Recent Side Effects
Major Side Effects
- Are You Kidding me? (380)
- Computers (97)
- Environment (86)
- Games (89)
- Health (122)
- History (373)
- I'm Laughing! (245)
- It's Memeory Time! (55)
- Media (196)
- Medicine (72)
- Not Surprisingly (181)
- Packaging (93)
- Politics (398)
- Polls (20)
- Quotes (210)
- Ramblings (139)
- So Wrong! (200)
- Sports (67)
- Technology (136)
- The Economy (123)
- Uncategorized (2)
Free Speech? That’ll Cost You, Says that Website.
During the past few months I’ve noticed a number of Conservative websites have either eliminated visitors from commenting on their articles or require readers to pay a subscription fee to use or even view their commenting system.
Today, a group of websites I read and comment on regularly changed their policy to allow access only to paying subscribers, and published that policy change on their website. To avoid any chance of being sued by their company or banned by my website host I won’t mention who changed their policy or provide a link to their announcement.
But, I can re-write their announcement to perhaps make it a bit more “Truthful”:
Commenting Changes to Our Website
Posted at 3:30 pm on June 13, 2022 by The Staff
Dear First Amendment Supporters:
You’ve probably noticed recent changes to our website’s commenting system: Reading, posting, and replying to comments, which previously were completely free, are now only available to those who pay a monthly fee.
The decision to completely deny the use of our commenting system to people viewing our website for free was basically a no-brainer: Restricting Free Speech to paying subscribers means we know who you are, as well as your credit / bank account details, phone number, email, and any other identifying information we request from you, that you volunteer, or we can discover from information on you we already have. It makes it easier for us to identify you to any government or law enforcement agency who asks for such information, shielding us from any legal or financial liability. We can sell your information to others to make money. And, we don’t have to worry about paying “Big Tech” to rent expensive Artificial Intelligence software to censor your comments because we’ll be doing all the censorship ourselves, which means you won’t know why you’re being censored.
Also, our decision will keep our comment board free of Leftist trolls, annoying spammers, stupid commenters, and bots. It will also keep it free from people who actually have something insightful, intelligent, important, or factual to say but simply don’t have the money to pay our subscription fee: Senior Citizens on fixed incomes who may be Conservatives, disillusioned Democrats, or open-minded Independents, Income-disadvantaged families working hard to build better lives, or Young People loaded down with massive college debt, high rents, and an ever-rising cost of living while struggling with their first real job.
Of course we appreciate those who wish to comment, as Free Speech is the hallmark of our Constitutional Republic, but, frankly, we’re a profit making business. The elimination of cheapskates, spammers and bots, plus the additional money provided by requiring paying subscribers, allows us to cut costs, increase revenue, and maintain the high standard of living we’ve grown accustomed to as we publish content that at least 50% of you agree with (except for that one blogger on our staff which we won’t name…nobody agrees with him). It should increase the number of you who agree with us, because if you’re rich enough to subscribe you’re smart enough to appreciate our intelligence. And, we can continue to write and deliver that content using fancy computers hooked to gigabit internet from our plush offices in our luxury homes as we occasionally gaze out at a beautiful vista or bustling city while enjoying a robust single-malt scotch.
Remember, Big Tech and the Left’s assault on us has barely begun, because we tell the kind of truth they don’t want the masses to hear and then top it off with a sensational, perhaps even factual headline you’re bound to click on because of your curiosity or ignorance. And, due to our new comment system subscription policy we’ll continue to be rich enough to be your voice as well, even if you no longer can be.
If you’re not yet a subscriber, please consider becoming one today. Use promo code FLEECEMENOW for a 40% discount on your first year’s annual subscription. Surely becoming part of our club of Conservatives and Patriots is worth cancelling your dental insurance, foregoing a meal or two, or not buying a few potentially life-changing lotto tickets…isn’t it?
To all of our current subscribers, we appreciate getting your hard-earned money and look forward to building this conservative community and creating an environment where free speech is respected and allowed – provided you pay for it, automatically, every month, forever.
Disingenuously (but, with sincerity and thanks, we really mean it…honest!)
Tony Conservative Website
P.S.: Oh, and, thanks for that single-malt scotch.
Thanks for Reading!