SoxFan1

Chris Webber is a friend to all Serbs. I love reading stories like this: http://www.stumbleupon.com/demo/?friend=56...p?story_id=7619

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Feb 26, 2008 -> 12:21 AM) I passed out after four beers once. /end debate

Happy Birthday Steve!

QUOTE(The Beast @ Feb 23, 2008 -> 12:20 AM) That's the thing, I do not want to abandon my beliefs. I do not want to abandon what I have back home with my girlfriend or screw with alcohol because I know alcoholics, and I know the effects of alcohol. Peer pressure has never fazed me, and I can say confidently that my 2 1/2+ years of dating my girlfriend have created several memories that I'll treasure forever, and as I said in the Valentine I made for her, I want to make more memories with her. No girl compares to her. I plan on creating memories of gaming and meeting quality intellectual and not generic individuals. I'm not being pressured at all---this is truly who I am. Thanks for seeing my point, Disco. First off, peer pressure is a bulls*** excuse created by people with no self control. Alcoholism and social drinking is totally different as well. I basically disagree with everything you said in this thread. Drinking is not bad. And people who drink are not bad. I commend you on sticking to your beliefs and what not, but don't try to put yourself above others because you don't drink. And it's also bulls*** that you label people generic because they drink. Gamers are a totally unique group of "intellectuals" right? I don't smoke weed. I know many people that do. I don't agree with it and I won't do it, but I don't formulate opinions about people because they smoke weed once in a while.

life is a motherf***ing b**** and wene peoeple tell you yjthings thst you dont want to hear, it fducking sucks. i fdont dfeel to goodo right now because some fchick thats a pscholigy major isa a dumbf***. thats isal ll. kocovo je srbija

Our 1st look at Alexei Ramirez...

QUOTE(JFields27 @ Feb 21, 2008 -> 07:13 PM) Whats up with the Conflicting reports? looking at this link again http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3257159 look at the print which has the deal Cavaliers get: Bulls F/C Ben Wallace Bulls F Joe Smith Bulls 2009 2nd-round pick Sonics F Wally Szczerbiak Sonics G Delonte West Bulls get: Cavaliers F Drew Gooden Cavaliers G Larry Hughes Cavaliers F Cedric Simmons Cavaliers G Shannon Brown Sonics get: Cavaliers F Ira Newble Cavaliers F Donyell Marshall Bulls F Adrian Griffin then watch the video thats in it -- It has no Griffin to Seattle, instead Duhon(who would be a great player in seattle in my mind) and no Brown going to us. The video was from earlier today. The 11 player deal is the one, we keep Du but send Griff, and still get Brown.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Feb 21, 2008 -> 05:53 PM) Why is Gooden not in any of this? He's the player I like most in this deal...and on top of that, Deng and Gordon are back already.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 21, 2008 -> 04:42 PM) Bulls get Shannon Brown too? According to this, yes.

To CHI: Larry Hughes Drew Gooden Cedric Simmons Shannon Brown To CLE: Ben Wallace Joe Smith Wally Szcerbiak Delonte West Future 2nd rounder from CHI (2009) To SEA: Ira Newble Adrian Griffin Donyell Marshall

This is getting ugly. 150,000 people protested in Beograd. US Embassy set on fire, Croatian embassy attacked. In Kosovo, protests continue in Mitrovica. UN posts were burned at the border, and then an Albanian was arrested after they found 3 RPG's in his house in one of the Serb enclaves.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Feb 21, 2008 -> 01:49 PM) I had a friend in college from Effingham (one of the best names for a town...evar!). He would be drunk almost every night on this stuff called "benzene" which was absolutely awful. BUT, he did all his homework first and got straight A's. In fact, he ended up at Harvard Law and is now a top tax attorney at one of the biggest law firms in Chicago. I certainly don't condone that behavior, but it worked for him. So...who am I to judge? Skadden? Kirkland/Ellis?

QUOTE(bmags @ Feb 21, 2008 -> 12:41 PM) I mean, whatever your convictions, it is a poor attitude to despise other people for the way they live their life, except of course, if they are destructive to those around them. I laugh off the stupidity of some of the people around me, and I admire (and am somewhat intimidated) by those so successful in school, but I don't hold myself above those who aren't as intelligent or don't make the same choices as me. I work my ass off in school, and the way I blow off steam may be different than the way you blow off steam, but it doesn't mean yours is any more respectable or productive than mine. I had 5 exams and 2 essays in the past week, yesterday being my last. You better believe I got f***ed up last night to celebrate. Does that make me a bad person? No. Does that make others that don't drink better? No. I totally respect those who do not drink. I think that is a great choice to make. But don't try to tell me I'm a bad person because I drink. Like wite says, it's possible to be an incoherent douche and not cause problems. To think otherwise is retarded. Oh, and gaming is NOT a social event. Unless it is drunken Guitar Hero.

If I'm interested in a class subject, I sit at the front. If not, I sit in the back. And if it's an early class, I sleep in the back, like I did for Mythology this morning.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 01:58 PM) Don't think it's been posted yet but we have our first reports of post-declaration violence. Yeah, Mitrovica is the heart of the situation right now. Serbs in the north and Albanians in the south are separated by a bridge over the Ibar River and things are getting tense. But no worries, nothing is going to happen, NATO/UN peace keepers are there.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 01:33 PM) And there won't be war. UN peacekeepers are in the way of that. Haha. You mean what KFOR is doing and what UNPROFOR did before it? They did a great job protecting Serbian towns, churches, & monasteries in 2004.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 08:51 AM) Slav, Your analysis of Kosovo forgets that there was a Kosovo prior to World War II. And for much of the last 500 years, it was not a part of Serbia, but rather a completely different part of the Ottoman Empire. It did not become part of Serbia until the late 19th century, when the Ottoman Empire was finally falling apart. So there has been a definite Kosovar identity for centuries. Just because Kosovo was not a republic of the Yugoslav Federation after its creation doesn't mean that it never existed. In fact, when you talk about Tito, he never helped to create a republic there but did in fact basically give them enough autonomous power there that by the 1970's, Kosovo had enough of an administrative bureaucracy guaranteed in the 1974 constitution that it was a defacto republic. Enough that it had its own parliament which until 1989 was 70% ethnic Albanian. I personally wish that this had been handled better. I believe in a people's self-determination through political, peaceful means when necessary and I don't particularly feel that the Kosovo process is either. I'm well aware that Kosovo existed before WWII. I simply refer to that as the turning point of when a Serbian majority came a minority. Go back in time to 1389 when the Ottoman Turks were moving north. Who fought for Kosovo? It wasn't Albanians, because Albanians became independent from Turkey in 1912 I believe. Serbians inhabited the region since the 7th century. The Ottoman Empire wasn't able to seize Kosovo (for the most part) until the mid to late 1400's. The Ottomans left there mark on the region with bringing over the Muslim religion. Thats where we get modern-day Bosniaks. They were people who took up the Muslim religion so they wouldn't get killed. Albanians themselves branch off from Turks. Basically everything shook itself out after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Something like 1% of the entire empire was of the Muslim religion and Albanian or Turkish is not even listed as a recognized language of the empire. Following the dissolution, the Kingdom of Serbia was formed, Kosovo included. Going even further back, Raska was the first Serbian territory, and that included Prizren as well. Serbian Orthodox monasteries have been in the region since the early 13th century when St. Sava formed the Church. And as far as a republic in Kosovo, I'm talking present day. I know very well that Tito made each state an autonomous region in Yugoslavia, but the unfair part of that is that he made 3 in Serbia (Vojvodina, Serbia, Kosovo).

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 03:32 AM) I see your point. I also know that this region has been ruled in one way or another by Serbia for a long, long time and the breaking away that all the other areas to become (or re-become) independent from Serbian rule in the last 20 years was overdue. Tito was a Croation, so up until his death in 1980, it was under a Croatian rule so to speak. Following that, Yugoslavia was able to stay relatively peaceful until the fall of the Berlin Wall, and then the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 pretty much put everything over the top. The transition from a communist state to a republic was very difficult but where do you get this idea that these states were under Serbian rule? You make these very broad statements that don't seem to hold much water. I don't understand where Serbians ruled over Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia... QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 03:40 AM) Slavko, before this gets too deep I just want to say that while I respect you as an individual and as a sox fan, the country of your parents' origin has been unfortunately violent and oppressive to other groups in that area for many years. I can see your reasoning behind this topic that it looks like Albania is stealing part of that country away. But, the other ethnic groups in that region and all over the former Yugoslav areas are tired of being beaten down and attacked by the Serbian Army. Certainly you can see the value in a semblance of peace? Statements like this really upset me. You make it sound like Serbians were the aggressor of every conflict in the region. Who declared independence from Yugoslavia? Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia...not Serbia. I forgot that no Serbians were ever killed and that no violence was ever started by anyone else but Serbs. A semblance of peace? Come on now. Ever heard of Operation Storm? Ever heard about Jasenovac Camp? Ever heard of the UCK/KLA? The single greatest exodus of ANY people in the entire Yugoslav region was the exodus of Serbians from Croatian Krajina. QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 03:51 AM) I wasn't trying to say the Quebecois, or Latino-Americans are like the Kosovars, I'm just responding to the notion that you have to have a country to have a legitimate nationality. *** Because I simply don't know, do you guys think it would be appropriate to say that Kosovars see themselves as Albanians, just the same as those in the State of Albania? Or is this just a Serbian argument? Either way having Kosovo fall under the jurisdiction of Serbia no longer seemed like a realistic option. Groups separate when they feel oppressed and are confident they can handle things on their own. Not only does Kosovo seem to satisfy those two conditions, there seems like a massive mandate from people within Kosovo to be independent. I imagine now that they're quasi-independent they won't want to give up powers to the state of Albania but will probably be within their sphere of influence, but they obviously were before the unilateral declaration of independence anyway. I also think it would be fine if the Serbian areas of Kosovo chose to remain Serbian. If Serbia is divisible then so too is Kosovo. Of course that's a ideal situation in a perfectly democratic world. But if the region was perfectly democratic and rights oriented the regions could have all lived together under one umbrella in the first place. Yes, it's totally factual that Kosovars see themselves as Albanian. And the Serbs there consider themselves Serbian as well. Your two conditions are very questionable as well. Albanians feel oppressed in Kosovo yet they have maintained a large majority there for 50+ years? Confident they can handle things on their own? Thats laughable. Kosovo is incredibly poor. Ther unemployment rate is greater than 50% and much of their government consists of former terrorist generals from the KLA, their Prime Minster being one of them. And of course they would have a massive mandate, 92% of the people there are Albanian. They will secede, and soon enough, after the immediate wave of independence is over, they will join Albania. Why else would they become independent? It creates an unnecessary subcategory of Slavic people and since the economy is so terrible, it would never be able to survive, or at least prosper, unless there is a greater power assisting it. Partitioning Kosovo might be the most logical thing to do in the long run, but for the immediate future, it likely means that much of the former Yugoslavia will be partitioned and new borders be made. Norther Kosovo and Republika Srpska would join Serbia, the Mostar region of Bosnia would join Croatia, Kosovo and regions of Macedonia/Montenegro would join Albania, and it would be a huge clusterf***.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 02:44 AM) it's not like Albania is taking over southern Serbia Ummm, yeah. That's kind of what independence does. Southern Serbia is Kosovo, and has always been. If you don't think they won't try to join Albania, then you're just wrong. This will all end in partitions of Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, and Macedonia. You make it seem as if Albanians fought for the land or something. Tito + NATO + UN has gifted them that land since WWII.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Feb 19, 2008 -> 02:16 AM) Well Kosovo only has 2million people and a total area of 4,000 squar miles. Quebec has 4million people and a total area of 595,000 square feet. For comparison, the state of NJ is 8,000 square miles. The problem with your comparison is as following: 1) Slav is pointing out that Kosovoans are really Albanians (there is no distinct Kosovoan if you look up Kosovo the ethnicities are Albanian 92%, Serb 5.3%, 2.7% other) 2) Because there is no "kosovoan" unlike Quebecois, there is no nationality. Slav is pointing out that the people in Kosovo for the most part still identify themselves as albanians or serbians, not as Kosovoans. As for it being like a latin-american, no its not. Latin-american's are not creating seperate states from the United States. The reason that the "american" part is attached is because they are joining us. Where as Kosovoans are breaking away from the 2 nationalities they normally identify with (albanian and serbian) Or atleast thats what I see. Nail. Head. Contact.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 08:37 PM) Yugoslavia as a country was a clusterf*** from the beginning. Only Soviet control kept everyone getting along. Once the Berlin Wall fell in '89, of course everyone went nuts and tried to kill each other. Kosovo is just another chapter in the continual splintering of that area. It's happening whether you as a Serbian person like it or not. False. Tito held everything together until his death. Nationalistic thoughts were not acceptable. Partially due to communism, partially due to the fear of what Tito would do.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 08:30 PM) Sound familiar? Well, since I was the first person in my family born here, and that was in 1989, I'm going to go with a no. Way to deviate from the topic though.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 08:12 PM) So, in essence, Kosovars are imaginary eh? Kurds are imaginary, in fact, Americans were imaginary too I guess, in the eyes of England in the late 1700s. I'm not saying they are imaginary, never did. A "Kosovar" will basically be characterized as an Albanian living in Kosovo. Would you have a different definition of it? Just like there are still people in the Balkans who consider themselves Yugoslavia, or even Bosniaks. And in the late 1700's, Americans were Indians.

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 04:45 AM) So why do the Serbs get to be a real people but the Kosovars don't count? Is time the only requirement in becoming a people? Serbs are a real people. Albanians are a real people. Kosovars are not, it's pretty simple. And time is not the only requirement, because Kosovo has belonged to Serbia far longer than it has "belonged" to Albanians. The most ironic part of this is that all of the Yugoslav wars were started by people claiming Serbs wanted a Greater Serbia. Well, an independent Kosovo is the 1st step to a Greater Albania. When regions of Montenegro and Macedonia start to secede as well, it'll be clear what is going on. I always thought the US was anti-Muslim extremists/separatists? QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 03:18 PM) The U.S. has recognized Kosovo as an independent nation. Britain and France have done the same, and Germany says sort of "We're working on it". Greece, Spain, and Romania say they will not do so. Serbia's main backers at the moment are Russia, China, Greece, Romania, and Spain.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 03:20 AM) I never said Howard shouldn't have won, I just said his dunks weren't that good. That doesn't mean the competitors were crappier. Howard's 1st dunk was ridiculous. After that, very, very meh. The tap off the backboard to himself was "meh"?