I realize all of that, I'm just saying that I've seen Dec 12th thrown around several times today for no apparent reason.
3.0.x will be the semi-major patch with druid changes, DK changes, probably hunter changes and some other stuff.
3.1 will be the content patch with Ulduar, possibly (thought seemingly unlikely at this point) dual spec, etc.
Despite the lack of PTR, sooner rather than later seemed to be more likely with arenas being launched in a week.