A Conspiracy Against ATS?

Originally posted by vcwxvwligen
ATS members in general seem to be woefully ignorant about anything except superficial topics like 9/11, Zionism or forced vaccinations. Maybe background information about conspiracy theories could be provided.

Its ALL important! That's what this is ALL about! You cannot grasp the whole picture if some subjects relevant to the whole picture are censored. This is why there continues to be a conspiracy WITHIN ATS, weather it is willing to be seen by the ones involved or not. I call witch hunt.

OFFICIAL NOTICE



The issue of free expression on ATS has run an unusual course on this thread that initially had nothing to do with that particular topic.

From this point forward, those wishing to discuss their options of the "freedom of speech" (or lack thereof) on ATS should do so in this thread: Freedom Of Speech, ATS, and Ending The Eternal September

Any contributions to this thread on the issue of freedom of speech as it specifically applies to the policies of ATS will be removed.

Thank you.

reply to post by americandingbat


I'm sorry Dingbat.

I mistook you for a mod.

You should be a mod

Originally posted by neformore

I gave you direct evidence from the server logs about the increase in visits from political parties during the election period.

Interesting. Is this reference to the post about the Google data on Smartech, which isn't server log data and such logs are stated to not exist, or is this a slip and logs are really enabled and used for stats. Either way management seems to be on different pages with their supporting material.

reply to post by neformore

efore I became a mod, as a member, I noticed that ATS was being visited by a "cluster" of bigots. These people manifested themselves in a number of ways, some were subtle, some more direct. Their MO was to appear "reasonable" whilst they lined up their agenda, and then they banded in to promote it - the eventual subject of choice for them at that time was holocaust denial. There were two or three of them tag-teaming each other in threads, all with the same or very similar message. I could, and did, make predictions of who would post in certain threads at certain times.

So on topic.

I already asked you, but here goes again.

What was it that these "bigots" actually did wrong if I may ask?

Might as well know it if you are going to demonize them.

Originally posted by roadgravel
which isn't server log data and such logs are stated to not exist, or is this a slip and logs are really enabled and used for stats.

A slip by someone possibly not completely up on the nuances of the terminology.

Our servers do not record nor do they maintain access logs. From time to time, we may enable logging on one server for short periods to troubleshoot network problems, but those logs logs are always deleted when troubleshooting is complete.

reply to post by roadgravel


Incorrect terminology on my part I'm afraid.

I do apologise.

I've been a big fan of ATS for about a year and a half and might of only logged on 3 times, i come in here just to read up on things and that's that, of course i had to make a new account because for some odd reason i'm unable to log in but ANYWAYS...

S&F this post, i feel for the mods doing there job and stuff, i know its hard to say "dont take it to the head" but some time these people that post retard stuff just to start drama is a bit annoying. I've seen it many time but i figure you guys (MOD) let that stuff go on but little did i know that you mods where trying to end it, and very so you should, KEEP UP THE GOOD JOB ATS.

ATS reader

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Thanks for clarifying that point on logging and stats.

Do you have any hard evidence of an organized attack with attempt to discredit ATS?
By a distinguishable group of people, by an institution?
I'm not counting (for now) insinuations heard on some MSM shows.



I've been attending various forums since 1999 and I've noticed that some people get very nervous in their responses, often overreacting, similarly like some people do as soon as they sit behind a steering wheel of a car.

I think these two types should be clearly separated in regards to their true motivation.

Originally posted by enigmania
You should be a mod

What did I ever do to you to deserve such a fate?

Seriously, I'd rather run around only poking my nose in where I'm interested than have to spend all that time whacking AnonymousATS moles

I've signed up for membership here (yep total newbie) because every time I was trying to find the truth of something I saw on youtube, I ended up here somehow. was impressed with the civilized discussion, the relative absence of lackwitted insults. so while I have no experience to found an opinion on, I appreciate the work the mods do on here.

hopefully that's not totally off topic



[edit on 1-3-2009 by virgthevoice]

[edit on 1-3-2009 by virgthevoice]

reply to post by ZindoDoone

Well while I'm catching up, I am going to stop and respond here instead of facing untold pages that may or may not address this point.

This is a very informative link on tactics used. I dare say that it should be required reading for many so not be suckered in to these traps.

Then again I recall reading once somewhere on here (or heck perhaps I might have said it--doesn't really matter) that the best way to write a quality post is to take a moment to think about what it is that you really want to say before saying it.

That way you avoid reactionary responses that are just flared emotions, short responses and in some cases just general nonsense. On two occasions in this very thread I addressed two different moderators on two different subjects. In both cases it was via U2U and there were multiple exchanges. In neither case did I have to interrupt the original nor sub topic of the thread.

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that enigma deep down doesn't particularly care that one of his/her posts or threads are struck down but is more concerned about the quality and informativeness of ATS. Maybe I am right or maybe I am not. But I get the feeling that enigma is perhaps too caught up in the moment and feeling the need to defend from all sides rather than take a breathe and make a quality post clearly on the problem.

But as nef has said, this is most definately not the first time that ATS has been hit from within. A very good case study would be the TV Fakery posts over in the 9/11 forum which were indeed the work of a forum gang that took their bans as a badge of honor (perhaps even as a rite of initiation).

[edit on 1-3-2009 by Ahabstar]

reply to post by neformore


I always seem to miss the drama (I guess that's a good thing )...
As for it being a conspiracy of some kind, you could be right, but I think it's more psychological.
There are always people who get some kind of pleasure from crossing the line.
I suppose if you go to work and get stepped on all day, the psychological response would be an urge to cross a line and prove to yourself that you don't take 'flak'.
There is also a sort of natural balance I've noticed...
If one person or group becomes too popular, others will feel a need to bring it down - regardless of 'why'.
And then there are always the people who feel that their line has been crossed. People who feel they should be allowed to do something when they in fact shouldn't.
It's also sometimes hard to see another person's motives or tone on a forum which can cause a lot of misunderstandings.

reply to post by enigmania


Nefermore, could you please answer my on topic question.

Are you not willing to discuss your own thread now.



[edit on 1/3/09 by enigmania]

reply to post by TruthParadox


A very good point, it would be beneficial to know the psychology and motivations for why "trolling" of any sort happens.

The typical definition of a conspiracy is that it takes a minimum of three to conspire. But what if a person had three accounts and maintained a separate and distinct persona for these accounts. Could that person do something singles handedly?

Not to throw undue attention towards myself, but I could easily do just that and have a separate ISP on each account. Thinking of all the wi-fi hotspots in even the little town I live in could make that a far larger number. Add in the fact that I have done some creative writing of fiction in college on how to create and breathe life into a character and my acting skills it is something I certainly could do.

And if I could do it, others could do it or perhaps have done it in the past or are currently doing so.

Originally posted by Clark Savage Jr.
These same idiots are on NFL, Needlepoint, Video games, etc. message boards all over the internet.
You guys are very likely seeing about the same thing as any mod or admin on any message board on the 'net.

I haven't yet found the threads discussed here and I didn't witness the drama discussed, but I know it's true these kinds of personalities are all over the web... However, the topics at ATS are of such a different nature than the ones on videogame forums, which could be honey for the nastiest of trolls, who may see this as a hub for "paranoid nutcases" for them to mess with; a 5 star theme park for trolls, so to speak.

Then again, we all know of Israel's Army of Bloggers ...
Now these guys are open and transparent about it, but surely there are 'secret' blog armies as well, and I actually wouldn't be surprised if they'd send a vicious troll to a conspiracy site to spew anti-semitism disguised as anti-zionism, only to alert the ADF next, bringing heat to the website. Especially if conspiracy allegations against (Christian)-Zionism are well founded...
If that's the case (which the taboo level of the topic could be an indicator of) it is especially important to discuss it and get to the bottom of things. This should then of course be done with utmost sensitivity and care, unfortunately not one of the strongest characteristics of internet persona's.

The other topic, psychedelics, shouldn't be taboo here imo, if the idea is to "deny ignorance", cause if you ask me, psychedelics are amongst the most profound and insightfull teachers mankind has available - probably the reason why there's a War on them. I mean, we all know the War on Drugs doesn't include crack, heroin, meth, prozac, alcohol, etc. etc.
But this website is hosted in America, and if encouraging or describing specific methods concerning illegal substances is illegal, then surely ATS should play it safe and never give the Fed a chance to close it down with the strong arm of the Law.
Psychedelics can be safely discussed without making that a possibility, as websites such as MAPS.org and Erowid.org show.

All in all I think it is not so much 1 conspiracy against ATS, but many, ranging from trolling individuals who are a little more conniving than the regular ones , "Blog Armies" from god knows where and God knows why, to perhaps law enforcement activities or contracters specifically targeted to create excuses to call the cops on a website.

Because of this, I respect the members who embrace the mod position which basically is the frontline in this battle. Of course everyone makes mistakes, but at least here they don't cost any lives, so there's no reason to get really upset with one another. Those who do deserve the raised flag and subsequent closer scrutiny from the mods. my 2©

reply to post by neformore


what is rnc dnc? would it be possible to post the handles of the misusers so normal members can be pre warned when they read posts that way they could hit the ignore user instead of slowly getting drawn in.
i have noticed lately in the uk papers that there seems to be more and more story sources accredited to ats. could it be disgruntled journos causing problems

Ok.. but what about this though. A secret Government agency set up ATS to help track radicals. Every time we post here our IP address and all the information that goes with it is kept in a database. Now we're all on the red list ...everyone of us. when the SHTF we'll all be the first to get two bullets in the head. You can't just quit the site either because you're already known to "them". It's the simplest and most effective form of counter insurgency. "They've" already won. How many of us are on this site? 500K?..just enough to fill up the fema coffins in georgia if you count our families and the references we've provided them from other websites? don't you see.

This was just a random thought I had this morning and this thread seemed like the perfect place to post it. I don't really believe it..Or do I?

[edit on 1-3-2009 by amazing]

reply to post by da pickles


RNC = Republican National Convention
DNC = Democratic National Convention

The big schmoozefests where our presidential candidates get picked