I recommend this "story" purely for its humor value. The glowing quote from S. Adams didn't have a single word in it about outlawing slavery, so it's a hoot. As far as getting some ignorant people to say ignorant things... I dunno if I can legitimately get down on Beck for doing that, since I've gotten and published awfully stupid on-camera statements from his tea bag followers, too. Whatever.

It's pretty good "activist journalism," which is what we expect from AlterNet, which is a "no bones about it" leftie news purveyor, although its work tends to be far more factual than, say, Fox News at the other end of the political spectrum. So yeah, despite my general suspicion of AlterNet, I'd say this is a pretty good piece of journalism.

I can't really "review" this little article in the usual sense. It makes me too angry. I am white and my wife is black, and I have a sudden urge to drive to Peckerwood Parish, LA (that *is* where this guy is Injustice of the Peace, right?) and kick some judicial ass. Debbie and I have been "keeping company" for 20+ years and married for over 17 years, with no breakup in sight, so obviously interracial couples can stay together happily for long periods of time. Grrr......

This story is apparently an eye-opener for its intended (British) audience, who seem to think it amazing just how bad we Americans have it on the health care front.

There just may be another side to this story, considering that every single Canadian I know personally likes their health care system better than the U.S. one.

There are 50,00,000 sad unemployment and underemployment stories in the naked country. This is one of them. Great title, too

Good investigative piece. I didn't even know anyone imported honey into the U.S., since I live in a part of Florida where local honey dominates.

I saw this as more of an analysis piece than pure journalism. While it was factual, the facts tended to support the overall thesis rather than stand on their own.

The story didn't answer the question posed in its headline. But then, how could it? No one seems to have a good idea what will happen to the stock market next year. The Times reporters laid out several possible scenarios in as even-handed a manner as possible, with quotes from several authoritative-sounding sources. That's about all anyone can -- or should -- do when predicting future economic moves.

This is not really news to those of us who live in this part of Florida. Kim and his friends were a little more blatantly fraudulent than most, but this kind of "get rich quick" mentality combined with incredible stupidity on the part of the lenders -- who were really loan brokers, not lenders -- and a total lack of federal oversight are what cause first the housing price runup that priced honest working people out of the real estate market, then led to its collapse. I note that ... More »

Decent story, marred by the silly word "unexpected" in the hed.

Mentioned many sides of the issue (and there *are* many sides), plus solutions as viewed through a number of eyes.

Good piece about how "deregulation" was a synonym for "enabling financial criminals."

I was not thrilled with this piece because it started out talking about McCain and veered off into Hillaryville. If Ms. Collins had stuck to McCain, it would have been a tighter and stronger piece. She could have used the Hillary material in another column.

This is a rare journalistic effort in that it goes behind the obvious and looks "behind the curtain" at forces that drive our economy. As a reporter who often covers business and economic matters, I have been amazed that the dollar's value drop and the factors that have made it obvious that this was going to happen haven't been covered by major media outlets. Kudos to Smirking Chimp for carrying a story that *really* should have been in the Wall Street Journal.

Pretty good story... didn't break any new ground for me, because I've been following Muslim issues for years. A fine overview for someone who *hasn't* been following how Islam gets along with the modern world, though.

As a Florida resident I love the condomizers as much as I love Rippy the Gator ending children's lives. Shaky con-job financing built on the premise that "stupid is as stupid does" condomites will buy units for much more than they're worth as rentals, plus attendant corruption as the condomizers bribe local planning boards and city councils into letting them violate height and density regulations. And all of this is supported by the U.S. taxpayers who subsidize the flood insurance ... More »

This isn't a typical "everything about an event" news story, so it can't be rated as such. It is, however, an excellent example of the "facts that may have been overlooked by others" story, which is a breed unto itself.

A thoughtful look at how Arab countries are trying (and often failing) to move into the 21st century. It's commentary, not reporting, and should be rated as such. But it's intelligent, fact-based, informed commentary; a fine example of its genre.

I'm surprised that I haven't seen more articles about "upside down" car loans and their long-term ramifications. Cars depreciate, and even in a three-year loan someone who finances 100% of a car purchase owes more than the car's value for at least the first year. With five and seven year car loans, the problem is worse. Next. we need to see some articles about practices in the "buy here - pay here" used car business, which often gets people into as big a debt trap as the payday loan crowd.

I see that other NewsTrust reviewers don't believe this is an important story. I think it is. Consistent tardiness at campaign events shows that the candidate doesn't respect the people who are waiting for him, and that he doesn't believe their time is as valuable as his.

Oh, those poor secular libertarian Ron Paul zealots! What will they do now? :( An unimpeachable story, since it quotes The Man himself.

This was a thought-provoker that left me wanting to know more about the subject. I would now like to read a 5000+ word piece, possibly with some graphs or other numerical data, about income inequality throughout history and in different cultures.

Reading this story was not worth the onerous registration process.

I loved the (predictable) token quote from one of the Heritage Foundation apologizers-for-the-rich. Guess those people don't have black relatives who have been laid off from $15/hour warehouse jobs and replaced by minimum wage illegals. Unfortunately, I do. This article mirrors my family's experience.

"Self-serving" is a great description of this piece. As insight into the mind of an unrestrained non-journalist with a blog, it was great. But as a view of the real world.... the "no one gives us young female bloggers a chance because we aren't white males" tone showed an amazing disconnect from reality. The last "new media" conference I attended had young, female bloggers all over the place, handily outnumbering Ms. Marcotte's stereotypical "30-something nerdy young white men who ... More »