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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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  • Originally posted by Peck View Post
    I have been diagnosed with Pneumonia and Bronchitis, I've had it for 2 weeks now and it is just getting worse instead of better even with a Z pack and steroids. I have been to the doctors office twice and both have declined to do a covid test on me although I have asked both times. Because I have had the moderna vaccine way back in January they did not want to do it. My suspicion is they do not want to mess up any stats about vaccinated people getting infected.

    So in other words I just have **** luck. I have gone this entire time and avoided being sick at all. Then in the damned heat of summer I either have gotten this crap or I've had the great luck of having two different upper respiratory infections that are right now just kicking my ***. I can't sleep because literally I can feel the fluid in my lungs shift every time I move and then I have a bronchospasm and cough for about 10 min. straight.

    This crap sucks let me tell you.
    Sorry to hear that Peck.

    Just an FYI though the RSV infections are up right now.

    In addition Parainfluenza viruses type 3 infections are up which could explain your symptoms outside of covid.

    For covid testing CVS is still testing with no referral needed. Just need to call and make an appointment.

    Hang in there.

    Comment


    • Originally posted by Bball View Post
      The ignorance of that human being is incredible. That's not just ignorance... that's brainwashing.
      It does highlight a truth about the vaccine. Some people, no matter what, will not get vaccinated. So what can you do?

      I think government and health authorities should focus on the people who are legitimately hesitant and try to find ways to convince them to get it. They also shouldn't restrict any employer's policy that is strict on unvaccinated people.

      However, Democrats strategically are galactically stupid, so I expect federal mask mandates may be coming (I hope I'm wrong). If Biden and Harris do that, or blue states do that, the Democrats will lose the House and the Senate in 2022.

      Comment


      • If vaccine efficacy is waning, especially for the earliest shots in arms... then it's actually more important than ever that the unvaccinated get their shots.
        It's ironic that the people that have screamed the loudest about wanting things "back to normal" will be the biggest to blame for things not getting back to normal sooner rather than later. And even for regressing the normalcy that we thought we were achieving.
        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

        ------

        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

        -John Wooden

        Comment


        • Here is the other side of the conservative coin. Hopefully Phil's experience helps some Tennesseans get vaccinated.

          https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...zed-covid.html

          Comment


          • Originally posted by Bball View Post
            If vaccine efficacy is waning, especially for the earliest shots in arms... then it's actually more important than ever that the unvaccinated get their shots.
            It's ironic that the people that have screamed the loudest about wanting things "back to normal" will be the biggest to blame for things not getting back to normal sooner rather than later. And even for regressing the normalcy that we thought we were achieving.
            I hear this for sure, one of the owners at my employer who is in their late 50's complained about masks for the past year, and always just so adamant that they couldn't wait until this is all over and business is back to normal. Then when the Vaccines came out and it was their time to get the shot. They refused based on whatever talk radio fluff they have heard. Now they don't even bother wearing a mask inside, just go along living in pure ignorance and selfishness until they actually end up bringing the virus to work. People like this will not learn until somebody close them gets severely ill or worse.
            You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

            Comment


            • Originally posted by Bball View Post
              If vaccine efficacy is waning, especially for the earliest shots in arms... then it's actually more important than ever that the unvaccinated get their shots.
              It's ironic that the people that have screamed the loudest about wanting things "back to normal" will be the biggest to blame for things not getting back to normal sooner rather than later. And even for regressing the normalcy that we thought we were achieving.
              So to the bolded point I would be cautious with believing vaccines are waning.

              Edit: you used the word if so sorry if that came off to strong.

              Israel's estimates are all over the place and we need more disclosure on the numbers to really know. Piggy backing on that Israel is a poor reflection genetically speaking to the rest of the world. Speaking to the numbers two weeks ago they estimated 64% efficacy against symptomatic disease. Now they say 39% efficacy. It is hard for me to believe that 2 weeks of numbers changed the efficacy for symptomatic disease by this much. What it does tell me is that the reporting methodology is off and is scientifically weak data.

              Overall vaccine efficacy is what is important and that remains incredibly high for the majority of age groups.

              Lastly this is regional. If your region is highly vaccinated then your normal will be less under threat by this pandemic.
              Last edited by Gamble1; 07-27-2021, 09:36 PM.

              Comment


                • The CDC recommended that fully vaccinated people begin wearing masks indoors again in places with high Covid transmission rates.
                • The updated guidance comes ahead of the fall, when the delta variant is expected to cause another surge in new coronavirus cases and many large employers plan to bring workers back to the office.
                • Experts say Covid prevention strategies remain critical to protect people from the virus, especially in areas of moderate-to-high community transmission levels.
                https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/27/cdc-...hot-spots.html
                Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                ------

                "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                -John Wooden

                Comment


                • I am curious how the school districts will operate. Brownsburg has mask as optional except on busses which I believe is do to the federal regulation. I am not optimistic for the younger kids and they won't get a vaccine until probably winter at the earliest. The FDA asked for more kids to be apart of the study which will delay the authorization.
                  Last edited by Gamble1; 07-27-2021, 09:37 PM.

                  Comment


                  • They could've interviewed me for this article because I would've been saying the same things and talking about the same emotions:
                    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/as...ger/ar-AAMBt7p

                    As coronavirus cases resurge across the country, many inoculated Americans are losing patience with vaccine holdouts who, they say, are neglecting a civic duty or clinging to conspiracy theories and misinformation even as new patients arrive in emergency rooms and the nation renews mask advisories.

                    ---
                    Funnily enough, I was just going around with someone on FB who posted some Tucker Carlson quote, and had a thread filled with misinformation... Including someone saying that we're at or over 10,000 people that have died from the vaccine, and that the death rate of Covid is 5% of what is reported. IOW, the vaccine is more dangerous than Covid.
                    Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                    ------

                    "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                    -John Wooden

                    Comment


                    • Is there some kind of issue/conspiracy theory about PCR and Covid?
                      I had someone on FB last night, someone who told me they don't get their info from the "MSM!", ask me if I knew about PCR. I replied I did. Then instead of going ahead with his point, he went on a rant about how I didn't know and I would need to study it to ever know what he knows.
                      So, I understand the concept, but I have no idea what point he was trying to make, nor why he didn't just say it. But I'm guessing there must be SOMETHING in the QAnon files, or some outlier doctor/scientist. Does this relate back somehow to the "inventor" of MRNA we were talking about here the other day?

                      I hate missing out on a good conspiracy theory.
                      Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                      ------

                      "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                      -John Wooden

                      Comment


                      • Well, now I find this. This is probably what it was, but since I said I knew what PCR was, he knew I'd fact check his BS so he wouldn't elaborate further on his point. I was creating a disturbance in the matrix... I mean echo chamber. And so it goes...
                        https://www.factcheck.org/2021/07/sc...d-19-pcr-test/
                        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                        ------

                        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                        -John Wooden

                        Comment


                        • Well good news for me somewhat. I finally got a Doctor to give me a Covid test and it came back negative. Of course it was 3 weeks and 1 day since my symptoms began so not 100% sure how long it would show up or if I would show negative if the virus had already past. However all of my other blood work is an absolute mess and I have some mild damage to my right upper lobe of my lung from this. I'll know more this week.

                          It's been a rough week here at my work as one of our guys has been in the ICU with Covid and another one of our guys father passed away this morning from it. The guy in ICU has been vaccinated in case your wondering.


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

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by Peck View Post
                            Well good news for me somewhat. I finally got a Doctor to give me a Covid test and it came back negative. Of course it was 3 weeks and 1 day since my symptoms began so not 100% sure how long it would show up or if I would show negative if the virus had already past. However all of my other blood work is an absolute mess and I have some mild damage to my right upper lobe of my lung from this. I'll know more this week.

                            It's been a rough week here at my work as one of our guys has been in the ICU with Covid and another one of our guys father passed away this morning from it. The guy in ICU has been vaccinated in case your wondering.
                            Glad you are doing better Peck and sorry to hear about your coworker.

                            My bet is that the PCR test should of picked it up if you had a bad case of it. Some of this is dependent on the PCR though and the set up.

                            You can also try an antigen test looking for the protein. CVS sells these and you can self test and give a big middle finger to the doctors who won't test you.

                            Comment


                            • Meanwhile in Arkansas.

                              As of August 1:
                              • Nearly 19% of active Covid-19 cases in Arkansas are in kids under 18.
                              • More than half the cases among kids are in kids under 12 who can't get vaccinated.
                              • The state saw a 517% increase in cases among kids under 18 between April and July.
                              • The increase is larger -- 690% -- in children 12 and under.
                              • There's a 270% increase in hospitalizations for kids under 18.
                              • ICU admissions are up 275% between April and July.
                              • 20% of those ICU admissions are among kids under 12.
                              • More than half of the kids hospitalized at the end of July -- 58% -- are under 12
                              from cnn

                              Comment


                              • More. The rsv infections are really bad right now.

                                Child hospitalizations have risen in at least eight states, either state-wide or in major pediatric facilities, according to a mix of state and federal data, and local reports.

                                Florida currently leads the nation in kids hospitalized for Covid-19, with 32 pediatric hospitalizations per day between July 24 and 30 (a rate of 0.76 children hospitalized per 100,000 residents), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shared with The Tampa Bay-Times shows.

                                However, officials from major childrens’ hospitals in Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas say their facilities are quickly filling with sick children too, either from Covid-19 too or the mix of the two surging respiratory infections.
                                https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimam...re-increasing/

                                Comment

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