Friday, June 20, 2003
Connecticut Bilingual Ballots Under Fire
Edna Negron Rosario, Puerto Rico's lobbyist in Hartford, Connecticut, had a bone to pick with Connecticut's Spanish-language voting materials: "I consider it a very sloppy translation, at best," and complained of errors in spelling, diction and syntax. Fernando Betancourt, director of the state Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission, agreed.
One problem, according to the Hartford Courant, other than these two people, no one else seems to have noticed:
The secretary of the state's office has not received any complaints from voters who have had trouble using Spanish voting materials, said Thomas Ferguson, the office's director of elections.
As you might expect, the usual solution to politically-correct complaints of this sort was applied. Connecticut's election overseers now have a Hispanic advisory group, which includes Negron Rosario and Betancourt, to review translations. But more complaints are inevitable.
"I would hope the state of Connecticut would try to be aware that the larger communities [of Latinos in Connecticut] are Peruvian, Puerto Rican and Central American. There are differences of usage among those places as well," said Rosa Helena Chinchilla, head of the Spanish section of the modern and classical languages department at the University of Connecticut.
Bilingual ballots should be unnecessary, since English is a requirement for citizenship and only citizens are supposed to vote. The only people who gain from all this mandatory multilingualism are people like Negron Rosario and Betancourt. The taxpayer is the loser, in any language.
|posted by Jim on 5:22 PM|
Link
. . .
Friday, June 13, 2003
Why Congress Thinks America Has No Language Problem
Whenever John Miller of National Review writes about language and immigration matters, you can count on saying to yourself, "why didn't I think of that?" On June 12, Miller wrote:
Immigrants in the D.C. area are the most successful foreign-born people in America, in terms of their English-speaking ability and poverty rates, according to a new study. Is it possible that many lawmakers (and others) in Washington receive a distorted view of the situation?
I was reminded that during the drive for Puerto Rico statehood, the Puerto Ricans doing the lobbying for statehood were better dressed than any Congressman and spoke English better than I do. You wouldn't have guessed that they represented an impoverished island where 90% of the people spoke no English.
Thus, when the Republican leadership in Congress was told that a 51st state of Puerto Rico would certainly vote Republican, statistics which proved that the island would be a Democratic haven were ignored in favor of what they saw with their own eyes.
Assimilation and immigration also have little negative immediate impact on the life of the average Congressman.
The people who visit him speak English. His office is not required to offer translations because Congress remains exempt from the laws the rest of the country must obey, liker E.O. 13166. Parents with kids trapped in bilingual education programs seldom think of calling Congress to complain.
About the only time assimilation becomes an issue is when his campaign must pay for multilingual voting materials. So as far as Congress is concerned, there is no language problem.
Not far away, in Montgomery County, Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C., the local government is working overtime to encourage immigrants not to bother to learn English, as this report demonstrates.
|posted by Jim on 5:21 PM|
Link
. . .
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Puerto Rico Statehooders Divert U.S. Education Funds to LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens was foursquare for Puerto Rico statehood. This may have been a reason:
Feds confirm Education Department fund went to LULAC
Thursday, June 12th, 2003.
SAN JUAN (AP) – The U.S. Education Department’s Federal General Inspector’s Office confirmed that federal funds were illegally diverted from the island’s Education Department so that public workers could attend a League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) convention.
According to a General Inspector’s Office (GIO) report, the local Education Department “improperly used Title VI funds and specifically paid $20,355 so that 69 employees could attend LULAC’s 60th convention held in San Juan during the summer of 1995.”
“As a result, Title VI funds were not used for the benefit of the students,” reads the report.
The House Education and Culture Committee is investigating the matter.
|posted by Jim on 6:36 PM|
Link
. . .
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Want to Skip Reading a 799-Page Book?
You don't have to read all 799 pages of Sidney Blumenthal's The Clinton Wars. Just one worshipful passage on page 23 gives you the flavor of the entire book:
One evening, without advance notice, Clinton conducted the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. A member of the orchestra told me he was the only guest conductor they'd ever had who knew what he was doing.
I read this brief tale to a musician friend who is a retired member of the United States Marine Band, known as "The President's Own."
My anonymous "music guy" told me that, since a conductor is "basically beating time," all you really have to do as a celebrity guest conductor "is wave your hands." Nobody, other than experts, would know the difference -- "especially if the tempo is exactly the same all the way through that particular piece of music."
He also says that a real "guest conductor" would have taken part in at least one rehearsal prior to the actual performance.
All this suggests that, as a history book, The Clinton Wars will make an excellent doorstop.
|posted by Jim on 4:52 PM|
Link
. . .
HHS Secretary to Step Down
Governor Tommy Thompson won't stay on as Secretary of Health and Human Services beyond 2004 and may leave sooner. HHS has still not released its E.O. 13166 regulations, meaning that there will be many chances for multilingual mischief now that Thompson is officially a lame duck.
|posted by Jim on 4:50 PM|
Link
. . .
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
LULAC's Puerto Rico Connection Confirmed
Rossello signed letter to transfer funds to LULAC
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2003.
SAN JUAN (AP) – Former Gov. Pedro Rossello confirmed on Monday that he signed a letter in which he authorized the transfer of $409,000 from the Children Trust to Latin United League of American Citizens (LULAC).
By law Rossello was the only one authorized to transfer funds from the tobacco companies settlement agreement in which Puerto Rican had been assigned for the Children Trust.
When first confronted by the letter on Sunday, Rossello said he would have to evaluate it because the signature could have been falsified.
However on Monday he acknowledged the signature was legit and claimed his innocence arguing that the funds were never released.
|posted by Jim on 3:39 PM|
Link
. . .
|
. . .
|
