Server Down and now missing thread?

Did the thread "Smoking Gun On Obama Found?" about Obama's Occidental College records being released to a group called "Americans for Freedom of Information" get taken down by ATS?? I was very interested in it, but it did seem that the sources were a little sketchy.. and then about an hour later, ATS went down, and when it came back up, I couldn't find the thread anywhere. I googled "Americans for Freedom of Information" and found the topic second on the list, clicked it, and got the page not found graphic. What is going on?

I put it in the search and it came up, however, when I clicked it it came to a 404 error page cannot be found. You may be on to something.

I wish i could have videotaped my web surfing, because it was really strange.. the thread in question actually made it to the front page of ATS, thats usually all i read.. and literally, server goes down, comes back up, i try to find the story again..gone..google it...it's there, but page not found..is Obama controlling the interwebs? or did ATS just take it down..

[edit on 1-5-2009 by slipshot]

I removed the thread because it was embarrassing!

The sourced story was an obvious April-Fools prank, dated April 1st, sourcing a group that doesn't exist, and claiming to be an Associated Press story which never existed.

I was utterly shocked and confounded that ATS members gave it 60 flags and a bunch of stars and seemingly accepted the obvious prank as real.


A low-point for ATS in my opinion.

No comment needed...

[edit on 1-5-2009 by antar]

I was just searching for the thread myself.
I wanted an update.
Had the story been debunked?

EDIT-I see it has

[edit on 1-5-2009 by GuyverUnit I]

I wonder who was responsible for it..seems like a weird april fools prank. To play devil's advocate..say the story WAS true how would Obama go about covering it up?

Originally posted by slipshot
say the story WAS true how would Obama go about covering it up?

What's the point in that? The story was a prank.

Several members even pointed out the obvious nature of the prank within the thread, and everyone seemed to totally ignore the truth because they'd rather believe the lie.

Sad.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
I was utterly shocked and confounded that ATS members gave it 60 flags and a bunch of stars and seemingly accepted the obvious prank as real.

This happens quite often. Obvious pranks and hoaxes being flagged like crazy and usually ending up as a 20+ page thread.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


S.O., is that what happened also with the thread "Vice President Joe Biden's remarks on swine flu draw criticism?" That thread now links to the spiffy custom 404 as well. I saw that the thread was getting some somewhat juvenile (IMO) responses, but didn't see what transpired after that.

By the by, really like your new avatar. Goodonya. [now this is the point where Shrodinger'sdog pops up and lashes me for being a suck-up]

Originally posted by TheComte

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
I was utterly shocked and confounded that ATS members gave it 60 flags and a bunch of stars and seemingly accepted the obvious prank as real.

This happens quite often. Obvious pranks and hoaxes being flagged like crazy and usually ending up as a 20+ page thread.

Do they all get shut down?

Originally posted by Stormdancer777

Originally posted by TheComte
This happens quite often. Obvious pranks and hoaxes being flagged like crazy and usually ending up as a 20+ page thread.

Do they all get shut down?

Unfortunately, no.

In fact, most of the time you get jumped on for pointing out the hoax. Like SO said, some people just want to believe everything.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777


Do they all get shut down?

I echo that question. If the thread contained material that exposed it as a hoax, why remove it? There are many hoaxes exposed here, but I don't seem to recall them getting taken down.

And is the assumption that the 60 stars or flags means that people accept it as true, or that they recommend it for a laugh?

Slippery slope.

But, never mind. I get it.

[edit on 1-5-2009 by Maxmars]

just out of intrest what was the prank saying i missed it compleatly

Bummer, I like good April Fools jokes, it would have been nice to take a look at it before it got trashed.

Does ATS have a recycle bin?
...I feel adventurous today and feel like dumpster diving.

Originally posted by Aceofclubs
just out of intrest what was the prank saying i missed it compleatly

Here is a link to another site that has the original April Fools article. Note some of the comments. Hilarious!

www.sodahead.com...

[edit on 1-5-2009 by TheComte]

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

A couple of members have raised the question that if it was a hoax and the thread leads to that conclusion, why delete it? I would echo that sentiment and add that I found another source on the subject...
I don't have an opinion either way as I am, or was, in the ABB school of thought in the last election (Anybody But Bush), but I hate to see any threads vanish just because their source was dated Apr. 1st.
And it seems to me that alot of the information that calls Obama's Eligibility into question is strangely and rapidly vanishing from the public domain.
I don't know how reliable the source is...

Source
In the case, being handled largely by Gary Kreep of the U.S. Justice Foundation, he recently subpoenaed the records documenting the attendance by Obama, or possibly the student when he was known as Barry Soetero, from Occidental College.

The lawyer for the college, Stuart W. Rudnick of Musick, Peeler & Garrett, urgently contacted Fredric D. Woocher of Strumwasser & Woocher.

"This firm is counsel to Occidental College. The College is in receipt of the enclosed subpoena that seeks certain information concerning President-Elect Barack Obama," he wrote via fax. "Inasmuch as the subpoena appears to be valid on its face, the College will have no alternative but to comply with the subpoena absent a court order instructing otherwise."...
Is it a coincidence that both the Occidental lawyers and the Obama lawyers have addresses at 100 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles?

I didn't realize that the site owners are deleting posts which embarrass them personally. There are numerous, embarrassingly stupid comments posted on threads everyday. If the criteria for deletion is stupidity, 50% of the site content would be gone.

So why not put """"HOAX""""" at the top and like is normally done, and allow the thread to continue. At least the same misguided topic won't reappear in a couple days.

How often are threads completely deleted like this?

I personally feel the qualification issue has been beaten to death, but the fact that Obama is fighting so hard to keep his birth and college records sealed seems odd at the very least, and quite possibly an indication that is has something to hide.