Posted by Jonah (204.244.233.100) on October 06, 2003 at 06:31:20:

In Reply to: Jonah appreciates contributions (read to end) posted by Stuart Gilman on October 06, 2003 at 05:52:48:

Are we then to presume that JW has a job or is independently wealthy

I work part time as a web designer, part time as a dad and househusband while my wife does her doctorate, and part time on this site. I left grad school with US$47,000 in student loan debt (I went to expensive schools). I was starting to catch up on it when we had a child in the States at a time when I had no job benefits and my wife was not on her job long enough to have earned maternity leave. We jumped into the credit card hole, and now owe a further US$36,000 in credit card debt, which I revolve for the lowest rate I can get from time to time. I was then laid off from my regular part-time work with the Wilmette Institute in December 2001, and have been spending all my time since then on the Baha'i Library, part time web design work, and family time.

If this is the case, he has never stated it or anything like it.

I began asking publicly the very day we had a child, January 2000. Up until then I was able to keep up on my debt payments with no credit cards, and support the library. When Liam was born, that very night I posted my first request for people to chip in and begin helping at least pay for the out-of-pocket expenses, and I set up a support this site page and put links to it on the main page. Since that time I have asked on this bulletin board once per year. I have received approximately US$1000 in donations since, an average of $300/year.

When it became apparent that few people were going to support this in a meaningful way, I did decide to extricate myself from it. And believe it or not, that's what I'm doing as we speak. With so little financial support I can no longer afford to devote so much time to this, and am letting it go. However, I must get it fully automated and self-running (with a modicum of hands-on guidance by myself and hopefully a Review committee) before I let it go. It is my other child, and I have a great responsibility for it. So I'm building this automated system to wean the project off me, and let it exist in a form where I do not need to devote my career to it. (And before it comes up, yes, I have considered ads, sponsorship, and subscription fees, but none would work for various reasons.)

I have been merely asking for honesty of basic personal data without receiving any.

You haven't asked. But to be honest, at this point you have not shown yourself to be someone I wish to share personal data with.

Very few persons visit the site.

Don't you read my answers? Do you just ask because you like to type? Last time you asked this I gave you a link to one traffic site showing you that it is the second most-visited site in the entire Baha'i world, after bahai.org, and in one month -- April 2003 -- it actually surpassed bahai.org to be the most heavily-trafficked Baha'i site on the internet. (I acknowledged, and repeat, that measuring web stats is notoriously imprecise.)

If JW were to reveal his phone and fax number

My phone number was on this site until January 2003, when you began expressing such hostility on this bulletin board, Stuart, that I had my street address removed from the directory service, and removed my phone number from my websites.

In each instance, rather than come clean as to city

Read answers to questions you ask before asking them again.

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