English Social Studies

If the Libdem are to decide in my opinion they are closer to the Conservative party then the Labour party!

2010-05-11T03:32:00.000-07:00

A new general election is coming up in Britain, and it looks like we're going to have a draw between the Conservatives and the Labourers. This means that the Liberal Democrats now have a lot of power, as a coalition between the Liberal Democrats and any other party will basically mean success.

I personally think that the Liberal Democrats will form a government with the Conservatives because even though they are on different sides of the political spectrum, they still have common interests such as the economy, health care and how to rule. The Laborers haven't recovered from their horrendous term, and that is another reason for the Liberal Democrats to go with the Conservatives.

Protecting the blind side

2010-05-11T00:14:00.001-07:00

We've just watched "The Blind Side," which is a film that covers the life of Baltimore Ravens left tackle Michael Oher. He grows up with an impoverished and drug-addicted mother, so you could easily tell that his childhood were different than the standard A4 life.

The story of Michael Oher and the family that chooses to take him in as their own son is truly unique, and I think it is rare to see something like that happen. I really enjoyed the film, because the characters and the relationship between them. I would like to note out that Sandra Bullock's role as the motherfigure was in my opinion the strongest, because she handeled all the emotional stress as Michaael came about.

This is England.

2010-04-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

This is England is a film made in 2006 that depicts the life of a skinhead-group in 1983. The Falkland War ended in favor of the United Kingdom, but at a price. The main character, which is a young boy named Shaun actually lost his father in the war, and growing up without him really tores on Shaun.

One day, at school, Shaun beats up an older boy at school for talking smack about his dead father, and on the way home he meets up with a gang of apolitical and non-racist skinheads. They quickly bond, and the film follows the life of Shaun and the skinhead-gang.

I think the film was really good, because it felt very real and at the same time different. I think the characters were really well-played. The harsh life of skinheads and the personal struggle Shaun fights is very original, and I must say that it left a big impression on me. I feel that the way he headed when he teamed up with the racist skinhead Combo was obviously wrong, but I think he did it because he wanted to honor his dad. The things they did, such as beating up kids and tagging on walls served as a great way for Shaun to channel his aggression, and I think that it is easy for many people to go down that road under the given circumstances.

As the story progressed, it became clear that the boys got more violent and ruthless as they went, and the scene where Shaun, Combo and the rest of the guys get high off cannabis really served as the turning point, because Combo almost beats Milky to death because of his color. I have to say that I almost shed a tear, because it was so unfair, but at the same time I have to admit that I liked the emotions Combo showed when he understood his actions, and that he chose to carry Milky to the hospital rather than leaving him.

All in all, the film was very unique, and I have to say that I feel bad for little Shaun and the way his little gig with the skinheads turned out. The character is very strong, and I think that Shaun is one of the most memorable characters I've ever seen.

Mathias~

Politics in the UK

2010-03-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

In Great Britain, almost every household owns a TV. The TV is therefore a suitable medium to broadcast the debates in the upcoming election. However, a prime minister In Great Britain have never been in a live TV debate, and debated against the two main opposition parties.

There is therefore a moment in political history when the primeminister and leader of the Labor party Gordon Brown, have agreed to take part in a TV Debate against the leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, and the leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron.

During this historical event the politicians get an opportunity to express their view on politics in front of millions of viewers. The party leaders are also taking a huge risk when they participate in the debate. They may increase their support after the debate, but they may also lose votes if they deliver bad figure during the debate. It is therefore substantial for the political parties, that their leader delivers a good performance during the debates.

In order to make the debate as fair as possible the political parties have together with the TV companies BBC, ITV and Sky news (who will podcast the debates) agreed on 76 strict rules for the debate. The audience will not be allowed to respond to leaders' answers and applause will be restricted to the beginning and end of the debates. Every debate will be 90 minutes long. The debates will start to debate a selected topic, and then the studio audiences will be able to ask direct questions on any subject, with viewers doing the same via e-mail.

The first debate will be broadcast by ITV from the north-west of England. The moderator will be ITV newsreader Alastair Stewart and the selected topic will be domestic policies.

The second debate will focus on global issues. The moderator will be Sky's political editor Adam Boulton and the debate will take place in south-west England.

The third debate will be hosted by David Dimbleby and the BBC in the Midlands. The theme will be economy.
In contrast to Great Britain, there have been arranged TV debates between presidential candidates in the United States for decades. That also includes debates between the sitting president and new candidates. The first general presidential debate was arranged as early as in 1960. Since then there have been many arranged many more, and some of them have been described as crucial for the outcome of the presidential election. In 1980, the sitting president Jimmy Carter had a narrow lead over Ronald Reagan in a race considered "too close to call." However, Reagan, with years of experience in front of a camera as an actor, came across better than Carter and was judged by voters to have won the debate by a wide margin. Because this particular event, the election went from being a close race, to become a landslide victory for Regan. You can see the full video from the debate here. Do you find Regan upbeat and positive? Does Carter seem comfortable, how often does he smile?

Remember, because of one debate, the politics in the worlds most powerful country was pushed in an entirely different direction. If the candidate’s wants to have only one good day at work, then they should have it one the day of the TV debate.

P.S, Jimmy carter was a very experienced politician. From 1966 to 1970 when he promoted his candidature for the governor position in Georgia he held over 1 800 speeches (!) And when he debated against Regan in 1980, he had been president for tree years. Had carter only a bad day when he debated against Regan, ore was he a bad speaker? Take a look at his “Crisis of Confidence" Speech and decide for your self.

UK Politics

2010-03-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

Question time is a happening at the parliament where the members of the parliament ask questions of Ministers of Government. This also includes the Prime Minister, and the little tweak is that the Ministers are obligated to answer. The actual time differs from day to day, but it is always for an hour. The Prime Minister answers questions in the Commons every Wednesday.

Gordon Brown appeared as a very eccentric man, as he frequently gesticulates to add to his arguments. He did it in a very controlled way however, and he did show a great sense of humor. That really added to his argumentation, and I also have to say that I was really surprised by how informal they are inside the Commons. It also seemed like he was on the defensive end rather than attacking people, and he backed up his arguments by telling the MPs statistics.

All the questions did get answered, but I don't think they were all answered properly. A thing we often saw was that the MPs and Ministers just tried to push the question in another direction, or just to try to change the topic.

David Cameron seemed rather un-prepared, as he frequently focused on personal attacks rather than making a statement based on the politics of his party. To me it feels dumb to try to trample on the Prime Minister when the next election is "right around the corner."

The debate in itself was rather heated, but it really depended on the topics under discussion. The reason for that is that there are bigger differences between the parties on different topics, which means that there will be more heated debates when discussing for example the wages of the Scottish MPs. Also, I would like to add that The Speaker did a great job at interrupting the MPs when things got out of control,

I think the election will end in favor of the Conservatives, as both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has been failures, so I think that the British people wants to see a change in government.

-Mathias

Charlie Wilson's War.

2010-02-16T04:44:00.000-08:00

We saw Charlie Wilson's War today, and I have to say that I were very impressed. The film covered the real story about Congressman Charles Wilson, and his quest to make sure the poor Afghan people got the weapons they needed to stop a Soviet invasion in the midst of the Cold War.

I think the film had a lot of very interesting characters, spanning from the lighthearted Charlie Wilson to the rather inverted Joanne, and also Gust, which I would describe as a reckless and rather realistic American. I think these three characters made the film, but I also have to add that there were several other deep and funny characters.

Also, the story around Charlie Wilson and what he did in the 1980s is something everyone should know. That he managed to lobby and make deals with several Middle-Eastern governments while keeping everything under the press' radar is rather extraordinary, and it also helped the Aghan people get their liberty and peace. What is rather ironic in this film is that Charlie Wilson was advised by Gust to keep sending funds to Afghanistan, as they needed a lot of money to re-build the country. Of course, the Americans often come in and clean things up, but they often don't care too much about what happens afterwards, and you could say that they got smacked by not doing so.

I really enjoyed the film, and I have to say that I've found a new character on my hall of fame; Gust Avrakotos.

A new way of working in the classroom

2010-02-02T03:41:00.000-08:00

Mrs Michaelsen had a brand new idea of teaching today, and that was to divide the class into five different groups with different responsibilities, and our collaboration should end up with a proper and high-quality text around our topics.

The groups were as following:

Front desk, responsibilities: divide material, prioritize, approve material, give time limits talk to all groups
Research group, find material, and send to front desk, journalists, teachers and designers
Journalists, write blogs, and send to front desk, teachers, designers
Teachers, make rubrics with criteria for testing, write test questions
Designers, make Glogs and Photostory with material

Anders and I were in group one, and we had the responsibility of approving material, giving out time limits to the other groups as well as organize the whole process. I think we did a pretty ok job, but I have to say that we were wrong on how much time the different groups needed. The journalists were way over time, and that kind of slowed the process down. The latter groups had to start improvising without having any material, but I think it worked out pretty good overall.

I liked this way of learning, because it was very unique. However, I think some of the groups like the front desk didn't have to do a lot, which gave us too much free time. We did however use it wisely as we read, researched on our own and also wrote a few blog entries.

Mathias

The Catcher in the Rye week one

2010-02-02T03:36:00.000-08:00

I've only read like thirty pages yet, and the story has resolved around Holden Caulfield, a boy that is enrolling at Pencey Prep, which is a preperational college. There hasn't been much action yet, so I haven't really developed any particular view on the plot, but I have to say that the language of the book is rather unique. It is pretty raw and actually pretty real in terms of how teens tend to talk.

Mathias

Vote-wars.

2010-01-25T23:51:00.000-08:00

We saw a documentary about the "right America feeling wronged," and it was about how the Republicans lost the election in 2009 in the United States.

I think the documentary is very simple and clean, and the woman behind the film does a great job at covering many views not only from the New Yorkers and residents of the bigger cities, but also those living out on the countryside. I also have to say that I think that the movie might give the wrong impression about the old Republicans of the South.

Mathias~

Tracking the progress of my senior project

2010-01-19T03:52:00.000-08:00

Well, we started our senior projects today, and I have only settled with a topic, which is the American Dream. I've found several sources on the internet, but I have to admit that there are few lenghty ones. I've thought of a thesis statement, and it will be something like; The American Dream is not for everyone, but why is that?

Mathias~

My senior project

2010-01-12T13:12:00.001-08:00

We have been given the task of writing a senior project, and we have been lucky enough to choose the topic ourselves.

I have looked into several different topics, varying from Barack Obama to older American politics, but what I discovered to be most interesting was The American Dream.

I will look into the history of the American Dream, especially how it all started out, and what people actually moved to, and why. I also want to know if there's still a significant amount of people that move to the US every year with the hopes of getting a better life. I will not ignore the negative sides of migration, and so I've chosen to focus on illegal immigrants in hopes of a better life. This is a very hot topic in the US, as thousands of illegal immigrants manage to run past the borders of the United States.

My senior project

2010-01-12T04:46:00.000-08:00

For my Senior Project I will write about the American Dream, and I will include both history, and then my version of my American Dream. The question I'll try to answer is;
"What is the American Dream, and is it still a possibility?"

My New Year Resolutions

2010-01-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

Yet another decade has passed, and it has been stamped by several devestating crises. Lives have been lost, world-economies have been shook, wars have been fought, and thousands have struggled through a 10-year period that was supposed to be giving and optimistic. All of these crises have been on an international scale, thus meaning that it affects many citizens of the world.

Now that a new year has begun, and a new decade is slowly making its mark on history, many like to share their resolutions that will change their life, either for the good or for the bad. My resolutions ain't really that much to brag about. I just think I have to remember to stay sharp at school, and make the best out of what I know, and what I am capable to achieve.

In my English-class, I will work harder with my blog posts, especially when it comes to actually writing good and thorough posts. I'll also try to work harder in all of my classes at school, so I can study whatever I want to when that time comes.

Mathias~

A shot at reconciliation and In the Valley of Elah

2009-12-22T01:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

"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

2009-11-10T04:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-27T04:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-20T00:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-13T00:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

"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"

2009-09-01T02:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

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~