[PASSED] Volcanic Activity Convention

[Imperium Anglorum]

A protocol is an supplement, addendum, or amendment to a preexisting treaty. Why are you calling it 'Volcanic Activity Protocol'?

[Minskiev]

A protocol is an supplement, addendum, or amendment to a preexisting treaty. Why are you calling it 'Volcanic Activity Protocol'?

That's not what I interpret a protocol as, but nevertheless protocol probably isn't the best word to use.

[Araraukar]

A volcano is a vent in the earth's surface. Occasionally it erupts from stress in the earth.

OOC: Sorry I'm late with these, life keeps throwing stuff at me that's more important than NationStates.

I have
some
things
for
you:
A volcano.
Also a volcano.
Another volcano.
Yet another volcano.
Maybe man-made volcano?
This at least is called a volcano!
This looks like a volcano, but isn't. Or is it?

[Outer Sparta]

Against Volcanic Activity? That just sounds weird like "we're against volcanic activity! Mother Nature must stop volcanoing!" Why not rename it to something else? At least Volcanic Activity Protocol makes more sense than this for a title.

[Barfleur]

OOC: I'm... not entirely sure what section 3(c) is supposed to mean. Does it mean member nations are expected to decide for themselves which hazards to educate about? The wording and structure of the sentence seem to indicate that, but it's not very clear.

As to the title, I agree with Outer Sparta. Perhaps "Protection From Volcanic Activity" or "Volcanic Activity Compact" would be a more accurate title.

[Minskiev]

Against Volcanic Activity? That just sounds weird like "we're against volcanic activity! Mother Nature must stop volcanoing!" Why not rename it to something else? At least Volcanic Activity Protocol makes more sense than this for a title.

I'm not happy with it either, admittedly, however, I wouldn't exactly call this resolution a protocol. I'd love to hear name suggestions.

OOC: Sorry I'm late with these, life keeps throwing stuff at me that's more important than NationStates.

Take your time! I'm not your number one priority.

OOC: I'm... not entirely sure what section 3(c) is supposed to mean. Does it mean member nations are expected to decide for themselves which hazards to educate about? The wording and structure of the sentence seem to indicate that, but it's not very clear.

Yes, that's what it's saying. It's likely unclear because I added additional text to 3 so now it looks unnecessary. I'll do something with it.

As to the title, I agree with Outer Sparta. Perhaps "Protection From Volcanic Activity" or "Volcanic Activity Compact" would be a more accurate title.

Also agreed, but I think that PfVA sounds strange, and I'm not sure if 'compact' is the right word for regulation...maybe? although part of the resolution sorta focuses on international cooperation, so...

[Sierra Lyricalia]

OOC: Don't get so accustomed to taking advice that you spend too much time on the piddling, nitpicky stuff at the expense of substantial advice. Not only does e.g. the Montreal Protocol get treated as for all intents and purposes its own entire treaty, there is also precedent in the World Assembly for a series of steps dealing with some issue to be called a "protocol." This is not something to bother spending time on. Outer Sparta has the right of it.

Ara's list of "volcanoes" should provoke some thought, however. I question the utility of building infrastructure to "combat volcanic activity" in any but the most particular cases of predictable, slow lava (e.g. let's build some cheapish walls or channels to save these poorly placed towns in Hawaii). Most cases of volcanoes being destructive require the reactive use of emergency vehicles and earth-moving equipment - post-hoc mobility, not pre-fabricated infrastructure - or else are effectively unfightable (e.g. Eyjafjallajokul ash causing flight disruptions).

Edit: reconsidered word choice

[Minskiev]

Ara's list of "volcanoes" should provoke some thought, however.

Yes. Perhaps I'll define a volcano and clarify that it erupts magma.

I question the utility of building infrastructure to "combat volcanic activity" in any but the most particular cases of predictable, slow lava (e.g. let's build some cheapish walls or channels to save these poorly placed towns in Hawaii). Most cases of volcanoes being destructive require the reactive use of emergency vehicles and earth-moving equipment - post-hoc mobility, not pre-fabricated infrastructure - or else are effectively unfightable (e.g. Eyjafjallajokul ash causing flight disruptions).

While a wall probably wouldn't do much against ash clouds, a building built to resist, say, an earthquake (which can be volcanic activity), would "combat" it better. However, I might be able to make it more clear and sensible.

[Wallenburg]

Ara's list of "volcanoes" should provoke some thought, however.

Yes. Perhaps I'll define a volcano and clarify that it erupts magma.

Magmatic extrusive is called lava. Also, I'm fairly certain most volcanoes do not produce magma, at least not regularly. Ash and volcanic gas are more common products. Volcanoes also eject solid rock of fairly considerable size.

[Minskiev]

Yes. Perhaps I'll define a volcano and clarify that it erupts magma.

Magmatic extrusive is called lava. Also, I'm fairly certain most volcanoes do not produce magma, at least not regularly. Ash and volcanic gas are more common products. Volcanoes also eject solid rock of fairly considerable size.

*sigh*

Fixed, I hope.

[Araraukar]

Fixed, I hope.

OOC: My list of volcanoes still applies, and earthquakes still don't apply. So, um, likely not as fixed as you'd like.

[Minskiev]

Fixed, I hope.

OOC: My list of volcanoes still applies, and earthquakes still don't apply. So, um, likely not as fixed as you'd like.

Earthquakes as covered in this resolution are an example of a volcanic hazard. And what would you do to make it clear what constitutes a volcano from a mud volcano?

[South St Maarten]

Yes. Perhaps I'll define a volcano and clarify that it erupts magma.

Magmatic extrusive is called lava. Also, I'm fairly certain most volcanoes do not produce magma, at least not regularly. Ash and volcanic gas are more common products. Volcanoes also eject solid rock of fairly considerable size.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the molten rock below the surface is magma, but the magmatic extrusive, as you said, is called lava. So you could technically say it produces magma but such magma would only leave the volcano as lava. Or at least that is what I remember from Earth Science 5 years ago :-þ

[Minskiev]

Magmatic extrusive is called lava. Also, I'm fairly certain most volcanoes do not produce magma, at least not regularly. Ash and volcanic gas are more common products. Volcanoes also eject solid rock of fairly considerable size.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the molten rock below the surface is magma, but the magmatic extrusive, as you said, is called lava. So you could technically say it produces magma but such magma would only leave the volcano as lava. Or at least that is what I remember from Earth Science 5 years ago :-þ

Semantics really.

[Araraukar]

OOC: I will try to remember to help you with this in a couple of hours. It's currently a mess, really. But few messes are so bad they can't be cleaned up!

[Minskiev]

OOC: I will try to remember to help you with this in a couple of hours. It's currently a mess, really. But few messes are so bad they can't be cleaned up!

A couple of hours eh?

[Ardiveds]

OOC: I will try to remember to help you with this in a couple of hours. It's currently a mess, really. But few messes are so bad they can't be cleaned up!

A couple of hours eh?

OOC: Time is convoluted in Finland

[Minskiev]

Gonna bump.

[Araraukar]

A couple of hours eh?

OOC: Time is convoluted in Finland

OOC: Guess I just dreamed posting my apology here...

As my siggy says, I've had to cope with worsening health issues recently, including not just digestion problems (pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, on bad days all of those together to the point where I am left unable to do much more than lay curled up on bathroom floor as I doubt being able to make it from my bed to toilet in time, or sitting on the toilet while puking into a bucket. I have in the past ended up in the hospital to get IV fluids and nutrients when I was unable to even drink water for days.

Currently one of the suspects behind at least some of these symptoms is celiac's disease, but to test for that, I need to eat a lot of gluten-containing foods, which of course worsens the symptoms and makes them more frequent. Writing this, I last ate a proper meal on last Friday, my stomach doesn't tolerate more than one or two bread slices at a time. Pickles help keep the nausea away most of the time. The feeling of a sideways cactus traveling through my small intestine, the constant thirst (water doesn't stay in my body for long) and in general feeling as energetic as a wet towel, means I haven't really been able to concentrate on NS much.

At least the chest pains haven't been that bad this past week.

I will get back to you as soon as I can.

[South St Maarten]

OOC: Time is convoluted in Finland

OOC: Guess I just dreamed posting my apology here...

As my siggy says, I've had to cope with worsening health issues recently, including not just digestion problems (pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, on bad days all of those together to the point where I am left unable to do much more than lay curled up on bathroom floor as I doubt being able to make it from my bed to toilet in time, or sitting on the toilet while puking into a bucket. I have in the past ended up in the hospital to get IV fluids and nutrients when I was unable to even drink water for days.

Currently one of the suspects behind at least some of these symptoms is celiac's disease, but to test for that, I need to eat a lot of gluten-containing foods, which of course worsens the symptoms and makes them more frequent. Writing this, I last ate a proper meal on last Friday, my stomach doesn't tolerate more than one or two bread slices at a time. Pickles help keep the nausea away most of the time. The feeling of a sideways cactus traveling through my small intestine, the constant thirst (water doesn't stay in my body for long) and in general feeling as energetic as a wet towel, means I haven't really been able to concentrate on NS much.

At least the chest pains haven't been that bad this past week.

I will get back to you as soon as I can.

OOC: That's awful. Hope you are able to find out what the problem is, Ara

[Minskiev]

OOC: Time is convoluted in Finland

OOC: Guess I just dreamed posting my apology here...

As my siggy says, I've had to cope with worsening health issues recently, including not just digestion problems (pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, on bad days all of those together to the point where I am left unable to do much more than lay curled up on bathroom floor as I doubt being able to make it from my bed to toilet in time, or sitting on the toilet while puking into a bucket. I have in the past ended up in the hospital to get IV fluids and nutrients when I was unable to even drink water for days.

Currently one of the suspects behind at least some of these symptoms is celiac's disease, but to test for that, I need to eat a lot of gluten-containing foods, which of course worsens the symptoms and makes them more frequent. Writing this, I last ate a proper meal on last Friday, my stomach doesn't tolerate more than one or two bread slices at a time. Pickles help keep the nausea away most of the time. The feeling of a sideways cactus traveling through my small intestine, the constant thirst (water doesn't stay in my body for long) and in general feeling as energetic as a wet towel, means I haven't really been able to concentrate on NS much.

At least the chest pains haven't been that bad this past week.

I will get back to you as soon as I can.

What SSM said. Hope you get better.

[Minskiev]

And another bump. Might submit soon-ish, who knows.

[Ardiveds]

"Ambassador, we recommend working further on your definition of volcano. Might we ask why you haven't simply left the term undefined so nations may use the dictionary definition with, in our opinion, would be the best solution to this tricky problem. It's not like you're going anymore specific than the dictionary definition anyway.

Other than that, we recommend using just 'recent' instead of 'recent past' in clause 2.a.iii."

[Wallenburg]

Among other things, burst water mains are now volcanoes.

[Araraukar]

OOC post.

I'm aliiiiiive... *makes zombie noises*

In any case, this thing is all over the place and a mess, like I mentioned before. So here's the start of a rewrite thingy you can use if you want, that I had hoped to get further with, tonight, but I just got a note from my brain saying "it's now your bedtime, we're closing shop, if you don't want to be a drooling heap in a few minutes, you're going to go to bed NOW", and then my ability to concentrate just went away. Comments in this colour.

So, uh, work in process, but wanted to show you where I'd gotten so far.

Volcanic Activity Action Plan
Title change is needed because the previous ones didn't seem to have much anything to do with what you wanted to make of this, but this is just a stand-in, kind of a jokey one Though actually used in the rewrite (once I get it written).

Category: Regulation
Area of Effect: Safety

The World Assembly,

Mindful that volcanic activity, even of disastrous proportions, is largely unpreventable and often only partially predictable,

Also aware of there being limited options of combatting an active volcano or the hazards created by it,

Granting that disaster preparedness in general is already required by a previously passed resolution,

Mortified that the previous resolution does nothing to even encourage cooperation between member nations when it comes to handling disasters like volcanic eruptions, or even informing the citizens of the nation in which the eruption happens,

Attempting to lay down the ground rules for an action plan during volcanic activity, to make cooperation between all those affected by a specific volcanic event easier and faster, and to cut down unnecessary bureaucracy in the hour of need,

Ok so I had a proper look-see through #105, and it has the committee operating early warning systems and such, but everything seems to be going through the committee, no nation-to-nation cooperation stuff at all. So, rewritten properly, this would indeed be expanding on the general stuff laid out by the previous resolution and thus not duplication. Which I had serious doubts about before.

The new language of the preamble is a bit fluffy, but it's a work in process. Mainly it's meant to specify the new direction I intended to take with the rewrite, and also explain how this is NOT just duplication of the previous resolution. Also, MAGMA was easier to spell than VOLCANO or derivative thereof. (Look at the first letter of each preamble clause.)

Hereby,

1. Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, a "volcanic hazard" as any serious hazard to people or infrastructure caused directly by volcanic activity, including but not limited to airborne volcanic ash, toxic gas eruptions and lava flows,
Really tempted to add a "Does not define "volcano", because those who do not know what a volcano is, do not need to worry about them", but while that would be funny to me, it would be a bit out of place in a resolution. Humour is not entirely unknown in resolutions, however, so up to you if you want it anyway. Make it the new clause 2 in that case.

2. Mandates that member nations that in part or in whole lie in volcanically active areas create a Volcanic Activity Action Plan, which contains, at minimum [And this is where my brain gave me the 5 minute notice of imminent shut-down. Also, direct shout-out to current proposal name, but using or not using it is your choice, later.]

Definitely hoping to get back to this tomorrow afternoon, but I think I have about one minute left of my brain's shut-down warning so need to go brush my teeeeeeth... Good night!