Dear Mr. Man

I just finished David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas," a book I thoroughly enjoyed.  One of its themes is the power of corporations and much of it seems prescient.  We are not too far from David Foster Wallace's concept of corporate sponsorship of the years, hence, The Year of the Depends Adult Undergarment.  So a couple of stories caught my eye this morning.
First, this from the LAHT (emphasis added)

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto inaugurated a 1.6-billion-peso ($130-million) expansion of a Nestle instant coffee factory in the central city of Toluca.

The project has boosted the plant’s productive capacity by 30 percent, making it the world’s biggest facility of its kind, Nestle Mexico CEO Marcelo Melchior said during Friday’s ceremony.

The factory, which covers a 14-hectare (34-acre) area, will supply the Mexican, U.S., Central American, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Japanese markets, the Swiss food giant said in a statement.

As part of the remodeling, a biomass boiler was installed to process spent coffee grounds from the production process for use as fuel, thereby covering 60 percent of the plant’s electricity needs. (snip)

Mexico is one of the world’s leading coffee-producing countries and the largest producer of organic coffee, according to figures from the sector, which is facing a crisis stemming from the spread of a fungus from Central America.

And this one also from LAHT:

Mexichem, one of the leading companies of the Latin American chemical and petrochemical industry, announced that the cost of purchasing 100 percent of the PVC Specialty Resins business of the U.S. firm PolyOne will amount to $250 million.

Mexichem revealed the price of the operation upon filing with stock market regulators, recalling that on May 15 it received authorization for the purchase from regulatory authorities in the United States and Germany.

The Mexican company said it will begin to integrate operations once the acquisition has been completed and the agreed closing conditions have been complied with, something the parties expect in the next few weeks.

For Mexichem, this acquisition “will strengthen its competitive position in North America obtaining the benefits of both the shale gas and the strategic geographical position to become the sole producer of specialty PVC resins with operations in North and South America.”

Everything is interconnected and it would seem as if the game is rigged.  "Cloud Atlas" does not paint a very cheery outcome from corpocracy.  It is a good read, six stories woven into one and you know how much I like weaving.

As the Artist Formerly Known As so aptly puts it.... If the video is blocked try this or this.  It's worth it 'cause, Prince?  He's the Man.

What's wrong with the world 2day?
Things just got 2 get better
Show me what the leaders say
Maybe we should write a letter

Said Dear Mr. Man, we don't understand
Why poor people keep struggling but U don't lend a helping hand
Matthew 5:5 say “The meek shall inherit the earth”
We wanna b down that way
but U been trippin since the day of your birth

Who said that 2 kill is a sin
Then started every single war that Ur people been in?
Who said that water is a precious commodity
Then dropped a big old black oil slick in the deep blue sea?

Who told me, Mr. Man, that working round the clock
would buy me a big housed in the hood
Cigarette ads on every block
Who told me, Mr. Man, that I got a right 2 moan?
How about this big old hole in the ozone?

What's wrong with the world 2day
Things just got 2 get better
Dear Mr. Man, we don't understand
Maybe we should write a letter

Listen, Ain't no sense in voting – same song with a different name
Might not b in the back of the bus but it sure feel just the same
Ain't nothing fair about welfare
Ain't no assistance in AIDS
We ain't that affirmative about your actions until the people get paid

Ur thousand years r up
Now U got 2 share the land
Section 1 – the 14th amendment says “No state shall deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law”
Mr. Man, we want 2 end this letter with 3 words
We tired a-y'all