Free Republic

Chicago public school bureaucrats skirted public competitive bidding rules to buy 30 cappuccino/espresso machines for $67,000, with most of the machines going unused because the schools they were ordered for had not asked for them, according to a report by the CPS Office of Inspector General. That was just one example of questionable CPS actions detailed in the inspector general's 2008 annual report. Others included high school staffers changing grades to pump up transcripts of student athletes and workers at a restricted-enrollment grade school falsifying addresses to get relatives admitted. In the case of the cappuccino machines, central office administrators...

Warren Buffett once called the cigarette the perfect product: "It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive." Much the same could be said about coffee today. Even a costly coffee drink -- Starbucks sells its lattes for about $3.50, depending on the location -- consists of little more than a cup of water, a splash of milk, a spoonful of coffee grinds and 30 seconds of labor. Starbucks has managed to turn its customers' craving for caffeine into a $6.4 billion a year business. It already has about 6,000 company-owned coffeehouses and claims to open...

Total vanity post. I apologize now...so hold your sarcasm...thanks.I had my first Latte ever friday and my second today and I am hooked. Since I can't afford to do that tooo often....I thought I'd ask the professional coffee drinkers in here if they can explain the difference of all the different kinds of coffees out there and if there is a machine I can buy to make my own lattes? Would it be an expensive adventure? What else would I need to buy? What's your favorite combination of flavors...etc.... Any advice?

City Of Seattle Initiative No. 77 Espresso Tax Yes 13147 31.71% No 28307 68.29%

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134642379_playboy27.html Playboy in search of willing bare-istas at Starbucks storesJust because its corporate logo is a topless mermaid, that doesn't mean Starbucks is thrilled about a Playboy callout for "Women of Starbucks." The Seattle-based coffee company was anything but abuzz following the venerable men's mag's announcement this week: "Calling all coffee-making cuties!" ... to pose nude in an upcoming issue. No one at Starbucks would comment on the matter apart from this rather terse written statement: "Starbucks Coffee Company is aware that Playboy Enterprises has issued a call for entries for a 'Women of Starbucks' section in a future...