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.

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...

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.

Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Today is Easter (Pascuas de Resurrección), a very important religious celebration for Catholics and Christians across the world.

Also from the sunset of April 18 to the nightfall of April 25, the Jewish community is celebrating Passover (Pascuas de los judíos).

Both celebrations have important historic and tradition roots that come from generations to generations. They are days for reflection and nice encounters with family and friends.

Our best wishes for the members and friends of the Spanish-English Club.

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! (¡Felices Pascuas!)

Domingo

Domingo A. Trassens

Spanish-English Club

Electronic mail: domingo.trassens@gmail.com

URL: http://spaengclub.blogspot.com/

Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to the third online communication of the Spanish English Club in April. The new Weekly Bilingual News will show 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.

Always, we include a chapter of bilingual Vocabulary to help you in your conversation in Spanish and English. 

AIR-CONTROLLERS SLEEPING - Wall Street Journal article: "New Rest Rules for Tower" written by Andy Pasztor (April 17, 2011). During the last few days, press sources commented on recent air-traffic incidents due to the air-controllers who fell asleep in their workplaces. Now, FAA is ordering nine-hour breaks between shifts for air-controllers to fight workplace fatigue.
Our Comment: It is positive that the FAA tries to find a solution to the controllers' problem, but the problem is not only a schedule problem. They need special physical and psychological training and very good payment.

TECHNOLOGICAL EXODUS - Wall Street Journal article: "Samsung May Sell Hard-Drive Unit" written by Jung AH-Lee (April 17, 2011). During the first decades of evolution of the technology industry, one of most important segments was the hard-disk manufacturing. Some years ago, when IBM decided to sell its hard-disk-drive unit to Hitachi, a lot of analysts were surprised. Next the Japanese Fujitsu also sold its factories of hard-disk drives. Recently, Hitachi said: "Bye-bye to the disk unit."
Our Comment: The exodus continues. Some weeks ago, Hitachi informed their decision to sell its hard-disk-drive unit. Now, Samsung is following the same path. Who will be next?

AUSTERITY PLAN - Wall Street Journal article: "Greece Outlines Five-Year Austerity Plan" (April 15, 2011). After the terrible economic debacle of the last year, Greek government has decided to cut expenditures, selling utility companies that it owns.
Our Comment: The initiative to privatize government's companies is a positive step to fix the Greek economy.

NATO WARPLANES - Wall Street Journal article: "NATO Commander Calls for More Warplanes" (April 14, 2011). The air strikes by the allies against the Libyan positions continued during last week without clear results till now. Now, the commander of NATO troops at an international meeting in Berlin, Germany asked for new military airplanes to help rebels to defeat the Gadhafi's regime.
Our Comment: NATO Commander asks for more airplanes. It is okay, but for how many days or months NATO will need more warplanes? Will the Libyan operation have an end in a short time? Till now nothing is clear despite the money that western countries are expending for bombing Col. Gadhafi's bunkers.

IRAN BEHIND THE SCENE - Wall Street Journal article: "U.S. Says Iran Helps Crackdown in Syria" (April 14, 2011). After weeks of protests in the streets of different cities of Syria, some press sources commented U.S. complains because the Iran's government is helping the president of Syria against protesters across this Arab country.
Our Comment: It is nothing new that Iran's regime always is behind the scene manipulating political issues of the Middle East.

PERSONAL COMPUTERS - Wall Street Journal article: "Demand for PCs Falters" (April 14, 2011). In the first quarter of 2011 the worldwide demand of PCs declined again according to the analysts of the technology market.
Our Comment: Today digital tablets and smart-phones are giving flexible alternatives to the PC users who really don't need strong data processing functions. We think this is one of the factors that are pushing the demand of the PCs down.

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 38.22 points or 0.35% to 12341.83. Nasdaq Composite fell 15.77 points or 0.57% in the same period, to end at 2764.65.

In summary, during the last week, in the United States, the 2011 federal budget continued at the top of the news. Now the subject is increasing the debt ceiling of the federal budget.

Other important topic was the American intervention in the Libyan's air attack of the Col. Gadhafi positions. Again President Obama talked in public about the U.S. policy toward Libya and the rest of the Middle East.

Republicans and Democrats began the new campaigns for the 2012 election. Mitt Romney announced his intention to run for president. It is the second time that the former Massachusetts' governor will try to get the seat in the White House as a new Republican president.

On the international side, new incidents across the Arab world (Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Lybia, Bahrain...), the growing problem of the African refugees, and the radiation of the Japanese nuclear accident were also important topics of the news.

During the last weekend a lot of people across the world traveled for their Easter week vacation. In different countries of Europe the children will not go to the school during the next few days. Meanwhile, train stations and airports are full of travelers.

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
- austerity = austeridad
- bunker = refugio
- control tower = torre de control
- Greece, Greek = Grecia, griego, griega
- hard-disk = disco duro
- Iran, Iranian = Irán, iraní (m/f)
- Libya, Libyan = Libia, libio, libia
- refugee = refugiado 
- Syria, Syrian = Siria, sirio, siria
- warplane, warplanes = avión de guerra, aviones de guerra

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

hanks to Anne, Bob, Erika, Joseph, Stephanie, and Suzanne for your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.
 

Easter's decoration in European train station 

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.

Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to the first online communication from the Spanish English Club in April 2011. The new issue of the Weekly Bilingual News introduces 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.

RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM – WSJ - Journal Community Question: "What should we learn from, and how should we respond to, religious extremism such as the March 20 Florida Quran-burning and the resulting killings in the Islamic world?" (April 4, 2011). "In Afghanistan on Friday, people incensed by the recent Quran-burning ceremony by the Rev. Terry Jones over ran the United Nations office in the northern Afghanistan's largest city, killing at least seven foreigners and several Afghans, according to U.N. and Afghan officials."
Our Answer: "We cannot change the attitude of political or religious leaders with extremist ideas, but we can try to diminish the effects of their actions with an educative message about why we have to respect other religions and cultures. Always the violence creates more violence. The History shows us that the political and religious extremisms generate violence. Definitively, we have to isolate all kinds of extremism with a clear and resolute opposition." And about the Muslims: "We agree with you that frequently the Muslims are aggressive against the beliefs of others. We felt the violence in our skin, traveling through Muslims countries, but we learned we cannot generate more violence and this is the only way to stop the sickness of the extremism. It is similar to stopping the attack from a "dog" without a bite. The extremists act like "dogs" that never learned to respect the freedoms of others. Of course, it is a hard process for the reeducation of people that enjoy the violence because they are also victims of the violence."

2012 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN – An article of The Washington Post written by the journalist Dan Balz and titled: "2012 GOP presidential candidates confront a changing landscape" (April 3, 2011) says: "This is not an easy time for Republicans who are thinking of running for president in 2012. Whatever assumptions about the road ahead that may have existed a few months ago suddenly look more complicated, because of unfolding events here and abroad.

Our Comment: "Today, the landscape is more complex than before the midterm elections because now the Republicans are sharing some responsibilities with the White House in domestic and international issues, till now without clear definitions about the new budget. Additionally, military forces of the United States are involved in Libya, a volcano in total eruption."

TYRANNIES FALLING – Wall Street Journal story written by Bari Weiss and titled: "Opinion: 'The Tyrannies Are Doomed" (April 2 2011) comments that the scholar of the Middle East Bernard Lewis is optimist for the political changes in the Arab and Muslim countries, but "he says the U.S. should not push for quick, Western-style elections."

Our Comment: "We agree with Bernard Lewis that it is positive the Arab and Muslim countries are seeking democratic changes. But we cannot push countries ruled by tyrannies for decades into bloody revolutions. These countries have to learn the ABC's of freedom and democracy gradually. They have to develop their own political movements and develop political leaders with the capacity to create new democracies according to their own cultures and traditions. It is not possible that these new leaders become masters in politics in a short time when during years they have only seen the bars of the jail and the boots of their wardens."

EMPLOYMENT RECOVERY – WSJ Journal Community question: "How would you describe the recovery? Economists thought the jobless rate would unchanged at 8.9%, but March hiring was stronger than expected. Where are we in the recovery? Are recent gains sustainable?" (April 1 2011).

Our Answer: "Till now, the recovery is a slow and painful walk over through a path with a lot of obstacles, taking weak steps in the middle of a dense fog."

GOOGLE IN CHINA – Wall Street Journal story: "Google Losing Ground in China" (March 31, 2011) comments the businesses of Google are declined in China.

Our Comment: "I never discussed whether Google committed mistakes in its relationship with the Chinese regime, but the Free World knows the practices of China are not uniform. The Chinese authorities use the foreign resources as the owners of those resources, but they don't balance the rules about internal and external competition with the same eye. The Communist Party continues pointing its preferences in an excessive way in a country that wants to share the same seats of the countries of the Free World."

LIBYAN DEFECTOR – Wall Street Journal story: "Foreign Minister Resigns His Post, in Blow to Regime" (March 29, 2011) comments the Libyan Foreign Minister Mr. Koussa resigned and flew to London.

Our Comment: "It is positive that members of the Libyan regime leave Col. Moammar Gadhafi's government, but till now it is early to applaud. We have to observe the movements on Tripoli and other Libyan territory without cheering. We know the Libyan dictator is a clever fox always with new tricks in his hands… We have our doubts Mr. Koussa left Col. Gadhafi because he changed his mind about his boss. Probably there is other business behind the scenes that we don't know."

The main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the positive territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 156.13 points or 1.28% to 12376.72. Nasdaq Composite grew 46.54 points or 1.70% in the same period, to end at 2789.60. This was the second week that both indexes climbed after negative results.

In summary, during the last few days, the air strikes of the ally forces against Libyan targets were at the top of the headlines of newspapers and TV. President Obama defended the US intervention with other countries of NATO. Meanwhile, the radiations of the Japanese nuclear plant continued at the side of the news showing the fears of the world for the direct and indirect effects of this problem.

On Friday April 1, the US Labor Department published the Job Report of March showing some improvement in the employment side during the previous month. The non-farm payrolls rose by 216,000, but till now there are about 13.5 million people who would like to work, but without success in their job searching. In the United States, the economy continued to add jobs at a continued pace in March, moving down the unemployment rate to its lowest level in two years, and edged down to 8.8% last month.

Despite the good news about jobs and the economy recovery, analysts and other observers continued remarking that a lot of people will never return to their previous jobs, because the economic conditions are changing and some businesses are dead or declining. Additionally, a TV panel from PBS commented about the difficulties of the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to find positions in the civilian world. Everybody remarks the merit of US soldiers fighting abroad but the companies don't open the doors to the veterans that are returning to the country.

Sunday night some rumors from the press commented in advance that President Obama is launching his re-election campaign for the 2012 elections. On the same night, the German liberal politician Guido Westerwelle announced he is resigning as Vice Chancellor of Germany and the chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), victim of the disaster his party suffered in the regional elections of the previous weekend when the Green Party shook the political apparatus of the European country as consequence of the radiations of the Japanese nuclear plant damaged during the last tsunami in the Asian region.

Last-minute: President Barack Obama launched his re-election campaign elections in a video on his website. Days before, the political journalist Gwen Ifill in the web pages of PBS posted an article titled: "Iowa, I Hear You Calling" writing:"AMES, Iowa.  I have this little theory that has long served me well. Everything, I believe, is politics. Politics determines whether your children go to school or to jail; whether they eat or starve; whether their futures will improve on your past. This is why I love politics and don't mind politicians. So it is with no small amount of anticipation that I look forward to the 2012 campaign." Our Comment: Gwen, Why do you point to Iowa, thinking about the 2012 campaign? From now to voting time, we will live through a lot of facts in the domestic and international arenas. And depending on all these new issues, the politicians will have to fight hard in many different battle fields. You cannot accelerate the time…You cannot define today when and where the future will take place. "

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:

- abroad = en el extranjero, al extranjero
- Afghanistan, Afghan = Afganistan, afgano, afgana

- ally, allies = aliado, aliados

- airstrikes, air strikes = bombardeo aéreo
- assumption = presunción, suposición
- bars = rejas
- belief = fe, creencia
- bite = mordedura, morder
- bloody = sangriento, sangrienta, sangrientos, sangrientas
- budget = presupuesto
- confront = hacer frente a, enfrentarse con
- defector = desertor, desertora

- diminish = disminuir - extremism = extremismo
- eruption = erupción
- gradually = paulatinamente
- incensed = indignada, encolerizada

- Islam = Islam - isolate = aislar 
- jail = cárcel 
- landscape = paisaje
- Libya, Libyan = Libia, libio, libia

- Muslim = musulmán, musulmana
- opposition = oposición
- Quran = Corán
- revolution = revolución
- scholar = erudito/a, sabio/a

- starve = pasar hambre
- tyranny, tyrannies = tiranía, tiranías

- volcano = volcán
- warden = guardia, guardián, guardiana

SPECIAL VOCABULARY

- GOP: Grand Old Party (Republican)
- Islam: monotheistic religion that believes in Allah (Alá) and begins with the teaching of the profet Muhammad (profeta Mahoma).
- Quran (Qur'an, Kuran, Koran, Coran): religious book of the Islam

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

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

Dead businesses - Lost jobs