I asked Marian to curate today’s photo, and to my surprise she picked this one. It is, obviously, a London bus passing Trafalgar Square. That’s Nelson’s column in the background. The bus itself is the #9 that formed our primary link between downtown and our home in Kensington.

It’s worth saying that if you visit London and haven’t used the buses, you’re missing out. Not only can you see the city, especially from the upper deck, but the right bus can often get you closer to your destination than the tube. If nothing else, get to know two or three of the main bus routes that pass near your hotel or house. Or download an app like CityMapper that will figure out a bus route for you based on where you happen to be. Buses use the same Oyster card you use for the tube.

Marian was a little bit skeptical at first, but she quickly became a great fan and took the bus everywhere. They’re mostly not very crowded, even at rush hour, and if you can snag the front upper seat, you get a great view.

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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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