The Declaration.

What are the rights of the governed?

In 1770, this was the question men discussed in public houses, farms, churches and town squares. They talked about their grievances as well, as all men do, but eventually the discussion turned towards the question: Do we, the governed, have a lawful right to separate from them, the Governors?

The public conclusion to this question, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, was the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America," or the Declaration of Independence, voted on July 4, 1776 by representatives of thirteen colonies. The war had begun between the colonials and mother England about one year prior. This document was, in effect, crossing a river with no way of return.

By declaring independence the colonies became independent states, united States. The Declaration was the apologia for independent existence of the thirteen colonies, for now one, only in purpose.

The signers knew the financial and personal risk. Lives would be lost and land forfeited toward an uncertain future; opposition to an organized, disciplined and experienced English military was almost foolhardy. The new states had not one ship to call a navy, few uniformed soldiers, no national treasury, not even a nation in the full sense. But they had, if I may say, a few good men, a good cause, maybe even Providence -- and certainly one exceptional man, without whom we would have certainly been defeated. Fifty-six men would sign that Declaration that day without enthusiastic fervor, but thoughtfully, as expressed most perfectly, in this introduction,

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

Read it all today:

http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/

Zeke's: Real Fish & Chips.

Guest post by longtime local food enthusiast, AndrewS

When I was England, I lived on fish & chips. Sure, there were lots of pubs and Indian restaurants that probably had better food, but every time I was hungry, all I wanted was fish and chips. It's hard to say why, really. The fish is just a fried piece of cod, and the chips are just soggy french fries. Yet, when put together with some malt vinegar and salt, the dish becomes irresistible.

There are lots of fauz-pubs in Fort Worth that try to re-create fish and chips, but they all fail in my book. The fish always tastes like those baked fish sticks your mom (or at least my mom) used to make, and they almost never give you malt vinegar. Needless to say, I never order fish & chips at the faux-pubs.

Really the only place to eat fish & chips in Fort Worth is Zeke's on Camp Bowie. There, they give you huge slabs of fresh cod with malt vinegar, fries, and just about any other fried dish you could ask for. So, if you can't afford to fly to England, but you really want fish & chips, go to Zeke's.

Zeke's Fish and Chips
5920 Curzon Ave
Fort Worth, TX 76107

More Bad News Brewing at Starbucks.

From the Wall Street Journal today:

"In its most significant pullback yet to its U.S. expansion, Starbucks Corp. said it will close an additional 500 U.S. stores and cut 7% of its work force." Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2008.

Since its start in 1980 Starbucks has built 11,000 stores nationwide. That does not include Europe and China or anywhere else in the world. It is an American business success story. Like them or not, no one can deny their business acumen, and not just in coffee, as music marketers they are second only to Apple and maybe Walmart.

But nothing grows forever. Times change, markets change, and eventually saturation itself slows the growth. And, there is competition , which they haven't had. It took McDonald's about 10 years to realize that Starbucks wasn't a fad, but now that they have, and the younger coffee drinkers are bringing the kids in for a happy meal, they are poised to fill in as Starbucks falters. I repeat, McDonald's coffee, when fresh, is pretty good to good. Which is saying something because 5 years ago it was bad to very bad.

Investors will like the store closings and the releasing of 5-10 thousand employees, but, and I hate to keep saying this, the Starbucks problem is a "vision thing." They need to reclaim their base with an exceptionally good and fresh cup of coffee. In the last year or so I have had too many "not hot enough" cups of coffee, seen more than average number of disgruntled employees at the counter, and seen stores not cleaned to the old standards. It was a coffee shop, now it is a JC Penney's that sells coffee. That's the problem.