Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to the fourth Weekly Bilingual News of March 2011. The last few days were very intense in the news. You can learn about what was happening in the perspective of our comments posted in blogs of important online publications. The Vocabulary included will help you in the bilingual debate.

NATO VERSUS DICTATORS – Wall Street Journal story: "Fresh Airstrikes Aid Rebels" March 27, 2011). This article comments on the advance of the enemies of the Libyan dictator after the NATO took the command of the allies and deepened the bombing of the air defenses of Col. Gadhafi's regime.

WSJ Journal Comment: "Who is moving the Libyan revolution, the rebels or the NATO's rockets? But NATO cannot remove all the dictators of the world"

GREEN GERMANY – Wall Street Journal story: "Greens' Gains Are Setback for Germany's Merkel" (March 27, 2011). This article talks about the results of the German regional elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate (or Rhineland Pfalz) under the influence of the nuclear panic that the Japanese accident generated across the world.

WSJ Journal Comment: "Germany - March 2011: No black! No red! Green! The accident of the Japanese nuclear accelerated the decline of the two German traditional parties: CDU (black) and SPD (red), but also the advance of the Green Party in two regional elections destroyed the electorate of the fragile FDP, hitting its coalition with the Angela Merkel's government. What will happen in the federal elections of the current year? Could the "green politicians" take over power? In this potential situation, what will be the future of German nuclear plants? Independently of all, both traditional parties – Christians and Socialists – have to refresh their ideas, remove "dinosaurs", and move with the speed of the new economic cycle…"

GOOGLE-GARAGE – Wall Street Journal story: "At Google, Page Seeks to Cut Red Tape" (March 25, 2011). This article analyzes the change of CEO in Google after long years of growth under the Eric Schmidt's helm. Larry Page, co-founder of Google, is retaking the command of the company with the idea to move it like a start-up. During the Schmidt's cycle, Google grew from 200 to 24,000 employees.

WSJ Journal Comment: " Mr. Page: Please we don't want to reinvent the wheel! Now Google is not a garage-company, it is a big corporation. And the merit increase was from Eric Schmidt."

SYRIAN SHAKE – Wall Street Journal story: "Troops Open Fire on Syrian Protesters" (March 25, 2011). This article shows how the Syrian regime is shaking after protesters against the government of President Bashar al-Assad were in the streets.

WSJ Journal Comment: "Big mistake! When the troops open fire on protesters they show that a regime is losing its control. Historically, this is the beginning of the falls of the governments pressured by public turmoil."

CHAOTIC YEMEN – Wall Street Journal story: "Yemeni President Nears Deal to Resign" (March 24, 2011). This article talks about the dangerous situation of one of the countries that is strategic in the fight against the terrorism.

WSJ Journal Comment: "After long weeks of turmoil, the Yemen protesters threw down another leader of the Arab world. Will the departure of Ali Abdullah Saleh open the doors to a democratic government like the western countries or similar to the Islamic republics?"

JORDANIAN KING – Wall Street Journal story: "Police in Jordan Intervene in Protest Clashes" (March 24, 2011). This article says the Jordanian king Abdullah II is taking different initiatives to stop the protests against their political system.

WSJ Journal Comment: "In Jordan, what is the real target, the head of the king or the heads of the members of government?"

LATIN AMERICAN OBSTACLES – Wall Street Journal story: "Obama Faces Policy Obstacles in Latin America" (March 23, 2011). This article shows the President Obama's visit to three countries of Latin America was not relevant in connection with the big political obstacles that White House faces in the dialogue with the brothers of the South.
WSJ Journal Comment: "According to the information distributed by the press about the first trip of President Obama to Latin America, we don't see important achievements. It was only a symbolic visit to a part of the continent without a politically logical itinerary: Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, three countries with very different realities."

RUSSIA IN THE BACKGROUND – Wall Street Journal story: "Russia Lifts Its Energy Profile Amid Crisis" (March 22, 2011). The reports reveals Russian deals offering oil to Japan and trying to open and generate new businesses due to the current energy crisis.
WSJ Journal Comment: "While the allies fighting against Gadhafi will expend their resources in the battle, Russia will increase its revenues, acting in the background."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the positive territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 362.07 points or 3.05% to 12220.59. Nasdaq Composite climbed 99.39 points or 3.76% in the same period, to close at 2743.06. Both indexes ended with bigger percentages of growth after two week of negative results.

In summary, during the last few days, the chaos across the Arab world gained again the headlines of newspapers and TV. Meanwhile, the Japanese tragedy continued at the side of the news showing how difficult is to control the radiations from their nuclear plant damaged.

During the week, AT&T announced its intention to buy the T-Mobile US; the software leader Oracle posted excellent quarterly revenues; and RIM - BlackBerry father- showed new problems in its competition against Apple.

On Friday March 25, under NATO protection, the Libyan rebels began their recovery of the cities that the Gadhafi's troops captured during the previous weeks.

On Sunday March 27, in German regional elections, the Green Party shook the government coalition led by the Chancellor Angela Merkel, and showed the first effects of the panic the Japanese nuclear accident across the world. German Green politicians are against the nuclear energy power plants.

Last-minute: The Green Party was second in parliamentary elections of Baden-Württemberg, third in Rhineland Pfalz, and second in the communal elections of Hessen. In the three states, they won positions from other parties.
Baden-Württemberg:
- CDU: 39,0% (-5.2%)
- SPD: 23.1% (-2.1%)
- Green: 24.2% (+12.5%)
- FDP: 5.3%(-5.4%)
Rhineland Pfalz:
- SPD: 35.7% (-9.9%)
- CDU: 35.2% (+2.4%)
- Green: 15.4% (+10.8%)
- FDP: 4.2% (-3.8%)
(Sources: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, Germany, 2011/03/29, Pag 6-7)

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:

- ally, allies = aliado, aliados
- airstrikes, air strikes = bombardeo aéreo
- background = fondo (other meaning: "antecedentes")
- battle = batalla
- Brazil, Brazilean= Brasil, brasileño, brasileña
- chaotic = caótico
- Chile, Chilean = Chile, chileno, chilena
- Christians = cristianos (In Germany, CDU)
- coalition = coalición
- command = mando
- deepen = profundizar
- dinosaurs = dinosaurios (In this case: politicians with outdated ideas. In Spanish: "anacrónicos")
- electorate = electorado
- helm = timón
- El Salvador, Salvadorian (or Salvadorean) = El Salvador, salvadoreño, salvadoreña
- fragile = frágil
- garage = garaje
- garage-company = compañía pequeña iniciada en un garaje o pequeño local
- Germany, German = Alemania, alemán, alemana
- Green Party = partido ecologista (In German language: Die Grünen)
- Jordan, Jordanian = Jordania, jordano, jordana
- last-minute = de última hora
- Libya, Libyan = Libia, libio, libia
- outdated = anticuado, fuera de moda
- remove = remover, destituir
- Russia, Russian = Rusia, ruso, rusa
- self-control = autocontrol
- setback = contratiempo, revés
- Socialist = socialista (In Germany, SPD)
- spread = esparcir, diseminar
- start-up = empresa joven  
- Syria, Syrian = Siria, sirio, siria
- take, took = tomar, tomó
-Yemen, Yemeni = Yemen, yemenita(or "yemení") (The name "Yemen" is not included in the online dictionary of the Real Academia Española)

SPECIAL VOCABULARY

CDU: Christian Democratic Union (of Germany)
FDP: Free Democratic Party (of Germany)
garage-company: a company created in a garage (or small place) with short resources but innovative ideas like Hewlett-Packard, Apple, and others.
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Playbook: new digital tablet from RIM that will launch to the market on April 19.
RIM: Research In Motion. This a technology company from Canada, father of BlackBerry and Playbook. Since Apple introduced the last versions of iPhone, its revenues declined. 
SPD: Social Democratic Party (of Germany)

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Bob, Harold, Mary, Stephanie, Steven, and Suzanne for your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.

Zeit für mehr Grün (Time for more green)

Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to the third online communication of the Spanish-English Club of March 2011.Through this Weekly Bilingual News you can learn about what was happening during the last few days in the perspective of our comments posted in blogs of important online publications. The Vocabulary included will help you in the bilingual debate.

PUNISHING LIBYAN REGIME – Wall Street Journal story: "Allies Press Libya Attacks" (March 20, 2011). This article talks about the attack of an international coalition against the Libyan regime of Gadhafi. On March 19, France, United Kingdom, United States and other countries launched the operation Odyssey Dawn to hit the air defenses of Libya.

WSJ Journal Comment: " Sometimes thousands rockets are not enough to kill a clever fox in a foggy wood. Will the allies target well or will they expend all their bullets for nothing?"

LATIN AMERICAN TOUR – The Washington Post story: "Amid Japan and Libya crises, Obama heads to Brazil for five-day Latin America" (March 20, 2011). This article comments on the trip of President Obama to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador.

The Washington Post Member Comment: "We think the President Obama didn't take a good step in his first trip to Latin America, excluding Argentina and Peru from his itinerary. If the White House wants to recreate good relationships with South America, due to historical, political and economic reasons, it has to put all the same level including Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. South American countries are very sensitive to these details."

MENTHOL CIGARETTES – WSJ – Journal Community question: "Should menthol cigarettes be banned by the FDA?" (March 19, 2011). Wall Street Journal posted a poll about a study of FDA that said menthol-flavored cigarettes account for about 30% of total cigarette sales in the U.S. and are favored by adolescents and African-Americans over non-menthol cigarettes. The panel was concerned that youth who smoke menthol-flavored cigarettes are more likely to become regular smokers than those who smoke non-menthol cigarettes.

Journal Community Answer: "From my point of view, before banning something, we have to educate the users about the consequences (the pros and cons). It is ironic that in our western world, first we accept every thing that anybody introduces in the consumer market. And after that, we ban the same things because we think they are bad for the others. We are not God, decreeing what is "a mortal sin", is not our job."

EMERGENCIES FOR DISASTERS – WSJ – Journal Community question: "In light of the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear threat, what kind of disaster planning have you done? Is your home stockpiled with supplies? Have you discussed emergencies with your family? "(March 17, 2011). The Journal Community shares the concerns of people about new natural disasters.

Journal Community Answer: "You always have to prevent possible disasters, but depending on the place where you live, the risks will be different and the emergency plans will change. We don't have to panic due to the Japanese earthquake."

DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION: WSJ – Journal Community question: "Between an expected rise in energy prices and the impact of Japan's earthquake, are we headed for a double-dip recession?" (March 16, 2011). A global market sell-off started in Tokyo and continued in New York as Japan's nuclear crisis deepened and worries escalated over the human and economic toll of the earthquake.

Journal Community Answer: "Till now it is very early to determine what will be the reactions of the Japanese economy after their tragedy. Nobody has to push up energy prices and spread rumors about recession. Every time something happens, the speculators want to win thanks to the confusion of the markets."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 185.88 points or 1.54% to 11858.52. Nasdaq Composite dropped 71.94 points or 2.65% in the same period, to close at 2643.67. Both indexes suffered bigger falls.

In summary, during the last few days, the Japanese tragedy and the potential accidents of other nuclear power plants dominated the headlines worldwide. Meanwhile, American and Japanese officials offered sharply different assessments about the situation at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

On Friday, March 18, the United Nations cleared the way for an international military action against the Libyan regime, after declared the no-fly zone in Libya. The UN resolution came after the Gadhafi's forces recovered the control of majority of cities in the hands of the rebels and the dictator promised a bloody end for the enemies of the regime.

During the weekend, US invited to international journalists to the amphibious assault ship USS KEARSARGE(LHD 3) to observe the start of the operations of the Odyssey Dawn. Now this ship of the US Navy is located in the Mediterranean Sea, near the costs of Libya.

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:

- air defenses = defensas aéreas

- ally, allies = aliado, aliados

- amphibious = anfibio
- Argentina, Argentinian = Argentina, argentino, argentina
- assault = asalto

- ban = prohibir, prohibición
- Brazil, Brazilean = Brasil, brasileño, brasileña 
- bullets = balas
- Chile, Chilean = Chile, chileno, chilena
- coalition = coalición

- commander = comandante

- crisis, crises = crisis, crisis
- El Salvador, Salvadorian = El Salvador, salvadoreño, salvadoreña
- embarkation = embarco, embarque

- foggy = brumoso, con niebla

- fox = zorro
- hit = golpear, destruir
- landing = desembarco 
- menthol = mentol
- Peru, Peruvian = Perú, peruano, peruana
- recession = recesión
- rockets = cohetes 

- ship = barco, buque
- South America, South American =  Sudamérica, América del Sur, sudamericano, sudamericana 
- target = blanco
- wood = bosque (Other translation in Spanish: madera)

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

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

"USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) is the fourth ship in the history of the U.S. Navy named for Kearsarge Mountain in New Hampshire. USS KEARSARGE is the third ship of the Wasp class multipurpose amphibious assault ships. Her primary mission is the embarkation, deployment, landing and support of a Marine landing force."

"USS KEARSARGE has been awarded the Golden Anchor for Retention Excellence, the 2008 Battenberg Cup Award, the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award, Ronald Reagan Distinguished Service Award, the CNO Environmental Safety Award, the Admiral Flatley Memorial Award, Department of Energy / Department of the Navy Energy Efficient Awards, the Chief of Naval Operations Safety."
(The information and photo of the USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) was provided as public service by the U.S. Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic.)

Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to the second Weekly Bilingual News of March 2011, a month now full of dramatic and conflictive news. 

Through the online communication of the Spanish-English Club you can learn about what was happening during the last few days in the perspective of our comments posted in blogs of important online publications. They are interesting subjects for a bilingual debate. The Vocabulary included will help you.

HUGE HUMAN TRAGEDY - WSJ story: "Rescuers Dig for Survivors, But Thousands Feared Dead" (March 13, 2011). The article talks about the situation in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, and the efforts of rescuers to find survivors under the debris.

WSJ Journal Comment: "After the earthquake, the situation in Japan is critical. One key question that remains in the air is: Why God didn't stop the drama before the fury of Nature crashed against the people of a country that suffered a lot of catastrophes?"

US ENERGY POLICY - WSJ story: "U.S. Could Rethink Nuclear Reliance" (March 13, 2011). The article argues about the U.S. nuclear energy policy in the mirror of Japanese atomic catastrophe threat.

WSJ Journal Comment: "The Japanese nuclear problem can help us to build more safe nuclear plants, but we don't have to change the energy policy every day as a flip-flop."

TECHNOLOGY AFTER THE QUAKE – Barron's Online story: "Japan: Some Disruption For Semis, Says iSupple" (March 11, 2011). The article talks about the analysis of iSupple in connection with the impact of the earthquake on the technology industry of Japan. iSuppli is an organization that makes statistics about production and revenues of the technology industry across the world. Immediately, after the Japanese earthquake, iSuppli said the semiconductor sector will be impacted by the earthquake. The supply chain of Toshiba could be one of the worst affected of the disruption. This company produces 35% of the global production of NAND flash memory.

Barron's Online Comment: "Till now it is early to evaluate the complete impact of the Japan's earthquake in the technology industry, but I agree the Japanese plans will become supply chain problems."

NUCLEAR ENERGY – WSJ Journal Community question: "Is nuclear energy safe?" (March 11, 2011). The Journal Community of the Wall Street Journal launched a poll about the nuclear plants due to the Japanese emergency at one of its nuclear power plants.

Journal Community Answer: "We believe the state of art of the technology makes the nuclear power plants safe. But we can never say they are 100% safe against the nature's disasters because the man doesn't have a total control of the forces of the nature."

VENTURE CAPITAL MONEY – WSJ Journal Community Question: "- If you had venture capital money to invest, which sector would you back?" (March 11, 2010). Journal Community said venture capitalists are chasing after companies that develop Web-based software and digital services, looking to invest in what could turn out to be the next Facebook or Twitter.

Journal Community Answer: "In the technology arena, there are different kinds of sectors. Some of them are very risky because they are only bubbles that enthusiastic youngsters blow up without solid foundations. But there are other sectors built around strong platforms like Lotus Notes, Oracle Database, VMware, and Cognos that develop software tools and applications for business solutions. The start-ups of those sectors are good because they always are under the protection of big umbrellas of leaders of the industry."

DEMOCRACY CONCEPT – Wall Street Journal story: "Opinion: Is U.S. Democracy Just Talk?" (March 11, 2010). One journalist from Wall Street Journal wrote about the concept of democracy, now that Arab countries claim for democratic governments.

WSJ Journal Comment: "Yes, democracy is a wonderful concept, but the problem is the implementation of this wonderful concept in each country according to the history and culture of the country, plus the current ambitions of politicians and public people. How many politicians put their ideals first? How many politicians act according to their ideals? Today the democracies have lost important values that were the start of the democratic movements of the world. We talk more than we act."

MUSLIMS AGAINST CHRISTIANS – PBS Report: "News Wrap: At Least 13 Dead After Sectarian Violence Erupts in Egypt" (March 9, 2010). This report comments at least 13 people were killed and 140 wounded in a new sectarian violence in Egypt as Muslims attacked Christian demonstrators. The Christians were protesting the burning of a church.
PBS Comment: "The attacks of Muslims against Christians across the Arab world show the contradictions of countries that today are raising the flags of the democracy. What kind of democracy they will build while they burn the churches of the Christians?"

GUANTANAMO TRIALS – PBS Report: "Obama Reverses Course on Gitmo, Allowing Detainee Military Trials to Resume" (March 7, 2010). This report comments White House informed the detainee military trials at Guantanamo Bay will resume.
PBS Comment: "The reversing of the ban on military trials at Guantanamo is another signal of the inconsistency of some decisions of the first two years of government of the current administration of the White House."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 125.48 points or 1.03% to 12044.40. Nasdaq Composite declined 69.06 points or 2.48% in the same period, to close at 2715.61. It was the biggest weekly fall of Nasdaq from August 2010.

In summary, during the last few days, across the world, Libya dominated the headlines till Friday morning when Japan's disaster shook press agencies, TV, and the people. Before the Japanese quake, one of the news reports said France recognized Libyan rebels, while Gadhafi forces continue their advances against enemy positions, recovering the control of important cities in the country.

In the beginning of the week, the Wisconsin legislation cutting some collective-bargaining rights was the hottest subject of the US press. On Thursday evening Wisconsin's state Assembly approved limits on collective bargaining for public employee unions following a controversial vote in the Senate a day before. Democratic legislators were playing hide-and-seek during the last weeks traveling outside the state to block the voting.

Another subject of the American forums was the potential military intervention in Libya. In different press interviews, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates showed reservation about this issue. Meanwhile, other press sources confirmed China, Russia, Holland and Belgium are some of the weapon providers of the Libyan regime.

On Friday morning, the earthquake in the Asian country topped the headlines also in the United States. Since that moment, the atomic catastrophe threats are pushing a new debate about the energy power policy of the country.

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
- argue = argumentar, discutir, razonar
- atomic = atómico, atómica
- ban = prohibir
- Belgium = Bélgica
- blow up = inflar
- bubble = burbuja (In both English and Spanish, this name is used to referent ideas without a solid foundation)
- catastrophe = catástrofe
- Christians = cristianos
- crash, crashed = estrellar, estrelló, estrellado 
- debris = escombros
- democracy = democracia
- detainee = detenido, preso
- dig = cavar, remover
- disaster = desastre
- disruption = trastorno, interrupción
- earthquake = terremoto
- fear, feared = temer, temió, temido
- flash memory = memoria flash (It is a special non-volatile memory used in digital devices like cameras, MP3 players, mobile-phones, data storage drivers.)
- flip-flop = cambio drástico, cambiar drásticamente.
- fury = furia
- global = mundial
- God = Dios
- hide-and-seek = juego de las escondidas, escondidas
- Holland = Holanda
- Japan = Japón
- Japanese (singular and plural) = japonés, japonesa, japoneses, japonesas
- Muslims = mulsumanes
- nature = naturaleza
- nuclear = nuclear
- platform = plataforma
- poll = encuesta, sondeo
- quake = temblar, terremoto
- reliance (on) = dependencia (de)
- relief = socorro, ayuda
- rescuer, rescuers = rescatador, rescatadora, rescatadores, rescatadoras, (Another meaning: "salvador")
- reservation = reserva
- revenues = ingresos
- Russia = Rusia
- semiconductor, semiconductors = semiconductor, semiconductores
- semis (semiconductor supplies) = suministro de semiconductores
- start-ups = empresas o compañías jóvenes (Normally, the business people uses this name to reference young companies with innovative ideas and/or projects).
- supply chain = cadena de suministro
- survive = sobrevivir
- survivor = sobreviviente, superviviente (Both Spanish names are recognized by the Real Academia Española)
- top, topped = encabezar, encabezó, encabezaron
- trial = juicio, proceso
- tsunami = tsunami (In Spanish, tsunami is a new word approved by the Real Academia Española: "ola gigantesca producida por un seísmo o una erupción volcánica en el fondo del mar.")
- venture capitalists = inversores de capital de riesgo
- volatile = volátil

SPECIAL VOCABULARY

Gitmo or GTMO: Guantánamo Base Naval Base.
NAND: It is one of the two flash technologies used in memory cards to store images, music and other digital data. NAND devices retain data integrity when a machine loses power or is turned off. It was introduced by Toshiba in 1989. Today, the NAND flash memory is used in the manufacturing of the new data storage drivers (SSD).  
Toshiba: Japanese corporation with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the leaders of the segments of  flash memory devices and SSD (solid-state drive). It also produces PCs, computer peripherals, power systems, industrial and social infrastructure systems, home appliances, and more.
 
MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER
 
Thanks to Bob, Erika, John, Julie, Peter, Stephanie, and Suzanne for your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.

In the north of Tokyo, you can see the city of Sendai that according to news was hit for the strong waves of the tsunami.
En el norte de Tokio, ustedes pueden ver la ciudad de Sendai que de acuerdo con las noticias fue golpeada por fuertes olas del tsunami.
(This map is courtesy of the US State Secretary)

 

Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to another online communication of the Spanish-English Club! The new issue of Weekly Bilingual News includes comments that we posted in important online publications during the last few days. They are interesting subjects for your debate and bilingual conversation. The Vocabulary included will help you.

FEBRUARY JOB NUMBERS - WSJ story: "Jobless Rates Falls Further" (March 4, 2011). The article talks about the February job report of the US Labor Department. Private companies added a net of 192,000 jobs, but the number of people out of work continues high: 13.7 million, approximately double the number before the recession.
WSJ Journal Comment: "While the US Labor Department posted that in February the private sector added thousands of jobs and the unemployment rate slipped to 8.9%, more low-paid employees only survive. Nobody expects big changes in short time."

SMALLER GOVERNMENT – WSJ – Journal Community Questions: Do we need a smaller government? Is Washington bloated? And does it mean we need a smaller government? Can we have that without cutting services that might really help people? (March 3, 2011)
Journal Community Answer: "Yes, the government is bloated. We need a smaller and more efficient government. Every office, every department, every position in the Congress and the White House has to be justified. The ideas that for every issue, for every problem, for every difficulty, the government needs a new program, a new adviser, a new commission, and a new budget are not the right way to make more jobs. With the current technology available, and techniques of analysis of information systems of the administration, the government can reduce billions of dollars of expenditures and offer better services to the country, the community, and the citizens."

STEVE JOBS IN ACTION - WSJ story: "Apple's Showman Takes the Stage" (March 2, 2011). The article comments that Apple CEO stopped his medical leave to introduce iPad 2, appearing in public in the conference where Apple introduced a thinner, lighter and faster digital tablet than the first iPad. In connection with the launch of the new product, Steve Jobs said: "With more than 15 million iPads sold, iPad has defined an entirely new category of mobile devices. While others have been scrambling to copy the first generation iPad, we're launching iPad 2, which moves the bar far ahead of the competition and will likely cause them to go back to the drawing boards yet again."
WSJ Journal Comment: "Always Steve Jobs brings to market the next innovative news for the industry. It was splendid that the Apple's CEO introduced personally his new creature: iPad 2. Congratulations!"

NUCLEAR ENERGY - WSJ Journal Community Question: "Should the U.S. explore nuclear power for energy needs more aggressively?" (March 2, 2011) According to Wall Street Journal, Bill Gates is funding and guiding a start-up called TerraPower, whose goal is to make nuclear reactors smaller, cheaper and safer than today's nuclear energy sources. The company has made pitches in France and Japan.
WSJ Journal Answer: "We agree nuclear power has to be one of the most important priorities of the United States. About the initiative of Bill Gates, TerraPower seems very interesting, if Microsoft is not in the middle."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the positive territory, despite the fall of Friday. Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 39.43 points or 0.33% to 12169.88. Nasdaq Composite gained 3.62 points or 0.13% in the same period, to close at 2784.67.

In summary, during the last few days, Libya and the Arab world were again important headlines of the international press. Different western leaders agree that opponents of Gadhafi need tanks, heavy weapons and military logistics, but nobody is sure about what are the best actions to stop the Libyan massacre. During an interview of the TV program NewsHour, retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, who commanded no-fly zones over Iraq during the 1990s, said "no-fly zones" implies a military intervention and whoever imposes the fly-prohibition has to be able to knock down the airplanes that violate it. He also said US has to act together with the United Nations.

Also during the week,Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh - another protagonist of the Arab turmoil - apologized for his statements against the U.S. government, and is planning to leave the presidency. Some days ago, during a university conference, the Yemeni leader said the United States and Israel were behind the Arab protesters across all the countries of the region.

In the United States, the debates about the size of government and how the states could cut expenditures continued at the top. During the week, the agreement between US and Mexico to allow Mexican trucks driving across the border between both countries produced opposed opinions. On Friday, the unemployment rate of February generated good comments from analysts and members of the government.

In Brazil, Europe and other countries of the world, during these days the people are celebrating the 2011 Carnival. In Germany, this festive season is used to mock politicians and criticize the mistakes of political leaders made during the last twelve months. The case of the former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg who resigned during the week over a plagiarism scandal is part of the scene.

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
- bloated = hinchado
- Brazil = Brasil
- carnival = carnaval
- commission = commission
- double = doble
- Europe = Europa
- faster = más rápido, más rápida
- fly = volar ("fly" was other very different meanings is Spanish)
- German = alemán, alemana
- Germany = Alemania
- headline, headlines = titular, titulares
- heavy weapons = armas pesadas, armamento pesado
- Iraq = Irak
- jobless = sin trabajo, desempleado, desempleada
- knock down, knocked down = derribar, derribó
- Libya = Libia
- lighter = más liviano, más liviana
- Mexican = mexicano, mexicana, mejicano, mejicana
- military = militar
- million = millón
- mock, mocked = ridiculizar, ridiculizó, ridiculizaron, burlarse de, se burló de, se burlaron de
- no-fly zones = espacio aéreo desmilitarizado
- out of work = sin trabajo (Also in Spanish: fuera de funcionamiento).
- pitches = lanzamientos
- plagiarism = plagio
- priority, priorities = prioridad, prioridades
- reactor = reactor
- recession = recesión
- resign, resigned = renunciar, renunció
- retired = retirado, jubilado
- safer = más seguro. (Also in Spanish: fuera de peligro).
- scene = escena, escenario 
- showman = director de espectáculos. (Also in Spanish: empresario de espectáculos, actor, gran actor)
- slip, slipped = deslizar, deslizó
- stage = escena
- start-up = empresa joven
- tablet = tablero
- tank, tanks = tanque, tanques
- thinner = más delgado, más delgada
- truck = camión
- United Nations = Naciones Unidas
- Yemeni = yemenita

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Anne, Betty, Bob, John, Marcus, Stephanie for your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.

Carnival Parade in Germany