How to Manipulate Stars and Flags on Above Top Secret

I posted previously on how it was blatantly obvious that ATS was manipulating their own flag system for the benefit of their disinformation YouTube videos.  This article can be found here:  http://atsisdisinfo.blogspot.com/2014/09/example-of-ats-manipulating-flag-system.html

Encyclopedia Dramatica details how the star and flag system can also be manipulated by anyone else using a glitch with the IMG tag in signatures:

Easy CSRF Hack = Unlimited Stars and Flags

ATS is a custom coded site that has numerous gaping CSRF vulnerabilities. One of which easily allows you to nigger as many stars and flags as you want. All you need to do is star your own post, then copy the URL that appears in the address bar, and paste it into an [IMG] tag in your signature. Your sig will contain what looks like a broken image, but everyone who views your post will automatically be "starring" the post you linked to in the tag. Watch as your star count goes up by thousands in no time! You can also use this to get an insane amount of flags for your thread, and even unflag other members' threads that you disagree with!
Lots of members do this, but the mods are entirely oblivious to it because they are morons.

https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Above_Top_Secret

Top ATS Poster Banned and His Home Broken Into

This comes from Protoplasmic Traveler, as he posted here: http://www.protoplasmictraveler.net/smf/index.php/topic,243.0.html

Protoplasmic Traveler's story not only indicates how much disconnect there is between the ATS staff's stated values and their actions, but how it can even be dangerous to a person's property and well-being to become prominent and outspoken in the ATS community.

He explains his story in his own words, emphasis my own:

    As many if not all of you know up until a couple months ago I was the number one ranked poster of all time on the Way Above Top Secret List on ATS.

    That was until I was banned from the site.

    Up until recently the initial members of ProtoplasmicTraveler.net for the most part have all been friends and confidants, in other words people I have been in private communication with both before my banning from ATS and after my banning from ATS.

    I have discussed with them privately the circumstances of both my banning and the break in to my home and tampering with my computer by what appears to be a shadowy international network.

    More recently a few new members here who don’t know me all that well or well at all have some questions, questions mainly related to the gossip related to the attempted smear campaign by ATS in the wake of my banning in what I would typify as a wrong and misguided attempt to explain the banning in a way that would benefit ATS.

    First I want to state very clearly a break in to my home actually occurred and my computer actually was tampered with and it was absolutely a result of my posting and what I posted on ATS.

    I know this for a fact because it was a fellow ATS Member who both lured me out of my home when the break in occurred and later admitted that my home was broken into and my computer was in fact tampered with as a direct result of him being able to lure me out of my home, so my home and computer would be available for that purpose in my absence.

    This is absolutely no joke and I shutter to think what might have happened had I not actually taken the bait and been at home when the break in occurred. I very well might be six feet under right now, or in jail for putting some one else six feet under for trying to intrude into my home during the wee hours of the morning.

    Regarding the rumor that Bill Irvine and a few members started that I admitted that the whole “Charmed Life Thread” and the events were a hoax: That is an absolute bold faced and shameless lie, one statement I had made as part of a side bar debate with a member to prove a point about that member’s debating style was immediately seized upon by Bill Irvine and taken out of context and purposefully misconstrued so he could declare the thread not a hoax but a farce and attempt to justify my immediate banning.

    First let me say that I had absolutely no reason to do such thing. I simply had nothing to gain by doing such a thing, not only was I already the number one poster of all time, but I had such a large lead over the next closest member there would be absolutely no reason for me to bring a false story to the boards, let alone one about me, let alone one that was such a political hot potato.

    Second I was not given the chance to defend the slander over the out of context comment and how it was being misconstrued because I was immediately and I do mean immediately banned the minute it was seized upon by Bill Irvine.

    In other words Skeptic Overlord was following the thread post by post looking for any reason to shut it down.

    Why? Well, it’s pretty simple my home really was broken into as a result of my posting and what I post on ATS and my computer really tampered with. Boondock-Saint made a similar disclosure with some proof during the thread, and the mystery surrounding Dimensional Detective the former WATS number one poster who suddenly stopped posting without explanation and asked that his WATS Listing be stricken from the list has not been explained honestly or fully by any owner or staff member of ATS let alone by Dimensional Detective.

    In other words the disclosure of what happened to me was simply a public relations and advertising nightmare.

    If people knew and believed that select top posters on ATS are really being targeted and they really are, real time, in the real world, by a real determined organization prepared to break the law to reach it’s goals ATS membership and advertising would all potentially be at jeopardy.

    Here are some things for people to consider regarding my banning.

    First is I placed the thread in the Gray Area a Board for Member Personal Stories (what I disclosed was a personal story about what really happened to me) and that the Board requires little to no proof (I actually provided much more proof for a gray area thread than hardly anyone does, including videos, pictures, and testimony of people on video tape that my home really was broken into and my computer really tampered with). In other words not only is against ATS’s own Terms of Service to Hoax a Gray Area thread it went above and beyond that by then closing the thread and moving it to BTS to a newly created category just for the thread “A Farce on ATS and it’s Members”.

    Why was the thread closed? The reason is why the next day when I realized ATS was going to misconstrue everything and slander me for the sake of it’s own reputation and advertising revenue I contacted them and threatened a law suit if all such slanders were not immediately stricken from the board.

    I remained in Private Contact with Bill Irvine off and on for the better part of two weeks and the fact is that he knows the thread was not a hoax, and it was not a farce, and not only has he stated privately to me that a crime occurred but also banned the member Tristar who lured me out of my house so the break in could occur unmolested by me.

    So why would Bill Irvine ban this other member with 48 hours of launching his own investigation to the Charmed Life Thread if he believed I made up the whole story to hoax or farce ATS? Answer: He wouldn’t.

    Bottom line because the conspiracy originated on ATS and I made it clear I was going to talk about it on ATS and investigate who and all on ATS that might be involved Bill Irvine simply did not want me on the site anymore.

    A business related decision that is his to make as the business owner, however one that really does not work with the “deny ignorance” motto of the site, or its conspiracy related content or membership.

    In addition a post made to my YouTube account responding to one of the videos I shot and posted there about the break in has a comment from a YouTube member who stated that “this is how a well executed psychological operation against a target is conducted, give them the right bait, sit back and watch the whole thing unfold”

    That wasn’t an observation of someone, that was someone gloating. In this case a YouTube member named Tangento1, who at the same time wrote me privately through YouTube from an account that has existed for years without so much as one Video on it, and all but admitted he was Tristar and invited me to connect with him on Facebook to learn more giving me their account name there. In other words this person is simply all over the Internet.

    The Charmed Life Saga very much continues as within a couple days of launching this site I receive an ominous email regarding it from yet another ATS member of shadowy connections and reputation disclosing a lot of personal inside information about the plot against me, and as usual some coded and cryptic warnings and disclosures, signaling that while I may be off of ATS I am not off the radar.

    If they are to be believed the whole plot against me was designed to either frighten me off the internet or ideally become a paid shill for their own causes.

    I have chosen neither of the above and refuse to be run off the internet or to sacrifice my values, principles and code simply for money or security.

    Where that all leads to, I can not say.

    While I know a bit more today about some of the people involved in the plot to get me off of ATS, break into my home and tamper with my computer and to attempt to run a psychological operation on me, I still do not know the exact make up or origin of this organization and who and what all they may or may not be connected to and may never know.

    I also know that people have to make up their own minds in regards to any event that they hear about in life and it’s impossible to control what other people decide and think. I do know that these events are very real and have really affected me in the most personal way. While many people who followed along with the thread on ATS did so for infotainment reasons or part of some self serving agenda this is all a very real part of my life now that doesn’t stop being real for me because some one not effected by it chooses to disbelieve me or believes me. It simply is what it is.

    A lot of people have concerns about ATS and some of its policies and actions, and its own possible connections to other organizations. This site though wasn’t founded as a bash ATS site, but as a place for me to continue my Internet Writings and to share them freely with others over the Internet without having to any longer have worries about someone else having editorial control or the ability to censor those writings or me.

    I’m happy to answer questions about the Charmed Life thread and what all I know, but the main purpose of this first post in the new Proto’s Place Forum was and is to set the record straight for those who don’t know me so well or hardly at all.

    Thanks,

    Thomas

Septic Overlord Forced to Admit Having Sock-Puppet Accounts by a Mod

The insanemedia.net article reminds us of a moment in the early history of ATS (2003), when SepticOverlord was posting in the same thread with a sock puppet account, and was called out on it by a super moderator, DJDOHBOY.

The sock puppet account username was (and still is) simply "William."  This account now is labelled "SkepticOverlord" in the mini-profile to show that yes, this is a sock-puppet account, though at the time of this exchange it's obvious from the context that Septic had not yet admitted this and even seems to have hesitated on trying to hide it.

There was also another username SkepticOverlord used, now deleted, exposed by a Supermoderator:

William (aka Supreme Skeptic Overlord)

Registered: 3-7-2002
Location Manhattan
Member Is Offline
Mood: eh

SkepticOverlord

Registered: 3-7-2002
Location Manhattan
Member Is Offline
Mood: eh

William posted on this thread:
posted on 25-11-2003 at 19:48

SkepticOverlord posted on this thread:
posted on 25-11-2003 at 19:49

Let’s read the interesting response the Site Owner revealed in this thread:

SO:“Then you haven’t seen both me and William in ATS chat. Nice try Columbo!”

MOD [DJDOHBOY]:“Columbo says: “if you had a laptop and a desktop computer next to each other and logged into different accounts on both you could chat to yourself in ATS chat”

SO:“Or… If I had a laptop that ran Mac OSX, Mac Classic, X-Windows, and Windows XP all at once (I do), there’s lots I could do“

There was also another username SkepticOverlord used, now deleted, exposed by a Supermoderator:
William (aka Supreme Skeptic Overlord)
Registered: 3-7-2002
Location Manhattan
Member Is Offline
Mood: eh
SkepticOverlord
Registered: 3-7-2002
Location Manhattan
Member Is Offline
Mood: eh
William posted on this thread:
posted on 25-11-2003 at 19:48
SkepticOverlord posted on this thread:
posted on 25-11-2003 at 19:49
Let’s read the interesting response the Site Owner revealed in this thread:
SO:“Then you haven’t seen both me and William in ATS chat. Nice try Columbo!”
MOD:“Columbo says: “if you had a laptop and a desktop computer next to each other and logged into different accounts on both you could chat to yourself in ATS chat”
SO:“Or… If I had a laptop that ran Mac OSX, Mac Classic, X-Windows, and Windows XP all at once (I do), there’s lots I could do“
- See more at: http://www.insanemedia.net/ats-exposed-above-top-secret-censors-sandy-hook-cointelpro/442#sthash.UNTbFuKb.dpuf

Anonymous Speaks about ATS

From the same insanemedia.net article featured in the last entry, a video is given which is attributed to the group "Anonymous," and which, after the first part of the video where some text is read by a digital voice, explains that when certain members (SkepticOverlord, Nefermore and Slayer69) were baited in a way that exposed their IP addresses, it was found that these members were posting from related IP addresses coming from the same network.

Anonymous speaks May 18, 2012:

ATS employs several sock puppets that use the same script. They campaigned against OWS (Occupy Wall Street) protesters catering to the status quo. They are giving special privileges over other members for a purpose. They keep the same working hours, and log on at the same time.

When threads were created accusing ATS of being a PSYOP, these same sock puppets and MODs showed instances of guilt. Without being named, they would post “I’m not an agent.” This is an instance of guilt. They resorted to ad hominem attacks, and would then derail the thread so it would get closed. That is when I baited them and logged their IP addresses. They are not [real] members, however they all used the same IP address.

This was when me and a couple other members collaborated our findings. In one of the threads accusing ATS of being DOD funded, Mod neformore post banned me by going back and removing my previous comments in other threads under the “Off Topic” excuse. Anonymous sees everything. WE ARE ANONYMOUS. WE ARE LEGION. WE DO NOT FORGIVE WE DO NOT FORGET EXPECT US.

ATS Banned Sandy Hook Conspiracy Discussion

An article at insanemedia.net details how, in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting and all of the conflicting details being given by authorities, the administrators at ATS decided that no one could discuss the event.


An example of the type of discussion banned at ATS can be found in the article "The Strange Tale of the “Sandy Hook Massacre”" (from page 4 of the Oct. 2014 issue of the Oklahoma publication The Banner) attributed to retired Brig. Gen. Ed Wheeler.  In this article 27 questions are raised about what we have been told and shown of this event.

But on ATS, supposedly a conspiracy theory forum, "an indefinite moratorium" was placed "on all topics related to the massacre at Sandy Hook."

The member "Gltichy" shown speaking out against SepticOverlord above was then banned.


Another member asked Septic, "what is the point of this forum," if not to discuss things like this, to which Septic replied:

The action would not be unprecedented. We often remove new topics on the "No Planes" theory with regard to 9/11, and all known pre-existing threads on that subject are in the hoax forum.

Frankly, lately I loath visiting ATS for fear of another stupid Sandy Hook thread that is embarrassing to all those who seek to create smart topics on ATS.

Seriously... I'm close to losing faith.

One might assume that if Septic really is losing faith, then he's losing faith in the ability of this counter-intelligence project to keep an investigative public away from what is really happening in this country.

ATS Administrator Mark "Spring" Allin's Wife Works for Halliburton

It turns out that the wife of one of the three owners/administrators of AboveTopSecret.com works for Halliburton, the oil giant that brought us Dick Cheney, and which also owned Kellogg, Brown & Root which has been investigated for receiving secret army contracts in Iraq, and was also awarded contracts by Homeland Security to build detainment centers in the US.

At the Project Avalon website, on a thread entitled "Problem Between Wordpress and Abovetopsecret, Blogger Caught in Crossfire," where the author of the thread commented on being banned from ATS, the well-known conspiracy investigator Bill Ryan (of Project Avalon and also Project Camelot) stated that he too had been banned from ATS.

Here is what Bill posted about it, in 2013:

ATS is definitely a CIA operation. And fundamentally, they are skeptics and debunkers... co-owner Bill Irvine's username is Skeptic Overlord, and his partner Mark 'Springer' Allin's wife, Melissa (username ValHall), works for Halliburton -- and is quite a nasty piece of work. Go figure.

Incidentally, much has been made of the username "Skeptic Overlord," for its obvious connotations of skepticism and "overlording."  The ATS forums are arguably more represented by "skeptics" than conspiracy theorists.  "Skeptic Overlord" or "SO" often has images of superhero-like figures on his mini-profile in what may be a reference to ATS's self-proclaimed role of "saving the Internet from bullshit" (see this blog's first post from Sept. 11, 2014). A popular parody on this administrator's username is "Septic Overlord."

The website realityuncovered.net has a form dedicated specifically to ATS, called "ATS Watch."  In September 2008, the member "Gigashadow" there posted the following information:

 I had this info for about 5 months now and thought inquiring minds here at atswatch would be interested in what I came across.

Mark Allin, most know, is married to Melissa Allin aka valhal on ATS beside other stage names. They hold an address down in [**mode edit: removed private details**] and just 10 miles north on [**mode edit: removed private details**] is haliburton where mellissa Allin works and is co named for a haliburton invention with a patent 20070173412.

Ya have to wonder if haliburton has a finger or two in ATS now that the cat is outa da bag.

The original post can be found here.


In the tight-knit community of treasonous and criminal activity in the US corporate and military/intelligence infrastructure, exactly how close are Halliburton and ATS?

Even Wikipedia Notes ATS Censorship

Wikipedia is, of course, an open encyclopedia that anyone is able to edit.  Having said that, the Wikipedia article about ATS consists largely of criticism of the website which cites 11 sources (references 17 to 28), mostly from ATS itself, demonstrating the points being made.

This part of the article will be saved here in case it's ever removed in a revision of the Wikipedia entry:

Some members of ATS have strongly criticized the site for their personal perception of overtly censoring content though a large number of moderation staff who actively police to uphold its terms and conditions.^[17] Users point out that although this may be necessary for the smooth running of the site, censorship can be perceived as being ironic for a site that is user generated. Also, the notion of censorship is a prominent feature in conspiracy literature and this adds to the problems of ATS censorship. Real life activities can also lead to removal from Above Top Secret. When it was discovered that Jared Loughner was posting on ATS as "erad3" he was banned.

Members have also been critical of Above Top Secret moderators for not following the terms and conditions while actively making others do so. Their Terms and conditions and rules posting rules made by the owners state that members cannot use the site for recruitment to any causes whatsoever.^[18][19] Moderators have broken this rule ^[20] while censoring members for doing the same.^[21]  [Also the "Next Level Bullshit" videos which are promoted by the site staff violate profanity rules that all other members must follow or else are punished.]

Other users have pointed out that a tradition of always siding with the conspiracy theory can lead to misinformation being posted on the site. The practice of deleting any post that is inadvertently advertising any of ATS’s rival and smaller conspiracy sites is treated with suspicion. [Many URLs to other conspiracy websites, such as beforeitsnews.com, are automatically censored for being "unreliable" or "hoaxes."] Critics would point out that this is ATS taking advantage of its internet monopoly on internet conspiracy literature for corporate gain and reduces the ability to cooperate with other sites to build on knowledge. One claim made by ATS is that news is reported before it is reported in the mainstream media. This occurs rarely, however, as nearly all "alternative news" on ATS comes from mainstream media sources.^[22]

Some have even gone so far as to accuse ATS of being controlled opposition, reminiscent of the former COINTELPRO operation of the United States. This is a recurrent theme in many ATS posts and one which the owners of the site deny,^[23] such as author and commentator Laura Knight Jadczyk^[24] who has openly criticized Above Top Secret after she published an article on her alternative news website Signs of the Times.^[25] This led to a dispute between her and the owners of ATS who claimed that the article had breached ATS’s “creative commons deed”.^[26]

Within the discussion boards, topics are still moderated. Members individual posts are often altered, edited out, and/or removed by moderators if the member breaks the site's terms and conditions. Banning members who persistently do not adhere to the site terms and conditions is a commonly used option. Topics that discuss the Galactic confederation of light are removed from the UFO section and put in an off topic forum. 9/11 Conspiracy theories about Holographic planes being used are prohibited.^[27]

Any conversations of pertinence to the subject matter of cannabis, whether it be contextually of relevance to the recreational use, the medicinal use, the legalization of use or the economic benefits of production of the said compound, is strictly prohibited and resultantly censored. Contrary to the current uncompromising enforcement of censorship, residual evidence of a time when such discussion was permitted, can be found on the website's main forum index (a directory listing of the composite fora of the website). The aforesaid evidence is in the fashion of an untitled link to the now absconded original forum board and respective discussions. The link currently directs to the website's default 404 page as per all censored discussions of any subject matter. In lieu of a forum title, the link is graphically represented by a monotone icon depicting a male smoking what is colloquially referred to as a "joint" or a "blunt". Ancillary information adjacent to the link denotes the cumulative topic total and the last date of active and therefore uncensored discussion September 30, 2011. Springer, one of website's owners, formally declared a "zero tolerance" ban on conversations concerned with illicit drugs and even legal, psychoactive substances on February 25, 2008. The ban was invoked on the basis of stereotyping members with an interest in discussing the subject matter. According to Springer, such members are idiosyncratically "immature", "snide", uncivil and disruptive and despite the demonstrative sincerity of legalization advocates, Springer described such advocates as "a type of user that is simply not wanted here".^[28] Such policies, in terms of the enforcement practices of moderators, are indicative of a double standard; by merit of their own definition of "mind altering" substances, discussions regarding alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical drugs are still permitted.

Ownership of user generated content calls the motive of the media portal into question. Above Top Secret provides a media portal for users to upload self made pictures and videos. While members still have the option to upload videos to sites like YouTube and then post them on ATS they can no longer post any images to ATS unless they are uploaded to the media portal.

Source