The SUSPENSION of illicit drugs/mind altering substance topics on ATS (The experiment failed)

Originally posted by americandingbat
For people just coming back:

Here's links to the summaries of this thread that I wrote this morning. Hopefully they will help get people oriented to what happened over the previous 60 pages of this thread

reposting every couple pages or so in case people want summaries

edit to add another link:

Skeptic1's summary of yesterday's suggestions

One more time posting these summary links before the crap hits the fan yet again


[edit on 2/27/09 by americandingbat]

I just have to say that to lose friends over this, get personal or foe somebody is going way too far.
Tensions and passions are running high and have been for a few days, don't let it affect you so much.

This will be resolved, one way or another.


We are ALL members here so we should ALL try and get along.
We can disagree and have heated discussions and maybe even have a cheeky dig or sarcastic comment... but let's not actually fall out with anyone.


I have never and will never foe or ignore anybody.
I can deal with arguments and differences of opinion in a much better way than that.

Through discussion and debate.


Peace to all

reply to post by nj2day


If it fails, it fails.

But, at least the members of this board tried. A large group tried to work against censorship and work for valid, serious discussion about a serious topic.

reply to post by nj2day


I never said that I was leaving this site and I really never showed much discontent because I knew an alternative could be found.

Don't assume things. I've been working very, very hard and I think that most people understand the effort that has gone into this thread of over 100 pages. We're not just talking for the sake of it, no matter what you may think.

I've always had the warm fuzzies for this site, like how I feel about Obama, I don't really care what anyone says about it because I will stand up for what it stands for, and I understand where it's coming from and I think that some people don't. And because of this, I think that another solution can be reached. I rarely take part in drug discussions, I don't do drugs, I don't care if other people do, and it's not even about that. It's about the members being represented and having a voice, and it's about creating an atmosphere where people feel comfortable yet free to discuss almost anything.

I love ATS, that's why I've been on this thread for 51 hours. If you haven't noticed, posting in BBQ doesn't give points.

I've been here since 2006 and I've never seen the boards like this before, ever. It really is quite chaotic and if you just accept everything that you are told, there very well may not be any improvement. The staff here DOES interact with the members, and this is a living website.

[edit on 2/27/2009 by ravenshadow13]

Originally posted by skeptic1
reply to post by nj2day

 

If it fails, it fails.

But, at least the members of this board tried. A large group tried to work against censorship and work for valid, serious discussion about a serious topic.

hehe actually, you shouldn't take such a "meh" attitude on being intentionally manipulated...

Being a student of propaganda and passive controls, this has just been an amazing experience for me to watch

Everyone involved will go "meh" when the whole thing fails... and will go back to normal...

now, compare that with how you felt when the announcement was first posted.

See where the manipulation happened?

reply to post by nj2day


I don't think any of us have a right to crap on Congress (or in my case Parliament) for inaction and pointless squabbling anymore on this site; unless we want to come off as major hypocrites in the process.

[edit on 27-2-2009 by matth]

[edit on 27-2-2009 by matth]

reply to post by nj2day


I don't see mind-control, manipulation, and conspiracy in everything I come across.

Yeah, yeah, yeah....if that's the case, then why am I at ATS??

You could very well be right. On the flip side, so could I.

In the end, with the exception of a few, we all want the blanket ban gone. That is what the members want. I went through all the suggestions and put together the suggestions into a compromise list to oppose the ban.

If this committee has a chance in hell of working to get that compromise passed and implemented, then we should all at the very least give it a shot.

I am saddened and astounded....

We have tried time and again to accommodate the discussion of these topics, it has FAILED miserably and threatened the very existence of ATS every single time, so we did what any good stewards would do and banned the topics because we don't have the time or the ability to police them to the extent required.

A small but vocal group protested loudly, so we decided to offer you, the members who want to discuss these topics, the chance to solve the problems that S.O. outlined in his post in this thread, that so far we haven't been able to solve.

We asked that you select a small group from among yourselves (we simply don't have the time or the ability to deal with 20 or more people and perspectives, we have a company to run and there is only three of us running it) who will bring the ideas to the table after you have come up with what you believe to be viable solutions and now THAT is being called a manipulation?! Some sort of dastardly scheme?!

Does anyone but me see how it appears FUTILE to try be a nice guy some days? Does anyone else see that no matter what we do it will ALWAYS be twisted? "No good deed will go unpunished" comes to mind.

We've already given up on these topics because the costs have out weighed the benefits by a thousand fold, as the OP of this thread states. Several members believed they could figure it out and were willing to try, we could have said no, our decision is final but we didn't, now we are the "bad guys again". Unbelievable.

I have to say that this threads last several pages illustrates exactly what we have been saying all along.

Some of you are trying to reach a consensus, bravo, those who see this attempt, by us, to compromise and let YOU figure out how to give you what you all want as some twisted scheme REALLY need to rethink your thinking.

Springer...

Just got back and haven't had a chance to catch up.

Upon reflection, please remove my name from consideration. I think it's still before 3:00 EST.

Thank you.

EDIT:

Well I scanned enough of the posts to see what I missed. No good deed goes unpunished. I apologize for any of my contributions to the discord.




[edit on 27-2-2009 by loam]

reply to post by Unit541


Your scenario of this all being manipulated .... yeah that's crossed my mind.

It's felt that way. And increasingly i say to myself.... why compromise? ... why even seek one?

This site belongs to the owners... they can censor it if they want to.

Apparently they do.... seeing as they have.

So let them.

And welcome to it.

There's a certain stigma that goes along with censorship though .... and a loss of respect.... you're welcome to those things too

Enjoy crippling your own site. Good job

So a site wide ban on drug discussion? I'm all for it. Please don't change a thing.

I'm disgusted with the whole subject.



Peace out.

reply to post by Springer


Thank you for that. At least I don't feel quite so abashed about trying to help.

reply to post by Springer


Thanks Springer....

reply to post by Springer


Some of us have been saying that exact thing for a long time now, and are equally saddened by the turn of events in this thread.

We've tried our best to work something out to at least have a chance at keeping these topics around here, and some people cannot be kept happy.

I also fully understand your remark about how hard it is to be the nice guy all the time.

Some people just won't allow it.

reply to post by Springer


Well said.

I hope that puts some things to rest.

reply to post by Springer


You and the rest of the staff have always been willing to discuss topics and take suggestions from members. I have never, ever had a staff member say "Nope, can't talk about it, non-negotiable." I think that people who think otherwise maybe have not been here long enough or have not been paying decent attention to all that you do for us.

And no I'm clearly not brownnosing, because I didn't see this thread and go "Well that's probably awesome, no complaints."

And it seems like many of us -do- want to see this reconsidered and I don't understand why we can't just all support one another, and instead have to break it up amongst ourselves and argue all the details to death.

I think this has proven that some members can work together, and others cannot. But that's how life is, too, so I'm not completely surprised.

Once more...

I have a suggestion that no one is discussing:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I am not saying I have a solution, but I would at least like to discuss this option.

reply to post by americandingbat


Thanks for the summary. Just the thought of reading 100+ pages to follow the discussion caused fatigue to take hold of me.

I seem to have this fear of being picked on if I even mention the word "drug".

This is going to require a lot of explaining and defining in order to keep members properly and fairly informed so they don't inadvertently fall into a mouse trap that could get them banned.

Oh well, I will just get my illicit fix from Aliens and UFO's, paranormal research, and 2012 threads.


[edit on 27/2/09 by John Matrix]

Congratulations to:

Schrodingers Dog
Skeptic1
Maxmars
Americandingbat
ravenshadow13
nyk537

reply to post by Amaterasu


That is what the committee, which has now been voted on, will discuss with Admin. That compromise plus whatever other valid suggestions have been brought up in this thread....to start.

Well I got the results..., now what. Since we have virtually placed ourselves in a position which does little more than invite hate mail I am uncertain of our mandate to proceed.

What shall we do?