What: Iowa Farm Bureau's 2013 Economic Summit | Grain, Gridlock and Globalization: Managing Today's Economic Uncertainty for Livestock and Grain Farmers

Featured speakers include : Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, U.S. Farm Reports, John Phipps, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, Daniel Mitchell The Cato Institute, Jim Knuth Farm Credit Services, Michael Boehlje Purdue University, Elwyn Taylor Iowa State University, Ron Beach, Peoples Company, Allen Featherstone Kansas State University - just to name a few!

When: July 22-23, 2013. Registration 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Program starts at 9:00 a.m.

Where: Scheman Building, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

Why:

• How will sequestration cuts affect producers?
• What will the 2013 harvest bring and why is it important to both grain and livestock farmers?
• Rising land prices - what's in store?
• Is globalization creating strong new competitors for US agriculture?
  
  These are just a few of the questions that will be explored at the second annual Iowa Farm Bureau Economic Summit.
  
  In addition to experts of policy, farmland value, climate, and markets, media will also have the opportunity to interact with numerous farmers from around the state, all of whom will be weighing in on the future of agriculture.
  
  Reserve your spot today. To see the full agenda, click HERE.
• For more information or to confirm registration or arrange media interviews, please contact Andrew Wheeler at 515-225-5409 or by email: awheeler@ifbf.org.

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today took action on the following bills:

Bill No.: HB 1533

An Act Concerning: State Government

Exempts employees of the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council from provisions of the Personnel Code and expands the eligibility for judges able to be appointed thereto.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 2754

An Act Concerning: Transportation

Creates the National Wild Turkey Federation license plate and the Curing Childhood Cancer license plate.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: HB 2771

An Act Concerning: Children

Exempts private attorney-client communications from the reporting requirements of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 3359

An Act Concerning: Regulation

Creates the Precious Metal Purchasers Task Force.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 3370

An Act Concerning: Local Government

Expands the categories of expenses for which the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago may levy taxes.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 30

An Act Concerning: Government

Creates the Thomson United States Penitentiary Cession Act.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 32

An Act Concerning: State Government

Eliminates requirement that Department of Human Services create a medical advisory panel.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 33

An Act Concerning: Safety

Authorizes electronic reporting of environmental data.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 47

An Act Concerning: Public Aid

Allows the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to send notice of service via facsimile or electronic mail.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 48

An Act Concerning: Civil Law

Repeals the Unified Child Support Services Act.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 62

An Act Concerning: Health

Changes the definition of "Clinical Psychologist".

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 63

An Act Concerning: State Government

Changes the composition of the State Rehabilitation Council and makes other technical changes.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 70

An Act Concerning: Gaming

Exempts licensed video gaming establishments from the location restriction if a school or place of worship moves to or is established within the restricted area after the date on which the licensed video gaming establishment obtained its original liquor license.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 72

An Act Concerning: Safety

Makes technical changes to several Acts to address the Environmental Protection Agency's audit findings.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 93

An Act Concerning: State Government

Permits the placement of detained sexually violent persons in the Chester Mental Health Center.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 922

An Act Concerning: Transportation

Permits tow trucks to use white and/or amber oscillating, rotating, or flashing lights.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1169

An Act Concerning: Civil Law

Permits the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to remove the termination date from the income withholding notice for child support.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1191

An Act Concerning: Civil Law

Eliminates the requirement that the Department of Children and Family Services provide a printed copy of the comprehensive list of the unsafe children's products to certain child care facilities.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1213

An Act Concerning: Juvenile Justice

Provides for the indemnification of individuals or organizations that contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), and cleans up statutory references to reflect DJJ's creation as a separate state agency.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1225

An Act Concerning: Aging

Repeals the Senior Citizens Child Care Support Act.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1292

An Act Concerning: Health Facilities

Increases transparency by requiring the Department of Public Health to issue a report of fines received from nursing homes.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1293

An Act Concerning: Warehouses

Changes the refrigerated warehouse licensing cycle for renewals from calendar year to fiscal year.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1321

An Act Concerning: Public Health

Revises information which must be contained in the Department of Public Health's Annual Report regarding its prostate cancer screening program.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Jan. 1

Bill No.: SB 1322

An Act Concerning: Criminal Law

Requires that the examination to determine whether a person is sexually dangerous be conducted by two qualified evaluators.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1340

An Act Concerning: Civil Law

Exempts DCFS from payment of guardian ad litem fees in specified instances.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1603

An Act Concerning: Finance

Makes several changes that allow the Illinois Finance Authority to operate more efficiently and finance several new projects.

Action: Signed

Effective Date: Immediate

###

If you don't follow baseball, you may be unaware of the controversy simmering around Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig.  He came up from the minors less than two months ago, has played on a level comparable only to that of the early Joe DiMaggio, and has singlehandedly (okay, with both hands) lifted the Dodgers from the ignominy of overpaid underperformer status into credible pennant contenders.  Fans came within inches of writing him onto the All-Star team by online ballot.

Puig has played fewer than 40 games in the Major Leagues.  The Dodgers, who had a lot of money, now have a lot less, because they agreed to pay him $42 million over seven years.

Old school baseball players and their managers take offense to an All-Star designation for a player who has barely gotten his uniform sweaty.  But the people want Puig, and there's still an outside chance that they'll have him, when the All-Star Game takes place Tuesday in New York.

Baseball traditionalists believe that All-Star status is something one earns over time.  Casual fans couldn't care less about a player's body of work; they're just interested in stars, which Puig, at least for the short term, now is.  Sports talk radio commentators recognize that baseball has a phenomenon in Puig and that the All-Star game is a marketing showcase.  Failing to include Puig, therefore, would be an unpardonable offense.

Puig had the good fortune to come of age in the age of American Idol, when you can become a star literally overnight.  You don't have to spend years paying dues; you just go viral.   Consider the difference between yesterday's Frank Sinatra and today's Psy.  Sinatra toured with big bands for years before he hit; Psy, the Korean voice of Gangnam Style (two billion YouTube hits and counting) became a planetary legend with one video.  If extraterrestrials exist, they are probably on Alpha Centauri doing the horse dance and singing, "Hey, sexy lady!"

And so it is in sports.  LeBron got his $60 million deal with Nike before he stepped on an NBA court.  Andrew Luck signed to quarterback the Indianapolis Colts for $22 million prior to throwing a single NFL pass.  And now Yasiel Puig has parlayed eight undeniably great weeks into eight figures.

The veteran players may or may not begrudge Puig the money; they definitely resent his potential All-Star status.  That's because they come from a world where what you do over a long period of time defines who you are.  Puig, baseball's flavor of the month, leaves a sour taste in their mouths.

In baseball, hitters and pitchers "solve" one another.  Meaning that tendencies are analyzed and baseball experts do everything that can to drag outliers back to the mean.  In the sport's language, the goal is to create a "book" on a player: identify his weaknesses and capitalize on them.  The fastball hitter may have trouble with a slider; a particular pitcher may struggle to keep the ball down.  Once word gets out, it's much harder for a phenom to keep up that initial momentum.

This may or may not happen with Puig.  He could be the next Henry Aaron.  Or not.   He could also run into serious trouble.  If you listened to sports talk radio the week before the Dodgers elevated Puig to the majors, the topic was the fact that he had enormous trouble coping with authority.  Not quite "cancer in the clubhouse" material, but the verdict among baseball men was that he was too immature to handle the pressures of the big leagues.

So now they're putting him front and center at the All-Star Game.

There's something to be said for the old way of doing things, where you had to earn your stripes, pay your dues, work your way to the top.  That way allows people to make their mistakes in private, before all eyes are upon them.  Those of us who are a little older and come from that world are grateful that YouTube didn't exist when we were in our twenties or Facebook when we were in our teens.  We're very happy, thank you, that the mistakes we made in our callow years aren't on our permanent technological record.

I have no problem with Puig playing in the All-Star Game; he's definitely a star and baseball is the world's worst sport at marketing itself.  We've just seen what happens to people, especially those in the public eye, who receive too much too soon.  From Aaron Hernandez (New England Patriot accused of homicide) to Lindsey Lohan (actress accused of everything), it often turns out that sudden success is no gift from the gods.

I wish Yasiel Puig the greatest of success, personally and professionally, not that he's ever heard of me or cares about receiving my blessing.  I want him to stay on the baseball diamond and not the police blotter and enjoy his newfound celebrity.

It used to be that it took ten years to become an overnight success.  In today's world, it can take ten years to get over having been one.

Despite Major Advances, Women's Counselor Says Same-
Gender Infighting among Enduring Problems

It's safe to say that women are on the ascendancy on many accounts:

• Throughout the next decade, women will be the beneficiaries of the largest transference of wealth in the history of the United States and control two thirds of consumer wealth in the country.

• Women are now the majority of the workforce in the U.S. and fill the majority of managerial positions.

• For every two men who earn a college degree, three women will get theirs.

"It's not just college and professional women who are transforming society - and the movement is not simply money-based - because I've witnessed women developing a dramatically new point of view on how we view ourselves," says Xandra "Sunny" Moon, author of "The Power of the Titz...a woman's journey back to her self" (www.sunnymoonspowerworld.com). "I am one of those women."

As a self-described "liberated, 18-wheeler-driving, 40-plus babe," Moon meets a countless number of women who she counsels. Like her, they've suffered physical and emotional abuse as young women. And, like her, after raising a family and enduring a deeply unsatisfying lifestyle, they are climbing out of depression and getting back in touch with the woman they've always wanted to be, she says.

"But, as women, we continue to run into several obstacles; while a woman's role has evolved, much of society has not," Moon says. She lists some of those obstacles:

• Other women: While there certainly is a sisterhood among many women, Moon occasionally runs into some who are fearful, lacking in confidence and, therefore, judgmental. "I've been accused of trying to steal husbands because I embrace and show off positive physical traits such as my large breasts, and I encourage all women to take charge of their beauty," she says. "I can assure you that stealing someone's husband has never been on my to-do list; I'm too happy with my life partner and second husband, Lee Abzu, who coauthored my book."

• Domestic abuse: In the U.S., a woman is beaten every nine seconds; most domestic violence victims are women - 85 percent; it's estimated that 1.3 million women are beaten each year - a number that could be much higher since most abuse is not reported to police. In some cases, emotional abuse can be worse because it works like a "psychic prison," Moon says, keeping women locked in awful relationships year after year.

• Human Trafficking: According to the U.S. Department of State, 80 percent of transnational victims are women and girls, 70 percent of which are supplied to the commercial sex industry. With human trafficking being a $32 billion industry, the problem will be an enduring one into the future, even as women in modernized countries earn key roles in changing the world.

• The other half of the population ... Some intellectuals argue that a modern, post-industrial civilization is simply better suited for women. They argue men tend to be more shiftless, inclined to take risks and, overall, living in a society in which excessive testosterone is a liability. "But it doesn't have to be that way," says Abzu, who adds his outside-the-box relationship with Moon exemplifies an ability to adapt to a changing world. "Women have always been beautiful, which means they've always had power, so it's not a huge leap to think of women as having significant sway in how the world operates." Some say that women have taken a page or two from a male-dominated world in order to get ahead; soon, however, it may be that men are the ones who will need to learn from opposite-gender leaders in society, he says.

About Xandra "Sunny" Moon

Xandra "Sunny" Moon is a survivor who came into her own after age 40. As a younger woman, she endured rape, unlawful imprisonment, mental and emotional abuse, and divorce. She has worked 14 years as a truck driver, during which she has spoken with thousands of women near or at midlife. After raising her four children, she continued her education at Idaho State University and eventually married her second husband and soul mate, Lee Abzu. She now counsels women who are seeking rebirth.