Quick Takes (#1)

• So you probably heard that a batch of the new George Washington dollar coins escaped from the Philadelphia mint without the words “In God We Trust” struck onto the edge of the coin, right? It was reported last week, but I’m just now getting around to it, though, so it’s going to be a quick take; and, unlike the rest of the world, I will report the whole story - the coins, numbering about 50,000 or so, did indeed escape from the Philadelphia mint without “In God We Trust,” but they were also without “E Pluribus Unum” and the year of minting. That is, the ENTIRE verbiage that should have been engraved on the edge of the coin was missing - not just the part about God. But thank heavens for all of those alert people in the media who jumped on the story and only reported, apparently, a third of it, because that’s just what we need in this country - more half-truths for the religious crazies to get riled up about.

• A couple of days ago at work, one of our guests handed Heather a small stack of flyers and asked if she would hand them to folks who might be of like mind and interested in doing something for a good cause. The little flyers are for the Indianapolis chapter of PFLAG, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. They are trying to get 100 people to send 100 letters to Indiana legislators, in order to urge legislators not to pass SJR-7, the proposed “marriage equality” amendment to the Indiana constitution. I plan to write such a letter to my representative, Larry Buell, for him to ignore. Ending discrimination against gay people is the most important social progress issue facing Americans today, and I am proud to do such a simple thing as write a letter to my legislator, in the interest of improving the quality of life for all citizens of Indiana. Hopefully PFLAG will meet - and perhaps greatly exceed - its goal of 100 letters to legislators.

• This is another one that happened a while back and isn’t that big a deal - but which sort of bothers me. Oprah Winfrey recently chose the Sidney Poitier memoir, The Measure Of A Man, as the newest selection in her popular Oprah’s Book Club series. This was way back at the end of January, but here’s what happened: once this selection was made public, the Poitier book went from 288,958th place on Amazon’s bestseller list to 1st place - in twenty-four hours. I suppose it’s a good thing that so many people are inspired to read because of Oprah - but I have to wonder how many of those people only read the books she recommends, how many people read that book not because it interests them, but because she says they should read it. We are all individuals...we are all individuals...