Posted on 11/28/2001 7:31:29 PM PST by Jim Robinson
Free Republic has had one helluva run over the last five years or so. We helped impeach one president and helped get another into office. We've been active in demonstrations and protests in nearly every city across the nation. We've participated in conventions, petition drives, activism campaigns and projects for dozens of conservative causes.
We've grown from a tiny web site with a few hundred posters and readers from the time of inception in 1996, to one with tens of thousands of participants today. Along the way we've made lots of great friends and, unfortunately, also made lots of bitter enemies.
We've grown from a small web site that I could manage myself on a part-time basis to a huge monster that has totally consumed all of my time and resources plus nearly all of John's time, plus the time and resources of many dedicated FReepers who volunteer or contribute large amounts of their own time and money.
The site is now consuming all of a 10 mbps dedicated line with two servers and we're still growing, and it consumes large amounts of money to keep all this running. In the early years, it only took a few thousand dollars per month to keep Free Republic on the air, but it is now costing over $20,000 per month to cover all expenses.
The major costs include approximately $8,000 per month for bandwidth, 3,000 for systems management and programming services, 7,000 for management, operating and administrative services, plus two or three thousand per month for miscellaneous office expenses, telephone, communications, repairs & maintenance, travel & lodging, postage, rentals, insurance, legal fees, accounting fees, etc., etc.
We anticipate a reduction in bandwidth costs next year as we renegotiate our contract (the market price for bandwidth has fallen recently), however, that will be more than offset by an expected increase in costs of our legal expenses. As most of you know, our pro bono attorney has left us and we've hired a new attorney to continue with our case, plus we have the suit against eschoir to pay for. My projections are that our regular monthly expenses for next year will be running in the neighborhood of $22,000 per month, or approximately $264,000 total for the year. This means we will need to raise approximately $66,000 per quarter.
Talking about making enemies, we've got several ex-FReepers and other detractors who are claiming on their anti-freeper web sites that I am ripping off the donors and that Free Republic is a fraud. Now, Free Republic is what it is, and it is definitely not a fraud. It is a conservative news discussion forum that encourages participation in politics and activism projects. It is not being billed as anything else. We are not selling or promising anything. And I am being up front about our operating costs. The costs of running Free Republic are what I've stated above and they are necessary to keep FR on the air. I do not have the financial wherewithal to operate this site without your help. If the majority of the FReepers feel that these costs are out of line or too much to bear or that Free Republic is no longer wanted or needed, then we will either cut it back or shut it down or do something altogether different.
I've also been criticized about not making our financials public. Well, the reason I do not want to do this is that I have been sued, both personally and as Free Republic, LLC. The people suing us want to bankrupt us and shut us down. They subpoenaed our financial records, but we refused to turn them over. The judge agreed that the plaintiffs have no right to the information, thus I have no intention of making any more of it public than I absolutely have to, until this lawsuit is resolved. You all know the amounts of money we raise if you follow the fundraising threads. It is all above board and out in the open. The totals posted by BadJoe are usually pretty close to the actual cash received and the amounts expended are pretty close to the amounts projected. No one is getting rich here and no one is being ripped off. The funds raised are being used for the purposes stated, and that is keeping this website on the air and that's it. Nothing fraudulent about it. Those who want to help fund us freely do so with nothing expected in return. Those who do not want to contribute do not have to.
There was a thread running this morning where people were making all kinds of accusations about Free Republic "hiding the truth" or whatever. These accusations are being made by Chuck Allan and others and fall along the same line with the accusations being made by some of the earlier banees or AFers including Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan, Arator, keep U.S. Sovereign, TKEman and others. Some of these people are existing FReepers and some are banned. I am going to reinstate Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan and Arator's accounts so they can join Chuck Allan, TKEman, K.U.S.S. and whomever else wants to get involved, and I invite them to come onto this thread and make their accusations public. As long as they do not go onto other threads and make a nuisance of themselves, I will let them have their say.
Like I said above, if it is time for Free Republic to go away so be it. Those who want to keep it going speak up. Those who want it to go away, tell us why. But if those who want it to be gone lose out in the debate, then I'd say they should just go away themselves, or, in the very least, shut up and quit whining about it.
Thanks,
Jim
As have many of the "PTB's" you name, as have many FReepers, current and ex. It's a place where exiled FReepers and current FReepers can find each other again. That's why I'm there. I post at RuR in particular primarily to keep in touch with Harry.
It would be a mistake to presume that everyone who posts to an "AFer" board is of one mind and out to destroy FR. That simply is not true.
OK, back into the mists go I until you summon me forth again... ;^)
You invited us over here, supposedly for the purpose of examining your credibility, integrity and so forth. You've made a serious charge that may be viewed as libelous by some. Please be specific.
What an amazingly disingenious thing to say. The wish to "shut down" FR because AFers believe it to be a "scam" and send JR "to jail" is all over your TTC and AFWAA sites. Better start the purge...
Jim, maybe certain people should be charged on a "per-post" basis. hmmmmm.....no laws against that!!
Over-simplified and, far worse, distorted.
Think that's fascist? Don't like living under the 24/7 watchful eye of the moderators? Well then shove off, sweetie, because that's what we got here and we like it"....
The sentences bolded above have to be the funniest lines in well over 2900 responses to this thread.........perhaps you (you appear to be in the know) can explain to all of us how "important' it is or 'just how dearly' held it is to discuss turtles asses? Or their ability to breathe thru same? Or better yet, just what is the 'official' position a FReeper should take on turtle asses?
Kinda like Swamp Thing ...
Chump change, my friend.
That was an example, -- I wasn't boasting. Are you?
BTW, do you want to be the one who tells the people who really cannot afford to come here using "pay for play" that they can't come on FR?
Nope, and that need not be a probem. - Give everyone a hundred posts a month, before you start the 'guilt meter' running.
You got any better ideas yourself? - Lets hear them..
I give MORE so everybody can come.
Yep, you are so special.
On the flip side, you people have been accusing me of all sorts of crimes, fraud, tax evasion, lying, cheating, and sleaze of every kind. And occasionally some of it gets posted here like it did the other morning. And some of it gets deleted as being disruptive, and some of it stays up. The post the other day got deleted and I got accused by the darkside of covering up something. That's why I decided to open up this thread to those of you who are making the accusations and allow you to make them public. We will allow you to report whatever evidence it is that you may have backing up your various charges and then we will let the readers decide. Now, it is time for you to be specific. If you have evidence of fraud, deception, tax evasion, scam or whatever, you should not be afraid to post it here. Like I've seen many of your cohorts say, truth is not libelous. Well, if you have it, lay it on us. If you doon't then shut the hell up and go away.
I must agree with you here. I'm a good example of that. I initially used the Anti sites to raise my specific real world management and activism concerns in the hope that the more professional still connected Freepers may have JR's ear. Didn't take me long to realize the folks there don't want to make constructive criticisms/solutions, they just want to whine. I actually spent much of my time at those sites defending the Robinsons and their family. For that I was ostricized and gave up trying to inject any reason into their one-sided discussions. They've lost all sense of proportion and the ability to be objective. There use to be a few that would listen to reason and didn't buy into every crackpot theory of Mojo's...no longer the case.
And I've never seen anything by you indicating a desire for ill-will upon FR or JR, although I think you've been uneccessarily insulting on occasion.
Well now, there's the rub. We don't have what you don't provide in the form of meaningful disclosure.
BTW, did you ignore my question about California laws governing charities, or did you simply overlook it?
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