Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was to have visited Greensboro and Elon Law School tomorrow. Sadly, her appearance has been canceled as a result of her husband’s worsening health. An announcement from the law school stated that John Jay O’Connor III, whose condition prompted Justice O’Connor’s retirement, “is reportedly in the final moments of life.”

Despite legal and political differences, I admire Justice O’Connor for her pioneering role as the Court’s first female Justice, and for the fact that she is an accomplished fly angler. She has been a good friend to Elon, speaking at the law school’s formal opening. My best wishes go out to her in this difficult personal moment.

UPDATE (Nov. 12, 2009): John O’Connor died yesterday at age 79. Condolences to Justice O’Connor and all of their family.

The best comment I’ve seen concerning the atrocity of a health care “reform” bill passed by the House comes from comment to this post at Lawyers, Guns & Money. Speaking about the way Nancy Pelosi was snookered into allowing anti-choice Democrats to make an already bad bill even worse with the Stupak amendment, commenter Aimai quips:

the entire thing was like watching a game of prisoner’s dilemma played by very stupid cops

The analogy is arguably unfair to stupid cops, but otherwise it is perfectly apt.

Meanwhile, at the Northwestern of the Southeast, the controversy du jour concerns a study of sex toys. As part of the study, female students are invited to attend a “one-hour party” at which they will “view sex toys and engage in sexually explicit conversation with other female Duke students.”

The director of the campus Catholic Center expressed concern: “[T]hese students are in this developmental phase, and I don’t think it’s a good developmental practice to just tell somebody to just sit around and masturbate. I don’t think that promotes relationships.”

Two Northwestern University thought it would be a real hoot to don blackface for Halloween. Reaction on the campus and beyond ranged from justified indignation and shock at such a crass display of racist imagery, to predictable whining about “political correctness”.

Personally, I find the most outrageous tidbit in the story to be the absurd characterization of Northwestern as the “Harvard of the Midwest”. Everyone knows that Northwestern is the Duke of the Midwest. There is no Harvard of the Midwest–a fact very much to the Midwest’s credit. Instead, Harvard might possibly claim to be the University of Chicago of New England.

It appears that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was a regular at a strip club near the Fort Hood Army Base. As the surprisingly fair and balanced story from Fox News notes, “Hasan’s presence at the club paints a starkly different portrait of the alleged killer from that offered by his imam and family members, who have described him as a devout Muslim, and one who had difficulty finding a wife who would wear a head scarf and would pray five times a day.”

I wonder if the yahoos of reactionary talk-radio, TV, and blogs–who have ranted almost non-stop since the shooting that it should be viewed as an act of “Islamic terrorism”–will now change their tune and call for rounding up nudie bar patrons instead?

A BBC survey finds a high degree of skepticism about “free market capitalism” across 27 countries. Even in the U.S., fewer than one-quarter of respondents agreed that it “works well and increased regulation will make it less efficient”. Overall, “free market capitalism” garnered uncritical support from only 11% of respondents, while nearly a quarter agreed that it “is fatally flawed and a different economic system is needed”, and a majority endorsed regulation, reform, and redistribution to cure the inefficiencies and inequities of capitalism.

I’ve read several criticisms of universal health care (a.k.a. “government-run medicine”) on the grounds of “you get what you pay for.” As stories like this remind us, that would be a vast improvement over the current insurance corporation-run system.

In the crush of a busy week, I nearly overlooked the fact that Tuesday marked the 30th anniversary of the Greensboro Massacre, in which neo-Nazis and KKK members murdered five anti-racist and labor activists and wounded another eleven. As far as I can tell, the anniversary passed without any official public commemoration in Greensboro. I can understand that residents might be reluctant to recall that dark moment in our city’s history. A Truth & Reconciliation Commission held public hearings and issued a detailed report just a few years ago. But my sense, as a newcomer to the city, is that sentiment remains divided, both about the massacre itself and about the commission.

However painful, it is essential that we remember.

The Striped Bass (a.k.a. Rockfish) is among the glories of the Atlantic coast. Thanks to sound regulation and management, the population recovered from a severe crisis some years ago. But another crash remains all too possible. Fortunately, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a multi-state agency that oversees this valuable resource, has denied a proposal to increase the commercial Striper harvest. I’m disappointed that my state of North Carolina backed the irresponsible proposal, but relieved that the majority of participating states voted in favor of conservation.

Garry Wills cogently argues Obama should withdraw from Afghanistan, even at the risk of being a one-term President. I wish I had any reason to hope that Obama might heed that advice. It might make me more enthusiastic about seeing him re-elected.