Best Article Of The Week?

The Best “Big-Picture” Article Of The Past Week?
by The Old Hippie Because If You Didn't Read It, How Can You Say... “I Know.”

- Food, Fuel and Water Crises Converging -

“STOCKHOLM, Aug 22 (IPS) - A spectre is haunting the cities and villages of most developing nations, warns a senior official of a World Bank-affiliated organisation.  “It’s the spectre of a food, fuel and water crisis,” says Lars Thunell, executive vice president of the Washington-based International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group.

“I believe we are at a tipping point,” he said, because the scarcity of water poses a threat to the food supply just when the agricultural sector is stepping up production in response to riots over food prices, growing hunger, and rising malnutrition.

Speaking at the conclusion of the weeklong Stockholm International Water Conference Friday, Thunell said the growing demand for water is outpacing supply.

Patti Lynn, campaigns director of Corporate Accountability International, on the role of the private sector. . .

The crisis stems from a confluence of problems, but perhaps no contributing factor is more insidious and correctable than the privatisation of the resource,” she told IPS.  “When people’s access to clean drinking water is reliant on the profit interests of a handful of transnationals, all of us pay a premium and because of this many of the world’s poor go thirsty.”

Asked if the international community will meet the MDGs relating to water and sanitation by 2015, she said: “Not if we don’t change immediate course.”

For one, she said, the World Bank needs to stop making water privatisation a condition for their loans.

“As long as the greatest crime of the 21st century remains unprosecuted,
we all...  can only blame ourselves, and deserve our collective fates.”

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A “Below The Fold” bonus -related- link - Food Energy Water crisis -
[using Google’s “Blackle” version of their search engine.]

A “Below The Fold” bonus -The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See- (part 1 of 8)

“And probably the most boring.  But then again, when I told that to my students
and had them give me feedback, most said that if you followed along with what
the presenter, (a professor emeritus of Physics at Univ. of Colorado-Boulder,)
is saying, it's quite easy to pay attention, because it is so compelling.”

- Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - 
[Each ‘Part’ is approximately 10 minutes, and well worth the time.  Enjoy an excellent lecture...]