Women Life Style

Janne Myrdal is the new State Director of North Dakota as was chosen by the Concerned Women for America (CWA).

She has worked as a Co-Director of the Pregnancy Help Center of Park River, ND and had served for 12 years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) working in various capacities and in countless nations.

Some of her objectives comprise concern in the public policy issues facing ND lawmakers, also initiating Prayer/Action Chapters across her state as a means to educate and serve the citizenry of North Dakota in regards to pro-life and pro-family issues.

CWA’s objectives are to safeguard the eternal values that support the Biblical design of the family, protect life at all stages, fight pornography and obscenity, tackle the declining quality of education, support the rights of individuals to pray and worship without persecution and increase understanding of the United Nations and its agenda.

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Recent survey by The Boston Club presented a view that the native businesswomen are pessimistic about the business climate in Massachusetts.

Sixty-seven percent of the survey respondents said that they are not optimistic about the business prospects for the Commonwealth in 2007.

The reasons given by them for such a change were Iraq war, the escalating prices of oil, competition from China and the value of the American dollar against other currencies as having a negative effect on the region’s economy. The soft housing market and the loss of jobs due to corporate consolidation were also mentioned.

However, some members were quite optimistic as Rachel Hayes, a legal marketing consultant, said,

‘Though global issues continue to nag, the short-term looks pretty good. Massachusetts is still well positioned for solid economic performance though the long-term population shifts in the country and the departure of major corporate headquarters will ultimately take a toll.’

Figuratively:

1. 88% of the respondents expect their income to increase or stay the same in 2007
2. Nearly 60% plan to stay in the same job
3. 92 % would make charitable donations at the same or higher levels
4. 85% would take the same or more vacation time as in 2006
5. 4% would plan to retire in the year

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Recent London based study by a magazine called Management Today claims that women in large numbers are making huge profits by starting their own businesses. For the first time, nearly one in four persons who appear in the annual list of Top 100 Entrepreneurs is women.

25% of women are included each year in the list of the magazine.

If this development continues, very soon women would be becoming the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs over the next few decades.

More than one million women in Britain are now operating their own companies.

Philip Beresford, who assembled the list, said mounting numbers of women are ‘invading traditional macho territory’.

For instance, Elena Ambrosiadou, who set up one of the first hedge funds in London in 1991 when she was just 33, ranked fifth in the Top 100 list. Her total fortune is estimated at 140 million pounds.

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Lifetime Television carried out a research which postulated that women (between the ages of 18 and 29) of present times are ‘highly ambitious’ and anticipate to excel both in work place and family life by equally balancing them.

Figuratively:

1. 85% plan on continuing in the workforce after having children
2. 78% opted to work, regardless of their financial situation
3. 69% were willing to sacrifice to some extent in order to reach the top of their fields

Lifetime Television mentioned workplace flexibility and control as being highly important to today’s young women in order to achieve an appropriate balance.

Meredith Wagner, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at Lifetime Networks, said,

‘There appears to be a shift in this generation of women in that they want to be ringmasters vs. jugglers - planning to work very hard but also planning to have more control in how and when they will balance career and family. This will have important ramifications for employers as they seek to put into place policies to recruit and retain the next generation.’

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Lately a survey in UK has postulated that women are more deceitful than males.

According to the statistical data:

1. 40% of women cheat in comparison with 34% of men

2. 34% fantasize about lesbian sex while 14% men have gay fantasies

3. nearly half of the women indulge in day dreaming about love making whereas for men the figure is ten times

4. 62% of women and 82% of men claim they are sex-starved and desperate for more loving

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Carolyn Washington asserted that she has been ‘the chosen one’ by God himself who has given her responsibility for lending a helping hand to the women folk.

Thus in order to accomplish this task, she established Sisters 4 Sisters, Inc., seven years ago.

This year, the organization contributed more than 800 pairs of new undergarments to a women’s shelter, more than 500 back-to-school items to families in need, passed out Thanksgiving baskets to single mothers and other women in need, and donated business attire to aspiring businesswomen.

Washington allocates her resources to the similar organizations as well. More than 200 volunteers assist her altruistic operation.

Sisters 4 Sisters, Inc. has more than 200 members in 30 states across the country. Lately she is planning to help the Hispanic women.

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A new website called www.theresmoretolifethanshoes.com would provide some place for women who would like to have more out of life than the usual nine to five or just want to try something new.

It would offer direction to the women who want to start their own business.

The site profiles some of the UKs most inspiring women, from former Dragon’s Den panellist and Red Letters Day founder, Rachel Elnaugh to Sally-Anne Baker, who set up her own business selling kitchenware through the web.

Skincare product developer Nadia Finer and freelance television researcher Emily Cleaver together have launched the site.

The site plans to interview and profile 100 inspirational women from a host of different backgrounds from knitwear designers to jet fighter pilots. It would also act as a forum where, the like-minded people may share about their various experiences.

Other features comprise an area for visitors to log their own success stories and online surveys.

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Lately a study by Kodak has revealed that women prefer to possess latest technological stuff than clothing as a gift. More than 70% of the women reviewed had treated themselves to a technology product this year, stressing the escalating recognition of gizmos among women.

The geek girls prefer to have all the techno related possessions with their own differentiator design. For instance, they’d like to have pink Sony Vaio, the rosy LG Chocolate phone, the feminine looking Moto RAZR line up, the pink Xbox/Sony Playstation consoles.

So what exactly are tech-savvy females looking for in 2007? Perhaps designs and devices tailored exclusively for the escalating tribe of tech savvy women executives. Bang & Olufsen along with Samsung will be out with Serene, a square shaped phone with a circular dial pad, scroll wheel, camera and power-assisted flip.

Women executives could desire the functionality of an HP Pavilion laptop or an Apple Macbook Pro, a Blackberry, an iMate or Treo, a wireless headset to enjoy music, a compact digital camera from Kodak, Polaroid or Sony, or a high definition flat panel display to unwind after a busy day.

I guess chocolates and flowers are obsolete, if you really want to impress an intelligent girl, gift something that is a compliment to her intelligence and beauty :-)

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Here are the ten most influential women who made their presence felt in their respective fields and acclaimed the highest deserving awards.

The year’s Most Powerful Woman CEO is Indra Nooyi. Formerly CFO and president, the Indian-born strategist reached the top even though she never ran a line operation at Pepsi. Nooyi believes in constant reinvention, ‘The minute you’ve developed a new business model, it’s extinct, because somebody is going to copy it.’

The highest earning corporate woman is Safra Catz, with $26.1 million. This spotlight-shy woman is a key executive on the management team assembled by Oracle’s colorful founder, Larry Ellison. Catz was the force driving the database company’s bid and eventual $10.3 billion takeover of software rival PeopleSoft. With Oracle still on an acquisition spree Catz is working long hours. She was formerly a banker for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and now part of Credit Suisse First Boston.

The rising star in Transportation Systems is Adriane M. Brown, President and CEO of Honeywell Transportation Systems, a position she was appointed to in January 2005. Brown most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of Honeywell Engine Systems & Accessories. She joined Honeywell in 1999 as Vice President and General Manager of Aircraft Landing Systems. Brown leads a $4.5 billion auto products division that makes turbochargers, oil filters, antifreeze, and more. Operating profits last year were $557 million.

Danica Patrick is leading the way on a real racetrack. An American auto-racing driver competing in the Indy Racing League (IRL) was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, to an Irish-American family and was raised in Roscoe, Illinois. ‘I tell young women to find what you love and dream really big, have huge aspirations for yourself and never give up. That whole never-giving-up part only happens when you want to do something badly enough or when you love something enough’, says Patrick.

Forbes magazine has named Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany as the most powerful woman of this year. The first female chancellor in Germany’s history, and the first woman to lead Germany since it became a nation-state in 1871; Merkel is a favorite of German business. From humble beginnings as a Lutheran pastor’s daughter in Hamburg, she graduated with a doctorate of physics from the University of Leipzig. Along with her pro-free-market reform agenda, Merkel advocates a strong German-American relationship, evidenced by her support of the proposals to bring Iran to the nuclear negotiating table. With her conciliatory powers, Merkel has managed to maintain impressive approval ratings both home and abroad.

Biocon chief, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has figured in the list of world’s most powerful women in business of Fortune magazine. She was chosen as one among the most powerful women in business for her outstanding contribution to the field of biotechnology. She has received several awards during her career of over 25 years. Kiran had to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ effect on several occasions being a woman entrepreneur in the traditional Indian society. She believed that Indian women can do well in business even if they don’t belong to a business family or have political influence or immense wealth.

Amy Pascal, the chief of the Sony Pictures has been named as the most powerful woman in the film business. Industry journal The Hollywood Reporter conferred this honor on Ms Pascal for her recognition of such money-spinners as The Da Vinci Code and Casino Royale. Before joining the crew of Sony, she was managing Columbia Pictures from 1996 to 2003, there too she gained success coz of Spiderman.

Sunita Williams, of Euclid, Ohio, a NASA astronaut became the second woman of Indian origin to have been selected by NASA for a space mission after Kalpana Chawla. She received her charge as an Ensign in the United States Navy from the United States Naval Academy in May 1987 and was nominated as a Naval Aviator in July 1989. She then reported to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 3 for initial H46. Upon completion of this training, she was allocated to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 in Norfolk, Virginia. In September 1992, she was the Officer-in-Charge of an H-46 detachment sent to Miami, Florida for Hurricane Andrew Relief Operations onboard USS Sylvania. When she was recommended for the astronaut program she was deployed onboard USS Saipan.

Financial Times has announced the world’s richest self-made women as Ms. Zhang Yin who is ‘worth an estimated $3.4bn’. This female Tree Hugging entrepreneur started up Nine Dragons paper just a few years ago and owns 72 % of her listed company. She buys scrap paper from USA and processes it in China for sale.

The International Women’s Media Foundation honored May Chidiac, host of Lebanon’s ‘Good Day’ popular TV program based on politics for her courage, integrity, and sacrifice. She lost her left hand and leg in a purposeful explosion, which occurred, in her car because of her audacity on Syria’s possible involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Korean authorities have selected the two finalists to become the nation’s first astronaut. Yi So-yeon, a doctoral candidate at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Ko San, a researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology.

They were picked from a shortlist of six in a one hour evaluation session on Monday evening. They were selected out of 36,206 people.

Ko and Yi will undergo a year’s training at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Only one of them will then be chosen as Korea’s first astronaut to board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz in April 2008.

She or he will travel for two days to the International Space Center circling the Earth at an altitude of 350-450 km and conduct 18 scientific experiments proposed by domestic institutes and young people.

Sharing her experience, Yi said,

‘I am so grateful for those who have supported female candidates. I want to boost the self-confidence of women. I am vying to be Korea’s first astronaut. I want to offer hope to many engineers and researchers.’

Life history:

She was born in 1978 in Kwangju, studied at Kwangju Science High School, and majored in mechanics at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Taejon-based University and presently working as a doctorate researcher in biotech systems.

She is also an advanced practitioner of taekwondo.

Choi Gi-hyuck, a senior researcher at the state-sponsored Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said,

‘Nobody knows the final results but I can say this for sure that Yi has an edge considering her outstanding performance in various tests. In particular, she was almost perfect during many trials including the zero-gravity test at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia this month.’

Personally, I would like to wish luck to Yi for her new endeavor.

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Kitty Kelley shows no trepidation when it comes to her subjects.

After covering the realms of Nancy Reagan and Frank Sinatra she has decided to dive into the life of none other than Oprah Winfrey.

Kelley’s unauthorized biographies seldom make her popular with those she investigates, but for now she’s being nice about Winfrey, saying in a statement,

‘Oprah’s story is one of hope, promise and realization of the American dream.’

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Recent study postulates that marriage is going out of fashion and women are looking forward to remain single. The number of ’single’ women includes divorcees, widows and those who may be planning to marry, as well as those who never have.

In the early Seventies, 85 % of women were married by the time they were 30, now, fewer that one woman in three is married by that age.

However, Chloe Rhodes married at 25 says that marriage has its own advantages provided one gets the kind of guy which actually understands you and does not offer his tyrannical attitude.

She further said that she did not have to compromise for her freedom in exchange for a ring on her finger neither did she get married for security or a sign of commitment, she was already in possession of those things before.

She accepted that there are institutions that are still bastions of male privilege, but asserted that marriage isn’t one of them. And exemplified marriage as a celebration of love between two people and a declaration of devotion to each other.

Counter view:

Another woman, Julia Stephenson who got married at the age of 24 but presently is single stated that she went ahead in the bond of marriage because she considered it a guarantee of security, commitment and unconditional love.

However, she experienced completely different scenario, after marriage, she along with her husband drifted to the countryside where most of her time was consumed in the kitchen preparing lavish feasts for his ‘golfing cronies and their gym-honed wives’.

She is of the view that girls must wait until they are very old before they settle down, so they are sure of what they want. ‘After all, who in their right mind wants security in their twenties? This is a time for feckless fun, binge drinking and unsuitable boyfriends.’

She added that she is relishing each moment of her freedom after getting divorce from her husband. In fact, she has decided to write novels, articles and would like to pursue her environmental interests.

Bottom line:

Personally, I feel that marriage is not about age, it is all about mental framework. Maybe a girl is mentally prepared for taking such a huge responsibility at the age of twenty-five but there are some women who are not really prepared until the age of thirty or so.

In addition, one has to keep in mind that no one is perfect in here. We all have certain flaws in ourselves, so instead of blaming others and highlighting their shortcomings won’t it be plausible enough to sit down and have an open discussion over the matter after all, the person is same whom you have selected to be your life partner.

Whether marriage is a boon or a bane is all the outcome of our actions. And the most important thing, there shouldn’t be any kind of ego involved in this relationship. It acts as a slow poison and attacks the very foundation of this everlasting relationship.

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Oprah Winfrey is increasing her media reach into reality television. Her production company is working on two prime-time series for ABC, provisionally called ‘Oprah Winfrey’s The Big Give’ and ‘Your Money or Your Life’.

Tim Bennett, the company’s president said that the deal that marks Winfrey’s way into series TV comes about three months after Harpo formed a new television development group for alternative shows.

‘The Big Give’ would offer money and other resources to 10 people and ask them to help others in a way that tests the players’ ingenuity and passion and the winner would get the honor of making their ‘wildest’ dream come true.

‘Your Money or Your Life,’ would revolve around the families who are confronted by a crisis and must change or risk being ‘consumed by disaster’.

In addition to the daytime TV’s ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show,’ Harpo produces TV projects and operates the web site oprah.com. Harpo Print LLC co-publishes O, Winfrey’s monthly magazine, while Harpo Films produces feature films and TV movies.

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Women in Japan prefer to remain single or marry at a later stage consequent upon which, the long-term fertility rate is drastically diminishing.

Statistically in 2005, Japan recorded 1.25 babies per woman in her lifetime.

In a new population report due out later this month, the government will revise down its fertility rate forecast for 2050 to about 1.2 from a previous projection of 1.39 in 2002, the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, citing unidentified health officials.

According to Health Ministry, on average, Japanese women gave birth for the first time at 29.1 years old in 2005, up from 27.5 years in 1995.

According to latest census data, the country’s population peaked in 2004 at 127.790 million, falling by 22,000 in 2005.

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Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs declared Andrea G. Bottner as Senior Coordinator for the Office of International Women’s Issues (G/IWI).

Ms. Botter’s aim would be to amalgamate global women’s rights issues into all aspects of U.S. foreign policy.

The Office of the Senior Coordinator would otherwise look into all the matters of foreign policy related to the political, economic, and social advancement of women in democracy globally.

Before joining the State Department, Ms. Bottner served as Acting Director of the Office on Violence against Women at the Department of Justice, and earlier the Principal Deputy Director in that Office.

She also worked as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Republican National Committee Co-Chairman, and handled the national women’s outreach strategy for the Republican National Committee in close coordination with the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign.

Ms. Bottner received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Delaware and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore Law School.

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