A popular dog treat, the "bully stick," could be adding more calories than pet owners realize and possibly be contaminated by bacteria, according to a study published this month by researchers at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the University of Guelph. Credit: Tufts University
A popular dog treat could be adding more calories than pet owners realize, and possibly be contaminated by bacteria, according to a study published this month by researchers at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the University of Guelph.
The treat in question: the "bully" or "pizzle stick." The American and Canadian researchers analyzed the caloric density and bacterial contamination of these popular items, made from the uncooked, dried penis of a bull or steer. They also administered a survey to pet owners to assess their knowledge of these treats.
The study, published in the January 2013 issue of the Canadian Veterinary Journal, examined 26 bully sticks purchased from retailers in the United States and Canada and made by different manufacturers.
A random subset of the 26 bully sticks was tested for caloric content. These bully sticks tested contained between nine to 22 calories per inch, meaning the average six inch stick packed 88 calories?nine percent of the daily calorie requirements for a 50-pound dog, and 30 percent of the daily calorie requirements for a 10-pound dog.
"While calorie information isn't currently required on pet treats or most pet foods, these findings reinforce that veterinarians and pet owners need to be aware of pet treats like these bully sticks as a source of calories in a dog's diet," said Lisa M. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN, professor of nutrition at TCSVM who is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition.
Freeman was first author on the paper. Co-authors were J. Scott Weese, professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph, and Nicol Janecko, a research associate at the Canadian university.
"With obesity in pets on the rise, it is important for pet owners to factor in not only their dog's food, but also treats and table food," Freeman added.
All 26 treats were tested for bacterial contaminants. One (4 percent) of the sticks was contaminated with Clostridium difficile; one (four percent) was contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics; and seven (27 percent) were contaminated with Escherichia coli, including one tetracycline-resistant sample.
The number of treats sampled was small and not all of these bacterial strains have been shown to infect humans. However, the researchers advise all pet owners to wash their hands after touching such treats, as they would with any raw meat or raw meat diets. The very young, elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised and other high-risk individuals should avoid all contact with raw animal-product based treats and raw meat diets, note the scientists.
To learn more about veterinarian and pet owner perceptions of dog foods and treats, the research team developed a 20-question Web-based survey. The survey was posted online for public participation for 60 days and all responses were anonymous. It was completed by 852 adults from 44 states and six countries. Most respondents were female dog owners.
"We were surprised at the clear misconceptions pet owners and veterinarians have with pet foods and many of the popular raw animal-product based pet treats currently on the market," said Freeman. "For example, 71 percent of people feeding bully sticks to their pets stated they avoid by-products in pet foods, yet bully sticks are, for all intents and purposes, an animal by-product."
Another surprising finding was the large number of people who did not know what bully sticks actually were. A higher proportion of veterinarians (62 percent) were able to correctly identify the source of bully sticks as bull penis compared to general respondents (44 percent). Twenty-three percent of the respondents fed their dogs bully sticks.
Further research with a larger sample size is needed to determine whether the calorie content and contamination rate found in this study is representative of all bully sticks, or other types of pet treats, according to the authors.
More information: Freeman LM, Janecko N, Weese JS. Nutritional and microbial analysis of bully sticks and survey of opinions about pet treats. Canadian Veterinary Journal. 2013; 54: 50-54.
28 January 2013Last updated at 07:40By Matt WalkerEditor, BBC Nature
Common dolphins have been seen gathering to aid a dying companion, trying to support it in the water and help it breathe.
This is the first time that a group of dolphins has been recorded trying to help or save another dying dolphin.
Korean-based scientists witnessed the event in the East Sea off the coast of Ulsan, in South Korea.
Five individual dolphins formed a raft with their bodies in an attempt to keep the stricken dolphin afloat.
Details of the behaviour are reported in the journal Marine Mammal Science.
Healthy cetaceans, the group of animals that includes whales and dolphins, have been seen attempting to provide supportive care to individuals before.
For example, in the mid-20th Century, a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in captivity was seen lifting her stillborn calf to the surface with her back.
Wild bottlenose dolphins have also been seen supporting dead or stillborn calves near the surface, while some have been recorded stimulating their babies by biting them.
But all previous examples involved just one or two adult dolphins trying to rescue a calf.
Now Kyum J Park of the Cetacean Research Institute in Ulsan, Korea, and colleagues report an incident when up to 10 long-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus capensis) tried to save the life of another adult.
The researchers routinely monitor cetaceans off the South Korean coast.
During one survey, they encountered a group of long-beaked common dolphins containing more that 400 individuals being followed by approximately 500 streaked shearwaters.
Both dolphins and birds were foraging, and the research vessel approached and observed the pod several times.
A small group of dolphins had separated from the pod and were splashing near to the boat.
Closer observation revealed at least 12 individuals swimming very slowly.
Among them, one dolphin was wriggling about, its body leaning over, with its abdomen showing to the surface.
Though it could move and splash its tail, its flippers appeared to be paralysed and it had red marks on its belly.
A number of dolphins circled this group, while those within appeared to be trying to help the stricken dolphin maintain its balance, by pushing it from the side and below.
Then the 10 remaining dolphins took turns to form a raft using their bodies.
Five dolphins at a time lined up horizontally into a raft-like formation, maintaining it while the stricken dolphin moved on top and rode on their backs.
One of the dolphins in the raft even flipped over its body to better support the ailing dolphin above, while another used its beak to try to keep the dying dolphin's head up.
A few minutes later the stricken dolphin appeared to die, its body hanging vertically in the water, with its head above the surface. It wasn't breathing.
Five of its associates continued to interact with the dead dolphin's body, rubbing and touching it, or swimming underneath, releasing bubbles onto it.
They carried on this way despite the dead dolphin's body showing signs of rigor mortis, say the researchers.
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MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic came up with his best tennis when it mattered most to reassert his grand slam dominance over Andy Murray on Sunday and become the first man to win three successive Australian Open titles in the professional era.
The Serbian world number one played 171 minutes of cat and mouse with his British rival before pouncing when the U.S. Open champion blinked and racing away to a 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
There was no ripping off of the shirt and no victory roar like Rod Laver Arena witnessed last year, but there was no disguising Djokovic's delight at claiming a fourth title at Melbourne Park.
His three successive titles were a first since Roy Emerson won his fifth straight in 1967, while a quartet of crowns matches Roger Federer and Andre Agassi, the latter being on hand to present him with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
"What a joy, it's an incredible feeling to win this trophy again. This is definitely my favorite grand slam. I love this tournament. I love this court," said Djokovic, who lost to Murray at Flushing Meadows in September.
"Every tournament, especially the major tournaments, is very special (but) winning it three in a row, it's incredible."
The similarity of playing style meant the match, although studded with some brilliant rallies, was not the classic that fans have come to expect from grand slam finals in the golden age of men's tennis.
So little separated the two 25-year-old baseliners, however, that two hours and 51 minutes of the contest had passed before the first break of serve.
Crucially, it went to Djokovic and 49 minutes later he was celebrating his sixth grand slam title.
For Murray, hampered by a badly blistered toe, distracted at a key moment by a white feather and physically compromised by his four-hour semi-final against Federer, it was a third final defeat in four years in Australia.
The Scot took some solace from the fact that this match was a much tighter affair than his defeats by Federer in 2010 and Djokovic in 2011.
"There's going to be some obvious reasons for me feeling a little bit better," said Murray, who was hoping to become the first Briton to win the title since Fred Perry in 1934.
"The last few months have been the best tennis of my life. I made the Wimbledon final, won the Olympics, won the U.S. Open. I was close here as well. It was close.
"I know no one's ever won a slam the immediate one after winning their first one. It's not the easiest thing to do and I got extremely close."
SLIGHT EDGE
Djokovic needed nearly six hours to beat Rafa Nadal in last year's final and few were betting on a pre-midnight finish after the first two sets on Sunday took 133 minutes to get through.
The Serbian's aggression gave him a slight edge in the first set and he claimed five break points only for Murray to save them all and then scoot through the tiebreak 7-2.
Murray took the momentum into the second set, where he won the first seven points to earn his first three break points but he fluffed his chances and Djokovic saved his serve.
"After that I felt just mentally a little bit lighter and more confident on the court than I'd done in the first hour or so," said Djokovic.
A white feather which drifted down from the birds nesting in the rafters distracted Murray when he was serving during the tiebreak and he double faulted on his way to losing it 7-3.
"At this level it can come down to just a few points here or there," said Murray. "Probably my biggest chance was at the beginning of the second set, I didn't quite get it.
"When Novak had his chance at the end of the third, he got his."
Djokovic opened the key third set game with a brilliant winner that just caught the back of the line at the end of a 36-shot rally.
He closed it out to go 5-3 ahead when Murray smacked a forehand into the net tape and then won seven of the next nine games to claim the title.
"I didn't expect an easy match," said Djokovic. "You never get the grand slam trophy in an easy way. You have to earn it."
There was more success for 25-year-olds earlier in the day when Australians Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden clinched the mixed doubles title, beating Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak 6-3 7-5.
The day belonged to Djokovic, however.
"I'm just trying to play this game with 100 percent of devotion, love, passion, and fun also," he said. "I mean, 25 years-old and I won six grand slams and have a lot of trophies.
"It's amazing. I'm just trying to embrace this moment and enjoy it as much as I can and see where tomorrow brings me."
DHAKA (Reuters) - Fire raced through a small garment factory in the Bangladesh capital on Saturday, killing at least six employees and injuring 10, firefighters and witnesses said, two months after the country's worst factory blaze killed 112 workers.
Fire service officials said the fire at Smart Fashions, housed in the upper floor of a two-storey building in the suburb of Mohammadpur, appeared to start in a tire repair and welding shop downstairs. But the exact cause was still to be determined.
Firefighters and police combed the building after the blaze was brought under control and pulled out six bodies.
"Everything inside the factory has been gutted," a Reuters photographer said.
A fire at Tazreen Fashions Limited in a Dhaka suburb in November killed 112 workers and injured at least 150, a blaze that focused world attention on poor safety standards in the country's garment sector.
Working conditions at Bangladeshi factories are notoriously poor, with little enforcement of safety laws. Overcrowding and locked fire doors are common.
Bangladesh has about 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.
Officials in the industry have demanded quick implementation of recommendations to improve standards in a report that concluded the Tazreen blaze was the result of both sabotage and negligence.
Western clothing brands, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, have announced tougher measures to ensure safety standards are upheld.
In this Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, photo, a Sears store is shown in Hialeah, Fla. Shares of Sears Holdings fell Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, a day after the retailer announced that chairman and hedge fund billionaire Edward Lampert will take over the role of CEO. The investor queasiness came even as the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company offered an update on holiday sales that showed some improvements at its Sears stores. Overall, the company still faces a long, uphill battle to turn itself around. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
In this Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, photo, a Sears store is shown in Hialeah, Fla. Shares of Sears Holdings fell Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, a day after the retailer announced that chairman and hedge fund billionaire Edward Lampert will take over the role of CEO. The investor queasiness came even as the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company offered an update on holiday sales that showed some improvements at its Sears stores. Overall, the company still faces a long, uphill battle to turn itself around. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. fell Tuesday, a day after the retailer announced that chairman and hedge fund billionaire Edward Lampert will take over the role of CEO.
The investor queasiness came even as the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company offered an update on holiday sales that showed some improvements at its Sears stores. Overall, the company still faces a long, uphill battle to turn itself around.
Lampert succeeds Louis D'Ambrosio, who is leaving February because of family health matters. D'Ambrosio will remain on the board until the company's annual meeting in May. He was named CEO in February 2011, ending a three-year search.
Lampert has been known as a hands-on chairman at the operator of Sears and Kmart. The change formalizes that role at a time when the retailer is struggling with sales declines and losses.
"At the end of the day, there is only one person who makes the big decisions ... and that person is Mr. Lampert," wrote Gary Balter, an analyst at Credit Suisse, in report. "Giving him an additional title does not change that reality, and in our opinion, does not change the direction of the company."
In a statement, Lampert said that he plans to continue to build on the steps outlined last year to get the company back on track.
"I have agreed to assume these additional responsibilities in order to continue the company's recovery and sustain the momentum we are experiencing," said Lampert, the company's largest shareholder. "Working closely with the board, management and our dedicated associates, we will remain focused on executing our goals, improving operations and building sustainable long-term value for shareholders."
Lampert has a tough road ahead. He engineered the combination of Sears and Kmart in 2005, about two years after he helped bring Kmart out of bankruptcy.
The company has posted six straight years of declines in revenue at stores opened at least a year. While Sears' middle-income shoppers has been hit hard by the economy's woes, critics have long said the company hasn't done enough to invest in its stores to compete with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and other competitors.
Last year, Sears announced plans to restore profitability by aggressively cutting costs, reducing inventory, selling off some assets and spinning off others. Under D'Ambrosio,who spent 16 years at IBM Corp., Sears has been making changes in its stores. They include giving sales staff almost 15,000 iPads and iPod Touch devices so they can research products and help customers check out wherever they are in a store. It's also improving displays and adding more high-tech washing machines and other appliances. The company is also focusing on a loyalty program, which now accounts for more than half of the company's revenue.
Such changes have helped the business, but analysts say much more needs to be done.
Sears said Monday that in the nine-week period ending Dec. 29, revenue at stores open at least a year fell 1.8 percent, largely due to sales declines in consumer electronics at both Sears and Kmart. The period included the crucial holiday season, when retailers can make up to 40 percent of annual revenue.
But revenue at stores open at least a year at its Sears stores has risen 0.5 percent so far this quarter. That would mark the first quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2010, when a federal cash-for-appliance program started, boosting sales.
Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key metric for retailers because it excludes revenue at stores that recently opened or closed.
Sears also gave an update on its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. It said it expected a loss between $2.64 and $3.40 per share for the quarter ending Feb. 2. Excluding one-time items, it forecasts a profit of between $1.25 and $2 per share. The company is expected to report final fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 28.
"The bottom line imperative for (Sears) is that it needs to stabilize traffic in the domestic operations if it will remain viable for the duration," Greg Melich, an analyst at the International Strategy & Investment Group LLC, said in a report released Tuesday.
Balter said uncertainty at rival J.C. Penney highlights another big problem: Sears could lose whichever direction Penney goes. Since Penney started a new pricing plan on Feb. 1 that eliminates hundreds of sales events in favor of everyday lower prices, the company has seen sales fall dramatically. Balter reasons that if Penney returns to discounting, it may take back some lost market share at lower prices, hurting Sears' clothing sales. He believes a bigger problem for Sears would be further deterioration of the Penney franchise. If Penney starts closing locations, that could undermine the value of Sears' real estate holdings, he wrote.
Brian Sozzi, chief equities analyst at NBG Productions, wonders whether Lampert will now just focus on selling off more assets instead of fixing the business.
"Will any of the signs of life at (Sears) continue to be nurtured?" he asked.
But Chris Brathwaite, spokesman at Sears, emphatically said Lampert will focus not just on the financial performance but on the customer experience. Improving stores is just as important as generating cash, he noted.
Sears operates more than 2,600 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Shares of the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company fell $2.05, or nearly 5 percent, to $40.87 in trading Tuesday. In the past 12 months, shares have risen nearly 50 percent.
Jan. 8, 2013 ? Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a large asteroid belt around the star Vega, the second brightest star in northern night skies. The scientists used data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, in which NASA plays an important role.
The discovery of an asteroid belt-like band of debris around Vega makes the star similar to another observed star called Fomalhaut. The data are consistent with both stars having inner, warm belts and outer, cool belts separated by a gap. This architecture is similar to the asteroid and Kuiper belts in our own solar system.
What is maintaining the gap between the warm and cool belts around Vega and Fomalhaut? The results strongly suggest the answer is multiple planets. Our solar system's asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, is maintained by the gravity of the terrestrial planets and the giant planets, and the outer Kuiper belt is sculpted by the giant planets.
"Our findings echo recent results showing multiple-planet systems are common beyond our sun," said Kate Su, an astronomer at the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Su presented the results Tuesday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Long Beach, Calif., and is lead author of a paper on the findings accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.
Vega and Fomalhaut are similar in other ways. Both are about twice the mass of our sun and burn a hotter, bluer color in visible light. Both stars are relatively nearby, at about 25 light-years away. The stars are thought to be around 400 million years old, but Vega could be closer to its 600 millionth birthday. Fomalhaut has a single candidate planet orbiting it, Fomalhaut b, which orbits at the inner edge of its cometary belt.
The Herschel and Spitzer telescopes detected infrared light emitted by warm and cold dust in discrete bands around Vega and Fomalhaut, discovering the new asteroid belt around Vega and confirming the existence of the other belts around both stars. Comets and the collisions of rocky chunks replenish the dust in these bands. The inner belts in these systems cannot be seen in visible light because the glare of their stars outshines them.
Both the inner and outer belts contain far more material than our own asteroid and Kuiper belts. The reason is twofold: the star systems are far younger than our own, which has had hundreds of millions more years to clean house, and the systems likely formed from an initially more massive cloud of gas and dust than our solar system.
The gap between the inner and outer debris belts for Vega and Fomalhaut also proportionally corresponds to the distance between our sun's asteroid and Kuiper belts. This distance works out to a ratio of about 1:10, with the outer belt 10 times farther from its host star than the inner belt. As for the large gap between the two belts, it is likely there are several undetected planets, Jupiter-size or smaller, creating a dust-free zone between the two belts. A good comparison star system is HR 8799, which has four known planets that sweep up the space between two similar disks of debris.
"Overall, the large gap between the warm and the cold belts is a signpost that points to multiple planets likely orbiting around Vega and Fomalhaut," said Su.
If unseen planets do, in fact, orbit Vega and Fomalhaut, these bodies will not likely stay hidden.
"Upcoming new facilities such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope should be able to find the planets," said paper co-author Karl Stapelfeldt, chief of the Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
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CallTower Launches New Remote Phone Solution to New and Existing Customer Base
South Jordan, UT ? January 09, 2013?? CallTower, Inc., a leading?hosted Unified Communications provider,?announced today the launch of a new and enhanced, Cisco specific remote phone solution for its new and existing customer base. ?By employing industry-leading Cisco technology known for its reliability this solution enables customers to utilize the benefits of the CallTower Unified Communications platform in a Home Office/Small Office using a third-party internet connection.
?We have a very diverse client base that encompasses everything from small, single-site businesses to large enterprises. Large or small, many of our clients require the ability to easily and affordably offer the same feature-rich communications solution to their teleworkers and small office employees as that offered at their larger locations?, said Jim Barroso, Vice President of Engineering at CallTower. ?After evaluating recent technological changes, we?re pleased to release a solution that we believe will best deliver against those goals.?
The solution incorporates Cisco enterprise class technology that?s been proven world-wide in many different capacities and the CallTower Unified Communications platform. After extensive testing, it?s shown to be the unrivaled option for delivering: ?
Reliability
Low implementation and recurring costs
Rapid Deployment
Scalability
Control and Flexibility
?
About CallTower, Inc.
CallTower is a leading provider of cloud-based enterprise-class unified communications solutions (UCaaS) for growing businesses. We enhance our clients? strategic and business operational capabilities by integrating business phone service, mobile applications, email hosting, unified messaging,?presence, instant messaging, audio, web and video conferencing, and collaboration tools into one reliable platform.? CallTower partners with leading technology providers: Cisco??(Unified Communications Manager), Microsoft??(Office Communications Server, Lync Server, Exchange Server and SharePoint), and LiveOps, Inc. (cloud contact center and customer service solutions) integrating these services through CallTower?s proprietary vXML Voice Cube voice messaging platform.? With CallTower, organizations gain the functionality of all available advanced Unified Communications features in a reliable, stable, and scalable environment without the complexity and costs of implementing, managing, and upgrading solutions internally.
This is such a sad story ? and to have seen it play out on twitter is overwhelming to say the least.
According to Global Grind, rapper Freddy E, 22,? who made a name for himself on YouTube took his life after a twitter exchange with his girlfriend, rapper Honey Cocaine.
Freddy E - Getty Image
?If there?s a God then He?s calling me back home. This barrel never felt so good next to my dome. It?s cold & I?d rather die than live alone,? he wrote last night. He followed the tweet with a series of apologies to his parents before writing, ?God please forgive me. I?m sorry.?
Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is running a muck accusing Honey Cocaine for causing young Freddy?s death. Both artists were signed to Tyga?s record label.
Twitter
?
Freddy E, real name Freddy E. Buhl was born in Los Angeles but lived in Seattle, Washington. He?Graduated with a Degree in Digital Filmmaking from the Art Institute of Seattle in 2012 and worked as a video editor for World Star HipHop. ?His Jerk TV channel has over 60,000 subscribers with almost 7 Million video views.
According to The Seattle Times Buhl?s father left a message on his Facebook page eulogizing his son.
?Our family is saddened beyond words; our loss is great; this tragedy is enormous and unforseen. Not only our family, but the world has lost a talented, sensitive, brilliant young man who lit up our existence with his. We love him a great deal, and he will be sorely missed. We pray that God will now watch over him, and we ask all of you to include Frederick and our entire family in your thoughts and prayers.?
Our condolences go out to his family and friends. Please leave your thoughts and prayers below in the comments.
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With few homes on the market in the Seattle area in December, sales slowed and prices rose, according to a new report.
Pending sales, which don't all close but can be the latest indicator of recent activity, fell 9.3 percent in Seattle and 0.2 percent in King County from December 2011, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Monday. But closed sales were up 8.2 percent in the city and 18 percent countywide.
One reason for the decrease in pending sales is that sales had started to pick up last December, said Glenn Crellin, associate director of the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington.
Another may be the dearth of homes for sale, he said. "It could be that the potential buyers aren't finding anything they like."
And, unlike during the bubble years, he said: "This time they're not willing to jump in and buy anything that's on the market in their price range."
Seattle and King County respectively had 1.6 and 1.7 months' worth of homes on the market at the current sales pace in December, down from 3.3 and 4 months of supply a year earlier.
This is "almost nonexistent inventory," Crellin said. "That's just nothing out there."
The median price of house that sold in December was $420,540 in Seattle and $380,046 countywide, up 12.1 percent and 18.8 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. The medians were down 1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, from November (in line with typical seasonal variation).
The median condo price was $285,000 in the city and $206,000 countywide. That was up 21.8 percent and 11.35 percent, respectively, from a year earlier and 16.6 percent and 0.7 percent from November.
The market won't change this year, John L. Scott Real Estate Chairman and CEO J. Lennox Scott predicted in a listing service news release. "Historically low interest rates, healthy job growth, a shortage of homes for sale in many areas and price ranges, strong sales activity from both local home buyers and residential investors are creating multiple offers and price increases in areas with inventory shortages."
Crellin expects more homes to hit the market in coming weeks, with the holidays passed and rising prices allowing more people to sell for something close to what they paid.
But Washington, D.C., could still upend the market by deadlocking over such matters as raising the debt ceiling, he said. "We still have the federal financial issues that are going to have to be dealt with."
Read more real estate news. Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news.
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A sex and pregnancy manual from 1680 that was incorrectly attributed to Aristotle is going up for auction this month at Lyon & Turnbull in England.
"Aristotle's Compleat Master-Piece" may have been banned in Britain until the 1960s, according to some sources, though that is uncertain. One thing is for sure: "It was taboo and a lot of people didn't want their name on it," said Lyon & Turnbull book specialist Cathy Marsden, during an interview.
As for why the book was pegged to Aristotle, "we think it was just to kind of raise the profile of the book," Marsden said. Also, there has been some suggestion that bits of the book, though not very much at all, could be attributed to Aristotle's work. Bits also seem to come from the work of 17th-century physician Nicholas Culpeper and 13th-century saint and grand thinker Albertus Magnus.
The book, though taboo, was by no means "The Joy of Sex," the 1972 cookbook-esque writing known for its explicit drawings of sex poses and the like. Images in this "master-piece" show a woman's torso and drawings of hairy children with extra limbs, and according to the Guardian, an image showing a woman's torso opened up to reveal a baby in her womb. But there are no actual explicit images, she said. [The Sex Quiz: Myths, Taboos & Bizarre Facts]
"It kind of explains the approach to marriage and when young people should be getting married and then it goes on to try to explain why children have deformities; they call it monstrous births," Marsden told LiveScience. "They explain how to conceive children and how to conceive male and female children," said Marsden, adding the book describes what type of moon to lie under to conceive a male or female child.
In the book section entitled "Of monsters and monstrous births," the author(s) describe disfigured and hairy babies as "monsters." For instance, in some editions of the book, it reads, "Another monster, representing a hairy child: It was covered with hair like a beast. That which rendered it more frightful was, that its navel was in the place where his nose should stand, and his eyes placed where his mouth should have been, and its mouth was in the chin."?
"There is one bit that says a child was born black because the mother was thinking of a black man when she conceived him," Marsden said.
In a section of one edition of the book explaining "what conception is," the author writes, "The first day after the conception she feels a slight quivering or illness running through the whole body; a tickling in the womb, a little pain in the lower parts of the belly." That passage goes on to describe the "giddiness" felt and "pimples in the face" that apparently were thought to occur days after conception.
Another section details "directions for midwives."
The edition being auctioned at Lyon & Turnbull may have been published in 1766, according to The Guardian.
The bidding will start on Jan. 16 at the auction house in Edinburgh at between 300 and 400 British pounds (between $487 and $650). Other items going up for auction the same day include the rare, eight-volume history "A History of the Birds of Europe," by 19th-century ornithologist Henry Dresser, as well as a hand-colored 16th-century map of Africa, Marsden said.
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Resorting to a credit card cash advance can seem like the only option in a difficult situation, but it?s rarely the cheapest.
The festive season is here, and women in particular can be left feeling under pressure to conjure up some Christmas magic for the family even when finances are tight. According to recent?news reports, US consumer debt is at an all time high, but since the credit crisis many Americans are being more cautious about the way they use their credit cards to spend money. Using credit cards to get a cash advance isn?t something that people tend to think about until they are in a difficult situation and need money to cover a mortgage payment, pay another credit card bill or simply to put food on the table. The option to quickly withdraw cash on your credit card at an ATM can seem very tempting, but how much do you lose by taking an advance?
Check the Interest Rates
The interest rate for a cash advance may not be the same as the one you are charged for regular purchases. Credit card companies are aware that people taking a cash advance are likely to be desperate, and are prepared to accept the higher rates in an emergency. These consumers are also considered to be a higher risk for lending. Bear in mind that interest on a?cash advance starts accumulating from the moment you get the money. When you make a regular purchase on your credit card, the company usually gives you a reasonable period of grace (about a month) in which to pay off the debt in full before the interest starts building. This does not apply to a cash advance. The only way to minimise the cost of interest on a credit card advance is to pay the full amount as soon as you are able to.
One-Off Cash Advance Fee
In addition to the interest applied to a withdrawal, the credit card companies charge a fee to use the cash advance service. You can expect to pay 3-5% of the total amount, or a minimum fee of around 10$ for each advance. Keep this charge as low as possible by withdrawing the full amount that you need in one go. Repeat withdrawals will rack up big fees.
Protect Your Credit Score
Withdrawing cash on a credit card shouldn?t hurt your?credit score in itself, but there are some precautions you can take to make sure it remains unaffected. Firstly, check your cash advance limit. Exceeding this amount could leave you with penalty fees and a higher rate of interest. Note that your cash advance limit may be significantly lower than your credit limit on standard purchases. Secondly, withdrawing cash on a credit card with the lowest interest rates and a 0$ balance will make it easier to pay back the debt quickly by minimising the cost of borrowing. If you are repeatedly unable to clear the full balance, your credit score may suffer.
Consider the Alternatives
Taking a cash advance is an expensive way to pay an existing credit card debt. Balance transfers offer a cut in interest rates by moving the debt to a new card, allowing the consumer to make progress in reducing their outstanding balance at 0% interest for the length of the deal. Most companies will charge a small balance transfer fee of around 3% for this service.
If you normally have good credit and a regular income, taking a personal loan from your bank may be appropriate. This type of borrowing tends to have a lower interest rate than a cash advance.
Payday loan companies have a bad reputation for huge interest rates and poor terms, but some employers are happy to offer a payday advance for emergencies. This route avoids interest rates and fees but remember that the next paycheck will be lower, so you effectively have to clear the debt quickly or risk continuing to be short of money in the future.
Shop around for a low rate purchase card. Like the balance transfer option, this type of credit card comes with a much lower interest rate than a cash advance, and offers an interest-free period to help you pay the balance. The credit card cash advance is an option to resort to in an emergency, but taking a smart attitude towards borrowing can save thousands.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks at the Opera House in Damascus in this still image taken from video on Sunday.
By NBC News and wire services
Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday outlined a new peace initiative that included a national reconciliation conference and a new constitution in?a rare speech about the uprising against his rule, which has killed an estimated 60,000 people and brought civil war to the edge of his capital.
Speaking before an overwhelmingly supportive crowd that interrupted his speech with chants and rapturous applause several times, Assad said the initiative could only take root after regional and Western countries stopped funding what he called militant extremists fighting to overthrow him.? ?
It was the 47-year-old leader's first speech in months and his first public comments since he dismissed suggestions that he might go into exile to end the civil war, telling Russian television in November that he would "live and die" in Syria.
As in previous speeches, he said his forces were fighting groups of "murderous criminals" and jihadi elements and denied there was an uprising against his family's decades-long rule.? ?He struck a defiant tone, saying Syria will not take dictates from anyone.?
PhotoBlog: Destruction, resistance in war-torn Syria
Insurgents are venturing ever closer into Damascus after bringing a crescent of suburbs under their control from the city's eastern outskirts to the southwest.?
Assad's forces blasted rockets into the Jobar neighborhood near the city center on Saturday to try to drive out rebel fighters, a day after bombarding rebel-held areas in the eastern suburb of Daraya.?
In an interview with a Russian television channel, Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed to live and die in Syria, amid the 19-month old uprising against him. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
"The shelling began in the early hours of the morning, it has intensified since 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET), and now it has become really heavy. Yesterday it was Daraya and today Jobar is the hottest spot in Damascus," an activist named Housam told Reuters by Skype from the capital.?
Assad officials in Moscow to discuss end to civil war
The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a London-based group that supports the opposition, said it documented 76 deaths throughout Syria on Saturday, 35 of them in and around the capital Damascus. Reporting in Syria is severely restricted and NBC News could not confirm these numbers.
Amid violence and chaos in Syria, four hundred US troops have been deployed to Turkey with Patriot missile batteries to bolster defenses along the border. NBC's Annabel Roberts reports.
Since Assad's last public comments, in November, rebels have strengthened their hold on swathes of territory across northern Syria, launched an offensive in the central province of Hama and endured weeks of bombardment by Assad's forces trying to dislodge them from Damascus's outer neighborhoods.?
Syria's political opposition has also won widespread international recognition. But Assad has continued to rely on support from Russia, China and Iran to hold firm and has used his air power to blunt rebel gains on the ground.?
Missile batteries? Despite the estimated death toll of 60,000 announced by the United Nations earlier this week -- a figure sharply higher than that given by activists -- the West has shown little appetite for intervening against Assad in the way that NATO forces supported rebels who overthrew Libya's Moammar Gadhafi?in 2011.
But NATO is sending U.S. and European Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries to the Turkish-Syrian border.?
Channel Four Europe's Alex Thomson has the rare opportunity to meet some of Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops.
Explosion at Syrian gas station kills, wounds dozens; opposition blames car bomb
The United States military said U.S. troops and equipment had begun arriving in Turkey on Friday for the deployment. Germany and the Netherlands are also sending Patriot batteries, which will take weeks to deploy fully.?
Turkey and NATO say the missiles are a safeguard to protect southern Turkey from possible Syrian missile strikes. Syria and allies Russia and Iran say the deployments could spark an eventual military action by the Western alliance.?
Syria's war has proved the longest and bloodiest of the conflicts that arose out of popular uprisings in Arab countries over the past two years and led to the downfall of autocratic regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.?
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
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