] Aside from users of naked DSL services, an FCC decision
] would also affect "cord-cutters," a group of about 20
] million U.S. residents who don't have local phone lines
] and go solo instead with their cell phones. As a result
] of the possible FCC ruling, cord-cutters would have to
] buy a local phone line in order to get DSL.

When I moved to Georgia I was informed that I had to have a pots line to get DSL. I moved here after 2002.

Source: FCC to dress 'naked' DSL

] Warren Buffett, one of the world's most successful
] investors, has launched his most withering attack to date
] on the US trade deficit, describing Americans as "rich
] spending junkies" who could turn into a nation of
] "sharecroppers".

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Buffett attacks American spending junkies

] The economy is going to be good, so I don't think we see
] the start (yet) of the next major bear leg, although this
] year will mark the high for what I think will be many
] years. This will be a frustrating year for stock market
] investors. You can always do well if you are a good
] individual stock picker, but broad indexes and mutual
] funds are not the place to be. The market is a sideways
] to down market, with the risk to the downside as we get
] toward the end of the year and a possible recession on
] the horizon in 2006.
]
] And not to put too fine a point on it, I still think we
] are in a long term secular bear market. In a few years,
] we will look back and realize this was a bear trap -
] another sucker rally.

John Mauldin's 2005 Forecast

His usual pesimistic self, but makes a good read anyways.

Stephen Roaches year end review and look forward to 2005

] At least one senator hopes Congress will let the new rule
] stand. "The issuance of FASB's new rule marks a victory
] in the decade-long battle to reform an egregious
] accounting practice that contributed to the worst
] corporate accounting scandals in our nation's history,"
] Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald said in a statement
] Thursday. "In the aftermath of Enron, WorldCom, Global
] Crossing, Tyco, Adelphia and other corporate scandals,
] Congress should be trying to ensure that corporate
] earnings reports are more, not less, reliable."

Such significant changes based on such disingenuous analysis...

Stock option expensing required next year

] After severe crop damage caused by four hurricanes,
] tomato supplies in Florida are beginning to pick up
] again.
]
] Two weeks ago, tomato growers in Florida were packing
] just 35% of what is typical for the season. The Committee
] expects shipments to return to normal volumes by the
] third week of December, with tomato prices expected to
] respond accordingly.

Thank God! I went to my favorite local Burrito place today and they didn't have any pico de gallo! The horror!

USA: Tomato supplies begin to pick up after hurricanes

] The Next Four Years - borrowed time

And now to throw some gasoline on the economic bonfire, Princeton economist Paul Krugman...

The Next Four Years - borrowed time

] So, in 1964, Herman Miller's Action Office system was
] born. It started with a huge open area, sectioned off to
] give workers completely enclosed spaces if needed, or
] semi-enclosed spaces for a more social kind of privacy.
] Offices were arranged in such a way that workers would be
] likely to have plenty of contact with each other and with
] management. That meant planning for communal open space,
] too.

The cublicle turns 40....

Metropolis Feature: The Man Behind the Cubicle

Jeremy wrote:
] To be blunt, if you're a technologist, there's a chance
] that your position will be outsourced sometime down the road.
] If you want to ensure that no one sees you as a commodity,
] consider these six items:
]
] 1. Don't plan to write code for your entire career.
] 2. Learn to communicate effectively.
] 3. Develop people skills.
] 4. Move into the people part of the business.
] 5. Learn how to sell.
] 6. Consider consulting.
]
] There was a time when all you had to do was to get a good
] education and find a stable job. That time is gone.

I have people skills! (mp3)

] The GOP is also counting on Kerry rhetoric that ticks off
] some techies. The Democrat has demonized "Benedict Arnold
] CEOs" who send jobs offshore and has backed expensing of
] the industry's prized employee stock options. "When you
] tee off on Benedict Arnolds, you probably have to play a
] few rounds before you interest the business community,"
] says John Endean, president of the American Business
] Conference, which represents midsize growth companies.

If Kerry simply reversed his position on expensing options, he'd have all the pieces of the puzzle.

Here Comes Broadband John