On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog

It is Zero all over again, with Ron Paul.

Stop projecting what you want onto the words of Ron Paul, and start listening critically to what he is saying. The man isn’t a libertarian, he is an old-fashioned states-rights Southerner.

Listen to him, and you will notice that all of the seemingly ‘personal liberty’ he talks about is based on removing the FEDERAL government from all oversight, and devolving power back to the states. He wants the states to make the decisions as to what rights people have and don’t have. While other Republicans dream of returning the country to the 1950s, his goal is the 1850s.

The only government he is interested in curbing is the Federal government.

So Romney is out ranting about cutting funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and said he didn’t want to borrow money from China to fund it.

Look, I covered this back in April. China holds about $1 trillion in US bonds. It has that much because of the trade imbalance with the US, not because it is loaning us money. It puts the dollars it earns in T-bills to earn interest until they need it. They need dollars to trade globally, they aren’t investing out of the ‘goodness of their heart’.

The Social Security Trust Fund holds more than two-and-a-half times more T-bills than China. It is the largest single investor in US bonds. If Republicans really believe that they must do things based on the ownership of the US debt, then the US workers who pay the withholding taxes that buy those T-bills should be number one on the list.

Given what the Angela and Nicky show are doing to the Euro, where in hell are people going to put their money if not in US Treasury bonds?

The Iowa Republican whatever is over and Romney, Santorum, and Paul each won 7 delegates, while Newt ‘Efting’ Gingrinch and Governor Goodhair got two each.

What about the big win for Romney by 8 votes? Irrelevant, as he didn’t get any more delegates that Ron Paul, and delegates are what count. The nominating conventions are like the Electoral College, the popular vote doesn’t matter – it’s the delegate count.

If Romney could only manage an 8 vote popular win with all of the money and organization at his disposal, he is not going to get the turn out for the general.

Ron Paul got the young and independent voters in Iowa. If he mounted an independent run for President, he would pull more votes from Zero than Romney.

It is to be seen if Santorum can turn his showing into a credible run. He lacks money and a national organization. The ‘usual suspects’ are holding their cash in reserve for Romney, so Santorum will have a tough row to hoe.

On the Democratic side, Zero’s operatives made damn sure there were no embarrassing uncommitted delegates selected. The Democrats vote by a show of hands, not paper ballots like the Republicans, and you must get at least 15% of the caucus with you to get your vote recorded. The ‘viability count’ was ruthlessly enforced to ensure that uncommitted didn’t make the cut, according to Iowa Democratic caucus attendees who were part of the uncommitted bloc.

Update: PZ Myers condenses hours of media coverage in one post.

I have checking the results from Iowa, but headlines featuring ‘Santorum, Romney, and Paul’ and ‘three-way’, are just too icky.

The caucuses select 25 delegates. Three more are uncommitted. It has been reported that the delegates are assigned proportionally, not winner-take-all.

Update at 9:50 – Santorum, Romney, Paul, Gingrinch, Perry, Bachmann above 4% and in that order with 88% of the vote counted.

Update at 11:50 – with 99% of the votes counted the order stays the same, but only about 30 votes separate Santorum and Romney. There are no recounts, and the delegate assignment may not correspond to the vote count [it's a complicated system].

The results I’m looking for from Iowa are Santorum, Paul, and Romney finishing as 1,2, and 3. My reason is simple – that finish would guarantee that the political parties would change their rules and mandate that Iowa would not be allowed to hold any form of primary more than two weeks prior to the party’s convention.

I have been hearing short comments from Iowans which indicate that they are some of the most politically ignorant people in the US. When someone is going to vote for Newt ‘Efting’ Gingrinch because they think he can get ‘Congress to compromise’, you know they are brain-dead, and shouldn’t be allowed to vote, much less get to be the first to select candidates for President of the United States.

It is well past time for the parties to go ‘Biblical’ on Iowa – “and the first shall be last.”

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.

Last year I wrote:

Well, I was unfortunately right and things still suck. Most of the “accomplishments” of the last year were better done without than done so badly. DADT is the only unqualified success, but that is mostly due to Pelosi, Reid, and Gates, rather than the White House.

Nothing effective has been done to address the economy, and the foreclosure crisis still hasn’t ended. I see no hope for any improvement in 2011 because the people with the power to take action still don’t understand the nature of the problem.

I was unfortunately correct – there was no improvement in the economy, because the politicians still refuse to see reality and do what has been proven to be effective.

The Repubs are blocking everything to make Zero look bad, and are managing to make themselves look worse. Zero will probably win because the Republicans won’t allow their few capable candidates to run, and are chasing moderates out of their party.

The few ‘successes’ of the current administration this year were in other countries. Here’s a news flash for the White House – we don’t elect a President to spend his/her time on foreign policy when the economy is in the tank.

I fully expect the 2012 elections to see the lowest turn-out in decades. There is no one and nothing to vote for, only people and things to vote against.

That’s Grandfather Frost [Дед Мороз] and he is the Russian ‘gift giver’. He is assisted by the Snow Maiden [Снегурочка], but ever the jolly, fun-loving people, the ‘gifts’ are a bit different. Threats of coal or sticks would be weird to a people who are trying to stay warm, they would consider them welcome.

Generally there are sweets, maybe salo [salted fatback], and other high energy food.

For the ‘naughty’ list there is the staff. You don’t get beaten, merely touched, which turns you into a popsicle. [I told you they were fun-loving.]

Tonight’s the night – you’ve been nice, right?

One in five US workers still unemployed or underemployed.