Put up or Shut up

To make registration of your country required would violate the whole concept of what ATS is all about. All that is currently required is a UN and EMAIL. What do you want next? Birthday? Marital status? Annual income?

It's good the way it is.


I'll step away now.

reply to post by purplemer




It seemed fitting for the occasion.

reply to post by AgentX09


Well I use a long and lat reference so anyone who wants to can find out my country. Though most on here don't bother to research anything anyway. But I agree with what you say.

reply to post by Majic


Mods I've got a question.Can you define nation bashing?

See an example is this, Someone from the U.S will say at some point on ats, and it's common, "When we saved you guys" refering the WW2. Well not just on ATS but you get what I mean, Now that statement is historically inaccurate and a put down to other countries. So then another country will reply with. "typical of the U.S you don't know history or anything about the outside world.

Now I'm not bashing here as this is how it unfolds, So if the person from the U.S believes this to be true is that nation bashing? And if not, is the persons response nation bashing as the first statement actually would validate the second. And it' supposed to be about denying ignorance.

It's just that I've found on ATS on many different threads that the opening shot is generally on any topic that could be seen as a bash often tolerated but the return shot isn't.

A World Divided

reply to post by steveknows

What comprises "nation-bashing" is a very nebulous concept. For people who consider themselves patriotic, almost any criticism of their country will offend them, and quite often compel them to rude rebuttal.

The line between criticizing governments (which is an ATS staple) and their respective nations and peoples can also be very blurry. Many members are very careful to make the distinction, and go to great pains to point out that their criticism is directed at a given government, rather than the people under its dominion. When they do that, they are doing so both for courtesy and clarity, and should be commended for that.

The terms & conditions prohibit, among quite a few other things, behavior in an "abusive, libelous, defamatory, hateful, intolerant, bigoted and/or racist manner". That's a rather broad list, and what qualifies is an opinion that's different for virtually every ATSer, including moderators.

Typically, when we see comments that constitute trolling or ad hominem attacks, we'll take action on that basis. Broad insults of the membership also merit action. Racism, bigotry or other hateful comments are likewise unwelcome. But there can still be a lot of gray area there, and we know it.

Our rule of thumb for taking action is if there's doubt, the benefit of that doubt goes to the members. That means when we're not sure, we'll step back and leave things up to the membership to work out.

When confronted with problems, the owners have entrusted the staff with using our best discretion to resolve them. The outcomes rarely please everyone, and we're sensitive to that, but inaction when action is clearly needed would only let everyone down and hurt our community.

I know many members resent what may seem like arbitrary decisions on our part concerning what belongs on ATS and what does not. There are so many factors and nuances which go into such judgments that we really cannot guarantee perfect, textbook uniformity in our decisions.

Rather, we do our best, do make mistakes, invite members to let us know when they see them or disagree with us on anything, and hope our fellow members will do their best as well.

It isn't perfect, but so far, it's been good enough.

The whole concept of countries is rather revolting so I have no issue with nation bashing. The only problem is anyone too blinded by patriotism to think their own nation is beyond reproach while bashing others.

Originally posted by The1Prettiest1One
The whole concept of countries is rather revolting so I have no issue with nation bashing. The only problem is anyone too blinded by patriotism to think their own nation is beyond reproach while bashing others.

Interesting point...I belong to ______ country therefore yours sucks!

Inherently...be are a product of our ancestors decisions...so where we call home is challenging.

I am Irish...can I say Ireland sucks? No...not if I willing to accept that as an American my ancestors were immigrant to this county.

Same would apply if I were Iranian....could I say Iran sucks...well maybe in some respects but as a person born into the human race I would probably be obliged to say that my ancestral roots were founded in rich history!

Its not fair for anyone to say another country sucks based on where they are now...history is rich in all cultures and we have little or no right to nation bash...who's nation is who's?

If your American...in these time it seems we are programmed to think every country sucks...how fool hearted we are...the Native Americans might have a different opinion!

All country's SUCK!

Every single continent SUCKS.

I just live in a location I like, but I HATE the politicians.

Originally posted by jerryznv
Inherently...be are a product of our ancestors decisions...so where we call home is challenging.

We uphold the values, habits and other idiosyncracies of dead people.

Middle Earth sucks!

Mordor FTW!


How's that for nation bashing?

It's silly. We all know that government sucks everywhere you go. There are NO clean hands and no moral equivalency. I have my bias, of course, but to bash a whole nation on the basis of what government does is disingenuous and intellectually dishonest.

reply to post by smarterthanyou

Anyone who wants to can register as a member, and that's never a bad thing to keep in mind.

The practical reality is that it is not incumbent upon nor would it be appropriate for ATS to screen or reject members based on where they log in from or who they work for. Even if such a policy existed, the widespread existence of free proxy services (and we can assume government "pros" have the best of the best) would render it unenforceable and ineffective.

If someone wants to influence opinion on ATS, they don't have to be sneaky about it anyway. There is nothing in the AboveTopSecret.com Terms And Conditions Of Use prohibiting government employees, agents, shills, moles, surrogates, informants, contractors, operators or spooks from being members and sharing their opinions.

But perhaps most important of all, there's no sensible reason to prohibit contributions from such sources. "Government employee" is a category that also includes insiders, whistleblowers and witnesses to what actually goes on in government. Politicians or their aides who may want to interact with our community should not be barred from doing so, nor should our membership be barred from interacting with anyone either.

Ultimately, it's not our responsibility to determine for members who to believe or disbelieve, who to trust or distrust. That's something each of us must decide for ourselves.

I can suggest however, that especially on the Internet, it is wise to be skeptical and never take anything at face value. Trust no one, suspect everyone, as it were.

Truth is priceless; lies are cheap.

The trick is knowing which is which when you see them.

We are all the same. We all bleed red. It is amazing to me that other people think they are beyond and above other folks.

Yet....here we are. The religious think they are better, certain peoples think they are better, yet the world continues to spin.

No one is better than anyone else. Ok....maybe our doctors and scientists are. Yes, they are.

We as humans are very odd. We pick fights when fights are not warranted. Live and learn and learn to live with love.

A hard order to process.

i used to say the same thing on first dates, but i said out instead of up but i kept the shut up part

I like ATS...just as it is. We are required to have a member name and register with a valid email address...other than that we are not required to give out any personal information about ourselves unless we so choose to...that works for me!

Also....I know everyone is aware that the staff can find out who we really are by our email addresses...if they need to.

When the nwo stops trashing nations by going to war with them, either militarily or financially, then maybe-just maybe- some members will be more inclined to disclose more information. Or when the status quo takes ufos seriously enough to allow for disclosure.

Till then, I think it is best practice to share nothing with the trolls. This is the first thing a lawyer will tell you when you ask for his/her services. Let the prosecution make its case on its own and 99% of the time they can't and I love that.

Only the poor defenseless idiots do jail time. The real culprits drink champagne and eat caviar. Don't be a sucker for anyone.

I find it strange that people think this is a new thing

The same complaints have been going on for years.

Originally posted by smarterthanyou
post removed by staff

I'd love it if someone popped up and said that they work for the government and are here to put us strait. Imagine the debates that would unfold?

I'd love for real scientists and priests to be on ats and to be proven to be so. Real UFO chasers and real high ranking defence force officers or international security agencies such as The CIA or ASIO or MI6. It will never happen. Well not that we'd know anyway.

Originally posted by caladonea

Also....I know everyone is aware that the staff can find out who we really are by our email addresses...if they need to.

I agree with you about everything you said .. except that last part.

They really have no way of finding out who you are unless you volunteer the info. Not like I give the email service my info either.. so even they do not know.

Or were you saying they could use your email to ask you for your info?
I guess I could read that either way.

Slainte

Funny how they say we have freedo of speech, when in reality we don't.
ALL members should be able to say what they want without "extreme t&c violatioN" censor.
Why state country if freedom of speech?
Country can be used to log that person!