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
--- I do happen to have made about 6800 total posts since I got here tho, in Jan '98.
When did he ever claim he did, smarta$$?
Chump change, my friend.
BTW, do you want to be the one who tells the people who really cannot afford to come here using "pay for play" that they can't come on FR?
I give MORE so everybody can come.
You didn't major in irony, huh?
And while we're at it, that lamer spelling thing never ceases to amaze me. Like somehow if you say a$$ or sh!t or b@st@rd no innocent children will figure out the missing letters. And suddenly, magically, it's not profanity any more. How old were you when you learned how to spell those words correctly?
You going to cuss, Jack, then cuss. Otherwise, I recommend "smartaleck" or "wisenheimer" or "smartypants" as the family-friendly alternatives.
BTW, when you said this a few posts back...
But these same people have also declared their intent to destroy FR, so consider the source.
...would you mind identifying who "these same people" are, and post a link to where that specific intent was stated?
Thanks.
Jim, I'm going to come out of voluntary exile everytime to answer erroneous statements you utter about me.
First, the messages were sent to all of us via FReep mail, not email, from Clarity. Since they were sent to us all via your own internal messaging systen, I presume the complete record of everything sent is on your servers, accessable via your software. Please confer with John to confirm. I have discussed the details surrounding my receipt of these FReep mails with John at RuR.
Secondly, I have absolutely NEVER declared any intent to destroy your site, nor have I ever harbored such an intent.
Now, back into the mists go I...
You fail to realize that all posters contribute by taking the time and effort to post here. As I always understood it, the main purpose of this forum was to accomodate conservative discussion. The contributions that members make are first and foremost, the coments that they make on the threads here. I sense an almost angry attitude from the contributors here that they are somehow giving everyone else a free ride. Why should this anger anyone here. There is no expectation for contributions here is there?
Nothing in between? Do you think Jim and John should live like monks? Maybe in a cave?
I realize that you are desperate for people to come there. It sucks to only have a few people to talk to, all agreeing with each other (or else).
Don't tell ME that I'm welcome to post. I'm not. You made that clear a very very very long time ago, when you kept banning me and anyone else who wouldn't agree with your tactics or policies, or viewpoints. You made a choice to operate a closed forum a long time ago. It's your problem if you have to live with the consequences now.
I avoid looking at your site, because it it dirty. The few times I have, I wanted to bathe afterwards. Cesspool, indeed.
That wasn't my point at all; my point to him was simply that if you make it pay per post, some people cannot afford it.
I'm against anything other than FREE choice. That being said, it does get on my nerves when people who most likely do NOT donate try to distrupt this forum.
Now, you're going to ask me how I would know they haven't donated, right? And I'm going to tell you that I don't know, but they'd be damn stupid to DONATE money a place they hate...........oh, wait a minute......never mind. If they DID succeed in closing down FR, they would have no life, so it's in THEIR interst to keep it going!
Their activism project is what occupies a large part of their lives and that is, seeking to destroy Free Republic and the "PTB." They are obsessed with it. "They" are the denizens that inhabit the "Darkside," the various anti-freeping boards on Yahoo, Delphi, EZboard and elsewhere. The boards come and go and the people keep shuffling their various allegiances for or against each other, but they all agree on one thing, death to Free Republic. They are mostly people who were banned from here or left in disgust or in protest of our policies, or politics, or management style or whatever. Many of them left because of petty personality clashes or extreme personal hatred for the so-called "PTB", i.e., me, Brian, Connie, Bob J, BadJoe, etc. No need to pretend. You've been an active member of many of those boards.
YEPPERS! Mojo could boost this thread into the most fascinating in FR's fascinating history.
But ON THIS THREAD!
And no pay-per-view until #5000.
I thought those WERE the correct spellings. And yes, your irony was lost on me.
You are joking of course.
If you've been reading this post...and I doubt that...then you would know that there is no "right" answer for those people.
this doesn't seem to be private as it asks for and accepts public money.
Wrong again, FR does not ask for public money it solicits private funds on a voluntary basis. If someone disagrees with the way it's run they should not contribute.
When Jim starts getting money from the appropriators in Congress then that will be a different thing all together.
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