Grammarly

Earlier this year we were introduced to a grammar checking toll named Grammarly. The toll is perfect for native english speakers, but also other people with english as their second language. The program is very useful when I type quickly, because it automatically checks and corrects my English grammar msitakes.,

Election day in Britain!!

Edit: I was originally going to write this post on election day, but  since I was sick that Thursday, I choose to write an after-election post instead, I hope that's alright :)

On May 7th 2015, the UK general election was held to elect the 56 th parliament of the United Kingdom.The election took place in all the constituencies of the UK, where each of the 650  constituencies have the responsiblity to elect one member of the Parliament (MP) that will sit in the House of Commons.The polticial party that has most seats in the House of Commons, usally forms the goverment.

On election day, I personally though that David Cameron would retain his position as prime minister in the UK, but that it will be an even race between the Labour and Conservatives-party. And I was very right. Forming the first Conservative majority goverment since 1992, David Cameron became the first Prime Minister to be re-elected immediately. 

The conservaties recieved 331 seats- against Labour with 232, led by Ed Miliband. However, the Scottish National Party suprised- receiving 4,7% of the votes in UK and won 56 seats. The Campaign also marked a growing support of the UKIP, collecting 12,9% of the votes, but only one single seat in the House of Commons.

It was expected that the Labour and Conservatives were going to be the two leading parties, but at this years election, UKIP also received many more than expected.

Gay Pride

2. LGSM supported a alliance of lesbians and gays, that support the striking british miners. The group they supported answered by beating them up every day. Even though, they still supported them by raising money for donations. They wanted to fight for their identity and the basic rights they believe in. Every human being is equal and if you really believe in something, you're willing to fight for it.

3. Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister in Britain from 1979 to 1990. She was the british leader in the miner strike and played a significant role in leading the country. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.The miners' strike was the biggest confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government.


4.
The takeaway message of “Pride” is that meeting someone of a different race, gender, orientation or status is a lot more informative, honest and enriching than experiencing them from the error-prone safe haven of a TV set's depiction or favorite website’s description of them. In doing so, one can make a difference for oneself and the world at large. We are not that different from one another, and we could use all the help we can get. This too can be seen as a clichéd message, but it’s one I wouldn’t mind repeated on infinite loop until everybody believed it.

The house of commons function

The house of common is the legislativ authority in the United Kingdom. There are currently 647 MP's sitting in the commons. The house of commons is the most important political forum in the U.K, where the public elected members of the parlament ( MP's) is involved in considering new laws. The role of the House of Commons is, above all, to represent the people of the U.K. The members who make up the house of commons are directly elected by the people of the country, and they must have complete confidence in that their representatives are going to carry out their duty. The MP's can use  their political position to ask the goverment minister about current issues that are affecting their constituents .

They also attend debates and  act as legislators by either initiating bills of their own or proposing amendments to government and other Members’ bills. Law making is one of Parliament’s essential roles. The MP's develope specialized knowledge in one or more of the policy areas dealt with by Parliament (how new laws are made and learn how a Bill passes through Parliament and becomes an Act). After the acts are legislated, The house of common has the task of scrutishing the goverment's policies of its policies.

Lions for lambs

1. Lions for Lambs is a 2007 American drama film about the connection between a platoon of United States soldiers in Afghanistan, a U.S. senator, a reporter, and a California college professor.  

The story is connected by their professor, Dr.Malley, which was the teacher of two determined students at a West Coast university, Arian and Ernest,that are attempting to do something important with their lives.They make a decision to commission in the army to fight in Afghanistan after graduating from college. Dr.Malley is also tries to reach the priveliged but umotivated student Todd Hayes.  The professor  "tests" him by offering a choice between an avarage grade of B in the class with no additional work required or a final opportunity work hard and "do something." with his life. Before Todd makes his choice, he must listen to Dr. Malley's story of his former students Arian and Ernest and why they are in Afghanistan.

Explain how they are connected and what the soldiers are doing in Afghanistan? 

 The soldiers are going to Afganistan in a helicopter to fight Taliban insurgents. Ernest falls out and Arian jumps after him. Ernest's leg is wounded, and Arian helps him stand up, facing the enemies which prompts the Taliban to kill them.

3.    The professor asks Todd to get involved.  What can he do?

The professor asks Todd to do something with his life before it is too late. Dr. malley tells him to create good habits that leads to good choices for the future. He says that "life is too short" and descibes how much the choice you make in college, can influence you later in life. Basically, he can either give up and settle for a B, or stay involved, learn more, get better and potentially receive a better grade. However, there is a third choice; enlisting in the army.

4.    Is there a connection between social conditions, the welfare state and US involvement in wars? Yes, the movie shows an example where Arian and Ernest comes from poor, urban place where the welfare system does not really prevent a education system. But if they serve in the millitary, they will get a free education. While the rich kids has everything provided for them.

5.    What is the current opinion of the American people regarding US engagement in wars. The American people are generally not happy about spending money and human lives on fighting wars. But people are very worried about terrorists gaining power so President Obama recently announced that the US will be sending troops to fight the IS.

The Harry Potter Tour - Warner Bros.Studios

This is the place where large parts of the Harry Potter films were made. When they finished the last film, they were left with sets and props, and made it into a tourist attraction. According to their website, “It’s full of in-depth information about the Harry Potter film series, including many behind-the-scenes secrets and fabulous photography.” I am a huge Harry Potter fan and have heard a lot of great things about “Harry Potter-land,” so I am very excited!

Report from tour: This was the place I was most excited to visit when I first that we were going to London. I had heard a lot of great things about “Harry Potter World” and I was not disappointed to say it like that! The tour started in a room where we got a video introduction to what Harry Potter was all about. The group then went into what looked like a mini-movie theatre, where we saw an introduction to Harry Potter world itself, held by Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliff themselves (on film, of course). In the video they were standing in front of a door, and when the screen was rolled up, that exact door was right behind it! It was cool, because it felt like we had stepped right into that video. The doors opened, and led us into the dining hall of the Harry Potter movies. It was amazing! But I was surprised at how small it was in real life. In the next room over, all kinds of different sets and props from the movies were set up, for instance Dumbledore’s office, Harry and Ron’s dorm room, the moving stair cases, Harry’s invisibility cloak and the Tri Wizard cup trophy. 

We also saw famous costumes, wigs and other things like facial prostheses. TV-screens were set up several places, showing things like how they recorded flying on broomsticks, did the characters’ makeup and built the sets. I was absolutely amazed at how much detail and hard work was put into every single prop, no matter how insignificant! 

Towards the end of the tour, there was a huge model of the entire Hogwarts castle, and it was beautiful. It looked so real! I found out that it was this model they actually used in filming a lot of scenes, for example scenes where the characters were flying over the castle. The flying part was recorded on a green screen, and put on top of a film that was taken of the real life model of the castle. To me, this was the best part of the hole museum. I also brought a harry potter T-shirt for my little brother, which is huge Harry Potter fan. Overral it was a unique and great experience, and I am very happy we went there!

http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/the-tour-experience/about-the-studio-tour

Churchill War Rooms & Westminster walk

The Churchill War Rooms are a part of the Imperial Was Museums, documenting the second world war from Winston Churchill’s perspective . The website says that we can see the original Cabinet War Rooms (the wartime bunker that sheltered Churchill and his government during the Blitz) and other historic underground rooms, as well as discover the stories of many people who worked underground during the war.

Report from visit: Since I am very interested in WW2 tory, I found the museum very interesting . The phone-guide-thing was really helpful, and made the rooms come alive. I think my favorite parts were the Hitler graffiti and the fact that we were actually walking and standing at the very site of important historical events.

Westminister Walk:The London Walks are guided tours that take tourists around London, looking at interesting and important things in the city. We are going on two different walks with different themes. I am not sure what to expect, but it will probably be interesting.

One of the first things that happened on this tour, was that we learned about how ceremonies other formal events happen and about the queen. For instance, we learned that one used to only put up a flag at places like Westminster Abbey when the Queen was visiting, but this changed when princess Diana died. This was because people though they should fly a flag at half-mast, but couldn’t because the flag was not supposed to be up at all. So they changed the rule, or tradition, and began flying a flag at all times, but changed it to the Queen’s own flag whenever she would visit. We also learned how different parts of the buildings are color-coded, for example the House of Commons and the House of Lords have different colours. We were also told stories about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, for example how they sent a piece of their wedding cake along with a thank you-card to everyone who worked at Westminster Abbey that day, and how they all froze their pieces of cake and hope to sell it some day. We saw an all boys’ school and learned a little about the school system, as well as beautiful Georgian streets and houses and their underground hiding spots that were used during the blitz. All in all, it was an interesting and educational tour of Westminster.

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre - London trip

Report from visit: The Globe is a very similar replica of Shakespeare’s actual theatre, called the Globe. William Shakespeare started off as an actor in the company, and invested in the theatre. This is why he never left it, and why The Globe is so closely linked to the author. The Globe was a round, roofless theatre. The seating area was divided into three stories, and the nicest and most expensive seats used to be the ones closest to the stage. This is because they could hear the play very well, even though they couldn’t see the stage. The stage was very beautiful and colourful, and the ceiling was especially decorated because it was supposed to be the heavens. The floor of the stage was painted in more earthy colours, and had a latch in it of which the “devil” would emerge out. 

The globe was situated outside of the actual city because of Oliver Cromwell and the puritans who were in charge. They wanted to shut it down, but because the queen liked their plays, the theatre survived. We learned that in order to create special effects, such as sounds, people would hilde back stage and use props to make the sounds. For instance, they would wave a metal sheet for the sound of thunder, or spin a special wheel that sounded like the wind. We were told a story by our guide about how thew one wanted to create an extra booming sound of thunder by firing a canon, and set the theatre on fire by doing so. I thought this was very interesting!

 I also was intrigued by how they set up a show every single night, meaning that they would have to repeat the samen ones lots of times. Sometimes, the audience would even make them change it, because the wanted to see a different one! This is very different from how theatres work today, when they spend months or years preparing fro one show and then perform the same one every night for weeks.

Bloomsbury Walk - London trip

The London Walks are guided tours that take tourists around London, looking at interesting and important things in the city. We are going on two different walks with different themes. I am not sure what to expect, but it will probably be interesting.

Report from tour: Our guide took us around Bloomsbury. It was special because of all the famous people, writers and politicians who have lived and worked here. Also, there were Georgian-style buildings, fanlights, oil-lamps and street-signs. I learned a lot of new things, like the fact that the doors are wide so that the chairs people were carried around in could fit though the doors. I also really liked all the squares at the end of the roads that looked like small parks. One of the stories our guide told us: King Charles I wanted to govern all by himself without the influence of politicians. This created a lot of problems, for instance economical ones. Because of this, he was killed, and his son sent into exile. Oliver Cromwell took over and became the new leader of Great Britain. He was a puritan, and shut down theatres, pubs, cancelled Christmas and so on. 

After Oliver Cromwell died, the people wanted Charles II, King Charles I’s son, to come back and be king, because they were not happy with what Oliver Cromwell had done. He came back and became king, and was called the Merry Monarch, because of how much better and happier the times became. He wanted to avenge his father’s death, but because those who had done it, including Cromwell, were already dead, he couldn’t publically execute them as he normally would. But he had their bodies dug up, lined up on the wagon and taken through the streets of London. When they stopped for their last drink (“one for the road,”) the bodies weren’t having a drink, obviously, so their guards went into the pub and got drunk instead. The next morning the kept going, and the bodies were eventually hung. 

After, they were decapitated too. Cromwell’s head was put on a stake and stayed there for 20 years before it blew off in a storm and disappeared. It was eventually found and ended up in the British Museum in 1970. It is said that the ghosts of all three who were “executed” still haunt the site of the pub where they had (or didn’t have) their last drink.

British Museum - London Trip

British Museum is a well-known museum located in London. It is dedicated mainly to human history and culture, and is very large. Its permanent exhibitions contain over 8 million pieces and works documenting human history from the very beginning. I have visited the museum before, but I think history is very interested and I’m excited to go here again.

Report from visit: The British museum was very interesting. The exterior of the building itself was very intriguing. The building is huge, white and has giant pillars. I really liked the glass ceiling inside. I didn’t get to see everything but of what I did see, the mummies were the coolest. And I learned that the ancient Egyptians also mummified animals such as eels, crocodiles, fish and birds! I always thought that only kings were mummified. Between the ancient Iranian exhibition and the Celtic exhibition, there was a woman who shoed us pieces from the exhibitions. These were from the bronze age and the iron age, and the oldest one was over 3000 years old! First she had us guess what they were. One was a part of horse-reins, and the other one was an axe. She then explained how they were made, which was one of the most interesting things. The one was first made in wax, before it was covered in clay. 

When the clay had dried, molten iron was poured into the clay mould. The wax on the inside melted, but the clay did not, and that’s how they made iron shapes and parts! The other one, the axe, was made of two moulds put together, but with a bone or round piece of hard clay in the middle for a hole. The axe head was then put on a stick or rod. Overall, it was definitely a learning experience.I also enjoyed the part of the museum that thought me about Iran's earlier history. It was great learning about my older generation's culture.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum

Tate Modern -Trip to London

Tate Modern is an art gallery known as Britain’s national gallery of international modern art. It holds an art collection dated from 1900 to present day, and is Britain’s most visited art gallery. It’s purpose is to be an ever-expanding gallery of modern and contemporary art. I think it will be interesting to see contemporary art over a 100 years old! What did modern look like back then?

Report from visit: The building looked like an old warehouse, it was huge. But at the same time, it looked very cool and modern. The first artwork I saw was looked like a drawing made of coal, which was drawn directly on the wall. The picture was of a street in a town with buildings, and the lines were simple. There were two crow stuck to the wall with arrows. I think it means that society today is killing nature. This artwork sort of set the mood for the rest of the exhibitions. They were sort of dark and distorted, in a way. There was a lot of Picasso, but also paintings of dead chickens hanging upside down, as well as paintings of nothing in particular (just a mess of colors). 

We spent a lot of time in a room where you could make you´re own artwork on a digital screen. When you were done, it showed up on the wall. Because of this we didn’t make it to all the places wee wanted to go, for instance, there was a room that was supposed to be completely dark. So dark, that you lost your sense of direction. My overall impression is that it was really interesting, but I was confused as to the different periods in time. I thought it would be more structured and in order, but that was okay.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern

(Worked with Anna Amelia,Emilie and Ingrid to write this report.)

Our school trip to London

Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery known as Britain’s national gallery of international modern art. It holds an art collection dated from 1900 to present day, and is Britain’s most visited art gallery. It’s purpouse is to be an ever-expanding gallery of modern and contemporary art. I think it will be interesting to see contemporary art over a 100 years old! What did modern look like back then?

British Museum
British Museum, est. 1753, is a well known museum located in London. It is dedicated mainly to human history and culture, and is very large. It’s permanent exhibitions contains over 8 million pieces and works documenting human history from the very beginning. I have visited the museum before, but I think history is very interested and am excited to go here again.

London Walks
The London Walks are guided tours that take tourists around London, looking at interesting and important things. We are two different walks with different themes. I am not sure what to expect, but it will probably be interesting.

Imperial War Museum, Churchill War Rooms
The Churchill War Rooms are a part of the Imperial Was Museums, documenting the second world war from Winston Chruchill’s perspective (I think). The website says that we can see the original Cabinet War Rooms (the wartime bunker that sheltered Churchill and his government during the Blitz) and other historic underground rooms, as well as discover the stories of many people who worked underground during the war.

Warnes Bros. Studios – Harry Potter tour
This is the place where large parts of the Harry Potter films were made. When they finished the last film, they were left with sets and props, and made it into a tourist attraction. According to their website, “It’s full of in-depth information about the Harry Potter film series, including many behind-the-scenes secrets and fabulous photography.” I am a huge Harry Potter fan and have heard a lot of great things about “Harry Potter-land,” so I am very excited!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum

http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms

http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/the-tour-experience/about-the-studio-tour

5 reasons why Obama should be satisfied with his work

According to Gallups poltical test, 48 percent of the american population was satisfied with Barack Obama as president, while also 48% answered that they wasn't.

1.The unemploymate rate has gone down
The number of people in work has increased signifially and the unemployment rate has dropped.
In November 2014, employment rose by 321,000. That is the highest growth in almost three years. Unemployment is at 5.8 percent.  Obama promised to get the empoyment rateunder 6 percent , during the last period of his presidency. Obama has now acieved 5,8.


2.Gas prices are low
For most peoples excitment, the gas prices are now 4,5 Norwegian Kroner.

3.The realitionship with Cuba
After 50 year of tension, the president , Obama suprised everyone by shaking Fidel Castro hand at Nelson Mandelas funeral. Earlier in December, the president annouced a plan for a more normalized relationship with the island nation, only 15 mil from Florida. A recent survey in The Washington Post shows strong support for such measures among voters. 74 percent want an end to the travel restrictions, 68 percent will open for trade and 64 percent will restore diplomatic relations.
 

 4.Immagration policy
The largest and most far-reaching goal was to provide 4.2 million undocumented immigrants protection against being sent out of the country
 
5. End of unpopular wars
 









Sources: http://linkis.com/www.e-pages.dk/aften/3pRk8