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Greetings!
Wow, timed slipped away from me. It has been a whole month since I updated Social Notes - sorry!! Oh well, I'm back in the saddle now, and it's a good thing, since there is a TON of stuff going on.
This is a great time of year to be a Houston lesbian. June is Pride month, and that means that there are activities out the wazoo! Shame on you if you don't participate in some of the fine entertainment opportunities our community affords you this month! As always, the Social Notes calendar will keep you In The Know.
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LHI Rainbow Health Fair
Saturday, June 5th, 8 am to 2 pm
at Legacy Community Health Services
 The Lesbian Health Initiative (LHI) June Rainbow Health
Fair, serving LGBT women with no insurance or who are under-insured,
is just around the corner. This is a great opportunity to get the
health exams and information you need. The Health Fair will
provide well-woman exams, mammograms, and pap tests. New
this year, we will offer extensive blood screenings including
those for STDs, cholesterol, thyroid health, lipids and more. Sign
up for screenings now. To schedule a mammogram or pap test, email or call (713) 426-3356.
Leave your name, phone number and email address (if calling,
speak slowly and say your phone number twice). Contact us
right away because available slots are going fast. Vendors and
Volunteers welcome. Promote your business. If you are a vendor, this
is a great opportunity to meet new customers and promote
your business And if you just want to do something good for your community, come volunteer with our team. You'll have fun, meet
wonderful people, and provide a valuable service. If you are
interested in serving as a volunteer or vendor, email or call (713)
426-3356.
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 | Scholarships for Women
Who Want to Go To College
After 5 Years of Work Experience
Deadline is Friday, May 28th
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 The Women's Business Support Network Foundation Inc. is proud to offer ongoing financial support to Houston-area women who wish to further their career opportunities through additional education. A number of $500, $1000 and $2000 scholarships will be awarded by the WBSN Foundation's Scholarship Board to women who want to make a difference and achieve their dream. Candidates must have at least five years of work experience in or out of the home, and a clear objective of how continuing education can enhance that experience. Applications must be postmarked by Friday, May 28, 2010. To find out more, and to get an application, click on this link.
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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. You'll find time, dates, location, a description of the event, along with prices and a links where appropriate. Click on over so you'll be In The Know.
- Thursdays through June 24th: Pride Idol Competition at meteor
- Wednesdays in June: Dining Out With Pride, fundraisers held at a different restaurant each Wednesday
- Saturday, 6/5: LHI Health Fair
- Saturday and Sunday, 6/5 and 6/6: Summer Fest, sponsored by The Free Press
- Saturday, 6/5: Queer Bingo is back!
- Thursday, 6/17: Thursday Book Club at Montrose Library
- Saturday, 6/19: "Let's Misbehave", feauturing Kate Clinton and the Gay Men's Chorus
- Saturday, 6/26: Pride Parade and Festival
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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 days/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, 6/19: Kate Clinton and the Gay Men's Chorus of Houston in "Let's Misbehave"
- Saturday, 7/10: Pride in The Park - GLBT night at the Astros vs Cardinals game at Minute Maid Park
- Friday, 7/16 - Sunday, 7/18: Living Gay By Truth Prom 2010 Extravaganza
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| The Rant
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 Gosh, isn't the gulf oil leak situation just a nightmare? This is just a thought, but maybe we shouldn't be drilling at depths for which we have no known solutions for disasters like this. For example, did you know that we don't even have submarines that can go that deep?? Not that it matters much, because we don't really know what we'd do with the submarine if it could get down there.
I believe BP's next plan is to try to stop the flow by clogging the pipe with debris including golf balls (not making this up). Just for fun, go turn a fire hydrant on full force and see how successful you are at shoving golf balls into it. Wear a helmet with a facemask, cause those golf balls are going to come flying back atcha, I do believe.
The ecological, economic and social impacts of this travesty will be be with us for decades. I looked up some info on the Exxon Valdez spill, which happened in 1989. The ship ran into a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William sound, fouling about 1300 miles of coastline. It took four summers of cleanup to remove all the visible oil, although in most areas you can still find oil beneath most of the beaches if you dig down about a foot.
Exxon says it spent $2.1 billion on cleanup. The Alaskan government estimates that the economic losses for their state totaled $2.8 billion. Of course, that doesn't take into account the horrendous loss of animal life.
Now, depending on the constantly-being-revised information coming out of the gulf, the BP leak is spewing the equivalent of several Exxon Valdez sized spills PER WEEK, and there is currently no end in sight. This mess is going to wreck gulf fishing and tourism for a decade or more. And it's going to destroy he wetlands which have historically helped dampen the effects of hurricanes in the Louisiana area. Speaking of hurricanes, can you imagine what is going to happen when one hits the gulf, picking up all that oil mess and spreading it all over some unlucky cities along the gulf?
BP says they are going to pay to take care of everything, but right now
their legal liabilities for lost wages and economic suffering are
limited to $75 million, thanks to a boneheaded bill passed by Congress
back in 1990 (in response to the Valdez spill). However, there are no
caps on criminal penalties, and based on what we are hearing about BP's
malfeasance in the days leading up to the disaster, I'd say they are
ripe for criminal charges.
For all those in the "Drill Baby Drill" contingent, I hope this is a
wake up call. Well, Caribou Barbie is still shrieking her mantra, but I
think this disaster has dampened the enthusiasm of some of the other
domestic drilling proponents. I'm kicking myself for not saving a
graph that I saw within the last couple of weeks, demonstrating what an
incredibly small portion of the US oil consumption needs can be met with
domestically produced oil. It was just an amazingly small sliver of our demand. And as we now know, the risks are indeed
enormous.
We've really got to ween ourselves off oil. Period. Not only is it
horrible for the environment, but it makes us beholden to Middle Eastern
countries. Does anyone think we would give a rat's ass about Iran,
Iraq, Saudi Arabia or any of those other sandy hell holes if it weren't
for the oil they possess? How much different would our foreign policy
be if those countries weren't wealthy from the proceeds of our
dependence on oil? How much
attention would we have to pay to them? Just sayin....
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So Long!
Well, that's all for this edition of Social Notes.
 Did you know that Houston has a gay classic car club? Well, we DO, and it's cleverly called the Classic Chassis Car Club of Houston. They're always looking for new members, AND they wanted me to tell you all that they'd love to bring some of their cars to your charity organization's fund raising events. You can find out more about them by visiting the Organizations/Hobbies page on Social Notes.
And remember, Social Notes has listings for all sorts of organizations that might be of interest to you - social groups, business networking, educational groups, performing groups, services, sports and support groups...no matter what your interest, you can find a GLBT group to join by visiting the Organizations pages of Social Notes.
As I promised at the top, this is a VERY busy time in our community. I hope to see all your smilin' faces at some of the great upcoming events!
Sincerely,
Carol Wyatt
Social Notes
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