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Beyond Urban Versus Rural

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, commentators focused on the political polarization separating residents of urban and rural America. Certainly rural–urban differences are only one of several factors that contributed to the surprising 2016 outcome, but rural voters are rightly acknowledged as one key factor in Donald Trump’s electoral success. Yet, defining 2016 as the tale of two Americas—one urban, one rural—hinders a nuanced understanding of the country’s political geography. [node:read-more:link]

Hits keep coming for the circus – and it matters for meat

The animal entertainment industry took another hit last week when the New York City Council voted to ban the use of wild or exotic animals in circus performances. The pricey lawsuits and emotional rhetoric are very familiar to those of us in animal agriculture and the meat industry. The New York Daily News posted an editorial expressing concerns with the ban, pointing out that zoos could be next on the chopping block. Unsurprisingly, the move was applauded by the usual suspects – PETA, HSUS, Direct Action Everywhere, etc. [node:read-more:link]

A pair of decades old policies may change the way rural America gets local news

Two decades-old rules – called by policymakers the “main studio rule” and the “UHF discount” – come from different eras of broadcasting, one when the only electronic media was radio and the other from the days before the dominance of cable television. They also come from a different era of government, when policymakers promoted the principle of localism – the belief that local broadcasters should serve their communities.  By 1987, it was clear that people didn’t often visit stations, but rather called or sent letters. [node:read-more:link]

BPI claims settlement with ABC 'vindicates' Dunes firm's beef product

BPI sued ABC, correspondent Jim Avila, who reported many of the stories, and several others who were later dismissed from the suit in September 2012, claiming that ABC knowingly used false information about LFTB during a series of reports in March and April 2012. Those reports regularly referred to the product as "pink slime," an unflattering moniker BPI said led consumers to believe the product was unsafe and low in nutritional value. [node:read-more:link]

Infarm wants to put a farm in every grocery store

Imagine a future where you go into a grocery store to buy some fresh basil, and, as you traverse the aisle, instead of polythene bags containing mass-produced snippets of the herb that have been flown in from thousands of miles away, in front of you are a stack of illuminated containers, each housing a mini basil farm. The plants themselves are being monitored by multiple sensors and fed by an internet-controlled irrigation and nutrition system. [node:read-more:link]

New best friends: GOP governors and renewables

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is fresh off a legislative session in which he signed nine bills aimed at supporting the clean energy sector. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott recently signed a tax exemption that solar installers say is essential to jump-starting the residential and commercial market in the Sunshine State. And in Iowa, where wind now accounts for 36 percent of the state's electricity generation, newly installed Gov. [node:read-more:link]

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