Oh? Exactly which part of Europe does coffee come from?
Read your history. The Europeans found out about coffee from the Arabs, who had been drinking it for centuries.Talk about "cultural imperialism..."

See?? SEE!?!? If you drink coffee, the terrorists have already won!

Well, it's probably the closest South Philly will get to a real Starbucks. The closest we have to real Starbucks up here is the Acme in Bensalem, and the B&N at Oxford Valley. But if they're putting a Krispy Kreme in on Cottman, I have hope that Starbucks will slip a store in along Bustleton.

Are you referring to the Starbucks shop on DeKalb Pike (north of Valley Forge Center, right)? I sat at that one for about 2 hours one day. I had an interview out there with my previous employer, and they had discussed bringing me back in later that day for a second one. Rather than go all the way back home, I sat around at Starbucks for a few hours, drove around Norristown and Bridgeport, then down to Paoli. They decided to bring me back the next day...bastards.

You got me on that one. :)

The Philadelphia FBI field office can be reached at (215) 418-4000. :)

Pardon me maggie, how about coffee as we know it instead. Arabic coffee is a very different beast. Turkish is nice. Once in a blue moon. If you cannot see a difference between that and starbucks in terms of cultural imperialism.........

"Europeans invented coffee"="Europeans invented coffee as we know it" is a bit of a strech, but let it pass. Of course, Europeans also invented arabic numerals..."as we know them". :-)

Syc, you commie pinko!

you live in Lower Bucks or upper NE? I was just there for two whole days and you didn't even say hi!

You can't be my friend anymore.

Torresdale/Morrell Park...near Frankford-Torresdale Hospital.

Sorry Brian...I was in the house most of the weekend...didn't see any motorcycle guys in leather riding around the few times I was out. :)

No maggie, they didn't. Arabic coffee and european coffee are very different. Arabic numerals have not changed much at all.

You haven't shown that Starbucks has done anything wrong, you've just shown that different people in different countries have different tastes.

I happen to think American beer tastes like watered-down piss. I think it's hilarious to watch all of our beer commercials, and each one pretends like it's actually any different than the others. They all suck ass.. give me a good import beer any day; something with a little gravitas.

However, most of my fellow countrymen must disagree with me, because American beers happen to be very popular over here. You could even say there's an American beer culture.. going to the local bar on a Monday night to drink Bud Light and watch football, etc. I bet I could go to any of those places and find 60 people who drink nothing but American beer because they think imported beer is disgusting.

Now, there is a local pub here that doesn't serve American beer, period. Not even microbrews. They flat out refuse, because they share my feelings on the subject. Are they arrogant for serving only imported beer in a market that overwhelmingly prefers domestic fare? Of course not.. they're offering something a little different to those who happen to appreciate such a thing.

Most people here would never go into the place, but who gives a rat's ass? All of the places can coexist, serving their own markets.

And don't try to give some blanket dismissal of the comparison by saying "well, they're not some big corporation." That's not the point.. not the whole point, anyway. You're trying to say that Starbuck's is arrogant for opening into foreign markets where the locals in their little microcosm simply are above and beyond such slop. Well, you admit yourself, they're probably there to stay, so obviously there are enough people who disagree.

By the way, would this have anything to do with why you're jittery about Starbuck's?

They've both changed enough that they're identifiably different, yet both still work the same basic way. The glyphs are noticably different (especially 2, 3, 4 , 5 and 8), and the further back you go in time the more different they are, even before we get into differences in writing direction, and changes that happened to the glyphs of the original Indian system as it passed though Arab hands to the West.

The underlying principle of radix-10 positional representation is indeed constant, as is "brewing coffee beans in water to make a beverage".

Are you actually saying the differences between the coffees are somehow "more different" than the differences between arabic numerals as used in Arabic and as they are used in English and in Europe? We're way beyond "apples and oranges" here. Drink some coffee or something.

The 60 peopkle was the largest anecdotal saple i could find. Oddly enough i haven't funded a nationwide survey of the happiness with american coffee amounst visitors from Australia. Thus i ahve to stick with anecdotals. I've never heard anyone say anything but crap, and thus i have no reason to beleive otherwise. I've stated why i think its arrogant, i'm not going to repeat myself.

COFFEE! YOU IDIOTS ARE ARGUING ABOUT <b>COFFEE!</b>

It <b>ALL</b> sucks.

That was the last post in this thread on topic, I think.

I suppose this thread may demonstrate why juries sometimes deliberate for weeks. All it takes is for some idiot to start debating what coffee tastes best and which brand exemplifies cultural imperialism. :rolleyes: