CNNSI reports that in a recent Little League game in Massachusetts, an umpire forbid members of one team from speaking in Spanish to each while on on the field:

Coaches on a Little League team filed a protest with the league after an umpire ordered the players to stop speaking Spanish during a state tournament game this week. . . National Little League spokesman Lance Van Auken said there’s no rule against players speaking Spanish or any other language on the field. But he said it’s too late to reverse the decision or the outcome of the game. . .

Methuen was winning 3-1 when assistant coach Domingo Infante instructed the pitcher in Spanish to try to pick off a runner at second base. After the unsuccessful attempt, the umpire called time-out and spoke with a Little League official who was at the game. The unidentified umpire then decreed that only English could be spoken.

The article goes on to say that League officials admit that the umpire erred and should not have prohibited Spanish to be spoken, but the outcome of the game can’t be changed and the umpire will not be punished. Another skirmish in the developing cultural wars -- in this case, English versus Spanish.

News organizations around the world, as exemplified by CBS News, are reporting that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has formally and officially renounced violence in their almost 50 year campaign to oust the English from Northern Ireland:

“The leadership has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign,” the IRA said in a major advance from its opened-ended truce in place since 1997. “All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever,” the IRA command said in remarks addressed to the group’s approximately 500 to 1,000 members. . . .

The IRA also appealed to Britain and Northern Ireland’s Protestant majority to accept its new position as sufficient to renew negotiations on power-sharing, the core goal of the 1998 peace accord for this British territory. Protestant leaders, deeply suspicious of IRA motives, warned in advance they would wait several months to test whether the IRA’s words proved true.

The article notes that there are still plenty of suspicion and obstacles on both sides that need to be overcome. Nonetheless, this is a very hopeful and momentous development. These days, with all the increasingly bad news about terrorism, famine, poverty, and genocide all around the world, it’s nice to see that there are emerging signs and steps toward peace, between Israeilis and Palestineans, and here, between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

Interesting article from the New California Media about recents events surrounding a sex trafficking bust in California, in which about a 100 women from Korea were working as prostitutes, many of them forced into it after being deceived with promises of legal jobs in the U.S. The article focuses on how the Korean American community is reacting to it and how they feel that since these activities reflect badly on them, they need to do more to stop such illegal activities in their community:

Hong Ik Kim, executive director of the Bay Area Korean American Community Center, said that the recent arrests were “very shameful for the Korean community.” He said these kinds of scandals ruin the image of Korean Americans in the United States. “So we need to be especially vigilant about halting these kinds of practices within our communities.” . . . He insisted that in order to eradicate the problem, Koreans should report to the authorities whenever they become aware of such establishments in their communities. . .

Despite these strong reactions, there is a prevailing attitude of acceptance of prostitution among Koreans. Though offically illegal, prostitution thrives in major Korean cities like Seoul and Pusan. . . . Sun Jung Cho, a San Francisco psychologist working with victims of domestic violence, said the Korean community needs to explore the origins of prostitution and trafficking in their country. She believes there is a lack of dialogue within the Korean community regarding the sex trade and issues of gender inequality.

It’s an interesting situation. On the one hand, I think that it’s commendable that the Korean American community is increasingly concerned about how these illegal activities affect their image in the U.S. and that they need to be more proactive in trying to stop them. At the same time, the point that Korean society still does not value the worth or equality of a woman and that this pervasive mentality contributes to the exploitation of women is also very well taken.

Like a good sociologist would point out, the problem has both more immediate and direct causes, along with more indirect, structural causes as well.

From the Monday July 25th episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, here are the Top Ten George W. Bush Solutions For Global Warming

10. NASA mission to turn down the sun’s thermostat

9. Federal subsidies to boost production of Cool Ranch Doritos

8. Fast track Rumsfeld’s “Colonize Neptune” proposal

7. Convene Blue-Ribbon Committee to explore innovative ways of ignoring the problem

6. Let Hillary worry about it when she takes over

5. I dunno — tax cuts for the rich?

4. Give the boys at Halliburton 90-billion dollar contract to patch hole in ozone

3. Switch to celsius so scorching 98 becomes frosty 37

2. Keep plenty of Bud on ice

1. Invade Antartica

Salon.com reports that according to researchers at the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, divorce rates have been declining in recent years and that one of the main reasons why could be that instead of marriage, more couples are leaving together instead:

Nine of every 1,000 married women in the United States divorced in 1960, according to the study. The rate increased to more than 22 per 1,000 by 1980 and has steadily declined since, to a little under 18 per 1,000 in 2004. Meanwhile, the number of unmarried, opposite-sex couples living together has climbed from 439,000 in 1960 to more than 5 million now.

And the marriage rate has fallen over the past three decades: Seventy-seven out of every 1,000 single women got married in 1976; last year, the number was fewer than 40 per 1,000, the study found.

The study goes on to note that cohabitation without marriage is more likely to end in breakup than marriage, and with more children born to non-married cohabitating couples, this trend could have worrisome consequences for American society in the near future. I don’t really have an analysis or commentary on this at the moment, but I found it interesting nonetheless and if anything, will certainly give sociologists more data to work with.

From Angry Asian Man (one of my favorite sites), here’s a new release from the Asian Pacific American Legal Center about new hate crimes legislation in California, inspired by recent crimes committed against Asian Americans in the state:

Hate Crimes Civil Remedies Act to Provide Justice for Hate Crime Victims Passes Senate Floor

LOS ANGELES – On Monday, July 11, 2005, AB 378, the Hate Crime Civil Remedies Act, authored by Assembly Member Judy Chu, passed the California State Senate with a vote of 23-12. Co-sponsored by CAA/Center for Asian American Advocacy, Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), Asian Law Caucus, and Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, a collaborative project of the three organizations, AB 378 provides justice for hate crime victims by extending the time limit for which they can file a civil suit for a $25,000 civil penalty from one year to three years.

AB 378 was inspired by a 2003 case in San Francisco where five Asian American teens were brutally attacked by a mob of approximately 20 white youth while celebrating their impending high school graduation. The five teens were accosted with racial slurs and chased down by their attackers as they tried to flee the scene. Although three attackers were caught at the scene, only one attacker was identified and charged with a crime. Even then, it took one year to bring that perpetrator to trial. It was only at trial that the identity of the other attackers came to light.

Unfortunately, the lengthy process of identifying hate crime perpetrators and concluding a criminal trial creates obstacles that prevent hate crime victims from seeking meaningful civil remedies. Victims are advised not to file civil suits until the criminal case has concluded since civil suits can negatively affect the outcome of the criminal trial. The unfortunate consequence, though, is that many victims find themselves beyond the statute of limitation to file a civil lawsuit once the criminal trial has ended.

“AB 378 will give hate crime victims a fair opportunity to seek civil remedies,” stated Assembly Member Judy Chu. “Victims should not be forced to choose between seeking criminal justice or civil redress. My bill, AB 378 will allow adequate time for hate crime perpetrators to be identified and for the criminal trial to conclude prior to the victim’s loss of their rights to file a civil suit.”

“Hate crimes strike fear in our communities,” stated Stewart Kwoh, President and Executive Director of APALC. “As a society, we cannot tolerate hate crimes, which assail not only the individual victim, but all members of the community. We all have a stake in providing meaningful justice for hate crime victims.”

“Despite the dialogue and achievements of the civil rights movement, many Californians continue to be violently targeted based on their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation,” cited Luna Yasui, acting Executive Director of CAA. “The civil penalty is a statement of our society’s opposition to these types of crimes, and AB 378 makes it meaningful by allowing more time for victims to seek it.”

“The broad-based coalition of supporters is a sign of the public sentiment to improve justice for hate crime victims. We want to thank Assembly Member Judy Chu and her staff for their tremendous leadership in addressing hate crime issues,” said Phil Ting, Executive Director of Asian Law Caucus.

Next, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will determine whether to sign AB 378 into law.

The New York Times reports that there’s currently a bill in Congress that would recognize the sovereignty of hundreds of thousands of Native Hawaiians, and would them the same kinds of rights as Native Alaskans and Native Americans:

112 years after United States troops helped overthrow the independent Kingdom of Hawaii and 12 years after Congress apologized for it, that Hawaiian distinctiveness appears close to being formally recognized by the United States government. A bill that for the first time would extend sovereignty to the native Hawaiian people is poised for a vote - and likely approval - in the United States Senate despite opposition from many Republicans who denounce the measure as unworkable and as promoting racial Balkanization.

The bill, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, is considered the most significant development for native Hawaiians since statehood in 1959. The measure would give them equivalent legal standing to American Indians and native Alaskans and lead to the creation of a governing body that would make decisions on behalf of the estimated 400,000 native Hawaiians in the United States. . . .

But [the bill’s supporters] acknowledge there are basic questions that will take years of negotiations to answer, like how native Hawaiians would go about governing themselves, whether native Hawaiians in and outside the state would live under different laws from other citizens, and who would qualify as a native, given the large degree of assimilation through marriage and the many Hawaiians living on the mainland.

The article goes on to describe two groups that stand in opposition to the bill -- each from both sides of the debate. On the one hand, many conservatives oppose the bill, saying that it promotes racial/ethnic separatism and a “rejection of the American melting pot ideal,” as Arizona Senator Jon Kyl put it. On the other hand, there are other critics who contend that the bill does not go far enough to end the “foreign colonialism” of the U.S. over Native Hawaiian rights.

As one of my favorite saying goes, “I don’t know what’s the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” On the other hand, the practical reality is that sometimes, compromise is the only way to get things done, particularly when it comes to politics. I’m not sure if this bill is trying to please everybody, but it does seem to be a workable compromise. In the end, I suppose that’s the best that both sides of the debate will get.

CBS News has an interesting article about the increasingly common pitfalls of blogging. When pepole use blogs to express their innermost feelings and thoughts for the whole world to see, in certainly situations, it can come back to haunt them. That can be in the form of getting fired for complaining about their jobs in their blogs, or as I recently read, making unfavorable impressions on potential employers in the academic world. As the article notes,

Some people are, however, finding that putting one’s life online can have a price. A few bloggers, for instance, have been fired for writing about work on personal online journals. And Maya Marcel-Keyes, daughter of conservative politician Alan Keyes, discovered the trickiness of providing personal details online when her discussions on her blog about being a lesbian became an issue during her father’s recent run for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois (he made anti-gay statements during the campaign). . . .

Some also speculate that more scandalous blog entries - especially those about partying and dating exploits - will have ramifications down the road. “I would bet that in the 2016 election, somebody’s Facebook entry will come back to bite them,” Steve Jones, head of the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says, referring to thefacebook.com, a networking site for college students and alumni that is something of a cross between a yearbook and a blog.

That’s why you’ll find that the overwhelming majority of my blog entries are about news items and current events. Some things should remain private.