Today marks the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day. While there has been great progress made, this disease still kills thousands of people each day. It's not overstating, and it's not hype. More than two million people died of AIDS-related causes in 2007.

There are things each of us can do to make an impact, and no action is too small. Anything from writing your favorite AIDS charity or advocacy group a check to volunteering your time, from buying a cup of coffee to simply wearing red today.

Enlarge Photo | Credit: Jack Mackenroth Awareness T-Shirt

For more information on our friend Jack Mackenroth's World AIDS Day T-Shirt, check out his blog. Jack has been living with HIV since being diagnosed in 1990, and is healthy and strong.

Mark the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day with a $20 (or $200) donation to one of the following organizations. Thank-you!

• The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrict AIDS Foundation
• amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
• United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS - by mail
• World AIDS Campaign - by mail
• Project Angel Food, Los Angeles CA - online
• Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Seattle WA - online

Find a place to get an HIV test by texting your (United States) Postal Code to KNOWIT -- 566948.

For excellent coverage of World AIDS Day and other HIV/AIDS related news, please visit our good friends over at Towleroad in their HIV/AIDS hub.

We're proud to once again participate in Blog Action Day -- a day where once a year the blogosphere unites to raise awareness about a pressing issue of our time.

Please join me in supporting The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. We have made a personal contribution of $100, but urge you to give as much or as little as you can.

We're looking to raise at least $500 for the organization, and one or two angel donors would be all it takes.

Click here to donate. Thank-you!

Enlarge Photo

Pretty on the Outside joins the blog community in support of the No on Prop 8 campaign with this touching (and totally fake) portrait of Hugh Jackman and Robert Buckley.

Hunk du Jour isn't exactly a political voice in the blogosphere, but the stripping away of rights for gay Californians (including some of my personal friends) is something that should not be tolerated. Recent polls show that if the election were held today, Proposition 8 would pass by a 6-point margin and eliminate the right to marry for same-sex couples in California.

There has been a huge fundraising push by folks looking to kill the progress that has been made in California towards equality, and the conservative voices are now outspending the voices of equality.

I urge you to give what you can to the No On Prop 8 campaign. Please donate today. We're also donating ad space on Hunk du Jour to the campaign from now through election day.

Greetings, Hunk lovers!

I'm proud to announce that just moments ago we released the next version of our fantastic Hunk of the Day application for Facebook users.

In addition to seeing our featured hunk on the "Boxes" tab of your profile, you can now vote for favorite nominee right from the application! You also have a handy link back to the nominee's original post on Hunk du Jour where they were originally featured -- so you can see all the photos from that particular set.

We're super excited about the changes, and are eager to add more features (feed notifications of your votes, share with a friend buttons, etc.) as my time allows. Let us know what you'd like to see in the comments!

Restaurants across the nation are participating in Dining Out for Life, an annual event to raise money for local AIDS charities.

Aww... Ted Allen is so cute.

Though a majority of cities are participating tonight, be sure to check the Dining Out for Life website for dates and participating locations in your area.