TV debates in the UK

There have been decided in the UK that there should be a TV debate with the biggest political parties before the election. This includes Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron. They are attending three debates in three different places and with different hosts and themes.

The rules is like this: There are three 90-minutes sessions. They will focus on domestic policies, international affairs and the economy. After this the audience can ask questions direct to the candidates. The candidates will prepare only one contribution each, because it is three themes. They just have to answer without preparation on the rest of the question. They will only have 60 seconds to answer each question. One more rule is that the audience is not allowed to make noises in the middle of the debate. They can only applause at the beginning and the end. No screaming or nothing.

All three of them seems to look forward to this, and think it is a good idea. It can make people more interested in politics, and they can ask the questions they want to hear something about. It can encourage and answers many questions people have. Maybe the way the contestants answers questions and how they behave, is a part of convincing people who to vote for.

The TV debates is really important in this particular election. Gordon Brown has not done so much for the country, and he has been followed by a lot of rumors and things lately. The reason why they have this debates is that they will try to restore trust in politics. They will have the chance to talk to millions of people at the same time. Everyone is tired of politics and politicians. People think that they are just the same and that nothing is going to change. That is why they have to prove them wrong and make people interested in politics again. It is a great opportunity for people to find out what the politicians stands for and see how they look and who they want to have as a leader in the future.

In the US there are a lot of TV clashes that dominates the US presidential elections. Many times the debate has changed the polls, and a candidate that were in the lead lost the election, maybe because of just a wrong sentence. For example in 1976, when Gerald Ford lead in the polls, but managed to say;

"There is no Sovjet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." After this sentence, his momentum stopped and Jimmy Carter won the election.

Like in the UK they use the debates to gain the trust of the people, to make people interested and to show the people who the yare voting for. They can make their final decisions by watching the show, and everything can turn. So this is a really important part of the US elections. Now it looks like the UK will follow in the same track as the worlds only superpower.

The Falkland Islands

In 1960 Captain John Strong, was the first Englander to chart the Island; Falkland Sound. This name was given after the First Lord of the Admiralty.

In 1832/33 The United Kingdom wanted to have the power over the Falkland Island. This was after Argentina ignored appointment with the British, like Luis Vernet as Governor over the Islands and over fishing rights.

When we come to 1966, the Island was raid by Armed Peronist. Later he surrounded.

Friday, 2 April 1982 the Falklands War/Conflict starts. This was a war between the UK and Argentina, over the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. It started with Argentina's occupation on the Falkland Island and South Georgia. It lasted for 74 days, when Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982. The war were actually not declared, but it just happened when Argentine attacked. Britain retook the Island by amphibious assault and the Island remained under British control. Even if the Island actually belongs to Argentina, they shows no sign to claim it back, even if the claim is in the Argentine constitution after its reformation in 1994. The wad led to the death of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Also three civilian Argentine were killed.

The only thing I found about 1992 was that a diplomatic relations between Argentina and the UK were resumed in 1992. There were also reopened embassies in London and Buenos Aires.

In 2010 the Argentine government, discovered that ships were sailing through Argentine territorial waters to Falkland, South Georgia and South Sandwich. They wanted to require a permit, as a part of a dispute over British oil exploration near the Falklands. Also the British have begun with drilling for oil, really near the Falkland, but the claim that is does not affect the Falkland-controlled waters.

So these are the cases here. It was not easy to find so much about a lot of there dates. But I searched and looked a lot around on the internet, and found just a little bit about each date.

Question time - 24 February, 2010

Question time is a meeting and an opportunity that MPs and all the members of the House of Lords gets, here they can ask the government ministers different questions that they want an oral answer on. The prime minister answers questions every Wednesday. The MP mostly asks an "open question", so he can ask a supplementary question on any subject. These question times can last for many hours, and the one I was watching were on Wednesday 24 of February, from 11.30am to 7.45 pm.

Gordon Brown came after 28 minutes, and started to send condolences to the ones who lost some people in Afghanistan. This calmed everyone down, before the questioning started. He talks slowly and his whole body language is calm and relaxed. I notice that everyone is relaxed and the audience is quiet. This lasts until David Cameron ask Brown what he think about the situation on a hospital, were many hundred people died after being mistreated. This open up for loud discussions between the audience and the heath starts to build up. Sometimes it is so loud that the speaker has to interrupt and tell them to be quiet.

Both Cameron and from the Conservative party and Brown from the Liberal party, appears to be calm and well prepared for this question time. Brown uses his body, especially his right arm to make a statement. The tone in his voice is emotional, easy and comfortable to listen to. He answers to all the questions without problems. Cameron also have good questions, but some of them are irrelevant and is made just to hang out and make fun of Brown.

If we look at the hole debate, it seems to me that many of the audience don't respect the one that is speaking. They shout out what they mean when they mean it, so the ones who are talking is often being interrupted and disturbed.

If we look at some examinations and poles it seems like the Conservative party is going to win the election this year. The time will show.

My opinion on "the Road"

I have now read all the pages in “The Road”. Sometimes it has been easy to read and others have been more difficult. After reading the book I took myself in thinking about the book. What was it really about? How is it possible to make a movie about this book? The last question I asked my parents about, and they answered that not all movies need to have action and all of that. The movie has gained really good critics, but I can’t see how the movie can be that good. This I say, because I don’t think the book was that interesting. It didn’t have so many episodes were I just can’t wait to turn to the next page and find out if they live or die.

I think I have been really dependent and spoiled when it comes to a lot of action in books. The last books I have read have been books about crime and investigation. Like Jo Nesbø’s book “Panserhjerte”. I think that I don’t have much patience and I get easy bored.

But after all, when I think about it, it is a strong book and I see how people like it. It has a lot of descriptions and a lot of details. The story is deep, and shows the bond between a father and his son. They struggle to survive and they don’t talk much, but still they have this invisible bond that makes them unbreakable.

I think it should have been another end in the Road. I see why it ends as it does, but I don’t understand it. The whole book shows signs that they will succeed and find what they are looking for. So why the author chooses this end is a mystery for me. It makes the book totally different from almost every other book I have read, but still I like it better when it ends well. This is because I don’t like reading about sad things and peoples everyday life. Even if it is many million people left on the earth, there are too many adults and children that experience the things the boy and his father do.

I really hope we can watch the movie that is made from this book. It is interesting to see how the director has construed the book and what he has chosen to have in focus and to drop out. I also wonder if he has managed to make it exiting and easy to follow, even with that little material to work with. I am not saying that the book doesn’t have much content, but I am just saying what I think and how I experienced it when I read.