[RealJames]

Don't believe everything you see on the internet!

Seriously, I always assumed this was common sense. These days I doubt that.

What is a reliable source? Someone or an organization who has A LOT to lose for being wrong, and who happens to know a lot about the topic at hand.
By "a lot" I mean enough that pioneers in that field listen to him or her or he was paid a significant amount of money for his thoughts on the topic prior to whatever hot event he's talking about happened.

If the topic is actually recent enough, it's more than advisable to find two or three of these reliable sources and see on what points they agree/disagree etc, making sure they aren't working for the same person.

Blogs, your aunt, a rumor, something posted on JapanForum, are all BAD sources unless they themselves refer to a reliable source, and you check it.

I'm posting this hoping to prevent at least ONE idiotic thread.