The View From My Windshield: All That Glitters

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Is it still there?: Fort Knox, Kentucky--This is not the location of the United States Bullion Depository, home to most of the nation's gold supply.  When we stopped by the Fort Knox visitors center and asked to see the gold, we were told that couldn't be arranged. InsteadIs it still there?: Fort Knox, Kentucky—We’ve heard rumors that the gold at the United States Bullion Depository has been hollowed out and replaced with bricks of tungsten, so we stopped by to check for ourselves. No dice. We were told to turn off our cameras and get back on the highway, which mushrooms with the kind of sprawl that’s supported standing armies for millenia: dozens of car dealerships, pawn shops, furniture outlets, payday lenders, fast food joints, and, sure enough, shops that give you cash for gold.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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