Merry Christmas, 2014 --

I wouldn't think I would have time to post something on Christmas morning, but there seems to be 90 seconds of free time between breakfast with out-of-town guests and opening gifts. Oh, add 20 seconds. The wifely unit just said she was going to make more coffee.

I will come back to this article later, but it's pretty good -- at least I thought it was when I read it last night after a reader sent it to me. The New York Times is reporting that oil's swift fall raises US fortunes abroad. It begins:

BRUSSELS — A plunge in oil prices has sent tremors through the global political and economic order, setting off an abrupt shift in fortunes that has bolstered the interests of the United States and pushed several big oil-exporting nations — particularly those hostile to the West, like Russia, Iran and Venezuela — to the brink of financial crisis.

The nearly 50 percent decline in oil prices since June has had the most conspicuous impact on the Russian economy and President Vladimir V. Putin. The former finance minister Aleksei L. Kudrin, a longtime friend of Mr. Putin’s, warned this week of a “full-blown economic crisis” and called for better relations with Europe and the United States.

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Efforts To Improve Infrastructure Funding In Oil Patch On The Docket

The AP is reporting:

Relief could be on the horizon for strapped public services in the Northern Plains' booming oil patch, as elected leaders in Montana and North Dakota move to steer more money into the region during the states' upcoming legislative sessions.

Most drilling for oil and gas is in North Dakota. Yet the population growth from the boom has spilled over the border, and both states face rising pressures on infrastructure that are taxing the ability of local governments to keep pace.

In North Dakota, Gov. Jack Dalrymple is proposing to change the formula for oil and gas tax distributions so local governments get 60 percent, up from the current 25 percent.

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Humor For The Day

The New York Times is reporting:

Germans have welcomed solar panels glinting on their rooftops and windmills looming over their fields, and they have even put up with a doubling of their electric bills. But enthusiasm for all things green appears to have reached a limit with a plan to string high-voltage transmission lines along the outskirts of cities like Fulda in the center of the country.

Dozens of protest groups have sprung up over the past year along the 500-mile path of the project, SuedLink, one of four high-voltage direct current lines that are to carry wind-generated power from north to south.

Businesses have been wary of the growing costs that the policies have imposed on them, but citizens have been largely stoic. They have protested when the government seemed to waver in its commitment, even as the cost of power for an average family of three has climbed to 85 euros a month, about $103, from 41 euros since 2000, according to government statistics.

“I have been following energy policy for 30 years and have gone along with everything,” said Mr. Lange, a self-employed music teacher from Fulda’s eastern Kämmerzell district. “The moment that I heard they wanted to build this behind my house, I thought, enough!”