The king of pop

MICHAEL JACKSON

Michael Jackson was a very controversial public figure while he was alive. However, it is undeniable that his music was so good that millions of people loved it. Today, we want to present a short biography of this great singer.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29th, 1958 in Gary, Indiana (Died June 25th, 2009). He was an American recording artist, entertainer and businessman. He was the seventh child of the Jackson Family, and made his debut on the professional music scene in 1968 as a member of The Jackson 5.

He began a solo career in 1971 and was referred to as the King of Pop in subsequent years. Jackson's album Thriller (1982) was the best album of that year, and it remains the as the best selling album in history. In addition, other four solo albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off the wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and History (1995).

In the early 1980s, he became a very important figure in pop and he was the first African American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of some of his music videos such as “Beat it”, “Billie Jean” and “Thriller" transformed the music video from a promotional tool into an art form. In fact, thanks to Jackson’s videos, MTV gained a lot of audiences. Videos such as “Black or White” and “Scream” made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk.

Michael Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. Also he obtained multiple Guinness World Records like for example "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time", 13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career, and the sale of 750 million records worldwide.

Michael Jackson became a very rich man, and he shared some of his fortune with others. He donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his foundations, charity singles, and support of 39 charities.

It is not a secret to anybody that his changing appearances and eccentric behavior, generated significant controversy which damaged his public image. The singer had experienced health concerns since the early 1990s along with conflicting reports regarding the state of his finances since the late 1990s. Jackson married twice and brought up three children, actions which caused further controversy. Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse in 1993, but the investigation was closed due to lack of evidence and Jackson was not charged.

On June 25, 2009, Jackson was found unconscious in his bed by his personal physician and was taken to a Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm PDT (21:26 UTC) on the same day. At the time of his death, he was preparing and rehearsing for This Is It, a series of 50 concerts that would have been held in London beginning July 13, 2009.

The Middle East

Last week we published some information about Iran, which is a country that is part of the Middle East. However, what do we know about the Middle East? Why does it have that name? What countries do actually make it up? The information that we want to post this week will answer these questions.


The Middle East is a region that is located from southwestern Asia to northeastern Africa. It has no clear limits, and it is often used as a synonym to Near East, in contrast to Far East.

The term "Middle East" became bery popular at around 1950 in the United kingdom. It possibly originated in the British India Office (see http://flagspot.net/flags/in-colon.html), and became more widely known and used after the American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan popularized the term in an artcile that he wrote for National Review (a British journal). During the 1850's the British and the Russian were fighting for controlling Central Asia, and Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf. In fact, it was him the one who labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East, and said that the Suez Canal was the most important passage for Britain to keep the Russians away.

The history of the Middle East dates back to very old times, and throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs. The Middle East is also the historical origin of three of the world’s major monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Isalm. The Middle East generally has a dry and hot climate, with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agricultural activities in limited areas. This region is very rich and important because it has many countries located around the Persin Gulf which have large quantities of crude oil.



To see the countries that make the Middle East follow this link:www.mideastweb.org/countries.htm

Iran, what do we know about it?

The name Iran is a cognate of Aryan, and means "Land of the Aryans".

Iran is officially known as the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, until 1935, it was known as Persia. Iran is a country in Central Euroasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts, but Iran is the only name used in political contexts. The official religion is Shia Islam and Persiab is the official language.

Iran is 18th largest country in the world in terms of area (at 1,648,195 km²), and has a population of over seventy million. It is a country that has a very strategic geographical position because of its central location in Euroasia: It borders on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan; it neighbors Kazakhastan and Russia on the north. Also, Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman , and on the west by Turkey and Iraq.

The capital city of Iran is Tehran. It is the biggest and largest city in the country, and the most important one. In fact, Tehran is the political, cultural, commercial, and industrial heart of the nation.

Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran is a very rich country, but unfortunately many of its citizens are rather poor. A minority controls most of the money that comes into the country, and the distribution of it is not really fair. Its political system is based on a Constitution that was written in 1979 , which comprises several intricately connected governing bodies, and the highest state authority is the Supreme Leader.

Iran has been the home of many of the world's oldest major civilizations (dating back more than 5000 years). For example, the first Iranian dynasty formed during the Elamitge kingdomin 2800 BC. The Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the Persian Language and culture throughout the Iranina plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids and Samanids (among others). The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicien, asronomy, mathematics and art became major elements of Muslim civilization and started with the Saffarids and Samanids.

As we can see, this country has a long and rich history. Yet, what have seen in the news in the last week or so has shown us a country that seems to have a lot of political issues. But why? What’s the matter? Is the strict control that the government has on people that has led to the turmoil that we have watched on the news? Is it the oppression on their women? Is it the corruption of the politicians? If you want to know more about Iran we strongly recommend to watch Persepolis (it is a cartoon, but it is not ANY cartoon), and to visit http://www.aawsat.com/english/ and http://www.iran-daily.com/

Part of this text has been adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran

Planning to study abroad?

STUDYING ABROAD

Going to study in a different country is a great opportunity not only to improve your language level, but also to get to know people from around the world, experience other ways of education, and become familiar with other cultures. If you want to go abroad, you have to fight for your dreams; just remember: when there's a will, there's a way.

Here you have the list of the top ten universities in the world:


1. Harvard University, USA: http://www.harvard.edu/













2. Yale University, USA: http://www.yale.edu/













3. University of Cambridge, UK: http://www.cam.ac.uk/












4. University of Oxford, UK: http://www.ox.ac.uk/












5. California Institute of Technology, USA: http://www.caltech.edu/














6. Imperial College London, UK: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/












7. University College London, UK: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/














8. The University of Chicago, USA: http://www.uchicago.edu/













9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA: http://web.mit.edu/













10. Columbia University, USA: www.columbia.edu/