Offensive Vintage Ads....Whatever Happened to Political Incorrectness?

1. The Harder A Wife Works, The Cuter She Looks!

2. Men Ask “Is She Pretty?” Not “Is She Clever?”

3. Doesn’t Your Mama Wash You With Fairy Soap?

4. Use “Chlorinol” And Be Like De White Nigger

5. Cocaine Toothache Drops

6. Keep Her Where She Belongs…

7. Cochon Prodigue

8. Show Her It’s A Man’s World

9. That’s What Wives Are For!

10. Youngest Customers In The Business

11. Start Cola Earlier!

(update: this ad is fake. Thanks Amy K.!)

12. Don’t Worry Darling, You Didn’t Burn The Beer!

13. Men Are Better Than Women!

14. If Your Husband Ever Finds Out..

15. More Doctors Smoke Camels

16. More Doctors Smoke Camels #2

17. Blow In Her Face

18. Begin Early.Shave Yourself

19. It’s Nice To Have A Girl Around The House

20. Because Innocence Is Sexier Than You Think

21. MOPC

Update: @Thomas: морс (or mors) is actually a non-alcoholic juice, pretty close to cranberry juice

22. Smoking Santa

23. Merry Christmas For Every Smoker!

24. StayDry Panties!

25. Is It Always Illegal To Kill A Woman?

+26. SEGA: The More You Play The Harder It Gets

You sit there, eyes glued to the writhing, arcade-quality graphics, pulling and squeezing your knob…

Now you can play with yourself for hours with SEGA’s hand held, full colour games system…

Question: would you like seeing such ads in today’s television and press?

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Cleaving Creativity

As the time ticks away,
Breathe by Breathe I feel my self deflating
Weaken and abandoned in a soulless cave
No light, no mirrors, no smoke...no fire
I know my star gleams, twinkling high in your heavens
Casting life onto infinite galaxies 
My spirit, retreating in the dense forest of common culture
Forbidden, disavowed....ostracized to a sea of over thought oblivion
Ridiculed for a misunderstood and Malnuturished depth of creativity
....
I feel alone
I feel condemned
by the
Callous masses
Of humanity
That dips it's hunger
Onto a plate it's appetite can not handle
Nor it mind can comprehend
I feel victimized
By those who yield to imaginary boundaries 
And Illicit typical and ineffective direction
I
S T A N D
Alone
In A world...not, yet...Ready
To read and be guided on a journey that I have travelled...
Time,
Had come...and will be coming
In An ageless form
Not bounded by our silly little rules
Of space and substance

I may stand alone, in a crowded world....
But, my beacon flashes
And all the right eyes will notice...
All the kindred spirits will converge
On my 
Stand Alone Island

This ALL starts
With my first breathe...the first of many ageless and infinite breathes....

This,
Whether I like it Or Not
Is my time to stand alone and flash my horns
I Wait and watch...to see how alone on my island I will be
So....
When my dust settles
And my skies burn inside my everlasting star...


This is your dream and your Destiny...
My final flight, my only Destination

Awkward Pet Picture

http://www.pawnation.com/2013/09/27/an-autumn-of-awkward-pets/?ncid=webmail1

Move Along

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XleOkGsYgO8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXleOkGsYgO8

Commonalities of Happy Folk

A lot of people have midlife crises. Me, I had a quarter-life crisis a few years ago, when I turned 24. There was no impulse purchase involving a red Mustang or electric guitar, but as my iPhone alarm woke me up bright and early for work one morning in my two-bedroom NYC apartment, I pondered, "Do I have everything -- or nothing at all?"

My gut said that there had to be more to life than the rat race of what I was doing (IT consulting). But I just wasn't sure what it was or who I could turn to for wisdom outside of "the Matrix."

I decided to embark on a journey to find out. I quit my job, minimized my expenses, went to Hawaii and got very serious (in a wild sort of way) about discovering what made me tick. I found out there are a lot of people like me -- young, energetic, intense, purpose-driven, but frustrated with the status quo and a little freaked out about our prospects for the future. I decided to dedicate my life to seeking out the wisdom we need to create extraordinary lives with a deep sense of purpose in a world of immense uncertainty.

Early on, I stumbled across this quote from Dan Millman [1]:

I'd always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live -- that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.
That about summed up where I was and what I was discovering. I couldn't just wait for happiness and satisfaction to find me; I was going to have to make my own. So I've been doing that and coaching others on how to do the same ever since.

One of the coolest things I found early on is that studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness. Here are a dozen things that any of us -- at any age or stage of life -- can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives [2].

Express gratitude. -- When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value. Kinda cool right? So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness. And that's without having to go out and buy anything. It makes sense. We're gonna have a hard time ever being happy if we aren't thankful for what we already have.
Cultivate optimism. -- Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism. No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it. She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life. People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times [3].
Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. -- Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous. If we're somehow "better" than the person that we're comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority. Our ego inflates -- KABOOM -- our inner Kanye West comes out! If we're "worse" than the person that we're comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we've done and dismiss all the progress that we've made. What I've found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn't stem from a healthy place. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.
Practice acts of kindness. -- Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain. (Serotonin is a substance that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.) Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside. What's even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness. How extraordinary is that? A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin. Move over Pfizer, kindness is kicking ass and taking names.
Nurture social relationships. -- The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships. Did you know studies show that people's mortality rates are DOUBLED when they're lonely? WHOA! There's a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with. We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.
Develop strategies for coping. -- How you respond to the "craptastic" moments is what shapes your character. Sometimes crap happens -- it's inevitable. Forrest Gump knows the deal. It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan. It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.
Learn to forgive. -- Harboring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being. You see, your mind doesn't know the difference between past and present emotion. When you "hate" someone, and you're continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are toxic for your well-being. You put yourself in a state of suckerism (technical term) and it stays with you throughout your day.
Increase flow experiences. -- Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still. It's when you're so focused on what you're doing that you become one with the task. Action and awareness are merged. You're not hungry, sleepy, or emotional. You're just completely engaged in the activity that you're doing. Nothing is distracting you or competing for your focus.
Savor life's joys. -- Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy. It's easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life's enjoyable experiences. When we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic. It's the simple things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully experience them.
Commit to your goals. -- Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force. Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere. When you're fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing. Counter-intuitively, having no option -- where you can't change your mind -- subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.
Practice spirituality. -- When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than us. We surrender the silly idea that we are the mightiest thing ever. It enables us to connect to the source of all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists. Some of the most accomplished people I know feel that they're here doing work they're "called to do."
Take care of your body. -- Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be. If you don't have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected [4]. Did you know that studies conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft? Not only that, but here's the double whammy... Six months later, the people who participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth.
So there you have it. No new flashy car or leather jacket needed -- just simple, scientifically-grounded wisdom for long-term happiness. These are all things you can start implementing today -- with or without a career change -- so I hope you pick one thing and commit to rocking it.

In my upcoming blogs, I'll share more wisdom on all these topics and more. In the meantime, you can come see how my own wisdom-seeking efforts (and those of some other really cool purpose-driven peeps) are proceeding at Sensophy.com.

Footnotes:

Millman, D. Way of the Peaceful Warrier. H.J.KRAMER, 1984. Print.
Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New York: Penguin Press, 2008. Print.
Tiger, Lionel. Optimism: The Biology of Hope. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979. Print.
Loehr, James E, and Tony Schwartz. The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. New York: Free Press, 2003. Print.



Article by Jacob Sokol
Follow Jacob Sokol on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JacobSokol

Funny, as to what is appropriate and what is not

I had this happen to me Once.

....so long ago, its all but forgotten...
Nonetheless, at the time...
I found it obnoxious and immature....even extreme and unnecessary.  But, sometimes we live to learn....for all those involved.
There is no doubt in my mind that things even out in life.  Otherwise, how do we learn?
These are not my rules, nor am I a referee....I am no judge either.
I am a mere pedestrian on the same road as everyone else. We are all Even.
What I will do, is good for those who cross my path and need it.

So.....

It could happen to anybody: 
Girl meets government worker at D.C. bar. Government worker sexts girl between dates (using government-issued Blackberry), then dumps girl by text just before her 26th birthday.

What happens after that might be particular to Quin Woodward Pu, author of a pair of self-published memoirs about becoming a writer, public relations worker and self-described hypomanic girl-about-town in the nation's capital instead of attending medical school.

This is the text Pu got right before her birthday. She was turning 26, she writes on her blog. She'd been out with the guy twice.

Pu says -- again, on the blog -- she was, at first, "stunned into paralysis" by the breakup text, and "had no words."

Some half a day later her communicative abilities returned -- she then issued a long and angry text of her own, declaiming the idea that "as a 25 year old with two published books and a condo" she even wanted a relationship with this man in the first place.

And, she writes, adding injury to indignity, she forwarded "taxpayer-funded sexts from your agency blackberry" to the guy's manager at work.

Look, yes, like a lot of people on the internet have noticed, Pu makes a big deal about the condo. It's "adorable and small," and in a good part of D.C., she tells HuffPost. "I am having two chandeliers installed into it." But it's also symbolic of not needing a man -- "some rando," as she put it on her blog -- to jump in and take care of her.

"I wanted him to see that I am a self-sufficient person," she says.

Which leads to the next point that Pu would really like to make clear about this whole brouhaha: She wasn't upset about being broken up with, per se. She was actually just upset that the guy was "presumptuous" enough to think she could be broken up with.

"I did NOT have a sexual relationship with this person," she says. "I went on two dates. In my book, I call that getting to know someone. This is why the 'dumping' infuriated me so much."

But all is not lost. Pu says those book sales are up by "1600 percent."

Describing herself as thick-skinned, she says she has also more or less ignored the vitriol (there's a lot of it) that her blog post has provoked since going viral. And, she tells HuffPost she has a date for Thursday night, so her romantic life is also just fine.

As for the fellow who sent the breakup text -- he's fine too, apparently, since Pu tells HuffPost she did not, as initially claimed, actually forward the sexts. "He is safely and soundly still employed," she says. He's also been back in touch.

"Let's just say guys who like crazy bitches," she says, "like crazy bitches."



Article by Arin Greenwood

Single Woman and the Stupid Questions/Comments that They Hear

People love to comment on a woman's single status.

In a July 2013 blog for the Huffington Post, Melanie Notkin explained: "Being single is seen as a chronic problem that needs to be solved and those who just had it solved want to share their secret, i.e. the secret to finding love and getting married."

Unsolicited comments about singleness come in many forms, but they're almost universally frustrating. Single women generally don't want to be pitied or set up on dates with people who are clearly so wrong for them by well-meaning friends.

We asked our Twitter followers what comments single women hate hearing. Here are 17 things you should never say to a non-coupled-up lady:

1. "Have you tried online dating?"

2. "How come nobody is interested in you?"

3. "When was the last time you went on a date?"

4. "You're lucky, I wish I was single."

5. "Maybe some day."

6. "I can't believe you're still single!"

7. "Why are you single?"

8. "The right guy will come along when you stop looking."

9. "Why haven't you gotten married?"

10. "When are you going to find a decent man and settle down?"

11. "There must be something seriously wrong with you."

12. "But there are so many nice guys out there!"

13. "When did you last have sex?"

14. "When you get your life together, things will fall into place."

15. "You should focus on settling down instead of going back to school."

16. "When are you going to have kids?"

17. "When you become a real adult and live with Someone...."

Royals

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LFasFq4GJYM&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLFasFq4GJYM

And the Accapella version

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpo7Lh0Gpbc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZpo7Lh0Gpbc

U.S.A......The United States of Shame

What is the Most Screwed Up Thing About Your State? Check This Chart

For all the U-S-A, U-S-A rah rah that goes around, the United States can be a shameful place. 

The below map lays out some of the statistically worst things about each state. It covers everything from health to crime to travel to drug use. Some states don't have it so bad (Ohio, the "nerdiest") but others really kind of suck (Mississippi has the highest rate of obesity at 35.3% of total population ... and ranks poorly in the most number of categories. These include highest rate of child poverty at 31.9%, highest rate of infant mortality at 10.3% lowest median household income at $35,078, highest teen birth rate at 71.9 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 and highest overall rate of STDs. Phew.)

It's not 100% science proof ... some of the metrics are taken from purely qualitative rankings (i.e. North Dakota).

It's supposed to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but some of the stats will really shock you.

Posting by Chris Miles

Great Abs and Amazing Sex Secrets

I thought that that would get your attention.
Looking most magazine or Internet articles, I see repetitive topics discussed.
As a matter of fact,
The covers of most men's and women's magazines have similar headlines: "Get Great Abs" and "Have Amazing Sex."

From the looks of it, these two issues have been recycled over and over (with some other stereotypically gender-relevant articles thrown in) on every Men's Health, Maxim, Cosmopolitan and Glamour cover since the dawn of time. In fact, I'd bet that if we could get a better translation of cave drawings, they would read something like "Grok get flat belly. Make girl Grok moan with joy."

And we keep buying them. We keep buying this lie that these things will make us happy. I've had washboard abs (past tense) and I've had some pretty phenomenal sex. Neither one made me a better person. Neither one completed me or made my life more fulfilling.

We chase this idea of "I will be happy when... "

I will be happy when I have a new car. I will be happy when I get married. I will be happy when I get a better job. I will be happy when I lose five pounds. What if instead we choose to be happy -- right now?

If you can read this, your life is pretty awesome.

Setting aside our first-world problems and pettiness, if you are online reading this, you have both electricity and WiFi or access to them. Odds are you are in a shelter of some sort, or on a smart phone (and then kudos to you for reading this on the go). Life might bump and bruise us, it may not always go the way we plan and I know I get frustrated with mine, but here's the thing: You are alive.

Because you are alive, everything is possible. So about those eight tips...

1. Stop believing your bullshit.

All that stuff you tell yourself about how you are a commitment phobe or a coward or lazy or not creative or unlucky? Stop it. It's bullshit, and deep down you know it. We are all insecure 14 year olds at heart. We're all scared. We all have dreams inside of us that we've tucked away because somewhere along the line we tacked on those ideas about who we are that buried that essential brilliant, childlike sense of wonder. The more we stick to these scripts about who we are, the longer we live a fraction of the life we could be living. Let it go. Be who you are beneath the bullshit.

2. Be happy now.

Not because The Secret says so. Not because of some shiny happy Oprah crap. But because we can choose to appreciate what is in our lives instead of being angry or regretful about what we lack. It's a small, significant shift in perspective. It's easier to look at what's wrong or missing in our lives and believe that is the big picture -- but it isn't. We can choose to let the beautiful parts set the tone.

3. Look at the stars.

It won't fix the economy. It won't stop wars. It won't give you flat abs, or better sex or even help you figure out your relationship and what you want to do with your life. But it's important. It helps you remember that you and your problems are both infinitesimally small and conversely, that you are a piece of an amazing and vast universe. I do it daily -- it helps.

4. Let people in.

Truly. Tell people that you trust when you need help, or you're depressed -- or you're happy and you want to share it with them. Acknowledge that you care about them and let yourself feel it. Instead of doing that other thing we sometimes do, which is to play it cool and pretend we only care as much as the other person has admitted to caring, and only open up half way. Go all in -- it's worth it.

5. Stop with the crazy making.

I got to a friend's doorstep the other day, slightly breathless and nearly in tears after getting a little lost, physically and existentially. She asked what was wrong and I started to explain and then stopped myself and admitted, "I'm being stupid and have decided to invent lots of problems in my head." Life is full of obstacles; we don't need to create extra ones. A great corollary to this one is from The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz: Don't take things personally. Most of the time, other people's choices and attitudes have absolutely nothing to do with you. Unless you've been behaving like a jerk, in which case...

6. Learn to apologize.

Not the ridiculous, self-deprecating apologizing for who you are and for existing that some people seem to do (what's up with that, anyway?). The ability to sincerely apologize -- without ever interjecting the word "but" -- is an essential skill for living around other human beings. If you are going to be around other people, eventually you will need to apologize. It's an important practice.

7. Practice gratitude.

Practice it out loud to the people around you. Practice it silently when you bless your food. Practice it often. Gratitude is not a first world only virtue. I saw a photo recently, of a girl in abject poverty, surrounded by filth and destruction. Her face was completely lit up with joy and gratitude as she played with a hula hoop she'd been given. Gratitude is what makes what we have enough. Gratitude is the most basic way to connect with that sense of being an integral part of the vastness of the universe; as I mentioned with looking up at the stars, it's that sense of wonder and humility, contrasted with celebrating our connection to all of life.

8. Be kind.

Kurt Vonnegut said it best (though admittedly, and somewhat ashamedly -- I am not a Vonnegut fan): "There's only one rule that I know of, babies -- 'God damn it, you've got to be kind.'"

Kindness costs us nothing and pays exponential dividends. I can't save the whole world. I can't bring peace to Syria. I can't fix the environment or the health care system, and from the looks of it, I may end up burning my dinner.

But I can be kind.

If the biggest thing we do in life is to extend love and kindness to even one other human being, we have changed the world for the better.

That's a hell of a lot more important than flat abs in my book.




Previously published on Be You Media Group
Article by Kate Bartolotta, you can follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/be_you_media

You Go Kate!

The Vasectomy

After their 11th child, an Alabama couple decided that was enough, as they could not afford a larger bed. 

So the husband went to his veterinarian and told him that he and his cousin didn't want to have any more children.

The doctor told him that there was a procedure called a vasectomy that could fix the problem, but that it was expensive.

"A less costly alternative," said the doctor, "is to go home, get a cherry bomb, (fireworks are legal in Alabama) light it, put it in a beer can (COORS), then hold the can up to your ear and count to 10."  


The Alabamian said to the doctor, "I may not be the smartest tool in the shed, but I don't see how putting a cherry bomb in a beer can next to my ear is going to help me." 

"Trust me," said the doctor.        

So the man went home, lit a cherry bomb and put it in a beer can.

He held the can up to his ear and began to count!


'1'


'2'


'3'


'4'        


'5'

At which point he paused, placed the beer can between his legs and continued counting on his other hand.  


This procedure also works in Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and parts of Georgia, Missouri, Texas, and West Virginia and ALL of Washington DC .

Pali Puka

Amazing Underwater Photos

http://www.weather.com/travel/tophawaii/amazing-photos-surfers-under-waves-20130625

Rockin' Family Picture

We Should ALL be Nice to EVERYONE

Church Members Mistreat Homeless Man in Church Unaware It Is Their Pastor in Disguise. Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning.

He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service, only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him.

He asked people for change to buy food – no one in the church gave him change.

He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back.

He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.

As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such.

When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation.

“We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek.” The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation.

The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. The clapping stopped with all eyes on him.

He walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment then he recited,

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

‘The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning. Many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame.

He then said, “Today I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?”

He then dismissed service until next week.

Following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ should be more than just talk. It ought to be a lifestyle that others around you can love about you and share in.

Article by Efe Tega

You Think that you Know SomeOne and then you find Out that you Don't

When Leo Villani died in January after a car accident, his coworkers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School mourned the loss of a great colleague. They remembered a financial analyst who kept his $46,000 a year job despite getting a big inheritance, someone who was always "singing" and "laughing," as coworkers told the Boston Globe. What they didn't learn until after his death was that the 54-year-old Villani had been embezzling millions for years, according to authorities.

He'd claimed that his 4,000 square-foot McMansion and Porsche were financed with his "inheritance;" but the school said in fact, Villani spent the last five years routing $3.4 million intended for the state Medicaid insurance program to a fake corporation he had set up. The reported scheme was only uncovered after Villani's death when a review of his work uncovered "discrepancies" in the account, which was supposed to be used for administering payments for the state Medicaid program, known as MassHealth. 

While the state attorney general Martha Coakley is now investigating, it's unlikely any criminal charges will be brought, according to the Boston daily. The school has, however, already fired a supervisor in Villani's division. (The report did not mention Villani's relationship with the fired employee.)

Villani's wife Julie has not commented to the press, but she is reported to be cooperating with the investigation. State investigators have said that they are hoping to recover all of the missing funds, but if they do not, they may sue Villani's estate.

"It's unbelievable. The level of it, the depth of it, was staggering," Edward Keohane, vice chancellor for communications at UMass Medical School, told the Boston Globe. "It was an appalling scam by a guy who was committed to defrauding an organization."

According to the Globe report, Villani had reportedly at least once referred to top managers in his division, Commonwealth Medicine, as "poverty pimps," an allusion to the fact that some earned whopping salaries, as much as $590,320 a year, even while being responsible for administering Medicaid. MassHealth, which provides health insurance for the poor and nursing home residents, is being blamed for contracting with Commonwealth Medicine without considering other bids from competitors.

"A contract like this should have been opened to . . . competitors who could have provided security and double and triple checks against theft," Gregory Sullivan, who was the state's inspector general until last fall, told the Boston Globe.

And with little oversight, Villani was also able to pull off his scheme, critics argue. Villani allegedly created an account he called, "Massachusetts Estate Recovery," which he must have known many MassHealth participants used as shorthand on checks that were supposed to be written to the "Massachusetts Estate Recovery Unit." As a result, he didn't even have to change anything on the some 75 to 95 checks he's alleged to have stolen.

Keohane defended the school, telling the Globe: "We stand by the financial controls that have enabled us to successfully recover over $500 million in the last decade for the Commonwealth."

As AOL Jobs reported in the spring, worker embezzlement schemes are at a five-year high, as many frauds that were launched at the beginning of the financial crisis are only now being discovered.

In total, there were 538 new arrests or indictments of workers who allegedly stole a total of $735 million last year from schemes worth more than $100,000, according to Boston-based security firm, Marquet International. The total is the highest in five years, and as Marquet CEO Chris Marquet told AOL Jobs in May, "major embezzlements usually take five years to be found out, so many schemes that began at the beginning of the crisis are just beginning to pop up."

And as it turns out, Villani does not fit the profile of the usual workplace embezzler. Nearly two out of 3 alleged workplace embezzlers from major schemes last year were women, according to Marquet International. The majority were in their 40's and worked as bookkeepers or treasurers. Why? The embezzlers "need to have risen to the level of authority in an organization where they are able to scheme against the company," Marquet said. And, he said, "bookkeepers and people in that role tend to be women."

Villani, for his part, was certainly remembered for his unassuming persona when he passed away. "He would go to group cookouts and lunches," one colleague told the Boston Globe. 

Article by Dan Fastenberg

No More Drama

All relationships seem to come with added features...
But, there are Perks when one is flying solo....
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Followed by an Encore
Presented by Carmen
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Roadside Etiquette by Lindsey

One Minnesota woman just demonstrated an excellent way to get back at a cowardly street harasser -- leave a scathing Craigslist post about him in the Missed Connections section.

Unfortunately, it's hard to find a woman out there who hasn't been cat-called on the street, subjected to "Hey baby, you look good!" and "Why won't you smile?" comments while she's simply trying to get from point A to B. That's why we seriously respect Lindsey, the 27-year-old Minneapolis woman who typed back to a man who hollered at her last Friday.

Lindsey told Us over email that this wasn't the first time she'd been harassed in public. "Most of the time it happens so quickly you don’t even process what was said until the moment to react has passed," she wrote.

Lucky for the world, she took the time to confront her catcaller indirectly after the incident, though she never imagined that it would get such an incredible response. "I would have probably put more thought into it if I’d known it was going to get this kind of readership instead of writing it two cocktails in and with 'Ferris Bueller’s Day Off' playing on the TV in the background," she quipped. Honestly, we wouldn't suggest any edits.

There are several things that make her use of the Missed Connections section absolutely brilliant:

1. She made sure to set the scene and identify the key players with colorful descriptors like "corporate douchebag."

The scene: 4:30 pm Friday, intersection at American Blvd and 34th Avenue.

You: Middle-aged, dark hair, tan skin, driving a green SUV and wearing the kind of red polo shirt you corporate douchebags love to wear on fridays so you can easily transition from day to night (assuming "day" is some generic but well paid desk job and "night" is maybe a brief happy hour at Applebees before heading back to the burbs and stopping to grab a red box dvd for the kids on your way home.)

Me: 20s, blonde hair, black fitted dress, gladiator sandals and waiting at the intersection to catch the lightrail.

2. She really "gets" the dude who had nothing better to do on his way home than catcall her. 

I know how it is. That quittin' time whistle blows, announcing the weekend, and you get that rush of adrenaline that only comes on Friday afternoons, when the whole world is your oyster and all you need is the freedom to shuck it and some beer to wash it down. You make the minimum requisite small talk with your colleagues as you bolt for your car in the corporate wasteland parking lot and get excited at the notion of beating the traffic home. Maybe your classic rock radio station starts to play your favorite Creed song right as your engine turns on and you're feeling extra lucky. And that's where you find your psyche as you approach the intersection to turn onto 34th - you're a man with nothing to lose and an open road ahead of you.

That's when you spot me, halfway into the street, waiting behind a construction sign for the light to change so I can cross to the light rail stop. If you'd looked closely, you might have noticed I looked tired, eager for peace and quiet after a draining day. You might also have noticed my arms were full of paperwork, confirming that I have a demanding profession and a hard weekend ahead of me. Unfortunately, though, based on what happened next I assume you didn't notice these things, or if you did, you determined they were much less important than the fact that I have two legs that attach at an ass.

3. She provides feasible alternatives to the creepy, leery, thong-related comments hurled at her.

So, that's where we were. Me, minding my own business. You, apparently observing my ass. At that point you had options. You could have driven past me and said nothing. You could have turned up your radio and waved, ensconcing us in some beats and camaraderie. You could have shouted out, "Happy Friday! Yeehaw!" Any of those options would have been great. I probably would have waved, smiled, and started my weekend on the same high note as you.

Instead, you chose the most pathetic option available to you: You leaned out of your window and made some ridiculous series of leering comments about whether I was wearing a thong, right as the light changed and you peeled off, pleased with yourself and saved from any consequences.

4. She spells out exactly why street harassment is NOT complimentary for anyone who is still unclear on the matter.

If you'd stuck around, I would have happily shouted a few things of my own at you: that it's people like you that make women avoid walking alone or taking transit even in broad daylight in their own cities; that no matter what screwed up metric you use it's not a "compliment" to have someone interrogate me about my underwear; that thanks to you I would spend the entire train ride home feeling scrutinized and gross because you didn't have the willpower or maturity to keep your mouth shut; that your wife and daughters or at the very least your mother deserve better than a cowardly man who shouts at women from the safety of his car. 

Let me make this abundantly clear, to you and to the other men reading this: when you comment on a woman's appearance, you are not doing it for her. You are doing it for you. It's not some great way to make a woman feel sexy and appreciated. It's not flattery, even if you mean for it to be. The only thing it is is a great way for you to create a shitty power dynamic, by which you have announced yourself as the arbiter of her value, and you've deemed her fuckable, and she is supposed to be happy or impressed by that.

5. She gives all would-be catcallers some solid notes on how to act in the future. 

If you really find a woman beautiful, don't choose the juvenile selfish route that makes her feel weird and you look like an asshole. Just take a deep breath, commit the image to memory, and get on with your life. Or, if it's really that great of an ass that you can't possibly survive without commenting on it, post about it on CL missed connections after the fact and let her decide what to do about it.

"I think people have gotten significantly better about talking about street harassment, and that’s encouragement and progress in and of itself," Lindsey told HuffPost. We're extremely glad that she decided to contribute so cleverly to such an important conversation.

Lindsey, you and your Craigslist post have officially made our week.

Article by Emma Gray