Socialnomics

Take a look at this video on just how huge social media is. The FactSnacks in here will blow your mind!

I have blogged on a couple topics mentioned in this video. For more details on the baby named "Facebook" and the Star Wars Volkswagen commercial click the links below.

Baby Name Hall of Fame

The Force is With This Cutie

Best Places to be a Woman

Newsweek magazine recently ranked 165 countries to measure the state of women's progress across the globe. Below are the 5 categories that were examined and graded:

1. Treatment under the law

2. Workforce participation

3. Political power

4. Access to education

5. Access to health care

I am happy to say that Canada placed very high! Check out the top scores:

Newsweek highlights women's progress worth celebrating. Examples include a woman holding the top spot at the International Monetary Fund, self made female billionaires in Beijing, and women holding highest political offices from Thailand to Brazil, Costa Rica to Australia!

Unfortunately, there are also countries highlighted where women are not progressing. In Saudi Arabia, women cannot drive. In Somalia, 95% of women are subjected to genital mutilation. Also, the poverty rate in the U.S.A. rose to 14.5% last year (the highest in 17 years!).

What stood out to me the most in this article was a success story about a country who would have ranked very poorly less than 10 years ago but is now climbing the charts. Take a look at what Newsweek had to say about it:

"In our own research, the country that holds some of the most significant lessons doesn’t rank at the top or the bottom, although a decade ago, it almost surely would have come close to last. In 2003, after decades of civil war, Rwanda’s transitional government passed legislation requiring that a third of the seats in Parliament be held by women. Today, its Parliament is more than 50 percent women, and girls are enrolled in secondary school at the same rate as boys. Last year the World Economic Forum ranked Rwanda first among East African nations in economic innovation."

Oh, and incase you were wondering, the United States placed 8th. They had an overall score of 89.8 compared to Canada's score of 96.6!

And Then There Was Light

Below is emotional footage of a group of chimpanzees seeing daylight for the first time in 30 years!

The chimpanzees were taken from their mothers shortly after their birth and transported to an Austrian facility. They were locked in cages for 30 years for medical testing. When in isolation, scientists gave them HIV and hepatitis.

Finally, the testing came to an end once the pharmaceutical company behind the research was sold (thank goodness). It was now time to reintroduce the chimps to the outside world. They were moved to a farm where their keepers struggled to get them outside. As one might assume, this was a very confusing process for the group who had not seen the light of day in decades.

Once they finally made it out, their reaction says it all. The farm keepers and others present at this time were overjoyed with excitement to see their reaction. I found it precious!

"They hugged as if saying, 'We're finally free'. And then they laughed." -Commentator

"The chimps are incredibly happy. This is amazing, I have been waiting for this moment for so long." -Renate Foidl, their keeper

Article Source

How Much is That Girly in the Window?

In the spirit of students heading back to school, I decided to share this bold advertisement for Axe Body Spray.

The side of this all female college residence building was wrapped in a giant calendar of the month of March. The fine print, on the bottom right of this image under AXE SCHEDULE, says the following:

"As wrapping the female students' dormitory in the shape of calendar and using Axe for a month throughout March, we aimed for the expression that a new female can be met on a daily basis, to promote the brand image and preference for Axe."

In my opinion, the message is more along the lines of "you can have a new female everyday of the week". While I will give this campaign props for being bold and creative, I cannot help but believe this is a blatant objectification of women. I do not know how an educational institution (or any building for that matter) would support having this displayed on their building.