Other bits on the Friday tide

• Culture shock: New Jersey to consider self-serve gasoline. The magnitude of this can be appreciated only by those who grew up in or near the state in question. Almost unimaginable.
  
  
• A nationwide strike of immigrant labor is brewing, which could bring the issue home in Philadelphia with unexpected impact. Recrimination from employers has a lot of folks on edge.
  
  
• Speaking of strikes, there's something brewing between the Carpenter's Union and the General Building Contractors Association, with talk of a strike that could halt construction on a number of major projects around Philadelphia as early as Monday. Where did this come from? A number of other unions look to the carpenters before signing their own agreements, so more than just carpentry would likely be affected. More here.
  
  
• Governor Ed Rendell has thrown his weight into the question of the fate of the Inquirer and Daily News by encouraging McClatchy to sell the papers to a major donor (to the DNC while Rendell headed it), even though that group is based in CA (while local groups are also working toward buying the papers).
  
  
• A Penn student is suing his fraternity (local members and national association) for abusive hazing rituals that were inflicted upon him.
  
  
• Phila Will Do catches the detail that Philadelphia's new wireless network will reach only to three stories, which may more than disappoint those in condos and highrise apartment buildings. Some work-around will be available, and "phase 2" will extend the network's reach, but with the nebulosity of the current time-line, who knows when that may be.