Just the other day, I was in my neighborhood Starbucks, waiting for the post office to open. I was enjoying a chocolatey cafe mocha when it occurred to me that to drink a mocha is to gulp down the entire history of the New World. From the Spanish exportation of Aztec cacao, and the Dutch invention of the chemical process for making cocoa, on down to the capitalist empire of Hershey, PA, and the lifestyle marketing of Seattle's Starbucks, the modern mocha is a bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, invention, and consumerism served with whipped cream on top.

"annexed Hawaii Puerto Rico and Guam and invaded Cuba and then the Philippines becoming a meddling self-serving militaristic international superpower practically overnight. Her writing has been publiSarah Vowelld in The Village Voice Esquire GQ Spin The New York Times Los Angeles Times and the SF Weekly and Sarah Vowell has been a regular contributor to the online magazine Salon. In 2005 Vowell served as a guest columnist for The New York Times during several weeks in July briefly filling in for Maureen Dowd.

Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27 1969) is an American author journalist essayist and social commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer" Vowell has written six nonfiction books on American history and culture most recently Unfamiliar FiSarah Vowells which was publiSarah Vowelld in 2011. She was also the voice of Violet in the animated film The Incredibles.