#home addition cost estimate

[asestimationsconsultants]

Key Factors That Affect the Accuracy of a Residential Estimating Service

A residential estimating service plays a crucial role in determining the cost of building, remodeling, or renovating a home. The accuracy of these estimates is essential for homeowners, contractors, and developers to plan their budgets effectively and avoid financial setbacks. However, several factors influence the precision of a residential estimating service, ranging from material costs to labor availability. Understanding these factors can help homeowners make informed decisions and ensure their projects stay within budget.

Material Costs and Market Fluctuations

One of the most significant factors affecting the accuracy of a residential estimating service is the cost of materials. Prices for essential construction items such as lumber, cement, steel, and drywall can fluctuate due to market conditions, supply chain disruptions, and seasonal demand. If an estimate is based on outdated material pricing, the final project cost may be significantly higher than anticipated.

To enhance accuracy, professional estimators use real-time market data and forecasting tools to adjust material prices accordingly. They also consider potential shortages or delays that could impact the overall project timeline and budget.

Labor Costs and Workforce Availability

Labor costs vary depending on the location, project complexity, and skill level required. The availability of skilled workers such as electricians, plumbers, and carpenters can also influence cost estimates. If there is a labor shortage in a particular area, wages may be higher, increasing the overall project expenses.

A residential estimating service factors in local labor rates and considers seasonal trends that may impact workforce availability. For instance, in areas where construction activity peaks during certain months, labor costs may be higher due to increased demand.

Project Scope and Complexity

The size and complexity of a residential project directly impact the accuracy of cost estimates. A simple home renovation with minimal structural changes may be easier to estimate than a large-scale custom home construction. The more intricate the design, the greater the chances of cost variations due to unforeseen complications.

For example, if a homeowner decides to add custom architectural features, high-end finishes, or smart home technology, the estimate must account for these additional costs. Changes in project scope after an estimate is prepared can also lead to budget discrepancies.

Site Conditions and Location-Specific Factors

The physical characteristics of the construction site significantly influence cost estimates. Factors such as soil conditions, land grading requirements, accessibility, and environmental considerations can affect the overall project cost. For instance, if a site has poor soil quality, additional foundation work may be necessary, increasing expenses.

Estimators conduct site evaluations or use geotechnical reports to account for potential challenges. If the project is in a remote area, transportation and logistics costs may also be higher, which should be included in the estimate.

Permits, Regulations, and Compliance Costs

Building codes, zoning laws, and permit requirements vary by location and can impact the cost of a residential project. A residential estimating service must factor in the costs of obtaining permits, conducting inspections, and ensuring compliance with local regulations.

Failing to account for these expenses can lead to unexpected costs later in the project. In some cases, non-compliance may result in fines or costly modifications to bring the project up to code. Experienced estimators research local regulations and include these costs in their calculations to ensure homeowners are financially prepared.

Contingency Planning for Unforeseen Expenses

No matter how accurate an estimate is, unexpected costs can arise during construction. Unforeseen expenses may include weather-related delays, hidden structural issues, or last-minute design changes requested by the homeowner.

A well-prepared residential estimating service incorporates a contingency fund, typically ranging from 10% to 20% of the total project cost. This ensures that homeowners have financial flexibility to handle surprises without derailing their budget.

Use of Estimating Software and Technology

Advancements in estimating software have significantly improved accuracy by automating calculations and integrating real-time data. Professional estimators use tools that provide detailed cost breakdowns, material takeoffs, and labor estimates based on industry benchmarks.

However, the accuracy of these tools depends on the quality of the data inputted. If outdated pricing or incorrect measurements are used, even the most sophisticated software can produce inaccurate estimates. Skilled estimators combine technology with their expertise to validate cost projections and ensure precision.

Impact of Economic Trends and Inflation

Broader economic conditions, such as inflation and interest rates, can influence construction costs over time. Rising inflation can increase the cost of materials, labor, and financing, making previously estimated budgets insufficient.

A residential estimating service considers economic trends and advises homeowners on potential cost changes. This helps in planning long-term projects where cost fluctuations may significantly impact the final budget.

Homeowner Decisions and Change Orders

Homeowners often make changes to their initial project plans, which can lead to cost overruns. Modifying the design, selecting different materials, or expanding the project scope after an estimate is prepared can result in unexpected expenses.

To maintain accuracy, estimators encourage homeowners to finalize their design choices before starting the project. They also provide cost breakdowns for different options so homeowners can make budget-conscious decisions without causing major financial disruptions.

Conclusion

The accuracy of a residential estimating service depends on multiple factors, including material costs, labor rates, site conditions, regulations, and economic trends. While estimators strive to provide precise cost projections, unforeseen circumstances can still arise. By understanding these influencing factors and working with experienced estimators, homeowners can better plan their budgets and minimize financial risks. A well-prepared estimate not only helps in controlling costs but also ensures a smooth and efficient construction process.

[livnext]

[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

[aymanfamily]

Evacuation of my Neurological Patient Brother 🥹🙏

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I’m reaching out to you today, on behalf of my husband, with an urgent request for assistance. My family is currently facing an unimaginable situation as I desperately seek to evacuate them from the ongoing crisis in Gaza including my brother-in-law, who is a neurological patient, and my mother-in-law who is 70 years old, and she is not only grapples with the challenges of aging but also shoulders the burden of chronic illnesses, including high blood pressure and diabetes. My brother-in-law's condition requires specialized medical care, as he suffers from a benign tumor in the cerebellum. He underwent two major surgeries to remove the tumor, and an internal valve was installed to drain the cerebrospinal fluid.

This operation led to a permanent disability in movement and stiffness in the muscles of the legs, especially the left side. He needs constant follow-up and permanent rehabilitation treatment, as he was receiving two physical therapy sessions weekly to relieve muscle stiffness, but since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip (more than 4 months ago), he has not received this service, and in the same context, he needs daily medication which is simply not available now in Gaza, as the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip has been severely impacted by the ongoing conflict, with limited resources and a shortage of medical supplies. It is crucial that we act quickly to evacuate him to a safer location where he can receive the necessary medical attention and support, in addition to the evacuation of 6 other members of my family.

As many of you may be aware, Gaza has been experiencing a devastating humanitarian crisis for years. The recent Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has worsened the situation, leaving innocent civilians trapped and in desperate need of help. Knowing that we live in Gaza City, but the Israeli occupation army forced us to evacuate our homes and move to the center or south of the Gaza Strip. We left our home on 13th Oct. 2023 and moved to the center of the Gaza Strip, which was supposed to be a safe area, but then the Israeli soldiers began military operations in the central region. Therefore, we were forced to move to Rafah, living in a house including 20 members. Currently the Israeli Occupation Forces are threatening to invade Rafah, where 1.4 million people are taking refuge in an area of 55 km2. If Rafah is invaded, more massacres will be committed in addition to the massacres that were and are currently being committed in all areas of the Gaza Strip. Note that our house was directly hit by a missile, and currently the Israeli army does not allow us to return to Gaza city and to our homes, in addition to the fact that Gaza currently does not have the minimum necessities of life, such as electricity or clean water, in addition to the scarcity of resources. So, in an attempt to save our lives, we are planning to evacuate to Egypt, but the cost of evacuation is exorbitant, far beyond what our family can afford, therefore I'm setting up a GoFundMe campaign to raise USD $59,000. Here is the breakdown of the funds: • A total of USD $49,000 is estimated to cover the expenses associated with obtaining permits to leave Gaza, as well as crossing fees at Rafah, at the Egypt-Gaza border. This amount breaks down to USD$ 5,000 - $7,000 per person (7 people). • It is estimated that USD $10000 will be sufficient to cover the basic needs of my family in Egypt, including their accommodation, food, and other essential. Every donation, no matter how big or small, will make a difference. Even the smallest contribution can help us an inch closer to our goal of saving our life. Knowing that times are tough, and the invasion of Rafah could happen at any time, noting that the crossing with Egypt is in the city of Rafah, and it is possible that the crossing will be closed at any time due to the invasion, so I hope you help as soon as possible. Many thanks in advance for your contribution to save our lives.

My gofundme link:

Thanks for your trust and support ❤️🙏

[lonniemachin]

Haneen reached out to me on Twitter to share her fundraiser. She’s trying to raise €30,000 to help evacuate her family from Gaza to Egypt. She’s only made €1,543 of her goal as of today, April 2nd 2024. This is urgent!

Please donate if you can, and share if you can’t.

From Haneen’s GFM page:

My name is Haneen, a Palestinian with permanent residency in Belgium... With great sadness, I'm reaching out to you today for help getting my family members out of Gaza to Egypt. My family lost our home when the neighborhood was bombed and destroyed. There are five members of my family in Gaza, including my father, mother and three sisters. My family lost everything in this war, including our businesses and homes. During the war, my family was evacuated from north to south, became homeless and evacuating more than five times. They are now living on the streets, and they do not have anywhere to live. They are now living in the most difficult conditions. Besides my mother, who suffering from health problems. She left intensive care weeks before the war and needs health care, and my father, for whom we cannot find medication, as well as lack of access to clean water and food. My family members are highly educated and come from different backgrounds. My father is a lawyer, my mother is a housewife, and my first three sisters are an engineer, the second is a lawyer, and the other is an administrator, but now they have lost everything and all their sources of income. However, they were unable to receive any financial or food assistance for the displaced and this meant that my family would be responsible for all expenses As a result, I am their only hope of leaving Gaza for Egypt and I am responsible for all costs. Please help me collect travel costs for five people. In order to facilitate the evacuation of my family from Gaza, where the situation is catastrophic and very dangerous. I'm setting up a GoFundMe campaign to raise $30,000, here's the breakdown of the money: $30,000: A total amount of US$25,000 has been allocated to cover expenses associated with obtaining permits to leave Gaza, in addition to transit fees at Rafah, on the Egypt-Gaza border, with US$5,000 being the departure expense for each member of my family. It is estimated that the amount will be US$5,000. Enough to cover the basic needs of my family in Egypt for 3 months , including housing, food, treatment, and other necessities. Every donation, no matter how small, will make a significant difference to my family's safety. The funds raised will be used transparently and efficiently to ensure that every dollar is spent on ensuring their safety. My family and I are deeply grateful for your support, and I am deeply grateful for any assistance you may be able to provide during this difficult time. Please share this campaign with your friends, family, and colleagues so that we can reach our goal and provide safety for my family Please accept my sincere thanks for your kindness and support, as well as your willingness to stand with us in solidarity, as together, we can make a difference and help my family find safety and security. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Haneen

[cassolotl]

UK government planning to scrap a major disability benefit

I'm only just scraping by and the government are proposing to take away PIP (a disability benefit), which would be HALF of my income wiped out.

"Reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) could include stopping regular cash payments, and instead offering claimants one-off grants for things like home adaptations." -- "Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024

And:

"The plans, which will be consulted on over the coming months, also include proposals to “move away from a fixed cash benefit system”, meaning people with some conditions will no longer receive regular payments, but instead access to treatment if their condition does not involve extra costs." -- "People with depression or anxiety could lose sickness benefits, says UK minister", Guardian, 29 April 2024

That's what the NHS is supposed to be doing...

Genuinely absolutely terrifying.

Can anyone living in the UK join in with an (hopefully!) overwhelming cascade of unique emails to their MP opposing this? WriteToThem.com makes it very quick and easy.

They're proposing to replace it with one-off grants that the individual can apply for, which is absurd and horrifying, so feel free to point out how that won't work as well!

Here's what I'm writing, and do not just copy-paste my letter/email, because that makes it less legit. Do your own thing, even just one sentence telling your MP that you're opposed is enough if that's all you can manage. Whatever you want to say is what your MP needs to hear.

Dear [MP's name], Today I learned that the government plan to scrap PIP, and maybe replace it with something like a one-off grant application process, before the next election. ("Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0ry09d50wo) PIP is about half of my income (about 44%). I don't spend it on occasional large purchases, I spend it on countless things that are more expensive for me than they are for other people. PIP is in place to acknowledge, as it says in the above article, that disabled people's lives are more expensive than non-disabled people's lives by hundreds of pounds per week. ("Previous research from Scope suggests households with at least one disabled adult or child face an estimated average extra cost of £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households." That's £225 per week, and the maximum amount of PIP you can get is £184.) So firstly, it could be argued that PIP doesn't even cover the additional expenses of the average disabled household. And next, the cost of implementing an alternative system would be worse for disabled people, totally unsuited to its purpose, and more expensive to run. Worse for disabled people: Currently PIP acknowledges that being disabled takes a lot more work to maintain a comparable standard of living, and as it's an amount of work that the claimant cannot sustainably do, they are given money so that they can pay someone else to do it. These costs are distributed across all living expenses, in addition to occasional one-off purchases of e.g. mobility aids. Having to apply for one-off payments for expenses would be more work on top of that, so if the disabled person isn't able to do it (which is very likely) they will either have to work less in their day jobs in order to spend more time applying for one-off grants, or they will have to also apply for one-off payments to pay someone to apply for more one-off payments. This is self-evidently a waste of energy and time, and totally impractical, as well as being counter to the entire point of disability benefits. It would also be extremely undignified for the disabled people, and arguably against human rights (right to private life and dignity), to have to justify each purchase to the government. Totally unsuited to its purpose: One off-grants are not suited to ongoing higher expenses such as having to buy more prepared food (e.g. carrot batons are more expensive than raw carrots and go off much more quickly). Does this policy assume that disabled people's PIP is only for things like wheelchairs and walking sticks? More expensive to run: The system for PIP applications is already fairly backlogged, in that my last application took over 6 months to complete. I was awarded PIP for 10 years. If every application for a one-off grant had to be accompanied by an application of a similar scale that wouldn't be workable, so presumably an initial PIP application like the current system's would still be required to qualify for the system in the first place, and then following that, numerous smaller applications for money (e.g. for taxis, pre-chopped veg, painkillers, specialist clothing, etc.) would be carried out per person per month. The disability benefits system would have to be scaled up significantly, and it would be much more expensive. It is far cheaper to give people a set amount of money based on their needs; it's the same money that you would be giving them in grants anyway, but without having to process each purchase/one-off application. I implore you to oppose this proposal. It is blatantly unworkable to the level of absurdity, but more importantly it is inhumane. I look forward to your reply detailing your stance. Many thanks in advance. Yours sincerely, [My name]

But, again, if you can't manage anything long or complicated like that, your best is good enough. Even if they're not all perfectly written and detailed, we want to bowl them over with sheer quantity of emails.

[rouge-the-bat]

yo would anyone be able to help out and send me and my girlfriend ( @ashtwinproject22 ) some money for some kitty-wellness?

TLDR; we need help to get 3 female stray cats fixed asap as its mating season, and get one of my cats lump checked at a vet before fixing him too. this all can cost anywhere from approx $157 to $253+ the unknown price for potentially removing the lump. if you can help, my girlfriend's cashapp is $nalathequeen2186 and paypal is @nalathequeen2186 !

(also please check the reblogs when you can, in case i have any updates about prices, if we reach the amount we need, changes to the situation, etc. will also show updates of the kitties when we can get them fixed/to the vet, to prove were getting it all done!)

the strays weve been trying to help out ⬆️

my sweet silly boy with the lump (ft. me) ⬇️

full explanation under the cut:

one of my brothers and his girlfriend moved in with us until they can find a place, and they brought over the cats that were living under their house that theyve helped take care of, but theyre mostly stray, and unfortunately my brother is very "let nature run its course" about outside cats 🙄

its 3 sister mama cats, and we already took in their 3 surviving babies, and have gotten 2 of the babies fixed and have the 3rd one scheduled to be fixed in less than a week. so atm, we have 7 cats in this house, and as much as i would love to, we just cant take in the 3 mamas as well, even though theyre incredibly sweet.

im unsure what our full plan will be about the 3 mamas, especially since im unsure what my brothers plans with them will be once he and his gf move back out (were not exactly on speaking terms right now since hes been a total piece of shit about me and my gf struggling with mentall illness- which he doesnt even believe is real 🙄🙄🙄). im hoping we can get them nice homes, but at least for now were wanting to get the three of them fixed so there wont be more stray cats, and especially not more kitties dying out there. and unfortunately, mating season slipped my mind and is now upon us, so we REALLY need to get these mamas fixed ASAP.

and in addition to that, one of my cats has this large-ish lump on his right side that were wanting to get checked out, and get him fixed as well. i suspect that its nothing serious, considering it doesnt seem to cause him any issues- he'll even lay on it without a problem- but im worried about it nonetheless, and we'll need to get it checked out and potentially removed before we can get him fixed in case it could cause complications during the neutering.

unfortunately, as you can imagine since im making this post, we dont really have the money for this. my mom, who we live with, rarely has much extra money and certainly doesnt atm, and me and my girlfriend have been struggling with too many mental health issues- and for her, physical health issues as well- to get a job for a while now. things will be improving soon now that we have adhd diagnoses, but my gfs insurance is dragging its feet to finally get her adhd medication approved, and i only JUST finally got my own a few days ago, and am basically playing extreme catch-up with trying to get stuff done around the house right now and help out my mom more.

im really not sure exactly how much everything will amount to, but so far ive figured up getting all 3 mamas fixed should be either about $75 if a certain program the spay/neuter clinic nearby has for strays/ferals can be used, or if not itll be between $111-171, and getting just an exam to check out my cats lump would be around $55, and i dont know how much a potential fixing/removal of the lump could be as i cant get an estimate until hes examined. then itll be $27 to get him neutered.

so if this is all right, and were able to use the program, theres no health risk with the lump, and no other additional charges for anything else, all of this can cost about $157 or so as the minimum, OR it could be around $253 PLUS however much it may cost to fix up the lump.

(also as a bonus pic, heres the 3 precious babies we took in that the mamas were collectively taking care of. theyre living a nice cozy indoor life now and are very happy and SO sweet <3)

[najia-cooks]

[ID: Seven yoghurt balls on a plate drizzled with olive oil. The one in the center is plain; the others are covered in mint, toasted sesame seeds, ground sumac, za'tar, crushed red chili pepper, and nigella seeds. End ID]

لبنة نباتية / Labna nabatia (Vegan labna)

Labna (with diacritics: "لَبْنَة"; in Levantine pronunciation sometimes "لَبَنَة" "labanay") is a Levantine cow's, sheep's, or goat's milk yoghurt that has been strained to remove the whey and leave the curd, giving it a taste and texture in between those of a thick, tart sour cream and a soft cheese. The removal of whey, in addition to increasing the yoghurt's tanginess and pungency, makes it easier to preserve: it will keep in burlap or cheesecloth for some time without refrigeration, and may be preserved for even longer by rolling it into balls and submerging the balls in olive oil. Labna stored in this way is called "لبنة كُرَات" ("labna kurāt") or "لبنة طابات" ("labna ṭābāt"), "labna balls." Labna may be spread on a plate, topped with olive oil and herbs, and eaten as a dip for breakfast or an appetizer; or spread on kmaj bread alongside herbs, olives, and dates to make sandwiches.

The word "labna" comes from the Arabic root ل ب ن (l b n), which derives from a Proto-West-Semitic term meaning "white," and produces words relating to milk, yoghurt, nursing, and chewing. The related term "لَبَن" ("laban"; also transliterated "leban") refers to milk in Standard Arabic, but in Levantine Arabic is more likely to refer to yoghurt; a speaker may specify "لَبَن رَائِب‎" (laban rā'ib), "curdled milk," to avoid confusion.

Labna is a much-beloved food in Palestine, with some people asserting that no Palestinian home is without a jar. Making labna tabat is, for many, a necessary preparation for the winter season. However, by the mid-2010s, the continuation of Israel's blockade of the Gaza strip, as well as Israeli military violence, had severely weakened Gaza's dairy industry to the point where almost no labna was being produced. Most of the 11 dairy processors active in Gaza in 2017 (down from 15 in 2016) only produced white cheese—though Mustafa Eid's company Khalij had recently expanded production to other forms of dairy that could be made locally with limited equipment, such as labna, yoghurt, and buttermilk.

Dairy farmers and processors pushed for this kind of innovation and self-sufficiency against deep economic disadvantage. With large swathes of Gaza's arable land rendered unusable by Israeli border policing and land mines, about 90% of farmers were forced by scarce pasture land and low fodder production to feed their herds with increasingly expensive fodder imported from Israel—dairy farmers surveyed in 2017 spent an estimated 87% of their income on fodder, which had doubled in price since 2007. Cattle were thus fed with low quantities of, or low-quality, fodder, resulting in lower milk production and lower-quality milk.

Most dairy processors were also unable to access or afford the equipment necessary to maintain, upgrade, or diversify their factories. Since 2007, Israel has tightly restricted entry into Gaza of items which they consider to have a "dual use": i.e., a potential civilian and military function. This includes medical equipment, construction materials, and agricultural equipment and machinery, and impacts everything from laboratory equipment to ensure safe food supplies to packaging and labelling equipment. Of the dairy products that Gazan farmers and processors do manage to produce, Israel's control over their export can cause huge financial losses—as when Israel prohibited the export of Palestinian dairy and meat to East Jerusalem without warning in March of 2020, costing estimated annual losses of 300 million USD.

In addition to this kind of economic manipulation, direct military violence threatens Gaza's dairy industry. Mamoun Dalloul says that his factory was accused of holding rockets and subsequently bombed in 2008, 2010, 2012, and again in 2014, resulting in repeated moves and the loss of the capability to produce yellow cheese. The Israeli military partially or totally destroyed 10 dairy processing factories, and killed almost 2,000 cows, during its 2014 invasion of Gaza, resulting in an estimated 43 million USD of damage to the dairy sector alone. Damage to cow-breeding farms in 2014 reduced the number of dairy cows to 2,600, just over half their previous number. Damage to, or destruction of, wells, water reservoirs, water tanks, and the Gaza Power Plant's fuel tank exacerbated pre-existing problems with producing cattle feed and with the transportation, processing, and refrigeration of dairy products, leading to spoiled milk that had to be disposed of. Repeated offensives made dairy processors reluctant to re-invest in equipment that could be destroyed at any time.

Israeli industry profits by making Gazan self-sufficiency untenable. Israeli goods entering Palestine are not subject to import taxes, and Israeli dairy companies are not dealing with the contaminated water, limited electricity, high costs of feed, out-of-date and expensive-to-repair equipment, and scarce land (some companies, such as Tnuva, purchase milk from farms on illegal settlements in the West Bank) with which Gazan producers must contend. The result is that the local market in Gaza is flooded with imports that are cheaper, more diverse, and of higher quality than anything that local producers can offer. Many consumers believe that Israeli products are safer to eat.

Nevertheless, Gazans continue building and rebuilding. Despite significant decreases in ice cream factories' production after the imposition of Israel's blockade in 2007, Abu Mohammad noted in 2015 that locally produced ice cream was cheaper and more varied than Israeli imports. In 2017, the amount of dairy sold in 74 shops in Gaza that was sourced locally, rather than from Israel, had increased from 10% to 60%. Ayadi Tayyiba, the region's first factory with an all-woman staff, opened in 2022; it produced cheese, yoghurt, and labna with sheep's milk from affiliated farms. However, demand for sheep's milk products has decreased in Gaza due to its higher production costs, leading the factory to supplement its supply with purchased cow's milk.

The current Israeli genocidal offensive on Gaza has caused damage of the same kind as—though to a greater extent than—previous shellings and invasions. Lack of ability to sell milk that had already been produced to factories, as well as lack of access to electricity, caused an estimated 35,000 liters of milk to spoil daily in October of 2023.

Support Palestinian resistance by calling Elbit System’s (Israel’s primary weapons manufacturer) landlord, donating to Palestine Legal's activist defense fund, and donating to Palestine Action’s bail fund.

Equipment:

A blender

A kettle or pot, to boil water

A cheesecloth or tea towel

Ingredients:

1 cup (130g) cashews (soaked, if your blender is not high-speed)

3/4 cup filtered or distilled water, boiled

1-3 vegetarian probiotic capsules (containing at least 10 billion cultures total)

A few pinches sea salt

More water, to boil

Arabic-language recipes for vegan labna use bulghur, almonds, or cashews as their base. This recipe uses cashew to achieve a smooth, creamy, non-crumbly texture, and a mild taste like that of cow's milk labna. You might try replacing half the cashews with blanched almonds for a flavor more similar to that of sheep's or goat's cheese.

Make sure your probiotic capsules contain no prebiotics, as they can interfere with the culture. The probiotic may be multi-strain, but should contain some of: Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium bifidus, Lactobacillus acidophilus. The number of capsules you need will depend on how many cultures each capsule is guaranteed to contain.

Instead of probiotic capsules, you can use a speciality starter culture pack intended for use in culturing vegan dairy, many of which are available online. Note that starter cultures may be packaged with small amounts of powdered milk for the bacteria to feed on, and may not be truly vegan.

If you want a mustier, goat-ier taste to your labna, try replacing the water with rejuvelac made with wheat berries.

You can also start a culture by using any other product with active cultures, such as a spoonful of vegan cultured yoghurt. If you have a lot of cultured yoghurt, you can just skip to straining that directly (step 5) to make your labna—though you won't be able to control how tangy the labna is that way.

Instructions:

This recipe works by blending together cashews and water into a smooth, creamy spread, then culturing it into yoghurt, and then straining it (the way yoghurt is strained to make labna). It's possible that you could skip the straining step by adding more cashews, or less water, to the yoghurt to obtain a thicker texture, but I have not tested the recipe this way.

1. If your blender is not high-speed, you will need to soak your cashews to soften them. Soak in filtered or distilled water for 2-4 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge. Rinse them off with just-boiled water.

2. Boil several cups of water and use the just-boiled water to rinse your blender, tamper, measuring cups, the bowl you will ferment your yoghurt in, and a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir. Your bowl and stirring implement should be in a non-reactive material such as wood, clay, glass, or silicone.

3. Make the yoghurt. Blend cashews with 3/4 cup just-boiled water for a couple of minutes until very smooth. Transfer to your bowl and allow to cool to about skin temperature (it should feel slightly warm if dabbed on the inside of your wrist). If the mixture is too hot, it may kill the bacteria.

4. Culture the yoghurt. Open the probiotic capsules and stir the powder into the cashew paste. Cover the bowl with a cheesecloth or tea towel. Ferment for 24 hours: on the countertop in summer, or in an oven with the light on in winter.

Taste the yoghurt with a clean implement (avoid double-dipping!). Continue fermenting for another 12-24 hours, depending on how tangy you want your labna to be. A skin forming on top of the yoghurt is no problem and can be mixed back in. Discard any yoghurt that grows mold of any kind.

5. Strain the yoghurt to make labna. Place a mesh strainer in a bowl, making sure there's enough room beneath the strainer for liquid to collect at the bottom of the bowl; line the strainer with cheesecloth or a tea towel, and scoop the cultured yoghurt in. Sprinkle salt over top of the yoghurt. Fold the towel or cheesecloth back over the yoghurt, and add a small weight, such as a ceramic plate or a can of beans, on top.

You can also tie the cheesecloth into a bag around a wooden spoon and place the wooden spoon across the rim of a pitcher or other tall container to collect the whey. The draining may occur less quickly without the weight, though.

Strain in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours, depending on the desired texture. I ended up draining about 2 Tbsp of whey.

6. If not making labna balls: Put in an airtight jar, and add just enough olive oil to cover the surface of the labna. Store in the fridge for up to two months.

7. To form balls (optional): Oil your hands to form the labna into small balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. They may still be quite soft.

Optionally sprinkle with, or roll in, dried mint, za'tar, sesame seeds, nigella seeds (القزحة), ground sumac, or crushed red chili pepper, as desired.

Optionally, for firmer balls, lightly cover with another layer of parchment paper and then a kitchen towel, and leave in the refrigerator to dry for about a day.

Place labna balls in a clean glass jar and add olive oil to cover. Retrieve labna from the jar with a clean implement. They will last in the fridge for about a year.

[jamiebluewind]

Eclipse the kitten update

(please don't glitch tumblr it's the tenth time I've tried!!!)

Previous post

Welp! Winter's boy has a respiratory infection. It was causing him to wheeze so to the vet we went! Luckily it wasn't a diaphram issue (which had us worried because of his umbilical hernia). His hernia also came up normal on his x-rays.

(X-rays left out because might bother people, but I can send them on request)

He's on meds several times a day and taking them like a champ, but had to be put in a pen with limited free playtime (because nothing will stop Mr Indestructible from running around the house with all the grace of a car with no breaks). We DID get a reply after just a week from a really nice person who was going to give us one (shocked us let me tell ya because it was BIG dog sized). Unfortunately, they left it outside for us to pick up and someone else just... took it. Right out of their yard. And since all we had was a small cat carrier to keep him in (which was kinda cruel for more than a day or two tops), we ordered a cat playpen that we got for a decent price. We kept looking until it got here, but no luck. Still! It's a nice playpen and we have it set up so he doesn't have to jump if he doesn't want to (plus more vertical to enjoy later on). Sarah's mom also let us borrow her water fountain!

We went to a new vet as ours was booked up (and he had already been wheezing a day). Everyone basically fell in love with him instantly. He left with a little toy from the tech, they gave Winter a jar of honey (one of the people in the office has bees and they wanted to give her something for caring about a kitten that most wouldn't have despite him having a treatable condition), and they've been checking in on how he is recovering (very well since I first typed this actually). He's basically got an entire vet office wrapped around his little paw.

Also, the non-profit we're taking him to for his surgery had a cancelation and his got moved up to the 12th! Counting down the days yall.

Because I gotta kinda mention it, this hit us where it hurts. Between the vet visit and testing, the pen, and the estimated cost for the surgery and followup, it's gonna cost us more than $2k (as long as nothing ELSE goes wrong). We're lucky that we're all super careful with our money, but there's only so much we can save up with three people below the poverty line. Still worth it though. I mean, look at this doofus

He is so stubborn that we can't leave scratch posts upright because he keeps doing THIS! XD

I'm linking Winter's paypal, but I 1000% understand if you can't help out. Still, a reblog and a word or three mean a LOT to all of us so if you got a minute, I'd love some new post additions to show Winter.

(Truth be told, the only reason all the updates are posted on my tumblr is because I'm the longest winded out of the three of us and I take like 5 billion pictures. XD )

Speaking of, there WOULD be a bonus pic of him and his sister (Melanite, aka Miel) playing under my chair as my cat (Danny) looks on from a safe place, but tumblr kept glitching when I added it.

Edit: surgery update

[asestimationsconsultants]

Can I Use a Building Cost Calculator for Renovations?

Introduction

You’re ready to transform your kitchen, add a second storey, or finally build that backyard studio — but first, the big question:

“Can I use a building cost calculator to estimate my renovation costs?”

It’s a fair starting point. With countless free calculators online, it seems like a quick way to budget.

But here’s the truth: renovations are not like new builds, and square metre calculators don’t always work the way you think.

In this article, we’ll explore:

When cost calculators are helpful

Why renovations are harder to estimate

What factors most calculators miss

And how to get a detailed, accurate renovation estimate

How Building Cost Calculators Work (and Where They Fit In)

Most online calculators ask you to input:

Area (in m²)

Type of build (single or double-storey)

Finish level (standard, premium, custom)

Location

They then apply an average rate (e.g., $2,200/m²) and produce a ballpark total.

This method is simple and effective for:

Project homes

Flat sites

Volume builds

But for renovations? Not so much.

Why Renovation Costs Are Harder to Estimate Per m²

Renovations don’t follow the same rules as new construction. Here’s why:

1. Demolition and Waste Removal

Before you build, you have to remove. Calculators rarely include:

Demolition

Temporary supports

Asbestos removal

Rubbish disposal

2. Structural Uncertainty

You won’t always know what’s behind that wall — and surprises = extra cost:

Electrical rewiring

Plumbing redirection

Damaged joists or slab irregularities

3. Access and Site Limitations

It’s harder and more expensive to work in:

Tight spaces

Occupied homes

Multi-storey inner-city sites

Scaffold hire, crane access, and labour loading must be factored in — calculators don’t cover these.

4. Integration with Existing Structure

It costs more to “tie into” your current layout than to start from scratch. Example:

Matching flooring or brickwork

Adjusting rooflines

Bringing older sections up to code

When a Cost Calculator Might Help

A renovation calculator can give you:

A ballpark figure to assess feasibility

Cost comparison between standard vs high-end finishes

An idea of cost per room (e.g., bathroom vs full-house reno)

Use it early — but don’t rely on it for final planning or financing.

The Better Way: Professional Renovation Estimating

Here’s what we do at AS Estimation & Consultants:

Review your floor plans and renovation brief

Conduct a digital takeoff (materials, labour, waste, etc.)

Factor in site access and demolition requirements

Use local supplier rates and labour costs

Deliver a BOQ or detailed estimate tailored to your project

This results in a more accurate, realistic forecast — especially for:

Kitchen and bathroom upgrades

Storey additions

Structural extensions

Multi-phase renos or heritage properties

FAQs

1. Can I use a building cost calculator for a kitchen renovation?

Only for very rough pricing. A kitchen’s cost depends on cabinetry, electricals, appliances, and plumbing — which calculators can’t fully capture.

2. Are renovation estimates per square metre accurate?

Not usually. Renovation work is more labour-intensive and includes demolition and integration — driving up the cost per m² significantly.

3. What’s the average cost of a home renovation in Australia?

It varies widely. Basic bathroom reno: $15,000–$30,000. Full extension: $2,500–$4,000/m² depending on complexity.

4. How long does a professional renovation estimate take?

Typically 3–5 business days after receiving floor plans and scope of works.

5. Can I use your estimate to compare builder quotes?

Yes — our BOQs help you verify if builder quotes are missing scope or inflated in certain trades.

Final Thoughts

Building cost calculators are great for new builds — but they fall short when it comes to renovations.

If your project involves demolition, custom adjustments, or working around existing structures, your costs will be highly variable. That’s why you need a professional, renovation-specific estimate.

At AS Estimation & Consultants, we understand the challenges of pricing renovations in Australia. We’ve worked on everything from unit makeovers in Sydney to rural property extensions in regional QLD.

Let us help you price your renovation with confidence.

[thefirstknife]

New article with more details (from Jason Schreier who first broke the story). If you can't see it, I'll copy the whole text under read more.

About 100 employees were laid off in total (8%) and one of the main reasons listed is "underperformance," "sharp drop in popularity" and "poor reception of Lightfall."

So you know when for the last year and a half content creators have been shitting and pissing on the game as a full-time job and the amount of negativity and ragebait content became the only thing to make content about for them? Well they certainly won't take the blame, but I will let it be known. These people either don't understand the influence they have or they do and they're doing it on purpose, and I don't know which of these two options is worse, but I am 100% confident that their campaign of rage and hate contributed to this.

You don't base your entire community around constantly hating everything about the only game you play (despite clearly not enjoying it anymore) and somehow avoid galvanising thousands and thousands of people into perceiving the game negatively. Imagine being employees who have barely worked there for 2 years and the only community reception they've seen is 24/7 hate train for their work and then they get fired because of "poor reception" and "drop in popularity." How can they not take that personally? I am absolutely devastated for these people who delievered a banger product and who were met with an unrelenting barrage of toxic gamer children which ended up having more sway over their boss than them.

Which brings me to the next bit and that's FUCK THE CEO. He is now my mortal enemy #1. I am projecting psychic blasts directly into his brain. What an absolute spineless coward who is more willing to bow down to fucking gamers than to protect his own employees. This is absolutely rage inducing because this has happened before. From the article from 2021 about the toxic culture at Bungie:

Reading this shit from the new article absolutely fucking sent me into blind rage because I immediately remembered this. Another instance of employees suffering because of comments on reddit. And because of toxic players. And proof that leadership is not protecting employees and is instead siding with players.

Match made in heaven. Asshole gamer content creators and asshole CEOs, all of whom sit at home on piles of money made from someone else's labour. I hope they all explode. None of the people that worked on this game deserve this.

Another article with an infuriating comment from the CEO:

In an internal town hall meeting addressing a Monday round of layoffs that impacted multiple departments, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons allegedly told remaining employees that the company had kept “the right people” to continue work on Destiny 2.

"Kept the right people." Really. Veteran composers weren't the right people? Die!

Bloomberg article in full:

Bungie’s decision to cut an estimated 100 jobs from its staff of about 1,200 followed dire management warnings earlier this month of a sharp drop in the popularity of its flagship video game Destiny 2. Just two weeks ago, executives at the Sony-owned game developer told employees that revenue was running 45% below projections for the year, according to people who attended the meeting. Chief Executive Officer Pete Parsons pinned the big miss on weak player retention for Destiny 2, which has faced a poor reception since the release of its latest expansion, Lightfall. The next expansion, The Final Shape, was getting good — not great feedback — and management told those present that they planned to push back the release to June 2024 from February, according the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The additional time would give developers a chance to improve the product. In the meantime, Parsons told staff Bungie would be cutting costs, such as for travel, as well as implementing salary and hiring freezes, the people said. Everyone would have to work together to weather the storm, he said, leaving employees feeling determined to do whatever was needed to get revenue back up. But on Monday morning the news got worse: Dozens of staffers woke up to mysterious 15-minute meetings that had been placed on their calendars, which they soon learned were part of a mass layoff. Bungie laid off around 8% of its employees, according to documentation reviewed by Bloomberg. Bungie didn’t respond to requests for comment. Employees who were let go will receive at least three months of severance and three months of Bungie-paid COBRA health insurance, although other benefits, such as expense reimbursements, ended Monday, sending some staff racing to submit their receipts. Laid-off staffers will also receive prorated bonuses, although those who were on a vesting schedule following Sony Group Corp.’s acquisition of Bungie in January 2022 will lose any shares that weren’t vested as of next month. The layoffs are part of a larger money-saving initiative at Sony’s PlayStation unit, which has also cut employees at studios such as Naughty Dog, Media Molecule and its San Mateo office. TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz wrote in a report Monday that “events over the last few days lead us to believe that PlayStation is undergoing a restructuring.” PlayStation president Jim Ryan announced last month that he plans to resign. Many of the layoffs at Bungie affected the company’s support departments, such as community management and publishing. Remaining Bungie staff were informed that some of those areas will be outsourced moving forward.

[beardedmrbean]

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first at-home test to screen for cervical cancer, Teal Health, which makes the test kit, said.

Currently, cervical cancer screening is done in a doctor’s office during a pelvic exam, a process some women find uncomfortable and even painful.

Some patients don’t get screened for cervical cancer because they don’t want a pelvic exam, said Dr. Emeline Aviki, a gynecologic-oncologist at NYU Langone Health.

“It’s not a fun exam and it’s the easiest thing to cancel,” said Aviki, who worked on some of the early studies to validate the new test.

Cervical cancer is considered highly preventable, thanks to screenings and the HPV vaccine. Rates of the disease have plummeted since the 1970s, according to a 2025 report from the American Cancer Society, though they have begun to level off in recent years. The report estimated that this year, 13,360 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 4,320 women will die.

However, the number of women getting screened has fallen since the mid-2000s. A 2022 study found that 23% of women were behind on their cervical cancer screening in 2019, up from 14% in 2005. Up to half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer in the U.S. weren’t up to date on their screenings, the American Cancer Society says.

“Cervical cancer screening in general is something that saves lives,” said Dr. Jessica Kiley, chief of general obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.

The new test, called the Teal Wand, detects HPV using a vaginal swab, making it less invasive than a pap smear, in which the gynecologist inserts a speculum and collects samples of cells from the cervix.

HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted infection and the leading cause of cervical cancer. There’s no treatment for HPV, but most cases clear on their own. Several strains, however, are linked to cervical cancer.

The Teal Wand is not the first HPV test that uses a vaginal sample: Last year, the FDA approved a similar swab, also performed by patients themselves, that’s collected in a doctor’s office.

“What’s different about this new indication is that this sample can be collected at home and not in a medical setting,” said Dr. George Sawaya, a gynecologist at UCSF Health. “You have to logically believe that would increase access if people’s main barrier was getting to a medical setting.”

A recent report in JAMA Network Open found that women in rural areas are 25% more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 42% more likely to die from the disease than women who live in cities, a trend that likely reflects lower access to screenings and care in rural parts of the country.

Patients will be able to order the test kit after a telehealth appointment with a doctor and then collect the sample themselves at home. For now, the product will have to be prescribed by one of Teal Health’s virtual providers, but the company plans to make it available for other doctors to order as well. The swab is then mailed to a lab for analysis.

Teal Health said if the result is positive, its providers will help arrange for further care. Following a positive test, women may need additional tests in a doctor’s office.

Still, experts want more information on the cost of the test, and whether patients will follow up if they need more testing.

“Those are some of the uncertainties around it,” Sawaya said.

Kara Egan, the CEO of Teal Health, did not say how much the test would cost.

However, she said, because cervical cancer screening is endorsed by a government group called the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the company is anticipating the test will be covered by insurance and expects to know definitively in the coming months. In December, the task force recommended in-office self-swabs.

Kiley, the gynecologist from Northwestern, said it’s still important that women see a gynecologist regularly. An annual exam covers more than just cervical cancer screening, she said.

[cryoverkiltmilk]

The prosecution of the New Jersey Onceler is back underway. Viva la Tree Law!

KINNELON — A borough man who allegedly hired landscapers to cut down 32 of his neighbor's trees appeared in municipal court on Tuesday, in a dispute that has drawn "national and international" attention to the normally quiet Morris County town, according to the judge in the case.

With a discovery deadline of Aug. 31, Judge Andrew Wubbenhorst set a trial date of Sept. 22 for Denise Drive resident Grant Haber, who faces a trove of local ordinance violations for each of the trees cut down on the property of his next-door neighbor, Samih Shinway.

The case went mostly unnoticed by the public until a third court date last month, after a Twitter feed by a friend of the borough forester went viral. "Someone thought it would be a good idea to take the Zoom notice that was only intended for people who had involvement in the case and put it on social media," Wubbenhorst said Tuesday.

The judge said he was told that posting resulted in "hundreds of thousands of views, if not millions of views, and people trying to get into our [Zoom] court session, totally disrupting the court session," the judge said. "That's why we're here today in person."

Some of the people who were able to log into the conference, Wubbenhorst said, "were trying to disrupt and were actually very abusive and insulting to the court. Seeing that this case apparently has gotten not only national but international notoriety, I don't really think it's fair to the defendants and their counsel to have such interruptions and confusion in a virtual setting."

Prosecutor Kim Kassar said he needed more time to consult with expert witnesses before discovery could begin. Wubbenhorst, noting the volume of charges and public attention involved, cleared Tuesday's court calendar to focus on this case.

Only one of the charges is considered a criminal offense, in this case an alleged violation of a state statute "covering unlicensed entry of structures; defiant trespassing and peering into dwelling places."

Facing charges along with Haber are two tree service operators he hired: Ronald Fallas, doing business at Choco Tree Service in Newark, and Greg Brancaleone of Father & Son Tree Service in Kinnelon. All of the defendants were represented by attorneys who declined comment.

Cleared for a view?

Shinway, Haber's neighbor, said he took the woods on his property seriously: Before the tree-cutting incident, he'd retained the services of an arborist to help keep the forest healthy, he said. But on Feb. 27, Shinway said, he came home to the sound of chainsaws coming from the back of his land. He had to use an ATV to reach the site where the trees had been cut. Oaks and birch trees were among the targets of the landscapers, who stopped after Shinway confronted them and called the police, he said.

Shinway said the workers told him they had been hired to remove the trees to improve the area's view of the surrounding valleys and New York City.

When Shinway asked why they ignored the "No Trespassing" signs posted around his property, they responded that they had been told that the property's owner had given permission for the work.

Potential fines

Haber and the landscapers each face up to a $1,000 fine per tree. The additional cost to clear, replant and fully rehabilitate the land was reportedly estimated by a local tree expert to possibly be more than $1 million.

Both the Haber and Shinway properties include luxury homes on seven-acre, mostly wooded lots where trees limit backyard views of the New York City skyline and a nearby reservoir. Shinway speculated the motivation for the tree-culling may have been for "a better view."

Shinway said both properties are among the many million-dollar homes in the wealthy, heavily forested suburb of New York City, 33 miles from midtown Manhattan. He said the only contact he had with Haber prior to the tree-cutting was to discuss a fence on the Haber property he believed crossed onto his land.

"I just let it go," Shinway said, adding he did post "no trespassing" signs on his property after that.

One of the trees cut down had such a sign still affixed to it, he added. The cut trees also included oaks, hickory, birch and cherry, Shimway said.

A typed response

Shinway said after the incident, Haber sent him a typed letter that in his view fell short of an apology.

"It was impersonal," he said of the letter. "Stating they love nature, it wasn't done maliciously and the tree company that did it, the person was ill, and everybody's got families, something along those lines."

Shinway said he has not yet retained an attorney or considered filing a civil suit.

In-person, the court session only drew a small group of media and about a dozen residents, many of who were angry about what they said was the township's poor stewardship of their forested areas, claiming authorities had given tree-removal approvals to many property owners in violation of local ordinances.

"Look at all the trees being cut down for views of the Kakeout Reservoir, New York City, bigger toxic lawns, pools and whatever pleases us," said 54-year Kinnelon resident Mary Derstine before the hearing began. "I hope and pray we wake up in time so our children and future generations can know what a tree looks like, can breathe and have food to eat. Politicians, corporations and greed must not destroy our living planet."

[blueiscoool]

Very Rare Emperor Constantine Silver Ingots Saved From Illegal Sale

A man allegedly tried to illegally sell three rare Roman-era silver ingots that his great-grandmother reportedly found in her garden years ago.

Three "truly sensational" Roman-era silver ingots depicting Constantine the Great were nearly sold illegally on the internet, a new investigation finds.

An unnamed man alleged that his great-grandmother found the rare artifacts buried in the family's backyard in Transcarpathia (also known as Zakarpattia), a region in western Ukraine. Later, the man reportedly tried to sell one of the silver bars online, according to Public Uzhgorod, Ukraine's public broadcast station.

However, officials from the museum intervened by reporting the attempted illegal sale to local law enforcement. When officers searched the home, they discovered two additional ingots. Because the ingots have "special cultural value," Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General has taken over the case, according to a translated statement from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv.

Each of the metal blocks, which are almost entirely pure silver, weighs more than 12 ounces (342 grams) and contains a coin-shaped impression of Emperor Constantine the Great on each side, according to the statement. Constantine, who ruled from A.D. 306 to 337, is known for ushering Christianity into the Roman Empire and moving his capital to "New Rome," which later became Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).

The ingots would have been used during the minting process to strike coins known as siliquae. The coins with Constantine's likeness would have been issued between A.D. 310 and 313 in Augusta Treverorum, a Roman city that today is Trier, Germany. At one time, the pieces would have been batched together with a thin, silver ribbon, which has since been lost, according to the statement.

"Three ingots fastened together were supposed to be a gift for a very high-ranking person," Maksym Levada, a curator at the museum, said in the statement. "The fact that they were found outside the Roman Empire on the territory of modern Ukraine makes them an invaluable source of our past."

Experts estimate the treasure's value at 3.5 million Ukrainian hryvnia, or about $84,800.

"But what makes them unique is not the cost, but the fact that only a few similar ingots have been found in Europe to date," Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said in the statement.

There are about 90 known Roman silver ingots in existence today, with only 11 containing mint stamp impressions, making the three ingots' recovery even rarer, according to the statement.

Kyrylo Myzgin, an archaeologist and faculty member at the University of Warsaw who initially examined the ingots, said in an email that the finding "can be considered truly sensational."

"It is excellent news that they ended up in a museum rather than on the black market for antiquities," Myzgin said. "Roman silver ingots with coin die imprints are incredibl\y rare and were virtually unknown outside the Roman Empire. It is likely that these ingots reached the territory of what is now western Ukraine as a result of interactions between the local population — possibly Germanic tribes or Dacians [people in what is now largely modern-day Romania] — and the Roman Empire in the early 4th century. However, the exact nature of these interactions has yet to be determined."

The ingots are now on display in the museum's "Salvated Treasures" exhibition, which contains a collection of rescued artifacts.

By Jennifer Nalewicki.

[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”

[thedreadvampy]

Even, or perhaps especially, when everything is turbofucked, I think it's important to try to imagine realistic proposals for how things COULD be NOT shit. To that end I have a few policy proposals:

Housing: All housing becomes rent-to-own by default, with sale to the council incentivised.

Why: Funding social housing, tackling unaffordable rents, lowering house prices, improving tenant's rights, discouraging commercial landlords and the financialisation of housing.

How?

The rent is set at home value + X (for private landlords, up to 10% of that to cover admin, repairs etc, or for social landlords the average cost per household of finding and matching tenants to homes) divided by the length of the lease.

That is then rent-locked for the duration of the lease.

At the end of the lease, you own the home.

If you don't want to own the home, you can at any time take back the capital you invested as cash (so if you're halfway through the lease, you subtract the amount that you paid to cover costs (X) and get half the original home value in liquid capital.) You can also pay it off early or readjust the terms of the lease, by mutual agreement.

All funds collected in this way by social landlords are ringfenced for spending on increasing the housing stock (buying or building property).

Additionally, increases in high-end marginal income tax will cover other costs of social housing (short term emergency accommodation, upgrading housing stock, covering grants and loans, increased admin costs, casework, outreach, etc)

To discourage commercial landlording, council tax on additional properties increases exponentially (so you pay regular council tax on your home, double tax on a second property, 4x tax on a third property etc), with additional amounts due from the landlord, not the tenant. In lieu of payment, you can sell on your additional properties to the council in exchange for a 6-month pause on your main property council tax.

If your property is found to be left unused for over 3 years, you have a grace period of up to 6 months to begin repairs/find an occupant; if you do not, the council can force a sale of your house for an amount equivalent to the estimated sale value of the property/land following work, minus the cost of repair/demolition. That bottoms out at zero (ie at worst you lose the property you weren't losing and get no recompense) so people who can't afford to fix up a property aren't being financially punished - however, there may be fines for serious repeat offenders.

All this will result in the price of housing dropping significantly, which is good and what we want but does negatively impact existing mortgage holders who may be dealing with negative equity and no way to recoup the price of their house if they need to move. So if people need to default on a mortgage, their personal debt is written off, the bank claims the property, and the bank is then required to consider an offer from the council (probably for the current sale value of the house) before taking their chances on the open market. As the transition is the key thing, there's a 6-18 month amnesty after introducing these policies where defaulting on your mortgage does not affect your credit rating. Beyond that point, the idea of rent-to-buy is to effectively have a non-interest-based mortgage system which cuts out the banks, so hopefully the issue of negative equity goes away as the new system establishes itself.