commission as Water Privateer
The government' priority for commodification and privatization of water was clearly stated by the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia's statement in his opening remarks at the NDC that farmers should pay for water. While Mr. Ahluwalia argued that rich farmers are the real beneficiaries of free water, the reality is that when water is commodified, it is the rich who can afford to pay. The poor peasant, already struggling under the burden of debt, driven to suicide, will be wiped out of she/he is denied access to water and made to pay for a resource that is their common property. If poor peasants are pitted against rich agribusiness in competition for water through water markets, agribusiness will monopolise
irrigation. If poor villagers are pitted against rich city dwellers in a water war, the rich will win.
The problem of water waste is not agriculture per se but chemical industrial farming mistakenly referred to as the Green Revolution. It is possible to produce more nutrition per acre growing millets that need only 200 mm of water. We can increase food availability 200 fold through simultaneously conserving our biodiversity and scarce water resources. It is possible to decrease water use while increasing food output by shifting from chemical farming to organic farming. However, these water conservation strategies were not what Mr. Ahluwalia proposed He proposed more water intensive cultivation of fruits, vegetables, shrimps for exports. In other words, while India is gripped by a severe water crisis, and even more severe water conflicts, our Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission is recommending that we export water as a "virtual water" subsidy to the rich consumers of the North and instead of calling for water conservation through organic farming, be wants the impover ished peasantry to finance insane schemes like the $200 billion River Linking Scheme. The Deputy Chairman stated that "chasing short term benefits that accrue from vote bank politics, instead of seeking long term gains that flow from prudent economic policies, has become the bane of our decision-making process." (Pioneer editorial, 29th June) What Mr. Ahluwalia is calling "short term benefits that accrue from vote bank politics" others call democracy. What he refers to as "prudent economic policies" are the World Bank/IMF/ADB paradigm of water privatization which has already led to the killing of farmers in Tonk and could lead to many more water wars.
The only long-term and prudent water policy is to recognize nature's limits, live within the water cycle, and guarantee every Indian their fundamental right to water. Privatisation is not a solution to our water crisis. Conservation and Community rights can help overcome the scarcity we face in both rural and urban area.
Water is a commons, a public good. Privatisation is the enclosure of the water commons. Water privatization aggravates the water crisis because it rewards the waste of the effluent, not the conservation of resource prudent
communities.
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