Free Republic

Backtracking? Not on your life. You kept using the word scam. I didn't. :)

Also, I never said the owner is committing fraud. I said the website is a fraud if it needs $376,000 a year to operate. As an example, I gave information from Dell's website. Gave the link. Anyone can go there and see for themselves. So where are the servers? As I demonstrated, enterprise-class servers can be purchased very cheaply. I could go further, as others before me already have, and point out website costs these days. But it isn't necessary. Let's just keep focusing on those servers. Where are they?

I mentioned FR being an LLC for a reason. Although I don't know what the laws are regarding disclosure when such large sums are being solicited from the public, one would think that the last thing y'all would want to fight against is accounting and transparency. But that's exactly what you're doing. Why?

What's even worse is that you treat the very public that FR is soliciting money from lower than dirt. Why is that? Even so, I have to assume Mr. Robinson has good legal and CPA-type advice, so assume he's operating lawfully. But being open and behaving decently to the people who are paying the bills is not happening.

By the way, if you have a shred of intellectual curiosity, check this out. You can find plenty more such information by doing a Google search on "how much does it cost to run a website."

The only person using the word "scam" in our conversation is you.

Free Republic is set up as an LLC. While I certainly am no lawyer, my general sense is that corporations have obligations to account for their finances. As DJ MacPuppyDog keeps saying, a budget has been made public. However a budget is not accounting. Not being a lawyer, I don't know what state and federal laws require as regards disclosure. So let me put it this way. For $376,000 a year in donations, it certainly is not too much to ask JR to ensure that his donor base is treated with courtesy and respect -- even if some happen to hold opinions that differ from his opinions and those of his gleeful zottgeist crowd. And when those new servers finally do make an appearance, a thread proudly showing off photos of them would be a nice touch.

Hi Altura. Thanks. But it's a badge of honor to be called twisted by this crowd. Oh the irony.

Lol...so true. :)

Hahahahaha...that's really colorful, Ansel. I enjoyed your imagination. Made me laugh.

So let's see how it stacks up to reality. As of this moment, I have three dogs and two cats. I rescued all five animals off the streets of greater Los Angeles. The oldest, a sweet pit bull, is at least 12 now. Then there's a Chihuahua mix of undetermined age, although he's probably about 11. The two cats, littermates, are 6. The third dog, a mutt, is about 7.

Back to FR. It was once a vibrant, fun, stimulating web forum. How sad that it's come to this.

I do? That's news to me. Somebody must have slipped that "truth" right by me.

If you can get the equipment so much cheaper...

Hey...anyone got around $400 to spare can go to the Dell website themselves and buy an enterprise-class server with tons of capability. It's no mystery. It's not hard. And I should think $94,000 should cover two of them pretty darned easily. Ain't rocket science.

Oh, wait. Scratch that last. Forgot that FR is anti science. Ooops. My bad.

Now what was that about a case of projection? Oh yeah...I warned some poor soul with $361 living money to not spend a penny here, and gave sound, factual, independent reasons as to why. That drew your venom because you projected it as a threat to...what, exactly. Hmmmm...? If FR and its core nasties can't handle simple human decency, well maybe it has outlived its usefulness.

LOL about the Olive Garden. :)

And a fine regards to you, also. I am not a "he."

As for being from "another site," there are over 600 billion websites, with the number growing exponentially almost daily. I enjoy numerous sites, some political, some about music, some social networking, etc. Am I to assume from your comment that people who visit FR are only to come to this website and no other?

Oh, and what exactly is an "anti-Freeper?" Seems to me you haters who attack anyone who doesn't comport with your worldview -- and apparently your web view -- are more "anti-Freeper" than anyone else ever thought of being. You're killing this website. But hey, knock yourself out. A body's gotta do what a body's gotta do.

Yours truly,
Wolfie

I actually go back to 1997, but whatever. And the only thing that's a disgrace is begging for $94,000 a calendar quarter while treating the very people who are ponying up that money like less than dirt.

Your hatred speaks volumes, and your fear of the truth puts a vampire's fear of the sun to shame.

Ummm...no, sugarplum, that's not the "real" question. If there is a question about stands, it has already been answered. The core FR crowd is for Obama's reelection. Simple.

You know darn right well what conservatism is and don't bother playing games here with me about it. God given inalienable rights, as our Founding Founders understood, stated, fought for and died for, as embodied in the Declaration of Independence.

It's as I thought. You don't know how to define "real" conservatism, so you attack. Shrug.

You should learn a little history, though. The Founders were not whatever the modern interpretation of "real" conservatives is according to FR. The modern terms "conservative" and "liberal" didn't exist 236 years ago and have no application to the Founders or the times in which they lived. They were men and women of The Enlightenment. They were -- horrors -- the elites and intellectuals of their day. Their ideas were truly radical for the time. In fact, in the period and context in which they were created, both the Declaration and Constitution were the most radical political documents ever written.

The core cabal here at FR hasn't a clue about what the kind of radicalism of the Founders means even in our times, let alone how critical it is for us to conserve the Founders' ideas and legacy. What is on display at FR these days is an ugly totalitarian impulse that is the antithesis of their legacy.

Go ahead. Ping your little coven of nasties. Have me "zotted." Makes not a whit of difference to me. You people don't pay my bills, or put a roof over my head, or do anything of substance in my life. You haven't got the intellectual firepower to go toe-to-toe with me in a debate, nor the simple comprehension that it would take to figure out that what you people are is anything but politically akin to the Founders.

I rarely do anymore, but could not stand by in good conscience and see someone who has a paltry $361 a month income spend one penny here. Anyone with a conscience would have done the same.

As for the info about the servers that I posted, it's all there for anyone to see for themselves. People can draw their own conclusions.

What is "true" conservatism? Can you provide a definition? Not a list of policy positions, but a definition.

You said you would pray and seek guidance from the Lord before making a donation to FR. Well, may I humbly suggest that the odds of my seeing your post, let alone responding to it, were very long. I don't read these threads usually, and have not been posting on FR much anymore. So maybe my seeing your post and being moved to respond the way I did is the Lord's way of answering your prayer? I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I could not stand by in good conscience and say nothing while you perhaps spent even a small fraction of such a tiny sum on FR when I know the truth.

Quix...my Lord!!!! Don't spend a penny here. Use that $361 a month for things you need or, if you must, give to your church or other local charity.

Don't you know what a fraud FR has become? $94,000 a calendar quarter for a website?! That's $376,000 a year. I have worked in the information systems field since 1988, so know whereof I speak.

Where is the public accounting? Where are these supposed new servers we keep hearing about? Do you know that Dell PowerEdge enterprise-class servers (to use one example) are cheap? You can buy rack-type servers for as low as $599, tower-type servers for $399, and blade servers for $1034. Dell's high-end servers start at $4360. In other words, about $10,000 to $15,000 will buy two top-of-the-line servers. So where are they?

Here's a link to Dell's server web page. People can research this information for themselves.

FR's programming is 1996-vintage. It does not need massive enterprise-class servers to run. In addition, web hosting costs have come way, way down since 1996.

The low-end $399 Dell server has up to absolutely massive 12TB(squared) of storage. That's terabytes. One terabyte = 1000 gigabytes, or 1 trillion bytes. Even if they've saved every thread ever started on FR since 1996, and every private message, no way would such simple HTML data consume the storage of two servers, each with 12TB*squared) storage.

Please, Quix, your $361 is much more important in your real life than it is on this fantasy called Free Republic.

Well, it’s 12:29am as I type this after reading the story. Tears streaming down. So glad it worked out for Tank.

Why do you think what Zimmerman did was wrong? There are neighborhood watches in almost every town in this country. Most are set up by the local municipalities, and even have official signs that are put up in neighborhoods where watches exist.

There had been a rash of burglaries in that apartment complex, and Zimmerman was just doing what any active neighborhood watch person is supposed to do. He saw someone he thought was acting suspiciously. Zimmerman called 911 to report it, and he was working out where to meet the patrol unit when the evidence seems to show Martin circled back and jumped him.

Unless there's something substantial about this case that has not been made public, Zimmerman did nothing wrong that night prior to the final altercation that result in the shooting. The public does not know what happened during that final altercation except that one man was injured and one was shot and killed. An eyewitness said at the time that he saw Martin on top of Zimmerman. Hopefully, the physical evidence, combined with eyewitness testimony and other facts, will make all that clear.

Haven't you figured out yet that all Republicans are called "RINO" here? Well, all except a small handful. This is not a Republican website. It's not even truly a conservative website, and hasn't been for years.

If FR has anything to say about it, Obama will be reelected in a landside. Romney hatred trumps all else here.

Lol :)

So is today’s message that we’re supposed to hate Romney but love his wife? Just trying to stay on the same page here.