Open discussion about our beloved forums

I'm starting this thread not to cause an uproar, but to take a good hard look at why some things are allowed, and some things get snipped 5 minutes after being posted. Please do not mistake this for anything else than an open discussion. I firmly believe that ATS is the greatest discussion forum on the net. hence the reason why i am starting this thread... So here goes, these are a few things that i've questioned in my short time here posting at ATS. Please keep in mind that the politics and the rules were clear to me when i first started browsing these pages about 6 months before i signed up.

You all should know, it says respected foes on my profile..... if your name is listed under that category i have no respect for you... and i don't like you. people i respect don't qualify as my foes.

The fact that i cant be passionate about a subject and post my mind about it completely and with out fear of reprisals is BS. I understand completely and 100% about forum niceties and being polite, but it should apply to every one equally. If a person is doing everything they can to push buttons and stir up the poo pot, those people should be dealt with to the same degree as the people who put them in their place.

I have 111 posts as of this moment in time. Only one post, that was no larger than a paragraph, got me a ATS status of -880. Thats crap. My accountability shouldn't be ruined because of one post.

If you take a look at what i've posted over the past 111 you'll probably notice that most of them are insightful, and honest. You may even learn something or be motivated to research a little more based on something that i've said or another member has said... thats kind of the point i think. The ones that may raise a flag are a couple of one liners, or agreements.... BUT, I feel no need to repost in my own words what i think or feel about a topic if another member has already laid out my exact thoughts before i have.

I love this websight. i love the forum, i love the intelligent conversation it offers. But some times the old saying that rules were made to be broken comes to mind and i cant help but do what comes naturally to me. I also have the utmost respect for the 3 amigos and the fact that with out them, i wouldn't be able to post this here and now. The expertise they bring to the table, and the sometimes awe inspiring power of the prove it or get banned ultimatum is pretty effing cool.

In a place where the general concensous is DENY IGNORANCE, why are there so many ignorant emmeffers on here trying to get us riled up??? I'm not quite sure i understand the motivation of some members to even belong to this discussion forum.... why join something only to try and tear down what it is here for??? I'm not talking about debunkers or skeptics, i think a degree of skepticism is a good thing. I'm talking about blatant "thats stupid, no way, your a retard" type posts. that really pisses me off. Any one who has been here for a while knows exactly what i mean.

Any way, i guess what i'm getting at is that i want to hear some other peoples opinions and, or, experiences from this board... sometime i cant help but thinking people like me are trying their asses off to get a message to the world, only to have it fall upon deaf ears all the time....

Thanks guys!!!!
Patrick

Law and Order.

Morality and Integrity.

Thats all i got to say about your thought.

Law: We need laws so that things may be safe.

Order: With law comes order; essentially here in this community we have law and order that allows efficiency , thus allowing the share of knowledge being faster and more open.

Morality: Definition: concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct.

Morality in this case on ATS, allows a line to be drawn that seperates us from other websites on the very touchy subject of Conspiracies/Politics. With having morality being monitored, it allows a sort of haven be created to have a safe, enjoyable , and intellectual community so we wont have to be here chatting in fear (fear of ridicule or anger).

Integrity: moral soundness; "he expects to find in us the common honesty and integrity of men of business"; "they admired his scrupulous professional integrity"

We here at ATS need to have at least a decent amount of Integrity to allow ATS function as it is now. What i mean is that with integrity, it allows for a better, more intellectual , stimulating conversation that will not degrade into insults or petty remarks. What ATS is now, is because of the many good willed posters and staff and admin who have the integrity to not be such a jerk to fellow human beings. We have the integrity of holding the value of talking to another fellow human being higher than what a majority of other websites cannot do.


Thats my 2 cents on this

You've been posting here, what, less than two weeks?

I am suprised you're already making this thread. Why not sit a spell and develop your experience and opinions of the website.

Originally posted by SteveR
You've been posting here, what, less than two weeks?

I am suprised you're already making this thread. Why not sit a spell and develop your experience and opinions of the website.

Agreed!!! Looks like a good way to get rid of that neg. though.....

I don't even look at people's points or post bar. As I'm scrolling down a thread, I'm more likely to stop at a name I recognize than one I don't. So all you have to do, W3RLIED2, is get out there and post! Who cares about points? It's the words that matter.

Originally posted by watch_the_rocks
I don't even look at people's points or post bar. As I'm scrolling down a thread, I'm more likely to stop at a name I recognize than one I don't. So all you have to do, W3RLIED2, is get out there and post! Who cares about points? It's the words that matter.

very well said and I agree.

I love this place. I been here not too long either, like 4 months maybe? George Norry sent me. and how do you get a - points? did you so something wrong that your points got taken away? I think you are just ranting, no offence or nothing. I also been to many other boards and this is the best board of them all. I don't want to be in your foe list anytime soon. I think i'm scared now.


But see, this boards is for information. to get details and news and not only to chat or talk about issues. most of the time I just come around and read the news. alternative news. so I wouldn't worry too much about it. but you should check out the points section and see how you can get more.

I know there's some imaginary image this place has to uphold, but why can't we talk about something that is not a drug that could have such a huge positive impact on this planet in practically every aspect of everyday life, when every other day there's a new "100% positive proof of alien civilization on the hidden third sun" or "look at this face on the moon" thread muddying the waters and destroying this websites reputation? Stopping the useful threads and encouraging the fake/bogus/misleading threads makes this place seem like some sort of computer nerd-magik forum, and makes me ashamed to even read it.

I know eventually people will talk about hemp's other 'bad' plant genomes/families/whatever that are related to it, but that's what moderators are here for. And who cares if there are other forums for it, this is supposed to be a place for intelligent discussion!

The fact that misleading bullcrap posts are allowed in by the hundreds, but an actual good topic to discuss is so heavily frowned upon on a website who's motto is 'deny ignorance' just boggles my mind.

I see maybe five to ten threads on the recent post page a day that don't make me feel a little bit dumber, and I'm pretty sure my mind is about as open as it will go.

Arguments between members should stay between those members, or at least stay on topic in the thread they're in. There's far more you can complain about than little squabbles between someone you'll never actually meet.

Will this post get deleted too?

[edit on 26-12-2007 by alaskan]

Originally posted by alaskan
I know there's some imaginary image this place has to uphold, but why can't we talk about something that is not a drug that could have such a huge positive impact on this planet in practically every aspect of everyday life,

You can talk about it. Just as long as you don't talk about the illegal applications of it. (smoking, growing etc.) I've personally read quite a few thread on the industrial aspects of it or even the conspiracy behind it. (ie William Hearst and friends)

Regarding the OP, I agree with some points. I can't see any good coming from a "foe" list. What is that about anyway?

Some members have half the forum members on their foe list. It's just a useless feature if you ask me. In a forum that supposedly promotes respect and politeness, easy to identify foes will simply create the opposite effect.

[edit on 26/12/07 by ConspiracyNut23]

reply to post by W3RLIED2

Did you say something negative about religion or the masons? They're a little touchy around here about those things.

Originally posted by W3RLIED2
I have 111 posts as of this moment in time. Only one post, that was no larger than a paragraph, got me a ATS status of -880. Thats crap. My accountability shouldn't be ruined because of one post.

Your "one post" contained two insults directed at another member. We've gone out of our way to make it exceptionally clear that Courtesty Is Mandatory and Civility and Decorum Are Required.

It's unfortunate that you slipped in one post and were unable to comment on the topic without slagging off an insult. However, 95% of such occurrences take place quietly with the member replying, "sorry, won't happen again," via a private U2U rather than a lengthy post to open a thread.

Because of our requirements for civility, AboveTopSecret.com is not for everyone, we've made no excuses for that. We'll not be relaxing our time-proven board management techniques to accommodate any new influx of "passionate" contributors. If anything, we'll be tightening the application of our requirements, as seen in the most recent threads on the subject.

If you're focusing on the members instead of the topic it usually doesn't end well. That's a fairly common mistake to fall into. Are we here to discuss other members, or to discuss a topic, an issue, or a current event? Don't make the mistake or fall into the trap of feeding the trolls. There's an "ALERT" button at the bottom of every post. If someone is out of line then click on that button and vent to the staff. That's what we're here for.

To stay out of trouble.

• Stay on topic
  
• Avoid discussions on other members
  
• Let staff handle the trouble makers.
  

Originally posted by alaskan
I know there's some imaginary image this place has to uphold, but why can't we talk about something that is not a drug that could have such a huge positive impact on this planet in practically every aspect of everyday life, when every other day there's a new "100% positive proof of alien civilization on the hidden third sun" or "look at this face on the moon" thread muddying the waters and destroying this websites reputation?

who cares if there are other forums for it, this is supposed to be a place for intelligent discussion!

The fact that misleading bullcrap posts are allowed in by the hundreds, but an actual good topic to discuss is so heavily frowned upon on a website who's motto is 'deny ignorance' just boggles my mind.

amen, brother. unfortunately, this topic has already been beaten beyond death. I've even beat on this issue a considerable amount in the past. It's just one of those things you have to accept, like going through customs at the airport. We all know it's complete BS, and actually discredits what this place is supposed to stand for. My only guess is that the site owners are simply biased on certain topics, and use a vague TOS blanket statement to justify it as some type of family-safe policy (although we can post pictures of mutilated iraqis and jews in concentration camps until we go blue in the face).

Mind-boggling is indeed a great description. "Deny ignorance, unless it's something we would like you to ignore."

Originally posted by ConspiracyNut23

Originally posted by alaskan
I know there's some imaginary image this place has to uphold, but why can't we talk about something that is not a drug that could have such a huge positive impact on this planet in practically every aspect of everyday life,

You can talk about it. Just as long as you don't talk about the illegal applications of it. (smoking, growing etc.) I've personally read quite a few thread on the industrial aspects of it or even the conspiracy behind it. (ie William Hearst and friends)

the problem is, on ATS it's such a gray area, the mods themselves have suggested in public to just avoid the entire topic altogether, since it's much easier to ignore something than to dance around it on eggshells.

In fact, I made a post on Terrence McKenna a while ago, that had absolutely nothing to do with drugs. It had to do with artificial intelligence... however, I was told via a reply to the thread and a U2U to "be careful" because Terrence McKenna also promoted the use of that which we must not speak on ATS. Even though it had nothing to do with my original post. Just a small example of the approach ATS has to certain topics.

[edit on 26-12-2007 by scientist]

Originally posted by scientist
We all know it's complete BS, and actually discredits what this place is supposed to stand for.

I have to disagree that WE all know....

As a matter of fact there are only a few that I have seen, compared to the number of members who have a gripe about this policy.

If the discussion of illegal drug activity is so important, you could start your own site that allows this topic of discussion. Problem solved...

I don't see this squeaky wheel getting any grease.

Originally posted by scientistuse a vague TOS blanket statement to justify it as some type of family-safe policy

This is another item for which we've provided exceptionally and repeated clarity. Any supposed vagueness is not our fault, and is typically assumed by those who disagree with our position.

OP I just read a post you made to a thread about racism.
You stated your attitude got you into many bar fights. Apparently this attitude caries over to this board.

There are rules here we all must abide by. My answer to this situation is that if you don't like the way this board is governed you are free to never log on and post again.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by alaskan


I apologize if I didn't make myself clear, I wasn't trying to accuse anyone of anything, I just wanted to make clear that I have no problem with the policies here at ATS.

Part of denying ignorance is being able to find information on topics which might not be present at this site.

Just because that topic isn't part of the fabric of ATS, does not prevent anyone from this site from finding this information, it is only a click of the mouse away, for those interested in that subject.








[edit on 12/26/2007 by JacKatMtn]

I love the Christmas season all the wine wine wine wine wine wine wine wine...

I'm more of a JD and coke man myself!

There's a good reason ATS rocks and isn't on the rocks.

MonKey