Thursday, April 24, 2003


is the coffee crisis about to end? not unless we save gillies!

when will the world-price depression, known as the coffee crisis, and its attendant human suffering, end? one analyst (is he really the russian prince serge cantacuzene?) argues very soon.

for those new to the idea of the coffee crisis, let me refer you to a great link about this important subject.

of course, after reading this stuff, you get a little bummed. you think that there's nothing you can do personally, and turn away. not so!

nor do you have to load up your donkeys with coffee beans and march on the exchange, as protestors recently did in melbourne, australia. and you definitely don't have to harass bored kraft executives at the stockholders' meeting. . .tho' with chevy chase there, it was probably pretty funny. . .try the new coffee-flavored oreos, any one?

instead, you can best help by making a small donation to that greaty charity, coffeekids, which doesn't offer just handouts, but unique microcredit and educational opportunities to turn coffee farmers and workers into entrepreneurs.

and of course, you can drink more high-quality specialty coffee! i've heard it said that if everyone drank just two more cups a day, the price of coffee might rise enough to help farmers out a lot. . .

following up on other extremely important news, gillies coffee has lost this round of the battle with the new york environmental department.

the city has foolishly cited gillies -- not for polluting the air with roasting odors or smoke -- but for the sheer perfume of fresh coffee. that's right -- the delicious aroma of fresh coffee that you savor every morning as you sniff your first cup is now deemed an illegal odor in the big apple.

smell the fresh coffee from your office coffemaker? it's terrible pollution, according to the great new york inspectors. is this crazy or what?

i urge everyone to email mayor mike bloomberg to protest the outcome in the case, ECB NOV #00152932K. long-time readers know i'm quite environmental myself -- always pushing organic food, slow food, sustainable development, save the arctic from drilling, etc. -- but this is just the most crazed mis-reading of what pollution is i've ever seen.

especially as the new york times and associated press recently reported that real air pollution -- esp. particles from diesel-burning engines -- is to blame for a massive increase in asthma among children in harlem. where is mayor mike's head at?

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