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On The Planet: Water Manipulation News
(Climate, Geological, Lifeform Status, Etc.)

Manufacturing Thirst: The Hidden Water Costs of Our Industrial Economy "From the mining of raw materials to energy production to the manufacturing process itself, industry guzzles tons of water."

The New Corporate Threat to Our Water Supplies "Billions in private assets are now parked in "infrastructure funds" waiting for the crisis to mature and the right public assets to buy on the cheap. The first harbingers of a potential fire sale are already on the horizon. The City of Chicago has leased its major highway and Indiana its toll road. Private companies are managing major ports and bidding for control of local water systems across the country. Government jobs are also up for sale. For the first time in American history, the federal government employs more contract workers than regular employees. This radical shift to the private sector could become one of history's largest transfers of ownership, control, and wealth from the public trust to the private till. But more is at stake. The concept of democracy itself is being challenged by multinational corporations that see Americans not as citizens, but as customers, and government not as something of, by, and for the people, but as a market to be entered for profit." 3 pages

The World Bank Botches Water Privatization Around the World "Despite admitting that corporations are screwing up water services, the World Bank still thinks privatization is a "real business opportunity."

Growing World-Wide Water Shortage Expected To Get Worse "Even in places such as India, access to clean water is a problem. And shortages of safe water aren't confined to third-world undeveloped countries. In the United States, a harmful chemical that was banned in Europe is still in use."

World Water Week kicks off in Stockholm "A week-long conference on the impact of lacking water resources around the world began in Stockholm Monday with calls for radical changes in behaviour and mentality when it comes to water usage."

Nev. rancher awarded $4.2M for 'taken' water right " A judge awarded more than $4.2 million to a late Nevada rancher's estate after finding that the U.S. Forest Service engaged in an unconstitutional "taking" of water rights out of hostility to the rancher, a property rights activist."

Water, the new oil, takes centre stage " ... The global water shortage means it is fast becoming a commodity ... and one that corporate interests are realizing a profit on. Water has become a huge business, and it's increasingly being controlled by a very small number of corporations, such as Vivendi and Suez," says Barlow, who backs up her argument in her book, The Blue Covenant ..."   More

Business Leaders Seek Action On Global Water Crisis "Business leaders representing some of the world’s largest companies today launched an international campaign urging governments of the Group of Eight (G8) countries to address with urgency the emerging global crisis in water and sanitation."

The New Water Politics of the Middle East [Israeli] " ... Facing historical, psychological and political barriers that have impeded cooperation and deadlocked diplomacy, nations in the region are sliding toward conflict over water. Water’s growing role in the emerging hydropolitics of the region has stressed the need for a new approach to safeguard this diminishing resource. The integration of water into developing strategic cooperation frameworks becoming visible among regional states could facilitate the protection and preservation of water resources. This interaction could eventually pave the way for the long-term security of Middle East water. In light of the formidable barriers that have prevented agreement to date, such an approach may represent the only method by which to turn back the tide of the new water politics of the Middle East."

UN rejects water availability, necessary to life, as basic right    Well. I guess they'll have to drink beer and eat dirt cookies.

World facing water crisis, UNDP report warns   "A report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned that the inability of the world's richer states to tackle a water and sanitation crisis could see millions of people die due to unchecked spread of diseases. The report urged the countries to make sure that every person would receive at least 20 liters of clean water every day while saying that the governments should spend a minimum of one percent of the GDP on water and sanitation. The UNDP added that there is a necessity of at least an additional $4 billion per year to be spent on clean water." Related: Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis
Bush Family Paraguay Hideaway Update: WMR's Paraguayan sources have confirmed that George W. Bush recently bought 42,000 hectares (over 100,000 acres) of land in Paraguay's northern "Chaco" region. The land sits atop huge natural gas reserves, according to sources in Asuncion. Moreover, the land deal was consummated in a dinner meeting between Bush's daughter Jenna and Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte. Although Jenna, who was in Paraguay under the cover of a 10-day UNICEF trip to visit child welfare projects, put the Bush family seal of approval on the land deal, the actual legal papers were worked out by Bush family lawyers and business representatives. Jenna Bush is supposedly working for UNICEF in Panama City. The Bush land is close to a new U.S. military installation, the Mariscal Estigarribia Air Base. It is also nearby a huge tract of land purchased by Sun Myung Moon that sits astride Latin America's largest water aquifer, the Guarani aquifer. According to earlier Madsen reports, Bush and the Carlyle Group are also the owners of major tracts of land along the proposed US super-highway linking Mexico and Canada, land that will be worth hundreds of millions more when the highway is completed. Related: See Neo-Con Escape Plan to Paraguay? below.

Neo-Con Escape Plan to Paraguay? Fascists seem to have a penchant for escaping to this place. Apparently Bush and cronies are allegedly buying land down there .. "An Argentine official regarded the intention of the George W. Bush family to settle on the Acuifero Guarani (Paraguay) as surprising, besides being a bad signal for the governments of the region...Luis D Elia, undersecretary for the Social Habitat in the Argentine Federal Planning Ministry, issued a memo partially reproduced by digital INFOBAE.com, in which he spoke of the purchase by Bush of a 98,842-acre farm in northern Paraguay, between Brazil and Bolivia." Related Article: Bush Buys Land in Northern Paraguay
US water pipelines are breaking "It is a powerful warning sign of a larger problem around the country: The infrastructure that delivers water to the nation's cities is badly aging and in need of repairs. Billions for wars without end .....but no money for fixing the infrastructure."

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