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
Yes, I started my own forum. Emphasis on the past tense. That forum is no longer.
and seem to not care about this site whatsoever,
On the contrary, I care very much about this site, just not the way it's been run lately.
then what is the point of you coming back and posting on this thread?
Because I was invited back by this forum's host.
It makes you look stupid. If I were banned and started my own forum, and was invited back, I wouldn't go. It just seems like you came back to advertise your forum.
GIGO -- garbage in, garbage out. In other words, you've made some bad assumptions which have led to faulty conclusions.
Oy! I've posted to him several times in this thread, and he has yet to respond -- I don't know if my comments could be considered "excellent and probing", as Arator puts it, but they were definitely ignored! But then again, what can one expect from a guy who has the audacity to put a Confederate flag on his home page with the caption "the last flag to fly over Americans who were truly free" (yes, I'm sure the slaves felt very free in the glory days of the Old South!)
Sort of like what Rock Hudson did to Linda Evans in Dynasty?
There are some who come back because they want to make a statement on how they were wronged and how much better we would all be if we only accepted their morsels of advice.
A bellyfull of those morsels have shown many on this thread, what many more already know - that the issue is attention. That the issue is that of control. They not only want the forum from which to speak, but to control the manner in which that forum is administered. And if they cannot have either, to their satisfaction, then the whole venture is soured.
If one goes to an establishment and is not served a meal that they enjoy, most do not go back. But there are those that continue to go back and eat the meals, so that they may complain about it afterwords. FR is not much different than such an eating establishment and neither are the diners. If you object to the menu, frequent another spot.
Thanks for FR Jim.
and then I found Arators web site no I mean hate site against Jim and Howlin and many others like BobJ. The roast of the day there was Howlin. They had just done a thread against her and then started a poll about the thread that turned into another Howlin thread.
dude your no conservative, I think your flat-out lying. I think your a Liberal liar which seem to be Liberal perversion. Your not a very good liar!
All I want to know is what your pre banned name was.
This has been explained over and over and over and over again. Knock it off and slither back to DU where you are loved.
If FR is so horribly dull, then why did you jump back here the moment your posting privileges were restored? Why are you still posting over and over and over in a relentless frenzy of whining? Why do you write poems and songs about Free Republic like a teenage girl mooning over her idols in Tiger Beat? Get a grip, please!
now now don't tell stories.
I'll bet that was a hoot!
One further point. It seems that no other thread on FR this day has stirred the passion of Arator. THIS thread is the only thread that has been graced with posts.
We've seen much from Arator on what is wrong with FR, and very little on what is well with FR. For this to be the only thread on which Arator has posted speaks volumes about the zeal of Arator to be involved and active in the administrative workings of FR.
Make your concerns known (you have) and move on to the flavor of FR (you haven't). To do any less demonstrates a lack of self-control and inability to participate in FR in a more informative manner.
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