Links for you. Science:
Madagascar’s lemurs face a grim future because of human activity. A solution? Planting trees.
An unlikely parrot love story may have resulted in a new species
Capture of complete ciliate chromosomes in single sequencing reads reveals widespread chromosome isoforms (pdf)
Ravenous wild goats ruled this island for over a century. Now, it’s being reborn.
Moffitt turmoil began with national concern over China, stolen research
Other:
I’m going to explain why you’re seeing what some washed up old singer thinks all over the place. The way promotional sausage is made isn’t pretty, but I think more people should know the processes involved
This is the bombshell Trump’s team didn’t want revealed
TikTok and the coming of infinite media
The surprising source of key data in a report critical of U.S. Charter School Program
“You were rude to me so…”
Disarm the lifeboats
What’s With All the Empty Condos? Empty Luxury Units at the Top End of the Market Do Not Signal a Housing Glut.
Incredibly creative road in Holland
Bosses Are Charged with Breaking the Law in Over 40% of Union Campaigns
Why Trump’s new food stamp rule is about cruelty, not responsibility
Serial liar Trump doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt on leading us into war
‘Here, life is cheap’: One D.C. store, 16 surveillance cameras, and two murders in seven months
D.C. officials passed a law to help tipped workers while repealing a wage hike. It was never funded.
Mt. Holyoke professor allegedly beat a colleague with a fire poker, garden shears
With Suleimani Assassination, Trump Is Doing the Bidding of Washington’s Most Vile Cabal
Still Can’t Find It On The Map
The Presto Hotdogger
People in Thailand use everything else to deal with plastic bag ban
Headless Body in Cave Is Identified as 1916 Ax Murder Suspect
How To Avoid Swallowing War Propaganda
Stop saying Biden is the ‘most electable’. Trump will run rings round him
mikethemadbiologist
Re: the article on all the empty condos not signaling a housing glut. Although I agree with the statement, the post itself is total B$. The number of empty condos is NOT a reflection of the longer time on the market required for luxury housing. First of all, owning real estate that is not lived in is a time-honored way to launder money. The fact that disclosure of ownership isn’ always required is part of the problem. People are PARKING THEIR MONEY in real estate. But supply and demand is what indicates a glut. the luxury market in many cities is glutted. Sales prices in luxury markets in places like NYC are quite soft. If there wasn’t excess supply soaking up all the demand, prices for the high-end would be going UP not DOWN. Also, it is entirely possible to have two different markets at once. A glutted luxury market and hot entry-level market is the new normal for the NY area. Why? Because no one is building what the vast majority of the buyers NEED. There is too much money to be made reaching for the brass ring of the luxury market.
Should municipalities police this? Given the severe nature of the housing shortage at the entry-level, I would say yes. You can have a vacancy penalty. But I would suggest something far simpler: For markets that are super-saturated with luxury housing, city councils need to learn how to use the word “NO!” for zoning changes and higher height limits for developers targeting already super-saturated markets.
Some of this is simply a money grab. Getting approval for more units than the original zoning allows is like instant free money. They don’t even have to put a shovel in the ground, to have the land instantly double in value. If you buy a property zoned for 20 units and get approval to build 100 units on that same lot – JACKPOT!
But this is supplanting the development of sorely needed middle-class housing with real units that will just sit idle. The claim that building more luxury housing will address the shortage for middle/working classes by increasing density is ridiculous. Save the goodies for those who target markets where there is a genuine need.