One of the things that really makes my otherwise rather chilly little Aquarian heart glow with pride is when I write an article on a particular piece of political theatre (most recently, the 'death' of the Queen), and someone responds with, "ahh, I've just been waiting to get your thoughts on this!"

This really means a lot to me, as it is indicating I am providing a unique perspective that people find valuable, and even look forward to, to help them - as one person put it - "translate" various news events and political developments into what they really mean.

I'm delighted to be able to provide this service, and thrilled that people enjoy and anticipate it, but of course, keeping up-to-date with the ever-accelerating news cycle and all the various pieces of propaganda continually hurled at us, takes a lot of time. My early morning routine each day is to scan at least six news resources (one "left-wing" national, one "right-wing" national, two locals, and two "alternative" resources) to get an overview of what's generally going on. I don't read every single news story, of course, but I've trained myself to look for particular language, headlines, and 'trigger words' to know what's worth focusing on.

I need to know what the ruling classes want us to focus on, and what they want us to think, before I can formulate an idea of what is really going on, what they are distracting us from, and so forth, and therefore come up with the content for an article.

Obviously, doing this, then writing and editing an article on the subject, takes a great deal of time, and the faster the news cycle starts to move (I think we can expect a lot of newsworthy events in the coming weeks and months), the more time it takes to keep up with.

I want to be able to keep providing this quality, current content to all those who value it, and in order to be able to keep doing this, I do need my endeavours to bring in a reasonable level of income. I am enormously grateful to everyone who does, or has in the past, supported my work via donation (you know who you are and thank you!), though at present, my monthly income from writing stands at less than one quarter of the national minimum wage, which obviously does not make this sustainable as an endeavour for me to keep pouring so much time into. (My total monthly income is public on Patreon, link below, and I make about the same again via PayPal.)

Please do note that I am a completely independent journalist who is 100% funded by reader donations. I do not make money in any other way, such as through advertisements (as these can sometimes lead to compromises on content to keep the advertisers happy) or via paywalls (as I want my work to be available unconditionally and to as wide a variety of people as possible). But the only way I can retain this level of independence, and continue to generate content that is completely uninfluenced by any sponsors, funders, or other shady forces, is by regular, small contributions from readers.

I am, of course, very well aware that the cost of living crisis is biting everyone and that nobody has money to burn, but if everyone who appreciates my writing contributed just the price of a cup of coffee a month (current prices, not what they are projected to hit next year!), then this would provide me with a solid income to enable me to keep doing what I'm doing.

Whilst all donations are of course very much appreciated, I am particularly grateful for small monthly contributions, as these give me a level of predictable income and therefore stability.

So, if you like what I do and would like to help me keep doing more of it, please consider a small monthly donation, either via Patreon or PayPal (links below - please note there is a 'tick monthly' option on PayPal to make the donation monthly), or straight to my bank account (Nat West, a/c 30835984, s/c 54-10-27, account name FINCH MA).

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/miriaf

PayPal

Your support is really appreciated. Thank you.