Australia and New Zealand

In the south-east, far far away, there are two countries. Their names are Australia and New Zealand. Two beautiful countries, both with a remarkable history and unique cultures. Despite them being so close to each other, their nature is actually quite different. While Australia is almost completely comprised of a dry, barren wasteland, the conditions in New Zealand are a lot more vegetated and full of forests, lakes and green grass. That might be the most important reason why large parts of the wonderful Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in the lovely countrysides of New Zealand.

Map of Australia and New Zealand

The countries' histories and backstories are also very interesting. What both of the countries have in common, is that they both had an indigenous population prior to the arrival of the British. There were Maoris on New Zealand while there were Aboriginals in Australia. The main difference between these two indigenous populations, is the way they were treated. When Australia and New Zealand were first discovered by the British, in the 17th century by James Cook, Australia was used in the beginning as a place that the British used for loading off convicts from Europe as an alternative punishment. New Zealand, however, was different.

Aboriginies of Australia

New Zealand was not heavily populated by the British until convicts managed to escape from Australia, over to the other side. There, they settled and lived primarily off of fishing and whaling. They also got along well with the Maori population, and lived in mutual friendship. In Australia, however, the indigenous population was not treated as well. Like we've seen several times through the course o f history, indigenous populations are not always treated with care and respect. The Aboriginies' population was reduced with an estimated 90% during the first 120 years of the British arrival. This was not only because of the British violence, but also because of disease and loss of land that was caused by the British.

As of right now, New Zealand and Australia have a friendly and balanced relationship. They speak the same main language, they have similar flags, and they have strong economic deals with each other. About 70 years ago, it is estimated that one out of 50 Maoris lived in Australia. Now, the number has increased to one out of six. The two countries have also fought alongside each other in wars, such as World War 2. Australia and New Zealand also share the same queen; Queen Elizabeth II. But why is it really like this?

Flags of Australia(top)
and  New Zealand(bottom)

The reason why the Queen of England is also the queen of Australia, is because of the previous colonization and British control over the two countries. When Australia was a "prison colony", the country was ruled by England. While both Australia and New Zealand have their own prime minister and a "governor-general", who serves as the head of state, the monarch is still the British queen. To be honest, I believe that this should be changed.

I fail to see why two independent countries should share the same queen as England does. While I do understand that it is hard to renounce old traditions and customs, I still think that an independent country has the right to choose their own monarch. I do not know how Australians and New Zealanders think about having the British queen as their monarch. However, if I were to put myself in the shoes of an Australian, I doubt I would think that highly of it. While the Norwegian king does not have any real power of significance, he still acts as a representative of Norway. Who is better to act as a representative to Australia, than an Australian?

Of course, this is simply my opinion. Like previously stated, I am not an Australian, nor a New Zealander. I do not know what inhabitants of the two countries think about their current royal situation. I cannot conclude with a fact, I can merely conclude with my own opinion. And my opinion is that if a country has decided to have some sort of monarchy, then they should be able to choose their own king or queen.

Sources:

http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/newzealand.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Indigenous_Australians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_zealand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93New_Zealand_relations
http://www.nzembassy.com/australia/relationship-between-new-zealand-and-australia/new-zealand-and-australia
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/australia-and-new-zealand

Pictures:

http://is-a-cunt.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Aboriginals.jpg
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/photolib/maps/Map%20of%20Australia%20and%20New%20Zealand%201941.jpg
http://www.smartbizaus.com.au/images/flags.gif

My thoughts on the United States of America.

The United States is probably the most known country in the world. It is not the biggest country in the world, nor the most populated one. However, it seems that most people in this world have some sort of relationship with the United States. Whether they love or hate the country, it is always some sort of opinion or impression about it. If you go to a country troubled by poverty, you may find many people dreaming about the day they will finally escape their wretched, miserable lifestyle. When you ask them where they want to go, many of them will answer "the United States of America".

When people think about America, they may hear words such as "the land of opportunity" "the American dream", and "a new start". You could say the United States' reputation has split in half. You have one part where it is a glorious land where anyone can get famous and successful, and you have one part where it is a country dominated by rich crooks, rednecks and obesity. Personally, I am a bit critical to the United States. Of course, as any country, there is a lot of great people there, but there are also many people there that I do not think that highly of. I am not saying that I think that a certain part of the United States' population defines the US as a whole, but it is a big part nonetheless.

If you would ask a random person from the Middle East about what he or she thinks about the United States, odds are that the person will not speak very highly of it. However, if you ask a random person from a country in the West, the chance of he or she being more positive about the US is a lot bigger. There can be several reasons for this. I believe that the most prominent of these reasons is that when we are in Norway, we are often exposed to the more positive things from America. We see American series and shows on the television, we use American products in our daily life, we eat American food for dinner. Of course, I would not say that it is directly positive that many Norwegians eat food from McDonalds once a week, but you get my point.

Now, if you move yourself to a country of the third world, you will find that there is a substantial difference from the Western countries. This might be because of that mostly the negative parts of the US reach the surface there. For example, I highly doubt that the average Iraqi has watched the Batman movies. If he or she remembers the "War on Terror", however, is more likely. Due to the United States' slightly controversial history, they have left many negative marks all over the world.

I myself believe that there are many wonderful parts of the United States, as well as the many not so positive ones. Look at American politics. A large part of the American population votes for the Republican party. The equivalent of the Republican party in Norway would be considered as extreme. While gay rights is barely a question in Norway, homosexual marriage is only allowed in one out of 50 states in the US. The American gun rights are based of a constitution that was written over 200 years ago! Thanks to capitalism, an American citizen's rights and priviligies are in many ways decided by the size of your income. I can safely say that I feel a lot safer living in Norway than if I were to live in the United States of America.

This picture is not meant to be taken seriously,
and is exclusively meant for comedic purposes

But of course, these things do not define the US. No matter how much we try denying it, American culture is everywhere. We are influenced by the United States in almost everything we do! Whether it is what we wear, what we watch, even how we speak, it all contains traces of American culture. I cannot say that I am exclusively positive or negative to America. I love some sides of it, and I despise other parts. All I know is that we cannot deny the fact that the United States is an incredibly important and influencing country in today's world. It is a great country, but Norway is honestly the place for me.

Lastly, I would also like to add that American cheese is not really cheese. I find that very disturbing.

Sources:

http://blogs.cbn.com/thewebblog/archive/2009/01/22/americas-second-largest-export.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_constitution
http://randomstuffihate.com/2008/03/04/american-cheese-is-not-real-cheese/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/11/who-loves-and-hates-america-a-revealing-map-of-global-opinion-toward-the-u-s/
http://www.who.int/countries/usa/en/

Pictures:

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/603789_514525098602746_108493436_n.jpg
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/graphics/flags/large/us-lgflag.gif

Scotland

Scotland is one of the three countries of Great Britain, among England and Wales. It is the second largest of those three, in both area and population. People from Scotland are commonly known as Scotsmen, or simply as Scots. The Scottish flag is blue with a white X crossing diagonally from the corners.

The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, pronounced "Edinboro", however Glasgow is the largest city. Edinburgh is the second largest city while Aberdeen is the third largest. There are approximately 5,3 million citizens currently living in Scotland, and the country covers about 80 000 square kilometres in area. The climate in Scotland is very similar to the Norwegian climate, as both experience a lot of rain during the year as well as cool summers. However, Scotland has much warmer winters than Norway. Scotland is located on the tip of the island of Great Britain, and the only country it shares a border with, is England. The Scottish currency is the pound, which it shares along with the rest of the United Kingdom.

The Scottish government is very different from the usual type of government, as they share a prime minister with England and Wales. The current prime minister of Great Britain is David Cameron. Instead of a prime minister of their own, Scotland have what they call a first minister who acts as the leader of the Scottish government. The first minister of Scotland is Alex Salmond. Scotland is a monarch, and their queen is Queen Elizabeth II, who is also the queen of the entire UK.

Scotland is very involved in industry and trade, with especially enjoying from the largest oil reserves in the entire European Union. Because of this, Aberdeen has been branded as Europe's oil capital. If Scotland were to split from the United Kingdom, they would control 90% of UK's current oil reserves. Scotland is also very engaged in heavy industry, which they have been known for throughout several decades. Some of their major exports are whisky and electronics. Scotland has an unemployment rate of 7,6 percent.

 Common Scottish characteristics are kilts, bagpipes and haggis. A kilt is a traditional clothing, a bagpipe is a music instrument, and haggis is their national dish, which is a charming course made of sheep intestines cooked inside a sheep stomache. Scotsmen are also known for their distinctive variant of English, which many find complicated and difficult to understand. Scotland is also known for the Loch Ness Monster, which is an old legend in Scottish folk lore.

The education system of Scotland is a bit different from the Norwegian education system. School is mandatory in Scotland until one has reached the age of 15 or 16. At this stage, one can choose whether or not to stay in school for two extra years, until one has reached the age of 17 or 18. The first 7 years of school take place in primary school, following secondary school for four more years, and eventually two more years after that, if it is desired. When primary and secondary school is finished, one can start working or continue with getting an education in a university.

Sources:

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

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

8 Mile

8 Mile is an American hip-hop drama film produced in 2002. It stars actors such as Mekhi Phifer, Taryn Manning, Kim Basinger, the late Brittany Murphy and the known rapper Eminem as the lead role. The movie follows the young, white rapper "B-Rabbit", who is desperate trying to launch his rapping career while living in an environment heavily dominated by African Americans. The movie is mostly known for being Eminem's most prominent acting role, as well as for launching the Academy Award-winning single "Lose Yourself" from the film's soundtrack.

The movie evolves around the rapper "B-Rabbit"(Eminem), and his struggle to achieve fame despite his poor living and work conditions. B-Rabbit, or Jimmy Smith, lives in a trailer with his mother(Kim Basinger) and her mentally damaged boyfriend Greg(Michael Shannon). Greg is an unemployed heavy drinker, and he is abusive towards both Jimmy and his mother, much to Jimmy's dismay. Jimmy is depressed because of his poor current situation, and because his life hasn't evolved in any way since high school. His sole target throughout the movie is to become a successful rapper and escape Detroit, the city he has lived in through his entire life. Jimmy often finds comfort in his friends; "Future"(Mekhi Phifer), "Cheddar Bob"(Evan Jones) and "DJ IZ"(De'Angelo Wilson). He also has a friendship with the self-claimed manager "Wink"(Eugene Byrd), despite his association with the rival organization "Leaders of the Free World".

The film starts with Rabbit patricipating in an urban rap battle. After spending a long time preparing, he walks up to stage to face his opponent, but he unfortunately chokes, meaning that he gets too nervous to say a single world. Later, Rabbit has to move back to his mother, Stephanie, and his sister, Lily, after having broken up with his old girlfriend and leaving his car for her. He also discovers that Stephanie's absuive boyfriend Greg has moved in. Rabbit goes to his low-paid work at a factory, where he meets a girl named Alex, whom he immediately takes a liking to.

Throughout the movie, Rabbit's personality grows into a more mature and responsible manner, and he becomes more confident of himself. He developes a relationship with Alex, he stands up for both women and homosexuals, and he delivers solid performances at his job, which earns him some deeply needed extra shifts. After a while, his relationships with both Future, Wink and Alex is damaged after a fight with Future, and after he witnesses Alex cheating on him with Wink. Despite this, he manages to repair his relationship with both Alex and Future. Wink, however, remains hostile after Rabbit's violent retaliation. He gets his payback when he brings his Free World crew to Rabbit's trailer to beat him up.

Despite several protests, Future signs Rabbit up for a new rap battle, and Rabbit, who was initially very reluctant, shows up at last. This serves as the climax of the movie. Alex also shows up to support Rabbit. The crowd initially mocks Rabbit following his previous attempt when he choked, but Rabbit wins both of the first two rounds, and proves his capabilities to the crowd. In the final round, he is set to face Papa Doc, the leader of Free World. Knowing that Papa Doc knows all of Rabbit's weaknesses, he surprises the crowd by opening up with revealing all the things that Papa Doc could've used against him, thus rendering Doc speechless. After Rabbit's overwhelming rhymes, Papa Doc chokes, and Rabbit finally wins the finals.

The theme of the movie is the American Dream. Rabbit is stuck in a poor community with a low-paid job and with lots of everyday problems. He wants to become a succesfull rapper and reach the top, but he struggles with challenges which he finds hard to overcome. He often points out to his friends that they could reach much farther than where they are now, but he feels overlooked by them, and gets the impression that he wants it more than his friends.

I think the movie was very good, and I think it formulates a good story in an impressive way. The acting is also very splendid, especially considering that the lead role is played by Eminem, who has no form of acting education in beforehand. The reason why he did such an excellent acting performance, might be because of his similarities to B-Rabbit. Both of them were raised by a single mother, and both of them grew up in Detroit. They were also both very integrated in the African-American rap community, and both of them were eager participants of freestyle rap battles.

I'd recommend this movie to everyone who is interested in a good story that sets things in perspective. One does not have to be fan of hip-hop or rap to enjoy this movie, but it will of course be a bonus if you're a fan of Eminem and his music. The movie has a quite decent rating of 6.8 on IMDB, but one would have to judge it using your own opinion,

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Mile_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminem
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298203/

The Southern United States

The Southern part of the US is in many ways the most primitive one. These states rely more on farming and other more natural ways of getting food on the table, than the other, more modern parts of the United States. The South consists of 15 states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. The largest city in the southern US is Houston, Texas.

The South is full of stereotypes, and it's perhaps the most characteristic part of the United States. The common, stereotypical image that many have of a southern American, is a white, male, christian republican who lives on a farm with several guns in his possession. The stereotypical southerner may also be a bit racist, uneducated and not very intelligent. Another common stereotype is cousin marriage. This is not the complete reality, of course, even though it exists many southerners with that description. While the higher percentage of the South indeed counts for white, christian republicans, the rest of the stereotypes not as common as those.

The southerners have a very distinctive and recognizeable accent, which has become their most characteristic feature. Their accent can not be described as particularly elegant or "smooth", and it is often parodied in a satirical sense. The accent is not very hard to mimc, and the easiest trick is to drag your left cheek up, and use long, bended vocals. Follow this trick and you will speak like a redneck in no time!

The term "redneck" has developed itself as their nickname, and it is normally used to describe a white, racist, poor southerner with bad manners. The name itself comes from the 1900s, when poor, white farmers would spend hours upon hours working in their fields, while in the boiling heat. This caused major, red sunburns on their necks, and the name "redneck" was born. "Hick" and "Hillbilly" are also used as nicknames towards the southerners.

A large part of the South lies in an area known as the "Bible Belt". The area is called the Bible Belt because of the high percentage of christians. Atheism is very uncommon in many southern states, and in the most extreme christian environments, atheism may even be seen as offensive! The Bible Belt's inhabitants are also known for their far-right, conservative politics, and the dominating part of the southern states vote Republican.

Facts about the USA

The United States of America is a country situated in the North American continent, and it is the third biggest country in the world by both population and size. The country consists of 50 states. The president of the United States is called Barack Obama, who was recently elected for a second term in the US election.

Here are som fun-facts about the US:

There are 62 times more people in the US than in Norway.
The US used to be a British colony.
Their first capital was the city of New York.
Their smallest state has the longest name.
The world's largest rollercoaster is located in New Jersey.
There is no American official language.

I chose this picture because it portrays the common, stereotypical American family, and because there are many families in the US with the same family structure and behaviour as this fictional family.

If you are here to buy bait, you have been mistaken. No bait is being sold here.