Monday, April 29, 2002
Bush Crash Anniversary
Today marks the one year anniversary of a school bus crash that took the lives of four students. As I noted in an article on this topic for National Review OnLine last year: "Both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald reported on May 16th that bus driver Hin Chi Kan had told a parent chaperone shortly before the bus crashed in Sussex, New Brunswick, that he spoke 'only a little English' and that he might need the parent to translate for him."
One year later, the road is still a terrible place to try to learn English.
|posted by Jim on 7:47 PM|
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Good Sense in NYC on BE
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told listeners of his Saturday radio show that he was committed to improving English instruction in NYC schools: "I've watched in other countries with big immigrant communities and that's the first thing they do: total immersion. If you don't learn the language you can't do anything else. This is an English-speaking country and if you don't speak and read English you won't get a great job. You won't get any job."
The Mayor's opposition to bilingual education was reported in the New York Times on April 27th (registration required), along with his evaluation of NYC's education system in general: "If the police damaged our children the way the educational system did, we'd go shoot the police commissioner."
|posted by Jim on 7:34 PM|
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Friday, April 26, 2002
Lessons from Richard Rodriguez
Salon has an interesting (and freely available) interview with Richard Rodriguez.
Rodriguez found inspiration from one of those dead white males, Benjamin Franklin, who "was very important for the encouragement he gave me to strive and to strive and to succeed."
Had Rodriguez been born a few decades later, he would have been taught only in Spanish and encouraged to admire Montezuma, king of the Aztecs. And we would all be poorer for it.
|posted by Jim on 11:22 PM|
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Congressman Bob Stump, Friend of English First, to Retire
Congressman Bob Stump (R-AZ) unexpectedly announced today that he will not run for reelection to Congress.
Congressman Stump has been a great friend of official English over the years and has introduced the Declaration of Official Language Act (H.R. 3333), legislation to repeal E.O. 13166 (H.R. 969) and, in an earlier Congress, legislation to deny federal funds for Ebonics instruction.
Congressman Stump enlisted in the Navy as a 16-year-old during World War II, and took part in the bloody invasion of Iwo Jima. He has been fighting for his country ever since.
Congressman Stump holds the record for appearences in the English First Member's Report. He will be missed.
|posted by Jim on 5:12 PM|
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Thursday, April 25, 2002
One-Way Multiculturalism
Frederick Meekins tells of the devotion of multicultural education to every religion save one:
At Andrew Jackson Middle School in Prince George's County Maryland, educators are working diligently to reconnect students with the religious traditions of the past --- the pagan past that is. At this school, it is not enough for students to learn the names and facts surrounding the mythologies of the ancient world. Here students become active participants in antiquated rites and ceremonies best left dead or relegated to the realm of superstition. . . . [In California] Students must also memorize Koranic verses (imagine if these had these been Bible verses). They also had to stage a make-believe Jihad.
This same multicultural/bilingual approach thinks its essential for every child to learn a foreign language unless the "foreign" language a child needs to learn is English. In fact given their continued devotion to bilingual education despite its 30 years of documented failure, one might say that the bilingual education lobby is promoting a religion of its own.
|posted by Jim on 1:57 PM|
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Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Language Requirements Sneak into Child Abuse Prevention Bill (H.R. 3839)
While the Bush Administration dithers over E.O. 13166, the anti-English lobby continues to aggressively pursue its agenda. Case in point: tonight's 411-5 vote on H.R. 3839, the "Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2002."
H.R. 3839 was amended by Congressman Susan Davis (D-CA) to include the following:
SEC. 107. MISCELLANEOUS REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ASSISTANCE.
Section 108 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106d) is amended by adding at the end the following:
"(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.-It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary should encourage all States and public and private agencies or organizations that receive assistance under this title to ensure that children and families with limited English
proficiency who participate in programs under this title are provided materials and services under such programs in an appropriate language other than English.".
Congresswoman Davis even bragged about this amendment on the House floor tonight. Voting "no" were these staunch friends of official English: Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Bob Schaffer (R-CO).
Thankfully, this unfortunate provision, like the entire bill, must also be approved by the U.S. Senate and a likely House-Senate conference committee. You still have time to contact your Congressman and two Senators. Please do.
|posted by Jim on 7:54 PM|
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It's the Real Thing: Puerto Rico Statehood
Puerto Rico's State Elections Commission issued a report on Monday detailing illegal campaign contributions during the island's 2000 election. Among the companies cited for illegal gifts to the campaign of the Statehood Party (NPP in Spanish) candidate, Carlos Pesquera: Coca Cola.
|posted by Jim on 4:10 PM|
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Monday, April 22, 2002
I'm Back in Town
I was out of town from last Friday until today, so managed only one blog on a borrowed computer. Now to dig through 350 or so e-mails and find your best feedback items for posting later this week.
|posted by Jim on 5:04 PM|
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Stomp on the American Flag
The contradictions inherent to the mandatory multiculturalist mission were once again on display during Saturday's pro-Palestinian rally. Notes the American Prospect today: "Several white demonstrators unfurled an enormous American flag across one of the Mall's dirt pathways, allowing protesters to stomp on it as they walked by."
A nation that encourages immigrants to dwell on their foreignness and their grievances from the old country is playing with fire.
|posted by Jim on 4:54 PM|
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Saturday, April 20, 2002
Vieques Included in Saturday's Washington D.C. Pro-Palestinian Rally
During today's pro-Palestinian "Rally Against War and Racism," Pam Africa, representing Internationally Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, said "stop the bombing in Vieques." Another, unnamed, speaker for the People for the Committee in Vieques spoke on the topic at some length.
One Reo Ortiz (phonetic) called for "U.S. troops out of the Philippines" (and for "the right to work for all undocumented workers"). Vernon Bellecourt of the American Indian Movement slurred Secretary of State Powell as a "buffalo soldier" and demanded "Israel out of Palestine. Israel out of the United States."
Other cheers: "Intifada all the way." No mention, let alone condemnation, of the suicide bombing attacks on Israeli citizens. (Though Carl Messinio, of the Partnership for Law and Justice, called for disarmament of Israel.)
They claimed 35,000 attended the rally. It looked more like 5,000 on C-SPAN, with some of the folks in need of help in the art of protest sign design. One sign read "No, No, No United Nations." Another: "Bush and Sharon Tirrorist (sic)."
|posted by Jim on 2:04 PM|
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Wednesday, April 17, 2002
New Justice E.O. 13166 Regs a Mistake
I commented on the new Bush Administration E.O. 13166 regulations for National Review Online today. Bottom line: Team Bush will regret this decision and sooner than they may think.
|posted by Jim on 5:38 PM|
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Monday, April 15, 2002
Justice Department to issue new E.O. 13166 regulations
The following Justice Department press release indicates some movement by the Bush Administration on E.O. 13166: "The LEP guidance is intended to supplant the policy guidance published by the Department of Justice on January 16, 2001." Details as they become available.
|posted by Jim on 6:32 PM|
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E.O. 13166 and Income Tax Audits
There is good news for anyone worried about an IRS audit. You can now demand that your audit be conducted in any language of your choosing.
Clinton Executive Order 13166 effectively required all government agencies to provide translations into any language on demand. This sweeping linguistic mandate even applies to the IRS, an agency notorious for its inability to accurately answer taxpayer questions posed in English.
The IRS answered just 51% of the telephone calls it received during 1999 and "studies have shown that IRS telephone advice is incorrect as often as 40 percent of the time."
A new $75.6 million IRS telephone system that will answer calls in both English and Spanish is still a violation of the U.S. Department of the Treasury E.O. 13166 regulations issued last year. These regulations require the IRS to be ready to answer telephone inquiries in any of the 231 languages spoken somewhere in the United States.
|posted by Jim on 6:27 PM|
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Saturday, April 13, 2002
E.O. 13166's Farsi Fallacies
The Sunday, April 14th Washington Post "Outlook" section contains a story entitled "Lost in Translation: The Tale of a Tiny Tape" which notes that the FBI had insufficient translators of Farsi prior to September 11th and is still trying to rectify the situation with marginal success:
[The FBI testified]: "We have hired, since Oct. 1, 39 contract linguists -- 33 Arabic, four Farsi, and two Pashtu -- and another three language specialists. We have backgrounds completed with security adjudication pending on another 97. And we have 246 contract linguists going through background investigations currently. And that is, as I say, in Arabic, Farsi and a number of other languages where we need the specialists."
The interesting thing here is that, thanks to Clinton Executive Order 13166, every recipient of federal funds must be ready to do what the FBI still cannot do: provide an Farsi translation on the spot to anyone who prefers to speak or read Farsi.
Linda Chavez memorably described the E.O. 13166 problem for Hispanics this way:
Just wait until some Mexican American grocer who accepts food stamps finds out he has to hire Farsi translators for his store, then we'll see how popular this executive order is in the Latino community."
A further hint of this problem may be found in the Washington Post's special "Fairfax" section earlier this week in "Hospital Pressed For More Charity Care":
Two weeks ago, the [Alexandria-based Tenants' and Workers' Support Committee] staged a four-mile march and car caravan to Inova Alexandria Hospital . . . Health officials also said they have been working closely with the workers committee to resolve debts and help the non-English-speaking community learn about aid opportunities.
The story is accompanied by pictures (not available on line). One protestor carries a sign, in English: "More Bilingual Staff in the Hospital." Another sign, in Spanish, reads "La Communidad Necesita Acceso a Serviciosdesald." A third, bilingual, sign reads "Health Care is a Right."
The government has convinced some immigrants that they never need learn English. E.O. 13166 has made not learning English a protected civil right. But with insufficient translators available, an unlimited entitlement is on a collision course with fiscal reality.
|posted by Jim on 11:17 PM|
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Wednesday, April 10, 2002
Senate Back on Election Reform
The U.S. Senate has resumed debate on its election reform bill. The legislation is expected to pass tomorrow. Then things will get interesting.
The Senate bill would spend $3.4 billion over five years to improve voting procedures. Every one of those dollars will carry a mandate that people who speak any language on earth have the right to ballots, brochures and election clerks fluent in that language, thanks to Clinton Executive Order 13166.
Until this bill is passed, the current 5% test for bilingual voting materials (5% of the population in question must speak a particular non-English language) will remain in place. That may change drastically unless the bill addresses the E.O. 13166 problem.
|posted by Jim on 11:22 PM|
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Ebonics Scholar Dies
Today's New York Times carries an obituary for William Alexander Stewart, "a professor of linguistics" and "an early scholar of what has come to be known as ebonics, the nonstandard English many African-American children hear and learn at home."
The first time many people heard of ebonics was in 1996, when the Oakland School Board announced it would seek federal bilingual education funds for ebonics speakers. The Center for Applied Linguistics has published a raft of papers arguing Oakland's ebonics resolution was (a) misunderstood and (b) completely justified. English First has a different view.
Perhaps one day schools will return to the notion that teaching people what they don't know is what education is supposed to be all about.
|posted by Jim on 11:07 PM|
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Tuesday, April 09, 2002
NewsMax on MD Language Fiasco
NewsMax.com has an excellent write-up today on Maryland's mandatory translation bill. Lots of cost figures and essential details in one place. MD Governor Glendening would do well to read the article. It is full of reasons why he should veto this bad bill.
|posted by Jim on 12:50 AM|
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Monday, April 08, 2002
MD Legislature Roll-Call Votes on Mandatory Translation
The Maryland Senate voted 34-12 and the Maryland House of Delegates voted 135-3 to make translations mandatory for any language spoken by 3% of the population.
Their reason? Clinton Executive Order 13166. Never mind that the Bush Administration has reopened discussion of the E.O. 13166 regulations issued during the last days of the Clinton Administration. No wonder today's Washington Post article on the MD legislature is titled "Md. Assembly Exits With Long, Liberal Record."
|posted by Jim on 6:33 PM|
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Vieques Mayor Rejects Navy Hospital Help
Melanie Feliciano's "A Different Kind of 'Terrorism' on Vieques" contains a most interesting interview:
"Most Viequenses are not anti-Navy," said Richard Fitz, a retired New Yorker who runs a hostel on the island. "The Navy just offered to staff our hospital, and our idiot mayor refused."
"Meanwhile, he added, "the boat to Fajardo is filled with the elderly and children having to go for X-rays because our hospital does not have the equipment or the personnel to run it. That is a typical political injustice that we endure here. I believe that the forces behind
getting rid of the Navy are big developers who can't wait to rape our island."
Real estate development has been the hidden secret of the Vieques debate ever since Puerto Rico's Statehood Party Governor, Pedro Rossello, demanded the Navy leave Vieques, where it has trained since WW II. During Rossello's reign, federal funds intended for hurrican victims, AIDs patients and housing for the poor were looted for the benefit of the Statehood Party. If the Statehooders got their hands on the Vieques land, millions of dollars would have changed hands.
|posted by Jim on 5:51 PM|
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Sunday, April 07, 2002
N.Y. Times on the Allure of English
The "Week in Review" section of the April 7th New York Times carries a story, "The Overwhelming Allure of English," [registration required], a paragraph of which should be required reading for all the political consultants who are pushing both parties to support bilingual education in order to win the Hispanic vote. Hispanic kids in America already speak English:
"According to the 1990 Census, fully two-thirds of third-generation Latino children spoke only English. And while bilingualism does persist longer within Latino families, particularly along the border region, there is no indication this precludes the use of English as the primary language."
The rest of the article suggests assimilation is already taking place as it did at the beginning of the 20th Century. There is one problem with this "que serra serra" view: there are now groups armed with lawyers, like the ACLU, MALDEF and LULAC, who all but demand Canadian-style mandatory multilingualism for the United States.
There was also no E.O. 13166 during most of the 1900's. So if immigrants are still assimilating today, it is despite the best efforts of the federal government and the groups who claim to represent their interests.
|posted by Jim on 12:16 AM|
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Saturday, April 06, 2002
MD Tower of Babel
The Baltimore Sun reports that the Maryland Legislature is poised to "require all state agencies to provide interpreters and to translate their vital documents into any language spoken by 3 percent of the population served by that agency." The cost? A mere " $290,200 next year, and a total of $2.6 million after five years." This figure is bound to be low.
The owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Peter Angelos, made his millions from asbestos-related lawsuits. He then turned to suing tobacco companies. Just wait till he finds out how much money he can make suing over inaccurate or unclear translations!
|posted by Jim on 11:26 PM|
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Wednesday, April 03, 2002
More on Oklahoma Ruling
The Daily Oklahoman's coverage [link good until April 8th] of the Supreme Court ruling suggests the Oklahoma Supreme Court had its mind made up long before the case was heard.
Example: "Even with exceptions for constitutional conflicts, Petition No. 366 would disenfranchise segments of Oklahoma citizens by interfering with their ability to access vital information necessary for a self-governing society and cause self-censorship by inhibiting communications with government officials," the Supreme Court said.
Let's try this again. People who don't speak English will have problems in an English-speaking country, just as a person who speaks no French may have trouble accessing vital information in Paris. The OK Court has transformed a basic fact into a Constitutional crisis.
The OK effort, even it succeeded, would have been limited by federal laws, such as Clinton Executive Order 13166. And the law in question would have encouraged more spending on programs to teach English. The anti-English lobby wants to force immigrants to line up each day for a fish -- a document or translation into another language. We official English supporters think it would be far better to teach people to fish for a lifetime by encouraging them to learn English.
The equation here is mandatory mulitlingualism = permanent dependence on others; official English = freedom and thinking for yourself.
|posted by Jim on 10:23 PM|
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Tuesday, April 02, 2002
OK Supreme Court Bars Vote on Official English
The Associated Press reports tonight that the Oklahoma Supreme Court has blocked efforts to make English the state's official language. The odd thing is that usually courts do not (or are at least not supposed to) block laws even before they have been enacted. I will have more to say about this tomorrow.
|posted by Jim on 11:36 PM|
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NM Bar Exam Now Includes Indian Law
USA Today reports today that "New Mexico will become the first state to add Indian law as a subject on its state bar exam." No word yet on which language will be used for those questions.
|posted by Jim on 11:14 PM|
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Vieques Update
You may find my latest article on Vieques of interest if you are concerned with the impact of political correctness on our national security. And your comments are welcome.
|posted by Jim on 11:12 PM|
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The Perils of Translation Continue
Today's Slate.com includes a short item,"Arabic":
"If the Arabic language is what unifies the Arab world, can all Arabs understand each other? Not exactly: There is an official language used in the media and diplomacy, and colloquial Arabic is spoken on the streets and in the markets. . . . today Mohammed and his companions could walk into a Cairo mosque, or an Arab League Summit, and they'd be understood.
"Still, a 25-year-old Algerian would have a hard time asking for directions to that same Cairo mosque. That's because every Arab nation has its own spoken dialect or ameya."
Keep in mind that, thanks to Executive Order 13166, should that same 25-year-old Algerian walk into an American hospital and be given a translation into Egyptian Arabic instead of Algerian Arabic, he would have grounds to file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services. Should that hospital not mend its ways to the satisfaction of the government, the hospital could lose all its federal funding and thus forced to close its doors.
|posted by Jim on 11:03 PM|
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The Importance of English
A story on a Spanish-language radio program in today's Washington Post contains this little item: "On the air, El Gordo rarely speaks English. But sometimes Negron blurts out a phrase, even a sentence or two. He says his audience -- a melange of Spanish accents, cultures and countries of origin -- needs to learn the language."
|posted by Jim on 8:17 AM|
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Monday, April 01, 2002
American Flag Carrier Assaulted in Vieques
Limited, non-live-fire training resumed in Vieques, Puerto Rico today. A man carrying an American flag made the mistake of getting too close to an anti-Navy rally. Reuters reports " a woman raced toward him and punched him in the face. Within minutes, a crowd . . . began beating him."
After the bleeding man was carried off, one of the leaders of the Vieques peace movement, Father Nelson Lopez, a Catholic priest no less, said "the man should have taken his protest elsewhere." The good father might profitably consult the book of Luke, chapter 10, verses 34-35.
|posted by Jim on 5:04 PM|
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