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The military wants a system that protects its policies and privileges.

quote by Benazir Bhutto
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You Are In My System

Day by day and night by night
I feel you in my mind
It happens all the time
You know the day dreams stop
My heart beats on
I cant take it any more
It's you I live for
You are in my system
You are in my system
I just want you to know that,
You are in my system
You oooohhhh youre in my system, system
Dont you, Dont you, dont you know that, babe.
I will keep on pushing, pushing, pushing
Until I get through
My main objective baby is to get to you
To turn your mind around
I know will take time
But you know I can wait, now
Youre on my mind
You are in my system
I just want you to know that,
You are in my system
Got me burning, Im on fire
You, youre in my system
Youre everything I need
You, oooohhhh, youre in my system, system
Dont you, Dont you, dont you know that, babe.
Its a romantic vision of me and you
It happens all the time
My dreams are filled with you
Theres no doubt in my mind
That Ill be true baby
You know Ill take you out
And Ill keep lovin you
Oh baby you are in my system,
I just want you to know that
You are in my system
Cut me right down to the wire
You, ooohh, youre in my system
Got me burning Im on fire
You, youre in my system
Cant make believe
You, youre in my system
Youre everything I need
You, Ooohh, youre in my system
I just want you to know that
You, youre my system
Got me burning Im on fire
You, youre in my system

song performed by Robert Palmer
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System Of Life

Now its time to look in your eyes
Youre so much better its no surprise
Its like a mirror is watching you
Maybe the words been broken - dont be no fool
Following the lights you see like a rolling train
Yesterday is gone - tomorrows in your hands
Something youve had is gone - dont wish it back
Let it go - dont run away - its nothing youll forget
You know the rules dont need no warning
Theres only one way to find the clue
Inside you so let it go
System of life - be the hunted or the hunter
System of life
System of life - its always by your side
System of life - the one and only way to live in harmony
Dont paint a picture full of love and hate
Paradise is here - but exceptions prove the rules
Sometimes it feels just like a dream becoming true
Close your eyes - look inside - it will never be the same
cause for your life there aint no warning
So stand up and fight to find the clue
So watch out you live and learn
Its the
System of life - be the broken or the breaker
System of life
Its the
System of life - its always real and true
System of life - the one and only way to live in harmony
Yeah - yeah
Oh, its the
System of life - be the hunted or the hunter
System of life
Its the
System of life - its always by your side
System of life - the one and only way to live in harmony
Its the
System of life - be the taken or the taker
System of life
Its the
System of life - its always real and true
System of life

song performed by U. D. O.
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Shock To The System

Woah yeah
It was a night, l.a., burning bright
Oh what a night
Say yeah,come on
It makes my world stand still
Ahh riot, rape, race and revolution, ah yeah
Here come the fire, and my world burns still
Yoww say yeah
Well, you can rock this land baby yowww
Like a shock to the system
I feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
Say yeah, aint it irie
It was a night
Hell of a night, l.a., it really was
Oh what a riot
I said yeah, come on
It makes my life feel real
Fear police and civil corruption oh yeah
Is there a man who would be king
And the world stood still
Ah yeah loud
You can rock this land baby
Yeahhh
Like a shock to the system
It feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
I said yeah, come on baby
Shock to the system
Feel good, well alright
Like a shock, shock to the system
I say yeah, I say yeah, I say yeah
Come on baby
Yeah, well you can rock this land baby
Like a shock, shock to the system
It feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
I say yeah
Aint it irie
Shock to the system
It feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
I say yeah
I say yeah
I say yeah, come on baby
Shock to the, shock to the
Shock to the system
Loud I gotta
Shock to the, shock to the
Shock to the system

[...] Read more

song performed by Billy Idol
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The Bald Eagle Has Broken The Geneva Convention

Only a monster could observe
naked suffering of concentration
extermination camps and not thank
God for liberation closing of this crime.

A crime inditing systematic political indifference
to a horrific crime perpetrated against humanity.

Only a monster could observe
calculated humiliation human rights
abuses torture violation of international
law Geneva Conventions and not pray closure.

International law for humanitarian treatment of
victims of war as 90% in Guantanamo proved to be.

Fact! The Geneva Convention agreements of 1949
negotiated in the aftermath of World War II updated
the terms of the first three treaties and added a fourth.

Fact! Articles defined the basic rights of those captured
during a military conflict, establishing protections for
the wounded, and addressing protections for civilians.

“The treaties of 1949 were ratified, in whole or with
reservations, by 194 countries” including the USA Mr Bush.

Placing Guantanamo outside the United States to avoid
violating American laws, while deliberately violating
international law, and Geneva Conventions, sends a strong

message to the free world; spelling out meaning of Bush
new world order, and foolish contempt of world opinion.
Arrogant is a word, reserved for illegal, fuel war in Iraq.

When deliberately targeting infrastructure, hospitals
electricity water schools, non-military targets, a word
for the wise. This does not win hearts and minds, but

individuals; communities, governments, nations
globally, observe infrastructure is deliberately
destroyed; selection fixed to suppress control demoralize.

Soon such policies Guantanamo abuses
are compared to a few little sentences
Mr Bush Pentagon staff should have read.

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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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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Johnny Goes To War

At the age of eighteen
just after writing his final matriculation exam,
Johnny is called up to do military service
and when the pickup on the farm
have two flat tyres
and Johnny cannot get to the station in time,

he is fetched by three broad shouldered
military policemen who initially
want to arrest him
and shove him into a waiting military pickup van.

In the army he receives food
that gives him stomach flue
and for the first week
is almost stuck to the loo
and the mash potatoes
coming from a packet as powder,
runs into everything and has no salt in it

while the Colonel, the officers
and non-commissioned officers
have a feast in their mess,
having roasted beef and chicken
and eat as if they are truly blessed

and his hair is cut just above the scull,
he’s forced into an overall,
feels and looks like a criminal
while the instructors, the officers
and commanders wear normal uniforms

and he is chased up and down,
has to run to some trees
three kilometres far and back,
to bring a leave
and every time it’s not the right one

and the passing black citizens
at the railway tracks and on the road
shake their heads
and think that white men are nuts.

Day and night the instructor
slanders and curses at him,
he is put on duty
to guard armoured cars and trucks,
forced to run with poles and truck tyres
and to be just like his fellow military men,
even his girlfriend’s love letters,

[...] Read more

poem by Gert Strydom
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Human “pop Tarts”?

Military unsatisfied with guns n’ drones
Soon may beam microwaves on Afghans’
Their skin will burn, while victims groan
Until they yield ‘selves to harsh demands

ROTMS

US may ‘microwave’ Afghan targets
Published on 06-19-2010

Source: Press TV

The US military may be testing a controversial weapon that focuses microwave energy with a so-called “goodbye effect” on targets in Afghanistan, a report says.

The new system, called the “Active Denial System, ” is designed to shoot an invisible beam of high-energy waves at people, creating an intense burning sensation, AOL News initially reported on June 17.

According to some sources, the new system is still undergoing tests at military laboratories.

The focused waves quickly become intolerable and burn the skin layers, forcing the targets to disperse.

US may microwave Afghan targets 260310banner2

The new “nonlethal” weapon has been in Afghanistan for testing but has not been used in military operations, the report quoted an unnamed US Air Force officer as saying.

In 2008, the Pentagon considered deploying the Active Denial System in Iraq, but the effort was thwarted over policy concerns.

The US Department of Defense first admitted to the weapon’s existence in 2001 without disclosing further information about the device.

poem by Ray Lucero
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Shock To My System

So there I stood, square on my side of the great divide
A message came across a void
And for the first time in my life
Im awake, Im alive
I thought I was immune to this
til I felt the static charges in the air
I touch you, youre a live wire
Youre the raw fire burning in my heart
And it took me by surprise, thats no lie
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
A spark, a real shock
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
You start I cant stop
You taught me how to listen, shock to my system
My soul, my skin, you plug me in
And all of my pain is gone just like it never was
For the first time in my life I know what I feel
Now every time we touch Im caught off my guard
Thats no lie
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system,
A spark, a real shock
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
You start I cant stop
You taught me how to listen shock to my system
Shock to my system
Shock to my system
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
You start I cant stop...

song performed by Rick Springfield
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Blind Justice And The Godfather

The United States
Supreme Court
lacks creditable
determinable
unity of purpose.

Guantanamo Bay
is a geographical
miscarriage of justice.

Guantanamo Bay
sanctioned sanitized
political spin styled military;
‘is a detainment facility
of the United States
located in (Castro) Cuba.’

The Boy Scouts
honour badges
ran summer camps
detainment areas
three Gitmo resorts

Camp Delta/ Echo
Camp Iguana but
Camp X-Ray was;
closed due to naughty
torture techniques

that’s human rights
violations
ok boys and girls?

The Justice Department?
Said its ok because
Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp
is our sneaky hidy-hole
outside U.S. legal jurisdiction!

Fuhrer Reich
Chancellor Bush
declared detainees;
were not allowed
not allowed

any protections
under humane
Geneva Conventions!

January 11,2002

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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Shock To The System

Released on cd singles leave virginia alone, 1995 (usa) and on youre the star, 1995 (europe)
(rod stewart/andy taylor)
Well she came from the motor city
From a clean white neighbor hood
She had a degree in social science
She came out here to hollywood
Shes a six foot sultry beauty
With an eye for polynisian art
In a short shirt and doctor martens
She could kick start a dead mans heart
Its not what she say
Its all in her sway
Shes a shock to the system
Its not how she talk
Its all in her walk
Its a shock to the system
Shes a rough cut sacred diamond
In a sea of mediocre style
She just wants the pro shot body
She may be crazy but shes no wild child
She have the old folks out on sundays
Plays piano in a rock and blues band
She dont drink, smoke, dope or do cocaine
But she parties hard all the same
Its not what she say
Its all in her sway
Shes a shock to the system
Its not how she talk
Its all in her walk
Shes a shock to the system
Oh yea
Shock me baby
Shock me baby
As I was walking home one night
In the streets that never sleep
In that sub terrainian part of town
Where love is never found
On a billboard on the topless place
I noticed her pretty face
It said appearing here twice nightly
(...........)
Well she had a whole lot of money
And went back home to michigan
She had maximized her potential
But didnt scandilaze the family name
Its not what she say
Its all in her sway
Its a shock to the system
Its not how she talk
Its all in her walk

[...] Read more

song performed by Rod Stewart
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Uninformed Masses Believed Earth Was Flat

once uninformed masses
believed the earth was flat
during medieval dark ages

yet esteemed ancient Greeks
knew earth was really a sphere
calculated degree of horizons

now sol is a singular star believe masses
yet over 80% of all solar systems
according to NASA have multiple suns

bright stellar fires of smaller suns
some not much bigger than Jupiter
most common suns brown dwarfs

12 to 80 times Jupiter’s size brown dwarfs
found floating freely in interstellar space
also proliferate as binary star companions

is our Sol our sun really a singular solar system?
remember over 80% are binary solar systems
is it possible earth’s sun is a binary solar system?

accepted theory our Sun formed as a singular star
with a uniform proto-planetary disk yet evidence
from outer solar system is far more complicated

the Sun formed as part of a wide binary system?
the smaller partner of which is a sub-brown dwarf?
the early solar system two spinning gaseous clumps?

nursery matter orbits two proto-planetary disks
orbit around each other at 200 Astronomical Units
distance together from beginning of our earth’s

solar system now locked into a 3600 year binary orbit

the larger Sol 'classical’ proto-planetary disk
forms the Sun the second forms a sub-brown
dwarf plus independent proto-planetary disk

this scenario explains anomalies
of the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt
and an inexplicable gap of objects

beyond 50AU it provides
a very sensible mechanism
a brown dwarf could form

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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Smart Power

The word and rod are both a part
of power, soft but also hard,
together they are very smart,
each one the other’s guard.
Without the word you can’t inspire
confidence and mutual trust,
but rod must be its pacifier,
or word will quickly gather dust.
Be smart and let them both combine,
the smartness of the word and rod,
and cautious people won’t consign
the combination to their God.

Joseph S. Nye, the Harvard University, political scientist wrote in Foreign Affairs on July 1,2007:

The willingness of other countries to cooperate in dealing with transnational issues such as terrorism depends in part on their own self-interest, but also on the attractiveness of American positions. Soft power lies in the ability to attract and persuade rather than coerce. It means that others want what the United States wants, and there is less need to use carrots and sticks. Hard power, the ability to coerce, grows out of a country's military and economic might. Soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies. When U.S. policies appear legitimate in the eyes of others, American soft power is enhanced. Hard power will always remain crucial in a world of nation-states guarding their independence, but soft power will become increasingly important in dealing with the transnational issues that require multilateral cooperation for their solution.

One of Rumsfeld's 'rules' is that 'weakness is provocative.' In this, he is correct. As Osama bin Laden observed, it is best to bet on the strong horse. The effective demonstration of military power in the second Gulf War, as in the first, might have a deterrent as well as a transformative effect in the Middle East. But the first Gulf War, which led to the Oslo peace process, was widely regarded as legitimate, whereas the legitimacy of the more recent war was contested. Unable to balance American military power, France, Germany, Russia, and China created a coalition to balance American soft power by depriving the United States of the legitimacy that might have been bestowed by a second UN resolution. Although such balancing did not avert the war in Iraq, it did significantly raise its price. When Turkish parliamentarians regarded U.S. policy as illegitimate, they refused Pentagon requests to allow the Fourth Infantry Division to enter Iraq from the north. Inadequate attention to soft power was detrimental to the hard power the United States could bring to bear in the early days of the war. Hard and soft power may sometimes conflict, but they can also reinforce each other. And when the Jacksonians mistake soft power for weakness, they do so at their own risk.

11/7/07

poem by Gershon Hepner
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If they understand, which I believe they really are sensing, that the alternative the Republicans have been offering is to repeal what we've done, to go back to Bush policies - and if you asked the public what would you prefer, Bush economic policies or Obama economic policies, they take and prefer Obama economic policies.

quote by Carl Levin
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Leaves On The Line

Britain's debt hits a trillion pounds,
What we owe is rising fast,
The response from Cameron really astounds,
Everything's the fault of the past.

Youth unemployment hits a record high,
To the chancellors eternal shame,
His excuses would make a grown man cry
He claims their policies are not to blame.

Billions of pounds of new spyplanes are binned,
Aircraft carriers without one plane,
Our armed forces are being skinned,
Having no defence is utterly insane.

Utility bills are out of control,
As people are dying from the cold,
Culling the weak is this government's goal,
Be worried if you're disabled or old.

Inflation is over four per cent,
Another government pledge is broken,
But still the chancellor won't repent,
That statistic will remain unspoken.

The previous government caused it all,
They're responsible for all this fuss,
If you've got a problem give them a call,
It's got nothing to do with us.

It was all down to the winter snow,
Because it was so severe,
To the shops the nation couldn't go,
The weather had them living in fear.

Unemployment levels hit their highest for years,
Government policies didn't cause this mess,
It was the royal wedding that brought us to tears,
It's that which caused all our stress.

Our economy is now falling apart,
We've now entered another recession,
From their disastrous policies they will not depart,
They're giving us all depression.

Now it's the fault of the Eurozone,
Our austerity was caused by them,
If in doubt give them a phone,
As an excuse it's another gem.

[...] Read more

poem by Bri Mar
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Neoliberalism And The IMF

Who imposed neoliberalism upon
its victims and what is vile agenda?
Neoliberalism revealed road to hell.

As neoliberalism spreads
agenda fed around the world
like a modern day plague

or a Sheriff of Nottingham
coldly counting out gold coins
amassed stolen from serfdom.

We skip merrily to powerhouse
baron modern day bankers
International Monetary Fund.

The serf medieval farmer
of feudal Europe cultivating
land belonging to a knight?

The landowner buys sells serfs
as land is bought and sold
purchased sold with the land.

Who today could be likened
to a labourer legally bound by
law serving his lord master?

Who indeed? Ignoring modern
slavery more prolific than ever
historically in contemporary
many layered twistered forms?

Is it true that around the world
neoliberalism is imposed by
powerful financial institutions?

Esteemed institutions like famous
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
the Inter-American Development
Bank and the World Bank. Yes!

Banks rape raging all over Latin America!

Neo-liberalism weeds CIA its way into Chile
courtesy agenda of University of Chicago
Milton Friedman who hates welfare dependency
CIA-supports coup against local popularly
elected Allende regime in takeover 1973
then takes out regimes in other countries...

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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Future Watch Burma To Syria Conflicts Rising

been watching
the future today...

from past lens astray

Burma as expected
has developed
ethnic problems

with sudden absence
of strict communist
dictatorship firm leash

Burmese are no longer
all brother communists
controlled by the state

past civic grievances
rise from postmortem
state of frozen stasis

past horrors play
on revenge rabid minds
need exercising?

past spectre struggles
post World War II conflicts
leave skeletons in closets

frozen nightmares divisions
war atrocities split Yugoslavia
post familiar communist thaw

emotively haunted people
seem to need to grim settle
past trauma before each

can move on embrace
future possibilities opportunities
in free market societies

when no longer linked
in brotherhood communist
cast iron citizenships

emotively many people
seem to need to settle
the past before they can

move on

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
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Perfect System

Im in love with you I know
And I know that you love me too
Im in love with you I know
Im in love with everyone too
Were all comrades now you know
Were all brothers under the skin
With a few adjustments now
Living in the perfect system
The adjustments simple there is really no pain
Youll hardly notice anything has changed
Living in a programmed life never really has ups and downs
Theres no need for fighting now
Theres no reason to wear a frown
In a perfect system
Theres no confrontation
Unnecessary friction
To impede our concentration
Weve simply done away with
Unnecessary friction
I live in a system
I got an occupation
I get enough nutrition
By eating protein biscuits
Recommended by the system
Its routine regulation
I had an operation . . .
Im in love with you I know
And I know that you love me too
Im in love with you I know
Im in love with everyone too
I can tell by the look in your blank dull eyes
That you agree, but Im not a bit surprised
Living in a programmed life never really has ups and downs
Theres no need for fighting now
Theres no reason to wear a frown
I had an operation
With no adverse reaction
They tampered with my brain some
It helped me see the reason
For living in the system
It helped me see the reason
(were all brothers in a perfect world)
In a perfect world theres uniformity
(were all brothers in a perfect world)
In a perfect world theres conformity
(were all brothers in a perfect world)
Theres no need for spontaneity
Perfect system were all brothers to the end
Brothers to the end
Brothers to the end

[...] Read more

song performed by Oingo Boingo
Added by Lucian Velea
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Military Man

The fightings over now
Theres nowhere left to run
My ammunitions out
Id better put down my gun
And as I face this life of fear
Id better keep my conscience clear
Inside my mind Im out of it
And I aint never coming back
Chorus:
So dont come running here to find me
cos Im a military man
And as I spin this wheel of fortune
In my military world
Im a military man
The architects of time
Are calling me
But I dont believe it
Necessarily
And as I face this life of fear
Break the chains
That bind me here
Inside my head Im out of it
But Im still never coming back
Chorus
Im a military man
Just a military man yes I am

song performed by Asia
Added by Lucian Velea
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My Service to This Country

If there is any experience I've had in my life,
I am most proudest to have accomplished.
Would be my service to this country,
In the military!

In the military,
I experienced true friendship.
Strict discipline.
And was taught 'why' and reasons,
I should and must respect.

The men and women from all walks of life,
Were dedicated and loyal.
And all could trust what was done,
Was to benefit the cause...
Of what was correct and upright!

Those without this experience,
Seem to be superficial, selfish.
Lacking a self respect and/or common sense.

And the military is the only institution,
Where young people grow...
Acquiring a maturity not on the common man bestowed.
And those who treat the ones of military experience...
As people who protect their interests,
And then can easily dispose.
Make foolish judgements based on temptations and whims.
And their insecurities are taken for granted!
And this clearly shows.

If there is any experience I've had in my life,
I am most proudest to have accomplished.
Would be my service to this country,
In the military!

And glad upon my life,
This has been bestowed!

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Slave 2 The System

Slave) {repeat in song}
Slave, yeah {x2}
Slave 2 the system here before I was born
Slave 2 the master, workin' me till I'm worn
The only penthouse I can count on's a big black ball and chain
Slave 2 the system, the future's all arranged
Oh, U better fetch that water, boy {x2}
Slave 2 the system
Thompson's my last name, but my daddy's name is Lloyd
The farther back I trace it, the more it becomes null and void
All my life I've struggled just 2 be called a boy
Slave 2 the system, oh what a joy
Oh, U better fetch that water, boy
Hell if I do!
(Oh, U better fetch that water, boy)
Oh, I'm just a slave 2 the system
Here before I was born
Slave 2 the master, workin' me till I'm worn
Slave 2 the system

song performed by Prince
Added by Lucian Velea
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