The Jaffe Briefing - March 24, 2022
JERSEY CITY – Peacock basketball: must see TV? It wasn’t long ago that the only place you could watch Saint Peter’s basketball games would be on the ESPN Ocho, somewhere between reruns of regional cornhole tournaments and pre-season games for the geriatric bowling leagues. But the AP now reports that two NCAA tournament games featuring Saint Peter’s landed among the 20 most-watched prime time TV programs last week – generating millions of viewers, certainly for the first time ever. And tomorrow night’s game against Purdue will certainly break even more viewership records, as America can’t get enough of the scrappy Peacocks. Tipoff 7 p.m.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – If there’s an election in New Jersey, and it’s a tie, what happens? New Jersey Globe notes every state in the union – except for one – has specific, tie-breaking statutes. Yet, in New Jersey, seats on town councils, school boards, etc. sit vacant until judges and county election officials hash out a date for each do-over election that only draws a speck of voters. New Jersey Globe points to South Toms River, where just 16% of voters showed up for a special election for borough council, as a seat sat empty for a year, as judges mulled challenges from the November 2020 election. In contrast, other states offer immediate resolutions. It could be the good ol’ coin flip, a single hand of poker or picking first from a bag of numbered ping-ping balls. Yeah, not very scientific. But, unlike the drawn-out procedures in New Jersey, its efficient.
BRIEFING BREATHER
You rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth and don't even think about it.
BLOOMFIELD - You don’t need a degree in forensic accounting to understand why it is big news that tiny, cash-strapped, private Bloomfield College is being given a lifeline of loot from nearby, public Montclair State University. This means that the 14th most diverse liberal arts college in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report, where more than half of the students identify themselves as first-generation, will be able to keep its doors open through the 2022-23 academic year. NJ.com reported that details of this unique loan were not revealed, it’s unclear what the schools’ partnership is going to look like and it appears that Montclair is not considering a hostile takeover of Bloomfield, if a payment or two are missed. No one wants an unfriendly visit from a Red Hawk.
LAKEWOOD – In more higher education news, Georgian Court College just happens to have an extra 42 acres. And the local Yeshiva, with booming enrollment for years, is eager for more space. You can see where this is headed: The college will be selling the enormous amount of acreage to the Jewish school at an undisclosed price, with the revenue used to renovate dorms, create a student center and build a nursing and health sciences center. Meanwhile, the Yeshiva will use the land for student housing. It’s a good story: A Catholic school, working with an Orthodox Jewish school, to help one another grow.
STATEWIDE – We’ve heard this before, but it looks like, finally, the first batch of companies will be approved to grow pot in New Jersey. Yeah, this has been going on for months. But now the Cannabis Regulatory Commission is meeting today to hand out the first batch of conditional license applications for cultivation and manufacturing at its monthly meeting today, with sales in six to nine months, NJ.com reports. Moreover, five alternative treatment centers currently serving medical cannabis patients will be able to sell to the rest of us, with the commission’s OK. But until this nascent industry expands, you’ll still need the local kid, offering home delivery of his dime bags.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
NEW YORK – Yves Klein: a genius. The late French artist who made a living convincing people to buy his invisible art is still laughing from the grave. Sotheby’s is putting up for auction on April 6 a receipt for a piece of his invisible art. The expected sale price? $551,000. Klein sold numerous pieces of his “imaginary art” in 1959, as part of a performance featuring empty space. To help sell his, er, art, he dubbed it all Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility. He would sell it in exchange for a weight of pure gold, and he would issue receipts to the buyers. Enjoy one of his greatest pieces of art right here:
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2015 that Heinz and Kraft merge, a great opportunity to unveil its latest family meal: Ketchup & Cheese
WORD OF THE DAY
Farrier – [ferēər] – noun
Definition: A craftsman who trims and shoes horses' hooves.
Example: In looking at the online course catalogue, I could not find any offerings in any of my four areas of career interest: ice cutter, lamp lighter, town crier or farrier.
WIT OF THE DAY
“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.”
-Napoleon Bonaparte
BIDEN BLURB
“As one of the top military people said to me in a secure meeting the other day, 60 million people died between 1900 and 1946. And since then, we've established a liberal world order, and that hadn't happened in a long while. A lot of people dying, but nowhere near the chaos.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Soggy