Members of AboveTopSecret.com: I'm Sad… And Maybe You Are Too…

reply to post by muzzleflash


I read your threads. They're interesting, and I take stuff out of them.

They are, however, so deep that I have a hard time articulating much to contribute. I do refer back to them from time to time. I find them very useful as source material. So don't stop, please.

reply to post by intrepid


Fantastic episode! Very well put together and PERFECTLY shows how ridiculous racial prejudice is.

Let's just pray that some respect and civility can be brought back into the vital social tool of debate and discussion.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I'm not sad...i'm pissed off.

You're probably not gonna like what i have to say, but i'm gonna say it anyway.

i've been a registered member here for very nearly a decade, and i lurked for a time before that....i remember when simon was still running the show..

i've watched the community grow, and evolve, and i have noticed the trend you've described...i attribute it to a combination of the fact that this is a publicly accessible forum, the people joining up over the last few years, the evolving ruleset of this place, and certain heavy-handed moderators (absolutely not gonna name names, so don't anybody waste your time asking).

one of the things that pisses me off the most is the infiltration of this place by "political agents" "provocateurs" and "paid shills"...i think that was where things started to go wrong....when they started showing up, things started to get nasty...and it's not as if we can ban them for having an opinion...and that's what they count on. they deliberately piss people off, and come just shy of breaking T&C, so nothing can be done to them...and of course, being the inquisitive, argumentative group of truth-seekers we are, everything NEEDS to make sense, everything NEEDS to be logical, so it's not even as if we can simply ignore these yobs either......so the arguments continue....

the thing about these people is that they either truly believe in the things they're saying, or they're paid to believe in them, or they genuinely love being disruptive, or they're paid to be disruptive. and because of the ruleset here, we're not allowed to call them out on their BS, or dig up the particulars of whether or not they're paid, and expose them...we hafta politely sit here, and let it continue...i think that's one of the biggest irritations to "ATS old timers"..of which i am one.....and i think that's why a lot of our great old ones have decided to walk away from this place.....you can't win a debate against an opponent who's paid to keep it going, or is too delusional to accept that they're wrong, and concede...

i took a break from this place for a while, not too long ago....when i started posting again, i found that this place was worse off than when i left...more bickering, more disruptive idiots, more shills, more agents, i remember when i could participate in a political debate without being called names....but the agents hafta keep the myth of the left/right paradigm alive....otherwise the whole house of cards comes down....can't have that, can we?

and then there's the lunatics, and disruptive idiots......like the "holographic planes" people in the 9/11 discussions, or the "nobody died" crowd that shows up, and absolutely f**king RUINS every single goddamn thread on Sandy Hook, to the point where now we can't even talk about the goddamn event, without feeling like we're gonna get banned...or how about the "1+1=7, because god invented all the numbers" people in the religious debates......or the people who inject religious nonsense into topics that have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with religion...

ATS is a world gone mad...much like the real world, there are not enough of us left who seek actual truth, and who practice common sense, and decency...who care about facts, and reality, rather than fantasy, opinion, and pleas to emotion, and what social media tells them is important...

the ATS i remember is dead. maybe we can bring it back, but i'm not holding my breath..

A week with no religious threads? Sounds difficult... Get this, God bless you anyway!!!

I, myself have participated in many religious threads which happen to be my favorites, I also participate in political threads when I get fed up with the rhetoric.

Theses forums are great for that purpose!! The issue isn't the topic, I'm surprised that as the owner of this site you miss the real issue... It becomes the way you describe when it is ALLOWED to become personal.

We can debate anything but once you say something like, "THATS NOT THE WAY IT IS STUPID!!". you #ed up. One of the last things I witnessed prior to being exiled from the unmentionable hell, was a MOD telling me that he wasn't surprised by my opinion due to the environment I was raised in.

A MOD trying to insult a member!!! This is what's wrong with these forums!! Perhaps if the MOD's were more involved with the hotter threads and actually did some moderating as their title describes we'd have a more informative thread as opposed to shouting matches.

Anyway, that's my 2 cent for what it's worth... At the risk of sounding like a complete dick I must say that we are living in the most interesting times in the history of our existence on this planet, there will be many arguments in these forums because a lot of people are posting "wakeup calls" and people hate waking up so obviously you'll get some #... But let's try to keep the name calling and deviation from topic to a minimum for a more effective "awakening".

Sorry if I offend, wasn't my intention, and by the way, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!!!

ketsuko
reply to post by muzzleflash

 

I read your threads. They're interesting, and I take stuff out of them.

They are, however, so deep that I have a hard time articulating much to contribute. I do refer back to them from time to time. I find them very useful as source material. So don't stop, please.

Thanks, I'll keep hooking it up.
I admit it's kind of a mess in terms of formatting and organization, so I'll work on addressing those issues to improve readability and flow.

On topic, I believe that the main reason such heated debates get out of hand is a result of impatience combined with ignorance of the very issues being debated.

So the cure would be patience and education, but yet these things cannot be forced they have to be sought and taught.

No one's perfect though, I am impatient often and remain ignorant of many things as anyone else.
So the key is to keep fighting the battle against thine own self (one's own dark side).
Help others help themselves, etc.

OK! I am in! Merry Festivus everone!!

reply to post by Daedalus


I'll be completely honest here, I haven't been here long and imagine you have much better sight than me with regrads to this site and its evolution.

But the way you describe it as wild and full of paid shills, I haven't seen that here as obvious as it is at unmentionable.

The psycho that owns that place is a PAID shill and his mods are lackeys that play the same role as Tatum Channing in "This is the end"!!

This place is GREAT in comparison... Very calm and organized, the only thing needed here is more movement, like you know, a person can come in, leave, come back in 15 minutes and see at least 100 new threads...Other than that this place is great!!

I feel I can actually post here without being attacked from 6 sides plus a gang of mods!!!

I'll see man, I'm going to start some nice controversial threads in a few days see how that works...

Peace and enjoy the Holy Days!!!

Totally agree SO,ATS has become a particularly entrenched, divisive and nasty place over the last 2 years or so.
We used to argue on here and we had the odd bigot or nutter here and there but mostly we'd agree to disagree or duke/debate it out in a good natured, good spirited way.
Whether it's the economy, the fact that ATS is now more mainstream, thus appealing to a more mainstream (stupid) way of conversing and arguing, or whether everyone really is just walking around ready to flip out and fight at a moments notice, I don't know... It's sad having watched ATS become poisoned and bitter and like a cesspool of political, racial and sexuality hate-filled nutjobs.

I hope your plan works and wish it luck.

We've had many announcements over the years about "Ending the hatred" and all of that and if anything, it's just got worse on here... and that poison has spread from Islam and Anti-semitism, to Politics, Religion, Sexuality, Gender, Immigration and just about every other topic on here.

If there's a discussion, there's someone spouting poison on it.

Double Post!

reply to post by intrepid


Hi!
I remember that episode of Star Trek!
I'm an original Trekker!
I still have stuff from the original fan club!

www.wikihow.com...

Do you remember telshia?
No fair Googling it!!!

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Back on topic!
Haven't read the whole thread yet,
I have to go do some last minute mingling
with the Christmas crazies!

But, I think what is going on here,
is just a delayed reaction to what is happening in society overall!
Even on Facebook, a supposedly benign social site,
the 'meanies' have been coming out of the woodwork!

It's like there is something in the water!
Maybe that is the real zombie apocalypse!!!
Pretty scary! People lose it over the smallest,
most insignificant stuff! WT_!
See...we even have an abbreviation for it!

I'm afraid the only thing that can save us,
is an alien invasion where everyone on Earth
has to work together in order to survive!
Uuuh, yeah! We'll see how that works out!

I like your idea! Count me in!
WOQ

I read this an wondered: Is it possible that the internet is actually a curse on humanity? lol.

Hi SO

I applaud your call for basic tolerance and respect.

What is it with humans that we feel the need to demand that all others must hold identical views to our own? Do we not know that we are all truly 100% unique? Why then do we try to insist on conformity?

But anyway... this is just my voice of support for an idea that I am already totally bought into: let us accept that we each hold different ideologies and beliefs. Let us debate them and even vifgorously so. But let us not demand that another must change in order for us to feel okay and secure in our own views.

S&F for you!

reply to post by Daedalus



Bingo Daedalus. My sentiments exactly.

reply to post by blupblup

Whether it's the economy, the fact that ATS is now more mainstream, thus appealing to a more mainstream (stupid) way of conversing and arguing, or whether everyone really is just walking around ready to flip out and fight at a moments notice, I don't know...

There are certainly areas of your post I'd disagree with, but this one I actually do agree with a part of.

My wife and I were just discussing it this morning and were both able to quickly come up with examples in real life, not on ATS. She has an account here but rarely comes on. It's something I think we're seeing over all though. Have you seen a Christmas with LESS Christmas spirit than this one?? If so, how long ago? When? I mean in tangible ways, too.

It's not just that I haven't found the spirit for lights or anything this year.....my whole neighborhood for blocks around is a small fraction of what it would normally be for beautiful displays ranging from simple to silly on size.

I think ATS is what it's always been on this, personally? A reflection of the larger world it's content comes from. We can be better than average for spotting what has the rest of the world at each others throats tho...and we sure ought to try, anyway. Just my opinion.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


There is a lot of bad feeling going around in the world.

Some days I feel like there is a powder keg sitting out there ready to explode. I keep hoping we'll back down, but I'm not sure we can. I'm afraid there really are at least two Americas out there with completely different ideas on how this country should proceed and those two visions are completely incompatible because they are antithetical.

St Udio

khnum


i was warning friends & aquaintances for 32 years, in places i lived from DC , NC, SC, FL, AZ,,, that a "new Pearl Harbor " event by Arabs crashing aircrafts into the WTC & Pentagon would happen one day

there are one or two members of ATS who read my posts regarding the monetary/currency/gold & PM=banker schemes under way- & in the open -

we (myself included) continue to buy expensive ISP service, continue to pay outrageous fees to bloated corporations...and keep awaiting the anticipated customer rejection of those bloated prices but the extreme deflation i keep hoping for will never materialize because the masses will still spend their last $20 bill on digital connectivity rather than build up a pantry or accrue a stash of barter goods...
[[i guess my own worldview can be deemed a 'Alice in Wonderland' fantasy and that the anti-gun & progressive liberal 'wonderland' is a more realistic model to embrace for a fruitful life...]]

 

here is a interesting link....See what word was coined in your year of birth

my word is TV...yep Television


find your own word first used in the year of your birth .. here...
blog.oxforddictionaries.com...


the search box is not complicated


enjoy

edit on rd31138781378623492013 by St Udio because: (no reason given)

Bada Bing is the word for 1965,my vision I had of the next terrorist attack was multiple cities with suitcase nukes set on altimeters in civilian aircraft than God this hasn't happened I had this vision about 10 years ago.Indian scientists have proven that a cell phone tower will collapse a bee colony and butterflies and ladybirds aren''t to keen on them either but who cares if your starving if you've got the latest angry birds app downloaded.Despite the few resident reason and logic common sense nazis here that buy the official explanations of all things this is still the only place left where you can discuss alternative thought without too much negativity.

Im getting fed up with the fact everything seems to be catogorsied as Right or Left with no inbetween or comprimise, even issues have nothing to do with right/left politics seems to end being dragged into it ?
I have even seen one person labled a leftist just beacuse they held a diffrent opnion from the poster and it had nothing to do it ? And the star system just seems a way of political back patting.

darkbake
[
Even when Obama is pushing for N.S.A. surveillance, which is very totalitarian... I don't see much real debate about it...

edit on 23amMon, 23 Dec 2013 02:29:42 -0600kbamkAmerica/Chicago by darkbake because: (no reason given)

That because there isnt much to debate Right left or inbetween most people despise the NSA spying.

reply to post by crazyewok


I hope you weren't talking about me when we were disagreeing about disaster preparedness. I was using communist/socialist governments as a means of getting those kinds of massive public works projects going because I was thinking of China, although not even China does those things to build disaster preparedness projects. They seem to be engaged in public works of ego stroking to prove how modern and powerful they are.

I wasn't implying I thought you were leftist only that I thought a more leftist control oriented state would be able to mobilize and force its citizens to build the kind of things you suggested.

reply to post by mikegrouchy


You got that one wrong Friend!