April 29, 2010

Greece Plumbs the Depths

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You have to hand it to the LA Times for somehow dredging up a local angle to the Greek debt crisis:

Earlier on, with public protests against austerity plans escalating, the Athens government placed a $250,000 order for the body shields that Temecula-based Paulson Manufacturing Corp. makes for riot police and others.

Now, the order has been placed on hold. “We’re waiting,” the Athens government said in a short message to the company’s international staff. “Their money problems in Greece are dramatically affecting us,” said company President Roy Paulson.

Jeebus. The Greeks are so broke they can’t even afford the protective gear they need to put down the riots caused by the country being broke. If the Germans bail them out, will they insist that the Greek government buy German riot equipment instead?

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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