[Vision2020] Words Bring Pause

[Saundra Lund]

Thanks, Tom, for sharing this.

<sigh>  I suppose it shouldn't surprise me in Idaho, but it *does*
disappoint me  :-(

"The definition of an official language is one that has been specifically
designated in the Constitution of a country or territory. Officially
recognized languages are often mistaken for official languages. 

According to the online reference Wikipedia, half the countries of the world
have official languages. Some have only one official language, such as
Albania, France, Germany and Lithuania. Some have more than one official
language such as Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Afghanistan, Paraguay,
Bolivia, India, Switzerland, and South Africa.

Some countries, such as the United States, have no official national
language but do have areas where an official language has been adopted.
Still other countries have no official languages at all. These include
Australia, Eritrea, Luxembourg, Sweden and Tuvalu.

The Philippines and parts of Africa live with a peculiar cultural paradox.
Although the official languages may be French or English, these are not the
languages most widely spoken by those countries' residents. Another
interesting twist on official language can be found in the Republic of
Ireland. Though Irish is only spoken by a small proportion of people it is
actually the state's first official language. English, the spoken language
of the majority, is the second official language."
http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/officialamerican/



Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
- Edmund Burke

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 2:42 PM
To: Vision 2020
Subject: [Vision2020] Words Bring Pause

>From today's (March 11, 2007) Spokesman Review with a very special thanks
to
State Senator Edgar Malepeai -

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Words Bring Pause

The Idaho Senate voted 20-15 in favor of Senate Bill 1172, declaring English
to be the official language of Idaho, in a debate that took a personal turn.

"It's not for shutting people out, but bringing people in," Sen. Mel
Richardson, R-Idaho Falls, lead sponsor of the bill, told the Senate. 

Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, said quietly, "Looking around the chamber,
I think I'm probably the only one that has English as a second language."
Malepeai recalled that his late father and uncles served proudly in the U.S.
military. "They spoke very, very broken English, but they were proud
American Samoans," Malepeai said. Democracy and freedom "is what unifies
people in this country," he said, "not the English language." A hush fell in
the Senate after Malepeai's comments, and no one else debated the bill.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"I love my country but fear my government."

- Author Unknown



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