Here’s the last of my Caltech pictures. This is Mudd Labs, one of the old south campus buildings inspired by Spanish mission architecture. When you see someone from the Caltech Seismology Laboratory on TV after an earthquake, it’s probably someone with an office in this building.

The lab, by the way, is named for Seeley G. Mudd, who was a cancer researcher at Caltech before he moved to USC. Nearby Harvey Mudd College, one of the Claremont Colleges, is named for his brother. According to the font of all knowledge, “The college was funded by Mudd’s friends and family, and named in his honor.”

December 9, 2018 — Pasadena, California

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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