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Is Free Republic a Fraud? Is it time for Free Republic to go away?
Free Republic | 11/28/01 | Jim Robinson

Posted on 11/28/2001 7:31:29 PM PST by Jim Robinson

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To: Boston
Hi,

you were one of the best posters here! Good Luck to you!

1,821 posted on 11/29/2001 3:09:42 PM PST by BRL
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To: LibKill
I seem to remember you had a forum of your own and had real trouble with it.

Guess what? He's BANNED there; they KEPT eschoir and banned him...........ROFL.

1,822 posted on 11/29/2001 3:10:01 PM PST by Howlin
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To: Z2
"How did W&S manage to run up $105,000 in fees without you knowing about it? Why didn't you send Eschoir a certified letter and be done with it?

Why did it cost $7,300.00 for corporate and non-profit filing fees for three corporations? This kind of work is done all the time for a few hundred dollars per corporation.

Were the Free Republic Institute or Free Republic Network involved in those corporate filings?"

Well, it's a long story and I do not want to go into any detail about it at this time because there are still negotiations in progress and who knows? There may even be some additional litigation before it's all resolved. By the way, we did not believe that eschoir would abide by any terms agreed to short of a court order.

$7,300 was the price quoted. We had a quote earlier from a different firm and it was much higher. $2,500 or so per firm for incorporation and 501(c) filing did not seem out of line at the time.

The origingal Free Republic Institute and Network have been abandoned. The current FRN is a new project. I am not involved with it.

1,823 posted on 11/29/2001 3:10:37 PM PST by Jim Robinson
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To: Jim Robinson; Mojo
Okay Steve, here is your big chance to finally nail JR & FR. I'm sure you have some stong rebuttals in your archives. Let's see some proof to back up your dozens of accusations at other sites.

I stated my criticisms here some time ago. Got balls?

1,824 posted on 11/29/2001 3:11:48 PM PST by A Navy Vet
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To: BRL
And you know what? This is a privately held company, isn't it. Free Republic, LLC. Do you know what LLC means? He does not have to disclose finances to anyone. No one is being told they have to contribute money. It is strictly volunteer. I could give a rip what he does with it. I don't own any shares in FR, he is not held accountable to anyone but his business, which is none of ours. None of us needs to be here, but isn't that the beauty of a capitalism? If we didn't participate in this forum, or contribute money, there wouldn't be a FR, now would there?
1,825 posted on 11/29/2001 3:13:28 PM PST by WIMom
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To: Inspector Harry Callahan
Those warnings were not (for the most part) for being "vicious" to other posters. Most of those warnings had to do with "baiting moderators".

Well, given the opportunity, you certainly cleared things up. You were, indeed, a victim.

Good God.

1,826 posted on 11/29/2001 3:13:32 PM PST by alcuin
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To: Inspector Harry Callahan
Hi. So you no longer feel like "Banned Man Walking"? No? Good.
1,827 posted on 11/29/2001 3:14:39 PM PST by A Navy Vet
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To: IronJack
I figured the second verse identified it as JRRT. I should have listed the author. My bad. : ^ )
1,828 posted on 11/29/2001 3:14:48 PM PST by airborne
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To: Inspector Harry Callahan
Ok, but thats no crime, I have read on the hacked off x freepers site that there is alot more going on here than what you have said, if so what would that be?

BigMack

1,829 posted on 11/29/2001 3:15:48 PM PST by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
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To: All
I stand corrected. Free Republic Network is incorporated. Its 501(c) status is currently being decided.
1,830 posted on 11/29/2001 3:16:00 PM PST by IronJack
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Comment #1,831 Removed by Moderator

To: LibKill
I seem to remember you had a forum of your own and had real trouble with it.

Oh yes, a world of trouble. Part time hosting with software which gives the host no ability to thwart or stop multiple ID's trolls intent on burning the place down is a very hard job. In fact, I (at considerable cost to my own reputation among the FReeper diaspora) apologized to Jim Rob for the harshness of my former critique due to the experience.

I even enjoyed a few months of undisturbed FReeping bliss afterwards.

But then war fascism descended on the forum, my threads were pulled again, I was banished for raising a protest, and then permanently banished for suggesting to Jim Rob that a rogue moderator (the one who banished me with a completely over the top and insulting admonition) may be causing him and his forum some embarrassment.

Be that as it may. Jim Robinson is very generous to let you (and Me) stay on this forum.

Yes, indeed, if you can call a man who repeatedly invites you into his house, feeds you a good meal, and then always ends the evening by repeatedly kicking you in the nuts generous. The evening-ending groin kick kind of takes the luster off the good meal and good fellowship which preceded it. You know what I mean?

Now, having foolishly "enjoyed" many such evenings, if the groin-kicker invited you back to dinner, would you go?

That's the dilemma I face now that I am unbanned. Needless to say, I am decidedly ambivalent about the invitation.

1,832 posted on 11/29/2001 3:17:22 PM PST by Arator
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To: Jim Robinson
Dear Jim,

This is neither a shareholders' meeting, nor are you on trial, inspite of the few disruptors who keep trying to put you on the defensive.

You do not have to explain how you spend the donations; it is just that, people donating money for the existence of this wonderful site.

But I do admire your frankness and sharing with us things that you don't have to. And I thank you for all the hard work you do.

I am ashamed to admit that I haven't gotten around to sending money, but I will be sending what I can shortly.

Again, thank you, and we (well, most of us) appreciate you as a person, a patriot, a veteran, and a great American.

1,833 posted on 11/29/2001 3:18:09 PM PST by Chong
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To: Jim Robinson
Jim,

My $1 BiWeekly donations have begun. You should receive the first check next week and one every two weeks after that, untill FreeRepublic or I die.

My we both have long happy lives.

Marine Inspector

1,834 posted on 11/29/2001 3:18:14 PM PST by Marine Inspector
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To: Jim Robinson
Wow!

There is no way I'm going to wade through 1800 plus posts to this thread. I will offer that I support this forum financially, always with the stipulation the you use my modest contribution in any way you chose.

I cannot imagine the amount of time required to operate the site, tweak the software, etc. But I hope you sir can manage to make a living wage and compensate John and any others necessary to continue to operate as well as turn a profit for the effort.

I've been around a while, seen some come and some go, waded into many an outraged "I'm Leaving!" opus and chuckled at the petty personalities and egos strutting and sputtering outrage and self importance. Well I'm here for the duration and I support any decision you feel it necessary to make.

To your detractors I would suggest another pastime. Go play on Usenet and flame away.

Jim let your conscience be your guide. Do not feel obligated to continue if the burden outweighs the compensation. I would be sad to loose FR and the clarity provided by discourse and research from freepers in search of truth, but I do feel you should not be obligated to continue if you don't wish to do so.

Thank you for your efforts to date.
Pat

1,835 posted on 11/29/2001 3:18:19 PM PST by theneanderthal
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To: Jim Robinson
Jim, so the deal is that some are angry because you may be making some money off this site? I thought that was the goal of the free enterprise system. Even non profits pay the directors and employees. Anyone who objects to paying for a service the next time they go to the dentist and are half way through should demand free care. That would be fun to see. There is no one forcing anyone to frequent this site. The liberal mind is an amazing thing.
1,836 posted on 11/29/2001 3:21:07 PM PST by willyone
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To: Howlin
Guess what? He's BANNED there; they KEPT eschoir and banned him...........ROFL.

Only in Howlin's prodigous fantasy life.

1,837 posted on 11/29/2001 3:22:58 PM PST by Arator
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To: PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
Sure, there's WAY more to the FR vs Pesky case than I was able to fit in one reply. Besides, I'm really the WRONG person to be asking about this anyways. I'm not very well-versed on the case, as you may have noticed. I'm just a country boy from the mountains of Virginia, not a lawyer.

Besides, I have very little interest in the legal and financial aspects of FR. Most of my attention is devoted to the unfair treatment of the membership and the Stalinesque censorship that takes place on a regular basis, and gets worse all the time.

Bob J may be able to give you his take on the case. Just ask him.

Cheers!
Callahan

1,838 posted on 11/29/2001 3:23:20 PM PST by Inspector Harry Callahan
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To: A Navy Vet
Got balls?

No, he doesn't.

1,839 posted on 11/29/2001 3:23:34 PM PST by diotima
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To: Jim Robinson; All
Wow! This sure is nice to come home to, thanks.

First off Jim, did you read my e-mail to you last week or so? I ansewred to your e-mail to me. I thought I made myself clear, but obviously I didn't, or maybe you didn't read it.

Jim, in no way do I want FR to be gone, and I have never charged you or anyone else with fraud. Show me where I've called FR fraudulent an I'll send you $100 bucks. What I suggested to you was my opinion that full disclosure of the FR funds is the best way to shut up the Af'ers. It would also in my opinion bring in more funds from those who are undecided or afraid to donate. It's also just good business. I don't believe the lawsuits make any difference as all funds are solicited publicly here. They know how much money is raised, Joe posts it as it comes in.

Claims that I've turned into an AF'er is just plain wrong Jim. If you've read my posts over there, you would see that I have stood up for FR in most every instance. I have tried to fill those guys in on some facts about my knowledge of FR activities. I have also stated some of my displeasure with FR, it's a free country Jim, anyone can post on any internet site they want. Just because they do doesn't make them AF'ers. You know that right before Callahan was banned he was sort of warned by Bob J to quit posting on AF boards. A short while later, boom, he's banned from FR. I found that to be troubling.

Now, about this cruise business. Bob stated correctly that I was on the original cruise committee. As you probably know, the committee had had it's own secret site for committee members to plan the cruise on. It was on this site that Bob posted a thread one night titled "Don't mention the Travel Agent Fee Split". Apparently some people had asked Seeking the Truth some questions about the cruise raising money. As a member of the committee I could not in good consciense continue to serve if the fact that raising funds was going to be concealed. Call me goofy or what ever, thats just the way I am. After 6 or so cruise threads on FR, I urged Diotima to make this public, she did, but not completly to my satisfaction. All the thread said was "Proceeds to benefit FRN". No mention of the travel agent fee split. No mention of how funds were being raised. No accounting of how they were to be spent. So yesterday, about 6 weeks after the cruise, I ask Dio how much was raised. The standard answer of it's none of your business came back. Then I was slammed as an AF'er trolling for dirt. Nothing could be further from the truth. An accouting is owed to those who went on the cruise, and to the forum. At least you provide some idea where the FR money is used. So far, nothing from the cruise. I would also mention that 2 other FAB members requested of Bob to make the fundraising public, they were told to go to hell.

I was also troubled that Joe made my donation status available to Bob. I thought this was supposed to be confidential information. I refinanced my home and used some extra cash to close out my credit cards. I ask Joe to please stop my donation, fully intending to start back up as soon as I closed on my new loan. But I get a late night phone call from Bob asking me why I quit giving money to FR. This also troubled me. As you know there were/are some internal conflicts among some FAB members and I felt like Bob was trying to get me to align myself with him against Connie. I just wasn't into playing those silly games, so I left the FAB, and FR except for reading the news.

I see that Bob weighed in earlier and he thinks I want an accounting for me, not true, I think all Freepers deserve an accounting of some sort, just MHO. If it ain't coming so be it. Others are free to do as they wish. I helped this site raise alot of money and I decided not to be party anymore without full disclosure, thats my right. You have your rights as well, use em as you see fit. No hard feelings from me. I hope you raise a million bucks.

Best Wishes
chuck

ps, thanks Topaz for the kind words, you're right on the mark.

1,840 posted on 11/29/2001 3:23:54 PM PST by chuck allen
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