Grades v. Mavericks 11/29

How long will Reggie last?

  • Its any day now.

    Votes: 20 27.4%
  • New Years.

    Votes: 22 30.1%
  • End of the season.

    Votes: 25 34.2%
  • End fo the season + renewal.

    Votes: 6 8.2%

  • Total voters
    73
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
In light of this latest humilation I have decided to call an emergency Theme session.

Theme = Its Good To Bounce A Ball (Famous NBA Wives/Girlfriends)

Greene ( D+ ) -- got the start, and even looked ot be a part of the offense in the early going, but alas he is under 30, so there was no question of minutes tonight and he was soon gone. Maybe he heard my admonition about actually shooting while he was out there...and maybe now I wish I had not made it, as he missed, and missed, and missed. The ones he hit looked great, but its no good when you miss 3 for every one of those hits. For the second night in a row gave us a little something on the glass.

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Adriana Lima (Marko Jaric's Fiancee) -- yes, that Marko Jaric. The caveman looking dude with the eyes that nearly touch. Don't ask. Its amusing how many on this list are the significant others of Euro players -- someplace where theoretically the sport is less popular than in the U.S. and you would think the players would be distant second tier celebrities behind soccer players. In any case, whatever pain Marko might be feeling about bombing out in Minny and being stuck as a minor roleplayer on a terrible team in Memphis has to have been entiely washed away by this score. My goodness, I knew I should have forgotten about all that learning important stuff and worked on my crossover instead.

Moore ( B ) -- Moore starter+26min. Thompson 18min (including garbagetime). Woohoo. But in a rare reversal, this time Mikki actually outplayed JT. In the first half in fact Mikki Moore actually rebounded the ball as we dominated the glass for the first time in weeks. Think he had 6 before the break. Was doing fine in there against Dirk/Dampier too. Of course could not leave well enough alone and had to pick up a trechnical for whining to the refs before half to help the Mavs open up a little lead that would soon become a big lead. Did nothing after the break as we did a slow collpase (as opposed to the fast collapse of a game like Utah).

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Yeliz Okur (Mehmet Okur's wife) -- remember the tall doofy looking guy that bombed us into oblivion with his slow motion 3pt game in Utah a few ngihts back? Well that's him, and that's his wife. Former Ms. Turkey Yeliz Caliskan. Sometimes life is just not fair.

Miller ( D+ ) -- will likely find his face on the side of a milk bottle after this one. Grabbed a few boards for us int he early going, but watching Dampier out there swooping them up from out of his area you could see the difference in soembody who had a real passion for it. Brad could not get his shot going early, and then just quit -- went right back into that hesitant passing up open shots thing he does, one time even choosing to turn the ball over rather than risk lowering his FG%. Could not even muster the energy to bomb half a dozen threes this time out, so you knew things were bad.

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Vanessa Williams (Rick Fox's ex-wife) -- well, the wife of a former Laker antagonist, yes. But he hardly could have chosen better than this former Miss America. And the best part was? She eventually left him.

Salmons ( D ) -- one of those nights where the spigot was just turned off. Had a couple of finishes inside, largely courtesy of Brad, but almost nothing else fell and he often seemed to be playing in slow motion. Exhibit #1 was int eh third quarter as we were startign to slip, and a ball was slapped back over halfcourt and headed toward oour hoop, John has the angle to the ball and a 2-3 step lead over Dirk BNowtzki, not a noted speedster, and yet it was Dirk who beat him to the spot, beat him to the ground on the diving save, and who gave his team a bucket. John was running in sand. Guess you could say he dominated Gerald Green defensively in Green's few minutes out there, but Green is largely an idiot and I'm not convinced any member of this board couldn't have stopped him tonight just by yelling "shoot it superstar!" at him every time he got the ball. Bad game

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Masha Lopatova (Andrei Kirilenko's wife) -- although she has long been touted as a famous russian pop star, when I went out looking for pictures of her, there was basically this one wiht Ak47, and then one other. No wikipedia entry...methinks she might not be quite so famous has been claimed. In any case, another Jazz player's wife, and famous for more than just her pop stardom. This is the lady who famously announced a couple of years back that it was ok with her if Andrei had an occasional affair, as long as he told her about it (which had her shooting right off the attractiveness charts for American men, but is not as bizarre a stance as you might think in Europe).
 
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Udrih ( B+ ) -- our lone shining light of this one, and even he did somethng really pathetic along the way. Had a big first half on offense, and while he was not stopping Kidd at all in the early going, Beno kept right on rolling, while Kidd slowed. Was not just the scoring and assists though, as tonight Beno came up with no fewer than 9 rebounds -- a career high, and a major reason we won the battle of the boards. His hot first half play actually forced the Mavs to change things up after half, when they consistently kept a second PG type player in there alongside Kidd (Terry + then Barea) with the responsibility of staying in front of Beno. Yet for all that Beno's shot was never really on, and then there was the patheticness -- we'll be kind and call it a lapse. Near the end of the second quarter, with us still in it, up at the top of the key Beno and Mikki combine for a bad turnover leading to an easy breakway opportunity for the Mavs (Green maybe, or Wright). Beno chases the guy back to maybe the top of our circle, and then, with the play still unfoldinig, spins around to start yelling at Mikki about the screwup. Bad enough, but becomes flat out embarrassing when the Mavs player blows the layup, and Beno suddenly realizes there is still a game on and turns around in time to see the guy have plenty of time to collect the ball and put it back up. Chorus of boos from the crowd was well deserved, as is the half grade drop here. Those are the sorts of plays made by a team coming unglued.

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Tyra Banks (Chris Webber's ex-girlfriend) -- and one of our own of course from back in the golden days (and no I do not mean Doug's nutty wife). Supermodel+superstar...it was too much to ask for it to work out, but it added a little air of glamour to Sacto during our title runs.

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Hawes ( C+ ) -- only a handful of first half minutes, but did get to face Dirk. Didn't do much himself, but at least Dirk didn't do much back the other way. Reacted to the garbagetime minutes (and he has to wondering what the hell happened that he's back to this) by playing a bit like garbage. Had energy to be sure -- always helps when your coach let's you play maybe 6-8 total minutes -- but was sloppy and turnover prone as well.

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Eva Longoria (Tony Parker's Wife) -- of course this one is so well known as to be trite and I almost did not include it for just that reason. then I thought....free picture of Eva Longoria? Ok, its in.

Cisco ( C- ) -- now this looked like a first gamne back -- absolutely nothing before half. The shots were ugly, and there were no other contributions. Was in for a while after half while the game was sitll on, and started to do a few minor things the way he used to, and then got himself inserted for some juicy garbagetime, and unfortunately played like he belonged.

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Elsa Benítez (Rony Seikaly's ex-wife) -- one of the early semi-Euros, Seikaly was a damn good center in an era of great ones in the late 80's/early 90's. He was also well built and not bad looking. So playing at the greek god he went out and nabbed a goddess. Elsa Benítez, former SI cover girl and supermodel I think. Now also Rony's former wife (odd how these guys get less attractive after the fame and $$$ dry up).

Thompson ( D+ ) -- our other young big apparently only suited for garbagetime, and as Reggie progressively shoves him down the bench, he is playing more and more like he deserves the compliment. Only got 6 first half minutes, did little with them. Had some energy in the third, but most of it was spent fouling. And was nearly as sloppy as Hawes in the garbage period (most teams call it the 4th, but for us its easier just to give it a proper name).

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May Anderson (Jason Kidd's ex-girlfirend) -- and this one lasted a brief enough time it may not really belong here -- this was Kidd's summer fling after he broke up with the woman he ended up with after he broke up with his wife. But you see , the thing is I know May (real name is Lykke May -- Danish). Or rather knew her. She was a client back when she was just starting out in the modeling business, and I was basically her handholder. Sweet kid at the time, but frankly not the sharpest tool if you will, and I worried how things would work out for her in the shark pool that is the modeling world. Can't say its all been good, as she hits the party circuit hard, has been arrested, was once Kid Rock's post-Pam squeeze, and now was fooling around with JKidd. But along the way she was also in SI's Swimsuit Issue for several years and became a major runway model, and would be a nice catch for just about anybody.
 
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Jackson ( C ) -- perhaps no player would have wanted to play well more in this one than Bobby after his words after the Utah loss, and it just did not happen. And boy did Bobby look unhappy over there on the bench as the blowout came down the stretch. Missed a pair of chippees to close out the first half that helped us fall back again -- a short jumper, and then a layup as we started our slow collapse even before the half began. Was back for significant minutes after half, including starting the 4th quarter in a bizarre experiment by Reggie in whihc he had all three of our tweener guards out ont he court at once -- BJax, Brown and Douby, probably making 6'1" (MAYBE) BJax the SF since he is the only physical player of the bunch. I guess might as well experiment in the blowout, but experiment wiht a 35 year old when you've alreayd cheated thekids of minutes? And experiment wiht a lineup that cannot possibly work at this level? Three small guard lineups are a college fetish, not a league where you run into LeBron James at SF.

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Aleka Kamila (Peja Stojakovic's wife) -- and while Peja may not still be here, Bobby is back, so excuse enough to break back out one of our golden era girls. Greek model Aleka Kamila. Maybe we tired of Peja, but hard to tire of his taste in women.

Brown ( B- ) -- had some moments as a scorer, although he, like the rest of the Kings, could not get the 3pt shooting going, and many of his minutes came after the party was over. Pretty extreme falloff ths time from Beno to Brown, but that was more because Beno was very good than because Bobby was very bad.

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Brandy (Quinton Richardson's former fiancee) -- Forgot whent he marriage got called off (think 2005 or 6?) but anyway, do remember this about the buzz -- apparently Brandy had to have a tattoo on her back of Quinton's FACE transformed into a cat after the breakup. His face. I thought it was notorious enough about the potential for disaster with putting somebody's name on you. But their face? And Quinton Richardson's face at that??

Douby ( D ) -- a half stpe from an incomplete, as he was purely garbagetime again, but this time did not even play through the whole thing. And other than be part of that ridiculous three twerp-guard lineup to start the 4th, he didn't do anything in his minutes either. With Kevin coming back, he might be off to the practice squad in a few days. I don't think Quincy has it, but that still has to be a bitter pill to swallow if you are him looking back to what might have been had things gone differently in the Spurs/Phoenix games.

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Candace Parker (Sheldon Williams' wife) -- and see, I was going to save this for Sheldon himself...until I realized that Sheldon had not played, not even the customary little stupid 2 minute pointless stints reggie keeps throwing at him. Maybe the slouchy attitude in Utah was an iindication of something there. Anyway, no reason to be slouchy about this though -- I am not blown away by Candace, but she's cute, is obviously in great shape, has a fun smile, is famous, and is the better baller of the two. So Sheldon, hang on for dear life. Take out the garbage, help with the dishes, and wear little pink panties if she wants you to. No matter how the basketball career goes, don't screw this one up or you'll spend the rest of your life kicking yourself..

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Theus ( ) -- In the midst of firing himself seemingly. Either tone deaf or defiant, but seemingly just rubbing everybody's noses in his authority to dump the kids down the bench now. And after losing 9 of 10, hearing boos from the home arena, and thess last few games looking and sounding like a team that is breaking, he better hope that there is some serious magic from bringing back Kevin. Oh, and that the banged up Jazz stay that way for Tuesday. The steaking Nuggets cool by Friday. The nearly unbeatable Lakers stumble upon some kyptonite by Saturday... Because the next 4 opponents are all better teams (by a lot) than we are, and we are already 5-14. It takes no imagination at all to see a potential 5-18 on the horizon.
 
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Gotta give the savvy coach some credit. He walked into the post-game press conference and SAID all the right things about needing to develop the kids, give them more time, etc. In fact, I dropped my jaw more than once because he spoke the very words he should be saying. But his actions in the game didn't match his words...

This is a mess.
 
Gotta give the savvy coach some credit. He walked into the post-game press conference and SAID all the right things about needing to develop the kids, give them more time, etc. In fact, I dropped my jaw more than once because he spoke the very words he should be saying. But his actions in the game didn't match his words...

This is a mess.


Is this his first time speaking directly on this issue? I seem to recall him saying this very same thing.
 
He knows what to say. The problem IMHO is that his words do not translate into action on the court. If you didn't see the game, you might buy into his rhetoric but I don't know how anyone who watched the whole fiasco could possibly believe him...

But I should probably just pull back and relax a bit. I'm not a happy camper right now. Last time I felt this badly, I sent off a rather hostile email to the front office and I think they blocked my email address for about a year.

:p
 
He said all the right things. He talked about this coming break of three days, and said unless players need to come in for treatment he's going to give them tomorrow off to rest. He also said the young players need to get minutes, but didn't say how that's going to happen.

He did, however, start off his statement with the "I always want to win every game but..." I think the truth is right there. And I may even understand it. Reggie wants to win. Period. His competitive streak as a player may actually be one of his biggest flaws as a coach in that he'll continue to ride the vets and hope to find enough time for the kids to put in, still garner the win ... and look to the future. But, bottom line, he wants to win...
 
He knows what to say. The problem IMHO is that his words do not translate into action on the court. If you didn't see the game, you might buy into his rhetoric but I don't know how anyone who watched the whole fiasco could possibly believe him...

But I should probably just pull back and relax a bit. I'm not a happy camper right now. Last time I felt this badly, I sent off a rather hostile email to the front office and I think they blocked my email address for about a year.

:p

I don't remember the exact question, but I think his answer about developing the rookies was in response to a question about giving up and putting the rookies in for the 4th quarter of the last 2 games.

This game falls directly on the shoulders of the players. So, I'll give Reggie a pass on this one. Whether it was the last game of a bear of a month, the 2nd back to back in a week, or just trying to fit Garcia and Greene into the rotation, what ever it was they all shot like crap. I knew we were a bad 3 pt shooting team, but 0 for the game is ridiculous.

But based on the performance of the rookies, we would have lost this game no matter who he started.
 
And that's part of the problem, HTK. If we would have lost the game no matter who he started, then we should have given the time to the kids and let them develop. Watching night after night of major minutes for Mikki Moore and Brad Miller, especially when Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson are improving by leaps and bounds every time they get decent minutes, there's no reason to play the vets while those two especially sit and fidget on the bench.

We aren't going to win a lot of games. If we're going to lose anyway, I'd much rather use the kids and give them more experience.

It's not about the players not hitting threes or trying to fit Garcia and Greene into the rotation, at least not for me. It's about giving our future a chance to develop now, before we actually need them.
 
And that's part of the problem, HTK. If we would have lost the game no matter who he started, then we should have given the time to the kids and let them develop. Watching night after night of major minutes for Mikki Moore and Brad Miller, especially when Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson are improving by leaps and bounds every time they get decent minutes, there's no reason to play the vets while those two especially sit and fidget on the bench.

We aren't going to win a lot of games. If we're going to lose anyway, I'd much rather use the kids and give them more experience.

It's not about the players not hitting threes or trying to fit Garcia and Greene into the rotation, at least not for me. It's about giving our future a chance to develop now, before we actually need them.

As I posted earlier, he needs to find a scheme that the young guys fit into, and then plug in the vets that can fit that scheme. I've noticed that Thompson plays better with Hawes than he does Miller. Possibly because Miller tends to ignore Thompson and Greene when their on the floor.

I think the young guys want each other to suceed, so they look for one another. I know they make mistakes, but there's something I like about the unpredictibility that they bring to the game. I know exactly what Miller is going to do. I know exactly what Salmons is going to do. Both are good solid players that are trapped in they're own predictibility. Does anyone know what Kobe is going to do at any given moment? You know he's going to score, but your not sure exactly how he's going to do it. Which player is harder to defend? Which player is more fun to watch?
 
omg I've always thought adriana was hot as hell but my god she looks unbelievable in that picture. I am seriously amazed. If I had a girl like that... Well I don't know just give her to me marko. Now hehe
 
As I posted earlier, he needs to find a scheme that the young guys fit into, and then plug in the vets that can fit that scheme. I've noticed that Thompson plays better with Hawes than he does Miller. Possibly because Miller tends to ignore Thompson and Greene when their on the floor.

Good points. Miller is the ultimate high post center looking for cutters. JT and SH don't seem to be cutters and tend wait for the ball to pop and shoot or make their own shot. And if Theus is gonna start the vets now, seems that is not rebuilding. So a scheme or game plan is needed to get the young guys better playing time.

I think the young guys want each other to suceed, so they look for one another. I know they make mistakes, but there's something I like about the unpredictibility that they bring to the game. I know exactly what Miller is going to do. I know exactly what Salmons is going to do. Both are good solid players that are trapped in they're own predictibility. Does anyone know what Kobe is going to do at any given moment? You know he's going to score, but your not sure exactly how he's going to do it. Which player is harder to defend? Which player is more fun to watch?

Again great points. But JT and SH both are trying too hard much of the time and are too quick to try to defend with their hands and not their feet. Again, coaching is needed to correct that. Hawes is somewhat a high post type and learning more and more. JT needs to learn the NBA game as does DG. All three (four with Brown) have the offensive abilities but they need to learn defense is more important now, and quickly.
 
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Aleka Kamila (Peja Stojakovic's wife) -- and while Peja may not still be here, Bobby is back, so excuse enough to break back out one of our golden era girls. Greek model Aleka Kamila. Maybe we tired of Peja, but hard to tire of his taste in women.

Not only beautiful, but an Olympic athlete for Greece, as well. High jumper on 1996 Greek team.
 
Masha Lopatova (Andrei Kirilenko's wife) -- although she has long been touted as a famous russian pop star, when I went out looking for pictures of her, there was basically this one wiht Ak47, and then one other. No wikipedia entry...methinks she might not be quite so famous has been claimed. In any case, another Jazz player's wife, and famous for more than just her pop stardom. This is the lady who famously announced a couple of years back that it was ok with her if Andrei had an occasional affair, as long as he told her about it (which had her shooting right off the attractiveness charts for American men, but is not as bizarre a stance as you might think in Europe).

I read a huge article about Kirilenko 2 years ago and I can tell you that she is not a pop star. She was a very unsuccessful pop signer :) However, Masha Lopatova's father is a very rich man - he is a former basketball star and successful businessman now.

Andrei likes playing computer games a lot and Masha likes drinking red wine. And the problem is that Andrei can not stand alcohol, even wine and beer and Masha hates that Andrei waste hours playing with his buddy Tim Duncan. So, they have an agreement - she can drink wine like twice a week after dinner and he can play like 10 hours a week (i do not remember the exact number) with Tim and other friends. I think it is kinda funny :)

" but is not as bizarre a stance as you might think in Europe"

Your perception of "Europe" is just mythical. What is Europe? There is NO European culture and identity. Something that is normal in one country is absolutely unacceptable in others. Albania and Great Britain are both equally European countries, however, their cultures are completely different. What culture represents Europe? Is it British? Is it Teutonic? Is it Slavic? Is it French? Is it Euro-Latin? They are all different and represent Europe equally and separately. Referring to Europe as a whole (like it is a single country or place that shares similar culture or traditions) is an enormous and fallacious generalization.
 
Your perception of "Europe" is just mythical. What is Europe? There is NO European culture and identity. Something that is normal in one country is absolutely unacceptable in others. Albania and Great Britain are both equally European countries, however, their cultures are completely different. What culture represents Europe? Is it British? Is it Teutonic? Is it Slavic? Is it French? Is it Euro-Latin? They are all different and represent Europe equally and separately. Referring to Europe as a whole (like it is a single country or place that shares similar culture or traditions) is an enormous and fallacious generalization.

The same could be said of the USA. How similar is San Francisco to Salt Lake? Mobile Alabama to Detroit? Portland Oregon to Dallas Texas? and so on. Any large generalization is going to be false part of the time, I believe what he was getting at is that "in general" most of "Europe" has a more open and less puritanical view of sexuality than the "United States".
 
The same could be said of the USA.

Yes, it is true and it would be wrong. However, the US is a country and Europe is a continent with absolutely different traditions and values.

I believe what he was getting at is that "in general" most of "Europe" has a more open and less puritanical view of sexuality than the "United States".

I understand that and I understand why he and so many other people in North America think this way. I also watch local TV news. However, it is a very false assumption.
You said most of "Europe" has a more open and less puritanical view of sexuality than the "United States". Let's look at one example - weed is legal in Holland and we might assume that Holland is a drug-friendly country that represent low morals and struggles with narcomania. However, drug consumption in the US is the same or even exceeds Holland and its neighboring countries' level. So, who is more drug-friendly - country that legalized it and consumes less or country that keeps it illegal but consumes more. This is the thing.
Trust me, most European countries think that the US is way too liberal. The problem is that many people in America (at least in Canada) limit Europe to several countries and its modern customs and therefore, have a very wrong perception of Europe as a whole and it opens doors for prejudices like what we are discussing right now.
 
Okay, I let the initial thing go for a while, but now we have reacehd the point of ignorance...and not from my side.

I note you are in Warsaw. I do not know if that makes you Polish. But it if it does, it is Poland who is out of step with general European (meaning Continental -- the British Isles have always been separate socially) attitudes. Most of the former Eastern Bloc countries are playing catchup socially with Western European nations, but Poland in particular adds in a strong Cartholic church presence as well and has taken an extremely conservative turn in the last few years.

The initial objection was relatively silly, since there are absolutely no communities in the United States, beyond perhaps San Francisco, where the idea of an "open relationship" is viewed as anything other than perverse and kinky, whereas there are a number of countries in Europe where it is accepted as a reasonable decision -- and even the European nations which are socially conservative enough to frown upon such things are nonetheless far more used to the idea being bandied about than anybody in the States is. That's before we even get to the loose morality of the multinational jet setting elite.

But then to add in that "most European nations think the United States is too liberal"...now your have exposed your own biases rather dramatically. If anything "most" European nations view us as neandrathals. Meat eating, death sentence dealing, gene crop growing, sexually repressed, backwardly religious gun toting cowboys. That is a general opinion that you could find commmonly )(but of course never universally) expressed all the way from Scandanvia down to the Mediterranean. But of course its all more complex than that, there are also a lot of things they like about us, and sometiimes ironically even the same things. And all of that something we are not going to discuss on this board as it strays squarely into politics.
 
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Okay, I let the initial thing go for a while, but now we have reacehd the point of ignorance...and not from my side.

I note you are in Warsaw. I do not know if that makes you Polish. But it if it does, it is Poland who is out of step with general European (meaning Continental -- the British Isles have always been separate socially) attitudes. Most of the former Eastern Bloc countries are playing catchup socially with Western European nations, but Poland in particular adds in a strong Cartholic church presence as well and has taken an extremely conservative turn in the last few years.

The initial objection was relatively silly, since there are absolutely no communities in the United States, beyond perhaps San Francisco, where the idea of an "open relationship" is viewed as anything other than perverse and kinky, whereas there are a number of countries in Europe where it is accepted as a reasonable decision -- and even the European nations which are socially conservative enough to frown upon such things are nonetheless far more used to the idea being bandied about than anybody in the States is. That's before we even get to the loose morality of the multinational jet setting elite.

But then to add in that "most European nations think the United States is too liberal"...now your have exposed your own biases rather dramatically. If anything "most" European nations view us as neandrathals. Meat eating, death sentence dealing, gene crop growing, sexually repressed, backwardly religious gun toting cowboys. But of course its all more complex than that, and something we are not going to discuss on this board as it strays squarely into politics.

No, I am not Polish and I am not in Warsaw. I was born in Warsaw, that is why I have it beneath my avatar. I am mostly German and Hamburg is my home city and I live in North America temporarily but proudly. (if it is so important for you and you think that somehow it represent who I am.)
First of all, what you said about Poland is nonsense for anybody who knows modern Poland. And I do not understand why Eastern European countries should adapt our values. German values are the best for Germans but not necessarily they are the best for easterners.
"now your have exposed your own biases rather dramatically."
Please, do not judge my personality. OK? You do not know my biases and won't know. I guess it will be better for everyone.

It is much more interesting to read your posts when you write about things you understand than when you try discussing things you do not know at all. Europe you know is not Europe we have across the ocean. The more you talk about, the more it is obvious.
 
I'm done after this, because its obviously going to to go absolutely nowhere. but when you say:

So, who is more drug-friendly - country that legalized it and consumes less or country that keeps it illegal but consumes more.

The places that are more drug-friendly are the ones that won't lock you up in a prison for using them.
 
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