Task 8c p. 169

Find the article "Where did all the money go?" on our website. Write a summary of the main points of the article.

"Where did all the money go?"

The article is about the economic crisis in the world, with mainly focus in the world. The global free market consumer economy in the United States and the United Kingdom has been in big trouble recently. Many years of big economic growth has suddenly been replaced by a gigantic economic downfall. There are a lot more unemployed people, and fewer people to pay the taxes that the government needs.

Some people even speak of the beginning of a new Great Depression. Considering this: Poverty has increased. Consumers are nervous. There is less production, less trade and less investment... and so on, in a long downward spiral.

A lot of people are blaming the things that Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan did when they were prime ministers in the US. and UK. in  the 1980s. They were firm believers in the free market. They meant that many of the government regulations that had been put in place after the Great Depression and after the Second World War were standing in way of economic growth, so they started an era of deregulation. This lead to that some people got very rich, and less successful people struggled.

The 21.century: Banks and financial investment houses on Wall Street started to make money by "leveraging" it (using them to borrow money to make a big profit). By 2007 financial actors all over the world had invested hundreds of billions - perhaps trillions - of dollars in American mortgages.

Sources: http://access-socialstudies.cappelendamm.no/binfil/download.php?did=68773 (13.01.15)

Page 169 in Access  (13.01.15)

What we did Wednesday 5th of November

We had an English Subject day, and we spent half the day studying local businesses from Kvam. We were divided into different groups and had or presentation. Later that day we watched the movie "Wolf of Wall Street", which lasted for about three hours. The movie was really good, but a little long I think. We ended the day with a discussion about the movie.

Fjellstrand

5th of November, we had a English subject day and we had presentations about large local businesses, with focus on their use of English with international contacts and between the employees too. Me, Simon and Øyvind had Fjellstrand, a business in  Oma, Kvam. We talked about the Boss and Main Office, the factory itself, the employees and production, and their use of English.  

This is some of the information we found:

The managing director of Fjellstrand is Ivar Gaute Kolltveit. The factory is situated in Omstrand. Fjellstrand has about 100 employees. They mostly consist of Subcontractors such as engineers, welders and other like electricians. Their production mostly consist of advanced engineering constructions, such as ferrys and boats, however, they also do service of privately owned vessels.

Sources: Fjellstrand.no

No. 2 p.178 TAKING ACTION

No 2. Look back on the list at page 175 ("Seven Ways to be Heard") Which of these methods does Malin use in her role as Amnesty activist?

Malin uses method number 2, using social media and method  number 5, making petitions in her role as Amnesty activist, but she has also used method 7, influence the authorities.
  Just recently because of an Ethiopian woman who was unpopular with the government because she refused to give in to political pressure. She was one of a number of Ethiopian activists, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005. She was released because of Amnesty after 18 months, on the terms that she apologized for her crimes, but she refused and was rearrested. Malin was one of many Amnesty activists who sent letters to the Ethiopian authorities, demanding her release. They released her in 2010.

Source: A case of injustice

Poems on Monday the 27th of October

Global Village and The Right Word

We started by reading a poem by a Nigerian author called Yusuf M. Adamu, and his poem was called "Global Village".  First we discussed what the poem was about, and we agreed on that is was about the fact that people are different, and that people should take care of their culture. We read the poem to ourselves, and then we walked around the classroom reading the poem out loud, and in the end we were split in to groups and read different stanzas each.

The next poem we read is called "The right word" by a British/Pakistanis writer named Imtiaz Dharker, this poem was about terrorism, and asking about who the terrorists really are. Some of us read the poem, and the others made a play while we read it out loud.

Sources: p.170 and p.184 in Access

     
Imtiaz Dharker.

   
Yusuf M. Adamu

3b p. 159 DISCUSSION

b) John wants to change the world through the force of example, while Jenny wants to change it through protest. Which of these methods do you think is most effective, and why?

I think both of them can be very effective, because they can both make people think or feel different about something, and then make them change what they do about it. John goes by as a very good example for other people, and when people see what a great thing he is doing, they might begin doing it or something familiar their selves. Jenny also affects people, because when a larger group of people stand for something it is easier for someone else to express what they mean too. When you protest you will get a lot of attention, and more people will get involved in the problem.

Source: Page 158 in Access

Task 4 p. 157 QUICK RESEARH

4a) Has the global economic recession ended? What do the experts say?
According to globalresearh.ca there is no end in sight. It is different from country to country, but there are many countries still struggling a lot, and some countries which has improved their economic.

4b) Answer the questions, (by using this source)

1) In which region do most unemployed people live? 
They live in developing countries and the European Union.

2) Where is the youth unemployment highest?
The youth employment is highest in North-Africa.

3) Where do most of Working Poor live?
Most Working Poor people live in South-Asia.

4) Which regions have both high youth unemployment and a large number of Working Poor?
North Africa and South-East Asia & Pacific.

Three different medias entry on the same issue: The Oscar Pistorius trial

 

 Oscar Pistorius trial

I had a presentation about Oscar Pistorius and his trial. The three different medias I picked were the English tv-channel BBC, the American tv-channel CNN and the South African newspaper Mail and Guardian.

Oscar Pistorius is a handicap-sprintrunner from South Africa. Both of his legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. He competes in both events for single below-knee-amputes and able-bodied athletes. Pistorius is sometimes reffered to as "the blade runner", and "the fastest man on no legs".

 In February 2013 he fatally shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp when they had been dating for 3 months. At his trial in 2014 he was not found guilty of murder, but guilty of culpible homicide, because the evidence showed that Mr Pistorius believed an intruder was inside the toilet when he shot his girlfriend dead in the early hours of Valentines Day 2013.

 BBC: BBC has written several articles about the incident and the trial. They have written both long and short articles from different angles on the case. They have updated with new articles everytime something new came forward, and they also wrote a very long article with the headline "what happened on the night of the shooting", and in this article they took a look at the case from everyones point of view. They wrote about all the evidences, and what happened step by step. They used both the defenders words, and the evidences from the investigation. I think BBC did a good job not drawing any conclusions before the trial.

CNN: CNN has not written any articles the same way BBC did with putting all the evidences in order and looking at things from everyones point of view, but they have written an article after the trial about his verdict and they have also posted a video of Pistorius standing in the courtroom getting his verdict. They have also written an article about Reeva Steenkamps mother who is stunned by the verdict and wants to meet Pistorius after the trial. CNN has given information about the trial, but not with the same compassion as BBC i think.

Mail and Guardian: Mail and Guardian is the biggest newspaper in South Africa which is where Pistorius is from. Mail and Guardian have written the most about the incident of all the three medias, and they have written articles about every little detail like for expample "Those close to Pistorius may have an answer", «Pistorius seen screaming, swearing in new video» and «remebering Reeva Steenkamp one year one» and so on.

My sources were: Wikipedia, BBC, CNN and Mail and Guardian.