French palace, near Dallas, hits auction block

Zillow

After eight years on the real estate market, Champs d'Or is heading to auction.

By Erika Riggs, Zillow

It's not exactly the terrain in which you'd expect to find a French estate rising like the Taj Mahal out of the Texas horizon, but in the heart of Texas, that's what you've got: The palatial digs called Champs d'Or.

The one-of-a-kind mansion sits in Hickory Creek, about a 15-minute drive from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Nearby, there's an extra-large Walmart, a few farms and a collection of home developments. These surroundings help make the dome-topped French estate seem more grand behind its iron gates.

Inside, the estate features interiors that mimic landmarks from around the world: A master closet designed to look like the Chanel boutique in Paris; a hall of mirrors designed like Versailles' own; a tea room mirrored after New York City's famed Tavern on the Green.

Owners Alan and Shirley Goldfield spent five years and $46 million constructing Champs d'Or -- French for "field of gold." But, -- surprise! -- when it came time to move in, the two decided that the 49,000-square-foot home was too big.

Before the exterior scaffolding was even removed, the property was placed on the Hickory Creek real estate market for a whopping $45 million.

For the past eight years, the home has been for sale with prices ranging from $72 million to its current price of $35 million. Now, however, with the owners eager to move the process along, an auction has been set for March 30 -- a growing trend among sellers of high-end properties.

In the case of Champs d'Or, the home will go to auction with a reserve of $10.3 million. But this isn't a bank auction. Run by Concierge Auctions, vice president of marketing Laura Brady likened the auction to something for a priceless piece of art or jewelry ? something so unusual it's incomparable.

"We feel like we create a transparent atmosphere of what the property is worth," said Brady. "It's only worth what someone is willing to pay, otherwise it's hard to say what a property like this is worth."

And it's true: Champs d'Or cannot be compared to anything else on the Texas real estate market or, for that matter, anything listed in the U.S.

Most significantly, the home is enormous, said Candy Evans of the Dallas real estate blog Candy's Dirt.

"You could get lost in there," she said.

While the home has six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, it's the other amenities that put the home in a category all its own:

  • Veranda with seating for 450 people.
  • Ionized lap pool off the master suite.
  • Master suite that includes a breakfast bar, steam room with room for 2 and a two-story Chanel-styled closet.
  • Soundproof-theater room with adjacent lobby.
  • Three kitchens: private, catering and staff.
  • Third-floor private suite with its own dining room, living room and two bathrooms.
  • Bowling alley.
  • Wine room.
  • Full-sized ballroom.
  • Gift wrap room.
  • Commercial-sized laundry room with sheet press

As Evans says, whoever lives here would have no real need to ever leave the house.

Despite the extensive detailing to the property, it hasn't been an easy sell. According to Evans, four different agents have represented the property, with each spending at least $100,000 in marketing. But what Evans believes has kept buyers away is the cost of the upkeep.

The house require a year-round staff, and currently has four people hired full-time to maintain it, Evans said. It also carries enormous property taxes and maintenance costs. In addition to a hefty mortgage of $132,677 a month, (according to Zillow's mortgage calculator and assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year-mortgage on its current listing price of $32 million) Champs d'Or doesn't come cheap.

Zillow

Now this is a place for a grand entrance.

Zillow

The two-story Chanel closet includes a beauty salon.

Zillow

The full-sized ballroom includes a wall of mirrors designed to replicate Versailles.

See more photos of Champs d'Or on Zillow.

Related:

Top 10 most expensive homes for sale in the U.S.

Ice rink, yoga studio, and disco: Over-the-top home amenities

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/16/10721459-listing-of-the-week-a-home-as-big-as-texas

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Study: Small-hospital CEOs in Maine earn $230K-$330K ? with a ...

Redington-Fairview General Hospital has 25 beds.

Located in Skowhegan, a small Somerset County town of about 8,500 people, it runs a busy ER, owns some doctors? offices and serves as a critical-access hospital for 30,000 people from Skowhegan to the Canadian border. The most seriously sick or injured patients must be sent to larger facilities such as Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

CMMC has 250 beds.

Located in one of the largest cities in the state, CMMC serves as a major hospital for 400,000 people throughout six counties. Like Redington-Fairview, it runs a busy ER and owns some doctors? offices. It also has a sleep center, a cancer center and a heart center. When someone is hurt in a major car accident, gravely ill or injured or having a heart attack, CMMC is one of the few Maine hospitals they?re whisked to by air-rescue service LifeFlight.

But in 2010, the CEO of little Redington-Fairview earned more than the head of CMMC, Laird Covey.

Redington-Fairview?s Richard Willett also earned more than the CEO of MaineGeneral Medical Center, in Augusta and Waterville, the third-largest hospital in the state. He earned more than the CEOs of Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport and St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, all hospitals with more than 100 beds. The heads of St. Mary?s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston and Mercy Hospital in Portland made more than Redington-Fairview?s CEO, but not by much.

Willett?s compensation package: nearly $550,000.

And that?s after a pay cut. The year before, he earned $693,000.

?I don?t care where you live, Lewiston or Skowhegan, that?s a lot of money,? said Joanne Woodard, a Skowhegan resident who believes her local nonprofit hospital is spending at the cost of taxpayers and patients.

For the past two years, the Sun Journal has examined executive pay, perks and certain expenditures made by the largest nonprofit hospitals in Maine. However, many of the state?s hospitals are small, rural and classified as critical-access, which earns them higher Medicare reimbursements ? more taxpayer money ? than other hospitals. Maine has nine such hospitals licensed for 25 acute-care beds only. This year, we focused on them.

The findings:

? Most small hospital CEOs earned $230,000 to $330,000.

? Some executives got special perks, such as car allowances.

? One tiny hospital spent $80,000 on lobbying, nearly twice as much as the large Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, which is the parent of Eastern Maine Medical Center and six others.

? Four small hospitals spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising, conferences and travel.

? Nonprofit hospitals receive their special nonprofit status because they?re supposed to benefit the community, but spending for charity care and community benefit varied widely.

CEO compensation

Maine has 39 acute-care and specialty hospitals. All receive taxpayer money for giving care to poor and elderly patients. All but one ? the New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland ? are nonprofit. As nonprofits, Maine hospitals get tax breaks and are able to solicit tax-exempt donations. In return, the IRS requires that they pay their CEOs ?reasonable compensation? ? a vague guideline based on the salaries paid by similar nonprofits or for-profit companies. They must also file special federal tax forms detailing their revenues and expenditures and make those forms available to the public.

The Sun Journal analyzed the most recent tax forms for the state?s nine very small, critical-access hospitals, those licensed for 25 acute-care beds and no long-term care.

CEO compensation has been a hot-button issue in recent years, provoking a lot of talk among lawmakers and one bill aimed at capping executive salaries ? that bill died in committee. Proponents of such legislation have said high executive compensation is a symptom of greater health-care spending problems and is one reason medical bills are so high. Opponents have said hospitals must pay their executives well to entice the best leaders, particularly in a rural state like Maine.

Although much of the discussion has been centered on the pay given to the CEOs of the state?s largest hospitals, at least one small hospital CEO?s compensation isn?t far behind them.

In fiscal year 2009-10, the most recent year tax forms are available, Redington-Fairview?s Willett earned almost $550,000, including nearly $225,000 in retirement or other deferred compensation. His compensation package also included nearly $304,000 in base salary and $20,500 in nontaxable benefits.

The CEOs of the other eight small hospitals earned, on average, $295,000 in total compensation. At the low end was Millinocket Regional Hospital, which paid CEO Marie Vienneau $233,500, including $3,000 as part of the same retirement plan all employees get. That?s less than half Willett?s overall compensation. Her retirement package was 1.3 percent of his.

For that pay she performs two jobs: CEO and chief nursing officer.

?I don?t know if you know a lot about Millinocket, but it has been through tough economic times over the past 10 years and that has certainly impacted compensation policies. I would say we do the best we can,? Vinneau said. ?The unemployment rate here is, I still think, hovering around 15 percent. We?ve gone, I think, two years where none of our employees, including myself, have received compensation increases.?

Among the nine small critical access hospitals, the closest compensation package to Willett?s was $386,000 paid to Erik Steele at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital. However, Steele, chief medical officer of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, was serving as temporary CEO on behalf of EMHS, Blue Hill?s parent organization. He performed two jobs that year: interim CEO of Blue Hill and chief medical officer of EMHS.

In 2011, Blue Hill?s new, permanent CEO earned $225,000.

It?s unclear exactly why Redington-Fairview chose to pay its CEO twice as much as other small Maine hospitals. Redington-Fairview?s leaders, including the hospital spokeswoman and Willett, the CEO, refused to return repeated phone calls and messages left over several months. Only two of the hospital?s nine board members from 2010 agreed to talk about the hospital at all.

William Laney, board treasurer in 2009-10, said the board is responsible for setting Willett?s compensation and it considers his pay annually, using data compiled by an outside source to gauge how much the leader of Redington-Fairview should be paid. It is unclear how long Willett has been CEO, but Laney said he has been with the hospital for years.

?I think we?re looking to be in line with similar institutions with similar budgets. We recognize that it [the CEO] is a difficult job, I think an increasingly difficult job, because of the general health care climate, regulations both state and federal,? Laney said. ?I think it is a difficult but a very important job.?

Sixty miles away, Waldo County General Hospital is the same size as Redington-Fairview, made virtually the same amount of money and it spent a similar amount in 2009-10. Its CEO earned $369,500, about $180,000 less than Willett. The year before, Waldo County?s CEO earned just over $357,000, almost half of Willett?s $693,000 compensation at the time.

Laney couldn?t remember how much Willett is paid and, when told how much it is, couldn?t explain why Willett?s compensation package was more than others.

?I don?t know without having my records in front of me whether that?s accurate or not,? he said. ?But all I can say is that the decision is made annually, it?s based upon comparisons to similar CEOs in the hospital business with similar-sized budgets.?

Virginia Howard was a board member in 2009-10. She said the board had a philosophy when it came to CEO compensation, but she declined to say what that philosophy was.

?I don?t think I feel free to mention that. I don?t know what they?d be comfortable with me saying or not saying,? she said. ?I thought it was a reasonable philosophy for the area.?

But Woodard, a 62-year-old Skowhegan resident and member of the town?s budget committee, disagrees. She has spent months combing through Redington-Fairview?s tax documents and talking with people about the hospital for her own interests. She believes the medical center is spending at the cost of higher taxes and larger patient bills, and the CEO?s large paycheck is an example of it.

?I don?t think anybody?s worth that money,? she said. ?Come on, what do they do??

Laney said that what Willett does is ?an exceptional job in moving the hospital forward.?

?I think he?s done an excellent job. I believe the hospital provides good care and serves the community well. In large measure he?s responsible for a lot of that. You know, obviously along with the medical staff and the nursing staff,? Laney said.

Woodard, however, believes the care isn?t so excellent, citing the 2009 medical license revocation of a Redington-Fairview surgeon for incompetence, unprofessional conduct and sexual misconduct there in 2007. She said that although the hospital has grown ? it added a building to consolidate doctors? offices in recent years ? she doesn?t feel it serves the community any better.

She points to the time in 2009 when she brought her husband, who was dying of cancer, to Redington-Fairview?s ER for help with his pain.

?They said, ?We don?t do that here,?? she said.

Executive perks

Executive perks have been another hot button issue for big hospitals in recent years. Four small hospitals detailed some kind of executive perk in their tax forms. Some were worth a few hundred dollars; others were worth several thousand.

Mount Desert Island Hospital?s perk was the smallest: $399 to pay for its CEO?s membership to the local YMCA.

?It?s part of his contract,? said CFO Christina Maguire-Harding.

The hospital gave other employees up to $100 for fitness club memberships.

At Calais Regional Hospital, the CEO got a $7,260 car allowance.

?Take taxes out of that and it?s probably worth $4,000. That?s taxable income to me,? said CEO Mike Lally. ?That?s the only benefit I get.?

Lally earned just under $260,000 in 2010, with $200,000 in base salary, the $7,260 car allowance, and just under $53,000 in health insurance and other nontaxable benefits.

Penobscot Valley Hospital also gave its CEO a $7,260 car allowance. The hospital?s CFO received a car allowance as well, for $3,600.

CFO Ann Marie Rush couldn?t say why Penobscot Valley decided to provide car allowances.

?It?s just part of the compensation package that was developed with the [hospital] board and Quorum,? Rush said.

Quorum Health Resources is a Tennessee-based company that sells consulting, management and education services to independent hospitals. Several of Maine?s smallest medical centers use Quorum to recruit executives and provide other services.

Although it gives its CEO and CFO car allowances, Rush said Penobscot Valley Hospital is mindful of its compensation level.

?It?s a conservative area here. We?re acutely aware of the community and how people would perceive that,? she said. ?We try to make sure we have people who work here who want to be here, who are not here to become a millionaire overnight.?

Waldo County General Hospital paid for its CEO to bring a companion when he traveled on hospital business in fiscal year 2008-09. It?s uncertain whether that continued in 2009-10, though the perk wasn?t noted in that year?s tax forms. It?s also unclear how much the hospital spent on companion travel, where they went or why. The hospital?s CFO and board president did not return phone calls. CEO Mark Biscone declined to comment on Waldo County General Hospital?s tax forms.

?They state what they state,? he said.

Lobbying, advertising, travel and conferences

Although many Maine hospitals large and small acknowledge some kind of spending on lobbying ? typically they belong to the Maine Hospital Association or another group, and a portion of their dues goes to lobbying ? only one of the nine small hospitals wrote a big check.

Penobscot Valley Hospital spent nearly $80,000 on lobbying in 2010, far more than any of the other small hospitals analyzed and almost twice that of EMHS, one of the largest health-care systems in the state.

Penobscot Valley CEO David Shannon and CFO Rush said that was a one-time expense. The hospital paid a lobbyist nearly the full $80,000 in an attempt to get federal lawmakers to approve appropriations money that could have gone to Penobscot Valley. The hospital wanted to upgrade its CT scanner and get a new digital mammography machine. Had the lobbying been successful, the hospital could have gotten about $650,000.

It was not successful.

?That was the first time we tried to do something like that,? Shannon said, adding the hospital likely wouldn?t do that again.

Four other hospitals had greater-than-average spending on advertising, conferences and travel, expenditures often noted by experts because they don?t directly impact patient care. Bridgton Hospital, Mount Desert Island Hospital, Redington-Fairview and Sebasticook Valley Health each spent a total of $300,000 or more in those categories.

For advertising and promotion in 2009-10, the nine small hospitals spent an average of $86,000. Waldo County General Hospital was at the low end at $728. Bridgton Hospital was on the high end, with just over $205,000.

Matthew Cox, CFO of Central Maine Healthcare, Bridgton?s parent organization, said most of that money was spent on employment ads and to promote the medical center?s 22 doctors.

?Bridgton Hospital employs more doctors than probably any other critical access hospital,? he said. ?So anytime there?s a new doctor, we do advertising for that new doctor to get them busy.?

Redington-Fairview spent the second-most on advertising: just over $190,000.

Spending for conferences and travel is more difficult to gauge. Although each is its own line item, some hospitals combine the two and list everything, or nearly everything, under travel.

That?s what Bridgton Hospital did. Although it listed $151,000 in travel expenses, that figure includes conferences, conventions and meetings.

?The biggest piece of that is training and continuing education for our employed physicians,? Cox said. Continuing education is required for doctors to keep their medical licences, though hospitals aren?t required by the state or any outside group to pay for that education.

For travel, the nine small hospitals spent an average of $78,000. Millinocket Regional Hospital spent the least at $20,000.

?We?re pretty tight up here,? said Vienneau, the CEO. ?Our margins are thin. We have to keep our expenses down. Just the nature of our economy and our community [means] we don?t have a choice.?

Bridgton spent the most on travel, but that figure included conferences and other expenses. Sebasticook Valley Health ? formerly Sebasticook Valley Hospital ? spent the second-most on travel, about $126,000. It also spent about $171,000 on conferences, conventions and meetings.

Liisa Janelle, chief human relations officer, said Sebasticook Valley spends about $500 per person each year on education, including clinical training and an initiative to reduce costs and make the hospital more efficient.

?We?re in an industry where it?s changing all the time, and we have to stay on top of things,? she said.

Three hospitals listed nothing under conferences because they combined that expenditure with travel. The remaining six spent an average of $165,900 on conferences, conventions and meetings. Blue Hill spent the least, $75,700. Mount Desert Island Hospital spent the most, $294,400.

Mount Desert CFO Maguire-Harding said just over half of that was spent on clinical and professional training for nurses, doctors, emergency room workers and others who need continuing education in order to keep their licenses.

The remaining $141,000 was spent on group training, including courses offered to medical professionals throughout Hancock County. Those professionals pay to take that training, reimbursing the hospital for about 60 percent of that spending.

Community benefit

Nonprofit hospitals receive that special nonprofit status because they?re supposed to benefit the community. A couple of years ago, the IRS began asking hospitals to detail exactly how they do that ? backed up with numbers.

All hospitals are now supposed to report what percentage of their total expenses benefits the community. In other words, the IRS wants to know how much hospital spending is helping the community and how much is helping the hospital.

Because the requirement is so new, some hospitals report their community benefit percentage differently. Of the nine small hospitals, for example, most factored in only the cost of charity care, unreimbursed Medicaid and general community benefits, such as contributions the hospital made to community groups or services it provided to improve health in the area. But at least one hospital added to ?community benefit? the cost of bad debt, the amount of hospital bills left unpaid by patients.

Experts expect reporting to become more uniform as hospitals get used to filling out the new section. Until then, it?s one of the few ways to gauge how much a hospital?s spending benefits the community.

Among Maine?s small hospitals, the community benefit percentage varied wildly. At Blue Hill, 2.8 percent of expenses went to charity care and other community benefits. At Waldo County General Hospital, 10.3 percent did.

Among the nine, the average was 5.9 percent.

Nancy Glidden, CFO of Calais Regional, said her hospital?s accounting firm told her the industry standard is 9-11 percent. Calais reported 9 percent, one of the highest of Maine?s small hospitals. Its figure did not include bad debt.

Although the industry standard is 9-11 percent, officials at most of the small hospitals said they do not work toward a goal percentage. Some say they meet 9 percent easily. Others say they struggle with lower amounts, torn between aiding the community and balancing their budget.

?We don?t set a target that we try to achieve. We?re typically around 3 percent, anywhere between 3 to 5 percent, for charity care,? said Rush, CFO of Penobscot Valley Hospital, which showed about 6.2 percent of its spending benefited the community in 2010. ?It would be probably difficult to absorb much more than that when you bring all of the rest of the operations into that mix. We generally don?t have a large bottom line.?

Over the next couple of years, hospitals will be required to provide even more detail about how they benefit the community. It?s accountability Woodard, for one, welcomes.

?If you?re going to do something for the community, do it where the community as a whole, the taxpayers, benefit from it,? she said.

Taxes

Like all nonprofit organizations, Maine?s nonprofit hospitals don?t have to pay property taxes.

In Skowhegan, that?s becoming something of an issue.

Redington-Fairview General Hospital is a small, critical-access hospital licensed for 25 acute-care beds. In recent years, the medical center has taken over independent doctors? offices and built a 60,000-plus-square-foot addition to house them. It has bought three or four houses and razed them, turning the properties into a hospital-owned parking lot. It has talked about buying more.

The problem: Every property the nonprofit hospital buys is taken off the local tax rolls.

And in Skowhegan, sewer costs are included in property taxes, so while the hospital uses almost 30 percent of the town?s sewer services, according to the town, it doesn?t pay anything toward those costs.

?For the hospital it?s twofold, because they?re tax exempt and they use a lot of our sewer,? Town Manager John Doucette said. ?And we can?t do anything about it.?

Redington-Fairview isn?t alone in its property-tax-free status, and Skowhegan isn?t the only town caught between loving its nonprofits and hating the loss of tax money.

In 2005, Lewiston adopted a stormwater fee ? dubbed a ?rain tax? by some ? to get the city?s nonprofits, including its two hospitals, to pay some share of the costs of city services. The city said it established the fee, which is based on the amount of water runoff generated by a property, because residential property owners were paying for more than half the cost of dealing with runoff, while tax-exempt properties paid nothing.

During the last legislative session, Rep. Michael Celli, R-Brewer, submitted a bill that would have allowed towns to tax nonprofits for the services they used. The bill died in committee. Celli believes that?s because his bill didn?t clearly exclude schools. Although Celli does not plan to run for re-election, he said several colleagues have agreed to sponsor a new version of the bill.

?You look at some of these, especially these major hospitals, that obviously claim to be a nonprofit, but you look at their building and what they keep on adding to and you see what they pay their CEOs, and their standards as nonprofits are kind of questionable at times,? Celli said. ?The services that they?re using are being paid for by the ordinary taxpaying citizen living in their homes.?

Although Redington-Fairview and Skowhegan aren?t unique, the town?s reliance on the property tax to pay the town?s sewer bill does make their situation more uncommon. Town Manager Doucette said the town has talked about separating property taxes and sewer fees, but there weren?t enough votes to pass an ordinance.

Doucette makes clear that he likes Redington-Fairview. It?s one of the biggest employers in town, it provides important services and the hospital is ?a good neighbor.? But he laments the loss of tax money and the expenses the town incurs, such as supplying the hospital with police protection every time there?s an irate patient.

?I?m not saying they shouldn?t be tax exempt. I just don?t think they should be 100-percent tax exempt,? Doucette said. ?And I think that?s a big thing nowadays. Forty years ago? Yeah, OK. Now, they?re businesses. In fact, I talked to someone up there one time and they said, ?Our business plan?? and I?m going, ?Wait a minute. You?re not a business.??

To see more from the Sun Journal, visit sunjournal.com.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/18/health/study-small-hospital-ceos-in-maine-earn-230k-330k-with-a-550k-exception/

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Video Marketing Goldmine ? The Review | drenalinband.com

What It?s All About: It looks like video marketing is going to be the newest thing when it comes to Internet marketing and it just makes sense. Countless Internet marketers have used it to expand their online businesses. Video Marketing Goldmine is a new program by Sean Donahue that will reveal the secrets to making a video marketing campaign work for you. You are about to learn why this course is so valuable and why it?s a must have for your business. You can have to most expensive and highest quality tools for doing anything, but if you are not competent with using them then your results will be substandard.

You can rattle off any number of strategies used, Wealthy Affiliate ? that is a randomly chosen tool many people like. We will also contend that just about any person can rise far above where they are today if they just get good feedback and then work hard to improve.

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Your campaigns should never remain static, and so the point we are making here is the need to be dynamic and test those sub-components of landing pages and all else.

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Sean Donahoe: Who is He? Sean Donahoe is no stranger to the world of Internet marketing and he has had many successes including becoming an author, a motivational speaker, a consultant and more. He?s gone through a lot to be where he is today, and that shows in just how high quality each of his products are. His ways of teaching allow you to take action right away, even if you?re just a beginner.

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But we would always caution that you do not fall into the habit of using your research and learning as a crutch.

That is a very common phenomenon; falling into the delusion that you are working when really all you are doing is researching or buying information. When you simply focus each day on getting something done, you will be shocked and amazed at how fast your efforts multiply.

Source: http://drenalinband.com/uncategorized/video-marketing-goldmine-the-review/

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Dental Assistant Resumes:Discover the Best Resume Cover Letter ...

Discover the best resume cover letter advice in order to get hired. Nowadays it?s very difficult to get the job you want. This is why you need a professional cover letter. Having just a Curriculum Vitae (CV), also known as a resume, might not be enough to convince people that you are the right person for the job.

First of all you need a formal introduction. This should provide information about your job field, experience and areas of expertise. Try to remember all your professional achievements. You will be surprised of how much this will help you.

The authors of the Harvard Business Review article give more examples of experiments and studies that showed people with experience living internationally to be more resourceful, creative problem-solvers. And they recommend that U.S. corporations invest in developing these kinds of employees through expatriate programs.?Expatriate programs are good for developing better managers, our research suggests. We believe that companies could make them even better by ensuring that expats are not cocooned from the local culture during their stints abroad. The more expats interact with locals and local institutions, the more creative and entrepreneurial they?ll become.?

How do you say all that in just three paragraphs, four at the very most, and leave a lot of white space on ONE page? That is what will take an hour to do. By doing so you will demonstrate your writing skills and your uniqueness as a candidate. This in not accomplished by reducing the type size and margins. It is accomplished by choosing and organizing words carefully. The work you do creating the cover letter is great preparation for the upcoming interview.I was hiring an IT skilled assistant and received a resume which had some appeal. My wife manages a dental office and was hiring a front office person. She commented on one resume that she found interesting and asked my opinion. It looked familiar. I pulled the stack of resumes from my briefcase and found the same resume AND the same cover letter, word for word. Neither of us considered the applicant further.

When I started my first job in Seoul, I realized that if I was going to find my way around the city I had to learn to read the Korean alphabet and speak a few basic phrases if I ever wanted to leave the neighborhood where I lived. The only ways to get around in the area at that time were by bus and taxi. The buses had no signs in English and I hadn?t run into any taxi drivers who spoke much of the language. Although I was hesitant to do it, not sure how I would be perceived, I asked one of my Korean co-workers to give me a crash course in the language. Then I forced myself to get out of my apartment on the weekends and after work. I made an effort to see theDental Assistant Resumes city and to use my newly acquired (and fairly awkward) language skills. Skills I never would have acquired had I stayed home.

Learn more about Dental Assistant Resumes.

Source: http://anyameten.com/dental-assistant-resumesdiscover-the-best-resume-cover-letter-advice/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dental-assistant-resumesdiscover-the-best-resume-cover-letter-advice

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Are You Getting All You Can with Social Dancing and Networking?

1. Break the Stereotype with your Body Language - Of course dancing and having fun are on the top of the list, but exhibiting that you have more to offer than the ?night club stereotype? in your body language will surely project to others as the evening progresses. Yes, no doubt, there will always be those stereotypical dancers in the crowd. Although, projecting a strong and positive vibe in your own body language will minimize any unwanted approaches or advances.

2. Don't Judge the Book by its Cover - It?s sad to say that many great opportunities have been passed up at many casual dance events, thus causing one to miss a great networking opportunity. It is human nature to judge first, and this is so deep-seated that it may never change, but the great news is that everyone has the power as an individual to not fall into this embedded and destructive social stereotype.

This is another reason why many dancers are missing a possible great networking opportunity and advancing in their skill. Try accessing instead of judging. Okay, so you notice a dancer that is kind of awkward when dancing and you immediately dismiss them as approachable. This type of rushing to judgment has been the cause of many lost opportunities. ?As we know, it may be a passion, but there is more to life than dancing. There are people in the crowd just as interested in sharing more than dancing and may just talk about what they have to offer. Who knows, maybe your fun evening of dancing may bring a financial or career prospect.

3. Be Open to Sharing your Profession - You can breathe a sigh of relief that most social dancers go dancing with their mind cleared of the night club stereotype.? Of course ?there are as many opinions as?? as the saying goes.

In being a professional, one can decipher and gain an advantage. You might discover that in the crowd there may be an answer or an option that can open a dialogue and create a fun dance partner and possibly even a future profitable business relationship. On the other hand, discard any conversation that is not judged worthy and use the dance etiquette of smiling as you politely move on. Keep smiling and shining around the room!

?4. Don't Yammer-CLOSE THE DEAL! - You know that person, or you might be guilty of jumping on that soap box yourself. Be conscious and courteous as a conversation begins. Remember, we still want to dance and show off those dance shoes and dance moves. Think of it as a two-minute presentation and speak slowly, clearly and to the general point of your profession. Extend the courtesy to the other, and unless you feel a possible connect, it's time to get dancing and/or move on, with a thank you and a smile of course.? Although some things go without saying, it?s always good to be reminded to be careful when sharing any contact information.? Surely the person you are sharing with will be seen again in another dance event. When and if the networking information that is being shared is deemed worthy, and the person seems sincere without other motives or intentions, you may have started to secure a great business opportunity and an advantage for you both as time goes on. Again, even if there is nothing in common regarding business, you will always have dancing in common.

5. The Follow Up - So you?re having a great time dancing and have made some awesome and interesting business contacts. Whether the contact pans out or not, the common professional courtesy of a follow-up call and keeping the door open may bring a recommendation to a third party which might have more in common related to your particular business. As we know, social dancing is one of the best receptive audiences where opportunities are available, but many times are lost due to the stereotypical thought. Thank goodness that as individuals, and through dancing, we have raised our own personal thoughts and expectations above any stereotypical thinking and control our own progress. And for those who lack the mental power and control, may the higher power of every belief enlightenment them soon. As always, I wish you all the best in everything, happy dancing and successful networking.

Source: http://leisure.ezinemark.com/are-you-getting-all-you-can-with-social-dancing-and-networking-7d34a78493e1.html

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A Greener Way to Shopping Convenience With Online Shopping

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By: brian warren

The Internet is currently driving an enormous percentage of the world's commerce, and you will find every possible product or service online. Online shopping makes the world?s marketplace at your fingertips. The fast paced life and the hustle and bustle of modern society that gives us less time to spend looking around shops. Shopping online is fast, convenient, and your stuff comes right to your door with no car trips required. There are a large number of stores that have an internet presence providing information about their products, prices and the opportunity to shop online.

With enormous competition between online stores you can save a fair amount of money by buying online and also don?t have to wait around in queues when purchasing online. It also bring about the convenience of checking out products and services, reading product reviews, and comparing product features and prices of different vendors with just the click of a mouse. Online shopping is indeed a greener way to chopping convenience as it can help reduce your carbon footprint. With no vendor pressure, a buyer is free to decide whether to buy a product or not. When shopping online you can do the necessary research beforehand and this can contribute to smarter buying decisions. This method can no doubt lessen the impact of your carbon footprint when compared to the alternative of traveling to many shops.

Online shopping also provides other savings besides the obvious saving on gas. Many e-stores also offer discounts over traditional outlets as they ship goods out from a central warehouse and can afford to pass on those savings to the consumer. Once you decide on the product or service, be it a book or CD, electronic gadget, or insurance, a payment can be made by charging your credit card or through a secure payment service. An e-receipt or confirmation is issued eliminating the need for tree-based paper. Online merchants can publish much more information about their product on a website than they could affordably publish in a print catalog. And online gift shop give you the ability to share information and reviews with other shoppers who have firsthand experience with a product or retailer.

The numerous green convenience benefits of India shopping online are propelling more and more people to online shopping. It has become a convenient and cost-effective mode of shopping as you can just sit at home surf for any product, available across the world and order it to be delivered at your doorstep with cash on delivery options.

Author Resource:->??Read more on - Online shopping, online gift shop, cash on delivery, Best mobile phone, Gifts to India

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Study: Stem cells may aid vision in blind people (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Two legally blind women appeared to gain some vision after receiving an experimental treatment using embryonic stem cells, scientists reported Monday.

While embryonic stem cells were first isolated more than a decade ago, most of the research has been done in lab animals. The new results come from the first tests in humans for a vision problem. Researchers caution the work is still very preliminary.

"This study provides reason for encouragement, but plans to now get such a treatment would be premature," said stem cell expert Paul Knoepfler of the University of California, Davis, who had no role in the research.

Last summer, each patient was injected in one eye with cells derived from embryonic stem cells at the University of California, Los Angeles. One patient had the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness. The other had a rare disorder known as Stargardt disease that causes serious vision loss. There's no cure for either eye problem.

After four months, both showed some improvement in reading progressively smaller letters on an eye chart. The Stargardt patient, a graphic artist in Los Angeles, went from seeing no letters at all to being able to read five of the largest letters.

However, experts said the improvement of the macular degeneration patient might be mostly psychological, because the vision in her untreated eye appeared to get better too.

Both patients remain legally blind despite their improvements, said experts not connected with the study.

"One must be very careful not to overinterpret the visual benefit," said Vanderbilt University retina specialist Dr. Paul Sternberg, who is also the president-elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The findings were published online Monday by the journal Lancet. This early test was meant to study whether the stem cell therapy was safe in people and not whether it would improve vision.

Scientists at UCLA and Advanced Cell Technology, which funded the work, said they were pleased that there have been no signs of rejection or abnormal growth months after the procedure.

Embryonic stem cells can transform into any cell of the body. Scientists are hoping to harness embryonic stem cells to create a variety of replacement tissues for transplant, but their use has been controversial because human embryos have to be destroyed to harvest the cells.

The latest news comes two months after Geron Corp. halted its stem cell-based experiment for spinal cord injuries, saying it planned to focus instead on two experimental cancer drugs.

Meanwhile, ACT is pushing ahead with its blindness study. The company said Monday that surgeons in London injected a patient with Stargardt disease last week.

___

Online:

Lancet: http://www.thelancet.com/journals

___

Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_he_me/us_med_stem_cells_blindness

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Adult stem cells could improve angioplasy outcome; Study to explore usage

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) ? A Creighton University School of Medicine researcher has received a $3.3 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study what role adult stem cells might play in repairing damaged coronary arteries, a complication that often occurs in patients after they undergo angioplasty and stenting.

"Restenosis, a re-narrowing of coronary arteries in the heart, after balloon angioplasty and the placement of stents, is a serious problem. Drug-eluting stents can help reduce the occurrence of restenosis. However, there is a serious tradeoff.

Drug-eluting stents can lead to thrombosis (platelet deposits in the endothelial lining around the blood vessels that destroy the lining), which then requires longer periods of anti-platelet therapy. This therapy, in turn, can produce serious side effects, including nosebleed, upset stomach, nausea and diarrhea," said Devendra Agrawal, Ph.D., principal investigator and a professor of biomedical sciences, internal medicine and medical microbiology and immunology.

For the study, Agrawal and his co-investigators, Creighton cardiologist Michael Del Core and pathologist William Hunter will deliver adult stem cells (autologous mesenchymal stem cells), together with a novel gene, at the site of an interventional procedure in the coronary arteries of a pig model.

The goal is to determine whether the administration of adult stem cells, along with the gene therapy, is superior to using drug-eluting stents following angioplasty, said Agrawal, holder of The Peekie Nash Carpenter Endowed Chair in Medicine. If successful, he added, the treatment could even eliminate the need for stents.

Recent research has shown that angioplasty and stenting -- commonly used to open narrowed coronary arteries -- are not as effective as once thought.

In fact, a study involving more than 15,000 patients and published Nov. 28 online by the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that it can even do more harm than good in some patients. According to the study, nearly one in 10 patients undergoing coronary angioplasty was readmitted to a hospital within 30 days, and these patients were at higher risk of death within one year.

With angioplasty, a catheter-guided balloon is inserted to open a narrowed coronary artery. A wire mesh stent is typically implanted during the procedure to keep the artery open.

Eleven to18 percent of all patients experience restenosis or a re-narrowing of the artery within three-four years, said Agrawal.

This is the second grant Agrawal has received in recent months to explore alternatives to stenting. The first grant totaled $2.58 million over four years.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/qqln8tgBLlM/120123133644.htm

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Putin warns ethnic tensions risk tearing Russia apart (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) ? Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned ethnic tensions could tear Russia apart, saying he would toughen migration rules on reassuming the presidency and keep a tight rein on Russia's regions to prevent it following the Soviet Union into oblivion.

Putin, in power since 2000 and favored to win a six-year presidential term in March, described a Soviet-style vision of a country in which the rights of ethnic minorities would be respected but Russian language and culture would dominate.

"With the collapse of the country (the Soviet Union), we were on the edge -- and in some regions over the edge -- of civil war," Putin wrote in an article published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta Monday, referring to two separatist wars in Chechnya since the 1991 Soviet breakup.

"With great effort, with great sacrifice we were able to douse these fires. But that doesn't mean that the problem is gone," he wrote in the second of a series of articles promoting his leadership goals ahead of March 4 elections.

A little more than a month before the vote, Putin appeared determined to denounce xenophobia without alienating members of the ethnic Russian, mostly Orthodox Christian majority, some of whom fear labor migration and higher birth rates among Russia's Muslims may leave them a minority in their own country.

Moscow is a flash point for ethnic tensions and the site of thousands-strong protests by nationalists angry over migration and government subsidies to the mostly Muslim North Caucasus.

Comparing nationalism to a disease, Putin took aim at ethnic Russian militants, who have been among the 59-year-old prime minister's most vociferous critics, joining in mass protests over disputed parliamentary elections last month.

"If a multiethnic society is infected by nationalism, it loses its strength and durability," Putin said. "We need to understand what far-reaching effects can be caused by attempts to inflame national enmity and hatred."

RUSSIAN CULTURE

But he also emphasized that minorities in what he called a multi-ethnic society must live under the umbrella of Russian culture, and migrants must take measures to integrate such as passing exams in Russian language and history.

"The Russian people, the Russian culture is the glue holding together the unique fabric of this civilization," Putin wrote.

Putin's most detailed proposals called for authorities to be given more power to vet migrants based on their professional skill level, for students to be asked to read some 100 national classics and for the creation of a new government body tasked with inter-ethnic policy.

He also said the best way to stem migration was by creating favorable conditions for citizens to work in their native regions or nations, and argued in support of state spending on poor regions such as the mostly Muslim North Caucasus.

He also plugged his plan for a Eurasian Union linking Russia with other ex-Soviet republics including those in Central Asia, saying closer economic ties would help curb migration by helping to develop the economies of neighboring states.

In a sign Putin has few plans to reverse a consolidation of power in Moscow, which opponents say has weakened political competition and turned regions into vassals, Putin said he could not allow regional political parties because some could be created along ethnic lines, calling it a "direct path to separatism."

"What is omitted is even more important than what is included (in the article)," said Nikolai Petrov, a political analyst with the Moscow Carnegie Center, told Reuters.

"There is no mention of federalism here and the idea here is that a centralized state should be stronger in order to prevent disintegration," he said.

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Moscow against the contested vote on December 24 and the opposition plans new rally on February 4 to protest Putin's planned return.

(Additional reporting by Thomas Grove)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_russia_putin

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Give your Windows 7 desktop an Ice Cream Sandwich flavored makeover

Android Central

What you see here folks is a Windows 7 desktop theme developed by Flickr user David Molina. Ice Cream Sandwich is pretty darn good looking, and David wanted to bring some of that to his desktop PC.

It's not the simplest implementation, and there's quite a few different components involved. The end result though is definitely worth it, and a surprisingly accurate representation of ICS on your PC. Full instructions can be found by hitting the source link below.

Source: Lifehacker  

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/erikFqBWe-E/story01.htm

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