Alaskans are rarely on the cutting edge of anything, except coffee consumption apparently.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

You think your Starbucks cold-brew coffee is trendy? People in Anchorage were buying bottled cold brew five years ago. As for your pour-over black cup made with single-origin beans from a small farm in Africa? Yawn. Fairbanks has been doing that since the 1990s. 

Little-known fact: Alaska is among the most coffee-obsessed states in the nation. Some years, the coffee-shop-to-human ratio in Anchorage has been higher than Seattle, making it the most caffeinated place in the America (at last count, in 2011, it dropped to number two, with about one coffee shop for every 2,000 souls.) 

You cannot escape the coffee carts here, common as roadside moose, each with its unique brand: The Sugar Shack, Java the Hut, Fred’s Bail Bonding and Coffee Cabana. And then, there are the local coffee shops.

Anchorage-based Kaladi Brothers Coffee, the largest among half a dozen serious coffee roasters in the state, roasts 1.2m pounds of beans per year, enough for every man, woman and child in the state to brew at least five pots of strong coffee each. One of the biggest share goes to the oil fields on Alaska’s North Slope, where workers are on 24 hours a day, says Dale Tran, the company’s chief operating officer. Kaladi has 15 stores in Alaska and one in Seattle.

You know I am just happy with any story about Alaska that does not involve a gun death, a serial killer, or somebody being killed and eaten by a bear.

But I am especially happy to read that we were on the cutting edge of something.

And yes the coffee shops in Anchorage started popping up about 40 years ago, and these days you literally cannot travel half a mile in the city without passing at least half a dozen.

Sometimes in the winter the lines outside a coffee hut can be seven to ten cars deep, with another down the road with a line just as long.

Of course what can you expect in state where the winter nights are long and cold?

I am a little sad to say that I personally am not one of the Alaska coffee connoisseurs.

I am just a little too cheap to buy my coffee in a fancy shop, or kiosk along the road.

No I am a home brew man, who typically drinks about two to three cups of regular Folgers blend with a little Truvia and vanilla flavored non-dairy creamer added to fancy it up a bit.

But once in a while I do splurge and treat myself to a large Cafe Mocha.

Because after all, the winter nights are long and cold.

Yes, yes you can.

I think this guy has a pretty firm grasp on what it means to be a Christian in this day and age.

Stephen Colbert mocks the Starbucks Christmas coffee cup "scandal."

I have watched a number of comedians and television hosts weigh in on this ridiculous kerfuffle (Including Ellen Degeneres.), but I thought that Colbert's was just about the funniest.

(That "Paul Blart Mall Bro" comment made me spit out my coffee this morning.) 

Of course I also have to admit that I kind of miss the old Colbert Report so I have somewhat of a soft spot for Stephen.

My one criticism is that he played some of that Feuerstein video, and I hate to see him give that lunatic any air time. The guy is essentially an internet troll who says controversial things in the hopes of being attacked and getting some attention.

But other than that I thought this was quite humorous and very well done.

Colbert is still the king in my book. 

Nancy French, channeling Bristol Palin, claims that controversy over Starbucks new red cups attempt to make "Christians look stupid." Update!

Courtesy of Bristol Pikore account.

Courtesy of Brancy's blog: 

Over the past few years, Starbucks has rolled out their “red cups” right after Halloween to signal the start of the holiday season. Usually adorned with snowflakes and reindeers, this year the cups were given a makeover in a more sleek all red ombre look. 

And somewhere, somehow someone took offense to the change, claiming it was part of the war on Christmas. (Does she mean "someone" like leading GOP candidate Donald Trump?)


And the media RAN with it. They used one small group’s opinion about the cups and began attributing it to the greater Christian community. The mainstream media and the Left love their outrage machine where they claim the world is ending because any number of tiny people have expressed hurt feelings on social media. So now, they’re taking a tiny fraction of people’s response and attributing it to all conservative Christians. 

Do not buy in to the media hype surrounding this story!! 

It is just another attempt by the LEFT to make Christians look stupid. As a former barista (And reports are that she was TERRIBLE at that job.), I buy my coffee locally. (Shout out to Mocha Moose!) 

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace. So how about we take the media’s attempt to make us all seem crazy and stupid, and turn it in to an opportunity to truly share the love of Christ with our neighbors and communities who are hurting so much this season.

Okay well I am not going to suggest that Christians are all stupid because that is unfair. (The argument can be made that they are not utilizing all of their critical thinking skills, but that is a topic for another time.)

However the loudest voices within the fundamentalist Christian community, one of which is now batshit crazy Ben Carson, DO say incredibly nutty things all of the time.

By the way the video of the guy who started this stupid controversy has now been viewed over 14 million times.

And there is now an online petition urging people to "Dump Starbucks" and I can assure that was not started by a liberal Atheist.

So blaming the media for covering that video, and the other angry responses to Starbucks, instead of blaming the idiot who made that video and the morons who got outraged right on cue, is ridiculous and unfair.

If Christians want to receive less negative coverage by the press perhaps they need to do something about the whackadoodles representing their faith, instead of blaming those who notice how many whackadoodles are representing their faith.

And by the way while we are on the topic, Nancy French is ABSOLUTELY one of those whackadoodles. As she has proven over, and over, and over again.

Update: Well guess who else is now weighing in?

Courtesy of Mrs. Claws Facebook page:  

You know I'm passionate about protecting the heart of Christmas! And these next couple of months really can be "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!" 

Funny, though, how some grinches on the Left take things too far in attempts to make all us jolly revelers look ridiculous, lumping us in the same box concerning misplaced outrage over a coffee cup's non-controversy. 

My daughters spent many summers employed as hardworking baristas; I love their take on faux concern over Starbucks red Christmas cup and why you should enjoy your festive cuppa'joe anyway!

Same BS different orifice. 

Louisiana state Representative spitting mad that Starbucks won't let him defend his freedom while drinking coffee decides to go to Chick-fil-A instead. Chick-fil-A says, "Not so fast."

"Welcome to Chick-fil-A please don't shoot us."

Courtesy of The Advocate:  

Starbucks boss Howard Schultz runs the “most dangerous” coffee shops in America because he has “respectfully” requested that customers do not pack heat. 

So says state Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Bossier City. No legislator is crazier about the Second Amendment than he. 

Thompson has called for a boycott of Starbucks and is organizing armed klatches at competing establishments. 

Sadly, he did not find a warm welcome at the first one. After Thompson put in a brief appearance at its Bossier City restaurant, Chick Fil A issued a statement dissociating itself from his cause. 

The only events scheduled that day were senior bingo and a child’s birthday party, so maybe a bunch of guys toting semi-automatic weapons would not have been a good fit at that.

What? Even an oasis of conservatism, and homophobia, like Chick-fil-A  draws the line when it comes to bringing assault rifles into their place of business?

Commies!

I like how this idiot believes that a Starbucks is MORE dangerous without 2nd Amendment morons brandishing their semiautomatic penis extenders rather than LESS dangerous with fewer bullets and guns on the premises. It's like logic simply does not exist in the Right Wing world.

Speaking of logic, I wonder how a certain half term governor, will respond to this news?

Man tells son to lie about shooting sister, a tally of mass shootings since Newtown, and a letter from Starbucks saying Espresso's and guns don't mix.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A Wisconsin man is facing charges for allegedly telling his 6-year-old son, who had at least 3 years of firearms training, to lie after shooting his 4-year-old sister in the face with a shotgun. 

In late August, WKBT reported that Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in the Town of Alma, where the 4-year-old girl had been struck in the side of the head with a shotgun blast. 

According to the Jackson Country Chronicle, authorities in Jackson said this week that 48-year-old father Fred B. Maphis had told his son to say that the shotgun had accidentally gone off when he dropped it. But the son later admitted that the father instructed him to lie because he had pointed the gun at the girl and pulled the trigger. 

The boy told authorities that his sister had asked him to aim the shotgun at her, but he had made the mistake of putting it too close to her ear.

 A sheriff’s office complaint said that the mother told investigators that the boy had been training with firearms since the age of 3. She said that he had his own .22 caliber rifle, but he was only allowed to shoot with adult supervision. The father insisted that he had just forgotten to unload and secure the shotgun.

You know I am certainly not an expert in gun safety but you would kind if think that lesson one might be, "Don't ever point on at your sister." I'm just saying. 

And the father encouraging his son to lie indicates that he probably should not be allowed to have children, much less guns.

In other gun violence related news HuffPo has put up a graphic concerning mass shootings that should chill the blood of EVERY American.

Men charged with disorderly conduct for openly carrying semi-automatic rifles outside of a Starbucks in Texas.

Courtesy of Opposing Views:

The men brought the three semi-automatic rifles to Starbucks as a form of demonstration. Starbucks employees told them they would not be allowed to sit inside the restaurant with their rifles, so the men opted to sit outside. 

In Texas, it is legal to openly carry shotguns and rifles so long as they are being carried in a non-threatening way. So far so good, right? 

Several bystanders chatted with the men and asked them questions about their demonstration. But apparently one witness felt “freaked out”by the display. The witness called police, who arrived and told the men that they received a complaint about their open display of rifles. The men cooperated calmly with police. 

But before leaving, all three men were charged with disorderly conduct. 

According to Texas law, anyone carrying a firearm can be charged with disorderly conduct if at any time any person feels uncomfortable with the guns presence or the way in which the gun is being carried.

Personally I think that Texas and other states should simply pass an "anti-douchebag law" that applies to any asshole who tries to get attention by walking around with a semi-automatic rifle strapped to his back or a  pistol prominently displayed in a holster like Wyatt Earp waiting for a shootout at the OK Corral.

I have to admit that if I lived in Texas, and knew that calling the police would get these guys a disorderly conduct citation, I would be doing that at EVERY opportunity.

There is NO reason that law abiding citizens have to be confronted at coffee shops or malls by unhinged 2nd Amendment douchebags, making the rest of us feel unsafe.

Personally if these people are so desperate to demonstrate their shortcomings why don't they simply wear a t-shirt which says "I have a tiny insignificant penis?"

Gun nuts to celebrate their insecurities by strapping on handguns and going out for coffee for a national “Starbucks Appreciation Day.” Highly caffeinated armed cowards crowded into a tiny coffee shop, what could possibly go wrong?

Courtesy of The Washington Times:

 Starbucks seems an unlikely dueling ground in the national debate over guns, but the ubiquitous coffee chain Friday will once again find itself squarely in the cross hairs in the battle between gun control and gun rights advocates. 

More than 2,000 gun rights activists plan to visit their local Starbucks with their sidearms for a national “Starbucks Appreciation Day.” 

The Seattle-based chain takes no formal position on guns but has a corporate policy of following applicable state gun laws — including “open carry” laws in more than 40 states that allow permit-holding patrons to bring their loaded weapons into the shop while they sip their lattes and caramel macchiatos. 

Gun owners began staging the appreciation days a few years ago when the company faced pressure from gun control advocates to ban firearms from his stores. 

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz resisted the move, saying in one interview, “I’m not a politician. I run a coffee company and we’re trying to abide by the laws in which we do business.” 

Seriously why don't these assholes just where t-shirts that declare "I am afraid of everything?" After all what else can it mean to walk around the streets of a city with a weapon strapped to your hip all of the time?

Then of course there is the blatant insensitivity to other people who might want to enjoy a coffee as well. 

Plans for a pro-gun display at the Newtown Starbucks has added another layer of tension to the day. 

“Our community is still healing and we find it reprehensible that they are picking Newtown to rally,” David Ackert, spokesman for the Newtown Action Alliance, said in a statement. “It is disturbing to think that tomorrow night you and your children may be sitting in Starbucks when people carrying guns walk through the door.” 

Personally I avoid Starbucks, as I make a fine cup of joe all by myself, but I have to say that if I did want an espresso and entered a store full of Rambo cos players I would walk out and never set foot in the place again.

But hey that's just me. You know, a sane person.

Gee I wonder if this guy will show up?

Seems like he would fit right in.