July 18, 2007

Need Sources? Have No Fear, The Internet Is Here!

Story currently linked on the front page of Camden Courier-Post:

Are you mortified by the new movie being released Aug. 3 that portrays the hero character as a real dog?

Or are you excited about the hero dog's reincarnation and can't wait to take your children?

Please share your thoughts with features reporter Wilford Shamlin, at (856) 486-xxxx.

I'll be honest with you: I cannot wait for this story.

Are you an Underdog fan? [Camden Courier-Post]

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June 28, 2007

So This Is What NJ Residents Do After Leaving Old City

There's not really much I can do with this article about Camden's streets at night from the Courier-Post so I'll just print a few of the excerpted quotes.

• The harsh, bright lights illuminated a crowd milling near the Crown Fried Chicken on Mount Ephraim Avenue.

  Inside, Tara Kittrell, 28, wore a tight-fitting white T-shirt with the words "Baby Sex" on it. After a night on the town at a Philadelphia club, she was back in Camden, trying to explain why it's important to keep the late-night fast food restaurants open -- even though some officials say they are magnets for crime and should close by 1 a.m.

  "People go out. They get drunk. They want to get something to eat," Kittrell said. "They got to feed their liquor. They don't want to be going home, throwing up all over the place. They got to eat so they don't get no hangovers."



• "Yeah, I'm concerned. But I'm watching my head before I'm watching someone else's," said Pop Marcus, 20. "Shooting? Yeah. That's daily here. . . . But it's survival of the fittest, dog eat dog. . . . Everybody wants to get out, eventually, but you got to deal with the situation at hand.


• As he leaned against the doorway of the takeout restaurant, Jose Rosa took a long drink from a plastic bottle and complained that the Camden police are picking on him and his friends.

  On this cool, quiet evening, just a short time before the nearby bars will close, Rosa, 50, says he's feeling a little resentful about an incident earlier that night.

  The police shouldn't have asked him and his friends to stop drinking in public, he says.

  "We're not the problem," he says, in Spanish-accented English. "It's the jitterbugs."

  Jitterbugs?

  "This is a stick-up place," he says of his neighborhood. He blames the "jitterbugs," which is his name for the young, nervous, armed bandits who pull guns and steal from people in the community.

Uh, I'm pretty sure that last one is his derogatory term for black people, but whatever.

Camden streets at night [Courier-Post]

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Correction Of The Week

Take it away, Camden Courier Post:

A rabid raccoon was found Tuesday on Woodlane Drive in Moorestown. A story Wednesday was incorrect.

But what was the error?

Correction 6.28.07 [Camden Courier-Post]

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May 07, 2007

The People's Choice Will Not Be Silenced

A correction from the Camden Courier-Post:

In the Best of South Jersey tab, which is in newsstand editions today and was included in home-delivered papers Saturday, a photo caption incorrectly lists A&J Carpet Outlet as winner of Best of South Jersey for flooring store. Oscar's Carpet One of Williamstown was voted the best flooring store by "Courier-Post" readers.

I kind of feel bad for A&J Carpet Outlet -- defeat snatched from the jaws of victory! -- so I'd like to award them the first annual Philadelphia Will Do Best of South Jersey flooring store. And congratulations to all who entered.

Correction [Courier-Post]

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April 19, 2007

Sexism: Still Not A Problem In Jersey

An update on the question asked by the Camden Courier-Post:

"Not a problem" has increased its lead since last glance.

April 17: Sexism Conquered; Let's Move Onto Next Problem

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April 17, 2007

Sexism Conquered; Let's Move Onto Next Problem

Well, it's settled. Not a problem.

Do you think sexism is a major problem in this country? [Camden Courier-Post]

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January 26, 2007

Blogger Says: Thanks For Making This Easy

Well, I'm feeling better about my love life now, thanks.

He says: I'd rather be unconscious [Camden Courier-Post]
She says: I want paint in my hair [Camden Courier-Post]

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December 28, 2006

PWD People Of The Year: The Toe-Thumb Boy And A Newspaper Headline Writer

When Marlton's Zachary Buono's thumb and two other fingers were blown off by an M-80 in 2005, he didn't say goodbye to his thumb forever. No, he had an operation to move his big toe to replace his thumb.

He was even pumped about it! "It doesn't look like a toe on a hand -- it looks like a finger on a hand." (You can be your own judge.) Some did think it still looked like a toe, but a little experiment revealed thumbs can indeed look like big toes.

As for the owner of New Jersey's most famous thumb, well, he just wants to remember the dead:

[Doctor] Fuller described Buono as an "inspiration" to other patients who have watched his consistently positive attitude. During Monday's appointment, Fuller said the boy even took time to express sadness over Sept. 11 victims.

As I wrote at the time: "Excuse me, doc, but now's the time in the appointment I'd like to set aside for the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Please join me in a moment of silence and then we can get back to my thumb." Although maybe that should have been "toe."

Another one of the People of the Year is whoever wrote the story's headline: He lost a toe, but gained a thumb.

Philadelphia Will Do People of the Year | The List So Far
Sept. 12: Losing 3 Fingers Does Not Make One Forget 9/11

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December 14, 2006

A Portion Of The Following 'Courier-Post' Story Presented Without Comment

"Wha--?!" he shrieks. "Where'd my sweet potato chips go?"

"Sorry," mumbles a sheepish-looking big brother with salty fingertips. "It's just that they're so good."

"What do you think you might feel if your plates were reversed?" I ask my 7-year-old.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if your plate was full and your brother's was empty and he decided to eat off your plate because the food was so tasty and was hungry?" I continue.

"I'd feel bad. And sad," he begins. "And mad."

"Hey, remember the Golden Rule?" says my 4-year-old suddenly.

"Yeah," says his brother. "Treat other people the way you want to be treated."

Two minutes later, younger brother gobbles his buttered toast, and reaches over to older brother's plate to help himself.

"Hey!" yells my 7-year-old, shocked that his brother would even think of such a violation.

Fry theft prompts dinner discussion [Camden Courier-Post]

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December 06, 2006

Let's See... 15 Miles... In One Hour...

A letter in Friday's Camden Courier Post speaking out against a proposed rush hour seat belt checkpoint:

Drivers need a wake up call? There is nothing wrong with a seatbelt checkpoint. But rush hour at a major trouble spot is not the time or the place to do it.

Drivers in a last-minute rush? Exactly how much time should one allow for a 15-mile drive? If it takes an hour to go 15 miles, the driver is traveling at an average speed of 4 mph, a lot less than the 65 mph speed limit on Route 55.

We are entitled to a reasonable expectation of a safe and timely arrival at work in the morning. There are plenty of unavoidable occurrences that happen that must be planned for, but a traffic jam caused purposely and with absolutely no regard for the majority of law-abiding, seatbelt-wearing and not last-minute commuters is just wrong.

Hey, new math.

Avoid road jams [Camden Courier-Post]

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