Tuesday digest

- Looking for a good deed to do today? Here's a suggestion: help alleviate poverty by downing a Starbucks and then doing some Christmas shopping at Walmart.

- Here's a look at what Hugo Chavez's win this past weekend could mean for Venezuela in the long-term, while this article shows that as soon as countries stop buying oil from him, the party is pretty much going to come to a screeching halt - and it isn't going to be pretty.

- There has been a massive e.coli outbreak at a number of New York and New Jersey Taco Bell outlets. Is anyone suprised? When I was in high school, the typical Taco Bell employee was an acid-dropping 15-year old who resorted to pranks like calling in bomb threats to get out of their Friday afternoon co-op assignment.

- Here's to Romeo Dallaire for holding his own party's feet to the fire on the issue of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, south of the border, the old saw that "nobody loves you when you're down and out", especially in politics, is being proven true more now than ever.

- Now this is some great stuff. All those political hacks with chocolate nostrils and big heads who have been parachuted right into the government over the heads of regular Canadians while bypassing not only the competitive process but also requirements for bilingualism and racial quotas - laws passed by their own parties and applying to applicants for government positions except for themselves! - are coming under the microscope. That's excellent news for those who believe the principles of political neutrality and fairness should be right at the top of the list when it comes to professional conduct by Canadian civil servants.

Just because your boss got beat shouldn't give you the automatic right to a 70K a year job (to start) without having to compete against anyone for it.

- Finally, it's quiz time, right here.