To the Connecticut Supreme Court for ruling this week that gay and lesbian couples have the right to get married.

It is now the third state, along with Massachusetts and California, to decide that marriage is for all residents of the state. (One state, Vermont, allows civil unions.)

There was only one clear way to rule in the case, according to a majority of the court. The justices wrote that any reading of firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to allowing same-sex marriage.

“To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others,” they wrote.

Unfortunately, the federal Defense of Marriage Act, passed in 1996, still denies married gay couples many federal tax and Social Security benefits.

That, too, should eventually change as more states move to protect the rights of all their citizens.

Voters will reject mudslinging
Thumbs down: To the desperate move toward smear tactics in the presidential campaign.

Early last week, as presidential candidate Barack Obama’s poll numbers continued to climb, the John McCain campaign, led by vice presidential candidate Sara Palin, began an organized attack on Obama’s personality and past.

Rather than hearing how the candidates would get the country out of a horrifying economic crisis, people were instead told Obama once had a minister who is a fool and that Obama met with a college professor who had been a ’60s radical. (Obama had long ago condemned the radical views of both men.)

So far, based on polls, it appears the attacks haven’t worked. Voters appear to be more astute about questioning the validity of personal smear tactics in campaigns. And now, especially, they are looking for answers to serious policy questions, not mudslinging.

No knowledge needed to chuck a spear
Thumbs up: To the Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College for making St. Peter the place to be for two days every October.

Not only did the conference bring in the usual lineup of distinguished scientists and experts to explore the chosen topic, but organizers again succeeded in helping celebrate the lecture series by adding other interesting events. Besides orchestral music, a buffet and an art exhibit and reception, the conference offered intriguing demonstrations of atlatl dart throwing and flintnapping, both complementing the theme of “Who were the first humans?”

Anyone under the impression the event is just a forum for those who belong in the world of academia needed to just pick up an atlatl — sort of a notched dart — and chuck it with all their might to dispel that myth.

The prestigious conference draws teachers, students, senior citizens and other folks from all over the area and is a unique area attraction we’re lucky to have.

It still wasn’t fun and games
Thumbs down: To the prankster who thought shooting a BB gun at a dorm window Tuesday night would be a valuable way to spend some time. Thanks to this person’s recklessness, a Minnesota State University student minding his own business in his dorm room was struck. Luckily, the BB that broke the second-story window bounced off the ceiling before hitting him in the cheek rather than in the eye.