Senate Votes Twice On English Language

[Dagney]

rkzenrage - I completely agree with you. We're already translating too many documents into too many other languages ....

I can't remember exactly what title law it is, but it's one I'm dealing with in the implementation project i'm working on right now - which states - if an IT project gets any federal monies, the top 5 languages (per capita percentage) need to be represented in any out puts from the system. For the project we're currently developing, the top 5 languages are English/Spanish/Mung/Russian/And I believe Chinese. It's different for each state, and it's also different for each place within the state. (depending on the population). Whatever it is, it's a major pain in the arse.

I'll see if I can find the legal references for your reading pleasure.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's crazy, Dagney, absolutely crazy. It's hard enough to get a program that works right in English.

[Guyute]

You guys are lucky. Here in Canada, the Feds made Canada officially bilingual, and Quebec responded by passing provincial laws restricting English, or banning it all together. Then the Fed Gov't laid back and didn't say STOP. Imagine having to write the government to request forms in English when 70% of Canada considers it their mother tongue. Or getting fined because your phone's "hold" music is not French. That crap was part of the reason I moved back to Nova Scotia. And the Federal Gov't continues to do nothing.

If you Americans don't get a hold of this problem soon, you're in deep doo-doo, because if your gov't is anything like ours, they won't intervene. They will vacillate, say that it isn't really happening, that the media are overblowing it, then the next thing you know you're fucked. "others" will exercise THEIR right to limit communication in the predominant language. Why learn English if I don't have to, right? English-speakers lose because traditionally us "English-speaking whites" are too kind and have no backbone to stand up and say "If you can't read the damn road signs then get out of the fucking car!" If the nation is primarily English-speaking, and road signs and stuff are in English, you'd expect it to be common sense that an immigrant have working knowledge of ENGLISH! Once again it is the case of the minority dictating to the majority.

Welcome to Miami shitheads... no habla Engles.

[BrianR]

And Texas south of Houston, and New Mexico, and Arizona, and California south of Los Angeles etc...I could go on.

[9th Engineer]

I'm finding myself glancing at some of the higher end language translators, both for text and for speech. Only problems are that the text translators only do well with the language in its offical and proper forms, no slang or dialects usually. Also, in general I havent found an audio translator that I like.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Guyute, I'll bet you would enjoy reading this piece about the Canadian troops in Afghanistan, right now.
It will give you hope for the Canuk Army.

[Guyute]

Hey Bruce,

It's uplifting and sad at the same time. Our politicians have gutted the defense budget, but our troops still can kick ass if they have to.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I thought you'd like that, it bodes well for the future of Canadian Forces, even if they have to make it happen on their own.
The great white north was not an easy country to build. It took brave people with large balls, putting out a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
I refuse to believe those genes are dead....maybe dormant from too much American TV...but not dead.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I refuse to believe those genes are dead....maybe dormant from too much American TV...:

Most network broadcast American TV sucks. But I've seen Canadian TV...it explains why they watch ours.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by marichiko

I don't think road signs are printed in 5 different languages. They use those universal symbol thingies.

[MaggieL]

Quoted in lieu of permalink to http://www.sugarraydodge.com/srd/

Originally Posted by Sugar Ray Dodge

Año de elección Engaña

Por Sugar Ray Dodge - 29 de Mayo, 2006

Hola y bienvenido a los Estados Unidos de América. Seré su guía de turismo Sugar Ray Dodge. Our
first stop will be Washington DC, where políticos elitistas are selling their country in order to
pander to people who can’t vote in an election year. I know, it doesn’t make much sense, but I
will do my best to explain it.

You see, the mid term elections are an important part of American politics. The entire Cámara de
Representantes and a third of the Senado is up for reelection, and without the pageantry of the
Presidential race, Congresistas y Senadores can’t just hide behind their party’s candidate. They
have to establish themselves on something in order to get reelected. This year it seems to be illegal
immigration. This has been a problem for years, and you have to wonder why no politicians were
making a case for it in 2005 when the Minutemen were patrolling the border in Arizona if it is
simply not an election year stump for them. There is an important difference between the
Senadores who are up for reelection and those who are courting the Hispanic vote this to get a shot
at the '08 ticket. The latter voted for it, the former voted against it.

“¡Sugar Ray, yo no entiendo! Esto debe sólo es un problema grande en los estados contiguos.
¿Cómo véngalo no es un asunto de ser tomado por los estados individuales?”

That is an excellent question. It is true that the problem is the worst in the border states like
California, Arizona, and Texas. But illegal immigrant populations are rising in states with moderate
populations like Utah and Iowa, neither of which border Mexico. That makes it a federal issue.
Besides, Mexico isn’t the only problem. Nous ne pouvons pas sceller nos frontières avec Canada,
and everybody seems to be forgetting that. Everybody is all caught up with the forgone conclusion
that this is a race issue. It isn’t. It is one not only of protegiendo nuestra cultura, la economía y
tasa dólares de pagador, it is one of national security. Remeber septembre 11e ? Ils sont entrés par
le Canada.

So the Senado threw together a mujer y peligroso bill that will be and absolute desastre for the
country if passed by the House. The official authors of this bill are Senadores Hagel y Martinez,
but it is just a watered down version of the older McCain-Kennedy bill, and with those two names
put together you know it can’t be good for anybody. The bill essentially takes all illegal immigrants
and puts them on the road to citizenship. There are stipulations to this, however. They have to pay
back taxes (but only three out of five years worth), sign up for an English class (with not follow up
or enforcement of actually learning the language), go to the back of the line come into the country
legally, and pay a two thousand dollar fine. That’s it! They have to do the things that would be
required of any citizen or legal immigrant in the first place! There is no real punishment for those
who have been here illegally. Rather, they are being rewarded by being put on the path towards
citizenship instead of being arrested and deported for breaking the law. Two thousand dollars is a
small price to pay for having their crimes ignored by the Senado.

And if all that isn't enough, Dana Rohrabacher at the Washington Times lays out what is hidden in
this Amnesty Bill:

• In-state tuition for illegal aliens. Your kid has to pay full freight if they cross state lines, but the
illegal alien who broke into the country doesn't.

• All temporary guest workers have to be paid the prevailing wage. American citizens do not have
to be paid prevailing wage.

• All agricultural guest workers under this bill cannot be fired by their employers except for what
the bill calls "just cause." However, American agricultural workers can be fired for any reason.

• Illegal aliens are made eligible for Social Security. Not only will they receive retirement benefits,
but their children will receive survivor benefits should the parents pass away. This is at a time when
we are trying to keep Social Security solvent for the next generation.

• Expands the visa lottery program, which is itself a questionable way to make visa distribution
decisions.

• Employers of illegal aliens get amnesty, too. Employers would be exempt from civil and criminal
tax and criminal liability under immigration law. God forbid we hold employers accountable for
helping illegal aliens break the law and being the magnet that has drawn them here for years.

• Taxpayer dollars to radical immigrant-rights groups so they can help illegal aliens adjust their
status. Millions of your tax dollars will go to the same groups that organized those rallies where
people who came here illegally waved foreign flags and thumbed their noses at our laws.

Also, Senator Christopher "Itchy" Dodd (D - CT), tacked on that we can't build a fence along the
border unless we consult the Mexican government. Nicely. With sugar on top.

A study by the Heritage Foundation shows that if this bill were to be passed, 103 million new
immigrants will be living legally in this country in next twenty years. That’s a third of the current
population of the United States. ¡Los burritos santos, Batman! That’s a lot! We already know that a
tenth of Mexico’s current population resides inside the United States. No other country in the
world would allow an attack on their culture and language like this. So why are we doing this? Is
the reason to bring in new voters while at the same time putting an enormous strain on the welfare
state? ¡Sí! The more poor people in this country with the slightest working knowledge of a ballot
box who are willing vote for the person who promises them the most handouts the better!

Don’t think that el Senado y sus Republicanos débiles y peca sin valor como siempre Demócratas
are the only idiotas in this whole mess. El Presidente has been calling for this amnistía (call it what
it is) for years. Presidente Fox of Mexico continues to do nothing to help his own failing country
and depend on the United States to take care of his citizens. Zorro is probably rolling over in his
grave!

¡Y las protestas! I almost forgot about the protests! That’s probably because, after all the planning
and hype that went into them, they were, at best, irrelevant. That whole El día sin mexicanos thing
that was supposed to show what would happen if there were no Mexicans doing all the slop jobs
that “Americans won’t do” (which is a total lie) was a complete flop. The May 1st protests proved
the opposite point: that life goes on even if all the discontents are out in the streets blocking traffic
and waving Mexican flags. But you would think that if they like being in America so much and
want their compatriotas to come here illegally and take all our jobs, wouldn’t they be waving rojo,
blanco, y azul instead?

But when all the smoke clears, nothing will get done as usual. It’s all a bunch of talk and not one
thing will change. Cámara de Representantes, the only true branch of government with a lick of
sense in Washington, will kill this bill. Hopefully. If they don’t, you can expect the whole country
to be talking like this within ten years.

Da las gracias para visitar los Estados Unidos hoy, todos. Visite por favor nuestra tienda de regalos
a la salida, y no se olvida sus tarjetas de matrícula de votante. Ellos están en el anaquel junto al
“McCain-Kennedy en 08” los folletos.

- SRD

[warch]

Hmong. I work with some great Hmong kids.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The article I read in Smithsonian said the Hmong in CA, but even more so up your way, the kids of the original immigrants take pride in speaking English and strive to get as much education as possible. Don't they have a Hmong congresswoman, too?