Poor Poet In A Squeeze
(Pinned to top May 19 - May 26 2017. Scroll down for new content.)
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Dear friends,
this Poor Poet is in a squeeze and needs your support.
The second ever MoA donation round last October allowed me to buy a new (used) laptop and some communication gear. It also paid a few accumulated bills. Thank you again to everyone who took part!
The Moon of Alabama blog is free, offers information hard to find elsewhere, original thought and unadorned writing. The readership continues to grow.
Writing here, and your feed-back, keeps me up and going. But I also need to eat and pay rent; there are unexpected expenditures and little income.
Every donation -big or small- is welcome. An institutional sponsorship or recurring contribution would be great.
Transaction costs are smallest if you directly mail cash or a check, Or use a bank-wire transfer. Send email to MoonofA @ aol.com (discard the blanks) for the necessary contact data. You can use a credit card when you donate through the PayPal button below.
Thank you for your generosity.
Bernhard
Posted by b on May 26, 2017 at 21:30 UTC | Permalink
b, Always more than willing to donate for a good cause. I have PayPal account but how to donate with just one click?
Thanks
Posted by: OSJ | May 19 2017 16:42 utc | 2
How come you dont use ads, banners? You could make hundreds of thousands of dollars/euros each month with stuff like that considering the visitors on this site.
Posted by: Anon | May 19 2017 16:43 utc | 3
No ads because they are served from outside your website by an organisation you have to trust vetted all the code they push onto they affiliates. They can help identify your viewership, heck, even infect it with malware. No subversive website should ever have ads.
Posted by: A | May 19 2017 17:47 utc | 6
A bad month, hope to remember you in June, some Tuesday.
Posted by: librul | May 19 2017 18:14 utc | 7
I want to donate, but that paypal link is sending me to the main page.
Posted by: Cycloben | May 19 2017 19:08 utc | 8
@Andrew - thank you. I know that situation well and will take your words as donation.
@OSJ - there is no one-click button because the Moon of Alabama account is not a vendor account. If you want to transfer from Paypal to Paypal. You will have to log in and make the transfer "manually".
@Anon - your numbers are way off. With the current visitor numbers the blog would be making little with advertising while those would bother the readers a lot.
@Cyclobon, @Jo6pac - I am investigating - sorry, don't know happens there. I have tested it and it worked for me. Other have used it and the transfers arrived.
@bitcoin - I do not do bitcoins because I know how IT works. I will delete your advertising/spam comment in a minute or so.
@Cyclobon, @Jo6pac - "button send to paypal homepage"
I have again copied the original paypal code into the post and now it works again (at least for me.)
No idea what happened. I may have inadvertently messed up the paypal widget code while editing an error elsewhere.
Please try again and let me know (It is nearly bed time here. I can then respond, if necessary at all, only tomorrow.)
@ b | May 19, 2017 4:20:29 PM | 11
Have you any preference $US or €?
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | May 19 2017 20:26 utc | 12
@12
Have you any preference $US or €?
It will convert automatically.
Posted by: SmoothieX12 | May 19 2017 20:36 utc | 13
@b: "I do not do bitcoins because I know how IT works"
Problem with Credit Cards, Paypal, etc. is that it's a very easy trail to track and pinpoint (name, address, ...). For a bank IT employee it's a simple query and that's just a lone individual. In the case of Assange these services also blocked donations so they're controlled by politics. With shadow brokers, ransom ware, etc. digital currencies seemed anonyous... . It seems I do not know IT enough as I don't see why digital currencies are no good (bitcoin's message was already deleted so don't know what he wrote).
Posted by: xor | May 19 2017 21:27 utc | 14
@13 paypal will get the conversion rate cost either way. i believe b is in germany... euros would probably be the preference.. that is what i mailed him last time.. i am going to mail the money.. screw these transferring, info collecting thugs...
Posted by: james | May 19 2017 22:04 utc | 15
@15 james
same here. people make it so hard when its so damn easy, if you're serious.
Posted by: jfl | May 20 2017 0:02 utc | 16
Having trouble delivering donation. B, please include a mailing address so I can send either a check or money order, whichever you prefer
Posted by: jacobo | May 20 2017 1:24 utc | 17
Done!
Keep going b!
Thank you for the best analyses (and reporting) on Syria on the web!
Posted by: Bob | May 20 2017 1:31 utc | 18
Dear b,
I’d love to send you some support funds, but as an getting-old freelance designer with a fading client list (whom am I kidding, they all go to the young ones, cheaper!), two teenage kids, a rotten body, etc, I‘ll have to pass for now. All I can do is send you my moral support.
Keep strong! and thanks for the thought-provoking analysis.
Posted by: Philippe | May 20 2017 1:52 utc | 19
@ jacobo who asked for b's mailing address
As a fellow MoA patron may I suggest that you email b at the AOL email address that he provided and asking him for the mailing address. It is likely not something that b wants to make public on his web site.
And b, I saw that I gave to you last September and will do so again this year about that time.....thanks for the postings and forum you provide.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 20 2017 2:06 utc | 20
Can't/won't use PayPal -- suggest you set up a Patreon account. I fund two already in a small monthly/production basis. Could do three. https://www.patreon.com/
Posted by: x | May 20 2017 2:18 utc | 21
Hi b, I just set up a regular donation. I apologise for not doing this sooner - I've been a regular visitor to your site for a couple of years. Your work in exposing the relentless propaganda is very much appreciated, as are the many highly informed commenters.
Best wishes,
SD
Hong Kong
Posted by: SD | May 20 2017 2:25 utc | 22
Thanks for all your tireless work b. Hope to see this blog continue and grow an audience for years to come.
Posted by: George Smiley | May 20 2017 3:40 utc | 23
Happy to donate! Will give more later. I appreciate your hard work,knowledge, insight and writing. Please keep doing what you do.
Posted by: Bill | May 20 2017 3:49 utc | 24
Yeah, just donated something (paypal is so easy).
Good deal; surfing MoA instead of buying newsmagazines.
Posted by: From The Hague | May 20 2017 3:57 utc | 25
As much as I hate PayPal and never trust any corporate, forced to click the Donate button again. This time with "Moon Of Alabama" on the top screen. With confident I donated this time more than the last time.
Thank you b :-)
Posted by: OSJ | May 20 2017 4:00 utc | 26
Awaiting contact info..Thanks for everything b. Best of all, the info, discussion and the therapy derived..
Posted by: ben | May 20 2017 4:39 utc | 27
@ SmoothieX12 | May 19, 2017 4:36:42 PM | 13
Good morning. No, that wasn't the question's answer. I was enquiring if 'b' had use for one over the other currency, that determining my contribution. Quite recently the $ lost value against the €; from $1.06 to $1.12 exchange rates. It makes little sense to use a $1.12 rate when funds are available at the $1.06 rate. The whole Euro concept was exactly to avoid the exchange of currency rates between closely aligned 'partners'; with the European Economic Union and the U.S. being each other's largest trading partners, holding exchange of currencies to sometimes unstable exchange rates adds unforeseen expense to commerce. As yet, no response from 'b' for preference of utility.
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | May 20 2017 9:12 utc | 28
Paypal sent to an error page. I re-entered the paypal site and it went through.
Posted by: Curtis | May 20 2017 15:56 utc | 31
patreon + youtube has provided decent income to at least some content creators. Youtube "videos" needn't have any videos - many are essentially stills + podcast. So, b (or surrogate) could also read his posts, and post these to youtube, with patreon link visible, and also mentioned. Note that Google ad revenues have been lost by at least some users of patreon; will probably have to pick one or another, eventually.
Styxhexenhammer666, of youtube 'fame', makes almost $3,000 /mo via patreon. https://www.patreon.com/Styxhexenhammer666
and, metamars is right, you should at least give patreon a shot.
Posted by: anondooronron | May 20 2017 17:55 utc | 34
Fortunately, like other commenters, my appreciation for b's work is so strong that it trumps my hostility to PayPal. Monthly tribute chosen and receipt acknowledged by PayPal. But. . .quel racket is PayPal.
Posted by: Glorious Bach | May 20 2017 23:27 utc | 37
Would be happy to chip in but does anyone know of way to do it via PayPal but sans giving Thiel, Levchin, Musk et al personal info and opening an account.
Any alternatives?
Posted by: Quadriad | May 21 2017 5:08 utc | 41
Posted by: Quadriad | May 21, 2017 1:08:05 AM | 41
Put the banknotes in an envelope and send it to b. via registered letter.
Posted by: somebody | May 21 2017 5:32 utc | 42
Although he's not 100% sure about it, in a recent video, "New Adsense TOS Has Some Larger Creators Worried... But Not Me!" (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t6gOAVGVL0 starting at 6:19), Styxhexenhammer666 says that he believes that posting a patreon link with youtube videos will result in them being automatically demonetized via Adsense. According to Styxhexenhammer666, the major corporations are basically forcing youtube to increasingly marginalize/demonetize their growing, non-big name competition. He's recommending that people similar to him go exclusively to crowd-funding (or other means of support, not including advertising.)
Cannot do without B's expert commentary. Paypal donation on it's way.....
Posted by: georgeg | May 21 2017 11:13 utc | 44
Thanks for the constant, contemporary and timely posts. I don't comment much but I read often. Glad to pass 25 Euros to you via Pay Pal. Small price to pay for great info.
Skip
Posted by: Skip | May 21 2017 19:04 utc | 45
b, read you nearly everyday - along with your smart commentators. Put up a small monthly subscription. I can only hope that I have enough energy left in my tank to one day undertake the rigorous research and analysis you're able to provide in your advanced years.
Posted by: jafman | May 22 2017 0:58 utc | 46
Thanks for your willingness to keep the bar open. Cheers!
Posted by: Dr. Wellington Yueh | May 22 2017 5:03 utc | 47
Happy to help again.. PayPal worked seamlessly for me, and 'they' already have me on a list... 😊
Posted by: Tom in AZ | May 23 2017 5:34 utc | 48
Ha-ha, Mob has got someone's attention! Fake News? They're the fake news, not MoB.
http://www.fakenewschecker.com/fake-news-source/moon-alabama
Posted by: Greg Bacon | May 23 2017 11:19 utc | 49
Please email me info. on how to address a check and where to send it. PayPal's refusal to handle donations to Wikileaks, Assange and other causes I consider just has made me unwilling to use PayPal unless it's unavoidable.
B,
Will mail a contribution. Thanks for your INCREDIBLE work.
Posted by: bernie | May 23 2017 23:56 utc | 51
Nothin like being squeezed by a poet I guess. Sent you some of my beer and smokes money b.
Posted by: Peter AU | May 24 2017 11:07 utc | 52
i sent my ‘spare’ last time but this month i received a yuge unexpected bill the kind that makes you curse the heavens. i won’t forget b so will donate when I’m rich again yes i will be rich in say july.
Posted by: Noirette | May 24 2017 14:27 utc | 54
Trying to boycott paypal as much as possible, although my wife the fashionsta always has some flannel, tube-top silk-dangly, sequins-encrusted, virgin-wool, earth-trendy and chic article of clothing coming from eBay via PaySchmal. So I will email you for an address. Thanks for keeping the bar open, b. And for being the bouncer and mopping the vomit and blood up when too much fun prevails.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | May 25 2017 18:39 utc | 55
I want to support MoA too (not this week though, b - for various reasons).
Citizen journalism at its best!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 26 2017 16:18 utc | 56
Germany cannot afford to feed their poets, with half a trillion annual GDP...
Posted by: dave | May 26 2017 18:55 utc | 57
I am delighted to be in a position to help. I am even more delighted not to and see the decline of a poisonous, hateful site. Rot in Hell.
Posted by: Lee | May 27 2017 8:35 utc | 58
Keep up the good work, my donation is on the way.
With all the posts i hope your family sees you between all the postings.
Cheers Bjorn
Posted by: Bjorn | May 28 2017 17:40 utc | 59
Done.
Respect for B overcame the distaste for PayPal. But it was a battle :-(
Back in the 70s when I was a soldier, there was the somber realisation of just what a nuclear conflict would do to the planet.
Now, apparently, no such awareness..... possibly a species fatal defect.
So Kudos to B for the calm and clear way in which he exposes the current political insanity.
My financial appreciation comes in bursts, as limited means allows it.
However, Patreon would allow me regular, small and painless contributions.
Imagine if a quarter of your readership followed suit 🙂
Posted by: DavidKNZ | May 28 2017 21:31 utc | 60
The comments to this entry are closed.
As a student, all I can do at present is express my sincere respect and admiration for you and for the work that you do. I visit MoA every day, and hope to for years to come.
Posted by: Andrew | May 19 2017 16:20 utc | 1