I wonder if I could get a job there….

A lot of people are talking about this story.

ATLANTA — Federal agents are seeking to hire Ebonics translators to help interpret wiretapped conversations involving targets of undercover drug investigations.

The Drug Enforcement Administration recently sent memos asking companies that provide translation services to help it find nine translators in the Southeast who are fluent in Ebonics, Special Agent Michael Sanders said Monday.

uh-huh….Have a look what this group does to shine that turd:

AAE is a systematic language variety, with patterns of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and usage that extend far beyond slang. Because it has a set of rules that is distinct from those of Standard American English, characterizations of the variety as bad English are incorrect; speakers of AAE do not fail to speak Standard American English, but succeed in speaking African American English with all its systematicity. Linguists are less concerned with whether or not AAE is a language or a dialect (terms that are more important socially and politically than linguistically) than with recognizing the systematic nature of AAE.

Heh, Pile that higher and deeper! Again I wonder if the DEA wants my services:

I totally know what they’re saying!!!

On a more serious note I found This post

If you’ve ever handled a case with a wiretap or consensually recorded conversation, you’ll know what the feds are looking for: they want people who will dutifully translate vague, jargon-laden, often unintelligible conversations in a manner that will support their theory of the case. If the people on the tape say something difficult to hear that might be “shirt” or “thing” or “hat”, the feds want a “translator” who will get on the stand and proclaim, with pseudo-scientific confidence, that the person did say “shirt” or “thing” or “hat”, and that “shirt” or “thing” or “hat” is necessarily, in context, a reference to large quantities of illegal drugs. Juries, notably and regrettably credulous about law enforcement pseudo-science, eat this stuff up.

Ahh Super classy, that!

Ok let’s leave on a lighter note:

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0 Responses to I wonder if I could get a job there….

  1. Borepatch says:

    That video was Some Wicked Good.

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