Cheer New York peps up the Big Apple: Whatever the age, anyone can pick up a pompom

The skills of Cheer New York are growing by leaps and bounds.

"Cheer New York, you better work!" shouts a crew of 30 gyrating cheerleaders whose upbeat attitudes suffuse the Alvin Ailey dance studio much like sparkly confetti on New Year's Eve.

"Show me what you got!"

As they bump their toned chests, their cheers reverberate in a highly refined church chorus over Ke's "Blow." Fists clenched up high, kicks going over the shoulders, flipping and somersaulting on command, they seem like any other cheer squad that could be found in any high school or college in any city.

But this squad's captain is 41 years old. The median age is around 30.

"My friends are like, girl, I can't believe you're still doing this," says Kerry Harris, co-captain of the team. Harris, a national account manager for Swarovski, joined Cheer New York three years ago. He has cheered since he was 15.

"I'm like, you better believe it, that's why I'm so in shape."

Cheer New York, a volunteer nonprofit, has been performing with pompoms since 2002.

"I'm so glad I found a place to cheer, and it makes me so happy, especially after college," says Cat Marcasciano, 25, who also cheered in college.

It doesn't hurt that all of this fun - the choreography, commotion and camp - that the organization channels goes toward raising money for charities that fight life-threatening conditions and illnesses or issues facing the LGBT community.

Most recently, the organization raised $5,000 for the Peter Cicchino Urban Justice Center.

"People might think it's all fun and games, but at the end of the day, we're helping different causes," says Felipe Hernandez, the group's co-founder.

Hernandez, who first cheered during his junior year at Columbia, said he was inspired by the movie "Bring It On." But it wasn't until after 9/11 that he thought it was time to create his own team.

"I just thought that the group I was in didn't have the cheerful life message we wanted," he recalls. "New York really needed some cheering up."

Every August, Hernandez runs tryouts where only five to 10 who audition receive an offer. Since members are in the group "for life," as Hernandez puts it, spots are limited and the process is highly competitive.

"We look for people who can move and who are strong," he says. "And who are committed."

At practice recently, the group goes over drill after drill in preparation for the Gay Pride Parade. They have been preparing since January, and the squad still looks a little unpolished.

"This is for real, real, not for play, play!" a thin and highly energetic Mike Vandermause, assistant coach, yells. "Y'all are getting sloppy!"

Donning uniforms of red, white and blue, members wipe the sweat from their drenched faces, tired but determined.

"Like, OMG!" one member shouts from the back as he proceeds to kick one leg up to his ear.

"Cheer New York, work!" he says, snapping his fingers once in the air, then twirling.

Finally, after three extremely intense hours, they get the routine down, perfect.

And with a rah rah, sis boom bah, they shout: "Nine years giving back to New York! Pride and spirit still flying high! C-H-E-E-R-N-Y! Woo!"

As everyone sits on the studio floor, catching a breath, Jason Taylor stands and announces: "I just wanted to let you guys know that this is my last day at practice." He's off to San Francisco.

"And I wanted to let you know that this was the best experience I've had ever in New York. I'm going to miss you all!"

"We are proud of you, we are proud of you!" his cheer squad shouts out without a second thought, while double-clapping between beats.

"We are proud of you, we are proud of you!"

Stars show off their beach bods

They're back! Summer's started and you know what that means: Celebrity beach bods! Stars love to jump at the first chance to strut their stuff by the sea. see some interesting collection of photos

Reality star Kristin Cavallari shows off her hot bikini bod on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif.

Crystal Harris flaunts her beach bod in Vegas on what should have been her wedding day to Hugh Hefner. Way to rub it in his face ...

Avril Lavigne horses around while vacationing with friends on a yacht in Saint Tropez.

Megan Fox shows she's still as foxy as ever in a skimpy pink bikini.

Alyssa Campanella, Miss California, strutted down the stage and into the coveted title of Miss USA.

So how does Campanella compare to last year's Miss USA, Rima Fakih, seen here in Las Vegas on June 8?

Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell dons an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow bikini to jet ski with her beau Harry Beckwith and daughter BlueBell in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France ...

she loses the bikini altogether.

 

A Brooklyn girl was robbed of her teenage years by a gang of creeps who repeatedly raped her

The victim (not shown) is an Orthodox Jewish girl from Crown Heights.

A Brooklyn girl was robbed of her teenage years by a gang of creeps who repeatedly raped her, beat her and pimped her out, prosecutors said Wednesday.

But the brave teen - who was brutalized for eight years starting at 13 - still managed to finish school, enroll in college and gather the strength to report the horrific abuse.

"It's hard to imagine something more terrible than this," said her college professor, a former prosecutor and the first person the victim confided with.

The Orthodox Jewish girl from Crown Heights was first raped in a park by Damien Crooks, 31, and Jamali Brockett, 27, in 2003, according to court records. Jawara Brockett, 33, joined them in raping the teen in 2007, and Darrell Dula, 24, did the same in 2010 after she refused to help Crooks recruit other girls for prostitution, prosecutors said.

All four have been arrested and were charged Wednesday.

Until recently, the suspects continually threatened to harm her family if she reported them. When she was forced to have sex with strangers, they kept all the money.

Crooks "even sold her on the street for $20 to a passerby," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

She decided to come forward after Crooks told her he'll do the same things to her younger sister, prosecutors said.

Despite this horrid ordeal, the victim managed to pull through and seek a degree in criminal justice.

"She did a great job segregating whatever happened in her life," said the college professor. "She's incredibly smart."

Crooks, who has 37 prior arrests and six convictions, was ordered held on a $1 million bail by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Joseph McKay.

"The recitation of what he's charged with is frightening. Very very frightening," the judge said.

Mom killed baby in a drunken rage, then strapped him in a BabyBjorn and went shopping

Toyrianna Smith, 20, is accused of strapping her baby's corpse into a sling and taking him shopping after killing the three-month old in a drunken rage.

A Chicago-area mother suffocated her 3-month-old baby to death and then strapped him into a BabyBjorn carrier and went shopping, prosecutors said.

Toyrianna Smith, 20, was drinking vodka with friends at a home in Harvey, Ill., south of Chicago, last Wednesday when she beat and suffocated Ken Blackman Jr. because he wouldn't stop crying, prosecutors said in a bond hearing on Monday.

Smith had allegedly crashed in a guest room at the friend's house with the baby by her side when his crying woke her up, authorities said.

She told cops that she put a blanket over his head, hit him in the face and then smothered him until he stopped flailing and went quiet, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

On Thursday morning, when Blackman's father arrived to pick the boy up, Smith put the tot's lifeless body in a BabyBjorn and slipped out to go shopping for several hours, prosecutors said.

She then went to a neighbor's house to hang out. The neighbor called 911 after spotting blood on his blanket and noticing that the boy wasn't breathing.

Blackman was taken to Memorial Hospital in Harvey, where he was pronounced dead at 11:40 a.m. An autopsy report showed he died from suffocation and had been dead for 14 hours.

Smith admitted to killing the boy and used a toy doll to demonstrate for cops how she hit and smothered him, the Sun-Times reported.

She was charged with first-degree murder and ordered held on $1 million bond.

New Yorkers cut back on smoking, sugary drinks; Gay men cut back on condoms

New Yorkers seem to have traded vices, as reports of unsafe sex are on the rise for gay men.

Fewer New Yorkers are smoking or sipping on sugary drinks, but an increasing number of gay men aren't using condoms, new Health Department data show.

The report card shows how much progress the Bloomberg administration has made toward its health goals for 2012, an effort called Take Care New York.

Yesterday's update shows residents have made improvements in many areas between 2007 and 2009, including a 7% drop in the number of smokers, a 12% nosedive in the number of New Yorkers who consume one or more sugar-laden drinks daily and a nearly 3% decrease in teen pregnancies.

Still, there were setbacks.

There was a 6% dip in the number of gay men regularly using condoms during sex and a 14% jump in the number of people with psychological problems who failed to get treatment.

And the gap between low-income families living in bad housing conditions compared to wealthier families who did remained stubbornly high.

The report also shows the city, in some areas, has a lot of work to do to meet its goals by next year.

A record low 16% of the population smokes, but the city hopes to bring that down even further - to 12% by 2012. Officials also hope to lower teen pregnancies from 83 per 1,000 to 70 per 1,000.

Health Commissioner Thomas Farley praised the progress his agency has made and promised to push ahead with his policies aimed at improving New Yorkers' health, including asking restaurants to reduce salt in food and handing out free nicotine patches to smokers.

'True Blood' star Stephen Moyer : Wife Anna Paquin gives me permission to bite my fans' breasts

Stephen Moyer opens up about finding love with his on- and off-screen love, Anna Paquin.

Even without his menacing fangs, Stephen Moyer can still bring the bite.

The 41-year-old "True Blood" actor talks love and fitness in the new issue of Men's Health and reveals he's always happy to sink his teeth into an adoring fan - as long as wife Anna Paquin gives the okay.

"I get to sign boobs a lot," the actor tells the magazine. "I get to bite boobs, occasionally, when I'm allowed. If my missus is there and she approves of the person I get to bite boobs ... and necks."

Paquin, 28, plays Moyer's mind-reading love-interest, Sookie Stackhouse, on the hit HBO show, which kicks off its fourth season this Sunday.

Off-screen, the two tied the knot last August after dating for three years, but Moyer admits he and Paquin were both hesitant about jumping into an on-set romance.

"I did find love on set," he says of the actress, whom he met during screen tests for the show. "Our interest was piqued by each other but at that point it was like, we're about to work together for a long time, hopefully, you know, if the show gets picked up."

"So, there were no feelings at that point," he adds.

But it didn't take long for the sparks to fly. "They put us in a hotel, we were in the same hotel. We were having dinner every night. [And then] I got back to London and Anna got back to New York and I just missed speaking to her every day, which is what we had been doing up into that point," he reveals.

The couple turned to Skype, chatting online for two or three hours a night, and their interest quickly grew into love.

"I was intrigued by her," Moyer remembers. "She was very open about work. But she was withdrawn [personally]. I was like, 'Here I am, here's everything I've got.'"

Heiress Huguette Clark died at age 104 and leaves $400M to charity

Reclusive heiress Huguette Clark died at age 104 in May.

Reclusive Manhattan copper heiress Huguette Clark stiffed her relatives in her will, leaving the bulk of her $400 million fortune to charity - and a whopping $33 million to her nurse.

Clark, who died May 24 at Beth Israel Medical Center at the age of 104, also left $500,000 each to her lawyer, Wallace (Wally) Bock, 79, and her accountant, Irving Kamsler, 64, a convicted sex offender. The Manhattan district attorney's office is investigating Bock and Kamsler for possibly mishandling her riches.

"I intentionally make no provision in this, my Last Will and Testament, for any members of my family, whether on my paternal or maternal side, having had minimal contacts with them over the years," Clark wrote in her will filed yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Clark's will was executed in April 2005, when she was 98 and purportedly of sound mind.

The closest person to a relative to benefit from Clark's last wishes was goddaughter Wanda Styka, who was bequeathed $12 million after taxes.

But nurse Hadassah Peri, who had been randomly assigned in 1991 by an agency to take care of Clark, was the most bountiful beneficiary.

"I was her private duty nurse, but also her close friend," Peri, 60, an immigrant of the Philippines and a married mother of three, said through a spokesman.

"I knew her as a kind and generous person with whom I shared many wonderful moments and whom I love very much," added Peri, who saw Clark every day for 20 years. "I am profoundly sad at her passing, awed at the generosity she has shown me and my family."

Peri of Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, whom Clark already gave $2 million to buy four homes, also received the millionairess' extensive collection of French and Japanese dolls.

"Just as Madame Clark demonstrated kindness toward others in her actions, so, too, will I and my family devote a substantial portion of this bequest toward making the world a better place for all people," Peri added.

Her longtime assistant and her physician were also left generous inheritances.

But Anthony Ruggiero, 81, who has taken care of Clark's 52-acre New Canaan, Conn., estate for 21 years, was left a measly year's salary, about $15,000.

"If this isn't being hung out to dry, I don't know what is," Ruggiero's son, Anthony Jr., 56, told the Daily News. Ruggiero, who helped his dad take care of Clark's property, said they both live on the estate but will have to move because it is being sold.

Clark, who had no children, was the daughter of former U.S. Sen. William Andrews Clark, a Montana copper mining king.

What Do You Need To Look For In A Dentist?

Maintenance of good oral hygiene may not just be enough to ensure that your teeth and gums are okay. Since we were young, we were already educated by our parents and even in school that is advisable to visit the dentist at least twice a year. The dentist is the best person to diagnose oral conditions and dental problems as they are licensed. Dentists can also create treatments and dental procedures to immediately address problems with the teeth and gums. But it is also necessary for everyone to know that dental hygienists or dental assistants may be able to do just the same only except that they need to be under the supervision of a dentist.

Dental hygienists typically assist in setting up anesthesia, aiding the dentist during a dental procedure, handle radiograph equipment, prepare tools and other medication. However, there are other dental procedures that may not just be left to a regular dentist at times. There are dental professionals who have more specific field of specialty these are the orthodontists, dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentists or pedodontists, prosthodontics, periodontists, and endodontists.

Nonetheless, there are factors that you need to consider when choosing a qualified dentist. Here are some pointers that you will have to check:

1) The length of time the dentist has been in the practice although it does not necessarily mean he is an expert in a specific specialization if he has been in the profession for a long time

2) Education, training, field of expertise, and clinical experience

3) Dental associations, societies, and organizations that your dentist participates in

4) Clinic hours and type of service offered during emergencies

5) Type of tools and equipment available in the clinic

6) Associates, dental hygienists and assistants who work with the dentist

7) Cost of service and dental procedure and facility fees

These are just a few things that you need to consider regarding the qualifications of a dentist. These are also necessary to help you gauge the expertise of the dentist and verify if he is really skilled in a field of specialization. Remember that a good general dentist may be very good in prophylaxis but may lack the skills in prosthodontics or dental cosmetic services. Getting the right dentist helps you get the best service to answer dental problems and difficult dental procedures. Nevertheless, aside from the expertise of the dental professional, it is still important to know the type of equipment and tools that the dentist use.

We often do many things to take good care of our body but we also usually overlook our teeth despite how important good oral hygiene is. If you  are looking for a  Dentist  you can find them at any Dentist Directory or you can call 1-800-Dentist at 877-376-3055/877-381-4560

Homeless man in Utah learns he's inherited large sum of money from brother

Max Melitzer will be reunited with his family soon thanks to a hardworking private investigator.

A private investigator had a special message for a homeless man on a park bench in Utah: you're rich!

The man found out that he had more than a few pennies to his name thanks to some hard work by the detective and an astute radio listener.

Max Meltzer, who was described as a drifter that looked like an average man down on his luck with a shopping cart, was left a "significant" amount of dough by his brother, who recently passed away, the Telegraph reported.

Meltzer was found after his family hired a private detective, David Lundberg, to locate him.

Thanks to some help from a listener on a local radio station who told the investigator where to look, Lundberg spotted him in a park on Saturday, where he was sitting with his belongings on a bench.

Now, he's waiting to reunite him with his eager family who is flying in from New York. They last heard from him in September of 2010.

"He'll no longer be living on the street or in abandoned storage sheds," he told the Telegraph.

"He'll be able to have a normal life, and be able to have a home, provide for himself, and purchase clothing, food and health care".

Lundberg described Meltzer as "very sweet” and articulate, with a few emotional issues his family is eager to help him take care of.

And it's a wonderful change for a man that Lundberg said was down on his luck.

"He was beat up. His money was taken. His watch was taken. He's been in kind of a surly element the last couple of years,” he told the Deseret News.

Marilyn Monroe's famed 'Seven Year Itch' dress sells for $5.5 MILLION

Marilyn Monroe became a screen legend after this iconic scene in the film, 'The Seven Year Itch.'

The famed white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the "Seven Year Itch" sold for seven figures at a Beverly Hills auction Saturday night.

The outfit, seen billowing upwards thanks to a subway grate in a scene that turned the blonde bombshell into a silver screen icon, sold for a mind-boggling $4,520,000 million. The dress was expected to go for just $2 million.

The bids were "totally crazy, especially in this recession," collector Keya Morgan told CNN.

Another Monroe dress, a red-sequin gown worn in "Gentlemen Prefer Blonde," sold for $1.2 million. A third outfit from "River of No Return" sold for $510,000.

Saturday's auction included nearly 700 items from the massive Debbie Reynolds Collection, according to Profiles in History, which oversaw the auction.

Another famed dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady" sold for $3.7 million. Other famous items snatched up by collectors were one of Harpo Marx' famed top hats for $45,000; Gary Cooper's uniform from "Sergeant York" for $55,000; and the 1952 red MG TD driven by Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe in "Monkey Business" sold for more than $200,000.

Reynolds, a film legend herself, purchased many of the rare and valuable items starting in the 1970s.

"I heard the news that MGM was going to sell their inventory of costumes and props," the 79-year-old actress said in a statement earlier this year. "I went everyday for weeks and focused on purchasing the costumes and props of Academy Award winning films. It soon turned into an obsession."

The Reynolds Collection includes 3,500 costumes, 20,000 original photographs and several thousand movie posters, props and more.

A second auction will be held in December.

Environmental Awareness - Thousands of cyclists take it off for World Naked Bike Ride

Cyclists in Belgium celebrate the annual Naked Bike Ride.

Thousands of bikers around the world traded their bike shorts for their birthday suits on Saturday night for the 8th annual Naked Bike Ride.

Hordes of cyclists in the buff in 80 cities globally observed the day with rides across the globe to raise awareness about the environment, and to have a little fun too.

The ride's organizers have been encouraging people to get naked since 2004.

"This is just a way of drawing attention to the need to be more green and replace fossil fuels with natural power," Ken Johnson, who was body-painted grey at the Portland route, told Reuters.

In Portland cops even sent out a press release stressing it is legal to be naked in public in that city. They did, however, urge participants to wear a helmet.

"It's the most liberating, natural feeling possible," rider Brooklyn Jay told Reuters.

In Madison, about 70 people participated in the naked bike ride, and only one person was cited for disorderly conduct, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

That city has no naked laws, but nudists can be asked to cover up if someone complains.

Riders said the experience gave them a huge sense of self-respect and helped to promote confidence in their body image.

"I had a history of eating disorders when I was a teenager, and I had to take medications in my life which made me gain more weight than I expected. I have a very fluctuating body image,” Laura Burke told cbc.ca before she participated in Halifax's naked ride last week.

"For me, being naked in public provokes a lot of fear. So it was a really meaningful thing for me to do."

The pop star Britney Spears tweeted a photo of herself with beau Jason Trawick in her dressing room.

Don't hold it against her, but Britney Spears looked like she wanted Jason Trawick's body as she hung out backstage on the opening night of her concert tour.

The pop star, 29, tweeted a photo from her dressing room showing her scantily-clad in a sparkly costume with her arms wrapped around her boyfriend of two years.

"It's Opening Night B---H!!!!" Spears captioned the photo.

Her Femme Fatale tour, featuring Nicki Minaj as the opening act, launched in Sacramento's Power Balance Pavillion.

"Can't sleep. WAY too much Adrenaline right now. Sacramento was on fire tonight," she tweeted after the show. "You ready San Jose? Cause I am!!!!"

The tour will take her across America, with three stops in Canada, through Aug. 25. She'll appear locally, at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum, on Aug. 2.

Spears showed a lot of skin as she performed her hits Thursday. (Roderick Trestrail II/AP)

And with just only one show down so far, Rolling Stone has already declared that Spears is "back – hopefully this time to stay."

"The night belonged to Britney: She managed to prove that she's still progressing as a showgirl," the magazine said in its review. "Not only that, she's doing it better than even diehard defenders would've predicted."

Sounds like all that Trawick loving is doing her some good!

Sexting has become more popular -Report says

 

Sexting celebs aren't hard to come by these days. Even Demi Moore is comfortable taking sexy pictures of herself with a smartphone, like this one she posted to Twitter.

One night in January, a 36-year-old Manhattan mom flicked on the lights in her bathroom, posed seductively in a black lace bra and snapped a photo with her BlackBerry.

Seconds later, the image flashed on the cell phone of a man she had met a few weeks before at a friend's party.

"He sent me his things, so I showed him half - just a tease," said the serial sexter, who still lives with her estranged husband.

The pair flirted via Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger for several more weeks before their cybersex-capades peetered out. They never met again.

"I would do it over again in a heartbeat," the pretty brunette said.

Long considered a prurient teen phenomenon, sexting has gone mainstream.

Rihanna does it - so does Brett Favre, Anthony Weiner and millions of other adult Americans, experts say.

"Sexting is definitely integrated into our society," said Susan Lipkins, a Long Island-based psychologist who has studied the subject. "It's not just kids. It's a lot of adults as well."

As soon-to-be former Rep. Anthony Weiner painfully discovered, engaging in electronic exhibitionism carries enormous risks.

Erasing one's digital footprints entirely is exceedingly difficult, and there's no way to stop a paramour or scorned former flame from plastering a sexy photo online.

"Once it's in cyberspace, you don't own it anymore and you don't know what's going to happen to it," said Bonnie Jacobson, a clinical psychologist and author of "Save Your Marriage in Five Minutes a Day."

"The Internet has been very troublesome for marriages."

Despite its costs, sexting is rampant.

Roughly 33% of people aged 18 to 29 say they have been texted a nude or seminude photo of someone they know, a Pew Research Center poll found.

Among 30- to 49-year-olds, 17% reported having received such photos and 5% admitted to sending them.

"It often begins innocently - a person meets someone through a friend of a friend or on Facebook," Lipkins said. "They start emailing, and that turns into texting that turns into sexting."

That's exactly how one 21-year-old Brooklyn man's high-speed hanky-panky starts.

The man said he often sends sweet messages to random girls through Twitter or Facebook.

After some innocent exchanges, he often heats things up by asking for revealing pics - but that's not always necessary.

"If the girl is freaky, she'll send you naked pictures without you even asking," said the man, who uses the handle Derrick Swerve when exchanging photos with women.

A Long Island woman named Elizabeth said she has received a stream of nude shots from suitors she barely knew.

"Guys think it's cute," she said. "It's not."

"People just spread things so easily. You don't know who you can trust or not. I wouldn't even send anything to my boyfriend."

Business Growth: How To Diagnose The Problem of Low Sales



The first step towards diagnosing the problem of low sales is to ask questions. You have to speak to the appropriate people to find out what could be responsible for the low sales. There are two categories of people you should direct your questions to; your employees [internal survey] and your customers [external survey] and third one is business consultants or  experts

Internal Survey[employees]

The best place to start is from your employees because they are the ones closest to the customers. Talk to them to find out what they have been noticing, ask them if the customers had been laying any complains, are there any issues or trend you need to be aware of, and are there any competitions nearby?

These and many more are possible questions you should ask your employees as regarding the customers. Don't be a one-sided physician by focusing only on what your employees think about the customers; also find out if your employees are experiencing any challenges on the job. Their ability to meet the needs of the customers is directly linked to their own needs first being met. Meaning, the satisfaction of your customers, largely depends on the satisfaction of your employees. There is no two ways around it, if they are not satisfied, your customers won't be satisfied, period.

So talk to your employees, find out what challenges they are facing on the job. If they lack certain skills, make sure you provide adequate training; if they are understaffed, make sure you take in more hands; if they feel they are underpaid, make sure you increase their pay; if they lack morale and are not motivated to work, make sure they are in positions and doing the work that they love. In summary, this is what you want to find out; are your workers effective and how efficient are your business operations?

It will not be easy having to call on all your employees one after the other asking these questions, that is why using a survey is very efficient. Simply come up with these questions as a printed questionnaire and send it across to them. Be sure to cover both sides of the coin, there side and their views about the customers.

External Survey[customers]

Having conducted a survey internally, the second set of questions must be directed to the ones who suddenly stopped buying -the customers. This is often referred to as 'customer satisfaction survey'. The objective is to find out from the horse's mouth what exactly is wrong with your business and the products/service you offer that has made them to reduce patronage.

Your concern is to uncover their level of loyalty to your business or brand. You want to know if they are still yours, going or gone. Depending on how well you have been meeting or exceeding their needs, will determine the quality and quantity of feedback you will get. One great way to increase their participation is to offer certain incentives or rewards for their time taken to answer the questionnaires.

As much as possible, make the questions a combination of both closed-ended questions and open-ended questions. This is not about you, it is all about them. So, be sure to highlight the key areas that are of paramount concern to them such as; product/service utility, customer service, order-to-delivery time, price, quality, packaging, communication and so on.

Competitive analysis

The second strategic action to take after doing a survey is to find out what is happening in your industry or niche. This is known as competitive analysis. You want to be sure your business is still relevant amongst its peers or has been left behind.

Are there any competitions just entering into your line of business? Are you up-to-date about current market and industry trends? Are there any major policies from the government affecting your industry? What are your competitions doing that you aren't doing? Do you know why they are doing what they are doing? Does your business have any competitive edge compared to other businesses in your industry or niche? Is your perceived competitive edge still relevant?

Your objective is to uncover any major changes that are taking place within your industry and in your competitions businesses. You are not doing this because you want to simply duplicate these changes, you are doing them because you want to find out why and how they relate with the low sales you are experiencing. You must never forget to link all your findings back to your problem of low sales. Not everything that happens in your industry or competitions businesses is potentially capable of affecting your own sales. So always ask yourself this; "how is this finding affecting my business in terms of patronage?"

Environmental scanning

After the competition comes finding out the changes occurring in the larger environment such as; economic, cultural, religious, political, infrastructural, natural disaster, war, and other major societal changes that can potentially affect your business.

Environmental scanning will reveal much larger changes than competitive analysis. Perhaps a classical example is the current economic meltdown sweeping across the world. It is already obvious what the outcome will be; low patronage on the part of the customers as they have less purchasing power.

Scanning the environment reveals a general trend that affects everyone irrespective of the industry or niche they operate in. It is much broader than competitive analysis as it factors in other forces that can affect the sales of almost every business.

Another example is the ongoing electoral process going on in my country Nigeria. There seems to be an unspoken code that is making everyone hold back on making major capital expenses until after the election.

Following these 3 critical steps can help you better understand the reason why your business is experiencing low sales. Without taking these 3 steps, it is possible that the solution you seek to correct your problem of low sales is inappropriate for your peculiar situation.

Business consultants/experts

Still you can not reach a decision ,you can consult an expert  who will guide you properly to increase the sales .

Business Breakthroughs International ,Tony Robbins and Chet Holmes have taught thousands of business owners to double their sales. They are committed to teaching business owners how their businesses can thrive - even in uncertain times. Drive quality calls from business owners looking to receive a Free audio training program from two highly recognizable names in business.you can call 888-898-8380 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            888-898-8380      end_of_the_skype_highlighting / 877-339-0439 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            877-339-0439      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

So, ensuring you fully grasp the cause of your business' low sales will help you in formulating an appropriate solution that will better address the problem.

New Mexico football player arrested for wearing pants too low on airplane

Deshon Marman was arrested for wearing his pants too low.

A pair of sagging pants landed a University of New Mexico football player in jail on his way home from a friend's funeral.

Deshon Marman, 20, was flying back to school from San Francisco where he attended a funeral of a close high school friend when an airline employee complained that Marman's pants were so low you could see  his underwear.

After he refused to pull up his pants, Marman took his seat.

"At that point he was asked to leave the plane," said San Francisco police Sgt. Michael Rodriguez. He said cops got a call on Wednesday that someone was exposing himself at the US Airways gate.

Marman was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, the San Francisco Chronicle said. He was held on $11,000 bail.

His arraignment is set for Thursday afternoon.

"He was not threatening anybody directly, but being on board an aircraft and being disruptive to the aircraft crew interferes with their duties and that could be a safety factor," Rodriguez told KGO-TV.

Marman's mother told the newspaper he was upset after attending the funeral and said her son was targeted for the way he looks.

"He's a good kid trying to make it, and he's going through a lot," she said. "And then this happens."

Marman transferred to New Mexico from City College of San Francisco, where he earned All-Conference honors in 2010.

An airline spokeswoman told the Chronicle the company's dress code forbids "indecent exposure or inappropriate" attire.

5th-grade teacher faces rape charges for having sex with high school students

Michelle McCutchan, 38, faces nearly two dozen charges relating to alleged sexual affairs she had with at least two high school students.
A fifth-grade teacher facing charges for having sex with a teenage student is now accused of raping another high schooler.

Michelle McCutchan was busted last month in Checotah, Okla., on two counts of second-degree rape and one count of sodomy with a 16-year-old, authorities said.

Now, the 38-year-old faces nearly two dozen charges after it was discovered she allegedly had sex with a second student.

"She's a veteran of the school system," Tonya French, McIntosh County sheriff's office investigator, told News on 6 in Tulsa in May when McCutchan was first arrested.

"What I've heard across the board is they didn't see it coming," French said.

McCutchan, who was suspended with pay from her job in May, now faces nine counts of second-degree rape; nine counts of sodomy; two counts of providing alcohol to minors; one count of possessing child pornography and one count of child neglect.

The child neglect charge relates to her own daughter, authorities said.

McCutchan allegedly admitted to sending nude pictures of herself to one teen's cell phone, police said.

The Marshall Elementary School teacher allegedly had sex with the two Checotah High School students from December 2010 to May 2011, authorities said.

Lady Gaga pushes for gay marriage in New York

ALBANY - Lady Gaga has activated her "little monsters" in the gay marriage battle in New York - a move supporters of same-sex nuptials fear will only anger reticent lawmakers.

The musical superstar tweeted the fans Thursday, urging them to call state senators to demand they act on the gay marriage bill currently before the Senate.

The measure passed the Assembly Wednesday night for the fourth time since 2007.

Currently, 31 senators, including two Republicans, have come out in favor of the proposal - just one vote shy of the 32 needed for passage.

Three GOPers are said to be undecided.

"I am so proud to be a New Yorker!," Gaga wrote in one tweet. "One step closer to equality and toward the legalization of Gay Marriage in America. Full Equality. Unity."

She then tweeted ways her "little monsters can get involved to mobilize social justice. NY State needs us, and the time for change is now."

In two tweets, she urged fans to go through the Human Rights Campaign to contact fence-sitting senators, including Buffalo GOPer Mark Grisanti.

HRC's Brian Ellner insisted the megastar did not coordinate her efforts with advocates - and now some worry she's doing more harm than good.

"Of course we share the same goal, but frankly we don't want senators to be bombarded this way," one source chirped.

"All our field work has been about respectful calls from constituents in the district. We'd never go this kind of mass."

Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg rushed to the Capitol Thursday in a last-ditch effort to convince Senate Republicans, who have been agonizing over how to deal with the issue, to allow a vote on the gay marriage bill.

Bloomberg later told reporters he believes the proposal would pass by more than just the "bare majority" if it's voted upon.

Gov. Cuomo's gay marriage bill has been bogged down by GOP political and religious infighting.

Some Republican senators oppose bringing the measure to the floor. Others, despite opposing gay marriage, want a vote to get the issue off the table before next year's elections.

Many believe allowing a vote will result in Conservative Party backlash that could make it tougher for the GOP to keep its thin majority.

And there are Republicans who don't even want to consider the issue until they pass some of their legislative priorities, such as a property tax cap.

Disability causes -Wheelchair Ramps and Society

People throughout our society are depending upon wheelchairs and electric scooters to get around more than ever before. Most likely this comes from the fact that people are living longer. Another reason is that people with debilitating diseases are living longer thanks to medical miracles. All of these reasons have made it necessary for society to adjust building access for wheelchairs and motorized handicap vehicles. The American with Disabilities Act governs that public, commercial, state and local government facilities must accommodate for the use of wheelchairs and other mobility devices.

Think about the last time you traveled with young stroller bound children. Do you remember how difficult it was to maneuver? Think about going through life facing these challenges when trying to get in and out of facilities. What about your own home. Wheelchair ramps are what make access available to homes and public facilities.

Laws protecting the disabled are set in place to ensure equality. There are many things besides the law that need to be also taken into consideration when building or attaching a ramp for handicap use. When looking into a home wheelchair verse public access the things to consider are purpose, dimensions and style.

Purpose - It is pretty straight forward that the purpose of a handicap ramp at your home is to ease mobility in and out. Handicap ramps are used for many different purposes. Walkers, wheelchairs, electric scooters and disabilities are the number one reasons people look to install a handicap ramps. It is important to note that any building that has stairs as a main access should also have an assisted access.

Dimensions - The dimensions that are used to build ramps vary. Although standards exist and the guidelines of the ADA should be followed the size of the ramp should take into consideration the people who will be using it and the mode by which they might be entering and exiting. It is suggested that for every foot of ramp one inch of incline for entering buildings and for homes that every foot of ramp two inches of incline. You want to make the access as easy as possible. Think about climbing Mount Everest each and every time you leave a building. This is not ideal for anyone using a wheel chair or motorized device.

Style - There are many different styles of handicapped ramps to look at. Determine if you need something permanent or temporary. For instance are you taking in an elderly parent, this case might call for a temporary ramp. Metal ramps can often be rented or grants provided to purchase them. Wood ramps are often meant for more permanent situations such as elderly parents aging in place. Also, make sure you look into your community guidelines.

It is important to look into the rights of those who are disabled or elderly. Making sure that they are not restricted helps improve the quality of life they lead. The ADA guidelines help make this possible with laws such as the one enacted for the use of wheelchairs. It is also important for society to remember that independence is something we all wish for. If it eases life for a senior citizen in your life and they stay in their home a little longer than a handicap ramp is such a huge deal. Local, licensed contractors are available who have been trained to properly install handicap ramps to homes and businesses. When hiring an individual to install a ramp make sure the specifications they are using match your expectations and the laws governing wheelchair ramps.

If you have understood on this subject about wheelchair and ramps for disabled persons, you can very well contact the scooter stores for more details .call 877-636-0378/877-743-1173/877-551-0931

Chile's volcano erupts for first time in 50 years

The terrifying eruption of a volcano in Chile has become a dazzling display of nature's raw power. The blast along the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain launched a huge cloud of smoke and ash as far as 6 miles into the sky on May 4, causing officials to evacuate nearly 3,500 people from the surrounding area.

Above, the National Service of Geology and Mining said the explosion that sparked the eruption also produced a column of gas 6 miles high.

Anthony Weiner's sexy email partner, former porn star Ginger Lee

Ginger Lee, a former porn star, is one of the many women Anthony Weiner sent sexy emails to.

It's not just college coeds who get Rep. Anthony Weiner's sexting fingers going -- he also exchanged sexy emails with a porn star named Ginger Lee.

Who is she?

Blond-haired, green-eyed Lee has starred in more than 30 x-rated films with such titles as "New Whores on the Block," "My Dirty Angels 5," "Barely Legal 61," "1 Lucky F*** 3" and "Stuffin' Young Muffins 5."

The 27-year-old Macon, Ga., native got her start in the adult film business in 2004 with her first flick, "Built for Sex."

Born Tonya Short, Lee has taken on a number of porn aliases, including Ginger Lea, Abbie Lebon, Ginger Vicious and Tonya Trzebny.

Now retired from porn -- she hasn't "acted" since 2009 -- Lee now strips, and even participated at the Exotic Dancer National Championships in Atlanta last week.

Another one of her other pasttimes: blogging.

Her website, Ginger Lee's Guide To Life & Other Important Stuff, is packed with honest looks at her life post-porn, which includes her struggle with the autoimmune disease, Lupus. 

Lee, who has over 4,400 followers on Twitter, has re-posted many notes from her fans thanking her for bringing attention to a "chronic invisible illness."

It also appears she's become somewhat of a role model in the porn industry. 

One fan named Kat wrote Lee on June 1 to say that students in her english class were saying they looked down on strippers and workers in the sex industry, which she disagreed with.

"Thank you," replied Lee. "We're not all terrible people, and it's rather upsetting when people all want to throw us under the bus simply because of our job. Kudos on you for being one of the few that sees us as human and such."

Despite her upbeat and positive demeanor, it seems all the unwanted media attention for her role in Weinergate is affecting Lee's health.

"This flare has reached critical mass," she wrote the same day the New York politician admitted to sending a photo of his crotch to a college student and carrying on online relationships with a number of women. "I don't have the patience or the energy to deal with it getting any more crummy, because I'm 110% sure this is the worst one I've ever had. It needs to back up off me. Yeah lupus, you heard me...back off."

California man drowns himself in San Francisco Bay

Raymond Zack drowned himself as local police and firefighters stood on the beach and watched - 'handcuffed' by budget cuts to their water rescue program.

Police and firefighters stood on a California beach and watched as a suicidal man waded into the San Francisco Bay and drowned in the surf.

The body of Raymond Zack was finally pulled from the 54-degree water by a passerby as local fire officials blamed budget cuts for their inability to save the man.

"We are absolutely going to do an investigation," Alameda, Calif., Mayor Marie Gilmore promised after the Memorial Day tragedy.

"And we are planning to do it in as transparent a way as possible."

Police and firefighters were brought to Robert Crown Memorial State Beach by a 911 call, authorities said.

Fire officials said the department's water rescue program disappeared with its funding in 2009. And an overtime cutback prevented firefighters from logging sufficient training hours for water rescues.

"The incident was deeply regrettable," said Alameda Fire Chief Mike D'Orazi.

"But I can also see it from our firefighters' perspective. They're standing there wanting to do something, but they are handcuffed by policy."

The policy kept the untrained firefighters from entering the water even as Zack, 52, spent an hour in the bay before he wound up floating face down.

Scene of Zack's drowning off Alameda, Calif. (ABC News)

An Alameda police spokesman said officers stayed out of the water because Zack was suicidal and posed a possible threat.

"We did not know whether he was violent, whether drugs were involved," said police Lt. Sean Lynch. "It's not a situation of a typical rescue."

Eyewitness Sharon Brunetti told the San Jose Mercury News that she couldn't believe the first responders at the beach stood and watched the man drown.

"It's like you are living in a different country that does not care about its citizens," she told the newspaper.

Porn for prisoners? -American Civil Liberties Union defend

The American Civil Liberties Union wants prisoners at a South Carolina jail to have access to pornography, lawyers defending a religious freedom lawsuit claim.

A suit was initially filed against the Berkeley County Jail in Moncks Corner last month for allegedly barring inmates from reading anything but the Bible, which lawyers representing the prison deny.

The attorneys said prison inmates are simply not allowed to read materials bound together by tape, staples, paper clips or clasps. They also aren't allowed material that could "encourage deviant sexual behavior."

The ACLU, however, argues the rules limit inmates' choices too much and that barring porn violates their rights. The organization is asking them to extend the rules to include pornographic books and magazines, WCIV-TV in Charleston reported.

Requests for comment from the ACLU were not immediately returned.

"If they don't like the wording in some of our policy, we'll be happy to try and create better wording. But, there are certain issues that we're just not going to be able to bend on," Sandra J. Senn, co-counsel for the jail told a local ABC News affiliate.

"It's going to create all kinds of problems because you're going to have an issue with masturbation at that point," added Robin L. Jackson, the other co-counsel on relaxing the rules. "Then, you run the risk of not just sexual assault, but physical assault because men don't want to see other men doing those types of activities.