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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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COVID-19

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  • vnzla81
    replied
    Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

    I don't have the exact stats, but I doubt this virus is more lethal to young people (i.e. under 18) than the seasonal flu. And if it is, it's not that big of a difference even without a vaccine. Yes, in a country of 330 million some young people, mostly with comorbidities have died. Same with the flu.

    And no. I don't believe there is hope for this world. The world has a very long history of war. Every century there has been a brutal war where the carnage has gotten worse as the weapons have gotten more powerful. We are on the cusp of a war with China. Also, China will not adhere to a global push on climate. They make their claims but their #1 is priority is dominating the world and that will conflict with climate priorities. Besides, I read the end of the book.
    You sound excited.

    Leave a comment:


  • BlueNGold
    replied
    Originally posted by vapacersfan View Post

    If you want to open a pro life thread feel free to do so. This thread, however, specifically was created to discuss COVID-19.



    This is simply not accurate. This very thread has lots of examples of young folks passing away from COVID. Also, I want all folks to live as long as possible so I think your last statement is especially ******.



    Every small act we can do makes a difference. So I dont buy that we dont (or cant) have an impact. Also, I dont find the planet hopeless.
    I don't have the exact stats, but I doubt this virus is more lethal to young people (i.e. under 18) than the seasonal flu. And if it is, it's not that big of a difference even without a vaccine. Yes, in a country of 330 million some young people, mostly with comorbidities have died. Same with the flu.

    And no. I don't believe there is hope for this world. The world has a very long history of war. Every century there has been a brutal war where the carnage has gotten worse as the weapons have gotten more powerful. We are on the cusp of a war with China. Also, China will not adhere to a global push on climate. They make their claims but their #1 is priority is dominating the world and that will conflict with climate priorities. Besides, I read the end of the book.

    Leave a comment:


  • vnzla81
    replied
    This is a lot


    Leave a comment:


  • vnzla81
    replied

    Leave a comment:


  • vnzla81
    replied
    And this is why people are freaking out about the buffoon going on a joy ride with the secret service


    Leave a comment:


  • vnzla81
    replied
    Death cult


    Leave a comment:


  • Gamble1
    replied
    Originally posted by Peck View Post
    A couple of things.

    Regarding the ride along in the armored limo for the President. You guys do realize that we do the same thing every single day except mostly with less protection and distancing?

    I am gonna push back here a little bit. If the reports are true the secret service were uncomfortable in this situation. You also have attending physicians at the hospital saying this was reckless. Secondly we have no idea of the repeat exposure risk these guys are under.

    We have proof of breaking cdc guidelines repeatedly. We have proof of negligence and if this was anyone else prosecution could be handed out and has been handed out for willful exposer.

    We all know a double standard is nothing knew here. If it was my job I would be fired. I would venture a guess if one of your medics went to work covid positive and knew it they would be fired.

    Not saying we shouldn't expect a double standard but people have gotten covid in a hospital with N95 respirators on.

    Leave a comment:


  • graphic-er
    replied
    Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

    You're pro-choice, right? Every person at that event made a choice to be there and made a choice to wear or not wear a mask. Most of the activity was outside and the experts tell us that is less of an issue. But really, that doesn't matter. The bottom line is that it was their choice. You are free to make your own choice and vote accordingly.

    I think the biggest difference between liberals and conservatives is that we conservatives have spent our entire lives coming to terms with the fact there is a 100% death rate. We are not out there hugging trees and calling for shutting down industry because this earth is temporary too. We don't freeze our bodies when we die hoping we can be brought back to life. We don't hide in our basement in fear simply because there is a public health threat. We simply have a different view of the world and frankly we fully expect the earth to be burned up...and if that doesn't happen before we die we will die anyway. That's not to say we don't want to live a good life but we're not nearly as concerned about dying.

    I mean, I realize carbon emissions might be causing the earth to warm and the polar caps to melt and temps to spike and big storms to arise, but I really don't care. At the end of the day, this earth is toast so why live in fear?

    You mean like being selfish enough to purposefully murder an unborn innocent and defenseless child of your own that you created through your own actions?

    As for the virus, it’s not the young but the old dying from it. I do personally take special care around older people but I see older people blowing off masks at times and afaic that is their choice. I am not caught up with the idea this virus is going to kill me. If it does, well my time was shortened. If it kills grandpa, well he wasn’t living forever on earth anyway.

    As for preserving the earth for future generations, I don’t think we are going to have an impact. We don’t control the world and the population continues to grow. Also, it is true that some of us do believe the sooner the world ends the better for our children. IOW, we think it gets better, not worse. So why should we care about preserving this war ravaged and frankly hopeless planet?

    Same guy said a few days ago that if you can't afford a cancer drug to save your life, then just don't buy it. Because 100% death rate
    Don't care about the problems of the world....100% death rate
    Don't care about the environment.....100% death rate
    Don't care about old people....100% death rate
    Don't care about future generations....100% death rate
    Don't care about diseases....100% death rate
    DO CARE THE MOST ABOUT UNBORN BABIES.....PRO LIFE!
    DO ENJOY YOUR TIME WHILE YOU ARE HERE....100% death rate.

    Your logic is not consistent.



    Last edited by graphic-er; 10-06-2020, 09:18 AM.

    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied
    Ben Shapiro

    @benshapiro

    You think 2020 has seen its biggest twist? Wait until Trump develops the anti-covid serum using his own antibodies like Will Smith in “I Am Legend,” and then wins 50 states.
    5:07 AM ? Oct 6, 2020


    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied
    I don’t have kids but holy crap someone needs to get this kid off of tic tok

    Claudia Conway announces she has coronavirus on TikTok

    https://nypost.com/2020/10/04/claudi...rus-on-tiktok/

    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied

    Just reported on MSNBC: the CDC has been prohibited from doing contact tracing for any of the COVID infections at the White House or Trump's contacts.
    11:47 PM ? Oct 5, 2020


    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied


    Sam Stein

    @samstein

    As Pence’s team mocks Harris for wanting a plexiglass barrier on the debate stage, worth noting that the CDC’s own guidelines call for work spaces to “install physical barriers, such as clear plastic sneeze guards” if applicable. Pence runs the COVID task force.
    12:13 AM ? Oct 6, 2020



    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied

    Susan Hennessey

    @Susan_Hennessey

    Pence spox Katie Miller "If Sen. Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it." Miller had COVID in May (announced day after she spoke to reporters, unmasked), a dozen people connected to WH tested positive this week alone. She is mocking Harris for being cautious.

    Alex Isenstadt
    @politicoalex
    NEWS: Debate commission has approved plans for plexiglass to be used at Wednesday VP debate Barrier will separate Pence and Harris, and the two candidates from moderator Susan Page w/ @ccadelago https://politico.com/news/2020/10/05...-426514…
    11:30 PM ? Oct 5, 2020



    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied
    Jennifer Epstein
    @jeneps

    "I was glad to see the president speaking and recording videos over the weekend," Biden says in Miami's Little Havana. "Now that he's busy tweeting campaign messages, I would ask him to do this: Listen to the scientists, support masks."
    11:27 PM ? Oct 5, 2020



    Leave a comment:


  • Bball
    replied
    Originally posted by Peck View Post
    A couple of things.

    Regarding the ride along in the armored limo for the President. You guys do realize that we do the same thing every single day except mostly with less protection and distancing?

    While Ambulances are not hermetically sealed, in known cases of Covid-19 the units are sealed from the front to the back with protective drapery to not allow the virus to the front of the truck. We are in far closer proximity to our patients (as in face to face) than the secret service was to the President. We also at times have to deal with aerosolized particles. At best we have N95 with gloves and hopefully they wear a face shield. However this is only on known patients and typically this is from one hospital to another. On the other hand when we go into a house typically our guys are wearing just the same face masks everyone else is wearing and gloves.

    We have treated several positive covid patients (unsure of exact number) and not one crew member has been diagnosed with a work related exposure. We have had a couple contract it off duty and sadly spread it to their co-workers before they knew they had it, but nobody has gotten it and that is with several (I would say hundreds) of exposures. So with that in mind the secret service looked equally and honestly more protected than we do and we have dealt with patients in far worse shape than the President.

    I'm not advocating that this was a good idea, the the clutching the pearls is a little much.

    P.S. on a medical note. To me I always find it humerus how medicine typically always does a 360 in terms of usage. In all of my years of doing this I would guess that CPR and how to treat someone who is without a pulse has changed 20 times and I'm talking about extreme changes. Drugs that we had to give are now considered dangerous and not given and vice versa to other drugs. I say all of that to say this, Dexamethazone (or as I know it Decadron) is a drug we used to give back in the late 80's early 90's for head injury's. It's just a steroid (powerful one) and steroids are often given for lung issues now but it just amused me to see it. I bet I haven't actually given that drug in the street in 30 years. The last time I gave it was in a creek bed for a person who had fallen off of a waterfall.

    I'd look at it this way. The secret service didn't need to be in a vehicle with an infected individual. It's not like he fell ill at the White House and they rushed him to the hospital to save his life as part of their job. It was a photo op. A photo op to take a contagious person, out of the hospital for a joyride.

    Imagine some city official wanting to take photos of an ambulance transporting a Covid-19 patient, and thought the photo would be better if one more EMT/Paramedic was in the photo so he told you to hop on in the ambulance. You're not needed there. Maybe it's your day off. Maybe you were called there and not needed, and all of sudden, this official wants you for a photo op to show how well the city/county is handling Covid-19 patients. How well supplied you are. How prepared the city/county is to save a Covid-19 patient. ...And he thinks it would look better with one more person on the ambulance.
    Maybe you could say 'no'... But those secret service agents couldn't say no.

    Even if there was reduced risk due to the PPE, it was not zero risk. And for what??? A photo op. And then he went back to the WH 24 hours later anyway. That rendered most of the optics of it moot. But yet the exposure those agents got remained. Only the positive PR was rendered moot 24 hours later. Everything else remained.

    I just find that incredibly stupid and selfish. And dangerous.

    Leave a comment:

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