Monday, May 30, 2011

Weekly Bilingual News


Dear Friends:


Hello! Welcome to the fifth Weekly Bilingual News of May 2011 with comments and a brief analysis about how the world was running during the last few days.

On May 26, press sources informed the arrest of Serbian general Ratko Mladic accused for the Srebenica massacre during the Bosnian war. Three days later, while the leaders of the European Community were celebrating the news, a group of his sympathizers clashed against the police in Belgrado - the capital of the former Yugoslavia - asking for the liberation of the commander of the Serbian troops during the racial cleansing of the Balkans in 1995.

In the blog of the story "Clashes Erupt to Protest Mladic Arrest" (Wall Street Journal, 2011/05/29) we wrote the following comment: "When we read the news about the arrest of Ratko Mladic and the reactions from people who are defending the Serbian general, a question come to our mind. Can we acclaim their "hero" to be responsible for the massive slaughter of more than 8000 disarmed men and boys and the rape of their women and children? Always in wars, the fighters commit atrocities for hate, revenge, fear or hunger. But after the fighting, we cannot forgive the crimes of the architect of a massive killing. Evidently, the people who are protecting Mladic are sick persons, murderers, or androids of the war."

Also during the weekend, more than 160,000 Germans went to the street in a national pacific demonstration. For the first time in the history of Germany, on Saturday May 28, an anti-nuclear movement marched under the slogan "Nuclear power: the end!" simultaneously in more than 20 cities. In Berlin, the demonstrators went to the offices of the Chancellor Angela Merkel, demanding the end of nuclear energy in the country. The largest demonstrations were in: Berlin; 25000, Munich: 25000, Hamburg 20000, Hanover: 12000, Freiburg: 10000 Frankfurt am Main: about 8000, Fürth: 8000, Landshut: 8500, Bonn: 7500, Essen: 6000, Bremen: 5000, Mannheim 4100, Mainz: 4000, and Dresden 3200.

In the blog of the story titled: "Germany to Go Nuclear-Free by 2022" (Wall Street Journal, 2011/05/30) we posted this comment: "It is good that Germany is working to develop new alternative electric resources. It is also good that the authorities request more controls for the providers of nuclear power. But it is crazy to destroy the investment in nuclear reactors. If the green extremists don't balance their impetuosity, they will damage the German economy."

OTHER COMMENTS:

GOVERNMENT AND DISASTERS: In the blog of the WSJ story about the Missouri's tornadoes titled: "Obama to Visit Tornado-Struck Missouri" we wrote: "In the moments of disasters, the President has to see the people with problems independently of their political party. The President and the other authorities govern for the Americans, no for the members of their party. "(2011/05/29). According to the author of the article, President Obama didn't win in Missouri during the 2008 presidential election.

PAKISTANI FRIENDSHIP: In the blog of the Wall Street Journal story about the first American official visit to Pakistan after the death of Osama bin Laden titled: "Clinton Gets Cold Reception" we wrote: " It is normal that the Secretary of State has to work with people who are not friendly. This is part of her job. Probably, now the Pakistani government and its secret service don't want to show their faces because they feel embarrassed. They received billions of dollars, but they didn't find Osama bin Laden who was living near a military academy for many years."(2011/05/29)

LIBYAN REVOLUTION: In the blog of a new WSJ story about Libya titled: "Libyan Rebels Offer Amnesty to Pro-Gadhafi Soldiers" we posted the following comment: "The initiative of the political leader of Libyan rebels is very risky. Who will teach the principles of democracy to the Pro-Gadhafi soldiers? The wolves of today will not be lambs of tomorrow, but "wolves" know how to disguise themselves into lambs, to wait for new opportunities of assaults, kidnappings, and other dark businesses." (2011/05/28)

IRAN UNPLUGS INTERNET: In the blog of the WSJ story titled "Iran Vows to Unplug Internet" we wrote: "Today everybody knows Internet is the first enemy of the dictatorships. The technology makes easy the transmission of dialogues, pictures and videos from everywhere in the world. Any observer has the tools to show how the dictators and their gangs of bandits mistreat defenseless people, killing and abusing protesters. Only censorship can silence the voice of the freedom. Iran and the other countries that unplug Internet are devils who are afraid of the power of democracy." (2011/05/28)

ARAB SPRING SUPPORTERS: In the blog of the Wall Street Journal about the G-8 conference: "G-8 Launches $40 Billion 'Arab Spring' Partnership" we posted: "The initiative of the G-8 for helping the countries of the 'Arab Spring' seems positive. However, through the declarations of some of the members of the group, we don't see an organic assistance program of immediate action. Frequently, in the international meetings, the politicians draw projects that nobody will implement in a good sense. For example, what kind of aid G8 will give to Egypt before its citizens decide the country they want. President Mubarak resigned months ago, but now the religious violence is bringing new difficulties to convert the Arab nation in an authentic democracy. It is possible for someone to give money to groups of people that do not know what they want?" (2011/05/27)

MICROSOFT AGAINST CHINA: In the blog of a WSJ story about the visit of Microsoft CEO to China titled: "Ballmer Decries Huge China Sales Hole" we published the following comment: "The complaint of Steve Ballmer doesn't show something new. China always was the Achilles' heel of the software industry. Frequently, the pirates find support from members of the Communist Party." (2011/05/26) (Steve Ballmer remarked the sales of Microsoft's software don't grow in China in the same way the PCs are growing due to the piracy.)

WEEK SUMMARY

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70.46 points or 0.56% to 12441.58, while Nasdaq Composite declined 6.46 points or 0.23% to end at 2796.86. This was the fourth consecutive week that Dow Jones went down.

During the last week different subjects were headlines of the newspapers and TV:
- G8 conference in France
- Tornadoes in Missouri and other states
- President Obama's trip to Europe
- Arrest of the Serbian Ratko Mladic
- First American delegation to Pakistan after the death of Osama bin Laden.

The repression in the streets of Syria and the Yemeni uprising generated new concerns in the western capitals. International banks blocked funds of Syrian authorities. In Yemen, tribal groups demanded the resignation of the central government. In Libya, the rebels offered amnesty to Pro-Gadhafi soldiers who quit the regime.

In the technology arena, the press commented about new initiatives of Hewlett-Packard to change direction after the poor financial results of its last fiscal quarter. The HP CEO Leo Apotheker looks for leadership in cloud computing. Meanwhile some top managers of HP are leaving the company.

In other news, the political campaign for the U.S. 2012 presidential elections brought other names to the list of potential Republican candidates. Sarah Palin began a tour across the country. Some observers think she will run for the GOP presidential nomination.

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:

- acclaim = aclamar, aplaudir
- amnesty = amnistía
- arrest = arresto
- atrocity, atrocities = atrocidad, atrocidades
- Balkans = Balcanes
- clash, clashes = choque, choques
- cleansing = limpieza, purificación
- decry, decries = condenar, condena
- defection = deserción
- demonstration = manifestación
- demonstrator, demostrators = manifestante, manifestantes
- disaster = desastre
- fear = miedo, temor
- forgive = perdonar
- France = Francia
- friendship = amistad
- funds = fondos
- German = alemán, alemana
- hate = odio
- hero = héroe
- hunger = hambre
- intention = intención, propósito
- massacre = masacre
- movement = movimiento
- nomination = nombramiento
- pacific = pacífico, pacífica
- racial = racial
- revenge = revancha
- savage = feroz, furioso
- Serbian = serbio, serbia
- simultaneously = simultáneamente, al mismo tiempo
- slaughter = carnicería
- sympathizers = simpatizantes
- tornado, tornadoes = tornado, tornados
- tour = viaje, recorrido
- tribal = tribal
- unplug = desenchufar
- Yugoslavia = Yugoslavia

SPECIAL VOCABULARY - VOCABULARIO ESPECIAL

G8: The Group of Eight (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States) = El Grupo de los Ocho (Canadá, Estados Unidos, Francia, Alemania, Italia, Japón, Reino Unido, y Rusia)

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Betty, Bob, Gaby, Erika, Mary, Pierre, Stephanie and Suzanne your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.



New German Revolution: Atomkraft: Schluss!: Nuclear power: the end!
Nueva revolución alemana: El final de la energía nuclear.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Weekly Bilingual News


Dear Friends:


Hello! Welcome to the fourth Weekly Bilingual News of May 2011 with a brief analysis about how the globe was running during the last few days.

From the perspective of our comments posted in blogs in important online publications, you will have different images than normally you catch from TV or newspapers. The chapter of bilingual Vocabulary will help you in your conversation in Spanish and English.

NEW TECH BUBBLE: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question for its members: "Does LinkedIn's successful IPO signal a new tech bubble?"
Our Comment: "We think LinkedIn is a new tech bubble, but we are not sure the enthusiasm is merited. The professional-networking companies are very important today. However it is not easy to value them for one IPO. We cannot measure the services of Linkedln using the classic algebra of 1 + 1 + 1… because its business model is a combination of different math equations. This makes more difficult the evaluation of its success or failure from the perspective of the external observers that want to count how many users it has, how much money could earn by connection, and what will be the time and resources requested by any kind of connection." (2011/05/22)

ARAB SPRING: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question for its members: "Do you support or oppose increased U.S. economic aid to Middle East countries"
Our Comment: "Is the economy of U.S. overflowing in gold and precious minerals? Do we have money to sow everywhere despite all the economic problems of our country? We know Middle East and North Africa live a terrible moment, but these people will not solve their problems with a charity program. First of all, they have to learn to use their own resources and integrate themselves with other nations in harmony and peace. Second, we cannot teach the principles of democracy by buying the heart of rebels and protesters. We didn't buy the friendship of the Pakistanis despite the billions of dollars we sowed through the nests of the Taliban and al-Qaeda." (2011/05/21)

ISRAEL - PALESTINE: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question for its members: "President Obama supports a two-state solution based on Israel's 1967 borders. Do you agree?"
Our Comment at the Journal Community: "From 1967 until now, a lot of events happened between Israel and Palestine. Who can erase 44 years of history by mandate? We think before the endorsement of the 1967 borders, both parts deserve a new constructive dialogue." (2011/05/20)
Our Comment at NewsHour of PBS: "We think both states – Palestine and Israel - have the right to have the own land, but we understand the argument of Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli borders before the Six Day War are indefensible." (Posted in the blog sector of the PBS Report "Netanyahu, Obama Meet Amid Disagreement on Path to Middle East Peace", May 20, 2011).

SYRIAN BLOODY SCENE: Wall Street Journal posted a story titled: "U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Syria's President" (2011/05/18) about the international punishment against the Syrian's regime due to the bloody repression of the street protesters.
Our Comment: "The situation of Syria is worsening. The blood stains its government institutions and leaders. Meanwhile more people emigrate from the Arab world to the western countries. But Europe and U.S. cannot assume the role of the "police" everywhere. The Libyan's civil war continues. In addition, the events from Yemen to Egypt show a very complex international panorama." (2011/05/18)

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 83.71 points or 0.66% to 12512.04, while Nasdaq Composite fell 25.15 points or 0.89% to end at 2803.32. This was the third consecutive week that Dow Jones declined.

In summary, during the week the sexual scandal of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund was news everywhere. European and American politicians and economists asked themselves about the future of the IMF and the countries – Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain… - that need its financial assistance. Some French politicians feel "it is too much about nothing".

Across the world, the Arab Spring showed new dramatic pictures of the repression in the streets of Syria, the bombing of most important ports of Libya, new protests in Yemen and Bahrain, the borders dispute between Israel and Palestine, and the religious persecution of Egypt.

In the technology environment and the Wall Street's aisles the initial public offering (IPO) of LinkedIn shook to the observers. The stock of this young company opened at US$83 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 84% from its initial public offering price of $45, and giving to the company a market valuation of nearly US$ 9 billion.

LinkedIn is a professional social network company founded by Reid Hoffman in December 2002. In May 2003 it introduced its first English web pages in the United States. Now its services are available in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. It has more than 100 million users in 200 countries. In the fiscal 2010 year, it posted revenues of US$243 million and a net income of US$15 million.

In other news, the political campaigns for the U.S. 2012 presidential elections brought more announcements from the Republican arena. While Mitch Daniels - current governor of Indiana – said he will be out of the campaign, Tim Pawlenty, - former governor of Minnesota – announced his Republican candidacy for president. Another candidate: Herman Cain, businessman, author and talk radio show host, announced he is running.

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:

- aisle, aisles = pasillo, pasillos
- author = autor/a
- Bahrain, Bahraini = Bahréin, bahreini
- borders = fronteras
- bubble = burbuja
- businessman = hombre de negocios
- candidate, candidates = candidato/a, candidatos/tas
- dispute = disputa
- founded = fundado/a
- globe = globo, mundo
- governor = gobernador/a
- headlines = titulares
- market valuation = valuación del mercado
- net income = ingreso neto
- Palestine, Palestinian = Palestina, palestino/a
- persecution = persecución
- professional = profesional
- regime, regimes = régimen, regímenes
- repression = repression
- revenue = ingresos, ventas
- scandal = escándalo
- social network company = compañía de redes sociales
- spring = primavera
- stock = acción, papel bursátil
- talk radio show host = locutor de radio

SPECIAL VOCABULARY - VOCABULARIO ESPECIAL

Arab Spring = Primavera Árabe: The awakening of democratic movement across the Arab countries. Till now the main countries involve in the Arab Spring are Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan, Algeria, and Morocco. Some political observers also include in the group: Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Djibouti, Kuwait, Oman, Western Sahara and Mauritania.

IMF: International Monetary Fund = FMI: Fondo Monetario Internacional.

IPO: Initial Public Offering = OPV: Oferta Pública de Venta: First sale of stock by a private company when it is going to be a public company.

Six-Day War = Guerra de los Seis Días: The Six-Day War took place between June 5th and June 10th,1967. After a strong and fast offensive, Israel defeated to armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, and took effective control of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights.


MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Ann, Bob, Gaby, Erika, Lucy, Paul, Stephanie and Susan your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.


 Geography of the Arab Spring: A mosaic of countries, regimes, cultures and history.
Geografía de la Primavera Árabe: Un mosaico de paises, regímenes, culturas e historia.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Weekly Bilingual News


Dear Friends:


Hello! Welcome to the third Weekly Bilingual News of May 2011 with a brief analysis about how the world was running during the last few days.

From the perspective of our comments posted in blogs in important online publications, you will have different images than normally you catch from the TV or the newspapers. The chapter of bilingual Vocabulary will help you in your conversation in Spanish and English.

NEW KISSINGER BOOK: Wall Street Journal story: "The China Challenge". This article makes an introduction of the new book by Henry Kissinger titled: "On China". (2011/05/15) Our Comment: "We have to recognize that Henry Kissinger made an important work in the construction of a wide bridge between the United States with China. Really this American statesman has the patience and a steady emotional stability to pave a new road to the Far East. But despite all his merits, Kissinger didn't change the arrogant attitude of the Communist Party who always tries to wash the brains of the free people of the world."

THE PC UNIVERSE: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question for its members: "Will you buy the Google Chromebook?" (2011/05/13)
Our Comment: "With more than 25 years in the technology market, we learned to wait before we make a decision about a new device or platform. Google is a successful Internet search-engine company that also is growing as provider of Android and other software tools. But its experience in the segment of PCs is shorter than other software companies (IBM, Novell...) that challenged Microsoft without success. We have to see how Google assumes the new compromises. By the way, when a company introduces a new operating system for computers, it has to develop a strategy to support the growing of this operating system according to the new state of the art of technology. Despite all the problems that Microsoft had from Windows 98 to Windows XP and after the flaws of Windows Vista, today it is going from Windows 7 to Windows 8. Will Google survive similar difficulties? Will Google create a community of partners like Microsoft has? Now we have to observe the performance of Google as PC (laptops and netbooks) operating system provider before making conclusions."

OBAMA'S RE-ELECTION: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question for its members: "Will the death of Osama bin Laden guarantee Obama's re-election?" (2011/05/12)
Our Comment: "We don't think the death of Osama bin Laden has opened the door for the President Obama's re-election. The crucial issues of today are the economy and the social problems. When there are more than 13.7 million of people without jobs, the hunger of these people runs across the country."

FUTURE OF SKYPE: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question for its members: "What do you think of the Microsoft deal to buy Skype for $8.5 billion". (2011/05/11)
Our Comment: "It is a good deal for Microsoft because the software leader will take the technology of Skype and offer new services. But this deal doesn't imply a good business for the Skype's customers. Often, Microsoft strangles its customers with fees and additional costs. Also, thinking as a giant, it commits frequent mistakes in the business with small customers."

WOMEN ABORTION: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question for its members: "Should states require sonograms before allowing women to have abortions". (2011/05/11)
Our Comment: "This is a very controversial subject. We think each case has its own background. We cannot regulate it only from the results of a sonogram. For this reason, answering your question (yes/no), we are only transferring the responsibilities of the women, couples and doctors to the cold text of a law."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week with mixed results. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42.99 points or 0.34% to 12595.75, while Nasdaq Composite gained 0.91 points or 0.03% to end at 2828.47 in a week with a lot of economic concerns and growing uncertainty.

In summary, the continuous rise of gasoline prices and other signs of inflation are hitting the population across the United States. During the week different political analysts discussed the subject after the majority of the country price-per-gallon surpassed US$ 4.00.

Moreover, five top executives of the biggest oil companies operating in the country were interrogated by the Senate Finance Committee to explain why the gasoline prices have risen nearly 30% since the beginning of the year.

Other bad news of the week was the Mississippi's flooding. After overflowed extensive areas around its riverbed, the water as well threatens the coasts of Louisiana. Frequently, during the springtime, the big rivers that cross the central plains after thaw in the mountains produce some flooding. This year, the damages produced by the Mississippi River are exceeding past seasons.

The political campaigns for the US 2012 presidential elections returned to the headlines of the newspapers with different announcements from the Republican arena. While Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul announced they will run for president, Mike Huckabee said: "No". Some political analysts wait the decision of Mitch Daniels, current governor of Indiana. (Last minute news: Donald Trump will not run for president).

This was our comment posted on Wall Street Journal about the Huckabee's decision: "Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee answered "NO" despite his first numbers in the polls. We have to respect his decision, but a lot of Republicans and Americans will miss him during the debates of the 2011 presidential campaign. Huckabee has the profile and ideas that an important group of citizens look for when they think about positive changes in the country." ("Huckabee Says He Won't Run for President", 2011/05/15)

From Yemen to Syria, the revolts continued rattling the Arab world. Also in the Palestinian border, Israeli troops repressed protesters. And in Greece, new economic rules produced demonstrations across the streets of Athens and other cities.

The revolutionary group of Libya tries to create an interim legislative and executive bodies and its leaders look for the financial funds the international institutions have frozen to condemn the Gadhafi's regime.

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:

- bicycle = bicicleta
- bridge = puente
- challenge = desafío, reto
- condemn = condenar
- device = dispositivo
- flaw, flaws = defecto, defectos
- flooding = inundación
- gasoline = gasolina, nafta
- hunger = hambre
- inflation = inflación
- moreover = además
- operating system = sistema operativo
- overflow, overflowed = desbordarse, desbordó
- patience = paciencia
- pave = pavimentar
- platform = plataforma
- profile = perfil
- rattle, rattling = golpear, golpeando
- revolt = rebelión
- riverbed = cauce
- sonogram = sonograma
- stability = estabilidad
- statesman = estadista
- steady = firme, fijo, fija
- thaw = deshielo
- threaten = amenazar
- wide = ancho 

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Bob, Erika, Harold, Lucy, Peter, and Suzanne your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.


Americans have to follow the European bicycles if they don't want to pay US$ 4.00 per gallon.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Weekly Bilingual News


Dear Friends:


Hello! Welcome to the second Weekly Bilingual News of May 2011 with our comments posted in important online publications about how the world was running during the last few days.

On Friday, May 6, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the non-farm payroll employment rose by 244,000 in April. The private sector added 268,000 jobs and the government cut 24,000 positions.

For the other side, the same government organization informed the unemployment rate edged up to 9.0 percent from 8.8 percent on March. Among the major worker groups these were the rates:
- Adult men: 8.8 percent
- Adult women: 7.9 percent
- Teenagers: 24.9 percent
- Whites: 8.0 percent
- Blacks: 16.1 percent
- Hispanics: 11.8 percent
- Asians: 6.4 percent
Like previous months, when the press received the numbers from the US Labor Department, some journalists looked at the statistics with optimism, but others said with these figures, President Obama will have serious problems on the 2012 president elections.

These were our comments posted in the blog of story titled "Job Engine Shifts to Higher Gear" published on Wall Street Journal: "When I analyze the monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, I don't think about the "seat" of the President or about his future at the next presidential election, I feel the pain of the more than 13.7 million of persons who don't have job. Nobody who never lost his/her job can imagine the feelings of the people who had to count their last pennies to survive. For the other side, the government institutions only see the statistics and they don't have the sensitivity to understand the real distance between an unemployment rate of 8.8 and 9.0." (2011/05/08)

OTHER COMMENTS:

NEW WAR TOOLS: Wall Street Journal story: "The SEAL Sensibility". This article revealed important details about the special US commando troops that kill Osama bin Laden and the way they act.
Our Comment: "We cannot defeat terrorists with tanks and classic conventional weapons. The commando operations are the only tools to fight against these bad guys. As victim of the terrorism, I learned that brutality is part of the game from both sides. If you don't kill your enemy, he will kill you." (2011/05/07)

COMPANY'S APOLOGIES: Wall Street Journal story: "Sony CEO Apologizes for Data Breach". This article explains Sony accepted responsibilities for the data breach of its Playstation's Network.
Our Comment: "It is not the first time during the last ten years that a Japanese company commits important mistakes and after that, its CEO apologizes in public. By the way, we have to remember the case of the Sony's batteries that converted different notebooks into "toasters". With expressions as: "We feel very sorry…" they will not repair the damages they provoke." (2011/05/06)

Due to the recent fall of the sales of BlackBerry phones, the Journal Community of WSJ asked to all the members about the smart-phone platforms the users are adopting now.
Our Comment: "From our point of view, in the smart-phone platform, Android is taking a similar role to Windows in the PC platform. For this reason, Research In Motion has to move its BlackBerry to Android or build a strong bridge between its operating system and the Google's operating system before all its efforts go in the trash and its devices to the museum. When we visit technology museums, we find a lot of devices that were magnificent jewels twenty years ago, but today nobody remembers them. It is not possible to stop the evolution of technology..." (2011/05/07)

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 171.80 points or 1.34% to 12638.74. Nasdaq Composite fell 45.98 points or 1.60% in the same period, to end at 2827.56. 

In summary, the subject of the week was the US SEAL operation to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. On Friday, the job report for April didn't change the main discussions. Only a small group of observers paid attention about the decline of oil prices under the mark of US$ 100 per barrel.

In the technology industry, the case of Sony and the private information of its Playstation Network was stolen generated a lot of comments and evaluations. According to some sources, the Japanese company was involved in more that one robbery of data from members of the Playstation community.

The political campaigns for the US 2012 presidential elections continued active despite other subjects were in the top of the news. On Thursday evening, in Greenville, S.C, the Republican candidates had their first public debate. During the event, the Former Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty said that President Obama made a good job finding and killing Osama bin Laden.

In the international arena, again Egypt was in the list of the countries with new incidents and deaths for aggressive reactions of Muslims against Christians. Additionally, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen were also in the headlines of the papers.

Meanwhile, the news about Libya and the Col. Gadhafi passed to a second level. Journalists that came from Tripoli during the last few days confirmed the capital is under the threat of gangs that work for the regime. A lot of Libyans flew to other areas and out of the country during the last few months. Nobody has the right to act with freedom and the members of the press know the jails are opened for those who defy the rules of the terror game that thrives in the country. The followers of Gadhafi spy on everybody and every movement of the foreigners and non-sympathizers of the dictator.

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:

- breach = brecha, abrir brecha en
- commnado = comando
- Egypt, Egyptian = Egipto, egipcio, egipcia
- followers = seguidores, partidarios
- gangs = pandillas, bandas - incident, incidents = incidente, incidentes
- Muslim, Muslims = musulmán, musulmana, musulmanes
- nobody= nadie
- operating system = sistema operativo
- Pakistan, Pakistani = Paquistán, paquistaní
- platform = plataforma
- smart-phone, smartphone = teléfono inteligente
- spy = espiar, espian a
- sympathizer, sympathizers = simpatizante, simpatizantes
- threat = amenaza
- toaster = tostadora

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Anne, Bob, Erika, Joseph, Lucy, Mary, and Stephanie for your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.
 
Jobless: When the last coins are not enough...


Monday, May 2, 2011

Weekly Bilingual News


Dear Friends:


Hello! Welcome to the first Weekly Bilingual News of May 2011 with our comments posted in important online publications about how the world was running during the last few days.

After a week with controversial and hard news about different subjects, in the nigh of Sunday, the death of the mastermind of the al Qaeda organization topped all the headlines of the seven last days.

Next, you can read our comment posted in the blog of the Wall Street Journal story titled: "Osama Bin Laden Is Dead" and written by Laura Meckler and Adam Entous (May 2, 2011).
Our Comment: "The most important symbol of the world terrorism fell. On May 1st 2011 at 11.35 PM EDT, President Obama interrupted the peaceful hours of a Sunday night to inform that the United States in a special command operation has killed Osama bin Laden. Without any doubt, it is a great news, and the results of huge efforts and the blood of thousands and thousands soldiers and innocent civilians dead or wounded across the world during approximately 10 years. But till now, it is early to measure the effects of the killing of the leader of al Qaeda. We have to hope the extremists of the Muslim countries cannot use the figure of Osama bin Laden as a martyr of the Arab world. After the capture of the dead body of the al Qaeda's leader, the US government has to articulate a strong campaign to disassemble the ideological infrastructure created by the extremist organization who declared a holy war against the western civilization and the Christian countries. The work is not done yet."

DEMOLITION OF LIBYAN REGIME: Wall Street Journal story: "Gadhafi Survives NATO Missile Strike That Killed Son" (2011/05/01) The article explains Moammar Gadhafi survived a missile attack by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that killed his youngest son and three grandchildren on Saturday.
Our Comment: "The psychological demolition of Gadhafi's regime began. For a dictator with the invulnerability of Col. Gadhafi, the death of his son will become a mortal knock. No cruel man can survive for a long time when in the boxing ring, his blood reduces his sight and distances."

HARD TORNADO SEASON: Wall Street Journal story: "South Settles Into Slow Rhythm of Recovery" (2011/05/01). The article comments the slow recovery from the first strong tornado that hit different cities of Alabama and other states of the south.
Our Comment: "Tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes show us how small we are against natural disasters. Despite the advances of technology and the techniques to prevent natural catastrophes, the human beings are quasi-impotent against the fury of Nature."

TANKS IN SYRIAN STREETS: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question about the critical political situation in Syria: Will anti-government protests in Syria succeed in overturning President Assad's regime? (2011/04/30)
Our Comment: Again Syria is re-entering the big political scene with military actions, but in these circumstances some of the protagonists are different from before. Now Syria is not fighting against Israel or helping to a political faction in Lebanon. The recent news shows how the regime is trying to deal with the protests of its own people. We don't have enough experience to know about the ability of Bashar al-Assad to survive anti-government protests successfully. But from our perspective, the Syrian leader made a huge mistake sending tanks and armored vehicles to kill Syrian citizens. Maybe, the regime will stop the current protests, but in the end, Bashar al-Assad will fall in the grave of his martyrs. The History teaches us that the political leaders who use guns against the sons of their own nations, they drown in the blood of the heroes of the protests.

BRITISH ROYAL WEDDING: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question about the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton: What do you think of the royal wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton? (2011/04/29)
Our Comment: "We are not an expert in royal weddings. For this reason, maybe our opinion is not valuable. Personally, we liked the dress of Kate Middleton. The ceremony and the couple reminded us the reading of the fairy tales of our childhood."

SONY IN THE TARGET: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question about the hacker attack suffered by the Playstation Network: Have you been affected by Sony's Playstation Network hacker attack? According to the own Sony Corp's press office, a hacker has obtained customer information, including credit-card numbers from 77 million members of its online PlayStation Network. (2011/04/29)
Our Comment: "We had not been affected by the hacker attack, but we always thought the online PlayStation Network could be a risky environment because the "devils" always look for crowds when they are enjoying any amusement."

OFFSHORE DRILLING: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question about different initiatives to increase the own oil production in the country: What steps should Congress take to lower gas prices? (2011/04/29)
Our Comment: "From my point of view, the Congress has to take all the necessary steps to help in the expansion of the offshore drilling."

FIRST FED PRESS CONFERENCE: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question about the first press conference of the Federal Reserve chairman: How would you grade Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's first press conference? (2011/04/28)
Our Comment: Ben Bernanke is economist, professor at Princeton University, and Chairman of the Federal Reserve of two different White House administrations (Republican and Democrat). Of course, for his current role, he is involved in the politics of the country in connection with economic issues but his career is not political. If you read the biography of Mr. Bernanke, you don't find a relevant political background in his career. The economists have their own political orientations but they are not politicians withintheir profession. (By the way, Ben Bernanke according to his public biography is Republican.) We have to remark that the economy like education, security and defense are very important matters of the nation but subordinated to politics.The function of the Fed Chairman is mainly technical. For this reason, we have to judge Mr. Bernanke for the way that he manages his technical obligations, and not for his political profile."

PRESIDENT'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE: Journal Community of WSJ posted the following question about the birth certificate of President Barack Obama: Does the release of President Obama's birth certificate settle questions about his citizenship? The document released said Mr. Obama was born at 7:24 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu. (2011/04/27)
Our Comment: "Probably we think very different to the majority of the political observers, but today it is not a main issue in the discussion about whether President Obama is really American by birth or not. He is right now the President. Maybe before he arrived at the White House, all the voters had to ask for his birth certificate. Personally we think it is a good idea that every new presidential candidate shows his/her birth certificate before he/she has the chance to arrive to the White House. About the President Obama we have other subjects to discuss before the 2012's voting. Now to talk about the President Obama's birth certificate is only a distraction more with respect to more important issues about his leadership of the country."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the positive territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 304.55 points or 2.44% to 12810.54. Nasdaq Composite gained 26.23 points or 1.96% in the same period, to end at 2873.54. Both indexes closed April 2011 with higher values than the previous month of March.

In summary, after the celebration of Easter, in the United States and in the world, the journalists had a lot of work. More of the news came from the Arab countries including Morocco, Libya, Yemen, and Syria.

In the technology industry, key protagonists continued reporting the results of the first three months of 2011 with diverse figures. Research In Motion showed the sales of its smart-phones BlackBerry were weaker than before during the last quarter. In other news, Sony had to recognized private information of its Playstation Network was stolen.

The political campaigns for the US 2012 presidential elections produced the first important debate about the identity of President Obama. Mr. Donald Trump - one of the potential Republican presidential candidates - put a question mark about if the President was born in United States, Kenya, or other country. After that, the White House released a copy of the birth certificate of Mr. Barack Obama issued in Hawaii.

On Friday, President Obama visited some areas of Alabama that suffered a lot of damages and deaths due to the first important tornado storm of the 2011 season. Nobody knows till now how many persons died because there is debris everywhere in the area affected.

On Saturday, the press agencies confirmed that Libyan leader Col. Gadhafi survived the NATO missile attack that killed one of his sons and other members of his family. Meanwhile, Tripoli, the capital of Libya, continues under the total control of the groups of followers of the regime.

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
- attrition = agotamiento, guerra de agotamiento
- birth certificate = partida de nacimiento, certificado de nacimiento
- blood = sangre
- boxing ring = cuadrilátero
- citizenship = ciudadanía
- demolition = demolición, derribo
- devils = demonios, diablos
- disassemble = desmontar
- dress = vestido, ropa
- drilling = perforación
- drown = ahogar
- fairy tale = cuento de hadas
- fury = furia
- grade = clasificar
- grave = tumba
- hurricane, hurricanes = huracán, huracanes
- holy = santo, santa, sagrado
- Lebanon, Lebanese = Líbano, libanés, libanesa
- manhunt = persecución
- martyr, martyrs= mártir, mártires
- mastermind = mente, figura principal, inteligencia
- missile = mísil, proyectil
- Morocco, Moroccan = Marruecos, marroquí (m/f)
- offshore = costero, costera
- psychological = psicológico, psicológica
- raid = incursión, asalto
- recovery = rescate
- rhythm = ritmo
- royal = real
- settle = resolver
- son = hijo
- steal, stole, stolen = robar, robó, robado
- survive = sobrevivir
- Syria, Syrian = Siria, sirio, siria
- theft = robo
- tornado, tornadoes = tornado, tornados
- wedding = boda, casamiento
- worn = usado
 
MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER
 
Thanks to Bob, Erika, Frank, John, Mary, Paul and Suzanne for your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.
 

According to press sources, United States killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad during a comando operation. Abbottabad is city of Pakistan located at 31 miles (50 kilometers) northeast from Islamabad, capital of this country of South Asia.