How NYC uses Google Maps and Google Earth
miércoles 21 de enero de 2009
Obama Freezing Some Aides' Salaries
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Obama Celebrations Give Way to Presidential Realities
By Jim Malone Washington21 January 2009
Washington celebrated well into the night Tuesday following Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. But the celebrating quickly gave way to the reality of the problems and challenges facing the new president.
After a night of parties and inaugural balls, it was time for prayers offered for the new president at Washington's National Cathedral."Grant to Barack Obama, president of the United States, and to all in authority, your grace and goodwill," said the presiding clergyman.Mr. Obama even took time at one of the inaugural balls to tell ABC News that his administration's top priority will be economic recovery.
Iraq, Afghanistan top new president's agenda on first day But the new president is also poised to quickly confront the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to follow through on a campaign promise to eventually close down the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.In his Inaugural Address, Mr. Obama promised swift action on the challenges ahead. But mindful of opinion polls that show great expectations for his presidency, Mr. Obama also urged the public to be patient."Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many," said President Obama. "They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America, they will be met."
Critics say inaugural address did not live up to expectationsMr. Obama's speech was generally well-received. But there were some who felt the address did not quite live up to its expectations, given the new president's gift for political rhetoric.William Gavin wrote speeches for former President Richard Nixon."We are wearing out our presidents, expecting too much from them in this quest, this lust for eloquence, to be thrilled, to be inspired," Gavin said. "Listen, they have more to do than that."University of Maryland political scientist Ron Walters says Mr. Obama was right to try and tamp down public expectations for immediate success.Walters was a guest on VOA's Press Conference USA program."When one looks at the unprecedented basket of crises that he is going to inherit when he walks into the Oval Office, he is bound to fail on some of these," said Walters. "So I think what he has been trying to do is manage expectations to give people a realistic sense of what he could possibly achieve."Experts say Mr. Obama's ability to sway the public with his rhetoric will be an invaluable political asset, especially when it comes to convincing Congress to support his economic stimulus plan.Allan Lichtman is a presidential historian at American University in Washington."Congress is like Wall Street," said Allan Lichtman. "It operates on fear and greed. And if the people are with you, like they were with Franklin Roosevelt, Congress is likely to go along. Roosevelt used the technology of his time, the radio with his Fireside Chats. Obama has proven to be a master of modern technology - the Internet, YouTube, text messages - and he will use it."
Public expectations high about turning around economyFor the first time since Bill Clinton came into office in 1993, Democrats have a new president and have majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. That has also raised public expectations for quick action to turn around the weakened economy.But Mr. Clinton ran into difficulties in dealing with Congress, including some problems with some fellow Democrats.Scot Faulkner worked for President Ronald Reagan and later for House Republican leaders in the 1990's. Faulkner says President Obama will face similar challenges in dealing with congressional leaders from both parties."How much are Senator [Harry] Reid and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi going to be cooperative, but also assert that they are co-equal? How much are the Republicans going to give the new president a wide berth or try to lay the groundwork for their resurgence? asked Faulkner.Mr. Obama demonstrated considerable political skills in winning not only the presidency, but in defeating Hillary Clinton for Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Obama now faces different set of challengesAnalyst Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute says Mr. Obama now faces a different set of challenges as he goes about the task of governing the country. "He has raised his game to a level we rarely see in public life," said Ornstein. "Is it all going to work out? Can he sustain it at that level? That is the great question for all of us in terms of whether Obama becomes a great president."Mr. Obama begins his presidency with strong support in public opinion polls. But it remains to be seen how patient the public will be as the new president struggles with a weak economy and attempts to meet the pent up demand for political change after eight years of the Bush administration
AUDIO
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-21-voa46.cfm
http://www.usavotes2008.com/inauguration.php
By Jim Malone Washington21 January 2009
Washington celebrated well into the night Tuesday following Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. But the celebrating quickly gave way to the reality of the problems and challenges facing the new president.
After a night of parties and inaugural balls, it was time for prayers offered for the new president at Washington's National Cathedral."Grant to Barack Obama, president of the United States, and to all in authority, your grace and goodwill," said the presiding clergyman.Mr. Obama even took time at one of the inaugural balls to tell ABC News that his administration's top priority will be economic recovery.
Iraq, Afghanistan top new president's agenda on first day But the new president is also poised to quickly confront the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to follow through on a campaign promise to eventually close down the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.In his Inaugural Address, Mr. Obama promised swift action on the challenges ahead. But mindful of opinion polls that show great expectations for his presidency, Mr. Obama also urged the public to be patient."Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many," said President Obama. "They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America, they will be met."
Critics say inaugural address did not live up to expectationsMr. Obama's speech was generally well-received. But there were some who felt the address did not quite live up to its expectations, given the new president's gift for political rhetoric.William Gavin wrote speeches for former President Richard Nixon."We are wearing out our presidents, expecting too much from them in this quest, this lust for eloquence, to be thrilled, to be inspired," Gavin said. "Listen, they have more to do than that."University of Maryland political scientist Ron Walters says Mr. Obama was right to try and tamp down public expectations for immediate success.Walters was a guest on VOA's Press Conference USA program."When one looks at the unprecedented basket of crises that he is going to inherit when he walks into the Oval Office, he is bound to fail on some of these," said Walters. "So I think what he has been trying to do is manage expectations to give people a realistic sense of what he could possibly achieve."Experts say Mr. Obama's ability to sway the public with his rhetoric will be an invaluable political asset, especially when it comes to convincing Congress to support his economic stimulus plan.Allan Lichtman is a presidential historian at American University in Washington."Congress is like Wall Street," said Allan Lichtman. "It operates on fear and greed. And if the people are with you, like they were with Franklin Roosevelt, Congress is likely to go along. Roosevelt used the technology of his time, the radio with his Fireside Chats. Obama has proven to be a master of modern technology - the Internet, YouTube, text messages - and he will use it."
Public expectations high about turning around economyFor the first time since Bill Clinton came into office in 1993, Democrats have a new president and have majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. That has also raised public expectations for quick action to turn around the weakened economy.But Mr. Clinton ran into difficulties in dealing with Congress, including some problems with some fellow Democrats.Scot Faulkner worked for President Ronald Reagan and later for House Republican leaders in the 1990's. Faulkner says President Obama will face similar challenges in dealing with congressional leaders from both parties."How much are Senator [Harry] Reid and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi going to be cooperative, but also assert that they are co-equal? How much are the Republicans going to give the new president a wide berth or try to lay the groundwork for their resurgence? asked Faulkner.Mr. Obama demonstrated considerable political skills in winning not only the presidency, but in defeating Hillary Clinton for Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Obama now faces different set of challengesAnalyst Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute says Mr. Obama now faces a different set of challenges as he goes about the task of governing the country. "He has raised his game to a level we rarely see in public life," said Ornstein. "Is it all going to work out? Can he sustain it at that level? That is the great question for all of us in terms of whether Obama becomes a great president."Mr. Obama begins his presidency with strong support in public opinion polls. But it remains to be seen how patient the public will be as the new president struggles with a weak economy and attempts to meet the pent up demand for political change after eight years of the Bush administration
AUDIO
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-21-voa46.cfm
http://www.usavotes2008.com/inauguration.php
martes 9 de diciembre de 2008
Stock Market: The Business of Investing
I'm Phil Murray with Words and Their Stories, a program in Special English on the Voice of America. Today we tell about some American expressions that are commonly used in business.
Bells sound. Lighted messages appear. Men and women work at computers. They talk on the telephone. At times they shout and run around.
Bells sound. Lighted messages appear. Men and women work at computers. They talk on the telephone. At times they shout and run around.
This noisy place is a stock exchange. Here expert salespeople called brokers buy and sell shares of companies. The shares are known as stocks. People who own stock in a company, own part of that company.
People pay brokers to buy and sell stocks for them. If a company earns money, its stock increases in value. If the company does not earn money, the stock decreases in value.
Brokers and investors carefully watch for any changes on the Big Board. That is the name given to a list of stocks sold on the New York Stock Exchange.
Brokers and investors carefully watch for any changes on the Big Board. That is the name given to a list of stocks sold on the New York Stock Exchange.
The first written use of the word with that meaning was in a newspaper in Illinois in eighteen thirty-seven. It said: "The sales on the board were one thousand seven hundred dollars in American gold."
Investors and brokers watch the Big Board to see if the stock market is a bull market or a bear market. In a bear market, prices go down. In a bull market, prices go up.
Investors in a bear market promise to sell a stock in the future at a set price. But the investor does not own the stock yet. He or she waits to buy it when the price drops.
Investors in a bear market promise to sell a stock in the future at a set price. But the investor does not own the stock yet. He or she waits to buy it when the price drops.
The meaning of a bear market is thought to come from an old story about a man who sold the skin of a bear before he caught the bear. An English dictionary of the sixteen hundreds said, "To sell a bear is to sell what one has not."
Word experts dispute the beginnings of the word bull in the stock market. But some say it came from the long connection of the two animals -- bulls and bears -- in sports that were popular years ago in England.
Investors are always concerned about the possibility of a company failing. In the modern world, a company that does not earn enough profit is said to go belly up. A company that goes belly up dies like a fish. Fish turn over on their backs when they die. So they are stomach, or belly, up.
Stock market investors do not want that to happen to a company. They want a company whose stock they own to earn more profit than expected. This would sharply increase the value of the stock. Investors are hoping for a windfall.
The word windfall comes from England of centuries ago. There, poor people were banned from cutting trees in forests owned by rich land owners. But, if the wind blew down a tree, a poor person could take the wood for fuel. So a windfall is something wonderful that happens unexpectedly.
This Special English program, Words and Their Stories, was written by Jeri Watson. This is Phil Murray.
This Special English program, Words and Their Stories, was written by Jeri Watson. This is Phil Murray.
Finance-related terms like bull market, bear market, belly up and windfall. Transcript of radio broadcast: 20 April 2008
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Computer Terms: Ever Google Someone?
Hackers, bloggers and spam -- what does it all mean? Transcript of radio broadcast: 24 November 2007
Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
Computer technology has become a major part of people’s lives. This technology has its own special words. One example is the word mouse. A computer mouse is not a small animal that lives in buildings and open fields. It is a small device that you move around on a flat surface in front of a computer. The mouse moves the pointer, or cursor, on the computer screen.
Computer expert Douglas Engelbart developed the idea for the mouse in the early nineteen sixties. The first computer mouse was a carved block of wood with two metal wheels. It was called a mouse because it had a tail at one end. The tail was the wire that connected it to the computer.
Computer technology has become a major part of people’s lives. This technology has its own special words. One example is the word mouse. A computer mouse is not a small animal that lives in buildings and open fields. It is a small device that you move around on a flat surface in front of a computer. The mouse moves the pointer, or cursor, on the computer screen.
Computer expert Douglas Engelbart developed the idea for the mouse in the early nineteen sixties. The first computer mouse was a carved block of wood with two metal wheels. It was called a mouse because it had a tail at one end. The tail was the wire that connected it to the computer.
Using a computer takes some training. People who are experts are sometimes called hackers. A hacker is usually a person who writes software programs in a special computer language. But the word hacker is also used to describe a person who tries to steal information from computer systems.
Another well known computer word is Google, spelled g-o-o-g-l-e. It is the name of a popular search engine for the Internet. People use the search engine to find information about almost any subject on the Internet. The people who started the company named it Google because in mathematics, googol, spelled g-o-o-g-o-l, is an extremely large number. It is the number one followed by one hundred zeros.
When you Google a subject, you can get a large amount of information about it. Some people like to Google their friends or themselves to see how many times their name appears on the Internet.
If you Google someone, you might find that person’s name on a blog. A blog is the shortened name for a Web log. A blog is a personal Web page. It may contain stories, comments, pictures and links to other Web sites. Some people add information to their blogs every day. People who have blogs are called bloggers.
Blogs are not the same as spam. Spam is unwanted sales messages sent to your electronic mailbox. The name is based on a funny joke many years ago on a British television show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Some friends are at an eating place that only serves a processed meat product from the United States called SPAM. Every time the friends try to speak, another group of people starts singing the word SPAM very loudly. This interferes with the friends’ discussion – just as unwanted sales messages interfere with communication over the Internet.
This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.
This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.
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