In an era where politicians happily take bribe money from special interests in the form of campaign contributions (or in the form of bribes) and in an era where no media source, mainstream or otherwise, can be trusted more than any blog on the internet, there is a serious need for serious people to get serious about where they get their news.

In a world where facts have been put aside in the interest of being the first to break a story or where career journalists sacrifice major stories because their employer won’t run them or because it ...continue reading]]>

In an era where politicians happily take bribe money from special interests in the form of campaign contributions (or in the form of bribes) and in an era where no media source, mainstream or otherwise, can be trusted more than any blog on the internet, there is a serious need for serious people to get serious about where they get their news.

In a world where facts have been put aside in the interest of being the first to break a story or where career journalists sacrifice major stories because their employer won’t run them or because it will prevent them from getting an exclusive interview with the subject in question later on, you need to be able to be sure that the news source isn’t as corrupt as the politicians they report on.

Here is a list of places where you should be getting your news:

Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! Is the premiere source of news for anyone that is tired of watching or listening to morning news shows (which are the most awful form of “entertainment” ever devised). Hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, the show is available online as soon as it airs and is simulcast across television stations and radio stations all around America. Check it out for yourself at DemocracyNow.org. Highly recommended.

The Gothamist

For your New York City news, you need not go farther than The Gothamist, an independent newspaper that covers the greater New York City area. The website finds the most important news in other sources and does their own stories as well, check it out at Gothamist.com.

BBC/PBS

For television news, forget for-profit news channels and overpaid anchors, BBC and PBS are publicly funded (unlike PBS, however, BBC does not need government funds to survive) and do not need to go with the “juicy” stories like John Edwards and Paris Hilton to boost ratings. The journalists employed at these stations are true pros and really cover the news well.

PBS is available on every TV set in America, be sure to check out News Hour with Jim Lehrer nightly but even more importantly: check out Frontline, the best documentary series on television bar none, as well as Bill Moyer’s Journal and Charlie Rose. You can see past shows at PBS.org.

BBC is available on most cable and satellite television packages as well as on their website at BBC.co.uk.

Another underrated news source is Al-Jazeera English. The station got a bad rep because its Arab world counterpart was linked to terrorists even though they were just covering terrorism in their coverage. The English version is based out of Britain and does a great job of covering the stories no one else will. I’m not sure if it is available on cable and satellite packages here in the US but you can check it out at http://english.aljazeera.net/.

The Daily Show

For a fake news show, it certainly covers the facts of the story much better than anyone else in the mainstream media. While under no circumstances should Jon Stewart be your main source of the news, the show does great interviews and a great job of weeding out the B.S. From the actual story. The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central and all episodes available at TheDailyShow.com.

Also, don’t forget to check out Real Time with Bill Maher, Fridays on HBO.

ProPublica
An organization focused only on in-depth investigative reporting, they do a phenomenal job and their stories end up in major newspapers all across America: check them out at ProPublica.org.

Top Journalists

There are a lot of top journalists who do phenomenal work that aren’t in the mainstream media. Here is a list of journalists whose stories you need to be following:

Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker: He has been a top investigative journalist for decades and is the man who broke the My Lai Massacre story. He has a ton of insider sources within the Pentagon and the government and The New Yorker has one of the strictest fact-checking policies in the business. You can take a look at his previous work here.

Greg Palast, BBC/Freelance: Palast writes for all sorts of publications and does reports for the BBC. He does an amazing job of getting his hands on documents and sources that no one else can or seems to try to. You can follow all of his reports at his website, GregPalast.com. Don’t forget to donate!

Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone Magazine/Web: The Rolling Stone has a rich tradition following big stories going all the way back to Hunter Thompson. The best part of the magazine and Taibbi is that they don’t pull any punches when it comes to sorting out the truth. Check Matt’s work out here.

With the Saints having defeated the Jets, the matchup for this year’s Super Bowl has been set and it is exactly what fans expected it to be all year: the 14-2 Colts taking on the 13-3 Saints in Miami.

The Colts had started out slow against the New York Jets, largely because Gang Green shut down their top two receiving options, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark.

Still, the second half belonged to Peyton Manning as he proved once again why he is the best quarterback in the NFL, marching the Colts from 11 points down to a ...continue reading]]>

With the Saints having defeated the Jets, the matchup for this year’s Super Bowl has been set and it is exactly what fans expected it to be all year: the 14-2 Colts taking on the 13-3 Saints in Miami.

The Colts had started out slow against the New York Jets, largely because Gang Green shut down their top two receiving options, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark.

Still, the second half belonged to Peyton Manning as he proved once again why he is the best quarterback in the NFL, marching the Colts from 11 points down to a 13 points victory using his third and fourth receiving options. Number two receiver Pierre Garcon ended the game with 11 receptions for 151 yards and number three receiver, Austin Collie, finished the game with seven receptions for 123 yards.

In the wild Saints-Vikings matchup, the Vikes outplayed the Saints in every way possible but blew the game each time they had an opportunity to get ahead. The Vikings fumbled the ball a whopping six times (twice by top running back Adrian Peterson) and lost it three times (not to mention all of the non-fumbles in which the Vikings couldn’t hold on to the ball) while Brett Favre put up his most unimpressive performance of the season, being picked off twice.

It was hardly Favre’s fault as the 40-year-old quarterback got minimal protection from his line and was hit (hard) by the Saints defense over a dozen times.

Ultimately, the turnovers got the better of them (even though the Vikes dominated New Orleans in almost every offensive category and the Saints won it on a field goal by rookie Garrett Hartley in overtime.

The Colts-Saints, Manning-Brees matchup should be one for the ages.

After ten games of the NFL season, the New York Jets were 4-6 and out of playoff contention. Not quite. The Jets hit a hot streak and their top defense and top rushing attack won them 7 out of 8 games until the team’s Cinderella run finally came to an end today as they were topped by the Colts in the AFC Championship game.

While Jets fans were disappointed by the team’s loss, especially after the Jets were up 17-6 in the second quarter, the season was far from a disappointment.

With a lot of uncertainty surrounding ...continue reading]]>

After ten games of the NFL season, the New York Jets were 4-6 and out of playoff contention. Not quite. The Jets hit a hot streak and their top defense and top rushing attack won them 7 out of 8 games until the team’s Cinderella run finally came to an end today as they were topped by the Colts in the AFC Championship game.

While Jets fans were disappointed by the team’s loss, especially after the Jets were up 17-6 in the second quarter, the season was far from a disappointment.

With a lot of uncertainty surrounding the team that would start its season with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, the Jets did much better than anyone, including the team itself, expected them to.

They did so on the shoulders of a truly terrific defense. Although they weren’t as successful as the defenses that took the Ravens and the Buccaneers to Super Bowl wins over the past decade, a good mix of old and new players stepped up huge and allowed less than 15 points a game. Led by shut down cornerback Darrelle Revis and middle linebacker David Harris, the Jets defense has a lot of pluses and nary any minuses and is expected to be just as good next season.

The Jets rushing attack was equally impressive, especially after running back Leon Washington was hurt early in the season. After leading the AFC in rushing yards in 2008, Thomas Jones put up another excellent year excellent year, as did rookie running back Shonn Greene who will be challenging for the starting job next season.

Mark Sanchez had an up-and-down year that ended on a high note. While the Jets were unable to stop the awesomeness that is Peyton Manning, Sanchez outdueled the MVP for the entire first half as he threw more confidently than we had ever seen him.

Tough break for the Jets but I cannot wait to see what they do next year. Congrats!

More than 100,000 bodies have been buried in mass graves but that may be less than a third of the ultimate death toll from the massive earthquake that destroyed Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. Officials are now estimating the deathtoll to be at around 300,000 once all of the bodies have been found and the diseases stemming from conditions on the ground prove to be even more catastrophic than the quake.

With so much of the country in rubble, officials cannot give a good estimate of how many people have died (the estimate had previously ...continue reading]]>

More than 100,000 bodies have been buried in mass graves but that may be less than a third of the ultimate death toll from the massive earthquake that destroyed Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. Officials are now estimating the deathtoll to be at around 300,000 once all of the bodies have been found and the diseases stemming from conditions on the ground prove to be even more catastrophic than the quake.

With so much of the country in rubble, officials cannot give a good estimate of how many people have died (the estimate had previously been 100,000 and 200,000), especially since little attention has come to areas around Port-au-Prince that were hit directly by the first earthquake as well as the strong aftershock earthquakes that followed.

Meanwhile, donations for Haiti have continued to come in strong but we need to keep helping the country because the hardest part of recovery is still ahead. On Friday, countless celebrities gathered to raise money for the disaster struck country and have reportedly raised over $55 million. If you missed the telethon, you can still donate at https://www.hopeforhaitinow.org/Default.asp.

Darrelle Revis

The Colts, Vikings, and Saints all have great quarterbacks and phenomenal offenses so it obviously stands to reason that the Jets are the underdog among the four remaining playoff teams. Perhaps, but in the past decade the playoffs have become a perfect venue for a defensive based team that no one takes as a serious threat.

A look at the teams that have made it to the Super Bowl in the past decade shows that 15 of the 20 teams that have made it to the Super Bowl in the past 10 years did so because ...continue reading]]>

Darrelle Revis

The Colts, Vikings, and Saints all have great quarterbacks and phenomenal offenses so it obviously stands to reason that the Jets are the underdog among the four remaining playoff teams. Perhaps, but in the past decade the playoffs have become a perfect venue for a defensive based team that no one takes as a serious threat.

A look at the teams that have made it to the Super Bowl in the past decade shows that 15 of the 20 teams that have made it to the Super Bowl in the past 10 years did so because their defense was one of the best in the league.

What’s more is that the 2001 Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens, the 2003 Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the 2007 NFC Champions Chicago Bears made it to the Super Bowl solely on the strength of their defense.

In 2001, the Ravens had Trent Dilfer at quarterback but dominated teams with their incredible defense and spectacular running game, ultimately defeating the Giants in Super Bowl 35.

In 2003, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to defeat the offensive powerhouse Oakland Raiders even though they had Brad Johnson at quarterback and “did not have a chance” coming into Super Bowl 37. Their number one ranked defense stopped Oakland’s number one ranked offense in their tracks.

In 2007, the Chicago Bears’ quarterback was Rex Grossman (who can’t get a starting job anywhere in the league today) but their high powered defense (and running back Thomas Jones) led them into the Super Bowl where they ultimately lost to Indianapolis.

In any case, the Jets are coming into the AFC Championship game as the number one ranked defense having allowed an average of 14 points in the 18 games that they have played this year. Not only that but their defense has not allowed more than 15 points in their last eight games.

After nearly seven years in a country that we were originally only going to invade for six months at most, the United States Marine Corp. completed their mission in Iraq and began to turn over command of Anbar province to the U.S. Army. This was the first move to truly signal the beginning of the United States’ withdrawal from Iraq and a shift in focus to Afghanistan.

While military officials have been happy with the security situation in most of Iraq, the move also comes in the middle of an election scandal in which 500 politicians have been ...continue reading]]>

After nearly seven years in a country that we were originally only going to invade for six months at most, the United States Marine Corp. completed their mission in Iraq and began to turn over command of Anbar province to the U.S. Army. This was the first move to truly signal the beginning of the United States’ withdrawal from Iraq and a shift in focus to Afghanistan.

While military officials have been happy with the security situation in most of Iraq, the move also comes in the middle of an election scandal in which 500 politicians have been blacklisted by the Sunni government for having alleged ties to Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party.

Vice President Joe Biden, on the same day as the military hand-over, visited Iraq to try to put an end to the political problems so as to avoid any issues with the timetable for the U.S. withdrawal.

According to the Pentagon, Obama’s pledge for a sixteen-month withdrawal is going as planned and if the U.S. Can get all but 50,000 residual troops out by the end of August, Obama will have his first real political victory. Most Marines shipped out long before the hand over to the army. The Marines had sent 25,000 troops to Iraq but only 3,000 remain with most getting set to go home or to Afghanistan.

As part of an Iraq-U.S. Security agreement, the remaining 50,000 soldiers would be stationed in Iraq until the end of 2011 at which time the U.S. is required to withdraw all of its troops.

While tensions in Iraq had settled substantially, violence still remains. The Obama Administration believes that the residual troops and the Iraqi forces will be sufficient to battle insurgency.

Most of the soldiers being shipped out of Iraq are hardly out of harm’s way. The United States recently escalated the number of troops in Afghanistan and many say that the real war there is just beginning. With more troops necessary in Afghanistan, the Iraq withdrawal could not come at a better time…outside of any time in the last seven years.

It isn’t often that you will see an over-the-hill catcher with little left in the tank turn down a potential two-year offer to stay on a team that that is only offering one year for less money but that is exactly what Bengie Molina did after two months in which the Mets were the only team talking to him and seemed to have him locked up.

The Giants had given up on signing Molina around the time of winter meetings. Molina was reportedly seeking a three-year deal worth $6 million per year, much more than anyone was willing ...continue reading]]>

It isn’t often that you will see an over-the-hill catcher with little left in the tank turn down a potential two-year offer to stay on a team that that is only offering one year for less money but that is exactly what Bengie Molina did after two months in which the Mets were the only team talking to him and seemed to have him locked up.

The Giants had given up on signing Molina around the time of winter meetings. Molina was reportedly seeking a three-year deal worth $6 million per year, much more than anyone was willing to give him.

The Mets were the only team interested in the veteran backstop and seemed to have locked him up when Molina reportedly dropped his request for a third-year and appeared close to signing a one-year deal with an option for a second worth over $5 million per year.

Not so much. Out of nowhere, Molina signed the contract that San Francisco had on the table for him since the beginning of the offseason: one-year, $4.5 million.

With Molina off the table, the Mets have turned their attention to fellow veteran catcher Rod Barajas, who is a poor man’s Bengie Molina all around, and Yorvit Torreabla, a more likely choice for the Mets.

Molina had hit 20 home runs and drove in 80 runs last year where as Torreabla has failed to live up to any of the potential that he had ever since he came up around nine years ago. Ironically, the Mets will likely offer him the same kind of deal as they offered Molina.

Though most assumed the worst (at least earthquake-wise) was over after the 30-plus aftershocks that Haiti saw following the massive 7.0 earthquake that has completely ravaged the country and the city of Port-au-Prince, the country was rocked again by a 6.1 mag aftershock early this morning that sent sleeping Haitians running into the streets with all too vivid memories of last week’s events.

The earthquake hit about 35 miles away from Port-au-Prince (the first earthquake hit just 15 miles from Haiti’s capital and biggest city) and the effects were not being well reported because most relief workers, military ...continue reading]]>

Though most assumed the worst (at least earthquake-wise) was over after the 30-plus aftershocks that Haiti saw following the massive 7.0 earthquake that has completely ravaged the country and the city of Port-au-Prince, the country was rocked again by a 6.1 mag aftershock early this morning that sent sleeping Haitians running into the streets with all too vivid memories of last week’s events.

The earthquake hit about 35 miles away from Port-au-Prince (the first earthquake hit just 15 miles from Haiti’s capital and biggest city) and the effects were not being well reported because most relief workers, military personnel, and reporters are stationed inside Port-au-Prince and can’t leave.

The effects of the earthquake were not immediately clear within the city either as it would be hard to tell if anything was further damaged in a city that remains littered with rubble.

Relief workers from all countries have been working day and night (and amazingly are still rescuing survivors from the city’s damaged homes.

The mass effects of the earthquake, however, have not allowed relief workers to help nearly as much people as needed. The World Food Program, for example, has distributed around 250,000 meals but this has barely helped when you consider the millions who are with low food and water rations around the country. The program has said that they are optimistic about their goal of distributing 100 million meals in the next month but even that will only go so far as millions in Haiti are homeless or otherwise reeling from last week’s quake.

The worst has come because of the very limited amount of medical supplies and personnel. Doctors are now estimating that 20,000 additional people are dying in Haiti every day because they do not have access to surgery.

It wasn’t very long ago that President Barack Obama was Presidential candidate Barack Obama, a freshman Senator running on a platform of change after eight disastrous years of George Bush. Last night’s Republican win in Massachusetts by Scott Brown, who will now take over Ted Kennedy’s vacated seat, showed that Republicans are not only planning on running on a platform of change but winning because of it.

With the country restless and angry over the Democrats’ utter incompetence when it has come to pushing through their agenda despite a massive majority in both the House and the Senate, ...continue reading]]>

It wasn’t very long ago that President Barack Obama was Presidential candidate Barack Obama, a freshman Senator running on a platform of change after eight disastrous years of George Bush. Last night’s Republican win in Massachusetts by Scott Brown, who will now take over Ted Kennedy’s vacated seat, showed that Republicans are not only planning on running on a platform of change but winning because of it.

With the country restless and angry over the Democrats’ utter incompetence when it has come to pushing through their agenda despite a massive majority in both the House and the Senate, the voters are now looking towards the “new Republicans,” better known as the “conservative” or “Tea Party” movement which they blindly think is any different from what this country had before Obama.

The truth is, the Democrats didn’t deserve to win in Massachusetts because Attorney General Martha Coakley ran a terrible campaign. The wealth of races that the Democrats are bound to lose in November will also be lost because those Democrats will run poor campaigns. Not because they are poor campaigners but because they have nothing to run on.

And so, exactly a year after Barack Obama took office, the winds of change have shifted and are now blowing against Obama, the new status quo.

One year in, the country has not closed Guantanamo, has not passed health care or climate change reform, has not stopped the economic bleeding, and has escalated the war in Afghanistan. Sound familiar?

The World We Are Creating

Despite what the Fox News Channels and right-wingnut blogs will have you believe, the 2000s were the warmest decade on record, even more so than the 1990s, which is now the second warmest decade on record. Starting to see a pattern yet?

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the earth’s surface temperature was more than 1 degree higher than normal and nearly 1 degree higher than normal all decade. Doesn’t seem like much? Scientists predict that the worst effects of global warming will strike once the earth’s surface temperature is only about ...continue reading]]>

The World We Are Creating

Despite what the Fox News Channels and right-wingnut blogs will have you believe, the 2000s were the warmest decade on record, even more so than the 1990s, which is now the second warmest decade on record. Starting to see a pattern yet?

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the earth’s surface temperature was more than 1 degree higher than normal and nearly 1 degree higher than normal all decade. Doesn’t seem like much? Scientists predict that the worst effects of global warming will strike once the earth’s surface temperature is only about 3 degrees higher than normal.

What’s more is that the 1 degree represents a massive .35 degree spike over the 1990s during which the earth’s temperature was around .65 degrees higher than normal.

Already the one degree increase has resulted in destabilized weather systems and record breaking temperatures, both hot and cold.

Just last year the country saw the biggest fire in Los Angeles history, the longest winter drought in Texas’ history, some of the most active tornado seasons of all time in Tornado Alley, and record snowfalls in the Plains States and the Pacific Northwest.

Elsewhere, we saw one of the heaviest snow storms in England’s history and the heaviest in 20 years, unlikely tropical storms in western Europe, record snowfalls in China, and a barrage of strong typhoons in southern Asia.

If these are the effects of a climate that is just one degree higher than normal, what will the world see when the temperature rises another degree? What will be left of the world when temperatures go up another two degrees?