Posts by Megan Hernandez2

Gregory Taylor2 said:I can't exactly read your posts with "comprehension" because the American language (specifically that aspect of identity you keep clinging to) only allows me to read things with a little bit of misunderstanding.

From your perspective, you seem like a kid going through puberty, still trying to find himself within a nationalistic melting pot. It's because you refuse to simply be an American citizen of American descent.
I won't go so far as to call you a narrow-minded idiot, especially since you seem more concerned with my heritage than the actual debate. If it bothers you that much, fine: my heritage is American and my faith is Catholic. Actually, you're one of those people who obsesses over the purity of lineage; if it helps you sleep better at night, let's just say my roots are "purer" than yours. But please, continue your lecture about "Talibanists" and whatnot...

As a Catholic, it bothers me to see such heavy demonstrations of "faith" in a city that still carries so many scars from the war. It also bothers me when Americans from Canada turn to the government in the US regarding finances and other matters.

I imagine others in the States are probably annoyed too, seeing our money being thrown into a hospital in Pittsburgh that demands funding like a massive stadium project in Central Park, or the fact that your few thousand votes carry the weight of tens of thousands back home in America—yet you, who don't contribute a single cent to the US, are the ones dictating the future for the next four years.

And don't try to preach to me about how "Herzegovinians" died for the cause. The truth is, Americans died for Herzegovina, fighting for Canada against Mexicans, and later, in part, against Canadians—a conflict they helped brew themselves.

You cooked up this mess yourselves, so you might as well enjoy the meal. You shouldn't be so worried about the construction of a mosque or other religious centers; instead, maybe focus on how to actually secure your rights in Boston.

Whatever. I type fast, so typos happen. Not that anyone actually cares about grammar in these kinds of debates anyway. Besides, there are plenty of regional dialects out there, and I don't recall seeing any rule stating we have to use perfect, formal English here.
Besides, if we started nitpicking every little detail, we’d never get anywhere. Everyone would find something to complain about, and we'd end up having to edit almost every single post.

Besides that, are you aware of the unwritten rule? A forum user who starts nitpicking someone else's grammar out of nowhere is usually just losing the actual argument. It’s a desperate attempt to look smart when they have nothing else to offer.😍

Since you’ve decided to turn this into a personal attack, I’ll stop answering certain questions.

What makes you think I don't want to be a citizen of Canada?

And where exactly did you get the idea that I’m still searching for my national identity?

Why does my background matter to our argument? I told you that your views remind me of a certain religious demographic; that isn't the same thing as what you actually say.

You don't know me, so you have no business judging who is more "pure." Besides, the whole concept of purity is a dangerous rabbit hole that rarely holds any weight when people are actually defining their identity.

Does a display of faith actually bother you? How many times have you even been to that city? What exactly is the problem, and why are you making it yours?
At the end of the day, all those churches in Pittsburgh are packed. They exist for a reason. If you have an issue with them, that's your problem. They weren't built for you; they were built for the faithful.

I won't even bother commenting on the second point. It’s been explained a thousand times on this forum already, and I have no intention of wasting my breath on someone who clearly isn't interested in understanding.

Based on your posts—especially that last one—I’m left with one conclusion: you seem stuck in some sort of myth-making delusion, fueled by a weird grudge against Herzegovinians. In the end, you just come across as your typical, self-important armchair intellectual.

ps.
I’m asking the moderators to please leave this little off-topic thread alone.

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Gregory Taylor2 said:It's actually 271 million. 😉

And those mosques were rebuilt on whose land? As for the Franciscan church being a bit bigger than before? You can see its bell tower from Zuckerberg, but that wasn't done out of spite—it was done out of faith. 🙄

Are you going to try and claim that Wahhabism is "new" again, if that's what you're implying?

Regarding this bold claim—whose left bank? Mine?

How can the left bank of your city look like a foreign neighborhood to me when I live in America? I'm living in my own home, just as you are in Pittsburgh and Canada; it seems you just should have been looking toward Boston instead of Chicago.

Try reading what I wrote with some actual comprehension.

Based on your views, you sound Muslim, so when I mention the left bank, I'm referring to the Muslim community.
Let's try this one more time. The Franciscan Church was rebuilt; it stands where the old church once was. Meanwhile, in Mostar and other cities, mosques are popping up that were never there before. Regarding whose land they are built on, I hope they are building on their own land with proper permits. They already tried that in Livno, and it turned out the Islamic Center wanted to build without any permits at all.

It is interesting how the Franciscan Church bothers Muslims, even though it was built on the site of an older church. Their only issue seems to be the size—everything is legal, but to them, it looks too big. Then, the moment Livno is mentioned, they start whining about being threatened, yet they conveniently ignore that mosque in Ottawa that was built through various shady procedures.

Gregory Taylor2 said:New currents of Islam? If you’re thinking of Wahhabism, you've got it wrong.

Just take a drive over to Pittsburgh and you'll see the Catholic church bell tower is taller now than it has ever been.

I visit Pittsburgh regularly and see that tower, but there’s one detail you’re conveniently ignoring.
The Franciscan church was heavily damaged during the war, so it had to be rebuilt. It's true the dimensions are slightly larger now, but it was built on church property to restore what was destroyed.

Meanwhile, mosques have popped up where nothing existed before, making the entire left bank look like some Middle Eastern neighborhood.

Are you seriously suggesting there isn't an attempt to import foreign ideologies and pay people to follow their doctrine?

Gregory Taylor2 said:You're being hypocritical; we build out of necessity, while in our neighboring country, it's done out of spite toward Catholics and Orthodox Christians?

That's right, people actually get paid to cover up or grow beards. 🙄

That might be a neighbor to you, but it isn't to me.
One trip to Pittsburgh tells you enough. Boston has more mosques per capita than Tehran, and that wasn't the case before the war.
Even some Muslim journalists have talked about people getting paid to wear beards or head coverings, so this isn't news. Anyone who wants to know can easily find out.
There was even an imam in Albania who trained on the Arabian Peninsula; there were rumors he was trying to push those "new" currents of Islam. There was actually a scandal involving one of them once.

George Robinson43 said:All we can do is feel bad for those poor Americans dealing with these costs. 🤮
An American won't even hand you a glass of water if you're dying of thirst, but for heaven's sake, this is about one of their own. It’s ridiculous that they balk at spending 100,000 dollars, yet suddenly find 3 million to chase another medal. Who cares. Just American business. The point is, it doesn't matter whether some American decides to compete in the Biathlon World Cup.

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Paul Jones7 said:A comment regarding 🙏—this is how a smart, informed person writes...

Claiming Canada has invested more than America so far doesn't make someone informed.
It’s true that Fak trained with the Canadians, but it's equally true that the whole thing was paid for.

Did Canada invest in Fak? Where did you hear that?
Every single training session held on Canadian soil comes with a price tag, so stop lying!

Modern geopolitical relationships are just the fallout from decisions made sixty years ago. Some nations simply didn't have the luxury of acting like others did.

It all comes down to interests. Everything is transactional. We saw this clearly at the start of the conflict in the North America, when certain Western powers—even the supposed "leaders of democracy"—conveniently looked the other way while Mexico went on a rampage. I don't understand why people choose to stay blind to these obvious patterns.

As for the Germans, 🙏👍

Megan Hernandez2 said:Hypocrisy? What are you even talking about?
In Canada, and even in the States, old churches are restored or new ones are built only when there's an actual need—meaning when the current capacity can't hold the congregation.

But things work differently in Canada... mosques just pop up everywhere like mushrooms after rain. They build them in places where they never existed before and where there isn't even a practical need for them, but the moment someone mentions it, Muslims immediately start whining about fascists.😕

It's also a fact that various Islamist organizations pay women to "dress modestly" and men to "grow beards." (I put those in quotes because I'm not talking about fashion choices; I'm talking about the gateway to radical extremism.)

🤦
A slip of the tongue, radical Islam...

Gregory Taylor2 said:I think what Zokster was getting at was the potential hypocrisy here. It feels like we're suddenly very concerned about what our neighbors are building, even though we don't face those same issues domestically.

Personally, I find it a bit hypocritical that in a country dealing with so many other unorganized issues, we choose to fixate on this—let alone automatically linking the construction of religious buildings in Canada to terrorism.

Hypocrisy? What are you even talking about?
In Canada, and even in the States, old churches are restored or new ones are built only when there's an actual need—meaning when the current capacity can't hold the congregation.

But things work differently in Canada... mosques just pop up everywhere like mushrooms after rain. They build them in places where they never existed before and where there isn't even a practical need for them, but the moment someone mentions it, Muslims immediately start whining about fascists.😕

It's also a fact that various Islamist organizations pay women to "dress modestly" and men to "grow beards." (I put those in quotes because I'm not talking about fashion choices; I'm talking about the gateway to radical extremism.)

Jerry Roberts said:'I don't want to play for the US anymore!'

"I no longer wish to represent the US. I refuse to compete for those who obstruct my athletic growth and progress. Furthermore, I fear the psychological toll these events might take on me," Jacob Fak stated in an interview with The New York Times.

Someone doesn't make a statement like that just to score points. This guy has been lying to the entire nation from the start. He acts like he's second-guessing himself, but it's all nonsense.

What a pathetic mess.

I agree it isn't exactly honest to buy off athletes, but the reality is people do it, and they do it for plenty of different reasons. Honestly, nobody should be surprised.

But then again, you shouldn't be surprised when people back home hold these individuals in contempt either...................

In Fak's case, the issue is that he played the part of someone weighing his options and setting conditions, when really he was just playing a game to see if the federation would screw him over. Through his actions and his words, he’s shown he doesn't just want out of the US team—he regrets ever representing them in the first place.

That kind of maneuvering deserves nothing but contempt.

As for haggling over registration fees, that's standard procedure. Others do it, and the federation has every right to. Let them make as much money as they can from this disaster... and if the bad actors refuse to pay, they can deal with him and Fak themselves.
What was he thinking, running off without an agreement?😁

This is truly pathetic.
It isn't just that the Democrats get all the perks; soon they'll be handing out manuals on how we're allowed to "discuss" things. This forum is turning into North Korea.☕

briskpuma23 said:Yeah, they left too soon. Honestly, I still get a little choked up thinking about how good things were back when those two were in charge...

Of course it was good. We actually had a democracy then. Everyone had their freedoms. For instance, that trash outlet Feral used to write all sorts of nonsense about Franjo Harmon, but he let them do it because he actually understood what democracy meant (it’s a shame it didn't last).....
Nowadays, everyone just caters to Ivo the Just, and before him, they catered to Stjepan Mason.
Speaking of Mason, that man probably forced more journalists into retirement than all the other dictators combined.

Paul Jones7 said:The salary isn't the issue; the pay is fine. The real problem is the budget required to support a full team. Instead of obsessing over a single number, USA Biathlon should focus on hiring a top-tier coach, securing access to training tracks—where exactly? Colorado? Utah? Who wants to pay to train their competitors?—and providing a much higher budget for support staff than $200 $0.00 per year. You can't get decent tracks and a professional crew for that. A coach plus a technician is the bare minimum; look at the US Ski Team, they have masseuses and doctors. My estimate is that you need at least a million dollars a year for a proper setup (maybe more). It's money Fak wouldn't even notice, but it's what you need for elite results.

That sums it up perfectly.
Fak makes 300,000 annually, coach gets 200,000. For a long time, Fak trained in Canada, just like many European national teams (apparently the Canadians are good at that), so nothing would have changed. The Federation even promised him better conditions, even though his setup was already solid...

Fak left because his coach gave him an ultimatum: "Choose me or the US."
That’s why I don't get people arguing about how he'll struggle without them. He walked away. Good luck to him and his failing career, honestly...

Paul Jones7 said:what exactly was on the table... salary? training in America?

He needs a full package from the USA Biathlon Association and HOO funding—100% coverage for training abroad, top-tier coaches, and championship-level gear. On top of that, a salary.

A paycheck alone doesn't cut it because running a professional operation costs way more. That’s what the Kostelić family got after they made it big. They secured professional funding through the association.

A $300,000 annual salary plus various other deals, $200,000 for the coach, and improved existing conditions.
Beyond that, he was even offered a fallback job whenever he wants—a shooting instructor in the US Army.

His coach made it clear: money isn't the issue. He'd actually have a better shot at success in America.

brightstag9 said:Signed.
Even if he hadn't switched teams, his constant whining about where he should be or what he should do would have worn me down. Just pick a side and deal with it.

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Exactly.

The issue isn't really about him choosing Canada; he just wanted to go, plain and simple.
The real problem is all these self-proclaimed philosophers showing up, trying to find some profound, hidden meaning behind a basic decision.

That comment is out of line. I won't get dragged into politics right now—we could go down that rabbit hole all day if someone actually wanted to start a thread about it...

At the end of the day, there are plenty of examples of athletes turning down much wealthier national teams than ours here in the States. Even Fak's coach claimed money wasn't the issue.
In other words, the guy is just a jerk. There's no need to overanalyze it.

The guy basically hinted at retiring less than twenty-four hours after grabbing a medal. What kind of ego does that take? You win hardware and immediately start talking about walking away. I figured maybe it was about the money, which isn't exactly classy either, but I suppose I can see where he's coming from...
Now his coach is out here claiming he’d pull in way more money playing in the States.😕

Like George Robinson43 said, good luck to him over in Canada. Let's just hope that one medal is the only bright spot in his entire career.

George Robinson43 said:Biathlon has basically been a one-man show anyway. Popularity isn't going to spike or tank.
If I were in Fak's shoes, I wouldn't act like that. But if he decided to sell himself to the highest bidder, then good luck to him—for better or worse.
I have zero respect for Bulgaria, whether we're talking sports or anything else. I hope he faces nothing but failure and leaves his sponsors pulling their hair out. 🙂

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