February | Volume 8, Issue 2

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Fuel Up with Energy-Boosting FoodsForget the energy drinks. Dietitians say if you want a steady stream of energy without the ups and downs, try whole foods, grains, fruits and vegetables.

The key to sustaining energy throughout the day is balance.

Start the day with a portion of whole grain and fruit. Throughout the day, eat fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, beans and non-starchy vegetables in small portions. Meats and fish are also part of a balanced diet, especially when used modestly.

For a pick-me-up, Research Dietitian Aubrey Jarman recommends a slice of apple or one whole wheat cracker with peanut butter.

Follow up with water to stay hydrated.

Transfer Balances withCaution

Know all the details of the offer if you plan to use a splashy credit card balance transfer offer.

Here are three points to look at:

Deferred interest: With this plan, if you haven't paid off the balance by the time the introductory offer expires, you'll be charged retroactive interest for the entire amount.

New purchase rates: Never make a new purchase on a balance transfer card. According to Forbes, new purchases can and will be charged a fat interest rate.

Missed payment penalties: Always set up automatic minimum payments. If you miss one payment on your transferred balance, you will lose your low interest deal.

Mortgage Interest Deduction in 2018

A new tax plan passed by Congress in December 2017 allows taxpayers to deduct mortgage interest up to $750,000.This is lower than the previous limit of $1 million.The limit only affects new mortgages, not existing mortgages.Since the median list price of a home is $270,000, most homeowners won't be affected by the limit decrease.The new limit is expected to affect about 1.3 percent of new mortgages on very expensive homes, usually in expensive housing markets such as coastal areas.The new limits on deductions aren't expected to affect many people nationally, according to realtor.com. That's because homeowners can only take the deduction if they itemize and only about one-third of taxpayers do that. Of those that itemize, just over 21 percent use the deduction. However, it will affect high-cost markets in local areas.Experts are divided as to the impact of the new tax plan on housing. Some see the tax changes as encouraging renting in high-cost areas, causing housing prices to fall. On the other hand, with a higher standard deduction, taxpayers in lower brackets could find themselves able to buy a home. That could push prices up, according to realtor.com.

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Superbugs Have a Natural Enemy

The looming scourge of the superbug -- bacteria that antibiotics can't kill -- threatens to bring back the era of death by infection.

But there is hope on the horizon.

Superbugs will be responsible for over 10 million deaths per year globally by the year 2050, according to the BBC. Even as recently as 2014, around 700,000 deaths can be blamed on infections that couldn't be cured with modern antibiotics. The World Health Organization classifies these bugs as an imminent threat to human health.

According to a Time Magazine special report, one treatment currently being researched attacks these superbugs from a completely different angle. This method requires using bacteriophages, or phages, to destroy the bacteria.

Phages are nature's bacteria fighter, and there are estimated to be around 10 million trillion different phages throughout the world. Phages work by injecting their DNA into a bacterial cell, where it replicates until the bacteria bursts open and dies. Phages are unique in that each strain seems only to attack a particular type of bacteria. This means that treatment with phages will leave the beneficial bacteria intact within the body and just single out the dangerous kind.

Using phages to attack bacteria is not a new idea. They have been used to treat infections throughout the world for nearly a century, but it has had a reputation as an unsafe and clunky treatment. New advances in medical knowledge and technology, however, have shown that this therapy can be a useful cure for cases in which antibiotics have failed, and it remains a promising solution to the impending superbug threat because there is a nearly limitless supply of different phages to use against the bacteria.

Question: What is a USDA loan?

Answer: Many people are currently hoping to live the American Dream of becoming a homeowner, and according to Nerd Wallet, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's special home loan might just be the ticket they are seeking. While this department might seem an unlikely place to find a loan for a new house, the point of the program is to help growth in the more rural parts of the country where incomes are typically lower than their urban counterparts. To spur that growth, USDA loans come with excellent benefits.One of the most significant incentives for going after a USDA loan is that they require no money down at all to secure the loan and it guarantees lower interest rates. This will help young buyers or families that otherwise struggle to save up for a down payment on a traditional loan. Nearly 140,000 families were able to take advantage of this in 2014 alone.The loans work in a couple of ways: loan guarantees and direct loans. With a loan guarantee, a buyer will use a local lender affiliated with the program, and the government will act as the guarantor on that loan so that the buyer will have access to better terms, much like how it would work using a co-signer. A direct loan is one issued straight from the USDA, and these are found among the low- and very low-income applicants to the program. Subsidies with direct loans can bring the interest rate down to as little as 1%.The supply of houses that are eligible for the loan are located in rural areas. There are, however, some options in more suburban locations that could strike a right balance for daily commuters. Applicants must also fall within some specific income, debt, and credit score thresholds and these vary from location to location. Typically, the monthly payment on the home cannot exceed 29 percent and credit scores should be at or above 660. USDA mortgage lenders will also be looking for a good payment history to other creditors, and applicants with a score under 580 will have to undergo a more thorough review.

Spay and Neuter: Save the AnimalsPet owners should watch for low-cost neuter and spay offers at the end of February in honor of Spay Day, Feb. 25 and World Spay Day, Feb. 27.It's the kindest thing you can do for a family pet. Neutering limits wandering and aggression, and extends the life of your pet, according to the Humane Society.

In the United States, about 6 million to 8 million homeless animals enter animal shelters every year. About half of these animals are adopted. The other half are euthanized. In some states, as many as 300,000 homeless animals are euthanized in animal shelters each year. Be kind. Save an animal by getting your pet neutered.

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Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Goes to Movies

Many people will remember the choose-your-own-adventure style books from their childhoods that allowed the reader to have some say in how the characters acted and the story ended. They represent a fun alternative to the typical one-track narrative and offer extra readability as each possible path is explored.

According to Engadget, Netflix is betting that this format can work with television shows and movies as well and has already entered the game with several children's shows.

These shows pause at many points in the story and allow watchers to use their remotes to make selections on which path to take. Wired Magazine explains that one of the first offerings, Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale, had enough options to result in 3,000 different run-throughs. Netflix's position as a digital content creator and streamer gives them huge potential for this niche.

The Sleepy Groundhog Stretches

For hundreds of years, on February 2, people have wondered if the groundhog would awake to see his shadow.The day probably started with the feast of Candlemas, which celebrates the Biblical story of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. On February 2, exactly 40 days after Christmas, people hoped for the end of the dark days of winter but perhaps were loathe to be too confident. The saying was, "If Candlemas be fair and clear, there will be two winters in the year."

So, curiously that saying morphed into a groundhog or badger or some other creature who, when awakened on February 2, sees his shadow, and thus predict six more weeks of winter. Or doesn't see it. Thus we start spring.The date of February 2 is also thought to correspond to hibernation patterns. German farmers thought that if a badger emerged from his burrow and saw his shadow there would be six more weeks of winter. By 1841, German farmers in Pennsylvania were again marking the day, this time with a groundhog's shadow.As it turns out, both the groundhog and the badger have not been very good weather predictors. According to the National Climatic Data Center, groundhog predictions have been correct 39 percent of the time since 1887.

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What was the name of the play Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was shot?

A) Superstition B) Life in LouisianaC) Our American Cousin D) The Lion King

What TV detective lived on the estate of millionaire Robin Masters? a-Jim Rockford, b-Thomas Magnum, c-Remington Steele, d-Adrian Monk.

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