Rebane's Ruminations
August 2025
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[Latest news on new home building.  It seems that today more and more houses are built without separate dining rooms.  This allows the house to be smaller and cheaper.  But eliminating the dining room also indicates a culture shift in the young buyers.  Fewer people today require a room in which the entire entourage of guests can gather for a meal and conversation that involves everyone.  Such conversations require the participants’ shared knowledge bases, real time critical thinking, and the art of expressing oneself in a civil and sensitive manner that does not put people off and feeds their interest in what you have to say – social skills on the wane among the young.  gjr]

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95 responses to “Sandbox – 25aug25”

  1. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    You can’t build it if you can’t afford it George.

    Like

  2. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Not exactly. Women don’t want to be segregated to the kitchen while the men hang out in the living room with their cocktails enjoying themselves.
    So designs with a connected kitchen, family room, and dining area are becoming popular.
    I was never a fan of the high ceiling great room either. Hard to heat, clean spider webpage, window etc.

    Like

  3. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    My first wife and I fell in love with our house at first sight. A very high ceiling great room with a solid beam and view of everything from the kitchen… which sealed the deal for her.
    Knotty pine throughout. Felt like home.

    Like

  4. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    Average new house size in 1973: 1525 sqft.
    Average new house size in 2024: 2024 sqft.
    with a .5 reduction in average household size.
    Also, looking at Case-Shiller charts (same house sales, inflation corrected), we’re essentially in a bubble slightly higher than the last one.
    Naturally, it doesn’t help in California that the insane number of regulations, building code, and paperwork have driven up new construction cost.
    ” Women don’t want to be segregated to the kitchen ”
    Which explains why modern kitchens are so absurdly kitted out compared to 50+ years ago.

    Like

  5. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    Euphemism I’m sick of already #348
    ‘Tiny Homes on Wheels’.
    My favorite part about sticking a trailer on a piece of property and Calling It Good is the County permit cost (just looked it up)
    $5841
    lol. Just imagine the total gubmint cost when you add in all the other fees for septic/well/etc.
    At least CALFIRE can walk away in good conscience when your trailerhouse burns down in 5 minutes or less.

    Like

  6. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “culture shift in the young buyers.”
    I would say that two (of many) changes in home design are driven by:
    a) Building the house around a large-screen TV.
    b) Giant closets to hold copious consumer goods. Modern people sure own a lot of clothes and shoes for being so poor.
    Garages are an interesting case in that for years they were stuff-that-should-be-thrown-away storage, partly because modern trucks and the like don’t fit…now being more and more used as filling stations for Teslas.
    Honestly, I think that dining room usage was dying off in the 1970s. TV trays were invented for a reason.

    Like

  7. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Right Scenes, all those people crying about gas prices don’t have enough room for their quads, boats, RVs, and are paying for storage fees to house all their Chinese made “essentials”.

    Like

  8. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Ya bring those empty guns to a gunfight you cannot win –
    The trouble for Democrats is they have nowhere else to target if Republicans keep on escalating. Blue-state governors are talking tough and insisting they are at war, but that rhetoric is no match for reality. Democrats simply control too few states, and they’ve pretty much maxed out the maps in the states where they hold trifecta power.
    New York’s state constitution would prevent creating new congressional maps before the 2028 election. Illinois likely cannot carve out an additional Democratic seat in a map that already hands them 14 of 17 districts. State courts in Maryland have already blocked one Democratic map that would have eliminated the state’s lone red seat, creating an 8-0 wipeout. Oregon’s governor will not propose a new 6-0 map that would erase one GOP-friendly district.
    So the arithmetic is stark, and it’s not on the Democrats’ side. That’s before the U.S. Supreme Court hears the Callais case in October and potentially overturns the last remnants of the Voting Rights Act, leading to the likely erasure of majority-minority seats currently held by Black Democrats in South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.
    So Democrats cannot realistically gerrymander their way out of their gerrymandering problem. If you’re wondering whether this blatant exercise of partisan political power is constitutional, the Supreme Court has already said yes, ruling that partisan gerrymandering is purely a political matter and not its problem. State courts, in many or most cases, are controlled by whichever party holds power.
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-can-t-win-the-gerrymander-war/ar-AA1Lbr3R?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=68aca9b5fd9248ebad50b38853ce5627&ei=64
    😉

    Like

  9. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “So Democrats cannot realistically gerrymander their way out of their gerrymandering problem.”
    They already did it, to the extent that ‘gerrymandering’ implies maximization of a party rather than a racial cutout or something.
    Illinois: 55% Harris, 44% Trump. House is 14 Democrats, 3 Republicans
    Texas: 56% Trump, 42% Harris. House is 25 Republicans, 12 Democrats
    California: 58% Harris, 38% Trump. House is 43 Democrats, 9 Republicans.
    It’s obvious how much more imbalanced Illinois and California are than Texas already.
    This whole uproar is just purest political power play and just shows how dishonest nationally prominent Democrats can be. For God’s sake, just look at both Pritzker and Newsom. At least Abbott looks like a human being, albeit a gimpy one.

    Like

  10. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    ” leading to the likely erasure of majority-minority seats ”
    and there’s yer gerrymandering in it’s purest sense.
    Since people vote for people who look like them (as per Lee Kuan Yew), you have to have special districts.
    Maybe the right way to go is for everyone to sign up as their race, and you apportion House seats by that measure. California Democrats would get a real shock as the entire bloc swung Hispanic, but that’s just a matter of time anyway. I doubt that Adam Schiff really speaks for people from Guatamala all that well.
    If you want a real shockeroo, check out jury results and race. Generally, if you’re white, you don’t want black people on your jury. I don’t doubt that defense attorneys know all about that one, but they daren’t say that at cocktail parties.
    Sometimes I think the whole world was invented to make me laugh.

    Like

  11. Scott O Avatar

    “Sometimes I think the whole world was invented to make me laugh.”
    Not sure about the whole world but watching and listening to Dems reactions to Trump has to be high on the amusement scale. Who would have ever thought that the networks would allow people on the air saying things like:
    “If Trump wins, you’ll never vote again”
    That’s not political punditry, that’s insanity. Stark, raving, lunacy – with the anchor nodding solemnly in agreement. Now we have Governor HairGel saying “I’m going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.”
    Ooooh – SMACKDOWN! Get ready to ruuuuumble!
    Hilarious!

    Like

  12. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Why da prez is going to keep winning –
    Democratic Party (aka the spawn of soros)
    Social media erupts after DNC speaker says migrant crime, carjackings ‘don’t matter’ to many Americans
    Rahman advised party members that carjackings and migrant crime don’t resonate with most voters
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/social-media-erupts-after-dnc-speaker-says-migrant-crime-carjackings-dont-matter
    😉

    Like

  13. Scott O Avatar

    CA leads the way!
    “Several bills in the California Legislature would regulate how companies use AI to make employment decisions such as compensation, hiring, firing, or promotions, but they may be in jeopardy because of their associated costs.”
    “It would also give workers the right to appeal decisions made by AI and prevent employers from making predictions about a worker related to their immigration status, ancestral history, health, or psychological state.”
    And how will they prove that the decision was made by AI?
    https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/08/california-ai-employment-legislation/

    Like

  14. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Because so many MAGA exhibit the intellectual and emotional development of 10-year-olds it has become necessary to title legislation in terms they can understand.
    A recent example of this is the “Big Beautiful Bill”, a title that was chosen to elicit warm, fuzzy feelings about something MAGA sufferers often becomes afraid of.
    Another recent example is “The D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” established in Executive Order 14252 of March 27, 2025 (Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful).
    Additional Measures to Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia – The White House https://share.google/15ompEBFMD25M8G56

    Like

  15. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Trump’s newly redecorated playroom.
    The airplane model is cute.
    https://x.com/JohannaNyman5/status/1959741049175482842?t=LjyNVt36UjDlX4D3-g7rEQ&s=19

    Like

  16. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    ICE Queen’s crew adding significant security measures at the border to prevent Fentanyl smuggling.
    https://x.com/NotHoodlum/status/1959683409451643365?t=N-C1Q9Ht4gigroCJlVxQaA&s=19

    Like

  17. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Renewables investors are pulling back from the U.S.
    https://www.axios.com/2025/08/26/us-investments-renewable-energy-projects-numbers

    Like

  18. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    The Trump Show
    No flag burning…but well, yeah, it’s protected by the first amendment.
    What a Hoot!
    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/us/politics/trump-flag-burning-executive-order.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE8.ZEyo.Hh43xYr4jSkx&smid=nytcore-android-share

    Like

  19. Scott O Avatar

    Well – I see Trump has certainly settled into BeerBelly’s brain 24/7.
    Winning!
    Renewables investors pulling back?
    Of course, you moron – Trump has signaled no more slush funds of American tax dollars to prop up failed “green energy” scams.
    England and Germany are still available as willing suckers. Better act fast though – I hear the natives there are getting restless.

    Like

  20. fish Avatar
    fish

    I wouldn’t assume that this occurred because the Good Lord has anything against sex….even fornication would occasionally get the nod from the Big Man if it was in the service of something larger….

    Burning Man Orgy Dome completely destroyed by winds


    – Watch devastation as poles collapse on couches


    But this I think was likely a reminder that the tired performative antics of….ahem ……Burners will sometimes draw a rebuke! If nothing else it certainly shows that he has a sense of humor!
    https://www.themirror.com/entertainment/burning-man-orgy-dome-1352378?service=responsive

    Like

  21. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    HLS @ 1058
    Well, in that case I guess I will skip it this year. Maybe I can scalp my tickets.

    Like

  22. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    George
    Here’s a new one from Trump. He wants to allow 600,000 Chinese students to enter our country. Direct quotes:
    “I hear so many stories about we’re not going to allow their students.” Trump told reporters:
    “We’re going to allow their students to come in. We’re going to allow. It’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s very important. But we’re going to get along with China.”
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/trump-600000-chinese-students-conversative-backlash-rcna227246

    Like

  23. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Craptaculated Hillbilly | 26 August 2025 at 11:22 AM
    Well, in that case I guess I will skip it this year. Maybe I can scalp my tickets.

    Yes…that’s probably for the best! On multiple levels……

    Like

  24. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    lol. First I had heard about it.
    “Chaos at Burning Man as Dust Storm Destroys ORGY DOME”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_6FS44JtIs

    You just know that the organizers were balding middle-aged men with nasty little pony tails. At least they are cutting to the chase here instead of bothering to set up some kind of faux Eastern religion.

    re: 600k Chinese students (take one down, pass it around, 599,999 Chinese students).
    Big mistake. It’ll be like the uproar concerning H1Bs and related visas.
    It’s a good fight to have. Foreigners (who always want more foreigners to move here) + big education + old ‘activist’ Karens vs. the loud part of the Republican voters. Who wins? Make yer bets.

    Like

  25. fish Avatar
    fish

    The Tangerine Tornado….is there nothing he can’t do….?

    Genius Trump Enacts Plan To Dumb Down Chinese Population By Inviting Them To Attend American Universities.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/genius-trump-enacts-plan-to-dumb-down-chinese-population-by-inviting-them-to-attend-american-universities

    Like

  26. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Trump quote: “Trump: “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the President.”
    Your guy Gregory.
    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9wnbP3-AgHo

    Like

  27. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Gotta love those wokesters at the dnc throwing away another election cycle –
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dnc-members-rally-around-dei-resolution-american-values
    😉

    Like

  28. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Paul “I’m really enjoying the new rules” Emery | 26 August 2025 at 05:19 PM
    Trump quote: “Trump: “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the President.”

    Not a peep when President Autopen defied the Supreme Court to retire student loan debt…..

    “They blocked it, but that didn’t stop me”

    …..your guy Paul Raymond!

    Like

  29. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Sign of things to come:
    “Iowa Democrats were projected to score a major victory on Tuesday night, flipping control of the state’s 1st Senate District in a special election — and breaking the Republican supermajority in that chamber.
    The race was called by the Sioux City Journal and Siouxland Proud.
    Catelin Drey, a mother and communications professional, faced off against GOP media consultant Christopher Prosch in the race. Unofficial results from Siouxland Proud show Drey winning by over 10 points, in a district that backed President Donald Trump by 11 points in 2024.”
    https://www.rawstory.com/iowa-election/

    Like

  30. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Not “my guy”, Punch. He won the election from the often incoherent DEI nominee of your party wìth a possible drinking problem.

    Like

  31. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Kevin Kiley, the definition of a politician…
    Letter to The Union,
    “After the worst national jobs report since the start of the 2020 pandemic, Congressman Kevin Kiley is fighting to save at least one American’s job: his own. With the specter of redistricting looming, and the possibility that California’s 3rd District could switch from a safe Republican seat to a safe Democratic seat, the political world is shifting beneath Kiley’s feet.
    Under the guise of doing what’s right for the country, Kiley is trying to save his job by crafting national legislation to stop mid-decade redistricting.
    Since he was elected, the Congressman has enjoyed a level of job security that has allowed him to do only the bare minimum. He prefers hosting telephone town halls to attending in-person town halls, and he spends more time talking to the personalities on Newsmax than to the people in his district.
    If the Congressman wants to save his job, he will have to change his tactics. It is time for him to get out of his Rocklin office and start talking with his constituents, even people he doesn’t agree with. As the disastrous town halls hosted by Congressman Doug LaMalfa demonstrate, this experience may not be pleasant, but it will be necessary if Kiley hopes to hold onto his seat.
    The days of Congressman Kevin Kiley doing the bare minimum and expecting reelection are over, and in 2026 he may learn first hand what the national job market is really like.”
    Patrick Johnson, Grass Valley

    Like

  32. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    “Our long national nightmare is over: Cracker Barrel announced last night they will abandon their woke new logo and go back to the old one after all. For good measure, representatives of the company called Donald Trump and—in the words of Deputy White House Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich—“thanked President Trump for weighing in on the issue of their iconic ‘original’ logo. They wanted the President to know that they heard him.”
    …and a cheer is heard by The Biden Hunters – Ruminator Division

    Like

  33. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Butt-Snorkelers United
    “Yesterday also featured a spectacle that perhaps transcended good and evil, but that was certainly striking: A three-and-a-quarter-hour televised cabinet Politburo meeting, in which the highest-ranking government officials of the world’s oldest and once greatest democracy abased themselves ridiculously before their presidential idol.
    Every Trump apparatchik took a turn in the Cabinet Room adulating their leader. They even sought to outdo each other. Steve Witkoff’s fawning may have taken the prize: “There’s only one thing I wish for: That that Nobel Committee finally gets its act together and realizes that you are the single finest candidate since that Nobel award was ever talked about.” But there was some stiff competition in this contest, about which retired Gen. Ben Hodges noted, “in the Army we called this Butt-snorkeling.”
    Anyway, take a look at some of the clips online if you wish. The flattery is so over-the-top as to be—in short doses, at least—entertaining. And watching the other cabinet secretaries being sure to vigorously nod along to their colleagues’ moments of adoration, lest they seem less than fully enthusiastic, is a sight to behold.
    But the great leader to whom all in the room bowed, Donald J. Trump, was not a silent idol. He spoke occasionally. At times he of course added to the sense of ridiculousness. But there were also moments that brought one back to reality.
    The president forecast troop deployments to more cities, explaining, “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can do it.”
    He also mocked critics who claim he’s behaving like a dictator, adding that “a lot of people say, ‘You know, if that’s the case, I’d rather have a dictator.’ But I’m not a dictator.”
    So one was reminded: We have a president who rejects any checks on presidential power, and who is trying to normalize the view that dictatorship maybe isn’t so bad.
    As for the idea that an opposition to the president and his agenda has some sort of right to exist, the Trump administration rejects that too. On Monday night, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, appeared on Fox News. He called the opposition party “an entity devoted exclusively to the defense of hardened criminals, gangbangers, and illegal, alien killers and terrorists. The Democrat party is not a political party. It is a domestic extremist organization.”
    So much for the rule of law. So much for limits on the power of the executive. So much for the legitimacy of opposition to the government.
    One can try to look away from the abyss for a while. But when the diversions end, one can’t help but see that we’re heading straight towards it.”
    https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/all-the-presidents-butt-snorkelers-cabinet-meeting-sycophants-dictator?r=26vbls&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

    Like

  34. Scott O Avatar

    BeerBelly 6:23 – Thanks for posting that letter from P Johnson. I’m sure you think it’s a wonderful little screed, but if you had actually used your brain to examine the message, you would see that once again a Dem has pounded the table for “duh-mock-racy” while actually trying to get rid of it.
    He admits Kiley occupies a safe seat, but fails to appreciate what that actually means. It means he HAS listened to the majority of the voters in his district, and conducts himself in office accordingly to ensure an easy re-election.
    So now Johnson is advocating that the district should be gerrymandered to get rid of Kiley because actual democratic elections are producing a result that Johnson doesn’t like.
    Duh-Mock-Cracy as long as it produces the correct person. Who gives a shit about the majority of voters in that district?

    Like

  35. fish Avatar
    fish

    Butt-Snorkelers United…..?
    With a title like that no wonder it caught your attention!
    You and your buddies’ from the Bulwark (More concentrated Ghey at the offices of The Bulwark than a Log Cabin Republican membership list) have fun!
    Maybe a drag show after……

    Like

  36. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    So&So, You forget that Gavin is only responding in kind to the crippled Governor of Texas with a chip on his shoulder – like a lot of crops.

    Like

  37. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Channeling Bill Kristol now, Jeff?

    Like

  38. fish Avatar
    fish

    ….to the crippled Governor of Texas with a chip on his shoulder – like a lot of crops.
    Way to manage to sound even more senile than Nevada City’s “Stalwart Man About Town”.
    Important Pro Tip – the last thing a guy who looks like he’s saving his pennies for a super capacity Lark mobility scooter oughta be doing is dogging a guy in a wheelchair….especially a guy who is in a wheelchair because that he was out jogging and paralyzed when he managed to get hit by a falling oak tree!

    Like

  39. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    …poor crippled guy, I guess he wasn’t so light on his feet, as I am! LOL!

    Like

  40. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    …which brings me to wonder if you are just gay-curious, HLS, or a closeted self-hating fairy? I have never seen a commenter who even posts with a lisp.

    Like

  41. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Jeff, you’re hitting rock bottom now.

    Like

  42. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    Thank you Gregory, bottoms up!

    Like

  43. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Resurrected Hillbilly | 27 August 2025 at 09:34 AM
    …which brings me to wonder if you are just gay-curious, HLS, or a closeted self-hating fairy? I have never seen a commenter who even posts with a lisp.

    ….pssst….can you keep a secret?
    Totally hetero!
    But other than mocking your militant obsession with drag shows for children and swooning over …..wait for it…..Than Franthithco Valuths…whatever the hell those are, I got no real beef with the gheys!
    PS: Hey Nevada City “Man of Letters”….no comment between “gay curious and HLS”! Poor punctuation for a guy with a Masters Degree….even a lame one like journalism.

    Like

  44. fish Avatar
    fish

    No worries….Governor “Jazz Hands” is on it!

    2 days ago, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz attacked the National Guard deployments to stop crime
    Today, a school full of Catholic children was shot up in his state

    …..flouncing in to save the day I’m sure!
    https://x.com/JackPosobiec/status/1960717617129218089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1960717617129218089%7Ctwgr%5E465e0bad11f9bbbfcbb42a42e41e280f385aebf9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fmass-shooting-minneapolis-catholic-school-2-dead-many-injured-suspect-contained

    Like

  45. Resurrected Hillbilly Avatar
    Resurrected Hillbilly

    no ?comment? between gay…LOL!

    Like

  46. fish Avatar
    fish

    I’m surprised you didn’t nail me for this one…..

    E…no comment between “gay curious and HLS”!

    “no comma“…!
    I’m claiming autocorrect fail!

    Like

  47. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Yep fish kids shot up. What we need is effective gun control.

    Like

  48. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Paul Emery | 27 August 2025 at 11:44 AM
    Yep fish kids shot up. What we need is effective gun control.

    Hmmm…..Paul Raymond Emery flouncing in as well!
    You could have transsexual ideation (you’ll need to consult a dictionary Paul Raymond! Don’t bother with the internet! Your difficulty with links is well established) as prima facie evidence of mental illness and disqualifying for gun ownership.
    That would have taken care of 4 of the last big ones! If that works we could do democrat party membership next!

    Like