From dust bowl to California drought: a climate scientist on the lessons we still haven’t learned

Recent interview with Peter Gleick, the co-founder of the Pacific Institute, a global thinktank that has become a leading voice on water issues in California and around the world, showed us the real issues with droughts in California. He stated that they weren't just a strange, accidental dry periods but due to climate change, they're increasingly the norm. During last drought there people learned a little about how to improve water efficiency yet they still seem to not realize the situations are not random. I think that, as Peter Gleick said, the first, biggest step in our fight with climate is to make everyone realize that it absoltely is changing and it's a serious problem. People should start caring more about how much they pollute the air and waste water. It's nowadays very cheap so people don't think much when they use it. But the reults of it in California are what they hate the most - droughts. They really should see that it's their fault and try to improve the situation. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/29/california-drought-climate-dust-bowl

Italian ‘king of absentees’ allegedly skipped work for 15 years

A hospital employee in Italy had been skipping work for 15 years until authorities noticed. He was still getting paid his monthly salary - €538,000 - even though he wasn't worrking at all. In an investigation police found out that in 2005 the man supposedly threatened the hospital director in order to keep her from filing a disciplinary report over his absenteeism. She was then retired and he continued his absence at work since it never was checked anyway. Now at the age of 67 he's finally facing charges: abuse of office, forgery and aggravated extortion. Six managers are also being investigated on suspicion of helping him. In my opinion this article only showed how unprofessional the hospital directors were. It took them too much time to acknowledge that they had been paying to someone who wasn't attending work. I'm able to understand the first director because she was threatened and scared to do anything about it, but people having the position after her definitely should've checked if everyone wass really working. The hospital should be managed better because it's a serious institution and having a wrong list of working doctors could cost some people a lot. I hope that the man will repay somehow for what he did because working there is very stressful for doctors and nurses since they are responsible for other lives. His absences could've caused serious issues. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/21/italian-king-of-absentees-allegedly-skipped-work-for-15-years

An end to cigarettes? New Zealand aims to create smoke-free generation

New Zealand has a plan to make the country smoke-free by 2025 because it's a problem there and about 4500 citizens die of it every year. The plan is to increase the legal smoking age, reduce the nicotine in tobacco products, prohibit filters, set a minimum price for tobacco and limit the places where it can be sold. The strongest of the proposals is to make smoking illegal for people born after 2004. Some people and healthcare officials say it's a good idea to finally put the end to this problem, but some express the opinion it won't work because people wiil just buy it more and illegally to show they don't agree with the idea. I think that it's an intresting thing. It's probable that it won't work at all, but I think it's worth giving a try since it rather wouldn't make the smoking problem worse and could be a start of its fall in the world. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/16/new-zealand-aims-to-create-smoke-free-generation-cigarettes

Police called to Harry and Meghan’s California home nine times since July

After Harry, Meghan and their one-year-old son, Archie moved into their house in sothern California in July, police have been called there nine times. First four calls were in July, with one call listed as a phone request, and others labelled “alarm activations”, all happening in early. Next one was in November, then on Christmas Eve and shortly after that on Boxing day due to a man trespassing. The latest one was in the middle of February, listed as an alarm activation. There's no comment about the situation from representatives of the Sussexes, or the sheriff’s department. In interview with Oprah Winfrey the couple revealed that the royal family is not responsible now for the management and cost of their security, so they have to do it by themselves. I think that it's an unpleasant situation for Harry and Meghan, because they are not entirely safe and have to worry about all the alarms and people breaking in. They don't deserve to be in a position like that just because they decided to quit as working royals. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/08/police-called-to-harry-and-meghan-california-home-nine-times