Gov. Nikki Haley Issues Budget Vetoes

The Governor's veto #18 cuts all operating funds - $417,750 - for the S.C. Arts Commission, eliminating their ability to function/administer any programs and services, including grants. She also vetoed the $25,000 in one-time funds for a plan a Cultural Districts Designation Program in her veto #56. More details to come but now is the time to urge your House and Senate members to vote to OVERRIDE VETO # 18 AND #56. The House is scheduled to take action Wednesday at 1PM and the Senate at 11AM on Thursday. Please act now!

Gov. Nikki Haley issues budget vetoes 

In other news of things I care about: The US Supreme Court decisions about California's Prop 8 and the so-called 'Defense of Marriage Act' (aka DOMA) will come on Wednesday, June 26 at 10am. 

Where can we learn about the decision? 

Minute by minute updates are posted live Wednesday morning on SCOTUS Blog. You can log-on to watch for free. Also, if you have Facebook, sign-up to join this ONLINE Event page. 

What can we do once we have a decision? 

Many credit the beginning of our modern LGBT movement to the Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969 which started at one of New York's LGBT bars. 

In that spirit we will gather Wednesday from 5-6pm at PT's 1109 (1109 Assembly Street, Columbia) to organize a march through the streets of Columbia. 

- At 6pm, we will march up Gervais Street past the State House which continues to deny our equality. 

- We will turn down Main Street where the first SC Pride March was held in 1990 and pass the county courthouse at 1701 Main Street where many loving same-sex couples have been denied marriage licenses in the past. 

- We will end our march out front of Columbia's City Hall, one of the places in our state which has granted equality to our state's residents and visitors through inclusive Human Rights Ordinances. 

- From there we invite you to return to PT's 1109 with us so that we can spend time together as a community, processing the court's decisions and brainstorming ways to move forward for South Carolina. PTs 1109 will be offering Happy Hour specials till 8pm.

The results of the court's ruling will signify if this will be a celebration march or a march to call for more equality. We will have posters and supplies for you to make your own signs if you'd like. We will adjust the message of our signs based on how the court rules so come early to get ready. If it rains, bring your umbrellas!

Things you can do on Wednesday:

• Wear RED to symbolize love and commitment of marriage equality

• Tell all your friends about the march and ask them to join you in support of equality

• Post this information to Facebook and Twitter so everyone will know about the march

• Remember no matter the outcome, we will march peacefully and respectfully

• If you belong to an organization or business, bring your signs and banners so that the public will know you support equality 

• Change your Social Media profile image to reflect LGBT equality in South Carolina.

If you don't live in Columbia but are organizing an event in your town, post those events this page to share with other residents of South Carolina.

United we will stand no matter the decision and we will move forward to advance other issues of LGBT equality till Equal Means Everyone. 

If you haven't already, be sure to sign-up for South Carolina Equality action alerts to stay updated on the cases. http://goo.gl/PYmPW

RANT

RANT: Marketing companies who produce commercials for local or big business but don't appreciate your talent enough to pay their actors: YOU SUCK.Quit advertising for actors willing to do the commercial to "build their resume..." YOU CHEAPEN THEIR ART!.

And Actors, SHAME ON YOU FOR ACCEPTING THAT! You are worth more than just free...  expect more, demand more! Even a modest stipend is better than nothing!  Save your charity for community theatre - Actors should get paid in any business setting!

END RANT.

Hack.

People deal with life in many different ways.
One person creates a Facebook page that attempts to find humor in Cancer as a way of dealing with the loss of a loved one.  ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cancer-is-funny-cause-people-die/174140266010061 )
Another person deals with that same Facebook page with anger, because he finds absolutely no humor in Cancer. Hundreds of thousands of people respond in kind, likely without reading anything on the actual page in question.
Threats are made. Cops are called. The page is Facebook "reported" and "investigated." Media gets told about it.

And all this amounts to what?

A HACK.

Whether or not there is a real person coping with Cancer or the loss of a loved one, hundreds of thousands of people have clogged up Facebook with their comments.

For what purpose?

Wikipedia: Hacking means finding out weaknesses in a computer or computer network, though the term can also refer to someone with an advanced understanding of computers and computer networks.[1] Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, or challenge.[2]

There can be no doubt that someone is protesting the Facebook Page, or protesting the User, or protesting Cancer, or maybe any combination thereof.

And if there's a Hack behind it all, surely it's a means to to place stress on Facebook servers, in an attempt to get them to fail?  To cause bad publicity for Facebook?  To overwork some intermediary server or internet infrastructure?


Or maybe it's more sinister than that.  Maybe the Hack is trying to dissuade Facebook users from using the service?  Or maybe it's an elaborate ruse to elevate text-notifications to increase per-text revenues from cell-phone carriers.

Whatever.

The bottom line is, when you add your comment to a thread on Facebook with 200,000 comments, the joke is on you, because your notifications will cause you to throw your cell phone across the room.  Your Facebook Notifications will climb to at least hundreds, if not thousands.

And you still haven't cured Cancer; the Facebook Page in question is still alive and well; as is the person who created it.

No, I didn't create the Facebook Page. Not guilty. I'm just someone who happened to notice the phenomenon.

Why don't we have a cure for Cancer? Is there too many people drawing salaries off research efforts?  Too many people who get paid to be cancer patient caregivers and medical personnel? Too much money being made off medical equipment and pharmaceuticals? There's a whole economy centered around Cancer - a huge economy.