The Jaffe Briefing - October 20, 2021
TRENTON – One great writer could author a page-turner about the city’s dysfunctional governing body, which continues to find new ways to appear self-absorbed and incapable of serving the public. Mayor Reed Gusciora and city officials resorted to holding a press event yesterday afternoon at police headquarters to implore the City Council to approve a must-have contract for emergency radio and phone systems. “This city is deplorable,” said Rev. John Harris of Galilee Baptist Church to reporters. The current vendor is vowing to turn off its communication if the city doesn’t pay an outstanding bill of $218,418 by the end of the month, NJ.com reports. Meanwhile, the city has a new vendor in the wings, funded with $4 million in federal funds, to restore the system, connect it with Mercer County’s airwaves and ensure no gaps in coverage in a city that is often crime-infested. And what does Council President Kathy McBride do? Table the resolution until sometime in November…
STATEWIDE – We spent half of 2021 talking about Covid vaccination, and it looks like we will finish with a hyper-focus on the need for booster shots. Yes, there hasn’t been this much talk about medical advancement since Rutgers alum Selman Waksman invented his 20 antibiotics. The current burning issue: Most eligible New Jerseyans are ignoring the Pfizer booster shots for some reason. The Record reports nearly 80% of the 1.1 million eligible people in the state have foregone efforts, to date, even though many providers offer free and easy walk-in shots. The state is under the gun, as many of these elderly people, or those with compromised immune systems, are making big plans to be with family and friends for the holidays, in house-to-house super-spreader soirees. State officials are now battling the delta variant – 100% of current Covid cases – and that’s another big reason to get the darn booster.
STATEWIDE – Want to see how this school year is going? Just go on your local Facebook page. Bet there are tirades over the ongoing staff shortages, lack of school buses, “unrealistic” Covid policies and online clashes between parents and teachers on any given topic. “The resilience that we have is beginning to wear thin and I’m really very concerned about our members’ wellbeing,” the leader of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, tells state lawmakers, Politico reports. “People who I have known to be the eternal optimists, the cheerleaders, the ones who are always coming up with the bright ideas — I am seeing them breaking down in front of me.” Key issues: No one wants to work in the schools as substitutes, forcing staff to cover other classes. And if your kid happens to need an aide, perhaps he or she is being reassigned. Meanwhile, all the mask mandates are wearing thin, as well as patience for all these “nattering nabobs of negativism.” (Thank you, Spiro Agnew)
BRIEFING BREATHER
Volkswagen also makes sausages.
TRENTON – State workers – who were supposed to return to work full-time on Monday – are back in their pajamas. Gov. Phil Murphy once again punted on the reopening of many state offices, now set for the end of next month. The grand assumption was that the public workforce would be back at their desks all the time by Oct. 18, the same day they needed to be vaccinated or undergo weekly Covid testing. Now, in the latest chapter of this drama, the workforce will be returning on a rolling basis through the end of next month. Politico calls it a real head-scratcher, with Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg summing it up: “I can go to physical therapy. I can go to my doctor’s office. Kids can go to school. Restaurants are open. Why the state is last in line, it’s confusing and there should be some clarification around what is the plan, and why is it taking so long.”
NEWARK – Great news; police will no longer post mugshots of people accused of minor offenses. Social media has made it remarkably unfair to those arrested – and not yet convicted – of anything. TAPInto Newark reports the city police have seen an uptick in negative social media from a 2017 post that announced the arrest of six alleged hookers, generating more than 9,000 comments and 28,000 shares of their photos. Such mug shots are ideal fodder to ridicule or create disparaging memes that spread worldwide. Cops say it’s all “tantamount to a public shaming, perpetuates stereotypes and reinforces implicit biases.” And the Newark P.D. wants nothing to do with it.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
LONDON – The Queen is not old, so says the Queen. Despite being the longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch, she has rejected the honor of a British magazine that wants to honor her as “Oldie of the Year.” The 95-year-old queen – who just cancelled her trip to Northern Ireland to rest – says she does not meet “the relevant criteria” for the designation from The Oldie magazine. “Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel, as such The Queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept, and hopes you will find a more worthy recipient,” said a letter from her office. The queen’s husband Prince Philip, who died in April, accepted the accolade in 2011, when he was spry 90.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1979 that Bob Dylan appears on Saturday Night Live to hype “Slow Train Coming,” mumbling on through.
WORD OF THE DAY
Manticore – [man-ti-kawr] – noun
Definition: A legendary monster with a man's head, horns, a lion's body, and the tail of a dragon or, sometimes, a scorpion.
Example: I need to shave every three days to avoid appearing like a manticore.
WIT OF THE DAY
“A good friend just told me that the key to a successful marriage was to argue naked.”
- Leann Rimes
BIDEN BLURB
“My dad would say, ‘Joe, remember, never argue with your wife about anything that is going to happen more than a year from now.’”
– Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Beauty