hmmmmm interesting.....

Water: Economic Commodity or Human Right? -- Christiana Z. Peppard

Author
Christiana Z. Peppard

April 2, 2015

Water is essential to biotic existence, and it is not a value-free substance, even as the availability of fresh, clean water is often taken for granted in the United States. In other parts of the world, billions of people lack potable water; their lives are constrained by its absence.

Fresh water is also a necessary resource for generating economic wealth and political power; corporations and governments contend over water in many regions of the world.

Who owns water, allocates it, manages it, receives it—in what ways and for what reasons? These are political, economic, and ethical questions.

Structurally entrenched patterns of privilege and injustice—such as access to fresh water—require action on many levels of scale and with the input of variegated forms of situated, moral creativity. In the twenty-first century, such issues of political ecology should interface productively with religious ethics.

Consider water: Should it be understood primarily as an economic commodity or as a fundamental human right? Fresh water is not like most other environmental goods or services. It is sine qua non (fundamental to ecosystemic and human existence) and sui generis (there is no substitute).

These features are universal but are not uniform. Yet for a range of reasons it took the United Nations General Assembly until 2010 to affirm a fundamental human right to water.

Given the U.N.’s rather recent endorsement, it surprises many observers that the Catholic Church has taken a moral position on this issue since at least 2003—insisting, in no uncertain terms, that fresh water is a unique and essential substance for human life; that it is a gift from God; and that therefore access to fresh water should be considered a fundamental human right.

In fact, the hierarchical magisterium has even referred to fresh water as a “right to life” issue, which is no small claim in the pelvically-focused United States. How might this insight resonate with environmental justice movements in the twenty-first century, in and beyond the pews?

Like many U.S. municipalities, the city of Detroit has significant segregation between relatively affluent (often white) middle-class suburban families and downtown residents with compressed earnings—many of whom are African-American, some of whom are unemployed.

During the summer of 2014, attempting to limit economic losses as part of the city’s bankruptcy management, Detroit Water and Sewerage District (DWSD) began shutting off water supply to accountholders in arrears, ranging from corporate clients to individual homeowners.

Implementation was uneven. Stories trickled out of people—some elderly, some homebound, many living below the poverty line—whose water had been cut off without an apparent appeals process.

National outcry by local water justice advocates attracted international attention, leading to a public condemnation by the U.N. special rapporteur on water and sanitation. Discrimination charges were filed by legal aid organizations on the grounds that the shutoffs disproportionately and unfairly affect African-American residents.

Detroit's arrangements of political economy, urban infrastructure governance, and structural racism converged to privilege certain human bodies over others and reveal that problems of environmental (in)justice exist right in the backyard of middle America.

These contests over water resonate globally with patterns of privilege and disenfranchisement in global political economy, even while specific cases vary. Ethical reasoning and prudent, justice-oriented norms for action in this planetary context can benefit from the engagement of religious communities and moral traditions.

The Catholic Church’s global, public endorsement of the right to water is but one example. There are many others.

In Detroit, where questions of water and justice remain visible and vexed, support for disenfranchised people can—and should—take practical, embodied forms.

One compelling and recent example comes from Islamic Relief U.S.A., which along with the Michigan Muslim Community Council donated $100,000 to defray water bill payments for impoverished Detroit residents. “It is important to us in our faith to help our neighbors,” said the CEO of Islamic Relief USA in January 2015.

To be sure, religious cosmologies or moral principles will not save the planet on their own. But they are crucial, often vibrant repositories of values and practices that might just help to make the world a more just, sustainable place—one municipality or human right at a time.

Resources :

Peppard, Christiana Z. Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and the Global Water Crisis. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2014.

To learn more about the stance of the Roman Catholic Church on the issue of water, see, for example, the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2004) , chapter 10.

United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Detroit’s water shutoffs target the poor, vulnerable and African-Americans.” October 20, 2014. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15190&LangID=E .

Couch, Robbie. “Muslim groups give $100,000 to help Detroiters Without Water, Say ‘It’s Part of Our Faith to Help’.” Huffington Post , January 8, 2015, Impact: What's Working. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/08/muslim-group-detroit-water_n_6437506.html

The authoritative, catalyzing text on U.S. environmental racism is Robert D. Bullard, Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality, third edition (Boulder: Westview Press, 2000).

For a recent analysis by a religious ethicist, see Willis Jenkins, The Future of Ethics: Sustainability, Social Justice, and Religious Creativity (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2013), chapter 5.

Image: Industrial sites (Zug Island and US Steel) on Detroit River, 2014; Credit: Corey Seeman / flickr creative commons. To comment, email Managing Editor, Myriam Renaud, at DivSightings@gmail.com .

To subscribe to Sightings and receive it by email every Monday and Thursday, please click here .
Author, Christiana Z. Peppard , (Ph.D. Yale University) is Assistant Professor of Theology, Science, and Ethics at Fordham University. Her research focuses on ethical analysis of modes of valuing fresh water in an era of economic globalization and climate change, and on the construction and deployment of the concepts of nature and of human nature. She is the author of Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and the Global Water Crisis (Orbis Books, 2014). Peppard is also a Fordham University Public Voices Fellow and her work has appeared in TED-Ed, CNN.com , Microsoft's Global Innovators in Education blog, the History Channel, and the Washington Post. @profpeppard

See all articles by Christiana Z. Peppard

Topic Tags: Christiana Peppard Catholic Church Detroit U.N. structural racism environmental justice water rights Islamic Relief USA

World Water Day , on 22 March every year, draws the world's attention to the importance of water.  Damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption. Today, 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home; affecting their health, education and livelihoods. Sustainable Development Goal 6 commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and includes targets on protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution. World Water Day 2018 will also mark the launch of the Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development (2018-2028) .

What is this year's theme?
The theme for World Water Day 2018 is ‘ Nature for Water ’ – exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21 ^st century. Nature-based solutions have the potential to solve many of our water challenges. We need to harmonize ‘green’ infrastructure with ‘grey’ infrastructure wherever possible. Planting new forests, reconnecting rivers to floodplains, and restoring wetlands will re-balance the water cycle and improve human health and livelihoods.

How can you get involved?
Water is an ubiquitous part of our lives. World Water Day is an occasion to dive into great stories about nature and water . If you are the creative type, there is a collage competition that has your name on it.  The UN Chronicle's March edition " The Quest for Water " explores how we can ensure the availability and sustainable management of water for all and the High Level Panel on Water issued its report " Making Every Drop Count ". However you choose to spend the day, either in nature or at home learning more about it, help spread the message about the importance of clean water for sustainable development using #EveryDrop ! You can also share your ideas in a dedicated discussion on the UNAI Member Forum .

Research : https://academicimpact.un.org/

Harnessing cosmic or zero-point energy is possible

Staff Writer

Waking Times

In a world of problems and solutions, few ideas spur both immediate hope and skepticism as the idea of free energy, and, on the brink of ecological disaster , nothing may be of greater importance to the human race.

The story of Nikola Tesla is a remarkable reminder of how our economic, political and media systems create our reality, because it shows how human ingenuity can be co-opted, shut-down, taken-over and hushed by powerful people with financial interests at stake. Fortunately, the legacy of Tesla lives on and people are now more interested than ever in his theories about cosmic energy and his patents for energy systems that could offer promise for liberating earth from dependence on fossil fuels.

Could it be that his vision has finally come to fruition and has been made available to the public, some 100 years after his patent for a fuel-less electricity generator?

“This new power for the driving of the world’s machinery will be derived from the energy which operates the universe, the cosmic energy, whose central source for the earth is the sun and which is everywhere present in unlimited quantities.” – Nikola Tesla

In March of 2014, a small group of independent engineers and developers released to the public open-source plans for a continuously running fuel-less electricity generator based on a patent by Nikola Tesla, and re-designed by inventor James Robitaille. Calling it the Quantum Energy Generator, or QEG, the portable device is supposedly capable of producing enough electricity to power a modern home, and is about the size and weight of a home gas generator.

“The Quantum Electric Generator system (QEG) is an adaptation of one of Nikola Tesla’s many patented electrical generator / dynamo / alternator designs. The particular patent referenced is No. 511,916, titled simply “Electric Generator”, and dated January 2, 1894 (see back of this manual). The adaptation is a conversion from a linear system, to a rotary system.

The QEG prototype is scaled to produce electrical power in the range of 10-15 kW (kilowatts) continuously, and can be set up to provide either 120 Volt or 230-240 Volt single phase output. We are also planning future designs to provide 3-phase power.” [ Fix The World ]

Developed by an organization known as the ‘ Fix the World Council ,’ and promoted by the lively Hopegirl , the prototype for the QEG was recently crowd-funded by over 600 independent contributors, and the plans for the QEG have been made available to the public for download here:

Download Plans for the Quantum Energy Generator here..

or Try this Link as well…

This means that the public now has access to the technical designs for this free-energy device, and if it works, and if it proves to be a viable option for creating electrical energy, then we may finally have the opportunity to bypass the energy monopoly and spread the technology of free energy to the world. In addition to downloading the publicly available open-source plans, people may also be able to purchase a pre-manufactured unit from an affiliated firm, so the race is now on for independent engineers and citizens to verify the efficacy of this declared revolution in energy.

“An effective way to understand the operating principal of the QEG is to think of it as a high-powered self-resonant oscillator (what they used to call a ‘multivibrator’), adapted to transform high-voltage pulses (15 to 25kV) into line voltage AC output, at current levels up to 120A.  In today’s alternative energy terminology, it would be a type of resonance machine.

The circuitry that develops high power in this device is really based on an existing but under-utilized power oscillator configuration, however, the ‘quantum’ part of the design has to do with how the generator is started. Conventional alternators (AC generators) usually have a device called an ‘exciter coil’. This coil is usually a smaller, separate rotor winding that provides an AC voltage that is rectified and used to power the generator’s field coil(s).

In the QEG, there is no internal, common exciter coil, and no rotor windings. In addition, to look at the circuit diagram, it is not apparent where the input power comes from to start resonance, and this is key; the QEG exciter coil is external to the generator, and the excitation signal is conducted through the quantum field (zero point) into the generator core, to start oscillation. Once the machine builds up to the resonant frequency, it powers itself (self running).”  – James M. Robitaille

Conclusion

Given the decades long propaganda campaign against free-energy , it will no doubt take some convincing to first prove to the public that harnessing cosmic or zero-point energy is possible, and then it will surely face a mainstream media blackout as well as persecution from government and industry.

Never-the-less, this is an exciting announcement and we challenge our readers to get the word out to help prove if this design is in fact what it claims to be.

Please have a look at the plans for the QEG, and pass them along to anyone who may be able to assist in the effort to verify and proliferate this technology.

Here is a video demonstration and explanation of the Quantum Energy Generator…

http://www.ultimatepowerfreedom.com/?aff_id=125 ... want to learn more click the video

About the Author

Terence Newton is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com, interested primarily with issues related to science, the human mind, and human consciousness.

Sources:

– http://www.fixtheworldproject.net/
– http://hopegirl2012.wordpress.com/
– http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/tesla/esp_tesla_25.htm

This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

~~ Help Waking Times to raise the vibration by sharing this article with the buttons below…

Build a Hand Crank Generator From a Dishwasher Motor

Save the landfill and make something useful. Manual generators have been used to produce small amounts of emergency power for many years. You can find them on a number of things like weather radios and even electric lanterns. These are used extensively for people who live in areas that are commonly susceptible to severe weather and power outages. This DIY article was designed to introduce the reader to an easy to assemble hand crank generator.

This DIY Project was created, posted and shared with all of the readers at a website called Freedom Prepper. All the things that are needed can be easily found at almost any supply or hardware store. The information is presented in a way that makes it really easy to read and follow, but it could be useful to have a little bit of electrical skills. Learn about how easy it can be to repurpose an old dishwasher motor and turn it in a working generator. The project describes all of the needed materials, supplies and tools needed to get started and there is a video that includes a full instruction of how the system works.

https://youtu.be/n8mzi0u-rd8

the only way to learn is putting your hand and mind to work ...

Es grandioso tomarse un respiro y analizar a golpe de vista todo lo que se discute en las redes sociales en nuestros grupos de Asgardia es como asomar por una ventana y mirar la noche estrellada más espléndida jamás vista.

Al mirar de cerca el cuerpo de algunos acalorados temas imagine a alguien que coloca la pelota en el campo con una intención específica, esta es tomada por muchos jugadores para verter sus ideas y forma de pensar y la pelota ya no es una en el campo se diversifica, se fractura a diversos puntos de lo que de inicio fue; no hay conclusión, hay un seguimiento de puntos de vista es una metáfora cuántica de la realidad de muchos en un mismo terreno. Entonces es como mirar el firmamento, pero ya no por la ventana, sino con un telescopio y alcanzar a notar mundos distantes, microcosmos que no percibimos a golpe de vista y que viven realidades distintas a las nuestras pero están en la misma galaxia nuestra.

Ellos en los grupos discuten y todos lo hacen en una misma sintonía animados por el impulso del tema puesto como la pelota en el campo de juego, cada uno vibra con diferente intensidad y su ideología, nacionalidad y marcos de referencias permiten que sigan el curso de los acontecimientos. Algunos estudiosos miran a la teoría de cuerdas como ese momento en podemos contemplar la vibración de un concepto y dicen los físicos que cada uno de estos, lo hará en diez dimensiones, la naturaleza y sus exactitudes establece  esto, no me pregunten el porqué es así, en realidad como observadora me he servido de estas formas de ver la realidad para explicar lo que ahora me ocupa.

Todos queremos ser comprendidos, interactuar, ser protagonistas en el campo imaginario de la discusión que planteé más arriba y ser respetados en la justa dimensión, pero cuántos realmente lo hicimos y hasta qué punto logramos en la interacción no perdernos en los fragmentos y de esa forma filtrar lo esencial que nos hace destacar como un universo unificado.

Al final de cuentas necesitamos llegar a un punto que le de forma y sustento a lo que se dice y ocupa un espacio en el cuerpo del texto y de su éxito o fracaso podríamos aprender mucho o perdernos en la confusión de puntos de vista.

.... even the sun is a limited resource.... we need to determine how to recycle as much as we possibly can ... in ways that no one has ever thought of before... what can we do to ensure we are leaving no footprint in space outside of what is necessary?   There’s so much garbage in orbit already... we need to help clean it up.... for our own safety.. the safety of our satellites And the future of any long term established colony’s should we go that route.... thoughts?

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace  6 April 2018

For University Students ..!

Firat University,  Faculty of Sports Sciences , Seminar Saloon, Elazig, Turkey

Date / Time : 06 April 2018   14:00 -15:00

Moderator

Assoc.Prof.Sebahattin Devecioglu

For More Information: https://april6.org/

Contact : sdevecioglu@gmail.com

Organisation : PEACE BALL PROJECT

My Events : https://april6.org/en/my-events.html

Media : http://peaceballproject.com/

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace  6 April  ( Peace and Sport )

Due to its vast reach, unparalleled popularity and foundation of positive values, sport is ideally positioned to contribute towards the United Nations’ objectives for development and peace. In the Declaration of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sport’s role for social progress is further acknowledged:

"Sport is also an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives."

To raise awareness of this potential, 6 April was declared as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) by the UN General Assembly. The adoption of this Day signifies the increasing recognition by the United Nations of the positive influence that sport can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development.

In its Resolution (A/RES/67/296) establishing the Day, the General Assembly “invites States, the United Nations system and, in particular, the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, relevant international organizations, and international, regional and national sport organisations, civil society including, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, and all other relevant stakeholders to cooperate, observe and raise awareness of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.”...

http://www.un.org/en/events/sportday/

Celebrate International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

April 6 is the United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, which recognizes the power of sport in promoting peace and erasing cultural barriers worldwide.

The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace promotes healthy lifestyles and emphasizes the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) focus on giving as many people as possible access to sport. It is day when some of the world’s leading sportspeople work together with communities to bring sporting opportunities to enrich lives, particularly children.

About International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

The IOC and the UN have a long-standing commitment to using sport as a tool for social change and have worked together on many projects over the years. Both organizations have used sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, to bridge cultural understanding and improve education, health, economic and social development.

On August 23, 2013, the UN proclaimed that the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace would be celebrated on April 6 each year. This date also marks the opening of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/sport-day .                                                     April 6 Peace and Sport  :
At the UN headquarters in New York, on 23 August 2013, the UN General Assembly declared 6 April as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) – a decision that represented a historic step in recognizing the transformative power of sport and its great potential in advancing positive social change.
This day is commemorated globally each year by international, regional, national sport and development organizations to honour the role that sport plays in society, whether by encouraging healthier lifestyles, making sport more widely accessible or using it as a vehicle for development in areas made vulnerable by conflict, poverty and inequality.
The two first editions of IDSDP were celebrated all over the world by a diversity of actors involved in using the benefits of sport to connect people to a wide range of development and reconciliation efforts.
For more information: https://www.peace-sport.org/
·         on the projects held in 2017
Get more information on International Day of Sport for Development and Peace:
- on the IOC website
- on the United Nations website (read Mr. Ban Ki Moon’s message)
- on UNOSDP’s website
- FOR MORE IFORMATION https://www.april6.org/en/
With the 4th edition of International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Peace and Sport is urging all stakeholders and supporters of the peace through sport movement to mobilize their efforts for the annual event.
The online platform www.april6.org to list and promote all actions and events which celebrate April 6.
The #WhiteCard Campaign
#WHITECARD A SYMBOLIC INITIATIVE TO CELEBRATE THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE.
To celebrate 6 April, Peace and Sport invites you to rally around the symbol of a #WhiteCard as a sign of your commitment to peace efforts worldwide.
Whether or not you registered a project on the April6 website, #WhiteCard allows you to demonstrate your support for the peace through sport movement in your part of the world.
This digital campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is supported by the Champions for Peace and many other personalities.
Thanks for your support!
https://www.april6.org/en/white-card/the-origins-of-whitecard.html

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace  6 April  ( Peace and Sport )
https://www.peace-sport.org/
Developed by ‘Peace and Sport, L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport’,
april6.org is a website intended for stakeholders worldwide wishing to
celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
For more information, please visit our website www.peace-sport.org
Media : http://peaceballproject.com/

Hola a todos, si visitas mi perfil, creo que las cuentas no tienen nada especial. Escribiré aquí mis experiencias todos los domingos sobre Asgardía y lo que valla leyendo en los foros. Actualmente me encuentro llevando una vida tranquila en Villa Alemana, Valparaíso, Chile y estoy muy agradecido de pertenecer a esta comunidad tan especial.

Un abrazo hermanos mios y pronto subiré otra entrada.

This is a repost of a  text response   I made to a post on the FB page about the possible creation of a 6th branch of service in the US which I call The (Asteroid Rangers)

All earth nations play the same game whether it be nukes or chems . doesn't matter who it is or who gets hurt .The main powers play at proxy wars, they all train together and any Earth nation with a viable space program has already placed weapons of one sort or another in space . China has it killer sats ,Russia has had them for years .And I sure the US has them also . so the next logical step is to place Asteroid Rangers in orbit . First one nation then another and another so on and so forth A lot of what you hear in the news is mutual distraction of the masses .Like I said earlier they all train together . The US and China train their Navies together along, with Oceania and India along with South Korea, Japan and other nation along the south china sea and Indian ocean .Russia and the US train together while at the same time fighting a proxy war in Syria. and China and Russia also train together Asgardias goal and mission to protect the Earth not control nations . We are to keep out of earthly conflicts as per our Constitution . and concentrate our energy's on Science and setting up or Space Arks and outposts . Generating income for Asgardia is also our mission ,from Agro to solar to space mining ,ect..ect... Just saying