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The game EverQuest was implicated in a Tampa-area homicide, but both the lawyer prosecuting Tony Bragg Sr. and the one defending him are minimizing its role in the circumstances surrounding the death of his son.

Bragg, 25, pled guilty yesterday to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the death of his nine-month old son, Tony Jr. last July.

A St. Petersburg Times story this morning claimed Bragg had assaulted the child and left him to die because he was interfering with Bragg’s enjoyment of the popular online computer game, but lawyers on both sides emphasize EverQuest was a minor factor, at most.

Tampa-area public defender Ken Littman said his client does not blame the game for his crime, or the death of the child, and no attempt was made in the court proceedings to shift any of the blame to Bragg’s admitted obsession with EverQuest. “He blames himself,” the lawyer told the Adrenaline Vault.

Prosecutor Suzanne Rossomondo agreed the game only played a small role. “It had some involvement, but more important was [Bragg’s] temper and lack of patience. His neglect of the child was only brought to a head because of the game."

Littman said his client was “an irresponsible young guy who had this kid thrust upon him.” The child’s mother, who is estranged from Bragg, left the child with him because she had lost electric power in her home.

EverQuest was merely the preoccupation of the moment for Bragg, Littman added, saying it could have just have easily been televised football or any other occupation of men in their twenties, instead. “Bragg is sadly typical of many young people today,” said Littman. “He had children before he was ready to take care of them.”

Rossomondo added Bragg had done more than just play EverQuest on the day of his child’s death: he also had had friends visit. It’s true he played the game a lot, she conceded. “I won’t say every waking moment, but quite a bit.”

Any suggestion that the game could be blamed for this death would be the “dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” said Littman. “Everybody’s looking to blame something else. I’d only bring that up if I wanted to be laughed out of court.”

The child was found dead by Bragg in the closet where his playpen was kept. Hillsborough County court heard that the child had died of traumatic injuries over 24 hours before Bragg called 911. Bragg denies he was responsible for causing the injuries.

HONORING A TRAITOR

Take the time to read this!

Everyone has or did have a Vietnam veteran in their family. This is for all the kids born in the 70's that don't remember this, and didn't have to bear the burden, that our fathers, mothers, and older brother and sisters had to bear.

Jane Fonda is being honored as one of he "100 Women of the Century." unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam.

The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilot's name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1978, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho Lo Prison-the "Hanoi Hilton." Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJs, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American "Peace Activist" the "lenient and humane treatment" he'd received. He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and dragged away. During the subsequent beating, he fell forward upon the camp Commandant's feet, which sent that officer berserk. In '78, the AF Col. still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying days) from the Vietnamese Col.'s frenzied application of a wooden baton.

From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/D (F-4Es). He spent 6 years in the "Hilton"- the first three of which he was "missing in action". His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group,
too, got the cleaned/fed/clothed routine in
preparation for a "peace delegation" visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they still
survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his SSN on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?" and "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?" Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper. She took them all without missing a beat.

At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him the little pile of papers. Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Col.Carrigan was almost number
four but he survived, which is the only reason we know about, her actions that day.

I was a civilian economic development advisor in Vietnam, and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968, and held for over 5 years. I spent 27 months in solitary confinement, one year in a cage in Cambodia, and one year in a
"black box" in Hanoi. My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time, I was weighing approximately 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.) We were Jane Fonda's "war criminals." When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with
Jane Fonda. I said yes, for I would like to tell her about the real treatment we POWs were receiving, which was far different from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by Jane Fonda, as
"humane and lenient." Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees with outstretched arms with a large
amount of steel placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane till my arms dipped. I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda for a couple of hours after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She did not answer me.

This does not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of "100 Years of Great Women." Lest we forget..."100 years of great women" should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots. There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane's
participation in blatant treason, is one of them.