Dear friends,

While I spend most of my time sick in bed with the flu, Herb has created a new page on the blog, the “RSS NEWS PAGE” which you can go to by clicking on the ‘RSS NEWS” sign on the top right of the page as shown here.

This RSS News page contains the news feeds from most of the English language news sources I recommend and which are listed under “news sources” on the top of the page.  This is how Herb, our webmaster explained it:

This is News Feed page. Each news feed shows the 3 most current articles. Readers can click on either an article or the feed. Readers are encouraged to post links to breaking news in the comment section.
The comments will display the most current at the top (breaking news). Discussion within this comment section will not be permitted …. only news links plus a brief description of the news item. The goal is have our commentators create a consistent and reliable ‘Saker’ news feed for use by all of our readers ….

I think that this is an extremely useful feature not only because it shows a summary of what our trusted news sources report on, but because it makes it possible for you, readers and members of our community, to contribute your own information.

Right now Herb will manage the comments posting here through the regular moderation queue but our hope is to create a list of “trusted contributors” whose reports could be directly posted without going through any moderation thereby making the process much faster.

While we are going through *comparatively* quiet times, there is no doubt in my mind that 2017 will see a large number of crises, including major ones, and it is at that moment, when things really go crazy, that this “RSS News” page could really shine as it could provide a go-to place to get news almost as fast as they happen.

If you have ideas on how to improve this service please email Herb (not me!!) with your suggestions.

We also look forward to hearing your comments, criticisms and opinions about this.  Please post them below this announcement (and NOT on the RSS News page).

Again, I have to express my deepest gratitude to Herb for his fantastic job!

Hugs and cheers,

The Saker