The Morning Briefing - January 5, 2016
HADDON HEIGHTS - SIGH. The education of students is being set aside at the Glenview Elementary School, as district leaders deal with the ACLU and its call for the school to end the practice of students saying the phrase "God Bless America" after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance each morning, the Courier Post reports. The ACLU dashed off a letter to the school, saying that invoking God's blessing as a daily ritual is unconstitutional. School officials started the tradition after the Sept. 11 attacks to show patriotism, not religion. The school will end the practice, bowing to those apparently fighting for our civil liberties, but they can't force the kids to keep from uttering the phrase. Expect parents to weigh in now, as this story hits the news wires.
HACKENSACK - Some nice diversity up in Bergen County, where the new acting prosecutor is the first South Asian and first Sikh to become the chief law enforcement official in any New Jersey county. Worthy to talk about Glen Rock attorney Gurbir Grewal, 42, sworn in yesterday. Grewal, who is fluent in Punjabi and Hindi, previously prosecuted white-collar crimes for the U.S. Attorney's Office. Gov. Chris Christie nominated him in 2013, but the Senate dragged its feet on appointment hearings. Grewal must be renominated in the next legislative session and must clear political hurdles before he can scrape the word "acting" off his new office door. Bergen County has the state's second largest Asian-Indian population behind Middlesex County.
WASHINGTON D.C. - Want to see the world on someone else's dime? Get elected to Congress. Privately funded congressional junkets are making a stunning comeback after a decade-long scandal-driven decline. Northjersey.com reports that Rep. Scott Garrett is top among those racking up frequent-flyer miles. Special interests spent $94,000 since 2011 on Garrett's trips to Tokyo, Berlin, Israel, Turkey, Ethiopia and some domestic jaunts. And it is not just conservative wingnuts who are up, up and away. Before retiring last year, super liberal Rep. Rush Holt racked up $70,000 during four years of overseas excursions. All told, special interests spent $6.1 million on 2,171 junkets since 2011.
ON THE ROADS - If you can't get elected to Congress, how about becoming the CEO of the Port Authority? It has to be one of the most plum jobs that anyone in transportation can get, charged with digging the two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River and expanding Penn Station in New York. But, the Record reports, the four-man search committee has spent a year screening resumes and interviewing six people for the super gig. But no takers, to date, as candidates are perhaps stunned by a to-do list that includes daunting major construction and real estate projects, such as a new Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport, a new Port Authority bus terminal, and the possible sale of One World Trade Center. Still a cool job, but likely not with a generous vacation package.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
AT WORK - Opting to "hold it in" at work, as opposed to getting docked pay for going to the bathroom, seems a common practice from, say, 1890. But there is a real company in Philadelphia that was forcing its employees to clock out so they could go relieve themselves. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that is a no-no, as there now happens to be something known as the "Fair Labor Standards Act." That is why American Future Systems Inc. of Malvern is now paying $1.75 million to thousands of employees who needed to go to the bathroom. We're talking 6,000 employees at offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio over four years. So, no more jugs needed under the desk.
PHILADELPHIA - Manny, Moe & Jack will remain as American as apple pie. Manhattan billionaire Carl Icahn has won a six-month bidding war with Japan-based Bridgestone Corp., agreeing to make an all-cash $1.03 billion deal to buy the Philly auto-parts retailer's 800 U.S. locations, Reuters says. You can't toss a lug nut across New Jersey without hitting one of the Pep Boys' 45 superstores or tire-service centers here. Icahn Enterprises will also pay Bridgestone a cool $39.5 million "termination fee." Translation: Here is money; now go back to Japan.
IN THE MEDIA
Well, the official numbers are in. In 2015, Donald Trump used his Twitter account to insult various media outlets on an average of 10 times a month. "They are so illegitimate," Trump said about the media at a late October rally. "You've got 50 percent who are the worst people I've ever met." The Week has published a clever A-Z list of all the news outlets who have been deemed failures, morons and losers by the leading GOP nominee. Even the conservative National Review made the list, with Trump tweeting, "Not much is as "dead" or irrelevant as National Review thanks to guidance of Goldberg, a total loser! Get some real talent or fold!" Check out the list here.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1925 that Nellie Tayloe Ross was sworn in as the governor of Wyoming - the very first female governor in the U.S. She would later run the U.S. Mint - proving to all those sexists that a woman could succeed in hardball politics and finances.
WORD OF THE DAY
Lollop (LOL-op) - verb
Definition: to move with an odd bobbing motion
Example: Bob lolloped over to the cute girl at the bar, who thought he looked like Sweetums the Muppet.