The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

The Radio Equalizer with Brian Maloney is an interesting site to be forthright. It challenges the controlled media's take on current events.
But before you dismiss Maloney as another Matt Drudge wannabe consider for a moment that the internet has helped common folks expose not only the real news but also the mechanics of controlled media newsrooms. Maloney's presence signifies yet even further how much pull WE really have, that more and more we are fuelling the continued development of the independent media, something independent of the Controlled News Nutwork or Most Soitenly Nuthin' But Crap.
And he calls himself an equaliser, and that he does with his deft analyses. Put it another way: Brian Mulroney puts the electric chair slam on the controlled media in a continued handicap match that has turned tide in which now the audience have become combatants against the controlled media.

Sixteen Interstates The DOT SHOULD Build: FOCUS: Interstate 40, California

As you might expect this route focuses on the Golden State and in fact this also extends a current interstate route to a growing coastal community.
And the big factor supporting this is a good portion of that route is already in place.
Interstate 40 currently connects North Carolina with Barstow CA following the US66 corridor west of Oklahoma City to its current terminus.

The current CA58 corridor east of Bakersfield is almost entirely freeway or dual carriageway with cross traffic, and needs only a few proper motorway junctions plus a motorway round the north side of Mojave to be regarded as complete. After that it is time to start changing out the current green-and-white spades with the red white and blue interstate shield.
Speaking of the former I have had a few interesting alternate designs for the green and white spades that have been the same for at least 40 years, this atop the roughly 40 years of white spades, including 10 of those in its current shape.




Here is a look at what it would look like if it were to follow the examples suggested in the FHWA signposting standards for state route markers, and I think that this would be an improvement for state route markers in that we would have less scrap metal to have to get rid of without all the diecutting and thus a lessened impact upon the environment.
Also the signs would be more readily visible both during the day and particularly at night.
This of course is not the only good new design but is perhaps the most simple.
Here is a look at some of the others I have developed as well:

And I have seen some other good examples of proposed route markers on the Great International Highway Makeover.

Anyway back to the extension of Interstate 40 from Barstow to San Luis Obispo. The latter is a rapidly growing community in a rapidly growing county fuelled by Los Angeles and San Francisco area residents moving away from those major cities and with the main artery US101 having been widened to six lanes in some parts of those areas, and other state routes being widened and straightened and upgraded, like CA1 along the coast CA46 in Paso Robles, CA101 in Atascadero, and CA166 to Santa Maria, and with some 300 000 residents San Luis Obispo county (and neighbouring Santa Barbara coutny, where Santa Maria is located), especially with an ageing city street infrastructure in San Luis Obispo, the city appears to be a perfect endpoint for Interstate 40.

In addition it also provides for a perfect complement for 3dis around town and to Santa Maria.

In the example on the left you can clearly see that Interstate 40 connects to the south side of San Luis Obispo near McChesney Field (the local airport) and also South Broad Street, Higuera Street, and finally US101. Also note that there is a new route for CA1 between US101 at Marsh Street and Kansas Avenue (which would then be supplanted by the I-240 junction; the I-240 would also get a new junction at Oklahoma Avenue nearby).

In the centre you can see the entire map of the recommended extension according to this plan with an additional spur for Santa Maria and Lompoc as well as a loop for Bakersfield.

And on the right there is a detailed map for Bakersfield. Note that CA58 gets decommissioned so it can go to another route to be developed, and the traditional designation of CA178 is restored to its traditional route.

Also note that there have been at least other proposal to send the I-40 to Paso Robles. Here is a look at why that proposal is WRONG:

*NO potential for 3di routes to relieve traffic in the surrounding area. You would have to cut through highly developed areas as well as lucrative farmland and wineries.

*NO place to put the I-40. You would have to cut through neighbourhoods for a southern approach or demolish vital businesses including the Black Oak restaurant which is adjacent to US101 at the CA46 interchange. And though improving CA46 to a full-fledged freeway at least to Cholame or even to Lost Hills is important it is not important enough for an interstate, not to mention no properly functioning commercial airport.

*The interstate would then bypass and shut out larger and more important communities.

WHY San Luis Obispo works better as a terminus for the I-40:

*Larger population

*University town (California Polytechnic State University)

*MORE opportunities for 3dis to serve more communities. The I-240 would wrap round the north side of San Luis Obispo to form a junction with US101 just northeast of town then connect onto the current CA1/North Santa Rosa Street/Cabrillo Highway, following that past the California Mens Colony to the current CA1/Kansas Avenue junction, which would become part of a new junction with CA1 and the I-240. The new CA1 would connect to US101 at Marsh Street whilst the new I-240 would connect straight to then new CA229 (South Bay Boulevard, connecting Morro Bay to Los Osos; CA229 would follow Los Osos Valley Road to US101) which would be recommissioned.

Also the I-540 connects from a point along the I-40 south of Pozo toward Huasna and the eastern Nipomo Mesa to the east side of Santa Maria and then follows a route to the Orcutt Freeway (CA135) then follows CA1 into Vandenberg Air Force Base and then Lompoc to reach its official terminus.

This also opens up the prospect of a possible future loop round Santa Maria if it continues to grow as it has.

And a major benefit is the San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria areas get connected into cross country routes which even further bolster the potential market for tourism to boost the beaches, Hearst Castle, and the wineries springing up in the area.

It may even enhance greater highway safety for US101 and other area highways and improve traffic flow both locally and regionally.

Now if Goverrnor Schwarzenegger wants to really boost highway construction...HERE is a route he REALLY NEEDS to support.

Sixteen Interstates That The DOT SHOULD Build: FOCUS: California Turnpike: Interstate 405

First of all allow me to note that this is merely a working route designation but one route I have studied for some 25 years. You read that right: I have been researching this route back to the early 1980s.
Anyway this is a look, and a real serious look at that, and in light of the recent proposals from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about a 10-year, $222bn series of projects, this is one proposal that would fit well into his plan.
This route would total in the neighbourhood of 330 to 350 miles and would form the most direct connection possible between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
And even the standards themselves would be phenomenal: Imagine a tollway that would best any German autobahn and allow people to drive as fast as they want...in the Golden State.
This route would consist of the following standards:
In rural areas, ie in Los Angeles county north of San Fernando where it meets the San Diego and Golden State Freeways and through Ventura, Kern, Kings, Fresno, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties up to the Gilroy area each carriageway would have three 20-foot-wide lanes and a 20-foot hard shoulder on each side (100ft total) separated by a 50-foot central reservation, with a 20-foot greenbelt alongside the right hard shoulder of each dual carriageway and a 30-foot area for pedestrians, bicyclists, mopeds, and even beasts of burden, with water stations every 10 miles and at each junction.
In urban areas, specifically from Gilroy alongside San Jose and Milpitas to Castro Valley, the central reservation would be replaced by a media barrier about four feet in height and spaced more closely between carriageways, maybe to as little as 6ft between them.
Each overcrossing would have a minimum height of 25 feet
At the junction with Interstate 580 the toll portion would end for a short distance and the I-405 would be cosigned with the I-580 until the latter splits off toward Oakland.
Meanwhile the I-405 replaces a controversial route, Interstate 238, which has been cited as an extreme violation of the AASHTO scheme on its way to the new San Bruno Bridge which connects San Leandro to San Bruno then forms a new toll route on the San Francisco Peninsula and through southern San Francisco past Colma and the Cow Palace and directly to the Golden Gate Park then improving State Highway 1 to the Golden Gate Bridge. This route would even provide some needed traffic relief for the City by the Bay on top of some toll revenues for local traffic infrastructure and even eliminating Interstate 238.
And let's have a look at the funding formula for the I-405/California Turnpike-San Bruno Bridge-Peninsula Turnpike.
After the operating and construction costs are paid for the funds should be distributed as follows:
The surpluses are to be split into two even portions:
One half for general state highway funding and revenues
One half for distribution to the counties in a mileage based formula.
And here is how the mileage based formula works:
The money is distributed to each of the counties on the corridor based upon how many miles are located in a county. For example Kern County would receive more turnpike money than would San Francisco or San Benito because of the distances of tollway within those respective counties.
But that money would come with the following requirements:
(1) At least HALF the money MUST go toward ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND IMPROVEMENT projects WITHIN 10 MILES of the turnpike.
(2) At least HALF the remaining money MUST go toward ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND IMPROVEMENT projects within the county.
(3) No more than ONE QUARTER of the money may go toward ANY NON-ROAD CONSTRUCTION or NON-ROAD IMPROVEMENT projects, INCLUDING public transit.
And any county that violated that scheme would find their monies withheld for the next budget year.
Anyway here is a look at a typical junction that would be used in the turnpike...



As you can see from the enlarged image at the left there is a significant length of overcrossing needed for effectively handling high-speed entrances. A central toll plaza sits at a location about five miles north of Devils Den. To the right sits a road map of central California with Interstate 405/California Turnpike-San Bruno Bridge-Peninsula Turnpike.

And now let's check the junction list:

Starting NORTH from San Fernando:

CA23-126/I-30 Fillmore

CA138 (Extended via Gorman and Frazier Park)

CA33-166 Maricopa/Ventura/Santa Maria

Taft

CA119 Fellows

CA58 McKittrick/Bakersfield/Santa Margarita

I-40 (Extended from Barstow) Bakersfield/San Luis Obispo

CA46 Lost Hills/Paso Robles

Devils Den

TOLL PLAZA-5 MILES NORTH

CA41 Kettleman City/Fresno/Paso Robles

CA269 Utica

Avenal

CA198/I-66(not listed on this map) San Lucas/Coalinga/Visalia

I-68 Salinas/Monterey/Fresno

San Benito County J1 Idria

CA156 Hollister

CA 152 Gilroy/Los Banos

Coyote

SR85/I-470 Los Gatos

I-70 San Jose/Merced

CA130 San Jose/Alum Rock

I-680 San Jose/Sacramento

CA84 Sunol/Pleasanton

I-580 Fresno/Oakland

END CALIFORNIA TURNPIKE

San Bruno Bridge

BEGIN PENINSULA TURNPIKE

US101/I-380 San Francisco International Airport

Grand Avenue/Colma

Brisbane

Cow Palace

Geneva Avenue/Mission Street/CA82/Daly City

I-280 Junipero Serra Freeway/Bay Bridge/Daly City

Portola Drive/Mount Davidson Park

Seventh Avenue

Golden Gate Park/Fulton Street/CA1 SOUTH/Daly City

California Street

US101/CA1 NORTH

END PENINSULA TURNPIKE

NEW END INTERSTATE 405

And now let's talk tolls. The California Turnpike would require a total toll of roughly $10 for the entire route and $2 for the peninsula route, that is if the entire route were to be travelled. I used the Will Rogers Turnpike in Oklahoma as a role model for this turnpike as well as those tolls correspond more or less with those of the I-44 of northeastern Oklahoma.

And the San Bruno Bridge should be priced at 99 cents for all vehicles. THAT should help relieve traffic on the Transbay (I-80).

Turnpike regulations would be as follows:

Maximum height: 24 feet 6 inches

Maximum width: 18 feet

Minimum speed: 50 mi/h

Maximum speed: NONE

Pedestrians, Bicycles, Mopeds, Animal transport MUST use adjacent paths

Admittedly extending the I-405 appears to defeat the purpose of a 3di loop. I say it enhances it further as it takes heavy traffic off of the overburdened US101, US99, and the I-5, provides a perfect route for vehicles carrying hazardous chemicals, boosts economic opportunities, and brings about the most direct SF/LA routing ever. AND it relieves the overburdened I-680 and I-880 to boot!

Of course we do not have to stick with the I-405: If some creativity were undertaken an I-580 extension south to LA is possible...with another x80 3di for LA County, the I-480 coming back! You say, the 480 has too many bad memories for San Francisco.

So make it LA's problem. >:-)

Also there is the prospect of an I-3 in the Southeast but if that fails then there is always the prospect of extending the California Turnpike through Concord and Vallejo toward Santa Rosa to terminate at US101 north of town and having that routed I-3 as well as the San Diego Freeway, thus releasing some of the I-580 between Hayward and Tracy for the new I-405 which now becomes an east/west into San Francisco.

And then there are the state routes that are not presently being used, CA11, CA21, CA77, CA81, CA93 to name just a few.

But the main point remains that the California Turnpike, with or without the extended I-405 designation, fits in very well with Governor Schwarzenegger's plans.

And I will have the next route on my hot list later.

Sixteen Interstate Highways That The DOT SHOULD Build: Introduction

What some folks may already know is that I am politically conscious and that I am interested in pro wrestling.
But what you may not also know is I am interested in advancing the infrastructure of our national highway system.
It may be the reason I have joined at least three Yahoo! groups regarding the American highway system.
As we all know interstate highways have developed and helped shape our national travel habits.

And now I am going into a series of commentaries that show exactly what new highways are specifically needed for the continuing development of our interstate system.

In this series I will touch upon interstate highways that the United States Department of Transportation and state highway departments as well need to build.

The first of these detailed will involve an unorthodox extension of a Los Angeles area three-digit interstate (3di) to parallel its parent one digit interstate (1di) as a state turnpike all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge itself...and in process replace a controversial 3di with no parent route.
The second of these will be a report about where Interstate 40 really needs to end...and it is not in Barstow where it currently ends either. I'll even break down some other proposals and why they WILL NOT work at all...and why my solution is superior.
The third of these will take a Southern two digit interstate (2di) that runs through my community and extend it to diagonal opposite ends of the USA connecting Mexico to Atlantic Canada.
The fourth of those will extend another 2di in my home state and send that all the way to the Gulf Coast.
The fifth of those will show how interstate commerce will further improve with yet another Midwestern 2di extended into the Deep South...this time all the way to southern Florida.
The sixth will advocate the case for realigning another Southern 2di onto a more geographically correct corridor that will serve significantly more travellers and communities especially for an x0 (a 2di ending in zero, as in 10, 20, 30, etc) route.
The seventh will advocate the case for extending another Midwestern 2di along that former corridor of the relocated x0 route and into the Lone Star State.
The eighth of those proposals will extend an East Coast 2di into the southern Atlantic region...and replace another 2di into a neighbouring state in process.
The ninth will relocate a controversially misaligned 2di which a porkbarrel politico foisted upon the people of Pennsylvania and America to the Atlantic as well.
Number ten will touch upon a new route to replace THAT 2di, using a number just replaced itself in number eight.
Number eleven will extend a truncated x0 route all the way to the San Francisco Bay Area and open up many more opportunities for 3dis to relieve growing traffic in the Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley and will even incorporate those proposals in the mix.
Number twelve will address a more sensible way even if controversial for finally putting a major California city on a 2di.
Number thirteen will address the extension of an existing interstate in Virginia and why the plan to reroute that is wrong, and why my solution is a real improvement.
Number fourteen connects the Midwest to a major east coast seaport and military community.
And number fifteen will show an extension of a Midwestern and Southern 2di all the way to the Canadian border...and you won't believe where it connects into, with a Canadian route offered as well.
And sixteen will wrap it all up with a new Interstate using a currently proposed number but for a better location.

I should be starting this series shortly...and I hope that you consider these plans and even consider telling the DOTs and the politicians about some REAL solutions for our national highway system.

For Once I Actually AGREE With Communists!

I was reading an article from one of the newsfeeds dispersed into one of my forums about the South African Youth Communist League demanding that that country's government implement sanctions about Zimbabwe. I have to say that this is a welcome idea and something that is long overdue from the entire national community about Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe's extreme oppression.
It is basically common knowledge that Mugabe has attacked the personal freedoms of anyone who does not ascribe to his dictatorial party the ZanuPF. A short list of the evils he has done whilst in office:

He has sent his government to employ hostage tactics in the pursuit of government critics after two employees of a prominent lawyer were detained for allegedly obstructing a police investigation into his activities.

He has arrested the director of a radio station broadcasting from outside of the country to Zimbabweans.

He has allowed rampant sex abuse against children in his country.

He has sent his military to brand his opposition as an enemy of the country.

He has implemented new procedures that further bolster his regime's ability to steal land from private landowners, this on top of stealing White Zimbabwean farmers' land and giving it to far less educated Black Zimbabweans.

He has stolen the homes of some 700 000 Zimbabwean city dwellers by bulldozing them and forcing out their occupants and residents in the capital Harare, where the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, are very popular; some of the evacuees were from Mugabe's ZanuPF party.

He has routinely charged his primary MDC rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, with treason and imprisoned him for his ideological differences.

He has oppressed independent newspapers and prevented them from trying to register.

He has threatened humanitarian aid organisations who raised money to help the suffering residents of his impoverished country.

He has turned what once was a net exporter of agricultural products into a starving nation forced to rely on what little imports his regime will allow.

He has stolen a number of elections including at least two in the 2000s where opposition parties and foreign observers have described the elections process in the country as seriously flawed.

And yet no one seems to take a hard enough line against his regime, especially not in the international community.
The commmunist- and terrorist- and fascist-dominated United Nations and particularly many other African nations see fit to appease Mugabe's out of control dictatorship.
And yet just about the only nations willing to take on Mugabe include the USA, the UK, and Australia.

But now the South Africa Youth Communist League may have just sent a wakeup call to resonate with ALL of the political parties of that country. Not only are the governing African National Congress going to have to wake up and smell the reality and see the ugly truth about Zimbabwe, but so must also the African Christain Democratic Party, the Democratic Alliance, and even the White Afrikaaner-dominated Freedom Front Plus. The SAYCL have just offered a loud wakeup call that Pretoria had better well respond to. Already the culture of corruption has by replacing apartheid shortcircuited the country's chances at real freedom; but now is their chance to look upon themselves. And they may be able to find that solution by handling Zimbabwe effectively.
Thabo Mbeki---the current South African president---must be brave enough to take a harder line against Robert Mugabe. And the African National Congress have the duty as the leading party---the DOMINANT leading party of South Africa---to join the SAYCL's clarion call.
And this has to come with REAL common sense actions, NOT just talk. As the old cliche goes...talk is cheap.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the devastation Robert Mugabe has wrought on his country.

The CONSERVATIVE Case FOR AlJazeera

I think it is safe to say that the controversial Middle Eastern satellite television news network AlJazeera has rattled a number of minds and invigourated many others.
The Qatar-based news channel is often cheered by some for telling the truth about Middle Eastern and even American and European governments whilst it is reviled by others for allegedly appeasing terrorists.
Well, let's cut through all the rhetoric and I will explain to you why I as a conservative trust AlJazeera, and why other conservatives NEED to TRUST AlJazeera.
First of all, let us understand that AlJazeera are in business to report the news from a Middle Eastern perspective. And whilst the Qatar government have financed this operation they have worked to ensure a suitable alternative to the British Broadcasting Corporation (who themselves are launching an Arabic language news channel) and Cable News Network their journalism has exposed the inner workings of Middle Eastern governments and even some terror operations.
But they have also been accused of fomenting terrorist activity such that the Coalition governing Iraq which is building its own government have excluded the network from that wartorn country.
Of course we all know that AlJazeera have aired a number of videos featuring AlQaeda mastermind Osama BinLaden. Admittedly I used to see AlJazeera as the terrorist's primary mouthpiece.
But then I started reading articles from the AlJazeera English website (see their logo on the right and click that to get that news source) and after careful analysis of their articles which come sometimes from their own reporters and other times from other agencies I have come to this conclusion:
I admit that a fair amount of AlJazeera's reportage about the United States and Israel is negative especially with regard to the American-led War On Terror and efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq to quash AlQaeda and other corruptors of the Islamic faith and the endless moves Israel must employ to deal with terrorist activities by Israeli Arabs not satisfied with having to live under Israeli law whilst on Israeli land respectively.
However when it comes to the reportage of other issues from round the world, from South Asia to the East Indies to Latin America to Europe, and with regard even to business and science and technology, and even on other matters in America and the Middle East, AlJazeera actually perform a very useful service and some of their reports are very well written with a fairly objective point of view. I myself have used a number of their articles in my forums for discussion and some of them have proven very pivotal in bolstering my arguments in debates.
Of course they are not quite as objective as Fox News or the BBC (see their logos to the right and click those for their respective news stories) but then again that is sometimes difficult in the international media.
However I have a lot to say about the international media, which has a number of outlets that deserve to be placed in the independent media category as opposed to the controlled media.
These are good examples of independent media outlets:
(USA) Fox News, Newsmax, World Net Daily, Front Page Magazine, Drudge Report, Washington Times, New York Post, Cybercast News Service, National Review, Conservative Chronicle, The Limbaugh Letter, Reason Magazine
(UK) BBC News, The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, Max Power Magazine, AlJazeera.com (not related to AlJazeera.net, the website for AlJazeera International, the parent of the news channel being described here; their articles are more radical compared to AlJazeera.net but more interactive, allowing for input from visitors and readers, more about them later)
(International) AlJazeera.net (Qatar) (The very focus of this article), Channel News Asia (Singapore), Deutsche Welle (Germany), Expatica (France), Interfax (Russia), Daily Star of Lebanon, Turkish Press, Israel Net Daily, ABC News (Australia), SBS News (Australia), News24 (South Africa), SABC News (South Africa), Independent Online (South Africa), NDTV (India), Rediff (India), Asia Times (Hong Kong), CBC News (Canada), CTV News (Canada)
All of the above news sources can be trusted to give you fair balanced objective and unbiased coverage, though Asia Times sometimes has strong partisan commentaries both pro and con America alike.
Honourable mentions include China Daily and Xinhua: Those may be government organs but compared to CNN they actually appear somewhat reasonable with a more moderate bias.
These are examples of the controlled media:
The American ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNBC News, MSNBC News, CNN, PBS News Hour, National Public Radio, Air America Radio, Time Magazine, US News & World Report, Newsweek, The New Republic, The Nation, Rolling Stone, Media Matters, Bartcop, MoveOn.org, Common Dreams, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Atlanta Journal and Constitution
ALL OF THOSE media outlets MUST be approached with the greatest of caution especially given that irrational partisan hatred plagues their collective reportages. I have found significantly less bias in AlJazeera articles than have I found in reports from, say, the American ABC or CNN.
The controlled media putlets obsess over trying to force a media coup and stealing power from the people and selecting Democrats across the board in order to force George Walker Bush---the first popularly elected president since 1988---out of office with their lying liberal sayso, treasonously fomenting seditious attitudes and glorifying Cindy Sheehan as everywoman in effort to select another Democrat dictator on the order of their never-elected media puppet Bill Clinton whom they anointed twice in the 1990s then failed to anoint Al Gore in 2000 or John Kerry in 2004.
I have seen relatively little of that in AlJazeera's reportage, but when I have they have tended to be more objective than the controlled media have been.
And sometimes you find the most fascinating articles from AlJazeera, like the Malaysian government's recent decision to mix in palm oil with diesel fuel for government vehicles and a South African petrochemicals group planning soybean-based fuels.
I give them credit for challenging the official editions of state media which in that part of the world is usually run with a tight grip from the governments of the Middle East or South Asia or even the East Indies, where AlJazeera have opened a primary bureau to go along with their Washington bureau, a pivotal office in their bid to get picked up by American cable and satellite television services.
And Sir David Frost from the BBC and Dave Marash from the American ABC could have gone with a far worse news outlet. After all, one of Mr Marash's former colleagues, Aaron Brown, did leave ABC for CNN...and found himself dissatisfied.
Maybe he could find work at AlJazeera International himself.
Even their former colleague Ted Koppel---the longtime anchor of Nightline---admitted himself that AlJazeera were not trying to glorify BinLaden or terrorism but were merely reporting what news networks would normally report.
And AlJazeera reports of the BinLaden videos are decently written but have a long way to go in being of ultimate quality.
However even American controlled media outlets...including Mr Marash's former employer, ABC News...would come a long way uphill if they started adapting AlJazeera's techniques and commitment to unbiased coverage. It would be too much to ask them to try to match Fox News or the BBC.
So what is the REAL threat from AlJazeera.net? Far less than you might think. However AlJazeera will invigourate news competition in North America as it has elsewhere; the controlled media outlets will have some stiff competition. Only Fox News appears safe. The only real challenge Fox News will face is if the BBC come to the US. But initially the Beeb will kick most networks' backsides into the mud.

MORE ABOUT ALJAZEERA.COM
AlJazeera.com belongs to a British magazine that has been publishing articles about Muslim affairs for 13 years and narrowly beat out AlJazeera International for the domain. That left AlJazeera having to settle for AlJazeera.net in what was derisively dubbed a cheesier domain by a columnist.
But the suffix of your URL for your domain shouldn't bother you; it is the quality of the content that matters more.
AlJazeera.com has some fairly incendiary articles and discussions but they are more interactive than even Fox News. Many of their anti-American articles have long strings of pro-Americans commenting as well as the antis. And the good editors and hosts, including Dr Kareem BinJabbar and Sheikha Sajida, hold court with an interface that insists upon shunning single figure numbers, references to race and religion, vulgarities, and special punctuations.
AlJazeera.com is also underestimated as well.

Conservatives who worry about AlJazeera making its presence known on American television will have nothing to fear. If anyone has anything to fear it is liberals who fear that AlJazeera will further cut into the already depressed audiences of CNN, MSNBC, and the old line networks.
If anything the conservatives could stand to follow some of their articles then compare AlJazeera articles to let's say those from CNN or MSNBC about the same topics. More than likely they will find that though they fall short of the gold standards of Fox News and the BBC they still run circles round the controlled media in America with regards to quality of reportage.