You hear all this propaganda about the Keystone XL pipeline and what it’s going to do for the US, and all of the cheerleading along the same lines about drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve and in the coastal waters of the US. It is all a lie, a con game played by multinationals who couldn’t care less about the US.

McClatchy tells us that US exports record amount of refined fuels

U.S. refineries exported a record amount of refined fuels in 2011 to markets in South America, Central America and Europe. It was one reason why Americans spent a record amount on gasoline this year: Supplies that might have helped lower prices here had been shipped abroad.

In 2007, U.S. exports of all kinds of fuel held steady throughout the year at 1.24 million to 1.25 million barrels a day, according to Energy Department statistics.

But by 2011, exports of diesel, gasoline and other products surged. In November and December, U.S. fuel exports averaged between 2.77 million barrels a day and 2.89 million barrels a day, the highest ever.

Meanwhile, U.S. drivers paid an average of about $3.50 a gallon for gasoline during the year, also the highest ever.

If the refineries get more crude than is necessary to support the $3.50/gallon price of gasoline, they will export the refined products to maintain that price. Gas isn’t going to get cheaper, and the oil companies will make sure of that, the same way OPEC keeps the price of crude oil high – they will manipulate the supply.

That makes a lot of difference to Republicans.

McClatchy reports that Newt says Obama seeks to steal elections with ID ruling, and other members of the Clown College joined in to condemn the Department of Justice for taking a dim view of a new South Carolina ‘Voter ID’ law after looking at e-mails making it clear that the law was designed to prevent traditional Democratic voters from being able to cast their ballots.

OTOH, the members of Clown College who could not meet the requirements to have their names on the Virginia Republican primary because of that state’s ‘Voter ID’ law, which includes those complaining about happened in South Carolina, have joined Rick Perry’s Virginia lawsuit, and are calling the law ‘unconstitutional’, according CNN.

To recap, laws designed to cause problems for Democrats are good, unless they also cause problems for Republicans.

Note, the main requirement to enter the Virginia primary was to submit petitions from 10,000 Republican voters. Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul were able to meet that requirement.

The BBC reports that Iran ‘test-fires medium-range missile’ in Gulf.

You have to read the article to discover that it was a surface-to-air missile, and this is a claim by the Iranians, who are known to have been a bit over-optimistic in their reporting on their military weapons program. For example, they don’t specify what their measure was for ‘successful’, which could have been: the missile didn’t destroy the launch vehicle and actually left the ground. Iranian reporting has the same level of credibility as the US missile defense program tests.

At CNN we have a Report: Iran builds, tests first nuclear rod.

My, they really are zipping along. Only about a decade to make their first reactor fuel rod. I would hope that someone took notes, or it will be several centuries before they can start their reactor. They seem to be having problems with their enrichment program, because they should be much further along than they obviously are.

С Новым годом
Prosit Neujahr
Feliz Año Nuevo
Bonne Année
Felice Anno Nuovo
Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Gott Nytt År
Sehe Bokmanee Bateuseyo
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Onnellista Uutta Vuotta

May you be safe from the idiots who think gravity is just a theory and fire off guns, failing to understand that what goes up will come down.

Given the prevalence of accurate timekeeping devices, it is amazing that the explosions that are supposed to signal the new year extend for a four hour period beginning before and extending well after the actual event. Anyone who thinks alcohol and gunpowder is a recipe for a long life should be avoided by insurance agents.

The new year brings new opportunities, so here’s hoping that the good wins out and the world is made a little better.

Oh, and a happy 11^th blogiversary™ to Steve Bates at the Yellow Doggerel Something.