"Press 1 if you want to continue this call in English..."

Warning: This is NOT a 'Politically Correct" article!

How many times have you called a 1-800 number and heard the words "Press 1 if you want to continue this call in English"?

If I were going to move to another country to work, even if I wasn't planning on staying forever, just long enough to make money to send home before returning myself, I would learn the language of that country.

In some countries, if you don't learn the language, you're not going to be allowed to stay in that country and work for very long.

Used to be that in order to become a US citizen, immigrants (legal immigrants) had to learn English. To get a license for most jobs, you have to be able to speak and read English. I know that back in the early 80s, when my husband and I got our licenses to drive taxis in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, we were told that the test was in English. JUST English. Even back then, there was some kind of loophole that allowed people who could barely speak English to get their 'hack' license.

Of course, the illegal immigrants aren't required to learn the language. They don't want to be US Citizens - except when it comes to getting the freebies from the government. They don't plan to stay here forever, only until they make enough money to retire comfortably back in Mexico or wherever they are from.  And they are catered to by many companies, mostly because if the company doesn't, they fear being branded as bigots or racists.

Most everything is printed in at least English and Spanish (and occasionally other languages as well, usually French for the French Canadians in the north). Even our voting ballots are in both languages so that people who don't speak English can vote.  Excuse me --- if you become a US citizen, then  you should be able to speak and read English. If you can't, then you're likely not eligible to vote in our elections.

It's very frustrating when  you're trying to deal with someone who speaks another language. And it's more frustrating when you know that they're not even trying to learn the language.

Years ago, when I worked for a family owned chain of restaurants in Dallas, there were a lot of Mexicans working as busboys and a few of them also did other jobs. But the majority of them barely spoke English. I'm pretty sure that few of them were legally in this country. One of them was sending money back to Mexico to his family who was running his ranch there. He planned to eventually return to that ranch and live on the money he made here.

While most of the men didn't speak English, their wives were sometimes an exception. Back in the 80s, there were few options on TV other than English language programming. So the wives, who usually stayed at home to cook and clean and take care of the children, would watch US soap operas, and would learn the language from the TV.

Now, they don't have to do that. There are many Spanish channels that carry the novellas in Spanish so they don't have reason to learn English. They end up letting their children who are in the US school system and learn to speak it (at school, at least, not usually at home) translate for them when they go out.

We need to start requiring anyone who stays here for more than, say, two months, to learn English to a degree that they can communicate without any problem. If they aren't willing to do that, then they need to be returned to their home country.

I know this country was founded and built on immigrants, but it was legal immigration. And it's past time that we make English the official language of the United States of America, and require all paperwork to be only in that language.  Think of the money we would save by not having to print things twice or three times in different languages! Not to mention the trees.

And a hint to those companies who answer their phones with a request to 'press 1 for English' --- Why not simply do business in English. If you must shuttle someone to Spanish, do by requiring the user to press a button, not those who have taken the time and cared enough to learn English.

And now for something different == and not political

I wish I understood the trend for networks  to remake old TV shows that were wonderful back in their day?

Battlestar Galactica. Charlie's Angels. Wonder Woman. Knight Rider. Hawaii 5-0. And I just saw that NBC is premiering a 're-image' of "Ironside".

*Sigh*

Is there a total lack of ideas in Hollywood these days? All they can do it 're-image' old ideas. Ideas that don't need to be re-imaged.

Find a new story. Use your own imagination, don't steal someone else's hard work.

I haven't watched any of the new re-imaged shows. I prefer to remember the originals.

If you're going to use the originals, make them continuations of some kind. Like Dallas. Using the original characters is a short cut. One that's not necessary.

I know that there are people out there who will say the new shows are wonderful. And some of them have done well.

To me, the only Robert Ironside is Raymond Burr. Same with Steve McGarrett. He will always be Jack Lord. And Adama will always be Lorne Greene.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Yeah, I don't like change. But change for the SAKE of change is even worse!

Go find your own ideas. Unless you're a writer of fanfiction (and not making any money from your work), using others ideas is wrong.

Off my idea soapbox now.

Ft. Hood terror attack victims get a goose egg?

After reading this: post about how Nidal Hasan's money went to 'charity' and therefore there is nothing for his victims to claim in a lawsuit, my mouth literally fell open. 

After all this time, the man has no cash? My Army son gets his pay direct deposited. I was under the impression that all military pay is done that way. But this man had no bank account, and therefore was given paper checks? 

And his lawyer says that he doesn't have to prove that the money went to charity?


OOOOkay... I bet it went to Al Qaeda.   Or Al Jazeera. Or the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). It had likely been going there even before he committed a cowardly terrorist act at Ft. Hood, since he had no furniture in his apartment at the time that the crime was committed. We had a US solider who gave his paychecks to enemies of this country and then attacked US soldiers on a US military base on US soil.

Yet what he did wasn't terror, not according to the current administration. It was "workplace violence", and therefore those he killed or wounded were no eligible for benefits they would have gotten had it been declared an act of terror.

This is a travesty. Even Hasan admitted that he had committed his crime to protect Islam, yet those people impacted by his actions can't get any help from a government that refuses to address acts of terror.

I won't even mention the insanity that US soldiers aren't allowed to carry weapons while ON a military base. Okay, maybe I will. Thanks to President Bill Clinton, soliders aren't to be trusted with loaded weapons, even on bases.

We all need to contact our representatives and demand that things change: that those injured by Hasan receive that which they are entitled to; to find out where Hasan sent that money and recoup it; and that our military be trusted again to do what they are trained to do: protect our country.

Don't agree? Start your own blog. All statements and ideas are mine.

September 18, 2013

I just noticed that it's been a year and 5 months since my last post here...
That's too long.

Lots of changes in my life since then. My husband Frank was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in late November last year, and succumbed to the disease on April 13, 2013.

It's still one day at a time most of the time. Frank's death, even though we knew he was ill, was sudden, and a complete surprise. 

That being said, I'm trying to make up my mind about what I'm going to post on this blog. I have other outlets for my fiction, so this one will probably be for publishing my thoughts about current events and the state of society in the US.

I'll start later. Just want to let those who might have followed this blog know that there might be some things that I post that you might not agree with. That's fine. You have the option of un-following the blog, and/or starting your own blog to post your own ideas. This one is mine. Any posts from those who don't agree will be ignored.

I'm  not ashamed to admit that I'm a conservative, who believes in the Holy Bible, the US Constitution, and that my country is in danger of total destruction. I believe that abortion is murder, and that politicians need to be outlawed and replaced by statesmen, who will put the country ahead of their own greed and selfish desires.

More Later.