Updating my earlier posts reports HERE about California
enacting network neutrality rules to ensure equal internet access, our Governor
Brown has signed the bill. Immediately
afterward the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop the
bill which you can read about HERE.
California experienced the dangerous effects of not having
the protections of network neutrality during a major fire this year, so once
again this President and his political party betray the best interests of
ordinary people – could even threaten our safety and security.
DISTRESS
We live in increasingly troubling times for preservation of
our individual rights as guaranteed by our democratic form of government’s constitution. Once more our current government majority
leaders have betrayed their responsibility to the American people.
The serious matter of a lifetime appointment to our Supreme
Court for any individual should warrant a thorough vetting and investigation
when viable allegations are made questioning a nominee’s testimony before an official
committee. An adequate time period to search for the
truth in this recent instance with nominee Kavanaugh was denied which our President
could and should have prevented. Even the Senate Committee should have
specified this reasonable requirement.
The President’s failure to act in the interest of insuring
our Supreme Court Justices are free of political bias, not to mention questions
of mendacity related to their personal behavior, reveals his continued systematic
undermining of the credibility of the other branches of our government in favor
of Executive Branch excessive control.
Most Congressional members of the political party which he
represents collude with him which serves to perpetuate divisiveness rather than
unification of the American people.
Foreign nations with dictator regimes, such as Russia, China and North
Korean, increasingly Poland, Turkey, must welcome such democracy weakening
actions as our President becomes more autocratic – like them.
LANGUAGE
Relating my language translation experiences in my previous
post prompted more recollections.
Years ago when serving one local hospital we could access by
phone a translator for a three way process – therapist, translator, patient. I
tried it but this was of limited value and could not be used effectively for services
my profession provided in most regular intervention processes. I
determined coordination with a family member to be present for translation
assistance was best.
Sometimes if staff members who spoke the
needed language were available they could assist, but they did so voluntarily
in the moment as they were still responsible for their regular work assignment. Total communication using speech, all non-verbal
means including gesture, printed words, pictures were used – whatever helped.
During some of my hospital years I encountered a variety of
languages, the more common, Spanish, German, including some of the less common
European, Asian, Arabic, Iranian and additional languages. I thought of how I might feel being ill in a
country where people did not speak my language, might not have anyone traveling
with me and what would help me cope.
Some years I served a number of skilled level facilities
providing rehabilitation services. I recall my first ever encounter with a
Spanish speaker and the only words that came to my mind as I walked down the
hall toward her room were that song “Be’same Mucho”. English translation is “Kiss me, now.” There was no time for advance planning as I
had just been told I needed to see her.
In a well-intentioned effort to comfort this lovely
grandmotherly type lady in her own language, since she had been surrounded by
only English speakers, I managed to offer a brief Spanish greeting, smile and
then talk-sang the song title words.
She gave me the strangest apprehensive look. She hesitantly cooperated for an oral motor
functional examination with my using gesture and eliciting imitation.
Her
bilingual daughter eventually arrived to translate allowing me to explain my
earlier behavior. Ever after what
limited contact was needed this dear grandmotherly lady and I exchanged lots of
laughs over this “loco Gringo’s” behavior.
Have you ever had complications, humorous or otherwise, trying
to understand or communicate to someone whose language was different than your
own?
Kennedy, who he replaces, though he sometimes did favor important issues to Dems, was appointed by Reagan. He mentored Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh voted 92% in agreement with Garland, who Obama wanted. I think however people feel about the sexual accusations, it might be this is not going to be what they expect-- even though K. is an originalist where it comes to the Constitution.
ReplyDeleteI know the left is very upset right now but so much of this is stoked heat, as well as personalizing their own abuse with the accusations of Ford. So far as the Court goes,I think we could wait and see how he actually decides-- Of course, with the House in the hands of Dems it could make him spend all his time defending himself against impeachment. At least Democrats who vote in November will know what they are voting for where it comes to the House and maybe Senate if it should also flip-- impeach him or Trump or both lol.
IF the dems do an investigation of the assault accusations, truly do one, looking at all the allegations as well as evidence, it might be fruitful. There are a lot of questions regarding how it all went down including Feinstein's handling of the letter but also some conflicts. On the positive side, despite all the salacious stuff we couldn't avoid, it's brought up a powerful issue for this country-- how many people have been molested (men and women by the way) and the impact it has (Pennsylvania priests).
Maybe the warnings of alcohol and youth parties could be taken more seriously. What got me was how much drinking was going on at both that girls' and the boys' schools. Weren't these schools supposed to be the best of the best but even the girls' yearbook was full of drinking/partying references. It's a far cry from my own years of growing up in public schools. Although I am sure some there also binge drank. I just didn't run with the partying crowd maybe.
Seem to be a lot of unanswered questions in a lot of people’s minds whatever their political and other positions. To ignore that and provide him a lifetime appointment brings into question the judgement of those who gave him that position. Hopefully voters in ‘18 and ‘20 will keep that in mind when they vote.
Delete"...I think we could wait and see...."
DeleteTo what end? That was a lifetime appointment confirmed for Kavanaugh.
I think the main problem I have speaking someone else's language is not knowing the equivalent word for something. I might want a return ticket on an Italian train, for instance, but I've no idea what is the Italian for return ticket so a complicated exchange takes place until my request is finally understood.
ReplyDeleteWhat you describe is a frustration. Often there can be no equivalent word due to language variations as I understand.
DeleteDeepest sympathy on the travesties committed in your name by this appalling administration, we watch in horror as the sexual abuse of women is sanctified. I have terrible forebodings and am quite depressed about it all and have moved away from political newsfeeds for a while. So very sorry Joared.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Thanks for not painting all U.S. citizens with a broad brush of Trumpism. I continue to believe more and more voters will recognize our democracy is at stake and will vote accordingly in ‘18 and ‘20 elections to right our course for the future.
DeleteHow funny and glad it finally worked out. Afraid my only Spanish is profanity which my then boyfriend taught me what I was certain were pleasantries. I only found out when I shouted them while riding my bicycle through the Cuban section on my way to school that he was a rascal. When they threw rotten guavas at me I guessed I was not asking them to have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a funny story as long as you weren’t.physically hurt.
DeleteThe man running our country (I have a very hard time referring to him as President) has and is doing irreparable harm to our country and doing it gleefully to satisfy his own ego. Even if "his" party is smashed in the midterm elections it will take years to get out of swamp that he has made.
ReplyDeleteI agree that his actions reveal satisfying his ego is, indeed, part of his motivation for what he says and does.
DeleteJustices are rarely truly unbiased and moderate. But the GOP would not let Obama appoint a fairly good moderate and thus we have a man who views the country under a conspiracy promulgated by the Clintons. He is not the best of the best, and I do not denigrate his considerable drinking in his youth, but his anger and lying about it when applying for a job instead of graciously accepting that he had made mistakes but now was grown.
ReplyDeleteThose should have been reasons enough for rejecting that nominee for the judiciary position if preservation of respect, trust and confidence in our Supreme Court was the priority as it should have been.
DeleteBésame mucho actually translates to Kiss Me A Lot. "Now" in Spanish would be "ahora", or "ahora mismo" for "right now", unless there is some dialectical shifting I am unaware of.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the newest member of the Supreme Court and the issues he presents. Accusations of sexual misconduct aside completely, his partisan diatribe and lack of judicial temperament should have been enough to wave off his confirmation. Could you imagine if a woman had comported herself the way he did, becoming defensive, sneering, attacking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, crying, and bringing up her children? She would have been immediately dismissed as far too emotionally unstable and obviously partisan and volatile, if not completely unprofessional.
Thanks for the translation clarification. I had taken what i wrote from a song title site which just goes to show how variations can occur.
DeleteYes, thats exactly how such behavior from a woman would have been described.
Besame Mucho is a great song. :D
ReplyDeleteWhile living in Zurich, I would occasionally interact with folk who weren't interested in speaking standard German. And that was fair enough as the standard isn't their native language. I could understand bits of Swiss German, but not terribly well, especially at the beginning of my time there. Sometimes, I'd use a standard German word and be answered with the Swiss German equivalent. For ex.: One time, when asking if there were a deposit on the glass that I had just bought, I used the standard word 'Pfand'.
Swiss guy: 'Oh, you mean 'Depot'.
Me: 'Right. Depot.' It was a sort of listen and repeat exercise often times.
As a fellow Californian, I say: may our net neutrality hold!
Glad they shared their language equivalent with you. Ideally, locals in any country would help newcomers with the predominate lingo, expressions, or dialects used. Mixing of languages would be more complicating.
DeleteI live further south, and Spanish is the really the first language of the city. The Hispanic population now out numbers the Gringos. As a Gringo, I mutilate the language and have a true minimal vocabulary. But I keep trying.
ReplyDeleteYes, we California Gringos are no longer the majority in number. I know more Hispanics who are bilingual than Gringos who are. We all need to just keep trying.
Delete