Just a grim-but-sadly-funny side note to this discussion, from the
recent edition of News of the Weird
(http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/index.html): 

>>>
"In the past three years, at least 39 drivers in Dallas have been
ticketed by police officers for the "offense" of being "a non-English
speaking driver," according to a Dallas Morning News investigation in
October. The software for officers' in-car computers features a
check-off box with the phrase, perhaps leading officers (and their
sergeants) to believe it constituted a separate traffic offense rather
than merely an indication that the motorist might not have understood an
officer's instructions. The police chief expressed shock at the report
and promised to end the practice. [Dallas Morning News, 10-23-09]"
<<<

The fact that the existence of a check-box *could* cause someone to
assume that being a non-native speaker is a violation says something.

--- Bill Spruiell

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