Peace Prize Winner Sells Guns to Bahrain in Secret

AP: Humvee & M113 near Pearl Roundabout

Readers may remember that the kingdom of Bahrain used Saudi troops to help quash protesting citizens during the "Arab Spring" uprising [photo]. But the oppressive character of the country's government does not stop the Obama administration from selling it advanced weaponry in secret. Fearful that public arms sales to Bahrain would met with widespread condemnation during an election cycle, the Obama State Department is using a legal loophole to secretly sell 44 armored Humvees and over 300 advanced missles (TOW) to Bahrain. A planned $53 million arms sale was blocked by congressional opposition. State did not release details of the new sale, but only briefed a few chosen congressional offices. The US government can sell less than $1 million in arms to a foreign government without listing the sale publicly on the Defense Security Cooperation Agency website. So the Obama administration is treating the transaction as multiple sales of under $1 million to avoid publicity or objections. State claims the weapons are only for "external defense" not for use against Bahrainis, But when the first sale was being processed a video popped up on the Web showing the Bahraini military using US manufactured equipment (M113 personnel carriers) to suppress civilian dissent, making a liar out of the State Department, again. An official of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights commented to the Cable blog that selling arms to the Bahraini regime sends the wrong message to the whole Arab world and is exactly similar to Russia selling arms to Syria. He said, "Bahrain has become the United States' test on how serious they are about standing against human rights violations, and they are failing miserably." Congressional opponents of arms sales to Bahrain have introduced legislation in both chambers to prevent the secret sale being consummated.

Chevron Hit with Criminal Charges

Brazil intends to charge Chevron with criminal acts related to the 2,400 barrel oil spill off the Brazil coast in the Campos basin in November of last year. As many as 12 Chevron officials may be indicted for taking irresponsible risks in the Frade field. Although the Gulf Oil Spill was over 1,000 times larger than the Frade spill, British Petroleum has had no criminal charges filed against it, and the federal civil court judge handling claims against BP has ruled out punitive damages or civil fines as a result of these suits. Last summer Judge Carl Barber dismissed a consolidated racketeering suit arising out of the Gulf oil spill. The US Justice Department said in June it would investigate whether any criminal laws were broken by BP. The Clean Water Act contains criminal penalties, but environmental protection laws are only as good as the enforcement as Brazil is demonstrating.

Europe's Second Tier

The ECB's cheap money deluge is relieving the crisis for some countries who are able to borrow at lower rates, like Italy and Spain, but the policy of exchanging 1% loans for bad collateral--similar to what the Fed did in the US--is in danger of creating a permanent debtor class of countries like Greece who will never be able to pay off its euro denominated debt bomb and will be eternally begging for mo' money from rich countries of the EU like Germany and Sweden. The situation in Greece is getting worse, not better, as the entire EU is headed for another recession, reducing government revenues and putting more and more Greeks into poverty, further reducing revenues. There are simply not enough antiques to sell to make the loan payments. European banks are getting plenty of liquidity from the ECB emergency lending operations, but the banks are only parking the money with the ECB to facilitate their own de-leveraging and meet the new reserve requirements--also similar to what happened with the TARP funds in the US. Greece's only hope of preventing future financial feudalism is to follow Iceland into repudiation, exit the zone, and pay back debts in drachmas. Of course this will drive the big banks crazy with losses, and there may be blood, but Greece is confronting its survival. This chart shows what the Baltic Index, a widely followed leading index of bulk shipping rates, shows about the near economic future for Europe:

The chart below shows the 'double dip' recession the UK is sliding into compared to its previous recession cycles while its sovereign debt total is on a parabola off the chart:

The red line is the current UK recession. It is the worst on record which does not bode well for the rest of Europe.

Weekend Edition: Snowy Owls Head South

Audubon's Snowy Owls

In a rare event called an "irruption" thousands of beautiful snowy owls {Bubo scandiacus} are migrating south. Usually the large owls stay year round in their circumpolar tundra, but occasionally some do migrate south, but the numbers this year are unprecedented. Scientists are scratching their head for an explanation. Some think it may be due to the more than normally severe winter weather or increased competition from a boom in owl populations, but no one knows for sure. The migration is a rare treat for birdwatchers on both coasts and in the midwest as the all white owls with five foot wingspans soar overhead or roost on rooftops. Snowy owls have been seen as far south as Oklahoma. An owl expert called the event the most significant for wildlife in two decades. A plethora of lemmings last year caused the snowy owl population to increase too. Some breeding pairs hatched as many as seven offspring compared to the usual one or two. The increase in owl sightings has brought human enthusiasts out to see the fascinating sight. The gawking has contributed to local economies, but the migration has a dark side too. There are accounts of emaciated owls weighing only a third of their normal weight and the usual lethal collisions with man's civilization.

'Toontime: the Sorry State of the Union

[credit: Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner]

And your option is....

[credit: Daryl Cagle, The Cagle Post]

But thanks to mo' money ($5million) from casino owner Sheldon Adelson, Newt is turning the Florida primary into a deadheat. Newt is shooting at Romney with both barrels, blasting Romney for investing in Goldman Sachs' Strategic Income Fund, 24% of which is in mortgage backed securities including adjustable rate mortgages from defunct lenders like Bear Stearns, Countrywide, Indy Mac and Washington Mutual. All of these were leading players in the sub-prime market which collapsed in the 2008 panic. Countrywide ranked first and Washington Mutual ranked fifth. About 5,000 foreclosure cases were filed in 2010 for Miami-Dade County alone (about 13% of Florida's population) on loans originated by these lenders. Nothing to get hung about; its capitalism...or maybe the curse of Cain!

Hope For Rhinos in Nepal

WWF says in a press release that zero rhinos were poached during 2011 in Nepal. Conservation organizations working with the Nepalese government recognized the achievement of six different enforcement agencies with awards on January 7th. One female rhino was presumed poached from Manas National Park, but park staff and enforcement officials searched on foot for two weeks for the rhino whose radio collar ceased to give off a signal. She was eventually found wallowing in a pond inside the park boundaries. Two other one-horned Asia rhinos were translocated to Manas in January to join the eight living there since 2008, part of the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 joint project of the government of Assam, WWF, US Fish & Wildlife Services and the International Rhino Foundation [photo].  The rhinos are considered vulnerable by the IUCN because of habitat loss and ivory poaching. About 2900 are believed to still exist in India and Nepal. GREEN KUDOS to Nepal!

Living Up to Their Rep

Their case undermined by sympathetic testimony that portrayed the last Hadditha massacre marine as just following his training, prosecutors allowed Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to plead to a lesser charge of dereliction of duty. All other charges, including voluntary manslaughter were dropped {"And Then There Were None"}. The plea agreement is the last sad chapter in a Marine white wash of the killing 24 Iraqi civilians in which Wuterich allegedly told his squad to 'shoot first and ask questions later' after a fellow marine was killed by an IED. Ten women and children were killed as the enraged marines went house to house spraying the residences with automatic weapon fire and grenades. Seven other marines were charged with various crimes related to the incident; six were cases were dismissed, one marine was acquitted. An official 2007 investigation of the Hadditha massacre by US Army Major General Eldon Bargewell concluded there was "serious misconduct" at all levels of the chain of command.