Coca-Cola to buy Vitaminwater maker

Coca-Cola to buy Glaceau for $4.1 billion -
Buyout of Vitaminwater maker to boost earnings in first full year
By William Spain & Sarah Turner
MarketWatch

The blue-chip bottler - The Coca-Cola Company will acquire the full range of privately held Energy Brands' products, including Vitaminwater, Smartwater, Fruitwater and Vitaminenergy.

The deal is expected to add to Coca-Cola's earnings per share in the first full year following completion, while nipping 1 cent to 2 cents off this year's profit. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies but is still subject to regulatory review.

"Glaceau has built a great business with high-quality growth, as well as a strong pipeline of innovative products and brands," Coca-Cola Chairman and Chief Executive Neville Isdell said in a statement.

The acquisition will provide Coca-Cola with a strong foundation from which to develop "active-lifestyle beverages," the company said, adding that the Glaceau deal's likely to bring "immediate, high-quality growth."

As sales of carbonated soft drinks have sagged, the Atlanta-based beverage behemoth has been trying hard to develop or acquire water, tea and juices as well as energy- and sports-drink brands. See: Coca-Cola to buy Glaceau for $4.1 billion

Soul Vegetarian East - Chicago South Side

Religion, food choices go hand in hand at restaurant
By Lisa Donovan
Chicago Sun Times

When asked about the philosophy behind the no-meat, no-dairy menu at Soul Vegetarian East restaurant on the South Side, the waiter reached back to a story at the very beginning of time.

Or, at least, the beginning of biblical time.

He pointed to the the Old Testament, Genesis 1:29, which offers "God also said: 'See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food."

For the African Hebrew Israelites, which operate the Park Manor eatery at 205 E. 75th, this was a call to veganism.

The movement, whose members believe they are among a lost sect of ancient Israelites, began in Chicago in the 1960s and today has more than 10,000 members in the United States.

For diners, there's no doubt that God has had a hand in the tangy collard greens, the gritty yet moist cornbread paired with the lentil soup, and the Down-South Barbecue Twist Sandwich, $6.
(The twist is that it's not brisket or chicken but a soy protein shaped into an imperfect cutlet, baked and bathed in a sweet barbecue sauce.)

Proprietors of the 25-year-old restaurant, catering to the take-out crowd as well as the power suits, say it was an examination of their own diet, including traditional African-American soul food, that led them to today's menu.

"We were conspiring against ourselves, with the heavy carbohydrates, heavy salt. What was soul food, actually was killing us physically," says Prince Asiel Ben-Israel, the restaurant's owner and international ambassador for the Black Hebrews.

The "Genesis diet," as wife Yohanna Israel calls it, is heavy on fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains that fuel body and soul. See: Religion, food choices go hand in hand at restaurant

Gas prices in US hits all time high

Prices are expected to hit $4.00 per gallon
ABC News

Gas prices nationwide have hit an all-time high. And if you think they're going to go even higher, you're not alone!

The majority of Americans (79-percent) believe the price at the pump could hit 4-dollars a gallon this year. That's according to a poll out today, which also shows 28-percent of people think it could reach 5-dollars a gallon!

The Lundberg Survey says the national average is at $3.07 for regular... a record. And now, a prominent congressman is asking for an investigation into the gasoline market, and the unexpected drops in supplies. See: Gas prices set new records at the pump - Oil & Energy - MSNBC.com ... & 6abc.com: Gas Prices Hit All-Time High

Brothers Get Ready!!!!!!!!

Yah Khai!!! The 2007 Brotherhood Conference is coming soon. For more info please contact Ahtur Yatsiliel at ahtur@yahoo.com or Ahk Keymah at keymah777@aol.com .

American Optimism at New Low, Poll Finds

Only 25 percent of those surveyed say things in the U.S. are going in the right direction
By ALAN FRAM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - It is gloomy out there. Men and women, whites and minorities - all are feeling a war-weary pessimism about the United States seldom shared by so many people.

Only 25 percent of those surveyed say things in the U.S. are going in the right direction, according to an AP-Ipsos poll this month. That is about the lowest level of satisfaction detected since the survey started in December 2003.

Rarely have longer-running polls found such a rate since the even gloomier days of 1992, ahead of the first President Bush 's re-election loss to Democrat Bill Clinton.

The current glumness is widely blamed on public discontent with the war in Iraq and with President George W. Bush.

Women and minorities are less content than men and whites, which has been true for years. But all four groups are at or near record lows for the AP-Ipsos poll, and at unusually low levels for older surveys as well. See: Americans' Optimism Drops to a New Low