Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTGIExuJOzQ

25-03-2012 20:48 Healthy Communities - Health and Fitness program for Youth - Jaku Konbit The Health Fitness for Youth and Seniors (HFFYS) project engages youth and seniors of black and other visible and/or ethnic minority backgrounds in healthy lifestyle activities. These activities include: healthy eating, physcial activities along with business and health. Participants include 1st generation and later generations of youth from across the City of Ottawa, along with senior participants from the Caribbean and multicultural communities. All participants will have a heightened awareness of good nutrition, the value of healthy food, and the benefits of physical activities. Filmed and edited by Garmamie Garmamie@hotmail.com March 2011 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Jaku Konbit

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Healthy Communities - Health and Fitness program for Youth - Jaku Konbit - Part 1 of 2 - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3nCZXjITiA

25-03-2012 23:10 Healthy Communities - Health and Fitness program for Youth - Jaku Konbit The Health Fitness for Youth and Seniors (HFFYS) project engages youth and seniors of black and other visible and/or ethnic minority backgrounds in healthy lifestyle activities. These activities include: healthy eating, physcial activities along with business and health. Participants include 1st generation and later generations of youth from across the City of Ottawa, along with senior participants from the Caribbean and multicultural communities. All participants will have a heightened awareness of good nutrition, the value of healthy food, and the benefits of physical activities. Filmed and edited by Garmamie Garmamie@hotmail.com March 2011 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Jaku Konbit http://www.jakukonbit.com

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Healthy Communities - Health and Fitness program for Youth - Jaku Konbit - Part 2 of 2 - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk4wWEUTBIE

26-03-2012 09:14 scoobysworkshop.com This video is different from all my others. I have over two hundred videos on how you can lose weight, gain muscle, and get healthier but none about me. This video is about me and my fitness goals and this is important for two reasons. First to show you I practice what I preach. I harp on your folks about how important goal setting is and Its just as important for me as it is for you! Every year I publish my fitness goals on the About Me section of my website and in this video I will cover a 200 mile race which was one of my fitness goals for 2012 The second reason I feel this is important for you is that you can tell from looking at me that I know how to build a great physique and can follow my own advice, but what you cant tell is if my bod is for go or show. Its one thing to build an amazing physique, its another to build a functional and healthy body. Too many bodybuilders get out of breath climbing up two flights of stairs and dont do anything athletic outside the weight room. I have learned just as much about fitness, bodybuilding and health from sports as I have in the weight room. For example, I can tell you firsthand from doing triathlons about how important hydration is, whether cardio burns muscle, and how far the body can be pushed. From beach volleyball I can tell you firsthand about shoulder an knee issues and how to keep the joints healthy. Bodybuilding experience comes from a variety of sources, from books, from lifting weights and from ...

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Scooby's 200 mile bike race - 2012 fitness goal - Video

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

National Planning Holdings, Inc. (NPH), one of the nations largest independent broker-dealer networks, today named Frank Hayn to the position of vice president of retirement plans. Mr. Hayn, 37, fills a new position for the NPH network and will be tasked with supporting existing retirement plan business on the NPH platform, as well as helping NPH representatives grow their practices in the qualified plan space.

Hayn will report to John C. Johnson, first vice president of sponsor relations for NPH, and will be based in the networks Santa Monica headquarters. Under Hayns direction, the NPH network will expand its service offerings for advisers seeking to develop retirement plan and 401(k) business. He will also oversee new support programs that help NPH representatives address evolving compliance regulations as they work with plan sponsors on their retirement plan offerings.

Frank brings a wealth of experience in the qualified plan market to NPH and will be a valuable resource to our representatives as they seek to engage small to mid-size businesses in the 401(k) arena, said Mr. Johnson. The retirement plan space represents a significant opportunity for advisers to expand their practices by working as a consultant to companies that are looking to enhance their benefit plans.

Mr. Hayn comes to NPH from SunAmerica, Inc., where he served as director of 401(k) sales since 2005 and 401(k) sales manager from 2000 to 2005. Prior to SunAmerica, Hayn was a retirement plans marketing specialist for New York Life Investment Management LLC from 1997 to 2000. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 registrations and is a Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist. Hayn received an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and a B.A. from the University of Rochester.

National Planning Holdings, Inc. is an affiliate of Lansing, Mich.-based Jackson National Life Insurance Company (Jackson). For more information about the four independent broker-dealers in the National Planning Holdings network, please visit:

About National Planning Holdings, Inc.

National Planning Holdings, Inc. (NPH) is a broker-dealer holding company and an affiliate of Lansing, Mich.-based Jackson National Life Insurance Company. NPH serves as the holding company for the independent broker-dealers INVEST Financial Corporation, Investment Centers of America, National Planning Corporation, and SII Investments, Inc. Collectively, the NPH broker-dealer network currently has 3,636 registered representatives as of 12/31/11. NPH and Jackson are wholly owned by Prudential plc (NYSE: PUK - News), a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in the United Kingdom. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc., a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.

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National Planning Holdings®, Inc. Names Frank Hayn Vice President of Retirement Plans

Dear Debt Adviser, I'm 37 years old, married with three kids, and I have about $15,000 in college debt from my MBA expenses. Should I withdraw retirement savings from my 401(k) or Roth individual retirement account to pay off the debt? I'm sick of having this debt and want to be done with it now. Can I avoid penalties if the retirement money is used to pay off student loans? -- Randy

Dear Randy, With three kids, I would have expected you to have developed more patience by now. Still, 37 is young in the scheme of things. Here's some advice from someone who has been patience-challenged for decades longer than you and comes from a family whose patriarch thought impatience was the most beautiful flower.

I have a three-part answer to your question.

You are responsible for a spouse and three children. Though it may be argued that she is equally responsible for you and the kids, we are talking about you -- and you are most certainly on the hook.

In my experience as a father and husband, I can tell you there is a very good chance in the next five to 10 years the $15,000 you are considering withdrawing may be needed for something more important than retiring an education debt you are "sick of having." Life has a way of sending the unexpected our way at the least convenient time, and often the unanticipated event(s) comes with a high price tag attached. It is hoped you have an emergency savings account of six to 12 months' of living expenses put aside to help fund life's financial curveballs, but you may find additional funds are required.

Also, the $15,000 you remove from retirement funds now could, if left where it is, be worth in the neighborhood of $80,000 by the time you're 67. Even when you take into consideration inflation, you could be missing out on the equivalent of $40,000 if you remove the $15,000 now. As an MBA, you'll no doubt appreciate the time value of money.

Let me suggest that a better idea may be to develop a plan to pay down your college debt more quickly.

Let's do some math. If we assume you have another 10 years to pay on your loan and your interest rate is 6%, your monthly payment is approximately $167 per month. If you were to add an additional $500 to each payment, for a total of $667 each month, your debt would be paid off in two short years. To pay off the debt in one year, you would need to boost your monthly payment by $1,125.

Whether you pay off your student loans sooner or later, my guess is once you know this debt is heading for the door, you won't feel the need to incur a penalty to send it on its way immediately.

Should you decide to withdraw retirement savings from your IRA, I would recommend you consult with a tax-planning professional to assure that you follow all the proper procedures. You do not want to complicate an already bad financial move with a problem with the Internal Revenue Service.

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Pay Student Loans With Retirement Savings?

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The youngest of Generation X will celebrate their 30th birthdays this year, pushing this key demographic into their prime income earning years and establishing them as the benchmark for new retirement saving trends. Gen X showed this past year they are not only saving for their retirement, but they arent wasting any more time.

Drastically more Gen Xers (born 1967 to 1982, ages 29 to 44) reported this year than last that they started saving for retirement between the ages of 25 and 34, according to Scottrade, Inc.s sixth annual American Retirement Study. This year, 51 percent reported starting their retirement savings in this age range, compared to 39 percent last year. This generation demonstrated they are learning from their elders to save earlier. Just 30 percent of Baby Boomers and 21 percent of Seniors started saving for retirement at 25 to 34 years of age.

The study also found the percentage of Gen Xers who reported having less than $25,000 saved for retirement continued its downward trend (53 percent in 2010, 45 percent in 2011 and 44 percent in 2012), while the number reporting retirement savings of $25,001 to $100,000 maintained upward momentum. In 2012, 20 percent said they have between $25,001 and $100,000 saved, compared to 17 percent in 2011 and 14 percent in 2010.

To aid their retirement savings goals, notably more Gen Xers hold a tax-deferred account today than a year ago and the majority, at 71 percent, reported saving some portion of their 2011 income for retirement. Even more, at 85 percent, plan to save some portion of this years earnings for retirement.

With a retirement horizon spanning into the 2050s, Gen Xers have decades of income-earning years ahead of them, said Derrick Brooks, Scottrades director of online investor solutions. They are recognizing the need to save now and seizing the opportunity.

To help them reach their retirement goals, Scottrade is committed to developing solutions so they can research, trade and monitor their investments in real-time, Brooks said. Scottrade understands that self-directed investors and traders have their own investment strategies and utilize the tools we offer in individual ways, and we work hard to continue to be an ally for them.

Through our branch office network, our online trading community, social media channels and usability testing, we are able to listen to our clients, gather their suggestions and continue to expand upon the features and functionalities of our online investing and trading tools, Brooks said. By developing new tools such as our mobile trading app and offering customizable account pages, clients can access the information they want when they need it to make informed trading decisions.

Last week alone Scottrade rolled out two new updates to its trading website: a Quick Trade bar that enables clients to place trades as they navigate from page to page; and a Ratings and Reports tab, which is an at-a-glance view of research items, including S&P Rankings, Reuters Ratings and MarketEdge Opinion.

The company also continues to enhance its offering of investment vehicles beyond its trademark $7 online stock trades to include a variety of IRA types, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds to meet diverse investing strategies. In 2011, Scottrade rolled out a suite of retail banking products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts affording the ability to easily move money and manage finances between banking and brokerage accounts accessed with a single login.

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Scottrade Research Findings: Gen X Motivated to Save, Takes Action to Plan Retirement

SHANGHAI,Chinaand HOUSTON, March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. (NYSE: KRA - News), a leading global producer of styrenic block copolymers or "SBCs," is advancing its Asian expansion strategy to support the needs of new and existing customers. Kraton continues to offer a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region through its technology and investment in additional resources to support tremendous growth in the region.

"We are committed to our customers in China and the Asia Pacific region," said Kevin M. Fogarty, President & CEO, Kraton Performance Polymers. "Kraton will continue to expand its technology and service offerings as we work with our customers to meet their needs and help them grow," he added.

Kraton is fully engaged in the formation of a 50/50 joint venture with Formosa Petrochemical Corporation to construct and operate a 30-kiloton hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer ("HSBC") plant in Mailiao, Taiwan. The plant will employ state-of-the-art technology and support global demand for Kraton's differentiated HSBCs. It will also provide significant, additional supply capability, and will set a new global standard for efficiency and product quality for HSBCs. Plant operation is expected in the first half of 2014.

In 2011, Kraton expanded its Cariflex isoprene rubber (IR) latex capacity to support the continued growth in demand for Cariflex products. The company has also executed a contract with its manufacturing provider in Japan, which will result in a doubling of Cariflex latex manufacturing capacity in Japan by mid-2013.

To further support Kraton's customers and the expansions listed above, the company recently opened a new innovation center in Shanghai, China. The facility is three times larger than the previous facility and better accommodates its technical staff, which has doubled over the past eighteen months. The new, state-of-the-art laboratory builds upon Kraton's capabilities including wet chemistry, flame testing and rubber processing. These advances will enhance Kraton's ability to serve existing and new customers in all segments of SBCs as well as Cariflex IR and IR latex.

For additional information about Kraton's investments in Asia Pacific, please contact H. Gene Shiels at gene.shiels@kraton.com or 281-504-4886.

About Kraton Polymers

Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc., through its operating subsidiary Kraton Polymers LLC and its subsidiaries, is a leading global producer of engineered polymers and styrenic block copolymers ("SBCs"), a family of products whose chemistry was pioneered by us almost fifty years ago. SBCs are highly-engineered thermoplastic elastomers, which enhance the performance of numerous products by delivering a variety of attributes, including greater flexibility, resilience, strength, durability and processability. Our polymers are used in a wide range of applications, including adhesives, coatings, consumer and personal care products, sealants and lubricants, and medical, packaging, automotive, paving, roofing and footwear products. We currently offer approximately 800 products to more than 700 customers in over 60 countries worldwide, and are the only SBC producer with manufacturing and service capabilities on four continents. We manufacture products at five plants globally, including our flagship plant in Belpre, Ohio, as well as plants in Germany, France and Brazil, and a joint venture plant operated in Japan.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements," which are statements other than statements of historical fact and are often characterized by the use of words such as "believes," "expects," "estimates," "projects," "may," "will," "intends," "plans" or "anticipates," or by discussions of strategy, anticipated performance, plans or intentions. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made based on management's current expectations and estimates, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in "Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors" contained in our Annual Report on 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and as subsequently updated in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We hereby make reference to all such filings for all purposes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update such information.

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Kraton Performance Polymers Continues Asian Expansion Strategy

By John Rosemond, McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS Monday, March 26, 2012 Last updated: 3:18 pm

Question: I recently heard you speak in San Diego and need some clarification. While I understand that researchers have found that high self-esteem is not what it was cracked up to be, I want my kids to approach the challenges of life with confidence in their abilities. There's got to be a reconciliation point here. What is it?

Answer: Excellent question. First, researchers have found that high self-esteem doesn't live up to its hype. In fact, it's not a desirable characteristic. The general finding has been that people with high regard for themselves have equally low regard for others. Yes, they feel really good about themselves (the sales pitch), but they tend to be seriously lacking in sensitivity to anyone else.

The desirable attribute is humility. That was known thousands of years ago, proving once again that there is nothing new under the sun. Humble people pay attention to others, look for opportunities to serve, and are modest when it comes to their accomplishments. People with high self-esteem want attention, expect others to do things for them, and tend to crow about their achievements.

Where confidence is concerned, there is no evidence to suggest that humble and confident are incompatible. By all accounts, George Washington was a humble man who was more than a tad uncomfortable in the spotlight he'd been thrust into. Yet, without the unwavering confidence he brought to his mission, the United States of America might not exist.

Researchers have discovered that people with high self-esteem tend to overestimate their abilities. If anything, they are over-confident. As a result, they don't cope well when life deals them a bad hand or their performance doesn't live up to their self-expectations. For those reasons, they are prone to depression. Because they believe anything they do is deserving of reward, they also tend to underperform. Ironic, because high self-esteem was promoted as the key to happiness and academic success.

As has been known for millennia, the key to a sense of personal satisfaction (not the same as happiness, by the way) and the feeling that one has made and is making an important contribution (not the same as the contemporary concept of success, by the way) is hard work and a solid platform of good values -- the centerpiece of which is high regard for others. Note that the primary beneficiary in that equation is one's fellow traveler, not oneself. In short, the key to the good life is putting others first. Call that the Good Neighbor Principle.

Society is strengthened and culture is moved forward by the efforts of people who think of others before they think of themselves, not by people who think they are the cat's meow. In that regard, one of the most foreboding things about contemporary American culture is that today's young people regard the narcissistic, self-promoting celebrity as more of a role model than George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

That, in fact, might be our ultimate undoing.

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Good values pave the way to personal satisfaction

According to a press release by Fox, the 9 remaining American Idol hopeful, and that includes MexiPinay Jessica Sanchez will be singing a song from their personal idol come performance night this Wednesday, March 28 and they will be mentored by singer-songwriter and musician Stevie Nicks.

Next week, on Wednesday, March 28 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), the Top Nine DeAndre Brackensick, Hollie Cavanagh, Colton Dixon, Heejun Han, Skylar Laine, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez and Elise Testone return to the IDOL stage to sings songs from their own Idols.

Tune in the following night, Thursday, March 29 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) to the live results show to find out which of the Top Nine finalists is sent home. In addition, Nicki Minaj will take the stage and perform her megahit "Starships" and Season 10 IDOL winner and platinum-selling country artist Scotty McCreery will return to perform his newest single, "Water Tower Town."

Become a fan of AMERICAN IDOL on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AmericanIdol. Follow the series on Twitter @AmericanIdol and join the discussion at #Idol. Also, follow host Ryan Seacrest at @RyanSeacrest, and follow the judges: @yo_randyjackson; @JLo; and @iamstevent.

AMERICAN IDOL is produced by 19 Entertainment, a division of CKX, Inc. and FremantleMedia North America, Inc. The series is created and executive-produced by Simon Fuller, CEO, XIX Entertainment, and executive-produced by Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.; Ken Warwick, Executive Producer, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.; and Nigel Lythgoe, CEO, Nigel Lythgoe Productions.

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Jessica Sanchez and Other 8 Idol Hopefuls to Sing Personal Idol’s song in Top 9 Performance Night

By Maxwell Fisher - March 26, 2012 | Tickers: HPQ, LXK, XRX | 0 Comments

Maxwell is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, got his start with Xerox (NYSE: XRX) back when the company was exploding. The battalion of Xerox salesmen pounding the pavement, knocking down business doors, will draw chuckles and sighs from many a battle-scarred veteran of that particular army. To jog the memory, just as Googling has become English slang today, back then copying a document was called Xeroxing. They were not just a leader, they were THE leader in office document management.

So what happened and where did they go? With such passion and drive from its sales force, it is a mystery that one so far ahead could fall so far behind. I submit that the failure of leadership led to this once great companys decline and paved the way for others such as Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) to dominate the industry.

What Has Happened

Xerox began as a photographic paper company in 1906. It wasnt until 1958 the company changed its name to Xerox and its focus to plain paper copiers, primarily for business use. It has since grown into a global document management corporation that produces and sells an array of printers, photo copiers, and related supplies.

During the early years, Xerox literally had to wait while the market caught up to its vision. The personal computer was almost 20 years away, much less personal printing. To compensate, the company focused on providing businesses with its products and services. This strategy was critical to the companys survival at the beginning, and later became the growth mechanism throughout the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately, leadership became stuck in this focus and stagnated the company due to its inability to see beyond it.

In the mid 70s, Xerox was on the cutting edge of the personal computing industry. In fact, for a hefty $1 million investment, Steve Jobs was able to take a look at its work on the WIMP (Window, Icon, Menu, and Pointing device) system later to be called the mouse. It was his vision that directed the commerciality of the technology by means of the Apple Computer. Jobs is quoted as saying, "They just had no idea what they had."

Sadly, that statement was and has remained prophecy for the late great Xerox.

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Why I Am Bearish On Xerox