March 14th, 2010 12:13 pm ET
US Citizens don't need “Parties” we need “Representation”!
Citizens don't need another 2 Parties (Tea and Coffee) that will end up fighting each other for voters and business support and, in the end, will lead to bickering and smearing each other, just the way the current 2 Party system works. In fact, the Coffee and Tea parties have already started to throw barbs at each other even though the Coffee Party movement is only a couple of days old. What we need is for Government (Local, State and Federal) to “Listen to their Citizens”. That's the way our forefathers set up Government via the “Representative” system. The problem is that far too many of our “Representatives” are focused on supporting their Parties and Lobbyists, in a near-fraud manner, rather than supporting their Citizens, who they are chartered to represent. The current system can work, if we Citizens get more active and educated regarding our Representatives and kick out the bad Apples and replace them with those who will support their Citizens first and foremost.
While there will be good from the Tea and Coffee Party movements in getting Citizens more actively involved in discussions and sharing information, I fear the negatives of bickering, smearing and distribution of mis-information, in the end, will outweigh the benefits and will end up being the focus of most media outlets. We need active Citizens involvement and media outlet that is truly focused on the “common” needs of the Citizens rather than on the “differences” and bickering of all the different “parties”. The more we bicker, the less Citizen and media energy and attention will be applied to refocusing our Government to meet our true common needs. We could benefit from Citizens getting together for regular constructive discussions regarding our needs and how to best get those needs addressed, but the “serious discussions” rather than “parties” shouldn't care who's drinking coffee or tea (or even Kool-Aid as with the Democratic and Republican Parties)!!
Stumptown Coffee vs. Starbucks, an Overview of 'Third-Wave Coffee'
[Photograph: Stumptown Coffee]
Writer Josh Ozersky gives a quick primer on “third-wave coffee” in Time magazine, highlighting Stumptown Coffee, which many coffeehounds hold up as the leader in the movement. While it may taste better to beanheads, it's nowhere near becoming the next Starbucks, Ozersky says.
[Stumptown founder Duane] Sorenson, despite being famous for his dismissal of coffee infidels, takes a more diplomatic tack: “Starbucks laid the path. They made people aware. They offered better coffee in their time than was out there. But now there's far more specialty coffee out there today, and there will be even more so five years from now that will give the consumer—Midwest, West Coast, East Coast, wherever—a lot more options than Starbucks.”
Related
Stumptown Coffee—Let's Call a Spade A Spade Here »
The Original Starbucks at Pike Place Market and Trying Clover-Brewed Coffee »
The Changing Face of Starbucks—The History of the Logos Through the Years »
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Tags: coffee
Julian Price