Most famously, probably, would be The Clash's Career Opportunities: "Do you wanna make tea at the BBC? Do you really wanna be a cop?" And then the song that got me thinking about this topic was one my little sister recorded in the spring - Wham Rap - celebrates being "a soul boy - a dole boy" and turning down work to have more time to par-tay. "So they promised you a good job? No Way!"

I'm not judging here. Just wondering: what was the situation there? I know those were the UK's Thatcher years, and that things were shitty for the unwealthy. Maybe it's as simple as the undignified choice between taking welfare and working for a non-living wage - as in Ice T's New Jack Hustler: "...imagine that: me working at Mickey Ds!"

But some of the objectionable jobs in these British tunes are not that bad. Being a cop? Working at the post-office? Bus Driver - Ticket Inspector - Ambulance Man! These are respectable jobs, aren't they? Last week, listening to the Messthetics records, I found this one by Scissor Fits about not wanting to work for the British Airways. It's a sucky song, but for interest's sake, here it is:

I Don't Wanna Work for British Airways

[audio http://version30.wordpress.com/files/2008/07/23-scissor-fits-i-dont-want-to-work-for-ba.mp3]

So what is the dealio? What's the context? I've looked around a bit, but my search skills aren't amazing. I put "why were young people turning down decent jobs in Britain in the early 80s?" into google, but no dice. If you happen to read this, and you happen to know the answer, fill me in.

MANILA, Philippines -- Overseas Filipino worker groups have expressed opposition to the possible appointment of a former congressman and losing administration senatorial candidate to the top post of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

The Center for Migrant Advocacy and the Philippine Migrant Rights Watch said they wanted someone from the ranks of OFWs to handle OWWA and its billions of dollars in OWWA membership fees which they feared might be used for the 2010 elections.

Reports are rife that former Surigao congressman Prospero "Butch" Pichay, who ran for senator under the administration ticket, could take over the helm of the OWWA.

Pichay confirmed to INQUIRER.net that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had offered him the top OWWA post and the chairmanship of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and that there were also other offers of Cabinet positions.

He refused to elaborate however on the Cabinet offers “in deference to sitting officials.”

“OWWA at Subic. Iyan ang talagang inoffer ng President -- a few months ago pa [OWWA and Subic. That is what the President really offered -- a few months ago],” said Pichay who was in Vietnam.

Pichay said that he was considering the OWWA post.

“Maraming offer [There are a lot of offers] but I’m still trying to think about all these offers. In a few weeks, makaka-decide na ako [I can decide]. Inaasikaso ko pa ang negosyo [I am just attending to my business].”

OFW groups which spearheaded the drive to pass the Overseas Absentee Voting Law several years ago have launched a campaign to put Mike Bolos, an accountant who has worked for more than 20 years in Saudi Arabia to head OWWA.

Heeding the government's call for overseas Filipinos to return to the country and contribute to its development, Bolos has since returned to the Philippines to start several business enterprises.

Rashid Fabricante, of the Pinoy-abroad-forum and elagda-Riyadh, started the e-mail thread with the suggestion that OFW groups and migrant rights organizations should lobby for OFW representation at OWWA.

OWWA, which is tasked to promote and protect the well-being of OFWs, was previously headed by Marianito Roque until he was appointed secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment when his predecessor Arturo Brion became associate justice of the Supreme Court.

The attached agency of DoLE does not get any budgetary allocation from the government. It lives solely off the $25- membership fee of every departing OFW.

While the membership fee is supposed to be paid by the leaving OFW's employer, the OFW in most cases pay for the amount.

OFW groups have sought more representation in OWWA and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the other DoLE-attached agency concerned with OFWs.

There are an estimated eight million Filipinos who live and work overseas while some 3,000 leave the country every day.

*Now, how much damage can $7.5 million in ads do? Well, that’s probably in the neighborhood of fifteen ads – which virtually everyone in North Carolina will see. A lot. And it’s a safe guess fourteen of the fifteen ads will be negative. Senator Dole is about to experience the Democratic equivalent of swiftboating.

But on the other hand, maybe they’ll make brilliant ads and do to Elizabeth Dole what Jesse Helms did to Jim Hunt – burn her to the political equivalent of toast.*

That's great. I'm not big on Dole and I'm looking for a reason not to vote for her. But attacking her as a carpetbagger with carpetbagger money is a sure fire way to fire up the conservative base.

I think this race will be a litmus test on the state to see if we really have put our conservative roots to pasture. In my view, Helms could have easily been beating by a Hagan-esque candidate in 1990 and 1996.

This race is gonna be close.

Serial Exaggerator? Romney Claims McCain Invented the Surge

• Gore reaffirms that he won't serve as VP.
• Obama leading in Nevada, 47-45%.
• Obama and McCain in Statistical Deadheat in North Carolina, 48-45% (poll has a 4.5% margin of error).
• Freudian Slip or Candor? McCain tells audience in New Mexico he looks forward to working with GOP Senate candidate Steve Pearce next year in the Senate. I'm surprised to find myself in full agreement with McCain about where he'll be next year.
• Biden Auditioning for Veep? Sen. Joe Biden leaps to Obama's defense in stern letter of rebuttal to criticism from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) regarding Obama's stewardship of the European Affairs Subcommittee. Meanwhile, McCain has skipped nearly ever Armed Services Committee hearing for which he serves as ranking member.
• Economy Update: JP Morgan reports income loss of 53%; CEO says he expects economic conditions to worsen. Meanwhile, new single family home construction hits a 17-year low.
• Obama raises a whopping $52M in June. Wall Street Journal and McCain's folks had been whispering that Obama's fundraising was off. McCain raised $22M in June - less than half - which was McCain's best month. National Review had said if Obama raised $44M (double McCain's haul), it "would be worth bragging about."

• Pew says exclusion of cell-only folks from polls seems to slightly skew against Obama in poll results.
• Chuck Todd believes GOP has made decision concede House and Senate contests to Democrats, and instead double-down efforts for McCain. It's essentially the opposite of their approach in '96, when GOP anticipated Dole's loss, so the GOP focused fundraising on House and Senate races to protect GOP's majority leadership.
• Libertarian nominee Bob Barr slams McCain from the right, arguing that conservatives should not assume McCain would appoint true conservative judges to the Supreme Court. Preach it, Bob.
• NY Times uncovers a Jack Abramoff connection among McCain's large contributors.
• MSM entourage will accompany Obama abroad.
• NYT/CBS Poll also showed economy has significantly overtaken all other issues of concern for voters, including Iraq.
• Obama opens 20 offices in Virginia, including in GOP strongholds, demonstrating his commitment to win the Commonwealth. In addition, state Democratic party and Senator Mark Warner will have offices throughout state.
• WaPo examines Obama's likely approach in selecting his Veep.
• WaPo's Myerson - is McCain's economic policy trapped by GOP dogma of the past?
• NY Times Editorial slams McCain for ignoring Iraq's call for a timetable, and praises Obama's position on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Work and pensions secretary James Purnell will say "we want a work culture not a welfare culture" in Britain and that those who refuse to give up drink will be cut off from all dole, forcing them onto the streets.

I'm sitting in tonight for the first Saturday night in ages - because I can't afford to go out. Two weeks ago I was told I had five days work for the week just gone. Ching Ching Ching. Then, I realised I couldn't work the Monday but was pleased with the invoice I was building up for work done in July. Then Mr Mean Employer cancels me down to three days. I asked could I swap one of the days (for big cool interview that came my way). He let me swap, but took one of the three days from me. So, there I was down to two when he heard I was sick (I was better by the time he heard) and asked me not to come in those two days. So not impressed. In theory I could have taken on other work rather than saving myself for his precious company. Unfortunately, there is no other regular work going in my line of work so he is playing God and I am at his mercy. Universe, have mercy, please! Send my life to rehab!

China's Dust Bowl

"Deserts now cover 18% of China, and a quarter of them were caused by ecologically damaging human activities. Overexploitation of arable land, overgrazing, and increasingly deep drilling for water are at the root of what has become the Chinese dust bowl, a phenomenon the likeness of which hasn't been seen since the 1930s, when the American Midwest and Canadian Prairies suffered from a devastating drought. China's situation is quickly becoming the world's most massive and rapid conversion or arable land into barren sand dunes. The resulting dust is picked up by the wind and transported, in the form of giant sandstorms, all over China and into Japan, Korea -- even all the way to North America. In an effort to reverse the situation, the Chinese government has initiated the largest environmental restoration initiative the world has ever seen, and has begun a mass exodus of "environmental refugees," displaced by the advancing sand."

The images themselves are strikingly beautiful. The sand casts an erie and yet poetic sepia-like cast over what normally is a landscape full of color. Now, the only color visible is that of the sand. The images appear soft and painterly, as the sand casts a surreal fog over the scenery.

Pesticide Nemagon: Deadly Mist

"In the 1970s and '80s, American multinationals Dole and Del Monte used the carcinogenic pesticide Nemagon (or Fumazone) to fumigate their banana crops in Central America. They maintained its use despite the poison's ban on American soil. Today, the men and women who worked on those plantations suffer from incurable illnesses, cancer, sterility. The children they do manage to conceive are born deformed. The companies feign innocence, and the court cases that were brought against them are on the eternal backburner. These are some of the images of the victims in Nicaragua."

These images are sad, but humble at the same time. They present the truth of cause and effect, action and reaction, originator and consequence. The last two images are sequenced as such by Benoit, and exemplify the cause and effect relationship in a frightening literal way.

To see more images from these two bodies of work, as well as several other humanitarian and environmental projects, please visit Benoit's website.

There is a cause therefore for alarm as the pesticide cargo is as dangerous as a “ticking time bomb” that may cause another disaster of great magnitude again anytime. Any leakage could be destructive to our marine life as well as people living near the area.

Below is the complete account from Caroline J. Howard:

Toxic chemical leak will have international repercussions: expert

By CAROLINE J. HOWARD
ABS-CBN News Channel

One cargo in the sunken M/V Princess of the Stars off Romblon can very well be a ticking time-bomb.

Dr. Romeo Quijano, a technical expert from the UP Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the UP Manila, who has done extensive study on the highly-toxic pesticide endosulfan, says the chemical belongs with the likes of other Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) like DDT and has been the subject of attempts at global banning.

"We have been pushing for a complete ban since 1990. There's also a push by the European Union to include it in its official list of POPs for global banning."

Endosulfan is highly toxic in whatever state.

Quijano rejects claims endosulfan in its raw form poses no immediate threat of contamination.

"The technical grade 92% (in the sunken ferry) endosulfan is a highly-concentrated form of the pesticide, so it doesn't need activation before it can be toxic. It is toxic by itself, and as soon as it gets out of the compartment, animals and humans are exposed to immediate and long-term danger of toxicity even in very small amounts," he said. "The level toxic to fish is .03 parts per billion. Assuming the container broke and all 10 tons spread, there can be sufficient concentration to kill fish within a 100 kilometer radius, even humans exposed to acute toxicity."

Current can spread toxic chemical
Quijano admits containing the highly-toxic endosulfan and preventing a possible contamination is no easy task.

Unlike a possible oil leak, where efforts can be taken to separate oil from water, Quijano says endosulfan dissolves in water and spreads easily.

Looking at the worst-case scenario involving the toxic cargo, Quijano warns a leak of the highly-toxic chemical endosulfan could have far reaching consequences, polluting not just Philippine waters but the entire globe.

"If the chemical spreads, given underwater pressure, there's a potential for it to become an international incident. It can go to international waters and the other parts of the globe because of ocean currents, or join atmospheric currents. In one month's time, it can reach colder areas in North America or Canada."

Need to contain immediately
Quijano says this risk makes it all the more urgent to know the integrity of the container and whether packing regulations had been complied with.

He adds the area should be closely watched for possible fishkills that would indicate a leakage of chemicals. Nearby communities must be warned to stay away from the water if this happens.

Quijano says the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, companies like Del Monte and Dole, which insist of using the toxic chemical, manufacturers of the chemical, and Sulpicio Lines, which carried the toxic cargo onboard a passenger vessel, are to blame for the potential danger posed by toxic contamination.

Quijano laments this threat could have been prevented had government listened to their advice to ban the chemical's use in the country.

"These potential disasters are preventable, and there's very little awareness on the concept of precaution, specially if we know the dangers of this pesticide... We hope regulatory officials won't put the burden of proof on us, to wait for dead bodies to show up before they are convinced these things are potentially disastrous."

In a study entitled "Risk Assessment in a Third World Reality: An Endosulfan Case History," sometime in 1990, the FPA ordered a ban on endosulfan 35%, allowing only 5% formulation and severely restricted its use.

Companies like Del Monte were given a 2-year phase out period, but Quijano says this was followed by several extensions, approved against the recommendation of technical experts.

According to the study: "Real world experience... reveals that the risk assessment process has failed to protect public health and the environment, especially in Third World countries where financial, technical, human and other resources are sorely lacking and where socio-political circumstances are conducive for powerful chemical companies to exert influence and manipulate the market."

"In fact, risk assessments have been used to legitimize the sale of largely unnecessary pesticides and facilitated public misinformation regarding the real risks people face when exposed to these toxic chemicals. The case history of endosulfan in the Philippines, a developing country, is an illustrative example of the reality that risk assessment, as currently practiced, is not workable and is easily distorted and manipulated by powerful chemical manufacturers," the study said.

Today, in light of the M/V Princess of the Stars incident, things are no different.

The toxic cargo virtually ticking away beneath the ferry's hull only points to the urgent need for change yet again, and a lesson hopefully learned before its too late.

 

Sana ay maalis na kaagad ang nakakalasong chemical cargo na iyan mula sa barkong lumubog para maalis na ang panganib na maaring idulot nito sa ating karagatan kapag nagkaroon ng leakage. Hindi lang mga isda at iba pang yamang dagat ang mapipinsala nito, maging ang buhay ng mga naninirahan malapit sa pinangyarihan ng sakuna ay nanganganib din.

My First List, Parishioners!

An Old Friend (from small times)
suggested I beat the stress
by making lists
with checkboxes

and ticking them off.

I initially resisted
but caved today -
I have *SO* much to do!

SO
here it is,
as I wrote it
except that 'twas in two columns...
(here's a pretty good facsimile You can also get there via the sidebar)

TO DO Japanese character for Sunday 6/7/8. (!)
------------------------- (left, Most Important column)

BITCH
Dole
St George
Haircut
Brother T - pink & Fred
Perpetual
Colonial
SUPER! Selina

------------------------- (right, Things I Gotsta Do Eventually column)

(red pen) CALL @ 12 TechStaff! (in a box)

Defrag
Ditch paper(s) - keep some for dishes
Hunney's stuff
pictures
FRIDGE! (in a box)

MOVING
GARBAGE

-------------------------- that’s it, Parishioners.

makes Perfect Sense to me.

Yesterday on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, General Wesley Clark attacked the idea that Senator McCain's time in Vietnam would make him a better president:

"In the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk, it's a matter of gauging your opponents, and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn't held executive responsibility, that large squadron in the Navy that he commanded - that wasn't a wartime squadron."

Bob Schieffer then pointed out that Obama hasn't had any of those experiences, which prompted General Clark to say:

"Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president,"

General Clark has said things to that effect before, but this time his statement attracted attention. Many Republican Senators reacted with outrage such as John Warner:

"I was utterly shocked, that he would in such a disrespectful way attack one of his fellow career military officers."

and Bob Dole:

"Beyond comprehension ... further erosion of our nation's political discourse,"

Their outrage was shared by Airforce Colonel Bud Day who said that it was "A very indecent thing," Of course, Colonel Day knows a lot about indecent things as he took part in the "Swift Boat" ads which slandered John Kerry in the 2004 election.

The candidates both took a higher road on the matter with Senator Obama saying at about the same time as Clark made his statements that Senator McCain:

"endured physical torment in service to our country ... no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides."

Earlier today, Obama's spokesman Bill Burton said:

"Sen. Obama honors and respects Sen. McCain's service, and of course he rejects yesterday's statement by Sen. Clark."

Senator McCain attempted to link Obama to the statement he had denounced by saying:

"If that's the kind of campaign Sen. Obama and his surrogates and supporters want to engage in, I understand that. But it doesn't reduce the price of gas by one penny. It doesn't achieve our energy independence or make it come any closer. Doesn't make any American stay in their home who's at risk of losing it today. And it certainly doesn't do anything to address the challenges Americans have in keeping their jobs, homes and supporting their families."

What no one seems to want to point out is that Wesley Clark's ultimate point is right. McCain's time as a POW certainly shouldn't be belittled, but saying that it doesn't make him qualified doesn't belittle it in the slightest. It simply makes the point that living through the horrors of torture doesn't mean he's going be a great President.

The question about whether or not it should be a part of the political discourse I can certainly see but, the only serious argument I can see against Clark's point is that being a POW has given McCain greater judgment. However, the McCain campaign is choosing not to address it but rather disregard it.

One of the top reasons both of the major political parties in the U.S. are getting increasingly scary, is no matter how great the evidence of the inefficiency, poverty, and backwardness, on the one hand, and the callousness, cruelty, and terror, on the other, of socialism, both parties move hook or crook into the camp of this greatest and most dangerous of all scams for equality, compassion, and social justice.

And forget the conservative rhetoric that some of you will be tempted to counter with; nowadays, the Republicans are just as much in on this as the Democrats. They just go about it differently, often through Fabian tricks like government private partnerships, or decentralization schemes.

Consider Republican Party advocacy of decentralization. The talk began in earnest during the Newt Gingrich led Republican Revolution as part of his promise to "return to the wisdom and brilliance of the Founding Fathers."

It was no such thing. Decentralization was a case in point. Hatched out of Gingrich's attachment to a movement he'd been involved with since 1961 (ironically with Al Gore), that at that time was first called Participatory Democracy, than later Futurism, and finally in the 1990's, the Third Way, it's call for decentralization sounded a great deal like the American Founder's ideas about a federal republic, when in fact it is everything like the parliamentary form of Europe which the Founders rejected.

Federalism, or a federal republic, is a system that recognizes spheres of sovereignty, specific powers delegated to the federal government, for instance, with all the rest retained by the states, and the people (see the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution), or more specifically in practice, all the rest retained by the states, the counties, the cities, the villages, and the parents. Each one sovereign (fully independent) in areas not specifically delegated to a governmental entity - meaning the sovereign decides what laws to make, and then enforces them, and judges them at his level. No higher interference, except as specifically specified in the law, for instance, in the case of a legal appeal - and even then, the philosophy was that the decision only had ramifications on that individual case, rather than precedent setting, usurping power for the future.

Decentralization retains all power in the national government, only they (supposedly) don't get involved in the daily administration of the agencies and programs they create ... unless of course the state, county, local, and people don't play by the general or specific rules they set up - then watch out.

The former is key to preserving liberty generation upon generation, the latter a prescription for tyranny, and, in fact, far more dangerous than the more open Democrat approach, where at least the rhetoric admits centralized control, making it easier for the folks back home to figure out just who is the enemy and who is not.

Socialized Health Care is one of those areas where the Republican Party socializes while pretending to do something else. Hillary care was rejected in the 1990's, but only weeks after the fact, a key respected Republican brought forth legislation, hand in hand with one of the most far to the left Senators, that created the State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP), which by its name sounds like it a 'state' program, even though it is in fact created, funded, and thus ultimately controlled on the national level.

The timing was remarkable, the deceptive title typically Republican - sort of like the Republican Contract With America's legislation that had the title "No U.S. Troops Under Foreign Command," when the fine print actually gave the President of the United States, for the first time in our history, legal authority to do just that, providing he states that it is in the interest of "National Security." Gee, what a check!

In the Republican Presidential Primary of 2008, one of the leading 'conservative' candidates came to the plate with a national solution to the health care crisis that he and the Heritage Foundation (a 'conservative' think tank) pounded out together and used in his state (results still pending). He didn't call it socialized medicine. He called it "A Free Market, Federalist Approach To Make Quality, Affordable Health Insurance Available To Every American."

He was one of the supposed 'Reagan' candidates.

Call it what you will, it is still socialistic. And, I wonder, where the man read in the Constitution that the people's representatives in government had the right to forcibly take money from the people who they are supposed to represent - not rule over - to to set up a health care system that we (as individuals) may or may not like, or that we may or may not need, and by the way, which has miserably failed all around the world - because, history has already established: there is nothing compassionate, efficient, and innovative about force and control and collectivist solutions as to what is best for something so personal as each man, women, and child's health.

His argument was that the uninsured, many of whom are young people who don't think they need health insurance, are the ones whose health care needs, bailed out by the state, cost the taxpayers the most. Far better says he, to force them to be covered.

I could almost agree, he's talking about efficiency under the present regime of government interference. Except he didn't even address the most efficient, common sense answer of all, that is also the moral one (for it rejects FORCING men to be charitable, and committing the fraud of calling legalized theft, charity), abolish the safety net.

The man claimed to be a conservative (and in many ways he was), yet failed to comprehend, on this and few other key issues, what conservatives have always understood, that it is the system of socialism that undercuts the rugged self-reliance of individuals. More of the same will not save America; only a return to limited government and free enterprise, complimented by an educated and moral electorate, will.

Stiff Right Jab Editor In Chief, Steve Farrell, is the President of the Center for Moral Liberalism, and the author of the highly praised inspirational novel, "Dark Rose."

Le show de cloture revenait à la Patrouille Breitling sur L39.

Retrouvez quelques photos ici

(si vous souhaitez télécharger des photos, demandez le simplement flemtona@gmail.com)

Today, as 2.8 million people cast their vote in the Lisbon Treaty (something I admittedly never want to hear of again - its prominence on the news agenda has made me completely desensitised to it), some 200,000 people are involved in something new.

This something new would seem quite foreign to those who became accustomed to the Eire that flourished on the back of the Celtic Tiger; a country where Mercedes' seemed omnipresent, eating out was a regular affair and people had surplus cash to fritter away without a second thought. Well, we were led to believe that most people had it this good.

Now, the most well-trodden floors in the country belong to the local dole office, not L'Ecrivain.

'Unemployment crisis as 200,000 on dole' was the headline I gave this story on Wednesday. I'm not one to use the word crisis liberally - it's as bad as horror and tragedy if used too much - it loses all meaning.

But the statistics seem to support the idea that fresh worries for the country's unemployed are justified, as 47,746 more people signed on to the dole last month than at the same time last year.

47,746.

Northern Ireland is bucking the trend with a jobless percentage below the UK average, while Ireland is reportedly one of two countries in the EU where unemployment has risen in the last year. The other 25 seem to be able to maintain a plateau or improve upon their jobless rates.

Tánaiste and Employment Minister Mary Coughlan has inherited this burden and it is one she would be wise to address in the Dáil as soon as possible.

Because it seems that all this talk of the Lisbon Treaty has clouded the agenda. Surely the leaders of this country should be scrambling to find a solution and help those who want to be working to do so.

And I'm sure those who have cruelly suffered the loss of their job would rather be queuing for the ATM.

This is the reply:
------------

This has reference to your e-mail dated 13 May 2008 regarding undocumented workers in countries where there is a prevailing ban such as Nigeria and Afghanistan .

Please be advised that there is a Memorandum issued by the Secretary of Labor and Employment wherein there shall be a total ban in the deployment of all workers to the following destination countries:

Iraq
Afghanistan
Nigeria
Lebanon

However, our welfare assistance to workers already in those countries (except for Iraq where there is no significant GRP presence) will continue, or may even be supplemented, as demands of OFW protection may require.

Under these circumstances, there is no way that we can legitimize their status as undocumented since deployment to this country is prohibited.

In short, even these workers will take vacation back to the Philippines , their travel papers will not be processed or allowed by POEA because of the ban.

For your perusal and guidance.

Very truly yours,

ATTY. JONE B. FUNG

Director II

Legal Research, Docket and Enforcement Branch
-------------

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Scott McClellan bravely, if belatedly criticized President Bush in his book What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception. His first prime time interview took place last night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. As you might expect, much of what he said in this interview made Republicans angry. There were multiple mouthpieces for this outrage but the man who exemplifies this outrage is former Senator, former Presidential candidate, and former Viagra spokesman Bob Dole who, in an e-mail obtained by politico.com, said:

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don't have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues. No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurned on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique. ... If all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job.  That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had your credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively. You're a hot ticket now but don't you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"

Now, I think Dole's point that McClellan should have spoken up sooner is a good one, however the fact that he resorted to largely simply doing an ad-hominem attack rather than by attempting to deconstruct any of McClellan's points speaks volumes, especially since the White House received an advance copy of the book early and didn't ask McClellan to make any changes.

However, this kind of assault is standard operating procedure for Bush loyalists whenever a former administration official criticizes the President. Back in 2004, Scott McClellan was admonishing Richard Clarke for leaving in a political year and selling a book. Now that the shoe is on the other foot however it appears that Mr. McClellan has greater sympathy for Mr. Clarke given that when they bumped into each other in a hotel last night, Mr.McClellan asked Clarke for forgiveness. Clarke said that he thought he could forgive McClellan now.

Another interesting tidbit from the McClellan controversy was that last night when Keith Olbermann asked who he was going to vote for. McClellan said:

"I'm intrigued by what Senator Obama has been running on, about changing the way Washington works. I've had respect for Senator McCain as well for the way he's worked across the aisle with Democrats. But I'm going to take my time and think it through."

If you had asked me back in 2004 that Scott McClellan was going to transition from being the poster boy for the Bush administration to being the poster boy for Bush fatigue I'd have thought you were crazy.

Politico: Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding e-mail to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.

In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist.

McLellan gets pwned.

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

The fact that we can follow the money to Soros just proves Dole's point.  Funny how Mclellan was derided as a bumbling fool by the left when he was Bush's press secretary - but now he's a man of unimpeachable credentials speaking truth to power.  What an ass.

And no, I don't know what causes Bob Dole's Illeism.

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

Michael Marshall, Dole's spokesman and colleague at the Alston Bird law firm, confirms the message came from the former senator and presidential candidate.   "Yes, it is authentic," Marshall wrote in an email.

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate.  "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years"

Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book --  "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job"

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes.  "You’re a hot ticket now but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"

He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"

Yeah, what Bob said.  Catch my take at Heading Right with Media Lizzy.

---Media Lizzy

From Rasmussen:

• Alabama Senate: Sessions (R) 62% Figures (D) 29%
• Alaska Senate: Begich (D) 47% Stevens (R) 45%
• Colorado Senate: Udall (D) 47% Schaffer (R) 41%
• Kansas Senate: Roberts (R) 52% Slattery (D) 40%
• Kentucky Senate: Lunsford (D) 49% McConnell (R) 44%
• Maine Senate: Collins (R) 52% Allen (D) 42%
• Michigan Senate: Levin (D) 54% Hoogendyk (R) 37%
• Minnesota Senate: Coleman (R) 47% Franken (D) 45%
• Mississippi Senate: Cochran (R) 58% Fleming (D) 35%
• Mississippi Senate: Musgrove (D) 47% Wicker (R) 46%
• Nebraska Senate: Johanns (R) 55% Kleeb (D) 40%
• New Hampshire Senate: Shaheen (D) 50% Sununu (R) 43%
• North Carolina Senate: Hagan (D) 48% Dole (R) 47%
• Texas Senate: Cornyn (R) 47% Noriega (D) 43%
• Virginia Senate: Warner (D) 55% Gilmore (R) 37%

Late in 2006, the Philippine government declared a total ban of workers going to Nigeria on the account of the successive kidnapping incidents in Nigeria’s oil areas which involve OFWs. The action may have been justifiable at that point. The ban affected not only New Hires but vacationing OFWs as well, even those OFWs who are working in Lagos and non-oil areas for a long time already.

Early in 2007, upon the strength of the petition of some expatriate companies in Nigeria, the OFW association in Nigeria and endorsement of the Philippine Embassy, the Total Ban was scaled-down to Partial Ban, allowing only the vacationing OFWs with valid work visa to return to Nigeria.

After the resolution of the kidnapping issue, which involved not only Filipinos but other nationals as well, the Philippine government still maintained the ban on New Hire.

In Oct 2007, returning OFWs to Nigeria found themselves barred by Immigration and POEA officials at the NAIA because they were told a total ban is in effect.

We, the OFWs in Nigeria, believe that the imposition of a ban is not the solution to this issue of kidnapping, which for the record, also involved other nationalities. The continued ban is just hurting every Filipinos’ chances of getting a decent work and a chance to contribute to the Philippine economy.

By declaring a ban on Nigeria on issue of security of the country, the Philippine government is no less insulting the capabilities of the host country to maintain its internal peace and order. The present administration of His Excellency President Yaradua is doing huge effort to secure the oil areas and guaranty the safety of all expatriate workers.

One thing is certain in our minds, the kidnapping incidents in specific areas of Nigeria is not a mirror of the entire country’s state of security.

The OFWs themselves in the oil-areas have sent numerous letters to the Philippine embassy assuring the embassy that they feel safe with the present security efforts implemented in their workplace.

Filipino workers in Nigeria are found in Oil industry, civil and military aviation (pilots and avionics), Construction, Manufacturing, telecoms and service industries. Others are married to Nigerians, and the rest are relatives of Filipinos with residency.

We assure the government and our loved ones that Nigeria is a decent and relatively safe country to work and stay.

Advisory

Instead of declaring a ban, may we recommend that the government should do what other governments are doing – give out advisory to Filipino workers in Nigeria to take precaution and observe company security policies. Then it should advise the embassy to coordinate communication with oil companies to ensure Filipinos will have direct line to embassy if their safety is threatened.

Bilateral Agreement

The present administration could also establish bilateral agreement with Nigeria and take an active role as major partner of Nigeria's growing economy and its increasing demand for foreign workers. Philippines could lend a hand to Nigeria when it comes to village health care and education.

State Visit

Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo should consider making a state visit to Lagos/Abuja and go up in history as the only Philippine president to ever visit an African State, and the maybe the second head of state from SoutheastAsia to do so, after China’s Hu Jintao.

Preceding her state visit, a Philippines-Nigeria Business Cooperation summit maybe be organized. This is to paved the way for the establishment an office to handle Philippine investors coming to Nigeria, and as liaison to various Nigerian authorities.

Embassy Support

The DFA should open a consular office in Lagos. Considering that Lagos is the arrival and departure point for expatriates, and there are more Filipinos based in Lagos than in Abuja. Even Port Harcourt-based OFWs regulalry come to Lagos for R&R.

Also, deploy a POLO in Abuja embassy and in Lagos Consulate to process and document all Filipino workers in West African countries. Undocumented Filipinos here wanted to be registered with OWWA and POEA and legitimize their existence.

Last April 2008, Energy Sec. Angelo Reyes visited Lagos, Nigeria to attend a world energy summit. He saw for himself the status of Filipinos and the community in Lagos. And he can surely vouch for the stable peace and order of Nigeria.

If the government truly cares, it should put a ban on the hiring of DH to Middle East, Marianas.

There is more to gain for the government in lifting the ban on Nigeria immediately.

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