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Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
Tue Feb 21, 2012, 05:25 AM Feb 2012

Missouri House endorses English-only driver's tests

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri House endorsed legislation Monday that would require driver's license tests to be administered only in English and would restrict interpreters for those who have trouble understanding the language.
The House's 91-59 vote marks the second year in a row that the body has backed such legislation. Debate on this year's measure mirrored that of last year's proposal, which died in the Senate.


Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford, D-St. Louis, said the legislation might discourage businesses from moving to the state if they bring foreign workers with them.
"We keep trying to fix problems that aren't there , and it's just to feed into hysteria about people who are not native-born U.S. residents who speak English as their first language," she said.

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Missouri-House-endorses-English-only-drivers-tests-139789833.html

The Missouri GOP Legislature at Work!

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boppers

(16,588 posts)
2. If the street signage is in Thai, require Thai functional literacy.
Tue Feb 21, 2012, 07:15 AM
Feb 2012

Seems like a waste of time to legislate it, though.

metalbot

(1,058 posts)
11. I used to drive in Thailand all the time
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 10:14 AM
Feb 2012

And I don't read any Thai. Literacy really has nothing to do with being able to operate a car safely.

boppers

(16,588 posts)
13. Wow, just wow.
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 03:16 PM
Feb 2012

"Yield", "Stop", "Do Not Enter". "One Way"... are you saying it's irrelevant to be able to read basic phrases in order to avoid being killed?

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
16. it seems that requiring a language skill is at best, redundant.
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 04:30 PM
Feb 2012

As the majority of traffic signs worldwide are predicated on the United Nations Organization Protocol, it seems that requiring a language skill is at best, merely redundant.

"Basically, the code consists of three categories of signs - Warning, Regulatory and Informative, each category having its characteristic shape, colour and format, with the message of the sign condensed pictorially into a symbol. In appropriate cases, the message may be supplemented, or its applicability defined, by means of a short inscription on a small plate appended to the traffic sign."

This format was instituted many years ago for the simple reason that people drive in foreign countries quite often...

But maybe there are people who believe that shapes, colors and formats are in English...?

newfie11

(8,159 posts)
3. When I took my first test at 16 in Farmington NM
Tue Feb 21, 2012, 08:16 AM
Feb 2012

There were a couple of Navajos also taking it. They had people with them translating the words. I didn't think anything about it. That was many many years ago but seemed ok to me.

Telly Savalas

(9,841 posts)
5. Given the large number of people who drive like assholes in Missouri
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 01:11 AM
Feb 2012

maybe these grandstanding douchebags should focus more on the content of the exam instead of what language it's being administered in.

The Genealogist

(4,723 posts)
6. Missouri's legislative branch is completely off the rails right now
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 04:26 AM
Feb 2012

You name a crazy pet RW cause, and Missouri's legislative branch has passed or is in the process of passing it. From voter suppression laws, to English-only xenophobic garbage like this piece of legislation, to changing science classes into religious studies classes, they are doing it. I am going to miss my current MO house rep, a Democrat, who is term-limited. Hell, for that matter, my current district is vanishing, and I am going to end up in one of the RW asshole's districts, I fear.

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
7. Indeed
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 06:11 AM
Feb 2012

The have taken the crazy train and it has left the station. I will be in a safe Democratic District I am sure, but I have to wonder just what goes through the minds of these wingnuts.

trof

(54,255 posts)
9. OK, they'll have to learn about boots*, bonnets**, off side wings***...
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 09:54 AM
Feb 2012

If it's really going to be "English" and not Murrican.
* the trunk
** the hood
***the left front fender
And all vehicles (including lorries) will have to be right-hand drive.

 

FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
14. UK Gets Its Own Version of English in Windows 8
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 04:07 PM
Feb 2012

Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will have the U.K. version of English as a display language option, to address customers in that country, and some other countries like South Africa, India, Ireland, and Australia that use the version of the language.

Windows 8, the next version of the company's OS, will also have 13 new language interface packs (LIPs) that install on top of a standalone Windows display language, Ian Hamilton, a program manager in Microsoft's Windows International Team said in a blog post on Tuesday. The packs contain localized user interface elements for the most commonly used Windows features.

Users will also have the option to install multiple display languages and switch between them, as for example between U.S. English and Spanish, a feature relevant in the U.S., Hamilton said.
...
Microsoft already supports 95 languages in Windows 7.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/250442/uk_gets_its_own_version_of_english_in_windows_8.html

loyalsister

(13,390 posts)
15. They are SO caught up in xenophobia
Wed Feb 22, 2012, 04:15 PM
Feb 2012

that they have no sense of logic. They have made a big deal about immigrants driving. Instead of creating a situation where they can drive legally WITH insurance they forbid it and people get screwed if they have an accident.

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