Are we asking the right questions ?

sorry hit return too early lol editing now


right sorry about that .........hmmm off to a great start

anywho

Ive frequented this site for years, though only joining about 18 months ago I have managed to view ATS most days, and when im able to, keep it open on what ever device im using to watch the new posts flow in.

now over the last 18 months there has been many many threads closed, posts removed and members banned.
this is something i keep my eye on as im always on the hunt for shills and love to see them targeted by posters and eventually struck off by the staff at ATS

however, there has been from what I can see an increase in posts/threads/members being removed for no apparent reason
there was one yesterday infact where the member was banned, where another member has asked why, for no apparent reason .....that post gained quite a few stars .....alas im struggling to find it now

www.abovetopsecret.com... this 1


so this is my question to ATS

have you and how many times have you been contacted by a national government with requests regarding to
a post
a thread
or a member
???????

this being the site that it is and the people it attracts it stands to reason that this site is indeed heavily monitored with many topics and posts that would be of interest to many Govs and indeed the posters themselves

so I ask the best staff on the internet

Has a Gov made requests or demands
if so how many
and if so what for

many thanks ATS but ive not seen anyone pose this question
and recent events coupled with some unusual activity begs the question

i hate it when looking through old threads to see banned members and would like to know why as some of these people put in real effort .

i have even suggested that we vote some back in but what do i know about running a website .

i think you would be daft not to believe that we are monitored here for input just my 2 cents though

my first account was deleted cause I used 420 in it : ).... but still havn't got 20 replys on this one... : ( regardless, I stopped caring because if we really wanted to deny ignorance, there would be no limits to what we can say. #$/^ the thought police and petition the site owner. This is rediculous that apparantly the admins are becoming sychophantic @$$ wipes. Anyone who can, please check out my intro nd comment so I can finally post the original reason I join thed site?? Yall are monkeys sometimes. Nyways, to the few good men on here, respect.

reply to post by Neocrusader

Originally posted by Neocrusader
this being the site that it is and the people it attracts it stands to reason that this site is indeed heavily monitored with many topics and posts that would be of interest to many Govs and indeed the posters themselves

I have never understood why people entertain this idea.

As much as I enjoy ATS it is surely not of interest to the authorities at all, other than to give them a good giggle every now and then.

When was the last time anyone or anything groundbreaking and original graced these boards?

reply to post by LiveForever8


well generally the premise is that ATS is somehow a front of part of the NSA/CIA and there has indeed been some intriguing evidence ......not proof but evidence to support their belief
Me, im not so sure, where as I believe in the possibility, im not convinced

but as for watching ?

this is the biggest conspiracy website on the net
as you said
"As much as I enjoy ATS it is surely not of interest to the authorities at all, other than to give them a good giggle every now and then."
I was originally advised to come to this site by a serving member of british intelligence and SF, my former OC, whom was a major, the high flying type that hit major, then spent his time p****** people off so he wouldn't get promoted away from the field and strapped to a desk
with my background there are those that would be very interested in what im saying, considering the rhetoric and subject matter that is displayed on this site
to add to this I know that there are retired green berets, SEALS, delta, GSG9, SAS, SBS, SRR, CIA, MI5/6 and former/current serving members of a whole host of other units and organisations
there are people that post here with information you are not allowed to know, some people that have shown hostility to the Gov in their posts, and with their skill sets knowledge and connections pose a possible threat

we know of Gov and UN paid shills ................it was posted on this very site
www.abovetopsecret.com...
the EU was just stupid enough to admit they do it with tax payers money

there are some very intelligent people here that can connect the dots just right and have the time and resources to conduct some very thorough investigations and analyses

and how many times have revelations or theories been put forward on ATS that months or years later turn out to be true
reviewing some of those older threads reveals some posters were bang on the money, with the occasional one that in my opinion MUST have had some kind of inside info or knew a damn site more than they were letting on

the support for manning, asange, wikileaks, occupy, anon, lulzsec ect ect.....knowing that members from the last 3 posted on this very site

if your Gov is watching everything ...as we know they are, they are watching ATS
if they don't keep an eye on ATS they are stupid.........


but still
im not accusing ATS of being some kind of Gov project
what im asking is
what, if any requests has been made to ATS with regards to posts and members
much the same as a company like google is now releasing its Gov request's

reply to post by Neocrusader


I'm just not buying it.

The President of the United States of America himself could be a proud member of ATS and I would still argue that this website couldn't boast a single "in the know" member. Green Berets, SEALS, delta, GSG9, SAS, SBS, SRR, CIA, MI5/6...all clueless as far as I'm concerned. (Side note: you know all of these people personally?)

As for previous ATS success stories; if you stab in the dark enough times you are bound to hit something eventually.

If the Gov has seriously approached ATS staff about members or posts they would never tell you.

reply to post by LiveForever8



Ok
That's your view and I'm cool with that
And as I've tried to explian, I'm asking a question about possible requests, not staying a fact
But to think that no one on this site has any inside info is a little naive

Yes I personally know 2 members well one former poster and one current

There are many posters here that through their posts reveal a lot to those of the same or similar background
Be it a term used, something referenced or an intentional hint
There's 2 posters here that by their photo avatar, despite their covered face and efforts not to reveal much, still have identifiers
Be it a quarter of an insignia, or an item of kit that is unique to or standard issue to certain units, there are clues

At the moment One of my jobs is to train non formed unit personel deploying within 4 months
I am always busy
These troops are subject matter experts and specialists in their field
From private to 3 star generals from chemical weapon specialists to the regional headquarters staff for an area of Afghanistan
I instruct
IED's construction and components
Counter IED tactics
Resistance to interrogation
Conduct after capture
CBRN ( chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear ) warfare and survival
And a whole host of other things that are either just general skills or subjects that I'm not happy mentioning on here
This is what Ive done half the time over the last 2 years
Do you not think think that I may just have some interesting info or insights
I know you have only my word on that
But when ATS was wondering if NATO was assisting the Libyan rebels, I had already trained 2 groups and sent them on their way .......my friend and colleague had been there as a MANPAD air warfare advisor

If nothing else the pattern of personel I train tells me what's happening in the next 6 months

Edit - that's not 2 groups of Libyan rebels, but 2 groups of personel deploying on the Libya op

Neo, I would have to agree with your assessment. We are all being watched and listened to everyday across the board whether its Facebook or emails to your family and friends. ATS is most certainly scrutinized more so than your average discussion forum site, given the high percentage of members on ATS that call things as they see them.

"Truth is tyranny in the empire of lies" and we here at ATS question everything in search of the truth. Knowledge of the truth is a major obstruction to the plans of ultimate and total control that are coming to fruition before our very eyes. The act of collectively questioning everything to either debunk or disprove certain conspiracies is plenty of reason for the shadow, sub ABC agencies to keep this site on their radar.

I gather from your last post that you are either current military or retired/separated military working for a civilian contractor, therefore I am pretty sure that you are well aware of how our military intelligence and federal intelligence agency gathering techniques work and the things that they look for in their gathering efforts.

Anyone who seriously believes that ATS is not being scrutinized by certain agencies is in complete denial of the motives, agenda, and abilities of the intel gathering agencies. 4 or 5 years ago on my old account before I lost my log in info I used to post whatever was on my mind with little concern. Now however I am much more mindful of what I post here, not that those who are watching and listening don't already know all they want but rather to reduce the footprint I leave on the web.

this isn't directed to anyone in particular,

it's not just our government either, presumably intl. govts would be forced to scour this place top to bottom looking for their own dissenters and such.

you don't think the Russians or Chinese have ever had this place pop up randomly in their intelligence?

with the amount of red flags this place brings up for both I would say an emphatic yes.

to think it's simply an American problem would be foolhardy.
those other countries were never hiding the fact they were spying in the first place.

it's more likely they just data mine everything we do here and categorize it for info harvest rather then actual realtime observation.

reply to post by Nucleardiver


Thought you'd be around
In fact kinda hoped for it as you yourself have left plenty of little drops over the years, more than I'm sure you were happy with, that has, as I'm sure you're aware revealed much about you
And the change in avatar about 6 months ago ......
This is possibly something that the other poster may not also understand, we notice these things, the little things, and over a time you build up your int picture on posters, and we recognise our own. Can't be helped, it's instinctive

So thanks for your supporting comment
I fear I don't always come across as intended in my written word lol
Much more of a practical/lecture based kinda guy
My writings limited to patrol reports or a few lines on a PowerPoint slide


But I'd still love to know
Has ATS had any such requests ?

reply to post by yourmaker


I agree entirely
I'm currently in Europe
I've just found if you address everything from an American angle it tends to help a little round here and is the easiest to use in examples

Often, the comments that get a member banned, a thread removed, etc. are deleted either by the offending member or by the staff (where you see the replacement message of a T&C violation, etc.). There could be U2U's involved, chat behavior, etc., etc. invisible to the membership at large, but that we as staff see prior to actions. Banning is not our first choice. A post ban and time to cool off is more preferable. Neither do we enjoy terminating a thread, but has to be done sometimes if some blatant back and forth is going on that has crossed the Terms & Conditions lines.

well generally the premise is that ATS is somehow a front of part of the NSA/CIA and there has indeed been some intriguing evidence ......not proof but evidence to support their belief
Me, im not so sure, where as I believe in the possibility, im not convinced

Having been behind the curtain for many years, I've seen no evidence of this.

I can think of only a few times where we've been asked for info, and this was in regards to folks who broke either US or International law and the requisite authorities had the proper papers, etc.. Some ATS members may remember these incidents as we were very open and transparent about it when they occurred. There was an ATS member, for example, that committed a very high-profile (national news coverage) shooting crime, and of course, we cooperated (the threads were already out there anyhow, on our forums). Same with an ex-member who posted actual classified information on the site. I won't name names or go into it more than that. The info about said member is around here for those who do the digging. (I'm even mentally blanking on one guy's last name).

The point is, even with the NSA snooping on every electronic communication, they don't have the manpower to properly go through it...only to follow up on hits based on defined criteria. Add to that, that unless they are targeting someone for other reasons that cause them to look at the person in the first place, they don't have anyone actually READING or LOOKING at the data that comes in and isn't flagged for actual review. Do you realize how many they'd have to have doing this? It's astronomical. Which is why I seriously doubt some alphabet agency is paying someone to be a member here (or on any other such site). And if they are....are you hiring?

Likewise, I've seen nothing to indicate any kind of government involvement with ATS. Just as any business, if a court officially asks us for information, a) it isn't for anything that isn't on the web in the forums anyhow, and b) we simply comply to the letter of the order. The ATS conspiracy comes up often enough to be laughable, but I know many newer members haven't seen it before. Just wait, you'll see it brought up 100's of times the longer you're a member....

Now however I am much more mindful of what I post here, not that those who are watching and listening don't already know all they want but rather to reduce the footprint I leave on the web.

With the recent revelations (though not really a surprise to most of the ATS membership), I'd hope that most are mindful of what they say in ANY electronic social media (especially Facebook, Twitter and other popular outlets).

Originally posted by LiveForever8
reply to post by Neocrusader

 

Originally posted by Neocrusader
this being the site that it is and the people it attracts it stands to reason that this site is indeed heavily monitored with many topics and posts that would be of interest to many Govs and indeed the posters themselves

I have never understood why people entertain this idea.

As much as I enjoy ATS it is surely not of interest to the authorities at all, other than to give them a good giggle every now and then.

When was the last time anyone or anything groundbreaking and original graced these boards?

The government announced its plans for a war on conspiracy theories years ago, pal. Were you sleeping under a rock?

Gov declares war on conspiracies. Biggest conspiracy website. Naaaah, they don't care about us! Duhhhhhh! Gee, George, which way diddee go? Which waaay diddee go??

reply to post by Gazrok


Aha! Thank you for confirming this. You hear that everybody? Classified information has been posted on ats. Is that original and new enough for you? Just how many public websites out there have had classified information posted on them? I'd say that's probably reason enough to keep an eye or two on this place... After all, its only a matter of time before it happens again... (que dramatic music)

Secret NSA deals? Not enough information.

Gov watching this site? Oh yeah!!! :up

reply to post by 3n19m470


Did I detect a hint of sarcasm?

Look, obviously they monitor this website, just like they monitor EVERY website. However, if you think they pay particular attention to this website because of it's membership, and their potential to reveal or discover something of major value, then you are deluded.

That's just my opinion after spending several years on ATS.

When I realized they were watching everything I said.
I didn't change a damn thing.
They should know what we think of them:
How detestable, arrogant and downright evil many of things being done in our name truly are.
They will defend it by saying it's to keep us all safe.
The only thing they are protecting is their power and wealth.
Neither of which was obtained under honest circumstance.