Comments on: I’m not a coffee drinker

By: I am Irritated. « random babble…

I am Irritated. « random babble… — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:12:20 +0000

[...] that is going on regarding this big decision. One particularly irksome discussion came from one of my favorite feminist blogs. The post itself wasn’t that bad…it’s the comments that got me. They are not [...]

By: denelian

denelian — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:09:09 +0000

that was an “88″, as in 1988. didn’t even NOTICE that i dropped an 8 lol

By: denelian

denelian — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:08:08 +0000

Corey –

if the american oil company CEOs are NOT complicite in some sort of price gouging, then please explain to me WHYWHYWHYWHY the US oil companies are still – every fucking quarter!!! – reporting “record breaking NET profits?!?!?!

there is a line. and after a certain point, a profit is a profit, and there is not a NEED for the bigger profit. just like there isn’t a need to make a new car today that gets 25 MPG and tout it as “fuel effecient” – i have an 8 honda accord that got over 40 MPG!

i think (and admit that i don’t know you so i could be wrong) that you are confusing capitalism with something that has intrinsic merit. it doesn’t. i can’t actually think of any economic system that DOES.

as a last thought… do you know why monoloies and oligarcies are bad? and you DO realise that gasoline is an oligarchial business practice anymore, yes?

By: ouyangdan

ouyangdan — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:21:59 +0000

have all the opinions you want about the company, which FTR only sells certified fair trade, and almost all of it far better than fair trade, but we are not talking about a corporation closing 600 stores, we are talking about at least 6000 people who are facing losing a great job, a job where only 20 hrs/wk qualifies you for very good insurance…insurance available to domestic partners/unmarried and same sex couples and their live in families equally. that is hard to come by. they won’t be able to give every displaced employee a new job. they are far from a perfect company (closing 600 stores) but they provide a good job w/ competitive benefits at a decent wage w/o discrimination. don’t forget about the people when you are getting all worked up. in the area i live in a very poor state it is one of the few competitive wage jobs available (most are tourism jobs paying barely over minimum). it has helped a lot of families get by…and a lot of us are uncertain of our futures right now.

By: Annamal

Annamal — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:25:30 +0000

The starbucks experience in New Zealand has not been a good one for anyone involved, they came in a day late and a buck short and genrally just came accross as sterile and corporate at a time when coffee had already boomed and people had just started to really notice quality and environment when it came to coffee drinking.

They really just couldn’t compete with all of the small local cafes and they’ve become the place to go when you want expensive coffee milkshakes.

By: exholt

exholt — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:42:12 +0000

Guess what – it might just be possible that you are inferring something that isn’t there. If you go into a situation thinking people are going to behave a certain way, you’re likely to see that behavior whether it happens or not.

I don’t think it was my imagination when I received several unsolicited comments of being dressed as a “slob” or nasty stares from them merely for dressing in ways they disapprove up in my neighborhood as I passed close by the area where it is located on my way home from work/school.

exholt: So all us Jews are the same kind of people, huh? Seriously, please think before you type.

No I did not say all White/Jews, but upper/upper-middle class ones who tend to come from the wealthier parts of the area and who do cop an attitude towards those of us who do not conform to their tastes. The attitude they hold towards the rest of us including Jewish neighbors who do not conform to their fashion sense or socio-economic background is quite infuriating and several neighbors have grumbled about this attitude with several wondering “Who the hell do these kids think they are?!!”

IME, this is mostly a classist issue with a tinge of racism involved for those of us who do not conform to the mainstreamed mostly White-dominated fashionista/hipster culture and who are non-White and/or recent immigrants.

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:17:19 +0000

exholt: So all us Jews are the same kind of people, huh? Seriously, please think before you type. Add that to your earlier bit that “most of the customers I’ve seen who patronize such places seem to be overly pretentious socio-economically privileged fashionistas or hipsters trying to look cool and who are the types to give me nasty stares and sometimes nasty comments for not dressing according to their taste on public streets in NYC” and you really sound like a jerk.

Guess what – it might just be possible that you are inferring something that isn’t there. If you go into a situation thinking people are going to behave a certain way, you’re likely to see that behavior whether it happens or not.

By the way, not everyone who goes to Starbucks spends $5 and gets a sentence-long order – the only things I get are drip coffee, brewed tea, or on hot days, their kick-ass shaken iced tea lemonade. It’s a tired stereotype that everyone who goes there is some rich dumbass spending gas tank’s worth of money on a week’s worth of coffee. And when I go to indie coffee shops, their prices are about the same.

By: Corey

Corey — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:33:39 +0000

Mr.J, In order to effectively price gouge, competing companies would have to (I’m guessing) secretly agree to keep prices high (i.e. form a cartel). But cartels are unstable because the incentive to break from the agreement is too high–sure, you could keep prices artificially high to benefit both you and your competitor, but there’s a much bigger gain to be had from dropping your prices and making profits off the volume.

Also, I fail to see why the mass of smart liberal economists would miss market manipulation, especially when they called it before in places like California’s energy market deregulation. Who has recognized the price gouging?

Without seeing the movie, I can offer a fairly reasonable explanation for why GM sat on fuel efficient technology: gas prices were low. Too low, for all the climate effects (and other negative externalities). Why make an electric car (which might have some initial limitations, or merely seem too “different”) if people are still willing to buy a giant gas guzzler? Americans only car about fuel efficiency if it costs them. If gas is $1.50, you better hope the electric car can do all the same things a gas powered one can do, or costs less. Otherwise most people don’t care. Higher gas prices are good. Now we just need a cap and trade system or carbon tax.

By: Mr. J

Mr. J — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:34:15 +0000

Corey, just because most economists are talking about it doesn't mean it's not happening. Similarly, most notable news reporters aren't talking about the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the deplorable situations in Zimbabwe or Darfur. But they are happening. You should really watch the movie. It will make you wonder why GM decided to continue marketing fuel inefficient cars in the United States when they have had the technology to make incredibly efficient cars that drivers love. Jim, I did forget that. It didn't fit into my snappy argument. That is also a reason for higher gas prices. Although, prices of other commodities are not going up nearly as quickly. The falling dollar is related to the wars, too. The dollar would be stronger if the US would stop going into debt to fund the military industrial complex.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:45:57 +0000

Mr. J: You are forgetting the weakening dollar as a huge factor in the rising price of oil. Oil is an international commodity. Also, the price today reflects partially what anticipated supplies will be in the near future.