Connecting The Dots: Starbucks, Budweiser American Ale, And -- Whatever

Speaking of beer, coffee, etc. (We WERE speaking about that, right?): Jacob Grier has a nice essay about Starbucks in this month's issue of Doublethink.

That made me think of my own mention of Starbucks awhile back, which was in turn prompted by Jeff Alworth's ruminations on the new Anheuser-Busch product Budweiser American Ale. None of which has much to do with anything, except that Jacob's essay is worth reading (as is his blog in general), and so was (and is) Jeff's blog about Bud Ale.

And all of that causes me to ponder how and why American culture and Americans' social habits change -- an entirely worthwhile endeavor for a historian on this, the eve of the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition.

So -- there you have it. One dot leads to another leads to another....