Dash it all!
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
ROTFLMAO
Cindi, you didn't make an effort to "get along" when you were here, and that didn't bother me in the least (I rather enjoyed it), so why play the peacemaker now?
It's amazing how would-be tigers morph into pussycats when they feel at a disadvantage.
NO DOUBLE STANDARDS!
Got to scrape . . that shit . . right off your shoes.
Forever? lost in post-banishment oblivion, I'm afraid. I sure somebody, anybody, had his email addy. He was a great one.
In case you haven't noticed, we get along just fine until you show up. You and your pompous A$$ attitude.
Oh, but I don't know if this place quite ever basked in "an intoxicating conservative love-vibe"... lol
Thanks, Dutchy, I saw this last night. Zelig and I gave our very enthusiastic 'thumbs up' votes immediately to Jim (I nearly panicked when I saw the headline!). You didn't see our comments? You didn't read all 2,259 posts?! LOL This thread must have set an all-time record! Thanks for the reminder ping anyway - I'll take a look at some of the latest comments...
Since I am speaking solely for myself, it is rather curious ( if not specious and silly ), to have you lump me in with a particular group. SHall I pay you the same curtisey , dear ?
I merely said that you aren't welcome here, and you're not. Not by MY doing ; by the owner of this site ... JIM ROBINSON ! Nowhere did I claim to have banned you / said that you are not welcome, and stay away on MY order. Just keep roght on twisting, spinning, and lying.
Either you are not nearly as clever as you suppose ( didn't it ever occure to you to tell your cohorts to NOT post your letters to them ? ) you are, or you are prevaricating. I do remember threads, which were just YOUR billious spewings, that claimed that you HAD asked for them to be posted. It was not just your opinings, it was also letters written TO you , by Jim Robinson, and letters TO him, by you.
Just a littel pearl lore, dear. FYI ... pearls will NOT turn black, if the wearer lies. Natural and cultured black pearls are VERY valuable ! Dyed ones aren't. : - )
Cool. Maybe he'll jump in on this thread for old time's sake, just for the hell of it. That would be fun.
But it seems to me that some people just can't be civilized if they disagree politically.
(I don't think I've morphed into a pussycat!)
Please don't close it down?
No libertarian worth the name espouses free dope. If you want dope, you'll have to pay for it like everyone else... :)
So are you saying you don't have a leather catsuit? Lowbridge is gonna be crushed.
I don't "loathe those women so". I do not like the way some of the Guild seem to
1) elevate mere political disagreement into an apocolyptic personality clash where the unfortunate non-Guild-thinker is persistently baited into posting something, anything which Guilder can hysterically report as abuse to Jim Rob for the premeditated purpose of forcing the poor unfortunate's banishment.
2) delight in defamation, slurs, ad hominem attacks etc. against those with whom they disagree.
3) regard themselves as immune from the same rules they insist must apply to everyone else -- with a vengence.
Dash it all!
I'm just posting a couple of general questions on 'conservative' views to anyone who remains before I get some shut-eye:
I'm using 'conservative' deliberately here instead of pubbie (neo, paleo, statist, whatever the "classes" are today), libertarian, etc.
If it is generally believed that the first amendment protects freedom of speech and the press, then does it necessarily follow that a private individual or company engaged in any speech related activity must provide an outlet for opposing views? If so, then must that individual bear the financial obligation of distributing opposing viewpoints?
May I choose, of my own free understanding, to give money to any individual or company so that they may use it as they please?
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