] At least 100 dead fish were seen yesterday floating in
] the Oyster Creek by the nuclear power plant here, a
] veteran fisherman reported.
]
] Plant investigators saw four dead fish by the Route 9
] bridge that crosses the creek and another near the
] plant's property line, but officials here said the plant
] did not cause them to die.
]
] "We've checked all of our systems and we've done
] nothing," said Ernest J. Harkness, site vice president at
] the Oyster Creek plant.

] The plant was shut down since Tuesday following an
] electrical malfunction. Power generation should resume
] within the next two days, Harkness said.
]
] In December, the largest fine ever assessed on a New
] Jersey nuclear power plant for causing a fish kill --
] $372,912 -- was levied by the state Department of
] Environmental Protection against Oyster Creek.

Oh yeah.. The plant is _never_ killing the fish. Not this time, not earlier this year, not every six months this happens.

This time it was only a few hundred (or the offical number of "four"), last time it was thousands. Does this mean they are getting better?

The workers are still striking too..

Asbury Park Press | Official: Plant did not kill any fish

The Supreme Court of New Jersey became the first court in the nation yesterday to rule that people have an expectation of privacy when they are online, and law enforcement officials need a grand jury warrant to have access to their private information.

The unanimous seven-member court held that police do have the right to seek a user's private information when investigating a crime involving a computer, but must follow legal procedures. The court said authorities do not have to warn a suspect that they have a grand jury subpoena to obtain the information.

Writing for the court, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said: "We now hold that citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy protected by Article I ... of the New Jersey Constitution, in the subscriber information they provide to Internet service providers -- just as New Jersey citizens have a privacy interest in their bank records stored by banks and telephone billing records kept by phone companies."

"This decision reflects the reality of how ordinary people normally use the internet," he said. "'It's very nice to have the court recognize that expectation is reasonable."

Go Jersey!

N.J. justices call e-privacy surfers' right

New Jersey became the first Northern state to apologize for slavery, as legislators approved a resolution Monday expressing "profound regret" for the state's role in the practice.

Well, there you have it. "Oops! My bad.."

My Way News - New Jersey Apologizes for Slavery

Analysis of the new Census Bureau annual estimates of state population changes for 2006-7 shows that the sinking housing market has yanked back high-flying states like Nevada and Arizona. An even bigger tug in growth occurred in Florida, another housing-boom driven state. With credit harder to get and the disappearance of housing deals, the allure of these states appears to have dimmed.

Meanwhile, the up-scale states—California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts—are seeing fewer residents leave for a lower cost of living elsewhere. And those states benefiting from the previous flight to affordability—Nevada and Arizona in the west; Florida in the south; and Pennsylvania and New Hampshire in the east—have shown slower migration gains or greater declines.

Even the states surrounding Washington, D.C., another hot market, have attracted fewer migrants. Potential home buyers in the outer suburbs of Virginia and Maryland face trouble getting credit and recent buyers in the District and inner suburbs are stuck because they cannot sell.

The D.C. region has, in short, become a microcosm of the nation’s reaction to the housing bust. Like in Nevada and Arizona, the market for the region’s suburban buyers is drying up due to the credit crunch, and construction and in-migration is stalling. But the District and inner suburbs are more like coastal California, where housing-rich residents are waiting to sell in order to move to opportunities elsewhere.

In sum, there appears to be a migration correction going on. We’re at the beginning of a leveling off of migration between unaffordable and affordable America. As with the broader economy, we don’t know how much longer it will last.

Housing Bust Shatters State Migration Patterns

A symbol of the first Thanksgiving, the wild turkey is making a giant comeback in New Jersey, where the tall brown birds are found everywhere, even strutting their stuff in suburban yards.

Beginning with 23 birds released in the state's forested northwest tip, wild turkeys now number 22,000 in New Jersey and have spread to every part of the state.

In South Jersey, suburban dwellers are beginning to notice.

"They are not big, but they are good and really tasty. They are better than the store-bought turkeys," Cass McCarthy said.

Yummy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wild turkeys thrive in New Jersey suburbia

TRENTON, N.J. - While one recent study found more than 231,000 people have left New Jersey since 2002, a poll released Wednesday found many more would like to follow.

The Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll found 49 percent of New Jersey adults would like to move out of the state, compared to 44 percent who would prefer to stay and 7 percent who are unsure.

The poll found 51 percent of those who want to leave say they're very likely to make good on that wish, with most of the those who want to leave adults less than 50 years of age and earning between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.

"The poll points to a real possibility that active working adults and higher-earning retirees will leave the state in greater numbers, leaving behind a generally low-income senior population," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "This could put added demand on public services, but with a diminished tax base to carry the costs."

NEW JERSEY.... The place for degenerate old people.

Poll finds many hoping to leave New Jersey behind -- Newsday.com

The oldest distillery in America is Scobeyville, New Jersey's Laird & Co., a producer of applejack. Known as "Jersey Lightning", applejack's long history in New Jersey includes once being used as currency to pay road construction crews during the colonial period.

Curse you, foul demon!

I love it!

Applejack. Yes, it's New Jersey. Just say Thank You.

Two mayors and two state legislators are among 11 public officials arrested in New Jersey as part of a corruption investigation, the U.S. attorney's office in Trenton announced Thursday.

"The defendants allegedly demanded and accepted payments ranging from $1,500 to $17,500 at any one time," the release from the U.S. attorney's office alleges. "In most cases, the defendants sought to establish and perpetuate a corrupt relationship with the cooperating witnesses to continue receiving bribes."

Corrupt public officials in Jersey? Say it ain't so!! Heh..

This is really great to see. Maybe there is some hope of making the NJ state government effective in the next century or so..

Mayors, legislators arrested in New Jersey corruption probe - CNN.com

A Net-controlled robot reporter from MIT may be headed for Afghanistan.

Salon.com Technology | Do androids dream of First Amendment rights?

If you were fascinated by the Vanity Fair article, If You Knew Sushi, you'll like this book, too. (It's mentioned in the VF article.)

Publishers Weekly Starred Review:

In this intriguing first book, Issenberg roams the globe in search of sushi and takes the reader on a cultural, historical and economic journey through the raw-fish trade that reads less like economics and more like an entertaining culinary travelogue.

He follows every possible strand in this worldwide web of history, economics and cuisine -- an approach that keeps the book lively with colorful places and characters, from the Tokyo fish market to the boats of North Atlantic fishermen, from tuna ranches off the coast of Australia to the sushi bars in Austin, Tex.

He weaves the history of the art and cuisine of sushi throughout, and his smart, lively voice makes the most arcane information fascinating.

Also see the New York Times review of the book.

From the Philly City Paper:

In case you're wondering about Issenberg's favorite sushi bar (and you know you are), it's Sagami in Collingswood, NJ, where he enjoys yellowtail for its firm-but-oily texture.

At the official web site, the reviews are summarized:

“Entertaining culinary travelogue ... smart, lively voice ... fascinating ... a worthy successor to John McPhee ... eloquent, intelligent, and definitive ... superior literary journalism ... engaging ... splendid ... beautifully written."

The author is writing a blog for Fast Company (only two posts, as yet). He recently had lunch with Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace and, separately, with Andy Leff of incPLACE.

From the Village Voice review:

Most revolting is an aside about a New Jersey broker whose reaction to September 11 was "Sons of bitches! I had tuna on one of those planes!"

Ah, New Jersey.

The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy