reply to post by Apocalyptic
Personally, I ignore most of the prediction and dream threads. After the first seven or eight times a newby comes to ATS and enters that first post
that says something like, "Hi, I'm new here, so please forgive this prediction..." my eyes started glazing over everytime a newby does this.
You're correct in that there is a LOT of noise, and a lot of "something's going to happen on __________ date" which is usually 1 week to 1 month
away. Of course, ATS is far, far more defined by other threads.
I also agree that people shouldn't disrupt their lives or harm themselves because of an ATS doom thread. If so, then that person was unstable
already. But, is it a good idea to stock up on emergency supplies like food, water, tools, medication, dog food, etc.? Sure. In fact, the US
government highly recommends a disaster kit. Right now, when you have power, a secure home to sit in, and plenty to eat and drink handy, it sure is
easy to dismiss those necessities. But, imagine tornadoes just ripped through your town (like the east coast a couple of weeks ago), suddenly you
need all of those things even if your home had not suffered direct damage. If you aren't prepared with at least 2 weeks of supplies, then you are
completely dependent upon government hand-outs. And what if a future response is more like that of the Katrina response? But, going out and spending
your savings all in a day because of a doom/gloom thread on ATS is a bit much, too.
You mentioned you were into UFOs. Personally, I'm not a "believer." Using that term is incorrect, but debunkers use it as a subtle discredit,
like you're a cultist *believing* in something intead of someone interested in the topic with a healthy skepticism and open minded curiosity about
the phenomenon. Therefore, I classify myself as the latter, not the former. A FANTASTIC book about UFOs that also weaves into it GOVERNMENT SECRECY
is Richard Dolan's "UFOS AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE." I thought I knew about UFOs, since I'd been reading about them since a kid. Not so
fast, I learned with every page of Dolan's book I turned.
In fact, I learned that I knew very little about the subject. You can learn a lot about something by reading how our government reacts to it. An
analogy comes to mind: it's like throwing POWDER on something INVISIBLE ---you don't actually see the object, but you see how the powder allows
you to see its shape. Highly recommended book. You will see the enormity and the extent of government secrecy, --and the lengths it will go to in
order to silence those who might speak, even a former Secretery of Defense (Forrestal) who was most likely murdered/assassinated/silenced. The
bizarre chain of events leading to his "suicide" while under suicide watch is worth reading in and of itself.