Irony My personal political views are heavily driven by a concern for what the world will l0ok like when it is "inherited by the meek." The "meek" I'm thinking about is the little ones, like my son, or any of your nieces, nephews, adopted feed-the-children children, etc. So, my wife and I have set our charitable giving priorities on a handful of environmentally oriented organizations, and I am left with the task of executing on the plan in a tax-efficient manner. The highest leverage is in giving appreciated securities, and the more untaxed gains they have, the bigger the tax benefit of giving (since you don't have to pay the tax on gains, and still get to deduct the donation).
So I scanned through my portfolio and noticed that one stock (NYSE:MRO) in particular has appreciated by 300% and chose this as the vehicle for all my charity for 2006. This was all done months ago.
Now, December 15, I'm feeling all "Christmassy" and decided to make one additional gift, and got curious about what that stock was. In a flash of irony, I looked up the symbol and realized that it was Marathon Oil.

None of the environmental groups even mentioned it.  ¶ 10:40 AM