[Rhodes22-list] Reduce your federal income tax (political humor)

[Todd Tavares]

Brad,

It really pisses me off when I pull up to a drive-up ATM and I have to
choose between the instructions written in English and the instructions
written in braille.

Todd T.

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "Brad Haslett"
  To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
  Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Reduce your federal income tax
  (political humor)
  Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 21:13:23 -0500


  Bill,

  It pisses me off every time I go to an ATM or call a phone tree and
  it asks
  whether I want English or Spanish. That being said, most cabbies in
  Beijing
  are torqued over having to learn english for the 2008 Olympics. Here
  is an
  interesting perspective on native language. BTW, I've ordered the
  Spanish
  for Contractors CD for the boys on the beach.

  Brad

  ------------------


  May 30, 2006
  My History of English-Only*By* *Richard
  Cohen*

  To understand something of the current immigration debate, it might
  help to
  look at New York's Lower East Side in the early 1900s through the
  eyes of
  Henry Adams, the great-grandson of one president, the grandson of
  another,
  ambassador to Britain and, toward the end of his life, winner of the
  Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography. All those Jews sickened him.

  "God tried drowning out the world once,'' he wrote in a 1906 letter,
  ``but
  it did no kind of good, and there are said to be 450,000 Jews now
  doing
  Kosher in New York alone. God himself owned failure.''

  One of those "doing Kosher'' at that time was my grandfather, Rueben,
  a
  part-time garment worker and full-time no-goodnick who placed his two
  boys
  in an orphanage when his wife, Judith, died. When he came to visit,
  the
  older boy had to translate for the younger. My grandfather never
  spoke
  English and my father never spoke anything but.

  You can understand Adams' distress. The Lower East Side of Manhattan
  was an
  alien place. Its denizens spoke Yiddish. They were not Christians.
  They had
  their own newspapers and theaters and political organizations and
  when they
  rallied for one cause or another -- and boy, did they ever rally --
  the
  calls for reform or revolution were uttered in a foreign tongue. This
  pot
  was not melting.

  Now, of course, the Lower East Side is the East Village and it is
  cool and
  hip and young and expensive. The grandchildren of those who did
  Kosher there
  have scattered throughout the country and the English their
  grandparents did
  not speak has been mastered and enriched by Bellow and Roth and
  Chabon and
  Ephron, not to mention Irving Berlin, if you are that old, or Jon
  Stewart,
  if you can stay up that late.

  The current immigration fuss has engendered more sloppy thinking and
  rhetoric than any issue in recent times. The descendants of
  immigrants wax
  romantic, confusing legal and illegal immigration -- it's all the
  same. But
  it is not. My grandparents were legal immigrants. They came through
  Ellis
  Island, papers in hand. It was easier to do so then, but that is not
  the
  point. The point is that they broke no law and, as a consequence,
  sought no
  amnesty.

  But this anxiety about the fate of English and its importance to the
  culture
  does have its antecedents, although they are not, of course, exact.
  The
  non-English-speaking immigrants of the 19th and earlier centuries
  could not
  simply get on an airplane and return to the mother country for a
  visit. Once
  they came to America, they usually stayed in America. This is not
  necessarily true of Spanish-speakers, who can more easily visit
  Mexico or
  another Latin American country. Still, the larger culture remains
  English-speaking and its pull is like an ocean tide. It may take a
  while,
  but it will get its way.

  In Los Angeles, for instance, radio station KDL shifted in 2003 from
  Spanish
  to English because the Latino audience it wanted -- the young -- was
  increasingly bilingual and what's called "English dominant.'' English
  was
  cooler, hipper and younger, younger, younger. Spanish was the
  language of
  mom and dad, and nothing could be fustier -- or, in some cases,
  embarrassing. The latter is why, to my regret, I peevishly ignored my
  Yiddish-speaking grandmother, adamantly insisting she speak English
  instead.
  I thought I was being very patriotic.

  In New York City, the library system of a single borough, Queens,
  typically
  has the highest circulation of any in the country. That's not because
  the
  culturally ravenous Jews of myth and fact are continuing their
  reading
  habits, but because of a much newer influx of Asians. Many of them
  read
  exclusively in their native language, some in two and some, sooner or
  later,
  in English only. The richness of Shakespeare's tongue, its
  universality in
  commerce and business and, above all, in entertainment, makes it
  unavoidable. Few things in life are certain, but death, taxes and
  English
  certainly are.

  It's reasonable, I suppose, to insist on English-sufficiency for
  citizenship
  or, even, for a driver's license. But the nation's so-called
  "political
  conversation'' can be conducted in any language -- just as long as
  it's
  conducted. The Jews, the Italians, the Chinese, the Russians, the
  Germans
  and all the other ethnic groups who once lived cheek by jowl in
  Manhattan
  had a vibrant press and raised the roof with their political
  conversation.
  Now their descendants rue, as I do, the virtual loss of a tongue.
  Henry
  Adams need not have feared. I can read him but not the contemporaries
  he so
  reviled.
  mailto: cohenr at washpost.com < cohenr at washpost.com>* *

  (c) 2006, Washington Post Writers Group
  On 6/27/06, Bill Effros wrote:
  >
  > Herb,
  >
  > Clinton forced these people to make the desert crossings. Prior to
  that
  > they would have "stampedes" where literally hundreds of people
  would
  > literally overrun border crossings. A dozen might get caught, but
  the
  > other 488 would be home free all. There were cars, buses, minivans,
  > waiting to take them further away right on our side of the border.
  We
  > built fences in the easy places, forcing them to now cross in the
  harder
  > places. Crossing was a piece of cake. If you didn't make it in the
  > morning, you could count on getting through in the afternoon. They
  > would commute back and forth across the border.
  >
  > It's harder now. We didn't used to have 100s of people dying in the
  > desert every year because they didn't have to cross over the
  desert.
  >
  > There are more foreign born workers currently in the United States
  than
  > there are Iraqis in Iraq. Rounding them all up and throwing them
  out of
  > here is not practical--even Bush understands that.
  >
  > I'm not "for" "amnesty". I'm not really "for" anything. I know what
  > you're against. What are you "for"?
  >
  > Bill Effros
  >
  >
  >
  >
  > Herb Parsons wrote:
  > > Sorry Bill, but you don't know what you're talking about on this
  one.
  > Border crossings have been unbelievably easy for years. We taught
  them all
  > well in our last "amnesty" program. Bring your families, you stand
  a better
  > chance of being allowed to stay.
  > >
  > > Where have you gotten the idea that border crossings have been
  more
  > difficult (except for the past few weeks, of course)?
  > >
  > > Herb Parsons
  > >
  > > S/V O'Jure
  > > 1976 O'Day 25
  > > Lake Grapevine, N TX
  > >
  > > S/V Reve de Papa
  > > 1971 Coronado 35
  > > Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana Coast
  > >
  > >
  > >>>> bill at effros.com 6/27/2006 3:16:16 pm >>>
  > >>>>
  > > Dave,
  > >
  > > Unintended consequences of making border crossings more
  difficult. They
  > > used to leave their families behind and return home during the
  off
  > > season. Now that we have made border crossing more difficult,
  they are
  > > bringing their families along with them, and staying North of the
  > border.
  > >
  > > Bill Effros
  > >
  > > DCLewis1 at aol.com wrote:
  > >
  > >> Luis, PT, & Brad,
  > >>
  > >> This is interesting. Seems to me that if the IRS has issued an
  > ITIN for
  > >> legal and illegal aliens, and the govt also has a summary of
  > green cards/work
  > >> permits/whatever they should be able to identify illegals
  > pretty easily. I
  > >> wonder what the problem is? Or maybe, as PT suggests, the govt
  really
  > doesn't
  > >> care - just send $.
  > >>
  > >> Re Brad's dreams: I think I understand what he's trying to
  convey.
  > These
  > >> guys are reported to be very hard working and conscientious.
  I've met
  > some
  > >> and they seem like good people. But there's another side to
  > the problem that
  > >> he may not have observed. Some years ago my wife and I were
  foster
  > parents
  > >> for several years, as a foster parent you take kids into your
  house
  > until the
  > >> adult parents can get their lives squared away. Over a period of
  time
  > you see
  > >> a number of "families" and kids. We've encountered what I'm sure
  are
  > >> illegal aliens - ladies (kids are invariably tied to the women)
  who
  > came north
  > >> because there are better social services and physical
  infrastructure (
  > e.g.
  > >> indoor plumbing) and a government that will not ask questions.
  The
  > ladies
  > >> relating to foster care may have a variety of children - I'm
  told that
  > large
  > >> families are a cultural thing. Some may work at regular jobs,
  but the
  > ones we know
  > >> don't, they subsist on the shadow economy or mooch off one of
  the hard
  > >> working guys Brad dreams about, or both. To an overwhelming
  extent,
  > they subsist
  > >> on the illegal cash economy PT refers to. These ladies, and
  > especially their
  > >> numerous children, are a substantial burden (i.e. cost) to the
  social
  > >> infrastructure. For example, as I recall, in Washington it costs
  > about
  > >> $12k/yr/student to support the public schools - we know one lady
  with
  > 5 kids and has
  > >> not held a regular job as long as we've known her; there's no
  way at
  > all that
  > >> lady makes any meaningful contribution to the support the
  education of
  > her
  > >> kids - or anything else. I really doubt the ones I know of have
  ever
  > paid any
  > >> taxes, all their work is in the shadow economy (i.e. selling
  bottled
  > water on
  > >> street corners - turns out you can make a lot of money doing
  that in
  > >> Washington). The social services burden (schools, medical care,
  low
  > income housing,
  > >> police, etc) didn't appear in Brad's dreams, but I think that's
  what's
  > >> driving the reaction to illegal immigration along the border and
  in
  > Calif.
  > >>
  > >> One other insight: the prime driver to admitting illegals
  appears to
  > me that
  > >> they are willing to work very hard and conscientiously at jobs
  many
  > >> Americans disdain. Basically, they are good people and they want
  to
  > be here. But it'
  > >> s important to understand that admitting these people,
  especially the
  > women,
  > >> has long term consequences ; they will have families (large
  families)
  > and
  > >> the children may, or may not, be nearly as motivated as
  > the parent. What I've
  > >> seen is the children of dysfunctional families, really
  matriarchies,
  > >> fitting right into the underclass culture that disdains any hard
  work
  > and/or
  > >> educational achievement. This is going to drive a geometric
  demand
  > for even more
  > >> social services From my perspective, this is not a happy
  prospect.
  > >>
  > >> Dave
  > >> __________________________________________________
  > >> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
  > >>
  > >>
  > >>
  > > __________________________________________________
  > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
  > > __________________________________________________
  > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
  > >
  > >
  > __________________________________________________
  > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
  >
  __________________________________________________
  Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list

-- 
___________________________________________________
Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/