Announcement

Collapse

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.
See more
See less

Political News and Policies

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Re: Political News and Policies

    Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
    Sounds like a failure to negotiate. An excuse. You might want to give your master negotiator, John Kerry, a call.
    Glad we have the greatest negotiator ever in the orange clown just look how quick he passed the Mexico wall bill and the Obamacare repeal thing, oh wait ....
    @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

    Comment


    • Re: Political News and Policies

      Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
      Sounds like a failure to negotiate. An excuse. You might want to give your master negotiator, John Kerry, a call.
      What? You don't make any sense. I asked very specific questions.

      Also, I'm not making any excuses. People were going to die no matter what.

      Glad the Vatican finally apologized for letting si many Jews die during the Holocaust.

      Comment


      • Re: Political News and Policies

        Originally posted by freddielewis14 View Post
        What? You don't make any sense. I asked very specific questions.

        Also, I'm not making any excuses. People were going to die no matter what.

        Glad the Vatican finally apologized for letting si many Jews die during the Holocaust.
        More socialists in Italy allowing innocents to die. They didn't have to die in that case.

        Comment


        • Re: Political News and Policies

          BnG, you strike me as a lot of the typical aging, white males I deal with anymore. This is why you and the GOP have become a big series of eye-rolls for me. Hear me out, because I don't buy-in blindly to a party forever, I buy in on what I believe, and then I observe with my own eyes if they're keeping it up and I'm willing to recognize when the platform shifts to something I feel is wrong. I interact, obviously, with both liberals and conservatives every day, and I've taken a mental catalog of my dealings with each, and unfortunately, the party I belonged to didn't represent themselves well over time. If I just believe what everyone tells me, it would be one thing. But I don't. I like to find out for myself, and I have done so.

          - "Conservatives" makes these false and ridiculous assumptions about "liberals" being lazy and wanting free stuff. Here's the funny thing though. Many of the hardest-working, open-minded, intelligent, and just all-around good people I know are liberals. And unfortunately, many of the laziest, most free-loading, selfish, system-riding, economy-draining people I know --- are straight-up conservatives. Actually, it's a landslide when I really sit back and consider it. The reputation has not matched reality.
          - "Conservatives" keep trying to make our government Christian-based, an institution that in it's own right can be a tad off-the-reservation. Problem is, our forefathers who designed this country, wanted the opposite. They never defined Christianity as the religion of the nation. They wanted religious freedom. 1st Amendment. Conservatives constantly try to inject their religion into our central government. They constantly state that this country was founded on God and Christian principles --- and it was not. It was founded on allowing people to worship what and however they wanted. This is fact, it's right there in the Constitution. You love our country, right? Well, our country loves all religions, not just yours.
          - "Conservatives" like white people. I'm a white person --- but I like all people. The "liberals" in my life, who are mostly white but I also know some non-white, are tolerant and accepting of everyone - to a man. A lot of the conservatives in my life rip on black people, mexicans, indians, asians --- everyone but white people. STILL. In 2017. This is not an exaggeration. When I find myself in white-people-only scenarios, it blows my mind to hear people still speak and think like this. And the people doing this talking are almost always conservatives.
          - A lot of the "conservatives" I know evidently still want to live in the 1800s. They want little government, they want God, and they want guns, lots of guns. "Let's do what got us here." Problem is, this isn't the wild frontier anymore, cowboy. Staying static, not innovating, not progressing is not what "got us here". That's not what made America great. It will not ensure our future. Innovation, intelligence, progressing, improvement, social cooperation is what got America here and it's what's going to *keep* America as a free and wonderful place to live going forward --- not staying in the 1800s. Now, if you want a simpler life, certainly, that all works. If you want to live in the woods, kill your own food, praise Jesus, and assemble your local militias, then by all means, let's stick with your mentality. But you aren't going to remain the best country in the world doing that, and then you can't make the claim "America is #1" when some country invades us and takes over because we refused to move forward. Countries don't last forever on this rock. The ones who don't move forward are the ones who become extinct. Most of the conservatives I know don't want to move forward. They all talk back to old times that they deemed better, and they want to go back to that. You cannot go back. I've never heard of a country remaining in power by going back. All the extinct countries in history ended by going back or staying the same. Conservatives are in favor of both. They resist change, progress with every fiber of their body.

          A LOT of conservatives have this backwards mentality. Some of the most close-minded, intolerant, lack of big-picture people I've ever met. And that was a surprise to me, as I made my way through adulthood.

          And that's why it's hard for me to say this party represents me anymore.

          Now, BnG, I'm sure you have some stupid reaction to all this from me, probably along the lines of me being weak-minded, or that my morality is in question, or that I don't have a clue, but I assure you I'm very confident in who I am and what I believe, I'm a very capable, intelligent, hard-working, and good person --- and I believe this party has gone off the rails recently. I have a problem with the way conservatives conduct themselves, and it's hard for me to associate with that anymore. You can take that as "well, F you then, I don't give a ****, you can leave for all I care", and you are certainly free to do so in this free country, but if you were wise and had any common sense, you would take what I have to say seriously and think hard about it. People like me are going to leave this party, if they haven't already, and that's a loss for your party. Maybe not to you, but it is. I'm not one of these free-loading, non-productive members of society with low morality, as much as you want to believe it.
          Last edited by Kid Minneapolis; 08-05-2017, 11:02 PM.
          There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.

          Comment


          • Re: Political News and Policies

            Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
            More socialists in Italy allowing innocents to die. They didn't have to die in that case.
            You would think the Church would be better than that, shouldn't be a competition. But then again they still protect child rapists so who knows.

            Comment


            • Re: Political News and Policies

              Originally posted by Kid Minneapolis View Post
              ...
              The biggest shame is that, according to you, you've spent so much time trying to get it right, and you STILL got it wrong. I don't really believe that, but I will say you are entitled to your liberal opinion. It appears you really hate conservatives and religious people so to say you were ever in the GOP is a laugher. Again, stop with the games. Who did you vote for in 2008 and 2012? If you voted both times for Obama you are a closet liberal. Just come on out. It's ok.

              Comment


              • Re: Political News and Policies

                See, craziness.
                There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.

                Comment


                • Re: Political News and Policies

                  Originally posted by freddielewis14 View Post
                  You would think the Church would be better than that, shouldn't be a competition. But then again they still protect child rapists so who knows.
                  Um...read some history.

                  Mussolini became anti-clerical like his father. As a young man, he "proclaimed himself to be an atheist[187] and several times tried to shock an audience by calling on God to strike him dead."[185] He believed that science had proven there was no god, and that the historical Jesus was ignorant and mad. He considered religion a disease of the psyche, and accused Christianity of promoting resignation and cowardice.[185]
                  Mussolini was an admirer of Friedrich Nietzsche. According to Denis Mack Smith, "In Nietzsche he found justification for his crusade against the Christian virtues of humility, resignation, charity, and goodness."[188] He valued Nietzsche's concept of the superman, "The supreme egoist who defied both God and the masses, who despised egalitarianism and democracy, who believed in the weakest going to the wall and pushing them if they did not go fast enough."[188] On his 60th birthday, Mussolini received a gift from Hitler of a complete twenty-four volume set of the works of Nietzsche.[189]
                  Mussolini made vitriolic attacks against Christianity and the Catholic Church, which he accompanied with provocative remarks about the consecrated host, and about a love affair between Christ and Mary Magdalene. He denounced socialists who were tolerant of religion, or who had their children baptized, and called for socialists who accepted religious marriage to be expelled from the party. He denounced the Catholic Church for "its authoritarianism and refusal to allow freedom of thought ..." Mussolini's newspaper, La Lotta di Classe, reportedly had an anti-Christian editorial stance.

                  Comment


                  • Re: Political News and Policies

                    Originally posted by Kid Minneapolis View Post
                    See, craziness.
                    Obama, right? In all seriousness, if you voted for Obama in 2012 you are a liberal. I can understand getting caught up in the fever of 2008. But you really need to reassess your own beliefs about who you are.

                    Comment


                    • Re: Political News and Policies

                      Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
                      Um...read some history.

                      Mussolini became anti-clerical like his father. As a young man, he "proclaimed himself to be an atheist[187] and several times tried to shock an audience by calling on God to strike him dead."[185] He believed that science had proven there was no god, and that the historical Jesus was ignorant and mad. He considered religion a disease of the psyche, and accused Christianity of promoting resignation and cowardice.[185]
                      Mussolini was an admirer of Friedrich Nietzsche. According to Denis Mack Smith, "In Nietzsche he found justification for his crusade against the Christian virtues of humility, resignation, charity, and goodness."[188] He valued Nietzsche's concept of the superman, "The supreme egoist who defied both God and the masses, who despised egalitarianism and democracy, who believed in the weakest going to the wall and pushing them if they did not go fast enough."[188] On his 60th birthday, Mussolini received a gift from Hitler of a complete twenty-four volume set of the works of Nietzsche.[189]
                      Mussolini made vitriolic attacks against Christianity and the Catholic Church, which he accompanied with provocative remarks about the consecrated host, and about a love affair between Christ and Mary Magdalene. He denounced socialists who were tolerant of religion, or who had their children baptized, and called for socialists who accepted religious marriage to be expelled from the party. He denounced the Catholic Church for "its authoritarianism and refusal to allow freedom of thought ..." Mussolini's newspaper, La Lotta di Classe, reportedly had an anti-Christian editorial stance.
                      What does this have to do with the Church shunning Jews, letting them die in the Holocaust, and not apologizing until fairly recently?

                      Comment


                      • Re: Political News and Policies

                        Originally posted by freddielewis14 View Post
                        What does this have to do with the Church shunning Jews, letting them die in the Holocaust, and not apologizing until fairly recently?
                        Like you think anyone in Italy (you said the Vatican) would defy Mussolini and face death? The evil that controlled Europe in the 1930's was not from any god. In any event, the Vatican is Catholic. Let's just say that's not my religion. So, when you say the Church you might want to consider that it's not one mega church.

                        Comment


                        • Re: Political News and Policies

                          Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
                          Like you think anyone in Italy (you said the Vatican) would defy Mussolini and face death? The evil that controlled Europe in the 1930's was not from any god. In any event, the Vatican is Catholic. Let's just say that's not my religion. So, when you say the Church you might want to consider that it's not one mega church.
                          Shocking again ...
                          @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                          Comment


                          • Re: Political News and Policies

                            Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
                            Obama, right? In all seriousness, if you voted for Obama in 2012 you are a liberal. I can understand getting caught up in the fever of 2008. But you really need to reassess your own beliefs about who you are.
                            Aaaaaaand wtf? What are you going on about? If you read my post and took nothing from it, except to keep hammering at this stupid point, you're messed up.

                            I've already stated I don't like where the GOP is going, does that not insinuate to you that I might be leaving the party? How 'bout the fact that I've already stated I could be leaving the party... that just might indicate I might leave the party.

                            Good work there, genius.
                            Last edited by Kid Minneapolis; 08-05-2017, 11:21 PM.
                            There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.

                            Comment


                            • Re: Political News and Policies

                              Originally posted by Kid Minneapolis View Post
                              Aaaaaaand wtf? What are you going on about? If you read my post and took nothing from it, except to keep hammering at this stupid point, you're messed up.

                              I've already stated I don't like where the GOP is going, does that not insinuate to you that I might be leaving the party? How 'bout the fact that I've already stated I could be leaving the party, that might indicate I might leave the party.

                              Good work there, genius.
                              You were lost if you were in the GOP anyway. Good luck. You understand conservatism and religion like Bill Maher understands it. How you were ever in the GOP I really don't know. There isn't a single administration that would be remotely close to acceptable to you.

                              Comment


                              • Re: Political News and Policies

                                Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post
                                Shocking again ...
                                Well, you want the truth right? The culture in Europe is weak which is why they didn't stand up to the Nazi's. The Vatican admits it.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X