To that special man… and you know who you are…     I Love You!

Now that PRIDE has passed and we’ve had a chance to celebrate all that we love about our community, we also have time to reflect, regroup, and recommit ourselves to those things missing — wait, not missing, withheld — from us. The “biggie” making the news these days? Marriage, of course.

Right now we have the most disjointed, disfunctional systems that vary from state-to-state, which may — or may not — recognize same sex _________________ (unions/marriage/partnerships… you fill in the blank). Whatever you put in the blank, one thing is for sure: heterosexuals never have to wonder what to put in the blank. And frankly, I find it pretty damned unfair.

There are currently 18,000 legally-recognized same-sex marriages in California. An arbitrary determinate by the California Supreme Court allowed those marriages to continue when they reviewed (and allowed the ban on gay marriage to stand). Today, if I attempted to get married in California, I would be turned away, being told that gay marriage is illegal, yet had I gone through the motions when same sex marriage was legal in California, all would be fine.

Where’s the equality? Where’s the justice?

To me, what has been done in our country around the issue of same sex marriage has been handled about as well as if the Supreme Court came out and said, “Today we have decided that all African Americans born before 1970 are free and if you are in an interracial marriage, fine. The rest of you, report to the fields. You will now work from sun-up-to-sun-down and all the efforts of your labor will enrich the fat white guy sitting in the rocker on the porch.”

If that happened, there would be rioting in the streets. Maybe that’s the problem with our struggle, we’re just far too civilized and think that if we behave in a civilized manner, we will be treated with the same courtesy. Sadly, however, great change rarely comes about by behaving in a civilized manner.

Again, where’s the equality? Where’s the justice?

There’s been a lot of media on the topic, but so far, I’ve found nothing better that states the case than this one from BroadwayImpact:

So now that PRIDE is over for you (or your son, daughter, brother, sister, niece, grandson…), give some thought to what you want to have happen in your community and take steps to remedy the injustice. If it’s marriage, terrific!

Remember, we just want what is coming to us. We just want our fair share.

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!

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!

Prop 8 – The Musical

PS: Sorry to have been away for a week. I’ve been traveling and unable to post.