(Updated) Gas prices on rise: Drilling Is Stalled Even After Ban Is Lifted

Wall Street Journal "More than two months after the Obama administration lifted its ban on drilling in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, oil companies are still waiting for approval to drill the first new oil well there. Experts now expect the wait to continue until the second half of 2011, and perhaps into 2012."

The Causes and Effects of High Gas Prices "But a huge part of the supply problem is due to environmental regulations (and environmentalists' opposition to new refineries), and political opposition to oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and in parts of Alaska. 

Photo: The Freedomist

"Gasoline supplies are impeded by regulations that require specialized blends of gasoline for certain parts of the country. Gasoline used to be essentially the same nationwide, but there are many different "flavors" of gas sold now, in some cases for specific counties. Generally this seems to cause the price of gas to be higher in and around big cities.

"Another factor that drives up the cost is the political opposition to offshore drilling."

http://townhall.com/cartoons/lisabenson/

Home Security Sign

Maggies Farm  via Bookworm Room

Iran Media: Massacre at Christian Church in Egypt Was….Mossad Plot; No Muslim Could Do Something ‘So Inhumane’

Big Peace  "That certainly clears things up, doesn’t it? This report, which is a translation from Iranian television, tells you everything you need to know about the Iranian regime and its worldview:"

AMERICA GETS PUNKED… Russians Say START Treaty Covers Antimissile Defense Systems

Gateway Pundit  "They Told Us the START Treaty Could Not Wait – It Had to Be Signed Before Christmas–
"The Obama Administration insisted that passing the START Treaty would not impact the US antimissile defense systems.
"They were wrong."

John Bolton considering bid for US president in 2012

Jerusalem Post "Earlier in the interview, Bolton, who also once oversaw US non-proliferation policy, came out strongly against the Obama administration's foreign policy, saying that the US president seems to be " very uncomfortable asserting American interests around the world.""

Texas Speaker’s Race Heats Up: John Bolton Endorses Challenger  "Who ends up wielding the gavel this year is key for many reasons, not least among them the one that has already come up twice in this post: The redrawing of Texas’ electoral map. The state will get four new seats in the US House or Representatives, and lines down to the precinct level will also be redrawn. The House speaker plays a key role in that process, and thus the speaker in this year’s session will be unusually powerful and influential well beyond the 140 day legislative session."

GOP'S OBAMACARE REPEAL PROJECT

Neal Boortz  "I think the Republicans are making their first big mistake of the 112th Congress this week. John Boehner has scheduled a repeal vote for ObamaCare on January 12th. It will pass the House .. but things don't look at all good for the Senate. The GOP is really just making a statement here: "ObamaCare, here we come." But they're doing it wrong. They are making it easy for Pelosi and the Democrats to retaliate with sound bites delivered to a press eager to see the Republicans fall flat on their faces."

MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN WASHINGTON ..."With parts of Obamacare going into effect, and many more parts left to go, Kathleen Sebelius is the one who gets to make crucial decisions about the future of our healthcare system. Some poor sap took the time to count the number of references in Obamacare that refer to the secretary: there are 700 references in Obamacare to the secretary "shall," 200 to the secretary "may," and 139 to the secretary "determines." In other words, the secretary has a lot of decisions to make and power to wield."

Terrible weapon

http://terrellaftermath.com/

U.S. Military fields new mine roller technology to defeat IEDs

scribd.com photo with article.

GlobalSecurity.org  "The job of the SPARKS II is to attach to the front of vehicles and detonate roadside bombs before they have a chance to harm servicemembers riding in the cab. This is the same job as other mine rollers, but SPARKS II gives servicemembers more options to protect themselves.

"The driver has the ability to make on-the-spot changes to how the new roller operates from inside the vehicle. They can manipulate a variety of settings and change how SPARKS II interacts with the environment within moments.
"One of the most useful features of the new system is the ability to change distance from the vehicle to the roller, which can also be done without having to leave the vehicle, said Tilford Briscoe, site manager for R4 Inc*, the company in charge of fielding SPARKS II."
*Another evil corporation.

Obama Returns From Vacation to Face Opposition in Congress

AP  "With the damaged economy, unemployment and the national debt uppermost among American concerns, Republicans have vowed to shrink government and ease federal oversight of the private sector. That, they argue, will unshackle private business to heal the wounds from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"Obama and most Democrats counter that regulation is more necessary now than ever, especially after the private financial sector -- using untested investment tools -- nearly brought down the economy in the fall of 2008. And Obama and his fellow Democrats fought too long and too hard for health care reform to shirk even the smallest fight on that issue."

Egypt and destruction of churches: Strategic implications

STRATFOR  "What is clear, however, is that the attack on a church in one country — Egypt — is far from common and was particularly destructive. Egypt has been relatively quiet in terms of terrorism, and there have been few recent attacks on the large Coptic Christian population. The Egyptian government has been effective in ruthlessly suppressing Islamist extremists and has been active in sharing intelligence on terrorism with American, Israeli and other Muslim governments. Its intelligence apparatus has been one of the mainstays of global efforts to limit terrorism as well as keep Egypt’s domestic opposition in check."
"Egypt and the Destruction of Churches: Strategic Implications is republished with permission of STRATFOR."

Happy New Year from Mike Ramirez

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/IBDEditorials.aspx

Raging Against “Them”

Victor Davis Hanson  "By May 2009 we were lectured that the nascent tea-party was an Astroturf fake movement, then a racist dangerous movement with Nazi undertones, and then a splinter nihilist know-nothing movement without political consequences.
"By November 2011 all the above vanished in a blink. Furor followed from the Left that Obama was not a Great Stone Face savior, that the Tea Party was all too real, that the conservatives were back, and that liberalism had suffered its worst electoral defeat since 1938. How can all this be? Whom to blame?"