The biggest Fraud in Montana history ...

[freegold]

Hi all, please feel free to add your thoughts to the following ...

Missoulas Life giving water is NOT 4 SALE!

Recently. (and I'm sorry I don't have the time right now to properly research this topic) you've ALL read and heard about the stories how the big multi-national Carlyle Group is in the process of BUYING Missoulas water supply! [(www.carlyle.com/company/item1676.html)
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with more than $153 billion in assets under management across 86 funds and 49 fund of fund vehicles.] The Montana Constitution's Bill of Rights supposedly protects "We the People" and "Our Natural Common Environmental Attributes" but somehow some politicians decided they would sell off Our common Water rights (and probably others) to Montana Power Company. Who did this and how are we letting it happen? There is much more buried here besides Water (think of tar sands etc.) Anyway, please feel free to add your input.
In solidarity and peace,
Rick

[josh]

My understanding is that while the H2O itself belongs to the public, the infrastructure to deliver it to our houses does not. It is that infrastructure that is being sold to Carlyle (I wonder if they know we still have wooden pipes in parts of this town). As a practical matter, of course, this distinction doesn't make much difference as, either way, we will still be dependent on Carlyle for a necessity of life and obligated to pay them to receive it. I think that it is a community security issue (you know, like Homeland Security) to allow outside private individuals to have control over our water distribution system and that maybe we should start pressuring the state to use it's powers of eminent domain to obtain the ownership of the system and then hand it over to the city. At this point, I don't know what else we could do.