Star tracker: Manu is No. 1

[diego]

whott, my comments went entirely over your head. The entire first section you picked apart was something Kori posted which IMO captured the argument over Latino and Hispanic. I then explained why I prefer Latino, while at the same time pointing out that it is basically meaningless. I never got into the whole census beaureau thing so I'm not even going to comment that.

the nation states on the american continent were formed by settlers whose disdain for the native peoples is well-chronicled. However, they sought independence from their original countries and in forging a new national iden y they needed to differentiate themselves from their country of origin, and most importantly from their colonizer, be that England, Spain, or Portugal. There is a reason that each colony has its own dialect of the former official language. Now, Latino and Hispanic are words with linguistic connotations but they are used to identify cultures, not languages. Hispanic has a colonial connotation because it is a derivative of Hispania, the word the Spaniards christened the "new" world with. Therefore, Hispanic has colonial connotations that Latino does not. is that so hard to understand??

and as far as the list, I could give a flying about what some talking heads at ESPN think, but if you cant see that it is a marketing tool designed to highlight athletes from as many markets as possible, then you are blind.

I lived in the US from age 4 to 12, then again from age 21 to 24, on both the east and west coast. I have brothers and nephews there and I was there during the 94, 98, and 2002 world cups. I can say with absolute certainty that there is a soccer loving public in the US that is continually growing, and as more kids begin to play it there will be more appreciation for it. The soccer moms are raising generations of children who appreciate the world's most popular game.

and dont go around acting like you know all of world history, because you are just embarassing yourself. Not commiting terrorist acts when you dont like the popularly elected leader? that's funny, that is exactly what Nixon and Kissinger did to Chile's democratically elected Salvador Allende, ending the longest standing democracy in South America in the process. having a military that serves the country instead of trying to run it? Chile used to, until CIA agents killed General Shneider and hooked up Pinochet with the money and intelligence to take over. I only give that example because I am living in Chile now and you made it too easy.

The US system has several provisions that make it difficult for rapid change in government which are propitious to stability, and many nations would be better off to implement them. But that doesn't mean it hasn't used wars abroad (declared or covert) to jumpstart the US economy, create bipartisan fronts, and secure resources and markets for future growth. All the same, I never said that was the sole nor even the primary reason for US political stability, just that thats a more sensible explanation for it than a hate for soccer. It sounds like you're the type to justify the Vietnam war and you probably believe Kennedy got killed by the magic bullet, so it doesnt seem worth it to continue discussing politics with you.

In any case, you act as if I attacked the US in my previous post, when in reality I praised the US' cultural diversity. I know the US more than well enough to know there are plenty of good things there, including good people. But that doesnt mean it is perfect either.

[Jelly]

Dude, thats what i was saying all the time.
Ok, I didnt know the actual questions from the Census Bureau... I'm happy that is Hispanic is not considered a race (Told you Jelly )
And that Manu is Hispanic AND white... just like I've been saying.

umm....I said like FIVE PAGES AGO that I realize now what the correct meaning of the word "hispanic" is ! You have TOTALLY misunderstood my subsequent points which were not what the US Census Bureau meant by it (or as you initially claimed "The CIA" lol) but rather how Americans INTERPRETED the word. Can we just wrap this up now!!

[MaNuMaNiAc]

umm....I said like FIVE PAGES AGO that I realize now what the correct meaning of the word "hispanic" is ! You have TOTALLY misunderstood my subsequent points which were not what the US Census Bureau meant by it (or as you initially claimed "The CIA" lol) but rather how Americans INTERPRETED the word. Can we just wrap this up now!!

agreed

[kolko]

Jelly, please do your research before spewing nonsense. Even though the Roman Catholic religion is the oficial religion of Argentina (it says so in our Consitution), there is total freedom of religion. Argentina has the third largest Jewish population outside Israel (after the US and England). We have large Muslim and Armenian communities, too.

There are also a lot of Welsh towns in the Patagonia.

[doldrums]

Argentina is a great country, the US is a great country. Now can we get back to the Spurs?

[smeagol]

Argentina is a great country, the US is a great country. Now can we get back to the Spurs?

Wow, very conciliatory first post.

Welcome to the forum!

[whottt]

Sorry, the words of Hendrix make it impossible for there to be peace between our two countries at this time. Too many harsh words have been said and there is too much water under the bridge.

I call on Nestor Kirchner, chosen leader of the people of Argentina, to expunge the walking international disaster known as Hendrix from it's soil and reprimand him into US custody so that he may be punished. I also demand that you take the Argentine subversive influence known as Smeagol back to the Argentine that spawned him. Only then will there be the possiblity of peace between our two peoples.


Either that or get Athenea to send the topless photos she has been promising for so long.


And DIEG...you're wrong. It's the Soccer, seriously.


I tell you what...let's play a game...I'll name a country and you tell me what their most popular sport is....we'll then look at how many times they changed governments in the last century. Be prepared to do a lot of counting on the Soccer countries.

Also...isn't Soccer the sport where Refs shoot themselves in the head, where players who score own goals get assasinated, and where fans and players have been known to take axes to the referees?

Yeah...nothing says Western civilization like that...

And to quote a wise hispanic I once knew...in Latin America....Soccer is life. It is the Soccer. Renounce Soccer and embrace prosperity...if you don't do that, then don't blame the US for your struggles.

[diego]

ay ay ay, Whott, you must be old, cause you are stubborn as a donkey!

I never blamed the US! it is a part of the problem, but definitely not the sole cause!

anyways yes there is a happenstance correlation between soccer loving nations and political instability, but that is only because every country loves soccer besides the US, and the US is the most politically stable country on earth.

Besides, its not our fault we love our teams more than our governments, our teams perform much better than the governments!!!

anyways the work day is done and I'm ready for a drink. Cheers mate!

[Manu'sMagicalLeftHand]

Sorry, the words of Hendrix make it impossible for there to be peace between our two countries at this time. Too many harsh words have been said and there is too much water under the bridge.

I call on Nestor Kirchner, chosen leader of the people of Argentina, to expunge the walking international disaster known as Hendrix from it's soil and reprimand him into US custody so that he may be punished. I also demand that you take the Argentine subversive influence known as Smeagol back to the Argentine that spawned him. Only then will there be the possiblity of peace between our two peoples.


Either that or get Athenea to send the topless photos she has been promising for so long.


And DIEG...you're wrong. It's the Soccer, seriously.


I tell you what...let's play a game...I'll name a country and you tell me what their most popular sport is....we'll then look at how many times they changed governments in the last century. Be prepared to do a lot of counting on the Soccer countries.

Also...isn't Soccer the sport where Refs shoot themselves in the head, where players who score own goals get assasinated, and where fans and players have been known to take axes to the referees?

Yeah...nothing says Western civilization like that...

And to quote a wise hispanic I once knew...in Latin America....Soccer is life. It is the Soccer. Renounce Soccer and embrace prosperity...if you don't do that, then don't blame the US for your struggles.

Soccer is the most popular national sport in:

-Argentina
-Brazil
-England, Scotland, Wales
-Germany
-Italy
-Spain
-France
-Mexico
-Holland
-Ireland (along rugby)
-Sweden, Denmark and Norway (along winter sports)
-Turkey
-Uruguay
-Colombia
-Portugal
-Serbia, Croatia
-Nigeria
-Cameroon

and many more. What's the point? Is that soccer is so popular worldwide that you can't make any kind of connection as the one you've posted. I thought first it was a joke, but if you keep saying it....hmm, well...

I could say that baseball is guilty as charge too, since it is played in Mexico, the pacific and democratic island of Cuba, Venezuela....but it is also popular in Japan, so connecting a sport with the political and economical history of a country is pretty much nonsense.

[smeagol]

I also demand that you take the Argentine subversive influence known as Smeagol back to the Argentine that spawned him

I'm dammed by two posters now: whottt and MB.

[hendrix]

Either that or get Athenea to send the topless photos she has been promising for so long.

Whatever dude...