Monthly Archives: August 2010

Hello John,

Re: UN Access to drinking water is a human right July 30, 2010

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By a 121-0 vote, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution stating that access to drinking water and sanitation is a human right. The United States and 40 other nations abstained.
Argh!
If it’s a “right”, then who has the “duty to pay for it”?
I can say “pink elephant”, but that doesn’t mean it exists.
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I agree that there is no right to drinking water and no one has a duty to provide drinking water, per se.

The Declaration of Independence states that all men have a right to life. This means that we should not deny another man the right to life. Since lack of air would cause death in about 3 minutes, denying air is denying life and would be wrong. One cannot live for more than 3 to 5 days without water, so denying water would be wrong, and one can infer a right to not be denied water. This is not the same as a right to water. This is probably why the US abstained.

This is why when several rivers burst into flame because of pollution, the US government passed the Clean Water Act requiring the waters of the US be cleaned. Subsequently the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed regulating those who provide drinking water.

Note that one does not have to provide drinking water. One may not destroy sources of clean water and if one does provide drinking water, then it must be of high quality. The duty is not to provide drinking water. The duty is not to deny safe drinking water by your actions as an individual or a group.

Municipalities provide drinking water because the very density of a municipality would otherwise deny access to safe drinking water. People who choose to live in a municipality, therefore must provide drinking water to mitigate the denial of drinking water that would occur because of the density of people. In rural areas, people still dig their own wells and provide their own septic systems.

Note that the single greatest productivity advantage the US has over the rest of the world is its fine drinking water. Illness from poor drinking water is the greatest source of poor productivity outside the US.

I hope that this helps.

Regards,
Mark A. Mangone

Mangone, Mark (1977)

[JR: I think that if we look at the cases of pollution, we'll find the Gooferment or it's "regulated" corporations deeply involved. It's tragic that we can't economically get clean water to everyone. But again, I think investigation will show that the culprit is Gooferment. We have to keep that "terrible and powerful servant" under very tight control. We don't; so we have problems and consequences. The UN declaring it a "right" will justify them using force on others to "provide" it. And, along the way, lucrative opportunities for their friends, relatives, and toadies. Argh!]

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http://www.monitordaily.com/Story_Page.asp?News_ID=26314&Type=TopStories

U.S. Bank EF Names Hackett Account Manager, Technology Finance Group

Friday, August 27, 2010

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John,

I believe that Paul Hackett is a member of the class of 1983.

Ed

McEneney Edward J. (MC1959)

[JR: Thanks, Ed. Much appreciated.]

Hackett, Paul [MC1983]

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From: Dans, Peter E. (MC1957)
Subject: Computer Glitch
Date: August 28, 2010 10:48:51 PM EDT
To: FJohn68

Hi John:

Thanks for noting my website in Jasper Jottings. When I clicked the url in your post, it comes up Error 404. When I copy it and put it in the Google slot and hit enter, it comes up fine.

That’s what so daunting about computers for us old-timers.

Best,

Peter

[JR: Hmm. Sounds like the link is "screwed up" in the document. Have to take a look.]

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[JR: Yup, the link should have been: http://www.physicianatthemovies.com; when I cited it as www.physicianatthemovies.com, it makes the address http://www.jasperjottings.com/2010/www.physicianatthemovies.com. That's obviously wrong. I'll see if I can redirect that from the website.]

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[JR: I put a redirect on http://www.jasperjottings.com/2010/www.physicianatthemovies.com to go to http://www.physicianatthemovies.com. SO even though it's wrong in the document it goes to the correct site.]

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