'BIG SPLASH' Red Tibetan Mastiff Top Dog World's Most Expensive $ 1.5 million

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The million-pound mutt: Red Tibetan Mastiff becomes world's most expensive dog

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 4:36 PM on 16th March 2011
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They say money can't buy love – but £1million will get you man's most expensive best friend.
A red Tibetan mastiff has become the priciest dog in the world after being sold for 10 million Chinese yuan, or £945,000.
Big Splash, or Hong Dong in Chinese, was bought by a coal baron from the north of China.
And it's lucky his new master is a multi-millionaire, because the hefty price tag doesn't factor in Big Splash's diet – enough chicken and beef to fill a growing 180lb dog, spiced up with Chinese delicacies such as sea cucumber and abalone.

His owner will need a big house too, as adult Tibetan Mastiffs have been known to weigh as much as 286lb, or more than 20 stone – the same as a sizeable rugby player. However the typical weight for a fully grown Tibetan Mastiff is around 13 stone.
But according to breeder Lu Liang, Big Splash is a 'perfect specimen' and the extravagant price for the 11-month-old is completely justified.
He said: 'We have spent a lot of money raising this dog, and we have the salaries of plenty of staff to pay' – adding that the new owner could charge almost £10,000 a time for Big Splash to breed with a female.
The high price paid for the dog is a sign that the red Tibetan mastiff has become a status symbol in China, replacing jewellery and cars as a way for the super-rich to show off their wealth.
Not only is red considered a lucky colour, but Tibetan mastiffs are thought to be holy animals, blessing their owners' health and security.
Tibetans believe the dogs have the souls of monks and nuns who were not good enough to be reincarnated as humans or into Shambhala, the heavenly realm. 
Owners of the breed have included Queen Victoria, King George IV and  Genghis Khan – who supposedly took 30,000 of the dogs with his army in his bid to conquer Western Europe.
These days there are only around 300 Tibetan mastiffs in the UK, and puppies sell for a more reasonable £850 to £1,000.

The title of most expensive dog in the world was previously held by a Tibetan mastiff called Red Lion, who was valued at £915,000 last year.

 AN EXPENSIVE DOG'S LIFE

They live for up to 14 years and have fewer genetic health problems than many breeds.
The heaviest Tibetan Mastiff weighed in at more than 20 stone.
They are fed an organic diet of tripe, boiled fish heads, powdered egg shells, code liver oil and raw bones to help them clean their teeth.
Marco Polo supposedly encountered Tibetan Mastiffs in the 13th century, describing them as ‘tall as a donkey with a voice as powerful as that of a lion’.
There are only around 300 Tibetan Mastiffs in the UK.
They can only have one litter a year.
In the UK Tibetan Mastiffs cost between £850 and £1,000 for a puppy. An English Bulldog sells for around £2,000.
It is thought the Tibetan Mastiff genetically diverged from the wolf 58,000 years ago.

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Netflix May Acquire 'House of Cards' an original television series starring actor Kevin Spacey, directed by The Social Network’s David Fincher

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Netflix to Produce Original Programming?

March 16, 2011

Mail-order and online streaming video service Netflix is reportedly in talks to acquire the political drama "House of Cards."

BY TRACY PFEIFFER
ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

You're watching multisource business news analysis from Newsy


It’s a story analysts are calling Hollywood’s worst nightmare -- mail-order and online streaming video company Netflix is reportedly looking to acquire its first original programming. Chicago Fox affiliate WFLD has more.

KORI CHAMBERS, ANCHOR: “According to Deadline Hollywood, Netflix is in negotiations to acquire an original television series directed by The Social Network’s David Fincher and starring actor Kevin Spacey. The talks are said to be part of a larger behind-the-scenes effort by Netflix to hit up Hollywood production companies for original material to entice new subscribers.”

Netflix currently controls 61 percent of the digital movie business, but a writer for Deadline Hollywood, who broke the story, says the company has been feeling the heat from...

“...Amazon.com, which last month announced it was entering the subscription streaming-media business, and Facebook, which last week announced a deal with Warner Bros... In fact, on the day the Facebook/Warner Bros. deal was announced, Netflix's shares fell 6%.”

Despite the competition, correspondents for Fox Business say, Netflix is still going strong -- and original content would only keep the company moving forward.

NICOLE PETALLIDES, REPORTER: “Yesterday, Goldman Sachs put a $300 price target on Netflix and they raised it to a buy, so while the market was tanking, Netflix was up nearly 8 percent yesterday.”
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Speaker of the House Steven Tilley, R-Perryville is 'Disingenuous' Concerning Nuclear Power in Missouri

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MNH News Nut: House leadership; Japan, Callaway II not linked

March 15, 2011monewshorizonblog.org
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MNH News Nut: House leadership; Japan, Callaway II not linked
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Speaker of the House Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, says any attempt by opposition groups of the nuclear power plant site permit legislation to tie the legislation to the developing nuclear power plant situation in Japan would be “disingenuous.” Tilley says most of the debate surrounding the issue has dealt with the cost to consumers of the preliminary site permit, not to the safety of a nuclear power plant at the current AmerenUE site in Callaway County.
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U.S. service members exposed to radiation Tuesday being treated with potassium iodide UPDATE: Buying Iodide a "Precaution" says U.S. Surgeon General UPDATE: Potassium Iodide Panic Buying in U.S. Radiation Fallout Fears from Japan Nuclear Meltdown.

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Navy Visual News Service (NVNS) via AP

An HH-60H Sea Hawk helicopter lifts off Sunday, March 13, 2011 from the guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) after refueling. The helicopter is conducting a search of debris fields in the waters near Sendai, Japan.

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U.S. Navy Detects Radiation 200 Miles From Japan Nuclear Plant

March 15, 2011

NewsCore

Fox News has confirmed that a small number of U.S. service members have been exposed to radiation Tuesday and are being treated with potassium iodide pills. A U.S. military official says the risk is manageable. 

YOKOSUKA, Japan -- The U.S. Navy said Tuesday that very low levels of airborne radiation were detected at Yokosuka and Atsugi bases, about 200 miles to the north of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

"While there was no danger to the public, Commander, Naval Forces Japan recommended limited precautionary measures for personnel and their families on Fleet Activities Yokosuka and Naval Air Facility Atsugi, including limiting outdoor activities and securing external ventilation systems as much as practical," a statement said.

"These measures are strictly precautionary in nature. We do not expect that any United States Federal radiation exposure limits will be exceeded even if no precautionary measures are taken," it added.

Fox News has confirmed that a small number of U.S. service members have been exposed to radiation Tuesday and are being treated with potassium iodide pills. A U.S. military official says the risk is manageable. 

The U.S. military confirmed Tuesday that several Navy ships, including the carrier USS Ronald Reagan, had moved closer to the Japanese coast, after pulling away Monday due to concerns radioactive material was being blown toward the fleet. They are now operating north of Sendai, which is upwind of Fukushima.

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Surgeon General: Buying Iodide a "Precaution"
Conflicting messages appear in the effort to buy iodide tablets

By LORI PREUITT
Tue, Mar 15, 2011

The fear that a nuclear cloud could float from the shores of Japan to the shores of California has some people making a run on iodine tablets. Pharmacists across California report being flooded with requests.

State and county officials spent much of Tuesday trying to keep people calm by saying that getting the pills wasn't necessary, but then the United States surgeon general supported the idea as a worthy "precaution."

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin was in the Bay Area touring a peninsula hospital. NBC Bay Area reporter Damian Trujillo asked her about the run on tablets and Dr. Benjamin said although she wasn't aware of people stocking up, she did not think that would be an overreaction. She said it was right to be prepared.

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Pharmacies in West coast states are being inundated with phone calls from people asking for potassium iodide, a drug commonly used to treat low-level radiation exposure

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U.S. Drug Stores Report Sudden Increase in Potassium Iodide Sales

Published March 15, 2011

FoxNews.com

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One drug supplier says it has sold 250,000 anti-radiation pills to people in the U.S. concerned about possible exposure from Japanese nuclear reactors.

Troy Jones, president of Nukepills.com, said his company sold out over the weekend of potassium iodide pills, which prevent against radiation poisoning of the thyroid gland. Jones, in an interview with FoxNews.com, said that the pills were sold to dozens of U.S. pharmacies, corporations, hospitals and nuclear labs.

"You name it," he said.

Jones said that he has back-ordered more than a million tablets and is expected to get another 10,000 of the liquid potassium iodine. He also said that he has donated about 50,000 pills to Japan, many of them going to a hospital in Tokyo. 

Despite assurances from health officials that Americans are not at risk from Japanese nuclear reactors, U.S. drug stores are reporting a sudden increase in sales of the over-the-counter anti-radiation pills.

Potassium iodide pills are reportedly flying off the shelves at drug stores in at least three West Coast states -- Oregon, California and Hawaii -- according to several local press accounts.

The Wall Street Journal also reports that one Virginia-based supplier, Anbex Inc., sold out of its entire supply of 10,000 14-tablet packages on Saturday.

Alan Morris, president of the company, reportedly said that the supplier is receiving about three orders a minute for $10 packages of its Iosat pills.

"Those who don't get it are crying. They're terrified," Morris told the newspaper.

U.S. health officials have said that dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant in Japan pose little or no risk to people on the U.S. West Coast. But the reassurances have not stopped worried Americans from clearing out potassium iodide supplies at drug stores in Hawaii, Oregon and California.

Stores in Eugene, Ore., for example, have reported a sudden spike in sales of the pill. Janell Davis, vitamin manager at Sundance Natural Foods, told the Register-Guard that the store was sold out of the tablets by Saturday afternoon. In Redding, Calif., some store owners say they can't stock their shelves fast enough with the tablets.

“As soon as we found out people were calling and coming in and emptying our shelves this morning, I called my boss and she told me to go ahead and order a bunch," Jan Gertner, who works at Whitney's Vitamin and Herb Shop, told krcrtv.com.

Click here to read more on U.S. sales of potassium iodide from the Wall Street Journal 

Click here to read more on U.S. sales of potassium iodide from The Register Guard

Click here to read more on U.S. sales of potassium iodide from krcrtv.com 

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“Do Not Track” on Internet Explorer 9 First Browser To Add Anti-Troll Anti-Ad Trackers Filtering Option

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Internet Explorer 9 Is First Browser To Add “Do Not Track” Option

March 15, 2011
by: James Johnson
 
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3 month ago the FTC asked that web browser developers add a “do not track” option to their systems and in barely no time at all Microsoft has become the first company to do so, offering the feature on today’s release of Internet Explorer 9.

The move, heralded by privacy enthusiast allows for anonymous web surfing with the simple click of a button.

Mozilla has promised that an upcoming version of their popular Firefox browser will also feature the “do not track” option, however they have not given a timeframe for that release.

At this point it’s still unclear if Apple will offer the same technology in Safarai or if Google Chrome will feature a do not track option in the near future.

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'Right-to-work' Bill May Be Dead Stalls in Missouri Senate

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'Right-to-work' bill stalls in Missouri Senate

BY VIRGINIA YOUNG
STLtoday.com 
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
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JEFFERSON CITY • Missouri could better compete for new auto plants and other industries if workers had more say over whether to participate in labor unions, Republican senators argued Monday.
The senators pitched a "right-to-work" bill, which would outlaw employment contracts that make union dues or fees a condition of employment. Pointing to surrounding states, they said that six of the eight have adopted right-to-work laws, and those six all boast lower unemployment rates than Missouri.
"We're getting our clock cleaned not only as a state but as a nation," said Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield. "We're losing our industrial base. This (bill) alone is not going to fix it, but it is a tool in the toolbox."
But after debating the bill for about three hours, with packed galleries of pro-union spectators looking on, the Senate shelved it without a vote. Whether it will ever reach a vote was unclear.
Republicans, who control the Senate 26-8, are split on the issue. Some such as Jim Lembke of Lemay and Kevin Engler of Farmington have voiced opposition to the bill. With a divided GOP, it could be hard to end a filibuster by cutting off debate, a maneuver that is rarely used in the Senate anyway.
Democrats led the opposition, saying that prospective employers place more importance on factors such as energy costs, access to highways and tax subsidies. They said Missouri falls short in the competition for auto manufacturers because it can't offer up-front cash incentives as some states do.

Majority Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, opposes the bill. Other policies are more apt to produce jobs, said Dempsey, who noted that his supporters include many pro-union conservatives.
Dempsey, who controls the Senate debate agenda, said the bill won't come up again this week. After next week's spring break, it will have to compete for floor time with priorities such as congressional redistricting, abortion, the state budget and possibly tax credits, he said.

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