The Jaffe Briefing - June 2, 2022
NEWARK – NJ Transit bus drivers deal with a lot; it comes with the job. But six female drivers say it crosses the line when the agency doesn’t protect them from a chronic masturbator who frequently rides their routes. The Record reports on a lawsuit, in which the drivers say the man, referred to as S.G., spent the past three years pleasuring himself on their buses. Disgusted drivers complained to their supervisors, to the personnel office, to the general counsel and to the NJ Transit PD. After one driver reported S.G. to a supervisor, the person allegedly responded, "You’re a mother, you’ve never seen a penis before?" the lawsuit said. The women say they were told to keep reporting the man so the agency could "build a case" and nothing could be done unless a minor or cop caught him in the act. In response, NJ Transit doesn’t comment on alleged masturbators in pending legislation. It’s policy.
TRENTON – While flooding in New Jersey is reaching chronic levels, the state is taking some important steps in flood-prone areas. Some desperately-needed measures are (finally) being considered, such as tightening what can be constructed in areas that always flood, using current rainfall rates (rather than figures from 20 years ago) and creating rules for better stormwater management. Expect plenty of pushback from developers, business groups and local towns, NJ.com reports, as such regulations will increase the cost for construction. The cold, hard fact: Parts of New Jersey that never flooded are now getting destroyed. Smarter science, better policy and more regulation, while never fun, can save a ton of money and plenty of heartache.
BRIEFING BREATHER
If you open your eyes in a pitch-black room, the color you’ll see is called “eigengrau.”
TRENTON – If you still think it’s Kool to smoke menthols, better start hoarding. State lawmakers will be revisiting efforts today to ban menthol and clove cigarettes for all the obvious reasons. State efforts dovetail with the FDA’s work on the national level to scrub away tobacco products that target Black communities. Assemblyman Herb Conaway, a physician, tells New Jersey Monitor that menthol is a cooling agent, allowing more people to easily become smokers. “To those who say that this will disproportionately affect Black Americans or Black New Jerseyans, I would remind them that a big reason why they’re smoking in the first place is because of the policy by big corporations selling tobacco products to target these lethal products in Black communities,” Conaway said. And with the FDA saying a menthol ban could save more than 650,000 lives over the next four decades, a ban seems a no-brainer. And more good news: Nicorette offers a great “white ice mint” flavor.
NEW BRUNSWICK – In more hot, smoking news, Rutgers is also going tobacco-free. That is apparently big news, although most would assume the university is already smoke-free, like pretty much the rest of the state. By January 1, you will no longer be able to smoke inside or outside campus buildings and those outside ashtrays will also disappear, TAPInto New Brunswick reports. You also can’t chew tobacco, suck in smoke from a hookah or use any of the countless other nicotine products, like e-cigarettes, all over the market. RU also prohibits weed-smoking, as part of federal law, which hasn’t stopped students since the era of Col. Henry Rutgers. But, for die-hard smokers, concerned about this crackdown, a quick walk across campus lines into New Brunswick or Piscataway puts you under municipal law, much more lax.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
LAS VEGAS – Elvis has left the building (again). The licensing company that owns everything connected to the late King is officially fed up with all those Elvis impersonators making a living in the 24-hour marriage mills. Chapel operators on the strip are being told to stop using Elvis in their themed ceremonies, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Lawyers dished out cease-and-desist letters to multiple chapels of love, pretty much decimating the entire Elvis-themed marriage industry. Las Vegas officials are not pleased, saying Elvis is a cornerstone of the low-budget wedding industry, in which tourists could meet the love of their lives by 8 p.m. and be in front of a crooning Elvis within the hour. A $2 billion industry is all shook up.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1994 that Sharon Stone sues her jeweler for $12 million. You know, like you do.
WORD OF THE DAY
Faff – [/faaf/] – verb
Definition: To spend your time doing a lot of things that are not important instead of the things you should be doing.
Example: No need to faff about; just finish writing today’s Jaffe Briefing.
WIT OF THE DAY
“That is a tough spot to be in, not having baby formula. I’m sure the ivermectin and bleach people could figure this out for us. Just mix you up some Gatorade and some baby powder, throw in some breakfast sausage and it blend it up real good, the baby should be fine.”
-Jimmy Kimmel
BIDEN BLURB
“I’m announcing plans for our third and fourth “Operation Fly Formula” missions. These flights will bring 3.7 million bottles of Kendamil formula and 4.6 million bottles of Bubs Australia infant formula.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Unsettled