Operation Infinite FReep - Fresno Support Our Troops/President Rally 9/12/03

9/12/03

[John Robinson]

The fax will include the number from which it was sent.

The fax header is programmable == spoofable.

[John Robinson]

a anti-war, anti Bush, anti conservative group at taxpayers expense

Oh, I didn't realize that. I assumed this was a legitimate commission. Perhaps they did originate the fax, and just have shoddy graphics. In that case, they should have some serious heat coming their way.

[gracie1]

Fresno HRC? Hhhhmmm, that just about tells me all I need to know.
I'm sure Peace Fresno has some old faxes that they could have doctored up to look official, it would be easy enough for a kid to do.
I will be there at the "hate" picnic!

[JustAmy]

See you there!!!

[dansangel]

FRee Publicity for Free Republic! ***Awesome***!

The anti-America crowd had their little plot against you blow up in their faces. "Hate Group" - yeah, right. That's the pot calling the kettle black!

FResno FReepers ***ROCK***!

[Timesink]

The person to call to determine if the "press release" is real or fake is Matt Otstot. He is the Public Affairs Officer for the entire city of Fresno, and is the person in charge of putting out the city's press releases. His number is (559) 621-7777.

The HRC "press release" is not on the official Fresno press releases page, even though that page was updated just yesterday.

Also, as an former PR person myself, I have to say it looks fraudulent at first glance. It is poorly written, contains the name of no person to contact (just the main number of the commission itself), and a link to FR.

However, searching through Google gives pretty clear proof that the HRC consists of a bunch of ignorant, reactionary freaks, so if one of them decided "I'll write my own press release!", the results would probably look as bad as this one.

[chadsworth]

The HRC comes under the city managers office. His email is:

CityManager@Fresno.gov

If the fax is a phoney, he should be aware that his HRC committee has been taken in. Maybe we all should email him and ask for verification of the authenticity of the message that came from his committee and sent to the police and channel 24.

And the original source to the committee as well.

[Victoria Delsoul]

What? Hate group called "Free Republic?" "Free Republic hate rally picnic?". The information on this group's website clearly indicates threats of violence toward any minority groups that interfere with their rally or picnic??? LOL!!!

Looks like we're becoming influential. Thanks so much for the ping, Amy.

[jkphoto]

Tri-Tip is on its way to Fresno!

Bring your appetite!

[lowbridge]

She said that she wanted to get an interview to put on the news at 6:00 and asked who might want to answer a few questions. We all pointed to Jim. Lol!

Here on the East Coast, we all do the same with our "Jim" (Bancroft) aka RaceBannon. A news reporter shows up, wants to interview someone from our group, we all yell for RaceBannon (he is the most eloquent and passionate out of all of us!)

[ibbryn]

What a great opportunity! And very well handled.

We got press coverage of our group. A reporter came expecting to find a hate group and left after meeting a group of well mannered patriots. She'll think twice before falling into the same "hate group" trap and is probably telling her peers what she experienced.

A bunch of cops are pissed cuz they wasted their time babysitting a group of people who need no babysitting. They'll remember our name, remember we're ok and if we ever are involved in a confrontation with anti-Freepers, will remember that they watched us in a very peaceful Freep that had no problems and know we are probably not the instigators.

We also have an opportunity for someone to follow up through official channels with the City. We can press them to either explain why the city has us labeled a "hate group" (another opportunity to educate the uninformed and spread the REAL message of Free Republic) or get them to admint they were duped. They can then be pressured to go after and punish whoever initiated the "hate group" label for wasting the city resoursces and tying up cops that were needed elsewhere.

Good job to everyone involved!

[BobS]

Jim:

I've been around since FR had only 8000 hits. From your wheelchair you have created a fascinating thing! Just regular people creating nice things. Of course we will disagree about one thing or another, and that's fine:) I would like to meet you someday. My schedule for the future looks bleak in terms of time to myself. I'm just your average little 'ol microwave engineer who is producing the best anti-ballistic missile defense system known to man. And the ramp-up will be good for our country. We are in good hands. You would be stunned if I could tell you what is going on in my field.

A good friendly hug, Jim
Bob

[scubachick]

Hmmmmm...the blonde in the yellow in the first photo looks kind of suspicious! lol

[A Navy Vet]

Now that's the worst hate-mongering bunch I've ever seen since I once attended a quilting bee.

[Esther Blume]

Freepers rock !!

[Helix]

Here's a little more info. I'm not too familiar with Fresno politics, but the HRC apparently has "issues" with some of the Fresno council members, including Duncan and Calhoun.

Here is a link to a Fresno Bee article for more info and names:
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7291741p-8216890c.html

Quote from above link:

"Duncan has been at odds with the HRC before.

In March, he removed Fresno State professor Sudarshan Kapoor -- his appointee -- from the HRC after the commission brought the council an anti-war resolution sponsored by Peace Fresno."

HRC of Fresno seems to be an offshoot of this group:
http://www.cahro.org/html/about_cahro.html

Here is a self description of what they do:
http://www.cahro.org/html/hr_commission.html



Here is there cut-and-paste guide they use to drum up funds (interesting quote here about how to work around private foundations that restrict their funding to non-profit orgs):
http://www.cahro.org/html/funding.html

Quote from above link:

"foundations often restrict their support to nonprofit corporations, and the commission may need to set up a separate organization to act as fiscal agent"

Lastly, since "you are known by the company you keep"-
here are a few links to articles written about HRC by their "supporters". (Leftist sites, but it seems to support that they are all linked by ideology, and possibly in other ways.)

http://www.sunmt.org/june16chron03.html
http://www.sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/08/1636056.php
http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/03/1591418.php

Mike Rhodes seems to write about the HRC frequently; His article on The firing of one member also appears on this leftist site. Coincidentally, the anti-war protest that takes place across the street from y'all is also listed as an "ongiong event" in this edition of their online magazine:

http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home/magazine/2003/LCA%20Apr%202003.pdf (PDF VERSION)


http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:ZKbyXm8WHOUJ:www.fresnoalliance.com/home/magazine/2003/LCA%2520Apr%25202003.pdf+%22HRC%22+Fresno+pro-war&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 (GOOGLE HTML VERSION)

Sorry for the long post. I hope you find some useful info in it!

[Timesink]

So did this make the 6:00 news in Fresno? And if so, how was FR portrayed?

[notpoliticallycorewrecked]

To our knowledge it was was only run was at the 11:00 news.

[Timesink]

To our knowledge it was was only run was at the 11:00 news.

Was it good or bad coverage?

[notpoliticallycorewrecked]

Overall it appeared to have a positive slant about us.

The only negative part was during the intro it was sensationalize to suggest that we could be a hate group.