#Cost estimation for house construction

[sydneyestimatoraustralia]

Construction cost estimator with Many Years of experience. Sydney Estimator offers building & construction cost estimating services. FREE consultation!

[reasonsforhope]

Article | Paywall-Free

"The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Tuesday [October 8, 2024] requiring water utilities to replace all lead pipes within a decade, a move aimed at eliminating a toxic threat that continues to affect tens of thousands of American children each year.

The move, which also tightens the amount of lead allowed in the nation’s drinking water, comes nearly 40 years after Congress determined that lead pipes posed a serious risk to public health and banned them in new construction.

Research has shown that lead, a toxic contaminant that seeps from pipes into the drinking water supply, can cause irreversible developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral problems among children. In adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lead exposure can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and cancer.

But replacing the lead pipes that deliver water to millions of U.S. homes will cost tens of billions of dollars, and the push to eradicate them only gathered momentum after a water crisis in Flint, Mich., a decade ago exposed the extent to which children remain vulnerable to lead poisoning through tap water...

The groundbreaking regulation, called the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, will establish a national inventory of lead service lines and require that utilities take more aggressive action to remove lead pipes on homeowners’ private property. It also lowers the level of lead contamination that will trigger government enforcement from 15 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb.

The rule also establishes the first-ever national requirement to test for lead in schools that rely on water from public utilities. It mandates thatwater systems screen all elementary and child-care facilities, where those who are the most vulnerable to lead’s effects — young children — are enrolled, and that they offer testing to middle and high schools.

The White House estimates that more than 9 million homes across the country are still supplied by lead pipelines, which are the leading source of lead contamination through drinking water. The EPA has projected that replacing all of them could cost at least $45 billion.

Lead pipes were initially installed in cities decades ago because they were cheaper and more malleable, but the heavy metal can wear down and corrode over time. President Joe Biden has made replacing them one of his top environmental priorities, securing $15 billion to give states over five years through the bipartisan infrastructure law and vowing to rid the country of lead pipes by 2031. The administration has spent $9 billion so far — enough to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes, the administration said.

On Tuesday, the administration said it was providing an additional $2.6 billion in funding for pipe replacement. Over 367,000 lead pipes have been replaced nationwide since Biden took office, according to White House officials, affecting nearly 1 million people...

Environmental advocates said that former president Donald Trump, who issued much more modest revisions to the lead and copper rule just days before Biden took office, would have a hard time reversing the new standards.

Erik Olson, the senior strategic director for health at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that the Safe Drinking Water Act has provisions prohibiting weakening the health protections of existing standards...

Olson added that the rule “represents a major victory for public health” and will protect millions of people “whose health is threatened every time they fill a glass from the kitchen sink contaminated by lead.”

“While the rule is imperfect and we still have more to do, this is by far the biggest step towards eliminating lead in tap water in over three decades,” he said."

-via The Washington Post, October 8, 2024

[bimoutsourcing]

Building a new home is a monumental undertaking that requires meticulous planning, skilled execution, and a keen eye for detail. From the initial concept to the final coat of paint, every step in the construction process plays a vital role in creating a safe, functional, and beautiful living space.

In this comprehensive guide, we will take you through the entire step-by-step process of new home construction, highlighting each phase's significance, offering tips and tricks, and providing additional insights to help you navigate this exciting journey.

Understanding the New Home Construction Process

Constructing a new home is a multi-faceted endeavour that demands coordination, expertise, and careful consideration. Let us dive into the comprehensive step-by-step guide to new home construction.

[collapsedsquid]

Her life was completely upended in early November of 2018, amid one of the driest autumns on record in the Sierra Nevada, when the deadly Camp Fire swept into her hometown of Paradise, Calif., killing 85 people and destroying nearly 19,000 structures — the most expensive climate-related disaster in the world that year. "There are positives," she says. "My family got out alive." But Foudray's family home, a two-bedroom two-bath mobile, was a total loss. Five years later, she's still mostly living in an RV on her burned-out lot, hoping to get a new home within the next year.

[...] In the weeks and months immediately after the Camp Fire, survivors were anxious to get home. They soon became frustrated, angry about the slow pace of even just removing the fire debris. Then as the months dragged on, the scope of what was ahead began to settle in. It took nine months just to remove all the hazardous toxins and debris piles before the first homes could be rebuilt. Paradise's recovery had a lot stacked against it from the beginning due to its largely elderly and low-income population. Many were forced to leave in search of affordable housing.

[...] Originally built out into dense forests, Paradise today is a changed land. One million trees have been removed; the coastal range to the west and Sawmill Peak and the Sierra foothills to the east are now visible. Roads are being newly paved or reconfigured and blocked by flaggers. Utility crews are digging trenches and burying all the new power lines underground. And main thoroughfares are clogged with construction traffic. All the new homes have to meet tougher wildfire codes, including a new local ordinance that bans any porches or other fixtures built from combustible materials in the immediate perimeter of houses.

[...] This costs a lot of money. And it turns out a lot of the aid coming into disaster areas — like the millions pouring into Lahaina right now — tends to go to rebuilding infrastructure, not individual private homes. "We're not good at this in our country," says Ed Mayer, executive director of the Housing Authority for Butte County, which includes Paradise. "Our history of disasters, and no fault of their own, FEMA sort of has a one size fits all approach." The U.S. government typically comes in and tries to help people find temporary housing quickly while disaster victims figure out how to rebuild. But Mayer says that doesn't work in states like California and Hawaii where there has been a worsening affordable housing crisis for years. "Our wish at the very outset of this disaster was, hey, we want some soap bubble housing," Mayer says. "And when I say soap bubble housing, we want some housing we can erect tomorrow."

Still, five years later, Mayer's office is celebrating some successes. There are some 3,000 affordable housing units now in development in the county, thanks in large part to housing officials leveraging aid and various grants. Most are not in Paradise, however, and officials say it's probably a fraction of what's actually needed. In the days after the fire, an estimated 35,000 displaced people flooded into nearby cities like Chico.

[odinsblog]

The underground shelter, which was revealed last year, prompted conspiracy theories on social media about wealthy tech moguls building doomsday bunkers.

Mark Zuckerberg is downplaying the massive 5,000-square-foot bunker beneath his Hawaiian compound that was revealed in WIRED last year and prompted conspiracy theories on social media about wealthy tech moguls building doomsday bunkers.

The billionaire Facebook co-founder pushed back when Bloomberg reporter Emily Chang, in a video published Tuesday that chronicled her visit to Zuckerberg’s Lake Tahoe property, asked him what he’s “worried about” — and if there’s something he knows “that we don’t” in regard to the bunker.

“No, I think that’s just, like, a little shelter,” he told Chang. “It’s a basement! It’s a basement.”

Zuckerberg said the “basic house” on Kauai is largely used for storage space and that he frequently works from there but admitted to the underground bunker there, referring to it as a “hurricane shelter or whatever.”

“I think it got, like, blown out of proportion, as if the whole ranch was some kind of doomsday bunker, which is just not true,” he added.

Back in February, Ron Hubbard, the CEO of Atlas Survival Shelters, and Robert Vicino, founder of underground survival shelter company Vivos, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how news of Zuckerberg’s bunker increased business for them.

Hubbard said that it had “caused a buying frenzy,” while Vicino said, “Now that Zuckerberg has let the cat out of the bag, that’s got other people who share his status or are near his status starting to think, ‘Oh God, if he’s doing that, maybe he knows something that I don’t, maybe I should seek this out myself.’”

Zuckerberg purchased the 1,400-acre estate, which is known as Koolau Ranch, in a series of deals beginning in 2014, WIRED reported in 2023. According to planning documents for the property reviewed by the outlet, the compound will have its own energy and food supplies.

Construction of the compound and purchase of the land was estimated to cost around $270 million. Zuckerberg told Chang that he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, use the property for ranching and that he wants to “create the highest quality beef in the world.”

Along with Zuckerberg, other bunker-having tech moguls allegedly include Bill Gates, with Vicino telling THR in 2016 that Gates “has huge shelters under every one of his homes.”

PayPal CEO Peter Thiel had similar plans for a bunker-like compound in New Zealand, but those were thwarted in 2022 after backlash from local conservationists, according to The Guardian.

Zuckerberg’s property spawned similar criticism from locals and Indigenous groups in Kauai, with one former laborer on the compound telling WIRED, “It’s crazy that a man not from Hawaii comes here and purchases a bunch of land that limits the locals [from potentially buying] land. But it’s already happening.”

(continue reading)

[adastra-sf]

Climate change-driven heatwaves threaten millions

Extreme record-breaking heat leads to severe crises across the world.

Already in 2024, from Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria in the West; to Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines in the East; large regions of Asia are experiencing temperatures well above 40°C (104°F) for days on end.

The heatwave has been particularly difficult for people living in refugee camps and informal housing, as well as for unhoused people and outdoor workers.

Using the Heat Index Calculator, at that temperature and a relative humidity of 50%, residents see a heat index of 55°C (131°F) - a temperature level humans cannot long survive:

In February, the southern coastal zone of West Africa also experienced abnormal early-season heat. A combination of high temperatures and humid air resulted in average heat index values of about 50°C (122°F) - the danger level, associated with a high risk of heat cramps and heat exhaustion.

Locally, temperatures entered the extreme danger level associated with high risk of heat stroke, with values up to 60°C (140°F):

Even here at Ad Astra's HQ in Kansas, last summer we saw several days with high temperatures of 102°F (39°C) at 57% humidity, resulting in a heat index of 133°F (56°C):

Of course, the major difference in survivability in Kansas versus some of the places suffering extreme heat right now is that air-conditioning abounds here. Those who live somewhere that faces extreme heat but can escape it indoors are a lot more likely to survive, but a person who lives somewhere without such life-saving gear faces not just discomfort, but heat stroke and even death.

This includes unhoused and poor people here in the wealthier parts of the world, who often do not have access to indoor refuge from the heat.

About 15% of US residents live below the poverty line. Many low-wage earners work outside in construction or landscaping, exposed to the ravages of heat. Many do not own an air conditioner, and those who do might need to budget their body's recovery from heat against cost to purchase and run cooling equipment. Because heat stress is cumulative, when they go to work the next day, they’re more likely to suffer from heat illness.

Bad as that is, for those living on the street, heatwaves are merciless killers. Around the country, heat contributes to some 1,500 deaths annually, and advocates estimate about half of those people are homeless. In general, unhoused people are 200 times more likely to die from heat-related causes than sheltered individuals.

For example, in 2022, a record 425 people died from heat in the greater Phoenix metro area. Of the 320 deaths for which the victim’s living situation is known, more than half (178) were homeless. In 2023, Texans experienced the hottest summer since 2011, with an average temperature of 85.3°F (30°C) degrees between June and the end of August. Some cities in Texas experienced more than 40 days of 100°F (38°C) or higher weather. This extreme heat led to 334 heat-related deaths, the highest number in Texas history and twice as many as in 2011.

The Pacific Northwest of Canada and the USA suffered an extreme heat event in June, 2021, during which 619 people died. Many locations broke all-time temperature records by more than 5°C, with a new record-high temperature of 49.6°C (121°F). This is a region ill-suited to such weather, and despite having relatively high wealth compared to much of the world, many homes and businesses there do not have air-conditioning due to a history of much lower temperatures.

Heatwaves are arguably the deadliest type of extreme weather event because of their wide impact. While heatwave death tolls are often underreported, hundreds of deaths from the February heatwave were reported in the affected countries, including Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and the Philippines.

Extreme heat also has a powerful impact on agriculture, causing crop damage and reduced yields. It also impacts education, with holidays having to be extended and schools closing, affecting millions of students - in Delhi, India, schools shut early this week for summer when temperatures soared to 47°C (117°F) at dangerous humidity levels:

At 70°C (157°F !), humans simply cannot function and face imminent death, especially when humidity is high. This is the notion of "heat index," a derivative of "wet-bulb temperature."

Though now mostly calculated using heat and humidity readings, wet-bulb temperature was originally measured by putting a wet cloth over a thermometer and exposing it to the air.

This allowed it to measure how quickly the water evaporated off the cloth, representing sweat evaporating off skin.

The theorized human survival limit has long been 35°C (95°F) wet-bulb temperature, based on 35°C dry heat at 100% humidity - or 46°C (115°F) at 50% humidity. To test this limit, researchers at Pennsylvania State University measured the core temperatures of young, healthy people inside a heat chamber.

They found that participants reached their "critical environmental limit" - when their body could not stop the core temperature from continuing to rise – at 30.6°C wet bulb temperature, well below what was previously theorized. That web-bulb temperature parallels a 47°C (117°F) heat index.

​The team estimates that it takes between 5-7 hours before such conditions reach "really, really dangerous core temperatures."

On March 5, 2024, Hong Kong saw temperatures of 27°C (80°F) with 100% humidity, which results in a heat index of 32.2°C (90°F) - seemingly not so bad until considering it's higher than the critical wet-bulb temperature. Also, if you watch the video, imagine the long-term effects of water accumulating in residences, such as dangerous mold.

We are witnessing the effects of climate change right now, all around the world, and rising temperatures are just the most-obvious (what we used to call "global warming"). Many, many other side-effects of climate change are beginning to plague us or headed our way soon, and will affect us all.

Unfortunately, those most affected - and those being hit the hardest right now - are people most vulnerable to heatwaves. With climate crises increasing in both intensity and frequency, and poverty at dangerous levels, we face a rapidly rising, worldwide crisis.

We must recognize the climate crisis as an international emergency and treat it as such. So much time, creative energy, resources, and life is wasted in war and the pursuit of profit or power - consider how much good could come from re-allocating those resources to ensuring a future for Earthlings, instead.

(Expect to see a "Science into Fiction" workshop on climate change coming soon - SF writers have a particular responsibility to address such important topics of change and global consequence.)

[mariacallous]

At the end of January, clips from a film about the housing market in Russian-occupied Mariupol began circulating on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter). After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army held Mariupol under siege for 85 days, all the while relentlessly pummeling the city with missile and air strikes. Mariupol was effectively reduced to rubble, and no one knows how many lives were lost — though some estimates place the number as high as 100,000. As soon as the Russian authorities had captured the city, they set about rebuilding it and erasing any trace of war crimes.

The film, titled “Shocking Prices for Apartments in Mariupol — Millions for Ruins” was released in November on the YouTube channel “Mirnyie” (the plural form of “peaceful” in Russian and the first part of “peaceful inhabitants,” a Russian term used to distinguish non-combatants from military personnel in conflict zones). The Mirnyie project is led by “war correspondent” Regina Orekhova, a journalist from the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. In 2022, she received a special award from the Russian Union of Journalists for “courage in fulfilling journalistic duty.”

The Mirnyie project, as one might surmise from its name, explores the lives of ordinary people in the conflict zone. “These are the stories of people who found themselves caught in the crossfire — some left, while others stayed. [We share] their experiences, how they survive, and what they think about,” reads the description. Judging by the channel, Orekhova primarily works in Mariupol. Previous reports of hers cover topics such as Azovstal’s underground tunnels, the sea port, city maternity hospitals, and the drama theater, which was destroyed by a Russian airstrike while an estimated 1,000 civilians were sheltering there.

In the introduction to the half-hour film, Orekhova promises to answer the following questions: “How do you buy an apartment in Mariupol? Is it more profitable to invest in ‘ruins’ that you can resell once renovated? How do you rent commercial space for a business here and how much does it cost? What kinds of apartments are for sale and what determines the price?” Orekhova explains that in Mariupol, there are “damaged buildings” as well as “brand new and renovated ones.” “The real estate market is very unconventional. We’ve studied it in detail and we’ll tell you all about it,” she promises. 

Orekhova speaks with three local realtors who show her properties for sale in different parts of the city. As it turns out, these are mostly half-destroyed apartments, hastily abandoned by residents who left all their personal belongings behind as they fled. However, even such properties, according to the realtors, are in high demand. In some cases, actual ruins, where just parts of the walls survived the bombings, are for sale. However, Russian construction companies will restore these buildings later for free, which significantly increases prices. There’s also the rare property untouched by war, or newly renovated apartments in restored buildings. Prices for these range from four to six million rubles (about $50,000-$66,000). Apartments in historic Stalin-era buildings in the center of Mariupol with surviving inner courtyards (i.e., enclosed parking), renovated entrances, and sea views are considered premium housing.

The film doesn’t explain why or, more importantly, by whom all the housing in Mariupol was destroyed. Realtors talk evasively about “all those events” or “military actions.” Orekhova asks how many real estate agencies are currently operating in Mariupol. “Well, there aren’t many surviving citizens per square meter, you could say, but they exist, of course,” a realtor answers.

Showing a damaged three-room apartment in the center of Mariupol, real estate agent Natalia remarks that “one shouldn’t focus on the consequences of what happened to the apartment but on the apartment’s potential.” There’s no electricity, the ceiling is leaking, and personal belongings, including toys and a highchair, lie strewn about — but the windows have been replaced. Natalia points out the “magnificent view” from the balcony. “These buildings have survived more than one war and, as you can see, are still standing,” Natalia says encouragingly. According to her, it would be too painful for the previous owners to come back and see their home like this, which is why they’re looking to sell the apartment in its current condition.

The realtors say that apartments are mostly bought by newcomers “from big Russia” and bemoan that locals can’t afford newly constructed housing. According to them, Russian authorities introduced a special two percent mortgage rate for people from the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” who have Russian citizenship. But locals can’t get approved because most aren’t officially employed — there are no jobs with decent salaries in Mariupol.

Luisa, the head of a real estate management company, explains that it’s virtually impossible for Mariupol residents to get an apartment without Russia’s help. She says they “can’t afford to buy back their old homes in Mariupol or to purchase new ones.” When new construction is put up where their destroyed homes used to be, the mortgage payments are out of reach. Luisa recalls how an apartment building in the center, leveled in the bombings, was cleared away to make room for new construction. Residents were offered housing somewhere on the outskirts as compensation, but they weren’t able to buy apartments in the new building being built on their property, even though they’re legally registered at the address.

Tatiana, another realtor, thinks everything in Mariupol is “getting back on track.” She says people are returning, “even those who didn’t plan to.” “The demand [for apartments] is very high, much higher than the supply,” Tatiana explains. “If an apartment is in poor condition but at a good price, it goes quickly. The interested buyers are mainly newcomers. People from Siberia are also eyeing our seaside breeze.”

Tatiana tells Orekhova that everything is “looking up” for the city:

Mariupol has never experienced such rapid growth. The city is developing before our eyes. It’s happening in such a way that even we don’t know where things will improve tomorrow, where slums will turn into upscale neighborhoods. Because our sky is blue. When I say this, everyone smiles, actually. But before, our sky used to be gray or brown, never blue. And now life is getting better; every cloud has a silver lining. You just don’t want to remember the military operations; you go numb. But when you see what’s happening in Mariupol — everything will be fine, everything will work out.

[solar-sunnyside-up]

tell to me about the info

Really??? 👉👈

Okkk soooooo this is our project up in Calgary. Recently there's been a lot of drama about it as the provincial Cons attempted to cancel the project due to them being owned by Oil lobbies, but due to the accumulated $200million in fines for not honoring contracts made with construction companies had to go back and build at least half of the train line.

Now out of the 8 stops on the new line, there are really only 4 I'm mega invested in.

Ogden-

This is the one closest to my house. There's a few extra pieces of info that can't be seen by the maps, mainly that the reason for all this Plaza space in the front is due to the fact that they are also building a skate park about 2 blocks away and when I asked about the potential hostile architecture being added to the station they actually pointed out they wanted skaters to go to the Plaza and have ppl use bikes/skates/boards/etc.. within the space!!also that events could be held there in the summer.

The second thing is that this is across the street from our local pub/petstore/chruch/playgroup in a kinda strip mall type thing. Meaning people will have access to these things from the other side of the community without driving which is great particularly in the winter when we have -60c temps sometimes. Also as a result of the higher traffic they are completely redoing the crosswalk/adding bus stops within this area which is well over due as it's a super big hazard!

Additionally the heated bus stops as well as a noise barrier for the Canadian Rail line that is sooo noisey on our street.

Lynn/Millican-

This one is a little less exciting, but basically there's this stretch of land that's primarily for baseball diamonds meaning its barren come winter. Within the corner of said park, they're adding this station with a bus hub, better crosswalks, and is the other end of my community.

There's also fruit trees and a "park and go" parking lot - which was apart of a program by city originally came up with in the 80s basically allowing free parking at a train station to encourage people to park at the station then take the train into the cities center (which at the time was primarily offices but nows a lot of residential and retail spaces). This was basically to avoid traffic jams and over parking in the core of the city. Given that we have over 200 parking lots (which cost between 19-25$/hr when our minimum wage is $15/hr) this is exciting to see them invest in this style again!

26th Ave-

Now this one I'm so jazzed for!!! This location is in a spot where basically 1 bus goes by regularly and half the community is still unaccessable except by foot without sidewalks. Now, as we can see they are adding extra crosswalks and its also right next door to a farmers market!! Our oldest one in the city and is so popular people are constantly fighting over the parking and this will make it sooo much safer. Attached to the market is also a theater which is great for ease of access to arts!

Ramsay/Inglewood

This one i have the BIGGEST crush on. So we see this 2 tier station here? This is because this station is going to be adjacent to an overpass. They've done a lot of work to add murals to this spaces

So spaces like this ^^ but in place of those ANNOYING stairs to get up to this second road there will be a station with an elevator and heated seating and bike parking. Basically letting 2 separated communities having much easier access to each other and exteneral transit as well as the bike paths (seen in the lower photo as well)

Based on estimations they should be done the stations by the end of the summer and then additionally the train should be up and running by 2026 at latest!! Aaaah!!

[sydneyestimator0]

Sydney Estimator Services aims to ascertain the cost of materials and labour based on the proposed project design and specifications. Commercial and residential construction estimating services, tendering and cost management in Sydney. Contact us today!

[4-humiliation-enm-cmnm]

Owned by Hillbillies

———————————

John Webster, an adopted child of Daniel Webster, was an honors student as both an undergrad and graduate student at University of Georgia in Athens.

John was a popular man when he was on campus. A masculine frat member, he was 5’8” with a lightweight wrestler’s build, but not a muscle head. With his brown wavy hair, brown eyes, that had a tendency to twinkle in sunlight plus movie star like dimples, he was considered a real catch but had never been caught.

At the age of 27, three years into a successful first job as a cost estimator for one of Georgia's largest construction firms, John was sentenced to a 29-year term of servitude on the death of his stepfather, when it was discovered that his stepfather had accrued debts in excess of 2 million dollars.

John’s term of indenturement was awarded to Doug Baker as a settlement for a personal injury lawsuit Doug had filed withthe Georgia Department of Transportation

Doug Baker, 44, a North Georgia bear of a man, close to 6’6”, lives in the Mountain area of Northeastern Georgia, in the Southern he Appalachian Mountains, along with his four sons from four different women: Adam, Billy, Charles and David

John's ride home from the Georgia Social Services Agency, with his new owner, Doug, driving a beat up pickup, was one of the bleakest moments in John's life.

It wasn't that Doug was a total illiterate; or that he spoke in a vulgar and threatening fashion; or that he hinted at distasteful tasks that John would be performing; but that he hinted at the fact that his sons were probably even more frighteningly illiterate hillbillies than he was.

The only consolation to John as he rode to his new life was the fact that the unwashed Doug was something of a primo chunk beneath the dirty clothes, the face stubble, and the body odor.

At least Doug tried to console John. "We is gonna treat ya right if ya do as we say. I'm not gonna let the boys be too easy on the whip with ya. All's ya gotta do is exactly as we say, then we ain't gonna have any need to give ya a whumpin!"

John was disheartened by the fact that Doug's place was almost an hour's drive from civilization, if any place in North Georgia could be considered civilized. Apart from the actually beautiful scenery, the only structures to be seen as they drove along the green mountain roadways were shacks and barns sprinkled here and there; shacks that clearly distracted from the beauty of the terrain.

When Doug pulled into his place John was amazed at the sight; it was a shack, but a very big shack. Parts of it were just plywood; one partition was plywood covered in tar paper from the 50's and two additions were actually finished in shingles. There was also a very beat up looking house trailer sitting to the side of the shack.

Doug pulled up beside the shack and parked. He then got out and came around to open the passenger’s door to get his new prize. John sat there frozen staring at the shack. He was in shock.

Doug realized that John was in need of motivation so he reached into the truck grabbing both of John’s hands and gentle pulled him to stand outside the truck. He then slammed the door and turned John so he was pointed toward the porch and front door. Standing behind John, Doug places his hands on John’s shoulder and guided him to the stairs and then up onto the porch. At the front door Doug opened the door and guided John inside.

Once inside, the mess frightened the very neat and orderly John. There was filth everywhere. The stacks of papers and garbage throughout the house suggested to John that the place could be rat infested.

As John stood in stunned silence taking in the sights, Doug took off his t-shirt revealing his hairy bear like chest.

He reached into a bowl and grabbed a mouthful of shelled boiled peanuts and went to get himself a can of beer. Doug reentered and stood next to the stunned John. Doug put an arm around John, "The place is a mess, I know, but this is where your feminine touch is going to come in so handy. You're me and my boys' “little woman” now. We're counting on you to fix this place up nice and purrty."

James was confused by the references of “feminine touch” and “little woman” yet at the same time also strangely comforted by the fact that this huge bear of a man compared to John, had thrown his large hairy strong arm around his shoulders. John could smell Doug's armpit odor. And he couldn't help but notice Doug’s hairy beerbelly. It was the belly of what the gay boys would call a `chunk'. It definitely would rule Doug out as the `model' type but he was certainly a Daddy bear-to-be, but it wasn't yet so obscenely over the top that he was unattractive.

John thought how if only Doug would get himself in shape, and start grooming himself, he would be one hell of an ace Daddy stud. John then started to mentally question why he was contemplating the sex appeal of another man, much less Doug Baker.

As John tried to collect himself, he realized that Doug had already finished his first can of beer and had started on a second. People who drank so rapidly and thoughtlessly scared John. He had memories from his childhood of a heavy drinking, abusive, uncle.

As John pondered Doug's drinking, he was shaken out of his thought when Doug unexpectedly put a hand up John’s shirt and snaked his fingers up to his chest. Doug found one of John's nipples and started gently tweaking it, "A man gets to play with his “woman's” titties and cunt whenever he wants to. The bible says so. You're my woman now, so I get to play with you whenever I want." John swallowed, feeling completely lost. He was no longer himself. He was a thing belonging to a strange man.

Doug took John by the hand, took a bottle of baby oil, and led John by the hand, speaking almost romanticly "You come along with me now sweet thing. I wanna take you out in the sunlight so I can get a good look at you and get you oiled up."

In the back yard sunlight, John stood frozen as Doug started to undressed him. Doug pulled John’s polo shirt over his head and tossed the shirt on a nearby lawn chair. He took the moment to run his hand all over John’s torso which was not quite hairless but had whisps around his pink areolas in the valley between his pectorals leading down to a much more pronounced treasure trail leading into his jeans.

Doug then told him to take off his shoes.

John mindlessly followed the order and kicked off the shoes leaving him standing barefeet in the grassy lawn.

Immediately Doug reached to unbuckle John’s belt. He started to unbutton John’s Levi 501’s.

John stood frozen overwhelmed by the mere size and domination of Doug. Doug slowly pulled the jeans down and lift each of John’s legs as he removed the trousers.

John now stood there in the open yard in his tighty whitie jockey shorts. Doug started around John admiring his new aquisition. With bear of a man, his new owner circling him John started to feel very small. He stared blushing and at the same time he had the strangest reaction he had ever had. He was starting to get an erection because this man was taking control.

Doug stopped in front of John and slowly reached to each hip, he took a grasp of the elastic and started to lower the briefs.

Suddenly John’s pink tumescence was revealed and Doug pleased to see John’s sign of arousal and submission, gave “little john” single stroke then pulled the briefs off and threw them with the rest of John’s clothes.

Doug poured some oil in his hand, and started rubbing it into John’s' shoulders and chest. John stood silent and embarrassed, calmed at least by Doug's gentle touch. Doug smiled widely, "I always used to oil up my women and make em do the housework naked. It was good for them, made them feel proud that they were appreciated; and it was good for my boys. It helped them learn all about women… You are certainly apprecciated. Daddy is pleased that your little pink clit indicates you are happy to be here"

Doug oiled up every inch of John' body, making John feel like an oiled hog. When he was finished oiling his `little missy', Doug stood back, looked the glistening John over, and whistled appreciatively. "You sure is pretty!"

Doug grabbed John by the hand, "Okay, little missy, you come along with me now. It's time for you to make daddy feel good."

Doug led John back to the cabin and into his bedroom, a dark hole full of plastic garbage sacks, old porn magazines, empty beer cans, pizza boxes, and cum rags. John stood, unknowing what to do, as Doug took off the rest of his clothes.

Doug then swept John into his big arms. He was gentle with his new bride, "Don't you be afraid, lil cucumber. Daddy's gonna take good care of you if you take good care of daddy."

Doug carried John to bed and slowly lowered him on the bed. Doug had one of the fattest cocks John had ever seen. M

Doug then reclined along side John. Once he was situated on his back Doug ordered John to straddle him and slowly sit on him. Doug with little prodding, only his dominating demeanor, was making John take his horse cock up his once proud young professional boy hole.

John was no longer a young professional hotshot. He was now Doug’s naked and oiled plaything; the little show-wife of some uneducated, hillbilly and his four sons.

The length of Doug’s cock was causing the stimulation of John’s prostate which was giving him his first experience of an anal orgasm. As John dutifully rode Doug's cock to hillbilly heaven he wondered about Doug's sons. Where were they?

As Doug shot his load and shouted in ecstasy, "Praised be the name of jeeezuz!" a very noisy, backfiring, car filled with whooping boys could be heard pulling into the yard."

Doug’s four boys were coming in the house whooping and hollering just as Doug rose from the bed with John still being held close to his furry chest.

There was nothing for John to do because he was being carried by Doug and he was still impaled on the imposing cock. Doug lowered John to his wobbily legs and withdrew from John’s pussy. Doug reached for his white military gripper boxer shorts and was pulling them on as the boys all entered the bedroom to witness the goings on.

Billy, 22 years old, smiled, "Looks like Pa just took the new slave for a test ride!"

Young David, 16, liked what he saw, "Pa's got em all oiled up just like his last woman. He sure is purrty all greased and shiny like that!

The very cute, jug-eared, Charles, 19, had the biggest hillbilly smile of all, "How was he Pa? Did he feel as good as your last woman?"

John stood there stark naked blushing in abject humiliation. Sweating and oily from the coupling with Doug and the feeling of Doug’s deposit seeping from his butt and dropping down John’s legs.

At that moment took a moment to really look at the 4 boys. They were certainly chips off the old block. Each was as burly as their father. The two oldest were already bigger and taller than their Daddy. And by all indicators as hairy, even the youngest.

Doug looked for his shirt, "You boys is gonna be finding that out soon enough. You know I always make my woman available to you. So it is with this one!"

Adam, the oldest brother at 25, was excited, "Kin we take him down to the river, Pa?"

Doug found his shirt and put it on, "You sure can. Just make sure you keep him leashed and booted at all times."

Adam approached John with what looked like a wide black leather belt in his hand but almost immediately John knew it a dog collar. Once John had buckled the collar he attached a leash to John’s collar, John felt like crying. Even more so when Billy brought over a large pair of work boots and ordered him to put them on.

Young David called for Whiskey, the large family dog, grabbed four flip whips, and handed one to each of his brothers. Doug noticed and cautioned; "Now you boys go easy on using them whips. I had to give all of your mothers a good whumpin from time to time, and this slave will prob'ly be no different from any of my women. But ya gotta train him right. If ya beat him for no reason, he'll just get defiant."

Wes knew the importance of being responsible, "I know Pa. I remember you only used to spank your woman if she did bad stuff. Like break dishes and stuff. We'll be the same way with our slave, Pa."

As the boys made their way out of the house with their dog and slave, David called out, "Pa, what's his name?"

Doug scratched his hairy chest and underarm , "I reckon it'll be whatever name you start callin him."

As the troupe started down the backwoods path, John was afraid of being seen as a naked slave. But as they walked along the wilderness, John soon realized that they were in such a remote location that it was unlikely they would run into anyone else.

The flip whips that each of the boys carried are also called `safety whips' because, although the flip whip can deliver a horrendous stinging sensation, it is made of special polymers that prevent it from being able to abrade the skin. Because of its safety features, parents frequently allow even their youngest children to use them as an aid in controlling their slaves.

The four young hillbilly brothers used the whips on their new slave not in sadistic thrusts, but just to keep him moving steadily along the path on their way to the river. John hopped each time one of the boys would swat at his back, shoulders, or legs, causing the hillbilly brothers to laugh raucously.

Once they arrived at the river, which looked cool and beautifully refreshing to John, the brothers started to unbutton and remove their shirts and shoes.

Young David threw a stick in the river, and Whiskey went eagerly bounding after it. The boys laughed at the antics of Whiskey, and Adam who held John’s leash, told him to get into the river and try to swim across it to the opposite shore.

John removed the boots and got in the river as instructed, happy to have the water clean him after being oiled and fucked by Doug.

Adam uncoiled the leash and ordered James to swim to the other side. John did, and as he swam away he thought for a moment, "Maybe I can escape!"

Just as John began to get lost in the beautiful thought of escape, Adam gave a cruel tug to the leash, and started reeling John back in. John, caught off guard by the jerking of his collar, choked on a mouthful of water. As he coughed and turned around in an attempt to swim back to shore as Adam reeled him in, he could hear the brothers laughing wildly.

When his feet could reach the river bottom, John stood and tried to catch his breath. He noticed that Billy and Charles were now totally naked and were sporting huge erections and their dicks were fat, like their father's.

Adam ordered John to once again try and swim to the other side. The second time John was on guard for Adam's tricks, and when he eventually tugged on his leash, John was able to quickly change directions and swim back towards the shore. When John got back to the shore, all four brothers were naked and erect. The brothers all had huge hillbilly smiles and fat hillbilly cocks that waggled inthe sun. Billy and David mindlessly rubbed their cocks as they watched their new slave get out of the water.

Adam talked to his brothers of former times, "I remember when pa would bring me and Billy and David's ma down here. Pa would let us watch her swim, then when she would come back on shore pa would encourage me to put my little 10-year old pecker up her pussy. It was fun times."

Like hillbillies everywhere, Doug's sons lived only for any base fleeting pleasure they could obtain from life, and now John was their new little pleasure package. He was owned by them. He was just like another pet dog to them; only Whiskey wasn't kept on a leash.

Adam wagged his finger at John and had him approach them. As John made his way to the four brothers, he took in the sight of the four fat hillbilly dicks that would probably need servicing on a daily basis.

The four Baker boys had their way with their new dog slave down at the river. While one boy would get his cock primed in John’s mouth, another brother would stick his already primed cock up John’s once proud ass and hump away.

Once the four brothers had their fill of John, they had him put on his boots for the walk back to their dad's place. The boys, having spent their sexual energy at the river, didn't use their flip whips on John nearly as much as they had on the walk down towards the river.

At their dad's shack the boys opened the front door and Adam shouted, "Pa, we's is back from the river. What do ya want us to do with the slave?"

"Put him to work doing something."

"Pa, we ain't got time to watch him. We's is goin rabbit huntin with the Smith boys."

"Well then lock him in the coop with the chickens!"

The Baker's chicken coop was in the back of the house. It was huge, made of high grade `chicken wire', and there was plenty of room in it so a slave could be stowed without bothering the chickens.

Once the boys shoved John in the coop and locked it, John was both relieved and depressed. There was a water pump in the coop and John refreshed himself. He sat in a sunny corner of the coop, made himself comfortable, and cried himself to sleep.

He was awakened hours later by Doug, "Come on boy. It's time for you to get in the house, make me some chow, and do your womanly duty. But first I want you to get yourself hog-oiled and purrty."

John found a certain comfort in the unkempt handsomeness of his owner. When he came out of the bathroom after oiling his body, Doug smiled and whistled at him. “Whooo-wee, You are damn purty. I think that’s what I am going to call you, Purty.”

John began to blush again.

John noted that Doug usually had a mason jar of moonshine on the cupboard. As he peeled the potatoes, he asked Doug, "Is your moonshine safe?"

Doug was happy to answer that, "I's got the best business goin’ cause all folks knows mine is clean. I've been drinkin it all my life and I'm healther'n a horse. Try it!"

John poured some into a cup, found it too powerful straight. He added some cider to it, and found he could down it. As he prepared the meal, the moonshine helped him to relax.

As he was drinking his third cup of cider-diluted moonshine, John was caught off guard when Doug came up behind him and cupped his balls, "How's my little woman doin?"

Doug's hands on his balls felt good to John, and he turned and faced his owner. John, with the help of the alcohol, could be honest. Doug's face was handsome, and made glorious with its stubble; his eyes twinkled; his hairy armpits reeked of manly animal; his arms were thick and strong; his slight potbelly suggested to John that he needed to provide some dietary guidance to his uneducated owner.

And when Doug put his lips to John’s and snaked his tongue into his mouth, John’s entire body tingled with excitement and submission.

Doug took John on the spot. John was bent over the dining tavleAnd John was happily taken. He submitted himself completely; he was now nothing but a moonshine-drinking hillbillys' slave. He would be shoved in the chicken coop when he was too much to handle; fucked at will by Doug’s four sons; and loved by Doug like he was the woman of his dreams.

John decided he could live with that, as Doug’s “little woman”

[mbta-unofficial]

If your city is a Brand, it’s already too late

Long post time. What is it that drives gentrification? Also, what is gentrification? Is it when a city gets blue hair and pronouns? No, it probably already had those.

Gentrification is the result of concentration of wealth in the hands of business owners, including landlords, over and above the hands of residents.

Let’s start with rent. Rent, like any good, is priced according to the laws of supply and demand. Supply of available rental housing is primarily determined by construction costs and estimated return on investment for new construction, and property management costs and estimated return on investment for existing units.

Breaking that down a bit, the higher construction costs get the higher the rent needs to be to break even on new construction. Construction costs include labor (which can always go down but you want it high for moral and practical reasons), materials (highly variable depending on the project) and bureaucratic costs. A bureaucratic cost is a cost that is based on how projects fit into the legal and practical environment, and are usually non-negotiable. Dig Safe, a program which requires three days of surveying local records before breaking ground, is an example where the function is to prevent crews from flattening a neighborhood by puncturing a gas main. Environmental Impact Statements, Fire Codes, Habitability Guidelines, and other regulations increase costs to projects. These programs are good and need to exist, but do stop smaller projects from happening at all because the capital investment required just to actually break ground on a new house might cost as much as the land and materials put together at which point you might as well build another 120$/sqft luxury midrise.

Property management costs for existing units are largely dependent on age and wear. A unit with no occupant is going to depreciate little, and may also appreciate in value. Depreciation and appreciation here are sort of unintuitive because they can happen at the same time. Imagine an old luxury sports car with a high resale price. Driving depreciates the value because it’s literal condition is poorer, even as the resale value goes up over time. The appreciation needs to beat both inflation and the value of depreciation for it to go up in real value. For companies with large capital holdings however, losses such as through the upkeep of empty apartment buildings are useful to a point because they reduce these organizations’s tax burdens. A company that makes a killing on the stock market only has to pay taxes if they keep it: if they buy houses they then don’t rent, they can claim they “lost” their stock market earnings with “bad investments” and then pay no tax while saving the real estate to rent later. Again, this favors the largest possible projects and the largest possible operators because small companies can be killed by an unprofitable quarter or 4 while large ones explicitly benefit from unprofitability in reducing their tax burden.

Expected ROI is the final piece of this, which affects both new and existing units. Every private developer and landlord wants to make as much money as they can, unless they are explicitly are renting as a service. An example of renting as a service would be families, who will rent to each other at favorable rates or for free, privileging people with large and/or wealthy families that are friendly with each other. Now, ROI is also subject to supply and demand. Everyone wants to build 120$/sqft luxury apartments but once everybody does nobody can sell/rent for those prices without setting a price floor and waiting for buyers to catch up. If you are a small developer, you can’t afford to do this. Your expenses will eat you alive. If you are a big developer, though, those expenses are offsetting the gains you make and serving to reduce you tax bill. Units at prices nobody can pay are effectively furloughed, meaning off the market, and, so long as they remain cheap to maintain, will remain that way, artificially restricting supply. It doesn’t matter if it’s for sale or not when it’s at a price you can’t afford. (Sidebar, anyone who tells you that the minimum wage depresses hiring because it artificially restricts demand is lying to you. It’s not strictly false, but like the above it’s a multi-variable equation and blanket statements about cost of labor are aimed at killing wages.)

What this alludes to also is a need for greater income equality. In order for rental to be a competitive option with furlough, not only does the price of furlough have to be increased, the real value of wages have to be increased in order to create opportunities for people to splurge. This is a twofold strategy, of both increasing the rewards of putting units on the market and increasing the costs of keeping them off. If real wages barely cover cost of living, or don’t cover cost of living, nobody can realistically spend more real wages on rent regardless of the percentage of their income it is. (Real wages here refers to the political power implied by dollar wages. A dollar is really worth whatever it can be exchanged for, whether that is a candy bar or a square inch of a 144$/sqft condo) The real value of everything except time and land are also constantly going down because of constant improvements in manufacturing. The cost in acres of land and hours of labor of a pound of beef, a bolt of cloth, or a pint of beer have dropped dramatically in the last century. Unfortunately, land is one of the few things that remains in marxist terms uncommodifiable, because it cannot be fully abstracted from the physical properties that make it valuable and we can’t make more of it just by making a better machine. This means that as the real value of things goes down because of supply and demand, the value of land only goes up because the supply is hard capped. If the value of everything under capitalism must go down because of increased production, while the value of capitalist assets must go up, or the system collapses, it makes sense that land would become a fixed point in that equation, the marxist speed of light observable from all reference points. The best approximation of land as commodity is, what else, apartments, which make available as living space the empty air above us. Because production never stops, the value of everything but land must go down. Therefore, as time passes, the price of land, and hence the price of housing, must tend upwards. Therefore, in order for housing to remain affordable, real wages must grow. This is the opposite of what is currently happening, as real wages have gone down for decades.

This income inequality which is one facet of capitalism is not new. For as long as people have lived in urban areas there have been issues between the abject class, the working class, the ruling class, and the professional class, a four part distinction I will seriously argue for in opposition to a lot of marxist theorists. The ruling and working classes ought to be familiar, or at least self explanatory. However, the other two classes I identify, the professionals and the abject, are useful to this analysis because they fill both a racial gap in the primarily marxist analysis I put forward and identify the two most likely groups to rent, which is to say the worker who works to produce but owns without governing and the professional who works to govern but does not own. The ruling class both governs and owns, but its court is full of courtiers who are there to push various agendas from within the rule of law without per se producing. Likewise, the working class pensioner exists in opposition to the abject who is denied the opportunity or the resources to be productive explicitly as a means to manufacture a threat against which inter-class solidarity between the workers and the rulers is developed. The textbook nazi conspiracy theory about “elites” doing a great racial replacement picks out perfectly what I mean by both the racial character of the professional and the abject and their utilization to foster solidarity between your plumber uncle and Elon Musk. This is relevant to both the broad theme of gentrification and the narrow theme of rent because gentrification is a wedge issue that divides the working class and the professional class far more than its impact on any other. The working class’ disidentification with doctors, lawyers, PMCs and other yuppie types, as well as the professional class’ disidentification with union politics, illegalism, and radicalism in general is brought to firecrackers in virtually any conversation about gentrification which seems in passing to be more about tapas bars than about real politics. Likewise, these groups shared distrust of and disdain for the abject, who are explicitly labeled by the state as constitutionally guilty, is the basis for the very broken windows policing strategy that empties neighborhoods of minorities regardless of class. The Rent is Too Damn High, and excluding homeless people from the “working” working class is a big part of how we got here specifically because the interests of small time owners and small time government functionaries, carried to their conclusions, are necessarily self defeating. These two groups eliminate the presence of the abject from their spaces at their own financial peril.

In addition to class, there is also a specific historical movement that is crucial to the understanding of gentrification as it exists, which is the movement of factories in search of cheap labor. The United States is not a good place to find cheap urban labor. You build a factory and suddenly everyone complains about air quality and labor violations and you can’t just kill them because everyone has lawyers. You kill one (us citizen) organizer and the NLRB is trying to get you in court for intimidation. What’s the country come to? But a shipping container costs a quarter cent per mile and the goods aren’t perishable so you go to Guangzhou or Cape Town where you can kill union bosses in peace. But for the American city, that’s a loss of what once made land prime real estate. What jobs can replace the insatiable demand for labor that a 24 hour paper mill once produced? Service labor, which crucially is site specific and therefore not outsourceable, is what the US has predominantly turned to. (and arms manufacturing which is not outsourced for very different reasons) However, service labor is only in demand if there is already a stable population that can be served, which requires a constant influx of capital holders in demand of service. This is why Airbnb exists and is hollowing out rental availability, why Boston as a college town is the way it is, and why there are in fact so many damn tapas bars. Fred Salveucci talked about being able to go north of the expressway in the 70s and being able to get a plate of mac and beans for half a buck. I went looking for a 5$ slice of pizza on my lunch break today around Government Center and found two places that were boarded up and ended up spending 20$ at Chilacates. Cities are being slowly turned into Cancun, complete with the fences to keep out the homeless.

What can be done about this? Obviously the factors we’ve discussed that favor consolidation of housing are mostly either contained within a gordion’s knot of tax policy or intrinsic to capitalism/goods as commodities. But, given that we narrow our objectives to making the rent lower, some obvious weaknesses jump out: increasing the cost of vacancy forces units out of furlough, because companies are no longer able to justify the losses, and increasing real wages increases the availability of capital for workers to spend on rent. These are the prongs I talked about earlier.

Legal means to pursue each prong exist. Both a minimum wage and a maximum wage, depending on their implementation, can potentially increase real wages, and vacancy taxes directly increase the costs of vacancy. The government can also ignore the market and directly mandate maximum rents within certain parameters. This tends to decrease the long term supply of housing for the reasons discussed at the outset, given that if the revenues from house building don’t cover the costs of building, less gets built. However, any political movement that exists exclusively within the white lines of the law fails to genuinely threaten change. Landlords, like bosses, break the law constantly with the impunity that a lawyer provides them against consequence. This is why a healthy dose of illegalism is an important part of any effective political movement. The most direct action one can take is property occupation, or squatting. Squatter’s rights are nearly non-existent in the United States. The most leeway that any state grants to any unknown persons occupying a dwelling is 60 days notice to vacate the property, and there are states that allow no notice evictions or lack statutes governing squatting at all. Every single state regards the occupation of owned property as trespassing, meaning most kinds of squatting are prosecutable offenses. However, squatting, even temporarily in ways that don’t expose the squatter to liability provided they don’t get caught, can seriously impact the value of properties. You have heard of rent lowering gunshots. This is the serious version of that. At the same time, illegal action needs legal defense, both in terms of non-compliance with police to protect those willing to take illegal actions from arrest and in terms of legal, 1st amendment protected disruption to keep focus on the issue. The most effective movements have a radical wing and a institutionalist wing who do not acknowledge each other but share the same tactics and objectives.

If you are housed, you need to be willing to protect and support homeless people because they are your front line. Start or join an Occupy movement, where they are your peers in occupying a public space illegally in a way that is too public to prosecute. Give to people on the street, and smash anti-homeless architecture if nobody is watching. Be willing to distract cops if you see someone doing something dodgy so they can get away. Remember that following the law is a tactic, and so is breaking it.

The case for this being on my transit blog is arguably weak, but I felt compelled after a particularly hateful experience looking at facebook memes about homeless people on the T. You should want those people there. You should want those people breaking down the doors of luxury apartments and setting up shop. You should want them keeping your city safe because the cops you hire to separate you from them will train their guns on you next.

And for gods sake, don’t let your city become a brand. Branding is marketing. Branding is clean, and bloodless, and a gloved hand around your throat that leaves no fingerprints.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Maria Ramirez Uribe and Amy Sherman at PolitiFact:

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Underlying 2024’s most outrageous political lie was a truth — some might even argue a confession — voiced by an accomplice: To get media attention, then-vice presidential candidate JD Vance acknowledged, sometimes "I have to create stories." And so, with a brazen disregard for facts, Donald Trump and his running mate repeatedly peddled a created story that in Springfield, Ohio, Haitian immigrants were eating pet dogs and cats. With this claim, amplified before 67 million television viewers in his debate against Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump took his anti-migrant, the U.S. border-is-out-of-control campaign agenda to a new level.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs," Trump said Sept. 10. "The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame." City and county officials said repeatedly that it was not happening.  Rebuttals did not diminish the consequences: Dozens of bomb threats at schools, grocery stores and government buildings. Pleas from locals to leave them alone. A continued lack of constructive debate on immigration and border control issues. After the threats subsided, some Haitians didn’t want to go in public or send their children to school. The police department sent an officer to protect churchgoers at a Haitian Creole Sunday afternoon mass. Haitian restaurant owners and schoolchildren heard taunts from people using Trump’s words. 

"‘Dad, do we eat dogs at the house?’" Jacob Payen, a Haitian Community Alliance spokesperson and business owner, recalled his 7-year-old son asking. The Haitian population in Springfield had swelled since 2021 as people fled Haiti’s violence and instability. City officials estimated 12,000 to 20,000 Haitians had come to this city of about 58,000 residents in 2020, after hearing about jobs and low living costs. Most Haitians live in the U.S. legally under a temporary federal protection President Joe Biden extended. The sudden population surge came with growing pains on housing, health services, road safety and schools. When the local conversation turned to unfounded rumors and fearmongering, Trump and Vance seized an opportunity.

[...]

In choosing the 2024 Lie of the Year, the claims by Vance and Trump about Haitians eating pets stood out. 

It was an absurd statement that Trump raised unprompted on the debate stage. 

And neither Trump nor Vance stopped there. They stuck with the narrative for the rest of the campaign, over the objections of allies who debunked it and pleaded with them to let it go. When challenged by voters and interviewers, Trump said he heard it on TV; Vance said constituents had called his office with the claim.

[...]

Emboldened by Vance’s embrace of the rumor, Trump’s debate outburst cemented lasting consequences, stigmatizing a town and its residents in the name of campaign rage. For those reasons, Trump and Vance own the 2024 Lie of the Year.

[...]

Anatomy of a lie: How real strains primed voters for a baseless rumor

Haitians in Springfield fled their home country after their family members were killed, their businesses were burned down and their lives were endangered. The country was thrown into chaos, its capital city controlled by gangs, after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, an earthquake and a tropical storm.  As their population grew in Springfield, the Haitian immigrants filled jobs and opened restaurants and stores.  Some longtime residents grew irritated by the strain on city services, such as wait times for public health services, a housing shortage and rising rents. 

In August 2023, a tragedy deepened the resentment: Hermanio Joseph, a Haitian who is in the U.S. legally and lacked a valid driver’s license, drove a minivan into a school bus, injuring about 20 children and killing Aiden Clark, 11. It was the first day of school. Joseph was found guilty of vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to prison. Angry residents attended city commission meetings over the next year to ask questions about how so many Haitians ended up in Springfield. They said the Haitians didn’t know driving laws or cultural norms and didn’t speak English.  Local leaders acknowledged the road dangers and overburdened public services. They described steps they and the state had taken to mitigate the strains, such as hiring interpreters and launching drivers’ education classes. City Manager Bryan Heck said Springfield had struggled with housing scarcity for years before the Haitians arrived. 

On July 8, Heck sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, copying Vance, requesting federal help. The next day, at a banking committee meeting, Vance highlighted Springfield’s housing shortage and demands on hospital and school services among the "very real human consequences" of immigration. Trump announced Vance as his running mate about a week later. 

Discussion of real tension quickly turned to hearsay molded by racist tropes. The earliest rumors PolitiFact found of Haitians stealing and eating pets and geese came in August amid a neo-Nazi group’s protest. On Aug. 10, a dozen people carrying swastika flags marched downtown, protesting the city’s Haitian immigrants. The national white supremacist group Blood Tribe, which has opposed immigration around the country, posted on Gab, a social networking platform used by far-right groups, to take credit for the march. "Once haitians swarm into a town animals start to disappear," an anonymous user commented.  That post garnered only a few likes and comments.  On Aug. 26, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office received a call from someone who said he saw four Haitians carrying geese. Wildlife officials found no evidence to corroborate the claim.

On social media the same day, users amplified similar claims with thirdhand accounts. In an Aug. 26 Facebook post, a woman said her work partner’s brother-in-law saw a Haitian man cut the heads off geese in front of children. She tagged Springfield resident Anthony Harris, who told the story at a city commission meeting the next day, adding that the man ate the beheaded geese. On a private Facebook group about crime in Springfield, a resident said Haitians stole and ate a neighbor’s daughter’s friend’s cat. (The woman later took down the post and said she regretted it.) In the first week of September, verified accounts on X, sent the claim viral when they posted a screenshot of the Facebook post.  "Springfield is a small town in Ohio. 4 years ago, they had 60k residents. Under Harris and Biden, 20,000 Haitian immigrants were shipped to the town," End Wokeness, a pro-Trump X account with more than 3 million followers, posted Sept. 6. "Now ducks and pets are disappearing." End Wokeness’ X post, which has 5 million views, included a photo of a Black man holding what appears to be a dead goose. The photo was taken in Columbus, Ohio, about 48 miles east of Springfield, according to a July Reddit post. 

PolitiFact names the “they’re eating the pets” lie in Springfield, Ohio amplified by then-Senator and VP-elect JD Vance and “President”-elect Donald Trump as its 2024 Lie Of The Year. The pet-eating hoax served to fuel anti-Haitian prejudice.

[empirearchives]

The Dome of the Halle au Blé — Ironwork in Paris in the 19th Century

The Halle au Blé under demolition in 1887

The Halle au Blé was transformed into the Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection. Though most of the original building was changed, the iron dome designed in 1807 was kept in tact.

The iron dome of the Halle au Blé (which housed the grain exchange of Paris during the 18th and 19th century), was the largest iron structure in the world at the time of its construction between 1807 and 1813.

The original dome of the Halle au Blé was made of wood and burned down in a fire in 1802.

The replacement dome, upgraded to cast iron, was designed by François Bélanger. The design was sent to a committee headed by Becquay-Beaupré, and was approved by Napoleon in 1807.

Bélanger's elegant and audacious design was submitted to Crétet, who consulted with Napoleon. The emperor approved the project in a decree of September 4, 1807. Napoleon was interested enough in the project to visit the site during construction, and he personally dedicated the dome. Actual construction began in 1809 with cast iron produced at Le Creusot, but the dome was not ultimately completed until 1813, having cost 700,000 francs, seven times more than the original estimate.

Bélanger’s iron dome is important because it was the largest iron structure of its day, and it was several decades before another of such magnitude was constructed. The elegant and slender ribs of the dome seen from 40 meters below create an illusion of lightness far surpassing that which is possible with other traditional framing materials.

The novelty of the use of iron and the thinner dimensions made the Halle au Blé a notable attraction in Napoleon’s day and throughout the 19th century. Pierre Fontaine, whom Napoleon had named First Architect and who had argued with the emperor regarding the Vendôme Column, the Temple of Glory, the Pantheon, the Pont des Arts, the Pont des Invalides, and the Pont d'lena, found the dome to be much more satisfying in its use of iron than these other structures.

“This work,” he wrote, “is one of the most remarkable which has been erected under the present regime.” In fact, many of the Parisian guidebooks of the last century give ample treatment to its description, since the dome was considered to be one of the significant landmarks of the capital.

Conversion to the Bourse de Commerce:

The engineer Cosmo Canovetti was charged in 1887 with the reconstruction of the Halle au Blé and its conversion into the Bourse de Commerce. In order to determine whether to retain or reconstruct the dome, Canovetti examined it for any deterioration. He calculated the bending moments by means of funicular polygons, a process unknown to Bélanger, in order to determine whether the additional weight of a roof covering over part of the dome would create any structural problems. Canovetti found the structure adequate, and he observed that Bélanger had understood well the appropriate ratio of diminution to give the ribs from their spring points on the masonry wall to their apex at the compression ring which forms the lantern base.

Source:

Building with Iron: A Napoleonic Controversy, Frances H. Steiner, Technology and Culture, Volume 22, Number 4, October 1981, pp. 700-724 (Article), Published by Johns Hopkins University Press

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Humans are weird: No sense in Dying

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Military Report 3759612.3 Subject: Harvest Conflict Category: Mendigold Incident

Star date: 3751.2 Coalition forces have driven off remaining Reni Fleet contingents and have full control over the Mendigold system.

Consisting of four worlds, the system only has Mendigold Prime had a livable environment while the remaining three have minimal mining and colonization facilities.

Mendigold Prime was designated a military garrison world to the Reni empire. As such the installations on the planet were largely dedicated to the Reni military industrial complex. City sized barracks, underground ammunition warehouses, dozens of football sized landing fields, and uncountable training grounds for various aspects of the Reni military were the primary structures on the planet. Only a small percentage of the Reni population was designated civilian and they were regulated to either industrial support roles or service industries that entertain off duty soldiers.

On average the planet’s population was between 500 million - 1 billion, with 93% of that being military personnel. This number was subject to fluctuation due to military units rotating in and out for different warzones. When the Coalition arrived in system the population was estimated 3 Billion as the Reni military had been preparing for a renewed offensive into Coalition territory and had diverted the majority of their military ground forces gathered on planet. Star date 3751.3 The Coalition naval fleets have surrounded Mendigold Prime and a blockade has been enforced.

Orbital defenses around the main military bases keep the naval assets from conducting recon scans from lower orbit, but their firing range is limited allowing for the rest of the planet to be mapped without issue.

Scans show that the planet is heavily fortified with existing prefabricated structures while additional defenses had been constructed. These consisted of extensive trench works, bunkers, and newly built gun positions that surrounded each installation for at least three kilometers in every direction.

Further reinforcing the defense of the planet was a large and well equipped air force. The scans showed the existence of several underground bunker complexes that housed the aircraft and protected them from all but a sustained orbital strike. Due to the lack of resistance in the space around the planet it was believed that they were limited to atmospheric aircraft, but it was not discounted that they possessed some fighters that could breach the atmosphere and attack the Coalition navy.

Routine scans were continued while Coalition leadership met to debate plans for the invasion of the planet.

Star Date 3751.6 Coalition leaders were unable to decide on how the ground invasion of Mendigold would progress.

All calculations predicted that any planetary landing would cost Coalition forces 15%. Assaulting any of the heavily defended installations estimated 35% per installation and a total planet conquest at 87% casualty rate.

Unlike previous worlds the Reni had attacked they had only a few months to entrench themselves before the Coalition could respond, but Mendigold was the first Reni military world the coalition had come into contact with and now faced the might of a well disciplined and prepared enemy.

Such casualty figures were well beyond what even the most bloodthirsty Coalition leader take pause. These kinds of losses would cripple the rest of the campaign and leave any future planetary assaults all but impossible.

The debate about what should be done went on for two days while the coalition navy maintained its blockade of the planet. By the third day the leader of the human contingent spoke up with a rather brutal method.

Rather than invading the human leader, a General Herald Farn, suggested that they simply maintain the blockade and wait for the planet to starve out and surrender.

This tactic was all but unheard of and many called it cowardly. It was all the more surprising when it came from a human whose people are known to be well renowned warriors.

General Farn counters the dissenting arguments by stating that it is likewise madness to send their ground forces into a meat grinder and waste them so needlessly.

Taking control of the holographic display, General Farn recommended that by surgically striking the store houses holding the rations and food supplies the Reni would be unable to maintain rationing for long. He then provided data that while the planet was a military world with extensive supply facilities, it was never intended to have such a large garrisoning force for extended periods.

General Farn promised that within a week they would begin seeing results.

Star date 3751.13

Initial bombardment operations were successful.

Over 67% of supply depots that were targeted were destroyed by orbital bombardment in addition to knocking out all satellite communication platforms orbiting the planet . A following 12% were damaged but note entirely destroyed while the remaining 21% received minor to no damage. Anti-orbital defenses around the remaining 21% was too strong for naval forces to breach long enough to carry out precise strikes and after losing three cruisers and ten frigates the coalition navy withdrew and considered the operation done.

After that scans showed renewed activity by ground forces to further strengthen their areas in the days following. New trench lines were dug and the remaining supplies were dispersed to prevent another critical loss.

Reni forces remained on active alert for four days straight but with no follow up strikes they were largely left to their own devices. With no communication between the defense pockets larger coordinated defense efforts ceased.

Several small parties were seen leaving the larger defended areas and going out into the few wild areas that remained on the planet. Analysts summarized that commanders were now foraging for provisions to supplement their dwindling stocks.

General Farn took this as confirmation that the plan was working and within the coming weeks the Reni ground forces would surrender. The coalition leaders agreed and allowed the plan to continue.

Star date 3751. 20

Larger foraging parties have now been seen departing the fortified enclaves and spreading out further in search of supplies. While unconfirmed it has been seen that several of these detachments have engaged in small skirmishes with other foraging parties from different enclaves.

Two weeks have passed since the supply depot bombardments and the rapidly degrading state of the Reni military can be seen from orbit within the cities. Small fires have broken out in the more fortified enclaves while smaller redoubts have entirely emptied of all personnel. It is unknown if this was by order or general desertion due to lack of supplies but the number of abandoned bases is increasing.

Star date 3751.27

First displays of open aggression between fortified enclaves have broken out as the supply situation has reached critical mass.

The spaceport under the command of Reni General Hopi was attacked. Spy drones were dispatched to the surface and returned video feeds depicting the attackers to have come from the Central Command Block under the command of Reni General Filar.

Military intelligence had prior to the Mendigold campaign had shown there had been a deep hatred between the two generals that went far beyond minor squabbling. With the cut off of supplies the hatred may have boiled over into outright violence, as Filar may have believed Hopi still had supplies left at the spaceport.

For the first time in recorded history Reni fought Reni and the Coalition watched as massed Reni infantry fought against waves of the spaceport defense air force.

While this engagement was the largest battle in the brewing Reni civil war on the planet it was not the only conflict. All over the globe Reni forces were fighting each other in a desperate need for supplies.

Star date 3751.30

The situation on the surface is now entirely untenable.

While Coalition leaders have agreed the starvation tactic was successful at weakening the Reni forces, it has produced the unhealthy side effect of triggering a massive Reni civil war planetside.

Central command no longer exists for the Reni as each enclave commander has now become a sudo warlord in their own right. There is no one leader to open a dialogue with now to demand terms of surrender, and even if they did accept it they would only be able to stand down the forces loyal to them while other warlords would continue fighting.

Coalition leaders have no idea how to defuse the situation, with only General Farn calling the operation a success.

Reni forces have begun dwindling rapidly as each enclaves seeks to horde whatever few supplies remain. Estimated Reni casualties now range in the 500 million range with more expected in the coming days as starvation finally takes its full toll on the Reni population.

With no concise plan of action and the planet now having lost all tactical value, the Coalition fleet has decided to continue the campaign and leave Mendigold to its fate. A tribunal has been called to have the human General Farn answer potential crimes that resulted from his order. Until the war is over however it is not likely that the human would lose his position or rank.