Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
March 20, 2020

The Blog Crossed A Remarkable Milestone

At about 13:00 UTC/GMT today traffic to this blog crossed the line of 50,000,000 pageviews.

Moon of Alabama was created on June 30 2004 after Billmon's legendary Whiskey Bar closed its public comments sections. This site was not supposed to be a blogging outlet for me but over the years developed into its current form.


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At the beginning the pageviews were in the 10nth per day. The current baseline is about 45,000 pageviews per day depending on the news situation and the quality of the posts. A lot of traffic is also created by the comments which are mostly valuable. Please keep them that way.

A big THANKS to all of you who come here.

Posted by b on March 20, 2020 at 13:45 UTC | Permalink

Comments

You do great-works *b*
Kudos.
X-

Posted by: Veritas X- | Mar 20 2020 13:51 utc | 1

Greetings MoA whoever you guys are that write, research for each post.

Posted by: Zanon | Mar 20 2020 13:55 utc | 2

A HUGE thank you and keep up the good work :-))

Posted by: Jets | Mar 20 2020 14:12 utc | 3

talmudic zionism and takfiri salafi wahhabism will fail in their shadow government occupational plans. stay on top of the truth.

Posted by: karafspolo | Mar 20 2020 14:23 utc | 4

Even with the increase in the number of comments, the overall tone remains civil. Truly refreshing. Thank you for your tireless efforts, b.

Posted by: Trailer Trash | Mar 20 2020 14:26 utc | 5

merci vous etes une source invaluable , magnifique et rigoureux travail,,,

Posted by: pat | Mar 20 2020 14:29 utc | 6

Congrats. Your page is bookmarked for a reason. Read mostly all comments. Good place to do homework on what's going on in the world without having to do the work. People know truth when they read it and this blog tries it's best to aim true. I'll drink a beer in honour of your pseudo birthday. Any reason to celebrate is great.

Posted by: PleaseBeleafMe | Mar 20 2020 14:31 utc | 7

Congratualtions and a big thank you for your reliably good analysis of dark deeds.

Posted by: Gordon | Mar 20 2020 14:47 utc | 8

Keep up the good work, dude!

And we will keep coming back :)

Posted by: A Meme | Mar 20 2020 14:48 utc | 9

Dear commenters!

Please type <blockquote>insert quoted text here</blockquote> when quoting more than one sentence of text. It will make the comment section much easier to parse.

If you avoid this type of formatting because it makes the text too small, remember that you can always increase the font size of the page by pressing [Ctrl]⁠[+] key combo ([⌘]⁠[+] on Macs).

Posted by: S | Mar 20 2020 14:50 utc | 10

I don't think pageviews is a good measure for a blog like moa.

In a world where celebrities have millions of followers, pageviews doesn't capture the impact or the value that moa has.

The testimonials of readers that have bookmarked moa, that read moa daily, and the number of smart people that take the time to comment here are the real indicators of b's accomplishment.

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 20 2020 15:04 utc | 11

Congrats.

But what is that recent dip in traffic? looks like a stock market graph

Posted by: Comandante | Mar 20 2020 15:05 utc | 12

I'm with you Jackrabbit, quality not quantity.

This place is invaluable.

Posted by: JohninMK | Mar 20 2020 15:06 utc | 13

b, can you please share with us the country statistics on visitors and commenters?

Thank you for your great work and congratulations on the milestone!

Posted by: S | Mar 20 2020 15:10 utc | 14

Reading MOA is part of my daily routine to get the "real" news. You should have a "tip jar" for those that would like to donate some coin. Thank you for what you do.

Posted by: Tonymike | Mar 20 2020 15:12 utc | 15

Uno de mis sitios 4 o 5 sitios favoritos, gran decepción cuando no hay artículo sino "open thread"

Posted by: Julio | Mar 20 2020 15:12 utc | 16

That's an incredible quantity, especially in the pursuit of quality.

My perpetual appreciation for all you do!

Posted by: Enrico Malatesta | Mar 20 2020 15:15 utc | 17

"b",

Your remarkable work is a valuable Internet Resource. The Comments sometimes are valuable, too. But most of all, MOA is you, your work product, your honesty, intellectual integrity and transparent scholarship.

Thank you. Be well.

Posted by: Red Ryder | Mar 20 2020 15:27 utc | 18

Kudos to b and all well researched commenters! That information has been a bit of shared sanity in my days in this vast insane asylum.

Again, my only gripe is that my continued loathing pf PayPal's privacy policy and have yet to overcome it's blocking my use since I rejected it decades ago. There has to be a better way for privacy fanatics in the Heart of the Beast.

Posted by: Michael | Mar 20 2020 15:28 utc | 19

@Comandante page views are lower because the day is still young ;)

Posted by: tps | Mar 20 2020 15:33 utc | 20

A light in the darkness.
Keep up the good work.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 20 2020 15:40 utc | 21

@S - b, can you please share with us the country statistics on visitors and commenters?

I have neither those nor other additional data.

Posted by: b | Mar 20 2020 15:44 utc | 22

An outstanding achievement! It's truly amazing what one man (and his supporters) can achieve.

Posted by: Emilio | Mar 20 2020 15:47 utc | 23

kudos b! you do good work.. the quality of the comment section speaks to this as well..

Posted by: james | Mar 20 2020 15:49 utc | 24

MOA has the most insightful analysis of imperialist propaganda that you can visit. It should be stated that MOA's analysis and statements on the coronavirus are not good. But no articles should be blindly trusted. It is up to the readers and commenters to call out errors of analysis, and proposals which have lost the plot;)

I was reading Eva Bartlett's twitter feed, and I came across this video. I had never seen it, and I never even heard of Oprah Winfrey saying anything like this. It's 45 seconds long and pretty weird. Here's the link:

https://twitter.com/Ozed45353277/status/1240985186675941377

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 15:59 utc | 25

Congratulations and thank you for creating and maintaining this important site. I may disagree with some of the recent posts, but I respect the quality of work that you put in. I come to visit every day.

Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 20 2020 16:02 utc | 26

B, thank you for keeping it profit-free.

Those who feel inspired should emulate your approach here.

Furthermore, I want to tell you that a big reason I come here is your willingness to permit various opinions and views. I think you are a stellar moderator. I would rather leave the gatekeepers, the wannabe Troll-hunters, and the ad hominems, however. The quality of the reader here alone wards off obvious trolls. It is like a ring of garlic hung on an exterior door.

But, in America we say, "Take the good with the bad."

You are a grand curator of a marvelous survey of life, sliced.

Posted by: Nemesiscalling | Mar 20 2020 16:08 utc | 27

Jackrabbit (11) is terrific but I think here the numbers count. All you have to do is discount celebrities.

Wonderful that you've gotten this digital recognition. Your work is indispensable. I check it out every day and often post it to FB.
Best wishes,
Ronald

Posted by: Ronald | Mar 20 2020 16:16 utc | 28

Too much praise sometimes spoils one, but in this case we can risk it by showing sincere appreciation for b's work.
There are two things about MoA:
- the responsible and very hard-working approach of b, his dedication and tirelessness and his scrupulous adherence to providing sources, to sound reasoning and to logic. His understanding of what is truly important. Rare (in these days of lies, instantness and superficiality).
- the quality of the discussion in the comments. There is no such that I am aware of. It is mostly respectful, supported by knowledge, research, experience; it is thoughtful, often provoking, it is diverse and sometimes hilarious. Like with 'On Toiletpaper". Brilliant on b's part. What fun!
There is a lot to learn on MoA. I hope it lasts and thrives so we all become better and our world a better place.

Posted by: JB | Mar 20 2020 16:32 utc | 29

All due to your careful research and thoughtful analysis.

Posted by: Michael Weddington | Mar 20 2020 17:14 utc | 30

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 15:59 utc | 25

Looks like the tweet is gone.

But go look a creepy Tom Hanks allusions to "201" and "Corona"

Creep


Posted by: Tom_LX | Mar 20 2020 17:20 utc | 31

Congratulations, b, on reaching this point. And congratulations too on maintaining a very fine concept of a blog, dedicated as it is to discussion, undominated by the personality of the blog owner.

As you know, I've been reading since near the beginning, it must have been in 2005. I remember looking for points of view on the siege of Falluja (or something like that) on Billmon's Whiskey Bar, and finding the discussion on the comments blog of Moon of Alabama more interesting, and I've stuck ever since.

I wonder whether others of the early readers have memories of the early days to tell us about. I still have the CD from the period when you closed down, though I've never used it, as you kindly started up again!

Posted by: Laguerre | Mar 20 2020 17:27 utc | 32

@31 Tom_LX

Wow, you're right! They removed the video. It was a video of Oprah from years ago on her talk show/or someone else's talk show, saying that 'when children are molested, it fells good to them', and following that up with, "if the molester is good, the child won't remember it". It was just sooo weird.

The Tom Hamks tweet you posted is super weird, Tom. What bizarre times.

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 17:58 utc | 33

It is simply the best blog around. Am grateful to read the views, thank you, GMJ

Posted by: GMJ | Mar 20 2020 18:15 utc | 34

Congrats. Again, I appreciate the work you put into this blog.

Posted by: Ian2 | Mar 20 2020 18:16 utc | 35

Many thanks for the best site of its kind on the interwebs!

Posted by: Jagsfan | Mar 20 2020 18:37 utc | 36

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 17:58 utc | 33

Every time I see that guy's little smirk I would just love to smack him. This whole operation was no coincidence. This is working based on a Plan in which "Stars" have a role. The "role" is "We are one of You. We are in it Together.".

Posted by: Tom_LX | Mar 20 2020 18:38 utc | 37

Tom_XL, I completely agree. Sean Penn came out and said this:

“There is no greater humanitarian force on the planet than the United States military.”
“I wouldn’t blink before I would put the command and control in their hands a month ago, certainly today,” Penn said during the interview."
https://globalnews.ca/news/6706941/sean-penn-coronavirus-cnn/

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 18:49 utc | 38

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 18:49 utc | 38

I'm drinking rum right now and that info gave me an additional good laugh.

Just wait Sharon, if we are lucky DeNiro the Star will show his stuff in how to fight the Coronavirus. Right now he is busy shilling useless cars while dressed in some funky looking pants. Yes you got it, he is pretending to be a Hillbilly :-)

Cheers

Posted by: Tom_LX | Mar 20 2020 18:57 utc | 39

Well done, b! Keep up the good work.

And thanks to informed comments from the barflies ...

Posted by: Trisha | Mar 20 2020 18:59 utc | 40

:D Cheers to you too, Tom_LX:)

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 19:04 utc | 41

thanks for all your work b all the best

Posted by: Noirette | Mar 20 2020 19:16 utc | 42

Posted by: SharonM | Mar 20 2020 19:04 utc | 41

Sending you have a good laugh.

DeNiro

Posted by: Tom_LX | Mar 20 2020 19:20 utc | 43

Who would have thought that the times with billmon were the good times.
Is there a link to get access to all of his posts? It would be a interesting re-read.

Posted by: Sabine | Mar 20 2020 19:40 utc | 44

Congratulations B on achieving a tremendous milestone soley through the work you do which attracts a regular audience and generates interesting and often original discussion, which itself is thought-provoking and gives rise to good insights and creates more discussion.

All done with no need for advertising, solely based on plain hard work and a desire to shine a light on events and a path towards truth.

Posted by: Jen | Mar 20 2020 20:09 utc | 45

Congratulations, B. And thanks.

Posted by: juliania | Mar 20 2020 20:10 utc | 46

Thanks for the reporting.
I visit occasionally, and this is the chance to say it: the comment section format (not the content) is not the greatest. Have you thought of changing it to a multi-threaded one?

Posted by: Choderlos de Laclos | Mar 20 2020 20:40 utc | 47

Thanks b for your work. I'm very happy to have found your site.

Posted by: occupatio | Mar 20 2020 20:40 utc | 48

well have decided to keep coming Cheers!

Posted by: michael lacey | Mar 20 2020 20:50 utc | 49

Politicians are only the front men. They probably wonder why they have been singled out as “everyone does it”. (Notable quote from UK financiers during a scandal of using the names of real Downs Syndrome sufferers in a tax avoidance, false “Charities” scam. )

The Banks are at it again. As are some Pharmaceutical groups.
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/19/coronavirus-vaccine-medical-supplies-price-gouging/

There is fight back …..
In Spain, the government seized control of private health care providers, including privately run hospitals, to manage the demand for treatment for patients with Covid-19.

There is this surprising item at the bottom of the link -
Last Friday, Levin circulated a letter signed by other House Democrats that called for the government to take charge in producing ventilators, N95 respirators, and other critical supplies facing shortages.
The once inconceivable policy was endorsed on Wednesday when Trump unveiled a plan to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel private firms to produce needed supplies during the crisis. The law, notably, allows the president to set a price ceiling for critical goods used in an emergency.

Meanwhile China has been sending kits and other medical supplies to Italy, Venezuela and Iran. (Should come as no surprise - or how to make friends and influence people.)

Posted by: Stonebird | Mar 20 2020 21:14 utc | 50

Sorry about the above - wrong thread (I'll repost on the right one, I hope

But yes - Thanks b for all your efforts.

Posted by: Stonebird | Mar 20 2020 21:18 utc | 51

Congratulations Sir!
You are the first thing I read each and every day. I cannot tell you how much I have learned from you and your many commenters. (especially Jen - I think I kinda have a crush on her...) But, boy, do you and everyone break it down.
The world makes a little more sense after I digest the wisdom found here.
Thank you B, and all the MOA posse. God help us all, and wash you hands!

Posted by: lex talionis | Mar 20 2020 21:29 utc | 52

SharonM @38: Sean Penn came out and said this:

CIA asset Sean Penn would say that.

No, really. He was 'outed' when Wikileaks released Hillary's emails (check moa archives).

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 20 2020 21:50 utc | 53

Many thanks to you b. I discovered this blog in 2014 and have since become a fan. I'm amazed by the quality and the freshness of your output. More power to your elbow. Thank you again!

Posted by: Steve | Mar 20 2020 22:20 utc | 54

7705 Total Posts - THAT is what truly amazes me, b. I have to take a nap after banging out a few dumb comments.

For anyone who doesn't already know, this blog isn't b's full-time job. He does it for free, and in his spare time. I suspect he's bionic and/or a vampire.

Posted by: PavewayIV | Mar 20 2020 22:32 utc | 55

Congratulations for a well-deserved milestone. Thank you, b and bar flies, for creating what is my go-to news and commentary site. And for lightening up this dark world with touches of humor.

Posted by: Tiger Lily | Mar 20 2020 22:48 utc | 56

'b', you are a star, thanks, keep it up, and take great care

Posted by: Baron | Mar 20 2020 23:24 utc | 57

Bravo MOA for all we seekers, to your incredible light we are magnetized. Problem, Reaction, Solution. BigGov has the herd moving into the stock STOCK I say indeed, yards readying for the final slaughter. Not looking forward to the new world disorder furthering Agenda21. Very very very pleased to know MOA unveils the evildoers.

Posted by: Biloximarxkelly | Mar 21 2020 2:29 utc | 58

This is one of the greatest blogs on earth.

Posted by: Fernando Martinez Ma | Mar 21 2020 3:14 utc | 59

With this exceptional situation in huge areas around the world, I guess you are expecting to get more viewers in the next days, weeks, as more people will have maybe more time to spend on their computer and will want to check the news. Your last post got, at this time, 455 comments ! (good luck for the moderation)

In any case, congrats =)

Posted by: Paul | Mar 21 2020 4:23 utc | 60

Congratulations b for your pageview landmark

The volume of comments is sure going up and I am having trouble keeping up.

If you have access to the raw visitation logs for your site there are programs (Awstats) that I think are free and let you see lots of interesting data about site visitation.....but if you spent time looking at all that stuff you would have less time to do the rest of what you do.....grin

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 21 2020 5:01 utc | 61

congrats b & all who support moa and contribute to making it an essential linktank

Posted by: b real | Mar 21 2020 5:46 utc | 62

B you and your blog stand head and shoulders over any over media.
Your body of work over the years is beyound comparison, forensically one can only draw one conclusion to this present disaster! At this crossroads some of us would apreaciate more guidance on what we say and what we don’t. For the personal benifit of you and this blog ! Openness on this matter would be the best way forward.
My view is this virus is now the end of what is erroneously called civilisation.
We all here put up a good fight. It’s better to try and fail than never to try at all !
Good luck b and all commenters !

Posted by: Mark2 | Mar 21 2020 8:10 utc | 63

MoA is a gem in news outlets which are dominated by partisan journalists. Its adherence to the facts while assessing the situation in context is truly exceptional (a textbook example: https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/06/us-navy-cruiser-ignored-rules-at-sea-caused-near-collision-with-russian-destroyer-.html). It rightly makes the case that the pursuit of truth is superior to chasing after the right opinion. Because only the facts, which are results of deeds of men, and not the opinions, reveal the true motives and color of a person.

I think MoA can improve readability of its Comments sections by adopting a thread support for comments, like Disqus, which formats the discussions in a comment-reply style. So that a reader can focus on discussions related to different aspects of the news being reported. It also makes tracing easier.

Posted by: Innocent Civilian | Mar 21 2020 8:19 utc | 64

You're all a bunch of good cunts

Posted by: Jezabeel | Mar 21 2020 8:41 utc | 65

Thanks for the website B, but just as many thanks to the commenters here. Even the worst comments are better here than the best ones in the Guardian. Censorship will destroy MSM. The Guardian use to have some good commenters, but soon they were banned. One of them was a Canadian university professor, who later helped establish offGuardian. MoA has the best commenters that I know of.

Posted by: Peter Schmidt | Mar 21 2020 8:54 utc | 66

I sometimes get annoyed by stupid comments but I very much appreciate the work you are doing. Thank you! Public comment forums always attract a certain percentage of lazy thinkers with conspiratorial fixations but the high quality of the many insightful comments here makes it easier to tolerate the obsessives with a compulsive need to push their improbable personal hobby horse theories.

Posted by: Daniel | Mar 21 2020 9:24 utc | 67

Thanks b! Thanks barflies!

Posted by: Symen Danziger | Mar 21 2020 9:27 utc | 68

MoA is one of three sites I check every morning after my (very limited) email: Antiwar.com, Sic Semper Tyrannis, and MoA. The only other news I get is from my RSS feeds, on Linux, computer security, tech news, survivalist news, firearms news, and martial arts news.

BTW, Tomas Pueyo has posted a followup article to his excellent first piece on the coronavirus. Highly recommended.

Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56

Quote:
If we do nothing: Everybody gets infected, the healthcare system gets overwhelmed, the mortality explodes, and ~10 million people die (blue bars). For the back-of-the-envelope numbers: if ~75% of Americans get infected and 4% die, that’s 10 million deaths, or around 25 times the number of US deaths in World War II.

You might wonder: “That sounds like a lot. I’ve heard much less than that!”

So what’s the catch? With all these numbers, it’s easy to get confused. But there’s only two numbers that matter: What share of people will catch the virus and fall sick, and what share of them will die. If only 25% are sick (because the others have the virus but don’t have symptoms so aren’t counted as cases), and the fatality rate is 0.6% instead of 4%, you end up with 500k deaths in the US.

If we don’t do anything, the number of deaths from the coronavirus will probably land between these two numbers.
End Quote

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Mar 21 2020 10:39 utc | 69

Innocent Civilian @ 64 - Yes, MOA is a rare gem and I agree that it can be a bit cumbersome to follow through on the comment and reply thread. The commentary on MOA is good but a Disqus type format could be the kiss of death. I have yet to see a Disqus type discussion which does not often quickly descend into a personal hammer and tong between protagonists and going seriously OT if not insane. I'm happy enough to work a bit harder to follow up replies.

To b - many thanks. I am relatively new to your site; could never get any sort of handle on Syria until I stumbled onto MOA and I now often randomly check out postings from previous years. The value of your site is that is still worthwhile to slowly read up on these.

Never heard of the song MOA either and now I have it as background music playing in my head. Still, its a great song and better than the Muppet Song which has also previously been the song that appeared set never to go away. Take care and keep well.

Posted by: Eliza Hallinan | Mar 21 2020 12:03 utc | 70

buckets of Big hugs b,

You excel and do not disappoint. Anticipate all viewers will pitch in on the next fund raiser for the poor poet. We read without advertisements, pop-ups.

Posted by: Likklemore | Mar 21 2020 14:13 utc | 71

Three reasons I come here regularly:
1) Objective, well reasoned and well researched commentaries. B, I don't know how you do it!
2) Excellent and up-to-the minute info and links on important world events.
3) Intelligent, open-minded and enlightening discourse and tolerance among most discussants (mostly) of a wide range of viewpoints.

Posted by: farm ecologist | Mar 21 2020 19:49 utc | 72

Thank you, b and bar patrons. I learn so much here, from you.

Posted by: oglalla | Mar 21 2020 21:34 utc | 73

>> Disqus type discussion

OMG. No no no.

Requiring a login, so everyone’s thoughts are easily tracked?

I’m also sick and fucking tired of JavaScript bloat slowing down browsers running on all but the newest devices.

Excuse my French.

:-)

Posted by: oglalla | Mar 21 2020 21:43 utc | 74

@ Jezabeel

lol...Thanks! I’m going to presume that’s high praise.

Posted by: oglalla | Mar 21 2020 22:53 utc | 75

Best bar to visit in these days at the end of the empire. One arrives sober and departs drunk with advice and the tolerance of the patron. Thanks b.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 22 2020 4:04 utc | 76

Peter Schmidt @ 66:

That Canadian university academic was Vaska. She no longer appears at Off-Guardian.org. I have occasionally seen her comments at the 21SilkRoad Facebook Group page.

Posted by: Jen | Mar 22 2020 11:20 utc | 77

MofA is a very valuable outlet.
keep up the very good work, please, 'b'.
Many Thanks to you and the many valuable commenters here.
Egor

Posted by: Egor68500 | Mar 22 2020 12:58 utc | 78

MOA is my first read of the day, for B's valuable writing, and as well, for the excellent comments. And then again at night, to catch up on yet more valuable comments. So much to learn from so many smart people. Thanks, B.

Posted by: kiwiklown | Mar 23 2020 8:48 utc | 79

Congratulations.

I was unaware of the Whisky Bar site, I learned of MoA via the Saker. Keep up the good work, B. We need intelligent inspection of issues, rather than the propagandistic nonsense we are generally subject to by the plutocrat-owned mainstream media (I find BBC to be the worst).

Thank-you. I only wish you posted more often, but it clearly takes time to research your subjects properly.

Posted by: Ant. | Mar 23 2020 14:27 utc | 80

Wow. I remember the day The Whiskey Bar closed and we didn't know how we would ever find each other. Thanks, b. 50,000,000 times.

Posted by: beq | Apr 1 2020 23:59 utc | 81

Ditto what Beq said! Thanks, b.

Posted by: maxcrat | Apr 2 2020 1:24 utc | 82

The comments to this entry are closed.