I Didn't Know This

NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE HAS BEEN APPROVED

Stuff Made With Petrolium

Things Made From Oil That We Use Daily (a partial list)

AKA, the decline and fall of Western Civilization:

•Agriculture

•plastic ties

•row cover (I have no idea what that is.)

•irrigation piping

•polyethylene

•polypropylene

•bags and packaging

•pesticides and herbicides

•food preservatives

•fertilizers

Clothing and Textiles


• cord
• everything polyester: blouses, pants, pajamas etc.
• everything permanent press: shirts, dresses etc.
• beads
• bracelets
• pantyhose
• nylon zippers
• plastic hangers
• purses
• thongs and flip flops
• earrings
• ribbons
• fake fur
• windbreakers
• sandals
• garment bags
• shoe laces
• rain coats
• iron-on patches
• sneakers
• sweaters
• sofa pillow material
• monkey bars
• photo albums
• wet suits
• flippers
• tennis balls
• boats
• insulated boots


Infants and Children

• acrylic toys

• baby oil
• laundry baskets

• waterproof pants

• baby aspirin

• bath soap

• mittens
• pacifiers

• baby blankets

• bibs

• rattles

• doubleknit shirts

• baby bottles

• disposable diapers

• baby shoes

• teething rings

• nipples and binkies

• dolls

• stuffed animals

Sports, Hobbies and Games
• baby lotion

• allergy medication

• cotton-tipped swabs

• inhalers

• liquid Pepto-Bismol

• aspirin

• first aid cream

• lancets

• pill cases

• band aids

• first aid kits

• latex gloves

• latex gloves

• burn lotion

• glycerin

• mosquito spray

• rubbing alcohol

• chap stick

• heart valve replacement

• nasal decongestant

• surgical tape

• syringes

• Vaseline

• antiseptics

• hearing aids

• anesthetics

• artificial limbs

• eyeglasses and sunglasses

• antihistamines

• cortisone

• vaporizers

• denture adhesives

• laxatives

• Bactine

• oxygen masks

• stethoscopes

• prescription glasses

• cough syrup
• hearing aids


Kitchen and Household


• vinegar bottles

• egg cartons

• meat trays

• trash bags

• breadboxes

• freezer containers

• melamine dishware

• tumblers

• cake decorations

• jars

• microwave dishes

• utensils

• candles

• freezer bags

• milk jugs

• vacuum bottles

• coasters

• gelatin molds

• nylon spatulas

• wax paper

• coffee pots

• ice cream scoops

• oven bags

• mops

• drinking cups

• ice trays

• plastic containers

• fabric softener

• detergent bottles

• plastic table service

• drain stoppers

• dish drainers

• lunch boxes

• pudding molds

• sponges

• dish scrubbers

• brushes

• baggies

• drinking straws

• Styrofoam

• paper cup dispensers

• measuring cups

• Teflon coated pans

• table cloths

• refrigerator shelves

Beauty

• cologne

• hair brushes

• lipstick

• permanent wave curlers

• perfume

• hair color

• mascara

• petroleum jelly

• comb

• foam rubber curlers

• shampoo

• contact lenses and cases

• hair spray
• hand lotion
• shaving foam

• hair dryers

• shoe inserts

• dentures

• body lotion

• face masks

• skin cleanser

• deodorants

• moisturizing cream

• soap holders

• disposable razors

• leather conditioner

• mouthwash

• sunglasses

• facial toner

• lens cleanser

• nail polish

• sunscreen

• tooth brushes

• toothpaste tubes

• vitamins

• synthetic wigs

• bubble bath


• soap capsules

• carpet padding

• Naugahyde

• Venetian blinds

• TV cabinets

• extension cords

• picture frames

• flocked wallpaper

• shower doors

• Formica

• refrigerator lining

• vinyl wallpaper

• curtains

• kitchen carpet

• shag carpet

• welcome mats

• fan blades

• lamps

• shower curtain

• patio furniture

• swings

• linoleum

• upholstery

• rugs


• caulking material

• light switch plates

• plungers

• faucet washers

• clotheslines

• measuring tape

• polyurethane stain

• water pipes

• electric saws

• paintbrushes

• propane bottles

• wood floor cleaner/wax

• vinyl electrical tape

• plastic pipe

• shingles (asphalt)

• light panels

• garden hoses

• plastic wood spackling paste

• awnings

• glazing compound

• Plexiglas

• spray paint

• enamel

• epoxy paint

• artificial turf

• folding doors

• floor wax

• glue

• house paint

• paint rollers

• toilet seats

• water pipes

• putty

• solvents

• roofing material

• plywood adhesive

• sockets
• propane

Automotive


• antifreeze

• flat tire fix

• street paving (asphalt)

• car battery cases

• coolant

• motor oil

• tires

• loud speakers

• bearing grease

• sports car bodies

• traffic cones

• car enamel

• brake fluid

• dashboards

• windshield wipers

• visors

• car sound insulation

• oil filters

• car seats

• convertible tops

• fan belts
• gasoline

Miscellaneous


• ash trays


• dog food dishes

• toolboxes

• CDs and DVDs

• balloons

• dog leashes

• tape recorders

• synthetic rubber
• bubble gum

• dog toys

• flashlights

• nylon ropes


• bungee straps

• flight bags

• cassette player

• flea collars

• flutes

• lighter fluid

• electric blankets

• tool racks

• name tags
• cigarette filters
• ammonia
• newspaper tubes
• calibrated containers
• tool racks

• insect repellent

• phonograph records (vinyl)

• crayons

• ice buckets

• dyes

• pillows

• credit cards

• flashlights

• fly swatters

• plastic cup holders

• dice

• movie and camera film

• k-resin

• rain bonnets

• luggage

• video cassettes

• charcoal lighter

• rayon

• safety glasses, gloves, hats

• shoe polish

• signs

• cassette tapes

• toys

• watch bands

• waterproof boots

• shopping bags

• bedspreads

• checkbooks

• covers

• tobacco pouches

• clothes hangers

• flea collars

• flavors

• masking tape

• safety flares

• flags

That Settles It

The One is a complete blithering idiot:

Obama falsely claims Keystone XL would carry only Canadian oil

Obama KXL claim debunked in a Montana field

Impeach him, please. What are you waiting for?

Not Here Yet

Solar power propaganda vs. the real world

"Solar power cannot compete without subsidies and mandates that drive up costs, still require coal"

"When a former “senior communications official at the White House” writes a blog post for U.S. News and World Report, you should be able to trust it. But when the author states that the Keystone pipeline (should it be approved) would create only 19 weeks of temporary jobs, everything else he says must be suspect—including the claim that our “energy infrastructure will be 100% solar by 2030.”

TransCanada’s spokesperson Mark Cooper responded to my query: “While some people belittle these jobs as temporary, we know that without temporary construction jobs—and the hard work of the men and women who do them—we wouldn’t have roads, highways, schools, or hospitals. We wouldn’t have the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, or the Hoover Dam. So, I would say to these detractors: ‘It is OK if you don’t like or support Keystone XL. But let’s stop putting down the very people who have helped build America.’”"

Related:

Realities of Solar Power - A Tiny House Story

Barely A Week Goes...

...by:

CN crude oil train derailment in Gogama, Ont., ‘very concerning,’ transportation minister says

Train derails in Northern Ontario, heightening safety fears

Update on two ND oil site explosions

Must be a conspiracy by - DO-DO-DO-DO-DO- BIG OIL!!!

Yet Another...

...oil carrying train derails:

CN train carrying crude oil derails, catches fire in Northern Ontario

Cruising With Cruz

Sen. Cruz: It’s Past Time to Recognize Israel’s Historic Capital Both in Word and Deed

Sen. Cruz Files Pro-Growth, Pro-Jobs Keystone XL Pipeline Amendments

Ted Cruz: Obama's 'global warming pursuits' have degraded NASA Hallelujah!! Get back to space exploration, NASA!!!

Like he said:

Sen. Cruz: Focus NASA on Its Core Mission: Exploring Space, and More of It

Seems I Just Can't Leave This Topic Alone

‘Fears of man-made global warming exaggerated’

"Two of three scientists at a session on climate change and society at the Indian Science Congress on Tuesday felt fears of man-made global warming were greatly exaggerated. Their presence at the conference was particularly significant in light of the current 'development-versus-environment' debates.

"While I agree that glaciers are melting because of global warming, if this is because of man, then what was the reason for the melting of the glaciers in the Gondwana period long before man arrived on the planet?" asked Dhruv Sen Singh, Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, University of Lucknow."

[---]

""The Cretaceous period 65 million years ago was the hottest in the history of the earth. Man was not around at the time," he added.""

RTWT

Retired professor turns whistleblower on climate change

"While much of the debate over climate change surrounds whether or not it is occurring, one glaciologist and retired professor says the real issue is that the topic is being used as a political pawn to siphon money and votes.

Dr. Terry Hughes, in an interview with The College Fix, said researchers want to keep federal funding for climate change alive, and politicians want to earn environmentalist votes, and both predict global pandemonium to that end."

[---]

"Hughes, a professor emeritus of earth sciences and climate change at the University of Maine, said for years his colleagues urged him to be in lockstep with former Vice President Al Gore – “the drum major in the parade denouncing global warming as an unmitigated disaster,” he told The College Fix.

But Hughes – who believes global warming is actually a good thing because more carbon dioxide is good for the environment in many ways – said he does not want to march to that beat.

“Too many (the majority) of climate research scientists are quite willing to prostitute their science by giving these politicians what they want,” he said."

More than Six Years Later, Keystone XL Is Still a Good Idea

RTWT

Update (sorta) on Keystone

Jobs, Prosperity and Security via Oil Exports

"The midterm elections underscore how much Americans value energy, job and economic revival – and how much they want less Washington control of their lives, livelihoods, and dreams for their children and grandchildren. They also reflect the waning influence of radical Obama and Steyer climate change and anti-energy environmentalist elites. If ever there was a time to end the ban on oil exports, it’s now. With U.S. demand for oil products falling, production rising, and myriad studies making a strong case for selling American crude abroad, the president and Congress should terminate the ban as soon as possible. The nation’s demand for crude oil fell by 3.5% in September versus the same month a year ago. Gasoline demand fell by 3.0% because of efficiency gains in cars and trucks, coupled with a still weak economy, abominable 62.8% labor force participation rate, and too many people forced to work part-time, for lower wages and fewer benefits. Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production soared in September, climbing to its highest level in 29 years – and demolishing claims that we are rapidly exhausting Earth’s petroleum. During September, the United States produced 8.8 million barrels of oil per day – an increase of nearly 14% over the previous year and 58% since 2005. In fact, the United States has now replaced Saudi Arabia as the world’s #1 oil producer."

Obama’s Keystone Confusion

"In his appearance last week on The Colbert Report, President Obama restated his approach to the Keystone XL pipeline decision, a mindset that can only be described as confused.

The president summarized his strange dilemma as follows: “[Keystone] could create a couple of thousand potential jobs in the initial construction of the pipeline, but we’ve got to measure that against whether or not it is going to contribute to an overall warming of the planet that could be disastrous.”

But this thinking hinges on three key — and false — assumptions.

First, that whatever carbon dioxide or pollution (note that I did not say “or other pollution” since CO2 is plant food, not pollution) would be generated in the building or operation of Keystone will not be generated in whatever other method ends up being used to transport oil from Canada through the United States.

Second, the usual climate alarmist assumptions, namely that humans are having a substantial impact on the climate and that a warming of the planet is likely to be harmful.

Third, and most important, the implicit assumption that climate change — even if you believe the alarmists’ claims — is the only risk worth considering."

[---]

Obama Administration Kicks the Oil-and-Gas Industry While it is Down

"For the past six years, the oil and gas industry has served as a savior to the Obama presidency by providing the near-lone bright spot in economic growth. Increased U.S. oil-and-gas production has created millions of well-paying jobs and given us a new energy security. The president often peppers his speeches with braggadocio talk about our abundant supplies and decreased dependence on foreign oil.

So now that the economic powerhouse faces hard times, how does the Administration show its appreciation for the oil-and-gas industry boon to the economy over the past six years?

By introducing a series of regulations—at least nine in total, according to the Wall Street journal (WSJ)—that will put the brakes on the US energy boom through higher operating costs and fewer incentives to drill on public lands."

Tell That to the Hollyweird Types...

...who travel to Fort Mac to boost their sagging fortunes by dissing the Canadian oilsands:

How clean is our ‘dirty’ oil? You’d be surprised.

"Researchers for California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard have recently released new data measuring the carbon intensity of various crude oil blends, including diluted bitumen (a.k.a. ‘dilbit’) and upgraded synthetic crude oil (‘SCO’) from the Canadian oilsands. The Californian findings will not be well-received by anti-oilsands activists.

Among the findings that may surprise:

• There are 13 oil fields in California, plus crude oil blends originating in at least six other countries, that generate a higher level of upstream greenhouse gas emissions than Canadian dilbit blends;

• Crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope, which makes up about 12 per cent of California’s total crude slate, is actually “dirtier” than the Canadian dilbit known as “Access Western Blend”;

• The “dirtiest oil in North America” is not produced in Canada, but just outside Los Angeles, where the Placerita oil field generates about twice the level of upstream emissions as Canadian oilsands production; and

• The title of “world’s dirtiest oil” goes to Brass crude blend from Nigeria, where the uncontrolled release of methane during the oil extraction process generates upstream GHG emissions that are over four times higher than Canadian dilbit."

A Little Pre-Christmas Cheer...

Just for the Helluvit

Pipelines in NA:

1st

2nd

So, you think one more is going to make a big difference?

You Go, Brad

Brad Wall: Ontario and Quebec would benefit most from Energy East pipeline

Brad Wall concerned about ‘unnecessary barriers’ to pipeline project

Or we could just build a refinery in Saskatchewan and "let them eastern bastards freeze in the dark".

Ah, Poor Vlad /sarc

Russia's Currency Is Plummeting and Putin's Billionaires Are Cannibalizing Each Other

He must be longing for the days of the centrally planned economy handled by the politburo.

"The ruble has been nosediving for weeks, despite the fact that the Russian Central Bank has spent some $40 billion over the last two months to prop it up. In January, you would have to shell out 32.86 rubles to buy one U.S. dollar. Through October, that number edged higher and higher into the thirties, prompting nervous jokes from Russians as they watched their national currency lose value before their eyes. By November 1, a Russian would need to scrape together over 43 rubles to buy one U.S. dollar, a drop of over 30 percent.

Every day since November 1 has brought new lows for the ruble. By Wednesday, the Russian Central Bank, which had been spending billions of its reserve dollars every day to prop up the Russian currency, announced it was no longer going to do so. It was going to let the ruble float. (Technically speaking, it said that it would “only” spend $350 million a day to prop up the ruble.)

The ruble promptly nosedived."

[---]

"On Friday, the exchange rate was being tracked not by the day, but by the minute. The ruble had collapsed to a historic low: nearly 49 rubles to the dollar, nearly 60 rubles to the Euro."

[---]

"This isn’t a theoretical currency game. Much of what you see in Russia is imported, especially what the Russian middle class eats, drives, and wears. And the weaker the ruble, the fewer dollar-denominated iPhones you can buy with it. A crashing ruble makes prices do the opposite. According to the Russian government, projected inflation will hit somewhere between nine and 9.5 percent. Last year, it was 6.5 percent. In the U.S., for comparison, inflation is just 1.7 percent."

[---]

"There are several factors that have caused the ruble to disintegrate before our eyes.

One is the ongoing stagnation of the Russian economy, whose growth rate has been hovering near zero for a year. And before that, it was already in decline.

Second is the falling price of oil for reasons that have nothing to do with Russia(Emphasis mine): OPEC trying to undercut its American competition. This is a problem for Russia, which is so heavily dependent on oil that every year’s federal budget is pegged to an oil price.(Emphasis mine) This year’s was $97 a barrel. Next year’s will be $96. Meanwhile, oil prices have been far lower than that, hovering in the low eighties.

Third is Russia’s Ukraine adventure and Western sanctions. “Sanctions closed access to foreign capital for five or six Russian companies, but the result is that it’s now closed for everyone,” says Sergey Aleksashenko, a former Russian deputy minister of finance. The result is that, to pay off their debts, Russian companies now have to buy a large amount of dollars to fork over to their creditors. And with that comes the psychological factor: panic."

So...what if Canada's Energy East pipeline is meant to do what I think it's meant to do - steal Russia's oil market from under their feet? Better have our northern border well guarded.

RTWT

Good Advice...

...which I'm sure will fall on deaf ears:

Keystone

Still hope: On Keystone, Crude Excuses Gone

Well, At Least...

...they're not picking on Alberta's oil sands:

More Protesters Arrested Over Tar Sands Mining in Utah

Go Kurdistan!!

Iraqi Kurdish oil nears US port despite concern in Washington

WTF does "Washington" want? That the Kurds should starve? They are blessed with a commodity the world wants and needs. Why shouldn't they be able to sell it? Moreover, they are far more friendly with the West than most of the countries in the region.

When They're Killing Each Other....

...don't stop them:

Why the Islamic State isn’t in any rush to attack Israel

"The organization formerly known as ISIS has made clear that fighting Shi’ite Muslims is its top priority."

Related: Kurds re-discover their old ally Israel

"Kurdish oil has been sailing for weeks across the Mediterranean, looking for a buyer. Finally. a country that will take it in has been found,.."

Good to see they can get their oil out. Good to see it's Israel that's buying it. I never dreamed Turkey would cooperate, though. Must be some good money changing hands.

Yahoo!

Man, Harper has balls. Enviroweenies are wetting their pants: Northern Gateway gets green light

Neil Young could not be reached for comment. Nor David Suzuki. Nor a half dozen other washed up old has beens and never weres in the first place.

Still a long way to go, though. Oh well. The more we hear the bleating of the enviroweenies and their know nothing compatriots the better. They are very good at falling on their own swords.