Stephen Lendman

Zygmunt Bauman is UK-based University of Leeds Emeritus Professor of Sociology. His work spans five decades. He's now aged 87. His wide-ranging interests include consumerism, globalization, ethics, power, the status of workers, intellectuals in society, and nature of modern relationships.

He's best known for analyzing links between modernity and the Jewish holocaust, postmodern consumerism, and discussing broad moral/political perspectives. He distinguishes between earlier modernity forms ("solid modernity") and what's commonplace today. It's characterized by fragile social relations, he believes. They're created and broken by neoliberal harshness.

His metaphorical use of "liquidity" captures the shifting character of individualized/globalized lives. His new book is titled "Culture in a Liquid Modern World." Among other topics it discusses culture in a globalized world and what's happening in today's Europe. He describes utopia's end. In recent decades it's been privatized. It once meant imagining well-designed societies. They guaranteed meaningful, dignified, gratifying lives. Today's world is inhospitable. It's beyond redemption, he believes.

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Wolfgang Weber

German Chancellor Angela Merkel chats with
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert (R)
before the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin.

The return of German imperialism
German industry, government planning for resource wars

On Tuesday, February 19, the German cabinet consisting of the Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union and Free Democratic Party agreed to deploy 330 German soldiers for a long-term mission in Mali.

Prior to March 1 the German parliament (Bundestag) will be presented with two separate mandates and is expected to give parliamentary approval to German participation in France’s shabby colonial war in Africa. The Bundestag debate on the cabinet proposal commenced on Wednesday.

According to the terms of the first mandate, 180 armed soldiers are to be deployed to Mali as part of a European Union “training mission”. The German contingent includes 40 engineers and 40 soldiers with medical training plus military physicians. The task of the other 100 soldiers is to “protect German soldiers” and provide “support when necessary”.

The second mandate involves 150 soldiers carrying out “logistical support”. This involves the use of an Airbus for the refuelling in the air of French Rafale fighter jets and Mirage bombers. Without air refuelling the French planes would be unable to cover the long distances from France and other African countries to their targets in Mali.

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Stephen Lendman

Jeremy Hammond

America is no democracy. It never was an isn't now. Obama enforces police state harshness. It's official policy. Lawless entrapment reflects it.

Hammond is one many victims. Some call him the other Bradley Manning. They do so for good reason. He founded the web site HackThisSite. In 2003, he created it after graduating from high school.

On March 5, 2012, FBI agents arrested him in Chicago. They'd been investigating the Anonymous hactivist group. They use computers for political activism. They're connected likeminded groups. They include LulzSec, Internet Feds and AntiSec. Hammond's an AntiSec member. He and five other computer hackers were charged with high-profile cyberattack crimes. Accusations allege he committed them against corporations and government entities. His views are clear and unequivocal.

"I have always made it clear that I am an anarchist-communist," he says. "I believe we need to abolish capitalism and the state in its entirety to realize a free, egalitarian society." "I am not into watering down or selling out the message or making it more marketable for the masses."

His commitment led to his undoing. He believed betrayal was a click away. "We know we'll finish in prison," a fellow hacker said. "Jeremy knew he'd be raided." It's why he worked quickly. "He wants people to remember him." He never imagined one of his own would betray him. Hector Xavier Monsegur (aka Sabu) was a trusted ally. He ended up conspiring with FBI agents instead. More on that below.

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