Study: Slower-growing broiler production has faults

Study reveals negative sustainability implications of ‘slower growing’ raising methods; NCC supports more research on chicken welfare

The National Chicken Council (NCC) urges consumers, the foodservice and retail industries, and non-governmental organizations to invest in studying the impact in the U.S. of the growing market for "slower growing" broiler chickens.

A study released January 11 by the NCC details the environmental, economic and sustainability implications of raising slower growing chickens, revealing a sharp increase in chicken prices and the use of environmental resources - including water, air, fuel and land. NCC also calls for more research on the health impact of chickens' growth rates, to ensure that the future of bird health and welfare is grounded in scientific, data-backed research.

"The National Chicken Council and its members remain committed to chicken welfare, continuous improvement and respecting consumer choice – including the growing market for a slower growing bird," said Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. "However, these improvements must be dictated by science and data – not activists' emotional rhetoric – which is why we support further research on the topic of chicken welfare and growth rates."

Environmental implications

In assessing a transition to a slower growing breed, the environmental impact is an important component often left out of the equation. If only one-third of broiler chicken producers switched to a slower growing breed, nearly 1.5 billion more birds would be needed annually to produce the same amount of meat currently produced – requiring a tremendous increase in water, land and fuel consumption:

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Seven More Days!

Millennials

Hack

Caption This Photo 1-13-17

Fat Bike caught on an Electric Fence!

Registration open for Junior Girls Softball

Salisbury, MD – Registration is open for Wicomico County Recreation’s Junior Girls Softball, which offers six leagues for girls ages 4-18.

The divisions are Li’l Miss T-Ball (age 6 and under), Ponytail (8 and under), Pre-Minor (10 and under), Minor (12 and under), Major I (14 and under) and Major II (18 and under).

Seasons start April 22 and continue through June. The Li’l Miss T-Ball program is held at WinterPlace Park, while the other divisions are held at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex and other county fields.

Registration is $30 per player for the Li’l Miss, Ponytail and Pre-Minor leagues and $35 per player for the Minor, Major I and Major II leagues. A $5 late fee is added beginning April 1 for the Li’l Miss league and beginning March 1 for all other leagues.

Team fees are $225 for the Ponytail, Pre-Minor and Minor leagues and $250 for the Major I and Major II leagues.

Pitching clinics are coming up on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center’s Midway Room. Clinics are instructed by Salisbury University softball coach Margie Knight and members of her team.

For ages 8-12, the session for beginners is from 6-6:45 p.m. and the session for intermediate pitchers is from 6:45-7:30 p.m. For ages 13-17, the session for beginner/intermediate pitchers is from 7:45-8:30 p.m. and the session for advanced pitchers is from 8:30-9:15 p.m. The cost is $15 per session.

Registration for Junior Girls Softball and the pitching clinics is available at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center Box Office (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.) and online at www.WicomicoRecandParks.org. Contact Brian Workman at 410-548-4900, ext. 105, or emailbworkman@wicomicocounty.org.

Want a healthy brain? Have eggs for breakfast

Having eggs for breakfast does not increase the risk of dementia, a new study has found.

In fact, eating them may actually help to boost brain functions, scientists now claim.

Full of dietary cholesterol, previous research has linked them to heart attacks, high blood pressure and weight gain.

It is widely known that conditions which damage the heart, arteries or blood circulation all increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

But research has discovered that eating eggs only slightly affects blood cholesterol levels.

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Glenn Greenwald Slams The 'Unverified Claims' Of The Democrat-Cheered Deep State's War With Trump

In January, 1961, Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address after serving two terms as U.S. president; the five-star general chose to warn Americans of this specific threat to democracy: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” That warning was issued prior to the decadelong escalation of the Vietnam War, three more decades of Cold War mania, and the post-9/11 era, all of which radically expanded that unelected faction’s power even further.

This is the faction that is now engaged in open warfare against the duly elected and already widely disliked president-elect, Donald Trump. They are using classic Cold War dirty tactics and the defining ingredients of what has until recently been denounced as “Fake News.”

Their most valuable instrument is the U.S. media, much of which reflexively reveres, serves, believes, and sides with hidden intelligence officials. And Democrats, still reeling from their unexpected and traumatic election loss as well as a systemic collapse of their party, seemingly divorced further and further from reason with each passing day, are willing — eager — to embrace any claim, cheer any tactic, align with any villain, regardless of how unsupported, tawdry and damaging those behaviors might be.

The serious dangers posed by a Trump presidency are numerous and manifest. There are a wide array of legitimate and effective tactics for combatting those threats: from bipartisan congressional coalitions and constitutional legal challenges to citizen uprisings and sustained and aggressive civil disobedience. All of those strategies have periodically proven themselves effective in times of political crisis or authoritarian overreach.

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From the desk of Senator Eckardt, 2017 Legislative Agenda

The Black Community and Crime

The FBI reported that the total number of homicides in 2015 was 15,696. Blacks were about 52 percent of homicide victims. That means about 8,100 black lives were ended violently, and over 90 percent of the time, the perpetrator was another black. Listening to the news media and the Black Lives Matter movement, one would think that black deaths at the hands of police are the major problem. It turns out that in 2015, police across the nation shot and killed 986 people. Of that number, 495 were white (50 percent), 258 were black (26 percent) and 172 Hispanic (17 percent). A study of 2,699 fatal police killings between 2013 and 2015, conducted by John R. Lott Jr. and Carlisle E. Moody of the Crime Prevention Research Center, demonstrates that the odds of a black suspect’s being killed by a black police officer were consistently greater than a black suspect’s getting killed by a white officer. Politicians, race hustlers and the news media keep such studies under wraps because these studies don’t help their narrative about racist cops.

The homicide victim is not the only victim, whether he is a criminal or not, for there are mourning loved ones. No one ever fully recovers from having a son, daughter, husband, mother or father murdered. Murder is not the only crime that takes a heavy toll on the black community. Blacks are disproportionately represented as victims in every category of violent crime — e.g., forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

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Ark. mother of four builds home by watching YouTube tutorials

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- With limited funds, but the wish to give each of her kids a room to call their own, one mom in Bryant decided to build her own home. And not with the usual instruction you'd think.

The Brookins family turned a traumatic experience into a story they are now sharing with the world in a book. Rise, How a House Built a Family tells a story of how they built their home in 2008 using YouTube tutorials.

After leaving a domestic violence situation, Cara Brookins and her four children needed a new place to call home. Financially, she knew she could not afford to purchase anything, but that didn’t stop her from giving herself and her children a fresh start.

"We had been just so emotionally kicked down,” said Brookins. She came up with the idea to build their own home. “We could afford all the supplies so we just put it together ourselves.”

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The Last Time This Happened, We Saw Gains of 429%.

While CNBC and the financial media are pushing investors to buy into the “Stocks going to the moon” narrative, another asset class as just staged a once in a decade breakout.

That asset is Gold. The breakout is a bullish cross over in which the 50-WMA breaking about the 200-WMA.

This has only happened ONE other time in the last 16 years: in 2002.

That was the start of the last MAJOR bull market in Gold.

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Hogan promises 'I'm not going to play the politics'

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan on Wednesday promised he would not engage in partisan warfare over the next 90 days the Democrat-dominated General Assembly is convened in Annapolis.

"I have no intention of coming out with any claws," Hogan said Wednesday morning during an Annapolis event.

"I believe there are claws coming out. They're not coming from me."

He said he would focus on 2017, not maneuvering to win re-election in 2018.

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Life Insurance Policy Locator Tool Now Available to Marylanders

Database will to help consumers find lost life insurance policies, annuities

​ BALTIMORE — The Maryland Insurance Administration and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) today announced a national database to help find a deceased person’s lost life insurance policies and annuities and potentially recover unclaimed benefits. The NAIC’s Life Insurance Policy Locator provides nationwide access for assistance with finding life insurance policies and annuities. An estimated $1 billion in benefits from life insurance policies are unclaimed, according to Consumer Reports. The new tool builds on the life insurance policy locator programs developed separately in a number of states before this launch. “There are many people who do not know where to begin when searching for a lost life insurance policy or annuity,” said Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. “The life insurance policy locator streamlines and simplifies the process for consumers and insurance companies.”   In 2015, life insurers paid more than $74 billion in insurance policy benefits to consumers nationwide. Since 2010, state insurance regulators have investigated unclaimed life insurance benefits. To date, nearly 23 regulatory actions have resulted in returning more than $6.75 billion life insurance proceeds to U.S. consumers. This new tool is intended to make it easier for policy beneficiaries to find lost policies and potentially claim life insurance policy benefits. All consumer requests in this tool are encrypted and secured to maintain confidentiality. Participating insurers will compare submitted requests with available policyholder information and report all matches to state insurance departments through the locator. Companies will then contact beneficiaries or their authorized representatives. To learn more about the Life Insurance Policy Locator, please see the Frequently Asked Questions tab. Other Consumer Resources Related to Life Insurance and Annuities: The Maryland Insurance Administration’s Consumer Guide to Annuities can be found HERE. To learn more about life insurance, click HERE. For instructions and frequently asked questions on how to file a complaint with the Maryland Insurance Administration, go to:http://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/Pages/FileAComplaint.aspx. o You can call the Maryland Insurance Administration’s Life and Health unit complaint line: 800-492-6116 or 410-468-2244.

Va. Specialty Food Company Sold To Eastern Shore Native

MELFA – Blue Crab Bay Co. founder Pamela Barefoot announced the sale of her business and its assets last week to Maryland Eastern Shore native Elizabeth Lankford.

The new ownership marks the near-end of Barefoot’s involvement with the specialty food company, where she spent nearly 32 years building a successful business from her brainchild.

Barefoot, 66, said she has been thinking of an “exit strategy” in recent years that would allow her to gradually retire and give the next owner the opportunity to continue building the brand from its current location in Melfa, Va.

“I’ve had offers over the years from people who wanted to buy the brand, but they didn’t want the building or the employees,” she said. “I just hated that. So I’ve been waiting and waiting for somebody to come along, and a couple of years ago Elizabeth came along and it’s a dream come true for me.”

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Ocean City Coast Guard Open House

I can't believe what happened last night!!

I can't believe what happened last night!! I don't know if I should post this as an being in the wrong place at the wrong time or what?

We went down to that gas station to buy a Mountain Dew because Ron hadn't gone shopping yet and I had been wanting one.

When Ron pulled up to go inside, we noticed these two police officers looking at a woman who was smoking while fueling up. I saw her and said to myself, "Ummm...what an idiot! With the police right there too!" I'm not sure who these two officers were, but one looked familiar.

Ron went in and got my Mountain Dew, and I stayed in the van and as I saw him checking out, I hear someone screaming! I look out the window, and that woman's arm was on fire! She was tossing about, waiving her arm around and just going crazy!

Ron ran outside, and the police officers had put her on the ground and were putting the fire out with an extinguisher. The police officers then put handcuffs on her and were about to put her in their car!!!

I was like, "What in the world?!?!" So, being the concerned citizen that I am, I waved one of them over to my window and asked them what they were arresting her for. I figured that catching her arm ablaze would be punishment enough, right?!?! He looked me dead in my eye and said...

"For waiving a firearm!"

Peter Schweizer: Your Money Is Being Used to Help Bankroll the World Economic Forum in Davos. Why?

Peter Schweizer, Breitbart senior editor-at-large, president of the Government Accountability Institute, and author of the best seller Clinton Cash wants to know why Americans are helping to foot the tab of the “elite of elites” at the World Economic Forum being held next week in Davos, Switzerland.

This article first appeared at Fox News Opinion:

Later this month hundreds of private jets are expected to descend on a small town in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, for a few brief days.

They will be carrying the elite of the elite, who will be attending the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Held in the beautiful Alpine mountain resort of Davos-Klosters, attendance is strictly by invitation only. Basic membership in the WEF costs $50,000. A premium membership can set you back $500,000. But in recent years the WEF has enjoyed another source of income. Since 2013, the Obama administration has been sending foreign assistance dollars to the WEF through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). According to government records, the tab to taxpayers thus far is $26 million.

Read the rest of the story here.

A Lot On The Agenda As Maryland Legislature Starts 90-Day Session

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — The Maryland General Assembly is back in business, as the 2017 session is underway, and there’s a lot on the agenda.

WJZ’s Pat Warren was in Annapolis Wednesday as lawmakers began their 90 day session.

The session begins with the promise to work together, but particularly on issues that affect families.

With $500,000 in deficit, don’t expect tax cuts, but no increases, either.

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