coffee

Donation-Based Media: How It Works

Or: I’m a Republican. Why the hell should I buy you a coffee, ya freeloader? Go get a job and buy your own damn coffee! I do my donating at church!

That’s what you’re thinking. I know because that’s the way I thought about it for a lot of years. Why should I pay for news when I get it for free? Why pay for a newspaper when I can just read it on their website? After all, I pay enormous sums for cable T.V., not to mention two different streaming services; CNN gives me news for free so everyone should!

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Buy Me Some Ramen

The Not Fake News has been operating under the Buy Me A Coffee model for the past year, and all things considered it’s worked out fairly well for us. More than thirteen hundred dollars have come in, and, while expenses are still higher than income (thanks to the New Hampshire primaries), we’re getting closer to break-even.

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Fear and Loathing 2020: Interlude, Hotel Breakfast

The whirlwind tour is taking a quick break this morning.  Tech Guy Griff is sacked out in the other room, sleeping the sleep of the just.  Just plain tuckered out, that is.  Some people can’t keep up with the pace…

That’s really unfair, and if you knew me well you’d be laughing.  I’m useless without about eight and a half hours of sleep.  No clue why I’m awake right now; I shouldn’t be.  Long day ahead, even though we’re skipping (more…)

Dateline: Cumberland Gap

More updates from the road, as your Not Fake News action correspondent continues his travels.  For research purposes only, of course.

One of the things I love most about traveling by train is the completely different attitude by passengers.  I’ve seen fights break out over who gets which taxi, whether people have the right to lay their seats back on a plane, or who let out that legendarily nasty (more…)

Nothing To See Here; Move Along

(or, Why I Haven’t Written Much Lately)

Most of my posts here are about current events.  When an important new law gets signed, I’m all over it; when there’s a big mystery or scandal, I’m right here with my opinion.  Normally, when there’s a pause in the news for whatever reason, I’ll chime in with a suggestion on policy.

Trouble is, right now, nothing’s happening, and what is happening is just more of (more…)

Jet City Espresso, Tampa FL

It’s an unlikely place for wonderful coffee — a tiny repurposed Florida house, beige and unassuming.  And yet… wow.

Pre-Starbucks, there wasn’t a coffee shop on every corner.  You could go a ways before you found the nearest Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts, and even then the coffee was pretty basic — bland and ordinary, and usually weak as dishwater.  But then came the coffeehouse movement of the early 90s, which introduced the joys of espresso and latte to the American public.

Jet City opened up in Tampa back then and has been going strong (more…)