Russia

2023 Interesting New GeoPolitical Maps

2023-09-12 …

1.  Previously known as the International Community … before the #USA #NATO #UK #EU / #Ukraine / #Russia #ProxyWar … now known as the ‘West’, the ‘Hegemons’, the ‘War Mongers’, the ‘Ex-Colonial Powers’ (Footnote A), the ‘Slave Masters’, the ‘Climate Disruptors’ … and that tiny little speck in the Persian Gulf Region is #Israel (an Apartheid, Criminal State in blatant breach of so many United Nations Resolutions).

[ 2023-10-31: Right now, when unified and concerted global action on Climate Disruption is urgently required … this fracture in the ‘International Community’ is becoming more serious as a result of Israel’s Barbaric and Sadistic War Crimes in the Gaza Ghetto. ]

[ 2023-12-15: The #GlobalSouth, as well as general populations in the ‘West’, are witnessing irreparable damage being caused to the ‘Social and International Order’, referred to in Article 28 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (#UDHR), by the actions of Israel and its criminal accessories USA and UK. ]

[ 2024-02-22: Nada Tarbush Speech at U.N. Meeting of the Arms Trade Treaty, in Geneva | Western Support for Israel is Underpinned by #Racism … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDh1VBlhoSs ]

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Home Truths From Afar …

2015 University of Chicago Lecture by Prof. John J. Mearsheimer, Political Scientist & International Relations Scholar: The Causes & Consequences of the Ukraine Crisishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4&t=1034s

2023 Committee for the Republic ( www.committeefortherepublic.us ) Lecture by Prof. Mearsheimer: Where is the Ukraine War Going ?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-rHBRwdql8

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Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits & 1936 Montreux Convention …

During this War in Ukraine, Türkiye has the right to block passage of Warships and Military-Aid Vessels.

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2.  Expansion of the BRICS Group of Emerging Economies … Brazil, Russia, India (Bhārat), China & South Africa …

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3.  Global Competition With China’s 2013 Belt & Road Initiative …

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4.  Europe After Brexit … a complex extrication process which has caused significant disruption to neighbouring countries … and considerable bad feeling among an even wider group of European Union Member States.

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5.  African Countries finally throwing off the Yoke of France (and Emperor Macron) … and telling both of them to take their Military Bases back home …

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On 16 September 2023 … Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso signed a security pact – Alliance of Sahel States – which binds the signatories to assist one another (including militarily) in the event of an attack on any one of them … https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/16/mali-niger-and-burkina-faso-establish-sahel-security-alliance

A few days later, still in September … France to Withdraw Ambassador & Troops from Nigerhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/france-to-withdraw-ambassador-and-troops-from-niger

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6.  Climate Disruption … Social Upheaval … Mass Migrations …

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[ Footnote A: Europe’s Colonial Past … ]

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#Twitter (#X) … @walshcj69 …

#InternationalCommunity #UN #RobustInternationalLaw #LastingPeace #HumanRights #West #Hegemons #WarMongers #ExColonialPowers #SlaveMasters #ClimateDisruptors #Türkiye #Mearsheimer #UkraineCrisis #UkraineWar #War #Apartheid #Israel #CriminalState #IndependentPalestine #GazaGhetto #BRICS #Brazil #India #Bhārat #China #SouthAfrica #Europe #Brexit #Africa #AfricanUnion #Mali #Niger #BurkinaFaso #France #EmperorMacron #MilitaryBases #Climate Disruption #SocialUpheaval #MassMigrations #MENA #Desertification #Refugees

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

BREXIT & EU Construction Products Regulation 305/2011 ~ Woeful Implications for Britain’s Fire Industry

2020-09-08:  Ignoring Britain’s silly sabre-rattling, toothless threats and boorish blackmail attempts reported in the Media during this past weekend, yesterday and today … the actual state of play in the tortuous Brexit Negotiations can best be judged from the following sources …

Michel Barnier’s Presentation to the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA), on 2 September 2020 … View it Here on YouTube

Britain’s National Audit Office Report: ‘Learning for Government from EU Exit Preparations’, dated 4 September 2020   (Download PDF File, 197 Kb)

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Map of Europe, in colour, showing the current extent of the European Union.  Points to Note:  a) Europe, as a continent, extends as far as the Ural Mountains in Russia;  b) From 1 January 2021, after an implementation period of one year, Great Britain will be entirely outside the EU and the Single Market;  c) The EU is not a Christian organization and as soon the political classes in certain countries (e.g. France and The Netherlands) get over their hysterical hatreds, Turkey will enter the EU as a full Member State;  d) furthermore and eventually, an Independent Scotland will re-join the EU.  Click map to enlarge.

This is the European Union (EU), a Single Market of approximately 450 Million consumers.  The EU operates under the freedoms and protections of Codified / Written Law, i.e. EU Treaties ratified by all of the EU Member States, EU Secondary Legislation (Regulations and Directives), and EU Administrative Provisions.

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A suite of EU Regulations and Directives covers Industrial Products.  While there is some flexibility with regard to how Directives are implemented at national level in the Member States, no such flexibility exists with Regulations.  Construction Products can only be placed on the EU Single Market if they can be shown to comply with the requirements of the EU’s Construction Products Regulation (CPR) Framework, or in other words, be shown to be ‘fit for their intended use’ in the European Union …

REGULATION (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, dated 9 March 2011, laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC   (Download PDF File, 998 Kb)

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EU Regulation 305/2011.  Article 13(2) Before placing a Construction Product on the market, Importers shall ensure that the assessment and the verification of constancy of performance has been carried out by the Manufacturer.  They shall ensure that the Manufacturer has drawn up the Technical Documentation referred to in the second sub-paragraph of Article 11(1) and the Declaration of Performance in accordance with Articles 4 and 6.  They shall also ensure that the Product, where required, bears the CE Marking, that the Product is accompanied by the required documents and that the Manufacturer has complied with the requirements set out in Article 11(4) and (5).

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BREXIT ~ IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BRITISH FIRE INDUSTRY

Trade ‘No Deal’ or ‘Minimal Deal’ … from 1 January 2021, Great Britain will be completely outside the European Single Market, and the EU’s Construction Products Regulation Framework.  The designation ‘Notified Body’ under that Framework will fall away from British Organizations.  Construction Products/Systems manufactured in, or supplied from, Britain will then have to undergo an entirely new EU Testing and Approvals Programme in order to access the European Single Market.  Fire Safety related Construction Products will have to be tested, and assessed or appraised, against all 7 Basic Requirements for Buildings together, during the same period of time (see Annex I, EU Regulation 305/2011) …

      1.  Mechanical Resistance and Stability
      2.  Safety in Case of Fire
      3.  Hygiene, Health and the Environment
      4.  Safety and Accessibility in Use
      5.  Protection against Noise
      6.  Energy Economy and Heat Retention
      7.  Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

… a process which will be very interesting to observe, since the Fire Industry (particularly England’s Fire Establishment, AHJ’s, etc) dislikes, with intensity, the whole idea of ‘environmental impact’ … the concept of ‘sustainable development’ is hardly understood … and no consideration is given to the reasonable fire safety and accessibility needs of ‘vulnerable building users’ (including people with activity limitations, refugees, migrants, etc).

The tragic 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire, and its sad aftermath, have demonstrated how dysfunctional, and rotten to the core, is the whole national system of Building Fire Safety in England.  More than 3 years later … on the evidence to date of an ongoing, incompetent Inquiry and a series of shoddy responses from Government … will survivors and the victims’ families ever receive Justice, and find Peace ?   cf. The 1981 Stardust Discotheque Fire in Dublin.  Survivors and victims’ families are still waiting for the truth to be revealed.

In parallel, mutual recognition of British Professional Building Designers, e.g. Architects, Structural Engineers, Fire Engineers, etc., within the European Union will cease.

In parallel, British Fire Research involvement in EU Research Networks will also cease … unless a heavy price is paid to be involved as a 3rd Country.  British Institutions should forget any notions they might have about Network Leadership.

In parallel, Information and Data Flows between Britain and the EU will be disrupted or cease altogether … unless Britain complies fully with the requirements of EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.  As a vassal state of the USA, this compliance may prove difficult for Britain !

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EU Fire Safety Related Product/System Manufacturers ~ A Word of Caution !

Many EU Construction Product/System Manufacturers continue to use the services provided by British Fire Test Laboratories and/or Fire Consultancy Organizations located in Great Britain … some of which have already established EU-based dummy companies and letterheads.  These British organizations must be avoided altogether.  For example, the practice of fire testing in England and later adding a title page of a Full Test Report with an EU location address is entirely unacceptable !

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England’s 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire – Never Again Elsewhere ??

2018-06-12 …

As we approach the First Anniversary of the Grenfell Tower Fire Tragedy, in England, on 14 June … a few days ago, on 4 June 2018, the first batch of Grenfell Expert Witness Reports were uploaded (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44356660) to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Website (https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk/) for public view.

At this time, in London … multiple, fragmented investigations are taking place into the actual fire incident … the role of the Local Authority, and building management … those involved in the refurbishment (‘tarting up’) design and construction … the fire services, particularly their ‘Stay Put’ Policy and how it adversely impacted on vulnerable Tower occupants during the emergency … and the highly flawed regulatory model of Building and Fire Codes with light-touch Control, which is still operating in England.  One of Murphy’s Laws immediately springs to mind with regard to the intended ineffectiveness of this overly-complex process !

Colour photograph showing Grenfell Tower in the background … undergoing an almost complete ‘cover-up’ … with, in the foreground, mementos of the Fire Tragedy fixed to railings by local residents. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2018-04-29.

Many other countries have adopted some or all of this modern English regulatory model which, after the repeal of an older Bye-Law format, has been shaped by political expediency, cost-effectiveness and general ineptitude … with little or no adaptation to local conditions in the adopting jurisdictions.  Ireland adopted this model with some, but not a lot, of adaptation.

Fire Safety In Ireland ?

On 6 June 2018 … while that investigative activity was hitting the headlines in England … Minister Eoghan Murphy, T.D., Ireland’s Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, quietly published the Report: ‘Fire Safety in Ireland’http://www.housing.gov.ie/local-government/fire-and-emergency-management/fire-safety/eoghan-murphy-publishes-report-fire … by a High-Level Task Force within his Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, after serious concerns and fears had been expressed in the public media that a similar fire tragedy might also occur in this jurisdiction.

To be crystal clear … this Report is a Bureaucratic Whitewash … an insult to the Public !  Nice sounding technical ‘blarney’ camouflages a failure to deal directly with critical issues, and answer concerns … while other important issues are avoided altogether.

May 2018 – Ireland’s Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government Report

Fire Safety In Ireland  (PDF File, 2.55 MB)

Expanding on my comments in the Interview with Barry Lenihan, on RTE Radio 1’s Drive Time early evening news programme on Friday (2018-06-08) …

A.  Initially, Irish Local Authorities were requested to carry out a preliminary survey to identify all buildings of more than six storeys, or 18m in height.  Specifically, they were asked to identify those buildings which had an external cladding system which might be a cause for concern.

This height threshold of six storeys/18m is arbitrary … an external cladding system can be just as much a cause for concern in a building which is lower.  Imagine discarded cigarette butts or a rubbish fire at the base of such a system … and the resulting speed of fire spread and development across a building façade !

B.  The highly flawed regulatory model of Building and Fire Codes, with light-touch Control, which resulted in the Grenfell Tower Fire Tragedy … we also have.  Wake up and smell the coffee Ireland !

At the beginning of the 1990’s, when Ireland had been persuaded by the European Commission to finally introduce legal, national building regulations having a functional format … our National Authority Having Jurisdiction, in desperation, grabbed the then Approved Documents for England & Wales … brought them back to Ireland, put Irish covers on them, and originally called them ‘Technical Documents’ … but, after seeing a tiny ray of inspiring light, later changed their title to the more accurate ‘Technical Guidance Documents’ !  This hunger for adopting all things English which are fire safety related continues to this day … with a similar, ongoing division of Technical Guidance Document B: ‘Fire Safety’ into 2 Separate Volumes.

This may have been a convenient response under pressure … but it has been very short-sighted.  It has impeded the growth of a comprehensive and coherent philosophy on Safe, Inclusive, Age-Friendly, Resilient, Sustainable Planning, Design and Construction Codes/Controls which is suited to an Irish context and responsible local needs (not desires!).

C.  Everywhere … this Report has a lot – too much – to say about Fire Risk Assessment !  After the Grenfell Tower Fire, however, Fire Risk Assessments must only be carried out by competent persons … and the process of Fire Risk Assessment, itself, must be radically improved !  And of course, prior to any Risk Assessment … a proper Fire Hazard Appraisal must be carried out.

D.  To accurately present Fire Safety Trends in Ireland … it is not enough to furnish reliable fire fatality statistics.  It is also necessary to produce reliable fire injury statistics … and reliable information on direct/indirect socio-economic losses.

E.  The quality of fire safety related construction on Irish Building Sites continues to be very poor and problematic.  Fire Compartmentation is nowhere near being adequately – never mind acceptably – reliable !  And during the last few years we have had quite a number of close-calls concerning fire incidents in medium-rise residential buildings.

F.  Fire Evacuation for people with activity limitations is still handled atrociously in our current building regulations.  This is ironic because, on 20 March 2018 last, Ireland had to be dragged screaming to ratify the U.N. 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) !

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Positive Progress By Another Path !

1.  Abandon the outdated English functional requirements in THEIR building regulations … and adopt a far better, more up-to-date body of functional requirements which is already on the Irish Statute Books … Annex I of the European Union’s Construction Products Regulation 305/2011.  And because there are important horizontal linkages between requirements … immediately finish the ridiculous current separation between Fire Safety requirements and all of the other requirements.  And yes … new Technical Guidance Documents will have to be drafted.

.Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 9 March 2011, laying down harmonized conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC

EU Regulation 305/2011 – Construction Products.  See Annex I

(PDF File, 998 Kb)

2.  Yes … ‘Persons Having Control’ of buildings have responsibilities with regard to fire safety.  But that is only one side of the coin !  National and Local Authorities Having Jurisdiction have greater responsibilities.

If we are at all serious about Consumer Protection … bad, inadequate, faulty construction must be prevented beforehand … it is too late, too costly and, in many cases, too impractical to correct afterwards.  Self Regulation by building design professions and construction organizations is NO Regulation !  Stringent, independent technical control inspections must be carried out on all projects by Building Control personnel … which used to happen in Dublin City/County and Cork City/County prior to the introduction of legal building regulations in the early 1990’s … and, depending on complexity, must also be carried out at critical stages during the construction process.

Building Control Sections in all Local Authorities must be properly resourced with competent personnel, equipment, training and support infrastructure.

Inspections concerning compliance with all functional requirements in the building regulations, including fire safety, must be carried out only by Building Control Personnel.  Chief Fire Officers must not be allowed to manage or be involved in any aspect of Building Control.  On the same project … a Disability Access Certificate Application and a Fire Safety Certificate Application must be inter-linked and overlap sufficiently, showing no gaps in compliance.  Inspections must be carried out in connection with all Certificate Applications.  Building Control personnel must satisfy themselves that actual construction at least matches, if not improves upon, what is shown in design documentation.

Building Control Inspection Reports must be made available for public view.

3.  Firefighters are NOT a disposable Social Asset !  National and Local Authorities Having Jurisdiction … and some Chief Fire Officers … must begin to understand this fundamental truth !

Fire Services in all Local Authorities must each be properly resourced according to local needs … with competent personnel, equipment, training and support infrastructure.  Shared provision of resources looks very neat on paper but, in practice, works very badly.  Refer to the Grenfell Tower Fire and London Fire Brigade having to borrow firefighting equipment from other Fire Services.

After the 2015 Tianjin Regional Fire Devastation, in China, and the 2001 WTC Attacks on 9-11, in New York City … front line firefighters must be supported by Specialist Hazard Appraisal and Structural Engineering Units.

For Firefighter Safety in buildings and to quickly find people with activity limitations waiting in Areas of Rescue Assistance and/or other survivors in different locations … a portable and reliable Thermal Imaging Camera is an essential piece of every firefighter’s equipment.

And Firefighter Safety begins with good building design.  In all but the most simple building types, Circulation Routes must be designed for Contraflow … people moving away from a fire in a building and towards safety while, at the same time, heavily equipped firefighters are entering the building and moving towards the fire.

Colour photograph showing Contraflow on a building staircase … people moving down a staircase away from a fire and towards safety while, at the same time, heavily equipped firefighters are moving up the staircase towards the fire. Click to enlarge.

There is no place for ‘Stay Put’ Policies in Irish Residential Buildings of any height.

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Ireland’s 2017 Oireachtas Report: ‘Safe As Houses’ …

December 2017 – Houses of the Oireachtas – Joint Committee on Housing, Planning & Local Government

Safe As Houses ?  A Report On Building Standards, Building Controls & Consumer Protection

(PDF File, 1.01 MB)

This was a good effort by our public representatives … but they missed core issues !

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After The Grenfell Tower Fire !

Further to my last Blog, dated 2017-10-10 …

The 2017 Fire in England was not an extraordinary fire.  Since the beginning of this decade, we continue to see a series of such fires: South Korea (2010) – UAE & France (2012) – Chechnya (2013) -Australia (2014) – UAE, Azerbaijan & UAE again (2015) – UAE (2016) – UAE & Russia (2017) – Turkey (2018).

With regard to Command & Control of Large Scale Emergencies … English AHJ’s should have paid attention to the 2005 & 2008 U.S. National Institute of Science & Technology (NIST) Recommendations following the 9-11 WTC Buildings 1, 2 & 7 Collapses.

The Fire Safety Objectives in current Building & Fire Codes/Regulations are very limited.  In Ireland, this is clearly stated in Technical Guidance Document B …

‘ Building Regulations are made for specific purposes.  Part B of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations is therefore primarily concerned with the health, safety and welfare of persons.  The fire safety measures outlined in this guidance document are intended for the protection of life from fire.’

Only insofar as it is necessary to protect the lives of able-bodied building users/occupants … is there a concern for property protection.

There is only inadequate, token concern for the protection of people with disabilities.

Client organizations, facility managers, building designers, construction organizations … and journalists … must fully comprehend these limits.

In the photograph below … look closely at the External Firefighting Operations at the bottom of the Tower.  There are limits to what can be achieved from outside a building !

Colour photograph showing the developed fire at Grenfell Tower, in London. At the bottom of the Tower, external firefighting operations can be viewed. Click to enlarge.

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  • A Fire Suppression System (Water Sprinklers/Mist/Hybrid) is an essential Fire Protection Measure in ALL Medium and High-Rise Residential Buildings … which include Apartment Blocks, Hotels, Hostels, Student Accommodation & Social Housing, i.e. ANYWHERE there is a Sleeping Hazard.

 

  • A Reliable and Credible Fire Detection & Warning System is an essential Fire Protection Measure in ALL Buildings … and must be capable, under the control of Building Management, of transmitting warnings in many formats, i.e. Audible + Visual + Multi-Lingual Voice + Tactile.

 

  • Fire Evacuation Routes in Buildings must be designed for CONTRAFLOW … people moving away from a fire and towards safety while, at the same time, heavily equipped firefighters are entering the building and moving towards the fire.

 

  • Good Fire Evacuation Route Design is INTUITIVE and OBVIOUS.  In many buildings, however, this is not always the reality.  Effective Fire Evacuation Signage … comprising high-level signage, low-level signage, with both supplemented by photoluminescence … must be installed in ALL Buildings.

 

  • For the purpose of protecting Vulnerable Building Users in Fire Emergencies, ALL Lifts/Elevators in Buildings must be capable of being used for Evacuation.

 

  • Fire Risk Assessments must NO LONGER be carried out by people WITHOUT COMPETENCE in Fire Engineering AND Building Design & Construction … and the Fire Risk Assessment Process itself must be thoroughly re-examined and upgraded.

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Sustainable Human & Social Development – Reloaded !

2014-04-13:  Further to the Post, dated 2013-01-13

There are many essential qualities and features belonging to and representative of a Sustainable Human Environment (including the Social, Built, Virtual and Economic Environments).  As discussed here many times before … Accessibility-for-All is one fundamental attribute, under Social and Legal Aspects of Sustainable Human and Social Development.

Another fundamental attribute … Urban Resilience … is now moving centre stage in the world of International Construction Research & Practice.  WHEN, not if … this concept is fully elaborated and understood, it will have a profound impact on All Tasks, Activities and Types of Performance in the Human Environment … under All Aspects of Sustainable Human and Social Development.

After working for many years on Climate Change, particularly Adaptation … it was quite natural for me to encounter the concept of Resilience.  But the aim of a newly established Core Task Group within CIB (International Council for Research & Innovation in Building & Construction) is to widen out this concept to also include Severe Natural Events (e.g. earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis), Complex Humanitarian Emergencies, (e.g. regional famines, mass human migrations), Extreme Man-Made Events (e.g. 2001 WTC 9-11 Attack, 2008 Mumbai ‘Hive’ Attacks), and Hybrid Disasters (e.g. 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Incident) … to set down Resilience Benchmarks … and to produce Resilience Performance Indicators.  An imposing challenge !

AND … as Urbanization is proceeding at such a rapid pace in the BRICS Countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) and throughout the rest of the Southern Hemisphere … ‘practical’ and ‘easily assimilated’ trans-disciplinary output from this CIB Task Group is urgently required.  In other words, the work of the Task Group must not be permitted to become an exercise in long drawn out pure academic research … the clear focus must be on ‘real’ implementation … As Soon As Is Practicable !!

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A New and Updated Groundwork …

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SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

The ethical design response, in resilient built and/or wrought form, to the concept of Sustainable Human & Social Development.

SUSTAINABLE HUMAN & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Development which meets the responsible needs, i.e. the human and social rights*, of this generation – without stealing the life and living resources from the next seven future generations.

*As defined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights … and augmented by UN OHCHR Letter, dated 6 June 2013, on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

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The CITY (as Region)

A geographical region, with open and flexible boundaries, consisting of:

(a)              An interwoven, densely constructed core (built environment) ;

(b)              A large resident population of more than 500,000 people (social environment) ;

(c)              A supporting hinterland of lands, waters and other natural resources (cultivated landscape) ;

together functioning as …

(i)                 a complex living system (analogous to, yet different from, other living systems such as ecosystems and organisms) ;     and

(ii)               a synergetic community capable of providing a high level of individual welfare, and social wellbeing for all of its inhabitants.

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SOCIAL WELLBEING

A general condition – in a community, society or culture – of health, happiness, creativity, responsible fulfilment, and sustainable development.

INDIVIDUAL WELFARE

A person’s general feeling of health, happiness and fulfilment.

HUMAN HEALTH

A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.     [World Health Organization]

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SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

The complex network of real and virtual human interaction – at a communal or larger group level – which operates for reasons of tradition, culture, business, pleasure, information exchange, institutional organization, legal procedure, governance, human betterment, social progress and spiritual enlightenment, etc.

The social environment shapes, binds together, and directs the future development of the built and virtual environments.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Anywhere there is, or has been, a man-made or wrought (worked) intervention by humans in the natural environment, e.g. cities, towns, villages, rural settlements, service utilities, transport systems, roads, bridges, tunnels, and cultivated lands, lakes, rivers, coasts, seas, etc … including the virtual environment.

VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

A designed environment, electronically generated from within the built environment, which may have the appearance, form, functionality and impact – to the person perceiving and actually experiencing it – of a real, imagined and/or utopian world.

The virtual and built environments continue to merge into a new augmented reality.

ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The intricate web of real and virtual human commercial activity – operating at micro and macro-economic levels – which facilitates, supports, but sometimes hampers or disrupts, human interaction in the social environment.

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And So To Work !!

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Towards a More Balanced View of the World ?

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Summit, which was held in Denmark from 7th-19th December 2009 … should be a very loud wake-up call for Europeans.  When the ‘real’ political action was taking place towards the end of the Summit … the European Union was out to lunch … nowhere to be seen … irrelevant to global events !!

The Fracture of the 2007 UNFCCC Bali Consensus at the 2009 Copenhagen Summit … the sharp division between the ‘have’s’ and the ‘have-not’s’ of our small planet … signals one more stage in the development of a process which, I believe, began back in September 2003 … when the World Trade Talks collapsed in Cancun, Mexico.  At least, that’s when I noticed that the world’s political map was beginning to change dramatically.  Geo-political adaptation ?

Anyway … I certainly was not happy with the Balance of the media reporting from Copenhagen.  So, I have added Links which will bring news and views directly from other locations …

–   Brazil, China, India, Russia, Venezuela, Turkey & Cuba ;

–   The Arab World ;

–   The ALBA Group of Countries in South America.

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Europe Pretending to Lead the Way on Climate Change ?

2009-03-06:  In August 2008 … I travelled to Bengaluru (Bangalore), in the south of India, to attend a Fire Conference organized by the Fire & Safety Association of India (FSAI).  A year earlier, I had been with them in Chennai (Madras), also in the south.  My own father, Con, had been a teacher in the north of the country from about 1930 onwards, so I had always wanted to see the country for myself.  He was caught there, by the way, during the 2nd World War and could only travel back home, to Ireland, in 1947.

 

Much to the amusement of local people, the means of transport I decided to use … guaranteeing a vivid experience of the varied local sights, sounds and smells … was an Auto-Rickshaw … a three-wheeled scooter, with an open yellow cab on the back.  It is a common form of transport in the large cities of India.  This was a serious effort … no messing around in the sealed cocoon of an air-conditioned taxi !

 

 

These 2 Photographs were taken during the rush hour traffic, early one morning, in Bengaluru.  The roads were jammed solid with traffic … every type of vehicle … crawling along at a snail’s pace.  The driver of my Auto-Rickshaw was bent over the handlebars … always coughing … heaving a loud, jagged-rough, deep cough … 

 

Colour Photograph showing the View from Inside an Auto-Rickshaw during Morning Rush Hour Traffic in Bengaluru, Southern India. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2008-08-07.
Colour Photograph showing the View from Inside an Auto-Rickshaw during Morning Rush Hour Traffic in Bengaluru, Southern India. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2008-08-07.

 

The reason for his coughing … you can see an actual pollution haze to the right of the frame below … a haze so thick, that it almost had to be parted with your hands in order to see ahead …

 

Colour Photograph showing the Pollution Haze during Morning Rush Hour Traffic in Bengaluru, Southern India. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2008-08-07.
Colour Photograph showing the Pollution Haze during Morning Rush Hour Traffic in Bengaluru, Southern India. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2008-08-07.

 

This is the reality of everyday life on the ground in one of the economically more advanced ‘developing’ countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa (BRICS) – where far too many people are chasing the dream of our reality in Europe … a reality created from the plunder, over hundreds of years, of those same ‘developing’ countries.

 

This is why the European Union must lead by ‘real’ example when it comes to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.  But, is it ‘real’ ????

 

This is why Ireland must begin to properly face up to its responsibilities under Kyoto I, the EU 2020 Targets, and a probable Kyoto II International Agreement to be finalized in Copenhagen towards the end of 2009.

 

This is why the United States of America must stop prancing around our fragile planet like a spoiled, immature child … and engage seriously with the rest of us.  We have lost all patience ! 

 

 

Copenhagen & the European Union … 

 

On 28th January 2009, the European Commission issued COM(2009) 39 final

 

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee & the Committee of the Regions – Towards a Comprehensive Climate Change Agreement in Copenhagen.

 

On Page 2 of the Communication, the Executive Summary commences …

 

‘ The successful conclusion of the international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 is a key priority for the European Union (EU).  Now that the Climate & Energy package has been adopted, the EU must step up its contacts with third Countries, both in the UN context and beyond.’

 

A paragraph later, it continues …

 

‘ In order to limit the global average temperature increase to not more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, developed countries as a group should reduce their emissions to 30% below 1990 levels in 2020.  The EU has set the example by committing to a 20% reduction in its emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2020, irrespective of whether or not an international agreement is concluded.  This is by far the most ambitious commitment by any country or group of countries in the world for the post-2012 period.

 

The EU is willing to go further and sign up to a 30% reduction target in the context of a sufficiently ambitious and comprehensive international agreement that provides for comparable reductions by other developed countries, and appropriate actions by developing countries.  Developing countries as a group should limit the growth of their emissions to 15-30% below business as usual.’

 

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