Here’s a question: Are you bigoted?

During his long career, Milt Batson has seen a lot of hurting fellow vets, going back to the Vietnam War. These days, he is seeing them pour into the county from conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and other Middle East hot spots.

Barack Obama waggled his birth certificate in our faces 10 days ago to prove he is a United States citizen. Then, just to underline the point, he sent troops to kill Osama bin Laden last Sunday, bagging a trophy that had eluded George W. “Bring It On” Bush for more than seven years.

A lot of older, sadder and wiser people said a bunch of thoughtful things last week at Arroyo Grande’s community forum against hate and bias. But the remark that lodged in my mind, and heartened me, came from a high school kid.

The sudden re-emergence of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant into the public eye is no surprise, given the horrific events in Japan. And it is only natural that county residents and their leaders focus on safety.

The last week and a half in Arroyo Grande began badly, got worse, and then improved considerably, thanks to the citizenry. It was quite the roller coaster ride.

I still can recall the first time I realized that government could overreach to the point of offensiveness and even absurdity.

When the county Board of Supervisors meets today to vote on the Los Osos sewer, it is almost certain that those who oppose the collection and treatment plant will, as they have done for years, speak against it.

We all know that San Luis Obispo is the happiest place in the country. But its distinctions do not end there.

Back in the caveman days when I was in school, we had bullies and the bullied, and things got pretty mean and nasty.