Today, we lost a brilliant actress at age 70 from unreported causes (as of this writing). Here, in tribute, is quite possibly her best — and most memorable — scene.

You may have seen it already, but it’s worth repeating (and sharing):

This is from a fellow blogger, Jeremy Hawking, and as he points out, it’s making its way around the Internet. The author is, apparently, unknown, and the item is as follows:

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.

I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.

After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshall‘s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

And then I log on to the internet — which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration — and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.

Food for thought.  I’ll really get on my soapbox about healthcare reform any day now.

Nearly 62 million Americans volunteered in 2008 as charities and community groups struggled in the recession. CBS anchor Katie Couric shares some thoughts, and I echo her suggestion: volunteer. Giving of your time can make a world of difference to one person or an entire community.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Given that I’ve been away for so long (due to a transfer in hosting companies and a BIG mess in getting files and such transferred over to the new servers), I thought that this video would be a most appropriate return!

It’s two-fold: first a message to my former hosting company, and second, to spread a message to those that detest gays and lesbians (it is Pride Month, after all…)

I believe in giving credit where credit is due, so the video, posted in honor of International Day Against Homophobia, was originally found on www.GayClic.com, and was debuted on May 16, 2009.

Enjoy! And, to that nasty, crappy, hosting company that I finally dumped, I say….:

While I could post a million different clips of Bea Arthur, here’s one of my favorites of her with another of my favorites, Angela Landsbury.

Bea Arthur
May 13, 1922 ~ April 25, 2009

Thanks for sharing your talent with us for so many years….

Today’s a collection of short items I’ve been meaning to get down, but have found myself with little time.

RIP Irving R. Levine

For those of you of a certain age — and for these purposes, I’ll go with anyone 35 and over — probably remember the NBC correspondent, Irving R. Levine, who so easily explained such complex issues as the economy, monetary policy, global finances, and myriad other financially-related subjects to the viewing audience, passed away last Friday due to complications from prostate cancer.

While Mr. Levine has the distinction of being the first network correspondent dedicated to economic news, he spent decades as a foreign correspondent, working in such places as Rome, Moscow, and London. During his 35-year career, he found himself stations in over two dozen countries. He was the first accredited journalist in the Soviet Union, witness and reported the erection of the Berlin Wall, and was noted by Time Magazine as being a “pioneer” in economics reporting on television.

Most will remember him as concluding his broadcast with the announcement of his name, placing the distinctive emphasis on his middle initial.

For those interested, here’s his obituary in the New York Times.

The Economy and Philanthropy

While it comes as no surprise, I was disappointed to see the Chronicle of Philanthropy announce that 40% of foundations anticipate a drop in giving during 2009.

Over a trillion dollars in government bailout to corporations, and the groups doing to most good in society are going to have to go back to holding bake sales. Sad….

A Twitter Funny

As seen on a Twitter post (tweet): Dear Person with the license plate frame in front of me: When you get raptured away to Heaven, can I have your gold Lexus SUV? God bless!

Quick Trivial Distraction – By The Numbers

Daily Data Explorations

Because Love Just Isn’t That Simple….

I’ve made a new acquaintance who has an insightful/humorous/helpful blog and bills herself as The Queen of Relationships.

She posted one recently, How To Stay Single Forever which I think you might find entertaining (and insightful). While you start out smiling — or even laughing — when you read something of hers, you usually get hit with the lesson somewhere along the line.

Read. Enjoy! And wander around her site a bit.

Have an Itch? A Drip? Does it Burn When You Pee?

Lastly, I wanted to point out that April is STD Awareness Month. While the heading may make you snicker, STD’s are no laughing matter. Get informed. Get tested. Tell your friends.

Why? You may ask… Here’s why:

- In the United States there is an estimated 19,000,000 new sexually transmitted infections every year — one of the highest rates in the industrialized world

- While STD’s affect people of all races, ages and backgrounds, over 9,000,000 cases are seen in young people ages 15-25. Think you teens aren’t in jeopardy of an STD? Think again!

- Often, a sign that there is an infection takes longer than a week or two to show up, so how someone feels is not the indicator to get tested.

- While “the pill” may help prevent pregnancy, it does not prevent the transmission of an STD. Use condoms, plain and simple.

- The CDC recommends that ALL women 25 and under get tested for chlamydia once per year. Older women with new or multiple sex partners, and pregnant women are encouraged to get tested also.

- Sexually transmitted infections even occur in people who have had very few partners, and it is not reflection on your characters or morals. In fact, the majority of sexually active people are estimated to have an infection of HPV (human papilloma virus (HPV) at some point in their lives and most will never know it. (Note: There is an approved HPV vaccine available for females ages 9-26)

- STD/STI testing is not painful or complicated. A simple blood test and/or peeing in a cup is about as complicated as it gets.

So, what’s the take-home point? DRAG YOUR ASS TO THE DOCTOR OR A FREE CLINIC AND GET TESTED! Visit the American Social Health Association for more information and where to find a testing resource in your community.

Screw around, have fun, just be safe and smart about it!

What: Earth Hour 2009
When: March 28, 2009 at 8:30PM local time
Where: Wherever you find yourself on the planet
Action: Turn your lights off for one hour
Attendees: 1,000,000,000 Global Citizens

This year, Earth Hour, is a global effort to vote for the planet! Voting is simple:

- If you favor the planet and want to do your part, turn off your lights.
- If you favor global warming, leave your lights on.

Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney Australia. That year, 2.2 million homes and businesses shut off their lights for one hour. By the next year, Earth Hour had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, the famed Coca~Cola sign in Times Square and many more, stood in darkness.

For 2009, the organizers are anticipating 1 Billion people around the globe to participate in Earth Hour. It doesn’t matter where you live, your political party, skin color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, hair color, height, eye color, weight, and so on, all that matters is your planet — which, is my planet, too — and what we all will do to help it.

Thus far, over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to “Vote Earth.”

Plan on doing something fun in the dark tomorrow night, and join me in helping the planet.

You cannot possibly be so busy you can’t give up one hour for a planet that has given so much to all of us.

Do your part….

Several quick things to blog about today…

First, R.I.P. Paul Harvey

For those of you who didn’t hear, Paul Harvey died yesterday at age 90.  So sad.

I remember waiting to hear “…the rest of the story” on Mr. Harvey’s radio broadcast.  For many, including me, most of the time, the best part of the news was hearing his voice say, “Hello, Americans.  You know what the news is.  In a minute, you’re going to hear the rest of the story.”

So many wonderful stories that always had a surprising ending.  Touching.  Thoughtful.  And, he always wrapped it up the same trademark closing:  “Paul Harvey…… Good day!”

With Mr. Harvey’s broadcasts, it usually was, because after hearing him, you usually went about your day with a smile on your face.  He will be missed, and the world has lost an icon.

Next, Wow-O-Wow!

Continuing on the media theme, for those of you who didn’t hear, iconic gossip columnist, Liz Smith, was fired this week by the New York Post.

Without missing a beat, Ms. Smith is shifting our focus over to wowOwow, the website that she now calls “home.”  The site is Women on the Web:  A New Way for Women to Talk Culture, Politics & Gossip.  Directly from the site:

wowOwow is a free daily Internet website created by , run and written by Lesley Stahl, Peggy Noonan, Liz Smith, Joni Evans, Mary Wells, Sheila Nevins, Joan Juliet Buck, Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Reed, Joan Ganz Cooney, Judith Martin, Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner, and Marlo Thomas.

Many of us have known each other and been friends for a long time. Liz, for instance, met Candy in the 1960s when Candy was new to New York and an unknown actress. Candy and Lily worked together on “Murphy Brown” and found themselves in a mutal admiration society. Mary Wells and Joni Evans became instant old friends when Mary was writing her first book. Lesley and Peggy met at CBS News in 1982 the day Dan Rather called in sick. Peggy wrote a daily broadcast for him; Lesley found herself subbing for him; they pitched in and a long friendship began.

So: we go back. And for years we have been talking to each other about everything under the sun – our families, our work, our worlds. No matter what was happening in our lives, we made the time. We’ve shared what we think, observe and experience each day.

And now we want to share it with you.

A while ago we decided to go on the Internet with our conversations and make them available to everyone who might be interested. Why? One reason is that like a lot of people we have more to say than we have places to say it. Another is that the Internet allows us to talk about things we think about but don’t normally talk about in public, and touch on areas we’re rarely asked about. We also are all of us at a time in our lives when we feel we have much to share in terms of experience and encouragement. And we mean to encourage. We also mean to be frank.

It means a lot to us that the largest number of people coming on to the Internet now are women like us – women who, to use a cliché, weren’t born yesterday, who are in their prime, who are involved in the world and have a bent for changing it as much as living in it. Women who want a place to look at issues in a new way, or gossip a little, or learn more about each other, or ponder how to make the world better.

I think of it as a site with a woman’s perspective, but also enjoyable for us “enlightened” men.

Congratulations, Liz, on being fired at age 86! When most are thinking of retirement, you’re still going strong!

Lastly, We Love Wii!

He got a wild hair yesterday and came home with the Wii gaming system and the Wii Fit!  LOVE IT!  After dinner, we spent several hours playing the various fitness games — golf, tennis, ski jumping, the hoolahoop challenge, etc. — and things got really interesting when we started having cocktails!

Yep, lovin’ Wii!

Pentagon allows coverage of war coffins

Anyone on Twitter? Clear on how it works and its function/necessity in life?

With the recent US Air plane doing a little body surfing on the Hudson River and the influx of “twitter” comments to CNN, I’m curious. I’ve signed on to Twitter (loveandgluttony), as it seems that instant communication and access is what’s important these days.

If you’re on Twitter, let me know. If you are a Twitter freak (would that be a “TWeak” — Twitter+freak, get it?), then send along your best tips!

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then just ignore the post and I’ll send along more Twitter instructions as I figure this out.

This is a great article that was sent to me by my friend, Winston:

Not Another Word on Gay Marriage Until They Execute an Adulterer

Do you know where to vote on Tuesday?

Make sure you don’t waste time when heading to the polls.  If you are not certain as to your polling place, here’s a great one-stop site to point you in the right direction:

www.vote411.org