[Vision2020] Troubled Waters:Film On Water Crisis

[Ted Moffett]

Tom et. al.

One of the films at the MIT Environmental Film Festival is a United Church
of Christ produced documentary, "Troubled Waters."  Given the water resource
debates/conflicts in the Moscow/Pullman area, it is interesting to consider
that access to water is a massive global crisis:

http://news.ucc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=674&Itemid=54

"The survival of 1.2 billion people is currently in jeopardy due to lack of
adequate water and sanitation," the WCC Assembly's resolution states.
"Unequal access to water causes conflicts between and among people,
communities, regions and nations."

The Rev. Wally Ryan Kuroiwa of the UCC's *Justice and Witness
Ministries*<http://www.ucc.org/jwm/>,
also an executive producer and the project's brainchild, says the people
most affected by the water crisis are those on the margins, the poor, the
powerless.

He cites the plight of villagers in India who have "pleaded" with companies
like Coca-Cola (bottler of Desani Water) and Pepsi (bottler of Aquafina)
"not to take our water."

"But [these companies] now own the rights to their water," Ryan Kuroiwa
said. "There needs to be a voice for them, as Jesus spoke for the
marginalized of his day. Or let them speak for themselves, which they now
have the opportunity to do through this video."

-----------

Ted Moffett
On 1/15/07, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:
>
>  My intent was merely a humorous (non-offensive) pointing of the finger at
> MIT's connection to liberal arts.  MIT is not widely known for its programs
> in music, literature, theater, etc..
>
>
>
> As far as "It would be great to see the U of I sponsor such an event [an
> environmental film festival], or maybe the Kenworthy" is concerned, I am all
> for it.  Perhaps a well-placed suggestion with Kenworthy management and the
> appropriate people at UI is in order.  I would support it, but perhaps not
> actively.  My liberal arts interests are fairly well satisfied by the Lionel
> Hampton Jazz Festival, which I have attended (almost to the extent of
> addiction) since arriving here at Vandalville in 1992.
>
>
>
> Tom Hansen
>
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>
>
> "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
> safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
> sideways, chocolate in one hand, a drink in the other, body thoroughly used
> up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO. What a ride!'"
>  ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Ted Moffett [mailto:starbliss at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Monday, January 15, 2007 12:26 PM
> *To:* Tom Hansen
> *Cc:* debismith at moscow.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
> *Subject:* [Norton AntiSpam] MIT's Focus On Mother Earth...
>
>
>
>
>
> Tom et. al.
>
>
>
> MIT has SHASS, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences... Programs
> in music, literature, theater, writing...
>
>
>
> http://web.mit.edu/shass/undergraduate/programs/majors.shtml
>
>
>
> As to the irony of quoting Macbeth off an MIT website... whatever!
>
>
>
> But consider this MIT offering, related to the theme of "The Earth is our
> mother, and we are all her children..." under "Sustainability @
> MIT," covering the subject of our beleaguered biosphere, the MIT
> Environmental Film Festival, a week worth of films. It would be great to see
> the U of I sponsor such an event, or maybe the Kenworthy?
>
>
>
> http://sustainability.mit.edu/Environmental_Film_Festival
>
>
>
> http://sustainability.mit.edu/Main_Page
>
>
>
> It appears there is quite a focus at MIT on the environmental and energy
> crisis our planet is facing:
>
>
>
> http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/energy-initiative.html
>
> Hockfield thanked the members of the Energy Research Council (ERC) for
> articulating recommendations that will allow MIT, with its unique talents
> and capabilities, to address what she called "one of the most urgent
> challenges of our time."
>
> "The need for new global supplies of affordable, sustainable energy is
> perhaps the single greatest challenge of the 21st century," the report
> stated. "Increasing tension between supply and demand is exacerbated by
> rapidly escalating energy use in developing countries, security issues
> facing current energy systems and global climate change. These converging
> factors create an unprecedented scenario requiring a multifaceted approach
> to increasingly urgent energy issues."
>
> -----------
>
> Ted Moffett
>
>
>
> On 1/15/07, *Tom Hansen* <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:
>
> No offense intended, at all, towards (I didn't even think it existed) the
> Liberal Arts Department of MIT, but quoting Shakespeare's "Macbeth" from an
> MIT website seems just a tad ironic.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> Tom Hansen
>
> Debi et. al.
>
> "Which way to the egress?"
>
> I could attempt an answer... I rehearsed, with poetic inspiration and
> lofty, passionate ideals, philosophical dissection and illumination,
> scientific precision and wonderment, the complexities of political and
> economic systems, the universals and particulars of spiritual struggle, the
> Eros of human compassion and empathy, the unthinkable and horrifying depths
> of evil, cruelty and deception, and...
>
> "The Earth is our mother, and we are all her children, down to the
> most infinitesimal living being...We live or die insofar as we respect this
> truth"
>
> This ridiculous, laughable, simpleton, childlike statement will be
> dismissed my most...It suggests more than I am capable of articulating.  But
> if all that this statement implies was "respected," this might be an answer
> to your question, which for some reason felt I should answer seriously, and
> simply, however silly my response...
>
> Despite my all too human need to feel I have the human condition, our
> place in the universe, figured out, that I can make sense of it all, really,
> I have no clue!
>
> Which way to the egress, indeed!
>
> http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/macbeth/macbeth.5.5.html
>
> *MACBETH*
>
> She should have died hereafter;
> There would have been a time for such a word.
> To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
> Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
> To the last syllable of recorded time,
> And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
> The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
> Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
> That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
> And then is heard no more: it is a tale
> Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
> Signifying nothing.
>
> ---------------------
>
>   Ted Moffett
>
>
> On 1/14/07, *debismith at moscow.com* <debismith at moscow.com> wrote:
>
> Ted, very true. Anyone who believes his or her own bull can lie with a
> straight face, dissemble
> until dawn, and give you a Hale-Fellow-Well-Met firm handshake while
> picking your pocket.
> Politicians have to believe their own BS to get elected. They also have to
> be able to baffle with
> their BS all those voters who will fall for a con.
>
> I met both these men when they were candidates--I knew Brady wouldn't get
> elected because
> he was a real person. While being near Butch raised the hair on the back
> of my neck, I looked
> at the folks around him and knew they were believing everything he said
> and inventing wonders
> he hadn't said, and I knew he was gonna get elected. People love to be
> lied to. Just look at
> those (fewer than six months ago!) Bushites---they know he's a damn liar,
> but they don't care.
> They will invent their own story to justify his lies because they can't
> admit they were conned.
>
> Also keep in mind that the easiest person to con is a con artist...they do
> believe there is a
> quick fix, a magic bean, a real get-rich-quick scheme. Bushites, and
> Otterists, and
> ChickenHawks, oh my....Barnum was right! Which way to the egress?
>
> Debi R-S
>
>
>
>
>
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