# Is there a breakdown of how our money has been spent? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 31, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697 "2006-07-31T12:46:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/21 "2006-07-31T18:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there a breakdown of how our money has been spent? The SDMB subscription gain for the two year period comes out to $82,340. $2,235 was spent to renew the hamsters’ contracts which included two years worth of Kaytee Chew Biscuits and Evian water for their cages. $2,000 was given to Slug Signorino to help with him with his inspiration. He spent it on one bottle of [Remy Martin Louis XIII](http://randalls.stores.yahoo.net/pa22694.html) and drank it down within the course of one hour. $126 was spent on the Moderators and Administrators. They were given a choice between a Bolivian male escort and a coupon for a free triple Whopper with cheese and soda at burger king. Both choices cost an estimate of $7. I am not allowed to disclose which option each moderator picked. The Administrators had the same deal except their Bolivian escorts could have been female and all the escorts knew how to play the trombone. The remaining $77,979 were spent on a lovely chandelier for Cecil Adams. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/22 "2006-07-31T20:08:27Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] I think the points raised in the previous two posts would be fair if membership had always been chargeable. As everyone knows, once upon a time it was free. [/QUOTE] So? Why does this change things? ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/23 "2006-07-31T21:09:09Z")
Here is why. If a person subscribes to a chargeable service they tacitly accept the charge. If he/she was not already a member I do not think they should query the subscription fee on, or before, subscribing. They should not in effect say ‘I would like to join this message board but first I must ask you what you are going to with the money’. The message board offers a service and tells them how much it is going to cost. The terms are clear. That is business. The person takes his choice. He joins and pays the requested sum or he does not join. However, if a person has been receiving a free service and the supplier of that service wishes to levy a charge I can see why some people (but not me for reasons previously stated _ad nauseum_ on this thread) would ask what said charge was being imposed for. It is a natural question (maybe asked out of simple curiosity) but a question which the supplier is perfectly entitled to refrain from answering. Your mileage may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/24 "2006-07-31T21:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=flyboy88] Is everything ok with him? [/QUOTE] Not to speak for Ed himself, but I was just communicating with him today. He is snowed under with enormous cubic buttloads of work, but AFAIK nothing is bad or unpleasant otherwise. He’s about as busy as the proverbial one-armed man in the hypothetical paper-hanging contest. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/25 "2006-07-31T22:33:33Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Not exactly. We have been paying for subscriptions for over two years now. If the answer from the Chicago Reader was, “We needed more hookers and blow”, would you cancel your subscription to a message board which you previously found worthy of paying for? [/QUOTE] Actually they’ve only spent 90% of the dough on hookers and blow; the rest they’ve just squandered. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/26 "2006-07-31T23:20:14Z")
[QUOTE=Una Persson] Not to speak for Ed himself, but I was just communicating with him today. He is snowed under with enormous cubic buttloads of work, but AFAIK nothing is bad or unpleasant otherwise. He’s about as busy as the proverbial one-armed man in the hypothetical paper-hanging contest. [/QUOTE] Thanks, **Una**. Without **Ed** there is no SD. Good to know there’s nothing wrong. Mods, this isn’t going to go anywhere, so close at will. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/27 "2006-08-01T02:20:54Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] However, if a person has been receiving a free service and the supplier of that service wishes to levy a charge I can see why some people (but not me for reasons previously stated _ad nauseum_ on this thread) would ask what said charge was being imposed for. It is a natural question (maybe asked out of simple curiosity) but a question which the supplier is perfectly entitled to refrain from answering. [/QUOTE] We were given, quite clearly, an answer. That answer was that if we did not pay, there would be no more SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/28 "2006-08-01T02:54:20Z")
The metaphor that’s been put forward in this thread about a boss requesting an accounting from an employee is a good one; let’s take it a step further. Suppose you’ve been _volunteering_ at a business; for example, a hospital. (I use the example of a hospital only because it leapt to mind as a place that has volunteers sometimes.) After several years of volunteer work, you get hired for a paying job at the hospital. _Then_ does your boss have the right to demand an accounting of how you spend your paycheck? Suppose you screw up at work now and then; sometimes you do things more slowly than the boss would like, and sometimes you show up cranky (and people suspect you’re hungover), and once or twice a year you fail to show up at all. In some jobs, you’d get fired. In some other jobs, you would NOT get fired. But there is no job in the world in which you would feel compelled to tell your boss how you spend your paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/29 "2006-08-01T04:43:07Z")
One more time: The Chicago Reader is a privately held company; as such, they have no obligation to provide anyone with financial information. They choose not to discuss this matter, not on this board or much of anyplace else. If you feel we offer you good value for your $7.50 or $14.95 a year, then we don’t need to justify anything; if you feel you do not receive good value, there’s not much we can say to convince you otherwise. Sheesh, you’d spend more than this to go to a movie. ONCE. Finally, you may think whatever you like about Ed’s status at the Reader, but as he has been getting paychecks from the Reader for 30 years now, I don’t think his status is in any doubt. Certainly when he speaks here he speaks as management, as authority. He’s my boss, whether you accept him or not. That’s good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/30 "2006-08-01T04:56:08Z")
[QUOTE=flyboy88] Mods, this isn’t going to go anywhere, so close at will. [/QUOTE] I can’t tell you how pleased I am to read this comment. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/31 "2006-08-01T08:15:56Z")
_:: opens hatch::_ Can we come out yet? It’s awful stuffy in here, and we’ve run out of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/32 "2006-08-01T11:48:27Z")
…and I want a refund on my taxes because there are potholes in the streets. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/33 "2006-08-01T15:44:32Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] …and I want a refund on my taxes because there are potholes in the streets. [/QUOTE] …because a service offered by a business is exactly like paying taxes to a government. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/34 "2006-08-01T16:36:15Z")
**Tuba Diva** > [@](#): > > The Chicago Reader is a privately held company; as such, they have no obligation to provide anyone with financial information. The above quote (and similar ones made by other admins & mods), seems almost unfriendly doesn’t it? I find it a bit disturbing that the Chicago Reader / Straight Dope website conveys a rather laid-back carefree image _until_ it comes time to discussing where the money goes. Yes a compnay may be privately held, but it still has obligations to provide _somebody_ with financial information. How about the municipal, state and federal governments? What if you wanted a loan from a bank? Do you tell them “Nyah, nyah we’re privately held and we don’t need to show you no stinkin’ financial statements.” ? Yes you don’t _have_ to tell us where the SDMB subscription money goes, but I think a lot of SDMB members have ideas about what types of software, servers, webhosts, etc are beng purchased with that money and maybe they could find better and cheaper alternatives. As you may have noticed, this board has _many_ sharp, clever and intelligent people (some of whom probably even have High School Diplomas). They just might be able to come up with some interesting suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/35 "2006-08-01T19:51:30Z")
I noticed that but didn’t want to bring it up. I did everything in my power to offer this up in a polite and non-nagging way, but their responses seemed a bit knee-jerk and didn’t really address my question or point. Anyway, no biggie. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/36 "2006-08-01T20:32:14Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Yes a compnay may be privately held, but it still has obligations to provide _somebody_ with financial information. How about the municipal, state and federal governments? What if you wanted a loan from a bank? Do you tell them “Nyah, nyah we’re privately held and we don’t need to show you no stinkin’ financial statements.” ? [/QUOTE] Now you’re gettin’ it. Aside from tax information, they don’t have to reveal a thing to the government. Loans are entirely optional, and if a company doesn’t wish to reveal financial information, no one can force them to get a loan. > [@](#): > > Yes you don’t _have_ to tell us where the SDMB subscription money goes, but I think a lot of SDMB members have ideas about what types of software, servers, webhosts, etc are beng purchased with that money and maybe they could find better and cheaper alternatives. As you may have noticed, this board has _many_ sharp, clever and intelligent people (some of whom probably even have High School Diplomas). They just might be able to come up with some interesting suggestions. It is clear they really don’t want any advice. And for some reason, that really ticks some people off. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/37 "2006-08-01T21:22:41Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] It is clear they really don’t want any advice. And for some reason, that really ticks some people off. [/QUOTE] Well put, **Fear**. Very well put. > [@wolf-meister](#): > > I find it a bit disturbing that the Chicago Reader / Straight Dope website conveys a rather laid-back carefree image until it comes time to discussing where the money goes. I dunno, think in terms of an individual. At an office party, good ol’ Fred is rather laid-back and carefree until you ask him what his salary is. And then he clams up, and looks at you suspiciously. Most people, and most companies, view that information is confidential. Obviously, there are some circumstances where you must provide that information; but outside of those circumstances, most people are reluctant to be too open. My own thought (not expressed by any READER manager) is that they’d be nuts to reveal any information to this particular group. As **Fear** mentions, hell, you can’t say the sun comes up in the East on this board without people offering their suggestions and demands for what they think would be a better approach. We’ve been trying to be as polite as possible, but basically their answer is: none of your damn business. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/38 "2006-08-02T13:12:15Z")
[QUOTE=flyboy88] In my mind, the spirit of the agreement (I know it doesn’t address any of this) did not address paying off past debt. It was to upgrade the system and ensure decent performance. [/QUOTE] I don’t recall any such agreement, in spirit or otherwise. IIRC, we were told the options were to pay for the SDMB or have it shut down. If anybody in authority ever stated that the subscription money would be used for upgrades, I didn’t see it. Performance has been better since we’ve gone to subscriptions, but that may simply be due to fewer people being able to perform searches. > [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > \: none of your damn business. At last! An answer that even dopers should be able to understand. Kudos. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/39 "2006-08-03T01:32:45Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] I used to take delivery of a free newspaper. If someone had knocked on my door and told me that if I wished to continue receiving it I would have to pay, I would probably ask why this was so. [/QUOTE] If a free newspaper went to paid subsciption, you’re answer would probably be, “we’ve been losing money for the past five years.” You probably wouldn’t get much more information than that. It would be unusual for a business to reveal that its customers. I just hope _some_ of the money went to blow and whores. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697/40 "2006-08-03T02:30:35Z")
**C K Dexter Haven** > [@](#): > > At an office party, good ol’ Fred is rather laid-back and carefree until you ask him what his salary is. And then he clams up, and looks at you suspiciously. Good point. However, if one day Fred asked me for some money, I’d like to know _why_ he wanted it and maybe also inquire about his finances. > [@](#): > > they’d be nuts to reveal any information to this particular group. As Fear mentions, hell, you can’t say the sun comes up in the East on this board without people offering their suggestions and demands for what they think would be a better approach. Interesting example you chose about the Sun rising in the East. Is the Sun truly rising _or_ is it the Earth’s _rotation_ making the Sun _appear_ to rise? Then again, using a relativisitc approach, we could say that _both_ viewpoints are equally valid. 😃 Okay, as can be seen from the above paragraph I _definitely_ see why you wouldn’t want the financial details of the subscriptions to be revealed to this crowd. My only point was that the answer could be put a bit more courteously than “we’re private - we don’t _have_ to tell you anything”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-breakdown-of-how-our-money-has-been-spent/366697.md?page=3)