Hugo Chavez needs to reach out to the 'other side'

* bill conroy is furious with David Rose's article about the House of Death. Apparently Rose's editors at the Observer cut some bits out of the story.

* tpmm:

"In a letter dated December 1st, John Bolton informed the president that he would be stepping down as U.N. ambassador."

* LATimes:

"But as Gates awaits Senate confirmation as President Bush's secretary of Defense, ethics watchdogs worry about the revolving door between government and private business that allowed Gates to align himself with defense contractors, investment houses and a global drilling company involved with Vice President Dick Cheney's former employer, Halliburton Co.

Companies with which Gates has been affiliated have secured hefty no-bid Pentagon contracts, and "you have to wonder if these companies will continue to get around bidding requirements once Gates is secretary," said Alex Knott, political director of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based watchdog group."

* pincus:

"Democrats Who Opposed War Move Into Key Positions
New Committee Chairmen Had Warned of Postwar Disorder
[]
Although given little public credit at the time, or since, many of the 126 House Democrats who spoke out and voted against the October 2002 resolution that gave President Bush authority to wage war against Iraq have turned out to be correct in their warnings about the problems a war would create.

With the Democrats taking over control of the House next January, the views that some voiced during two days of debate four years ago are worth recalling, since many of those lawmakers will move into positions of power. They include not only members of the new House leadership but also the incoming chairmen of the Appropriations, Armed Services, Budget and Judiciary committees and the Select Committee on Intelligence."

* bbc is 'reporting' that Hugo Chavez needs to reach out to the 'other side' - 'after all, 40% didn't vote for him'