Politics

[Brent in Az]

I’ve been curious, where are the Iranians hiding these boats that we can’t find and destroy them in port?
I’ve never seen the Iranian coast but on all of the coasts I’ve seen other than a couple that had a bunch of estuaries, you can find a boat moored anyplace.

I have no idea. They must have some hidey holes to tuck them away somewhere?

 

[fourfive8]

I have no idea. They must have some hidey holes to tuck them away somewhere?

I would guess the same. Hide them anywhere then uncover them or trailer in and launch. I don’t know the size but it doesn’t take much of a boat to haul and launch one of their drones or small missiles. Biden blew a whole bunch of extremely expensive anti-missile arms shooting down a bunch of inexpensive Houthi drones and missiles launched from the beds of Nissan pickups but did little to hunt and eliminate those launch platforms and their bases of operation. I would hope and think, now, surveillance aircraft, sats and our own drones would be patrolling 24-7 and reporting such activity to the FA-18s and A-10s who I’m certain are ready and anxious to go!

 

[Waldo2382]

It’s most definitely a whack a mole operation. Boats and remote missles and drones in garages/warehouses/carparks/underground storage facility.

For some relative mathing:
I live 5 miles away from my boat launch. If I’m hooked up and being a courteous, defensive driver without interest in bringing the Mahdi back is 15 minutes. 5 miles / 20 mph(average) * 60 = 15min

My 24’ Aluminum boat goes 30 knots on a good weather day with a single Honda 130hp. That would cross the entire Strait of Hormuz in 40 minutes point (realistically half that to find deep draft vessels.) So in 35 minutes a small squad on a boat my size can move from cover to boarding/attacking a vessel at point blank range. Likely even faster if the shoreline isn’t soft sand/tide conditions, faster engines, more interest in the return of the Mahdi, etc. If the boats are fiberglass, the boats have a low radar signature. Even lower signature if they are lower to the water…but we had some good practice in Venezuela recently. With that training and the current situation, at what point did we actually start tracking and confirming the Venezuelan targets and were they within 10 miles of their own shore line (or at least wait for 12.001nm from shore?)

 

[Doug3006]

I added median home price to the chart.

Year	Required Hourly	Annual Equivalent	% Adults ≥ Income	Median Home Price
1920	$0.40	~$800	~60–70%	~$6,000
1930	$0.45	~$900	~55–65%	~$7,000
1940	$0.62	~$1,240	~50–60%	~$6,000 (Depression dip)
1950	$1.10	~$2,200	~55–65%	~$11,700
1960	$2.15	~$4,300	~50–55%	~$18,600
1970	$3.60	~$7,200	~50%	~$23,000
1980	$6.75	~$13,500	~50%	~$47,200
1990	$11.25	~$22,500	~45–50%	~$79,100
2000	$16.05	~$32,100	~40–45%	~$119,600
2010	$22.45	~$44,900	~35–40%	~$222,900
2020	$32.70	~$65,400	~30–35%	~$336,900
2025	$57.32	~$114,600	~15–20%	~$430,000–$450,000
2026	$59.00	~$118,000	~15–20%	~$440,000–$460,000

Interesting data. I checked the home ownership rate in 1920 vs 2026. 45.6% in 1920. 65.2% in 2025. 65.3% so far this year. Not sure how to reconcile the two data sets…affordability vs ownership.

 

[Alistair]

Interesting data. I checked the home ownership rate in 1920 vs 2026. 45.6% in 1920. 65.2% in 2025. 65.3% so far this year. Not sure how to reconcile the two data sets…affordability vs ownership.

That one I can provide context on.

There's two main factors:

1. Demographic changes. The US as a nation is a lot older demographically than it was. In the 1920's, the majority of Americans were under 30 with a median age of 25. Now, most are in their 30s or 40s, with an average age of 38. Older people are more likely to be homeowners, especially as they got on the property ladder back when housing was affordable. The average first time buyer is now 40, the average age of a home owner is 59. Luckily for the home ownership stats, most of the country is getting close to that age on average too.

2. Picking 1920 as your starting point. There was a massive jump in home ownership rates (and overall wealth, quality of life, etc) coming out of WW2. This was the birth of a meaningful middle class. Rates haven't really changed since, in no small part due to point #2 above.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I’ve been curious, where are the Iranians hiding these boats that we can’t find and destroy them in port?
I’ve never seen the Iranian coast but on all of the coasts I’ve seen other than a couple that had a bunch of estuaries, you can find a boat moored anyplace.

I've read where the Iranians are hiding them in caves along the coast.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I think the more salient point is how much "house" do you get for "median"?

In 1920, the "average" sized home was 1,048 square feet. Based on average family size, that was about 214 square feet per person.

By 1940, the "average" was 1,177 square feet, about 321 square feet per person.

By 2015, the "average" was 2,657 square feet. That works out to be a little more than 1,000 square feet per person. So while the cost is going up, you're in effect buying another house and a half for the price. This needs to be taken into account. We can't "demand" more, and then expect it to cost less.

Source: https://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/05/25/the-size-of-a-home-the-year-you-were-born/

I'm not saying there's not a problem (and inflation is a very big problem), but there are important parts of the data that must be considered.

Good points. I grew up in about a 1,100sf home with my parents and two brothers until my dad and grandfather built an addition which added about 600sf. My first purchased home in 1982 for 85K (on a 14% FHA 245 negative amortization mortgage) was 1300sf with a two car garage. Now, everyone's first home seems to be 2500sf plus and my younger neighbors complain about the cost of their mortgages (2.6-4%) and homeowner ownership costs. True, property taxes and homeowner insurance are much higher now. I guess it's all relative.

 

[Alistair]

Good points. I grew up in about a 1,100sf home with my parents and two brothers until my dad and grandfather built an addition which added about 600sf. My first purchased home in 1982 for 85K (on a 14% FHA 245 negative amortization mortgage) was 1300sf with a two car garage. Now, everyone's first home seems to be 2500sf plus and my younger neighbors complain about the cost of their mortgages (2.6-4%) and homeowner ownership costs. True, property taxes and homeowner insurance are much higher now. I guess it's all relative.

One thing to bear in mind on that topic: A buyer can only buy what is available for purchase.

If you're buying any new house built after 2000, it's over 2000 sq ft. Virtually none of them are under 1500.

New Homes Are Getting Smaller. Are Buyers Looking for Less Square Footage?

Research shows new homes are shrinking, and a recent study shows that matches consumer preferences.

www.nar.realtor

They're shrinking a bit now because people can't afford the median home, but that reduction is to a 'mere' 2000 from 2400sq ft.

Why don't property developers build small starter homes? Because land and permitting is so expensive that they can't make good profit. Building a 2000sqft house on a small plot might net you 500k from a 50 year old and 50k in profit. Building a 1000sqft house on the same plot may net you 250k from a 30 year old, but you halve your profit margin. So no one does it.

Why America has so many big houses

American homes are growing while family size declines. Part of the reason is economies of scale.

thehustle.co

Worth remembering also, a 14% mortgage rate in 1980 is roughly equivalent to 7% in 2026 in terms of the % of monthly budget housing is eating up. Why? because the median house is not 2.5x median income any more. It's 5x. Current mortgage rates are 6%+.

Plus as you note; property taxes are silly, insurance is silly, HOAs (if you're unlucky enough to have one) are silly. Rent is silly which makes saving a deposit hard, and student loans are silly which makes doing that in your 20s tough too.

Which is why increasing numbers of young people are deciding that they'd be perfectly happy with a 400sqft tiny home they can actually afford.

Tiny Home Statistics: America’s Changing Perspectives on Traditional Homeownership - IPX1031

IPX1031’s report provides insights into Americans’ interest in tiny homes and the states where tiny homes are the most popular.

www.ipx1031.com

Speaking personally, I don't need 2000 sq ft and I don't want 2000sq ft. It's pointless. It doesn't improve my life in any way. I intentionally looked for a small and cheap house with a mildly acceptable build quality (incidentally something that no new build I looked at gets anywhere near). I found a place like that. It was built in 1935.

 

[Aaron N]

Interesting data. I checked the home ownership rate in 1920 vs 2026. 45.6% in 1920. 65.2% in 2025. 65.3% so far this year. Not sure how to reconcile the two data sets…affordability vs ownership.

Abundant and easy credit?

 

[CoElkHunter]

One thing to bear in mind on that topic: A buyer can only buy what is available for purchase.

If you're buying any new house built after 2000, it's over 2000 sq ft. Virtually none of them are under 1500.

New Homes Are Getting Smaller. Are Buyers Looking for Less Square Footage?

Research shows new homes are shrinking, and a recent study shows that matches consumer preferences.

www.nar.realtor

They're shrinking a bit now because people can't afford the median home, but that reduction is to a 'mere' 2000 from 2400sq ft.

View attachment 762871

Why don't property developers build small starter homes? Because land and permitting is so expensive that they can't make good profit. Building a 2000sqft house on a small plot might net you 500k from a 50 year old and 50k in profit. Building a 1000sqft house on the same plot may net you 250k from a 30 year old, but you halve your profit margin. So no one does it.

Why America has so many big houses

American homes are growing while family size declines. Part of the reason is economies of scale.

thehustle.co

Worth remembering also, a 14% mortgage rate in 1980 is roughly equivalent to 7% in 2026 in terms of the % of monthly budget housing is eating up. Why? because the median house is not 2.5x median income any more. It's 5x. Current mortgage rates are 6%+.

Plus as you note; property taxes are silly, insurance is silly, HOAs (if you're unlucky enough to have one) are silly. Rent is silly which makes saving a deposit hard, and student loans are silly which makes doing that in your 20s tough too.

Which is why increasing numbers of young people are deciding that they'd be perfectly happy with a 400sqft tiny home they can actually afford.

Tiny Home Statistics: America’s Changing Perspectives on Traditional Homeownership - IPX1031

IPX1031’s report provides insights into Americans’ interest in tiny homes and the states where tiny homes are the most popular.

www.ipx1031.com

Speaking personally, I don't need 2000 sq ft and I don't want 2000sq ft. It's pointless. It doesn't improve my life in any way. I intentionally looked for a small and cheap house with a mildly acceptable build quality (incidentally something that no new build I looked at gets anywhere near). I found a place like that. It was built in 1935.

All great points! We purchased that 1300sf home for $85K ($5K down payment) because anything larger and/or close to where we worked was twice that price. We had to commute to work though. For me it was an hour and my wife was two hours….. ONE way! Some had three hour commutes and fuel had gone up forty cents a gallon virtually overnight in 1979 due to the Iranian revolution. Adjusted for inflation, that’s a $1.82/gallon increase in today’s dollars. Unemployment was 9.7 percent and hit 10.8 percent in 1982. Inflation was 6.2 percent year over year in 1982. Down from 13.5-14.5 in 1980. Nobody had seen anything like it since the Great Depression. It was brutal for MANY Americans. It is what it was at the time and people tried to make it work so they could buy a house and/or just survive. I only share this as a matter of history that I lived through and comparison to today’s economic climate. I’m rambling but I really feel for those younger people trying to buy a home now.

Abundant and easy credit?

Yes. For almost all average Americans, buying anything on credit was unheard of before the 1920s.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Slower then a speeding bullet

Fired from a .35 WHELEN. LOL

 

[spike.t]

Greenies and animal rights lot are happy......

Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels

Local politicians say the move is in line with the Dutch capital's environmental targets.

www.bbc.com

 

[spike.t]

Fiction now becoming a reality with this scary AI shit.....

AI told users it was sentient - it caused them to have delusions

Several people told the BBC they experienced delusions after intense conversations with AI.

www.bbc.com

 

[Killingtime]

Interesting data. I checked the home ownership rate in 1920 vs 2026. 45.6% in 1920. 65.2% in 2025. 65.3% so far this year. Not sure how to reconcile the two data sets…affordability vs ownership.

The creation of FHA in the 30’s and the GI bill being used post wwii started that trend. Though I’d be curious to know how many of the homes in America that are owned now are from older people that capitalized between 2010-2018 when prices crashed and rated lowered. I know the number of 2nd and 3rd homes skyrocketed during the period. And of course private equity groups and smaller investor firms snatched up many starter family homes.. are those counted in those figures?

 

[Doug3006]

Abundant and easy credit?

For sure. The GI Bill put a lot of families in homes after the War who probably wouldn’t have been able to afford one. The rise of savings and loans and credit unions too. It’s interesting that mortgage default rates have historically been pretty low. Around 1.5% on average and the worst was 4.6% in 2008 thanks to the mortgage loan bubble. So, the vast majority of homeowners are able to tote the note.

 

[Tanks]

Greenies and animal rights lot are happy......

Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels

Local politicians say the move is in line with the Dutch capital's environmental targets.

www.bbc.com

What's really interesting is that one of those interviewed referenced meat processing as "murder" of animals. Wonder if they will ban cheese as well, one of main exports of Netherlands.

 

[Brent in Az]

Lots of meat processing happens in De Wallen.....

 

[WAB]

Completely concur..

I’m not much of a Trump fan…

But have voted for him 3 times…

Given the choice of Trump or Hillary or Biden or Harris… Trump wins every single time…

I would have preferred DeSantis back in 2016 and in 2024… but that wasn’t an option…

Bad Orange Man as opposed to evil Hillary, brain dead Biden, or idiot Harris though?

The bad orange man is the pretty obvious choice…

Part of me wonders if Fetterman will run as an independent in the next election. That would certainly stir things up!

 

[mdwest]

Part of me wonders if Fetterman will run as an independent in the next election. That would certainly stir things up!

I could see him even switching parties..

he's still a democrat at heart.. but the things he seems to concern himself most with are the things the R's seem to be trying to align with, and the D's seem to be trying to distance themselves from... like working class people, organized labor, etc..

 

[Novice Huntress]

Obviously about 20 days late to this thread, but just seen this,

Theyer always butt hurt about something….
They need a dose of…
View attachment 757565

I've just shown my husband this , he had a right laugh, a proper laugh. He has a couple of friends who suffer the full TDS!

He said if we could import this to the UK for the "Lefty Bed Wetters" we could make a fortune!!!!