Alonso's fate gets complicated

Well, I thought that moderation came with age. Anyway, if Lauda didn´t want to give his opinions, why did he become a TV commentator?

I think that he´s a great driver, but his "PR style" has been always a bit rough, now it has become more apparent as he hadn´t to speak so much when he was driving.

 

Most importantly, he nover turned a wheel until he was in America. His entire racing education took place on American soil. He was not a transplanted foreigner like Montoya, he was brought to the US as a child.

He is an American, plain and simple. Anything else is complete and pure nonsense.

 

There is a big difference in removing the oath and not enforcing it. To become a US citizen, you still have to declare your allegience to the US and renounce all foreign allegiences, whether the State Dept. enforces it is not the issue.

 

+1000000

 

Yes true.

It is not enforceable and never has been - they have not rescinded the requirement as my parents just did the naturalization thing a few weeks ago so unless it was *just* changed, they still require you to renounce any prior citizenship. Wjat they don't do (and never have - its nothing new) is that they don't do anything official to ensure the citizenship has been renounced.

The USA has never done any checking and has never tried to enforce it. Many countries do not acknowledge the ability/right of a person to rescind their citizenship so essentially it's just a statement one is making, but if someone is making the statement that they rescind any other citizenships and they are going to the effort to get US citizenship, I think it's safe to call them an American.

 

With all these arguments posted above sure make a point about Alonso´s fate...it sure gets complicated.

I was born in Mexico, so therefore I am an American, even a NorthAmerican.

From Tierra del Fuego all the way up north to Canada, IT IS called AMERICA. Or that got changed since my last Geography class?

 

No it has not! I learned that on a posting that took me to Central America. They too considered themselves Americans!! We should all just get over it and consider ourselves earthlings I find myself much less concerned with national identity now. Things are so interconnected.

 

Having dual citizenship with the USA is a double edge sword...as a US citizen you have to pay US income taxes on money you earn anywhere in the world even if you had already paid taxes in another country where that income may have been earned...

 

That has nothing to do with dual citizenship, the US is one of the few countries that taxes its citizens on worldwide income, not just income earned in the US. However the US also has tax treaties with many of those countries to prevent double taxation.

 

Thats the correct answer right there!

The US taxes pretty much all citizens, even if you dont live here at all - unless you give up your citizenship and take citizenship of another nation instead. In the UK I believe you just need to be out of the country more than 1/2 the year to avoid the taxes - which is why sooooo many British famous/rich people spend just under 1/2 the year there. It's extremely common and almost expected that famous people do that.

 

Latest rumor from Jerez:

Alonso drives for Toyota for one year. For 50 million $!

 

On my life !! it changes daily now..suppose it gives us something to thrash on about

 

It sure does. Can't say who is more desperate at this moment: The fans, the press or Alonso.

 

Or toyota if $50M is true!

 

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/071206103734.shtml

Zoom
Raikkonen – the unflappable Finn

Kimi Raikkonen says he wouldn't mind sharing his Ferrari garage in the future with Fernando Alonso.

"I would have no problem with that at all," the newly crowned world champion told the Roman newspaper Corriere dello Sport.

Speculation recently suggests that Alonso is searching for a temporary team for 2008 because he is eyeing a Ferrari race seat in 2009.

Raikkonen, who is currently paired with Felipe Massa, said working with the Spanish double world champion would 'not change my life or the way I drive.'

"It would be interesting to race against one another with the same car," he added. "I don't know when it is going to happen; perhaps never," said Raikkonen.

Rumours have even suggested that, because Brazilian Massa recently penned a new Ferrari contract through 2010, Raikkonen may actually be ousted to make room for Alonso.

But Raikkonen says he is happy at Ferrari.

"I do not know if this is going to be my last contract, but I hope that this will be my last team," he said.


The reticent Finn also insists that he has not been bothered that, despite the fact that he won the 2007 title, most of the post-season talk has been about other drivers.

Newspaper columns since the season finale in Brazil have been filled with espionage tales, Michael Schumacher's test return, and seemingly endless plaudits for the 2007 championship runner-up, Lewis Hamilton.

But Raikkonen said: "I feel good. I hope the others stay in the spotlight and I can have a quiet life.

"I am the world champion and nothing can change it now. I am only interested in one trophy - the one I will collect this Friday in Monte Carlo.

"All the other awards - driver of the year, or whatever - I am happy to leave those to the others."

 

Technically you are all Americans. Traditionally, people who are citizens of the United States of America are called Americans. Citizens of Mexico are called Mexicans fo differentiate them from citizens of the United States. I guess we chose not to call ourselves "United Statesians."

Millions of Mexican citizens apparently are confused and think they are Americans because they come to the USA and stay albeit mostly illegally. Not that complicated.

America is named after Amerigo Vespucci (sp?). Good thing we aren't called Vespucians IMVHO.

 

If that were so, we would have VESPA, as our national vehicle?

Ciao...Paolo

 

This is another example of North Americans assuming they control the world and nobody else matters ... :yawn:

Everybody born in or citizens of North and South America are Americans ... the tradition is plain and simple wrong and lazy IMO .
Pete

 

True and in a way you are right...it is semantics.
But today IMHO "American" is hardly referred to anybody who is from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, to name a few South American countries....everybody would say that he is a "South American". Similarly "North American" is referred to a person from either the US or Canada while "Central American is referred to anybody from Mexico, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, etc. = basically a prefix is added to the word "American" increasing its specificity.
It is now an acquired part of the common English language to refer to an "American" as a person from the US. This applies internationally as well. All you have to do is look at any European paper and you will see that the above definition apply. In Italy, as an example, when you say "Americano" you think of a person from the US while a person from Chile you would say a "Sudamericano" ( it is one word).

 

To get back on topic-

Alonso may have more difficulty now that the decision to approve the McL car will be only four weeks before the season starts. There are hints that the McL car may indeed have some problems with pirated Ferrari technology. this would push Fred to Renault or maybe a one year sabbatical.

 

All the news are reporting that it is almost assured that Alonso will sign the contract with Renault by Monday as Carlos Ghosn will be available Monday ( or possibly sooner with Carlos Ghosn permission ).

 

Any word yet on whether Ghosn is still standing by his 3-years-or-nothing requirement?

 

Probably one of the best things that could happen to Toyota could be to hire Alonso. He could help improve their car development, and get them some much needed additional press. However, there is a big question mark on whether or not the Toyota next year will be competitive enough at the start to benefit quickly from further development. Alonso could push the car a few places up from their usual finishes of the past seasons, though to get on the podium would require major development.

The danger for Alonso would be getting into a car that does not improve, or that proves unreliable. Remember what happened to Damon Hill. I would imagine that beyond lots of money, Alonso needs to appear somewhat competitive, win a couple races, get some polls, and secure a further future somewhere else. I doubt he could win a championship in a Toyota, but he could put that team into the top level of the sport (podiums, competitive, fastest laps, poll positions, etc.).

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography
http://www.gordonmoat.com

 

then the brainwashing has worked on you. let them open up our southern border, completely, and you'll be singing a different tune. alas, it will be too late then. if it is not already.

 

this is why i love this guy