Snooki: Why are you standing so close to me?Christie: Someone asked me my opinion...Christie leans in extra-close, trying to be goofy.Snooki can't suppress a smile.Other woman I don't recognize: I'm from Jersey!Christie: I know you are!Other woman: And guess what, I thought you did a good job with the Hurricane.Christie: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.Snooki: I just wanted to meet you, and just, hope you start to like us.Christie: I appreciate it. Well, we'll talk about it. Good to meet you.Snooki: Thanks.Snooki walks away. After Christie meets JWoww, Snooki faces the camera for a quick one-on-one.Snooki: He just doesn't like us.
When Snooki Met Christie
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 4
This is reality television. After a Today show appearance in Seaside Heights in which his wife pretended he wasn't running for president, Chris Christie finally met his biggest enemy: Nicole Snooki Polizzi. The two have twitter-feuded because he thinks the show is dumb. He also single-handedly denied the show a half-million bucks. Because he thinks the show is dumb.
Here's the Unofficial Transcript of the landmark exchange, captured on video by the Asbury Park Press:
End scene.
Urban Outfitters Has a “Bogus” Plan to Hire More Women
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 1
Philly-based Urban Outfitters, which calls the Navy Yard home, has come under fire lately for having an all-male board. To solve that problem, CEO Richard Hayne has added one Margaret Hayne to the board. Margaret Hayne is Richard's wife. And folks are not happy about that.
"Bogus," added someone else. To add insult to injury, the Inquirer story that reported this called Urban a "women's clothing chain." Not into skinny jeans, eh? [Inquirer]
The state treasurer of Connecticut called Urban Outfitters' proposal to add CEO Richard Hayne's wife Margaret Hayne to its all-male board "cynical" and an "insult," according to a statement by the New York and Connecticut state pension funds, the Catholic Sisters of Mercy, and the Calvert and Portico investment funds.
Meningitis Outbreak Could Ruin Princeton Alumni Weekend
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 0
New Jersey's state department of health has declared a meningitis outbreak at Princeton University, thereby jeopardizing the school's Alumni Weekend, taking place this weekend. 24,000 are (were?) expected to attend. NY Mag notes that this news has potential to jeopardize crucial life-altering alumni hook-ups. As Wikipedia tells us:
Maybe just wear those plastic lips Robin used in that Batman with Uma Thurman?
[Star-Ledger]
Both can be transmitted through droplets of respiratory secretions during close contact such as kissing, sneezing or coughing [if you're into that] on someone, but cannot be spread by only breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been.
2 Republican Senators Are Worried that PA Terrorists Are Getting Welfare
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 0
Are there any Pennsylvanians on the federal terrorist watchlist receiving welfare assistance? And if so, how can we prevent them from getting it? Those are the questions two Republican state senators--Joe Scarnati and David Argall--posed to the state's Department of Welfare chief this week. They asked, by the way, because the Boston Marathon bombing suspects received state aid in Massachusetts, which for obvious reasons, set off a conservative firestorm. Here's the problem with such a policy.
1. It'd be very hard, politically and legally, to change the welfare laws in the state to exclude people for being suspected of terrorist proclivities. Governor Corbett's means-testing was controversial enough...
2. If such a policy were enacted, said suspected terrorists would stop receiving welfare benefits. And soon enough they would figure out they were on the federal terrorist watchlist. Which would defeat much of the point of having them on the list at all.
[Pittsburgh Trib-Review]
DeSean Jackson Tweeted About Smoking Pot. Then He Deleted It.
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 0
According to Spike Eskin: DeSean Jackson tweeted this last week:
And then he erased it. And then issued this explanation.
Smooth recovery, dude. [CBS 3]
“I’m high on life. Or pot. Ok, it’s just the pot. Hahaha. haha. ha. [expletive]”
I’m talking about Jaccpot [his record label]. Two C’s, two C’s to the p-o-t, that’s the pot so, as far as anything else, I’m a role model, I look up to people that’s doing the right things, and I want people to look up to me in the same way. You know, kids and the whole nine. So, you know that clarifies me, two C’s, and the pot is J-A-C-C-P-O-T that’s Jaccpot, so that clarifies it.
Boy Scouts Approve Gay Troops, But Gay Adults Are Still Officially Banned
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 1
The Boy Scouts' age-old policy banning openly-gay troop members has been reversed. Of the 1440 volunteer leaders who voted yesterday, 60% approved the change in policy, which deems that no scouts can be denied entry into the organization "on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone." As of now, gay adult volunteers and staff are still banned. The policy change will take effect in January, 2014. So are gay aspiring scouts allowed to apply before then? Will their applications be deferred if admitted before then??
Related question: Should the Scouts--deemed persona non grata by the Nutter admin for their anti-gay stance--be welcomed back to Philly now?
[NY Times]
Richie Sambora Finally Strikes Back in Bon Jovi Catfight
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 1
Ever since Richie Sambora backed out of Bon Jovi's world tour, JBJ's been hinting that Sambora's personal (ahem, drug) issues are holding him back. He also basically called him replaceable, saying that his absence was "unlike if this were, God forbid, The Edge, and he for some reason couldn’t make a U2 show." (Though, somehow, he's "absolutely" the band's guitar player.)
Well, guess what? Richie has had enough. Speaking publicly about the feud (can we call it that?) for the first time, Sambora tells the Daily Mail, which cares, that in fact, "Jon wants to see if he can pull off stadiums by himself. He is making it very difficult for me to come back." Also: "Enough with the trash-talking!" [Daily Mail]
City Council Cracks Down on Teenage Tanning
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 0
Yesterday, City Council passed a bill banning minors from going to indoor tanning salons without adult supervision. Anyone 14 or younger can't go without a doctor's note. (Trusting our area doctors aren't completely insane, that should amount to an outright ban.) You know what the problem with this bill is? And it's no fault of Bill Greenlee's, who sponsored it. The fake tanning capital of the galaxy--New Jersey--is right across the river.
This, unfortunately, is still allowed.
[Daily News]
CNN, Netflix May Be Interested in a Bob Brady Reality Show
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 0
During the November elections, former Philly Mag and Daily News editor Larry Platt followed U.S. Rep Bob Brady around the 4th Street Deli with a camera crew, in the hopes of selling a reality show centered on Philly's Democratic Party boss. Though the Daily News writes that Brady looked "miserable" under the lights, Platt says he's condensed hours of footage into a promising 4 minute "sizzle reel" that CNN and Netflix, and eight to ten networks in total, are interested. The tentative name of the show: "The Last Boss." [Daily News]
The Obama-Christie Jersey Shore Bromance Will Resume on Tuesday
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/24/2013
Comments 0
Get ready for another round of Chris Christie and Barack Obama walking side-by-side, pointing at stuff and shaking hands. The president will touch down on Tuesday for a post-Memorial Day visit to the Jersey Shore, his first since Hurricane Sandy. He'll be meeting with business and homeowners affected by the storm. And igniting another tired debate about Chris Christie's political ambitions and treasonous behavior towards the Republican party. [Politico]
Anthony Weiner Is Running for NY Mayor, but His Campaign Logo Features Pittsburgh
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
Forever "Disgraced" Ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner announced this week that he's running for Mayor of New York (we've been waiting for him to say it for a while now). So why did his campaign website, at about 3:45 p.m., feature a picture of Pittsburgh? Just left-of-center, you'll see what looks very much to be the BNY Mellon Center.
And a bridge that looks very much like the Allegheny Bridge.
Don't take my word for it--PA Politics has been on Weinergate deux from the start. Weiner, shamefaced by another grevious internet error, had by 3:55 p.m. already replaced the image with a random pixilated-looking cityscape.
For what it's worth, there is an actual mayoral election going on in Pittsburgh right now. So if things don't go well this summer ...
Video: Man Repeatedly Slips and Falls Trying to Shoot Up a Philly Strip Club with an AK-47
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
I'm a little late to this, but I think I have a professional obligation to post the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpkkHmRWkoM
Summary: Police say a man was kicked out of the Purple Orchid Gentleman's Club in Southwest Philly, and then returned with an AK-47 to shoot the place up. On this way, he slipped and fell. Twice. One person was hit, but did not suffer serious injuries.
Penn Lecturer Being Investigated for “Indecent Exposure”
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
OK. We don't know who he/she is, or what he/she did. But we do know that police are investigating two alleged incidents that took place in Houston Hall this semester that went something like this: "A person expose[d] his or her genitals in any public place or in any place where others are present."
We also know that he/she (oh, come on, he) was not a full-time faculty member, but did teach Anthropology. Which may give him more leeway in the flashing department than a computer science professor would be granted. [DP]
iPad Wielding Phillies Fan Annoys Everyone* at Marlins Game
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
A tipster sent Deadspin a picture of a dude sitting obnoxiously behind the Marlins dugout in a Ryan Howard jersey during last night's game, with his gadgetry--laptop, iPad, iPhone--in tow. Not just that, but he refused to relinquish his gear when security asked him to.
Pulling a Bartman and listening to the damn radio broadcast is pathetic enough. This is taking it to a whole new level, though. So who is the mystery Phillies fan making us look bad in Miami? Well, he kinda looks like David L. Cohen....
After arguing for a full inning with security, they relented. Then he gloated by waving his laptop around with the phone still attached, which could have been painful *if anyone attended Marlins games.
Actually, Tom Corbett Has One Latino Staff Member
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 2
Calm down lefty media hyperventilators! After you all jumped down Tom Corbett's throat for his comment about having no Latino staff members, the Governor's people put out a press release smack-down, pointing out that in fact they've actually got ONE Latino staffer, Maria Montero, the Director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs.
I would have published this sooner, but I was waiting from a response from Corbett's people confirming that there's really no one else. In fairness, the administration also used to employ preternaturally grumpy Eli Aliva as Secretary of Health and nominated Ken Trujillo for Commissioner of the PLCB.
If you read this week's Al Dia, by the way, he addresses these concerns in a little more depth than he got credit for, talking about Montero's Commission, pointing out Trujillo's nomination, and referring to Pedro Ramos, the head of the state/city hybrid-run School Reform Commission.
Missing Montco College Student Mysteriously Found in North Carolina
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
21-year-old Schwenkvsville native Matthew Royer went missing one week ago, after texting his mother that he was on his way back from college in Rhode Island. Now, he's reportedly surfaced, alive, in North Carolina. It's still unclear why he was there, and the family ain't talking. And just in case you're skeptical--there have been some false alarms--NBC 10 confirms: "Missing Student Definitely Found." [NBC 10]
8 Charged in “Major” Philadelphia Drug Trafficking Ring
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
If you dabble in marijuana consumption, there's a decent chance one of your suppliers just got shut down. 5 men accused of running a $14 million drug ring in Southeastern Pennsylvania--shipping weed from Sacramento to Philly, between January 2012 and April 2013--have been charged. (Four of them live in Philly, three live in Delaware County, and the fifth reportedly holds down the fort in California.) Said Montgomery County DA Risa Vetri Ferman: "I've never seen a drug case where we saw the movement of $14 million dollars in marijuana in such a short time."
$14 million is sort of an abstract number, so here's another way to think about it: 1 million pot plants in the Italian Market. [6 ABC]
Tom Corbett to Write A Regular, Probably Dull Column for Philly.com
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
Joining the ranks of esteemed scribes Bernie Parent and "sexologist" Jill McDevitt, Tom Corbett will soon debut a regular column on Philly.com. We assume that like them, he will not be compensated. The site posted a Q&A with the governor and his wife today in which the pair come across very "Leave it to Beaver." Some highlights:
Like...Spanish!
If you could interview anyone, past or present, who would it be?Tom: Abraham Lincoln.What TV show is currently your DVR/On Demand obsession?Tom: Vikings on the History ChannelIf you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?Tom: I would be better at learning new languages.
Marijuana, Now Available at the Italian Market?
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 0
A photo posted yesterday from the Italian Market by a perplexed and possibly giddy Philadelphia Reddit user:
According to a pot message board, $14 appears to be a pretty standard going rate. As to whether that was really the Italian Market, we'll just have to take "Miamiist's" word for it.
Starting Now, SEPTA Going to Cancel Even More Trains
By Simon van Zuylen-Wood 5/23/2013
Comments 1
Last weekend, SEPTA cancelled 8 regional rail trains. Why? Not enough conductors and engineers. Why? Federal work rules were tightened in 2011, limiting the amount of overtime rail workers can log. And that's a problem for the chronically understaffed SEPTA, which relies on conductors and engineers to work overtime hours in order for trains to run properly. In other words, trains are probably gonna keep getting cancelled, going forward.
Including overtime, the Inquirer writes, SEPTA conductors and engineers can pull down $120,000 a year. That may sound like a lot, but they're working a lot of hours to get there. The most a SEPTA conductor can pull down is $26.75 an hour. Assume he's making the maximum, that averages out to more than 12 hours per day--including weekends. Because of all that overtime, two-thirds of engineers are not available for weekend work. Hence the problem. [Inquirer]
