A Conspiracy Against ATS?

reply to post by Skyfloating

Allow the discussion of illegal activities and see your website disappear from google indexes, loose all its family-minded membership and revenue.

Ok, glad you admit it.

Cause this is what SkepticOverlord said,

As I've repeatedly said, and many choose to ignore or reject, our decision was not based on legalities or revenue... but on community management.

So, what is it? I tend to believe the mod over the site owner.

Revenue does play a part in all this, like I said before.

Nef,
I must say youve started an interesting thread here. I lurk on ATS ALOT, ALOT
and ALOT. Ats is a wealth of information on a myriad of topics you dont see in any other place on the net. I value it as a resource, that I use to judge what is really going on and what isnt. By cross referencing the information with other sources.
Stopping threads or removing posts is just a moderators way of keeping the conversation on track, and since the site actually has owners still functioning as moderators, they have every right to remove threads they dont want to deal with, or threads that become so involved that they foster vitrolic language and violate regular decorum rules.
ALL web sites have mods. All mods watch thier boards, all boards have snippets or threads removed. GET OVER IT PEOPLE! and for finagles sake grow up. An unmoderated board is total chaos. Unfortunately there are alot of folks out there who cant understand you need to start a new thread for every new idea, and that some ideas are just to volitile to have a thread period.

reply to post by neformore


I don't see a conspiracy at all. Truth is, you can't please 100% of the people all of the time (in regards to the T&C). Some people are always going to feel as though their opinion has been muzzled. Especially on a site like ATS where you have passionate 'believers' and conspiracy theorists.

I agree that we see a lot of walk-ins during passionate debates such as Israel v Palestine. However, majority of this can be attributed to google. ATS topics always rank highly in the search lists, therefore you get walk-ins who want to express their opinion. Many of these people will not read T&C because they simply want to get something off their chest ASAP... and BINGO... a ton of T&C violations. Because a decent percentage of these people may not be inclined to spend their time in web forums, they disappear as quickly as they appear, therefore a pattern 'appears' to emerge.

I'm not saying that there aren't a small fraction of people who may organize a hit on a particular thread or topic from time to time, there probably are, but like most radicals, they only represent a small percentage.

IRM

[edit on 1/3/09 by InfaRedMan]

reply to post by neformore
Excellent post.

From the short time I have had the honor to be a member on ATS I have seen the exact same stuff going on.

Possibly and you are into conspiracy theories, ATS poses a major threat to ? (the NWO, Illuminati, Alien Presence ?) the smucks running the planet don't want us to put forth ideas that the populace is ignorant on.

When a site has the ability to have hugh numbers of individuals each putting forth "thier piece to the puzzel" we call our reality - that is dangerous because once all the pieces are out there and we all help put those pieces together maybe what is going on can finally be figured out.

Possibly ATS is a real threat to whoever is calling the shots because "they" don't want the knowlege out of what is really going on.

Knowledge is true power. Knowlege of what is really going on gives one the ability to make good decisions.

Some of the posts seem deliberately either contrived to serve "them" or "their" purpose by either disinformation, hate to stir up and distract and a number of other ploys to simply misguide the group as a whole.

ATS is a powerful tool. It's a means by which people can communicate anonomously from all over the planet (so you get their true opinions and feelings on very important matters) and from all different locations and people.

ATS does have some of the most intellegent people - god look at UTube, most of the post there are so ignorant other than some of the videos it's not worth ones time.

Anytime you have a powerful tool that informs the masses, it will come under attack. It's a threat because it has the ability to awaken the masses from the coma our planet has been put under.

I'm not a very sauve person when it comes to manipulation or "the politics" of being able to smoothly sway people.

Personally I just say what I see and feel is going on.

Some people, and I've noticed people that "run things" have a real ability to sway people through various means of "manipulation".

Somethings going on and it's planet wide. I've been saying this for the last 14 months I've been on ATS.

ATS more so than any other site is causing people to "awaken".

ATS is liken to "the red pill" Morpheus is offering Neo and the "big boys" don't want any of us to take the red pill.

If too many of us "wake up" that could mean rebellion, that could mean freedom of our species, that could mean mankind finally really evolving unto his own master.

I've watched people that have acquired a little power, (I don't know any real powerful people) and the ones I've stood back and watched play all kinds of head games. Mainly pitting the peons against each other, causing havoc and crisis, the old sidetracking and keeping 'em busy game.

I do think that people ought to be able to (politely) be able to talk about anything that comes to mind.

Drugs............being used to numb and dumb down our species. But, by who? Who runs the drug market from really high up? (I heard tell from several sources that the Bush's have for years) and that the drug money funds the alien presence.

Sounds nuts, yes I know but six hundred years ago people said that saying the earth was round and we were not the center of the universe was nuts.

I think anything and everything ought to be allowed to be explored within reason and in a civilized manner.

Good posts, and long over due.

[edit on 1-3-2009 by ofhumandescent]

As to whom is responsible for this conspiracy??
Well I'm still not sure but found a few interesting things on other sites that might indicate some motivations.

If any mods feel that this post has too many specifics, feel free to remove it and let me know what I need to do to fix any problems.

A poster on the below listed site, wrote the following which I have slightly edited due to length.

forums.whyweprotest.net...

ATS(Above Top Secret)Censorship and Free Speech Violations.

There is a Member there by the name of John Lear (think Lear Airplanes)
This person is currently being censored on ATS, along with any member of ATS who tries to speak out
against this oppression. Anyone even attempting to speak about why he is Post-banned and tell the truth is promptly
censored by staff. All details are covered up as quickly as possible. The short of the story is that John Lear got tired of
people posting abusive comments towards him in a thread so he quoted all the comments in his post. Seems the people who made the comments decided to try to erase what they said, then when Staff tried to verify what happened, they thought JL was lying and posting lies. However, the staff then found out he was right, but by then JL had already been banned. Now, for some reason they told him to just "forget about" what happened and to move on. When he tried to stick up for his rights, they kept him banned, and censor anyone trying to find out about, or talk about the truth of what happened to him.This thread:

Since I know for a fact that quite a few anons are members over there, and It is a freedom of speech issue, I thought I would post this here and pass on the info. I am NOT doing so so that anyone "does anything", just wanted people to know what was going on. Especially since ATS is a site about cover-ups and conspiracies, and the Staff have gone ahead and done their own cover-up... :shock:

Here is another conspiracy site and the page specifically talks about how the posters believe ATS is a government sponsored website of some sort
www.clubconspiracy.com...

Now this is kind of interesting
There is a website called Kaboodle and the idea behind the site is:

Shopping is more fun with friends

Share recommendations and discover new things from our community

* Discover new things from people with similar taste and style
* Recommend and discuss your favorite products and stores
* Simplify your life with wish lists and shopping lists

Well guess what? YEP, ATS pops up on their site and of course there is a comment and it's negative. Moreover, it's KNOWINGLY inaccurate.
Here's the comment and link to it:
www.kaboodle.com...

The ATS forum turns out to be nothing more than a collection of gullable sheeple needing to be lead by 55 herders who not only censor factual replies to posts with no credibility, but also tend to favor posts that definately do not follow the "Deny Ignorance" theme.

This part seems to show intimate knowledge of the inner workings of ATS. I find it interesting that this person gives a specific number of "herders" then quotes ATS' tag.

Basically the place is for the weak minded who couldnt fend for themselves if their lives depended on it. It is nothing more than one huge baby pen where the child like minds of thousands of mindless sheep go to flock.

Well ok this is just an opinion and opinions are like rectums Doesn't seem to be any harm here as people can still decide for themselves if this persons opinion is correct or not when they go to ATS.

It is also a site that loves to put adware and spyware onto your mahcine through popups.

This particular sentence worries me. The person is claiming that ATS is doing something possibly illegal and dangerous to their members. Of course I don't believe this but anyone reading this review would now think twice about going to ATS thus restricting ATS user base. Seems to me that this person is knowingly attempting to slander ATS.

The forum has certian members who purposely post taunting and luring links to articles and images on websites where even more malware and spyware are just waiting for the unsuspecting sheeple to click on and become a roving tag, just like tagged sheep in an open field.

This gets even worse. This person seems to be linking the owners of ATS with members who together are trying to deliberately spread spyware for nefarious purposes.

The site also does not follow its own doctrine, in which posts of unrelated subject matters are allowed and when memebers move in to debunk or discredit the worthless thread or post, the herders rush on in and instigate post or account bans on the "whistleblowers". Truely diverting from their infamous theme to "Deny Ignorance", the forum seems to be becoming a wasp's nest collection of fairy tale, bedtime story telling than a true conspiracy theory discussion arena. Clearly the forum has undergone many changes within a short time.

This implies the poster is/was a member or at least an anonymous poster for a period of time.

However many of these changes are geared towards censored moderation and targeted bannings of honest and credible posters who do in fact follow the theme "Deny Ignorance". ATS has become more of a "Admit Ignorance" theme over recent months, and is not truely a free speech, free thought, free opinion forum. It has become more of a Nazi-style regime where if you do not stay on the straight and narrow line of their pre-determined dogma, you are instantly banned.

Sounds like this person was a member and was banned and now is out for revenge. This is of course my opinion.

Tip to the wise...Deny Ignorance and save yourself the trouble. There are far more better conspiracy themed forums out there on the internet than to become one of ATS's "sheeple".

Now here's a hint to the true motivation of this person.

reply to post by enigmania


My personal views on why I support the Ban does not need to reflect the admins views on the Ban. Everything posted on the previous page is my opinion.

However, the word "Revenue" directly translates into amount of people learning about conspiracy-theory, UFOs, etc. Actively promoting illegal activity to be featured here is something that would seriously undermine the validity of conspiracy- and UFO Topics.

[edit on 1-3-2009 by Skyfloating]

Very interesting read nef.

Being a Admin in my own football forum and having to sort out and then call the lads to reason, I know how un-thankful the job can be, in short... Thanks for all "behind scenes" work and don't let the Anti-Forum-Scabs ruin a very good forum.

*no, I'm not kissin arse to get a job as mod here, it's bloody hard work keeping a football forum, nevermind working this forum, as big as it is*

Originally posted by Symbiote
What ATS does in deleting posts is censorship.

If the ATS owners or mods feel that some topics are "too scary" or "taboo" or just "too cool for school" then it is well within their means to remove said topics.

But don't try to make your actions out to be anything other than what they are...

Censorship.

That's right.

Censorship.

Actually, that is not censorship. Censorship is preventing people from talking

Originally posted by jfj123
As to whom is responsible for this conspiracy??

It is also a site that loves to put adware and spyware onto your mahcine through popups.

This particular sentence worries me. The person is claiming that ATS is doing something possibly illegal and dangerous to their members. Of course I don't believe this but anyone reading this review would now think twice about going to ATS thus restricting ATS user base. Seems to me that this person is knowingly attempting to slander ATS.

For some more insight into some of the nonsense that ATS owners have been dealing with over the past year check out SkepticOverlord's post about narrowly avoiding legal action from this summer.

I have no idea if it was related to the specific instances you discovered or not. But I thought it might provide some more interesting background for the idea that there might be people conspiring.

OK, after years of lurking I finally broke down and signed onto ATS, I couldnt stand it.

What everyone but the Mods(who understand full well) fail to realize is this:

ATS is not a PUBLIC site, thus FREE SPEECH rules and regs. dont apply. IT is wholly owned and operated by its owners. Who dont have to adhere to any free speech regulations if they dont feel the need.

The Mods, if they chose could monitor posts, and remove them at will, or monitor anonymous posts by IP address, and refuse the person causing them trouble access to the site.

But, as far as I see they dont. Give them a bit of credit guys, they moderate the threads that they know will simply go in circles, and accomplish nothing no matter how long it is discussed by how many very intelligent people, and when it gets out of hand they stop it.

Pardon if I offend you Nef, and your orignal posting. I understand where it was going. I seems to have taken on a will of its own.

I don't get it. Is this a weak or vain attempt to drum up new membership or something? I've stated this time and time again that, in my opinion, the quantity of posts has skyrocketed here @ ATS but the quality has gone the opposite direction. What did you expect? Your a discussion board on the Internet that delves into many areas that naturally invokes different responses from people. There's no conspiracy to this concept, just common, practical sense. Rules will always be challenged, why is ATS any different?

brill

[edit on 1-3-2009 by brill]

reply to post by vcwxvwligen

Actually, that is not censorship. Censorship is preventing people from talking

And that's exactly what ATS is doing.

Glad you see it too.

And both definitions are actually censorship.

[edit on 1/3/09 by enigmania]

Originally posted by enigmania
reply to post by orangetom1999

 

I'm sorry, is your name Skeptic Overlord.

No, why are you answering my post directed at him?

Please, await your turn.

No problem enigmania, However, I thank you for demonstrating my point in my previous post about insecurity....and now about maturity as well.

When one posts on a topic line where others can see it and then comment on what is posted..it shows insecurity/immaturity once again to come back with a comment like yours quoted above. It also shows intolerance...the very point about which you are debating. You are not able to take what you are wont to dish out.

I dont know if you are able to comprehend in your system of self promotion..but there are people on this thread who can see this fingerprint in you and lead you to expose yourself in the manner I just did and for which you willingly ceded in order to make what you think are your important points.

My point here ....is that you need to be aware of this while ceding to your passions. Your passions can often mislead you without your even being aware of them. I tell you this for your personal benefit. Whether you take it to heart is your buisness.
In our passions we often tend to think that we somehow have the moral high ground and have license to trod on others ..even on a private site..when it is not so. That is my point while leading you to ably demonstrate thus for us.
My apologies to the rest of the board if this gives offense but someone needed to say and or demonstrate this about tolerance. To often on this and other boards tolerance plays through as the moral high ground when it is in fact not tolerance at all.

Thanks,
Orangetom

Originally posted by enigmania
reply to post by SkepticOverlord

 

You're simply refusing to be reasonable in the face of logic and common sense, aren't you?

No, I'm refusing to fall in line because you say so. What's reasonable to you is not reasonable to me.

Maybe you should not post on ATS anymore?????
If I go to a restaurant and I don't like the food and they won't make it to my tastes, I never return

Common sense tells me that what you guys are doing is censorship, by definition, no matter the reason.

Again, you expect UNRESTRICTED FREEDOM OF SPEECH from the owners and this simply doesn't exist anywhere. Can you name any civilized place in the world where there is unrestricted freedom of speech? YES or NO?

I'll again give you the following example based on your logic.
Person A decides to call Homeland Security and tell them person B is a terrorist, knowing person B is not. Person B gets arrested based on person A's lie.
Should person B be upset? YES or NO?
Should person A be punished for their lie? YES or NO?
Based on what you want, person A should not be punished because they should be able to say whatever they want without restriction.
What if you were person B? Would you then change your stance against unrestricted freedom of speech?

reply to post by orangetom1999

When one posts on a topic line where others can see it and then comment on what is posted..it shows insecurity/immaturity once again to come back with a comment like yours quoted above.

Sigh, I was in a direct discussion with the site owner, the questions asked were to be answered by the site's owner personally, I didn't ask them to be answered by someone else.

It's probably very hard to understand.

Also, if you guys had any respect for SkepticOverlord, you'd let him give his own answer to a post clearly directed at him, instead over trippin over each other to adress me.

[edit on 1/3/09 by enigmania]

We must be careful. Lets not mistake passion for bigotry/ignorance. Because there are a group of people that feel the same way does not make it a conspiracy. When elections go away or stories aren't in the headline people forget so the subject drops off. This is a natural thing. We are people who have been raised on 15 minute news cycles.

I to have odd conversations and seek links but I never once thought there is a conspiracy here at ATS. It's just a very popular site. People flock here to see whats happening and to share their point of view.

I think ATS needs to be careful on how they treat things. Lets not stop conversations just because we don't like or agree on how they are going. Let it flow naturally. Personally I am reminded all the time that there are people out there who think much differently then I. Some of if good. Most of it bad. I have high hopes for this world.

This new ban on talking about illegal drugs... ridiculous. What harm can come from that? Someone calling me a name? Not something I care about. I can take it.....lol

Originally posted by enigmania
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

You guys don't really get my point.

I'm all for rules, especially rules that enforce common descency, against racism and insults.

But that's censorship right?

If I can't call you names, I am being censored and you are against censorship. Remember how you said there's no middle ground?
So now you're saying some censorship is ok and there is now a middle ground.
Wait that means you're now walking a fine line. Kind of like that razor fine line the owners of ATS are trying to walk Did a light bulb just light up? HOPEFULLY? ? ?

Originally posted by enigmania

I tend to believe the mod over the site owner.

Why? There is no reason to.

reply to post by jfj123


It is amazing how you haven't said anything in this thread, that comes close to describing my views.

You keep pulling my comments out of context and making conclusions that have nothing to do with what I actually said.

I never said I was completely against censorship, even said I could live with the banning of entire subjects, as long it is not denied that it is censorship.

You are trying really hard to get to me, but you just keep missing the point.

Originally posted by enigmania
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

Allow the discussion of illegal activities and see your website disappear from google indexes, loose all its family-minded membership and revenue.

Ok, glad you admit it.

Cause this is what SkepticOverlord said,

As I've repeatedly said, and many choose to ignore or reject, our decision was not based on legalities or revenue... but on community management.

So, what is it? I tend to believe the mod over the site owner.

Revenue does play a part in all this, like I said before.

Yes, because it's hard to make a good living while you're sitting behind bars.