Well, I've had an eventful last few days in the cyber saloon of the Wild West Web, ranging from witnessing the venerable Martin Daubney (primarily known for editing 'Loaded', and forgetting the name of the political party he's deputy leader of) label one of my articles "a brain fart"... right through to arguing with ARC spokeswoman and all-round shady character, Louise Perry, about whether it's a good idea to terrify poor people into having lots of children by telling them they'll starve to death in old age if they don't (I thought this wasn't such a great plan... wealthy media star Ms. Perry disagreed).

But the overall highlight has definitely been the unexpected, and really rather delightful, feedback I received a couple of days ago, courtesy of my Twitter pal, Scotty (if you're on Twitter, you probably know him, and if you don't, you should!).

Scotty said:

"Miri is hands down my favourite writer on here, her articles are a must-read in this age of psyops, shills and evil agendas."

Because he has a big following, a lot of people saw this Tweet... and quite a few registered their agreement, which was both highly flattering and a little embarrassing (aw, shucks, you guys...), so thank you very much :).

That people have said such things as I am their "favourite writer", and am doing "really important work" means a great deal to me, and it's a responsibility I take extremely seriously - to not let people down who've invested in me, especially those who are kind enough to donate to my work, as it is precisely those people who enable me to keep doing what I do.

Each article I write takes a significant amount of time to produce, including research, referencing, editing, and proofreading, and then involves more time in terms of promoting it across various channels, as well as adding a voice recording, and trying to respond to as many comments, questions, and messages as I can.

Due to the fact that the news cycle moves so fast, I have to be able to respond to events quickly - just as mainstream journalists do - and when people say to me, as they frequently do, "I really want to know your thoughts on [insert topical current event]", they mean as soon as possible, not a week next Thursday. So, the corollary is, this is a full-time job, and often more than that, because it has to be.

Unfortunately, however - such is the nature of the beast - it doesn't pay like one, and my income is both unstable and unpredictable, primarily consisting, as it does, of one-off optional donations (as I don't use paywalls for my content, nor do I run adverts) - donations that I, by definition, cannot predict or rely on.

Whilst I appreciate these contributions (and all contributions) very much indeed, and thanks again to all who have ever made one, it does make budgeting and planning rather difficult - and this situation was exacerbated enormously when, several months ago, I was kicked off PayPal, with no notice or explanation, and therefore lost all monthly contributions I was receiving that way.

I was removed from PayPal as part of a ruthless de-platforming and de-monetisation exercise of the ruling classes, meant to sabotage independent writers and content creators. Whilst a lot of "big name", high-profile creators still have their PayPals, many of us smaller fish - who were primarily reliant on PayPal for our income - do not. It was at the time a catastrophic blow (as, of course, it was intended to be), and has continued to undermine my ability to earn.

Whilst some of my supporters have very kindly come over from PayPal to Patreon or other channels, I am still struggling to get the number of small, regular monthly contributions that I need to stabilise my income, and give me a little more security.

Please let me emphasise once again that all contributions, past and present, are very gratefully received, and I totally appreciate that not everyone is in a position to commit to regular monthly donations.

However, if you are, and if you regularly enjoy/benefit from my work, please do consider making a small monthly contribution - the price of a cup of coffee or whatever you can afford - through Patreon, or any of the channels at the footer (including Substack, where you can also subscribe to my mailing list, as a free or paid subscriber). This would make a huge difference to me, as it means I have some idea both of what my income will be each month, and when I will be receiving it.

Knowing this obviously makes anyone's life rather less anxiety-ridden, and therefore enables me to confidently spend as much time as possible on providing you with regular, high-quality, informative content - quickly!

Thanks very much for all your support so far, which is the only reason this site is able to continue to exist. It really is appreciated (if not by Martin Daubney...).

Support Miri AF monthly on Patreon

Join as a member on BuyMeACoffee

Make a donation directly to Nat West, a/c 30835984, s/c 54-10-27, account name Finch MA

Thank you for your support!

Find Miri AF on social media via the links below...

Substack, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter (posting there as my other resource, Informed Consent Matters).