California vuelve a ser mexicana, gracias al vodka
>>These 3 languages have not any special status but in your mind<<
"The European Commission, for example, conducts its internal business in three languages, English, French and German, and goes fully multilingual only for public information and communication purposes."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union
And you infere from it that Englis German and French have an special status?
The European Parliament, on the other hand, has Members who need working documents in their own languages, so its document flow is fully multilingual from the outset.[3]
I don't see that special status. It's just the European Comission. In the Parlament everyone can speak in the language they want. All the 20 languages or so are official and also working languages.
The European Commission is the executive branch of the EU, and one of the most important bodies. I'd say it's pretty significant that their sessions are in those three languages.
Additionally, almost all other bodies use English, French, and German as working languages. There is a movement to save money by making these languages the official working languages of all EU bodies, including parliament. I would not be the least bit shocked to see this happen within the next decade or so because the amount of money spent on translation in the EU is ridiculous.
Sources:
http://www.languagemarketplace.com/Languages%20of%20the%20European%20Union.pdf
">That American education that you make fun of has made us into the strongest empire in the world.<"
It doesn't seem so.
">No, Spain in the 1930s was a facist state. Spain in the 1500s was an empire (how do you think the language spread?). The United States now, is neither. Not sure where you're from or were educated, but you should probably be more critical of your own education.<"
The U.S. is a fascist states - many Americans have declared this also. Do you know the definition of fascism? Extreme nationalism (check 1 for U.S) cooperations run or own the government (check 2 for U.S.) Absolute executive power = Bush (check 3) and so on and so forth.
Spain was weak fascist state. Spain was indeed an empire, however, an unorganized one ran by freelancers so to speak. The U.S. is an empire, and recently (since the Bush administration) it's fascist might has been growing and been obvious.
">You know why Guatemala and others cater to tourists in English? Because they want and need our money. You know why we don't reciprocate? Because the Hispanics that come here don't have any. It's simple economics. That's the reason why people everywhere are learning English. It's clear you guys don't want to learn it, but you HAVE to.<"
I smell hypocrisy. People in latin-american learn English because it's a vital economic source as you have stated, and apparently the lingua franca of the world. However, what you may not know is that the U.S. keeps them poor for reasons that I've stated before - America is an empire - and so it doesn't need any more competitors on its homeland. We'll just have to see about Brazil which has much potential.
">Not sure I understand what you mean here.<"
It means many people in Europe know English whereas in Latin-america they don't.
">We don't despise Latin Americans. We don't look at their culture as being from the third world. We look down on them simply because they refuse to assimilate and learn English. Furthermore, not all other cultures are treated that way. It's only the Latin Americans because of their stubborn attitudes towards becoming Americanized. No excuses, this is reality. If they stopped being stubborn we'd show more respect.<"
Sure....and I'm just talking out of my behind. lol. Be honest, Americans like to be subtle about things yet when it gets to the nitty-grity it all comes down to culture; and the so-called racial color / stature. But I hope many feel this way as you do supposedly.
I beg your pardon? Stubborn you've said. I think not. Many don't see no reason to learn English as they can get by here, and besides, they do jobs where Americans are not present or willing to befriend them as they have their own daily agenda therefore they're stuck in this triangle; no inspiration. In the end, they learn nothing but basic phrases or words to get by in life in America. Whereas culture-wise they much rather still with theirs.
">First of all, despite both organizations' legacies, they do not hold wide popularity amongst Americans. And we certainly don't control those organizations, either. Second of all, you have to look deeper. You can't paint America with one brush when talking about how we portray ourselves. We're constantly admitting when we're wrong. The current presidential administration may not do it, but other administrations have, and the citizens are often pointing out our wrongs. We certainly do not set ourselves on a pedestal.<"
Of course the U.S. population does not control those institutions - it's your guys government. If what you say is true, why hasn't the U.N or NATO declared the U.S. a threat toward Mideast security??? They've caused circa 1,000,000 deaths already, displacement of iraquis out of their own land and have made a quagmire.
The current administration is to blame for, however, previous administrations had a role in this present situation in the Middle-East. Notwithstanding I am not blaming the American masses but they too have a role - they have to read & learn the issues being presented to them. Now you know...why I stated a couple posts beforehand that some Americans are like little thoughtless children whom really have no idea of the issues and so get tricked once (and ironically twice with this bonehead Bush administration) to not learn from their OWN mistake of choosing a better candidate.
WHAT IS THE FUCKING REASON FOR PRIMARIES! GOD! ALL THAT FREEDOM HAS CORRUPTED YOU!
The European Comission is the only institution that uses three languages for internal purposes. In the European Parlament (the legislative branch), all the 20 languages are the working languages. Anyway Europe as a political entity is very weak , so don't dream about French gaining status just because the European Comission uses it rather than Italian or Spanish. In fact Europe as more than a free market is a joke. Europe will never be unified like US and everybody will speak the language of their country in the European institutions like the Parlament. What is a shame is that English is the working language of the European Comission when the UK is not interested in Europe and prefers to keep close ties with US. Italian should displace English in the European Comission, and why not, be the only official language if Europe wants to be a superstate really and not only a big market. German is anoter option but it is ugly. French is discarded because I can't stand the frogs and Spanish is my mother tongue, it woud be unfair to propose it.
English is the only fairly neutral language so no other will ever be used. English is neutral because the English are weak little fags so we feel sorry enough for them to speak their language without damaging our pride.
As for Americans, they are just the Englishs' spawn, and we all know sons take after their fathers. Americans don't have culture anyway, so it doesn't matter. At least the English have Big Ben. Ha ha ha !
The reason for the primaries is for each party to figure out who they feel will best represent them...
This is one of the fundamental differences from American and European politics: Americans vote for EVERYTHING from dog catcher to president (actually I don't know that any counties actually still have dog catcher elections, but it wouldn't surprise me). Typically in Europe you just vote for a party and the party leaders pick who's going to represent them. Which is more democratic?
This is also why Americans have so little interest in politics... American politics is daunting and confusing because to be able to understand our politics you have to be so well-rounded. And because we don't have a parliamentary system, we have Republicans who actually vote more in line with the Democratic Party (Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island) and Democrats who are actually more in line with the Republican Party (Don Cazayoux in Louisiana) and people who don't necessarily identify well with either party (such as Joe Lieberman, an Independent, who is a de facto Democrat, or Ron Paul, a Republican, who is a de facto Libertarian). In Europe, all you have to know is the party, vote for them, and you know how they are going to vote; if a member of parliament votes against their party they have to dissolve the parliament and have an election).
Yes , the European Parlaments are a scam. They don't represent the citizens, only the parties so I don't know with they call it a democracy. It isn't really. Each one to his own. I wish my country had a presidentialist regime like US with primaries where people can vote the politicians who best represent them in each party.
<<French is discarded because I can't stand the frogs and Spanish is my mother tongue>>
Yes, we know this -- you signed your name "Guest."
<<Ron Paul, a Republican>>
yeah baby -- gonna meet him again Monday to get his new book
Don't lie, you can't read books.
>>The European Comission is the only institution that uses three languages for internal purposes. In the European Parlament (the legislative branch), all the 20 languages are the working languages. Anyway Europe as a political entity is very weak , so don't dream about French gaining status just because the European Comission uses it rather than Italian or Spanish. In fact Europe as more than a free market is a joke. Europe will never be unified like US and everybody will speak the language of their country in the European institutions like the Parlament. What is a shame is that English is the working language of the European Comission when the UK is not interested in Europe and prefers to keep close ties with US. Italian should displace English in the European Comission, and why not, be the only official language if Europe wants to be a superstate really and not only a big market. German is anoter option but it is ugly. French is discarded because I can't stand the frogs and Spanish is my mother tongue, it woud be unfair to propose it.<<
Can't you read? Here's the important passage from the link I provided:
"Away from these formal meetings, a more flexible language arrangement is used. The primary
working languages of the institutions are English, French and to some extent German, but
other languages are used as befits the situation and the language skills of the people
involved."
>>English is the only fairly neutral language so no other will ever be used. English is neutral because the English are weak little fags so we feel sorry enough for them to speak their language without damaging our pride.
As for Americans, they are just the Englishs' spawn, and we all know sons take after their fathers. Americans don't have culture anyway, so it doesn't matter. At least the English have Big Ben. Ha ha ha !<<
Your comments show your ignorance. The British had the largest empire in the history of the world up until about 1947. The British did such a thorough job of spreading their culture (and language), which is really why everyone speaks it and it has such power on the continent.
And we Americans have a great culture. For instance, we've given the world baseball and basketball, sports that are wildly popular around the planet. Try teaching yourself about American culture sometime.
<<">We don't despise Latin Americans. We don't look at their culture as being from the third world. We look down on them simply because they refuse to assimilate and learn English. Furthermore, not all other cultures are treated that way. It's only the Latin Americans because of their stubborn attitudes towards becoming Americanized. No excuses, this is reality. If they stopped being stubborn we'd show more respect.<" >>
How right you are