• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Voting ballot form

WebSlave

The world looks differently to me now.
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So I'm looking through the local newspaper (ours here only comes out weekly) and noticed a page showing a sample ballot form for the upcoming election in a few days. What caught my attention is that they have one form in English, and another in Spanish. :detonate:

Maybe it's just me, but why the heck would someone who cannot understand the printed English language be voting in USA elections? I don't know about anyone else, but I sure as heck don't want anyone but a bonafide AMERICAN voting on people who will be placed into positions to have influence over MY life as an American citizen.

:face_palm_02:
 
Nope, don't agree with y'all. There are several nations which are bilingual, one of the few times I have been out of the U.S. is when my family visited Canada, their language is English and French.
My Grandpa, born in Russia, ran away from the Communists and ended up living in Connecticut, spoke little English but was a hardworking (electrician) taxpaying person. I don't think the description of an American citizen necessarily includes fluency in English.
The Hispanic population is significant in America, I believe one out of every 5 American citizens is Hispanic. I believe we are headed in the direction of being a bilingual English/Spanish speaking country.

I don't know about anyone else, but I sure as heck don't want anyone but a bonafide AMERICAN voting on people who will be placed into positions to have influence over MY life as an American citizen.

:face_palm_02:

I agree. But I think an American who, for instance, speaks Spanish and knows what he is talking about would be a significant improvement over some of the English speaking fools now running the country.
 
Regardless, I believe that someone who has a right to influence the direction of this country via the ballot needs to be legally OF this country before exercising that right. This country is supposed to be a "melting pot". Applicants need to be willing to "melt", not expect the country to restructure itself in order to accommodate them so they can remain different and apart from the rest of the country. Unless the United State of America is united by it's traditions, laws, customs, and language such that everyone can easily and completely understand and relate to each other, just what exactly will be "united" about us?

Requirements of USA citizenship:
General Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for naturalization, you must:
  • Be at least 18 years old at the time you submit Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.
  • Be a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder) for at least five years.
  • Demonstrate continuous residence in the United States for at least five years immediately before the date you file Form N-400.
  • Show that you have been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the five years immediately before the date you file Form N-400.
  • Show that you have lived for at least three months in the state or USCIS district where you apply. Students may apply for naturalization either where they go to school or where their family lives (if they are still financially dependent on their parents).
  • Be a person of good moral character.
  • Demonstrate an attachment to the principles and ideals of the U.S. Constitution.
  • Be able to read, write, and speak basic English.
  • Have a basic understanding of U.S. history and government (civics).
  • Take an oath of allegiance to the United States.
Certain applicants, because of their age and time as an *LPR, do not have to take the English test for naturalization and may take the civics test in the language of their choice. For more information, see the exceptions and accommodations page or the USCIS Policy Manual Citizenship and Naturalization Guidance.

* Lawful Permanent Resident

Source: https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/l...n/i-am-a-lawful-permanent-resident-of-5-years


Specifically I do NOT want anyone in this country illegally to have even the tiniest smigeon of a say in the direction of this country. Not one single solitary little bit. As such, those people need to be denied access to any method of voting in any and all elections. If the language of the country is used as one method of filtering out those people, then so be it. Every other LEGAL resident of this country needs to be able to understand the language of the land they are living within in order to be able to participate in what makes this the United States of America and us Americans. I do not believe it is unreasonable to expect people coming into this country with the intention of staying to JOIN us as a unified culture, not to just permanently be a visitor living in their own self made walled off island of customs and language.

IMHO.
 
Regardless, I believe that someone who has a right to influence the direction of this country via the ballot needs to be legally OF this country before exercising that right.
I agree. I anticipate, because of the large Hispanic population, that changes will be made in the future to laws that address language requirements, perhaps taking the citizenship test in Spanish. And if the Hispanic constituency becomes as large as is currently anticipated, there may be statutory requirements for certain jobs such as teachers, doctors and police to demonstrate bilingual abilities.
 
I agree. I anticipate, because of the large Hispanic population, that changes will be made in the future to laws that address language requirements, perhaps taking the citizenship test in Spanish. And if the Hispanic constituency becomes as large as is currently anticipated, there may be statutory requirements for certain jobs such as teachers, doctors and police to demonstrate bilingual abilities.

Personally, I would rather not see that. I would like this to be a UNIFIED country in all things, as much as humanly possible. Of course, these days, that seems to be a futile hope, but hope it still is. Making wider gulfs with legally enforceable differences is not the road to take for that goal to be even remotely obtainable. Quite frankly, if I intended to move to Italy, I would expect to have to become an Italian, which would mean leaning to read, write, speak, and understand the language of the land. Otherwise, might as well just stay home.

If someone wants to come and live in America, then they should expect to become an American. Which naturally includes learning English. Otherwise, well, you just can't have your cake and eat it too. If someone wants to remain a foreigner, then heck, why not just stay where you are obviously more comfortable with the customs and language? Yeah, I know, perhaps they can live in a place with 300, 3,000, 30,000 other people who have chosen to not adapt and melt into the melting pot. But all of the other people doing the same wrong thing (in my opinion), doesn't make it any more right for a single person doing wrong.

We can't bring this country together if everyone is fighting to be separate. Seems to be a VERY obvious lesson to take to heart.
 
We can't bring this country together if everyone is fighting to be separate.

There are a multitude of culture/nationalities here, but food, entertainment, art, and so on create a distinctly American culture. I do not think a bilingual language mandate will change that.

The very differences among us help make America the richly diverse country it is. Many families celebrate their own foods, their own culture, and many groups of people have differing religions as well. Demanding homogeneity would destroy what America stands for.

However, you are certainly welcome to your opinion. I would think you would naturally demand that the American national language be changed to Spanish should present trends continue and the large Hispanic families outstrip the falling birth rate of the Anglos, and the Hispanic demographic become the majority here.
 
There are a multitude of culture/nationalities here, but food, entertainment, art, and so on create a distinctly American culture. I do not think a bilingual language mandate will change that.

The very differences among us help make America the richly diverse country it is. Many families celebrate their own foods, their own culture, and many groups of people have differing religions as well. Demanding homogeneity would destroy what America stands for.

However, you are certainly welcome to your opinion. I would think you would naturally demand that the American national language be changed to Spanish should present trends continue and the large Hispanic families outstrip the falling birth rate of the Anglos, and the Hispanic demographic become the majority here.

I don't have a problem with America changing because of the demographics taking place demanding such a thing. As long as the change was being prompted because of population changes made by legal citizens and there is legal Constitutional precedent and federal jurisdiction for such a thing to take place. To have changes effected because of the influence of illegal immigration, in my opinion is ill conceived and suicidal as a nation. I doubt anyone can convince me of any logic that would support illegal immigrants (most of which quite likely have made no effort, nor have any intent, to become legitimate Americans) becoming influential in any way with how I will have to live my life.

Is it really a legitimate election if a large number of possibly illegal immigrants, who need to have the ballot printed in their language because they don't understand the de facto native language of the United States of America, might tilt the election one way or the other? In my opinion, no. And quite honestly, I just cannot think of any logic based reasoning anyone could use to argue that it should be.

Could legal Mexican immigrants become a voting block large enough to force a referendum on the nationally recognized language of the USA? Sure, I suppose so. But I have to ask, why would people who decided to come to the USA to escape from whatever it was in their home country, and living here to take advantage of whatever attracted them here and make the choice to come here in the first place, want to do such a thing?

I would hope people making the effort of becoming Americans would be just as proud of that goal as people born as Americans should be to BE Americans, and want to keep it that way. If not, well, why not? What was the point of coming here? If someone coming from Mexico wants to be Mexican instead of American, well, they HAD that before they came here. They are welcome here as Americans, but don't try to convert us Americans to Mexicans, please. If we wanted that, we would just move to YOUR country.
 
Many Spanish can speak English very well but are limited-English proficient when reading. My nephew who is an interpreter in Spanish for a pharmaceutical company says still after 15 years of speaking Spanish he will get funny looks or laughed at because he gets context wrong.
 
According to Wilipedia:
Although the United States does not have an official language, the most commonly used language is English (specifically, American English), which is the de facto national language. Many other languages are also spoken in the United States, especially Spanish. These include indigenous languages, languages brought to the country by colonists, enslaved people and immigrants from Europe, Africa and Asia. There are also several languages, including creoles and sign languages, that developed in the United States. Approximately 430 languages are spoken or signed by the population, of which 176 are indigenous to the area. Fifty-two languages formerly spoken in the country's territory are now extinct.[5]
 
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