Unbelievably, it looks like the law will be followed in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Township Administrator Louise Palagano explained that as long as Sopranos Production Inc. meets the requirements in Bloomfield’s code for filming crews, the township has no authority to deny the permit.

Holy shit!? You mean someone actually sat down and read Bloomfield’s code? And then followed that code!?? Incredible!

For those of you not from New Jersey, we have a major problem with little fiefdoms in this ridiculously liberal state. Everyone feels like no one should be offended no matter how stupid the charge. To that end, everyone also feels like if they don’t get their way, they can manipulate the local town council to overturn common sense law (like meeting requirements) in order to get what they want.

I’m not sure if that happened in this particular case, but chances are when you hear about a problem or an issue in New Jersey - liberal local activists are the root of that problem and the root of their activism is making sure that everyone is not offended.

Sometimes this state is like a South Park episode.

The press is reporting that comedian Richard Jeni has died from an apparent suicide.

JAMIE MASADA, a close friend of Jeni’s and the owner of the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, tells ET that Jeni’s girlfriend was making him breakfast Saturday morning when he apparently went in the shower and shot himself.

That really sucks. Richard Jeni was a funny guy - one of the funnier guys on Comedy Central’s half-hour comedy shows.

With all of the other shit out there that can put you in the ground why bother with self-inflicted death? People should stop killing themselves.

I absolutely hate the cheesy phrase, “Spring has sprung!” However, thanks to the new Daylight Savings Time law that pushed up the date that we change our clocks, it seems like spring is being forced upon us.

Now don’t get me wrong - I think it’s pretty sweet. I mean who doesn’t want more hours in the day to till the fields and all?

But it feels like we had a wimpy winter and that there was no real Christmas season or anything like that. So what I’m trying to say is that we should start celebrating Christmas again. More presents, more family gatherings, more cookies and eggnog, and (of course) more JSAC Christmas Parties (inside joke)…

All kidding aside, it will be nice to have more daylight time after I get home from work. Sometimes in the winter I completely missed any sunlight in the day…which I was actually pretty okay with now that I think about it.

Hmmm, weird.

Let’s go plough some fields!

The usually reliable Adam Scheffter of NFL Network reports that the Eagles have extended a contract offer to former Colts’ strong safety Mike Doss. Schefter says Doss rejected the original offer, but Andy Reid has since spoken to him via telephone to express his interest in the former Ohio State standout.

This would be a fantastic addition to the Eagles’ secondary, which now seems to be taking shape after the one-year deal signed by cornerback William James on Friday. Doss, a very physical safety, also has good coverage skills. He would surely be an upgrade over Sean Considine.

The Eagles have not confirmed these reports.

Keep an eye on this one.

If you haven’t heard by now, the Bloomfield Town Council is rejecting permits allowing The Sopranos to film the final scene of the series in a local ice cream parlor. The genius Mayor of the town had this to say:

The mayor, whose wife is Italian, said: “I don’t think ‘The Sopranos’ depicts the life of a typical Italian-American in a positive way and I still don’t like the way people see New Jersey based upon ‘The Sopranos’ series.”

He added that he plans to oppose filming again on Monday. “What the rest of the council does, that’s their choice. I stand by my convictions.”

How completely ridiculous? Where in the Councilman job description does it say, “If you disagree with a television show’s portrayal of a certain ethnic group, you have the ability to deny this group their right to film in your town, even though they meet all necessary regulations.”

In a country where the Klu Klux Klan is still allowed to march and where Nazis and Communists are allowed to run for public office, are we really at a point where we need to start going after television shows? I mean come on, idiots!

And the really sad part about this situation is that the ice cream parlor, Holsten’s Brookdale Confectionary, and its owners are the ones being hurt the most from this arrogant Mayor and his “personal convictions.” Quite frankly, I don’t see why in our lawsuit-happy state, these folks wouldn’t file every lawsuit in the book against the Mayor. By virtue of this parlor being the location of the final scene of the show, their sales would go through the roof just as they would become a statewide legend.

The amount of lost profits that the store would be suffering through is monumental!

And all of this because the Mayor of the town doesn’t like the show?

Come on…this state’s local politicians CAN’T be that stupid!

Any of you who have read me over at Joe’s Journal know that I have a nice, well-founded disgust of the way college kids are treated by local law enforcement. My personal experience (and the experience of most of my peers) is that of having our civil rights demolished by the Ocean Township Police Department as they walked into our house at all hours of the night “just to check.”

Imagine someone walking into your house at 2:00am when everyone was asleep…

Anyway, what gets me going is when the local papers crucify college students for all of the “bad” that they do to the communities. Focusing on Ocean Township for a moment, let me bring you three stories from a local paper in Northern Coastal Monmouth County from The Coaster.

First, we have the story of how a simple crash in a parking lot led to a major heroin arrest in Ocean Township. From the article:

After an investigation police learned that Jeffery J. Dale, 27, had thrown several bags of heroin and a hypodermic syringe into a nearby storm drain.

Police found Dale to be under the influence of drugs at the scene and he was taken into custody to the Ocean Township Police Station for processing.

Yeah…let’s make sure that our local police force is going up and down Roosevelt Avenue staring at a sorority house because there are Greek letters in their window and not keeping an eye on the creepy heroin guy over by Target. Ridiculous.

Now we go to one of the new economic development projects in Ocean Township - the Wegmans shopping complex! While the Ocean Township Police Department is directed to go and inspect those “unruly” college students miles away there’s a good old-fashioned bank robbery going on at the Bank of America in the new development!

Whew! Thank God there is extra surveillance over near the college houses and not by the bank! Those damn college students might have left their garbage out or parked too far from the curb!

And…right down the street from this place was yet another wonderful event in recent Ocean Township history: Ocean Man Charged in Robbery! How exciting?!?

But let me just say from the bottom of my heart, it’s great to know that the college student who is coming home from the bar on Saturday night has a huge calvary of police following him. Because seriously, what would happen if that bastard college student wasn’t be watched? He could be selling heroin, robbing a bank, or stealing from a gas station!

What, you might ask, am I referring to with a title such as this? I’m sure some of you can name several things off the top of your head that pisses you off about American Society. Our obsession with celebrities, or quasi-celebrities, for one thing. Fuck, you couldn’t turn on the TV within the past month without hearing about Anna Nicole and that whole debacle. And before I get into what I was going to talk about, how the fuck is Larry Seidlin a judge? How? I want to know. And is it just me or does he look like Henry Winkler’s long lost brother?

Anyway, back to the real issue. Did anyone happen to catch last weeks top 10 most watched shows according to Nielson Research? Incase you didn’t the top 6, in order, are as follows: American Idol (Wednesday) American Idol (Tuesday), American Idol (Thursday), Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Tuesday), Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Wednesday), Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Thursday). Are you fucking kidding me? How is that possible? How did American Idol become this damn popular that not only will it destroy everything it comes in contact with, but that it will also help the show coming on after it destroy everything? It’s mindboggling to me. And to make it worse, this year, 1/2 of the competition on American Idol BLOWS! The guys are dreadful.

Yes, I know they blow because I watch the show. Every fucking second of it, I watch. That’s what pisses me off even more, that this piece of shit has me hooked too. Is that embarrassing to admit? Somewhat, but then again everyone and their grandmother’s apparently watch it.

I think I’m also bitter b/c I watched every second of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? as well, and I’m pretty sure that I am in fact not smarter than a 5th grader. Or a 4th grader, or any other elementary level student.

With that said, I’m pretty sure Judgement Day is coming. If it’s not a sign of the apocolypse that TWO “reality” shows make up the top SIX most watched in any given week, then I don’t know what is. God do I miss Seinfeld.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch the American Idol results show….

One of the hot rumors making the rounds around the league is that former Patriots running back Corey Dillon is interested in joining the Philadelphia Eagles. It is not known if and to what extent the Eagles are interested.

NFL Network’s Adam Schefter reports that Dillon delayed a free agent visit to Buffalo because he wants to play for a team that he feels has a chance to win right now. Reportedly, Dillon is very interested in coming to Philly.

I don’t, however, see how Dillon fits in here. Supposedly, Dillon wanted out of New England because he didn’t want to split carries with Laurence Maroney. The Eagles claim they will run the ball more this upcoming season, but even so, Dillon will get the same number of carries in a backfield that already features Brian Westbrook.

Also, what kind of money is Corey Dillon looking to get on the open market? If he accepted a limited roll and commanded a modest salary, it would be an excellent move for the Eagles.

I just don’t think it is realistic.

According to one of my favorite websites, profootballtalk.com, wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth has received three different contract offers this week. The Titans, Patriots, and Eagles are all apparently in play for the talented, but oft-injured wide-out. He is also scheduled to visit Miami on Friday. There are conflicting reports about the Eagles offering Stallworth a contract, but profootballtalk.com reports that they have indeed offered a one-year deal.

With Kevin Curtis reportedly in Philadelphia to meet with the Eagles on Friday and Stallworth generating interest from various clubs, including Tennessee who has alot of cash to throw around under the cap, it is pretty clear that Donte’ Stallworth is headed to his third different team in the past calendar year.

The Eagles have announced the signing of free agent WR Bethel Johnson. Johnson, a second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2003, spent last season in Minnesota after being cut by the New Orleans Saints.

Great.

Johnson’s career statistics mirror the ones that Donte’ Stallworth put up in 2006 alone.

Again, great.

In the Eagles defense, though, they likely did not sign Johnson to replace Stallworth. Instead, he provides good competition for second-year kick returner Jeremy Bloom, who needs to show he can be the playmaker the Eagles envisioned when they used a fifth-round pick on him last spring. If the Eagles expectations are that Johnson can be a fifth receiver and viable threat as a return man should Bloom not pan out, then this is a good signing. If they believe that they have found a steal that can replace Stallworth as a legitimate deep threat, then they are fooling themselves.

Johnson, who won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, is noted for his blazing speed. Still, he only has 39 career receptions for 606 yards and 4 touchdowns in four seasons, which suggests he isn’t likely to make much of an impact at receiver. The low-risk and low-cost signing (surprise surprise) may turn out to be a good one, though, as long as the Eagles have the right expectations for Johnson.