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Greetings!,
 Well, I have finally succumbed to the siren song of social networking, and joined Facebook. I still don't care to know what you had for breakfast, or to reconnect with old high school chums, but I DO care about connecting with you Social Notes readers!
Here is the link for the Social Notes page, and you can add my as a friend by searching for my email address: cwyatthouston@yahoo.com. I'm pretty new at Facebook, and am still exploring ways to use it for the benefit of my Social Notes readers, so please be patient with me!
Summertime is usually a slow time in the Houston GLBT community, and therefore Social Notes takes on a more leisurely publishing schedule. But there are several really good socializing opportunities coming up in August, so please make sure to read this whole newsletter so you'll be In The Know! |
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Professional Womens' Happy Hour:
Now with shower dancers!
Wednesday, August 5th, 7 to 10 pm
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Join Houston's nicest and nicest looking women at this monthly get-together. Meteor is a swell bar - beautifully decorated, clean, very upscale.
Note: Meteor has added an "interesting" new performance area in their main bar. It is a stage that has shower heads built in. Dancers perform in the shower - with minimal clothing. They are ultimately planning on having female dancers on Wednesdays, but this week it will be the male dancers. This will at least give us an idea of what the format is all about. I'd like everyone's input on this new idea. It could potentially totally revitalize our happy hours, which frankly have been dwindling. Or, it could be our death knell. Could easily go either way. Anywho, let me know your thoughts! |
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Date Night Texas
Wednesday, August 26th
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Date Night Texas is a twist on speed dating and gives singles an opportunity to meet in a fun, safe environment to create connections with other singles. They'll be hosting their first women's event on August 26th at "The Original Chocolate Bar" in Rice Village (2521 University Blvd). Tickets are $25. You can find out more by visiting their Face Book page, or by calling 713-469-2368. As their flyer says:
You have nothing to lose, so take a chance...
make the first move to love and romance. |
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Northwest Corner House Party
Saturday, August 22nd
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The Northwest Corner group is taking off like gang-busters! This social and civic group for GLBTs living outside the northwest corner of Loop 610 already has over 300 members. In addition to monthly happy hours and every-other-month House Parties, the organization also hosts 12 special interest groups, for everything from Book Club to Bicycle Riding. You can sign up for any or all of these special interest groups by visiting the Northwest Corner Facebook page.
The August House Party will be held at Brian O'Leary and George Appling's beautiful swankienda, and will feature wine, beer and vodka based cocktails, along with appetizers. To help defray costs, we're asking everyone to kick in $10. Please RSVP on the Evite page. |
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Upcoming "Don't Miss" Events
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Be sure to check the Calendar page of Social Notes for more details on each of these fine events.
- Tuesday, 8/4: Finding and Maintaining a Long Term Relationship: A Lecture by Therapist Denise O'Doherty
- Wednesday, 8/5: Professional Women's Happy
 Hour
- August 10th through the 23rd: Houston Restaurant Week, benefiting the Houston Food Bank
- Friday, 8/14: Dueling Divas, a benefit for Bering Omega
- Saturday, 8/15: Kindred Spirits Reunion Dance
- Wednesday, 8/26: Date Night Texas - sort of like Speed Dating, only different
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"Save The Date" and purchase your tickets now for these future events!
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 Even though these events may be a few weeks down the road, you need to buy your tickets and/or make your reservations NOW, girlfriend! You can find out all the details, including ticket purchase information, by visiting the Calendar Page of Social Notes
- Saturday, 8/15: Kindred Spirits Reunion Dance
- Saturday, 10/24: Houston Women's Festival
- Nov. 17-24: Volunteer for the LPGA event here in Houston
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The Rant
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 Boy, I goof off for a couple of weeks, and miss the opportunity for a good ol' rant on Sarah Palin's resignation! How mavericky is it to demonstrate that you are not a quitter by quitting!!!
I thought it was quite telling that she spoke of giving up her "title", not her office. To Sarah, being governor was just one more prize to win. As her performance demonstrated, she had absolutely no interest in, or talent for, actual governance. Sadly enough, her adoring admirers continue to be unincumbered by logic. Stay tuned, because I guarantee that we haven't heard the last of The Quittah from Wasilla!
But enough about old news - this week's Rant focuses on the hot topic of the day: Obama's birth certificate. Just kidding. No, the REAL political issue of the day is health care reform. I can't figure out how the Republicans think they can win by stopping reform, but they certainly are desperate to do so, and are trotting out their full arsenal of lies, scare tactics, and distortion to make their case. They claim that we have the "Best Health Care In The World", and that no changes are needed. But everyone of you has either had problems with our health care system, or knows someone who has. Let's break this thing down into digestible tidbits:
Do we have a problem? Well, we ARE number 1 in health care expense per capita, spending over twice the amount of many other industrialized nations. And we DO spend a higher percentage of our Gross Domestic Product on health care than any other country. But these are not numbers to be proud of, especially when you consider what we are getting for our money. Pick almost any measure of health care performance, and the US is well back in the pack. For example, the US ranks a pathetic 47th in overall life expectancy, but hey, on the good news side, we come in 43rd in infant mortality.
In short, we spend way too much money, and have too little to show for it. The US is the ONLY industrialized country without some form of universal health care. Over 45 million of us have no insurance at all, and those that do have coverage are at the mercy of the insurance companies who look for any and every reason to drop us or raise our rates. ALL of us are only one health care crisis away from bankruptcy. Sound too dramatic? A Harvard study shows that half of all US bankruptcies stem from illness and medical bills.
What needs to be fixed? We may not be able to fix all these problems on Day One, but here's my personal wish list:
- We need universal coverage, and that coverage should NOT be tied to your job
- We must make sure that more of our health care expenses are actually going towards care, rather than administration or insurance company profits
- We've got to eliminate the pre-existing conditions issue, which allows insurers to deny you coverage
- We can't allow providers to cancel your coverage if you get sick
- We need better preventive care, which will help reduce our overall health care costs in the long run
- We've got to get emergency rooms out of the primary care business. They are the most expensive option for primary care delivery, yet they are the only choice for the millions of Americans who have no health care insurance.
What is the cost of doing nothing? The conservatives say that we can't afford to do anything, but Obama argues that we can't afford to do nothing. The trend on costs is very scary: health insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine years, and have grown at a rate three times faster than wages. "If we do nothing, within a decade we will be spending one out of every
five dollars we earn on health care," Obama said. "In 30 years, it will
be one out of every three."
Is government the answer? Look, I'm as big a champion of the free market as anyone, but health care does NOT lend itself to free market solutions. Free markets are driven by a couple of things:
- Consumer choice: when you've just had a heart attack, are you in any condition to shop for the best doctor or the most cost competitive hospital? Heck no! And even if you have the time to make choices, do you really have the ability to judge which cardiologist might best meet your needs? Of course not!
- Profit motive: Insurance companies make money by figuring out ways to deny you coverage. The more health care you get, the less money they make.
That's the reason why every civilized country on this planet offers some flavor of government sponsored/controlled/managed/subsidized health care. Now I know that the Republicans have run for years on the idea that government can't do anything well, and certainly Bush proved that HIS government couldn't do anything well.
But we already have several very successful government-run health care programs to prove that the government can be successful. Just try to take Medicare away from a senior citizen! Or tell a veteran that the VA will no longer be available to meet his health care needs. 56% of Medicare beneficiaries rate their coverage a 9 or 10 on a scale of 10 (only 40% rate their private insurance as highly.)
And don't throw out that old Socialist crap either. If you don't like socialized services, then get off the public roads, arrange for your own fire and police protection through private means, etc. The government is simply better at some things than private industry.
The politics of the issue: According to a poll commissioned by CBS News and the New York Times, 72% of Americans favor the creation of a public health insurance plan, and most say that the government can do a better job of holding down costs than private industry can. Polls are also showing that the public trusts Democrats more than Republicans to fix this mess. And therein lies the rub.
Republicans know that if they allow Democrats to make major improvements in health care coverage, improvements which will benefit ALL Americans, that the Repubs will be sunk for a generation. South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint (R)spoke for his Republican colleagues when he said ""If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him." To them, this isn't a serious crisis affecting most of the citizens of this country - it is simply another opportunity to gain political leverage. And that totally sucks.
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Professional Pointers
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This is a new feature of Social Notes, in which different professionals within our community will share their advice/wisdom/tips for success with all my loyal readers. If you are a professional with advice to share, please shoot me an email to discuss.
Resumes, Recruiters,
and Interviews... Oh, my!
By: Brandy Jones, PHR President IQ Staffing, LLCIf you, like many people, are one of the over 9% of Americans currently unemployed, or if you are gainfully employed, but looking to make a change, chances are you have considered using a recruiter to aid in your search for a job. But what kind of recruiter? Where do you send your resume? What do you say when they call you? Should you follow up? How? When? This article was written based on a presentation recently given at the National Association of Purchasing Management Career Services Day. It's an overview of how a recruiter can assist with your job search, how you can network to improve your chances of finding a job, how to interview by phone or face to face, and how to follow up properly. My hope is that you'll be able to navigate the dark forest of resumes, recruiters, and interviews... oh, my!For the rest of Brandy's article, click here.
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So Long!
Wow, I shouldn't wait so long between editions of Social Notes - sorry that this was such a long one!
 Hope to see all your smilin' faces at the KS Reunion, the Date Night Houston thingie, and all the other swell events coming up!
My birthday is this month, so happy birthday to me and all my fellow Leo's. You know our motto: We're not bossy - our ideas are just better!
Sincerely,
Carol Wyatt
Social Notes
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you're still welcome to come join in the fun. The Hornberger (where the 