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Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

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Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

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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Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

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  • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

    I don't mean to pry but it sounds to me like lipstick city.

    Comment


    • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

      Well this proves it.

      A plastic jug on your head does NOT make you bulletproof.

      http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/30/stu....ap/index.html

      Bear stuck in jug is shot

      • Story Highlights
      • Minnesota wildlife officials decide best course is to shoot bear
      • Animal had wandered into town during busy festival time
      • Officers had tried several times to trap or tranquilize starving animal
      • Next Article in U.S. »








      ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- Minnesota wildlife officials tried for six days to capture a bear that had a plastic jar stuck over its head, but ended up killing the animal after it wandered into a city during a festival.
      A bear with a plastic jug on its head stands on a garbage bin last week in rural Minnesota.





      The wild black bear -- whose head got stuck inside a 2½-gallon clear plastic jug presumably while foraging for food -- ambled into the city of Frazee, about 200 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, during the town's busy Turkey Days celebration.
      "When it got into town, our main concern was public safety," said Rob Naplin, the Department of Natural Resources' area wildlife supervisor in Park Rapids.
      The bear was first reported near the town of Lake George, about 60 miles east of Frazee, on July 21.
      While the bear could breathe, it couldn't eat or drink and was likely suffering from dehydration and hunger. "I'm sure there was high anxiety and frustration with its predicament," Naplin said.
      There was no evidence the bear was baited by hunters, Naplin said. The legal baiting season in Minnesota doesn't open until August 15. The bear season opens September 1.
      In the six days that followed the initial sighting of the bear, officials tried to trap it and tranquilize it in numerous locations, but to no avail.
      By the time the animal showed up in Frazee, conservation officers decided it needed to be killed to avoid conflicts with humans.
      "You don't want it knocking over a kid or getting hit by a car," Naplin said. "Showing up in Frazee escalated the urgency of dispatching it."

      Comment


      • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

        I think I'll pass on bear season this year. Yikes.

        Comment


        • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

          Originally posted by Twes View Post
          Well this proves it.

          A plastic jug on your head does NOT make you bulletproof.

          http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/30/stu....ap/index.html

          Bear stuck in jug is shot

          • Story Highlights
          • Minnesota wildlife officials decide best course is to shoot bear
          • Animal had wandered into town during busy festival time
          • Officers had tried several times to trap or tranquilize starving animal
          • Next Article in U.S. »








          ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- Minnesota wildlife officials tried for six days to capture a bear that had a plastic jar stuck over its head, but ended up killing the animal after it wandered into a city during a festival.
          A bear with a plastic jug on its head stands on a garbage bin last week in rural Minnesota.





          The wild black bear -- whose head got stuck inside a 2½-gallon clear plastic jug presumably while foraging for food -- ambled into the city of Frazee, about 200 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, during the town's busy Turkey Days celebration.
          "When it got into town, our main concern was public safety," said Rob Naplin, the Department of Natural Resources' area wildlife supervisor in Park Rapids.
          The bear was first reported near the town of Lake George, about 60 miles east of Frazee, on July 21.
          While the bear could breathe, it couldn't eat or drink and was likely suffering from dehydration and hunger. "I'm sure there was high anxiety and frustration with its predicament," Naplin said.
          There was no evidence the bear was baited by hunters, Naplin said. The legal baiting season in Minnesota doesn't open until August 15. The bear season opens September 1.
          In the six days that followed the initial sighting of the bear, officials tried to trap it and tranquilize it in numerous locations, but to no avail.
          By the time the animal showed up in Frazee, conservation officers decided it needed to be killed to avoid conflicts with humans.
          "You don't want it knocking over a kid or getting hit by a car," Naplin said. "Showing up in Frazee escalated the urgency of dispatching it."

          Ha, I've lifted a few jugs toward my head and I assure you, they made me FEEL bulletproof.
          Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

          Comment


          • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

            OK a simple little alignment job turned into a $455 left front tie-rod and while we're at it lets just do those rear brakes that are totally shot too. Every bit of this I suspected so I'm not suprised.


            Oh and BTW....the right front hub bearing is going bad but not bad enough to warrant fixing...yet.

            Oh that shimmy you feel in the front end (oh wait, I haven't told them about that yet)
            Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

            Comment


            • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

              H.R. 3221, the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” passed the House on July 23, 2008, by a vote of 272-152. On Saturday, July 26, 2008, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 72-13. The President signed the bill on July 30, 2008. The bill includes the following provisions:

              GSE Reform – including a strong independent regulator, and permanent conforming loan limits up to the greater of $417,000 or 115% local area median home price, capped at $625,500. The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).
              FHA Reform – including permanent FHA loan limits at the greater of $271,050 or 115% of local area median home price, capped at $625,500; streamlined processing for FHA condos; reforms to the HECM program, and reforms to the FHA manufactured housing program. The downpayment requirement on FHA loans will go up to 3.5% (from 3%). The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).
              Homebuyer Tax Credit - a $7500 tax credit that would be would be available for any qualified purchase between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The credit is repayable over 15 years (making it, in effect, an interest free loan).
              FHA foreclosure rescue – development of a refinance program for homebuyers with problematic subprime loans. Lenders would write down qualified mortgages to 85% of the current appraised value and qualified borrowers would get a new FHA 30-year fixed mortgage at 90% of appraised value. Borrowers would have to share 50% of all future appreciation with FHA. The loan limit for this program is $550,440 nationwide. Program is effective on October 1, 2008.
              Seller-funded downpayment assistance programs – codifies existing FHA proposal to prohibit the use of downpayment assistance programs funded by those who have a financial interest in the sale; does not prohibit other assistance programs provided by nonprofits funded by other sources, churches, employers, or family members. This prohibition does not go into effect until October 1, 2008.
              VA loan limits – temporarily increases the VA home loan guarantee loan limits to the same level as the Economic Stimulus limits through December 31, 2008.
              Risk-based pricing – puts a moratorium on FHA using risk-based pricing for one year. This provision is effective from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009.
              GSE Stabilization – includes language proposed by the Treasury Department to authorize Treasury to make loans to and buy stock from the GSEs to make sure that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could not fail.
              Mortgage Revenue Bond Authority – authorizes $10 billion in mortgage revenue bonds for refinancing subprime mortgages.
              National Affordable Housing Trust Fund – Develops a Trust Fund funded by a percentage of profits from the GSEs. In its first years, the Trust Fund would cover costs of any defaulted loans in FHA foreclosure program. In out years, the Trust Fund would be used for the development of affordable housing.
              CDBG Funding – Provides $4 billion in neighborhood revitalization funds for communities to purchase foreclosed homes.
              LIHTC – Modernizes the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to make it more efficient.


              Some people may be interested in that 2nd bolded statement. I will let y'all know more as I learn it.
              Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

              Comment


              • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                I read that earlier. That's not a credit - that's a loan! Granted $7500 now is worth more than $7500 15 years from now . . . but still. Certainly an interesting idea though and a way to put cash in people's pockets.

                They need to come up with a better name, that's a tad misleading...
                Last edited by Spicoli; 07-30-2008, 04:43 PM.

                Comment


                • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                  Originally posted by Spicoli View Post
                  I read that earlier. That's not a credit - that's a loan! Granted $7500 now is worth more than $7500 15 years from now . . . but still. Certainly an interesting idea though and a way to put cash in people's pockets.

                  They need to come up with a better name, that's a tad misleading...
                  Have you seen a clarification? What is this "loan" for and why do they call it a tax credit???
                  Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

                  Comment


                  • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                    Haven't seen/read anything yet, although I'm sure I'll read all about it tomorrow morning.

                    I assume it's a provision to get cash to homeowner's? Maybe a mini-stimulus type thing? I have no idea.

                    It is certainly not a credit. A tax credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in a persons (or cororations) tax liability. That will be true for Year 1, but a person would owe additional income tax for Years 2-16. Maybe they are just trying to avoid the word "loan"? Who knows...

                    Comment


                    • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                      Originally posted by Spicoli View Post
                      Back when I lived on the farm in high school with the folks, we found a gimped out fawn with only 3 good legs that was abandoned by it's mom as my dad was mowing hay. We kept it in the barn and bottle fed it formula (like 3 bottles at a time, twice a day) until it was big enough to leave the little barn area.
                      Back in my teens we had a fawn around our place where both her front legs ended at the knees.

                      See, one spring I was mowing pasture with a sickle-bar mower. Mom got out of the way but the little one got 'em sliced clean off. She made it through the summer but I don't think she got through the winter.
                      The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                      Comment


                      • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                        don't try this yourself:



                        http://news.aol.com/article/body-of-...-at-sea/107766
                        The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

                        Comment


                        • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                          Originally posted by pacertom View Post
                          For a second I thought that was a picture of one of Spicoli's bowel movements the morning after he ate one of his "recipe's".
                          The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                          Comment


                          • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                            Originally posted by DisplacedKnick View Post
                            Back in my teens we had a fawn around our place where both her front legs ended at the knees.

                            See, one spring I was mowing pasture with a sickle-bar mower. Mom got out of the way but the little one got 'em sliced clean off. She made it through the summer but I don't think she got through the winter.
                            You brute! I'm just so ashamed to admit I know you. You people who burn worms with a magnifying glass and cut Bambi's legs of with sickle-bars...you're just so, mean.

                            (prolly explains his passion for the Knicks)
                            Last edited by indygeezer; 07-31-2008, 06:20 AM.
                            Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

                            Comment


                            • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                              Originally posted by indygeezer View Post
                              [B][U]Homebuyer Tax Credit - a $7500 tax credit that would be would be available for any qualified purchase between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The credit is repayable over 15 years (making it, in effect, an interest free loan).
                              Geezer - It's a down payment assistance provision....


                              First-time homebuyer tax credit to assist in making a down payment on a home - This would provide individuals and families with a refundable credit (equivalent to an interest-free loan) of ten percent of the purchase price of their home (up to $7,500). Taxpayers would be required to repay any amount received under this provision to the government over 15 years in equal installments. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return).

                              Comment


                              • Re: Random, Scattered Disturbed Thoughts

                                Originally posted by Spicoli View Post
                                Geezer - It's a down payment assistance provision....


                                First-time homebuyer tax credit to assist in making a down payment on a home - This would provide individuals and families with a refundable credit (equivalent to an interest-free loan) of ten percent of the purchase price of their home (up to $7,500). Taxpayers would be required to repay any amount received under this provision to the government over 15 years in equal installments. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return).
                                Thanks Spic, our Nat'l assoc. is not being very clear about any of this yet, merely what they sent out yesterday. I'm watching intently for the follow-ups.
                                Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

                                Comment

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