Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to a new edition of the Weekly Bilingual News! In this issue you will find a brief analysis about how the world was running during the last few days from the perspective of our comments posted in different blogs.

Last week began on Monday June 6 with the Worldwide Developers Conference of Apple where Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of the company, introduced the eighth major release of Mac OS X (Lion), iOS 5 (advanced mobile operating system for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) and iCloud (first Apple's cloud computing services).

In Peru, Ollanta Humala defeated to Keiko Fujimori in a second round for the presidency of the nation. Ollanta Humala is a former army officer who led a rebellion like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Keiko Fujimori was the "first lady" of the Peruvian President, his father Alberto Fujimori.

Meanwhile, in New York, from Monday to Friday, the Wall Street markets continued its decline amid of  the negative reactions to the speech of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke and the worries about the economic recovery of the country. Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on Friday under the mark of 12000. For the week, DJIA lost more than 1.5 percent adn Nasdaq Composite fell 3 percent.

In Washington, President Obama received the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a meeting that smoothed differences over Libya action between the United States and Germany and opened the doors for new ways of cooperation across the Atlantic. The White House honored to Dr. Angela Merkel with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Hours later upon the return of Ms. Merkel to Europe, Wolfang Schäule, financial minister of Germany revealed his new financial plan to help Greece that try to reduce the risks of a collapse of the euro and European Union.

NATO COMMITMENT

Next, in a quasi perfect sequence of crucial speeches, the U.S. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates criticized the members of NATO who didn't have ammunition and resources to participate together in the Libyan bombing.

About the problems of the North Atlantic Alliance we wrote the following comment: "Before his departure, the U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made his best contribution to his nation by showing the current picture of NATO in a speech that will be memorable. By the way, after three months of campaign in Libya, the forces of the alliance remind us the battles of the Crusaders of Middle Ages to conquer Jerusalem. Is it possible to achieve military goals without coordination and the poverty of resources?" (PBS NewsHour, Analysis Air Date: June 10, 2011, "After Gates' Blunt Warning, What's Next for NATO?")

Originally NATO was created with the intention of protecting the countries of Western Europe against possible attacks of the Soviet Union and its partners. Today the military alliance includes 28 members: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Rep, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.

During the last decade, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization grew a lot in the number of members, but it has lost stature. The difficulties to implement the Libyan operation – Operation Unified Protector - show coordination and economic problems among the allies. Due to this new scenario, it is time the United States rethinks its commitment to the alliance.

OTHER SUBJECTS

PAKISTANI HUMILIATION: On June 10, Wall Street Journal posted a story titled: "Pakistani Army Pleads for Respect" by Matthew Rosenberg, Tom Wright and Zarid Hussain, where the authors comment the negative reactions of Pakistani army and population about the United States continue.
Our Comment: "Nobody gives billions of dollars as a gift. Of course, the American commando operation humiliated the Pakistani army. But why did Pakistan accepted the money if they didn't want to apprehend Osama bin Laden?"

THE FACES OF FACEBOOK: On June 9, Wall Street Journal posted a story titled: "Facebook Again in Spotlight on Privacy" by Geoffrey A. Fowler and Christopher Lawton that explains Facebook is using a face recognition technique to identify people in photos of its website.
Our Comment: "We think Facebook is an innovative company that is making important contributions for developing of social networks. But we also have concerns about the intrusive techniques Facebook uses frequently against the interests of its members. For example, we don't like that somebody wants to push us more than where we want to goin our social connections. By the way, usually, Facebook sends messages with statements like this: "a friend is waiting for you", but when we enter to the system we don't find a friend waiting for us. They want to push us to contact people who we don't know and we don't have any interest to know."

ECONOMIC RECOVERY: On June 8, Journal Community of WSJ asked to its members the following question: "Do you think the U.S. economic recovery will strengthen in the second half of 2011?"
Our Opinion: "We don't perceive symptoms of economic recovery for the second half of 2011. With more than 14 million people out of work, an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, the high gasoline prices and a lot of people working for less than 7 dollars anhour it is not possible to make a trustworthy forecast. Ben Bernanke plays with all the math formulas of the Federal Reserve from before the 2008 crisis, but in three years he hasn't show sufficient efforts to rebuild the finances of the country. Additionally, politicians from both parties continue discussing if they should cut taxes or create higher stimulus packages without a rational plan. It is tough to recognize that nobody in Washington experiences the hunger of the people who wait near restaurants to eat the food that others didn't eat. Also it is offensive that our politicians don't think sensitively about Americans who fight abroad or in the country as volunteers, while there are lawmakers who have time for chatting pornography and more."

CHINESE MOMENTUM: On June 7, Wall Street Journal posted a story titled: "Chinese Companies Embark on Shopping Spree in Europe" by John W. Miller says Chinese are looking for top European food companies after acquisitions in other industrial sectors like Volvo and the IBM PC unit.
Our Comment: "Chinese know that for conquering the world they need the best brands, the best products, the best companies and the expertise in businesses from Americans and Europeans. With money they can make excellent acquisitions in the moment that U.S. and Europe are in crisis."

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:

- acquisition = adquisición

- ammunition = municiones

- brand, brands = marca, marcas

- chat, chatting = charlar, charlando

- China, Chinese = China, chino, china

- cloud computing = computación nube

- crucial = decisivo

- Crusader, Crusaders = Cruzado, Cruzados

- embark = embarcarse

- food = comida, alimentos

- Greece, Greek = Grecia, griego, griega

- Holy Land = Tierra Santa

- humilition = humillación

- Jerusalem = Jerusalén

- Libya, Libyan = Libia, libio, libia

- Middle Ages = Edad Media

- momentum = momento

- operating system = sistema operativo

- Pakistan, Pakistani = Paquistán, paquistaní (m/f)

- Peru, Peruvian = Perú, peruano, peruana

- pornography = pornografía

- quasi = cuasi

- remind = recordar

- Soviet Union = Unión Soviética

- speech, speeches = discurso, discursos

- stature = estatura

SPECIAL VOCABULARY - VOCABULARIO ESPECIAL

. Crusaders: Warriors of the Crusades, the military campaigns to take the control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

. Face recognition: technology to recognize human faces in photos and pictures.

. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

. Tripoli: In Arab, its name is Tarabulus al Gharb, also known as the Western Tripoli.

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

Thanks to Bev, Bob, Erika, Mary, Paul, and Stephanie your messages about the previous Weekly Bilingual News.

Sources: Apple Press website, NATO website, Wall Street Journal, PBS NewsHour, Barron's Online, New York Times, Think Tank of Comlab, others.

Weekly Bilingual News

Dear Friends:

Hello! Welcome to a new issue of the Weekly Bilingual News! This is the first communication of June 2011 with a brief analysis and comments about the news of the last few days.

May ended with a lot of concerns about the economy of the country: manufacturing production, inflation, jobs and the bad performance of the Wall Street market across the last five weeks.

After the trip of President Obama through Europe where he talked with world leaders about how to help Egypt, Tunisia and the countries involved in the Arab Spring, his next step was to visit Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado hit complete families of Americans who also need help and assistance. With this frame, the first days of June began full of skepticism. Economists, investors, and jobless people showed worries for the negative conditions the United States are living through.

ECONOMY  & JOBS

On June 1st, Wall Street Journal posted a story titled: "May Data Indicate Slowdown" where the author explained the slowdown of the manufacturing sector and how industry again shows symptoms of less demand of cars and other products.

Our comment: "The US economy cannot improve if the manufacturing sector doesn't generate jobs. The growth of industrial production is one of the most important factors for job creation".

A day later, on June 2, also Wall Street Journal posted another story but about the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index titled: "DJIA Drops 279.65 on Economy Worry".

Our Comment: "The economy worry is real. Since 2008, we were pessimist about the trends of the economy in the US. Meanwhile, in 2010, others celebrated the apparent economic recovery of the nation. Our thesis is: the productive and R&D sectors are the main engines of modern economies. How many US manufacturing plants were opened in the last three years? How many old factories were re-opened? How many R&D labs were moved abroad? Additionally, how many American companies are assembling products with 99% of supplies made China, Vietnam or other countries?"

On Friday, June 3, the US Labor Department published the May's job figures that include a net of 54000 new jobs and the climb of the unemployment rate from 9 percent to 9.1 percent. Private employers hired 80000 new workers, but the manufacturing sector and the government eliminate positions. According to different sources, the expectations of the economic analysts were higher than the numbers published by the government.

On the same day, the TV program NewsHour of PBS, analyzed the U.S. unemployment report for May with the participation of Lisa Lynch of Brandeis University and Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors and the coordination of the journalist Judy Woodruff. The analysis was titled: "'Utterly Disappointing' May Jobs Report: Why Aren't Businesses Hiring?"

Our Comment: "During the past decade, American companies moved complete production lines abroad, looking for cheap manpower. Then a high percentage of the productive infrastructure was dilapidated. Since that moment, the domestic manufacturing industry assembles from computers to cars with a high level of imported parts. Additionally, the software makers went to India, East Europe, Russia and other places to hire professionals with excellent background but less expensive. Meanwhile the services sector grew with numbers of fantasy: more salesmen for houses, cars and papers for the past times of richness. In 2008, all the curves of growth for the services sector fell abruptly. Now, also the government is cutting positions of teachers and others. With this panorama, the potential margins for improving the employment indexes are small. The phenomenon cannot reverse itself in a short time. The disappointments will continue."

On Saturday, June 4, Wall Street Journal made a new evaluation of the fall of the economy in May and the impact in the stock market: "Economy Point Down, Takes Market With It". Our Comment: "The investors of Wall Street are realizing that the optimistic economic forecasts and speeches of the politicians and economists were not true. The "engines" of the American economy are exhausted."

OTHER COMMENTS:

CHINESE HUMAN RIGHTS: On June 4, Wall Street Journal posted a story titled: "Thousands Rally in Hong Kong for Human Rights" about the protest through the streets of Hong Kong against the oppression of the Chinese regime.

Our Comment: "We cannot expect the human-rights-movements to advance fast across China. The Communist Party worked for decades to procreate androids that only follow the orders of their leaders. Of course, like any dictatorship regime, there are people who have their own minds and fight to express their ideas of freedom and human rights. But the western countries will not help these people because nobody wants to damage their pocketbooks. Today everybody has businesses with the Chinese without caring a lot about what happens in the jails of China."

CUCUMBERS, TOMATOES, LETTUCE...: On June 3, Wall Street Journal published a story titled "E. coli Crisis Intensifies". Its subject: the food problems across Europe and the people who died in Germany due to bacterial infections till to be determined. In the beginning, medical institutions said the cucumbers and tomatoes imported from Spain have bacteria that produce sickness in the people who eat these farm products. After the complaint of Spanish agricultural authorities, the German labs denied the first news.

Our Comment: "Everybody talks about the bacterial infections but nobody knows from where the sickness comes and how many products are contaminated. In the middle of this chaos, a new European war began against cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce. A new factor of discord for the EU!"

NOKIA'S MISFORTUNE: On June 2, Wall Street Journal posted a story titled: "Nokia's Latest Headache: Android" where the author comments the sales of Nokia are falling dramatically. The mobile phone leader thinks the devices of the Android platform from Google are damaging its business.

Our Comment: "From the throne of the king of the mobile phone market, Nokia didn't see the path of the evolution of the technology. After that, when it woke up, it refused to follow the route of the new software leaders and signed an agreement with Microsoft, another loser of the phone business. Now, it continues losing ground without taking any heroic action. The last IDC's reports show that in Western Europe, Samsung surpassed it in the segment of mobile phone and Apple in the niche of smart-phones. Android is not the problem, the problem is the sickness of Nokia."

WEEK SUMMARY

Again the main indexes of Wall Street closed the week in the negative territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 290.32 points or 2.33% to 12151.26, while Nasdaq Composite fell 64.08 points or 2.29% to end at 2732.78. This was the fifth consecutive week that Dow Jones fell.

In the week, Japan was news because the Prime Minister Naoto Kan has lost the confidence of the Parliament. During the last few years, due to corruption cases and other unclear issues, Japan was changing its prime ministers continuously. Now the earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster shook again the weak foundation of the political apparatus. We think the Japanese political institutions don't work properly due to different factors: corruption, shortage of political leaders, and maybe fatigue of the system.

Google accused China for a cyber-attack of important electronic accounts of Gmail. The Chinese government refused the accusations, while the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the hackers that are making the Internet unsafe. In separate note, the Pentagon affirmed that any cyber-attack against American government institutions will be consider from now an act of war and it will repel aggressively.

In the Arab world, the bombing of the Presidential Palace of Yemen and the trip of the President Ali Abdullah Salen to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment produced big commotion and important interrogations about the future of country. The Yemeni President was injured in the attack but nobody knows about his health and the level of his wounds.

In the frame of the political campaign for the U.S. 2012 presidential elections, the former Mass governor Mitt Romney announced he is running for the GOP presidential nomination. Till now it is not clear if Sarah Palin will join the list of Republican candidates.

In the technology arena, the Chinese PC maker Lenovo announced the acquisition of German PC maker Medion with the intention to extend its presence across the European region. In 2005, Lenovo bought the PC unit of IBM and its famous notebook ThinkPad plus all the technology developed by IBM for mobile computers. According to the IDC report, in the first quarter 2011 quarter, the Chinese maker grew 16.3% worldwide compared with a year ago and shipping 8,172,000 computers.

In other news, Apple anticipated details of the 2011 Worldwide Developer Conference from June 6, where Steve Jobs and his team are introducing new hardware and software: the new operating system Lion, iCloud – cloud computing services - and software for Macintosh, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

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:

- android, androids = androide, androides

- apparent = aparente

- assemble = armar, ensamblar, montar, fabricar

- assistance = asistencia

- cloud computing = computación nube

- cloud computing services = servicios de computación nube

- concern = preocupación

- cucumber, cucumbers = pepino, pepinos

- damage = dañar

- data = datos

- dilapidated = desmoronado, desmoronada, desvencijado, desvencijada

- economy = economía

- engine, engines = motor, motores

- exhausted = agotado, agotada

- frame = marco

- forecast = pronóstico

- former = anterior

- hit = golpe, golpear

- human rights = derechos humanos

- intensify, intensifies = intensificar, intensifica

- investor = inversor

- jail, jails = cárcel, cárceles

- job, jobs = trabajo, trabajos, empleo, empleos

- jobless = sin trabajo

- lettuce = lechuga, lechugas

- manpower = mano de obra

- misfortune = desgracia

- notebook = computador portátil

- operating system = sistema operativo, sistema operacional

- outcome = resultado

- parts = partes, piezas

- pessimist = pesimista

- pockets = bolsillos

- rally = mitin, manifestación

- realize = darse cuenta

- speeches = discursos

- skepticism = escepticismo

- supply, supplies = suministro, suministros

- symptom, symptoms = síntoma, síntomas

- system = sistema

- thesis = tesis

- tomato, tomatoes = tomate, tomates

- utterly = completamente, totalmente

 - war = guerra

SPECIAL VOCABULARY - VOCABULARIO ESPECIAL

DJIA: Dow Jones Industrial Average

IDC: International Data Corporation

MEMBERS AND LIBRARY CORNER

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

The manufacturing sector depends of imported parts.

Sources and references: Wall Street Journal, PBS, Barron's Online, New York Times, Think Tank of Comlab, others.

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.

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.

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.