The Raft, Peter Orner

The short story «The Raft» is narrated by the 13-year-old boy that is told the story of his grandfather. The grandfather is described as thoroughly as the grandson, but we see things through the eyes of the grandson. The son is retelling the story of his grandfather, by describing him telling it to himself in present, even though he is talking about something that happened in the past. The fact that the story is in present time, gives the reader a better impression of how it actually felt like being told that your grandfather killed a bunch of helpless Japanese.

"Don't smile," he says. "Just because I'm smiling, don't assume I couldn't kill you right now. Know that about a man." This is really the only thing I find ironic in the story. Of course his grandpa wouldn’t kill him, and the grandpa knows too.

In my opinion there is a distinct climax in the story when the grandfather admits he blew up the boat with naked Japanese. We now from the start of the story that he is telling a story from WWII, and we expect something violent and drastic, and our questions are answered by this revelation.

The topic is quite obviously war. Another interpretation could be that the author think we live in “peace” today, but we are ignorant to the fact that our ancestors fought a horrific war to get us here. 

www.thinkb4u.com

The name is quite descriptive of its content, think before you act. There are numerous examples, illustrated through short videos, shown on the site, and even though I barely browsed through about 10 per cent of these, I got an idea of what the purpose is. I don’t think this site is directed towards a specific age group, but there are a lot of people exposed to the dilemmas on www.thinkb4u.com. As a youngster and daily participant of the global internet, I should take this into a count the next time I face a decision like the ones on the site.

From an esthetic point of view the site is a masterpiece. Not only is it easily maneuverable, but the transitions and graphics are all very smooth. There is a lot of work behind this, but it makes the site so much more attractive and comfortable.

Thinking before you act should apply to every choice you makes during a day, but as an avid user of sites and services on the internet that demand personal information, I’d like to focus on this particular part of the topic. Every time you ignore and agree to “Terms of use” you expose yourself. Apple, Google and Facebook have been criticized for their alleged abuse of this, making their users agree to have their activity on the services registered. The group of people that are most vulnerable, to arguably this is youth.

Down below is an earlier post regarding the same topic:
http://kamelose.blogspot.no/2013/02/i-agree-to-these-terms.html

Espen Barth Eide- a visit from the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Today the Minister of Foreign Affairs came to visit our school, Sandvika. Two hundred students and teachers gathered in the gymnasium to hear what he had to say. He spoke about many different subjects concerning foreign affairs, all of which were very interesting.  A subject he really elaborated on was the conflict in Syria. At the end of the lecture there were many questions regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria, as well as his personal opinion on the conflict. He was a good speaker and engaged his audience, making it easier for you as a listener to approach the situation. He was well opinionated, but you could see clear ties to his labour party background, and to his post as Minister of Defence.          

Espen specifically emphasized the importance of foreign politics, and how it affects us in the long run. Politics on a domestic level are not nearly as decisive for our place in the international society as foreign politics. A relevant point of view presented by Espen Barth Eide, was the alleged fact that; foreign politics lay the premises and foundation for domestic politics. Without strong relations and alliances between Norway and the world around us, we would in no way be able to uphold and improve our already prosperous living, economy and democracy. According to Espen Barth Eide; a change in government would mean less foreign politics overall. Is this what Norway needs?

Redemtion Day

In the suburbs of Los Angeles lives a lonely mum to three kids. She is unemployed, struggles to pay her bills and pickings are very slim on the job front. Through a law suit that backfires on her, she manages to get a job at the small firm of her lawyer. She has no suitable résumé, and is therefore given a simple pro-bono case, regarding a family in Hinkley. In Hinkley, a desert town in California, lies a compressor station for cold water owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company(PG&E), and Erin finds out they have polluted the local groundwater heavily. The polluted water is highly toxic, but the local community lives in ignorance of the connection of the pollution and their health issues. Erin spends late nights digging for evidence to make PG&E pay for their crime, and after many months of hard work, she reaches her goal. This is how the movie goes, a movie based on a true story. In reality it didn´t go down exactly like this, but the most important part stays the same. Erin Brockowich made an immense effort and performance taking down PG&E, and forcing them to pay 330 million dollars to the affected of their pollution.

More than 600 people were given a considerable compensation for their health issues, much due to the initiative of Erin Brockowich. It is not easy describing how much of a difference she made to the people of Hinkley, but the movie can make anyone shed a tear of joy when seeing Erin tell her clients about the money they will receive. The movie may obviously be a bit more dramatic than the reality, but the result remains the same.

Redemption day is the day of Erin Brockowich starting her work for Edward Masry. All the people whom´s everyday she helped redeem to a hopefully healthy living.

The man who God himself turned his back on

“The Butterfly Circus” is a short movie about a limbless man played by Nick Vujicic. The moral of the movie speaks loud and clearly; “The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph!” In this short movie Nick is portrayed as a sad man, born without limbs, who struggles to overcome his disabilities. Both the movie and Nick’s story form real life, truly fulfills a potential that most people wouldn’t even consider to exist, if not proven wrong.

Though this short movie was incredibly touching, Nick Vujicic’s commercial spoke a just as important message; “You win and you lose, but is losing failure?” I couldn’t agree more with this quote, and I think it is a lot more applicable to whoever it might be. Of the highs and lows, it is the highs that matter, and if you find yourself in a dump, you keep trying until you get where you want to be. It is not your potential itself that matters; it is what you do with your potential. Nick Vujicic didn’t emphasize this exact view on the topic, but it was an immediate relation I made after seeing his commercial for the World Cup in South Africa. If a healthy and athletic man climbed a mountain no one would bat an eye, but if man in a wheelchair did the same, it would truly be something for the media. This is a fairly extreme example, but it goes to show just how right Nick Vujicic is. 

Beeing young in Norway and my expectations for this school year

16-years-old, second year of high school and a fresh start. Last year, my first year at Sandvika high school, was quite a big transition from middle school. I had a lot longer way to school, the teachers were all new, but the most significant change from middle school was perhaps what was expected of me as a student. In order consistently get good grades; a much greater amount of work had to be put in. Throughout last year I adapted to this way of working, and therefor feel a lot more comfortable entering this school year. A severe difference from last year is that I’ve chosen the majority of my subjects for this year, and this is a great motivation.

Outside of school I do a lot of sports, play video games and I have a girlfriend. Sadly, I injured my shoulder playing a soccer match in March this year, and two months later had surgery. The recovery time for my injury is long and extensive, so I am prevented from participating in sports for another 4 months. It is really frustrating at times, mainly because exercising is a big part of my every day, but also because my social network lies within these sports. Nevertheless, I try to remember how lucky I am to live in such a prosperous country as Norway, and receive qualified treatment for my injury. It is easy to forget this, you become ignorant to everything outside of this little bubble, and it feels good to be reminded sometimes of how lucky I am.

The Hollywood body

http://www.anabolicdietblog.com/

This blog is about an average caucasian male, blogging about his progress in a diet called the "Anabolic diet". He has been blogging for over three years, so this post will be mainly be about the recent posts. The language is fairly informal, and sentences and paragraphs are short. The blog was originally made for updating the authors progress in the anabolic diet, but it has exceeded that. For three years he has tried out different ways of getting into shape, but his goal was always the same. He wants a hollywood movie star body, and is trying to figure out the ideal diet for obtaining such a body as fast as possible. He updates it daily, and it is a personal blog where his opinions and thoughts are very present. It is an easy way to gain readers, because many dream of reaching that same goal, and seeing the diet in progress is exciting.