Mel Martinez is Spanish for Harriet Miers?

“The unhappy conservatives at English First, who find themselves driven to rage by Spanish-language signs in government offices and who utter the words “bilingual education” as if it was equivalent to “man-on-dog” sexual relations, would be unlikely to have the same warm feelings as I did, sitting there in my chair not understanding a word of what the translator was saying. But I’m feeling charitably inclined towards them, because I learned today that they’re working as hard as they can to lock up the Hispanic vote in the United States for the Democratic Party for generations to come.

Specifically, they are mobilizing all out to stop Florida Senator Mel Martinez from being named chairman of the Republican National Committee. They’ve set up a Web site, stopmartinez.com, and a blog, Martinez Watch. They’re getting the “base” all riled up about a guy who had the temerity, the shocking audacity to dare give the first-ever speech in Spanish on the Senate Floor, and who happens to be buddy-buddy with Mr. Amnesty Antichrist, John McCain. And they’re being really, really mean by equating the Senator with failed Supreme Court nomineee Harriet Miers. Ooooh, that’s gotta hurt.”

• Bilingual ballots may be coming to Hall – Growing Latino population could require voting material be available in Spanish – Gainesville, Georgia
• FindLaw Launches ‘FindLaw en Espanol’ Center for Spanish-Speaking Consumers
• Featured children’s bilingual book: Rene Has Two Last Names/Rene tiene does apellidos
• Republican Debra Medina says she’ll be the first candidate in the 2010 Texas governor’s race with Spanish-language TV ads.
• El Tiempo de Boston is New England’s seventh Spanish-language weekly paper. New England is home to 900,000 Hispanics, including 437,000 in Massachusetts
• Spanish-Language Twitter Debuts
• Ad Spend in Spanish-Language Media Falls by 6.3%, Nielsen Says – Hispanic Print Suffers Double-Digit Drop for 12 Months Through June 2009
• Border Media, formerly BMP Radio, is ending Spanish-language broadcasts on four Austin stations as of 1 a.m. Sunday – La Ley 98.9 FM, Digital 92.5 and 104.9 FM, and Juan 1490 AM
• SAG seeks more Spanish – 100-200 bilingual guild members perform dubbing
• First Bilingual Educational Toy Brand, Ingenio(TM), Hits the U.S. Market
• A new analysis of multi-cultural advertising indicates that ad spending in Spanish-Language media for the 12-month period of July 2008 to June 2009 was over $5.5 billion, a 6.3 percent decline over the previous 12 months
• Study Emphasizes “Economic Value” of Spanish in U.S., Brazil – salaries of bilingual Hispanics in US are 2.7% higher on average than those for Hispanics who only speak English.
• Un estudio subraya el “valor económico” y potencial de crecimiento del español
• Independent bloggers school opens in Cuba
• New Spanish-language show to launch in Colorado – “Allimite”
• FEMA launches a Revamped Spanish-language Website
• NCLR Supports Legislation to Strengthen Dual-Language Education for Low-Income Students
• The Boy Scouts are making their debut “en espanol,” with an advertising campaign and a soon-to-come Spanish-language Scout Handbook intended to draw Latinos to the ranks of the nearly century-old organization.
• Latino principal credits Reading bilingual program for his success – Puerto Rican Salvador Sepulveda Jr. story
• Bilingual network airs Peruvian series with English subtitles – “Esta Sociedad” (Spanish for “This Society”) on Mun2