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bullsky
Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 20310
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Posted: 08/01/08 9:26 pm ::: |
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Doesn't Charles Barkley live in Sugarland? I think some of my family used to live by him.
_________________ "Don't do something until you get it right, do it until you can't do it wrong."
- Geno Auriemma
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scullyfu
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 8864 Location: Niagara Falls
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Posted: 08/01/08 9:30 pm ::: |
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bullsky wrote: |
Doesn't Charles Barkley live in Sugarland? I think some of my family used to live by him. |
i wonder if hakeem on is charles' 'fave five' list.
_________________ i'll always bleed Storm green.
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CB
Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 11089
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Posted: 08/01/08 9:59 pm ::: |
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TonyL222 wrote: |
CB wrote: |
Yep a citizen but the article doesn't speak of Houston as home and I guess he changed his mind about Canada but he definitely said that. He comes here to check on his investments.
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Today Olajuwon, 44, proudly shows off that book in the living room of his home in Sugar Land, Texas, outside of Houston, ... |
He owns property and lives there for part of the year. I presume he pays taxes on his US income and properties as well. He might even vote. A millionaire with muiltiple international homes is probably not uncommon. |
Yeah he mentioned no debt except property taxes I think. No doubt he pays his income tax, he's very honorable IMO.
He pays everything cash as part of his religion it said. Amazing.
All the same, I guess my point is he spends less time here than Becky does in Russia , but it's just an aside as Hakeem has a long history here since college and he's 44 years old, so young still, I didn't realize.
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eclair
Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 3914
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Posted: 08/01/08 10:44 pm ::: |
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I think I lost several IQ points to this thread. Damn that Becky Hammon!
Really, her mercenary approach to the Olympics speaks to nothing--not her patriotism, not USA vs Russia--nothing but her innermost heart. Benjamins, baby. Or Kopecks, I mean.
_________________ Put a Bird on it.
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shotclock off
Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 144
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Posted: 08/02/08 5:57 am ::: |
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norwester wrote: |
She didn't get a raw deal. The selection process always has been what it is, and the players are aware of it. I think we need to cease trying to assign blame just because she chose not to pursue making the team.
She did exercise her freedom, and I'm happy for her following her dream (one of them), but I like to see anyone be successful who works hard and is good at what they do, and can live doing what they love. I would not personally make her choice, but I understand her choice.
I also think everyone needs to stop getting so defensive about the whole thing, and admit that both sides have a point, but that by the same token neither side is wrong.
It's all about emotion. Some feel that they would never play against their country, and can't understand how others would. Legitimate. Some feel that it's their freedom as an American to do whatever they can to make a successful living. Also a valid point of view.
What is ridiculous is listening to each side argue over and over without listening to or acknowledging the other side and their point of view, while simultaneously tossing around dynamite words like "patriotic". Some people have agreed to disagree and have bowed out. But most of the rest seem to persist in posting extreme and repetitive views. Others twist everyone's words to fit their own preconceptions. Part of that is standard for a message board. But all the time, on the same dead-horse topic? It's tiresome.
At this point neither side is going to change the other's mind, and we continue to have to hear ad nauseum about the support Becky gets in the military town that San Antonio is painted as being, and how her home town does or does not support her, all the while we try to define the Olympics and patriotism and Capitalism and Communism...did this become a painful philosophy class while I wasn't looking?
Big surprise: her fans support her. Stop trying to convince them otherwise because you can't.
Big surprise: some people would never contemplate playing for a National team other than their own. Stop trying to convince them that they actually would with the right inducement (money, dreams, etc.), because you can't.
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Spot on!
As long as Hammon doesn't put the winning basket against the US, or generally stands out as the player that takes out the US in a game, this will probably blow over- though she's probably lost some fans for life. If, by some chance that scenario does come to pass, I think she's really going to regret the decision because it's not going to blow over.
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LakotaStorm
Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Posts: 5625 Location: Seattle, Wa
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Iluvacc
Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 4167
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Future Mrs. Hammon
Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 559 Location: LA, California--Hammonite Nation
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Posted: 08/03/08 2:45 pm ::: |
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Please don't lump all Hammonites/Becky fans into one category of "zombie followers":
While I accept and support Becky's decision to do what she wants...I am tired of the following arguments used to justify her actions:
1. The end of the Cold War:
The Cold War ended less than 20 years ago...for something that went on for 50 years and occurred throughout a crucial point in American history (lots of political/social instability) I wouldn't say that 20 years is long enough for anyone to say..."oh yeah that was eons ago..."
In 2001--only 7 years ago--American-born FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for 20 years. He sold secrets to the Russians which resulted in countless deaths and compromises to our (U.S.) national security.
2. Fast-tracking foreign born nationals for the purpose of competing for the U.S. in athletic competitions:
You CANNOT be fast-tracked directly to U.S. citizenship...you may be fast-tracked for a U.S. Non-immigrant visa, or you may be fast-tracked for Lawful Permanent Residentcy status. However, you cannot naturalize directly from foreign national to U.S. citizen, as was Becky's case in Russia.
And even when you are fast-tracked to obtaining U.S. Non-immigrant or Immigrant visas, you MUST STILL meet certain requirements and fulfill certain residency requirements/language comprehension to obtain citizenship...EXCEPT in the following case...
Naturalization Applicants Who Have Served Honorably in Any Specified Period of Armed Conflict with Hostile Foreign Forces
This is the only section of the Immigration and Naturalization Act that allows persons who have not been lawfully admitted for permanent residence to file their own application for naturalization. Any person who has served honorably during a qualifying time may file an application at any time in his or her life if, at the time of enlistment, reenlistment, extension of enlistment or induction, such person shall have been in the United States, the Canal Zone, American Samoa, or Swains Island, or on board a public vessel owned or operated by the United States for noncommercial service, whether or not he has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
Before you make arguments about fast-tracking foreign nationals into U.S. citizenship, you should refer to the Immigration Nationality Act, which can be found at www.uscis.gov. Don't just refer to opinions/perceptions written in sports magazines, et. al., as to what writers believe the rules are.
I support Becky but refuse to recite these ridiculous arguments as reasons. And I can support Becky while I cheer on my country (Team USA) to Olympic gold. It is also my opinion that most countries probably don't hold this "global perspective" that some here have expressed or would like to believe. I think citizens and nationals of other countries are proud to represent their own countries, and would probably prefer to be self-sufficient sovereign nations without other rich countries poking their noses and fingers in their business, if they could afford to do so...but that is just my opinion...I mean that's why the jihadists "terrorize" us in the first place isn't it? Because they don't want anything to do with the U.S....they don't care about this "global" bullshit
I hope Becky does well, and I hate that she gets tormented for her decision, because I'm sure she has struggled with this decision to great lengths without everyone hating on her. But Cold War arguments and U.S. immigration policies should be left out of this...
_________________ WNBA.com: "How are you going to bring that trophy back to San Antonio?"
Becky Hammon: "Yikes, I don't know. I hope it fits in my overhead compartment. But I guarantee I'm getting stopped at security."
LLL + CP3 = 15-12 (BITE ME COACH COOP!)
Who says there's no "Dunkin' Donuts" in L.A.!!!
Anne Donovan is the real American Traitor...
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 67015 Location: Where the action is
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Posted: 08/03/08 3:28 pm ::: |
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Future Mrs. Hammon wrote: |
You CANNOT be fast-tracked directly to U.S. citizenship... |
Potential Olympians are given O-1 visas, thanks to the influence of sports fans in congress, which moves them to the front of the line for permanent resident status. With such a visa and high level politicians behind them, citizenship can be obtained in less than a year. Bernard Lagat competed for Kenya in the 2004 Summer Olympics, but was banned from the 2005 World Championships because he had switched nationalities to the US in the short time between.
_________________ I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home
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Future Mrs. Hammon
Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 559 Location: LA, California--Hammonite Nation
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Posted: 08/03/08 3:53 pm ::: |
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pilight wrote: |
Future Mrs. Hammon wrote: |
You CANNOT be fast-tracked directly to U.S. citizenship... |
Potential Olympians are given O-1 visas, thanks to the influence of sports fans in congress, which moves them to the front of the line for permanent resident status. With such a visa and high level politicians behind them, citizenship can be obtained in less than a year. Bernard Lagat competed for Kenya in the 2004 Summer Olympics, but was banned from the 2005 World Championships because he had switched nationalities to the US in the short time between. |
Again...you cannot go foreign national--->US Citizen
You even pointed it out yourself...O-1 or P-1 (Non-immigrant visa) to
LPR status...guess what still not a USC...THEN
USC
Becky, Kelly, Deanna...DID NOT have to go through a similar process.
Hence you cannot be fast-tracked DIRECTLY to USC...
_________________ WNBA.com: "How are you going to bring that trophy back to San Antonio?"
Becky Hammon: "Yikes, I don't know. I hope it fits in my overhead compartment. But I guarantee I'm getting stopped at security."
LLL + CP3 = 15-12 (BITE ME COACH COOP!)
Who says there's no "Dunkin' Donuts" in L.A.!!!
Anne Donovan is the real American Traitor...
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scullyfu
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 8864 Location: Niagara Falls
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Posted: 08/03/08 3:59 pm ::: |
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according to what lagat said here, he was a u.s. citizen in 2003, but still ran for kenya in the '04 olympics.
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/3/3_1/lagat-a-runner-without-a-.shtml
Posted Wednesday, 22 June, 2005
However, even his citizenship move has provoked controversy.
The Chicago Tribune reported, and Lagat later confirmed, he was actually a U.S. citizen when he won the silver medal for Kenya in Athens, which could lead to his losing the medal.
The Kenyan constitution says its nationals lose citizenship when they become citizens of another country and the Olympic Charter requires athletes to be citizens of the country they represent.
Lagat did not announce his citizenship until March 2005, 10 months after he became a U.S. citizen on May 7, 2004.
"I was expecting it to happen after Athens," he said. "I started (the process) in late 2003, so by late 2004 I thought I would be finalising everything. But it took half the time."
He said he still did not believe his new citizenship would be an Olympic problem.
_________________ i'll always bleed Storm green.
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Future Mrs. Hammon
Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 559 Location: LA, California--Hammonite Nation
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Posted: 08/03/08 4:06 pm ::: |
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scullyfu wrote: |
according to what lagat said here, he was a u.s. citizen in 2003, but still ran for kenya in the '04 olympics.
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/3/3_1/lagat-a-runner-without-a-.shtml
Posted Wednesday, 22 June, 2005
However, even his citizenship move has provoked controversy.
The Chicago Tribune reported, and Lagat later confirmed, he was actually a U.S. citizen when he won the silver medal for Kenya in Athens, which could lead to his losing the medal.
The Kenyan constitution says its nationals lose citizenship when they become citizens of another country and the Olympic Charter requires athletes to be citizens of the country they represent.
Lagat did not announce his citizenship until March 2005, 10 months after he became a U.S. citizen on May 7, 2004.
"I was expecting it to happen after Athens," he said. "I started (the process) in late 2003, so by late 2004 I thought I would be finalising everything. But it took half the time."
He said he still did not believe his new citizenship would be an Olympic problem. |
Thank you for posting this I was just going to do it myself...
He got stripped of his medal because he was an American trying to represent Kenya--a country which requires its citizens to denounce other citizenship...therefore he could not win a medal as a Kenyan because he was ALREADY an American...
And please God don't anyone mention Monica Seles...she became a USC in 1994 when her former country ceased to exist...and she didn't represent the U.S. in the Olympics until 2000...so she wasn't "fast-tracked."
_________________ WNBA.com: "How are you going to bring that trophy back to San Antonio?"
Becky Hammon: "Yikes, I don't know. I hope it fits in my overhead compartment. But I guarantee I'm getting stopped at security."
LLL + CP3 = 15-12 (BITE ME COACH COOP!)
Who says there's no "Dunkin' Donuts" in L.A.!!!
Anne Donovan is the real American Traitor...
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 14097
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Future Mrs. Hammon
Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 559 Location: LA, California--Hammonite Nation
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Posted: 08/03/08 6:22 pm ::: |
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In that case she was STILL a USC 2 years before the 1996 Olympics and her situation is very special in that she was born in a country that ceased to exist and was therefore rendered stateless...she couldn't compete for Yugoslavia because there is NO SUCH THING as Yugoslavia.
_________________ WNBA.com: "How are you going to bring that trophy back to San Antonio?"
Becky Hammon: "Yikes, I don't know. I hope it fits in my overhead compartment. But I guarantee I'm getting stopped at security."
LLL + CP3 = 15-12 (BITE ME COACH COOP!)
Who says there's no "Dunkin' Donuts" in L.A.!!!
Anne Donovan is the real American Traitor...
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