Bell & Evans chicken

Bell & Evans
Fredericksburg, VA

“For years our Bell & Evans chickens have been raised without antibiotics, animal byproducts or animal fats. Unlike some others, our company strives to raise ALL of our chickens without the use of antibiotics and to demanding humane standards. Bell & Evans has had a Preharvest HACCP plan in place to certify this industry-leading performance.”
Bruno S. Schmalhofer, CEO, Letter to the New York Times, Feb. 14, 2002

http://www.keepantibioticsworking.com/new
/consumers_statements.cfm
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Posted on Fri, Aug. 05, 2005

Pampered poultry

By Harold Brubaker
Inquirer Staff Writer

FREDERICKSBURG, Pa.
...
Three of the industry's major players - Bell & Evans, BC Natural Chicken, and College Hill Poultry - have plants here.
...
Bell & Evans, which traces its roots to Bellmawr, Camden County, in the 1890s and employs nearly 1,200, is the largest. ... Three national customers - Whole Foods Market, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Panera Bread - are counting on him. They have been buying as much Bell & Evans chicken as they can get and are looking for more, even though it costs as much as 50 percent more than conventional chicken. ... When Panera chose Bell & Evans, it was not looking for a "natural" chicken, just a better-tasting chicken, said John Taylor, Panera's director of product development. "We started with taste, and this is what we came across," he said.
...
Instead of looking for the cheapest available feed, Bell & Evans feeds its chickens a strict diet of corn, soybean meal, vitamins and minerals, Sechler said. That's more expensive - at retail, a natural whole chicken recently was selling for $1.99 a pound at Whole Foods, compared with $1.69 for conventional chicken at a nearby Acme - but Sechler thinks it gives the chicken consistently good flavor.

In another effort to improve the flavor of Bell & Evans chicken, the company installed a new system to chill the chickens using cold air after they are killed, instead of dunking them in cold water treated with chlorine.
...
"Natural" - Whole Foods, Bell & Evans and others use the term for chickens that are given vegetarian feed and no antibiotics.

Organic(USDA) - These chickens eat organically grown feed and no antibiotics.

Free range - The birds have access to an outside pen for a portion of their lives.

Pastured - The chickens get up to 20 percent of their feed from pasture forage, typically living in movable pens.

SOURCES: National Chicken Council, American Pastured Poultry Producers' Association, Inquirer research.
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Contact staff writer Harold Brubaker at 215-854-4651 or hbrubaker@phillynews.com.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer
/business/12306473.htm
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© 2005 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.philly.com

Reforming the Establishment

quotes from "Patching the Presidency" by David Brooks, New York Times editorial, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005:

Ronald Reagan hired David Abshire as a special counselor halfway into Reagan's second term to help recover from the Iran-contra scandal. In his new book, "Saving the Reagan Presidency," Abshire said he had four main tasks:
1. "puncture the bubble of intellectual conformity that marks every administration by breaking the spell of groupthink and self-serving spin"
2. iron out internal "feuds and tensions" between executive branch departments
3. "repair relations with Capitol Hill"
4. help "kick-start a new policy agenda" by bringing in new staff, having Reagan take responsibility for failure in a contrite public speech ("his approval rating jumped nine points" afterward), and launching new domestic and foreign policy initiatives ("including the speech calling on Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall")

Brooks says that "every president since Grant has had a miserable second term," primarily because working in the White House is "psychologically corrosive." "There is a tendency to curl inward under the barrage of criticism, much of it ill informed. The sheer busyness of life becomes enveloping and isolating, and slowly an un-earned disdain builds for those who are not in the bubble."

After he left office, Calvin Coolidge wrote: "The political mind is the product of men in public life who have been twice spoiled. They have been spoiled with praise and they have been spoiled with abuse. With them, nothing is natural, everything is artificial."

According to Brooks, the president needs to bring in "like-minded but objective people who haven't been molded by five years in power, ... people more akin to peers. (The White House staff is too emotionally dependent on the president to be brutally honest with him.) It means humbly acknowledging, as Peggy Noonan wrote, that change has to start with oneself. As Lincoln showed, humility is the only antidote to the corruptions of the insane life-style of the presidency."

The Positives of Masculinity

According to USA Today, the positives of masculinity are:
"confidence, leadership, passion and compassion"

Craig Wilson, USA Today, Wed. Oct. 26, 2005

Aging Successfully

Dr. Weil's recommendations on how to age successfully:

"Learn the principles of healthy eating,
increase physical activity,
learn to breathe properly,
try to learn another language,
spend more time in the company of people who have lifestyle habits you want to develop,
and think about the rewards that aging can bring."

Dr. Andrew Weil, USA Today, Tuesday, October 25, 2005
from an interview about his book Healthy Aging

Forgiveness

The reaction of Sheila and her daughter Crystal on Dr. Phil show 594, refusing to forgive Brandi:

“There will never be forgiveness. Never.”

www.drphil.com/shows/show/594
"Cheerleader Scandal
Brandi was just 17 years old when she hit and killed her estranged high school boyfriend Daniel. She did it with her parents' car that she snuck out earlier that night. She says it was an accident, but Daniel's family [Sheila and Crystal] disagrees. They say she purposely ran their son down in a fit of rage."

commentary:
This is an example of how people whose spiritual needs are unmet can affect others in ways they never expected. When we neglect the spiritual needs of others around us, there are consequences.

Hebrews 12:14-15 NRSV
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled.

Words of Jesus about forgiveness:

Matthew 6:9-15 NRSV
9 "Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 18:21-22 NRSV
21 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Luke 6:35-38 NRSV
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

John 20:21-23 NRSV
21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

The Universality of Jesus Christ

Following is an example of someone who mistakenly thinks the God of the Bible is "too small, too tribal and too humanlike":

Boston's Wildman said his faith does not depend on the notion of humanity as central to the purpose of the universe. "It's a silly conceit and it makes human beings feel better to think that way - that the whole success of the universe turns on the success of the human project."
He said the tradition of ascribing so much importance to humanity goes back to the notion of a chosen people in the Old Testament. For Christians it comes from the belief that Jesus was God's son.
But such a God looks too small, too tribal and too humanlike, he said, to avoid getting pushed out of the ever narrowing gaps in science. That in turn can reinforce the notion that to be scientific you must be an atheist.
For him, a human-centered God is an approximation of the real thing, "and the real thing is beyond human comprehension."

Wesley Wildman, a professor of theology at Boston University
above quote from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005
Can faith, science coexist?
by Faye Flam
Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living
/education/12928255.htm

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commentary:
The God of the Bible is not a small, tribal, human-centered God. The God of the Bible created the universe before man was created. The God of the Bible, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is complete in Gods-self and does not need man to live and love. Rather than being a tribal God, the God of the Bible created and loves all the people of the world, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. The God of the Bible enforces justice impartially for all people, and does not tolerate injustice in any chosen people.
The God of the Bible is beyond human comprehension, but chooses to reveal Gods-self to humans in a way that we can comprehend. God Emmanuel is with us. God spoke to Abraham and had dinner with him. God wrestled with Jacob. God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. God wrote the Ten Commandments. God spoke through the prophets.
Then, at the right time, the creator God who is beyond human comprehension became incarnate in Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, to help us know God more clearly. Jesus spent three years revealing God's grace and truth to the world, so we may be reconciled to God and live.
Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the good news that God wants to draw us all together in love as God's adopted children. Rather than being a tribal God, Jesus Christ gave his life to draw all people to God through himself, in one holy, catholic and apostolic church, including all the men and women of the world.
~ Truthful Grace

Winston S. Churchill quotes

"In Critical and baffling situations, it is always best to return to first principle and simple action." - Sir Winston S. Churchil
"It so often happens that, when men are convinced that they have to die, a desire to bear themselves well and to leave life’s stage with dignity conquers all other sensations." - Sir Winston S. Churchill
"There is at least one thing worse than fighting with allies – And that is to fight without them!" - Sir Winston S. Churchill
"The power of an air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it." - Winston Churchill
"Democracy is the best form of the worst type of government" - Winston Churchill
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Winston Churchill
"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality that guarantees all others" - Sir Winston S. Churchill
"The Americans will always do the right thing... After they've exhausted all the alternatives." - Winston Churchill
"Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valor, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill
"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." -Winston Churchill
"We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (after the fall of France)
"You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terrors. Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill
"To have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. Now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all!...Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill (after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor)
"You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." - Churchill's remark after Chamberlain returned from signing the Munich pact with Hitler
and
"Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor." - Prime Minister Winston Churchill
"Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter." - Winston Churchill
"My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me." - Winston Churchill

http://www.titanfusion.net/infos/quotes.txt

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HUMBLE ACTS OF SERVICE

During the dark days of World War II, England had a great deal of difficulty keeping men in the coal mines. It was a thankless kind of Job, totally lacking in any glory. Most chose to join the various military services. They desired something that could give them more social acceptance and recognition. Something was needed to motivate these men in the work that they were doing so that they would remain in the mines.
With this in mind, Winston Churchill delivered a speech one day to thousands of coal miners, stressing to them the importance of their role in the war effort. He did this by painting for them a mental picture. He told them to picture the grand parade that would take place when VE Day came. First, he said, would come the sailors of the British Navy, the ones who had upheld the grand tradition of Trafalgar and the defeat of the Armada. Next in the parade, he said, would come the pilots of the Royal Air Force. They were the ones who, more than any other, had saved England from the dreaded German Lufwaffa. Next in the parade would come the Army, the ones that had stood tall at the crises of Dunkirk.
Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in minor's caps. And someone, he said, would cry from the crowd, "And where were you during the critical days of the struggle?" And then from ten thousand throats would come, "We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal."
We are told that there were tears in the eyes of many of those soot laden and weathered faced coal miners. They had been given a sense of their own self worth by the man at the top.
Service does not always come with big fancy ribbons. And I think that it is forever true, that it is often the humble acts of service that provide us with the deepest sense of joy and the most fulfilling satisfaction. Jesus said those who are willing to lose their life for my said shall find it.
– Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, Sept 2003.

NEVER GIVE UP ... NEVER ... NEVER ... NEVER!
Sample of Daily Encounter by Dick Innes
"It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work [of telling his Good News to others], and so we never give up" (2 Corinthians 4:1, TLB).
Some time ago I read the following story about Sir Winston Churchill in Our Daily Bread. Churchill attended grade school at Harrow where he was in the lower third of his class and showed no particular potential. After he graduated he went on to a university and eventually became famous.
Near the end of his life, he was invited back to Harrow to address the student body and was introduced as one of the greatest orators of all time. The students were told to take plenty of notes.
When Sir Winston addressed the boys he said, "Young gentlemen, never give up! Never give up! NEVER GIVE UP! Never! Never! Never! NEVER!" That was his entire address. I'm certain that none of those students ever forgot that advice.
Because of God's promise to you and me: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5, NIV), we, too, can have the confidence to never, never, never give up no matter what.
Suggested prayer: “Dear God, knowing that you will never leave me or forsake me, please help me to be persistent in all that I do, trust my life and way to you in every circumstance, and never, never, never give up. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

http://www.actsweb.org/encwknd3703.htm

Project Progression after PANIC Hits

What happens to most projects after the initial enthusiasm wears off:
Enthusiasm
Disillusionment
PANIC
Search for the guilty
Punishment of the innocent
Praise and reward of the non-participants

What happens to a project after the initial enthusiasm wears off and God's love remains strong:
Enthusiasm
Planning
PANIC
Persistence
Participation
Party (celebration)

"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37

(Rev. Osy Nuesch, Sept. 2005)

Can Cancer Conquer You?

I doubt it … for cancer is so limited.
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.
It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

Author Unknown

Be a sign for others of joy and Christ-like love

Br. Roger, Parable of Community, Taize Community:

"Open yourself to all that is human and you will find that every vain desire to escape from the world disappears. Be present to your age; adapt yourself to the conditions of the moment. 'Father, I pray you, not to take them out of the world, but to keep them from evil.' (John 17:15) Love the deprived, all who are suffering human injustice and thirsting for justice. Jesus has a special concern for them. Never be afraid of their bothering you.
Love your neighbor, whatever his religious or ideological point of view. Never resign yourself to the scandal of the separation of Christians, all so readily professing love for their neighbor, yet remaining divided. Make the unity of Christ's Body your passionate concern."

Rule of Taize:
"The Lord Christ, in his compassion and his love for you, has chosen you to be in his Church a sign of God's love. It is his will that with your brothers (and sisters) you live the parable of community. So, refusing to look back, and joyful with infinite gratitude, never fear to outsrip the dawn."

David Bryan Hoopes OHC, commenting on Br. Roger's Rule:
"Perhaps a synonym for joy could be well-being. Well-being for a Christian is having the confidence that God's grace will outlast any of our human destruction and is sufficient to quell the turmoil which we create. It grows out of the conviction that the resurrected Christ is alive and very present in our daily life; because He lives, we too live. Being fully alive in Christ keeps us open to love - both giving and receiving it."

Time and Obsessive Power

"No one has more time or obsessive power than an adolescent male."

~unknown speaker at a computer law seminar, describing an adolescent male who used a credit card number fradulently 12,000 times
1/21/88

Paul's hope and glory and joy and crown of boasting

18 For we wanted to come to you-- certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again-- but Satan blocked our way.
19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
20 Yes, you are our glory and joy!
~ 1 Thessalonians 2:18-20

Bringing Peace to Paradise

British missionary John Williams pioneered the spread of Christianity in the South Pacific by employing the zeal of Polynesian converts.
By Steven Gertz
www.ChristianityToday.com

"One day they will come, with crucifix in one hand and the dagger in the other, to cut your throats or to force you to accept their customs and opinions," wrote the French intellectual Diderot in 1772. "One day under their rule you will be almost as unhappy as they are."

Diderot was sounding the alarm for Tahitians unfamiliar with European colonialism before the English missionary effort in the South Pacific got underway. Could he have witnessed how Christianity actually spread throughout the islands, he might have retracted his dire prediction.

Read this article from the Christian History & Biography website.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2005/003/12.44.html

At odds with the Word of God...

"For God's sake, do not put yourself at odds with the Word of God. For truly it will persist as surely as the Rhine follows its course. One can perhaps dam it up for awhile, but it is impossible to stop it."

~ Ulrich Zwingli
Militant Swiss reformer

Moments of Anger and Fear

Can you accept the moments of anger and fear as guests, be willing to receive them with kindness without feeling obliged to serve them a five-course meal?
~ Christina Feldman in Compassion: Listening to the Cries of the World

To Practice This Thought: Live with your feelings; allow them to arise and to pass, without either rejecting them or becoming overly solicitous toward them.
~ Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
SpiritualityHealth.com

Anger and fear are like leaves floating down a stream. Sometimes they get stuck on a branch or a rock, but the stream of living water flows on.
~ Truthful Grace