Plymouth Meeting, PA (PRWEB) March 16, 2012

Friends Life Care, a non-profit Pennsylvania-based organization that provides unique long term care solutions, is proud to announce the addition of three new workshops to their Spring 2012 VigR Enrichment learning series.

At Friends Life Care, they believe a combination of vitality, independence, growth and resilience (VigR) is required to stave off the effects of chronological aging. Thats why theyve created this program to help participants understand and improve these four essential factors. With the aid of recent grant monies, the spring VigR Enrichment Workshops are being offered at a very affordable price, making them available to a wide audience.

We are so pleased to be able to provide this caliber of instructor and content to our community, Friends Life Care President Carol Barbour said. Last years participants were extremely satisfied and left clamoring for morethis springs line up will surely fill to capacity very quickly.

The Spring 2012 workshops:

In addition to the in-person workshops, Friends Life Care offers the VigR eMeetinghouse, an online community for VigR participants and anyone interested in the programs life-enhancing insights. Participants also receive a take-home binder for each workshop. For more information about the VigR program visit http://friendslifecare.org/images/VigR_Catalog_Spring2012.pdf.

About Friends Life Care Unique among long-term-care program providers, Friends Life Care provides an appealing alternative for Pennsylvania and Delaware area baby boomers and seniors. Members of Friends Life Care have access to comprehensive support, enabling them to protect their finances, and to remain independent in their own homes as they age. Membership is affordable and customizable, and it offers alternatives or supplements to traditional long-term care insurance. Friends Life Care, a nonprofit Quaker organization, has been proudly serving and supporting its members for over 20 years.

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Friends Life Care, a Pennsylvania Based Long Term Care Provider, Announces Additions to Their Lineup of Popular ...

Darren Criss was reportedly offered the chance to host the US X Factor - but turned it down.

E! News claims that the Glee actor, best known for playing Blaine, was given the opportunity to step into Steve Jones' shoes for the show's forthcoming second series, but "politely declined the gig".

"They were after him. But there's no way he could have done it with everything he has going on," a source said.

Darren - who made his debut on Broadway by taking over from Daniel Radcliffe in the Broadway production of award-winning musical How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying for three weeks - is rumoured to have decided to pass on the role because of his busy schedule, although his spokesperson nor US TV network Fox have not commented on the story.

As well as his continuing role on Glee, Darren is set to make his big-screen debut in Imogene alongside Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening.

Welshman Steve was axed from the US X Factor alongside judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, but TV mogul Simon Cowell has not yet revealed who the new additions will be.

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Criss turns down X Factor stint?

AP

Early this morning we noted that former North Carolina defensive back Deunta Williams, when he wasnt accusing the SEC of paying for football players, took issue with what he described as a broken system as it relates to the NCAA and collegiate athletics.

College football is a business, and the people who run college football are only interested in money and using the players as product to make money, Williams was quoted as saying.

The thinly-veiled inference, of course, is that the NCAA uses student-athletes for their financial gain, a form of exploitation if you will.

Obviously, the leaders of intercollegiate sports vehemently disagree with that assessment. During an interview with Bob Ley on ESPNs Outside the Lines Tuesday afternoon, NCAA president Mark Emmert addressed the criticism college sports has come under in relation to the financial benefits realized by the universities and how precious little is funneled back to the individuals who are actually responsible for the on-field work thats made the game, in the case of football, the second most popular sport in the country.

Heres the transcript of Emmerts interview, courtesy of PFTs Mike Florio (yes, you read that correctly).

Ill tell you the critique that I agree with, and the critique [is] that theres such an emphasis in America on athletics as a route to fame and fortune that it has skewed far too many young peoples view of how you can be successful as a young person.

We surveyed our Division II NCAA mens basketball players. Division II.Half of them believed they were going to make a living in professional basketball. Maybe one will. But half of them thought they might make a living as a basketball player.

We have far too few young people realizing that the route to success in life is to get a good education in middle school, high school, and college, and then go on and do all the things that people do in life. When we see a young person getting an opportunity to go to college, the $2 billion second only to the federal government the total amount of financial aid thats proposed by NCAA institutions to young people, we see young people having higher graduation rates in Divisions I, II, and III than the rest of the student body, we see them having access to the best coaches, the best educators, the best trainers, the best tutors that help produce academic success like that. If thats the definition of exploitation, then I dont know what exploitation is.

I would have loved to have my kids exploited like that. I would love to have been exploited like that myself as a young man. The idea that somehow playing in front of a stadium with 70,000 people and being on ESPN SportsCenter diminishes you in some fashion while creating an opportunity for you to be known world-wide is somehow exploitation is a curious notion of exploitation. I think the vast majority of your audience would love to be on this show, would love to have a chance to have their name known widely.

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CFT: Female kicker doesn't make the cut at LSU

By Christopher Condon - Wed Mar 14 20:06:32 GMT 2012

The $2.6 trillion money market fund business doesnt need additional reforms being mulled by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to executives of top asset managers.

We are concerned that these changes will eliminate the utility of money market funds for most investors, the executive committee of the Investment Company Institute said today in a statement. The committee said rule changes made by the SEC in 2010 were sufficient to safeguard funds.

Regulators and asset managers have been debating steps to make money funds safer since the September 2008 collapse of the $62.5 billion Reserve Primary Fund. Its closing triggered a run on prime money funds that helped freeze global credit markets.

The SEC is working on two proposals. The first would strip money funds of their traditional fixed $1 share price, substituting a floating value. The second would impose capital requirements and restrict redemptions.

The Washington-based ICIs executive committee is responsible for evaluating policy alternatives for the groups board of governors. Its members include executives from Vanguard Group Inc., Legg Mason Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to the trade groups website.

The committee doesnt include any representative from BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the worlds biggest money manager. BlackRock said on March 2 that money funds could survive without their stable $1 share price if the plan included key additions.

Rather than fight the SEC, money managers should work with the agency to develop the best possible version of the reform proposal, the New York-based company said.

The SEC is expected to make its proposals public this month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Condon in Boston at ccondon4@bloomberg.net

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Asset Managers Say Money Funds Safe Without New SEC Rules

PORTLAND, Ore. It didnt take long before the Portland Timbers' new additions paid dividends. But the story of their Monday night goes deeper than just some fresh faces.

Goals by newly acquired Designated Player Kris Boyd and rookie Andrew Jean-Baptiste made the headlines. But peel back the layers, and Portlands First Kick win, featuring three second-half goals to overcome a 1-0 deficit, pointed to several positive signs of improvement.

I think we came out in the second half and put on a better performance, even though we fell a goal behind, Boyd said. We showed determination to come back from that.

The Timbers' raucous sell-out crowd at JELD-WEN Field expected the world from Boyd, and the Scottish Premier Leagues all-time leading scorer didnt disappoint.

But it was the way Portland dominated throughout, including in areas where they struggled last year, that gave the fans something to hang their hats on.

The Timbers' possession percentage of 56.5 percent was far improved from the previous two times Portland played Philadelphia last year, when they registered 47.8 percent in a 1-0 victory and 41 percent in a scoreless tie.

I think we played a little better in the second half, head coach John Spencer said. I thought first half we overplayed at times and never used the energy we had in the stadium to our advantage, like we did in the second half. I asked [the team] in the locker room at halftime if they could go play Timbers football and play with energy and passion. And I think we did that. To go a goal behind, I think was against the run of play a little bit. But tremendous response, tremendous response.

Spencer cited the play of midfielder Kalif Alhassan as a key in the win, as the winger iced it with his first goal in a Timbers uniform and also recorded an assist on Boyds goal. Alhassan was particularly good in holding possession and creating a number of scoring chances and was duly rewarded for his display by the North American Soccer Reporters, who named him the MLS player of the week on Tuesday.

I would say its about hard work, Alhassan said. We worked hard all preseason. We were ready for this game.

Away test to come

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Timbers Notebook: Heading in right direction after big win

Posted: Mar. 13, 2012 | 2:00 a.m.

Fitzgeralds' rainbow marquee will soon disappear.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, the Irish-themed Fremont Street property is changing its name to The D Las Vegas. The D represents downtown's resurgence and its owners' Detroit roots. D is also what majority owner and CEO Derek Stevens is called by his friends.

The casino is also getting a $15 million makeover, which is now under way, to go with its new name. The building will be wrapped in the property's new logo, the marquee will be dismantled and replaced with light-emitting diode screens, an outdoor bar will be built and a one-way escalator installed to transport Fremont Street tourists up to the casino's second floor.

And that's just the exterior face-lift.

"We're going to try to have a dramatic visual impact on Fremont Street that blends the old with the new," said Stevens, who acquired the casino with brother Greg in October. The brothers also co-own the nearby Golden Gate casino with Mark Brandenburg.

One of the first transformations on Friday night was ready for public viewing. A new bar, appropriately called Longbar, stretches along a wall where slot machines once dominated the casino floor. Stevens said it is the longest known bar in the state at about 100 feet.

"I didn't want to do rebranding or renaming until we had something to show," Stevens said.

With 15 70-inch, flat-screen TVs lining the wall behind the bar, Longbar is a step in a decidedly more modern direction for The D.

When completed, the casino's first floor will have new slot product, new carpet, a new sound system and dancing table games dealers. Stevens said The D expects to add 100 to 150 new employees to round out the additions.

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Gimme A D: Fitzgeralds Taps New Name For Rebranding

Bids are due Tuesday for the renovation of the fourth and final Syracuse school that is part of a long-delayed, $138 million City Hall-school district project.

Work is scheduled to begin in April at H.W. Smith School, said Thomas Ferrara, district director of facilities and operations. The projected $28 million project, which includes extensive interior work and a five-classroom addition, is scheduled to be done by October 2013, possibly September 2013.

Reconstruction is well underway at the other three schools: Fowler High, Dr. Weeks Elementary and the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central. Additions are rising at Fowler and the institute. All the schools are undergoing major interior work.

Those projects so far are on time and on budget, Ferrara said.

By the end of next year, I think well have four schools completely renovated, said Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, who chairs the joint city-district board in charge of the project.

The schools completion will mark the districts first major school renovations since McKinley-Brighton and Dr. King elementary schools were remade and reopened in 2001 and 2002.

The path to the current renovations winds back to August 2003, when city hall and the school district announced the project.

The original plan was for the joint board to oversee the renovation of every school in district in phases over 10 years. The first phase would cover seven schools. Officials originally expected construction to begin as soon as 2005.

For a range of reasons, the project dragged on and dwindled in scope from seven to four schools. The first major work began in June 2011 at Fowler.

The district and city, at that time lead by Mayor Matt Driscoll and Superintendent Stephen C. Jones, created the joint board as a mechanism to borrow money without increasing the citys debt load and to fast-track badly needed renovations. Traditionally, the city itself borrows the money for school renovations. Either way, the state covers most of the project costs.

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Major renovations poised to begin at fourth Syracuse school

Just weeks before the second Global Nuclear Security Summit convenes in South Korea, the United States still has not enacted a law critical to ratifying what the Obama administration at the first summit called the two key international treaties governing nuclear security (see GSN, Oct. 6, 2011).

The Senate endorsed both pacts four years ago without opposition. However, Congress has yet to sign off on legislation that would force the United States to come into line with the mandates.

The administration is still wrangling with Congress over legal specifics for implementing the international agreements, according to representatives of the State Department and involved congressional committees.

Officials from the Justice and State departments are meeting routinely with Capitol Hill staffers in an effort to resolve disputes, but neither side has promised formal action on the proposals prior to the March 26-27 event in Seoul or before the current congressional term ends next January.

Some issue specialists called for senior-level White House involvement in finalizing U.S. adoption of the agreements, a step they said is crucial to improving atomic-material protections around the world and to bolstering global collaboration in apprehending and punishing potential nuclear-terrorism suspects.

The White House needs to call Democrats who are on the Hill and tell them to make it happen, said Miles Pomper, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Washington.

One of the two arrangements requires member nations to criminalize the possession or use of sensitive materials in a nuclear or radiological weapon with the intent of causing death and destruction. It also establishes guidelines for cooperating in the extradition and prosecution of individuals linked to a nuclear plot or threat. The 2005 pact -- called the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism -- took effect in 2007 and now has 77 member states; the United States, however, remains outside the regime.

The second agreement, also completed in 2005, would revise the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material to demand a number of requirements aimed at protecting nonmilitary nuclear material in domestic use, storage, or transport. The accord presently only requires such measures for material in transit between countries. To take effect, the amendment must be ratified by 97 of the original 145 signatories to the 1980 pact; 53 had done so as of late February, according to a U.N. document.

At the 2010 nuclear summit in Washington, the Obama administration said the United States had accelerated efforts to complete ratification procedures for the convention and amendment. One month earlier, it had provided Congress with a draft bill to implement the agreements, describing the legislation as nearly identical to a proposal put forward by the Bush administration in July 2008.

No lawmaker has sponsored a bill in Congress for complying with the treaties, however. Last year, the Justice Department provided the new 112th Congress with a slightly revised proposal for meeting the terms of the pacts. Also included in the submission was the departments fourth draft bill since 2007 for implementing two separate agreements on legal procedures for terrorism cases involving ships or fixed platforms, as well as overseas transfers of terrorist fugitives or of WMD materials or delivery systems.

Link:
Legislative Quagmire Grips Nuclear-Security Pacts in U.S

Posted: Mar. 11, 2012 | 10:54 a.m.

Here is a listing of events designed for book lovers. Information is subject to change or cancellation without notice. Additions or changes to this listing must be submitted at least 10 days in advance of Sunday publication to Bookmark, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125. For more information, call 383-0306.

SIGNINGS

Stephen Nasser will sign "My Brother's Voice" at 1 p.m. today at Barnes & Noble, 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd.

Wendy Mazaros will sign "Vegas Rag Doll: A True Story of Terror and Survival as a Mob Hitman's Wife" at 1 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 8915 W. Charleston Blvd.

EVENTS

"Literature That Lives: An Afternoon with Walter Mason" will feature Walter Mason presenting a collection of spoken words and music at 3 p.m. Saturday at West Las Vegas Arts Center Gallery, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd. A reception will follow (229-4800).

"The Romance of Words," a Vegas Valley Book Festival pre-festival event, will feature romance authors Ann Aguirre, Zoe Archer, Vivian Arend, Lauren Dane, Tessa Dare, Megan Hart and Courtney Milan at 9 p.m. Saturday at Chapel of the Flowers, 1717 Las Vegas Blvd. South. A reception and book signings will follow the event (229-5431).

Book Lovers' Bistro meets at 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month at Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Ave.

The Breakfast Book Club meets at 11 a.m. the third Friday of the month at Sunrise Library, 5400 Harris Ave.

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Book Signings And Events, March 11-17

March 9, 2012 - Major League Soccer (MLS) Vancouver Whitecaps FC VANCOUVER, BC - Starting their second season in Major League Soccer, Vancouver Whitecaps FC (6W-18L-10D in 2011) raise the curtain on their 2012 campaign by hosting Canadian arch-rivals and MLS expansion club Montreal Impact (9W-8L-11D in the 2011 North American Soccer League) in First Kick on Saturday afternoon.

This weekend's season opener provides a number of firsts for both clubs. For Whitecaps FC, Saturday's match is the start of the club's first full season on Bell Pitch at BC Place after playing the majority of their inaugural MLS campaign at Empire Field last year. The season-opening contest is also Martin Rennie's first as an MLS head coach after the Scotsman took charge of the Blue and White last November. For Montreal, March 10, 2012, will be remembered as the day the Quebec-based outfit made their MLS bow as the 19th team in the league.

Saturday's match is also Vancouver's 37th home opener since the club's first season in 1974 and the second time they have hosted Montreal in a home opener. The first time both clubs met to open the season was during the 2008 United Soccer Leagues First Division campaign when Whitecaps FC defeated the Impact 1-0 through a goal by current Montreal striker Eduardo Sebrango at Swangard Stadium on April 12, 2008. Whitecaps FC have an all-time record of 19W-13L-4D in home openers and have not lost a home opener since 2001.

Saturday's MLS season opener between Whitecaps FC and Montreal Impact on Bell Pitch at BC Place kicks off at 3 p.m. PT. Individual match tickets start at $20, plus applicable service charges, and are available at all Ticketmaster Ticket Centres, online at ticketmaster.ca, and Charge-by-Phone at 1.855.6.GO-CAPS (1.855.646.2277). CLICK HERE for more information on Whitecaps FC tickets.

Whitecaps FC's season opener versus Montreal Impact can also be seen live across Canada on TSN and RDS at 3 p.m. PT. 'Caps fans can also listen to Saturday's season opener live on TEAM 1410 radio and teamradio.ca, starting with the pre-game show at 1 p.m. PT. TEAM 1410 will also have a two-hour post-game show, which will begin following the match at around 5 p.m. PT.

WHITECAPS FC

A new season means new beginnings, and that phrase certainly holds true for Whitecaps FC, as changes were expected after a challenging first MLS season in 2011. What resulted was a very busy and fascinating off-season on Canada's west coast, as Rennie went about shaping his team. This resulted in new faces in every area of the "Caps squad, including three notable acquisitions for 2012. In December, the "Caps added South Korean World Cup star Young-Pyo Lee to their defensive backline, while at the end of January, Vancouver landed top MLS striker Sebastien Le Toux in a trade from Philadelphia Union. In mid-February, the club announced that Scottish international midfielder Barry Robson would join the "Caps in the summer following the conclusion of the current English League Championship season with Middlesbrough FC.

Over a dozen new faces have arrived in Vancouver this winter, and those additions have added more depth to the Whitecaps FC squad. Players to keep an eye on include Argentine centre back Martin Bonjour, who looked a steady presence alongside Jay DeMerit in preseason. Japanese-born Jun Marques Davidson and Englishman Matt Watson played for Rennie at Carolina RailHawks and bring added qualities to Vancouver's midfield. Whitecaps FC's highly-rated attack also includes 2012 MLS SuperDraft second overall pick Darren Mattocks. The Jamaican's speed and nose for goal may prove essential during the campaign.

Whitecaps FC are without goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre (knee), midfielder John Thorrington (quad), and striker Etienne Barbara (groin) for First Kick. Striker Atiba Harris (knee) and midfielder Michael Nanchoff (heel) is doubtful for Saturday's match, while newest signing Floyd Franks (lower back) is listed as questionable.

IMPACT

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Whitecaps FC Start Round 2 Versus Canadian Arch-Rivals Montreal Impact