THERE WILL BE BALLOTS IN TEN LANGUAGES FOR THIS ELECTION.
I have 2 questions:
1. Do you think that people who need to have a ballot in their native language get enough information in their language via newspaper, television, radio, etc., to make an educated choice for president of this country?
2. Here's another question: A dear Mexican friend of mine became a citizen about 3 months ago. She told me the authorities at the ceremony asked the new citizens to write their political party down and turn it in. Seemed a strange request to me. Do you know if that's required/legal?
2. Here's another question: A dear Mexican friend of mine became a citizen about 3 months ago. She told me the authorities at the ceremony asked the new citizens to write their political party down and turn it in. Seemed a strange request to me. Do you know if that's required/legal?
z
42 comments:
I feel your disgust with the first question. We have everything printed into multiple languages here. Everything from street signs to printed materials. And ballots. The second question I don't know but it sounds fishy to me.
I understand the courtesy of accommodating guests and customers by reaching out to them, across the language barrier; but not when it comes to citizenship. Learn to read, write, and speak in English. And no, I don't trust voters who can't read English, getting their news information from foreign sources...not that CNN and MSNBC and CBS, and NYTimes are much better.
Interesting. I can only guess that some naturalized americans still struggle with the language...I am grasping at straws but what else can we do. Perhaps a voting IQ test? :)N
madness Z!..sheer madness!
THIS IS AMERICA!! LEARN ENGLISH OR LEAVE!! NO BALLOTS, ROAD SIGNS, OR ANYTHING ELSE PAID FOR WITH MY TAXES NEEDS TO BE IN MORE THAN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!! If you don't know English, you can't drive, you can't vote, and YOU CAN'T STAY HERE!!
Sorry for "yelling" at your blog Z. I have no idea why they had to write down their political party. Probably the demoncraps trying to see how many new votes they can expect this time around.
Joe
Does it may be have to do with the abilities of those people with these other languages?
I have yet to detect anything to German to help me out (and the local DMV, for instance has the main driving instruction book in something like 15+ languages).
I am with Joe - learn English or else...
Mr.Z
The whole thing is ridiculous. We've lost control of our country. It's as simple as that. The politicians don't give a damn either. Except when they need money and votes.
There was a time when part of becoming a citizen, was learning english and classes were provided for that. But, nothing is like it was, is it.
Pris
This seems the appropriate place to tell you all something. I agree with all you've said here;
Here's something rather heartening. This same friend who became a naturalized citizen recently said she's been talking to Mexican citizen friends about voting for McCain and they all are shocked and say "Of course we are! Obama doesn't wear a flag pin and doesn't seem to like America anyway!"
Simplistic and naive......but patriotic? You bet!! I loved that.
g'night, all!
"Of course we are! Obama doesn't wear a flag pin and doesn't seem to like America anyway!"
Glad to hear the legal ones feel that way. It's the illegal ones I fear will go vote for NOBAMA. They may not have the right to vote, but I'll bet a lot of them will anyway!! Break one law, break any law. What do they care?
My neighbor's wife's parents are naturalized citizens. They own a roofing company in Texa, AND they speak English just fine!
In fact, after the '04 hurricane, her father was sad that he could't fix my roof, wasn't licensed in our stat...he would have done it for free since I'm a widow...talk about giving back!
And yes, the ones who go through the naturalization process ARE much more appreciative of this coutry!
Good morning, G*D bless and Maranatha!
tmw
sorry z but i will add another question. shouldn't you be made to speak english before you even become a citizen?... i have worked the polls myself and i know it is caoitc enough with all the ballots in english, what'll happen with foreign language ballots. oh boy.... but i guess in any language the left will find a way to stuff the ballot box, that is for sure!!
In 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered local election boards all across the country to publish ballots for the national election in various foreign languages. The law requires that if more than 5 percent or more than 10,000 of voting-age citizens in a county don't speak English, the county must follow the language-access provisions of the Voting Rights Act and translate election materials into their language.
The change in the ballot language requirements came as the U.S. Census Bureau fine-tuned its population count to pinpoint large pockets of U.S. citizens who have difficulty speaking or understanding English.
Nationwide, more than 220 jurisdictions must provide election materials in Spanish, more than 100 in the languages of American Indians or Alaskan natives, and more than 15 in Asian languages.
Counties required to provide Vietnamese ballots include Harris County, Texas, and three in California. Santa Clara County, CA prints ballots in Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish and Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines.
Only U.S. citizens may vote, but to become a naturalized citizen, one must only demonstrate: "an ability to read, write and speak . . . simple words and phrases . . . in ordinary usage in the English language."
Of course, everyone eligible to vote should be encouraged to vote. One’s difficulty in learning the language should not be augmented by an unconcerned government.
psi bond
PRI or PAN...
Don't laugh, it WILL be happening soon.
You can bet on it.
Press "1 to vote in English.
#2 to vote in Spanish
and so on.
We are building the Tower of Babel all over again. As a result all our linguistic advancements and refinements will turn to polyglot gibberish–––worse than "Pidgin English." It has been happening for many years already, and most of us haven't even noticed–––except for determined old Tories such as myself, who refuse to submit to the downward pressures of popular culture and Marxism in education–––have known since the Sick-sties that we were dinosaurs.
As imperceptibly as grief our summer lapsed away –––
Too imperceptible at last to seem like perfidy
A quietness distilled
Ass twilight long begun
Ot Nature spending with herself
Sequestered afternoon
The dusk drew earlier in
The morning foreign shone –––
A courteous, yet harrowing grace
As guest who would be gone
And so without a wing
Or service of a keel
Our summer made her light escape –––
Into the Beautiful.
Emily Dickinson (1830-86)
Submitted by FT
Put this on the wrong thread below. Sorry! - FT
This is America. Speak English or go home. If you go to Atlanta today, you hear Somali, Ethiopian, Arabic, Burmese, Indonesian, Spanish, Cambodian, Hausa and God knows what else, and that's just the people working at the airport. Try telling the shuttle bus driver where your car is parked when they don't speak English and your grasp of Somali is limited. Can't be done.
So sayeth the grouchy Hermit.
All I can say is OY!
I agree that everything should be in English.
Question two? Sounds like undercover polling. SHOULD be illegal, if it's not.
We need a constitutional amendment making English the official language of this country and requiring all seeking citizenship, thus the right to vote,to be fluent in spoken and written English.
1. Do you think that people who need to have a ballot in their native language get enough information in their language via newspaper, television, radio, etc., to make an educated choice for president of this country?
----------
You mean English? No.
2. Here's another question: A dear Mexican friend of mine became a citizen about 3 months ago. She told me the authorities at the ceremony asked the new citizens to write their political party down and turn it in. Seemed a strange request to me. Do you know if that's required/legal?
----------------------
I assume it was voter registration. Most states require a party selection.
Mult-culturalism and multi-lingualism simply dilutes the American culture. It's inevitable.
It's the same kind of thinking that has recently resulted in Britain's allowing courts for Shariia law. IMO, Britain will not survive this.
Whoever the authorities were who asked the new citizens to submit their political party choice probably had an agenda.
There is no reason that those new citizens should be required to give that information to the authorities. Party choice is personal. No one is required to register.
I know when my mother became a citizen, her political persuasion was not part of the curriculum or the examination.
But, that was long ago. Nothing would surprise me today.
Pris
That's right, Pris. A citizenship ceremony is no place for politics.
That was stunning and even she and her friends were surprised. iT's a little CUBAN, if you get my drift. THEY understand that.
I'd like to know who's behind it.
It SHOULD be very simple but for the Scheming and plotting of Marxists always seeking to undermine this country in the name of "fairness." Once upon a time, one couldn't become a US Citizen unless they could demonstrate a working knowledge of English and a basic understanding of the Constitution.
How anyone could be expected to VOTE in a land where they do not know the language or understand the customs and common goals is beyond imagining.
It is simply WRONG that anyone should have any jurisdiction over public policy in a place where they have remained a foreigner.
This is more proof–––as if we needed it–––that liberalism is a mental disorder.
This is The United STATES not the United NATIONS.
~ FreeThinke
When I was growing up in Los Angeles in the 60's and 70's I lived in a neighborhood that was primarily Mexican (not Hispanic) as my parents were not well off. When I graduated from Pioneer High School in Whittier I was part of the few who made up the 5% "other" or Non-Hispanic.
Nearly all of my friends then (mostly of necessity), as now, were Mexican or of Mexican descent. All of them, and their parents spoke perfect English.
Now, don't get me wrong, they did not speak English all the time at home, especially the Mothers of my girlfriends who insisted on speaking in Spanish to their daughters so I couldn't understand. Of course, all that did was to make me learn to speak Spanish fluently. Boy you should have seen the looks on those Mother's faces when I would respond to them in Spanish!
In those days - and they weren't so long ago - my parents ran a polling place for the Democrat Party. Yes I am a black sheep because I have never been registered as a Democrat, only a Republican.
Regardless, I can imagine how indignant any of the neighbors would have been if my parents had handed them a ballot in Spanish. All of them, including the newly minted citizens, were proud of their mastery of the English language.
I can only sit and wonder "what has happened".
Mr. J.
Mr. J, I don't know who you are but I'm glad you found my blog and hope you come back frequently. Your story is an excellent one. It's fun to imagine the surprise on the faces of your friends' parents when you spoke Spanish!
I'm first and second generation American and my grandparents, too, learned English quickly, even while they spoke their native language at home. It was a matter of pride and WANTING TO FIT IN. Another prideful thing was becoming successful and never having taken welfare. EVER.
Today, I understand immigrants who come from my ancestry come with addresses and phone numbers for the Welfare offices.
When my family came, the only phone numbers they had were those of relatives already here waiting to sponsor them and help. BIG difference. How sad that America's become a dirty doormat.
"I said give me your huddled masses, not your befuddled asses" as the old joke about the Statue of Liberty goes!
a quick search in google netted me no explanation for your friend being asked her political affiliation at the end of/during (?) the ceremony. however, there is a question on n-400 form that sort of asks that question - part 10, page 7 "affiliations".
the mr. j. here is my hubby, z. i recognize the story :)
Right....affiliations SORT of touches on it but it really doesn't.
She said she was asked to WRITE down the party she'd join if given the opportunity. "What is your political affiliation". Blew my mind. And it didn't seem to be the people associated with the ceremonies.
Thanks for finding this....Can you imagine anybody answering truthfully there at the end? "Yes, I would fight against this country..." etc? "OH, yes! I DO happen to have been a NAZI, come to think of it!"!? We are SO naive!!
L’anglais est la plus belle langue du monde. Pour la conserver, on ne peut pas tolérer une autre langue dans ce pays.
psi bond
psi bond, i'm not sure if it's the nicest language in the world, but it is the one this country was founded on. and if we don't STOP tolerating other languages here, it will be gone.
Correctemente, Heidianne...
Et le francaise EST la plus belle langue dans le monde et il ne pas d'Anglaise en France...
Silly, isn't it? This great desire for America to become something else, something less? Less God, less of OUR language, less self-reliance, less sovereign?...if we get much further than all these things and more, they'll have a right nice little scummy UN-dominated country... they'll have their dream!
Et il peuve parler l'Espanol ou la Russe tout la journee!! Felicitation a la Gauche!
Mais non, je blague, Z. Selon les Français (et moi), le français est la plus belle langue du monde. L’anglais est une langue particulièrement difficile à apprendre
You betray the English-only movement, Z, when you resort to speaking in another language, albeit moins que bon (ungrammatically and not idiomatically). The government ought to provide you with materials for blogging in the language you aspire to speak–––peut être.
From its New World founding, this country has been host to many languages. English itself is the recent product of “borrowing” from many other languages. Even our coins and currency bear a foreign language. It is misguided paranoia that tells the rightwing the rich manifold linguistic tradition we have weakens our nation. Indeed, U.S. Citizens who speak languages of strategic importance (Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Farsi, etc.) and translate or broadcast for our government–––these people fortify our national security and help to enrich the country in which we live. In McCainese (McCain you may remember, is Sarah’s running mate): The fundamentals of our polyglot culture are strong.
psi bond
no one needs a lecture from you psi bond! But it is amusing!! Thanks.
Pardon my lecturing English-only militants, who are in need of someone to wake them from their linguistic isolationism, but:
In diversity is our strength.
E pluribus unum(out of many, one) is the motto found on the Great Seal of the United States. Some may know it is not in English.
And, pardon ME, you smug egomaniac, if I remind you that diversity is what's about doing us in now, okay? Maybe if the Left hadn't started HYPHENATING, we'd still all be AMERICANS.
THINK man...nobody's saying we aren't ethnically diverse or that is necessarily bad. But good try, by the way...it is easy to confuse facts with smoke screens, I know.
Speak English.... unless a Mexican wants to stay gardening and his wife wants to continue cleaning houses. DO YOU GET IT? This is a trap provided by you people to keep others down so THEY NEED GOVERNMENT!
oh, I'm so tired of you and this incessant silliness.
You're done...I"ll be deleting it. It's my blog, I've been asked why I'm even keeping you around.
I'm sure you're not really a bad guy, but no sense of humor, conceit this bad, and leftist sentiment smoke screens that make no sense to anyone just aren't welcome here. it's not a public blog, I don't have to take comments like you make at FPM..not here.
good luck..keep typing to the wind. I'll be around and keep deleting. Have fun.
In a forum that can be read by the public, it is morally wrong to ascribe to me a position I don’t hold and give me no opportunity to respond.
thank you for the lecture.
This is not a public forum, this is my blog. And I don't need anyone to describe to me what is moral, trust me.
Very interesting thread. I think each state has a right to do what it wants regarding ballots.
Still, you guys raise a good question: how DOES a non English speaking person learn about the candidates?
I would like to know.
freadom, not only that, how does someone not encouraged to speak the predominant language get a job other than gardener and house cleaner?
The Left's plan has never succeeded. Bilingual education only benefited the teachers who got more money for teaching in two languages, and the children? Today, it's found that more than 24% of California's kids won't graduate high school.
Do you think that's your neighbor's kids? Sure, if you live in the barrio.
Our kids deserve better. We have to stem this tide and insist they buck up and be Americans. We speak English here.
Try speaking English in France some time.......try finding a sign in ANY European country full of English, Polish, Tagalog, Farsi, etc etc ..........
Z: thank you for the lecture.
This is not a public forum, this is my blog. And I don't need anyone to describe to me what is moral, trust me.
If, on my blog, had you posted, Z, and I were to misrepresent your position, make a vehement argument denouncing your position based on that misrepresentation, and not permit you to correct that misrepresentation, you would think I was morally wrong–––trust me
Z: Try speaking English in France some time.......try finding a sign in ANY European country full of English, Polish, Tagalog, Farsi, etc etc ..........
Or in Montreal. Or Little Havana, Miami. Try understanding the political ads that McCain and Obama have made in Spanish–––they speak so fast. In Israel, there are signs in Hebrew and English, but I think the Hebrew language will survive nonetheless.
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