"In many ways, what we in journalism need is a spine transplant." ~ Dan Rather

The first Oscar ceremony (1927-28) was a modest affair. Now look at it.  Hollywood spends far more time and money lavishing praise on itself than making good movies. That gold-plated statuette is as coveted as the crown jewels.

The same thing for the Pulitzers. A once worthy award for superior journalism is now mostly a fraud. Same sense of self-congratulation. Same self-important people (not the political cartoonists, however) receiving pats on the back for anemic reportage and pallid commentary. God, I hope I never write that badly. Thank God, none of my heroes do.

Not surprisingly, my heroes all write, almost exclusively, for the Internet. Probably their words would burn a hole in the page of newsprint.

Having waited in vain for some prestigious university, the Columbia School of Journalism, for example, to create an award for Internet writing and editing, I decided to create my own. The First Annual Liberty Internet Award, or the LIA, presented to those writers who make a profound impact in this, the last bastion of free speech. 

Admittedly, this year's awards are VERY modest. Much like the first Oscar ceremony. I apologize for that now. And as the sole judge and jury, "the decider," my choices reflect a certain personal bias. By the middle of the century, I assure you, the LIA ceremony will be BIG. Stretch limousines and live TV. Tuxedos, red carpet and cleavage. 

If you are like me, you are addicted to the Internet. So much so that newspapers, and newspaper reporters, editors and columnists have become boring, the “opinions” tepid, the reportage trite, the editorial slant almost propaganda. I feel sorry for the trees that gave their lives for newspapers nowadays. 

What are the criteria for a LIA? 

Criterion Number One: Does the writer kick ass on a regular basis? Criterion Number Two: Does the writer pick important topics the mainstream media mostly ignores? Criterion Number Three: Does the writer write well, entertainingly, outrageously, effectively, and mostly on target?

So, envelopes please.

Kurt Nimmo: For His Body of Work.

Nimmo fits the three criteria. Plus lots of people detest him. Labeled an anti-Semite (Who isn’t these days?) on a brief Wiki bio, Nimmo writes a blog called Another Day in the Empire. One critic said of him: “Who exactly is Kurt Nimmo? . . . .  rather than Stanford or Harvard, his intellectual base seems to be a New Mexico WalMart.” Who cares where a blogger works? We certainly can't (or refuse to) get highly paid jobs whoring for the controlled media.  

A typical Nimmo: “Collin Powell, who will go down in history as the fool who presented a passel of Neocon lies and fairy tales in dog and pony show format before the United Nations, thus providing a transparent pretext to invade Iraq and systematically slaughter more than 650,000 of its citizens . . . . Powell’s evidence was little more than Brothers Grimm nonsense designed to scare small children and witless American adults who invariably believe everything the government tells them, no matter the inexhaustible track record of lies and deception stretching far back into history, not that history interests the average American.” 

Paul Craig Roberts: For His Body of Work.

This guy, Roberts, used to be a top Reaganite and editor for The Wall Street Journal. Now, due to his apostasy, he is restricted by the MSM to the Internet. Roberts rants up a shitstorm, like a jilted lover, about how Criminals Control the Executive Branch and how Fanatics Control US Foreign Policy. Seems Paul had his Road to Damascus moment some time ago and since then has been kicking ass and naming names. 

Paul Joseph Watson: For His Body of Work.

Twenty-four year old British editor/writer of Prisonplanet.com, Watson writes daily, sometimes several items per day, about conspiracies and other New World Order-inspired crimes. Curiously, Watson spreads the word on My Space, that billion dollar acquisition of the Duke of Darkness, Rupert Murdoch. (Wonder if Murdoch knows?) Watson’s site is blog.myspace.com/pauljosephwatson. Watson keeps me informed of that other evil twin, Tony Blair, and those other false flag terrorist operations, like the London bombings of 7/7. 

Daniel Hopsicker: For His Body of Work.

Hopsicker has a lot of cojones. He lives in south Florida and tries to do what the highly paid presstitutes (a Sherman Skolnick description)--reporters who work for the huge dailies--should be doing but don’t. Hopsicker delves into stuff that is unbelievable even to me, and I believe just