There's a high cost involved in the commercialization of drinking water, especially in under-developed countries. 

                                                                                                                                                            Irena Salina is the director of FLOW (For Love Of Water), which was produced by Steven Starr. 

Six years in the making, FLOW  debuted at the prestigious Sundance Festival almost a year ago, but Starr notes that it was still timely then and remains so now.
 

Watch the trailer for FLOW here:

You can also add your name to the petition to add access to fresh water as Article 31 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Companies that sell bottled water in this country are now looking to make expanded use of agricultural water rights, Starr says, an approach that may require redefining the scale of those rights.

Building on the information contained in the film, Starr has begun a web-based networking site called FreeFlo to enable water rights activists to share ideas and information collaboratively. 

freeflo.org

Mission Statement

FreeFlo is a communication network designed to strengthen the global water activist community, to challenge the privatization of water, to promote solidarity and water justice for all. FreeFlo illuminates issues impacting water ecosystems and individual access to water, and supports local, community-controlled solutions for sustainable water use. Find out more about FreeFlo here.

Falling gasoline prices are a reflection of the broader economic collapse, says a local oil industry analyst, and it probably won't be good news if they stay low.

Richard Heinberg is the author of Peak Everything and The Party's Over, among other books on oil and energy policy issues.

Heinberg says that pump prices and the per-barrel cost of crude were not the only things that peaked last summer.

Reining in oil speculators would be a constructive response to the events of the past year, Heinberg says, but that's only a first step.

The holidays are a peak travel time for the airlines, so knowing your rights as a passenger can help ensure a more satisfactory travel experience.

Former realtor Kate Hanni is the founder and president of the Napa-based Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights. Her Organization maintains a tool-free telephone number for travelers to report standings and other problems, which she says are promptly verified and compiled into a national database.

Flyersrights Hotline: 877-FLYERS6 (877-359-3776)

The Coalition has also prepared a  Stranded Flyer's Survival Guide with a combination of practical and somewhat tongue-in-cheek items to use if you should happen to wind up on a grounded plane.

The New York state legislature was the first in the country to adopt a flyers bill of rights in August, 2007. But the measure was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals which ruled it interferred with federal regulatory authority over the airlines.

Northern California representative Mike Thompson has been a leader in the effort to win Congressional passage of a nationwide airline Passengers Bill of Rights. You can read the draft bill here.

Three generations later, a poisonous chemical used by American armed forces in Viet Nam is still wreaking havoc on the native population.

The effects of the U.S. military's use of Agent Orange in Viet Name are rippling down through the generations of the population there, Merle Ratner says, and so far there is no end in sight.

      To educate the community on the impact of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, the 4th annual Justice for Vietnam Agent Orange Victims will stop in Santa Rosa at the Glaser Center (see map)  on October 29^th 7  pm.   Tran Thi Hoan (right) and Dang Hong Nhut (below), both victims of Agent Orange, will be speaking at the event. To see a map of the Glaser Center location, click here .