http://jackpineradicals.org/showthread.php?12078-Democrats-–-Real-Democrats-–-Need-A-Great-Forum-on-the-Internet-Can-You-Help&p=75753#post75753
Oh my.
I dunno why he just doesn't go to gofundme; it'd be easier, quicker, and far more exposure.
Manny Goldstein Yesterday, 08:08 PM #1
Democrats – Real Democrats – Need A Great Forum on the Internet. Can You Help?
First they came for the guy who just had brain surgery, when he wrote of Hillary a phrase that rhymes with a naughty word, and I did not leave DU —
Because DU’s easy to use, and a lot of my e-friends hang out there.
Then they came for the guy with the @#$%ing moving bug in his sig, and I did not leave DU—
Because DU’s easy to use, and a lot of my e-friends hang out there.
Then they came for Manny, and I did not leave DU—
Because… well because it actually improved the place. Quite a bit.
Then they came for me, because I stated a plain fact about Hillary — so now where do I waste hours on the Internet?
(My apologies to Martin Niemöller, he doesn’t deserve this to be done to his excellent prose.)
We’re kinda #$%@ed.
The 2016 primary season has made it clearer than ever: Today’s Democratic Party is deeply corrupt, and, like the Republican Party, slavishly committed to the needs of the already-powerful. Two parties fighting to help the 1%, bupkes for the rest of us.
We Democrats who believe that our Party should return to representing the 99% need to have important conversations about whether to take back our corrupt party or to simply start fresh. However, both major Democratic Internet forums have said that they will ban users who have these discussions, or who otherwise make unkind observations about fake Democrats (Third Wayers).
Democratic Underground, the Internet forum from whence most of our members came, has been regularly banning users over the past few months for speaking out against the Third Way grifters. Having learned something since the Great Gay Ban of 2009 (where a dozen or so gay men were banned virtually at once for wanting too many rights), DU’s owner now bans irksome FDR Democrats one by one to keep things less messy. DU will doubtless continue to pick off members, as it’s merely a tool of the Third Way: DU is owned by the husband of Hillary Clinton’s former campaign treasurer (senatorial and 2008 presidential runs). She’s received more than a half-million bucks from Hillary’s campaigns and PACs, and that’s just what’s documented on the Internet, before the typical Clinton sweetheart deals and so forth. (Funny how DU’s owner never mentions all the shekels his family gets from Hillary. Must be an accidental oversight. No doubt.)
So we must decide: do we sit by and do nothing while FDR Democrats are silenced? Or do we take back the power?
Well, duh, we take back the power.
Mighty Jackpines from little acorns grow! (well, technically, it’s from seeds, not acorns, but whatever)
Jackpine Radicals began late last year when it became clear that DU would be silencing all of its strong and honest voices, to help the Clintons regain their monarchy. And JPR’s done pretty well for a seat-of-the-pants response to eviction noticess: almost 1,200 registered members and over 73,000 posts!
So we’ve captured some of DU’s traffic, but not nearly enough; and the reason is simple:
DU’s administration may be morally-challenged, but they sure made an Internet forum that’s much easier to use than JPR.
But that’s going to change.
To date, JPR’s been using a commercial forum software package called vBulletin, which is arguably the best prebuilt software of its type – but that’s a pretty low bar. None of the commercial or free forum packages meet our needs very well in their standard configurations.
Since standard software ain’t very good, DU uses highly-customized (or perhaps fully-custom at this point) off-the-shelf software, and they’ve done a great job of making it simple-to-use and attractive. Now it’s time for JPR to create an equally-good space where good folks like you can post, but without the Third-Way authoritarian BS lurking in the background and @#$%ing with us.
We’re asking for your help to make this happen. Let’s do this together!
DU and Kos, you're Third Way toast
For the past few months, we’ve been working on “JPR 2â€, a heavily-customized adaptation of WordPress/bbPress designed to re-create the DU experience (without the crappy ownership). Matariki, our HTML/JavaScript/PHP goddess, has been doing an amazing job of putting things together. We’ve had some outside (paid) consulting help as well to handle some stuff around the edges. Things are moving along, we’ve done some user testing, and it all looks really good. But there’s still work to do, and we’re asking YOU to give us a little financial help, if you can, to make our DU/Kos alternative a reality.
In particular, we’re looking for help to pay for hosting and other direct expenses, to pay a little to folks on our team who do the most work, and to accelerate completion by outsourcing some tasks to outside consultants.
Please – if you can afford to – we’d deeply appreciate your helping us out with a donation of $27, $54, or even more. Or less. Whatever works for your financial situation.
People who believe in Democratic principles deserve a great web forum where we can freely discuss important issues and coordinate activism. Free of Third-Way threats. And free from the psychotic Chihuahuas loosed upon us by David Brock and the rest of that noxious crew. Let’s make it happen!
Just as the odds were daunting when Bernie began his candidacy for the presidency, so are the odds of our matching or besting DU and Kos. But because Bernie is right, and because Bernie fights, Bernie has taken a huge chunk out of the Grifter Class and we think he’ll ultimately win this thing. We at JPR are equally right, and we will sure as hell fight, and we can do it too. But, like Bernie, we need your help to push things forward, to help us past the JPR2 finish line.
We hope that you’ll find it in your heart (and wallet) to help make a better Internet for honest people who simply want a return to government that works for the other 99%. Let’s work together, and let’s get it done. Let’s each do our part to rebuild a future that we can believe in.
Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
The Administration (Who, unlike the DU's homogenous crew, consists of two women and only one token creepy white man.)
PS: Now donate right now before you forget.
Manny forgets to whom he's addressing this appeal; those sorts of people who expect to get, not have to give.
Good luck, Manny, but I suspect everybody'll be right back on Skins's island after the dust settles.
