Let’s break it down:

1. Not a person.
2. Not a person.
3. Not a person.
4. Not a person.
5. Person.

I would normally like to add a bit more to a post on a big topic like this, but I think it speaks for itself.

My grandfather, Robert Boyd Hawkins, never spoke much about the specifics of his time in the military. Sometimes he didn’t even seem that interested in WW2 history, instead preferring to read about the Civil War. I’m not sure if the reason was that he had lived it and had enough or if he had just learned so much over the years that his interest for the 21 years I knew him happened to be focused on other wars. As I said, I never heard much about his time in the military. I do know the details of one story, though. I’ve told this to so many people over the years, it’s possible I’ve written about it and I just don’t remember. If that’s the case, too bad. I want to retell it.

At my grandfather’s funeral in 2006, my great uncle (my grandfather’s brother) told the veteran- and family-packed room a few stories. For instance, before going off to war my grandfather told his younger brother he would pay him $10 if he read War and Peace. He made the offer for little more reason than a keen interest in seeing others learn something. But that isn’t the story that really sticks out in my mind. The one that stands most prominent is from my grandfather’s time on the island of Bougainville in the Pacific.

As I said, I don’t know all the details of my grandfather’s service record. I know he was stationed on Bougainville which was occupied by the Japanese in 1942. Allied forces took the island back over the next three years. Most of the details can be found through the link above, but what won’t be found is this: One morning the American troops were waiting in line for a special breakfast. I don’t know why it was special on this particular day, but it was. The crown jewel? Eggs. As many eggs as anyone could eat. But these wouldn’t be the easiest yolks to obtain. While the men waited in line, the Japanese began shelling the area. Everyone ran for cover, leaving the eggs at the mercy of fate. Well. Fate and a very hungry man.

As everyone dashed for their foxholes and whatever else could protect them from the fury of the sky, my grandfather dashed for the eggs. He grabbed everything he could carry. As soon as he filled his hands and, I like to imagine, perhaps his helmet, he ran to relative safety. There he shared his bounty with his fellow servicemen.

I would hazard they were the best eggs anyone has ever had.

“The numbers are inexorably moving in one direction,” said [pollster Mark] DeCamillo. “Older folks, who are more in opposition, are dying out and younger folks are more inclined to support it. It’s not rocket science.”

At least, I believe that is the major reason why things are turning around. Of course, there is also the Harvey Milk strategy of making sure people realize that they do, in fact, know gay people. That and coming-out movements have worked fantastically. However, it cannot be denied that the overwhelming opposition to equal rights for gays is among older generations. As they die out, younger, more enlightened, more well-educated people are taking their place. Even conservatives aren’t surprised:

I work for a company which receives some of its funding through the state. As such, it is necessary for everyone there to cover their asses whenever anything comes up. Case in point, a criminal background check for me comes back with a Michael Hopkins attached to it. This guy, who lives a town or two over and has a similar birthday, was a punk when he was 15. He broke into a few cars and stole a couple of CD’s and a little loose change in his hometown, got caught, and now he has a record. (Why it shows up now and why a minor’s record is not sealed, I do not know.) Despite the different names and birthdays, I have been hounded to prove I am not Michael Hopkins. I mean, it makes sense, right? The onus is always on the person making the negative claim. (Stay tuned for my next post proving the non-existence of unicorns.)

So how does one go about proving he is not someone else? Why, finger prints, of course! Yes, that’s right. The only way the Maine Bureau of Identification (which is a thing I doubt should even exist) will confirm that you are who you say you are is by forcing you to give your finger prints over to them. Oh, and there’s a fee. Sure, it isn’t your fault someone cross-referenced something incorrectly. And sure, the evidence indicating you aren’t who you say you are is as good as the evidence that Jim Carrey and Drew Carey are the same person. And yes, yes, yes, the government has no rights to your finger prints. But come on! Let’s think rationally about this, innocent civilian: Go fuck yourself. Amirite?

(Click a couple of times to enlarge.)

In fact, this post from a recently-removed-from-my-blogroll-blog largely had me in mind, as I was told shortly after it was written. But this goes beyond me. Richard Dawkins and other Gnu Atheists get the same crap – so much so that Dawkins even penned a piece about the issue six years ago:

“It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).” I first wrote that in a book review in the New York Times in 1989, and it has been much quoted against me ever since, as evidence of my arrogance and intolerance. Of course it sounds arrogant, but undisguised clarity is easily mistaken for arrogance. Examine the statement carefully and it turns out to be moderate, almost self-evidently true.

This is largely my position (including beyond the subject of evolution). I think Christian arguments are almost universally awful and I find most creationists to be ignorant, but that does not mean I think every person who holds a contradictory view to me is stupid. Sure, I’ve called people stupid. Sarah Palin comes to mind. Leading creationists who should know better, such as Ken Ham, are obviously lacking in intellect. I have no doubt Andreas Moritz is a dolt. But notice: I keep it specific. I’m not saying all Republicans are stupid because Sarah Palin is stupid. I’m not saying the creationist who hasn’t sat in a biology course since high school is a moron. I am not saying all alt-med quacks are idiots. If I wanted to say any of that, I would say it. I try to be exact in my language; it is unlikely I would ever make such an oversight in my writing.

I have no delusions about how I write. I’m aggressive and unapologetic. I have little patience for bad ideas that have little to no evidence for them. I often pepper my paragraphs with disparaging remarks about the quality of whatever argument it is I am facing. It has long been my view that undeserved respect is…well, undeserved. It would be dishonest of me to pretend I hold something in esteem when the fact is I think it’s just a steaming pile. However, none of this means I think others are morons by virtue of disagreeing with me. Such a conclusion is, I hate to say, just stupid.

Long Answer: I’m not a big fan of most major network sitcoms. I can be brought around to certain series when I get inundated with them via syndication, such as Scrubs. And it is certainly true that smaller networks like FX put out a number of good shows, such as Louie and The League. However, I generally stay away from what NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX have to offer the world. Things like How I Met Your Mother (despite Neil Patrick Harris) and Two Broke Girls and American Idol are pure garbage. It’s just crap that people seem to like for no reason other than that it’s on and they don’t have Netflix or the guts to use that loaded gun under their bed. The Big Bang Theory, on the other hand, actually has something to it: Sheldon.

I like most of the characters on the show (Kaley Cuoco is a refreshingly good female actress on a sitcom), but Jim Parsons’ role as Sheldon Cooper stands out. He actually speaks intelligently and the writers clearly research the science-related jokes they have him say. And unlike the way Simon Helberg delivers the lines for the character Howard, Parsons doesn’t go for annoying nerd stereotypes.

I don’t usually write about entertainment stuff, so I don’t have any genuine way to end this. Here is a clip:

The NAACP’s board of directors voted Saturday to endorse same-sex marriage rights – adding the influential voice of the country’s leading black civil rights organization to a debate that has divided the African-American community…

“Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law,” NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous said in a statement released Saturday. “The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people. The well-funded right wing organizations who are attempting to split our communities are no friend to civil rights, and they will not succeed.”

I have said in the past in one place or another (if it was on FTSOS, I can’t find it) that the black community should have been ashamed of itself given its high proportion of bigots during the Prop 8 days in California. (If memory serves, other minorities also suffered from a high rate of bigotry over the issue.) Of all the groups in the US, blacks may be the most well positioned to understand what discrimination is like and why it’s wrong. It isn’t merely an intellectual exercise for them; it have been reality for so many decades and centuries. Yet here we are, still trying to get over this hurdle. I think this announcement by the NAACP is going to give progress a big boost, but it’s slightly surprising that more blacks and other minorities aren’t ahead of the curve on this one. Chalk it up to Christian influence, I suppose.

The NAACP now presents itself as a counterbalance to the influence of the traditionally socially conservative black church. It can also help establish closer ties between blacks and gays, two of Obama’s most loyal constituencies.

I’ve always wondered what the black church looks like. Where is it located? Who runs it? Who are its members? How does it file with the IRS? Is it a made-up concept that unnecessarily simplifies all black people?

Arizona keeping Obama off state ballot until he presents documentation proving that he won’t still be black in November.

~Frank Coniff