Microsoft Office, OneNote

This program works like a notebook, but it is a lot more organized and you can copy and paste whatever you’d like to OneNote -everything from articles and pictures to PowerPoint’s. That way you don’t need to have a dozen different folders with documents on your computer – you’ll have it all in one place. You can make your own tabs for each subject at school, and then make several pages with notes under each tab. And you don’t even have to save, it saves automatically!

I’m very excited over using OneNote, and I hope I will learn several more functions on OneNote to make it even more effective. It is way better than keeping track of all my school papers, notebooks, power points etc. Hopefully I can use my notes during my exam as well:)

Obama talks to a new audience

Politicians have used the power of late night television to political advantage for many years. But President Obama made history again by being the first sitting president ever to appear on a late night TV talk show – the Jay Leno’s Tonight show. The Jay Leno’s Tonight show has a very large audience; many people like his show and follow what he does.

When Obama entered this show he kind of stepped off the presidential podium; which has both a positive and a negative side. The advantage is: By stepping off the podium he becomes more of an ordinary American citizen which can be very appealing because he’s then reaching out to people in a different way – a more private way. And because of his personality he does very well in these kinds of situations. Another advantage is that by appearing on this show, he appeals to a different set of viewers and listeners that which he can get involved with politics.

The downside by stepping off the presidential podium and entering this show is that many people may see him as a non-serious president. They believe he should be sitting in the White House dealing with the matters of state, the economic problem, instead of appearing on a TV show, having “fun”. But at the same time we are in a new media age and citizens expect him to appeal to the public and we are also entering a time where being who you really are is what matters the most.

Some California students made an emotional video about the hardships their families are facing because of the financial crisis. They called the video “Is anybody listening?” It is a touching video and it makes you realize how serious this crisis really is. Not just for businesses but for everyone. Barack Obama answered the students’ YouTube plea saying: “I am listening. We are listening. America is listening”. The students used the media to get their points across and got a lot of attention. YouTube is a popular trend and many people worldwide watch these videos. I think the students did a great job by posting this video on the Internet; it made even the president listen to what they had to say.

Earth Hour

This Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm you can vote Earth by switching off your lights for one hour – Earth Hour.

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the chance to use their light switch as their vote. Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes.

I know I will vote Earth and I encourage you to do the same. Switch your lights off on Saturday, March 28 from 8:30-9:30pm=)

Russ; the Norwegian graduation

Russ is a tradition and cultural phenomenon in Norway. In Norway, students who graduate from high school are called russ and celebrate with the characteristic festivities (russefeiring) during the first few weeks of May. It is a way of ending childhood and of entering into adulthood, but it also marks accomplishing high school and the end of 13 years of school. The festivities officially start on May 1, and last until May 17, which is Norway’s National Day. That day, they commonly celebrate with their own parades.

There are several different types of russ; differing in color of their caps and traditional uniforms which most students carry during the entire russ period: RED = general studies (mathematics, physics, biology, history, literature, English etc); media and communication, art, music, dance and drama; and athletics. This is by far the most common color. BLUE = general studies with economics. BLACK = Vocational courses (like electronics or carpentry). Since Norwegian vocational studies consist of 2 years of schooling and 1 or 2 years of apprenticeship, black russ can choose to celebrate a year earlier than the others or to celebrate in multiple years. GREEN = Agricultural courses. WHITE = sober Christians might use this color, but in most regions they wear the same colors as their classmates. Christian russ might form their own groups to have fun together without peer pressure towards alcohol, sex and drugs.

The russ wear uniforms with their respective colors. Attached to the cap is a tassel at the end of a string, in which they tie knots, often around various items that are rewards for completing assignments listed on the russ knot list. This cap is seldom used before the "russ baptism", which is usually held during the night to May 1. The knot itself often consists of an item representing the accomplishment. For instance kissing a person of the same sex earns you a pink feather. These knots are then knitted and strung along the line extending from the hat. In total, there are about 101 different tasks that can be performed to receive knots. Other examples: Having sex in a roundabout, going swimming in an industrial river, putting a for sale sign on a police car, spending the night at a teacher's house and making him/her breakfast in the morning, all without being noticed, having sex in school, showering a junior with yogurt, going through an entire school day with a sock puppet on the hand. All communication must happen through the sock puppet.

It’s common for several friends to join together to buy a russ car or a bus, painted in their respective russ color. In the russ vehicle, modern tradition requires an expensive stereo inside the vehicle, and on buses, also on the roof. The largest systems allowed can have forty speakers which can generate over sixty thousand watts and is among the best sound systems in the world. Other, more optional accessories, include bus sweaters, bus lighters/key strings, bus caps and a bus song. It is also common to have some sort of theme for the interior and name/concept. Such buses are a large financial burden; a contribution of up to $10,000 per member has occurred. Though, the average is $3-5,000 per member. Including sponsors, the budget on buses can reach over $400,000.

Most russ have personalized calling cards featuring their name, their photograph and a short slogan. These cards are swapped with other russ and handed out to children or family members; for many children, collecting huge amounts of russ cards is an important activity during May.

During these 3 weeks there are a couple of events going on. For instance Tryvann. With over 40 000 people distributed on 5 days, Tryvann is Norway’s biggest russe assembly and people come from all over the country to take part in this. On every event people select winners in different categories like best sound, best lighting, best concept/idea and so on.

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

Act of Union

Ireland was a colony of the English from the 12th century. From the late middle ages it was a kingdom, under the same monarch as England, but a separate country. In law and in practice, the Irish government was usually subordinate to the English government.

Henry VIII rejected Rome and put the Church in England under his personal control. This church was to become more protestant, particularly under Elizabeth I. He had repeatedly attempted to subdue the island and turn it protestant, but Ireland's population remained mainly Roman Catholic. The conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism played a large part in 17th century with several wars in England and Ireland: civil wars, colonial wars, and at least one war.

In 1801 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed as a political union. This was the end of the Kingdom of Ireland but not the conflict between Ireland and England.

Parliaments in Britain

The Parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We, the people choose our representatives, who sit in parliament, and these representatives make all the decisions that have to be made at a national level to run society and to change things which they think need to be changed. We choose these representatives in an election. In Britain there are 646 representatives, called Members of Parliament or MPs in the House of Commons. Each one of them represents one constituency. On the day of a general election, there is an election in each of these constituencies. No more than five years can pass between two general elections. On the Election Day, the winner takes it all. There are no extra seats in the House of Commons to be shared out to brave losers. Because it makes it very difficult for medium-sized or small parties to get any of their candidates elected as MPs, the British electoral system is often called unfair.

The leader of the party with the largest number of MPs is the Prime Minister. The prime minister has enormous power like for example he decides the government’s overall strategy. The MPs has the greatest political power - Now, what do they do? They are involved in considering and proposing new laws and can use their position to ask government ministers questions about current issues. They split their time between working in parliament itself, working in the constituency that elected them, and working for their political party. Most MPs are members of one of the three biggest political parties.

The House of Lords is made up of 750 members called Peers. What they do is that they spend about 60% of their time initiating, examining and revising legislation. They are questioning Government and debating policy and finally providing a forum of independent expertise. There are a few ways to become a member of the House of Lords. One example is that you can inherit a title. The Peers are not elected by the people, but can also be elected by the government.

The third part of parliament is the Monarch, ergo the Queen. The Monarch is the official head of state. The monarch does not play any part in the decision making process of parliament. So the monarch rules only symbolically. But the Queen does have to sign the laws that parliament votes for.

Northern Ireland

The colonization of Ireland: In 1170 Ireland becomes England’s first colony. Henry Vlll’s reign rules from 1507 to 1547, which means that all of Ireland is controlled by England. Then, in 1610, Protestants from Scotland settle in Northern Ireland. The Irish war of Independence was a guerrilla war mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army. The result was the Angelo-Irish Treaty. It established Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.

The Irish Civil War lasted from June 1922 to May 1923. The Free State Army supported the agreement that divided Ireland while the IRA was opposed to the agreement. The war was won by the Free State Army. The Irish were Catholics and the English and Scottish who settled in Northern Ireland were Protestants. In Northern Ireland the Irish Catholics were poor and suppressed by the Protestants. The issues of the conflict were economy, national identity, equal rights and opportunities and independence after colonization. The Population of Northern Ireland today consists of 60% Protestants and 40% Catholics.

In 1969 British troops stationed in Northern Ireland. On April 30th 1972, 27 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment; this day is called Bloody Sunday. During the 70s and 80s several bombings/gun attacks happened in Northern Ireland. In 1974, there were terrorist bombings in Birmingham, England. Heading towards peace? In 1998 the Good Friday Agreement was passed. It sets out a plan for devolved government in Northern Ireland on a stable and inclusive basis and provided for the creation of Human Rights and Equality commissions, the early release of terrorist prisoners, the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons and far reaching reforms of criminal justice and policing. And in 2005 the IRA agrees to end violence and weapons are destroyed.

I’ve also read Liam O' Flaherty's gripping short story "The Sniper" from the Irish Civil War. Here’s a summary:
The Sniper is a story about two snipers, who's trying to kill each other. They're lying on each side of the road, both of them on rooftops, both trying to get a glimpse of the other. One of the snipers decides to take a smoke, although he knows it’s a big risk. The moment he light his lighter, the other sniper takes a shot. He misses, and the smoker puts out his smoke. Then suddenly an armored car makes its way up the road and stops between the two snipers to talk with an old lady informer. The enemy sniper of the car takes a shot and kills both the lady and the driver, but at the same time, he gets hit by the other sniper in his right arm. It hurts so bad that he can't use his rifle. To kill his enemy sniper, he waves his sniper with his cap on top over the parapet, and just as he hoped, his enemy takes a shot at the cap. He now drops his cap and the rifle to the ground to fake his death. A few moments later, he peers over at his enemy, who is standing on the rooftop across the street with his rifle over his head in victory. The sniper sees his opportunity, and takes a shot at him with his revolver. The enemy falls to the ground dead. It is now safe for the sniper to go out in the road. He gets curious about who the other sniper was, and walks over to check it out. He turns the dead body, and sees the face of his brother.

http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/key-issues/the-agreement.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_War_of_Independence http://annejohnsrud.blogspot.com/2009/03/troubles-in-northern-ireland.html

The Reconstruction period

The Reconstruction period in America lasted from 1865 to 1877. Since then many historians have argued whether the Reconstruction was a success or a failure. During this period great occurrences happened for the African Americans, and here are two of them.

The first big success was the Freedmen's Bureau. Before the Thirteenth Amendment was implemented African Americans were slaves. Meaning they were without any personal possessions like food and clothing. And worst of all, they were not allowed any formal education! The Freedmen's Bureau was an organization established by Congress, during Reconstruction period, to provide food, clothing, hospitals, legal protection and education to former slaves and also poor whites. Now, with education, African Americans were able to go out and get a job and manage to provide food, a place to live and take care of their family on their own.

The second huge success was the Fifteenth Amendment that gave African Americans the right to vote. It stated that no one could be kept from voting because of their skin color, race or previous condition of servitude. Even though African Americans didn't have much experience within politics their votes made a huge impact on the results of political elections. The winner of the 1868 presidential election was a man named Ulysses S. Grant. He was the Civil War hero and the presidential candidate of the Republican Party which fought for the African Americans rights during the Civil War. They were also the force behind the Fourteenth Amendment, which gave African Americans citizenship. With African Americans able to vote, nine out of ten voted for Grant. If it hadn't been for the African Americans votes, then the Republicans would never have won the election! But not only could the African Americans vote, they also became active politicians after the Civil War and some were actually members of the U.S. Congress, one of them was Hiram Revels, the first African American senator!

Without the Freedmen's Bureau and the Fifteenth Amendment African Americans wouldn't have the life they have today. These two steps were just a part of the process for the African Americans to become American citizens with civil rights after the Civil War.

Senior project

These next few weeks all the students in my class will be working on their senior project. This is a project where we get to choose what we want to write about from this year’s curriculum. Some of the topics we get to choose from are history, politics, economic conditions etc. within Great Britain or America. When we are done with writing this project we will present it to the rest of the class. I will work together with Anette on this presentation.

I have chosen to write about the difference between the Norwegian and the American school system. I graduated from an American high school last year; this year I will be graduating from my Norwegian high school, so that’s why I think it would be fun to compare the two school systems with each other.