Morning Joke Sponsor Starbucks Lacerating Its' Customers

“Base eight is just like base ten really, if you're missing two fingers”

Tom Lehrer, from his song, "New Math"

You would expect, after you purchase over-priced coffee, and, additionally, a grinding machine (possibly getting price-gouged as well) from the same people, that you could safely grind your beans, and have bandage-free digits in which to hold your mug (with said company's logo, another big chunk of change you put out) to drink it.



Well, the new Morning Joke sponsor, Starbucks, has a bit of a PR problem today;

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission - Laceration Hazard Prompts Recall by Starbucks of Coffee Grinders; Made by Tsann Kuen

Hazard: The grinder can fail to turn off or can turn on unexpectedly, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.

From the Boston Business Journal;

Starbucks recalling 530,000 coffee grinders

Starbucks Corp. said it’s recalling 530,000 Chinese-made coffee grinders it sold for the past seven years, with some products not turning off or turning on unexpectedly and causing lacerations to some owners who were cleaning the grinders

According to Seattle-based Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the products being recalled include the Starbucks Barista Blade Grinder and Seattle’s Best Coffee Blade Grinder, both sold from March 2002 to March 2009 and made by Tsann Kuen (Zhangzhou) Enterprise Co. Ltd. of China.

Could make watching Morning Joke a bit more interesting, looking, replaying the TIVO, checking to see if there are any nicked, stitched, or bandaged fingers.

Then again, would/will Morning Joke report this news?

Maybe they could, and have Thomas "My Head Is Flat" Friedman come on, and explain how in a global economy, undoubtedly, after showing of a clip of Friedman on Charlie Rose, expounding on the great cup of coffee he had, in some India slum, checking out the next, great wave of coffee grinders that will be ubiquitous, thanks to his books and the flat global economy, and that any of the other coffee grinders he hasn't shilled in his book, or television appearances, can "Suck On This", and wallow in being loser victims in his flat global economy.

Perhaps, as part of the sponsorship, they can have Mr. Gadget as a guest, and actually, live, on camera, grind Starbucks coffee beans, in a recalled Starbucks Coffee Grinder, and, assuming he keeps all his fingers, Morning Joke & Co. can inveigh against government intrusion, hampering good entrepreneurial companies, like ... (drumroll, please) ... Starbucks!

Oh yeah, you gotta juice-the-guy-you-gotta-juice, so, the entire panel will be wearing Starbucks t-shirts.


Bonus Morning Joke Riffs

Morning Joke and Starbucks ... Two Peas In A Non-Union Pod

Hey Morning Joke, Cheetos Are Made By A Successful Union Company!

Maybe Starbucks Can Sponsor The AMA's Operation Coffee Cup II

After all, they want to "do business with people with like-minded values,", which brought them to sponsor the Morning Joke Show, so it seems that there would be the vibe for them to get behind the AMA, to trot out Operation Coffee Cup II, and rail against the evils of "socialized medicine" once again.

You see, the AMA did that, back in the early 1960's, using a "well known actor", Ronald Reagan;

The operation received support from Ronald Reagan, who in 1961 produced the LP record Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine for the AMA, outlining arguments against what he called "socialized medicine". This record would be played at the coffee meetings.

(You can go HERE, to listen to The Gipper pitch against "socialized medicine".)



As Gomer Pyle would be apt to say, "Surprise, Surprise!"

The American Medical Association is at it again;

Doctors’ Group Opposes Public Insurance Plan

As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system.

[snip]

While committed to the goal of affordable health insurance for all, the association had said in a general statement of principles that health services should be “provided through private markets, as they are currently.” It is now reacting, for the first time, to specific legislative proposals being drafted by Congress.

[snip]

But in comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand health insurance coverage and lower costs. The introduction of a new public plan threatens to restrict patient choice by driving out private insurers, which currently provide coverage for nearly 70 percent of Americans.”

If private insurers are pushed out of the market, the group said, “the corresponding surge in public plan participation would likely lead to an explosion of costs that would need to be absorbed by taxpayers.”

But Wait! ... That was this morning.

This afternoon, the AMA is singing a different tune

AMA Walks Back From Its Opposition To All Public Options

The American Medical Association is walking back from its strong opposition to the public option ...

[snip]

But now, the AMA has issued a statement saying that it is willing to accept a public plan that looks like the private option:

Today’s New York Times story creates a false impression about the AMA’s position on a public plan option in health care reform legislation. The AMA opposes any public plan that forces physicians to participate, expands the fiscally-challenged Medicare program or pays Medicare rates, but the AMA is willing to consider other variations of the public plan that are currently under discussion in Congress. This includes a federally chartered co-op health plan or a level playing field option for all plans. The AMA is working to achieve meaningful health reform this year and is ready to stand behind legislation that includes coverage options that work for patients and physicians.”

No doubt, there's a whole lot more dancing to be done to this tune.

In the meantime, the AMA is probably casting about, for the new "well known actor", to record Operation Coffee Cup II.

Hmmm ... Wilford Brimley has been doing some medical commercials ...

Or, better yet, let Morning Joke and Ms. Mika Joke do it!

That way, they can plug Starbucks at the same time ...


Bonus Healthcare - Socialist or Private - Riffs

Joe Sudbay (DC): Dear AMA, You're saps and a big part of the health care problem for not standing up to the insurance companies who run your lives

Kevin Drum: The AMA Takes a Shocking Stand

Sam Stein: American Medical Association Trying To Torpedo Health Care Reform Again

Bob Cesca: The Health Insurance Mafia Deserves a Good Screwing

Jurassicpork: Here There be Windmills... Maybe

Matthew Yglesias: AMA Opposing Public Option

Morning Joke and Starbucks ... Two Peas In A Non-Union Pod

Well, since we left them off last week (Hey Morning Joke, Cheetos Are Made By A Successful Union Company!), after Morning Joke, and his harlequin-sidekick Mika, had some yuks over dissing Unions, the news broke that the Morning Joke Show had entered into a sponsorship with one of the biggest union-deniers across the land, the caffeinated, price-gouging Starbucks.



Like, try the day after;

Why Starbucks Is Sponsoring MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' ... CMO Terry Davenport Says Coffee Chain Sees Opportunity to Promote Ethical Commitments

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- This week Starbucks announced a title sponsorship of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the first such cable-news deal in decades. But the coffee retailer's chief marketer, Terry Davenport, said the news and a morning cup of coffee just go together.

[snip]

The partnership itself appears to be the result of some schmoozing. After ongoing discussions with both General Electric and NBC, Mr. Davenport said "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough casually dropped in to a recent meeting Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was having with network executives.

"He introduced himself to Howard and said he was a big fan," Mr. Davenport said. "It kind of grew from there." Incidentally, "Morning Joe" anchors have been drinking Starbucks on air for several years. Mr. Scarborough has said viewers have been asking if Starbucks was paying for that placement for quite some time.

[snip]

Starbucks is, after all, the darling of many a liberal elite. While MSNBC is generally seen as a moderate, if not liberal, network, Mr. Scarborough is a former congressman with a conservative record. Such an alliance could cut at Starbucks' core. But for some, the partnership did not seem conservative enough. A number of commenters on StarbucksGossip.com asked why Starbucks hadn't considered such a partnership with Fox News.

During an interview on the morning show, Mr. Schultz said, "You want to do business with people with like-minded values." He added that Starbucks' model of "balancing profitability with a social conscience" may have been an added inducement for MSNBC.

Like "like-minded values"?

It would seem, then, perhaps, the Morning Joke Show union-bashing was just a coincidental welcoming gift for their new sponsor.

Spilling the Beans About Starbucks' Union-Busting Tactics

The National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly found Starbucks guilty of illegally terminating, harassing, intimidating, and discriminating against employees attempting to unionize. Late last year, a judge ruled Starbucks had committed over a dozen violations of the National Labor Relations Act at a few New York stores. Starbucks has settled five such labor disputes in the last few years in New York, Minnesota, and Michigan, spending millions on legal fees to avoid exposing their anti-worker ways.

To make matters worse, Starbucks has led the charge on a so-called Employee Free Choice Act "compromise," joining Costco and Whole Foods to form the Committee for Level Playing Field. This Orwellian-sounding group has come up with a "third way" on Employee Free Choice, which would require 70 percent of workers to sign union authorization cards instead of the far more manageable 50 percent initially proposed by this legislation.

[snip]

Like Wal-Mart, Starbucks offers its workers low wages averaging $7.75 an hour, and Starbucks also refuses to guarantee workers set hours. Instead, the company adheres to an Optimal Scheduling policy that requires baristas to make themselves available 70 percent of open store hours just to work full time in any given week. This means low-wage earning baristas often don't have time to take a second job. Moreover, it precludes tens of thousands of Starbucks employees from working the 240 hours per quarter needed to qualify for the company's health insurance.

Brave New Films has a new campaign - Stop Starbucks - and a video to go with it;

What do Starbucks and Wal-Mart have in common?



BNF also posted the hysterical take by Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show, of the Morning Joke-Starbucks lip-lock;

Daily Show: Stewart Slams Starbucks and Morning Joe Synergy

And guess what?

Morning Joke and harlequin-sidekick Mika don't like Jon Stewart, and the Daily Show, making fun of them.

Joe Scarborough On Jon Stewart: A "Very, Very Angry Guy" With A "Napoleonic Complex"



Hmmmm ...

Maybe Morning Joke can get Newsweek to give them some special coverage, get their backs, so to speak ...Again!


Bonus Morning Joke

Cory Doctorow: Starbucks Twitter campaign hijacked by documentary about Starbucks' union-busting

Wayne Barrett - Barrett: Why Don't MSNBCers Question "Morning Joe" About Abortion Doc Killings?

Media Matters: Scarborough declares "if planes go into buildings...blame Dana Priest" for exposing use of waterboarding

Morning Joke Teaches Thousands of Kids To Swear! ... Or: Blame It On The Cheetos, Joe ...

Get A Shovel! ... Olbermann Disses Scarborough, On-Air