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More War Shit

Maybe readers of Lassiter Space are familiar with the story of Airman Carl J. Ware Jr, a Glassboro native who was killed last summer in Iraq. To recap, Airman Ware was killed last July in what was described as a "non combat" related casualty. Almost immediately, ominous questions began to emerge about the exact nature of his death. His family suspected foul play and in retrospect they were right. Yesterday, Carl Ware's killer -- a fellow soldier named Kyle Dalton -- pleaded guily to manslaughter and faces a dozen years in the brig.

Dalton's bargained plea (the original charge was murder) is some 10 months in the making and hopefully will allow Ware's family some solace. I know for sure it hasn't been an easy time for them. His sister and widow Christine reached out and told me so. (Aparently a Google search of Carl led them to the blog and they wanted to send a shout out for keeping Carl's story alive and for asking the tough questions, namely WTF did Carl Ware die for?) Since that sad day in Iraq, Carl's wife and sister have both given birth which is bittersweet given the circumstances. And now a trial to boot. Oy. At least Christine gets the chance say her piece today at the trial of her husband's killer. Hopefully that will be theraputic for her. It's worth remembering she's only 23 which is an awfully shitty age to be a widow.

The war in Iraq has been going on for ages and the death toll continues to climb. The latest count is 3,332. That's a lot of anguished families, but for me the Carl Ware story is the one that keeps this number from being just a statistic.

My other Blog goes BIGTIME!

After a year and a half of breaking ground and building up a formidible progressive netroots here in the Garden State, BlueJersey found itself at a crossroads. And so we reached out to our readers for some guidance. (Thanks to everyone who filled out our recent survey, by the way.) You told us what you like best and likewise gave us great suggestions for improvement, as well.

I suspect if we knew how compelling the feedback was gonna be, we might have done it sooner. An overwhelming majority of you (over 90%) want to see more original news posts, especially breaking news. And with that the choice of how to take Blue Jersey to the next level became a whole lot easier.

So here's the plan: in addition to some asthetic changes -- a little spring cleaning to freshen up the look of the joint -- Blue Jersey now has its own Statehouse correspondent to keep an eye and ear on what's going on in the capitol. So from now on, when something goes down in Trenton, you'll know about it because we'll be there taking plenty of notes. On the record of course. We believe this arrangement -- a fully-credentialed blogger covering the statehouse beat -- is truly revolutionary. This may even be a first for the progressive blogosphere.

Hopefully it won't be long before there are bloggers in every statehouse in the nation. And when that happens, we can say we blazed the trail.

New Jersey Tidbits

Did the state trooper driving Corzine have a particularly long day leading up to the crash? Was he distracted by an email to his Blackberry at the time of the crash? And *most importantly, will this time off for recovery allow the Governor a unique position to focus of policy?

The latest on the ugly saga of Wayne Bryant. Anyone out there wish to see his fellow Democrats in Trenton lean on Bryant to resign? And now that he's not running for reelection, what will become of all that campaign cash?

Jim Saxton thinks a deadline for bringing troops home is a mistake and wants to give Bush (yet) more time for the "surge" to play out to its conclusion. I guess his political masters in the Whitehouse still have ol' Jimbo by the balls.

Victims of last weeks floods wait for Bush to react. With the Iraq and his beleagured Attorney General to contend with, one gets the feeling little ol' New Jersey isn't very high on his to-do list. For many in NJ, the hard part of picking up the pieces begins now.

New Jersey celebrated Earth Day ove the weekend. This gal sure is in the spirit. What are you doing to get greener? (Here are some central NJ-inspired tips)

If I missed something, let us know. This is an openthread so fire away.

Why is my Surgeon saying all these scary things about my Governor?

I had a real twilight zone moment the other day when i saw the press conference about NJ Governor Corzine's car accident. (see pic)

The surgeon who had operated on the Gov. throughout the night -- the guy speaking to the press -- was the same ortho-doc that brought me back from the brink with all my Achilles tendon madness a year or so ago.

Hopefully Dr. Ostrum can do for Corzine what he did for me and have him back on his feet within the year.

I love Jon Corzine. As a member of the New Jeresy netroots how could I not?

Rutgers U. Press Conference

This is the video in two parts from the Lady Knights press conference earlier today. These women make me proud to be a NewJerseyan and they put Imus to shame.

Hat tip Juan

NJ News Roundup

The Rutgers Womens basketball team and their Coach met the press yesterday to address the stupid remarks that Don Imus lobbed their way. If you ask me, they showed a lot of poise, especially for being so young. One thing is for sure, Don Imus sure shit all over their moment in the sun. Any bets how long he will last at his current job?

From one beast to another, state wildlife officials are looking into the case of a coyote attacking a child here in NJ. It's believe to be the first such attack ever in the state.

After months of wondering (his funeral was last summer) the death of South Jersey Airman Carl Ware Junior has been ruled a homocide. He was murdered in a Iraq by a fellow soldier. Read it and weep.

All those primaries coming up this election season should make for some sublime and/or ridiculous theatre for New Jersey residents. We don't have long to wait for the show, either. There is also a lot if interest into who isn't running.

Remember the New Jersey post office that was contaminated with Anthrax poisoning all the way back in 2001? Congressman Holt is curious whatever became of that investigation which seems to be going nowhere. Now he wants answers from the FBI.

The State Senate is calling the treasurer to discuss pensions today.

That's all for now. What's on your mind today?

Lassiter and Limbaugh, Strangest of Bedfellows

Overheard on the train:"I used to be hooked on crystal, now I'm hooked on crystal lite!"
Now that I think about it, Rush Limbaugh and I really do have a lot in common. We share a love of country. We have big mouths and egos. And we are both recovering drug addicts.

While Rush was running 'round doctor shopping and popping pills like they're Tic Tacs, I was doing everything humanly possible to score another bag of meth. I am sure I speak for Rush when I say "It was ugly."

Would you believe that Rush and I were actually in rehab at the same time back in 2003? Early on (right about the time I stopped grinding my jaw. I am guessing day 4) the scandal broke that Rush got busted and sent to some luxury treatment center in the southwest. In fact, Rush's stint in drug rehab set off quite a heated philosophical debate in my recovery gang. Aparently Rush was being weaned off OxyContin with this fancy new fangled method where he was in a kind of medically induced half-coma while the drug works it self out of the system.

When I learned about this I was jealous.

"If you could do it that way, would you?" My drug councelor Craig asked my group of recovering junkies.

"YES!!" we shouted back. Coming down off of crystal meth is a lot like re-entering the earth's atmosphere: You're travelling at the speed of sound while desperately hoping to not burst into flames. Would I want to basically detox in the comfort of my own comfy coma? Hell Yeah!

But it was the wrong answer. Naturally, that method--painless as it is--would have not bode well for my long-term recovery. Nope, staying clean would require more work than that.

Keeping myself on the straight and narrow also required me to start taking responsibility for my actions. I couldn't continue to blame my childhood or the liberal media for my problems.

It's weird being inextricably linked to ol' Rush. When I heard about his latest drug-related legal problems, it brought back some interesting memories. One thing's for sure after nearly three years off crystal, I'm glad I did it the hard way.
(Image courtesy www.cagle.com)

New Jersey Notes and Tidbits

The New Jersey shore is sinking at a rate of about 16" a century. Add to that the rising seas caused by global warming and you have the possibility that our venerable New Jersey Shore will cease to exist as we know it. This is a grim article to read on a Monday morning. You've been warned.

Ellis Island storied past is slowly emerging from hiding and offering glimmers of yesteryear to a curious public. This story is much more heartwarming than the last, especially the part about the Island falling under Garden State sovereignty.

According to his ex-wife-to-be Dina Matos McGreevy, the erstwhile Governor and current gay American Jim McGreevy is not gay. He's bi-sexual. That's right, bisexual. You buy, he gets sexual. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Tom Hester takes a look at how the majority Dems in Trenton will make up for the projected budget shortfalls without raising taxes.

Ever wonder why so many State Senators are leaving Trenton? Josh Gohlke takes a peek.

Dealers at the Trump Casino in Atlantic City voted to unionize. With the vote they join employees at Caesars. Now that I think about it, how funny is it that they are called "dealers."

A group from Seton Hall University tries to shed some sunlight into the mess in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The game was decided in the first half, so the celebration continued until the buzzer as the Rutgers Lady Knights beat the hell out of LSU to advance to tonight's finale to claim the big prize in women's basketball. How proud are we? You go girls!! The game is tonight at 8pm on ESPN. Will you be watching?