sep_n

What are the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the vice presidential pick a secret? Why wouldn't the presidential nominee make the announcement of who he/she has selected as their running mate soon after they knew?

Apparently, we've entered a difficult time for home owners, both with existing / new homes not selling for those who want to move and with loan issues causing foreclosures to rise. I'm sure this isn't the first time this has happened.

The question is - during previous occurrences of this type, what has happened historically? What's the timeframe and the order of events that we can expect once the recovery begins (housing inventory starts to reduce, foreclosure rates decrease)?

Please be specific and provide references. Thank you.

This is not a homework question - this is just out of curiousity.

Why do the eight planets in our solar system orbit the sun in the same plane? (The newly demoted Pluto is also "close", orbiting slightly off of this plane.)

Is there a meaningful relationship between the sun's equator and the plane of the orbiting planets?

Why are the spins of these planets also the same (they all spin in the same direction as earth and not the opposite)?

Do other solar systems in the universe exhibit the same phenomenon described above?