The Jaffe Briefing - March 8, 2017
STATEWIDE - If you wonder why we are all floundering around - useless, hapless and hopelessly confused - it is because today is "A Day Without Women," a strike designed to show women's impact on the economy, as well as their contributions to society and the workforce. There will be walkouts, rallies and marches in concert with International Women's Day. So, assume no meetings will be held on time, the office television will be set on ESPN and we will all be begging for Thursday to arrive, when we can once again welcome women to work and beg them never to leave again, for the sake of society.
PATERSON - Mayor Joey Torres and three DPW workers were indicted for what state prosecutors called a good, old-school corruption, the kind that politicians here in New Jersey elevated to an art form years ago. While it wasn't as old school as cash in a brown paper bag, it was still a classic: using public employees to fix up a private building. Of course, Torres says he's absolutely innocent and shocked, shocked that anyone would accuse him of committing such a venial crime.
TRENTON - In yesterday's issue, we wondered how much taxpayer money Gov. Chris Christie plans to spend on radio and TV ads featuring himself and his pet issue, opiate addiction. As of yesterday morning, the state was mum on the total cost, as well as where the money would come from. But now we have an answer: $15 million (or $17.6 million) through "realized significant savings" from refinancing debt and "existing appropriations," NJ.com reports. So, sit back, enjoy repeatedly watching the governor on your television and just assume the "Reach NJ" campaign isn't costing you any more money, OK?
BELLMAWR - Captain William Harrison Jr. woke up one morning and led a militia to beat the daylights of out British soldiers who had stormed his land. The lasting remains of that Revolutionary War story was the house, which withstood a British invasion, but not the ineptitude of the State of New Jersey. The Courier Post says the state Transportation Department knocked down the historic home to make way for a Route 295 expansion without getting permission from the state Department of Community Affairs. That demolition took place on Friday, less than 24 hours after a desperate attempt by the Camden County Historical Society to seek an injunction. State transportation officials feebly explain the lawsuit was sitting, unopened, in the mailroom, which apparently also operates with the efficiency, of, say, a colonial-era post office.
IN THE MEDIA
TRENTON - Now this is a welcome surprise. The iconic voice of NJ101.5 is back, with the salty Jim Gearhart now launching his own podcast. You may recall Gearhart had to leave the air after 25 years with the station, following a nasty fall in his house in 2015. You can now catch "The Jim Gearhart Show," a weekly podcast every Thursday on iTunes, Google Play, etc., in which he will excoriate high taxes, dirty politicians and the ever-present abuse of the public trust. It will be daunting to see how Gearhart can cover it all with just one weekly broadcast, but it's great to have him back. Subscribe to the podcast here.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
BROOKLYN, NY - When your first car is a 1978 four-door Nova, with dual exhaust pipes dragging on the pavement, and you miraculously sell it to some shlub for $500, it is unfathomable to understand the cost of parking in Park Slope. NBC News reports someone just bought a parking space in Park Slope for $300,000 - the price of a whole condo in less swanky areas of the borough, or equivalent to 600,000 1978 four-door Novas. It's simple supply and demand driving up costs in Park Slope, which is why the Nova is staying put in Jersey.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
We bet you are an expert on late 20th Century presidents of European countries. That's right. And we'll prove it with the following trivia question: It was this day in 1995 that Costis Stephanopoulos became president of what country?
If you answered anything other than Greece...Really?
WORD OF THE DAY
Syncretism - [SING-kruh-tiz-um] - noun
Definition: The combination of different forms of belief or practice
Example: I like my egg roll with heaps of duck sauce and spicy mustard, the perfect syncretism between American and a mishmash of random Pan Asian cultures.
WEATHER IN A WORD
Springy