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Global competition is about winners and losers.

quote by David Korten
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Death Of The Middle Class

Oligarchs and Banksters tighten financial screws
In a bold attempt to kill the global Middle Class
Heads of State unable/unwilling to halt this ruse
The “Great Depression of 1929” we soon surpass

ROTMS

By Andrew Gavin Marshall - Global Research

We now stand at the edge of the global financial abyss of a ‘Great Global Debt Depression, ’ where nations, mired in extreme debt, are beginning to implement ‘fiscal austerity’ measures to reduce their deficits, which will ultimately result in systematic global social genocide, as the middle classes vanish and the social foundations upon which our nations rest are swept away. How did we get here? Who brought us here? Where is this road leading? These are questions I will briefly attempt to answer.

At the heart of the global political economy is the central banking system. Central banks are responsible for printing a nation’s currency and setting interest rates, thus determining the value of the currency. This should no doubt be the prerogative of a national government, however, central banks are of a particularly deceptive nature, in which while being imbued with governmental authority, they are in fact privately owned by the world’s major global banks, and are thus profit-seeking institutions. How do central banks make a profit? The answer is simple: how do all banks make a profit? Interest on debt. Loans are made, interest rates are set, and profits are made. It is a system of debt, imperial economics at its finest.

In the United States, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, creating the Federal Reserve System, with the Board located in Washington, appointed by the President, but where true power rested in the 12 regional banks, most notably among them, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The regional Fed banks were private banks, owned in shares by the major banks in each region, which elected the board members to represent them, and who would then share power with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington.

In the early 1920s, the Council on Foreign Relations was formed in the United States as the premier foreign policy think tank, dominated by powerful banking interests. In 1930, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was created to manage German reparations payments, but it also had another role, which was much less known, but much more significant. It was to act as a “coordinator of the operations of central banks around the world.” Essentially, it is the central bank for the world’s central banks, whose operations are kept ‘strictly confidential.’ As historian Carroll Quigley wrote:

'The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations.'

In 1954, the Bilderberg Group was formed as a secretive global think tank, comprising intellectual, financial, corporate, political, military and media elites from Western Europe and North America, with prominent bankers such as David Rockefeller, as well as European royalty, such as the Dutch royal family, who are the largest shareholders in Royal Dutch Shell, whose CEO attends every meeting. This group of roughly 130 elites meets every year in secret to discuss and debate global affairs, and to set general goals and undertake broad agendas at various meetings. The group was initially formed to promote European integration. The 1956 meeting discussed European integration and a common currency. In fact, the current Chairman of the Bilderberg Group told European media last year that the euro was debated at the Bilderberg Group.

In 1973, David Rockefeller, Chairman and CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Steering Committee of the Blderberg Group, formed the Trilateral Commission with CFR academic Zbigniew Brzezinski. That same year, the oil price shocks created a wealth of oil money, which was discussed at that years Bilderberg meeting 5 months prior to the oil shocks, and the money was funneled through western banks, which loaned it to ‘third world’ nations desperately in need of loans to finance industrialization.

When Jimmy Carter became President in 1977, he appointed over two dozen members of the Trilateral Commission into his cabinet, including himself, and of course, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was his National Security Adviser. In 1979, Carter appointed David Rockefeller’s former aide and friend, Paul Volcker, who had held various positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. Treasury Department, and who also happened to be a member of the Trilateral Commission, as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. When another oil shock took place in 1979, Volcker decided to raise interest rates from 2% in the late 70s, to 18% in the early 80s. The effect this had was that the countries of the developing world suddenly had to pay enormous interest on their loans, and in 1982, Mexico announced it could no longer afford to pay its interest, and it defaulted on its debt, which set off the 1980s debt crisis – collapsing nations in debt across Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia.

It was the IMF and the World Bank came to the ‘assistance’ of the Third World with their ‘structural adjustment programs’, which forced countries seeking assistance to privatize all state owned industries and resources, devalue their currencies, liberalize their economies, dismantle health, education and social services; ultimately resulting in the re-colonization of the ‘Third World’ as Western corporations and banks bought all their assets and resources, and ultimately created the conditions of social genocide, with the spread of mass poverty, and the emergence of corrupt national elites who were subservient to the interests of Western elites. The people in these nations would protest, riot and rebel, and the states would clamp down with the police and military.

In the West, corporations and banks saw rapid, record-breaking profits. This was the era in which the term ‘globalization’ emerged. While profits soared, wages for people in the West did not. Thus, to consume in an economy in which prices were rising, people had to go into debt. This is why this era marked the rise of credit cards fueling consumption, and the middle class became a class based entirely on debt.

In the 1990s, the ‘new world order’ was born, with America ruling the global economy, free trade agreements began integrating regional and global markets for the benefit of global banks and corporations, and speculation dominated the economy.

The global economic crisis arose as a result of decades of global imperialism – known recently as ‘globalization’ – and the reckless growth of– speculation, derivatives and an explosion of debt. As the economic crisis spread, nations of the world, particularly the United States, bailed out the major banks (which should have been made to fail and crumble under their own corruption and greed) , and now the West has essentially privatized profits for the banks, and socialized the risk. In other words, the nations bought the debt from the banks, and now the people have to pay for it. The people, however, are immersed in their own personal debt to such degrees that today, the average Canadian is $39,000 in debt, and students are graduating into a jobless market with tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars of student debt that they will never repay. Hence, we are now faced with a global debt crisis.

To manage the economic crisis, the G20 was established as the major international forum for cooperation among the 20 major economies of the world, including the major developing – or emerging – economies, such as India, Brazil, South Africa and China. At the onset of the financial crisis, China and Russia’s central banks began calling for the establishment of a global currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency. This proposal was backed by the UN and the IMF. It should be noted, however, that the Chinese and Russian central banks cooperate with the Western central banks through the Bank for International Settlements – which the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, recently said was the principle forum for “governance of central bank cooperation” and that the G20 is “the prime group for global economic governance.” In 2009, the IMF stated that the BIS “is the central and the oldest focal point for coordination of global governance arrangements.” The President of the European Union, appointed to the position after attending a Bilderberg meeting, declared 2009 as the “first year of global governance.” The 2009 Bilderberg meeting reported on the desire to create a global treasury, or global central bank, to manage the world economy. In 2009, prior to the Bilderberg meeting in fact, the G20 set in motion plans to make the IMF a global central bank of sorts, issuing and even printing its own currency – called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) – which is valued against a basket of currencies. In May of 2010, the IMF Managing Director stated that “crisis is an opportunity, ” and while Special Drawing Rights are a step in the right direction, ultimately what is needed is “a new global currency issued by a global central bank, with robust governance and institutional features.” Thus, we see the emergence of a process towards the formation of a global central bank and a global currency, totally unaccountable to any nation or people, and totally controlled by global banking interests.

In 2010, Greece was plunged into a debt crisis, a crisis which is now spreading across Europe, to the U.K. and eventually to Japan and the United States. If we look at Greece, we see the nature of the global debt crisis. The debt is owed to major European and American banks. To pay the interest on the debt, Greece had to get a loan from the European Central Bank and the IMF, which forced the country to impose ‘fiscal austerity’ measures as a condition for the loans, pressuring Greece to commit social genocide. Meanwhile, the major banks of America and Europe speculate against the Greek debt, further plunging the country into economic and social crisis. The loan is granted, to pay the interest, yet simply has the effect of adding to the overall debt, as a new loan is new debt. Thus, Greece is caught in the same debt trap that re-colonized the Third World.

At the recent G20 meeting in Toronto, the major nations of the world agreed to impose fiscal austerity – or in other words, commit social genocide – within their nations, in a veritable global structural adjustment program. So now we will see the beginnings of the Great Global Debt Depression, in which major western and global nations cut social spending, create mass unemployment by dismantling health, education, and social services. Further, state infrastructure – such as roads, bridges, airports, ports, railways, prisons, hospitals, electric transmission lines and water – will be privatized, so that global corporations and banks will own the entirely of national assets. Simultaneously, of course, taxes will be raised dramatically to levels never before seen. The BIS said that interest rates should rise at the same time, meaning that interest payments on debt will dramatically increase at both the national and individual level, forcing governments to turn to the IMF for loans – likely in the form of its new global reserve currency – to simply pay the interest, and will thus be absorbing more debt. Simultaneously, of course, the middle class will in effect have its debts called in, and since the middle class exists only as an illusion, the illusion will vanish.

Already, towns, cities, and states across America are resorting to drastic actions to reduce their debts, such as closing fire stations, scaling back trash collection, turning off street lights, ending bus services and public transportation, cutting back on library hours or closing them altogether, school districts cutting down the school day, week or year. Simultaneously, this is occurring with a dramatic increase in the rate of privatizations or “public-private partnerships” in which even libraries are being privatized.

No wonder then, that this month, the Managing Director of the IMF warned that America and Europe, in the midst of the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, face an “explosion of social unrest.” Just yesterday, Europe experienced a wave of mass protests and social unrest in opposition to ‘austerity measures’, with a general strike in Spain involving millions of people, and a march on the EU headquarters in Brussels of nearly 100,000 people. As social unrest spreads, governments will likely react – as we saw in the case of the G20 in Toronto – with oppressive police state measures. Here, we see the true relevance of the emergence of ‘Homeland Security States’, designed not to protect people from terrorists, but to protect the powerful from the people.

So while things have never seemed quite so bleak, there is a dim and growing beacon of hope, in what Zbigniew Brzezinski has termed as the greatest threat to elite interests everywhere – the ‘global political awakening’. The global political awakening is representative of the fact that for the first time in all of human history, mankind is politically awakened and stirring, activated and aware, and that generally – as Zbigniew Brzezinski explains – generally is aware of global inequalities, exploitation, and disrespect. This awakening is largely the result of the information revolution – thus revealing the contradictory nature of the globalization project – as while it globalizes power and oppression, so too does it globalize awareness and opposition. This awakening is the greatest threat to entrenched elite interests everywhere. The awakening, while having taken root in the global south – already long subjected to exploitation and devastation – is now stirring in the west, and will grow as the economy crumbles. As the middle classes realize their consumption was an illusion of wealth, they will seek answers and demand true change, not the Wall Street packaged ‘brand-name’ change of Obama Inc., but true, inspired, and empowering change.

In 1967, Martin Luther King delivered a speech in which he spoke out against the Vietnam War and the American empire, and he stated that, “It seems as if we are on the wrong side of a world revolution.” So now it seems to me that the time has come for that to change.

Andrew Gavin Marshall is a Research Associate with the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) .

poem by Ray Lucero
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Women Is Losers

Women is losers
Women is losers
Women is losers
Women is losers.
Well, i know you must have heard it all,
Lord, ev'rywhere
Men always seem to end up on top.
I said, if they told you that they want you
Say they come around and wind up your door.
Whoa i say now, if they don't desert you,
They'll leave you and never be here for more!
Women is losers
Women is losers
Women is losers, lord, lord, lord, lord!!!!!
I said i know you must have heard it all,
Lord, everywhere
Men always seem to end up on top.
I say they wear a nice shiny armor
Until there is a dragon for to slay.
Now baby,
Course with men beggin' to pay 'em
I'll say they're bound to run away, oh!
Women is losers
Women is losers
Women is losers, lord, lord, lord, lord!!!!!!
I said, i know you must have heard it all
Lord, ev'rywhere
Men almost seem to end up on top, oh!
Women is losers
Women is losers
Women is losers, lord, lord, lord, lord,
Well, i know you must have heard it all,
Men always seem to end up on top.
Oh yeah, they'll use you and confuse you
They'll leave you when no one has thought to play.
They might say to watch out after your conduct
Why the hell there ain't another way, oh!
Women is losers
Women is losers
Women is losers, lord, lord, lord, lord!!!!!!
So now i know you must have heard it all,
Ev'rywhere
Men always seem to end up on top.

song performed by Janis Joplin
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They've Chosen To Be Winners

Picking up those pieces from a running done.
Now taking time when before they gave none.
Less they find offensive too.
With fresh sentiments meant,
They've improved.

Sticking to a purpose with a focused aimed
With minds more open.
And those attitudes changed.

A new day dawning has to them been sent.
To send defensive motives flushed,
With their fluxing minds now rinsed.

And...
They've chosen to be winners!
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
To leave behind their indifference.

They have chosen to be winners.
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
They're winners.
With those sentiments meant.
To leave behind their indifference.

Picking up those pieces from a running done.
Now taking time when before they gave none.
Less they find offensive too.
With fresh sentiments meant they've improved.

And...
They've chosen to be winners!
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
They're winners.
With those sentiments meant.
To leave behind their indifference.

They are winners.
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
They're winners.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Winners Take All

Life's been good
Life's been bad
Now I know
What I had
Has taken it's toll on me
Yes we give
And we take
What we get
Is what we make
Believe that dreams come true
Life is crazy
We're not fools, no, no
The price is high
When you keep the score
Take your souls
And your goals
To the top
Together we stand
We won't take no more
Cause we're winners
And winners take all
Together we stand
We won't take no more
Cause we're winners
And winners take all
We have loved
Burned by fate
But for once
Set the record straight
Time does heal all wounds
You have laughed
We have cried
Paid our dues
Yes we're turned the tide
Mistakes are far and few
We need no guidance
Our aim is true
Down the road
There were many tolls
But we know
Cause we've grown
What we need
Together we stand
We won't take no more
Cause we're winners
And winners take all
Together we stand
We won't take no more
Cause we're winners
And winners take all

[...] Read more

song performed by Quiet Riot
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The Winners Are Always The Heroes

The winners are always the heroes in life it is always this way
The losers are quickly forgotten though a fine and sporting
game they did play
'Tis only a sport it may well seem where people chase after a ball
But many take football quite seriously though 'tis only a game after all,
The winners are always the heroes and that's how it always will be
The fans of the winners are singing rejoicing in their victory
Life and sports are akin in many ways though some may say 'tis only a game
The winners get all of the applause and the winners can bask in their fame,
The winners are always the heroes and the winners get all of the praise
And always only to the winners the toasters their toasting glasses raise
The losers are quickly forgotten though some must lose for some to win
Yet some look on losing as shameful to them there is no greater sin,
In life as in sport the poor losers are the people the masses ignore
And in football the really big hero is the one who kicks the winning score.

poem by Francis Duggan
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Winners & Losers

Pop/jones
Winners and losers which one am i,
Is it the same under the sky?
Black motorcycles and the will to survive
Losers and winners low and high
In this glass and wire world
Surely leeches gain the right
To send their message screaming
One that has no meaning
To people who feel
Questions and questions plain as your nose
But who would believe a little rose?
Winners and losers in love with themselves
No santa claus no happy elves
In this smoking gun existence
It gets harder to unwind
I'll just eat my breakfast
Try to keep my questions
Starving all night
Out in the suburbs i met
My true fine love
Down in the suburbs i met
My true fine love
She gave me money
She gave me head
She gave my everything
And then she went dead
Stick out your thumb
And hit the open road
Cat in a mercedes
Goes by, he's old
He's got some, you got none
Together maybe you can have
Some fun-winners and losers
Gentlemen boozers
Winners and losers
Roll roll roll roll
Roll your money down
Rock rock rock rock
Takln' over this town

song performed by Iggy Pop
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Winners & Losers

Pop/Jones
Winners and losers which one am I,
is it the same under the sky?
black motorcycles and the will to survive
losers and winners low and high
in this glass and wire world
surely leeches gain the right
to send their message screaming
one that has no meaning
to people who feel
questions and questions plain as your nose
but who would believe a little rose?
winners and losers in love with themselves
no santa claus no happy elves
in this smoking gun existence
it gets harder to unwind
i'll just eat my breakfast
try to keep my questions
starving all night
out in the suburbs i met
my true fine love
down in the suburbs i met
my true fine love
she gave me money
she gave me head
she gave my everything
and then she went dead
stick out your thumb
and hit the open road
cat in a mercedes
goes by, he's old
he's got some, you got none
together maybe you can have
some fun-winners and losers
gentlemen boozers
winners and losers
roll roll roll roll
roll your money down
rock rock rock rock
takln' over this town

song performed by Iggy Pop
Added by Lucian Velea
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Even The Losers

Well, it was nearly all summer we sat on your roof
Yeah, we smoked cigarettes and we stared at the moon
And Id show you stars you never could see
Baby, it couldnt have been that easy to forget about me
Baby, time meant n othing, anything seemed real
Yeah, you could kiss like fire and you made me feel
Like every word you said was meant to be
No, it couldnt have been that easy to forget about me
Baby, even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the lo sers keep a little bit of pride
They get lucky sometimes
Two cars parked on the overpass,
Rocks hit the water like broken glass
I should have known right then it was too good to last
God, its such a drag when youre livin in the past
Baby, even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the losers keep a little bit of pride
They get lucky sometimes
Baby, even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the losers keep a little bit of pride
Yeah, they get lucky sometimes
Baby, even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the losers get lucky sometimes

song performed by Tom Petty
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Finders Keepers

I kicked out of the surf
And stuck my board in the sand
And then up in my woody
To a hamburger stand
And when I got back
My nine five board was gone
She said yeah she said
(finders keepers)
Finders keepers
(losers weepers)
Losers weepers
(finders keepers)
Finders keepers
Finders keepers
Losers weepers
I saw a hodaddy
Paddlin out by the pier
Well he musta got my board
cause mine isnt here
But I know how to fix him
Ill just raise that meatball flag
He said yeah he said
(finders keepers)
Finders keepers
(losers weepers)
Losers weepers
(finders keepers)
Finders keepers
Finders keepers
Losers weepers
He took off on a swell
When he saw the flag
Hes just a crazy hodaddy
Pullin some kind of gag
He went over the falls
And now my boards
Coming back to me
I said yes I said
(finders keepers)
Finders keepers
(losers weepers)
Losers weepers
(finders keepers)
Finders keepers
Finders keepers
Losers weepers
(thatll teach him to mess with my board
Next pass next time...)

song performed by Beach Boys
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Stiff Competition

Stiff competition
If i go up-you take me higher
Stiff competition
And when i'm down- you take me higher
There's stiff competition all over the world
I screw you-you screw me-they screw us
Here we go again
Oh- but we have so much fun, so much fun
When we're together
When we're together
When we're together-now
I looked hard in your eyes
It was love at first sight
It took me minutes-you're still waiting
Waiting for your turn, you turn
It won't be long
Stiff competition
I work hard-every day of my life
Stiff competition
Get it up-you take me higher
Stiff competition
All over the world
The more i get- the more i like it
The bigger they are- the harder they fall
Again
Stiff competition
Stiff competition
Stiff competition
Stiff competition

song performed by Cheap Trick
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Ernie

I am the bringer of your wishes,
Your saviour from doing work,
The washer of your dishes,and
Youll still get you mid-day perk.
Estate agent,
Your mansion and pot of gold,
All the home comforts,
Before youre getting tired and old.
One more try,
Try to get what youve never had,
Five more bob,
For the whole world that cant be bad.
We cant all win,
Look its happening,
The futures looking not so bleak,
A thousand winners every week.
A thousand winners every week.
So when you hear me coming,
Along halls and up the stairs,
Get the black teapot,
In the cupboard, under chairs,
Forget all your wives tales,
Or forecasts and dividends,
E.r.n.i.e. feels vibrations,
Only pays out to trusting friends.
One more try,
Try to get what youve never had,
Five more bob,
For the whole world that cant be bad.
We cant all win,
Look its happening,
The futures looking not so bleak,
A thousand winners every week.
A thousand winners every week.
Keep your hand on the bottle,
And your eyes glued upon the set,
When the score cards come up,
Could be you for the big one next.
Publicity, no thank you,
On the front page of the currant bun,
They think you stink,
But in the pub youll be number one.
One more try,
Try to get what youve never had,
Five more bob,
For the whole world that cant be bad.
We cant all win,
Look its happening,
The futures looking not so bleak,
A thousand winners every week.

[...] Read more

song performed by Madness
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On Passing Cromwell Street

In Melbourne streets named in his honour though he does not warrant such fame
For he lived a life of dishonour yet he never felt any shame
For his crimes against the poor of Ireland the winners write the history they say
And historians are too kind to Cromwell the one who did awful things in his day.

He evicted the poor of rural Ireland those who only knew of poverty
And put them on the hard road to Connacht the victims of crimes against humanity
His army were thugs and not soldiers for they did things that soldiers ought not do
The winners always write the history though their version of history is often not true.

In Cromwell's time the winners wrote the history and the winners still write the history today
But for any crimes against humanity the winners too should be made to pay
But Cromwell and his army honoured for their crimes in Ireland against the poor defenceless poor
'Tis sad to think that one so unworthy of a place in history is secure.

To hell or to Connacht his catch cry he forced thousands of poor families on the road
To people who were penniless and innocent not one scrap of mercy he showed
Thousands of them died in the harsh Irish Winter when homelessness on them took it's toll
Because they were poor they were punished though their life circumstances beyond their control.

I think of the untruths of history each time I drive by Cromwell street
The history written by winners their history of lies and deceit
I say to myself they honour a tyrant and I struggle for to understand
Why they name a street after somebody who oppressed the poor of Ireland.

Andrew Marvell in verse glorified Cromwell but he was one who would not know
What Cromwell and his army got up to in Ireland in those bleak times centuries ago
But he only believed what they told him and they told him what he wanted to hear
History often written by unworthy people those who rule by terror and fear.

In Melbourne streets named in his honour his poor victims long forgotten and gone
Into the World of the forgotten but Cromwell's fame is living on
And the lessons we should have learned from history did not lead to a fair go for all
And the winners only write the story though the real truth they never recall.

poem by Francis Duggan
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The Winners Write The History

That the winners write the war histories should not be the case
For war is a tragedy a human disgrace
And the losers in war see their Country destoyed
And the war history never written by the losing side.

Look at Oliver Cromwell victorious in war
The deeds of his glory from England known far
But those who write on Cromwell they never do tell
Of one who for poor people made life Earthly hell.

To the Catholics of Ireland Cromwell was a brute
The poor rural peasants he did persecute
Yet streets in his honour distant from England today
The winners only write the history so true what they say.

Efrain Rios Montt became President of Guatemala even though he
Was guilty of serious crimes against humanity
An old man now but for his crimes yet to pay
The winners write the history it's always been that way.

Augusto Pinochet in Chile has blood on his hands
And that he may die a free man seems hard to understand
And though loathed by many in Chile for his crimes of shame
The winners write the history and their's is the fame.

I've just mentioned a few for there are many more
Who have committed crimes against humanity but like it has been said before
that the winners write the history and that's how 'twill remain
And the mistakes of the past are repeated again.

poem by Francis Duggan
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The World Cup, A Common Stage

The World Cup is a common stage
It is an arena for winners
and an arena for losers
Without the losers, there is no
proclamation of winners.

The winners may rejoice
to have scored more
But their victory only happens
because there are those who
have scored less.

As a common arena in life's
test of strength and wits,
the winners can rejoice
but still without forgetting
that they win because others lose.

Those who lose do no lose
their great value in that common stage.

poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen
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An Ode to Paul

A soothe- saying invertebrate
Takes the world stage by storm
By accurately predicting winners
And by deduction the losers too
The ecstatic winners are thrilled
To offer him goodies and publish
Eulogies about his stunning feat
In accurately predicting their wins
The losers of course have their guns
Trained on the poor psychic octopus

Some onlookers observe the scene
With a quiet sense of amusement
As the creature hogs the headlines
“Preserve him, give him 24/7 security”
Shout the soccer tournament winners
“Get your pans ready for fried octopus
Hopefully Paul will make a tasty dish”
Shout the more distraught losers
The muse in me, sits back and wonders
“What is the world coming to - if our
Future lies in the tentacles of an octopus! ! ”

poem by Sandra Martyres
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Global Pt. II: Global-I-Nation

I am global
Nobody can stop me
No election’s gimmicks, nor the cynics
And surely not the hopeful

I am global
I mass produce misery
By the truckload I touch those
Too basic for delivery
While handing, then branding
Them all with all our livery
They’ll risk and bleed to fill the need
For the next thing doomed to history

I am global
I work to kill jobs
Sending companies overseas
Turning people into mobs
But they never stay for a lower pay
Too small to pull corn off the cob
Why should I cry, be in favor of labor?
I’ll bring robots in to sob

I am global
I set aside to squander
The futures of the losers
Too broke to money launder
Listen to the wail ‘I’m too big to fail’
While my last scruple flies out and wanders
My cash is made ‘fore your life is saved
Hmm…So much for first responders

I am global
I lie inside a network
Within the phone, within your home
I take away the guesswork
Of what you do and if you knew
That previous your chest hurt
To keep you right and living life
As thrilling as a desk clerk

I am global
I bar any invention
I take resources to raze ‘free’ forces
I’m larger than dissension
I speak in tongues of bourgeois slums
I invade all intentions
I eat small fish like a sushi dish
And starve you for attention

poem by P.R. Prosper
Added by Poetry Lover
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To Play the Games

In a special place, in peace they met, they met again.
Far, far from the curse of violence, a place of peace.
Cultivated to propagate comraderie,
Through peaceful competition, garnering good will.
They came to play, from all places, to play the games.
With outstretched hand, they met,
broad warm, warm open smiles.
Renewing memories, they embraced,
light hearts, of past fond rapport.
Renewed friendships, and welcoming new friends.

Shadows of animosity, none to be found.
For the games it was, they came to play.
In contention peaceful, winter, summer,
they would play the games.
In these games, races to be run.
Feats of strength and skill performed.
Team and individual challenges.
Competition always fierce, without question.
Still winners all, losers not accepted.

With heart ‘n’ soul, all would compete.
Yet competition, ever friendly, always fair.
Without malice, losses accepted, but with grin.
Mutual admiration competitors shared.
The dedication required to attain excellence, all aware.
For all must fall, before they excelled.
Winners, runner’s up, last to complete the task.
To all, applause awarded.
With mixed emotion the norm, awards accepted.
Pride, humility, honor, apparent in all.
Respect for homelands represented, manifest,
whenever, they played the games.
Came the day, the games ceased.
Judgments rendered, awards all claimed.
Time at last to tread the homeward path.
Fond farewells, smiles ‘n’ tears mixed.
‘Til to play the games, they meet once more.

20Feb10

poem by Kurt Hearth
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My Global Mind

Theres hunger in africa,
And anger on assembly lines.
At the touch of a button
Im miles away.
I want no connection, just information,
And Im gone.
I feel so helpless,
So I turn my gaze to another place.
My global mind reaches out for the truth.
Why try holding back the wave?
Youll only drown in the changes.
Youve got to learn to let go.
Just let go and experience the flight.
Try to see from a different side..
If balance is the key
Maybe well see
A future understanding,
Then we wont feel so helpless,
An turn away and hide from the change.
My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.
Time and rules are changing.
Attention span is quickening.
Welcome to the information age.
I feel so helpless,
So I turn my gaze to another place.
My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.
My global mind reaches out for the truth.
My global mind zeros in on you.
Its searching everywhere,
Across the mountains,
Across the oceans,
Across every man made line.
No boundary gonna keep it from you.

song performed by Queensryche
Added by Lucian Velea
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All This Information

All of us seem to walk away from everything
It takes a certain amount of originality to describe this place as home
And all of us seem to walk away from everything
It takes a certain amount of originality to describe yourself as interesting
And all of us seem to walk away from everything
It takes a certain amount of originality to describe yourself as home
All this information that we have to choose from
It means nothing to you
It means nothing to you
There's no suggestion that it's needless
When the competition is so needless
It's all so meaningless
There's no suggestion that it's needless
When the competition is so needless
It's all so meaningless
All of us seem to walk away from everything
It takes a certain amount of personality to describe yourself as interesting
And all of us seem to walk away from everything
It takes a certain amount of personality to describe yourself as truly truly honest
All this information that we have to choose from
It means nothing to you
It means nothing to you
There's no suggestion that it's needless
When the competition is so needless
It's all so meaningless
There's no suggestion that it's needless
When the competition is so needless
It's all so meaningless
There's no suggestion that it's needless
When the competition is so needless
It's all so meaningless
There's no suggestion that it's needless
When the competition is so needless
It's so needless when things change

song performed by Idlewild
Added by Lucian Velea
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By Those Interested In War History

By those interested in war history war history is read
But the winners write the war history or so it is said
That is how it is and will always be
What is true to one is not to another that's how it seems to me
Of war and war heroes many stories are written and many poems to recite
And mostly of war winners that war writers stories do write
And readers believe what they want to believe
And the mothers of the war dead for their dead children grieve
In war as in life 'tis the winners who count
And the stories of losers to little amount
For the dead war heroes many a parade
And far too many films of war have been made
And 'tis mostly the winners write the war history
That is how it is and always will be.

poem by Francis Duggan
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