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Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

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  • 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

    Is it too early to start this? I don't think so, so here goes. It will have been 5 years ago on Monday that one of the most tragic events in the USA's history occured. It is strange how time is flown. I am sure that almost everyone on here remembers where they were when they first heard the news or saw the coverage. I would like to use this thread for personal memories of where you were on that day when you first heard as well as personal tributes to lost love ones and others that lost their lives that day.

    For me my story is simple. I was tired and barely awake in my 8th grade HISTORY class of all places. Our principal came in and whispered something to our teacher and the next thing I knew we were turning on the TV and watching history unfold before us. My teacher said he would not be able to teach the rest of the day he was so shook up.

    Well thats my story. My heart goes out to all those who died and I am honored to call myself an American after the way the firemen and policemen of NYC and DC responded that day.

    I love this picture as I have always had a great respect for our flag.



    I'll leave you with lyrics to the Michael W. Smith song "There She Stands"

    Michael W. Smith "There She Stands"
    When the night
    Seems to say
    All hope is lost
    Goneaway
    But i know
    I'm not alone
    By thelight
    She stands

    There she waves
    Faithfulfriend
    Shimmering stars
    Westward wind
    Show theway
    Carry me
    To the place
    She stands

    Just when you think it might be over
    Just when you thinkthe fight is gone
    Someone will risk his life to raiseher
    There she stands

    There she flies
    Clearblue skies
    Reminds us with red
    Of those that died
    Washed in white
    By the brave
    In their strength
    She stands

    When evil calls itself a martyr
    When all your hopes come crashing down
    Someone will pullher from the rubble
    There she stands

    We'veseen her flying torn and tattered
    We've seen her standthe test of time
    And through it all the fools havefallen
    There she stands

    By the dawn's
    Early light
    And through the fight
    She stands




  • #2
    Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

    I, like everyone my age who lives in Indiana, was taking my sophmore ISTEP testing.

    However, unlike most, I left for school late and my Dad told me about the first plane. We both shrugged it off as a fluke. Then when we were done testing our counselor announced that another plane hit the Pentagon and then I knew something was wrong. We left the gym where we were testing and walked into the cafeteria where everyone was gathered watching the news.

    I'll never forget that day. As some of you may know, my father and I are ambulance technicians. We have seen a lot of bad things, especially him who has been doing this for 20 years. However it is safe to say that nothing in our careers will ever rival this in terms of magnitude, stress, and emotional scarring. However my father was only a phone call away from getting in an ambulance and driving to New York.

    Thankfully we will all remember that day. Because God help us should we one day forget.
    House Name: Pacers

    House Sigil:



    House Words: "We Kneel To No King"

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

      I was at work, getting ready to go on break when they came over the intercom and told everyone to go up to the general meeting area for a meeting. I remember thinking, "Why now, everyone is going to break".
      sigpic

      2007 Super Bowl XLI Champions!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

        I was at Oaklandon Elementary. I had just walked in from the bus and noticed my teacher was crying. She seemed really sad so I decided to start on my D.O.L. and D.O.M. Finally she turned on the news and just let it all go. I wanted to ask her exactly what happened, but I didn't need to. Looking up at the TV screen could tell you all you wanted to know. The facial expressions, the tears ... It was one of those things you can't forget.

        I can't believe that it's been so long since.

        United we stand, divided we fall.

        Peace Out.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

          Like DD, I was taking my sophomore GQE, and during one of the breaks the teacher who was proctoring the exam told us followed by a statement that made my blood boil: "Now to the next portion of the exam."

          After we got done, we sat around a TV all day with our jaws dropped to the floor.
          Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

            I was sleeping in my dorm room at college. I was awakened by my roommate yelling "OH *******!". The roommate was actually in the National Guard. I rolled over, got out of bed, and watched the TV for the entire day; I didn't go to class. Most were actually canceled. Lunch that day was dead quiet in the cafeteria, all TV's were tuned to the news stations.

            The roommate actually took off to NY the next day to help do whatever he could and/or what was needed.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

              I was at home having my house inspected for our first year warranty inspection. The inspector was out on our roof when I was watching TV and they were showing the first building burning.....The next thing I see is a second plane hit the second tower live on TV and I immediately knew this was gonna be a very bad day. I got up ran out the house and yelled to the guy to come down off the roof and see what waas on TV. It was important and he should be seeing it.

              He came in and watched it for a while. When the news slowed down a little he ran out to finish his impection so he could go home. But he kept running back and forth to the TV to get updates.

              My boss called knowing I was going to be on my way in to work and asked me to swing by the store on the way in to work and buy a small TV and rabbit ears so the employees could watch if they chose to. They sent us all home from work early, but for those who stayed the TV was there in front of his office. He let us watch the TV for days afterwards to continue to get updates.

              I'll never forget that day. I'll never forget my mom calling in a panic and then as sheing talking about it they annouce the pentagon was hit as well, and then we heard that they had bombed the statehouse with a car bomb(which later turned out to be false).

              Bless those who lost their lives, a loved one, a friend, collegue or other that day. Bless all those that came to those in need that day and the days and weeks following.

              /salute

              I'll never forget how a nation came together that day. For once we all saw past race, heritage, religion, polictical affiliation, rich or poor, etc etc etc. The way it should be. I only wish we would have all learned from that day and found a way to keep that train of thought alive.

              United we stand.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                Originally posted by indy0731 View Post
                Is it too early to start this? I don't think so, so here goes. It will have been 5 years ago on Monday that one of the most tragic events in the USA's history occured. It is strange how time is flown. I am sure that almost everyone on here remembers where they were when they first heard the news or saw the coverage. I would like to use this thread for personal memories of where you were on that day when you first heard as well as personal tributes to lost love ones and others that lost their lives that day.

                For me my story is simple. I was tired and barely awake in my 8th grade HISTORY class of all places. Our principal came in and whispered something to our teacher and the next thing I knew we were turning on the TV and watching history unfold before us. My teacher said he would not be able to teach the rest of the day he was so shook up.

                Well thats my story. My heart goes out to all those who died and I am honored to call myself an American after the way the firemen and policemen of NYC and DC responded that day.

                I love this picture as I have always had a great respect for our flag.



                I'll leave you with lyrics to the Michael W. Smith song "There She Stands"


                That is a wonderful song, the words are great, but when you hear him sing it, it is amazing, brought tears to my eyes. I haven't heard it in a few years, I should dig it out.

                I was at work, and the person who sits in the cube next to me said a plane hit the world trade center, I didn't think mouch of it, the first reports were of a small plane, but when the second plane hit, I knew my life would never be the same, and I knew we were at war. For a few hours we mulled around work, but then they sent everyone home, and I watched TV for about 15 straight hours.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                  This story shows just how long I've been in college, but that's neither here nor there. Let's just say I left school for a while between then and now. And yes, this diehard IU fan goes to Purdue. Mostly.

                  I had just started my third year of college. For the first six weeks of the semester, I had to attend a mandatory two-hour seminar on Tuesday mornings at 8:30. So anyway, I met Kat for breakfast at 7:30. There was a television in the dining hall. Just as we left the room, we both stopped and noticed that a plane hand crashed in the World Trade Center. We both commented about how horrible an accident that was, but truth be told we didn't give it a whole lot of thought otherwise. I walked Kat back to her dorm (she went back to bed) and I went to my 8:30 completely unaware of what was transpiring.

                  Well, like I said, this seminar thing was mandatory. If you missed it, you automatically failed it. So when only 4 out of 35 people had showed up by 8:35, I began to worry. Then it seemed everyone showed up at once, and they were all talking a mile a minute. This is when I first heard something terrible had occurred. I hear that the White House had been bombed. Then Capitol Hill had been hit with a plane. New York City was in ruins. Of course, few truths were among the laundry list of calamities I heard, but that served to make the next two hours the longest of my life. All I could do was sit there and contemplate the present and possible future. Were we at war? Of course. What does that mean? How many people have died? Am I in danger right now?

                  When finally our time was up, I half walked-half ran back to Kat's dorm room to see if she'd heard the news. She was still asleep when I arrived. I turned on the television, looking to find the story, only to find it on every channel. There was no need to look. I think then that's when it finally dawned on me the significance of the morning's events. I remember thinking, "This is something so important that there is not one station airing its own programming. Wow." It seems stupid looking back on it, but I just couldn't get my head around it all at once, at least until that moment.

                  I called my parents to talk to them about it. The phone rang 16 times before my dad answered it. He'd been outside all morning working with the calves. My mom was still asleep (she worked 3rd shift). I told him to go turn on the tv. I think this scared him, because I've never heard my dad so quiet. We didn't talk much really.

                  Kat called her family as well, and the two of us sat in her room watching it all unfold before us. I tried to go to my 1:30 class, but as soon as I sat in the classroom, I looked around and decided this was a waste of my time. I walked over the the Union just to see people. There was at least 200 people crowded around the 81" tv downstairs. People were staring, crying, whispering--it was too damned quiet. I had to leave.

                  I went back to my dorm room, for whatever reason. Sitting on my desk was my copy of the New York Times I'd received that morning. I stared at it for a bit. I never read a single word of that day's paper.
                  Take me out to the black, tell 'em I ain't coming back. Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                    Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                    Like DD, I was taking my sophomore GQE, and during one of the breaks the teacher who was proctoring the exam told us followed by a statement that made my blood boil: "Now to the next portion of the exam."

                    After we got done, we sat around a TV all day with our jaws dropped to the floor.
                    That's all they care about.

                    **** ISTEP.
                    Super Bowl XLI Champions
                    2000 Eastern Conference Champions




                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                      Man, I remember that day so distinctly. Almost a freak occurrence that I could follow it so closely.

                      We had a 2-day conference in Lebanon starting the next day that I was in charge of a large piece of. A friend of mine who was attending came down from Laporte the night before - that evening we lit a fire outside, cooked some steaks and sat there BS-ing. What's more, the sky was really clear and we spent a chunk of it watching airplane lights above us - we'd see some moving in a straight, slow line while others weaved(relatively) around. We postulated that AF pilots were out training - probably from Grissom but maybe not.

                      So the next morning comes. Usually I'm in the office by 7:30 but this day my friend goes to Lebanon for some committee meetings while I stay home and work on some stuff - the conf started at 11 AM and most of what I was doing came the 2nd day. So I have the Today Show on, not really watching, just background noise. They come on with a report that there's a fire in one of the WTC towers and speculate that a small plane may have accidently hit it. This perks my interest some and I sort of follow while they're talking about how no commercial route comes near them, they have extensive precautions against something like this happening with a big plane and it must be a small plane pilot who got messed up - but how could that happen on such a clear day? They didn't stay with that the whole time but bounce to other things and return to it.

                      The broadcast happened to be showing the towers when you see the 2nd plane hit. I mentally did a complete 180 and thought, "terrorists." Then the whole morning began to pass in a surreal sense for me - riveted to the broadcast but feeling like I was somehow disconnected. You just knew you were watching the world change before your eyes.

                      Around 9:30 or so I had a brief moment of panic and called my Dad. He boards horses in upstate NY and a lot of those boarders are college students. Now there's no reason for him to be hauling a horse to LI on Sept 11 - except sometimes a kid gets homesick, quits school and we run the horse back - and this was about that time. But he answered the phone and my first question was, "Are you watching this?"

                      Needless to say I didn't get a lot done on what I was working on but that was OK - some detail crap that probably didn't matter much. About 10:30 I left for Lebanon and when I get there everyone's watching the CNN broadcast that's on the TV sets sprinkled around the hotel.

                      Not sure to this day why we didn't cancel the conf and send everyone home - and we at least should have canceled the 2nd day. Day 1 was sort of "required" technical stuff while I was in charge of a bunch of breakout educational stuff the 2nd day.

                      What I regret now - never thought of it at the time - was not putting a tape in (I've e-mailed The Today Show asking about getting a copy of that broadcast but have never received a reply). I have about a dozen newspapers from the following couple of days and several magazines to remind myself of what that day was like. I knew then that I could never let myself forget what had happened - I would need to remember what we'd be fighting for. My Dad did the same thing with the Kennedy assassination. The most profound image I remember was from USA Today - on page 6A (just checked) they had a picture of people leaning out the windows for air as the fire burned in the N Tower. The sense of despair I feel when I look at it is immense - those folks were doomed. I also have a file on my computer titled, "Remember."

                      RIP E-Gar. I will never forget.
                      The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                        I was a Senior in High School. The year was getting into full swing, and about a week ago we'd had a bomb threat at the school.

                        So on Tuesday, September 11, when I was walking down the stairs to where my 3rd period was meeting for the day (Choir; were most of my friends were), I heard two kids say something like "I think it was a bomb". I didn't think much of it because of the week before, but I knew something was wrong when I turned to go down the last dozen steps to the main floor, and saw my friends staring to a TV in the corner of our room that you can't see from where I was standing.

                        I walked in a bit puzzled, and turned to see what everyone was reacting to. I see one of the World Trade Center towers burning. I knew nothing of the buildings, so I didn't even think "where's the other one?" It was already gone.

                        I can't remember if I asked questions to get filled in, or if someone just kinda told me a little at a time as we all watched pretty quietly, but soon I saw the reply of the 2nd plane hitting the tower, and just got goosebumps. In fact I just got them right now remembering it.

                        Soon I hear the Pentagon has been hit. There are rumors about something happening in Los Angeles. Another plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. And surrounding it all was the footage of horrified New Yorkers telling what they had just seen, and the footage of the towers collapsing (I saw the second tower collapse live). We were all stunned and horrified. We knew this meant war, but we didn't know what that truly meant. I remember saying to myself "please no nukes" repeatedly during the morning, because at the time I was afraid a nation had done this to us, and that we'd react with nuclear arms. It sounds silly now, but this was when as far as I was concerned nothing even close to this major had happened to the US militarily. I thought we were going to immediately raise hell in response, and possibly lead right to World War III. So needless to say I was very scared that day. I wasn't alone. It was just a devastated feeling for everyone all around. Emotions were just all over the place. For some of us we shifted between fear and anger. If there had been a military bus to ship us to wherever these *******s lived, several 17 year olds from New Castle, Indiana would have hopped on board that afternoon.

                        I remember also that my 4th period class (English) was being held in our large auditorium that day. My teacher hadn't seen any of it yet. I remember when he opened the door to let us in, people started telling and asking him about it. I remember I had a one word description that I grimly kind of muttered: "Horrible".

                        Past that, I remember discussing it with my friends at lunch, and I remember coming home and just being glued to the TV. My grandmother came over mid afternoon and I'll never forget this. She was about college-aged during Pearl Harbor. I asked her which was worse, and she without much pause said "This is."

                        For the rest of the night, I just remember being at home seeing replay after replay while commentary audio played on top of it discussing, analyzing, and predicting what would come next.

                        The odd part was going to get gas that evening with my mom. It just so happened her van was almost empty, so it need to get re-filled. But when we drove a couple blocks to Speedway, there was a line going down the street; the place was swamped. Just another way the day was so surreal and unusual.

                        The most amazing thing after 9/11 was over, was watching how united everyone was. For a short period of time, we put all the bull**** aside as a nation and just tried to be there for each other. Despite the sad nature of it all, it was wonderful in the sense of just letting the little stuff go and being human beings.

                        Now, we're more divided than we've ever been in my lifetime, and it saddens me.

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                        • #13
                          Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                          FYI, for anyone interested, CNN will be showing their entire broadcast all day on MOnday from the original 9/11 attacks. It will be uncut and unedited. I believe it will be starting at 8:15 shortly before the first plane hit. I have three classes that day but I will be watching when I am in my dorm.


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                          • #14
                            Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                            At the time I was working for RCA so as I walked in to the front lobby
                            there on the Widescreen TV was the first building smoking , a plane had crashed , a few people had gathered. I had got to my desk for just a few minutes and we then heard the second plane had hit...

                            There was that hushed silence that you can feel in the pit of your stomach.
                            We all went into the Cafe to watch CNN as you could hardly believe what you were seeing and hearing. Then hearing the Pentagon was hit, my first throught was who's next ?

                            I too was on dead empty that day, and there was gas station right next door but lines were so terrible everywhere, like something I have never seen.

                            I did not have enough to drive to my second job in Carmel, so I just drove home that day.
                            The whole time thinking, today's events will change how we look at our own safety and the feeling that nothing could ever happen "here".

                            Why Not Us ?

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                            • #15
                              Re: 9/11 Memorial thread- 5 year anniversary

                              Originally posted by indy0731 View Post
                              FYI, for anyone interested, CNN will be showing their entire broadcast all day on MOnday from the original 9/11 attacks. It will be uncut and unedited. I believe it will be starting at 8:15 shortly before the first plane hit. I have three classes that day but I will be watching when I am in my dorm.
                              Excellent! Thank you very much for saying this or I would not have known! I have a DVR and can set it right now! I've always wanted to have a copy of that.

                              *edit* I found out it's not what it sounds like:

                              http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/07/911.pipeline/

                              It's being offered online if you're a subscriber to their "pipeline", a streaming video service.

                              Nevermind.

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