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Conserve water, yes,
but we must do more
Re. “California needs to update water conservation standards,” Page A6, April 7:
I appreciate that Bob Hertzberg and Tracy Quinn want to update the conservation standards; times change and we must address those changes. However, conservation alone will not solve the water shortage problem. This may buy us some time, but does not address the root cause; nature will not provide enough water. Climate change will only exacerbate it. If we don’t produce it, the droughts will worsen.
Desalinating water requires energy to pressurize it through filters. We need a better way. We can put desalination plants on barges and move them along our 840 miles of coastline to where they are needed most. We should also develop a mechanism to harness the power of the waves to pressurize the water or pump a generator.
In the meantime, we must conserve, but cannot depend on future reservoirs to capture rainwater that won’t come.
Jim Cauble
Hayward
Better ways to deal
with medication errors
Re. “Nurses worry conviction for dosing mistake could cost lives,” Page A3, March 31:
My immediate reactions to the RaDonda Vaught case are anger and frustration. Most importantly, I feel concerned and stressed about my future as a nursing student.
Medication errors are undesirable outcomes for the nurse, patient and the patient’s family. Punishing the nurse will not make medication errors go away. As mentioned in the article, it is estimated that 7,000-10,000 fatal medication errors are made a year. Does that mean we are going to punish more than 7,000 nurses each year? Our country is already facing a shortage of nurses; serious punishment will only give nurses one more reason to quit and advise young people to avoid the nursing profession.
Perhaps we should think about how we can best support nurses to avoid medication errors, such as a change in institution policies, a supportive working environment and accessible training opportunities.
Manying Sun
San Leandro
History says even Putin
could be prosecuted
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine and has said a tribunal similar to that in Nuremberg after World War II should be set up.
In 1946, many former officials of the Nazi German government were convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace. In other trials after World War II, commanding officers and their subordinates were both convicted. Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita and Japanese General Masaharu Homma, the latter of whom had been in charge when the Bataan Death March happened in 1942, were held accountable and executed. German SS officer Joachim Peiper and more than 40 of his subordinates were initially sentenced to death for the murder of at least 85 American prisoners of war in the Malmedy Massacre in late 1944.
Individual Russian soldiers, their commanding officers, and even Putin himself can be charged under the Nuremberg laws.
Steven (Paul) Raymond
San Leandro
Time for U.S. to take
active role in Ukraine
President Biden, by virtue of being president of the United States, is also the de facto leader of the free world. Now is his time to act.
Biden should call our allies and tell them we are going into the Ukrainian conflict and ask for their support. Then he should go on worldwide TV and radio with translations in as many languages as possible including Russian and announce that we are committing airplanes, arms and troops and demand the Russians cease their invasion and leave immediately. He should tell the world we will not stand for the Russians trying to re-establish their 19th-century empire by viciously and barbarically trying to conquer a peace-loving nation.
Remind the world of the approximately 50 million-80 million people killed worldwide in World War II when the world failed to stand up to the dictators of that era and let it be known that we won’t sit by and watch it happen again.
Roger Wood
Fremont
Replicate UN Ukraine
efforts in Palestine
The United Nations’ efforts to help Ukraine are welcomed, and the same should be applied to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967.
The Israeli occupation is continuing including the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes, and Israeli settlements are being built in the Palestinian territories.
I am hopeful the Biden administration will request the United Nations Security Council approve the following:
1. Israel must stop building its settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and begin negotiations with the Palestinians to end its occupation of the West Bank and the strangulation of Gaza Strip.
2. Israel should not hinder the Palestinians’ efforts to hold their democratic elections under the supervision of the United Nations.
3. The Palestinian state and Israel should enter into negotiations to resolve the question of the Palestinian refugees on the basis of international law.
Amer Araim
Walnut Creek
Source: www.mercurynews.com