And now for the rest of the story.... Free Republic is here to stay!

Free Republic | 12/29/01 | Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

Very sorry if the thread I posted yesterday entitled "Is Free Republic a Fraud? Is it time for Free Republic to go away?" startled some of you. The thread was posted simply to allow the people who are criticizing Free Republic and accusing us of fraud to have a place to post their charges, and also to allow those who support FR a place to voice their opinions on whether we should continue or fold up. The anti-FReepers have long held that if only the FReepers knew the truth about me and the fraud of FR, then they would all go away. Well, time will tell if many people have been swayed by their tales of horror, but no one can say that I did not give them a chance to get it all out into the open.

Now I'm happy to say that I have absolutely no intent of ever shutting down Free Republic. The only reason that was in my title was because of the AFers claim. I have stated on many occasions that Free Republic will be on the air as long as the FReepers feel it is needed and viable. If the WP/LAT is successful in bankrupting me or the corporation, then we will find another way to keep our discussion site running. There is absolutely no way that they can shutdown our right to assemble on the internet and voice our opinions and criticisms of the government and or of the so-called free press. In that, we will persevere, I guarantee you!

I want to thank all of you who have suggested various ways to change our operating model to one profiting by selling subscriptions, or advertising, or merchandise or other commercial ventures, but have to say that we cannot do any of those things at this time. We are restricted from engaging in any commercial business because of the fair use laws. Now, some of this might change in the future depending on clarification from the court if we win on appeal or at the Supreme Court level, but I wouldn't bet on it. As long as we are posting full text articles we will probably have to remain non commercial.

I also want to thank all of you who have posted your supporting comments. I'd like to reply to all of them, but looks like the count is now running to 2,000 and beyond and there is no way that I can respond to each one individually. I thank each and every one of you and I thank God that you are on our team. Same goes for all of you who are donating to keep FR on the air. We would not be here without your support and we all appreciate it very much.

Thanks again and God Bless America!

Regards,

Jim Robinson

[MaeWest]

Thanks for the pingy dingy and a
Get-Out-the-Checkbooks BUMP!

[Grampa Dave]

Howlin posted, "Thanks for your explanation. I've never thought of it on a monthly basis but, after reading your explanation, I'm going to do a monthly donation. Instead of four big donations, I'll just do a monthly donation for MORE!"

Thanks for the kind words and your change re donations!

I have been on the financial board of my church longer than some of the posters on this board. While once a year, twice a year and quarterly donations are great, the monthly donations/pledges enable us to budget for the coming year and to meet our monthly bills (the US runs on a monthly basis re bills/salaries ect.) While we would never turn down a $6,000 yearly donation at our church, we feel more comfortable with 10 people donating $50/month! If something bad happens to the 6k donor, the organization is really hurt. If one or two of the $50/month donors drop out, you can work around it!

Thanks for all that you do for those of us on the Free Republic Life Form!

[sussex]

I first discovered FR during the Presidential vote counting last year and became hooked - sometimes infuriated, more usually sympathetic, often amused, once or twice tearful! More power to your elbow say I but please do not start charging or, if you do, exclude British pensioners like me!

[Billthedrill]

Well, I contributed, but the truth of the matter is that I'm only here to meet hot chicks anyhow... ;-)

[RonDog]

GOOD NEWS ping!

[editor-surveyor]

" Mojo hasn't even chimed in yet."

Are you sure?

I've heard from a most reliable source that Mojo never stopped posting here.

[texasbluebell]

And now for the rest of the story.... Free Republic is here to stay!

Whew! You had me going there for a while, Jim! I woke up yesterday morning thinking it might go away. Must have been dreaming about it, as usually what I think about first is what I've been dreaming. It would have been a real nightmare to lose FR!

[bigjoesaddle]

bUMP!

[rtwingxtremist]

God bless you Jim. I'm doing my part - $50 a month for the past year via credit card auto-pay. It's not when much compared to your expenses, and I'm not rich, but FR deserves to be supported. Everyone could send at least a buck or two. Freeloaders should be ashamed of themselves.

[John Robinson]

I'd personally rather see just one fundraising thread. If all you're worried about is staying in BN, I'll talk to Jim and see if we can paste a link at the top of latest posts, that way BN won't need to be used at all. I can whip up a nice little progress bar or something which could be maintained by Badjoe, et al. That might go a long way to help FR meet its mark.

Maybe something like this:

Free Republic 4th Quarter Fundraising Target: $80,000

Pledges to-date: $30,915

37%

$50 just in from Alaska! $100 from Texas! Thank you FReepers!!

[colorado tanker]

Thanks, RonDog, for the ping and a special thanks to Jim Robinson for the post.

I lurked for the election year and finally signed on. This is the outstanding conservative news forum on the 'Net.

Yesterday's thread conjured up an image for me of what would have happened if the train car of bandits in "High Noon" would have arrived when Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly were off on their honeymoon and those guys tried to shoot up the town. If those were the best arguments why I should not participate in FR, I'm not convinced.

[John Robinson]

Furthermore, I'd personally like to see something like that available _somewhere_ 24/7 365 days a year. Like a fuel gauge, it would provide information on how FR is currently doing, financially. It would be coordinated with FR AR/AP (or whatever), so that when funds are recieved it "fills up" and when funds are paid out, it goes down.

At a later time, it could link to some type of general ledger showing the flow of funds.

[WIMom]

John,

Willa asked this question a month ago or so. If we could have the thread stay at the top, we would only need one thread. If it scrolls out of BN, then we would need multiple threads. I was thinking that something like, 'how long will this thread be' contest might be fun if we had one thread. I like the prototype you posted. Would the bar graph be constantly displayed on every article, or would it only be on lastest posts? Could you make it a clickable bar-link to the main thread? Also, would you be able to have something like this permanently on FR?

Thanks, WIMom

[dansangel]

Kayak - thanks for the bump

I am ever so glad that this has blown over for now. Now that you have flushed out the AFs, I know just who to avoid when posting on FR.

My contribution will be there shortly.

God Bless and good luck with the litigation.

[LoneGOPinCT]

Thank you BUMP!

[RottiBiz]

Those ideas are fantastic!

Could you put the secure server link up there 24/7, too?

Some people mentioned that they couldn't find a place to donate except when someone posted the link in the middle of a thread.

[John Robinson]

Would the bar graph be constantly displayed on every article, or would it only be on lastest posts?

Whatever Jim wants.

Could you make it a clickable bar-link to the main thread?

I could certainly make something a link to the main thread. Depending on how the gauge is eventually implemented, there would be as many links as necessary.

Also, would you be able to have something like this permanently on FR?

That would be up to Jim. Sounds like a great idea though.

[Landru]

"I've heard from a most reliable source that Mojo never stopped posting here."

Sir?
For Heaven's sake; none of those banned people ever stopped posting here.
None, nada, nyet; ever.
Why (in the world) anyone would think the mere desire of the website owner's banishment from his website carried any weight with these select members, who're proportedly ultra-proponents of Law & Order, Private Property Rights yadayadayada?
Well, I'll never understand.

That crowd had all they could do to curb the acerbic behaviors (that got 'em booted from here to begin with) just enough while they masqueraded about so they'd not feel the toe of the boot, yet again.

...oh the irony of it all.

[John Robinson]

It would be nice if FR didn't need to run quarterly fundraisers at all. With a fuel gauge (which may become more prominent as it runs low) it is my assumption that people will take it upon themselves to contribute (if they desire) when funds are needed, removing the necessity for others to bring this to the forum participants' attention four times a year.