Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to the second Weekly Bilingual News of April 2011 with the news of the last few days in the perspective of our comments posted in blogs of important online publications. The bilingual Vocabulary included in this issue will help you in your conversation in Spanish and English.

BUDGET CEILING - Wall Street Journal article: "White House Braces for Bigger Battles Ahead" written by Carol E. Lee (April 10, 2011).

Our Comment: "The press celebrated the last-minute deal to avert the shutdown of the federal government. According to the article written by Carol E. Lee, we see that some of the points of the agreement between Republicans and Democrats were fixed with pins. We have to hope the weak points of the federal budget will be reinforced soon. "

AVERT SHUTDOWN – Wall Street Journal article: "Last-Minute Deal Averts Shutdown" (April 9, 2011).

Our Comment: "Our politicians fought as children who dispute toys in the playroom of the primary school. It really was absurd that they waited to the last minute, to achieve a deal."

NO CHANGES IN YEMEN - Wall Street Journal article: "Three Die as Yemeni Security Forces Fire on Protesters" (April 9, 2011).
Our Comment: "According to different sources, two weeks ago, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he was planning to leave the government immediately, but till now he continues in power. What is really his game? How many people have to die in Yemen before the real changes arrive?"

LIBYAN REBELS VS. NATO - Wall Street Journal article: "NATO and Libyan Rebels Try to Mend Fences After Misfire" (April 9, 2011).
Our Comment: "We think the tensions between the NATO and rebels will continue if the military campaign continues longer. The armed movements without leaders who can accelerate the actions are dangerous for the civil population caught between the fighters."

NEW EGYPTIAN TURMOIL - Wall Street Journal article: "Egypt Rallies Swell Against Military" (April 9, 2011).
Our Comment: "The new incident shows that the real problem for Egypt was not the former President Mubarak. The political components of the current situation are more complex and the Egyptian's future remains uncertain."

MEDICARE DATABASE – Wall Street Journal article: "Senators Push to Open Database on Medicare" (April 8, 2011).
Our Comment: "We think the idea to open Medicare's database could help to detect cases of dishonesty from professionals who use this medical system to enrich themselves, but always we have to evaluate the pros and cons."

REFUGEES WITHOUT DESTINY – Wall Street Journal article: "Migrant Boat Sinks in Mediterranean" (April 7, 2011). Up to 200 refugees are missing in cold waters, and 15 were found dead. Europe struggles with Influx from the turbulent North Africa.
Our Comment: "Big drama! But the migration from countries ruled by inhuman regimes will continue despite the risks that these people take when they flee."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week with mixed results. Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 3.33 points or 0.03% to 12380.05. Nasdaq Composite declined 9.18 points or 0.33% in the same period, to end at 2780.42. The political uncertainty about the 2011 federal budget during the week produced negative effects in the stock market.

In summary, during the last few days, in the United States, the main subject was the Congressional debate about the federal budget for the current year. Meanwhile, different incidents across the Arab world and the radiations of the Japanese nuclear plant shared the headlines of the newspapers and TV.

In the international side, different papers remarked about the growing problem with refugees from African countries in chaos including Ivory Coast that affect to Italy, France and other European countries.

On Friday April 8, in the last minutes of the day, at the eleventh hour, Republicans and Democrats achieved an agreement to avert the shutdown of the federal government but till now all is not settled. Congress and the White House have pending subjects linked with the 2011 budget to define.

Best regards,

Domingo

Domingo A. Trassens
Spanish-English Club
Electronic mail: domingo.trassens@gmail.com
URL: http://spaengclub.blogspot.com/

Questions - Preguntas:

1) From your point of view, what was the worst news for the week?
1) Desde vuestro punto de vista, ¿cuál fue la peor noticia de la semana?

2) And what was the best news from the week?
2) ¿Y cuál fue la mejor noticia de la semana?

Vocabulary - Vocabulario:

- Arab = árabe
- avert = prevenir
- budget = presupuesto
- ceiling = límite, techo
- database = base de datos
- France, French = Francia, francés, francesa
- federal budget = presupuesto federal
- Ivory Coast = Costa de Marfil
- Libya, Libyan = Libia, libio, libia
- misfire = fallar
- rally = mitín
- refugee = refugiado
- shutdown = cierre
- swell = marejada, oleaje

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Betty, Bob, Erika, John, Steven, and Suzanne for your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.

All the nation was pending of the approval of the federal budget.