It looks more and more like the Starbucks we grew up with has irretrievably lost its way. Every day brings news of layoffs and losses, maps of store closures, tanking stock price, deckchair shuffling in the executive suite, and the frantic introduction of new products (banana smoothies, indeed). digg_url = 'http://digg.com/food_drink/Is_Starbucks_In_Its_Death_Spiral'; In the beginning, down at Pike Place, a regular customer would know every company employee by name. Now there are over 150,000 people on......

As Seattlest predicted back in April (not by reading salmon entrails but by perusing the Wall Street Journal), Starbucks has unveiled a line of non-coffee drinks. In business-speak, it's a new "beverage platform," and its name is Vivanno Nourishing Blends. Comes in Orange-MangoBanana or Banana Chocolate. Viv--okay if we call you Viv? The baristas blend you to order, starting with a whole banana. So sexy, peeling a banana. Then comes milk (choice of whole,......