It is with no small amount of mixed feelings that I notice that Michael Totten has embarked on a daring new experiment in reader-funded journalism.
Oh, wait. It’s not new at all. (See: Iraq.com, Back-to–)
On the one hand, I’m glad that more people are working to do their own thing and bringing nuanced, insightful journalism to the reading public without the baggage that mainstream media often attach. On the other hand, Totten usually has a somewhat conservative rah-Amurricah tone that sets my teeth a-grate. That said, he does get out there and do some reporting. While he’s not my cup of tea — I find his Middle East reporting naive and American-centric — give him a read. I’ll let you decide if it’s worth donating. I’m going to pop him $5 on principle.
Category Archives: Blog
Tonight on the Majority Report
I’ll be appearing tonight on The Majority Report on Air America. (Check your local listings for time.) OK. I guess I do go on liberal shows.
But, for the record, Front Page asked to interview me and I agreed. But then I never heard back from them. Oh, well.
*UPDATE:* There are archived podcasts available, but you have to be a paying premium member to get access to them. Alas.
More Bloody Housekeeping…
BAGHDAD — Jeeze. Switching servers is a pain in the ass. Anyway, people have complained that they’re not getting notifications of new entries, etc. I’m using a plugin that allows _you_, dear reader, to manage your own subscriptions. (Yeah, I’m lazy. Sue me.)
In the transition, however, the notification list has been hosed. This is, in some ways, a blessing. There were many dead emails on there and people were getting notifications who didn’t want to get them. Now, we have a clean slate. (Were that Iraq were so lucky.) This means that if you subscribed in the past and you still wish to receive new entries, _you must re-subscribe._
If you want to subscribe to B2I as a whole and get emails when there is a new entry sign up through the subscribe link in the sidebar on the right. It’s right over there. You can’t miss it.
Additionally, if you want to follow a discussion in the comments on an individual entry, you can do that too. Just fill out the signup box at the bottom of each comment section. That will assign you _only to that entry._ This can be an additional subscription to the main blog.
Once you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email from notifications@back-to-iraq.com. *You must click the confirmation link to confirm any of your subscriptions.*
If you ever wish to remove yourself from any subscriptions, each notification email has a link to do so. You’ll again have to confirm your opting-out, but I’m sure you’ll be able to figure that out.
Let’s hope this ends the tidying up around here.
Update B2I’s Look?
BAGHDAD — I know there’s been a bunch of housekeeping going on here lately, and I’m sorry for that. But I’ve been bogged down with other stories and freelancing responsibilities and haven’t had much time to get out and see what’s going on in the last five days or so.
Be that as it may, I’m thinking of jazzing up the look of B2I. If anyone has a blog they think looks cool, and that could be adapted for this site’s look, I’m open for suggestions. I’m looking for clean lines, something that speaks of deserts and the Middle East, yet is modern and cool looking.
Yeah, I know. A tall order.
Notification issues
BAGHDAD — Regarding my previous posting, in which I said you would have to re-subscribe, that is unnecessary. I found the old list and have added the old subscriptions. Many of the emails are bad, and bouncing, but that’s OK. The list needed to be cleaned up anyway. If you received and email asking you to confirm your subscription but you don’t wish to do so, do nothing. Delete it and we’ll each go our merry ways.
If you do wish to subscribe, just click the confirmation link and you’ll be good to go. Sorry for the spam, however. This should not be necessary in the future.