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A CNN reporter has a painfully obvious, must-watch lesson for men in the workplace.

A member of Congress responsible for investigating sexual harassment claims has — you guessed it — been accused of sexual harassment.

The New York Times reported that Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pennsylvania), a member of the House Ethics Committee, settled his own harassment case involving a younger aide last year — using taxpayer money.

The 62-year-old married father of three admitted that he viewed the younger woman as "a soul mate" and allegedly got upset when he learned she was dating someone else, creating a hostile work environment that forced her out of her job. Based on interviews he's done since, it doesn't seem that he thinks there was anything wrong with his actions.

On the Jan. 24 episode of "The Lead with Jake Tapper," CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins shared a lesson for Meehan and other men.

"Let this just be a message to all of the grown men out there that the younger women who work for you do not want to date you," Collins said. "They do not want to be your soul mate. They do not want to go to ice cream with you. They do not want to be your partner."

[rebelmouse-image 19533763 dam="1" original_size="500x271" caption=""The younger women who work for you do not want to date you. They do not want to be your soul mate." GIFs from CNN/Twitter." expand=1]"The younger women who work for you do not want to date you. They do not want to be your soul mate." GIFs from CNN/Twitter.

"And when they start dating someone else, you cannot get angry with them for that and try to pay them money to cover it up," she continued, exasperated. "That is just a lesson I should not have to say to people. I'm a 25-year-old woman. I shouldn't have to say that to anyone, that when a woman goes to work, they don't want to date their boss."

[rebelmouse-image 19533764 dam="1" original_size="500x271" caption=""When a woman goes to work, they don't want to date their boss."" expand=1]"When a woman goes to work, they don't want to date their boss."

It's really simple: If you're someone's boss, you shouldn't be getting hung up about who they're dating or expressing your own romantic feelings for them.

That's harassment. Even if feelings are mutual, supervisor-subordinate relationships are an extremely delicate issue that often invites trouble. With imbalances in power dynamics — say, if the person you're pursuing has to worry whether you'll fire them for rebuffing your advances — it's probably just best if you avoid the issue completely, keeping things professional in the workplace.

"When I discussed her boyfriend, I stated that I wished I could be better at accepting it right now but I probably needed a bit of time," Meehan told the Inquirer — a major indicator that his interest in his aide was inappropriate. In a letter to the woman, Meehan discussed going to the Vietnam Memorial, finding her last name, and tracing it back to someone with his own name.

The whole thing is just really, truly, unnecessarily weird and creepy.

Don't be creepy.

Watch Collins offer up her lesson for grown men about the younger women who work for them below.

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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friendship
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

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money
Family

Woman bakes cheeky curse word pies for her grandma and it becomes a quirky holiday tradition

2023's pie is an homage to her favorite word to use while stuck in traffic.

Canva

You never know where a holiday tradition will come from.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

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humor
Family

Grandma got a secret DNA test after noticing her granddaughter didn't look like her siblings

People think she was right to do it, too.

via Christian Buehner/Unsplash and Warren Umoh/Unsplash

The grandmother was suspicious.

A grandmother always felt her middle granddaughter Lindsay, 15, looked slightly different from the rest of the family because she had blonde, curly hair, while the rest of her siblings’ hair was dark “I thought genetics was being weird and I love her,” she wrote on Reddit’s AITA forum.

But things became serious after Linday’s parents “banned” her from taking things a step further and getting a DNA test. If the family was sure their daughter was theirs, why would they forbid her from seeking clarity in the situation? After the parents laid down the law, the situation started to seem a little suspicious.

“I told my son and [daughter-in-law] that there was something fishy around her birth she needed to know. They denied it and told me to leave it alone,” the grandma wrote.

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dna tests
Pop Culture

Pianist uses every part of the instrument in this joyous performance of Toto's 'Africa'

"Not sure I can comprehend what just happened! Unbelievable."

via Peter Benace/YouTube

Peter Bence's piano cover of "Africa" by Toto

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa'' is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

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music
Joy

Family posts a very chill note to neighbors explaining why their dog is on the roof

“We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door.."

via Reddit

Meet Huckleberry the dog.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog's welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, "Uh, I'm not sure if you know...but there's a...dog...on your ROOF."

Well, the family inside is aware that there's often a dog on their roof. It's their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

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dogs
Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.



Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

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