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UNLIMITED Arizona Hilarity thread

Started by Requia ☣, April 22, 2010, 04:44:30 AM

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The Good Reverend Roger

" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Cramulus

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/us/arizona-candidates-english-under-challenge.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23

A judge is blocking Alejandrina Cabrera from being on the ballot based on her English skills. Apparently the law is that elected officials in Arizona need to be able to do their job without a translator. The judge called in a linguist, who determined that Alejandrina couldn't speak english well enough to do the job. The counter-argument is that the linguist had a thick Australian accent and Alejandrina couldn't understand him.

what do you guys think about this?

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Cramulus on January 26, 2012, 08:06:49 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/us/arizona-candidates-english-under-challenge.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23

A judge is blocking Alejandrina Cabrera from being on the ballot based on her English skills. Apparently the law is that elected officials in Arizona need to be able to do their job without a translator. The judge called in a linguist, who determined that Alejandrina couldn't speak english well enough to do the job. The counter-argument is that the linguist had a thick Australian accent and Alejandrina couldn't understand him.

what do you guys think about this?

I think it's fucking ridiculous. The community she serves is bilingual, and that area has primarily spoken Spanish for hundreds of years. If her constituents don't primarily speak English, and in fact most of them understand Spanish, then the law requiring she not require a translator is absurd.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Cramulus

I totally agree with you.

Devil's advocate question: what about the other people on the council -- if the council meetings are conducted in English, shouldn't she be able to speak/understand that language? No job that involves communication is going to hire you if you don't speak the lingua franca.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Cramulus on January 27, 2012, 02:33:31 PM
I totally agree with you.

Devil's advocate question: what about the other people on the council -- if the council meetings are conducted in English, shouldn't she be able to speak/understand that language? No job that involves communication is going to hire you if you don't speak the lingua franca.

First of all, if half or more of her constituents speak Spanish, and any of the other council members don't speak Spanish, there's a huge problem.

Second, that they wouldn't have a translator at council meetings where half the town speaks Spanish is absurd.

Third, Arizona's language laws are clearly designed to block its low-income Spanish-speaking population from representation, which is criminal and absolutely reprehensible.

How does Arizona deal with things like Deaf people running for office?
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Oh shit, I just looked it up and the city is 90% Mexican-American and Spanish is the primary language there.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Cramulus on January 26, 2012, 08:06:49 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/us/arizona-candidates-english-under-challenge.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23

A judge is blocking Alejandrina Cabrera from being on the ballot based on her English skills. Apparently the law is that elected officials in Arizona need to be able to do their job without a translator. The judge called in a linguist, who determined that Alejandrina couldn't speak english well enough to do the job. The counter-argument is that the linguist had a thick Australian accent and Alejandrina couldn't understand him.

what do you guys think about this?

" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

If the law is that elected officials must be able to do their job without a translator, if the city is predominantly Spanish-speaking, then people who can't communicate fluently in Spanish should not be able to run for elected office.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Nigel on January 29, 2012, 04:08:26 AM
If the law is that elected officials must be able to do their job without a translator, if the city is predominantly Spanish-speaking, then people who can't communicate fluently in Spanish should not be able to run for elected office.

You just don't get it, little lady.
\
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 29, 2012, 06:29:10 AM
Quote from: Nigel on January 29, 2012, 04:08:26 AM
If the law is that elected officials must be able to do their job without a translator, if the city is predominantly Spanish-speaking, then people who can't communicate fluently in Spanish should not be able to run for elected office.

You just don't get it, little lady.
\


:lulz:
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Roly Poly Oly-Garch

Quote from: Cramulus on January 27, 2012, 02:33:31 PM
I totally agree with you.

Devil's advocate question: what about the other people on the council -- if the council meetings are conducted in English, shouldn't she be able to speak/understand that language? No job that involves communication is going to hire you if you don't speak the lingua franca.

If this is primarily a Spanish speaking town, it sounds like the meetings are only conducted in English as a condition of Arizona State Law. I don't see the council woman having much of a case beyond being able to demonstrate her English proficiency, but the law itself could be hit with a federal challenge if she could get enough of her constituents to say that *they* are being wronged by a law that is disrupting their right to equal representation. As it stands, for the reasons you stated above, I don't think she alone has much of a case.

...which doesn't make this any less bullshit, though.
Back to the fecal matter in the pool

Cain

I'm going to raise the idea in Teabagger circles that all meetings should take place in Aramaic.  If it was good enough for Jesus...

Cramulus

Quote from: Nigel on January 28, 2012, 12:12:30 AM
Quote from: Cramulus on January 27, 2012, 02:33:31 PM
I totally agree with you.

Devil's advocate question: what about the other people on the council -- if the council meetings are conducted in English, shouldn't she be able to speak/understand that language? No job that involves communication is going to hire you if you don't speak the lingua franca.

First of all, if half or more of her constituents speak Spanish, and any of the other council members don't speak Spanish, there's a huge problem.

Second, that they wouldn't have a translator at council meetings where half the town speaks Spanish is absurd.

Third, Arizona's language laws are clearly designed to block its low-income Spanish-speaking population from representation, which is criminal and absolutely reprehensible.

How does Arizona deal with things like Deaf people running for office?

:mittens:

thank you for articulating that so well

I will now proceed to shoot those bullet points at people

LMNO

Not political, but it is some serious asshattery in AZ:

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Man-arrested-for-texting-naked-photo-of-girlfriends-daughter-135269093.html


QuoteA man is in custody after allegedly texting a naked photo of his girlfriend's daughter to nearly 40 contacts in the girl's cellphone.

Foster found a photo the girl, who is a student at Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley, had taken of herself, and decided to teach her a lesson by sending the photo to contacts in her phone.


What the fuck?

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on January 30, 2012, 07:00:55 PM
Not political, but it is some serious asshattery in AZ:

Nothing is political in Arizona. 

Nothing.

It is all just horrible fucking stupidity, and it piles up around my door every night, like snow.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.