What can you with an anthropology degree? Bust an illegal organ transplant ring, apparently. [more inside]
posted by greatgefilte on Jul 25, 2009 - 43 comments

Mickey Ween: A security guard came onstage and Gibby threw the alcohol on him. The dude just started backing away, it was clear that Gibby probably would set him on fire. And now, knowing Gibby like I do, it was definitely within the realm of possibility.
Mark Pesetsky: And Gibby just gave me that psycho look with the Charles Manson eyes. He grabs a bottle of the rubbing alcohol and throws it on me and then starts walking towards me with a lighter. And John, the other bouncer, just jumps offstage. It was every man for himself at that point.
Gibby Haynes: Oh yeah, I do remember that. I mean, I've lit kids' heads on fire and they were smiling!

An Oral History of May 3, 1987: The Day The Butthole Surfers Came to Trenton, New Jersey. Butthole Surfers interviewed in bed, parts 1 and 2, playing The Scott & Gary Show on their first run through New York, parts 1 and 2, playing live in 1985 [low quality], live footage from the 80s. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Mar 6, 2009 - 51 comments

Deep in the Heart of Jersey you'll find "Uncle Floyd" Vivino, roaming the streets of various towns and cities, kibbitzing with the locals. In Belleville. Nutley. Bloomfield Avenue and Ferry Street in Newark. Kearny. Cliffside Park. Main Street, Paterson. An abandoned lot in Paterson. What, you never heard of Uncle Floyd? [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Jan 6, 2009 - 47 comments

A glance will show / Why Phoebe Snow / Prefers this route / To Buffalo.
And Phoebe's right / No route is quite / As short as Road / of Anthracite.

In 1908 the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad began work on the New Jersey Cut-Off to make its New York to Buffalo mainline (the Road of Anthracite so liked by Phoebe Snow) even shorter and faster. It was to have no grade crossings, and was to be as straight and level as possible — through hilly terrain. The 28-mile Lackawanna Cut-Off, as it is now known, was built over three years, cost $11 million, and was an engineering marvel of massive reinforced concrete bridges, enormous cuts, and the largest railroad embankment in the world. All of this has been abandoned for years, though there are plans afoot to restore the Cut-Off for commuter rail. [more inside]
posted by parudox on Dec 24, 2008 - 17 comments

Thomas Edison's Concrete Houses From 1902 to roughly 1917, Edison was in the concrete business, and concrete houses would be one of his biggest failures. [more inside]
posted by klangklangston on Dec 3, 2008 - 37 comments

Are you looking for a nice, big kitty to let into your heart? Princess Chunk, at 44 pounds, might fit the bill nicely. Just two pounds shy of the world's record, the pudgy kitty was roaming sans collar in Voorhees, NJ and is now in good hands at the Camden County Animal Shelter. Chunker's owners have until Saturday to claim their big pal - after that, this big quarterback of a kitty is ready for a loving home.
posted by porn in the woods on Jul 30, 2008 - 61 comments

It's 1881. You're real estate speculator James Lafferty, and you've just bought a large parcel of empty, scrubby shoreside land just south of Atlantic City. Problem is, it's cut off from the AC streetcar line by a deep tidal creek. How do you entice potential buyers to make the trek over the inlet and look at your property? Build a giant elephant, of course. Capitalizing on the celebrity of P. T. Barnum's famous Jumbo, Lafferty built 65-foot tall Lucy the Elephant, the first of three giant elephants Lafferty built (followed by Cape May's Light of Asia and Coney Island's Elephantine Colossus). He even took out a patent on the very idea of buildings shaped like animals. Though threatened by decades of neglect and rot, the Save Lucy Committee began preservation efforts in 1970, moving her to her present site and giving her a complete restoration. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Jun 22, 2008 - 21 comments

Keyboardist Danny Federici, founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band, has died.
posted by digaman on Apr 17, 2008 - 44 comments

New Jersey abolishes the death penalty. Just one step in a long nationwide move away from capital punishment. Now, New Jersey hasn't actually executed anyone since it first instated its death penalty - but this move is hardly symbolic, as the state has spent about a quarter billion dollars on its death penalty, revealing a counterintuitive fact: the death penalty is far more expensive than life without parole.
posted by parmanparman on Dec 13, 2007 - 81 comments

The gay. So New Jersey approved civil unions for same-sex relationships joining Connecticut and and Vermont in the CUS-SR club. Need another reason to move to the Garden State? Here's one. And another. Don't worry, we have room for everyone. Er...maybe not.
posted by jourman2 on Dec 14, 2006 - 112 comments

A Confederacy of Dunces. Wildwood, New Jersey, is the go-to place for Rebel-flag merchandise, from beach towels to hermit crab shells.
posted by kirkaracha on Jul 14, 2006 - 173 comments

When Gregg Revell packed his bags for a trip to Pennsylvania last April, he had no idea how far he'd be traveling. Before the week was out, the 57-year-old suburban real estate agent and grandfather would be arrested, thrown into one of the country's most notorious jails, strip searched and inoculated against his will. The soft-spoken Utah native would be on his way to becoming a poster child for the National Rifle Association in a $3 million lawsuit.
posted by mr_crash_davis on Mar 10, 2006 - 84 comments

Laurel Hester, RIP --because she and her partner fought, New Jersey police and fire department employees can now name anyone--not just a spouse--as a beneficiary for pension rights, helping to protect those they love after they're gone. Just one person who made a difference.
posted by amberglow on Feb 20, 2006 - 15 comments

Princeton Students and Polticians Stage Filibuster -- Princeton students started a filibuster at the Frist Campus Center at Princeton University to protest the impending unloading of the "nuclear option" in the United States Senate. Bill Frist is a Princeton alum and his family donated the building the filibuster is in front of. It's been going on for a whopping 78 hours already and looks to at least go through the weekend. Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) spoke earlier today, and NJ Assemblyman Reed Gusciora was there yesterday. They've even got physicists (one and two) and a Nobel Prize winner.
posted by nathanrudy on Apr 29, 2005 - 20 comments

"You can't buy any better heroin in the world than you can buy in New Jersey" The Drug Enforcement Agency cites New Jersey has having the purest heroin in the United States.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket on Dec 13, 2004 - 32 comments

Comparison of life in Piscataway, New Jersey; Kochi, Japan; and Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, China by Ernie French.
posted by tranquileye on Sep 8, 2004 - 11 comments

MSNBC reports that NJ Gov. James McGreevey is to resign as of November 15th because of an affair he had with another man. A crazy day in politics for both Democrats and Republicans.
posted by jasenlee on Aug 12, 2004 - 89 comments

New Jersey became the fifth state to recognize same-sex partnerships. The law extends health insurance, inheritance and hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples. Marriage is still illegal, but it's a success for NJ in 2003. I've lived here all my life and this is the first time the toll booth state has left me genuinely impressed and feelin proud.
posted by Modem Ovary on Jan 14, 2004 - 12 comments

Princeton University Eating Clubs A walk down Princeton's Prospect Avenue leads visitors to illustrious clubs like The Tiger Inn and Colonial Club. Ramen be damned!
posted by keli on Nov 8, 2003 - 19 comments

The New Jersey Churchscape. Quite fascinating. Photos, too.
posted by plep on Aug 15, 2003 - 7 comments

No kids in the casino A stunning new casino opened recently in Atlantic City, filled with fancy restaurants and other relaxations for adults, but if you're in A.C. with the kids and aren't staying at the big B, don't bother bringing them. The friendly guards will be turning you away at the door.
posted by billsaysthis on Jul 6, 2003 - 16 comments

"If people want to know about it, they should know I won the contest." On the day of the historic Supreme Court decision, New Jersey's Democratic Party embarrasses itself big time, as the Sussex County party chairman wants a candidate for State Senate to quit the race because he "entered a photo contest in New York City that featured nudity".
What the AP story says: The candidate, semi-famous for being the runner-up on 'Reality' Game Show The Mole and one of "People Magazine's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors", really is named Jim Morrison (TVTome database embarrassment)
What the AP story didn't say: (local newspaper story) Morrison is openly gay, it was a "prettiest penis contest", and it was made public more than two years ago. And the party chair's real problem with Morrison is his winning the primary as a 'write-in' (scroll down to "Legislature '03") Now what bothers me about this guy is that when he was on "Mole", his occupation was "helicopter pilot", and now he's "a partner in his parents' law firm". Now that's "family values"...
posted by wendell on Jun 27, 2003 - 14 comments

Wonder would happen if the US ever goes to "Red Alert"? New Jersery knows. more...
posted by CrazyJub on Mar 19, 2003 - 50 comments

Want an MBA - without spending half your life doing it? It seems as if Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey has put together a 12 week "no frills" program with "just the essentials" to get what they term a "mini MBA". Now I'm not sure what this "mini" certificate will mean when you go to apply for a job and show it to your prospective employer, but apparently some folks are filling out the classes for $2495 each term. You can read more about it in this pdf, check out page 3.
posted by djspicerack on Mar 10, 2003 - 13 comments

"e-filing" your land transactions - could it streamline a process that is quite cumbersome? 11 of the 21 counties in New Jersey are working to convert their current paper-based system of filings to an electronic format. Some say it would lower mortgage costs and time constraints because of the movement of paper. Some say it's a disaster waiting to happen. I think it would be an excellent move and would give NJ some first mover status (I think?) to be proud of.
posted by djspicerack on Dec 23, 2002 - 5 comments

NJ Guido! A site for guidos, by guidos... hilariously enough! The pics are great (actually, many hotties), but the clincher has got to be the proud testimonials (under "writings"). Can anybody say B&T?
posted by adamms222 on Oct 22, 2002 - 52 comments

Poetry or propaganda? Gov. James E. McGreevey [of New Jersey] has called for the resignation of the state's poet laureate, citing a poem critical of Israel that Amiri Baraka read at a festival earlier this month. "Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed," read a line from the poem, which was cited by the Jewish Standard weekly newspaper. "Who told 4,000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers to stay home that day? Why did Sharon stay away?" Read the poem in question here.
posted by orange swan on Oct 1, 2002 - 112 comments

Virtual Community to the Rescue!
Two small towns next to a forest preserve, South Orange and Maplewood New Jersey, are unique in many respects. Unfortunately for a group of cons, the towns also have something many do not: an active virtual community.
When a door-to-door salesman's visit left one resident suspicious, she did some digging and found out it was a scam. So she alerted the police and posted a warning to the towns' message boards. Several other residents had been victims, too, but word spread quickly...
What's your story of MeFite sisters and brothers to the rescue?
from Design for Community
posted by planetkyoto on Jul 13, 2002 - 5 comments

Gay marriage lawsuit filed in New Jersey yesterday The website of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represents the plaintiffs, contains lots of information about the case. News article here.
posted by Tin Man on Jun 27, 2002 - 32 comments

Born to Run? A group of New Jersey political activists announced a plan to draft Bruce Springsteen to run for the U.S. Senate "as a true representative of the state". But there is a big problem: no one has talked to the Boss about the idea. "Senator Springsteen": how does that sound?
posted by matteo on May 15, 2002 - 18 comments

State government run amuck -- I'm usually proud to be from Jersey, but what's been going on in Trenton recently with lawsuits to stop acting governors from signing spending bills that the budget can't handle is nothing compared to what's going to happen in January. . . A couple of 2-day governors (one from each party) are going to have their way with the state house, governor's mansions, stationery, and POLITICAL APPOINTEES. . . . A POX ON BOTH THEIR HOUSES!
posted by fpatrick on Dec 23, 2001 - 9 comments

It looks like McGreevey Leads Schundler in NJ governors race and Virginia's race is too close to call. With election day just around the corner, which election races are you watching?
posted by Rastafari on Oct 25, 2001 - 19 comments

Trouble for New Jersey GOP candidate... A candidate's nightmare: a person jumps into the race whose name sounds like theirs? A week after the conservative mayor of Jersey City, Bret Shundler, surprised the experts by winning the GOP primary for governor, it's now clear that a state senator named Schluter will also run as an independent, draining votes from Republicans and, IMHO, delivering the New Jersey statehouse to the Democrats. Schluter is a quirky gadfly at best -- but this is a state where 10-20,000 votes can decide an election.
posted by brucec on Jul 3, 2001 - 4 comments

New Jersey teen is halfway through his pledge not to speak for a year! He writes that he came up with the idea because his inability to follow through with his commitments was troubling him. He's getting quite a bit of media attention, too - he's even got a publicist. (via NPR this morning).
posted by beth on Mar 3, 2001 - 19 comments

Homophobic decision in my home state is to be appealled. Requests to change one's name are very rarely denied. This judge has really stepped over the line by worrying about "the appearance of [the requester] being married. . . [and] . . . how this would appear to our neighbors, to our shopkeepers and to society at large."
posted by fpatrick on Sep 22, 2000 - 4 comments

Junkies stricken with a new, mysterious ailment. All thanks to Follow Me Here for the link. This one's eerily familiar if you remember the Eighties, or just read And the Band Played On once or twice.
posted by Ezrael on Jun 11, 2000 - 13 comments