Teachers Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegel teamed up with writer Gordon Bowker to open Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spices in Seattle in 1971 as coffee bean and tea retailer. The company went public 4 years later. Starbucks didn’t see real growth until the company shifted focus to making coffee rather than retailing beans. Starbucks in now a worldwide brand and a Fortune 500 company.
Photo by prensa420 5. Hemp is the future We have all heard a stoner or two bloviate about how “Washington and Jefferson grew weed.” That stoner is technically correct, but hemp is a rather different thing than the sticky, icky, that dude thinks Ben Franklin and the boys were blazing. If an acre of hemp…
One of the biggest stories this year has been the release of nude photos of celebrities that were stolen from Apple’s iCloud. The theft and release of such photos is clearly a violation of privacy and an act of voyeurism. I must admit, however, that like many Americans, I did not feel much pity for…
Photo by 401(K) 2013 6. They Have Too Much Political Pull Because they receive a ton of money in dues, unions have sizable bank accounts for the purpose of lobbying for influence. They give money to political parties and candidates who are going to support giving their union better wages, benefits, or more superiority in…
Photo by Augusto Mia Battaglia photography 5. Florence, Italy Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. Florence is famous for its history: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of…
7. Red Win to Red China The US Department of Agriculture is spending over $415,000 a year to send wine to China in an effort to build a community of wine coinsurers in China, hoping to generate a demand for California wine. The program aims to establish a link between wine drinking and luxury, hoping…
Photo by Sev! But its citizens have always been educated to see themselves as more than this: not just the fortunate residents of a lucky country but bearers of an eternal truth – a model for the world of how men should live. The United States was the embodiment of the Enlightenment concept of natural…