Appstracted

Apps make our lives easier...or, do they?

To be appstracted is to be distracted by an app.

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Girls wanna...

What do women/girls want?

• Women make up 80% of all refugees and displaced people. 
• Women are seldom included in formal peace processes.
• More than 16.4 million women in the world have HIV/AIDS.
• 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime.
• Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18.
• Women account for 70% of the population living in absolute poverty (on less than $1.00 a day).

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Convenient Conventions

On 22 August 1864, several European states congregated in Geneva, Switzerland and signed the Geneva Convention.

photo credit pixabay.com

~
In 1991 following a decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, Appenzell Innerrhoden became the last Swiss canton to grant women the vote on local issues.

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Fatima Mangre: 4 Years Old

An eight year old girl has become the youngest person ever to be divorced in India after she was married off aged just four.

photo credit Kevin Dooley

Fatima Mangre was given away by her father Anil, from the Shravasti district of Uttar Pradesh state, in an arranged a marriage with 10-year-old Arjun Bakridi.

However when the boy arrived four years later to collect his new bride, Anil said he wanted the girl to wait until she was 18 before leaving.

He said: 'I finally realised that this practice of marrying off daughters so young was wrong and that she should have a childhood, and that it was my duty to provide that.'

However Arjun's father Dipak was unhappy with the decision, and an argument broke out after which Anil filed for divorce.

The state government of India's has called for an inquiry into the incident that happened last week at Nakhi village in the Shravasti district of India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

It ordered the probe after the New Delhi-based National Commission for Women (NCW) member Nirmala Samant sent a letter, demanding details of the divorce and threatening action against the parents of the girl and the boy.

She said: 'This is a scandal, we need more details before taking action. The girl's father must answer why he married her off at four years old and the boy's father must answer why he agreed to such a marriage and then went to demand the girl when she is barely eight years old.

'This is insensitive, controversial and objectionable,' she added.

[source: Mail Online]

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Working Women of WWI

During World War I, with vast numbers of men either enlisting or conscripted to fight in the various forces, women stepped up to take their place as workers.

photo credit NATIONAL LIBRARY OF FRANCE VIA EUROPEANA: 

As well as traditionally female occupations at the time, such as nurses or teachers, many women undertook conventionally male roles in transport, for example, fire fighting, hauling coal and piloting. 

Many younger women worked in munitions factories, where they were known as "Munitionettes." 

This work was dirty and dangerous, in unheated and noisy factory sheds. There was little, if any, regulation regarding the chemicals and fumes the workers were exposed to, with lax procedures and little protective equipment. A large number of women suffered from reactions to these substances, as well as from the stresses and strains of the hard and heavy physical work.

Accidents in munitions factories were common but news of these was suppressed to keep morale high. In January 1917 an explosion at a TNT plant in East London killed 73 people and destroyed hundreds of nearby homes. The TNT turned workers' skin yellow; such women were called "canaries." '

Although women earned a little more money than before the war, they typically still took home roughly half the money of the men whose jobs they filled.

After the war, women were considered surplus to what most workplaces required. In Britain the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 made it illegal to exclude women from the workplace and it did enable some women to enter the professions. But the 1919 Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act forced women from their wartime roles as men returned home and factories switched back to peacetime production.

[source: Mashable]

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Ruth Law: A Pioneer American Aviator

Aviatrix: a woman who is an aviator

source, Mashable / Retronaut

In 1917, after the U.S. entry into WWI, "aviatrix" Ruth Law had fought for women to pilot aircraft in battle. When her campaign was unsuccessful, she published an article in Air Travel magazine with the title "Let Women Fly!" 

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Tips for Single Women, 1938: Awkward Positions

Don't sit in awkward positions--and never look bored, even if you are. Be alert, and if you must chew gum (not advised), do it silently, mouth closed.

credit Mashable, Rretronaut

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Mothers

Every day, approximately nearly 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

photo credit Johan Larsson

• 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
• Maternal mortality is higher in women living in rural areas and among poorer communities.

[source: WHO]

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Disney Rejection Letter, 1938

Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men.

photo credit Kevin Burg

June 7, 1938

Miss Mary V. Ford
Searcy,
Arkansas

Dear Miss Ford,

Your letter of recent date has been received in the Inking and Painting Department for reply.

Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school.

The only work open to women consists of tracing the characters on clear celluloid sheets with Indian ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to directions.

In order to apply for a position as “Inker” or “Painter” it is necessary that one appear at the Studio, bringing samples of pen and ink and water color work. It would not be advisable to come to Hollywood with the above specifically in view, as there are really very few openings in comparison with the number of girls who apply.

Yours very truly,

WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, LTD

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Colour(s) of Life

African-American women dealt not only with the sexism of being withheld the vote but also the racism of white suffragists.

The struggle for the vote did not end with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. In some Southern states, African American women were unable to freely exercise their right to vote up until the 1960s.

photo credit Egor Kraft

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Cave Painting & Maria

What does a little girl have in common with cave painting?

The Altamira cave, now famous for its unique collection of prehistoric art, was well known to local people, but had not been given much attention until in 1868, when it was "discovered" by the hunter Modesto Peres.

Sautuola then started exploring the caves in 1875. He did not become aware of the paintings, however, until 1879, when his daughter Maria, nine years old at the time, incidentally noticed that the ceiling was covered by images of bisons.

[source: Wikipedia]

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Love Commandos

Love Commandos is a voluntary non-profit organization in India which helps and protects couples in love from harassment and honour killing.

photo credit Steve Evans

They provide housing, legal aid, and protection to couples seeking their aid who are being persecuted by family and society for wanting to marry based solely on mutual attraction and love.

In India, most marriages are arranged by parents, with potential marriage partners vetted on the basis of caste, complexion, horoscope, etc., - the matter of love is rarely considered.

Love across the barriers of caste, religion and economic class can be problematic, resulting in violence and occasionally honor killing. The police have been known to refuse protection to such couples, sometimes even siding with parents and arresting the male lovers on false charges of rape.

The Love Commandos consists of journalists, businessmen, lawyers and human rights activists. They provide protection to lovers from religious hardliners. They also run secret shelters for eloped couples, where they may stay until they gain financial independence.They also help willing couples to get married and register their marriage with the civil authorities.

[source Wikipedia]

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Erotomania

Erotomania is a type of delusional disorder where the affected person believes that another person is in love with him or her.

photo credit Alexander Mueller

This belief is usually applied to someone with higher status or a famous person, but can also be applied to a complete stranger. 

[source: Wikipedia]

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LOL

LOL or lol, an acronym for laugh(ing) out loud, or lots of laughs, is a popular element of Internet slang.

It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication and even face-to-face communication.

However, the pre-Internet version of the acronym meant “lots of love” or “lots of luck."

[source: Wikipedia]

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Jailbird Turns Into Lovebird

Joseph Andrew Dekenipp escaped by climbing two walls and crawling through razor wire.

Arizona suspect Joseph Andrew Dekenipp went from jailbird, to lovebird, and back to jailbird - all in three hours.

Dekenipp was determined to spend Valentine's Day with his girlfriend.

So much so that he crawled past razor wire, scaled two fences and made his way to a bar about 10 miles away, according to authorities.

Dekenipp went missing Friday afternoon from a fenced recreation yard at the detention center in Florence, according to the CNN affiliate.

When inmates there returned to their residential units, Dekenipp was nowhere to be found.

He'd made the daring escape and was headed to a bar in nearby Coolidge, where he was going to meet his girlfriend.

Pinal County deputies used K-9s to track him, but then his scent disappeared, so they pulled over cars on nearby roadways and searched them.

Their big break came when two teens told authorities that their friend gave Dekenipp a ride to the bar. Deputies hightailed it there, where they found Dekenipp. And no, he wasn't wearing his jail uniform.

Three hours after his escape, his handcuffs clinked shut again without incident. He was hauled back to Pinal County Adult Detention Center.

Dekenipp had been booked in jail last month on various charges, including suspected car theft, unlawful flight and driving on a suspended license, the affiliate reported.

At the time, he was held on a $5,000 bond and had a pretrial hearing set for February 25, according to the affiliate.

The lovebird - and jailbird - may be apart from his girlfriend for a longer period.

In addition to all that, he's now facing an escape charge.

[source: CNN]

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Love Facts: Too much?

Our human brains also enable us to feel intensely. The culprit is not our heart, but rather, our brain.

The human amygdala, an almond-shaped region on the side of the head beneath the cortex, is more than twice the size of the amygdala in apes. This brain region plays a central role in generating fear, rage, aversion, and aggression; parts produce pleasure, too. With this brain capacity for generating strong, often violent emotions, we humans have the ability to link our drive to love with an enormous

collection of feelings.

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Love Facts: Love Maps

We grow up in a sea of moments that slowly sculpt our romantic choices.

photo credit Rod

Even identical twins, who have similar interests and lifestyles, as well as similar religious, political, and social values, tend to develop different styles of loving and choose different types of partners. Subtle differences in their experiences have shaped their romantic tastes.

[source: Why We Love]

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Love Facts: Beauty is truth, true beauty!

 Symmetry is beautiful—to insects, birds, mammals, all of the primates, and people around the world.

photo credit pixabay.com

Female scorpionflies seek mates with uniform wings. Barn swallows like partners with well-proportioned tails. Monkeys are partial to symmetrical teeth. If you walk into a village in New Guinea and point to the most beautiful man or woman sitting around the campfire, the natives will agree with you. And when researchers used computers to blend many faces into a composite “average” face, both men and women liked the average face better than any of the individual ones.

It was more balanced. Even two-month-old infants gaze longer at more symmetrical faces.

Creatures with balanced, well-proportioned ears, eyes, teeth, and jaws, with symmetrical elbows, knees, and breasts, have been able to repel bacteria, viruses, and other minute predators that can cause bodily irregularities. By displaying symmetry, animals advertise their superior genetic ability to combat diseases.

[source: Why We Love]

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Love Facts: It's a Mystery

Nature has even given us the brain wiring to find strangers exciting. Mysterious people are novel. And novelty is associated with elevated levels of dopamine—the neurotransmitter of romance.

photo credit Gerald Oskoboiny

You and I inherited this natural repulsion for copulation with close family members and other individuals we know well, a distaste that undoubtedly evolved to discourage in-breeding—the destructive act of mixing one’s DNA with close kin. As a result, we are more likely to become attracted to someone from outside our family or the group in which we were raised—someone with a touch of mystery.

[source: Why We Love]

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Love Facts: Chance

Love can be triggered when you least expect it—by pure chance.

photo credit Rayani

The perfect partner can sit right next to you at a party and you might not notice him or her if you are exceptionally busy at work or school, enmeshed in another relationship, or otherwise emotionally preoccupied.

But if you just entered college or moved to a new city by yourself, recently recovered from an unsatisfactory love affair, began to make enough money to raise a family, are lonely or suffering through a difficult experience, or have too much spare time, you are ripe to fall in love. In fact, people who are emotionally aroused, be it by joy, sadness, anxiety, fear, curiosity, or any other feeling, are more likely to be vulnerable to this passion.

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