75 Years Sans Prohibition

In 1933, the Golden Gate Bridge was being built in San Francisco, book
burnings were starting in Germany, and the manufacture, transport,
import, export, or consumption of alcohol in the U.S.A. was illegal. Until today.

Today marks 75 years since the first Budweiser Clydesdales departed the brewery here in St. Louis pulling a carriage heading to Washington, D.C. with the first post-prohibitino beer bound for President FDR. The old story around these parts is that the President was a fan of beer and that the first lady was a fan of horses, so AB made sure both were covered.

"When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before."
- John D. Rockefeller, 1932

More about Lincoln in Alton

Today's Belleville News Democrat covered the Lincoln festivities happening next weekend in Alton in great detail in the "Sunday Magazine."  The cover article even included a quote from none other than Suzanne!  See if you can spot the "Halbrook" name in this article.

Starbucks Idea: You Heard it Here First

A few weeks ago, Starbucks (love 'em or hate 'em) launched a new social networking / conversation with customers site where customers (with a Starbucks.com account) could post their ideas for the company to improve its Products, Experience, or Involvement.  The jury is still out on whether all of the initial posts were legitimate or some were planted, but one (legit or planted?) is about to come true, even though it's still marked as "**UNDER REVIEW***" on the MyStarbucksIdea.com site:

Next week, it seems, you'll be able to get a little stick-insert in your to-go cup lid that'll keep your coffee from splashing out and spilling on you in the car.

Here's the "idea" on the site:

Tonight, at a Starbucks I happened by (I won't identify which location here to keep the staff out of trouble, since they made it clear they weren't supposed to pull these out until next week, but the package already happened to be open), I scored this:

So... I like the little device a lot.  Suzanne has one piece of feedback though... she's worried that if she isn't careful about how she pulls it out of the opening in the cup, she'll end up with coffee and/or milk/creamer from her drink all over herself from it splashing out with the stick.  One thing's for sure: it's nice, well-branded, multi-functional, and keeps in mind the MyStarbucksIdea concern over the residue left by little stickers over the hole.

What do you think?  Good improvement on the old drive-thru coffee?  Unnecessary?  And was the idea a "plant" or legitimate and well-executed this quickly?