Why is a member here allowed to knowingly lie when there have been plenty of complaints?

[edit on 24-10-2007 by uberarcanist]

reply to post by budski


This is true, but it seems as though for the last while every day a thread is started about how bad this site is and how the mods aren’t doing their (volunteer) jobs right, and it’s just getting kind of silly.
This is just an internet site, how much do you really care about whether or not someone is posting pure BS? If you disagree with the poster debate them show that they are wrong, if they want to hold their erroneous believes so what.

reply to post by Griff

I don't know if anyone else has made a complaint other than in the thread. As far as I know, there is no way to search for complaints. No mod has contacted me directly over this issue. That statement still holds effective.

Your thread title implies that there have been "plenty" of complaints against this person, seanm. Considering you stated that you do not have knowledge of any other complaints you either made a mistake when titling this thread, or you lied. I will take the high road however and assume that your title for this thread was meant as a general statement about liars on this site.

I think it is important to point out that this thread title implies that seanm is a liar and has a lot of complaints against him. The OP has no evidence of seanm intentionaly lying or first hand knowledge of any complaints. In the intrest of fairness I think something should be done so that other readers of this thread do not get that impression.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


OK SO, I'll give you a specific example if you like - I've got more than one, but perhaps others are for a different arena.

We've all done duplicate posts at some point during our time here, however hard we try not to.
I recently posted a thread, and a day later saw another thread, same headline same topic.
Next day, same story, and the day after, and the day after.
So being a bit of a hothead, and remembering that I'd had threads closed for exactly the same reason, I sent a polite u2u via the complaints/suggestions function.
No Reply

And guess what - over a week later the other thread was still there.

I've no complaints against a duplicate thread of mine being closed, but it seems the rule is not enforced across the board, and it is exactly this which frustrates and leads to tempers getting heated.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
I've applied a temporary posting ban

Well there it is, the inevitable post ban, in doing so, I think you just made griff's point for him SO.

Originally posted by uberarcanist
Once again, I will quote myself in response to your last post, SO...here is the biggest problem-lack of either a uniform policy on "hoaxing" or whatever you want to call it or lack of uniform enforcement of aforementioned policy or both.

Really, I'm trying to help... but that's very vague and not helpful... is there a specific thread or topic that we can examine as an example?

And, no offense, but given the veracity of some of your posts... uneven management of potential hoax topics is a rather weak thing to begin with, don't you think? You seemed to be complaining about staff action, not thread topics... is there something with more "meat" that would be a better start to this conversation?

reply to post by Mr Mxyztplk


I understand and agree, but for some people, a virtual world should have better rules and consistency simply because of its nature.

I also think that there are a lot of intelligent, passionate people here who want to be heard when they perceive injustice, whether real or not.

reply to post by twitchy


He made repeated statements defaming the site and the mods and although asked to pony up and explain him self he did not, if I’m in your home or place of work and kept going on about how incompetent and bias you are and did not back it up what would you do?

Well if I held an open house and invited, nay depended on, contributions from the folks that were complaining, I'd be more diplomatic about it.

Originally posted by budski
I also think that there are a lot of intelligent, passionate people here who want to be heard when they perceive injustice, whether real or not.

What injustice? I don’t see any injustice here.
As SO has said be specific. Do what P_S couldn’t and say what exactly your beef is.

Originally posted by budski
I recently posted a thread, and a day later saw another thread, same headline same topic.
Next day, same story, and the day after, and the day after.
So being a bit of a hothead, and remembering that I'd had threads closed for exactly the same reason, I sent a polite u2u via the complaints/suggestions function.
No Reply

Several factors can come into play here, but none of them are a good answer and all of them can inspire frustration.
1) Busy staff
2) No staff for that forum online at the time
3) That's not what complaints are for

-1- It happens all too often and it's a catch-22... we need more staff, but adding the wrong people can make use even more busy, so we're very careful.

-2- This happens much more often than people realize. Each forum has only a select few staffers who have the ability to move or close threads.

-4- We've tried, a few times, to point out that the complaint feature isn't intended for minor issues like this one (I know it doesn't seem minor to you)... it's more for T&C violations and other serious issues. It's possible your complaint was "lost in the sauce" as more serious items took over. Your best bet is to directly U2U one or more moderators for that forum with something like this -- maybe we need to make an easier way to do that.


We have a lot of volatile people posting passionately about provocative topics... we do our best, but not every action of staff is going to be pleasant for all members.

reply to post by twitchy


Almost every day there is a thread about the so called injustice on this site and the staff Including the CEO come and addresses the complaints and the threads aren’t closed, they are discussed in full, and the complaints are hosted on the site being defamed in full public view. How much more diplomatic can they get?

Originally posted by Griff
A member has knowingly been posting false information and has been told many times that they are doing this.

What happened to the #1 Terms and Conditions?

1). Posting: You will not post any material that is knowingly false, misleading, or inaccurate.

Well, I don't understand how John and the rest of the No Planers are allowed to even operate here as virtually everything they say is false and they keep repeating it over and over across multiple threads no matter how badly debunked over and over. They'll make an absurd claim, it will be destroyed... PROVEN completely false, and once the thread has advanced a page or so it's like the green light for them to start making the same claim all over again as if it never even happened.

And its not like I'm just referring to speculative comments either; they make literal absolutist matter-of-fact statements no matter how absurd or false and knowingly misleading. In fact we can even prove that a video (Sept. Clues) or etc even uses "Trickery" yet its still valid for the same people to continuously repeat over and over again.

One would think that the most staunchly tragic event one could concieve would carry with it some level of respect and integrity, but afterall proponents of such theories are about 50% intentional diversionary disinfo agents who have no soul but lots of contempt for the truth. Oh, and these people operate at such a constant drumbeat I wouldn't want to the mod tasked with keeping the score on their ambitions and claims.

[edit on 24-10-2007 by IgnoranceIsntBlisss]

Originally posted by Mr Mxyztplk

Originally posted by budski
I also think that there are a lot of intelligent, passionate people here who want to be heard when they perceive injustice, whether real or not.

What injustice? I don’t see any injustice here.
As SO has said be specific. Do what P_S couldn’t and say what exactly your beef is.

If you'll kindly note what I said, it was when they perceive injustice, whether real or not.

I didn't say they were right or that the injustice is real, I merely made the point about how things can get heated.

Interesting that most of the trouble that takes place on this site is somehow related to the 9/11 Forum.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
Your best bet is to directly U2U one or more moderators for that forum with something like this

That I can vouch for, everytime I've u2u'ed a staff member with a problem, I've had alot better results than starting a thread on it.
Perhaps more transparency between members and staff would be a solution to this problem, make the complaint forum veiwable but not active for memebrs or something, I donno, but it seems this arises often enough to make it an issue for both mods and members.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
Your best bet is to directly U2U one or more moderators for that forum with something like this

I've said it many times, my u2u inbox is always open, fire away.

reply to post by IgnoranceIsntBlisss


LOL do you really want to go there IgnoranceIsntBlisss? Your post history is public record here you know. That attitude is exactly the source of the problem here.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


As I said SO, this is just one of many instances of modding that seems to suggest I am not the favourite person of some mods - I realise how that sounds, but if some things happened as much to you as they seem to do to me, you would probably start to have a few concerns too.

I've already said that I've pretty much given up asking for clarification or trying to state my case, because I have never known a decision to be reversed.

Maybe some people just don't like my politics

Originally posted by IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Well, I don't understand how John and the rest of the No Planers are allowed to even operate here as virtually everything they say is false and they keep repeating it over and over across multiple threads no matter how badly debunked over and over.

(Damn you for drawing me into a position that might appear to defend "no-planers"!)

The very nature of the majority of the topics discussed on ATS calls for a degree of speculation tolerance that asks the reader to permit a varying degree of conjecture from time to time. Many people reject several ideas related to our topics, and consider them to be outright lies. On the other hand, history has shown that "lies" attributed to "conspiracy theorists" have, on occasion, turned into truth.

If we can find a way to tolerate such conjecture, and respectfully counter with intelligent debate, those tantalizing kernels of truth just might find their way to the top. It's a tough balance, but it's worth it.

On a related note, it's actually quite odd to see "9/11 Truthers" call "UFO nutters" crazy and visa-versa ... ... you've all seen it.