------FORUM GUIDELINES------

Is this still a CONSPIRACY FORUM ? Surely ALL issues should be discussed, be it medicinal, Therapeutic, Spiritual and if some natural plantation can help with all of these issues and its not allowed to be discussed, then this is NOT a conspiracy forum, but a well controlled propaganda forum.
Which is it?

Originally posted by Springer

It makes no sense.

What I want to know is how do you determine legitimate criticism from all of the melodrama?

Every time any of you owners post a thread the flak begins. And it's usually petty of course.

But I assume there is something serious somewhere in there.
I'm glad I don't have you guy's jobs.

I appreciate the efforts everyone puts into the website though.
Keep up the good work.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Now that 217 Members of Congress have decided that all US Citizens shall be treated as enemy combatants, it makes sense to launch this new forum to discuss several matters of importance. They are:

1) The unconstitutional domestic surveillance of the NSA

2) The militarization of police in the United States and around the world

3) The rise of heavy-handed or disproportionately extreme police actions

4) Conspiracies surrounding the war on drugs in the United States

5) The US (and international) drug laws that impose disproportionate penalties

6) The incarceration society in the US and the overcrowded prisons and policies that keep them that way



All of the above are issues of great concern....but im a little puzzled at the lack of concern of our poisoning of our air-water-food with GMO's in almost all of our food supply, Fluoride/Radiation and toxic chemical waste from fracking..and Chemtrails spraying high levels of aluminum/barium and synthetic biological nano fibers we are breathing in every day. By the time any of your arguments are halfway settled we will either all be dead or have our DNA reprogrammed and on our way to becoming the master slave race for the elite.

Originally posted by blaenau2000
Is this still a CONSPIRACY FORUM ? Surely ALL issues should be discussed, be it medicinal, Therapeutic, Spiritual and if some natural plantation can help with all of these issues and its not allowed to be discussed, then this is NOT a conspiracy forum, but a well controlled propaganda forum.
Which is it?

If I might make a comment with regard to this general sentiment. Many of us have been hoping for a good long time that the policy on this would change for the aspects of the drug topic that do impact every level of society and culture. Political, Economic and Social. Finally, after very bad experiences multiple times in the past that are there for folks to see in forums, SO and ATS Staff have decided to allow this again.

It is their site, their rules and their prerogative...but just as importantly? The recreational nature is illegal and could actually put ATS in a position of legal troubles if allowed to run wild. I say that as a site owner of a different site and designer myself, totally unrelated and unaffiliated here, but quite aware of how that whole thing can play out badly.

I'm very happy they have changed policy on this for what they have. In the same breath, I'd be more than happy to see them shut the whole topic RIGHT BACK down ...if it gets all crazy again like it has before and puts the smallest risk toward everything else built here. One topic isn't worth it...not even remotely close.

Perhaps one bunny's opinion alone, but a strongly enough held one to want to voice it.

reply to post by blaenau2000


Bluntly, its a forum to discuss the political and conspiracy issues of the day, and not one to brag about/discuss ways of getting high (because you can do that elsewhere on the net) or one where you can tell us how high you got (because - frankly - no one really cares, and such repeated discussion is damn boring)

Hope that clears it up. If it doesn't, ask away.

reply to post by neformore


But there is a middle ground, Nef.

I don't think anyone is asking for a platform to discuss their favourite ways of "chasing the dragon" or list their all time favourite "Scooby snacks", to think that is absurd. If anyone does sink that low then ban them, it's as simple as that. Meanwhile, intellectual discussion on the subject could continue.

reply to post by LiveForever8


I believe more clarity on the matter is coming, so I think its best to wait until it does, my opinion there is a very rough one

This subject really does deserve its own forum. I'd hope that it would be open to similar issues in other countries as well, i.e. not just be about the evils of the US government against its own citizens.

Originally posted by LiveForever8

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

4) Conspiracies surrounding the war on drugs in the United States

5) The US (and international) drug laws that impose disproportionate

And an important note: While we are now allowing the discussion of drug-related topics in an open, public, and searchable forum, we WILL NOT tolerate advocacy of recreation use in any way. Such posts will be removed, and the author's account terminated.

I really don't see the point in this, it is just going to get a lot of people in trouble. Either allow full and frank discussion, on all matters related to the subject, or nothing at all. I personally think that the world powers disallowing the general public access to certain drugs is one of the biggest conspiracies there is. If I was to write a thread about the topic not once would I advocate said drugs nor would I discuss recreational use, yet I can bet you anything it would be removed.

It's like trying to discuss the NWO without being able to mention the Illuminati or the Rothschild's or trying to examine the increased surveillance society without being able to mention the NSA.

I'm suspicious as to the motives to be honest. Why are we treated as children?

I look at your question this way.....many like to post here about 2nd amendment issues as a matter of the bill of rights and the constitution but don't care much to turn the thing into a gun forum or a promotional for the militia movement.

This new turn of events has just restored my faith in ATS!

Excellent forum idea - I can think of hundreds of topics that should be in here!

Question: Can we discuss items such as drug trafficking by the upper echelons such as the Bush dynasty and the UN? Is that what we mean my 'The War on Drugs'?

Originally posted by Seiko
reply to post by nenothtu

 

The dea cracking down on legally prescribed drugs in certain u.s. states is one example. When a doctor prescribes a drug for a medical reason and it is used in accordance with the said prescription but the federal law supersedes it's usage. So we find federal agencies being used to stop people from obtaining drugs that are beneficial to their well being because of their reputation for recreational use.

This is an example of overreaching federal powers against a segment of it's own population.

Without trying to create this debate in this thread it is something that Obama said he would stop yet it continues under his administration.

I would think it would be enough to mention the substance is legal because of beneficial uses in some cases, without going into the details of glaucoma or cancer treatment, and keep the focus on boneheaded federal enforcement policy. It seems to me to be a matter of where the focus lies, No need to toot the trumpet on the benefits or extoll the alleged virtues - those are covered to death elsewhere. HERE, conspiracy and bad government are the more directly related subjects, more appropriate for the focal point of a post.

Going off on a tangent and saying "THEY ought not to do that, because..." and beginning to dreamily list the lovely qualities of said compound isn't really necessary. That detracts from itemizing the actual abuses of power by the nefarious gummint agents.

Originally posted by blaenau2000
Is this still a CONSPIRACY FORUM ? Surely ALL issues should be discussed, be it medicinal, Therapeutic, Spiritual and if some natural plantation can help with all of these issues and its not allowed to be discussed, then this is NOT a conspiracy forum, but a well controlled propaganda forum.
Which is it?

I guess I just don't comprehend how saying "yah maaan, this is like some really good crap, dood, and you should give it a whirl" advances the discussion of conspiracies. Where is the conspiracy angle in extolling the virtues of any given substance? Shouldn't the focus be on the, you know, maaan, CONSPIRACY?

I believe the discussion of drugs was forbidden the first time because people couldn't discuss it like adults, and it usually devolved into a pissing contest between stoners and puritans Each side would stake out their territory and latch on like a bulldog, and away we'd go, trashing thread after thread in fruitless battles unrelated to the thread, directly related to which side was "right" and geared towards winning recognition of the various alleged virtues of the substances. When someone is convinced they have no virtues, no amount of squealing is going to convince them otherwise. Better to focus on the Bad Men In Black Fatigues, because most of us already know they have no listable virtues, so that we can focus on their bad behavior that will directly affect lots of other areas besides drugs.

.

Originally posted by LiveForever8
I don't think anyone is asking for a platform to discuss their favourite ways of "chasing the dragon" or list their all time favourite "Scooby snacks" to think that is absurd.

The membership in the past asked and the forum was provided but as Neno just pointed out it most often seemed to deteriorate into the following...

"yah maaan, this is like some really good crap, dood, and you should give it a whirl"

If anyone does sink that low then ban them, it's as simple as that.

You've been around for a while and you should know that always ends with 'Conspiracy' and 'they are the MAN' and wont let us have 'Freedom of Speech' etc.

Meanwhile, they agreed to the T & C before they were able to post their views and opinions.

Meanwhile, intellectual discussion on the subject could continue.

Time will tell eh?

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

And an important note: While we are now allowing the discussion of drug-related topics in an open, public, and searchable forum, we WILL NOT tolerate advocacy of recreation use in any way. Such posts will be removed, and the author's account terminated.

I think we all know the boobs will still do it, but enforcing the rules on those who do, instead of all of us being assumed to be boobs, is a much needed step. There is no reasonable explanation for misunderstanding those guidelines.

As for the new forum as a whole, awesome! This should streamline many discussions as some of the topics that will be discussed here, would have arguably fallen under several possible forums without this one.

-> Might want to create a breaking bad forum too, it's almost time

reply to post by tallcool1

I would say that the majority of us have moved beyond the left-right illusion

Oh Come on!, you must be living in illusion if you think most users here are equally dispersed. Many users here are largely on one side of political spectrum, i don't even need to mention which side..

reply to post by neformore


Well that's fair enough.

I do think clarity is needed. A topic such as this needs to be given the respect it deserves.



reply to post by SLAYER69


I understand that but, like I said, ban members who don't respect the subject matter properly. And if they, or others, scream "CONSPIRACY!" then point them in the direction of the T&C's. As long as the T&C's are clear and ATS has defined what's acceptable and unacceptable then nobody can complain.

At the moment there is no room to manouver. All I'm asking is that for ATS to loosen the handcuffs a bit.

Time will tell, indeed.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I recently watched a documentary called "The House I Live In" about the war on drugs which dealt with some of these topics! It was a very eye opening insight into the war on drugs and how in over 30 years has not reduced
drug use In any way but has made a hell of a lot of money for those aspects of enforcement that deal with it!
I found it very interesting how all criminalization of drugs always has to do with keeping down one race or another! How this latest shift on the war on drugs really is more about class warfare and I could not believe that
there are people incarcerated for the rest of their lives for non violent possession while there are murderers out after 20 years!

Originally posted by LiveForever8
At the moment there is no room to manouver. All I'm asking is that for ATS to loosen the handcuffs a bit.

Time will tell, indeed.

Agreed

However, the T & C s exist already and those who cannot seem to control themselves wanna fall on their swords and be seen as martyrs because they feel they have no room to maneuver within those already existing parameters.

What makes you assume that would change?

Sounds like an interesting forum. Maybe a good forum to avoid if you don't want to be observed by the government Oh what the hell, I don't mind letting those in these agencies know I exist.

reply to post by SLAYER69

Originally posted by SLAYER69
However, the T & C s exist already and those who cannot seem to control themselves wanna fall on their swords and be seen as martyrs because they feel they have no room to maneuver within those already existing parameters.

What makes you assume that would change?

Nothing. I don't think it would change. There will always be people who cannot discuss these matters with a genuine academical/philosophical/historical/spiritual mindset. Of those people I say: Let them fall on their swords.

Change the T&C's to allow serious discussion and ban those who can't stay within the T&C's. This might mean more work for the Mods for a couple of weeks as people push it to the limits but eventually everyone will see the line and dare not cross it.