It’s that time of year again. Holiday cheer is in full effect and your company is throwing the annual holiday celebration complete with food, fellowship and an open bar. It’s rewarding to celebrate a long year of putting in work with your co-workers, but beware. When liquor is flowing freely in a festive atmosphere, it’s very easy to let professionalism slip away. A 2010 poll by human resource firm Adecco reveals that 40% of Americans have seen or suffered a major indiscretion at a work-sponsored holiday event. That’s a shocking percentage of messy behavior. Nearly a quarter of folks surveyed admit to drinking too much and a full 14% of holiday partiers have behaved so badly they lost their jobs. In this economy, that’s not a game. Here are some tips to avoid common holiday party faux-pas.

With additional reporting by Torri R. Oats

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is facing massive shutdowns because it is $10 billion in debt. As it is a main source of good jobs for black people, particularly black women, this could deeply impact our community. CNN reports that 120,000 jobs are on the line as the government considers layoffs and other measures to make up this billion dollar difference. Twenty-one percent of USPS workers are African-American and 37 percent are women, showing its potential impact on our community. Currently, USPS workers are fighting to stop these tremendous losses. As black unemployment is already twice the national average at about 17%, this is not a fight we can afford to lose.

How did this happen? The problems facing the USPS didn’t start overnight, and they are not related to the decline in people sending mail as is being promoted by the GOP.  In fact, one can point to a burdensome 2006 law that mandates the USPS to pre-fund 75 years’ worth of future retiree health benefits in just over ten years. It is worth noting that the USPS is the only federal agency affected by the law. The current struggle is the culmination of this ill-conceived legislation.

Critics of this law have compared this to a person being told suddenly that you have to pay your 30-year mortgage in five years, and then being threatened with foreclosure if you cannot come up with the cash overnight. Before the federal government began demanding these prefunding payments, which amount to billions of dollars a year, the USPS was actually profitable. Now, all of a sudden the Postmaster General has been forced to lay out a dire scenario to Congress which could result in the firing of thousands of workers and closing thousands of facilities — not to mention cutting back on basics like Saturday service.

Some activists believe this crisis is being “manufactured,” according to The Huffington Post, with the intention of dismantling the USPS so it can be privatized for the benefit of cut-throat companies with no interest in serving the public good.

If you have a tough time crafting the perfect “thank you” note to a prospective employer after an interview or to a thoughtful gift giver, then you can quickly calm your nerves now! It’s all in the little details.

Here are the steps you should take to write the perfect “thank you” note:

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Over the past 30 years, women have traditionally worked their way up the ladder. From politics to chemical engineering, it is no longer the case that men are sole breadwinners. Despite gender and/or racial biases in the workforce, reports indicate that women are surpassing men on economic levels. More women are eclipsing men as new hires, prompting them to be the sole income-earners of the household. According to the New York Times, women have held 49.1 percent of the nation’s jobs since November – a peak that is steadily on the rise. The following 10 professional madames have achieved greatness in male-dominated roles of business, politics, and aerospace to name a few:

Let’s give these professional women their due:

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We all knew a little bit too well, the plight of Kenya McQueen in "Something New".

She works hard for the money. So hard honey, honey. So why hasn’t she reached the top yet?

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