Free Republic

Please use "a lot", since those words are actually in the dictionary. </grammar rant>

BAGHDAD — As Iraq continues to partner with U.S. forces to train, man and equip its Police forces in accordance with the Security Agreement, the Baghdad Police College plays a tremendous role in this training and professionalization of the Iraqi Police (IP) force. Part of this training is to teach the IP important language skills to ensure they have all the tools needed to be successful. The English Language Center is a major part of this critical training. Currently the Baghdad Police College has two classrooms dedicated to English language training, with a capacity of 36 students each. There are...

Doesn't Tehran hate all things Western?

PHOENIX — State senators took the first steps Friday to protect businesses from winding up in legal trouble for failing to provide translators for customers who don't speak English. Existing law prohibits discrimination in places of "public accommodation against anyone because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry." That category includes restaurants, hotels, theaters and any place that offers services or goods to the general public. SB 1199, as unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would spell out that the law doesn't require any business owner to provide a "trained and competent bilingual person" to assist customers....

During this upcoming Independence Day, we need to honor and remember the soldiers who are risking their lives for us. Whether it's a soldier on the front lines or one in peace times, their sacrifice for America is great with a heavy price. Freedom, liberties and all the values we cherish as Americans aren't to be taken lightly or for granted. I had two friends give their lives in Iraq.

Why are Iranian police markings written in English? June 17, 2009 Post-election protests continued in Tehran for the fifth day on Wednesday. In many photos, riot police wear uniforms with the English word police on them. Ambulances, too, bear the word ambulance in English. Why not use Persian words instead of their English equivalents? Because everyone knows English. Like many capital cities, Tehran has its emergency personnel wear markings that are internationally recognizable. Street signs, too, are translated into English, and police cars are generally inscribed in both English and Persian. That makes the city more tourist-friendly without sacrificing clarity...

One of the baffling issues to me has been the argument by Democrats against making English the official language of the United States. President Obama displayed his commitment to Hispanic Americans by appointing Justice Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. If he really cares about immigrants and the poor, he would make English our official language and assure that all people learn to speak it in the United States. I have had the good fortune of travelling to a vast part of the world. The people we encounter almost everywhere we have traveled speak English. I’m not referring only to hotel...

... Next month, after 17 years of litigation, the United States Supreme Court will rule on the Flores case, deciding whether Arizona is complying with federal laws requiring public schools to teach children to speak English. The case has been long and tangled, splitting state officials along party lines. In 2000, a district court ruled that the state’s financing for English language learners was not “reasonably calculated” to cover the extra costs of educating them, and ordered the district to come up with a better plan. Last year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the...

Question : What is the official language of the United States of America? Answer : None. That is the reality, America actually has no official language, and this causes problems - especially when we have idiotic "press 1 for English" services, and even some voting rolls in Spanish. According to a poll released last night on Rasmussen Reports, 84% of Americans support legislation to make English the language of the land (which should have been already).

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Americans say English should be the official language of the United States. Only nine percent (9%) disagree, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Seven percent (7%) are not sure. The support for English as the country’s official language remains steady from three years ago. Eighty-one percent (81%) say a U.S. company should be allowed to require employees to speak English on the job, up four points from November 2007. Thirteen percent (13%) disagree. Eighty-two percent (82%) also reject the idea that requiring people to speak English is a form of racism or bigotry,...

News 8 Investigates: Airline mechanics who can't read English 10:03 AM CDT on Saturday, May 16, 2009 By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV News 8 has recently revealed serious flaws in the way the FAA licenses mechanics who fix planes. There is evidence of years of problems in testing these mechanics. There is also evidence that hundreds of mechanics with questionable licenses are working on aircraft in Texas. Now there is evidence of repair facilities hiring low-wage mechanics who can't read English. Twenty-one people were killed when U.S. Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2003. The plane...

Sorry Racehorse, you are banned from using this forum! abused second chance.

Molina wants Spanish translation for Gold Line. “La Linea de Oro”? April 22, 2009 When light rail returns to the Eastside neighborhoods of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles this summer, many Spanish-speaking residents will undoubtedly talk about taking el tren. But will commuters say they are riding La Linea de Oro? L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina will propose during an MTA board meeting today that the Eastside extension of the Gold Line be officially named La Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal. If the motion is approved, it will be the first time the name of an MTA facility,...

Alarmed that a professional golf association proposed to exclude competitors who don’t speak English, the state Senate acted today to prohibit businesses in California from discriminating against customers, including refusing them service, based on the language they use.(snip) State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) said the policy raised an issue that required changes to state civil rights laws that already protect employees from discrimination based on language.(snip) SB 242, which now goes to the Assembly, was approved on a 21-15 vote, with Republican lawmakers opposed based on concern it would open businesses up to a rash of civil rights lawsuits...

A Foothill Ranch health care company has agreed to pay up to $450,000 to settle a federal discrimination suit alleging that it banned employees from speaking Spanish at work. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit also maintained that while Spanish was forbidden, Filipino employees at facilities owned by Skilled HealthCare Group Inc. were not disciplined or terminated for speaking Tagalog at work. An attorney for Skilled Healthcare denied that such discrimination ever occurred, adding that the case was based on events dating back to 2002, before the current management had acquired the firm. The EEOC filed a class action...

Growing numbers of children of illegal immigrants are being born in this country, and they are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty than those with American-born parents, a report says. The study released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center highlights a growing dilemma in the immigration debate: Illegal immigrants' children born in the United States are American citizens, yet they struggle in poverty and uncertainty along with parents who fear deportation, toil largely in low-wage jobs and face layoffs in an ailing economy. The analysis by Pew, a nonpartisan research organization, found that the nation's estimated 11.9 million...

Ga. could require drivers to take test in EnglishPosted: Tuesday, March 31st 2009 at 7:28am By The Associated Press ATLANTA - The Georgia Legislature appears on the verge of approving a measure that would require driver's license applicants to take the written exam in English, which could make Georgia the only state to have such a rule. The measure passed the House Monday by a 104-58 vote. The proposal, which has already passed the Senate, would go to Gov. Sonny Perdue's desk if the chambers hash out minor differences in their versions of the bill. **SNIP** State Rep. Pedro Marin,...

Roadkill on the Information Superhighway by: Deborah Lambert, March 30, 2009 Charlotte Allen reminded readers on mindingthecampus.com that when you hear the words “for the 21st century” in conjunction with an educational topic, “you know it’s time to run for cover.” Here’s why: During a recent conference of English teachers in San Francisco, a report released by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) suggested that teachers should “quit emphasizing essays and formal papers” . . .and “bring 21st-century writing habits into the classroom.” Allen noted that as recently as five years ago, this would have meant “blogging, e-mailing,...

Deva Kumarasiri looks remarkably unruffled. His royal-blue shirt is clean and crisp, his stripy tie is immaculately knotted, his trousers beautifully creased, his glasses polished to a shine and his mobile phone clipped to his belt in a neat, Velcroed holster. Indeed, as he sits behind his Post Office counter, smiling through the smeared glass and dolling out stamps, family allowance payments and helpful advice to a queue of customers, he couldn't look more professional and composed. Which is a bit of a surprise, because he's had a pretty torrid few days. Vilified and cheered in equal measure, he's been...

BAGHDAD — At 9 p.m. on Muthana Army Base, home to the 6th Iraqi Army (IA) Division, the work day ended hours ago. But one small classroom is still lit up where a multitude of voices breaks the relative silence that has overtaken the rest of the post. “Everybody together now: ‘I, we, you, they, he, she, it.’” A group of Iraqi Soldiers are learning basic English skills, thanks to Sgt. 1st Class Gabriel Ramirez, logistics non-commissioned officer in charge with the 6th IA Div. Military Transition Team (MiTT). Using an interpreter to communicate the meaning of words into Iraqi...