The Armpit of ATS

a reply to: Mike Stivic

edit on 7-1-2018 by Mike Stivic because: self imposed 12 hour post ban

hahahaha don't OD when you rejoin us

a reply to: six67seven

All "Í just shat myself" AMAs should go in the dissecting disinformation forum.

I'll write something up with my real name soon.

Just look for the title

"I'm L'Ron Hubbard and I just shat myself, ask my E-meter anything"


I will raise ATS' IQ and make it bigger than Amazon!

originally posted by: six67seven
But if these wise individuals would refrain from authoring threads in the Political Mud-pit (the Armpit of ATS), or cut down their authored threads in this forum by 75%, and if participation dropped by a significant amount, I can only imagine where their/your attention would be directed and the ATS-worthy threads with which we'd be blessed.

Aliens and UFO's? Secret societies that pretend to be special? The fanciful and attention-grabbing stories conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and David Icke who can hardly get anything right and certainly won't mention anything of importance regarding the topic of propaganda, brainwashing, this system of things (a.k.a. the Matrix to some people in that so-called "Truth movement") and the god of this system of things and his activities and main objective partially described at Jeremiah 23:27,28 in honest translations of the bible?

Jeremiah 23:27,28

They intend to make my people forget my name by the dreams they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot my name because of Baʹal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream relate the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully.”

“What does the straw have in common with the grain?” declares Jehovah.

ATS basically shows how distracted people are to the only conspiracy of deception that matters. The text above is both meant figuratively (what the name stands for as well as Jehovah's will and commandments for mankind being of no concern to someone, going their own way) as well as literally (the actual name itself). And hiding in plain sight is a favorite tactic (by for example arguing about spelling while ignoring the name has been replaced in most bible translations by "the LORD", "the Lord" or "God" to obscure the matter; pretending God's name is ineffable, unpronouncable or means "lord", among other techniques such as telling people God has many names or that it's Jesus, or that that's one of the many names, all lies).

Look, we are set in our ways. Let's acknowledge that, quit throwing feces at each other (I'm guilty too), and quit acting as if our next reply within a Political Mud-pit thread is going to swing someone's political opinion. Your attention and effort can be much more useful elsewhere - I promise!

Like not wasting it on politics. Don't worry, people are pretty set in their ways regarding other subjects as well. Plenty of walls to run into over and over. I like the way the person below describes the situation at the start of his talk as: "Ours have been called an 'age of doubt' and without question it's getting harder and harder to convince people of anything." Unless it's tickling their ears, that's the only thing missing from that point.

Nobody here needs to bother bringing forth the feces as usual, or the tar and feathers like the self-professed "Christians" described in the video below (6:36):

Jehovah and his witnesses vs nationalism, patriotism and this system of things

This man wasted a lot of time on the so-called "Truth Movement" as well and he still hasn't gotten much closer to understanding what's really going on as described in the bible regarding this system of things and various organizations or entities described as various symbolic beasts and other depictions like Babylon the Great, subjects he still refers to as "New World Order", "the elite" and "Matrix", showing he hasn't gained much understanding about it even though he says he's taking his information from the bible now. But he still makes some good points about topics such as aversion (after 5 minutes), one just needs to realize where their actual aversion is directed at, it's not just the bible itself but also its Author and in particular those telling the truth about Him (which is the result of a very long and ancient campaign by the god of this system of things working on what's described at Jer.23:27 and related subjects elsewhere, such as "teachings of demons", "contradictions... falsely called knowledge", " disguising himself as an angel of light", "disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness", etc.):

I agree with the OP to some extent. The really fascinating content is being overshadowed by politics and current events.

The owners should design a filter to shunt that crap into its own subforum, so that the conspiracy/fringe content returns to dominate the New and Recent topics pages.

Frankly, the best content is the stuff that's archived.

originally posted by: Lurker1
I agree with the OP to some extent. The really fascinating content is being overshadowed by politics and current events.

The owners should design a filter to shunt that crap into its own subforum, so that the conspiracy/fringe content returns to dominate the New and Recent topics pages.

Frankly, the best content is the stuff that's archived.

I agree the owners could do something to assist, but in truth, it's a societal problem, right? We, the people consuming/seeking/addicted to the garbage/gossip/poison/drug are the ones who need to take a look in the mirror. Do we really need to spend hours a week in the Political Mud-pit? And in order to answer that, each needs to ask him/herself, 'what is the pull that takes me to the mud-pit?' If it's just get a laugh, or feel like slinging mud as a release, then so be it - but again, in the end, there is absolutely nothing to be gained. Just as I thought this rant would be, it's like screaming at the sky.

The participants are to blame.

originally posted by: SolAquarius
a reply to: six67seven
I keep hearing users encouraging people in these rants to post something they are interested in.

i.e. something that would 'tickle their ears' (as predicted at 2 Timothy 4:3,4). In case you don't know what that means, perhaps Danny Kaye's usage of the phrase can help after 4:20:

It might also help to see an example of a story, idea/philosophy or just something that tickles the ears of many people:

Psychology: Dawkins&Krauss selling the philosophy and contradiction that nothing is something

You may want to see the preceding video as an introduction. Oh, and btw, the 2 supposed 'wise' men above are not the only ones misusing the word "nothing" to talk in "contradictions....falsely called knowledge*" (*: Latin: scientia which means "knowledge"; King James Version has: "science"; Greek: gnosis; 1 Timothy 6:20). Stephen Hawking and many others have jumped on the same bandwagon. Discussed below from 16:10 - 23:04:

a reply to: six67seven

Look, we are set in our ways. Let's acknowledge that, quit throwing feces at each other (I'm guilty too), and quit acting as if our next reply within a Political Mud-pit thread is going to swing someone's political opinion. Your attention and effort can be much more useful elsewhere - I promise!

As a Trump supporter, I couldn't agree more Guilty of doing the same myself, and FYI, there is nothing wrong with longing for the old days of ATS. We used to know how to put aside politicking and investigate/discover/learn/expose

Always nice to be reminded of that, 67

Star+Flag

originally posted by: Lurker1
The owners should design a filter to shunt that crap into its own subforum, so that the conspiracy/fringe content returns to dominate the New and Recent topics pages.

There already is a customizable filter, it's the 'My ATS' feature.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Lurker1
The owners should design a filter to shunt that crap into its own subforum, so that the conspiracy/fringe content returns to dominate the New and Recent topics pages.

There already is a customizable filter, it's the 'My ATS' feature.

That only works for threads you've posted in or subscribed to.

a reply to: Lurker1


You can also 'favorite' forums which gives you a snapshot of those forums.

I will say this the current iteration of ATS makes for great study material for people becoming polarized.

If you can center yourself and enter a neutral state of mind it's fascinating to analyze how cult like each side of the spectrum is and how they both go to new lows to one up each other. They differ in ideology but are the same in petty tactics.

It's both fascinating and terrifying because these groups are now so polarized they can not find any common ground.

It looks like all those prophets who were trying to warn us about divide and conquer were right.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Lurker1

You can also 'favorite' forums which gives you a snapshot of those forums.

Respectfully, I don't want a snapshot. I would like ATS to return to and preserve its roots.

I've been here a long time, well before I actually joined. I know how much treasure there is to be found in the archives.

originally posted by: Lurker1
Respectfully, I don't want a snapshot. I would like ATS to return to and preserve its roots.

The past is the past, I gave you some suggestions on how to modify the site to fit your needs but you want everyone else to change to suit you. Not likely to happen.

a reply to: Lurker1

I'm with you, Lurker. Those were the good days. ATS is still, in my humble opinion, one of the last bastions of free speech and alternative discussion. There still is no denying the number of conspiratorial/alternative topics that now take a backseat to politics, but as others have pointed out this is likely just a reflection of the offline demographics. Politics has invaded many spheres of everyday life, and it is an unfortunate reality we all live in.

Everyone has something to sell. Something they want to convince you is the best item you can possibly own, while accusing their competitors of wanting to sell you damaged goods. It isn't one particular ideology either. Sadly it seems like we just can't get enough of it though.

Wishful thinking, perhaps. I don't expect/wish to see anyone change anything. More so just an expression of longing for the past, in what some would consider the Internet's "glory days"

ATS is and will continue to be the best community on the Internet without a doubt. I am sure the petty politicking will cease when our collective society grows up and relearns the meaning of "compromise." Either that or we'll tear one another apart, and destroy the civilization we've worked so hard to build. Our ancestors who fought and died for this nation and its Constitution. Sad part is there are already some who couldn't care less which way this works out.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Lurker1
Respectfully, I don't want a snapshot. I would like ATS to return to and preserve its roots.

The past is the past, I gave you some suggestions on how to modify the site to fit your needs but you want everyone else to change to suit you. Not likely to happen.

Kind of a dick, aren't you.

a reply to: Lurker1


Why? Because you don't like the available solutions?

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

Nice response, said it better than I could have. As I mentioned in another thread, whether there's an agenda to add flags and participation to these types of threads or not, the membership has to take note to change from these type of threads. What will help is to stop flagging, stop relying to the obvious political troll threads that are so common now in the Mud Pit.