One Thousand Seven Hundred and Two

It’s a beautiful, dry, warm day in the Bay Area. What’s mostly preoccupying us here today, if you go by the local media: a recent fatal pit bull attack on a 12-year-old boy; the woeful state of our resident sports franchises; a deadly highway accident; the cost of replacing the Bay Bridge. We know there’s a war on out there someplace. But most of us are lucky enough to live outside the pall it casts, even when we hear the latest news mentioned: Twenty U.S. troops (and scores more Iraqis) have died in the last four or five days; a total of 1,702 American soldiers, Marines and sailors have died since the first casualty was recorded on March 21, 2003. Check back tomorrow. The number will be higher, and the end won’t be any clearer.