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Some slightly related from Technorati and Google.

[Sirotablog] Analyzing "Clintonism"...Honestly: - According to Cherny, Clinton believed "that America's increasing global interdependence meant that the nation's entire approach to economic policy had to change radically." This is true. But what he fails to note is that Clinton was elected as an economic populist who pledged to change the nation's approach to economic policies in a way that put the interests of America's middle class above everything else. Clinton was elected as a quasi-economic populist - not the sort of super-Wall Street free trader that many of his international economic policies embodied. For instance, in a classic biting-his-bottom-lip-in-empathy moment on the 1992 campaign, Clinton promised workers he would sign free trade deals "only - only - if [trading partner countries] lifted their wage rates and their labor standards and they cleaned up their environment so we could both go up together, instead of being dragged down." He also promised that "I wouldn't have done what [the first President] Bush did and give all those trade preferences to China when they're locking their people up." Yet, once in office, those promises were gone.

 [Tennessee Values Authority] Consider The Source: As a reporter dealing with those things, I've always tried to give as much background as possible on the people or organizations involved. It can get a little dicey -- I had one very conservative group complain to me when I described them as "conservative," because they wanted to just be called "nonpartisan." In this case, as you note, the group's official neutrality seems to have actually neutered its message, producing more or less the opposite effect from what was intended. But yeah, I definitely agree reporters (and editors) should do a little research on anybody who presents them with information. Everybody has an agenda of some kind.

[Martin Stabe] EU jet fuel tax proposal: A aviation kerosene tax proposal failed last week at the G7 conference, and the British government ruled out unilateral introduction of such a tax. At the G7 level, the US is also opposed, which is why Germany and France are now pushing for it at the EU level. Germany hopes that by linking the tax to new spending on development aid, it can win over doubters like Britain and Ireland.

 [Birdwatching.birderblog.com] Birderblog.com - bird watching, bird pictures, birding, bird ...: The killers were no doubt honest hard-working ignorant folks, who had heard that eagles might carry off their lambs or chickens or maybe even an infant. Hats off to folks like Randy who try to shed a little light on ignorance about black vultures, especially among those who should know better. Then geologist and farmer Bob Evans wrote:

[Hybridcars.com] Hybrid Cars - Walter's Brain on Sustainable Mobility: The AP story that earned me my first hate e-mail for the quote, "Most people don't think about where their vehicles are made," was about concerns that Toyota (and Honda) expressed that the declining fortunes of Detroit automakers could inspire anti-Japanese feelings in the U.S. The hybrid program certainly is seen in DC as a “good thing,” and has let Toyota and Honda position themselves as good corporate citizens to lawmakers. For a few years now, our government has been taxing displaced auto industry workers in Detroit and sending the money to Toyota and Honda in the form of consumer incentives to buy hybrids. How much better can their image get than that? About the only people who don’t think they are heroes are the anti-government loonies.

 [Detnews.com] Tsunami relief may lead to new disaster - 05/17/05: The group's effort is laudable, environmentalists say, but for one problem: The timber for the houses is being logged illegally in the mist-shrouded mountains rising in the distance. Home to monkeys, orangutans, tigers, elephants and thousands of species of insects and plants, the forests of Sumatra form one of the richest and most sensitive ecosystems on earth.

 [Detnews.com] Tsunami relief may lead to new disaster - 05/17/05: The group's effort is laudable, environmentalists say, but for one problem: The timber for the houses is being logged illegally in the mist-shrouded mountains rising in the distance. Home to monkeys, orangutans, tigers, elephants and thousands of species of insects and plants, the forests of Sumatra form one of the richest and most sensitive ecosystems on earth.

[Gristmill.grist.org] Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist Magazine: Reclaim the Future's slogan is "Green Jobs, Not Jails," and as you might gather, the idea is "representing and empowering ecologically sound, urban entrepreneurs and the communities they provide opportunities for." Jones says the goal is to quickly find a kind of showcase project -- an urban green business that's profitably employing recently incarcerated or at-risk youth -- and leverage the hell out of it. "We want to create a demonstration project that gives us the opportunity to go out and build the political constituency that can multiply that by a thousand-fold," he says. To which I say: Godspeed.

Reflected tags on Technorati: Blog, Environmentalism, The Green Files