And everywhere else in AmeriKa these days.
"N.J. judge quits bench to keep telling jokes" by Sophia Pearson | Bloomberg News, September 20, 2013
PHILADELPHIA — Vincenzo A. Sicari may get laughs on stage from self-deprecating jokes about his sex life and his Italian family, but the New Jersey Supreme Court isn’t amused.
Sicari, a municipal judge in South Hackensack, can’t continue with his part-time job as a comedian and reality show star because the side gig demeans his judicial post, the seven-judge panel ruled Thursday, affirming a review board’s decision.
His moonlighting career isn’t compatible with the code of conduct for judges, even those who sit on the bench part time, the panel said.
‘‘The focus of his comedy and his decision to participate in a pseudo-reality television show in situations that demean, ridicule, or embarrass others based on their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical characteristic are simply not consistent with the high standards of conduct expected of a judge,’’ the court said.
Sicari, 44, was appointed to the $13,000-a-year judicial post in January 2008, 11 years after he began his stand-up routine at a New York City comedy club, according to court documents.
He probably makes more doing comedy.
He resigned after the ruling. ‘‘I’m not surprised by the result, but I’m very disappointed,’’ Sicari said.
Sicari’s alter ego, Vince August, finds kids creepy and boasts that real Italian names are handed down through generations by the FBI witness protection programs. August has appeared on at least 17 episodes of ‘‘What Would You Do?’’ playing a homophobic bar patron and a person who engaged in racial profiling.
JWho comes up with these shows?
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No more Sopranos:
"Italy set to close consulate in New Jersey; Move disturbs state with many Italian residents" by Katie Zezima | Associated Press, September 22, 2013
NEWARK, N.J. — Arrivederci, Newark. The home state of Frank Sinatra, Tony Soprano, Frankie Valli, and Samuel Alito is losing its Italian consulate.
The Newark consulate is a casualty of economic troubles 4,200 miles away — an Italian economy in recession, a government that needs money, and the eurozone crisis.
The office tucked in a downtown high-rise is slated to close in March. A smaller vice consulate offering limited services will remain open in Trenton.
The news has raised the ire of Italians in New Jersey, which has the fourth highest number of Italian-Americans of any state and the second highest number of Italian immigrants.
About 1.49 million New Jersey residents — about 17 percent of the state’s population — have Italian ancestry, according to the 2010 Census.
‘‘We Italians never take anything sitting down,’’ said US Representative Bill Pascrell, an Italian-American from Paterson who is lobbying Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero to keep the consulate open.
The Italian Embassy in Washington said about 4,000 people use the consulate’s services annually. They can get help processing visas, passports, and other documents.
‘‘It’s very difficult to think about it closing down,’’ said Pascrell, who plans to urge consideration of alternatives to closure, such as cutting services. ‘‘Where will all of our folks go?’’
The answer, for most here in North Jersey, is New York City. The consulate in Philadelphia will serve residents of South Jersey.
Some think the consulate’s proximity to New York City made it an easy target.
‘‘You want to close Newark because it’s close to New York,’’ said Augusto Sorriso, a member of the General Council of Italians Living Abroad, an elected group that advises the Italian government. ‘‘Could you imagine the American administration closing La Guardia Airport because it’s two minutes from Kennedy Airport?’’
Sorriso, a Red Bank, N.J., resident and former mayor of a town in Sicily, said the group is planning protests at the consulate and the Italian Embassy in Washington.
Franco Impala, spokesman for the Italian embassy in Washington, D.C., said the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to close the office ‘‘exclusively for administrative and financial reasons,’’ and is part of a plan to reduce costs and shift resources worldwide. Thirteen Italian consulates around the world are being shuttered. Newark is the only one in the United States.
‘‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy are committed to ensuring the best possible services to our communities,’’ he said.
The consulate’s lobby could pass for the waiting room at a doctor’s office, save the photos of the Italian landscape and European Union flag.
Cristina Maffei came with her 20-year-old daughter; both recently received dual citizenship.
I'm only concerned when they are Israeli.
Maffei is incensed over the closure and wonders how elderly residents will make it into New York for appointments.
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