View Full Version : Concerns about concrete scare in buildings
As many of you probably know there's been much talk in the news over the past week or so about defective school buildings that are constructed from a certain form of concrete that have suddenly been closed for safety reasons and to allow for remedial work to commence.
Over the past couple of days it's been discovered that the problematic concrete was also used in various other buildings and structures (built between the 50s and early 90s) and hoping my day centre isn't one of such premises that might be condemned, even though it mostly appears to be built from normal bricks with pebble-dash rendering on one side and about a third of the front of the building.
While not exactly the same per se, I can sense a bit of early Covid pandemic 'deja vu' with this situation right now, especially as quite a few of the concrete issues were already known about some 5 years ago but as per usual the authorities and the govt were caught napping, just like during the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, whose events back then, just like now with this current concrete scare, were just the 'tip of a very large iceberg'.
Although things might now be starting to change but for quite some time now a sizeable proportion of the population have increasingly become indifferent to politics and seemingly disinterested in voting period in elections, let alone for other parties as an alternative to the current bunch of jokers (e.g, Labour, Lib Dems, etc) and still seem to keep obsessing over 'singular' issues that probably have little to no direct bearing and influence on their day-to-day lives, such as 'them pesky asylum seekers', 'benefit scroungers', etc, while at the same time simply tolerating the 'real' issues that have seemingly been shrugged off for far too long now because many people just prefer to stay living under their own rocks with their heads buried in the sand instead.
Sorry for being on such a downer and so ranty, but I'm really despairing at the state of this country and certain elements of society right now, especially in the wake of these shocking findings concerning certain concrete buildings, and if the current bunch of jokers in power still manage to win next year's GE, even if only just by a whisker, I seriously want to be sectioned!
And if anyone responds to me with unhelpful and condescending remarks like 'just get a life', 'pull yourself together', etc, it shows they're just as much part of the problem themselves.
P.S, Regarding the above paragraph, I want to make it clear that I'm not naming any names of people nor referring to anyone on this forum.
The situation stinks, it really does, and I agree wholeheartedly that the Tories have tried to divide and rule by turning the general population against one another. All we can do is try to propagate kindness and do what small things we can to make the world a better place.
Re: the concrete - please try not to worry. Checks will be taking place because even if the Powers that Be don't always care about us, they absolutely care about not getting sued.
I agree with BI.
I do think that although everyone is sick of politics at the moment that once the election comes people will vote, they'll want to take some control back and tbh I don't know of anyone that still has faith in the current government. In the meantime as BI says we've got to do what we can to make things a little better.
I agree with BI.
I do think that although everyone is sick of politics at the moment that once the election comes people will vote, they'll want to take some control back and tbh I don't know of anyone that still has faith in the current government. In the meantime as BI says we've got to do what we can to make things a little better.
I hope you're correct. If anyone has half a brain about them this should be the final straw for grinning and bearing the current Tory lot for so long. In fact, I don't think many people's tendency to shorter attention spans in general nowadays particularly helps the situation either.
It does also seem that many of us in this country have become rather blase about chaos and incompetence in general over the past decade or so (which probably relates in many ways to our aforementioned attention span deficiencies), unlike in many nations within mainland Europe they're a lot more fastidious about certain issues than we seem to be; e.g, in Germany I've heard that they seem to be far less tolerant of litter and graffiti, unlike here where we seem to just turn a blind eye to it a lot of the time and shrug it off with 'there's far more important things to be concerned about', plus the French seem to have a penchant for protesting (even if it's sometimes over relatively trivial issues) whereas here we just tend to tut, shrug things off, then go down the pub or swan off on holiday abroad, then (ironically) remark how dire this country is when they return home!
It seemed that our last GE at the end of 2019 was the height of political indifference in this country, which incidentally turned out to be on the eve of the Covid pandemic, and Boris Johnson seemed like just a mere loveable rogue at the time who was more concerned about 'getting Brexit done' than anything else, while it seemed to be the nadir for both Labour and the Lib Dems at the same time which seemed to continue well into 2021 when the Tories remained significantly ahead in the opinion polls and still even gained in some by-elections that year, though by the end of 2021, especially when the Partygate scandal started to be revealed and of course the onset of the COL crisis, the tables started to turn. And now all this concrete buildings scare to add further insult to injury!
The situation stinks, it really does, and I agree wholeheartedly that the Tories have tried to divide and rule by turning the general population against one another. All we can do is try to propagate kindness and do what small things we can to make the world a better place.
Re: the concrete - please try not to worry. Checks will be taking place because even if the Powers that Be don't always care about us, they absolutely care about not getting sued.
For once we both actually agree on something, even though you usually often accuse me of overreacting to many things.
Plus the fact that the deficiencies of RAAC were previously largely ignored by the authorities is most ironic despite the enduring H&S culture since the 90s or so, and such buildings have only now just started to be condemned after all this time.
My dad reckons there's an element of pre-election panicking from the current Tory govt involved right now, especially as they were already down in the opinion poll ratings and why they didn't attempt to sort this out 5 or more years ago when the authorities were first alerted to the issue but instead just brushed it under the carpet is totally beyond me!
Also a bit of Grenfell Tower 'deja vu' once again, whose flammable cladding was/is another problematic building material whose risks were woefully overlooked at the time.
There is obviously a scare element from the press. (I always look beyond the reason for this).
The NHS are under tremendous pressure and could this be a way of eliminating patient attendance? People wait hours and hours for ambulances these days and often the situation is resolved before the ambulance arrives. In some instances a patient can not get a return home in an ambulance and have to get a taxi in the early hours of the morning. It's a total mess.
They mention 224 hospitals. Is that necessary? Is that a fact? Is it something the general public need to know? Haven't they got enough worry with everything else?
We need a brand new government and the public need to voice that. Imo.
There is obviously a scare element from the press. (I always look beyond the reason for this).
The NHS are under tremendous pressure and could this be a way of eliminating patient attendance? People wait hours and hours for ambulances these days and often the situation is resolved before the ambulance arrives. In some instances a patient can not get a return home in an ambulance and have to get a taxi in the early hours of the morning. It's a total mess.
They mention 224 hospitals. Is that necessary? Is that a fact? Is it something the general public need to know? Haven't they got enough worry with everything else?
We need a brand new government and the public need to voice that. Imo.
If the public weren't so one-track-mindedly obsessed with asylum seekers, scroungers and Starmer, Davey, et el seemingly lacking charisma, etc.
In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if many of the serial so-called 'scroungers' themselves are largely the ones who are blatantly indignant about the likes of asylum seekers and 'them pesky foreigners' in general out of sheer jealousy that their sense of entitlement is perceived as being eroded by undeserving 'outsiders'.
Also I wouldn't be in the slightest bit surprised if a significant proportion of such small-minded individuals (the serial 'scroungers') were/are hardcore Brexiteers.
Of course, the media as per usual are no doubt revelling in all of this, plus of course getting all over-excited and making a song and dancing over Gillian Keegan's F-bomb gaffe the other day while discussing the RAAC 'crisis', which kind of detracted from the 'real' issues at hand.
I mean, seriously, plenty of other people (famous or not) often swear and cuss for England day in day out and barely an eyelid is batted over it most of the time.
As many of you probably know there's been much talk in the news over the past week or so about defective school buildings that are constructed from a certain form of concrete that have suddenly been closed for safety reasons and to allow for remedial work to commence.
Over the past couple of days it's been discovered that the problematic concrete was also used in various other buildings and structures (built between the 50s and early 90s) and hoping my day centre isn't one of such premises that might be condemned, even though it mostly appears to be built from normal bricks with pebble-dash rendering on one side and about a third of the front of the building.
While not exactly the same per se, I can sense a bit of early Covid pandemic 'deja vu' with this situation right now, especially as quite a few of the concrete issues were already known about some 5 years ago but as per usual the authorities and the govt were caught napping, just like during the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, whose events back then, just like now with this current concrete scare, were just the 'tip of a very large iceberg'.
Although things might now be starting to change but for quite some time now a sizeable proportion of the population have increasingly become indifferent to politics and seemingly disinterested in voting period in elections, let alone for other parties as an alternative to the current bunch of jokers (e.g, Labour, Lib Dems, etc) and still seem to keep obsessing over 'singular' issues that probably have little to no direct bearing and influence on their day-to-day lives, such as 'them pesky asylum seekers', 'benefit scroungers', etc, while at the same time simply tolerating the 'real' issues that have seemingly been shrugged off for far too long now because many people just prefer to stay living under their own rocks with their heads buried in the sand instead.
Sorry for being on such a downer and so ranty, but I'm really despairing at the state of this country and certain elements of society right now, especially in the wake of these shocking findings concerning certain concrete buildings, and if the current bunch of jokers in power still manage to win next year's GE, even if only just by a whisker, I seriously want to be sectioned!
And if anyone responds to me with unhelpful and condescending remarks like 'just get a life', 'pull yourself together', etc, it shows they're just as much part of the problem themselves.
P.S, Regarding the above paragraph, I want to make it clear that I'm not naming any names of people nor referring to anyone on this forum.
BTW, our local (Tory) MP Chris Pincher has now finally done the decent thing and called it quits, so yet another by-election now imminent.
Good riddance to that lousy gutless ponce, both a local and national embarrassment!
Although it was announced last week, a theatre in the West Midlands where I was meant to be attending an event in November (The Core in Solihull) has been temporarily closed due to having RAAC on the roof of its main auditorium, and the event concerned has been postponed until next spring (provisionally), provided the remedial work is fully completed by then. At least better safe than sorry.
Having said that, I've noticed that this big hoo-ha over RAAC in buildings seems to have vanished from the national news headlines over the past week or so and the latest scare/scandal is about dangerous dogs, especially in the wake of two high-profile attacks in the Midlands over the past week; one in Birmingham and the other in Staffordshire in a village between Lichfield and Walsall.
A kind of recurrence of an earlier scare about dangerous dogs in the late 80s-very early 90s era which resulted in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, though I'm not currently quaking in my boots at the thought of getting attacked by a stray Pitbull, but still probably more likely to get run over by a bus instead while out and about.
However, as a personal dog lover, I am dreading the prospects of a bit of a backlash against all dogs in general where the serial dog haters and general sadcases start attacking them and being cruel to them, regardless of breed and temperament, as what's been known to happen to innocent Asians for instance immediately following high-profile terror-related incidents in this country; the typical knee-jerk reactionary, 'tarring all with the same brush' scapegoating mentality.
Just a tip, Lenco, don't compare Asians to dogs.
Just a tip, Lenco, don't compare Asians to dogs.
I'm not intentionally making direct comparisons between Asians and dogs BI despite your word of warning; I was referring mostly to certain subsets of society's tendency to knee-jerk reactionary sweeping generalisations and 'scapegoating' of whatever the latest 'folk devil' (real or imaginary), typically without justification, and the 'hate crimes' against Asians in general soon after the tragic events of 2013 (Lee Rigby) and 2017 (terrorist attacks in Manchester and central London), which more-or-less bookended the period when ISIS were at their 'prime'.
I remember at the start of the Covid pandemic in early 2020, prior to our first national lockdown, there was a sudden epidemic of hate attacks against Chinese people in this country, despite their being innocent and not necessarily having and spreading Covid themselves, plus at the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022 there was reportedly a spike in hate attacks on otherwise innocent people of Russian origin or descent too, despite their probably despising the actions and general regime of Putin and Co themselves.
themselves.
My dad said to me this morning while I was voicing my concerns about what might come of the current Pitbull scare and all the other things I have covered above is that certain elements of society often get kicks from venting their anger and hate on whatever the current 'folk devil' may be, to make them feel better about themselves and then move on to the next 'folk devil' or whatever to scapegoat.
Right, but you were still comparing a situation with dogs to one with people of another race. That's a really bad idea.
Right, but you were still comparing a situation with dogs to one with people of another race. That's a really bad idea.
Well I'm sorry if that's the case. I truly didn't intend to cause offence.
Anyway, I reassure you that it's definitely not me who has a grudge against ethnic minorities; it's mostly the far-right rabble-rousers and the serially ignorant of our society.
I despise all racism with a passion.
I know you're not, that was why I was giving you the heads-up about how what you said might be interpreted.
I'm not intentionally making direct comparisons between Asians and dogs BI despite your word of warning; I was referring mostly to certain subsets of society's tendency to knee-jerk reactionary sweeping generalisations and 'scapegoating' of whatever the latest 'folk devil' (real or imaginary), typically without justification, and the 'hate crimes' against Asians in general soon after the tragic events of 2013 (Lee Rigby) and 2017 (terrorist attacks in Manchester and central London), which more-or-less bookended the period when ISIS were at their 'prime'.
I remember at the start of the Covid pandemic in early 2020, prior to our first national lockdown, there was a sudden epidemic of hate attacks against Chinese people in this country, despite their being innocent and not necessarily having and spreading Covid themselves, plus at the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022 there was reportedly a spike in hate attacks on otherwise innocent people of Russian origin or descent too, despite their probably despising the actions and general regime of Putin and Co themselves.
themselves.
My dad said to me this morning while I was voicing my concerns about what might come of the current Pitbull scare and all the other things I have covered above is that certain elements of society often get kicks from venting their anger and hate on whatever the current 'folk devil' may be, to make them feel better about themselves and then move on to the next 'folk devil' or whatever to scapegoat.
Just remembered another knee-jerk reactionary, 'jumping to conclusions' event from 2000; that infamous disturbance in Portsmouth where paediatricians were mistook for paedophiles by brain-dead baying mobs who couldn't differentiate between the two terms, which was another 'national embarrassment' moment!
And that was still in the pre-social media era.
I know you're not, that was why I was giving you the heads-up about how what you said might be interpreted.
That's fine by me.
Well both my area (Tamworth, Staffs) and Mid Beds have seen Labour victories in their by-elections. Hurrah!
Fantastic!
Certainly is; it would probably still have been pretty much unthinkable even this time 2 years ago.
But then again 'what goes around comes around'.
Got to admit, I'm surprised about Mid Beds; I know the area quite well and it's wonderful to see some sanity return.
Got to admit, I'm surprised about Mid Beds; I know the area quite well and it's wonderful to see some sanity return.
Yes, a historically 'blue wall' area. A kind of reverse situation to Hartlepool in May 2021 which by contrast is historically a 'red wall' area.
I reckon the political pendulum is cyclical and seems to come full circle every 25-30 years or so at the very most, especially as I quoted the expression 'what goes around comes around' a couple of posts upthread. Locally it seems a bit like 1996-97 repeating itself as our last by-election was in the spring of 1996 that was won by Labour's Brian Jenkins (eventually defeated in May 2010 by the now-disgraced Tory MP Chris Pincher) who replaced the previous sitting (Tory MP) David Lightbown who passed away at the end of 1995, after serving almost 13 years as our local MP since 1983, whose tenure was almost of the same time-span as our recently fallen-from-grace MP Chris Pincher, and then just over a year later in May 1997, New Labour came to power nationally.
spectrum123
20-10-23, 17:11
What is guaranteed when/if Labour get into power, is that the poor will remain poor, the rich will remain rich. Those in the middle will be screwed to pay the shortfall from those at each end of the financial scale who fail/avoid to contribute to the system.
The same, of course, applies should the conservatives remain in power.
What is guaranteed when/if Labour get into power, is that the poor will remain poor, the rich will remain rich. Those in the middle will be screwed to pay the shortfall from those at each end of the financial scale who fail/avoid to contribute to the system.
The same, of course, applies should the conservatives remain in power.
Your opinion, of which of course you're entitled to. But only time will tell, whatever the event.
Back to the original topic of this thread; seemingly nothing further has been mentioned about the RAAC scare in certain buildings in the news since I first started this thread around early September.
Back to the original topic of this thread; seemingly nothing further has been mentioned about the RAAC scare in certain buildings in the news since I first started this thread around early September.
I was only thinking about this once again earlier today when back in September there was a massive hoo-ha about this RAAC business, but since then the media seem to have dropped said issue like a hot potato.
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