It just keeps going and going.....
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
It just keeps going and going.....
If it is, don't read it. Move on. Ignore it. Ignore antifreepers. You say they're irrelevant. Okay, poof! They're irrelevant. Can you issue a declaration explaining to the participants at Free Republic WHY your opinion has more merit than anyone else's?
If you think it's "rehashing" old information, that's your opinion. You're wrong, not that you care. If you want to think that it serves no purpose to remind people here that antifreepers are NOT credible, go for it. There are plenty of people here who do NOT know the facts behind their attempts to destroy Free Republic. (And that IS what they want to do.)
There are people who love Free Republic and believe that it serves a wonderful purpose for conservatives. I am one of those people. If you don't like that, tough. And if you think for one minute that I will remain quiet when I have the opportunity to act as a *reminder for people, I won't. If you think for one second that I won't remind the antifreepers themselves that they have NO business questioning Jim about HIS business, you're wrong.
Maybe you should familiarize yourself with all of the facts before getting into MY face with your diatribes. I know you must be frustrated because your pals GO to the AF sites, but that's not my fault.
Finally, if you can calculate how much I cost Free Republic in bandwidth with my posts on this thread, let me know and I'll pay double whatever it comes out to be. Don't forget now.
You should ask Jim Rob how come Carol-Hu-Tex can post a thread questioning what he is doing with donations to FR, and you and IHC, Mojo, etc still cannot have full posting priviledges...I am hoping you will get to come back on board, if you want to.
BTW, you may know me under another handle - I have been around since early 1999. Good Luck!
Renew your medication. Get a hobby. Learn to knit. Do something ELSE with your hands. But for cripes' sake, get a grip before you end up in a room with latex wallpaper.
By the way, I've never been to the AF sites in my life. And my "friends" are too busy setting up other activism networks to cruise the enemy's sites looking for trouble. Sorry to disappoint you.
Years ago on the original antifreeper site, a really dumb idealistic newbie told them: "The enemy of your enemy does not have to become your friend." I still believe that what I said then holds true today.
Don't let yourself become a darksider, unless you have the black heart for it.
I believe you when you say that you've never been to any antifreeper site. If you had, you'd know that 'hysterical' doesn't even come close to describing what I'm capable of when I really get going....ask anyone. I assure you, my previous reply to you wasn't 'hysterical'.
It's interesting to note that twice now, when presented with facts, you've avoided them. Instead, you've gone out of your way to get into my face. Please stop, and refrain from saying anything more that makes it obvious that you don't know what you're talking about. You said so yourself.
Btw: Add this post to my tab, and let me know the total.
I hope Mrs Unsychophant knits you a new pair of baby booties and a straightjacket. You seem to indicate that you think women are only good for two things. What a sexist pig.
Rosie Greer used to knit. Who is the sexist?
Thanks for the link, GFTB, but I think it doesn't disprove Net Posting Rule #1: Be prepared to defend what you type, if others can respond to it.
If you were misinterpreted or taken out of context, blah blah, or just plain LIED about, it's of course unpleasant (after all, it's just a board) but no one will know it unless you convince them. Sometimes they refuse to be convinced. Big deal, or not.
It's only as important as you make it.
Sorry for the time lag, and thanks for the mail.
FR!
LOL!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure glad I'm not on the dark side!
How about we call a truce?
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