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Properly Understanding China’s Uncompromising Assertiveness … Before It’s Too Late !

2023-06-28:  Sustainability is not an abstract concept, divorced from current geo-political realities.  Lasting Peace and Robust International Law are fundamental prerequisites for Sustainable Human and Social Development … a truth forgotten, and/or conveniently set aside, by all parties to the savage and immensely destructive #USA #NATO #EU / #Ukraine / #Russia #War.

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USA, 60 Years Ago …

In the tense atmosphere of the Cold War with Russia, and just after the Cuban Missile Crisis a few months earlier … a short extract – inspiring words – from President John F. Kennedy’s Commencement Address at the American University, Washington D.C., on 10 June 1963 …

[ Read and/or listen to #JFK’s Full Speech here: https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-university-19630610 ]

” …  I have, therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived – yet it is the most important topic on earth: World Peace.

What kind of peace do I mean ?  What kind of peace do we seek ?  Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war.  Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave.  I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children – not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women – not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

I speak of peace because of the new face of war.  Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces.  It makes no sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all the allied air forces in the Second World War.  It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.

Today the expenditure of billions of dollars every year on weapons acquired for the purpose of making sure we never need to use them is essential to keeping the peace.  But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles – which can only destroy and never create – is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace.

I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men.  I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war – and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears.  But we have no more urgent task.  …”

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Fast Forward 60 Years To The Present …

The #GroupFeeling towards #China (#PRC) in the same Washington D.C. is an irrational and disturbing mixture of paranoia, panic, fear, jealousy, and war fever.  All too easily, other countries have been sucked into the Hegemonic Agenda of President Joe Biden – an old fashioned, mid-20th Century Cold War Warrior.  Pax Americana, USA #Exceptionalism, weaponisation of the #Dollar, widespread #Sanctioning (at this stage, who isn’t being sanctioned ?), illegal #Trade restrictions, and blatant #HumanRights hypocrisy (see the recent UN Report on the USA #Guantánamo Detention Facility in #Cuba) are all being quietly rejected by the Global ‘South’ and ‘East’.

But who today, in the ‘West’, understands China’s assertiveness … and why it must be uncompromising ?  The #USA’s ideologically-driven ignorance has led, in the past, to enormous blunders … Viet Nam, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, etc., etc.

On 25 November 2020, I was very pleased to give a Virtual Presentation to a private discussion group …

Colour Image showing the Title Page for CJ Walsh’s Presentation: ‘Resilient China After Century Of Humiliation’.  In the centre, an aerial view over the city of Wuhan.  Below, the Title Block for the presentation. At the top, a list of the countries responsible for China’s humiliation.  Click to enlarge this image.  Use the link below to download the Full Presentation of 10 Pages.

CJ Walsh Presentation (2020-11-25): ‘Resilient China After Century Of Humiliation’

Click to download Presentation, 10 Pages, PDF File 5.55 MB

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Using #Taiwan to bait China and ramp up military tensions can only end badly for the ‘West’.  China’s ‘Century of Humiliation’ is over … President Xi Jinping, and the Communist Party of China (#CPC) Central Committee, will certainly not allow that sad history to repeat itself.

The proposal by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to open an office – any type of office – in #Japan is not only ridiculous … it is preposterous.

China is not an enemy of the European Union (#EU) … Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) and Josep Borrell (High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) would do well to remember that !

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[ Footnote 1: Use of Cluster Munitions in Armed Conflicts …

The Convention on Cluster Munitions (https://www.clusterconvention.org/) – adopted in Dublin on 30 May 2008, and became binding #InternationalLaw when it entered into force on 1 August 2010 – was born out of a collective determination to address the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm to civilians caused by cluster munitions.  States Parties to the Convention are committed to the full universalization of the #CCM and to promote its norms, as well as to fully implement it.  Its implementation contributes to advancing the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG’s) and the promotion of International #Peace and #Security, #HumanRights and International Humanitarian #Law.

Convention on Cluster Munitions  Article 1 – General Obligations & Scope of Application

1. Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to:

(a) Use cluster munitions ;

(b) Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions ;

(c) Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.

Question: If the vast majority of NATO Member Countries have ratified this Convention … why has the USA been permitted to supply these munitions to Ukraine ?? ]

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[ Footnote 2: Xi Jinping’s Visit to Ireland in February 2012 …

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#Twitter … @walshcj69 …

#China #UncompromisingAssertiveness #Sustainability #LastingPeace #RobustInternationalLaw #ColdWarI #CubanMissileCrisis #JohnFKennedy #WorldPeace #PaxAmericana #VirtualPresentation #ResilientChina #CenturyOfHumiliation #ClusterMunitions #Ireland #XiJinping

LEED, PassivHaus & BREEAM Housing ~ Atrocious Fire Safety !!

2016-04-11:  It Happened One Night !

And Maybe … if it hadn’t been that particular night, during all the festivities of New Year’s Eve 2015, we would never have heard about the Address Supertall Hotel Fire, in Dubayy (UAE).  A long search on the Internet afterwards led to the detailed, post fire analysis report on the 2014 Lacrosse Docklands Fire, in Melbourne (Australia) … followed by some more searching, and a very large can of worms opened up … similar nasty façade (external fabric) fires in many, many countries … involving large chunks of flaming debris falling from terrific heights, carried by the wind to a significant distance away from the building of fire origin.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

Some people have tried to suggest that the only reason for these fires is inadequate building codes/regulations.  No … the reason for these fires is much more than that … it’s the ‘SYSTEM’ !   In other words, how the International Construction Sector is organized and goes about its ordinary, everyday activities and tasks.  We must also talk about poor quality design and construction … and a lack of stringent, independent enforcement of effective building codes/regulations and standards.  I have written this down many times before … Self-Regulation is NO Regulation !!

It is very clear that Conventional Fire Engineering … as currently practiced, internationally … is no longer ‘fit for purpose’.  For discussion at SFE 2016 DUBLIN.  Check out the Fire Conference Website: www.sfe-fire.eu … and on Twitter: @sfe2016dublin

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IN IRELAND … A 2015 TERRACED HOUSING FIRE …

The general public was shocked and stunned, to put it mildly, by a very rapid and extensive 2015 Terraced Housing Fire on the outskirts of Dublin …

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

[ See my Blog, dated 2011-04-06 … about a different, but related, 2011 Terraced Housing Fire in Terenure, a suburb of Dublin City.]

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

[ Fast forward from 2011 … overtaking Priory Hall (see my series of Blogs) … to Longboat Quay, a large residential development on the south bank of the River Liffey, which flows through the middle of Dublin.  A recent visual/surface inspection of one of the units there revealed not just a poor quality of construction … but a lack of care and attention, with a mixture of incompetence and ignorance thrown in for good measure.]

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

The 2015 Terraced Housing Fire, shown above, should not have been a surprise to the ‘System’ in Ireland.  Research carried out in the U.S.A., Belgium and The Netherlands since 2012, and a serious PassivHaus Apartment Fire in Köln, Germany, on the night of 5 February 2013  … have all shown that the modern home (highly insulated, airtight, packed with electronic equipment and wiring, and fast-burning synthetic furnishings, etc.) is the ‘perfect storm’ of fire conditions and outcomes.  More open residential design + increased fuel loads + new construction systems and materials = faster development of fires, much reduced times to flashover, far less time for occupant evacuation, particularly people with activity limitations … and shorter building collapse times.

The time to flashover in modern high-performance housing, i.e. Sustainable/Green/PassivHaus/Eco/LEED/Bio/+Energy/Low Carbon/BREEAM/Zero Carbon/SMART … can be 7 times faster than in conventional/legacy housing … or less than 5 minutes, compared with just over 29 minutes !

All of this research can be found on the Links & Docs Page of the SFE 2016 DUBLIN Website.

Let us be crystal clear … there is nothing Sustainable/Green/PassivHaus/Eco/LEED/Bio/+Energy/Low Carbon/BREEAM/Zero Carbon/SMART about the post-fire scenes of destruction shown above.  And only for the physical separation between terraces, which can be clearly seen in the last photograph … the fire would have kept spreading.

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URGENT FIRE SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS …

Without a balanced, proper approach to the issue of Fire Safety in this type of modern, high-performance housing … occupant safety is seriously threatened.  And if, in the event of a fire incident, the occupants are asleep … or people with activity limitations are living in the house … that threat will be extremely grave indeed.

Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – Resilience !

So … what needs to change ?   In Ireland, our immediate problem is Timber-Framed Housing (as shown above) … and the following is an outline of what must change … NOW !

  1. Party Walls, i.e. the walls separating one house from another, must be constructed of solid masonry, with a uniform and uncompromised thickness of at least 200mm … plastered on both sides, not dry-lined, for adequate smoke resistance … and be continued above the roof covering for at least 300mm.
  2. An effective Fire Detection System must be installed.  The conventional ‘package’ of one smoke detector per floor in the hallway and staircase of a standard 2 storey semi-detached house is nowhere near being adequate.
  3. An effective Residential / Domestic Fire Suppression System must be installed, e.g. low pressure water mist.  See later post, dated 2016-06-13, for a costed notional installation.
  4. If there is a Controlled Ventilation System, either mechanical or natural, in the house (for the purposes of air quality, heat exchange and energy conservation), it must be linked to the fire detection system.  In the event of a fire incident, the Ventilation System must immediately cease operation, and remain ‘fully open’.  This is in order to mitigate the build-up of high positive pressure, within a confined airtight space, caused by a developing fire … and to provide an exhaust route for smoke and toxic gases … during the short period of time prior to activation of the fire suppression system.
  5. Intermediate Timber Floors and Evacuation Routes, including fire resisting doorsets, must be reliably protected from fire and smoke.  The minimum period of fire and smoke resistance must be linked to local fire service support infrastructure.  In other words, the local fire services must be allowed sufficient time to arrive at the scene of a fire in strength … to search for any occupants still remaining in the fire building … and to bring the fire under control.
  6. Uppermost Ceilings under a trussed timber roof structure, including any trap doorsets into the roof space, must be similarly and reliably protected from fire and smoke.  Once fire enters a roof space, the light trussed timber structure will collapse within a few minutes.
  7. Front and Back Entrance/Egress Doors must be outward opening.  In the 2013 German PassivHaus Apartment Fire, the occupant found it extremely difficult to open inward opening doors and windows because of the high positive pressure caused by the developing fire.  This unusual phenomenon was confirmed in the 2015 Finnish Apartment Fire Tests, when much higher positive pressures were observed.
  8. Internal Linings of External Walls must comprise 2 layers of plasterboard, with all joints staggered … steel fixed, at not more than 150mm centres.  Once fire breaches the internal lining of an external wall, the whole building will become involved in the fire.  Horizontal and vertical fire sealing behind these linings, even if properly installed (!), are too little and too late.
  9. Frontline Firefighters must be supported by specialist structural engineering and hazard appraisal units … and light/portable/reliable Thermal Imaging Cameras must be recognized as a standard tool of firefighting.

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SUSTAINABLE HOUSING & RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS …

These building types are more popularly known as Green, PassivHaus / Passive House, LEED, Eco, Bio, BREEAM, +Energy, Zero / Low / Nearly Zero Carbon, or SMART, etc., etc, etc.   In ALL of these cases, however, an Effective Residential Fire Suppression System MUST BE INSTALLED, e.g. low pressure water mist !

In everyday practice … Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ’s), and the Organizations and Individuals responsible for the far-too-rapid construction of these innovative building types are either completely and blissfully ignorant, or callously and negligently in denial, about the seriously negative impacts on Occupant & Firefighter Fire Safety and Building Fire Protection.

BUT … slowly … more and more reliable evidence is being gathered !   Please visit the Links & Docs Page on: www.sfe-fire.eu … and also view this Presentation on some very interesting 2015 Apartment Fire Tests in Finland: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ss_ONolzLY

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ENERGY CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY UPGRADING OF EXISTING BUILDINGS …

In refurbishment projects where insulation is fixed to the internal surfaces of external walls … similar fire safety problems exist, and they must be solved by reviewing the full checklist above.  Refer again to the PassivHaus Apartment Fire in Köln, Germany, on the night of 5 February 2013 … and to the 2015 Apartment Fire Tests in Finland

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Remembering Dr. Ernesto ‘EL CHE’ Guevara de la Serna Lynch

Update 2020-04-07:  ‘El Che’ Memorial Stamp – Issued by An Post, Ireland.  2017.

Colour photograph of the ‘El Che’ Memorial Stamp, issued by An Post (Ireland’s National Postal Service), in October 2017 … to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Che Guevara’s Assassination by United States/CIA and Bolivian Soldiers in the remote village of La Higuera, Bolivia.  This iconic image of Che is based on a Jim Fitzpatrick Poster which, in turn, was based on a 1960 Photograph* taken by Alberto Korda (Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez).  Photograph of stamp by CJ Walsh.  2020-04-07.  Click to enlarge.

* On Friday, 4 March, 1960, a ship exploded in Havana Harbour, killing more than a hundred workers and injuring many more, including passers-by who rushed to offer help.  The vessel ‘La Coubre’ was loaded with tonnes of weapons which had been bought in Belgium by the Cuban Government and secretly transported to the Caribbean.

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Korda would later recall his magical ‘Che’ shutter experience: “At the foot of a podium decorated in mourning after the tragic explosion, I had my eye to the viewfinder of my old Leica Camera.  I was focusing on Fidel and the people around him.  Suddenly, through the 90mm lens, Che emerged above me.  I was surprised by his gaze.  By sheer reflex I shot twice, horizontally and vertically.  I didn’t have time to take a third photo as Che stepped back discreetly into the second row.  It all happened in a few seconds.”

Korda called this image ‘Guerrillero Heroico’ ; the Che who appeared in it was a human being who was shocked and angry (at such a brazen attack by the United States/CIA in the heart of Havana, so damaging to the Revolution) and mournful (after so many deaths in the explosion).

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2011-10-10:  Yesterday, did anyone remember the myth that is … and the man of Latin America that wasDr. Ernesto ‘EL CHE’ Guevara de la Serna Lynch … assassinated on 9 October 1967, in Bolivia ??

Colour photograph showing a framed head and shoulders of the young Dr. Ernesto 'CHE' Guevara de la Serna Lynch in a small museum in the central square of Yara (Plaza Grito de Yara), Cuba. Centuries earlier, nearby, the Indian hero Hatuey was burned at the stake. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2007-04-10. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing a framed head and shoulders of the young Dr. Ernesto ‘CHE’ Guevara de la Serna Lynch in a small museum in the central square of Yara (Plaza Grito de Yara), Cuba.  Centuries earlier, nearby, the Indian hero Hatuey was burned at the stake.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2007-04-10.  Click to enlarge.

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Dr. Che Guevara addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York, 11 December 1964 …

English Translation: https://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1964/12/11.htm

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Colour photograph showing the memorial in Plaza de la Revolución, Santa Clara, Cuba ... built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Battle for Santa Clara. Unveiled on 28 December 1988, it was designed by the Architect Jorge Cao Campos and the Sculptor José Delarra. The memorial complex also comprises the mausoleum of Che Guevara and a museum. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2007-04-14. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing the memorial in Plaza de la Revolución, Santa Clara, Cuba … built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Battle for Santa Clara.  Unveiled on 28 December 1988, it was designed by the Architect Jorge Cao Campos and the Sculptor José Delarra.  The memorial complex also comprises the mausoleum of Che Guevara and a museum.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2007-04-14.  Click to enlarge.

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Colour photograph showing the memorial in Plaza de la Revolución, Santa Clara, Cuba ... built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Battle for Santa Clara. Unveiled on 28 December 1988, it was designed by the Architect Jorge Cao Campos and the Sculptor José Delarra. The memorial complex also comprises the mausoleum of Che Guevara and a museum. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2007-04-14. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing the memorial in Plaza de la Revolución, Santa Clara, Cuba … built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Battle for Santa Clara.  Unveiled on 28 December 1988, it was designed by the Architect Jorge Cao Campos and the Sculptor José Delarra.  The memorial complex also comprises the mausoleum of Che Guevara and a museum.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2007-04-14.  Click to enlarge.

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Colour photograph showing the memorial in Plaza de la Revolución, Santa Clara, Cuba ... built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Battle for Santa Clara. Unveiled on 28 December 1988, it was designed by the Architect Jorge Cao Campos and the Sculptor José Delarra. The memorial complex also comprises the mausoleum of Che Guevara and a museum. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2007-04-14. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing the memorial in Plaza de la Revolución, Santa Clara, Cuba.  Hasta La Victoria Siempre ! (Ever Onward To Victory !)  Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2007-04-14. Click to enlarge.

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Colour photograph showing a hoarding on the roof of a building in Cienfuegos, Cuba ... which comprises an image of CHE, with the accompanying text "Tu Ejemplo Vive - Tus Ideas Perduran". Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2007-04-13. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing a hoarding on the roof of a building in Cienfuegos, Cuba … which comprises an image of CHE, with the accompanying text: ‘Tu Ejemplo Vive – Tus Ideas Perduran’ (Your Example Lives – Your Ideas Last).  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2007-04-13.  Click to enlarge.

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#ErnestoCheGuevara #ElChe #Bolivia #Assassination #USA #CIA #GuerrilleroHeroico #SantaClara #Cuba #HastaLaVictoriaSiempre #LaHiguera #Revolution #Ireland #CheMemorialStamp