Canadians deliver water to protest Detroit shutoffs

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Again, you may think everyone should have a right to free fresh water, but that's not the reality, nor the law. Some lame U.N. resolution does not make it so. When I lived in Thailand I didn't have piped in fresh water. A truck came by once a week and filled up a big vat. When I visited the Bahamas they collected rain water from the roof because they can't drill wells there. So people have to get off their rear to get some water. BFD. People have it much rougher in the majority of the world.

A lame UN resolution back by the U. freaking S. of A. We are not Thailand. We are not a developing country we are a world leader, a hegemonic state.

[Karee 4,190]

A lame UN resolution back by the U. freaking S. of A. We are not Thailand. We are not a developing country we are a world leader, a hegemonic state.

So where's the U.N. resolution for Thailand? Or Sri Lanka for that matter? Seems a little unfair to me that they're only passing resolutions concerning the U.S.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

and here is the problem in a nutshell

Another feel good do nothing everything is a right big city, under liberal leadership, thought it would be cool to not cut water service off for not paying. This went on for years. The word spread. People got wise and stoped paying their water bills. It became a well known practice.

Then one day low and behold, they figured out the water dept and purification plant does not run on good will, and they were seriously broke. They had run off most paying citizens and business with their taxes and liberal policies.

Then it was like, wait, we are owed 90 million. That would pay the salaries, keep up the water system that has Detroit so far, and help us keep clean fresh water coming to Detroit. Then they just started cutting of bills for non-payment. All of a sudden Joe Smith comes home one day and his water is cut off and he is enraged. How dare they. Despite the 9 late warnings he got, he thinks this is unjust. Well word slowly stats getting out. The dept should have given them a month or two warning it was going to start running like a real city

Here is the cheat sheet. Once you get folks on that Govt teat, you got to pull them off slowly.

A lame UN resolution back by the U. freaking S. of A. We are not Thailand. We are not a developing country we are a world leader, a hegemonic state.

What wanker signed such a thing giving the UN any say so over America

[Janelle2002 3,865]

So where's the U.N. resolution for Thailand? Or Sri Lanka for that matter? Seems a little unfair to me that they're only passing resolutions concerning the U.S.

I don't know about Thai, but Sri Lanka is trying. If you look at their streets now, they have construction everyone putting in pipes, making roads. The village areas, where our house is, have well. We have a water system that we turn on and off that pumps water from the well into the house. For those who do not have water that run directly into their house, there is at least a facet that has been placed in a central location that people can run water out of including run water in the buckets to flush their boo boo and pee pee down the toilet.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

For the record, I'm donating.

[Karee 4,190]

I had these neighbors when I lived in Detroit. They'd rather spend their money on crack cocaine instead of paying their utility bills. So the gas company would turn off their gas. They somehow figured out how to keep turning it back on. Finally one day a big truck showed up with a backhoe on a flatbed. They went into the backyard and dug up the gas line. Problem solved.

One day I was out on the front lawn and this big black van pulled up, about 10 cops in SWAT gear piled out of it, ripped the front door off the hinges, raided the house, and hauled everyone off to jail. I'm in no way saying that's what's going on here, but just a story I remembered from my days living in Detroit.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Since so many of you had a sudden burst of illiteracy and glaucoma when LIB posted his link, to the place you can go to pay someone in Detroit water bill. Here it is again

http://http://detroitwaterproject.org/

What you say guys. Who s in ?

For the record, I'm donating.

You spoil everything. I hate you

[Karee 4,190]

For the record, I'm donating.

Better than having these Canadians drive 30 miles polluting the environment and wasting precious fossil fuels to deliver a gallon of water.

See I am concerned about the environment!

ETA: Not to mention the $9 round trip tunnel toll they have pay. Plus clogging up the PoE. Probably some Canadian K-1 holders that aren't happy having to wait in line behind a bunch of people with a few jugs of water.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Karee

[Janelle2002 3,865]

and here is the problem in a nutshell

Another feel good do nothing everything is a right big city, under liberal leadership, thought it would be cool to not cut water service off for not paying. This went on for years. The word spread. People got wise and stoped paying their water bills. It became a well known practice.

Then one day low and behold, they figured out the water dept and purification plant does not run on good will, and they were seriously broke. They had run off most paying citizens and business with their taxes and liberal policies.

Then it was like, wait, we are owed 90 million. That would pay the salaries, keep up the water system that has Detroit so far, and help us keep clean fresh water coming to Detroit. Then they just started cutting of bills for non-payment. All of a sudden Joe Smith comes home one day and his water is cut off and he is enraged. How dare they. Despite the 9 late warnings he got, he thinks this is unjust. Well word slowly stats getting out. The dept should have given them a month or two warning it was going to start running like a real city

Here is the cheat sheet. Once you get folks on that Govt teat, you got to pull them off slowly.

What wanker signed such a thing giving the UN any say so over America

I think I have made my point.

Thank goodness for the humanity of the Canadians and other citizens who will not sit by and let this tragedy take place.

[lostinblue 1,989]

For the record, I'm donating.

I am proud of you Marvin.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

For the record, I'm donating.

WHATTTT???? Don't say that!! They may think you are unAmerican!

[JohnR! 5,495]

For the record, I'm donating.

That will cause heads to explode. If English were my first language I'd remind you that some here, in their infinite self-imposed unawareness, will not be able to reconcile your religious affiliation with charitable actions. Run for cover.

[JIJourney 96]

Canadians deliver water to protest Detroit shutoffs

Matt Helms, Detroit Free Press7:09 p.m. EDT July 24, 2014

(Photo: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)

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DETROIT — Protesters fighting water shutoffs in Detroit greeted a convoy of Canadians who traveled to the city with hundreds of gallons of water to help those who have been cut off because of unpaid bills.

Maude Barlow, a leading water rights advocate in Canada, and other activists brought 750 gallons of water in a seven-vehicle convoy that traveled through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to deliver the water and the message that the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's policy of shutting off service to delinquent customers violates the United Nations' 2010 declaration that water is a human right.

"What that means is that every country in the world is responsible for looking after their most vulnerable people," said Barlow, national chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, a social advocacy group. "It means that every country in the world is not allowed to turn the tap off of water that is already being delivered, and it means that nobody has the right to say no to water for people who cannot afford it."

USATODAY

Detroit faces heat over water shutoffs

It was the latest protest since the city declared a 15-day pause in shutoffs of residential customers as Detroit drew international attention for cutting water service in an effort to collect millions of dollars in unpaid bills.

Detroit says it has 90,000 delinquent accounts totaling more than $90 million. The city has been stepping up collections efforts since last fall, and in April and May alone cut off service to more than 7,500 customers — moves that have prompted outrage among groups that advocate for poor people in a city with deep unemployment and the scars of decades of neglect.

USATODAY

Detroit suspends water shutoffs for 15 days

The shutoffs drew criticism from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, who said the policy was giving the city a negative image even as it fights for its financial future in its historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy case.

City officials told him they're working to expand education efforts and to pull together more financial assistance for customers without the means to pay.

Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, also was in the convoy and said that, while the water the Canadians delivered was small, it was meant to be a symbolic criticism of corporate, right-wing policies that pit poor people against others.

"America is better than this," he said. "If the richest country in the world can bail out banks and bail out Wall Street with public money, then public money from the state level and the national level can be used to help the people of Detroit who are in harm's way health-wise without water."

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This is one of the most interesting articles on here! lol

[Peikko 1,575]

Better than having these Canadians drive 30 miles polluting the environment and wasting precious fossil fuels to deliver a gallon of water.

See I am concerned about the environment!

It was symbolic, you know, let's make a point to highlight that this is a ridiculous situation and deserves world attention.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Do we need the discussion about who invented crack cocaine and introduced it into homes?

I know! I know! Teacher pick me!!

The one who introduced it and then declared the "war on drugs."

I would love to know who invented crack ?