Check out this funny and infectiously joyful video on YouTube of Seattle resident Matt Harding dancing his way around the world.
He’s made several other similar videos of himself dancing alone in far away places but in this one, which is already one of the most popular videos on YouTube, he has a lot of company.
For more info, check out WheretheHellisMatt.com.
From Wired Science:
What exactly do John McCain and Barack Obama know about science?
That’s what the folks behind Science Debate 2008 want to know, and to find out, they’ve developed 14 questions they sent to the candidates and hope to discuss with them at a science-only debate. The questions cover innovation, climate change, energy, genetics, space, and health, among other topics.
I loved this comment.
Given the nature of presidential politics and the meatiness of the questions, we’d be happy if the candidates answered even one of them with more than a platitude.
Check out the article for the questions.
In celebration of July 4th, I’d add another question under the category of freedom: We fought the Revolutionary War to stop the King of England from forcing his will on us at the point of a gun and stealing our money. What scientific evidence do you have to support your belief that politicians have a “right” to use guns to force their will on others and steal the fruits of their labor? Isn’t that just slavery all over again?
In a landmark ruling that affirms the right of individuals to own guns for self-defense, the Supreme Court stuck down laws that ban individual ownership of guns.
It’s nice to know that the right of self-defense still has some value in this country.
Two recent articles show that the prices and sales of homes continue to fall in the Seattle area although not as bad as in many other parts of the country.
From the Seattle Times:
King County’s median house price, $440,000, reflected a 1.9 percent decline from April and a 6.2 percent drop from the previous May.
One bright spot: condo prices were up in King and Snohomish counties.
More proof the rebound has yet to begin is revealed by pending house and condo sales — those signed last month but not yet completed. They were down roughly 40 percent compared with a year earlier in King and Snohomish counties.
Pierce, with a 32 percent drop, and Kitsap, with 36 percent, weren’t far behind. That type of sales activity has been status quo for several months.
From the Seattle PI:
Area homeowners who did manage to sell in May apparently made deep cuts in their prices, although much less so in Seattle, according to numbers the Northwest Multiple Listing Service released on Thursday.
The median price of a King County house sold in May was $440,000, down 6.2 percent from a year earlier and much more than the year-to-year drops of 3.6 percent and 3.3 percent in April and March. The median price of all 19 counties the listing service covers was down more than 7 percent.
House prices held up better in Seattle, where the median was $475,000 in May, down 2.7 percent from a year earlier and up 8 percent from April.
The county’s median house price has now fallen 8.5 percent from a peak in July. After a couple of month-to-month increases, the median price dropped 1.9 percent in May from April.
The vicious cycle of foreclosures, which are at record highs, continues to put a drag on prices:
WASHINGTON — The foreclosure hammer is hitting ever harder. People lost their homes at the highest rate on record in the first three months of the year, and late payments soared to a new high, too - an alarming sign that the housing crisis and its damage to the national economy may only get worse.
Dumping more empty homes on an already glutted market also is likely to put a further drag on home prices - extending a vicious cycle.
Slumping home values are being blamed in large part for the rising tide of foreclosures. Troubled borrowers are left owing more to the bank than their homes are worth. They can’t sell without taking a huge financial hit, so they just walk away.
Lenders, saddled with increasing inventories, are slashing prices:
Lenders stung by the housing bust are slashing prices dramatically to rid themselves of an unprecedented number of foreclosed properties, sparking bidding wars in some places that harken back to the market’s go-go years and may signal the bottom is near.
The trend is most dramatic in many parts of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, where prices skyrocketed during the housing boom and are now falling precipitously. Sales of foreclosures, vacant new homes and other distressed properties now dominate some markets, causing grief for individual homeowners who need to sell for other reasons, like a job in a new city.
There is some good news:
By setting prices at extraordinarily low levels, say, $175,000 for a house that sold for $350,000 three years ago, banks can spark multiple offers.
“It’s not uncommon to have 10 to 20 offers on one house, and for the house to end up selling for more than its market price,” said Erin Attardi, a Sacramento Realtor. The strategy, she said, allows the bank to be selective, picking buyers with solid financing or those able to pay in cash.
