Rev. Jim: "Pss... Hey, Bobby... what's Spanish for 'stop.'"
Bobby: "Alto"
Rev. Jim: (in a high pitched voice): "what's Spanish for 'stop'"
Posted on 03/14/2008 4:01:53 AM PDT by Man50D
Mexican truck drivers allowed to travel throughout the U.S. under a Bush administration demonstration project may not be proficient in English, despite Department of Transportation assurances to the contrary.
A brochure on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's website instructs Mexican truck drivers, "Did you know … You MUST be able to read and speak English to drive trucks in the United States."
Still, at the Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing Tuesday, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and DOT Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III reluctantly admitted under intense questioning from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that Mexican drivers were being designated at the border as "proficient in English" even though they could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish.
In the tense hearing, Dorgan accused Peters of being "arrogant" and in reckless disregard of a congressional vote to stop the Mexican trucking demonstration project by taking away funds to continue the project. Toward the end, the senator asked if it were true Mexican truckers could explain U.S. traffic signs only in Spanish when given English proficiency tests at the border.
"Does the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration test for English proficiency at the border include questions about U.S. highway signs?" Dorgan asked.
"Yes," Scovel replied. "The FMCSA English proficiency test at the border did not originally include U.S. highway signs, but now it does."
"Do you show a driver an octagonal 'STOP' sign at the border and qualify him if he explains the sign means 'ALTO'?" an incredulous Dorgan pressed.
"Alto" is the Spanish word for "Stop."
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Many service members live overseas and do not speak the native language of their host countries. They still acquire driver's licenses and do just fine.
I got my driver's license after I'd been in Germany for a few months and only spoke about a dozen words of German. The workbook was in English as was the test.
No, you don't have to speak English to drive in America.
You hit on a point that's been bothering me for a really long time.
Could it actually be a better strategy to do a write-in for president, vote for Republicans in Congress, then wait and get a real conservative/libertarian in the White House four years from now? Maybe 4 years of liberal BS would be worth it.
One of the talking heads was saying a couple of weeks ago, "It took a Carter to give us a Regan."
4 years of McLaim will ensure 20 of democrat control..
This is just another example of Taxation Without Representation. We pay the taxes and our elected representatives represent Mexicans instead.
Rev. Jim: "Pss... Hey, Bobby... what's Spanish for 'stop.'"
Bobby: "Alto"
Rev. Jim: (in a high pitched voice): "what's Spanish for 'stop'"
I-490 Back Open After Tractor-Trailer Crash
Last Update: 2/21 2:17 pm
Rochester, N.Y. — State police say a tractor-trailer carrying apples tipped over Thursday morning because the driver was going too fast.
The tractor-trailer crashed on I-490 East at S. Goodman St. at 10:10 a.m. Thursday morning, blocking all eastbound lanes. Traffic was also closed westbound while the accident was cleaned up.
Both directions of traffic on the highway reopened shortly before noon. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Rochester Fire Department crews were called to the scene to deal with a diesel fuel leak from the vehicle.
The driver, Jacinto Zeas-Barrera, 42, Newark N.J., was not seriously injured. Witnesses and the police investigation revealed that the truck tipped over because the driver was going to fast through the 40 MPH zone.
The accident is still under investigation, and charges are pending.
THE DRIVER DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH, NY STATE POLICE HAD TO BRING IN A SPANISH SPEAKING TROOPER TO INTERVIEW THE MAN.
Just another example of the fact that those who we vote into office work for others, not the American People or their country.
Think no further than the super tanker contract being given to a foreign entity at a time when recession is the word of the day, not to mention the fact that getting replacement parts will become a bargaining chip or even a weapon by a nation becoming more and more controlled by Islamacists.
Thanks for posting that pic.
I've been searching for those laughing jackasses and couldn't find it.
To drive professionally, ie get paid for it, you MUST speak and comprehend English. The Commercial Drivers license has many more rules to it.
Yes, but in Germany they use international road signs. We don’t use them here, most of our signs have written instructions in English.
I have gone from truly liking the man, to wishing and praying for his impeachment. We have lost more of our national Sovereignty in the last 7 years than the last several presidents combined (at last in my poor and often defective point of view).<<
"I've treated you respectfully today, Secretary Peters, but I don't respect your decision," Dorgan said. "You have angered me further with your testimony and you reflect a Bush administration that obviously doesn't care what Congress thinks."
We have enough bad truck drivers born here already. Tell me again what country Bush is President of?
>>Yes, but in Germany they use international road signs. We don’t use them here, most of our signs have written instructions in English.<<
Also, there are large digital text signs on freeways that display important information, such as freeway closings or Amber alerts. Will they alternate printing such messages in English and Spanish now? I can read Spanish, but if you don’t, and you are driving at 70MPH, you will have to slow down to 30MPH to wait for the English message to scroll?
>>Think no further than the super tanker contract being given to a foreign entity at a time when recession is the word of the day, not to mention the fact that getting replacement parts will become a bargaining chip or even a weapon by a nation becoming more and more controlled by Islamacists.<<
I have the same concern. Russia owns a significant share of Airbus, and not only has Putin become less friendly to us lately, but Russia has very long-term relations with a certain country that wants to wipe Israel off the map. Where did Stalin insist on meeting with Roosevelt and Churchill in 1943? You guessed it, Tehran.
I have three words: Olga Marina Franco.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Do you feel safe knowing someone who can’t read a road sign or understand when a DOT officer says - in English - “your truck is not safe, you are out of service” - is driving an 80,000 pound vehicle on the same roads as your family?
There are many reasons the FMCSA regulations require those driving big trucks speak English - it’s not just getting your license or reading a stop sign.
I doubt many of those Mexican driver have ever been to Germany.
— fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror...
— Some Azteca scene painted on the tailgates or running boards or something...
— a relief sticker of the Virgin Mary on the rear window...
— badges...(I know this will draw the usual response ;-)"
What? No blaring boom box? No teenie, weenie tires?
Wish I could prove you wrong, ding.
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