First and Only Springsteen's Full Performance of The River Album

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played The River in its wholeness for the first time ever on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. Full album performances aren't new to the Boss and his band in their current look-like-a-farewell-tour. They have played The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, Born to Run a couple of times, Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born in the USA, but The River, Springsteen's 1980 20 song-83 minute-double album, didn't seem to fit in this full album performances thing. Actually the Boss said just right before starting The River segment: 'Just this one time! Too long to do it again!'. So lucky all of us that where at MSG on Sunday night. We will never forget it.

Set List, November 8, 2009, New York, Madison Square Garden

China, Most Successful Development Story in World History

On Wednesday it was known that the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission has finally allowed Shanghai, China's biggest city, and Disney to work on the construction of the amusement park that will be located in Pundong, the city's eastern district. The building of the park park, that is expected to be much larger than the one in Hong Kong, will imply one of the largest-ever foreign investments in China, near $4 billion.

The very same day, the World Bank raised its forecast for growth in China. The institution expects the Chinese economy to grow 8.4 percent this year, according to its latest quarterly review of the country, up from the 7.2 percent it forecast in June, and predicts growth of 8.7 percent next year.

Good excuses to take a look at some facts that make China the giant, colossus, titan and behemoth of the present and the future. You may know most of them, but others might surprise you.

China is the most populous country in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population. It is also the country with more land borders, 14, of the world: Afghanistan, Buthan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Vietnam.

The tallest building in the world is in Taipei, world's largest traded corporation is Chinese and world's largest Ferris wheel is in Singapure. Number one casino in the world is in Macao, which has also overtaken Las Vegas in annual gambling revenues. Even world's biggest mall is in Beijing.

China has grown over 9% a year for almost 30 years, the fastest rate for a major economy in recorded history. During the same period, it has moved around 400 million people out of poverty, the largest reduction that has taken place anywhere, anytime. Two examples: while in 1978, the country made 200 air conditioners, in 2005, it made 48 million; China exports today in a single day more than it exported in all of 1978. Last data: China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. public debt.*

As Jeffrey Sachs says 'China is the most successful development story in the world history'.

*Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World

End of Beckham Law, End of Top Stars in La Liga?

Six out of the ten highest-paid football players this season, in terms of net salary per year, shine in the Spanish League:

Ronaldo - Real Madrid, 13 million euros
Messi - Barcelona, 11 million euros
Kaká - Real Madrid, 9,5 million euros
Ibrahímovic - Barcelona, 9,5 million euros
Robinho - Manchester City, 9,4 million euros
Tévez - Manchester City, 8,8 million euros
Adebayor - Manchester City, 8,8 million euros
Benzemá - Real Madrid, 8,5 million euros
Henry - Barcelona, 7,5 million euros
John Terry - Chelsea, 7,5 million euros

The main reason for this is the Beckham law. Back in 2003, coinciding with the signing of David Beckham for Real Madrid, Spanish government decided to lower to 24% the taxes for foreign jobholders earning over 600,000 euros-a-year, in order to attrack high qualified workers such as top scientists and investigators. This measure has had the greatest impact not in labs but in fields: Beckham law has encourage to arrive to la Liga the best football international players that in other European leagues would have to pay higher taxes: 50% in the Premier League (since April), 45% in the Bundesliga, 43% in the Serie A, 40% in the French Ligue and 30% in the Dutch Eredivisie 40%.

But this Beckham law seems to have an expiration date. From next year on, higher salarys will have to pay higher taxes. Fortunately for Ronaldo, Messi, Kaká, Ibrahímovic and their clubs it won't be applied retrospectively.

Yankees Top the World Series with 27 Wins

The New York Yankees have won tonight, their 27 World Series championship in Game 6 against the Philadelphia Phillies. The teams split the two games at Yankee Stadium before the series shifted to Philadelphia, where the Yankees won Game 3 and Game 4 before the Phillies took Game 5 on Monday night.

The Yankees hold the best and the worst of the Fall Classic: they have played in 40 of the 104 World Series and have won 27 Series, the most of any Major League franchise, but because of this frequent appearances, they have also lost 13 championships, more than any other club. With most World Series appearances, wins and losses, aren't the Yanks worldest?

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=27158131-ace5-4ae7-a2b0-5a0d24070457&from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral" target="_new" title="Highlights: World Series Game 6">Video: Highlights: World Series Game 6</a>

Baseball World Series Winners:

Year	National League	American League
1903	Pittsburgh Pirates	Boston Pilgrims
1904	n/a	n/a
1905	New York Giants	Philadelphia Athletics
1906	Chicago Cubs	Chicago White Sox
1907	Chicago Cubs	Detroit Tigers
1908	Chicago Cubs	Detroit Tigers
1909	Pittsburgh Pirates	Detroit Tigers
1910	Chicago Cubs	Philadelphia Athletics
1911	New York Giant	Philadelphia Athletics
1912	New York Giant	Boston Red Sox
1913	New York Giants	Philadelphia Athletic
1914	Boston Braves	Philadelphia Athletics
1915	Philadelphia Phillies	Boston Red Sox
1916	Brooklyn Robins	Boston Red Sox
1917	New York Giants	Chicago White Sox
1918	Chicago Cubs	Boston Red Sox
1919	Cincinnati Reds	Chicago White Sox
1920	Brooklyn Robins	Cleveland Indians
1921	New York Giants	New York Yankees
1922	New York Giants	New York Yankees
1923	New York Giants	New York Yankees
1924	New York Giants	Washington Senators
1925	Pittsburgh Pirates	Washington Senators
1926	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Yankees
1927	Pittsburgh Pirates	New York Yankees
1928	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Yankees
1929	Chicago Cubs	Philadelphia Athletics
1930	St. Louis Cardinals	Philadelphia Athletics
1931	St. Louis Cardinals	Philadelphia Athletics
1932	Chicago Cubs	New York Yankees
1933	New York Giants	Washington Senators
1934	St. Louis Cardinals	Detroit Tigers
1935	Chicago Cubs	Detroit Tigers
1936	New York Giants	New York Yankees
1937	New York Giants	New York Yankees
1938	Chicago Cubs	New York Yankees
1939	Cincinnati Reds	New York Yankees
1940	Cincinnati Reds	Detroit Tigers
1941	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees
1942	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Yankees
1943	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Yankees
1944	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis Browns
1945	Chicago Cubs	Detroit Tigers
1946	St. Louis Cardinals	Boston Red Sox
1947	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees
1948	Boston Braves	Cleveland Indians
1949	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees
1950	Philadelphia Phillies	New York Yankees
1951	New York Giants	New York Yankees
1952	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees
1953	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees
1954	New York Giants	Cleveland Indians
1955	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees
1956	Brooklyn Dodgers	New York Yankees
1957	Milwaukee Braves	New York Yankees
1958	Milwaukee Braves	New York Yankees
1959	Los Angeles Dodgers	Chicago White Sox
1960	Pittsburgh Pirates	New York Yankees
1961	Cincinnati Reds	New York Yankees
1962	San Francisco Giants	New York Yankees
1963	Los Angeles Dodgers	New York Yankees
1964	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Yankees
1965	Los Angeles Dodgers	Minnesota Twins
1966	Los Angeles Dodgers	Baltimore Orioles
1967	St. Louis Cardinals	Boston Red Sox
1968	St. Louis Cardinals	Detroit Tigers
1969	New York Mets	Baltimore Orioles
1970	Cincinnati Reds	Baltimore Orioles
1971	Pittsburgh Pirates	Baltimore Orioles
1972	Cincinnati Reds	Oakland Athletics
1973	New York Mets	Oakland Athletics
1974	Los Angeles Dodgers	Oakland Athletics
1975	Cincinnati Reds	Boston Red Sox
1976	Cincinnati Reds	New York Yankees
1977	Los Angeles Dodgers	New York Yankees
1978	Los Angeles Dodger	New York Yankees
1979	Pittsburgh Pirates	Baltimore Orioles
1980	Philadelphia Phillies	Kansas City Royals
1981	Los Angeles Dodgers	New York Yankees
1982	St. Louis Cardinals	Milwaukee Brewers
1983	Philadelphia Phillies	Baltimore Orioles
1984	San Diego Padres	Detroit Tigers
1985	St. Louis Cardinals	Kansas City Royals
1986	New York Mets	Boston Red Sox
1987	St. Louis Cardinals	Minnesota Twins
1988	Los Angeles Dodgers	Oakland Athletics
1989	San Francisco Giants	Oakland Athletics
1990	Cincinnati Reds	Oakland Athletics
1991	Atlanta Braves	Minnesota Twins
1992	Atlanta Braves	Toronto Blue Jays
1993	Philadelphia Phillies	Toronto Blue Jays
1994	n/a	n/a
1995	Atlanta Braves	Cleveland Indians
1996	Atlanta Braves	New York Yankees
1997	Florida Marlins	Cleveland Indians
1998	San Diego Padres	New York Yankees
1999	Atlanta Braves	New York Yankees
2000	New York Mets	New York Yankees
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	New York Yankees
2002	San Francisco Giants	Anaheim Angels
2003	Florida Marlins	New York Yankees
2004	St. Louis Cardinals	Boston Red Sox
2005	Houston Astros	Chicago White Sox
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	Detroit Tigers
2007	Colorado Rockies	Boston Red Sox
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	Tampa Bay Rays
2009	Philadelphia Phillies	New York Yankees

Michael Jackson's This Is It Sets Record for a Concert Movie

Michael Jackson's This Is It has earned $101 million in its first five days at the worldwide box office, according to Sony Pictures, what sets a global record for a concert movie. Maybe this figure wasn't the expected by Sony, but it's not so bad, bearing in mind that on Saturday Americans had other things to do, such as dressing up, parading and partying, rather than going to the cinema. The King of Pop, from his eternal rest, strikes again, and continues breaking records and making money.

In order to be the first, there have to be other concert films. TIME listed the top ten show movies before This Is It:

• Stop Making Sense (1984) - Talking Heads
• The Last Waltz (1978) - Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Van Morrison, amongst others
• Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture (1973) - David Bowie
• Sign o' the Times (1987) - Prince
• Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) - Neil Young
• Gimme Shelter (1970) - The Rolling Stones
• Awesome; I F___in' Shot That! (2006) - Beastie Boys
• A Hard Day's Night (1964) - The Beatles
• Woodstock (1970) - Jimi Hendrix and others
• Fade to Black (2004) - Jay-Z

Derartu Tulu, First Ethiopian Woman To Win NYC Marathon

Derartu Tulu, 37-year-old runner, has become today the first woman from Ethiopia to capture the New York City Marathon in its 40 years of history, in 2:28:52. This is not the first time Tulu achieves a 'worldest' as in 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games she became the first black African woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics in the 10,000 meters, a capture she repeated eight years later in Sidney.



NYC's is considered to be the world's largest and most popular marathon. Just take a look at the numbers of this year's race: 44,000 runners from all over the world, 315 million spectators on TV and another 2 million on the streets of the city, encouraging the marathoners to get to the finishing line.