LOST IN TRANSLATION

Indian Figures, Pensacola FL 10/2007

All reproduction rights reserved Wm. Greiner

When considering the litany of follies by the Federal agency FEMA, can anyone be surprised by the agencies’ latest flash of brilliant bureaucracy in action? It was reported today that the trailer warnings , notifying evacuees of possible cancerous air conditions within the trailers , translated into Vietnamese for the large population along the Gulf Coast was so badly translated , that it prompted Vien, pastor of Queen Mary of Vietnam Church to say , “It’s gobbledygook”!

He called the notices “another black eye, a bloody nose” for members of the local Vietnamese community who have had trouble obtaining government assistance in the storm’s aftermath.

Excerpt The Advocate 12/21/2007