Welcome RI Future Refugees
It’s going on 5 days (or so) since RIFuture.org was “taken over” by one of those ISP vultures. We experienced a similar thing hereabouts a few years back–in fact, the same pleasant young lady was hawking boats and other maritime gear for us–but we were able to get back up and running in short order. It appears as if the management over at RIF is having a more difficult time than we did.
In the meantime, I’d like to extend a hand of welcome to the RI Future refugees–from commenters to former RIF owners–who’ve found their way over to us since their home was invaded. We contributors have strong opinions and I’m sure you’ll disagree with some or most of them. Obviously, as part-timers, we can’t cover every angle, offer every source and rebut every possible argument, but we do what we can and we do it in good faith and without malice. Honest. So give us the benefit of the doubt and we’ll do the same.
Here’s hoping your natural home is brought back on line in short order. Until then, welcome.
UPDATE: WPRI’s Ted Nesi has more info:
International records show the rifuture.org domain name was taken over around 11:30 a.m. Friday by eNom Inc., a Bellevue-based registration service and subsidiary of Demand Media, the infamous content farm that’s one of the major reasons Google is being forced to make large-scale changes to its search engine.
The records say eNom’s ownership of rifuture.org is good until February 2012.
Brian Hull, who bought Rhode Island’s Future in mid-2009, told me Wednesday he’s working on regaining control of the site’s domain name from eNom and is confident he will succeed, although he doesn’t know how long it will take.
“It will come back,” Hull said. “There’s just some issues I need to try and work out with it.”
except Crowley…
Finally heard him on the radio the other day. Why does he inhale so much helium before he speaks?
That blog has as much future as the royalty rights to Qaddafi’s Green Book!
Need to renew the domain. If it’s expiring by choice, I’ll pick it up and redirect it here.
Now, that would be funny!!!!
Heh, Bob, I checked that. Doesn’t expire until 2012. I’d have bought it in a second too.
The real strength of RIFuture was that it provided timely local election coverage from 2008-2010. Now it’s just a few pathetic, self-interested RI figures posting progressive platitudes and patting each other on the back in the comments section. I’ve visited the site about once a month for the past 6 months and to say that it has gone downhill is a understatement. Probably best to just shut it down at this point to keep it from deteriorating further and not let the “legacy” burn out. Hull was the only glue keeping that blog together, and he’s off in MA now as far as I know. We all know from experience that Crowley isn’t capable of running a blog. Why Hull kept him as a contributor when he can barely string a sentence together is beyond my understanding, and the bias and personal history Crowley brought with him was incredibly damaging to the blog’s credibility.
It’s too bad what has happened to RIF. I like to stalk all the blogs and some of the writers over there were quite strong. The Providence elections were covered well, but the above comments are correct. The site became just a bunch of elitists who didn’t even care if they were telling the truth.
Plus, whoever the “RIFUTURE” user was, loved to jump in the middle of conversations and lob the always helpful “You’re stupid” comment. And then denied that the quality of the blog was way down.
I’d love to see their Google Analytics for the last two years. Numbers don’t lie.
Nothing beat the rant after the Arizona shooting. If I had known they would take it down that fast I would have copied it just to keep reminding them every time they used the words vitriol and divisive.
The “ghostwriter” RIFUTURE was one reason why I stopped visiting there last year. I don’t need a last name to have a conversation with somebody, but I at least want to know which blog contributor is insulting me. Crowley’s propaganda pieces were always an embarrassment, but now with Hull’s departure from RI they are a central feature of the blog, which is another obvious negative. I also recall a contributor named Frymaster whose favorite catch-phrase to non-progressives was, “SIT DOWN, THE GROWN-UPS ARE FIXING THINGS!” To which all the other progressives there would then cheer and egg him on. When you’re a self-supporting, well-educated, hard-working professional, being told that you are a child who needs to be corrected by your progressive intellectual superiors gets annoying pretty quickly.
In it’s earlier incarnations, RIFUTURE was lively and interesting, but lately it’s been just plain dull.
If they revive it, maybe it can gain its former vigor.
I still find it humorous that when Crowley bought it from Jerzyk, he told the media that RIF would be a place for people of all political persuasions to come and have an open and honest dialog.
But then in reality, if you disagreed with some of them, they shouted you down, ranked down your comments into oblivion or told you to leave the blog.
I don’t know that there’s a faster way to kill a blog than telling your posters, the people who give you the hit counts that you can then sell to advertisers to “go away”. Hit counts are hit counts, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they come from. That’s another reason that I’m surprised if some of the commenters here are not told to “cool it” when they tell other dissenting commenters to also “go away”.
The only way RIF could gain vigor would be if the Anchor Rising regulars went over every day to comment on their posts.
I also find it amusing that those with a terminal case of Peter Pan syndrome would refer to themselves as “grownups”.
Good that never happens over here!
http://www.anchorrising.com/barnacles/012037.html
(and that’s mild compared to what the brownshirts over here pull.. good you folks all jump to my defense in those instances)
No 30 day notice from enom?
Those are optional anyway.
Still, it might be hard to get back.
Set your domains to “auto-renew”!
“Brownshirts” are organized gangs who commit assault, battery and vandalism on behalf of a political organization that wants to control the government and increase its power to control peoples’ lives and take ever-increasing amounts of their income and assets.
The conservatives here at AR generally want limited government whose boundaries are defined by the US Constitution, low taxes, zero estate tax ,and as much individual freedom as possible consistent with protection of other peoples’ rights. They lean Libertarian rather than any kind of Statist.
So how does that make us “brownshirts”?
In fact, the behavior of the crowds in Madison, Providence and elsewhere would lead an observer to describe the public-sector unionists as the “brownshirts” (although their shirts are usually red or purple).
So why is Russ’s comment not nonsense?
Both Russ and OldTimeLefty have accused libertarians of being “brownshirts,” “fascists,” “authoritarians,” and even “Nazis” on this blog.
It’s really best not to think about such statements as they produce nothing but mental anguish in those trying to decipher them for any intelligibility.
It’s amazing to watch Jerzyk morph into a fiscal conservative in the Tavares administration. He was running from one union click to another at the Follies doing major damage control last week.
Jerzyk?He might have problems not related to politics.
As far as I know, the ICANN standard is still a “redemption grace period” of 30 days. However, I don’t think there’s any rule regarding how much redemption can cost.
And now a brief commercial: Don’t let the UN displace ICANN!
Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging…
Even before the shutdown, there were stretches where nothing fresh was posted on RIF for several days. Regardless of where you are politically, it’s lazy – that’s how a blog loses readership. Maybe it’s time to start over.
Not surprised that Demand is behind the shutdown. The writers who generate its content are paid bird feed the tech grunts in India would be ashamed of.
Joe please do tell us more about the Jerzyk problems. Can you say more and give us the details or are you just gossiping like an old lady.
3R-That’s all I’m saying-take it or leave it because about the last thing I could care about is your satisfaction.
Have you EVER said anything here that didn’t involve some lowlife comment about other people posting?You got a lot of balls calling anyone else a gossip.
Let’s just say Jerzyk’s personality doesn’t exactly make him well liked-he’s never wrong;arrogant;and very quick to accuse others of “racism”,which is a pretty serious thing,especially when not true.
IOW a legend in his own mind.
Those issues are not really political.
Joe, except for the racism thing it really sounded like you were describing yourself in that last entryespecially the legend in his own mind and arrogant part.
3R, the next time you actually contribute to the conversation will be the first.
I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
That it Bob jump to the defense of the talk radio blabbermouth. What exactly are the deep thoughts that you always seem to have. I must have missed them.
3R, Neither I nor the other Bob said anything in this thread about anyone in talk radio. So what are you talking about?
The event would surprise most of the participants here would be if you didn’t miss a thought.
“The event would surprise most of the participants here would be if you didn’t miss a thought.” oh okay BOBN. The talk radio guy is Joe. Perhaps he will no regal us with one of his in depth diatribes about his years spent INS and then try to relate that to the topic somehow.
I’m a blabbermouth,fine.
I generally back up what I say and for a coward hiding behind an alias to run me down is a joke.
I’ve actually never been described as arrogant.I HAVE been called a miserable a**hole and such,which is ok seeing who it’s coming from.
Why not use your name tough guy?
My real name is Richard Triplier you misesrable ahole and phony tough guy.
My real name is Richard Triplier you misesrable ahole and phony tough guy.
That’s who you SAY you are.
You’re a lowlife scumbag.
Joe calm down take your Muslix and and stop flexing your internet tough guy muscles. Thanks for adding so much to the discussion. Please another story about how you broke up an illegal Canadian bacon smuggling ring.
hey folks-“Triplerichard”picked a “real name”-a triplier is a radio part.
What a schmuck.
Life must be tough living in a basement and listening to people you hate on talk radio.
Joe it may be a part of a radio.I guess you did some research in all your free time, but it is also a last name. Much like Cooper or Smith are names. I guess life must be tough spending all day calling the radio to bitch and moan without any solutions. Joe, let the obsession subside it not good for your heart, all the hatred you feel is bad for you. Just get back to telling is your stories of heroism and bravery keeping the maple syrup smugglers from invading our shores. What a bitter old fool.
Of course I’ve never made myself out to be brave or heroic,but I did a pretty good job – WTF have you ever done?
I am glad you’re wasting time you’ll never get back in your miserable life ranting at me.
You want to see a bitter fool,look in thee mirror.
Joe I am also glad that you are spending your life ranting at me. I have done plenty in my life including owning two business and raising two children who went onto great things. When I look in the mirror I see a happy person unlike the desperate lonely fool that looks back at your miserable self. You are obsessed it is not healthy for you.
Hi Stuart.