John J. O’Connor III, husband of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, died yesterday of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

Justice O’Connor left the Supreme Court in 2006, in large part to spend more time with her husband, whose health deteriorated rather rapidly. He was moved to an assisted living facility, where he fell in love with one of the other residents. Justice O’Connor accepted that with grace, and told friends she was grateful that her husband found happiness.

On his part, when a reporter asked John O’Connor about how he felt playing a supporting role after wife’s appointment soon after they moved to Washington in 1981, he said:

“Sandra’s accomplishments don’t make me a lesser man. They make me a fuller man.”

And thanks, Newser, for the link.

For people of a certain geographic bent, some words are like gas on a flame.

Former U.S. ambassador Peter W. Galbraith (economist John Kenneth’s son) stands to make a boatload of money from deals he helped broker for the Kurds. He calls himself an “unpaid adviser” to the Kurds.

At, Pete. In my old neighborhood this would not be applauded.

And thanks, Daily Beast, for the link.

Young employees are paying, big time during this recession, writes Lizzy Ratner at The Nation (linked here through AlterNet. She writes:

These are not happy days for America’s young and striving. Indeed, as the economy has rocked and tumbled its way through 2009, spewing jobs like a sea-sick tourist, these have become very, very bad days. In September, the unemployment rate for people between the ages of 16 and 24 hovered morosely at 18.1 percent, nearly double the national average for that month. At the same time, the actual employment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds dropped to a startling 46 percent, the grimmest such figure on record since 1948, the year the government began keeping track. Taken together, this same group of young people has lost more than 2.5 million jobs since the economy began deflating in December 2007, roughly one-third of all the jobs lost, making them the hardest-hit age group of the recession.

And thanks, BuzzFeed, for the link.

And because Baby Jesus wants them to fall.

Why we rake in the autumn, from NPR.

Jeanna Bryner at LiveScience cites research that says:

U.S. states with wealthier, better educated and more tolerant residents are also happier on average.

Happiness is defined by an evaluation of survey-takers’ lives that looks at emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors, and job satisfaction.

Check out the entire list here. And the next time we have a picnic? Let’s have it in Utah!

And thanks, Sister Molly, for the link.

Yes, there are plenty of ways to fill your days, but with the help of Jamie, at Footsteps, I spent part of mine finding my new friend Luzer in his brief appearance on “The Good Wife.” I watched the show last night and missed him, for some reason.

I met Luzer at a book talk earlier this week, and he told me he might be on television. and he was!

Go here, and run the lil’ cursor to 19 minutes or so, and there he is, standing at the counter of a store, counting out change.

Luzer Lives! I’m so excited.

On a tour to promote her book, “Still Standing,” beauty queen/motivational speaker/gift to bloggers everywhere Carrie Prejean says people can call it what they want, but the video that has people buzzing included her and only her, and was made when she was a teenager for her boyfriend at the time. She trusted him, she said.

Lesson for us all? Don’t trust old boyfriends not to share single-sex tapes.

Hey! I made a funny! Get it? And here she is on Larry King

Oh, Sister Carrie. Bless your confused lil’ heart.

And thanks, Feministe, for the link from New Yorker magazine.

And thanks, Jezebel, for the link.