Need to Read, August 12, 2009

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Some must-reads from around the web:

Surprise, surprise: Judiciary Committee document dump reveals that Karl Rove was more involved in the US Attorney firings than has previously been acknowledged.

US general says Bagram needs less Popeyes, more cultural outreach.

Are the tea-baggers ripping a page from the Saul Alinsky playbook?

Extreme makeovers, Wall Street Journal style.

America’s last late-term abortion doctor.

The families of three hikers detained by Iran, one of whom is Mother Jones contributor Shane Bauer, issued a statement on Tuesday. Here is Bauer’s new MoJo piece, an investigation of the Pentagon’s “make-a-sheikh” program; editors-in-chief Clara Jeffrey and Monika Bauerlein provide further context here.

David Corn, Mother Jones‘ DC bureau chief, is on twitter, and so are my colleagues Daniel Schulman, Nick Baumann, and our editor, Clara Jeffery. You can follow me here. The magazine’s main account is @motherjones.

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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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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 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.

payment methods

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