The Jaffe Briefing - April 29, 2019
AT THE THEATER - It looks like Mickey Mouse will be adding another glorious wing onto his clubhouse, with word that the latest Disney movie - Avengers: Endgame - crushed it over the weekend. Plenty of high-fives among Donald and Daisy, and extra dog treats for Pluto, as the Disney product raked in $1.2 billion, and is on pace to reap $2.5 billion. (Disney bought Marvel for $4.24 billion back in 2009; creating the latest Disney ATM.) This movie captured nine out of 10 movie tickets this weekend, an absolutely amazing stat. But please note a turkey leg in the Magic Kingdom will still cost you $11, as per a memo from Mr. Mouse.
JERSEY CITY - If the governor of Mississippi is okay with the Confederate battle emblem on his state flag, well, that's certainly his choice, being the backwards kind of guy he is. But it's also the choice of Gov. Phil Murphy to ban such a flag from waving at Liberty State Park. Of course, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has a big problem with Murphy's decision, as it seems Bryant and other Mississippians are still waging a war fought in the 19th century. Bryant argues, "the voters of Mississippi should decide what the state flag is or is not." Fair enough, but that doesn't mean we have to see this universal symbol of racism flying over the Hudson River.
TRENTON - New Jersey's clean-energy vision championed by Gov. Phil Murphy is so brilliant and flawless that it should be filmed in Technicolor. Along the coast, but out of sight of swimmers and surfers, huge wind turbines generate carbon-free electricity. Gleaming rows of solar arrays blanket former brownfields and reclaimed Superfund sites. The ocean is clean. The air is fresh. Residents gaze at the sky - and it's clear blue. Too good to be true? No, but it may be too darn expensive. Quizzed by lawmakers, the BPU doesn't know what all this utopia will cost. And that means no one knows how much energy customers will be paying to subsidize it all, for the next two or three decades or so. Read more in today's NJ Spotlight.
STATEWIDE - Not only are New Jersey's richest people packing up and heading for greener pastures, it looks like our horses are, too. NJ.com reports our horse and pony population dropped by 4,000 between 2012 and 2017, as people are breeding fewer horses for racing. New Jersey has the most horses per square mile of any state - bet you didn't know that. And now there are 23,374 of them, the lowest number in 20 years, as the state ended subsidies in 2011 to fatten horse racing purses. Breeding horses here is very expensive, as you can suspect, and all those rolling horse farms make for ideal condo development. So, no surprise why our horses are stampeding away.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL - When you hear the soaring oration of Sen. Cory Booker, sometimes it's hard to focus. So let's make that the official excuse as to why his speech in Miami yesterday was interrupted by a Ford Windstar, crashing a few dozen feet from where he stood. The Miami Herald says it was all an accident, as the driver somehow edged the Ford between two parked cars and a structural beam right outside the strip mall. The owner urged everyone to exit the building, as the woman wailed from inside the van and onlookers called 911. But Booker - who has received death threats from at least two South Florida men over the last six months - kept calm, carried on and took even more selfies.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
GILLETTE, Wyo. - A shoplifter in at a sports store in northern Wyomingstole twice from the place in one day, and then figured it would be a terrific place to work, asking for a job application. The Gillette News Record reported yesterday about how this prospective employee grabbed sunglasses and ammunition and then came back, seeking a job, and then stealing two more pairs of sunglasses, for good measure. Cops nabbed him and got back the goods. Police note his name was not immediately available. Perhaps look at the job application?
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2014 that Microsoft discovered a security issue with Internet Explorer. No real big deal - except that hackers were able to seize control of your computer and everything on it. The flaw messed up Internet Explorer's versions 6-11, good news for stubborn grandma who still refuses to update the browser installed on her computer in 2004.
WORD OF THE DAY
Gastromancy - [GAST-ro-man-see] - noun
Definition: Predicting the future from the rumblings of the stomach
Example: I was going to major in journalism, but I figure there are better career prospects in gastromancy
WIT OF THE DAY
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"If 'con' is the opposite of pro, then isn't Congress the opposite of progress?"
- Jon Stewart
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WEATHER IN A WORD
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THE NEW 60
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by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun
