BUSINESS: Why it's Harder to Keep Politics Out of Bars & Restaurants
The public house has always had a cultural importance for the exchanging ideas in America. But it seems like politics does business more harm than good. Here's why it's so hard for restaurants to keep politics at the door.
SPORTS: Your March Madness Round 2 TV Schedule [Download]
With only two number one seeds left, the second weekend of March Madness is wide open. Here's your March Madness Round 2 TV schedule, compliments of the SportsTV Guide.
DID YOU KNOWS…
St. Paddy’s Recap
With some 13 million pints of Guinness consumed by revelers celebrating St. Patrick's Day around the world every year, Ireland's national holiday has truly turned into a global celebration. It has become a massive deal in the United States especially, where 39.6 million people claim Irish heritage, nearly seven times the entire population of Ireland. We have created a very special infographic to mark the occasion. How was your St. Paddy’s Day weekend?
Hungry Ghosts Is Not for the Faint of Heart
Globe-trotting celeb chef Anthony Bourdain comic book series debuted back in January and it’s a deliciously spooky series. It’s a four-part series inspired by Japanese folklore, co-created with novelist Joel Rose. Rose & Bourdain also teamed up for Get Jiro!, a series where people literally killed one another for seats at the best restaurants. Hungry Ghosts, however, revolves around chefs who are asked to entertain their rich patrons with spooky ghost stories in the vein of 100 candles. We’re sold!
Coach Blames Loss on Millennials
There’s nothing more eye-rolling than blaming Millennials for... for, well, everything. And that’s extended to NCAA losses apparently. Kyle Keller, head coach for Stephen F. Austin, blamed Millennials for their NCAA tournament loss because accountability is a one-way street with some older folks, apparently.
NO IRISH PUB
What it means to you: A bar owner in Detroit refused service to Irish people on St. Patrick’s Day to prove a point, should we perform social experiments on our guests?
St. Patrick’s Day can be truly unfortunate for those involved in drinking territory. “Amateur Hour” is a phrase that often comes to mind. And while it’s a huge holiday for those in the alcohol business, we don’t blame any bar owner who would want to take a hard pass from the festivities. However, a bar owner in Detroit took it to the extreme as a social experiment to prove a point this past weekend. He refused service to anyone who was admittedly Irish (or even just wearing green) to show how poorly Irish immigrants were once treated. The goal was to get party-goers to reflect on how contemporary immigrants of all races and nationalities are treated today. People were apparently “outraged and couldn’t understand how someone could be so racist” which seems like a stretch given the day and age that we live in, but with any luck the owner did proved the point he set out to.
While we’re heavily in favor of restaurants trying to use their platform to better society (see: the Purpose Economy), sometimes these sort of experiments run the risk of forever turning away customers. The bar’s end goal is a noble one (showing the hypocrisy and problem with many Americans anti-immigrant views) but is trying to teach that to drunken patrons the best route for it? We’d rather see the owner try to educate people while they are there through inclusion and willing distribution of knowledge than force.
BAD SOCIAL CREDIT? BAD NEWS.
Why it matters to you: Starting in May, Chinese citizens with bad social credit will be banned from flights & trains for up to a year.
Apparently in China it isn’t enough to just have to worry about your actual credit anymore. The Chinese government is launching a “social credit system”, or SCS, to judge the kinds of citizens people are. Think about that? Your behavior being constantly monitored (more than it already is) to come up with some number to judge the type of person you are. They say they are developing the SCS to rate the trustworthiness of its 1.3 billion citizens and build a culture of “sincerity” with a policy stating:
"It will forge a public opinion environment where keeping trust is glorious. It will strengthen sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and the construction of judicial credibility."
Currently, participation in voluntary but will become mandatory by 2020. The aim of this all is to rate citizens on a scale with hopes to increase the quality of citizen by, essentially, making them worry about their scores. Citizens with a low score will lose certain privileges like the ability to take flights or trains for up to a calendar year. Pretty nutty if you ask us.
