We KNEW IT! Here's a tip - keep ya money in ya pocket!

According to the Los Angeles Times, coffee giant, Starbucks has been ordered to pay back its baristas (coffee makers/cashiers) a truckload of tip money that was forcefully split with shift supervisors. In other words, when you dropped money in the tip jar, a good deal of it was going to managers and people who didn't serve customers rather than the baristas themselves. Time will tell if this ruling actually results in action, as (of course) Starbucks is appealing the San Diego court's decision. Unlike waiters in traditional restaurants who make less than minimum wage without tips, Starbucks baristas are paid above minimum wage in addition to their tips. Onyx Cranium isn't saying you shouldn't drop your change in the tip jar. But we don't. Sorry, you don't get our 35 cents simply because you handed out the amount that cash register told you to. This realization that the tips often don't end up in the pockets of the lowest paid employees that they were intended for just confirms our decision to save the tips for service that is above and beyond the basics.

California Has a Redemptive Moment in Ousting Murderers for Hire

I was born and raised in Los Angeles and have always loved Cali-foreign-IA, shrinking black population and all! But sometimes, I worry. It's somewhat comforting that we're always a blue state among so many red ones. Yet we allow Enron's shady government hook-ups to confuse us into recalling Governor Greg Davis and replacing him with one of the dumbest sounding actors of all time (George W. Bush excluded - at least as an actor). We are at once progressive and regressive in a big way. Inglewood doesn't allow a Wal Mart into their hood, but then the Crenshaw District does so with relish. Basically, despite the cool weather and the beaches, it's hit or miss these days. Well, as Editor-in-Chief of Onyx Cranium, I salute a city known for enclaves of racial integration among a blatantly racist city landscape. That's right! I'm talkin' bout YOU San Diego! Democracy Now! reports that Blackwater USA, the company which colludes with Republicans and portrays itself as a supporter of the American military as it diverts funding from governmental armed forces, planned to build their West Coast headquarters in San Diego. But the citizens of the city said, "F**k That!" (not a direct quote) and this power hungry company that pays private citizens exorbitant fees for security detail in Iraq, while paying much less to mercenaries from developing countries, has to find somewhere else to build their Training Den of Dollars and Death. Now they may convince some nearby local California government to give them ridiculous subsidies to build just miles from San Diego, but for now, they ain't comin' here. Even if this has to be a short-lived celebration, Onyx Cranium will gladly take it. Oh and if you're wondering why we would call them murderers for hire instead of just security detail, it's because the company works tirelessly (and so far very successfully) to keep their contractors from facing any kind of prosecution or accountability by the U.S. government (meaning us taxpayers). You know - the government that pays a huge proportion their damn bills.