How to score coke

Looks like a few 'chefs' got arrested for selling coke outside a North Shore establishment, according to this report by the Advance.

"Thomas (T.J.) Gleason, the 34-year-old chef at the Ruddy and Dean North Shore Steak House, and another man, Ralph Fleischmann, 40, have both been arrested on felony drug dealing charges, accused of selling $100 worth of cocaine at the bar."

Shocking, right. Well not really, but here's what is:

Sources tell us that one of the 'chefs' in question, Thomas (T.J.) Gleason now works literally right down the block at Jimmie Steiny's Pub. So if you need any coke, just go there.

In Staten Island, if you get caught selling coke at the job, no worries. Just walk about 1/4 mile down the road to find a new gig.

Island Tanning Salons on the Hook

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So it looks like President Obama and the Democrats will get their Health Care Reform after all. While DC and the rest of the East Coast was being blanketed by snow, Senators emerges from a 13 hour meeting with Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson to finally come to an agreement on abortion.

The bill will include some new taxes to help cover the over 30 million people who don't have insurance. One of these taxes struck me as kind of comical and I think will hit Staten Island hard: a tanning salon tax. This is no joke, according to the Times:

Mr. Reid dropped a proposed tax on cosmetic surgery and replaced it with a tax on “indoor tanning services.” Senate Democrats said the 10 percent tax was justified because ultraviolet radiation from tanning devices could increase the risk of skin cancer.

I wonder how all the tanning salons on the Island feel about this. Would Staten Island ever be the same without all the superficial orange people? Will MTV's Jersey Shore lose their endorsement deals?