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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

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.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

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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Political News and Policies

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  • Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post
    Thoughts and prayers should be enough
    Rather than just posting tweets, what is your solution to the problem?

    Comment


    • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

      Obama personalized that statement because of the race of the victim. That wasn't just offering thoughts, prayers and assistance to the victim's family. That was him saying "that could have been my own son, walking in that wealthy neighborhood and being killed by whomever". That is a common concern that I respect and is a sad issue. But he would not have said that had the victim been white which is a problem if you are the president. You should care equally about all people and, like Trump, he really didn't. That's why it was racist even if understandable. That doesn't get him off that hook.
      that is some kind of definition of racism...i mean the left gets accused of defining racism down, but this takes the cake.
      Last edited by dal9; 05-25-2018, 09:15 PM.

      Comment


      • Originally posted by dal9 View Post

        that is some kind of definition of racism...i mean the left gets accused of defining racism down, but this takes the cake.
        Perhaps the better word is biased. I will give you that. It doesn't rise to that level. And honestly, I fully understand his reaction and while biased I really am not offended by that statement. He's a human being like all of us and will have some biases.

        But seriously, it's a built-in bias from his upbringing including sitting in Reverend Wright's church for 20 years. You know, the guy he threw under the bus when it became clear to the world that his pastor was biased. Explain that one for me. Why did he ditch Wright if he approved of Wright's message? If he didn't approve, why did he sit in that church for 20 years? Hard questions I know, but can we have some answers?

        Comment


        • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

          Perhaps the better word is biased. I will give you that. It doesn't rise to that level. And honestly, I fully understand his reaction and while biased I really am not offended by that statement. He's a human being like all of us and will have some biases.

          But seriously, it's a built-in bias from his upbringing including sitting in Reverend Wright's church for 20 years. You know, the guy he threw under the bus when it became clear to the world that his pastor was biased. Explain that one for me. Why did he ditch Wright if he approved of Wright's message? If he didn't approve, why did he sit in that church for 20 years? Hard questions I know, but can we have some answers?
          Yeah the horror of him seating in a church while some guy said some crazy ****

          Imagine if he actually said racist **** and did racist **** like the orange clown ...
          @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

          Comment


          • Can’t wait until you bring up the tan suit and the mustard oh the horror OMG ahhhhhhhh
            @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

            Comment


            • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

              I agree with a fair amount of your post. Two exceptions. First, Lincoln was in the progressive party at the time. You can call it Republican but it's not today's Republican Party. Also, he was living in a different age and the courage he had to stand up for his beliefs at the time..that were progressive in that age....should be recognized. He sacrificed his life for goodness sakes. I really dislike the rewriting of history that people have on both sides of this issue. The GOP people do what you say. But the Democrats try to paint him as the unwilling emancipator/racist. Consider the context of when he was living and the nation as a whole...and consider giving him credit. He was the leader of that movement even if liberals for some reason don't want to embrace him. It's ridiculous.

              Also, try to be objective and separate the social conservative from the fiscal conservative from the nationalist from the racist from the fascist from the libertarian. They are not all the same. They may all be in the GOP, but they have exceedingly different views. Trump falls into the fiscal conservative, nationalist and fascist groups. OK? Let's at least try to be accurate. This thread is just a mess.
              I agree Lincoln was a man of integrity, and I applaud him, not sure very many could lead the country through a civil war.
              I definitely don’t think he is a racist, but leaving 4 slave states remain because they didn’t rebel is a very telling at how urgent he truly thought the cause was.
              Certainly he gets credit for his achievements, I am more particularly upset at the modern day republicans claiming him as there own as if they resemble anything of Lincoln’s era.
              You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post

                Yeah the horror of him seating in a church while some guy said some crazy ****

                Imagine if he actually said racist **** and did racist **** like the orange clown ...
                So, what if Trump said "typical black person". Would you consider that a racist statement? I would.

                Comment


                • Originally posted by graphic-er View Post

                  I agree Lincoln was a man of integrity, and I applaud him, not sure very many could lead the country through a civil war.
                  I definitely don’t think he is a racist, but leaving 4 slave states remain because they didn’t rebel is a very telling at how urgent he truly thought the cause was.
                  Certainly he gets credit for his achievements, I am more particularly upset at the modern day republicans claiming him as there own as if they resemble anything of Lincoln’s era.
                  Consider the fact it was the 1860's. He was way out in front of people which is why he was assassinated. Under no circumstances should he be judged by 2018 standards. Like you, he was a product of his environment. Not at all perfect by today's standards. But do we really know what he thought versus what he felt he could get done? Who really knows? All we know is he was highly advanced in that era and we are fortunate he gave his life getting us through a heinous period.

                  In 100 years, views will again be very, very different from what they are right now. We are so silly to think we have it right now. For example, the language against women in rap music is getting a pass right now. At some point once society has buried enough hatchets on other issues, that's going to be one heck of a storm. Or maybe, more likely, we lose a major war and get wiped. I could see China and Russia dictating to the world in 50 years and we are all learning Mandarin or eating rice and beans.

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

                    So, what if Trump said "typical black person". Would you consider that a racist statement? I would.
                    Not sure how you consider Obama’s comment to be racist, you really have to twist yourself into some Alex Jones, Hannity, Rush Limbaugh pizza gate person to believe that garbage.

                    Show me a video of Obama calling Hispanics, rapists, other countries s*** holes and you might have a point.
                    @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post

                      Not sure how you consider Obama’s comment to be racist, you really have to twist yourself into some Alex Jones, Hannity, Rush Limbaugh pizza gate person to believe that garbage.

                      Show me a video of Obama calling Hispanics, rapists, other countries s*** holes and you might have a point.
                      I agree about Trump on the Hispanic rapist comment. Racist statement. Technically, it's an ethnicity not a race. Just call him a freaking bigot. He's not racist against Hispanics because that's impossible. I thought we all learned there are black and white Hispanics...lol.

                      The s***hole country comment has nothing to do with race. Where do people get that? Also, it may well be true that whatever countrie's he's talking about could best be described that way. It may be rude but who knows...maybe he's related to the inhabitants. Heck, maybe he doesn't like the Germans. He's German isn't he...and he may not like their culture or language. That's not race either. None of this is race stuff. You have some kind of hang up on that. Try to look at the facts clearly and turn off the propaganda machine and start thinking for yourself...make a few clear arguments based on objective fact.

                      As for Obama's comment..."typical white person". Of course that is a racist comment. Nothing you can say is going to change that because by definition that is racist.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
                        Or maybe, more likely, we lose a major war and get wiped. I could see China and Russia dictating to the world in 50 years and we are all learning Mandarin or eating rice and beans.
                        borscht.

                        Comment


                        • I really don't intend to make light of it, but of course when a ****ed up little monster shoots up a middle school in Indiana he gets taken down by getting drilled in the face with a basketball by a huge *** hero science teacher

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

                            I agree about Trump on the Hispanic rapist comment. Racist statement. Technically, it's an ethnicity not a race. Just call him a freaking bigot. He's not racist against Hispanics because that's impossible. I thought we all learned there are black and white Hispanics...lol.

                            The s***hole country comment has nothing to do with race. Where do people get that? Also, it may well be true that whatever countrie's he's talking about could best be described that way. It may be rude but who knows...maybe he's related to the inhabitants. Heck, maybe he doesn't like the Germans. He's German isn't he...and he may not like their culture or language. That's not race either. None of this is race stuff. You have some kind of hang up on that. Try to look at the facts clearly and turn off the propaganda machine and start thinking for yourself...make a few clear arguments based on objective fact.

                            As for Obama's comment..."typical white person". Of course that is a racist comment. Nothing you can say is going to change that because by definition that is racist.
                            The horror.....
                            @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                            Comment


                            • So in Canada. A bomb injures 15 people. Do we ban gunpowder and fertilizer? Are we not to go to the bathroom anymore...

                              The issue is one of culture. You see this in the middle east. They blow up markets. So they have to be caged. The issue isn't the weapon. The issue is culture that needs to change. You cannot stop violence (the symptom) when the cause is not fixed. I have no idea why the left cannot get this.
                              Last edited by BlueNGold; 05-26-2018, 08:58 AM.

                              Comment


                              • LOL. CNN posts an article saying the USA has had a school shooting every week in 2018. Here are some of their "shootings". 90% are like this. Yet the fake news title to the story was: There has been, on average, 1 school shooting every week this year

                                A student shot another student with a BB gun in Gloversville Middle School.
                                A man was shot in the stomach in the parking lot of Raytown South Middle School during a track meet.
                                A teacher accidentally discharged a gun during a public safety class at Seaside High School, injuring a student.
                                One person was hospitalized after a shooting at an apartment building on the campus of the University of South Alabama.
                                A student was shot inside a dormitory at Jackson State University. His injuries were not life-threatening.
                                Two people were shot to death at a dormitory on the campus of Central Michigan University. The victims were not students and police think the incident stemmed from a domestic situation.
                                A person was shot on the campus of Savannah State University and taken to a nearby hospital where he later died. Neither the victim nor the shooter were university students, the college said.
                                A fight led to a shooting in the parking lot of Lincoln High School, fatally wounding a 32-year-old man.
                                A Winston-Salem State University football player, Najee Ali Baker, was shot to death at a party on the campus of Wake Forest University.

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