The Jaffe Briefing - June 15, 2017
OUR TAKE ON THE NEWS IN NEW JERSEY
PRINCETON - Even Albert Einstein might look quizzically at a twisted knot of polished steel that supposedly pays homage to his ginormous intellect. The bizarre abstract sculpture, called "Einstein's Brain," was unveiled Tuesday outside a pricey Witherspoon Street apartment complex where Princeton Hospital once stood. Einstein died there in 1955 and his brain was surgically removed for less intelligent people to poke and prod. Einstein's brain spent decades getting shipped between universities and research centers around the globe. The apartment complex developer told the Princeton Packet that "today (Einstein's) brain returns to Princeton." New theory of relativity: E = Ugly2.
TRENTON - Although we're running out of interest in Gov. Chris Christie poll numbers, this one is hard to ignore: Quinnipiac University says Christie now has the worst rating for any governor, in any state, surveyed by Quinnipiac over the past 20 years. Wow. His numbers have now dropped to a 15 percent approval rating, which means that even 58 percent of proud, card-carrying Republicans aren't pleased with their once-indestructible leader. No comment from Christie, who was not taking media questions during a public event at the Statehouse yesterday.
As a fun side note, remember Gov. Jon Corzine? He was the guy who was villianized, ostracized and criticized by Christie, who blamed him for every societal ill that ever happened, anywhere, at any time. Corzine's lowest approval rating? 31 percent, in November 2009.
IN THE MEDIA
NEW YORK - Here's a news story worth covering: The gender gap appears alive and well between men and women working at The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets that Dow Jones & Co. owns. A new study from the union that represents those workers shows that, on average, full-time female employees earned less than 85 percent of what their male counterparts earn, the Poynter Institute reports. On average, women lagged by nearly $10,000 in Manhattan and by more than $13,000 in Washington, D.C. The results are based on a salary review of all Dow Jones employees from 2000-16 - certainly worthy of media scrutiny.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
TIVERTON, R.I. - It seemed to be a charming idea, using local clamshells to pave an itty-bitty side road in this small community. But the property owner received a shipment of shells that were a little, uh, fresh, as they had yet to fully decompose. WJAR-TV says neighbors complained of a crazy stench, as well as a billion or so maggots chewing through the road. Workers were dispatched yesterday morning to scrape up all these clams, with the town ordering it all cleaned up by the end of the week. No clue where you would buy truckloads of decaying clam meat, but one would assume it was a heckuva bargain.
It was this day in 1664 that New Jersey was established, likely prompting the continent's first traffic jam.
WORD OF THE DAY
Trothplight - [TRAWTH-plahyt] - noun
Definition: Engagement to be married
Example: He was sad, but a admittedly a bit relieved, by the spontaneous cancelling of Gwen's trothplight.
WEATHER IN A WORD
Perfect