'Important Current Topic' curiously absent...

Imagine my surprise when I realized my first thread would involve the workings of ATS itself. This morning I checked the site's main page and scanned the headlines. If you act quick you may see what I see:

Click the 'Site Home' button in the leftmost of the nav bar at the top. Scroll down a little ways 'till you get to 'Important Current Topics(as flagged by members)' and in the lower-right quadrant I see:



Sounds fascinating, right? How many times have I read a Fark headline that ends in 'still no cure for cancer...'? Too many. So of course I clicked on it and guess what? The thread no longer exists. It's gone. Made yesterday, flagged 12 times, but it's gone. Quick google on 'Run From The Cure' rendered:

EDIT: link removed to avoid bannination

Interesting story, totally ATS-worthy. Now I don't know whether there's anything to the 'cure' or whether it's placebo pure and simple, and that's really not the point of this posting. My question is how could this happen? Why would such a seemingly ripe topic for ATS be simply swept under the table? I couldn't find a competing thread that might have taken precedence, perhaps I didn't look in the right places or hard enough, but there it is. I was looking forward to reading what you marvelous people had to say about the topic. Who's driving this boat anyway?

z

[edited 3-26-08 by Zelun]

[edit on 26-3-2008 by Zelun]

Scary considering that most threads with even a hint of something 'illegal' or contains references of drugs (naturally occuring herbs) seem to be clamped down by the forces that be...

with nothing more than a quote saying 'if you would like to discuss this subject then go elsewhere'...

Hmm? How are we supposed to go elsewhere and discuss it? How would the majority of ATS'ers know where to go and discuss it?

Are we that controlled nowadays that even talking like adults is forbidden?



[edit on 26-3-2008 by mr-lizard]

It appears to be moved to RATS.
Come on in!

reply to post by shadow watcher

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erm... don't you need a ridiculously high points score to get in?

One or two of the mods seem to have it in for me and keep penalising me for my opinions, so there's no chance of getting in there...

Plus i spent my hard earned points on a blog thingie that i never ever got and not even an apology or a reply to my curiosity.

Did you read the terms and conditions when you signed up at ATS?

A moderator will probably be along soon to explain the issue of the removed thread to you. If not, then you may contact a the moderator and you will get an answer.

Dizzie

reply to post by mr-lizard

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Indeed. For me, the point of the video was that this Simpson guy pretty much got railroaded in Canada of all places, a country which has decriminalized the plant. When the Mounties came and confiscated his crop they didn't even charge him with anything. It seems like after the Legion got involved is where the trouble started. So it's not a question of whether it's illegal or not, it's a question of 'at what point are you breaking the law too much?' When you start scaring the higher-ups, that's when.

Make like one podcast and you may have enough to squeak by.
There are a slew of hemp articles in RATS. Once in, you can compile all the data you like and maybe even keep the old thread going. I believe it is at page 3 last I looked.

reply to post by dizziedame

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Ok, but if it's been moved I'd expect a redirect, and if it's nuked, perhaps a 'This thread was nuked for TOS violation' or something of the sort, not just 'it's gone due to restructuring in 2007 etc...' Seems weird.

reply to post by shadow watcher

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Forgive my ignorance, but I don't know what RATS is. Real ATS? I do, however, know what a podcast is. How many points do I need to make the big-time?

the thread is still alive and well in R.A.T.S.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

the staff originally voted to leave it as the discussion was steering clear of the usual devolvement into the recreational use of the plant but, it seems, another vote was taken and the new vote was to move it.

reply to post by Zelun

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Really Above Top Secret.

you need to get yourself more point and then you can buy access to the forum via the ats store.

Thanks Crakeur. I retract my implication. Perhaps I can salvage the thread with the following question:

Does the pharmaceutical industry really WANT an outright cure for cancer? Could the industry be so disconnected from the suffering in the world that it would stifle a readily available cure for the purpose of buffering their profit margins? What recourse do we, the public, have if this is the case?

reply to post by Zelun

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ATS is here for the benefit of the small group of people who own and operate it.

You should not even consider having a full and open conversation you are asking to get ripped off, I mean its all about the clicks, exploiting them for everything they are worth, and you are just a click.

When you are in the business of selling ideas and theories, you need a constant fresh supply to keep things alive, that is the real reason these sorts of sites exist, when they run out of their own ideas to sell they take yours and sell them back to you, so it is not a good thing to talk about your ideas on the internet in general.

Keep your talk as cryptic and shallow as possible and project between the lines, then the internet is good entertainment.

Everyone is pretending like at church, that is just the way it has to be, because you have to insulate yourself from the PTB's and their rules..

I think people see the internet as kind of different from real life because the majority of communication in real life isn't just the words its visual, nobody on the internet, just like in real life, is telling you the truth they are all working an angle, ist all the same.

You just have to work your mind to always see the truth about our nature, we are all disgusting liars looking to get something you might have by any means necessary

There is no love to be found in this world only need and want, you and ever thing you know are nothing but a means to and end in the eyes of your fellow man, know it , believe it, live it....

It is strange the things you are not allowed to talk about on here, i think?We can talk about genocide, war and even name individuals we beleive are corrupt or criminal and yet we can't talk about- Chald aboose, haching, drigs and sock fraud to name a few-why these in particular? Can any mods help us on this?

In this case, the thread was moved to a private section of the site for the protection of us, the users. I understand from Crakeur's reply that the thread had stayed in the public section for a while because it was tracking toward the question of why they dropped the hammer on the guy only after he raised a stink about the matter with the help of a reputable community organization. Eventually though, it devolved into the usual 'legalize it' discussion and it had to be moved. At least that's my understanding; I haven't yet been able to read it for myself.

I understand why it was moved and am in support of the decision. It's not like they're moving the good stuff to a paid section. Rather, it's moved to a more private area where only the most devoted ATS contributers can view it.

Think of this site as the German Autobahn. You can drive as fast as you want, but you get a ticket for reckless driving when you go into the ditch, (violate the T&C). And if you're pulled over and examined, and your load (your post) is deemed hazardous material, you're force you to take an alternate route (RATS).

Just the rules of the road.

[edit on 27-3-2008 by NGC2736]

reply to post by NGC2736

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i agree with you...NG...when a poster advocates something illegal, and highly controversial a subject, such as drug use, the poster must realize it puts the ATS site and its owners in a uncomfortable position. public forums such as this one, can be (and probably are), observed for any clear and actionable illegalities. thus, posters must understand that what is typed here, has to monitored, (and if needed removed) for the site owners, and our protection.

I post on here once in a while, way too often for my liking, I try to be totally honest and not sound like im just writing for the sake of someone else reading it, but its a forum, and I know ATS is about information and not so much about ego, but when you need to have 5000 points to talk about illicit substances when erowid and the lycaeum provide such for free, it makes me wonder if ATS is just out to promote self indulgence. I mean I love this site, I cant find any other place where rationality is held so highly in a public forum, but it just seems a bit funky to exclude any particular subject.
It just seems weird, like, if I was completely against drugs, and I found out ATS's RATS section was full of drug posts, I would be very skeptical of ATS's motto, deny ignorance. Its not very denying of ignorance to ignore entire subjects. If the truth turns out to be that there are a lot of people on ATS who use illegal substances, and post in RATS about it, then ATS does not deny ignorance, really, it promotes it because it says you have to buy certain information. Thats not just plain denying it, its charging for what someone thinks is too much or too something for the rest of the site.
I understand that the rules are the way they are for the sake of school friendly search engines and whatnot, but seriously, lets just butter up the goat for everyone and present a false face of what ATS is made of just to get more popularity. I guess thats cool. But denying ignorance should not be the motto here if thats the way it is.

mods feel free to delete this post and ignore everything Ive said. just deem it as ignorance and deny it. or move it to RATS. lol

I guess thats the price of selling out. "but we have to do it, how else will more people be more aware of these subjects? We'll just hide the drug stuff so we can hook line and sinker everyone and not seem bias"

Its like being in church, and I can be totally honest with the pastor, until it comes to aliens or shamans.

The fact that drug subjects are put aside in their own forum really keeps people from being completely honest about how drug use plays into everyones everyday life.
Do you want to come to ATS and have people pretending they dont smoke weed just like at work or at church? No, you come to ATS to deny ignorance.

Just putting in my opinion. I dont know how much it matters not having like a thousand points or whatever, but thats what it is.

Im just concerned for the straight edger who actually learns a lot of great ways to be a better citizen and how to deny ignorance, to come to find ATS was filtering my experience by putting would be real life conversation content, into another forum due to its content, and that content containing the drug posts, I would wonder if my experience on ATS was truly genuine, or if ATS was trying to say something about drugs by keeping it hidden, and then I would wonder who the bad/good guy is all over again.

reply to post by psychedeliack

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i think it is simply a matter of liability for the owner. he just doesn't need any headaches from any inquiry, that might involve having to answer for presumed "aiding and abetting drug use", no matter how benign it might seem at the time. obviously the OP took it just a little too far

reply to post by psychedeliack

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Very thought provoking, and that's the name of the game after all.

As ATS has no registration fee, including RATS, I can't really fault the administrators for setting up whatever restrictions they want. The VAST majority of topics I find interesting are readily available to me already, so again I can't complain.

When I came across this site I read maybe two threads before I realized I had to register and begin to contribute. Now that I know that there's even more to it makes me even more excited to participate. I don't mind having to wait a while as I don't have to shell out any money to accrue points. All it costs is patience.

I'm going to keep looking on my own, but does anyone know a good strategy for the interested member to maximize their point count without resorting to posting drivel? Are some boards worth more than others?

I did notice that I'm getting points when others reply to this thread, but I think it's important to look and see whether a potential topic has already been broached before starting a new thread. That's just part of the fun of research.

I suspect that some unnamed members purposely post unpopular opinions to get people to flame them incessantly in order to up their counts. It's a devious tactic that I believe to be contrary to the spirit of the community. Unfortunately I can't think of a means to check this behavior other than to simply ignore these threads, i.e. if you don't have anything nice to say etc... But that doesn't really work either because silence is often construed as agreement, as in "I can neither confirm nor deny..." So it's a catch 22.

Let me just close by saying I love this site. You people are great. There's been SO many times that my opinion has changed several times as I read through the thread I can't even count. The sheer volume of contribution and generous cross-section of view points makes the site work for me on so many levels. Thanks to the founders and to the community.