Iowa City, IA -Don't miss the fun and excitement of Walking the Wire, Riverside Theatre's annual festival of original monologues, which will bring to the stage a wide variety of crazy situations as part of this year's theme, This Will Never Work.

Walking the Wire: This Will Never Work opens Friday, March 2 and runs through Sunday, March 11, for 7 performances only. The show is directed by Jody Hovland and sponsored by Integrated DNA Technologies.

With over 100 submissions from across the U.S. and beyond, the dozen monologues in the show reflect a diverse range of original work.

The 12 playwrights whose work will be presented are: Brent Boyd (North Hollywood, CA); Dave Carley (Toronto, ON); Ron Clark (Iowa City); Mark Harvey Levine (Pasadena, CA); Deborah Magid (Cleveland Heights, OH); Gordon Mennenga (Iowa City); Mike Moran (Mount Vernon); Amanda Petefish-Schrag (Maryville, MO); Gwendolyn Rice (Madison, WI); Janet Schlapkohl (Iowa City); Jen Silverman (Astoria, NY); and Amy White (Mount Vernon).

Three area writers, Clark, Moran and Schlapkohl, will perform their own work, with an additional cast of local actors including Tim Budd, David Busch, Fannie Hungerford, Katherine Smith, and Jessica Wilson.

Performances are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for 60 and over/30 and under, $15 for youth (18 and under).

Tickets can be purchased online at www.riversidetheatre.org or by phone at (319) 338-7672. The Riverside Theatre Box Office is located at 213 N Gilbert St, Iowa City. Box office hours are: 12 - 4 p.m. Monday - Friday and 1 hour before performances.

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Farmer-Directors Approve Plan to Address Issues Most Critical to U.S. Soybean FarmersST. LOUIS (February 29, 2012) - With their eyes fixed on the future, the farmer-directors of the United Soybean Board (USB) have decided to design the organization around the four issues most critical to U.S. soybean farmers: adding value to soy oil and meal; protecting U.S. soy farmers' freedom to operate, and focusing on the needs of the customers of U.S. soy.

While USB has always focused on these challenges and opportunities, farmer-leaders sharpened that focus at their winter meeting Feb. 20-24 by approving a plan to reshape the national soy checkoff into four Action Teams dedicated to realizing the four strategic objectives of USB's Long Range Strategic Plan.

"Adding value to the oil and meal of U.S. soy, protecting our freedom to operate, and focusing on meeting the needs of our customers have always been important for the U.S. soy sector," said Vanessa Kummer, a soybean farmer from Colfax, N.D., and USB chair. "But today's market for U.S. soy - and tomorrow's - mean they are more important than ever in order to maximize the profit opportunities for all U.S. soy farmers."

USB developed the plan after a complete review of the national soy checkoff that farmer-leaders commissioned in 2011, the year USB marked its 20th anniversary. Farmer-leaders ordered the review to ensure USB is best positioned to meet the needs of the evolving U.S. soy sector in a changing global marketplace.

"Our world is changing fast, and my fellow farmer-directors are dedicated to making sure all U.S. soybean farmers have the opportunity to maximize their profits for generations to come," Kummer said. "The changes approved this week are exciting because they help ensure the national soy checkoff continues to deliver what USB's motto says: 'Progress Powered by U.S. Soy Farmers.'"

USB is made up of 69 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization, industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.

For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnitedSoybeanBoard
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unitedsoy
View our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/UnitedSoybeanBoard

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HF 589 Criminalizes Investigations of Animal Cruelty and Other Serious Crimes at Factory Farms

(February 29, 2012) -- The Humane Society of the United States urged Gov. Terry Branstad to veto notorious Iowa "ag gag" bill, HF 589, that would criminalize the investigation of animal cruelty, worker abuse, sexual harassment and other serious crimes at farming operations.

"The intent of this bill is simple: shield animal agribusiness from public scrutiny by punishing whistleblowers and protecting animal abusers," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States in a letter urging Gov. Branstad to reject the bill. "By signing this bill into law, animal agribusiness will have unbridled and unchecked power over worker safety, public health and animal welfare."

On Tuesday, the Iowa state legislature rushed the bill through both the Senate and House of Representatives at a speed rarely found in the legislative process. Normally, deliberations of such consequence take weeks, or at least several days.

Critics question the constitutionality of HF 589 as an infringement on the First Amendment, and a broad spectrum of national interest groups have spoken out against state ag gag bills, including organizations for animal protection, civil liberties, public health, food safety, environmental, food justice, legal, workers' rights and First Amendment interests.

Undercover investigations in Iowa over the past three years have consistently revealed alarming conditions on factory farms, causing a public backlash and demands for higher standards on farms.

Undercover investigations have also played a vital role on the national level in exposing animal welfare and food safety issues related to industrialized agriculture. In 2008, an HSUS undercover investigation of a slaughter plant in Chino, Calif. resulted in the largest meat recall in the nation's history. The meat suppliers faced a $150 million lawsuit for sending meat from sick and injured animals to the federal school lunch program and the investigation revealed horrific animal abuse.

 

Facts

• Last year, special interests in four states succeeded in having ag gag bills introduced. None passed.
• A similar bill was defeated in Florida in January 2012, but other ag gag bills remain active in Utah, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, New York and Indiana.

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Best Way to Lose Weight is to Flip Your Biological Switch, Expert Says

Obesity has become such an epidemic in the United States, the FDA is considering approving a new prescription weight-loss drug - despite safety concerns about it.

It seems the health effects of being overweight override officials' concerns about Qnexa, a drug the FDA rejected two years ago.

That shocks weight-loss expert Don Ochs, who says neither diets nor drugs are effective, long-lasting solutions.

"When you understand the biology behind burning off fat versus packing it on, the whole notion of starving yourself on a low-calorie diet is absurd," says Ochs, developer of the physician-recommended Mobanu Integrated Weight Loss Solution (www.mobanu.com). "And certainly taking a drug that can damage your heart is out of the question."

Here's what people should know about biology and weight loss, Ochs says.

• Your body was designed to temporarily store fat because food was not consistently available to our ancestors. They relied on that stored fat to get them through famines, winters and dry seasons. That worked very well until we made huge advances in agriculture and food supplies became abundant and consistently available.

• When food is plentiful, your body will quickly burn fat deposits - those bulges you want to get rid of - for energy. When food is scarce, it burns fat more slowly, to help ensure your survival. That's why simply eating less is not the best way to lose weight. A low-calorie diet actually tells your body to store fat because food is in short supply.

• You can control whether or not your body stores fat for survival or dumps it for an upcoming time of plenty by sending it the right signals. The types of food you eat, and how much you eat of them, send biologically ingrained messages to your body about whether to store fat or burn it - just like flipping a switch.

• Your body is very efficient at converting certain types of food to fat. These were the foods with natural carbohydrates that were available to our ancestors before a dry season or another winter, such as apples, which ripen in the fall. If you eat these foods, your body interprets it as a signal that lean times are coming so guess what? It starts stocking up on the stored fat.

To address his own weight problem, Ochs spent years studying the biology of fat burning versus fat storing based on research conducted at The Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health. From that perspective he figured out how to recognize when the foods he ate were signaling his body to produce a lot of insulin, which results in storing fat instead of burning it off.

"When you feel very sleepy after a meal, or when you're full and yet you still crave food, those are signals that you've flipped the switch and turned on your insulin production," he says. "How many carbohydrates flip that switch is different for every person based on genetics.

Losing weight by working with biology and your own individual, genetically encoded insulin triggers is natural and a prescription for long-term success. It doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want and never exercise, but it does mean you'll feel full and satisfied and have lots of energy. And keep the weight off.

About Donald Ochs

Donald Ochs is a Colorado entrepreneur, the president and CEO of Ochs Development Co. and M4 Group, an inventor and sports enthusiast. He developed the Mobanu weight loss system based on research conducted at The Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health. The program is endorsed by physicians, nutritionists and exercise experts.