Starbucks experimenting with beer, wine

Starbucks Corp. will add beer and wine to its menu of coffees, teas and snacks at one of its Seattle locations. The store has been named “15th Avenue Coffee and Tea inspired by Starbucks” and will open Friday.

Starbucks plans to serve alcohol at two additional stores in Seattle and is determining locations for these stores, which will open in the coming months, a Starbucks spokeswoman said. The performance of the Seattle area stores will determine if Starbucks will sell alcohol elsewhere.

Baristas completed a certification program in Washington to serve alcoholic beverages.

The Seattle coffee giant (NASDAQ: SBUX) has 7,087 company-operated stores and 4,081 licensed stores in the United States.

Starbucks was founded in 1971 as Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/07/20/daily13.html?ana=from_rss" target="_blank">Courtesy of Tampa Bay Business Journal

Malaysians debate whipping for beer-drinking model

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – An Islamic court’s decision to have a Muslim model whipped for drinking beer at a pub has triggered controversy in Malaysia, a multicultural country where such convictions are extremely rare.

Last week, a Sharia or religious court sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit (1,412 dollars) after she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in eastern Pahang state last year.

Her conviction created a furore in the nation which is predominantly Muslim, but also home to large Indian and Chinese minorities. Alcohol is widely available in most parts of the country and Muslims are rarely punished for consuming it.

“The punishment of whipping is defined as torture and hence we should not in any way condone it,” said Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Nora Murat.

“This is the wrong way to educate anyone about the religion. When the sin is between her and God, there is always an option of being repentant. It’s up to God to decide on her faith, and not people,” she told AFP.

Most were stunned that whipping of women was permitted in Malaysia?s Islamic courts, which operate alongside civil courts under a dual-track system.

“It’s not just unkind, it’s unjust,” leading women rights activist Ivy Josiah told the New Straits Times newspaper, while Women’s Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil reportedly said that while she did not approve of Muslims drinking, she was shocked by the ruling.

Islamic scholars however argued the punishment was necessary to deter other Muslims from drinking.

Harussani Zakaria, an influential mufti or religious scholar, said the punishment was “very lenient” as Islamic law allows for up to 40 strokes of the cane for any Muslim caught drinking.

“The (punishment) meted out on her is just to shame her and educate her. The judge is doing the right thing,” said the mufti.

Urging other judges to hand down similar judgements in future, he said a fine was no longer effective in deterring Muslims from drinking alcohol, which is forbidden under the religion.

“The cane to be used in this case is not the same as in prison and they will be fully dressed (when being caned), because it’s meant to shame them. Even if a person is caned 40 times, it won’t cause death,” Harussani said.

Experts said it was unclear whether such a sentence had been carried out before, and there has been much discussion over who should carry it out, and how.

In the civil courts, where caning is a common penalty for serious crimes including rape, it is carried out with a long, thick length of rattan which causes intense pain, breaks open the skin and leaves lasting scars.

However, the cane to be used on Kartika will reportedly be less than four feet long and half an inch thick, and the blow is not administered on the bare skin.

The person wielding the cane is banned from lifting it above their head, so the force of the blow is not as hard.

Even as the debate raged, Kartika reportedly said she would not appeal and wanted to “hasten” the punishment so she could get on with her life.

“I will accept this earthly punishment, let Allah decide my punishment in the hereafter,” said the mother of two, who has been living in neighbouring Singapore for 15 years after marrying a citizen of the city-state, according to the New Straits Times.

“I want to advise youngsters to learn from my experience and not cause shame to themselves and their families,” she added.

Courtesy of AFP

Free Beer? I’m there, says man to Obama in US race row

WASHINGTON, July 26 — A prominent black Harvard University scholar has accepted an invitation to have a beer with President Barack Obama and the white police officer who arrested him in a racially charged case.

Professor Henry Louis Gates said Saturday he was willing to have a peace-making beer with Obama and Cambridge, Massachusetts, police Sgt. James Crowley.

Gates was arrested last week at his home after a neighbour called police to say that a man was breaking into the house. Obama said Cambridge police had “acted stupidly,” prompting an outcry from police groups and a resulting media blitz.

Obama later telephoned both men and, on Crowley’s suggestion, invited the two to the White House for a beer.

“I am pleased that he, too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sgt. Crowley for a beer with the president will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige,” Gates said in a statement on TheRoot.com, an Internet newsletter he edits.

Gates said he hoped his arrest would help reduce racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.

Courtesy of The Malaysian Insider

Man arraigned for striking a Bay City resident with a beer bottle

A denied a sip of beer served as the spark for a fracas that allegedly resulted in Samuel E. Ovaldia, 43, striking an acquaintance in the head with a beer bottle.

Monday, Ovaldia was arraigned before Bay County District Judge Craig D. Alston on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon.

At about 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, Bay City Police officers responded to the scene of the alleged assault, at the home of Jason D. Gillespie, 22, in the 300 block of W. Hart in Bay City.

Gillespie told officers he had been drinking a beer when Ovaldia asked for a drink of it. Gillespie refused him.

A fight ensued, in which allegedly Ovaldia grabbed a 40-ounce bottle of King Cobra and struck Gillespie in the side of his head.

Gillespie refused medical treatment at the scene. Officers arrested Ovaldia.

Two previous warrants had been issued for Ovaldia, one a contempt of court charge out of Bay County and a parole charge from California.

Ovaldia’s bond was set at $50,000 cash-surety. He is scheduled for a preliminary examination before Alston at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

If convicted, he could face four years imprisonment and/or a fine of $2,000.

Courtesy of The Bay City Times

Stolen trailers contained $70,000 in beer

TAMPA, Fla., July 23 (UPI) — Authorities in Florida said thieves stole two tractor trailers loaded with approximately $70,000 worth of beer.

Investigators said employees of K&N Trucking in Tampa discovered the trucks missing at about 7 a.m. Tuesday, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Thursday.

One of the trailers contained 1,260 six-packs of Corona Extra while the other carried 990 six packs of the brand as well as 990 cases of Modelo Especial.

The cabs of the trucks were found abandoned at about 5 p.m. Tuesday in a vacant lot. The thieves, the trailer and the beer remained missing, police said.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/07/23/Stolen-trailers-contained-70000-in-beer/UPI-53041248373104/" target="_blank">Courtesy of UPI