A lot of people like to complain about the United States being a young democracy and not knowing what for what. Well I thought I would list a few well-known countries that are democratically younger for you whineys out there.
The EU:
Austria- 1955
Belgium- 1830
Bulgaria- 1908
Cyprus- 1960
Czech Republic- 1993
Denmark- 1848 (Prime Minister)
Estonia- 1991
Finland- 1917
France- 1870 (3rd Republic)
Germany- 1871
Greece- 1830
Hungary- 1989
Ireland- 1922
Italy- 1861
Latvia- 1921 and then again in 1990 (soviet stuff something somthing)
Lithuania- 1918 and 1990 (see above)
Luxembourg- 1890
Malta- 1974
The Nederlands- 1848 (Prime Minister)
Poland- 1918
Portugal- 1974 (modern democracy)
Romania- 1878
Slovakia- 1993
Slovenia- 1991
Spain- 1978 (establishment of republic and prime minister)
Sweden- 1866 (Prime Minister)
United Kingdom- 1689 (following the Glorious Revolution)
Ok so of all those countries only England is older, and Im pretty sure they had a king when we declared independence. So now you slap someone the next time they claim America is a young democracy (though Im not sure who still says that?)
I would say America is less a petulent child than a balding man going through a mid-life crisis. Iraq is our red convertible.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Starbucks closing stores but still more than willing to serve ridiculously sized coffee milkshakes to your children for breakfast
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310ap_starbucks_closings.html
Ok I admit that was a very long title for a quite boring article. Starbucks is closing stores, 600 to be precise, that is quite terrible news to hear. I can't believe that I might have to walk 2 more blocks to get to the next one, or across the mini-mall parking lot to the "fake" Starbucks in Safeway. It's a very sad day for us all.
Of course Starbucks always the public relations guru blames the stagnant U.S. economy on the reason for the closers. People just can't afford over-priced gas and over-priced coffee, they need to save money for over-priced clothing after all. Now the funny thing about all this is that 70% of these store closures are going to be stores opened after the beginning of 2006. So rather than admit they might be over-expanding their shitty brand, they blame the economy as if to say, "We hate you American government, standing in the way of your citizens getting the coffee they want, nay, deserve to be drinking on a thrice daily basis."
My solution is this: add a $2.00 tax for drinking to every Frappuccino sold and you can fix the economy in less than 5 years. I already have a name for it, "The Fat Douchebag Economic Reform Act" (I realize some slender people drink them but they probably still have high cholesterol).
Ok I admit that was a very long title for a quite boring article. Starbucks is closing stores, 600 to be precise, that is quite terrible news to hear. I can't believe that I might have to walk 2 more blocks to get to the next one, or across the mini-mall parking lot to the "fake" Starbucks in Safeway. It's a very sad day for us all.
Of course Starbucks always the public relations guru blames the stagnant U.S. economy on the reason for the closers. People just can't afford over-priced gas and over-priced coffee, they need to save money for over-priced clothing after all. Now the funny thing about all this is that 70% of these store closures are going to be stores opened after the beginning of 2006. So rather than admit they might be over-expanding their shitty brand, they blame the economy as if to say, "We hate you American government, standing in the way of your citizens getting the coffee they want, nay, deserve to be drinking on a thrice daily basis."
My solution is this: add a $2.00 tax for drinking to every Frappuccino sold and you can fix the economy in less than 5 years. I already have a name for it, "The Fat Douchebag Economic Reform Act" (I realize some slender people drink them but they probably still have high cholesterol).
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