And from the health desk

First a little news, and then a homily.

Warren Zevon, Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 56
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Warren Zevon, who wrote and sang the rock hit "Werewolves of London" and was among the wittiest and most original of a broad circle of singer-songwriters to emerge from Los Angeles in the 1970s, died Sunday. He was 56.

A lifelong smoker until quitting several years ago, Zevon announced in September 2002 that he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and had only months to live. He spent much of that time visiting with his two grown children and working on a final album.

Zevon died Sunday of lung cancer at his home, his manager Irving Azoff told the Los Angeles Times.

Hey you smokers: stop. I did. You'll feel better. You'll all but eliminate the chances of dying of your habit at 56, the fate that befell the brilliant Zevon. (This is a really terrible and senseless loss.) You'll stop putting money in the pockets of corrupt, lying tobacco companies. And last but most definitely not least, you won't age as quickly. Young people who smoke look great; 20 or 30 years later, they look like Katherine Helmond in Brazil.

Here endeth the lesson.