] My biggest winners have been dividend-paying domestic
] stocks; foreign equities -- particularly in the euro zone
] -- and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Entering
] the new year, I'm making only minor tweaks to the model,
] although I'm raising its risk profile modestly because I
] think 2005 will be kind to stocks and not unkind to
] bonds.
]
] Some experts agree. "We believe the stock market will
] post surprisingly positive returns for a third
] consecutive year," says Brian Belski, market strategist
] for Piper Jaffray.
]
] Adds Craig Callahan, chief investment officer of Icon
] Funds, "Our analysis still indicates that the broad
] market is undervalued by about 12%."

excellent article.

MSN Money - Fine-tuning a winning ETF portfolio for '05

] LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- A teenager is suing her
] school district for barring her from the prom last spring
] because she was wearing a dress styled as a large
] Confederate battle flag.
]
] The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court claims
] the Greenup County district and administrators violated
] Jacqueline Duty's First Amendment right to free speech
] and her right to celebrate her heritage at predominantly
] white Russell High School's prom May 1. She also is suing
] for defamation, false imprisonment and assault.
]
] "Her only dance for her senior prom was on the sidewalk
] to a song playing on the radio," said her lawyer,
] Earl-Ray Neal.

CNN.com - Teen sues over Confederate flag prom dress - Dec 22, 2004

] The election is over. The fight is not.
]
] Elections are only one part of democracy. We need to
] think strategically about direct action, learn from a
] rich history of nonviolent activism, and develop new
] tactics to take on this administration.
]
] Let's start from the start: Inauguration Day.
]
] On January 20th, 2005, we're calling for a new kind of
] action. The Bush administration has been successful at
] keeping protesters away from major events in the last few
] years by closing off areas around events and using
] questionable legal strategies to outlaw public dissent.
] We can use these obstacles to develop new tactics. On
] Inauguration day, we don't need banners, we don't need
] signs, we just need people.
]
] We're calling on people to attend inauguration as they
] are: members of the public. Once through security and at
] the procession, at a given signal, we'll all turn our
] backs on Bush. A simple, clear and coherent message.

Turn Your Back On Bush

] NEW YORK (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc. the conglomerate
] run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, on Tuesday said it elected
] Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., to be a director.
]
] Gates, co-founder and chairman of software giant Microsoft, is a friend
] and bridge partner of Buffett and a long-standing Berkshire shareholder.

Any conspiracy theory comments on this news?

Gates Elected to Berkshire Hathaway Board

] When U.S. President George W. Bush arrives in Ottawa
] probably later this year - should he be welcomed? Or
] should he be charged with war crimes?
]
] It's an interesting question. On the face of it, Bush
] seems a perfect candidate for prosecution under Canada's
] Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
]
] This act was passed in 2000 to bring Canada's ineffectual
] laws in line with the rules of the new International
] Criminal Court. While never tested, it lays out sweeping
] categories under which a foreign leader like Bush could
] face arrest.

Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pub/war2002/

TheStar.com - Should Canada indict Bush?

Decius wrote:
] After all, goes the logic, the world has learned to live
] with America’s outsize deficits. Why can’t it continue to do
] so indefinitely? In my view, this is yet another example of
] the “greater fool theory” that took NASDAQ to 5000 four and a
] half years ago. All the classic symptoms of a US
] current-account adjustment are now evident.

I welcome NASDAQ at 5000 and .com 2.0. ;) ;)

RE: Red states won - now the red ink | csmonitor.com

] The Doomsayers suggest that Bush’s second term is
] likely to produce further military interventions
] overseas, along the lines of Iraq in 2003. Perhaps Syria
] may be the next target of U.S. military power, they
] suggest, or Iran. They believe that the neoconservatives
] (that is, officials such as Deputy Secretary of Defense
] Paul Wolfowitz), who were the driving force behind the
] Bush administration’s preventive war against Iraqi
] leader Saddam Hussein, will have even greater power and
] influence, now that the president has won reelection.
] “Secretary of State Colin Powell is not staying for a
] second term,� warned one Foreign Service officer,
] writing under the byline “Anonymousâ€? on Salon.com
] last month. “When he goes the last bulwark against
] complete neoconservative control of U.S. foreign policy
] goes with him.�
]
]
] The Skeptics contend that Bush’s foreign policy in his
] second term will turn out to be more cautious and less
] belligerent than his first, if not by choice, then by
] compulsion. Whatever some hawks might like to do, the
] reality is that the Bush administration will face a
] series of constraints—military, diplomatic, political,
] and economic—that will curb its ability to launch new
] preventive wars. Moreover, say adherents of the Skeptic
] school, the power of the neoconservatives inside the
] administration will probably be diminished, not
] augmented, during Bush’s second term.

Foreign Policy: Four More Years

] Others agreed, but note that Bush and U.S. taxpayers may
] have a few years' breathing room. "Right now, we're
] floating along because the Japanese and Chinese are
] financing our debt by buying government bonds," said Mark
] Votruba, assistant professor of economics at Case Western
] Reserve University.
]
]
] "There's going to come a day when they're not going to do
] that. Then the only way to sell our debt will be to
] increase the interest that we pay on bonds, and that
] means all interest rates are going to go up," he said.
]
]
] But that might not happen for a few years, Votruba said.
] "If the dollar starts falling in value and we see any
] sort of change with the Chinese and Japanese not buying
] our bonds so we have trouble selling Treasury bonds, then
] there will have to be some kind of response. If it
] doesn't happen in the next four years, it'll happen soon
] after that. That's my prediction," he said.

Who finances America?

] Ashcroft is expected to resign before Bush's January 20
] inauguration, said aides who spoke only on condition of
] anonymity. They said there is a small chance he would
] stay on, at least for a short time, if Bush asked him.
] Names that have been floated in recent weeks as a possible
] replacement include Ashcroft's former deputy, Larry Thompson,
] who would become the first black attorney general.
]
] Others include Marc Racicot, who was Bush's campaign manager,
] and White House general counsel Alberto Gonzalez, who would
] give Bush a notable Hispanic appointment.

Yea! One down.. a few more to go...

CNN.com - Aides: Ashcroft likely to leave post - Nov 4, 2004

Decius wrote:
] Elonka wrote:
] ] Yes, but if he *did* get rid of Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft, who
] ] would you most like to see in those posts? Are there
] moderate
] ] names that come to your mind, who you think would be good
] ] choices?
]
] I honestly don't know enough about this to have an answer. Who
] are the hot shot federal attorneys? Who is making waves at
] State or the Pentagon or the strategic think tanks? Knowing
] these answers would be instructive in that it would allow you
] think think about who is likely to be running things 4-8-12
] years from now, but I don't even know where to start.

The two people who I think we should be most concerned is
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Chairman of the
Federal Reserve. These two positions wield a huge amount
of influence over our nation. I think next on the list is who
is going to be the National Intelligence Director. I just hope
it is not someone like Ashcroft or we are more doomed.

The Washington Beltway rumors is that Ridge is unhappy as he
doesn't seem to have that much power. Being the front man
who has to go on TV and tell everyone to change their safety
level from Blue to Yellow isn't feeling the love.

Dr. Rice and John Snow does a fine job. Though I always
thought Dr. Rice would have been more effective as
Sec. of Education. Im sure she knows how to bend the
Presidents ear when she needs it.

Your right about the anchors, Powell, Rumsfeld and Chaney
run the show, everyone else follows. Rove gives the thumbs up
and the President puts the big W at the bottom of the executive
order.

I think more eyes are all on the Supreme Court as to who is
going to be replaced. Names are already floating around
Washington. I am sure W likes Theodore Olson but he is
about as old as the judges on the bench.

RE: Bush wins