The OB Media Rundown for 3/26/12

Memo Show Corzine Ordered Raiding MF Global Customer Account of $200 Million

We know America is a hopeless kleptocracy, but if Corzine does not go to jail, given the revelation that he approved the raiding of a customer account of $200 million, it means that no one in the officialdom is interested in keeping up the pretense that we have a functioning regulatory and judicial system.

http://tinyurl.com/7n6hxnu

Capitalist Life-Crises and The North American Left: Problems and Prospects

The struggles across the Middle East and North Africa and on-going resistance to austerity in Europe catalysed a fightback in North America – the Occupy Movement – that no one saw coming. Together, all testify to the pervasive and deepening crisis of capitalism, not just as an economic system, but as a comprehensive way of living and valuing.

This civilizational crisis creates the opportunity for a renewal of socialist politics, but also poses hard questions to socialists: what does capitalist crisis mean on the deepest levels, what are the lessons of the Occupy movement, what ought our relationship to existing political and social institutions be, and how to do we go about building a broad democratic movement that has a plausible chance of overcoming capitalist life-crises? The following ten theses aim to be part of a conversation, not the conclusion to an argument.

http://tinyurl.com/7tv8xcj

Letter to the editor: Cape Occupiers, like many, grateful to Calvary Baptist

Occupy Cape Cod has been meeting at the Calvary Baptist Church for the past five months. We have been welcomed there in an extraordinarily generous way, which seems to be characteristic of Pastor Smith and his congregation.

They give witness to Christ and what it means to follow him.

http://tinyurl.com/7fp25jy

Will Catholic Bishops Be GOP Pawns?

If there are large potential benefits to the alliance, though, there are even greater risks. The best-case scenario for both parties is that the Church’s moral authority will buttress the GOP’s political prospects, and vice versa. But moral authority is a nebulous and fleeting thing, and the U.S. bishops have been passive in the one area – economic justice – where they possess a deep wellspring of authority. Instead they seem prepared to go to the wall over sex, an area where the Church has lost all credibility over the past decade.

So it’s possible that the alliance will become less a virtuous cycle than a death spiral. The bishops continue to erode their moral authority with their silence on economic issues, while the GOP’s resistance to gay rights, in deference to its religiously devout voters, becomes an increasingly extreme stance. In other words, it might turn out to be a devil’s bargain. Made with good intentions, of course.

http://tinyurl.com/7y36dln

Occupy Eugene Offers Free Haircuts

Occupy Eugene members took to the streets Sunday, this time cutting and styling hair.

The Occupy medical tent, that’s been setting up on the corner of 7th Ave. and Pearl St. once a week, hosted a free haircut day.

The goal wasn’t just to offer the free service but to also collect hair to donate to the American Cancer Society, which will then turn the hair into wigs for children battling cancer.

http://tinyurl.com/7v256k3

Chicagoans demand justice for Trayvon

Wearing hoodies and carrying ice tea and skittles, like Trayvon Martin did when he was shot and killed, dozens of protestor rallied at Daley Plaza, mourning the death of the 17-year-old.

“The only way I feel there’s any hope of getting justice for Trayvon Martin is a campaign of public support” Occupy Chicago protestor Anton Ford said.

http://tinyurl.com/6mbfptu

Richmond prosecutor plans to try ultrasound protesters [VA]

Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring, a Democrat, said that he – like the protesters – disapproves of the Republican-sponsored bill requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before getting an abortion.

“I thought it was an awful piece of legislation,” Herring said last week. “In another life, I might be out there with the protesters.”

But Herring said his opinion of the legislation will not affect how his office handles the cases in court, although he added that he is somewhat reluctant to prosecute a group of people who were holding a nonviolent demonstration. Herring also discussed his view of the criminal cases and said police handled themselves appropriately during the March 3 rally, which drew hundreds of protesters to Capitol Square.

http://tinyurl.com/6rvega2

Bolivia and Argentina: They Said “No” to the Austerity Jackals – and Prospered

One of the interesting things about the widespread depression of the last five years is that it’s hit different places with varying effects. One of the other interesting things is that the places that are doing the best are the ones whose people have told the austerity jackals to bugger off. Yet another of the interesting things is that the establishment media outlets in the US aren’t exactly eager to tell you about these places.

http://tinyurl.com/7daz4bb

Top EU ‘technocrat’ demands more austerity measures from Spain

The European Union’s top economic official said the recent sharp rise in Spanish borrowing costs was the result of perceptions Madrid was seeking to wriggle out of tough deficit-shrinking targets.

Olli Rehn has called on the Spanish government to push through more austerity measures. Mr Rehn, the EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, also said the EU would toughen debt-crisis defences to guard against future risks.

http://tinyurl.com/7pvlurt