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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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  • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

    Organizations like ACORN have been proven to be in the voter fraud business and therefore I am only confident that in person voting with an ID is the only kind of voting I trust. I realize some mail in ballots are necessary but believe all should be scrutinized or maybe better attached to a particular voter if that isn’t already done. I have zero interest in suppressing the vote. I suppose I should care if it does but as far as I am concerned if you are able bodied and can make it to the store you can and should make it to the polls.
    So what is the number? The I don't know but I am sure it happens excuse doesn't work with people with a working brain. The GOP could find out for the states that they control but they never investigate it and come up with real numbers that shock people. It just doesn't happen. It is vindictive talking points to suppress fellow Americans.

    Comment


    • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

      On what basis does Fauci seriously doubt Russia’s vaccine? Normally scientists don’t jump to conclusions, right? Seems he may favor certain other solutions to the virus.

      Interesting Fauci made this claim even confirmed by leftist Snopes:
      NAIAD director Dr. Anthony Fauci warned in January 2017 that the Trump administration would face a surprise infectious disease outbreak.

      And then just last October weeks before the virus hit Bill Gates hosted Event 201, a pandemic preparedness conference.

      Now Bill is backing a next generation vaccine solution developed by Moderna.

      Oh and let’s not forget that Fauci is on the leadership council of Gates’ Global Vaccine Action plan:

      The Leadership Council is comprised of:
      • Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of WHO;
      • Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health;
      • Mr. Anthony Lake, Executive Dire I ctor for UNICEF;
      • Ms. Joy Phumaphi, Chair of the International Advisory Committee and Executive Secretary, African Leaders Malaria Alliance
      • Dr. Tachi Yamada, President of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;
      https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Medi...-Collaboration

      There is a lot more to this......
      What basis should he believe it? I know you can critical think through this just keep asking question and try to find the answer.

      How many people has it been tested on? What are the results? What is the vector they used? Have they even completed phase 3?

      Its really not that hard to look and understand this but of course it isn't as sexy as attacking a successful business man and the lead scientist in the field.

      https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020...-press-release

      Comment


      • Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
        On what basis does Fauci seriously doubt Russia’s vaccine? Normally scientists don’t jump to conclusions, right? Seems he may favor certain other solutions to the virus.
        Did you ever read the article? Assuming you did not I would say the same reason he doubts it is the same reason the administration (the one you support) has doubted it and said they are not jumping to buy it. Even if it really is a vaccine (and not just some placebo) there has not been enough time for testing. Also, I heard on the news today Putin has not taken the vaccination.

        From the article:

        “I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective,” Fauci said to ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts, who is moderating the event. “I seriously doubt that they've done that.”

        In response to his guidance about COVID-19, people are threatening his life, and they “terribly harass my wife and my children with phone calls,” Fauci told Roberts. “It seems inconceivable … that when you're trying to promote public health principles to save people's lives and keep them healthy, that there's such divisiveness in the country that that's interpreted to be so far from your own way of thinking that you actually want to threaten the person.”


        Interesting Fauci made this claim even confirmed by leftist Snopes:
        Snopes is now a left site?

        Comment


        • Originally posted by vapacersfan View Post

          Did you ever read the article? Assuming you did not I would say the same reason he doubts it is the same reason the administration (the one you support) has doubted it and said they are not jumping to buy it. Even if it really is a vaccine (and not just some placebo) there has not been enough time for testing. Also, I heard on the news today Putin has not taken the vaccination.

          From the article:

          “I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective,” Fauci said to ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts, who is moderating the event. “I seriously doubt that they've done that.”

          In response to his guidance about COVID-19, people are threatening his life, and they “terribly harass my wife and my children with phone calls,” Fauci told Roberts. “It seems inconceivable … that when you're trying to promote public health principles to save people's lives and keep them healthy, that there's such divisiveness in the country that that's interpreted to be so far from your own way of thinking that you actually want to threaten the person.”

          Snopes is now a left site?
          The issue here is that Fauci doesn't know whatever method the Russians took to confirm the safety and efficacy of it. It may possibly be some next gen method that the US has never tried. We just don't know.

          Now, I would expect politicians to "seriously doubt they've done it". But not a scientist who really should be more objective and not discount potential solutions before reviewing the data.

          Comment


          • Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post

            So what is the number? The I don't know but I am sure it happens excuse doesn't work with people with a working brain. The GOP could find out for the states that they control but they never investigate it and come up with real numbers that shock people. It just doesn't happen. It is vindictive talking points to suppress fellow Americans.
            What rock have you been under? It DOES and HAS happened. The GOP has investigated and found it even here in Indiana. In fact, even Jimmy Johns was voting in Lake County, Indiana.

            I mean, just the fact this has already happened is a major problem when there is no reason able bodied people can come to the polls, just as they go to Wal-mart multiple times a week. The excuses from the left just keep coming.

            ...and of course, like all crimes there are times when people are not caught, especially in Dem controlled jurisdictions. The fact is, Dems don't want to follow the laws anyway. They want to defund the criminal justice system, why would they want to follow the laws and not cheat in an election? Fact is, that's really why they want full on mail-in voting and that's to steal the election.


            --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

            CROWN POINT, Indiana (CNN) -- More than 2,000 voter registration forms filed in northern Indiana's Lake County by a liberal activist group this week have turned out to be bogus, election officials said Thursday.

            An official enters the Las Vegas, Nevada, ACORN office, which is under investigation for alleged voter fraud.


            The group -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN -- already faces allegations of filing fraudulent voter registrations in Nevada and faces investigations in other states.

            And in Lake County, home to the long-depressed steel town of Gary, the bipartisan Elections Board has stopped processing a stack of about 5,000 applications delivered just before the October 6 registration deadline after the first 2,100 turned out to be phony.

            "All the signatures looked exactly the same," Ruthann Hoagland, a Republican on the board. "Everything on the card filled out looks exactly the same."

            The forms included registrations submitted in the names of the dead -- and in one case, the name of a fast-food restaurant, Jimmy Johns. Sally LaSota, a Democrat on the board, called the forms fraudulent and said whoever filed them broke the law. Watch how dead people are turning up on voter registration forms ?

            "ACORN, with its intent, perhaps was good in the beginning, but went awry somewhere," LaSota said.

            https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10....fraud.claims/
            Source: CNN - yeh, even they reported it.

            Comment


            • It’s a good thing the GOP has never had voter fraud issues....

              North Carolina GOP Operative Faces New Felony Charges That Allege Ballot Fraud
              https://www.npr.org/2019/07/30/74680...e-ballot-fraud


              Voter fraud means new election in North Carolina
              https://www.foxnews.com/politics/vot...north-carolina

              Last edited by vapacersfan; 08-16-2020, 12:17 PM.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by vapacersfan View Post
                It’s a good thing the GOP has never had voter fraud issues....

                North Carolina GOP Operative Faces New Felony Charges That Allege Ballot Fraud
                https://www.npr.org/2019/07/30/74680...e-ballot-fraud


                Voter fraud means new election in North Carolina
                https://www.foxnews.com/politics/vot...north-carolina
                Yet another reason to require in-person voting with ID. I think we may have room for agreement here.

                Comment


                • 1290 proven instances of voter fraud in the US including convictions...and this is just a sampling of them: https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud

                  Funny people think this doesn't happen. Worse, it's even going to be more prevalent as public data on people has become more available online in the last 10 years.

                  Comment


                  • Orange clown fans:

                    “corona is just like the flu because only 1.5% of the people that get it die that’s really small and we shouldn’t have to worry about it”


                    Also orange clown fans: “voter fraud is running rampant and we need to control the voting system, 0.0000002% of the votes were “fraudulent” that’s too big of a percentage OMG ahhhhh”
                    @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                    Comment


                    • For those focused on voter suppression as the reason, I can assure you that many people who want in-person voting with ID don't want that either.

                      Also, I know adults who are wards of the state, residents of Marion County and receive transportation to vote. That's the same transportation they get to buy their groceries with a governnent provided card. In other words, people who are ACTUALLY in need and those most vulnerable in our soceity do get an opportunity to vote.

                      So, stop with the bleeding hearts from your liberal elite towers. Many of you don't even know what actually is going on.

                      Comment


                      • It looks like Orange clowns brother die while the orange clown was golfing, imagine still supporting this POS
                        @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                        Comment


                        • Numbers don’t lie a huge percentage of orange clown fans (as most of them are really old) like to vote by mail, young people don’t use it and have a higher chance of voting in person, must of younger people are voting for the trash of Biden over the buffoon.

                          The buffoon is doing with the voting system what he has done with the pandemic not sure who is advicing him because he is affecting his cult followers by stopping the mail

                          @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by vapacersfan View Post
                            Snopes is now a left site?
                            He certainly would not be the first person to make that accusation.

                            https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevle.../#4d58e0f6227f


                            Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by Peck View Post

                              He certainly would not be the first person to make that accusation.

                              https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevle.../#4d58e0f6227f
                              The site looks moderate to a Democrat. Generally, it fact checks things asserted or views held by the right. The knee jerk reaction will be, "well it was questionable so that's why they fact checked". Therefore the site is independent. IOW, if it's something a conservative thinks, shoot it down.

                              Comment


                              • As for Snopes, they are based just south of Seattle, not exactly a bastion for conservatism.

                                Here are their last 5. I think they all, at least 4 of 5 are pro-liberal.

                                Are ‘Neck Gaiters’ Worse at COVID-19 Transmission Than Foregoing Masks Altogether? False
                                - Always making the mask an issue, demonizing who they think is against them.

                                Did Kamala Harris Say Young Voters Are ‘Stupid’?
                                - They said mixture. How they came to that conclusion, I will never know because she clearly said that and it's all over the internet. She said "What else do we know about this population of 18 to 24? They are stupid. That is why we put them in dormitories. And they have a resident assistant. They make really bad decisions!" Was she joking? SMH, yeh right. That's always what people say when they've said the wrong thing.

                                Did Trump Tweet This About Kamala Harris? "U.S. President Trump tweeted that "Karmala" Harris' name sounded "like a terrorist" and that she was "not even American.""
                                - They said false. But this wasn't even headline news. Look for this "news" and it's not all over the internet. They probably made this up themselves to put something out on their site to act like they were balanced with Trump. But it wasn't even a news story. It was intended to attempt to make their site look unbiased yet nobody was talking about it.

                                Did Trump Say of Women, ‘You Have To Treat ‘Em Like ****’?
                                - They said true. Dug that up from 1992. I believe it is true.

                                Was a Black Man Charged in the Killing of a White 5-Year-Old in North Carolina? Was liberal media ignoring it?
                                - They said it was a mixture. Well, we know only Fox reported on it. They essentially said because it was only reported by Fox it wasn't proven so too bad so sad. Yet had it been a black boy shot in the head by a white man on purpose like that, what do you think happens? Be honest with yourself.

                                Comment

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