Bummer bummer bummer

I'm having computer problems, so I probably won't be around for a day or two. I should be able to get access to another computer long enough each day to post the Jeopardy! answer/question, but I can't count on anything beyond that.

For the moment, since I have about that to do this, I'll just note two things:

- First is the bad news on the social justice front, that is, the decision by the California Supreme Court to invalidate the 4,000 same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco. While not a surprise, it was nonetheless disappointing.

It was in some ways an odd, very narrowly-tailored ruling that limited itself to the question of if San Francisco Mayor Newsom had exceeded his authority by allowing the marriages even though state law defines marriage as one man and one woman. The court openly avoided considering the question of the constitutionality of the law. That still seems odd to me since Newsom's argument was precisely that the state constitution did not allow for the sort of discrimination the law embraced and he was required to follow the higher law. Under those circumstances, to rule that Newsom still had to follow the law is, it seems to me, to elevate the law above the constitution. That's the odd result of the court's conscious choice to dodge a central issue in the case.

On the other hand, the court did say it would be willing to entertain a challenge to the law and suits have already been filed to that end.

- The other is the sort of kinda in a way ceasefire in Najaf. The suspension of fighting is good news but of course not the end of the issue and for the moment at least the US forces are keeping a cordon around the mosque. Supposedly there is one around the cemetary but I don't find that credible due to the sheer size of the place, which is one of the largest cemetaries in the world - if not the largest.

Something I did notice was that in the wake of the report that al-Sadr was wounded, his representatives said they had a "letter" from him urging his supporters to be "wise" and not let their emotions guide their actions. Again, the conciliatory statements, the ones urging calm, come not directly from Sadr but through his office. It may not mean anything but, well, thinking about what I wrote yesterday, I can't help but be suspicious about what's going on behind the scenes.