The Jaffe Briefing - June 21, 2021

FORKED RIVER – There should be plenty more news today about the proposed state budget, and who may get all those billions of extra dollars. Instead, let’s talk about “Peaty the Peacock,” who is taking Forked River (aka Lacey Township) by storm. The Asbury Park Press notes there have been numerous sightings of the bird this past week. Residents are now squarely focused on where this wandering peacock will appear next, as there is now an online naming poll, web updates on Peaty’s latest location and new photos appearing, sometimes hourly. But please don’t rely on us for the latest info. Just visit the Facebook page, “Where is The Lacey Peacock?," which had 399 members as of 8 a.m.

NEWARK – Congress members sure love press coverage, unless, of course, it is TMZ. The story (and photos) are zipping around the Internet this morning of Captain America (Rep. Donald Payne) caught on Zoom wearing a T-shirt of his favorite superhero and boxer shorts, as one would assume he thought his camera was off. The Newark congressman had apparently rolled out of bed in his pajamas for a Zoom budget meeting on Thursday, exposing his belly. The clip was quickly shared by Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne, adding this caption: “Another reason Democrats should get off Zoom and back to work.” Payne’s official statement on the matter: “As a public servant, my focus has always been the public good and my work to better the lives of my constituents and all Americans, regardless of the circumstances.”

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – A township man was alive, then dead, and now alive again and guilty. Authorities announce the 51-year-old scam artist has pleaded guilty to bank fraud, after he staged a grand boat accident to avoid going to jail for faking info to secure a $55,000 credit union loan in 2014, the Courier Post reports. The guy and an “associate” took a boat from a Northfield marina to a restaurant in Somers Point. On the return trip, the “associate” dropped the scammer between two piers so he could be picked up by someone else to flee. The “associate” then struck a navigational marker and called 911. The crash prompted the Coast Guard and other first responders to search for the suspect with vessels and helicopters over two days. Meanwhile, the guy was in Florida. He will now be sentenced Oct. 18 if, of course, he is alive and not dead.

BRIEFING BREATHER

There are about 100 people who choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

TRENTON – Putting politics aside in this election year, Gov. Phil Murphy and the state Health Department have something enormous to celebrate: There are 4.7 million people who live, work or study in New Jersey who have been vaccinated since the roll-out began early this year. The governor has been saying that is the magic number, marking 70% of the state’s adult population who are protected as we strive for herd immunity.  The state wanted to have the bulk of the public immunized in six months, in what historians will consider one of the greatest roll-outs of vaccine to save countless lives. Mission Accomplished.

BEDMINSTER – Consider taxpayers lucky. With news that it “only” cost taxpayers $2.4 million in Secret Service protection for former President Donald Trump’s repeated visits to his golf club in Bedminster, it is a relief. The assumption was a much higher price tag when you factor in all the trips, the planning, the motorcade, the disruption of air space, the portable toilet rentals, etc. Of the grand total, NJ.com reports, the Secret Service spent $1.9 million for hotels, which included more than $35,000 at Trump’s club, as well as renting $80,000 worth of his golf carts. Not included in the total was the cost to repeatedly prep and fly Air Force One to New Jersey for all this critical, federal business on behalf of the American people.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

GABORONE, Botswana – It is Amazon Prime Day, so maybe there will be a big special on a particularly huge diamond weighing more than 1,000 carats. This could be the third-largest diamond in history, unearthed in a mine partially owned by the De Beers Group. There’s now some excited chatter about other gigantic diamonds being found with all these grand advancements in metallurgical technology. There hasn’t been a crazy big diamond found at the mine since 1993, when a rock weighed in at 446 carats. As diamonds account for about two-thirds of Botswana’s exports, the entire country is now rejoicing, as, let’s assume, Jeff Bezos has already secured it.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1990 that Nelson Mandela dons a New York Yankees cap at Yankee Stadium, before declaring “I am a Yankee!”

WORD OF THE DAY

Inveigle – [in-VAY-gul] – verb

Definition: To entice

Example: I was inveigled to attend another fundraiser.

WIT OF THE DAY

“Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.”

-Kamala Harris

BIDEN BLURB

“There is no inherent power in the office of the vice presidency. Zero. None. It's all a reflection of your relationship with the president. I mean, Kennedy never let Johnson in the office.”

-Joe Biden 

WEATHER IN A WORD

Muggy