Brrr! A wet July makes you want to cry!
It seems likely that this summer in Britain will be as big a washout as the last, with what I’ve been calling the ‘British Monsoon’ season well underway. Rain, rain, and more rain, with the occasional hefty dose of thunder and lightning as well. Can it be any more depressing?
With the whole world talking about the food crisis, even if talking is all we can expect from our political leaders, it’s likely that British farmers and growers of produce in their own back gardens are all going to suffer losses, as many vegetables don’t react well to being drowned, particularly root crops. What’s more, it’s next year that the real impact of this year will be felt.
tags: climate change, depression, food crisis, rain, sunshine, waste, weatherStarbucks sees decline in US, but when will it happen in the UK?
Starbucks Corporation is to close 600 company-operated US stores in the next year, a considerable hike from its previous plan for 100 closures. It’s a potent indicator of just how screwed the US economy is, but we can only wonder how long it will be before the company starts shutting up shop around the world, particularly in Britain, where many alcoholic drinks in pubs cost far less than Starbucks-branded concoctions.
In the US the cutbacks will impact on over 12,000 workers. Starbucks claims that most of the employees will be moved to nearby stores, and so a spokesperson did not ‘know exactly’ how many jobs will be lost. What a fortuitous expression of ignorance that is, given that job losses never make for news stories onto which a positive spin can be applied.
tags: coffee, corporations, depression, recession, spending, Starbucks
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