Rosi Efthim Posts

Senate President Sweeney will be appearing live on ESPN's Outside the Lines with Bob Ley this afternoon to discuss the Rutgers men's basketball coach situation. It was ESPN that broke the Coach Rice story, by posting the video of his verbal and physical abuse of players.
Show begins 3pm on ESPN.  

I didn't go to Rutgers, I'm not a native New Jerseyan. Outside of dating a member of the offensive line at University of Michigan (go Blue), which made me a hot commodity on campus for about 5 minutes, I don't follow college sports, or Rutgers b-ball. There's an interesting convo going on in diary comments among people more conversant in Rutgers' program. My interest is in the spike of this story. One day: video --> statewide scandal --> Rice's exit. Boom.
Top 10 Takeaways from the Rutgers Mike Rice Me

Garden State Equality's new Executive Director Troy Stevenson made an appearance on NJTV's NJ Today program, covering questions on marriage equality, 'gay conversion' therapy and bullying:
Watch Garden State Equality Optimistic About Marriage Equality on PBS. See more from NJToday.
I should probably let you know I'm a member of the Garden State Equality Board, and I should probably also tell you I'd be posting this even if I wasn't.

Meteor 50 feet wide and 10,000 tons streaks into Russia's atmosphere and slammed into Earth. Same day, an asteroid passes closer to Earth than some satellites we sent up there. So, do you know how many pieces of debris the size of a softball (or larger) currently orbiting Earth? More importantly, what the hell's an NEO a

Heads-up on a change in Barbara Buono social media. She's deactivating her personal Facebook page to accommodate the social media traffic of her campaign and keep in contact with supporters. Here's the best way to track the campaign:
Twitter: Follow @Bu

Here is the link to today's oral argument recording and transcript of United States v. Windsor, the Defense of Marriage (DOMA) case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The arguments against equality in marriage are so often for what they see as religious reasons, or knee-jerk misconceptions of what the Founding Fathers intended for this country.

Today is the second day of legal history in the making at the U.S. Supreme Court, which for the first time ever this week is hearing oral arguments on whether marriage rights for gay couples are protected under the U.S. Constitution. Today, the Court considers the Defense of Marriage Act (DO

Quote of the Day was pulled from Star-Ledger reporter Jenna Portnoy's Twitter feed, and retweeted by Blue Jersey alum DSWright (hat/tip) and then @BlueJersey:
"We don't have a vouchers system yet -- much to my chagrin," @govchristie tells Catholic school student.— Jenna Portnoy (@jennaportnoy) March 26, 2013
The state controls

Grass for Derek Jeter to play on, from Pilesgrove, New Jersey.
Did you see it?
A veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes, 22 veterans a day
Young vet's suicide suicide shatters air of stability.
Yo

So, the sensational story out of the Dominican Republic that purported to link U.S. Senator Bob Menendez with underage prostitutes - launched at The Daily Caller just before the November election and heating up  just as the Democrat was ascending to the powerful chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - turns out not just to have been originally reported by The Daily Caller but to be invented and paid for by The Daily Caller, run by Tucker Carlson, fabricator and bullshit artist, disgraced TV host and current honcho at the right-wing website.

Just a few minutes ago, a Christie spokesman released a statement following a Philadelphia Inquirer story, that the governor "does not believe in conversion therapy," and that sexual orientation is determined at birth. It took him all day to come up with that. And he didn't pipe up until reporter Matt Katz wrote up opponent Barbara Buono's very clear opinion on "gay conversion" and the NJ bill that would ban it. Christie still won't say whether he will sign the gay conversion ban until he sees the

Gov. Chris Christie likes to position himself as a blunt truth-teller. But he's considerably less interested in answering for himself when his usual tight control of message goes awry, as it did last week in Paterson.
When you ask me questions, I'm going to answer them directly, straightly, bluntly, and nobody in New Jersey is going to have to wonder where I am on an issue.
                     

It won't be a surprise, given their long history, but former U.S. senator Bill Bradley is endorsing Mark Alexander in his primary race to unseat incumbent Nia Gill. Bradley:
From his time as a college intern in my Senate office, to his work as Policy Director on my 2000 presidential campaign, Mark has been a thoughtful, energized, and articulate champion of Democratic causes and progressive policies. I am endorsing his campaign in the 34th District Democratic primary because he is the type of leader we need in the New Jersey State Senate. He will advocate for working class

Jersey City mayor Jerry Healy was already having a damn good day, with today's endorsement from President Barack Obama of his re-election campaign for mayor against Councilman Steve Fulop. And here's how Healy's day ended.
Like a boss:

Democratic endorsements don't scale much higher than POTUS. From a statement released this morning by the Jerramiah Healy campaign, the quote from President Obama:
To continue moving America forward, we need more leaders like my friend, Jerry Healy. He's made Jersey City a vital engine for economic growth, innovation and opportunity. Mayor Healy is also one of the leading voices on urban sustainability and getting illegal guns off our streets. I enthusiastically endorse Mayor Jerramiah Healy to keep the progress going in Jersey City.

Sometimes loyalty is

He is the star product of George Norcross' stable of South Jersey Democratic politicians, and a key reason why many in South Jersey feel better represented in Congress than before 1990, before him. A popular congressman, who received more vote

Quote of the Day is from Bill Holland of New Jersey Working Families' Bill Holland:
In his budget address Governor Christie touted an aid increase to over 370 public schools. But if you think a governor who has been relentlessly hostile to public education suddenly turned a new leaf, we've got some bad news for you:
Seventy of those schools received less than $1,000. Forty of them received just $1.
The quote is from an email today to supporters around the state. Since 2010 when he took control o

It never ends with Chris Christie, who like so many in the GOP wants to open more and more government function to privatization and tycoon opportunism. CWA began running this ad this week, charging that Christie's lottery plan would outsource work to foreign corporations, put even more New Jerseyans out of work and hurt small, local businesses. In a state where the famous governor distracts voters with his carefully crafted Jersey guy act and more TV exposure than Snooki, will this really fly in a state with the 4th-highest unemployment in the USA?

I am a lucky duck. One of the great advantages of blogging here is endless work alongside people younger than me - swifter, smarter, more feminist to the bone even than I am. But the flip side of that is the people older than I am that I've met in the political swim that is New Jersey. From them, particularly the activists, there