Жара в Европе усилит нагрузку на службы спасения и повысит риск пожаров

If there's something that could be predicted with the greatest confidence at present, it's that this summer the organizations in charge of search and rescue will be having much more to do than ever before. While the number of traffic accidents will certainly not decrease in these months, incidents are likely to multiply around our beaches and seas. That must be the expectation if the summer becomes very hot, as has already happened in most parts of Europe. Apart from the citizens, elderly or otherwise so, who'll find themselves physically very stressed by the heat, the dangers could increase of fires breaking out in situations where people are not so used, when storing materials and scrap items, to take sufficient precautions against excessive and sustained temperature build-ups. Civil protection work is often very tough and dangerous. No doubt, the personnel who carry it out are continually being trained in the best available techniques with which to respond to the crises that arise. It's difficult to schedule the work they carry out. There are moments when it seems like emergencies are no longer so frequent, then suddenly they boil over. In all cases, the readiness to respond steadily and adequately is paramount. It makes sense for the public to be kept informed about the crucial work that is being done in this sector. *** PROGRESSIVE What does it mean to be "progressive" in this day and age? Or perhaps better - what does being progressive involve? The distinctions between left, right and centre seem to have crumbled. The major controversies usually arise about the environment, questions related to how taxes should be adjusted and by how much, and rules covering sexual behaviour and discrimination of all sorts. Regarding these issues contrasting positions can be taken independently of "ideological" positioning. In the liberal soup, everything gets scrambled to reach decisions based on technocratic criteria, frequently wrapped in a (pseudo)managerial discourse which  calibrates decisions according to rigid frameworks that do not always reflect the reality. Debates rarely deal with choices that relate to fundamental values. They focus mainly on who is getting what and how he/she will be having to pay something back in (preferably nothing at all). Truly, the description of what constitutes progressive today has become lost in the mists. *** MEMORIES OF NIXON US Vice-President Vance recently made an interesting comment: If what President Nixon had done in the 1970's was carried out today, no political hurricane would have arisen to drive him to resign. Just as interesting were the counter-comments to Vance's remarks by The Atlantic magazine: While the Vice-President was correct in his assessment, it does not follow that the storms which arose around Nixon were much ado about nothing. Very valid claims made then, which still hold, convinced even representatives of Nixon's party in Congress to turn against him. The problem is not that what was done at the time was wrong but that the standards of governance have declined enormously in the meantime, by way of respect for the rule of law, of personal political behaviour and of executive transparency. Surely these developments will end up creating huge problems for American society... and in other places where the same has been happening.