A shot at reconciliation and In the Valley of Elah

Barack Obama's speech at the Nobel Center was heavily anticipated, and with reason. Many people, me included, has been critical to the new President recieveing the prize. However, his speach silenced us all. His way with words stunned me, and I think that his argumentation for America's wars in the Middle-East made me believe that he is in fact worthy of a peace prize, as he made it quite clear that he is fighting for peace. I also think that the speech itself is almost magical, and his choice of words are of another world.

We also watched "In the Valley of Elah," and I think Tommy Lee Jones did a great role as the father trying to figure out what happened to his son. I think it shows the negative effects of being in combat and in war, as many people suffer from post-traumatic disorders when they arrive back in their home country, and their regular life.

Speaker in class

Today, we had a speaker from Maryland, USA. She had recently moved to Norway with her two children and her husband. She worked in the National Archives in Washington D.C. prior to moving to Norway. She focused on the American Constitution, and I think she was good at explaining how it really worked out, with examples that we understood. I learnt a lot from the presentation, and I found the part about the preamble the most.

Mathias~

Milk

"Milk" is a biographical film made in 2008 taking into account the life of LGBT rights activist and American politician Harvey Milk. The reason why Harvey is rather special is because he was the first man to be elected to the public office in California whilst openly admitting that he was gay.

The movie was written by Dustin Lance Black and was directed by Gus Van Sant. The lead role is played by Sean Penn, in which he recieved "Best Actor in a Leading Role."

The film opens with the scene of Harvey's birthday, when he was still living in NYC, and had not yet settled in San Fransisco. It focuses on his dive into city politics, and the various and often colorful arguments he wages in the Castro neighborhood as well as the city. It also follows the anti-gay campaigns of Anita Bryant and John Briggs. Several relationships, both romantic and political, are covered, and his tenuous affiliation with Dan White. The film ends with White murdering both Harvey Milk and the Mayor of San Fransisco in the City Hall.

We did not have time to finish the film, so I had to research the ending online. The parts I saw were pretty good, and I think Sean Penn's interpretation of Harvey Milk is very real, and also very thorough.

What I would like for our next film is that our teacher saves enough time so we can watch the whole film, and not just tidbits.

The sources I used were:
1. Milk, by Universal Studios
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_(film)

Mathias~

The House of Lords

The House of Lords, or also known as the upper house in the British Parliament, was once in time a "club" for the Lords of England, or more simply put; the Barons and the Baronesses. Their place is in the Palace of Westminister, alongside with the House of Commons.

When England peaked as the most powerful country in the world, with its naval fleet, its democracy and its fantastic inventions, the House of Lords had quite a lot of power in the Parliament. They could influence taxes, budgets and other laws as they wanted, but that has of late come to a change.

The House of Lords has actually grown ever since the reform that was put in action in 1999 stating that the House of Lords would loose quite a bit of their power. The most recent number of Lords is now 724, which is more than the MPs (Members of Parliament.)

And, it's not only Barons and Baronesses that make up the House of Lords anymore. Celebrities, scientists and other experts in a given field now make up the upper house.

Mathias Åker Solstad~

Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War

Lyndon B. Johnson was a believer of the Domino Theory, which means that he felt that Communism would spread through the world like dominoes if it wasn’t challenged. He famously said that “If we allow Vietnam to fall, tomorrow we’ll be fighting in Hawaii, and next week in San Fransisco.” Therefore, the President focused on the American millitary effort in Vietnam, and by 1968 over 550 000 American soldiers were inside Vietnam fighting. In 1967 and 68, the Americans were killed by a rate of 1000/month. After the incident at the Gulf of Tonkin, the president was allowed the right to use millitary force without consulting the Senate. Johnson later admitted that that it was he who began America’s involvement in the war. During the fighting, Johnson payed close attention to polls at home, and he tried to keep the American people pro war. However, as the war progressed Americans went against it, and it kept splitting the Democratic Party. The President then found support in the Republican Party as well, as they didn’t have a clear stance to the war. When it became clear that Vietnam was impossible to win, the President’s popularity fell to the ground, and he was ordered not to attend the Democratic National Convention in 1968 because there were so many hippies, yippies and Black Phanters that protested against him.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B_Johnson

Norwegian sports

Norway is a very sports-crazed country. Norwegians spend a lot of time watching and participating in a variety of sports, where the most popular are handball, soccer and winter sports.

Soccer is the most known sport around the world, so I presume that you guys have heard of it before. There are quite a few professional Norwegians that play in and around Europe, and we are very proud of that. The National team was one of the best in the world during the 1990s, where we beat Brazil and other great nations. However, of late, the National team has become one of the worst teams in Europe, and that has led to us Norwegians being less proud of our once-great team.

Another popular sport in Norway is handball, and our Nationa womensl team really excels here. We won the gold in the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, and we have also won the European Championship several times over the last 20 years. The team is probably one of the best in the world, and Norwegians are really proud of that.

Norwegians are really interested in winter sports, and that is because we have a lot of snow here. Norwegians are known throughout the world as one of the peers in several different winter sports, such as downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon and ski jumping. Downhill skiing is very fast paced, and the athletes ski down long and very steep hills on time. The one finishing the course the fastest wins. Our most famous athlete is Aksel Lund Svindal. Cross-country skiing is more of an endurance race. Most of the races lasts for several hours, and athletes cover tens of kilometers as they go. Our most famous athlete in cross-country skiing is Bjørn Dæhlie. Biathlon is basically cross-country skiing, only that the athlete carries a rifle that he has to use at least 4 times per race. The skiier either has to stand or lay down and fire at 5 targets. If he/she misses a target, he/she will have to go penalty rounds. Our most famous athlete is Einar Bjørndalen. In ski juping, athletes gain speed down a very steep hill or tower before they jump off a platform. Norwegians are known to be one of the inventors of ski jumping, and we still have several world-class athletes today.

The Norwegian Seasons

The weather in Norway varies by season. We have the summer, the autumn, the winter and the spring. In the summer, it is pretty warm in the south of Norway. There's a lot of sunny days, but it's not too hot, which is good. If you travel way up north, it will still be pretty cold for a summer, but that's because its so close to the northern pole. In the autumn, the leaves fall off the trees, and it usually starts raining a lot. It's nothing like the seasonal rain that drops in Asia, but it is still pretty heavy for us Norwegians. Between the autumn and winter the temperature drops, and it usually starts to snow. During the winter there's tons of snow here in Norway, and it's also very cold. The temperature can drop down to -20 around Oslo, but if you travel up north you can reach temperatures as low as -45. In the spring however, the temperature starts to rise again, and so the ice and snow melts. This creates a lot of extra water, and this is where we fill our dams.

An overview of the immigration patterns to the United States from the 1820s to the 1860s

My teacher gave me an assignment today where I was told to pick from a set of different topics stemming from the 1800s in the US. I wanted to research immigration, and my studies concluded a whole lot of facts. What I found most interesting was why everyone moved to the US, and also Ellis Island. As a random fact, I spent a year in Minnesota as a high school student, and I recongnized several names where the origin is in fact Scandinavian. After researching the topic I collected the most interesting facts, and then I made a powerpoint-presentation. I was one of three that actually were ready to present, and I feel that we should get some recongnition for that.

Mathias~

G. Orwell and his genious writings

"Down and Out in Paris and London" follows the life of tramps, or people that went "down and out" in life. We read chapter XXXIII, and I am going to share my thoughts around that chapter.

First of all, I would like to say that the author is astonishing in a way that he makes the reader feel like he/she is really close to the main characters, which makes it more personal and real. He also writes in a very "British" way, using words that are rarerly used in the American language, such as "have-nots, margarine, crown (money) ect."

Moreover, Orwell is really good at catching a reader, and he also makes it easy to both understand and continiue reading, which often is a problem among authors. His way of making the language and dialogue flow is something to point out, as it is one of the most important aspects of his writings.

However, the story follows tramps living in both Paris and London, and how they manage to come around and about in the cold and dim cities, living far below the poverty line, and in a collective of men and women that are considered to be failures in the society. The tramps usually sleep in churches and other places that are there for the poor and the needy, and they spend their days glimmering and strolling about in the streets of the city. The chapter ends with all the tramps rioting against a local church because they somehow feel that the church looks down on them, and helps out because the church thinks that the tramps actually needs it.

I like this text because the author's language is very good, and so the reader gets interested. On the controrary I think that it has somehow grown to be too old, and out of date. It is always interesting to read about "real" persons and characters, and the book is truly one of the better by British authors.

Mathias~

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/bookclub/down-and-out-in/

"Does It Matter"

Losing your legs, losing your sight and losing your mind or dream.

No, because the poem explains that by fighting in a war the soldier will earn respect among his or her community. However, the poem is very ironic. It feels like the soldier has given up, and does not care about his or her life.

The reason why this poem has experienced some sort of revival considering its popularity is because Britain is still involved in wars, such as the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We feel that "Does It Matter" were more appealing to us than "The Soldier" because "The Soldier" was very complicated and difficult to understand, while "Does It Matter" was easier to read between the lines. It was filled with a sort of melancholy which gave the poem depth.

After seeing the documentary on YouTube, it became clear that the author had the background necessary to write such a poem, criticizing the government and the society for sending the lower-class families into the war, and not caring enough for the injured after the war. The British goverment could not hold him in court, as he was known around the country for his heroism, so they submitted him to a mental hospital instead.

Mathias~

My hometowns

For as long as I can remember, my mom and my dad has lived seperate lives. Therefore, I have two hometowns, and as I spend a year in the US, I feel that Chaska is a place where I belong as well. Because of that, I actually have three hometowns where I feel like I'll always be welcome, so in this post I'll tell you guys some information about all three of them.

My mother lives in a house in Dønski, which lies a few kilometers out from Sandvika. The name has earned quite the reputation over the years, as many immigrants were housed there starting in the late 1980s. Many people jokingly call Dønski the ghetto, but that's just because they've never been there before. Dønski is a great place to grow up, being close to soccer fields, schools and other commericial buildings. There's also a lot of kids there, so you rarely see a kid playing by him or herself.

My dad moved to Frogner, which is a part of Oslo. He lives in an apartment with his partner and my stephsister. Frogner is known to be " one of the better parts of Oslo," as many wealthy citizens live there. I oppose that, because most of the people living there are just old and irritated, like they didn't have time to live their life. The few good things about Frogner is that it's close to one of the biggest movie theaters in Norway, and there's several beautiful parks there that people can stroll through all year around.

My third and last hometown is Chaska, which is a city to the south-west of Minneapolis in the middle of the United States. The city lies within Carver County, which is considered to be a suburb of the Twin Cities. I lived there for a year, and it was really exciting to live the life of an American student.

Mathias~