Finland, Finland, Finland - come in y'all..! ;) [Archive] - Page 7

Troll

08-27-2008, 1:20pm

Ants bite, phones fly in Finnish summer bonanza

By Agnieszka Flak

HELSINKI (Reuters) - They carry their wives, sit on ants, throw milking stools, boots and mobile phones -- here in the home of weird world championships, participants will do just about anything to win their offbeat crowns.

Normally reserved Finns say there is no better way to celebrate the short summer months than with contests that add a jolt of adrenaline and silliness to bright summer nights.

"Maybe we are a little bit crazy ... maybe we are just bored," said Toni Hautamaki, a sauna-championship spectator from Oulu.

With foreign visitors growing by about six percent in 2007 and many oddball competitions taking place in distant rural areas, Finland's funny business is also a spur for tourism.

Most of the 50 or so competitions that take place over the three summer months -- many billed grandly as world championships -- started at summer fairs or as village affairs.

But today the top competitions can each attract about 10,000 people to the Nordic country annually to watch or join in, staggering across hurdles with their spouses clinging to their backs or diving headlong into ponds of mud after a soccer ball.

Some events are so popular -- swamp soccer, wife-carrying and air guitar -- they have prompted other nations to hold their own contests to select who will compete in Finland.

Portuguese Olympic cross-country skier Danny Silva said these events bring out the best in the usually somber Finns, letting them goof off, dress up, and poke fun at themselves.

Silva, who was taking his first stab at swamp soccer in July, said it would have taken a great marketing effort to make such a competition succeed in his home town.

"Portuguese players like all the glamour, perfume, look all nice -- and here people just get down and get dirty," he said. "This is bizarre, but when you think about it, it makes training so much more fun."

Many of the events allow top athletes to add extra oomph -- and fun -- to their workouts. They also let them show off their "sisu" -- the Finnish version of perseverance and guts.

Finnish cross-country skiers use swamp soccer to train in the snowless summer months. Both work the same muscles, but slogging through a mud-soaked field adds an element of fun.

Self-mockery is core to the mix.

Writer Risto Etelamaki said mobile-phone throwing -- which originated from Finland's national strength in the sport of javelin throwing -- combines recycling philosophy with play.

"The sport is also a symbolical mental liberation from the restraining yoke of being constantly within reach," he wrote in his book "Funny Finnish Pursuits."

Finland, home of mobile phone giant Nokia, boasts one of the most mature mobile phone markets in the world, where people pay for pizzas, parking and tram tickets using cellphones.

KILLING MOSQUITOES

With tongue in cheek, some events purport to have roots further back in history.

Organizers say the wife-carrying contest is rooted in the legend of Ronkainen the Robber, who in the 19th century tested aspiring gang members by forcing them to lug sacks of grain or live swine over a similar course.

Another notion is that it stems from an even earlier tribal practice of wife-stealing, in honor of which many contestants now take up the challenge with someone else's wife.

Those hundreds of Finns who vie each year to keep their behinds longest in nests occupied by some 40,000 ants are, it is claimed, actually following an ancient health ritual -- one which keeps all their senses alive.

Boasting few disciplines in which its athletes excel on the global stage -- Finland ranked 44th in Olympic medals with four -- Finns find victory in finger-wrestling, mosquito-killing or ice golf equally rewarding.

"The tradition started as a big joke," said Arto Murto, manager of the swamp soccer championships. "It's our nature to create fun happenings, probably because our summers are so short."

Large parts of Finland are blanketed in near darkness for much of the winter and the weather in spring and fall is often cold and rainy, prompting locals to joke that the country has only two seasons -- winter and summer.

Finland's tourism board paid little attention when the first contests began 10 years back, but says the events are becoming a major draw.

"At first it was difficult to promote them as they were small local events where people did not speak any foreign language," said Liisa Renfors, a product specialist at the Finnish Tourist Board.

"(But now) they are raising the interest of foreign press and visitors -- probably because they are so different from anything else going in their own countries."

Finland's success has prompted rivalry and imitation from other countries in the region. Neighboring Estonia will host the world air guitar championships while Denmark has launched a championship in kicking a liter of vanilla ice cream.

But Finland's championships are still growing.

The annual beer float, which began with a few friends sitting in an inflatable boat sipping beer, attracted 1,400 participants this year in rubber boats, inflatable sofas and water scooters -- so many it forced local police to close down the Web site advertising the event, citing security concerns.

(Additional reporting by Attila Cser in Helsinki and Kim McLaughlin in Copenhagen; Editing by Sarah Edmonds and Sara Ledwith)

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSLM45339720080826?sp=true

FinnFreak

08-27-2008, 3:05pm

Yep, we're nuts alright.

John - :p

Myyde

08-28-2008, 3:33pm

Näääh, just friendly. Just trying to help Swedes to win something. Poor Swedes didn`t got any gold medals from Beijing Olympics, maybe they can win some of these new events........yeah right....go buy some ananas.:p

FinnFreak

08-28-2008, 5:01pm

Yeppers, that Swedish pineapple joke was quite original coming from them.

Skrattar som helvete - håhhåå.

John - :p

Troll

10-10-2008, 7:15am

Ex-Finnish president wins Nobel Peace Prize
Panel cites Ahtisaari's efforts to resolve conflicts in East Timor, Balkans

OSLO, Norway - Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari received the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to build a lasting peace in places as diverse as East Timor and the Balkans in Europe.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 to Martti Ahtisaari for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts. These efforts have contributed to a more peaceful world and to 'fraternity between nations' in Alfred Nobel's spirit," the committee said in announcing the prize.

Ahtisaari's efforts in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East drew much praise from the five-member committee.

'Very pleased and grateful'
"For the past 20 years, he has figured prominently in endeavors to resolve several serious and long-lasting conflicts," the citation said, mentioning his work in conflicts from Namibia and Aceh to Kosovo and Iraq.

"He has also made constructive contributions to the resolution of conflicts in Northern Ireland, in Central Asia, and on the Horn of Africa," the citation said.

Speaking to NRK, Ahtisaari said he "was very pleased and grateful" at receiving the prize.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27112606

FinnFreak

10-10-2008, 7:34am

Ahtisaari himself considers Namibia as his most rewarding effort. :)

In an age, where most people seem to idolize instant fortune and fame, recognizing a person's work that's lasted for over 3 decades - to bring peace to the world - it's the perfect moment, the perfect recipient, for the perfect cause.

John - :]

SevenUp!

10-11-2008, 9:22am

In an age, where most people seem to idolize instant fortune and fame, recognizing a person's work that's lasted for over 3 decades - to bring peace to the world - it's the perfect moment, the perfect recipient, for the perfect cause.

Perfect.

Good for him, good for us, good for the world.

FinnFreak

11-17-2008, 10:39am

Just a reminder for the Finns, that the CMA 2008 Awards show will be shown here next month:

YLE TV2 14.12. klo 23.05

PARASTA KANTRIA

(2008 42nd Annual Country Music Awards)

Country-musiikin suuri vuosittainen palkintojuhla pidettiin Nashvillessä 12. marraskuuta.

John - ;)

Troll

11-21-2008, 7:37am

A sky-high birth — at 33,000 feet
Doctors and nurses on Finnair flight helped deliver baby, the first for airline

HELSINKI, Finland - Finnair says a Swedish woman gave birth to a girl 33,000 feet (11,000 meters) over Kazakhstan on a flight from Bangkok to Helsinki.

The Finnish national carrier's spokesman Christer Haglund says mother and baby are fine. They were met at the airport by a medical team.

Two doctors and two nurses were among the 227 passengers on the 11-hour flight aboard the MD-11 aircraft. They assisted the birth Thursday with the aid of a satellite link to a medical service.

It was the first time a baby had been born on a Finnair flight. Haglund said the airline will give the family return tickets to Bangkok.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27826976

FinnFreak

11-21-2008, 9:26am

:D:up:

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Friday 21.11.2008

Swedish mother gives birth on Finnair flight from Bangkok to Helsinki

A Swedish baby’s life got off to an unusual start on Thursday November 20th. Instead of being born in a hospital, the baby girl was born on a Finnair flight from Bangkok to Helsinki at an altitude of 11 kilometres, somewhere over Kazakhstan.

The baby’s mother had boarded the plane five hours earlier in Bangkok. At that point there were no signs of impending delivery.

The plane arrived in Helsinki at 18:20 in the evening, carrying one extra passenger. An ambulance was waiting on the airport apron in order to take the newborn baby and her mother to hospital.

”As far as I know, the mother and the baby are both doing OK. The delivery had been successful”, says Olavi Hämäläinen, Finnair’s aviation medical officer.

However, the captain had already considered a stop-over in Moscow, but eventually decided that the flight could be continued.

Two doctors and two nurses who were among the passengers handled the delivery with the assistance of a doctor from the MedLink medical service who took them through the proceedings via satellite phone.

”A plane is a small place for delivery. This baby was born at the back of the plane, while the cabin staff was taking care of privacy. However, there is no possibility to relieve pain nor to deal with a difficult birth on an aircraft”, Hämäläinen notes.

It is not known yet how premature the Swedish baby’s birth was.

Pregnant passengers beynd their 28th week of pregnancy must provide a doctor’s certificate confirming that the pregnancy has proceeded normally. However, pregnant passengers may travel up to the end of their 36th week, and on Finnair’s short domestic and Scandinavian flights they may travel up to the end of the 38th week, provided that the pregnancy has proceeded normally.

In practice, the rule cannot be monitored with any real accuracy.

”If someone wants to lie, she does so. However, a pregnant woman is hardly likely to want to hurt her baby”, concludes Hämäläinen, adding that flying cannot of itself trigger going into labour.

Giving birth on a plane is not so uncommon worldwide, but for Finnair the occasion was unique, since no birth has ever taken place on one of their flights before.

The airline gave its firstborn a bouquet of flowers and her parents received complimentary return tickets to Bangkok.

As a bonus, the baby will have a special place of birth on her passport, as the United Nations recommend that if a baby is born during a flight, the place of birth should be the same as the plane’s place of registration.

Finnair’s aircraft are registered in Finland.

Finnair Group press release (20.11.2008): Baby girl born on Finnair flight (http://www.finnairgroup.com/group/group_11_2_1.html?&Id=1227207733.html)

John - :)

Troll

11-21-2008, 3:09pm

World's largest cruise liner launched in Finland
Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas on track to be finished within the year

HELSINKI, Finland - Finnish shipbuilders say the world's largest cruise liner has been launched into water for the first time.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas will be completed within a year before sailing to Miami. The ship was floated out Friday at a Turku shipyard dry dock.

It has 16 passenger decks with 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 3,000 crew. It is 1,200 feet long and has an open-air arena the size of a football field.

Special features include a 750-seat theater modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater, a skating rink and a youth area.

The 225,000-ton vessel has a price tag of $2.5 billion. Royal Caribbean International has ordered another Oasis class liner due to be launched in 2010.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27843880/

FinnFreak

11-21-2008, 4:11pm

I've done my bit on her as well.

John - :]

FinnFreak

11-25-2008, 8:39am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Tuesday 25.11.2008

Apocalyptica overtakes Metallica on US charts

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135240067928.jpeg
Apocalyptica performed during the casting of votes at the finals of the Eurovision
Song Contest in Helsinki in 2007.

The Finnish band Apocalyptica, renowned for its heavy cello music, has reached the top of the singles charts in the United States.

Last week the band was ranked number one on the BDS and Mediabase Active Rock radio lists with their single I Don’t Care.

That success was followed by the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks list of Billboard magazine, where Apocalyptica is number two, right behind AC/DC.

An interesting detail is that while Apocalyptica originally became popular on the basis of its covers of tracks by Metallica, the Finnish band has now overtaken Metallica on the hit lists.

“In the United States we’re really in a heavyweight bunch. The Top 10 has Metallica, AC/DC, Slipknot, Coldplay, and then ‘some weird band called’ Apocalyptica. Those figures would be great for any band, to say nothing of bizarre Finnish cello players like us”, said Apocalyptica cellist Perttu Kivilaakso, commenting on their success.

Making it onto the US singles charts is a rare achievement for a Finnish band, and this is the first time that any Finnish group has reached the top.

Apocalyptica has had four tours in the United States this year. Last spring a single by Apocalyptica and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor rose to number 6 on the Billboard chart.

John - ;):up:

Troll

11-25-2008, 1:40pm

Thanks for the article.

Groucho

11-27-2008, 12:14pm

I've done my bit on her as well.

John - :]

You put your labor of love into her? What part of the ship did you help build?

FinnFreak

12-01-2008, 4:34am

Software for the power protection system.

http://www.cruiseweb.be/images/oasisoftheseas/OasisoftheSeas1.jpg (http://www.oasisoftheseas.com)

http://www.oasisoftheseas.com

DOWNLOAD E-BROCHURE (http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/downloadBrochure.php?id=1)

DOWNLOAD DECK PLANS (http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/downloadBrochure.php?id=2)

John - ;)

Troll

12-01-2008, 7:30am

thanks for the pic

FinnFreak

12-03-2008, 8:51am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 3.12.2008

Renny Harlin's film crew for Mannerheim biopic includes double Oscar winner

Movie's first night put back to January 2010

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241609605.jpeg
Renny Harlin has made use of his Hollywood contacts to put together a team of
big-production professionals for Mannerheim, the largest film project in Finnish
cinema history.

Finnish Hollywood director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight) has manned the film crew for his upcoming Mannerheim biopic of the legendary WW II Finnish War Marshal and sixth President of Finland (1944-46) C.G.E. Mannerheim with foreign talent.

The film’s art direction will be handled by 43-year-old Briton Steven Lawrence.

Lawrence, who arrived in Helsinki earlier this week to check out some filming locations, has previously worked as the principal art director on Batman: The Dark Knight, the Bond film Casino Royale, and three Harry Potter films among others. Lawrence was also responsible of the art direction of another World War II film, Enemy at the Gates.

Apparently not all of the film crew tasks have been agreed on yet.

For one, there is no information available yet of who is going to be the film’s principal cinematographer. Presumably he, too, will be found through Harlin’s Hollywood contacts.

On location the working language will be English, even though the film’s screenplay is in Finnish.

The film’s line producer is going to be American Michael Flannigan, 45, who already arrived in Finland some time ago.

In California Flannigan has worked with the Millennium Films production company, which produced for example Harlin’s 2007 Samuel L. Jackson vehicle Cleaner, as well as Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia.

In addition to Cleaner and The Black Dahlia, Flannigan’s production credits include films such as Mad Money, 88 Minutes and Blonde Ambition.

The most famous person in Harlin’s film crew in his chosen field is the principal make-up artist Greg Cannom, whose more than 30-year career in the business includes multiple Academy Award nominations and two wins for Mrs. Doubtfire and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Cannom, whose exact title is "special effects makeup designer", is going to be a pivotal member of the team, for the film covers several decades of Mannerheim’s life.

Most recently Cannom transformed Brad Pitt from a young lad to an aged man in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Cannom will face the same task with the Finnish actor Mikko Nousiainen, who has been hired to play the part of Mannerheim.

Harlin’s film’s Finnish cast was announced already some time ago, but additional actors at least from Sweden, Lithuania, and Poland are still being sought for certain roles. An actor with a Tibetan background is required to play the part of the Dalai Lama.

The production company Solar Films has quietly shifted the first screening of the movie back to January 2010, from an earlier launch date of October 2009.

In actual fact the postponement seems a trivial one, given the long history of the project, which dates back nearly a decade while funding was secured and a screenplay was fine-tuned.

The latest decision suggest that shooting has got going more slowly than forecast, and also perhaps that Renny Harlin's directing commitments in the United States have kept him tied up for longer than had been anticipated.

John - ;)

FinnFreak

12-08-2008, 9:25am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Monday 8.12.2008

Independence Day celebrations pass off in traditional fashion

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241735985.jpeg
The Presidential Palace facing Helsinki's South Harbour is the
venue for the main Independence Day event, a gala reception
hosted by the President.

Finland celebrated 91 years of independence on Saturday in the time-honoured manner, and without any untoward incidents.

Veterans and those who fell in the country's wars were remembered in torchlit processions and by lighting candles at cemeteries and in the windows of apartments and homes.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241735924.jpeg
Minna Usva placing candles on graves for Finland's war dead in a
cemetery in Helsinki's Haaga on Independence Day.

There was the usual military parade, too, and on this occasion it was held in Turku. Some 1,500 military personnel and 40 vehicles took part in a march past, including Finland's latest assault tanks.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241735915.jpeg
The parade in Turku by personnel from the Finnish Defence Forces, which are
celebrating 90 years this year, included a drive past by tanks from the Armoured
Brigade stationed in Parola.

Since it was Turku, the Navy was also well to the fore, and the public had a chance to go over a number of vessels, including the minelayer Pohjanmaa, the flagship of the Finnish Navy.

The day culminated in a gala reception for around 1,900 invited guests (those who had received a genuine and not a fake invitation) hosted by President Tarja Halonen at the Presidential Palace in downtown Helsinki.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241721124.jpeg
Of the three surviving holders of the Mannerheim Cross,
Finland's highest award for military gallantry, only Tuomas
Gerdt was able to attend the Independence Day reception
this year. In accordance with tradition, he and his wife
duly started off the proceedings by shaking hands with
the President Tarja Halonen and her husband Pentti
Arajärvi. Protocol also demands that the last to arrive
are the surviving former Presidents and their wives.

http://static.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2008/images/presidenttiparit_vaaka.jpg

The event was attended by the great and the good of the country, including all the members of the government and Parliament, senior officials, and figures from sports, culture and entertainment, many of whom have been in the news over the past year for their exploits, together with the foreign diplomatic corps stationed in Helsinki.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241729873.jpeg
President Tarja Halonen and her husband Pentti Arajärvi started the dancing,
as tradition demands.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241729292.jpeg
Helsingin Sanomat editor-in-chief Janne Virkkunen (left) chatting with former
President and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari and Mrs. Eeva
Ahtisaari.

The party itself follows a hugely traditional pattern, but still gathers a large television audience as families tear apart the dress-sense of the guests, see who is in and who is not, who is arm-in-arm with whom, and also - since this is a small country and nearly everyone knows everyone else - try to spot the neighbours, relatives, and acquaintances who are present.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241730767.jpeg http://static.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2008/galleria/2/karpela_tanja1.jpg
As on so many previous occasions, Centre Party MP and former minister Tanja Karpela was among the most-
photographed of the evening's guests, and among the most eagerly watched by the TV audience as she
headed along the red carpet to shake hands with President Halonen. Prior to her going into politics, Karpela
was a former Miss Finland and fashion model.

This year's television coverage was marginally less predictable than on some previous occasions, perhaps in part because of a humorous article published in the tabloid Iltalehti on Friday.

The newspaper wickedly printed a 5 x 5 bingo-card featuring the classic clichéd interviewer questions/interviewee answers referring to such things as the nature of independence, the crush on the dance-floor, or the hours spent getting one's hair done, with the result that the TV commentators and their interview subjects steered very carefully clear of all the usual platitudes.

A good time was had by all, and Finland briefly forgot the bad news of international conflicts and economic bad times on the horizon.

John - ;)

Troll

12-08-2008, 3:13pm

Thanks for the info.

FinnFreak

12-11-2008, 10:53am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Thursday 11.12.2008

Nobel Peace laureate Martti Ahtisaari makes appeal for peace in Middle East

Solemn ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135241892345.jpeg
Martti Ahtisaari showing the diploma and the medal
linked with the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a lecture delivered in Oslo after receiving this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari made a direct appeal to US President-elect Barack Obama.

“I hope that the new President of the United States, who will be sworn in next month, will give high priority to the Middle East conflict during his first year in office”.

In his lecture, Ahtisaari also proclaimed that the conflict, which has gone on for decades, is the most challenging that exists.

“The tensions and wars in the region have been going on for so long that many have come to believe that the Middle East knot can never be untied”, he said.

“The credibility of the whole international community is at stake. We cannot go on, year after year, simply pretending to do something to help the situation in the Middle East. We must also get results.”

The ceremony in Oslo’s City Hall was a solemn event.

Ole Danbolt Mjøs, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, recounted Ahtisaari’s achievements over the decades, singling out the conflicts in Namibia, Aceh, and Kosovo for special attention. As a result of his efforts to achieve independence for Namibia, Ahtisaari was named honorary citizen of that country.

Mjøs noted that many boys in Namibia have been given the name Martti, which, he said, must be as great an honour as getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wednesday’s events followed a very tight schedule.

In the morning, Ahtisaari gave interviews in his hotel. He also visited King Haarald and met children on the streets along with Princess Mette.Marit.

In spite of the busy day, Ahtisaari arrived at Oslo’s City Hall exactly on time, with the fanfare playing at 12:56.

At the beginning of his lecture Ahtisaari noted that he himself was a child affected by war.

“I was only two years old when, as a result of an agreement on spheres of interest between Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, war broke out, forcing my family to leave soon thereafter the town of Viipuri [Vyborg]. Like several hundred thousand fellow Karelians, we became refugees in our own country as great power politics caused the borders of Finland to be redrawn and left my home town as part of the Soviet Union.”

“This childhood experience contributed to my commitment to working on the resolution of conflicts.”

Ahtisaari urged rich countries to maintain foreign aid programmes in spite of the current economic crisis.

“If the present trend continues, we will be faced with a situation where hundreds of millions of young people will be out of work in countries that are in early stages of development. If nothing is done, we will be creating an effective breeding ground for crime, instability and war as young people lose all hope.”

“I believe that the fight against poverty is also the most effective measure of countering terrorism in the long term.”

Ole Danbolt Mjøs pointed out that the Nobel Committee has granted prizes to mediators before, including Theodore Roosevelt, Kofi Annan, and Jimmy Carter.

He added that Ahtisaari belongs to a special group of mediators, who have given decisive input on behalf of peace and reconciliation in the world.

After the ceremony, Ahtisaari appeared in a live interview with CNN. Later he stood on the balcony of the Grand Hotel to watch a torchlight parade by citizens of Oslo.

* * *

CNN - Thursday 11 December, 2008

Stellar show for Nobel Peace Prize winner

Story Highlights

- Nobel Peace Prize events continue with gala concert in Oslo, Norway

- Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine to host; Diana Ross to perform

- Concert will be broadcast live on CNN.com Live at 2 p.m. ET (7 p.m. GMT)

- Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari was presented with prize Wednesday

OSLO, Norway (CNN) -- A week of events to mark the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari continues Thursday with a stellar concert in Oslo to be broadcast on CNN.com Live.

Actors Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson are due to host the gala event which features performances from Diana Ross, operatic quartet Il Divo and Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn.

The concert will be carried by CNN.com live beginning at 2 p.m. ET Thursday (7 p.m. GMT Thursday).

In an interview Wednesday, Ahtisaari called for a fresh Middle East peace initiative and warned that western powers risked losing credibility unless they acted to solve the conflict.

Ahtisaari told CNN's Jonathan Mann that peace was a "question of will."

"All conflicts can be settled and there are no excuses for letting them become eternal," said Ahtisaari, who was cited for his work promoting Namibian independence in southern Africa and for his "central role" promoting peace in the conflict-stricken Indonesian province of Aceh.

"It is simply intolerable that violent conflicts defy resolution for decades, causing immeasurably human suffering and preventing economic and social development."

Ahtisaari said that finding a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians was crucial to the future development of the entire Middle East and Muslim world.

"As Western nations we are losing our credibility... because we can't keep on talking, year after year, that we are doing something. And no one sees any results," he said.

"People are suffering on both sides, and the saddest thing is that if we don't help the parties to solve those problems that are in the way of getting the agreement in the Middle East, the situation will become even worse for both parties."

Ahtisaari also called for fresh efforts to eradicate world poverty: "We must all be able to contribute to our future and to the future of our communities. If the present trend continues, we will be faced with a situation where hundreds of millions of young people will be out of work in countries that are in the early stages in development.

"If nothing is done, we will be creating an effective breeding ground for crime, instability and war."

John - :)

Troll

12-11-2008, 1:21pm

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

12-15-2008, 10:28am

How to get engaged in the States and Finland

The differences in culture and tradition are vast…

http://home.claranet.nl/users/lightnet/world/FLAG-US-ANIMATED.GIF United States http://www.jokenfun.com/wedding-clipart/rings/WedRings.gif Finland http://www.shaniatwaincentre.com/forum/images/avatars/2717943342a7f1dfd0c52.gif

After college At what age to get engaged? As a teenager
6-12 months How long to stay engaged? Forever
A diamond ring What to get for the engagement? Nothing
Restaurant, romantic location, or baseball stadium Where to get engaged? In your bedroom
Get down on one knee…in front of all your friends and family How to propose? Discuss, debate
Wtf? Females propose to males? Yes, sadly
Pregnant! Why get engaged? Cause you’re drunk, or you’ve been living together for 15+ years
Pompous announcement to the world How to tell others about your engagement? Quietly wait until others, even your own parents, see a ring on your finger
3 months salary Cost of the diamond? Whatever is cheapest
Diamond ring at engagement, wedding bands for marriage The rings? Engagement bands a few days after proposal, diamond ring at marriage
Yes Ask the father? Who?
Engagement Party Where to get gifts? Future brides go door-to-door with a pillowcase to receive gifts

heh... yeah, we first dated a year, then got engaged for EXACTLY ten years - then got married the very next day after the anniversary... so, I've had that engagement ring on my finger for... 18 years. Yep.

John - :p

Troll

12-15-2008, 10:46am

Very interesting

FinnFreak

12-15-2008, 1:05pm

The New York Times - TRAVEL - December 14, 2008

Choice Tables

The Local Flavor of Helsinki’s Food Revival

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/photo/2008/12/07/1214-HELSINKI/25949775.JPG
Starters: Pan-seared scallops with cauliflower puree and grapefruit vinaigrette - Helsinki's Hidden Cuisine (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/12/14/travel/1214-HELSINKI_index.html)

By LAURIE WINER

I told a friend who lives in St. Petersburg that I was going to Helsinki. He wrote, “Enjoy your herring ... and your reindeer.” Even through the e-mail message, I could hear his sneer. Finland’s cuisine has been historically maligned. In 2001, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy argued that Finland did not deserve to house the European Union’s food-safety agency because “Finns don’t even know what prosciutto is.”

Four years later came the next international incident. Exercising his diplomatic skill on two fronts, Jacques Chirac, then the president of France, said of the British: “You can’t trust people who cook as badly as that. After Finland, it’s the country with the worst food.”

The Finns have not forgotten the insults. I was speaking to one Finnish chef whose English was halting and difficult to understand. I brought up the Chirac comment, and the sentence was barely out of my mouth when he sat bolt upright and objected with his first fluid sentence. It contained expletives.

These days, though, the restaurant culture in St. Petersburg is mostly tragic, while Helsinki turns out to be a proud paradise of local produce, fish and meat. The cooking is inventive and playful — if underadvertised. Eat & Joy ( eatandjoy.com (http://www.eatandjoy.com/) ), a Web site whose very purpose is to promote Helsinki’s food and wine, came up with this ringing endorsement: “Helsinki’s restaurants have risen to be among the best in the Nordic countries and we have nothing to be ashamed of compared to Europe’s elite.”

The Finns may have the international equivalent of middle-child syndrome. Sandwiched between Scandinavia (of which they do not consider themselves a part) and Russia, they have been periodically invaded by both sides. They don’t like to call attention to everything they’ve got going on.

The service in the fancier restaurants is anxious and efficient, as if too much fuss would be courting bad luck. Most chefs eschew flamboyance, preferring local ingredients and straightforward preparations, with maybe a touch of whimsy. The global turn toward eating local food, now recognized as moral and ethical as well as delicious, is helping the Finns take a new pride in their insular and unsullied cooking.

“We like looking inward,” a waiter told me, adding that he found the kind of haute cuisine they do in Spain to be unnecessary. If there is a movement against the molecular gastronomy of the chef Ferran Adrià and his many adherents, Finland will lead the way. “I don’t like food tasting like a mess,” said Jussi Peisa, chef of the restaurant Loft. “Fish must taste like fish.”

Since around the turn of the last century, two chains — named, aptly, Palace and Royal — have owned many of the restaurants in Helsinki, a charming, park-filled city, where commercial real estate has become increasingly competitive. But in the past six years or so, a bunch of independently owned, interesting, smaller bistros have blossomed nonetheless.

A favorite is Juuri, (Korkeavuorenkatu 27; 358-9-635-732; dinner for two is 50 euros, about $63, at $1.29 to the euro), which seats a mere 24 and has the feel of an urban farmhouse with sturdy, thick-legged wooden tables and clean, modern chandeliers made of dangling white discs. Attention is paid to the smallest design detail; the humble clothespin that holds the menu on a piece of black board, the small wooden spatula that serves as butter knife speak to the prettiness of utility that you see in much of Finnish design.

The food also speaks to imagination, utility and restraint. Dark brown bread with specks of nuts is served with creamy carrot butter. How did I not know about this beautiful combination? Helsinki is one of those cities from which you return and do things in your daily life a little differently.

My husband and I sampled what Juuri calls sapas — Finnish tapas. The first is a roasted root vegetable called a swede that is sweet, tender and deep yellow in color; you can taste the grill on it. It’s served with a cauliflower purée that’s light and creamy in exactly the same way as the carrot butter.

There seems to be a need to show off every humble vegetable to its best advantage, and you can find most of the ingredients you’ll eat for dinner laid out every morning at Market Square, the communal heart of the city, down at the harbor, where the Gulf of Finland feeds into the Baltic sea. There, under a hundred battered umbrellas, vendors sell a colorful mosaic of the freshest fruits, vegetables and, just off the boats, fish. No duds allowed. In any event, this is the best swede I’ve ever eaten.

Knowing that, in this part of the world, reindeer do not conjure thoughts of Christmas Eve as much as Christmas stew, we order the terrine of reindeer liver with berry jelly, which is gamey and grainy and too “real” for my taste. Maybe it’s cultural. The lingonberry-marinated salmon is a neon orange, offset by dark malt bread and the light green of tarragon oil. It tastes sensational. One does not have to be in Finland for long to notice how good the cooks are with sweet and salty, but heat, in the form of hot peppers, is almost nowhere to be found.

Grotesk (Ludviginkatu 10; 358-50-553-8543; 70 euros for lunch) — named for the type front used on its menu and not its look — is another independent restaurant, but bigger and more ambitious. It’s in the grand stone building that once housed the Sanomat newspaper, the Helsinki daily, starting in 1907 when the country was the Imperial Grand Duchy of Finland, until 1999, by which time it was a member of the European Union.

Inside, the restaurant does not have that distinctive, orderly Finnish appeal. Its large, flashy red and black dining room struck me as overly indebted to Russian glitz or the 1980s or both. But the cozy patio is another story entirely, a pleasant mossy green space where diners sit under striped canopies draped over trellises — so much more sensible than cumbersome umbrellas.

Ari Ruoho, the chef, has cooked in Bali, San Sebastián and San Diego, and he, like many young Finns who have lived abroad, felt obligated to bring his knowledge back home again.

With his salmon he serves a bright kaffir lime reduction; the distinctive South Asian flavor makes Mr. Ruoho seem almost like a renegade. His homage to Wiener schnitzel is a tender veal cutlet fried and served with hammered pea pods, lemon segments and capers and topped with a small slab of pickled herring: this is to remind you that you are not in Munich.

But again, the simple stands out. Mr. Ruoho’s roasted garlic soup is straightforward and satisfying, topped with a drizzle of green olive oil and a hint of foam from its recent whipping. As Mr. Ruoho says, his main rule of thumb is not to mess up your ingredients.

Mr. Peisa, who opened Loft (Yrjonkatu 18; 358-9-4281-2500; 120 euros for dinner) last year, has reason to be nervous: he’s overseeing that rare thing in Helsinki, a large and relatively expensive restaurant operating outside the protection of one of the chains. It’s an ethereal space, formerly the gymnasium of a girls’ school. The main dining room has very high ceilings from which hang wide banners of sheer fabric, which ingeniously separates the room into parts while keeping it whole. On the far side, the kitchen is also partly viewable — you can see the cooks working from the shoulders up.

We begin with Mr. Peisa’s mushroom soup, which explodes with flavor, mellow and deep. Served in a small tea cup, it is as intense and attention-focusing as something you’d get to start the evening at the French Laundry or Per Se (Thomas Keller is one of Mr. Peisa’s heroes). Mr. Peisa also serves a “toast skagen” — shrimp salad on toast, a classic Finnish dish that you can buy daily in the market down at the harbor (and elsewhere). On top, Mr. Peisa puts a few chervil sprigs and a little pile of roe. The not-very-salty roe is from a small freshwater fish called muikku; it transforms the fresh shrimp into a rich treat suitable for evening.

Knowing Mr. Peisa’s love of simplicity I try his “whole fried spring chicken” from a local farm. It’s roasted but otherwise as fresh-tasting as described. The crispy golden skin and tender meat meld beautifully with a buckwheat salad whose earthy, healthful taste is mitigated by a thin drizzle of sweet lemon and chervil syrup.

Down on the waterfront, Nokka (Kanavaranta 7F; 358-9-6128-5600; 250 euros for dinner) is a popular and lovely spot, owned by the Royal chain. There, with bigger backers and therefore more leeway, there’s room for a little fun. But also, there will be a quiz: every local producer, most of them small-scale farms, is lovingly, fetishistically detailed in a brochure that comes with a map. This is an old warehouse with 20-foot ceilings, walls and floors of red brick, large distressed columns and rough exposed wooden beams, but care has been taken to make sure all this imperfection comes off as elegant and luxurious, which it does. The music is played very softly. (Helsinki does not suffer from that ubiquitous urban horror: the too-loud restaurant).

Nokka’s executive chef, Marko Palovaara, saves his biggest surprise for a dish cleverly disguised as humdrum by this menu description: “Clear tomato soup of organic tomatoes from Svarfvars farm.” This soup was a revelation. The cooled broth is clear only for a moment —as it is poured onto a small, egg-shaped scoop of goat cheese ice cream (along with chopped basil, pinenuts, pea purée and chervil), it turns mint green.

As you eat it and the ice cream slowly melts, the soup grows colder and lighter, and the fresh flavors pop all over again in different ways until at the end the dish is refreshingly chilled. You feel as though you have been on a voyage with this soup. You may want to marry it.

We finish the meal with some Finnish sherry, Sakasti 1998, which is pleasantly intense but thinner in texture than Spanish sherry. Helsinki is a small, safe and fragrant city, so you can drink as much as you like and walk back to wherever you’re staying. This is a city made for an eating adventure you’ll want to write home about. But try not to brag; it wouldn’t be appropriate.

John - ;)

Troll

12-15-2008, 1:30pm

Thanks for the article

aFinn

12-17-2008, 12:20pm

Just a reminder for the Finns, that the CMA 2008 Awards show will be shown here next month:
[B]YLE TV2 14.12. klo 23.05
PARASTA KANTRIA
ooops, looks like I missed this :shocked:

FinnFreak

12-17-2008, 9:07pm

ooops, looks like I missed this :shocked:

You didn't really miss that much, this year too, it was boring as hell.

:really: 3 main eyebrow raisers:

1. Kid Rock - :shocked: what have we done to deserve this..?!? :mad:

2. Eagles - :up: GREAT band, good song - but *is* it country..? :really:

3. Shania - :] Lovely as ever. To see, must watch the whole thing. Argh. :smirk:

John - ;)

FinnFreak

12-22-2008, 12:20pm

Helsinki Times - Domestic news - General - Monday, 22 December 2008 16:00

Most parts of Finland promised white Christmas

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With below-zero temperatures and heavy cloud forecast for Tuesday, most parts of Finland are likely to be covered by a blanket of snow come Christmas eve, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said Monday.

Provided temperatures in southern and central Finland remain within the forecast range of -5 to -10 degrees Celsius, the whole country will be in for its first frosty Christmas for the first time since 2001.

Happy Holidays..!

John - ;):up:

Troll

12-22-2008, 12:24pm

That would be neat

FinnFreak

12-30-2008, 10:06am

:D

Kiira Korpi wins the Finnish nationals

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Finnish figure skaters Kiira Korpi (left), Laura Lepistö, Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari
and Susanna Pöykiö will be competing in the European Championships in
Helsinki from January 20 to 26.

John - ;)

Troll

12-30-2008, 1:00pm

Great pics

FinnFreak

01-05-2009, 10:11am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - FOREIGN - Monday 5.1.2009

Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire

Widespread international condemnation of Israeli ground assault as EU delegation prepares to meet with warring factions

Writing in his blog on Sunday evening, Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (National Coalition Party) commented on the worsening civilian situation in Gaza after Israel launched a ground offensive to cut the Gaza Strip in half south of Gaza City.

Helsingin Sanomat was unable to contact the minister in person, as he was travelling and in an aircraft.

"A ceasefire has to be put in place immediately. The rocket attacks from Gaza into Southern Israel must stop, but Israel, too, must end its military operation, which is worsening the plight of the civilian population in Gaza still further", wrote Stubb.

The Foreign Minister does not believe there can be a military solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

He argues that the solution must be a durable one and must guarantee the security of Israel and the existence of a viable Palestininan state.

Stubb regrets that diplomatic moves have brought us no nearer an agreement than before, and he urges that active efforts to bring about a ceasefire and to allow the provision of humanitarian aid to the stricken civilian population of Gaza be redoubled in the future.

Diplomatic pressure on Israel grew stronger around the world on Sunday evening.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon talked over the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Ban is said to have expressed to the Israeli leadership his extreme concern and disappointment.

He ordered Israel to guarantee the safety of civilians and the access to the area of humanitarian aid shipments.

The European Union promised EUR 3 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Gaza at the weekend.

"It is absolutely necessary that the violence on both sides must be stopped", said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Prague on Sunday, in order to be able to get food and essential medical supplies into the region to ensure hospitals are able to function.

Ferrero-Waldner will be part of a high-level EU delegation featuring the Union's foreign policy supremo Xavier Solana and representatives from France, the Czech Republic and Sweden (the former, present, and next holders of the European Council Presidency), who are to meet with Israeli and Palestinian representatives early this week.

Also active in a separate move will be French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He is to criss-cross the Middle East in the next few days, holding meetings in Cairo as well as in Jerusalem, the Palestinian West Bank town of Ramallah, and the Syrian capital Damascus.

The United States is also calling for restraint and a speedy ceasefire, but on the condition that the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel are brought to a permanent end.

Late on Saturday night, the UN Security Council failed to reach agreement on a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

After nearly four hours of closed-door discussions, members of the council emerged without reaching agreement that would have asked Israel and Hamas to end the more than a week of fighting that has so far claimed the lives of around 500 Palestinians.

The meeting was the Security Council's third attempt to find accord since the conflict erupted on December 27th.

Despite a measure of convergence, the latest draft was seen by British and American diplomats as too partial, since it called for a full and immediate ceasefire without direct mention of the ongoing Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli territory that Israel has said prompted its recent retaliatory offensive.

"If we work together, we can find solutions. We should not accept any excuses from those in power. Peace is a question of will." - President Martti Ahtisaari

John - :(

Eleanor

01-05-2009, 11:53am

We all want an immediate Gaza ceasefire, Israel has gone bonkers, Israel have the right to defend it's self, but not kill little Palestinians children.

Troll

01-05-2009, 11:54am

Thanks for the article

FinnFreak

01-05-2009, 3:27pm

...the statement: "we will not negotiate with terrorists", says it all about the "will"- ...100 years ago, the Finns were considered terrorists...

Martti Ahtisaari to CNN: "You can't achieve peace by talking to Sunday school teachers."

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

01-08-2009, 10:16am

Helsinki Times - Thursday, 08 January 2009

White with one, thanks

Trying to talk to some Finns before they have had their morning coffee can be DANGEROUS to your health.

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THE Finnish coffee market is big. 51 million kilos of coffee is roasted, grounded, drenched and drunk around breakfast tables and office cubicles every year.

Finnish people consume the highest amount of coffee in the world, on average drinking four to five cups a day, with 90 per cent of the population drinking coffee.

Paulig, maker of Juhla Mocca and Presidentti, is the biggest coffee producer in the country and accounts for 61 per cent of the Finnish coffee market. There is a fairly good chance that at least one of the cups of coffee you drink today will be from their factory in Vuosaari.

Bean there, done that

Head Roaster at Paulig, Marja Touri, has a job that many would envy, but few can do. Every day she tastes over 200 cups of coffee, and has the responsibility of ensuring that all the 200,000 packets of coffee that are produced in the factory every day taste exactly the same as the packet before it, and the same as a packet produced ten years before that.

This is no easy feat. Every day different containers of coffee come in from countries such as Ethiopia, Brazil and Colombia, and every batch tastes different. Similar to wine grapes, the soil types, growing season and the time it was picked all influence the flavour of the beans.

These different elements need to be mixed together to get the consistent taste that people have come to love, and in many cases rely on. Juhla Mocca contains 14 different components and seven to eight different types of beans. If the flavour is just slightly off, people will notice.

Paulig Marketing director Katri Ojalehto says that coffee drinking is as much about the experience as it is about the coffee. There are different moments and occasions where coffee is important, from the simple morning coffee, to milestones such as weddings, birthdays and graduating parties.

And don’t think the cafe latte or mochachino from cafes across the city are about to take over. Filtered coffee still accounts for 98 per cent of the Finnish coffee drinking market.

The spitting image

The coffee must be well kept – Ensure it is properly sealed for freshness after opening.

The equipment must be clean – Don’t just quickly rinse your coffee container. Make sure it is properly cleaned after each time or it will taint the flavour.

Use fresh water – Don’t reheat water that has already been boiled once, and always use cold water in the kettle or machine.

Touri recommends korvapuusti with normal coffee, or a piece of chocolate for single origin coffee, such as from Kenya.

The tasting room in Paulig’s factory is simple. A long table stands in the middle, with small coffee roasters behind it and sinks at thigh height. Over 40 cups of coffee are arranged on the table, three cups for each sample, with the coffee’s roasted and unroasted beans in front of them.

It is the job of the tasters to sample and rate every batch sent to the factory. Using one spoon to dip into the coffee, they then pour it onto another spoon (for hygiene reasons), slurp it up and evaluate it before spitting it into the sink.

This is somewhat unnerving, and could even be called disgusting. After all, this goes against everything your mother ever taught you about polite table manners.

However, it is a specialised skill. According to Touri, you either have it or you don’t, and it takes up to five or six years to be a good taster. Finland is renowned for its stringent and tough testing.

Touri has been in the business for 23 years and says she does not want to think about the amount of coffee she has had in her lifetime.

“The numbers would be quite horrible. 200 cups a day, five days a week for 23 years, that’s why I tend to drink water during my coffee breaks,” she says laughing.

hmmm... I think I need a cup. Yep.

John - ;)

Troll

01-08-2009, 1:03pm

Very interesting

FinnFreak

01-15-2009, 12:23pm

Helsinki Times - Thursday, 15 January 2009

Helsinki gets its skates on

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Finland’s Kiira Korpi, one of the hopefuls at this
year’s European Figureskating Championships.

By Manu Paavola

From January 20th to 25th Helsinki will host the European Championships in figure skating. Finnish hopes have never been higher, as Kiira Korpi, Laura Lepistö and Susanna Pöykiö all have realistic chances of a medal. But they face strong opposition from 38 other contestants, and near-perfect performances may be required for a podium finish. The reigning European champion, Italy’s Carolina Kostner is the favourite, having skated the highest-scoring performance of the season.

The men’s competition is perhaps more of an open question, since much depends on who can successfully perform the demanding quadruple jumps on the day. Tomáš Verner of the Czech Republic and Brian Joubert of France, two former champions, are perhaps frontrunners here also. However, Joubert’s countryman Yannick Ponsero and Belgium’s Kevin Van Perren are also strong contenders. Nordic medal hopes may rest on the shoulders of Sweden’s Kristoffer Berntsson. The Finns for their part must put their trust in the tunes of a tramp, as Antti Nurmenkari will perform his freestyle programme to music by Charlie Chaplin.

The pairs competition features the reigning world and European champions Savchenko and Szolkowy representing Germany. They should face the stiffest challenge for the title this time round from the top Russian and Ukrainian pairs. The ice dancing section may suffer from the absence of France’s current world titleholders Delobel and Schoenfelder, but local pair Klimova and Välimäki at least means the host country is represented at the event for the first time in five years.

Ticket demand for the ladies’ event has been so high that the freestyle programme is already sold out. Some seats should still be available for the other three events.

John - ;)

Troll

01-15-2009, 12:47pm

Thanks for the info

FinnFreak

01-15-2009, 1:53pm

Helsinki Times - Friday, 09 January 2009

Finland shows Sweden benefit of joining club

Finland was a founding member of the euro club. At the tenth anniversary, Finns look back on the history of the European currency. Finland took a step into the unknown, deciding to discard the 139 year-old Finnish markka for the new European Currency Unit, the euro. Now on the ten year anniversary of the euro, few have found reason to regret the decision.

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Finland’s example is giving Swedes cause to mull over joining the eurozone, writes David Ibison in the Financial Times.

"Sweden, like Finland, is an EU member and both economies have moved in virtual lockstep in the past few years as intra-EU trade has increased." Erkki Liikanen, governor of the Bank of Finland, says: "The question remains of why Sweden and Finland have performed basically the same despite having different monetary regimes. The answer is that they are both open economies that encourage competition, both have prudent."

"Now the global economic crisis is exposing the difference between Sweden and Finland stemming from their positions on the euro."

Johnny Munkhammar, research director at the European Enterprise Institute, a Brussels-based non-profit group, says: "The euro provides more stability in times of crises. The krona fluctuates in an exaggerated way, simply because it is too small. The fluctuations make foreign trade risky and difficult, especially for smaller businesses."

"On the Finnish side, currency stability remains the main benefit of membership, protecting the economy against unforeseen economic shocks from elsewhere in the world."

There is also a political element. Liikanen makes it perfectly clear that Finland, as a small country, saw the eurozone in geo-strategic as well as economic terms. "Finland wants to be around all the tables where decisions are being made, so it was both economics and politics", he says.

John - :)

Troll

01-15-2009, 3:02pm

Very interesting

FinnFreak

01-23-2009, 11:53am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - Friday 23.1.2009

Finland and Sweden - closer than ever on bicentenary of separation

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In addition to the 200th anniversary of Finland's disengagement from Sweden,
Finland and Sweden are also marking the 50th anniversary of regular passenger
ship service between the two countries. Vessels of the two main passenger shipping
lines, Silja Line (white, front) and Viking Line (red, background) sail daily from
Helsinki and Turku to Stockholm and back.

From a Finnish point of view, it might seem a bit strange that Sweden has wanted to make such a big issue of commemorating the “memorable year 1809" along with the Finns. It was then that Sweden lost Finland to Russia, which also meant a final end to Sweden’s period as a great power.

Today, a ceremonial opening of the year takes place at the Swedish Parliament, which will be attended by the King of Sweden and the President of Finland, and the prime ministers of and speakers of Parliament both countries. During the year there will be many great events in both countries.

Two hundred years is such a long time that the past can be examined dispassionately or appropriately from different points of view. In Sweden, the turning point in history is seen as the starting point of a new, modern Sweden.

The predominant interpretation of history in Finland has long been that Finland’s being separated from Sweden, as a grand duchy of Russia, established the prerequisites for Finland’s own development as a state, and in spite of many setbacks, for its national independence.

The separation from Sweden was also decisively important for the development of the Finnish language, and the strengthening of its position.

History buffs can imagine how Finnish history might have gone if Finland had stayed with Sweden. Would Finland have become independent slightly earlier, as Norway did, in the aftermath of the First World War, or perhaps only in the early 1990s, in connection with the great upheavals of Eastern Europe? On the other hand, if it were not independent, and still linked with Sweden, Finland might have averted the Winter War and continuation War, and been spared the casualties that were incurred. Perhaps we would have become prosperous earlier.

In Finland, people have learned to think that whatever happens, is good.

From today’s self-satisfied national point of view, it is easy to say that things could have gone worse. Although the historical events in Finland and Sweden ended up being very different over the past 200 years or so, we are now very similar to each other as states and as societies: we are both among the better-off nations of the world.

No matter how differently we may think in moments of setbacks in everyday life, or in sports events, Sweden is the closest of all countries for Finland. Accepting that fact has become easier for us now that national inferiority complexes are getting to be overcome.

Sweden’s primary position as a counterweight to Finland’s neighbour to the east is no longer as crucially important as it was in past decades. The world has changed.

As members of the European Union, Finland and Sweden are close economic, political, and also military partners, without being specifically dependent on each other’s policies. For instance, on the issue of NATO membership, Finland should not set Swedish membership as a precondition for joining. However, many feel that this should be the case.

A key purpose of commemorating the special year in Sweden has been to emphasise the affinity between the two countries, and to revive the badly deteriorated awareness of the common history. Young Swedes often do not know much about Finland - not even the fact that Swedish is still Finland’s second national language. In spite of its importance, the six hundred years of Swedish power are no longer a part of the mandatory history curriculum at Finnish schools. Instead, the course begins from the period of autonomy under Russia.

John - ;)

Troll

01-23-2009, 12:27pm

Very interesting

Groucho

01-24-2009, 11:34am

After reading the differences between Americans and Finns on Engagement/marriage differences, I think I'm more Finnish than American. :D

FinnFreak

01-29-2009, 10:00am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - Thursday 29.1.2009

F-Secure: Finland manages to cope with Downadup worm

Compared with many other countries, Finland has managed to cope fairly well with the Downadup worm that infects Windows workstations and servers, causing various problems, reports the Finnish IT security provider F-Secure.

F-Secure has recently received several reports of corporate networks across the world getting infected with variants of this worm.

So far the malware has infected a total of around 10 million computers. However, the spreading of the Downadup worm has gradually started to abate.

F-Secure’s Information Security Expert Erkki Mustonen reports that for example in Sweden the number of infected computers has been considerably higher than in Finland.

All the same, the Finnish national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-FI) continues to register hundreds of reports of the worm every day, says Juhani Eronen, the Information Security Expert of CERT-FI.

Most of the infected computers belong to individual Internet users.

The Downadup worm has managed to gain access to the networks of several large organisations in Finland.

Some of those networks belong to Finnish municipalities, including at least Tuusula and Sastamala, which have both reported on the misbehaviour of their computer systems.

Downadup has not been noticed to cause any outright destruction of computer systems. However, it is regarded as possible that the malware could receive a command from its programmer via the network later on.

The worm can spread to computers through infected USB sticks and networks.

Downadup (also known as Conficker) is a large family of network worms. They are unusually difficult to remove, especially in a case of an internal infection inside a corporate network.

* * *

Shortage of candidates for Presidential Election 2012

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Who will occupy the Presidential Palace after Tarja Halonen? At present it seems to be a one-horse race, with Sauli Niinistö
well out in front, and with a distinct shortage of other serious candidates.

Tarja Halonen’s second six-year term as President of the Republic is approaching the halfway mark, so one might imagine the presidential game would start to pick up momentum.

In all quiet, the National Coalition Party’s Sauli Niinistö, the runner-up to Halonen in 2006, has emerged in the public mind as the overwhelming favourite to succeed her as Finland’s head of state.

The Centre Party appears to have nobody in the frame to replace Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, and the Social Democrats are in an even greater mess.

With this sort of background to the race, Niinistö’s advantage is so firmly established that in a direct election he will be very hard to beat.

All this depends, nevertheless, on the assumption that Niinistö - currently the Speaker of Parliament - is ready and willing to step up as a candidate once more.

Doubts about his possible reluctance have faded of late as Niinistö has appeared to enjoy life more and more in the public spotlight.

The most natural presidential candidate from the Centre Party ranks, at least in terms of his position, would of course be Matti Vanhanen, now in his second term as PM.

But in an interview with the newspaper Kaleva on Sunday, Vanhanen regarded his own candidacy in 2012 as unlikely.

At this stage he can appeal to his intention to carry on as the party chairman and to seek a third prime ministerial appointment after the parliamentary elections of 2011.

Then again, right now that second ambition does not look very likely to come to pass.

As Vanhanen himself said, the Centre Party, too, will in any event require their own candidate in the first round of the presidential elections.

The presidential run of the Social Democrats - set in motion by Mauno Koivisto’s two terms and continued through Martti Ahtisaari and Halonen - does not appear to have much of a future.

During Paavo Lipponen’s long term at the SDP helm there was neglect of bringing through the party's next generation, and the Social Democrats quite simply do not look to have any sufficiently strong names to put forward as candidates for the office.

The absence of politically weighty candidates shows up clearly in the names put forward for the upcoming European Parliament elections in June.

When the one-term SDP chairman Eero Heinäluoma chose not to run for the European Parliament, perhaps he can be persuaded to be the party’s candidate in a domestic presidential election.

John - ;)

FinnFreak

01-30-2009, 10:03am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - BUSINESS & FINANCE - Friday 30.1.2009

Finland to produce service robot for future experimental fusion reactor

Protoype of robot system servicing fusion reactor introduced in Tampere

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135243143322.jpeg
The service robot is part of a research environment called DTP2 (divertor test
platform facility). The model is the actual size as the final version.

The world’s first functioning, electricity-producing fusion reactor is still decades away, but already one can practice with and test one of the reactor’s most critical parts at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland facility in Tampere.

The fusion reactor’s service robot was introduced for testing and training purposes on Thursday.

The occasion attracted to Tampere a commendable number of media representatives from different parts of Europe. This is possibly because even according to the several experts who gave speeches at the ceremony, the project in question - producing clean energy - is mankind’s most significant undertaking ever.

Inside a VTT hall, the guests were shown a 65-ton steel structure, roughly size of a bus, consisting of rails along which the actual robot with its robotic arm will move into the hot core of the reactor. The scale of the prototype is 1:1.

The remote-operated robot’s function is to replace special cassettes or nine-tonne reactor components in the core, the purpose of which is to protect the reactor’s other parts from excessive heat.

The cassettes work in the same fashion as the thermal protection tiles on a space shuttle, which absorb heat on the craft's return into the atmosphere. When the service life is up they are replaced.

The space shuttle was further mentioned in connection with a statement according to which the fusion reactor is an even more demanding operating environment.

The requirements for the equipment include, among other things, that they can be used to control the fusion plasma, which in the nuclear reaction reaches temperatures of up to a hundred million degrees Celsius.

In time the robot’s more advanced version may be seen in Cadarache in the South of France, in the ITER experimental reactor, which at the moment is still a mere construction site.

”If the fusion reactor were an internal combustion engine on a car, then the service robot complex, or divertor, would be its exhaust manifold, and its beginning section to be even more precise”, says VTT Chief Research Scientist Seppo Karttunen. The task is anything but easy, “a bit like being under a welding blowpipe”, Karttunen describes.

The removed matter is helium, the end result of the fusion reaction, where four hydrogen nuclei are converted into a single helium nucleus. In the process 26 MeV of energy is released with no radioactive isotopes to deal with afterwards.

But a functioning fusion reactor is still a long way away.

“A facility that would actually produce energy might be completed in the late 2030s. That is the most optimistic prediction”, Karttunen says.

While waiting for that, VTT can look into ITER remote service systems and develop applications for them for other industries as well.

John - :)

Troll

01-30-2009, 1:29pm

Very interesting

Groucho

01-31-2009, 10:50am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - BUSINESS & FINANCE - Friday 30.1.2009

[B]Finland to produce service robot for future experimental fusion reactor

John - :)

Yet another giant step for mankind. Thank you Finland. Finally something possitive used in board games and video games has come to life. :D Thank you John for bringing this up so I can read it. The way I look at it from my age, I might not be able to hear it (eea) 20 years from now. Hopefully my memory will still be there and I can say, "Yes, sonny, I do remember reading about it at the Shaniaforums when I was a youngster at 57." :D

FinnFreak

02-03-2009, 11:26am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - Tuesday 3.2.2009

The Times sees Helsinki as one of Europe's "best romantic city breaks"

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135228376450.jpeg
A sexy red Alvar Aalto vase to take home from a romantic weekend break...
...in Helsinki, perhaps?

Some Finnish net-users may have rubbed their eyes and scrubbed the screen a bit at reading in the Times Online that Helsinki was listed as a decent alternative to Paris as a destination for a romantic weekend break.

The newspaper's travel magazine for February lists half a dozen romantic city break choices for those who think Paris is a bit, well, "we've done that", and Helsinki features as "The Tasty One", suggesting that the Finnish capital is "rapidly establishing Nordic cooking on the global gastro-map".

Clearly the reviewer did not visit in February, as he or she makes a comparison with Rome "as you idle over coffee at pavement cafes".

Helsinki is full of surprises, says The Times, and the most romantic dining-place is Savoy, overlooking the Esplanade.

Design Forum, the outlet maintained by the Finnish Society for Crafts and Design, is described as a place to shop for "sexy stuff", which will doubtless delight them.

Helsinki is in good company: the other five places listed are Brussels, Biarritz, Sevilla, Fez in Morocco, and Siena.

We link the story below for your delectation - and for those who are not on an expense account.

Links:

Times Online: Six of the best romantic city breaks (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/breaks/article5567553.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1)

John - :biglaugh:

Troll

02-03-2009, 1:25pm

Very interesting

FinnFreak

02-09-2009, 7:31am

Channel 4 News, UK - ITN - 09 Feb 2009

Couples say icy 'I do'

http://lotta.yle.fi/rswebkmi.nsf/fabf9f16f4685faf4225688700639112/2127ea3a0d9a7fb1c225754e0048684d/body/0.A6?OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=jpg http://yle.fi/ecepic/archive/00092/Lumilinna_2009_halli_92965w.jpg

Couples have been queuing up to get hitched at a very unique Finnish snow castle.

The castle, in the northern town of Kemi, has a hotel, a restaurant and a chapel which are all located inside its thick snow walls.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit the attraction and some are even keen to stay in the 48 rooms where temperatures are only -5C regardless of the outdoor temperature, which is normally between -15 and -20C.

But while newlyweds get to snuggle up in the honeymoon ice suite, they have to use sleeping bags suitable for Arctic conditions and don ski hats, socks and thermal undies.

Construction of the 5,000 square metre castle began in December and it opened on January 30. As natural snow is too soft, sea water is pumped through pipes which turn it into a more robust kind of snow.

Roughly 20,000 square metres of snow are needed to build the castle while another 100 square metres of ice are used to build the tables and sculptures.

The walls surrounding the castle are about four metres high and 1.5 metres thick and the total length of the wall is almost half a kilometre.

Visitor Erja Koponen from Turku, in southern Finland, said: "It's beautiful, really beautiful I like it. I wouldn't sleep here, I think the rooms are very small, but the chapel is beautiful. Well, I like it."

The first snow castle was built in 1996 as a gift from Unicef and the town of Kemi to all the children in the world. That year, the castle earned its place in the Guinness Book of Records for its 1,100 metre-long walls.

Castle manager Marika Tomminen said that since building the first castle in 1996, they have learned a lot.

She said: "This is now the 14th year we built a castle. The first one was 1996 and in that time our team didn't have almost any idea how to build the castle and it took about two months to build everything.

"Now after 14 years we have a lots of experiences and we can finalise everything in less than one month," she said, adding: "The most surprising thing almost always is that this isn't a year around place, the surprise is that we do also have a normal summer her and the place melts in April."

SnowCastle webcam (http://www.kemi.fi/paasivustot/lumilinna/kamera.htm)

http://www.snowcastle.net/en/

John - ;)

Troll

02-09-2009, 8:54am

Cool.

FinnFreak

02-11-2009, 4:15am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - Wednesday 11.2.2009

Madonna concert in August may close off airspace over Jätkäsaari

Former dockland area would be large enough for a crowd of 200,000

The concert by Madonna in Helsinki in August will not only stir up the fans of the singer, but will also affect the normal rhythm of the entire city.

When Madonna plays at the new venue of Jätkäsaari, a former dockland site in the West Harbour, the surrounding sea area and the airspace over the site will be closed for the duration of the gig, at least if promoters Live Nation have their way.

The concert area is on a headland jutting out into the sea, and Live Nation are planning to apply for an order to close off the sea-area from Lauttasaari Bridge to the west around to the West Harbour Terminal in the east.

This is in order to prevent the thousands of Helsinki boat-owners from taking up an anchored position just offshore with a free view of the proceedings.

Closing airspace for a pop concert is practically unheard of in the Finnish experience, but for Madonna it may be a possibility.

Normally such regulations are only put into effect for state security reasons, for example at major summits or EU ministerial meetings.

However, both applications have been given a cautious provisional green light, although no formal documents have been submitted by the promoters as yet.

The Jätkäsaari site, covering roughly 500 metres by 500 metres, would be large enough to accommodate a genuinely massive crowd of 200,000, but for security reasons it was deemed necessary to limit the numbers to 80,000 - already making this the largest gig ever held in this country.

The record is likely to stand for some time, as Jätkäsaari is the only place in Finland where a concert on this scale could conceivably be organised.

Furthermore, the venue itself is not going to be around for very long: in a couple of years' time the former dock area will be a giant construction site for urban redevelopment, with offices and apartments going up.

Madonna and entourage will be arriving with a huge stage carried by a fleet of 100 or so trucks. The tour arrives here from Estonia and heads on to Gothenburg in Sweden.

It is highly likely that the concert will fill the city’s hotels and will thoroughly jam up traffic in the city centre.

Car parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of Jätkäsaari are practically non-existent, so most will have to walk the two kilometres from the city centre and the main railway station, using the route of the old harbour railway branch-line.

The tracks will be torn up before August comes around.

It is thought unlikely that special bus services will be laid on.

Traffic problems are likely to be at their worst in the area immediately around the concert venue, and there are already concerns that there will in practice only be one entrance and exit route. This is likely to become a humungous bottleneck.

The concert tickets were sold in a matter of hours on Monday (see separate story below).

It will be a general admission concert with no numbered seating, but three classes of tickets were on sale.

The greatest demand was unsurprisingly for the 4,000 front-of-stage places and the 10,000 places in the B section immediately behind this.

Those holding the remaining 66,000 tickets will either need sharp elbows or an early start to get anywhere near the 80-metre wide stage, and will probably be dependent on what they can see from giant video screens on each side.

There is, however, no fear of not being able to hear anything - Madonna comes equipped with a comprehensive P.A. system that can probably stun an elephant at 100 metres.

* * *

Sales glitches once again a source of anguish as 80,000 tickets go in three hours

The big story about ticket sales for the August appearance in Helsinki by Madonna, her first-ever date in Finland, was not so much that the 80,000 tickets sold out in a matter of hours.

That was to be expected, given the frenzied advance drumming of the spectacle in all media, but once again there were a number of glitches to leave a good many people who went to a lot of trouble without tickets, or at least without the tickets their efforts might have warranted.

Akseli Koskinen of Helsinki was one example. He stood in a queue outside the Lippupiste outlet at the Bio Rex cinema from 5:15 a.m., and was third in line.

He imagined this would be enough to ensure tickets in the front-of-stage area in Section A (4,000 tickets on sale).

This was true for the two people in front of him, but Koskela was stupefyingly unlucky.

At 9:04 when he got to the ticket window, the system crashed.

A few minutes later, when normal service was restored, all places in A had gone.

Things were made even worse for him by the fact that some acquaintances had managed to pick up the sought-after tickets (which for some obscure reason cost only 20 euros more than a place at the back) randomly via the Net long after they were supposed to be sold out, or had even got them from outlets of R-Kiosk, who were not supposed to be selling the top-rated tickets at all.

“I queued for four hours and got two tickets in Section C.”

Tickets for the gig, the biggest single concert ever staged in Finland, went on sale via the Internet, sales outlets, phone centres, and R-Kiosks from 9:00.

The online and phone services were log-jammed almost immediately, with the piquant added touch that some callers were actually connected not to a sales clerk but to other ticket-hunting callers.

The R-Kiosks had problems getting connected to the Lippupiste online service.

For example the Munkkiniemi R-Kiosk did not sell a single ticket all morning.

Furthermore, despite advance announcements to the contrary, the kiosks only had the EUR 99 standard tickets in Section C for sale.

In any event, all 80,000 tickets had been taken up by midday, in spite of an upper limit of six tickets per person.

Some tickets did then return to the pool after lunch when it was discovered that some people had booked more than the allowed number, but by the evening even these had gone.

On the Internet message boards, the problems were naturally a hot topic, particularly as they followed on from similar mayhem when tickets for a Bruce Springsteen concert in Tampere went on sale a few weeks ago.

Some queried the pricing policy: other venues on the tour have admittedly been a good deal more expensive than Helsinki, but have also observed a greater differential in prices for the “VIP” places.

Others pointed to the Madonna hysteria generated by the media in the past week and more, but it is probably a fact that in Finland - and maybe elsewhere - sheer size sells, and many will be going along in August as much for the experience of taking part in a big spectacle as for any musical considerations.

Those who tried and failed to get tickets can do it all again (hopefully with better luck) next week, as tickets for a Metallica gig in Pori on July 25th will come on sale via Lippupalvelu on February 16th.

In that case, as in all the other “hot-ticket” events in the past, the real diehard fans will probably have bought their tickets in advance through fanclub pre-sale arrangements or the promoters’ own VIP clubs - arguably the only sensible way to go about it.

Tickets for the Madonna concert went on sale - at a hefty premium - on some online auction sites on Monday morning. Some listings were posted less than an hour after the ticket office opened, suggesting either extreme alacrity or that the tickets had been purchased in advance.

Hah... there are thousands of tickets available on the Internet - some scalpers are asking up to 5000 euros for an A section ticket..? :shocked:

:smirk: - no thanks, Tarja Turunen making her only concert appearance this year in Finland at our home town rock festival, is quite enough for me.

John - :]

Eleanor

02-11-2009, 4:23am

faithfully

02-11-2009, 4:23am

:eek:Madonna for Finland:cool: Is it warm there in August?

Eleanor

02-11-2009, 4:28am

I was in Finland one September and it was incredibly hot. :D

FinnFreak

02-11-2009, 4:28am

Thanks for the Madonna info, It's amazing she is so popular world wide as she has only got a hand full of good songs :funny: Only joking, She is entertaining and I will probably go and see her in concert myself one day.

I agree on the low number of good songs - most likely, I'm just not in her target audience... :dunno: - and I'm certainly not a fan of her spectacle concerts either...

Kylie, on the other hand...

John - :D

faithfully

02-11-2009, 4:29am

I'd come for Volcanoes:D:p

Eleanor

02-11-2009, 4:32am

I agree on the low number of good songs - most likely, I'm just not in her target audience... :dunno: - and I'm certainly not a fan of her spectacle concerts either...

Kylie, on the other hand...

John - :DKylie is a lot better and she is good looking and does not look like an old bat. :biglaugh:

Eleanor

02-11-2009, 4:34am

I'd come for Volcanoes:D:pDo they have Volcanoes in Finland? I can't remember seeing any, but there probably are some somewhere :uhh:

FinnFreak

02-11-2009, 4:47am

:eek:Madonna for Finland:cool: Is it warm there in August?

It can be. :)

Climate

The Finnish climate is suitable for grain farming in the southernmost regions, but not further north.

Finland has a humid and cool semicontinental climate. The climate type in southern Finland is a northern temperate climate. Winters of southern Finland (average temperature of day is below 0) are usually 4-5 months long, and the snow covers the land about 4 months of every year, and in the southern coast, it can melt many times during winter, and then come again. The coldest winter days of southern Finland are usually -20 C, and the warmest days of July and early August can be 25-30 C. Summers in the southern Finland last 4 months (from the mid of May to mid of September). In Northern Finland, particularly in the Province of Lapland, a subarctic climate dominates, characterized by cold, occasionally severe, winters and relatively warm summers. Winters in north Finland are nearly 7 months long, and snow covers the land almost 6-7 months every year. Summers in the north are quite short, only 2-3 months. The highest temperatures on the warmest summer days of July, are rarely above 20-25 degrees in northern Finland. The main factor influencing Finland's climate is the country's geographical position between the 60th and 70th northern parallels in the Eurasian continent's coastal zone, which shows characteristics of both a maritime and a continental climate, depending on the direction of air flow. Finland is near enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be continuously warmed by the Gulf Stream, which explains the unusually warm climate considering the absolute latitude.

A quarter of Finland's territory lies above the Arctic Circle and the midnight sun can be experienced – for more days, the farther north one travels. At Finland's northernmost point, the sun does not set for 73 consecutive days during summer, and does not rise at all for 51 days during winter.

A few years ago, we managed to keep the top temperatures of Europe, for a day or two - it's not that often that we can beat Spain & Greece in that category, but anything is possible.

I was in Finland one September and it was incredibly hot. :D

...in the sauna..?

John - ;)

FinnFreak

02-11-2009, 5:28am

Kylie is a lot better and she is good looking and does not look like an old bat. :biglaugh:

http://lh6.google.com/xoplayboy/R8amuzA0c_I/AAAAAAAABgg/X97LmBXMgp0/s400/88638_Kylie_Minogue_-_Woman_8_Home_Magazine_March_2008_981_123_130lo.jp g

:D:up: - True..!

Do they have Volcanoes in Finland? I can't remember seeing any, but there probably are some somewhere :uhh:

Nope, none - though some decades ago they thought that a nearby lake, Lappajärvi (home of ex-Stratovarius singer Timo Kotipelto), was an inactive volcano, because of the melted rock deposits found there... it's in fact a meteorite crater.

Lappajärvi is a lake in Finland, in the municipalities of Lappajärvi, Alajärvi and Vimpeli. It is formed in a 23 km-wide meteorite crater. The age of the crater is estimated to be 73.3 ± 5.3 million years (Upper Cretaceous).

John - ;)

faithfully

02-11-2009, 5:59am

Nope, none - though some decades ago they thought that a nearby lake, Lappajärvi (home of ex-Stratovarius singer Timo Kotipelto), was an inactive volcano, because of the melted rock deposits found there... it's in fact a meteorite crater.

John - ;)
:eek::eek:Meteorite?:cool: from when do they think it happened? :uhh:

FinnFreak

02-11-2009, 6:12am

Lappajärvi is a lake in Finland, in the municipalities of Lappajärvi, Alajärvi and Vimpeli. It is formed in a 23 km-wide meteorite crater. The age of the crater is estimated to be 73.3 ± 5.3 million years (Upper Cretaceous).

John - :p

FinnFreak

02-11-2009, 7:38am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - Wednesday 11.2.2009

Around 2,000 Madonna concert tickets to come back into circulation

Police unable to intervene in auction-house price gouging

It appears that around 2,000 tickets for the sold-out concert by Madonna will be back up for sale in the next few days.

Madonna is to make her first appearance in Finland on August 6th, playing an open-air gig in Helsinki's Jätkäsaari, in the West Harbour.

Most of the returns will be tickets in the standard C Section (general admission), but there will also be a few for Section B and the "Golden Circle" front-of-stage Section A, which were the most sought-after places when the total of around 80,000 tickets went on sale on Monday.

The tickets will be dropping back into the system because some buyers bought more than the permitted maximum of six per head.

Apparently this applies to some 300 to 400 customers.

Exceptionally, the limit was also apparently imposed on company sales, thereby quashing rumours that hundreds of tickets had been swept up by firms as hospitality gifts.

If someone managed to order a dozen tickets, for example, they will be able to keep six of them, but the remainder will be withheld and their money will be returned.

It is unclear as yet just when the additional tickets will be up for sale, but it is likely to be in the next couple of days.

The actual sale on Monday was hit by technical snafus, with some customers standing in line for hours only to be met with crashed computers that blighted their chances of getting the best places.

As often happens in these cases, tickets rapidly surfaced on online auction houses, sometimes within hours or even minutes of the box office opening, and are now being touted at inflated prices.

For instance a pair of tickets for the coveted Section A were being sold on Tuesday for 1000 euros. The face-value of one such ticket was EUR 119.

This gouging has prompted a strong reaction among disappointed customers, but police have said there is little they can do to intervene in the secondary market.

The tickets do bear a text stating that resale is forbidden, but this is not based on law, and whilst the police acknowledge the immorality of the exercise, it is not a crime.

On the other hand, the tax authorities might be interested in the windfall profits accruing from such deals.

Those desperate souls who did not buy before the general sale, either through the artist's own fanclub pre-sale arrangements or via the promoters' VIP club, and who then missed out altogether on Monday, nevertheless need not resort to paying hand over fist for a chance to see Madonna.

Two days before the star comes to Helsinki, she is playing in Tallinn in Estonia, and it is expected that some 10-20,000 tickets for this gig will be reserved for Finland.

Tickets for the Tallinn concert go on sale in March.

:dunno: - ...I don't get this ballyhoo at all...

John - :p

Eleanor

02-11-2009, 7:44am

You can say it's cold in Finland John, when I got up in the mornings it was dam cold, when I went on one of the group walks it started off very cold, but after walking for about an hour and a half it warmed up, so I started to shed clothes, if I had been allowed to I would of ended up walking in the nude, but by about 4pm the clouds stared to build up and I was soon putting clothes back on very quickly :D

Troll

02-11-2009, 7:46am

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

02-13-2009, 8:39am

Construction workers

Three construction workers, an Australian, a Finn and a Swede, are sitting on a beam on the tenth floor about to have their lunch.

The Australian opens his lunch box and says "Bloody hell - meat pies again! Every day it's bloody meat pies! If I get meat pies again tomorrow, I'm going to jump!"

The Finn opens up his lunch next. "Saatana! Makkara (sausage) again! Always sausages! If I get sausage tomorrow, I'm gonna jump too!"

The Swede is the last to open up his lunch. "Ah crap - meatballs again! Why always meatballs? If I get meatballs tomorrow, I'm going to jump too!"

The next day the Aussie opens his lunch box and it's a meat pie... He jumps to his death.

The Finn opens his lunch box and, yes, it's a sausage. He too jumps to his death.

The Swede opens his lunch and sadly there's a pile of meatballs, so he jumps too.

The three widows of the construction workers are talking at the funeral and the Aussie's wife says "I don't understand. I thought my husband loved meat pies! If he didn't want them he should have said something!"

The Finnish widow says "Same here - I thought my husband wanted sausages! Why didn't he say something?"

The Swede's widow says, "I don't get it... my husband made his own lunch."

John - :p

Troll

02-13-2009, 10:52am

Great one John

FinnFreak

02-18-2009, 12:37pm

Daily Mail, UK - Wednesday 18th February, 2009

Lapland: It's a bit of all white

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/17/article-1147901-038DEF5F000005DC-361_468x286.jpg
Cold comfort: Lapland offers stunning winter scenery

By Victoria Moore

The temperature is minus 13C, ten degrees below that at which blood freezes, and we are outnumbered. "If you look carefully, you might see them between the trees," says our driver as he guides our 4x4 through Arctic twilight.

We stare silently into darkness. But even though there are more reindeer in Finnish Lapland than humans, and despite the fact the road trip from Kittila to Luosto takes 90 minutes, we see nothing but pine forests.

We don't bump into anything either; a good thing as every year 3,000 of the 230,000 reindeer population meet a sticky end in a traffic accident.

"And trains," shrugs the driver. "Reindeer are always running into the trains. They're not very bright."

We are here because two years ago I came to Lapland and fell in love. Not with a man. Not even with Father Christmas. Partly it was the landscape - a frozen wilderness as magical in its way as wintry Narnia. Mostly, though, it was the romance of a climate that must be survived.

Snow falls here in November and does not begin to melt until March. My advice is, go right now. It's cold in Britain, so why not experience real cold and watch the thermometer sink as low as minus 20C and minus 30C; occasionally down to minus 47C.

In this icebox, not so long ago, the Sami people lived in tents - well, tepees, known as kota - with reindeer hides and fires to keep them snug, and teams of husky dogs to pull their sleds as they travelled, following the migrating reindeer herds.

Today, things are more comfortable: everyone here grows up riding a petrol-powered snowmobile; log houses and hotels, built to withstand the Arctic conditions, are toasty warm; even the smallest bathroom incorporates a steamy sauna.

This is my kind of survival: snowscapes by day, vodka round the fire and, with a bit of luck, a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis by night.

My suitcase is stuffed with thermals, but nothing more specialist: like most tourists here, having booked through a tour operator (in my case, Snowgames), on arrival we're taken into a log cabin from which we emerge kitted out with insulated boiler suits, sturdy boots and padded gloves.

But dinner provokes a dilemma. My companion is easy-going, but has taken a firm stand on one subject. "I'm not eating reindeer."

And we have chosen a restaurant whose menu recalls the Monty Python Spam sketch. It features smoked reindeer, fried reindeer liver, reindeer sauteed in a pot, fried reindeer fillet with rolled rib of reindeer, reindeer knuckle simmered overnight, reindeer fricassed with loganberry jam and, if none of that appeals, there's onion, blue cheese, jalapeno and garlic pizza - with reindeer.

This reflects restaurant culture more than local consumption: reindeer is an expensive luxury, like venison. Fish proves a salvation - in fact, over our few days in Finland, we eat a lot of fish, particularly kalakeitto, a creamy soup flavoured with dill and allspice with chunks of potato and pink salmon.

The first morning I wake up bewildered and disorientated. It has been dark for ever. I've slept for ten hours and still there is no light coming through the window. But then, we are above the Arctic Circle, which marks the southern extremity of the 24-hour sunlit day (the famous white nights of summer) and its winter opposite, the 24-hour sunless day.

When daylight does, eventually, come it is more as a kind of gradual unthickening of the darkness than an unveiling of day. It lasts four or five hours. The sun makes only a brief appearance - it is impossible to tell whether we are witnessing sunrise, sunset or both at once - but it is beautiful, illuminating the snowy hills and thickly frosted pine trees with a pink glow.

Our guide, Keijo, wears black snow gear and carries an axe in his rucksack "in case of emergencies." He tells us: "Minus 20c isn't so bad. When winter comes, you feel it. But then you adapt. You accumulate a layer of fat underneath the skin on your face to protect you, and you feel warmer."

Luosto is a small resort with several floodlit ski runs. Skiing, though, is the one thing we haven't signed up for - you can do that almost anywhere.

Instead, we explore the forests by snowmobile, speeding down tracks at up to 30mph, slowing only when the grey, ghostly form of a reindeer appears in our path. We visit an old amethyst mine and dig around in the earth to find a stone for ourselves. We stop at a reindeer farm and hear how herders can recognise their own creatures from a range of several hundred metres by looking at the notches in the ears.

We visit a husky farm and take out a sled, pulled by eager, strong little huskies. One of us drives while the other sits, nervously, cradled with pelts, swooshing through the forest tracks, skimming along the slippery ground at breakneck speed.

We strap on snow shoes - flat, flipper-like plates that reduce the pressure of your footfall so you can walk on a snowdrift without sinking several feet down - and spend a couple of hours hiking through the trees, up a hill in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

The Finns refer to the Aurora Borealis as revontulet ("foxfires"), because it used to be said these sheets of vivid green light were caused by sparks flying out as a giant fox swept its tail above the Arctic.

(The real explanation is that charged particles entering the Earth's atmosphere are deflected by its magnetic field towards the poles, where they collide with nitrogen and oxygen particles, emitting excess energy in the form of light).

But it's cloudy. "You'll have to come back another time," says Keijo, pulling out a flask of hot cloudberry cordial. One thing we do not do is take a sauna Finn-style. We are told it's customary to get steamy then throw yourself naked into the snow or plunge through an ice-hole into a freezing lake.

At first, I think this is a joke played on gullible foreigners. It seems not, though Keijo doesn't like doing it.

Two or three days here is enough. The dry cold is not a problem, but I am beginning to thirst for light.

As we hand over our snowsuits, we notice an advert for a snowmobile safari, starting in Luosto, travelling through pine forests and across frozen lakes to the fjords of the most northerly tip of Norway, right to the brink of the Arctic Sea. I am not sure it's something I can resist.

More...

The One Minute Guide To... Lapland (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/holidaytypeshub/article-600812/The-One-Minute-Guide-To--Lapland.html)
A chilly night at Lapland's Lainio ice hotel (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-617275/A-chilly-night-Laplands-Lainio-ice-hotel.html)
Feature: A wild life in frozen Finland (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/holidaytypeshub/article-594760/A-wild-life-frozen-Finland.html)

Travel Facts

Finnair flies from London to Kittila via Helsinki from £298pp (0870 241 4411, www.finnair.com) Aurora Chalet, Luosto, has weekends rates (two nights, Friday to Sunday) from £362pp, based on two sharing (0035816 3272700 aurorachalet.fi).

Activities through Snowgames (0035816 3272778, snowgames.fi). More information from Visit Finland (www.visitfinland.com/uk).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1147901/Lapland-Its-bit-white.html

John - ;)

faithfully

02-18-2009, 1:43pm

I'd love to see the Northern Lights :D The lure of a nice cold Winter appeals to me;)

FinnFreak

02-18-2009, 2:05pm

Northern Lights In Finland (http://www.visitfinland.com/W5/index.nsf/(Pages)/Northern_Lights_Viewing)

http://www.vastavalo.fi/albums/userpics/11974/Revontuli_003_copy_copy.jpg

http://www.ursa.fi/extra/postikortti/kortit/peter_von_bagh_revontuli.jpg http://kotisivukone.fi/files/snowbrick.kotisivukone.com/kuvat/revontuli.jpg

http://netti.nic.fi/~jhelmin1/NikonLS40/revontuli_640.jpg

http://oppi.edu.ouka.fi/~mavaku00/okoilta/revontuli4.jpg

http://www.visitfinland.com/ima/Page/finland_facts_aurora_borealis.jpg http://www.visitfinland.com/ima/Page/northern_lights_in_finland.jpg

John - ;)

Eleanor

02-18-2009, 2:10pm

There are amazing pics John :love:

FinnFreak

02-18-2009, 2:15pm

...WAY better, when experienced *live in the sky tonight*

John - ;)

Eleanor

02-18-2009, 2:19pm

I would pop over to Finland if Scotty could beam me there tonight :D

FinnFreak

02-18-2009, 2:25pm

Some good viewing weather in Lapland tonight at Enontekiö:

Recent weather observation: 18 Feb 2009 21:10 local time
Temperature -28.7 °C, humidity 73%, dew point -32.0 °C, wind from the south 1 m/s, wind gust 1 m/s, cumulated hourly precipitation 0 mm (21:00), 12-hour cumulated precipitation 0 mm (20:00), snow depth 45 cm (8:00).

John - :D

Troll

02-18-2009, 2:54pm

Awesome pics and thanks for the article

shaniafan339

02-18-2009, 9:04pm

Thanks for the pictures & article!!! :)

Groucho

02-19-2009, 1:45am

Thanks John. What a great experience you are lucky to enjoy. :great:

faithfully

02-19-2009, 2:58am

I saw them twice when our family lived in Aberdeen, its a very odd feeling when you see them:boogie:

FinnFreak

02-20-2009, 9:59am

YLE News - Friday 20th February, 2009

Mannerheim Movie Shooting Suspended

http://yle.fi/ecepic/archive/00096/mannerheim_nousiaine_96372b.jpg
Actor Mikko Nousiainen on the left as the 20-year old Mannerheim,
on the right as Mannerheim at the age of 55.

Shooting for the feature film "Mannerheim", directed by Renny Harlin
has been put on hold pending settlement of disagreements over financing.

The Danish parent company of financier Liberty Production has cut off funding,
citing the present international economic crisis.

The film's producers are now seeking support from Finnish capital investors
and patriotic circles. Producer Markus Selin says that over three million euros
have already been spent on the movie.

"It would be a catastrophe if filming would have to be delayed, "said Selin.

The film's director, Renny Harlin, said Friday that he hopes that the present
situation is only temporary. He added that it is annoying that the production
has been put on hold now that all the arrangements for filming have been
made and spirits are high among actors and crew.

Filming of "Mannerheim" was scheduled to start next month in Joensuu. The
production company, Solar Films, is to make a decision next week about when
shooting will begin.

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim is an iconic figure in Finnish history. During his
career, he was an officer in the Imperial Russian Army, the commander of
the winning White forces in the Finnish civil war, Finland's commander-in-chief
during WW II and President 1944-46.

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

02-24-2009, 9:54am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Tuesday 24.2.2009 ´

Lex Nokia

Nokia - stronger than law?

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135243193099.jpeg
In this montage, a modified mobile tele-
phone looms over the Finnish Parliament.
The handset's display shows the vote
screen from the wall of the chamber,
and the keypad is arranged in a pattern
similar to the seats.

By Petri Sajari

In April 2005 the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) received a criminal complaint - a suspicion that corporate secrets had been leaked to the Chinese Huawei company via e-mail.

The complaint was made by Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile telephones. A Nokia employee had noticed at a telecommunications fair in Cannes in February 2005 that the power unit made by its competitor Huawei had characteristics that bore an uncanny resemblance to a product that Nokia was putting on public display for the first time at the same fair.

Nokia needed evidence of a leak, so it began to dig through the identification information of its employee e-mail.

Legal experts say that the company should not have done that; Nokia had technically violated its employees’ fundamental right to confidential communications.

But the company felt that it was the law, and not Nokia that had got it wrong.

The issue was so important for Nokia that it took out its most severe weapon. It threatened that it would leave Finland if the law was not changed, taking with it tax revenues worth EUR 1.3 billion and 16,000 jobs.

This put politicians in high gear, and that is how the Lex Nokia was started.

Parliament will decide in a couple of weeks on a proposed amendment to the law on data protection in communications. The bill is known better by the name Lex Nokia. Civic groups opposed to the measure have called it a snooping law.

Lex Nokia is an appropriate name, as the bill is a master stroke of lobbying.

Nokia has made sure that important figures from employers’ organisations to labour unions, from civil servants to legislators, have been made to understand in good time how important the bill is for Finland’s largest corporation.

The proposed legislation also reveals Nokia’s exceptional influence in Finland. The strength of the company has made many officials turn a blind eye to the problems contained in the bill.

But what does Nokia actually want with the proposed change?

The bill would give employers the right to check on information contained in messages sent and received by employees in their company e-mail. The information includes the sender or receiver of the message, the size of the message, and the time that it was sent, and the type of attachment that they contain. Automated monitoring would not require suspicion of any wrongdoing, and the employer would not be required to ask anyone for permission for the surveillance.

In addition to employers, the proposed law would give snooping rights to offices, libraries, universities, schools, and even apartment buildings that have communication networks of their own. For instance, a house manager would be allowed to monitor Internet activities of residents if there is a suspicion that the house network is being used in violation of house rules.

The bill is contradictory in that the information that is being sought is not enough to indicate if the message itself, which the employer would not have access to, contains any company secrets. Nevertheless, supporters of the bill believe that with increased supervision, employees will be more cautious about what they undertake.

Helsingin Sanomat has interviewed dozens of civil servants, politicians, and labour market figures who have taken part in the preparation of the bill.

Because of Nokia’s influential status, none of them want to discuss the issue under their own name.

“Nokia put very strong pressure to bear to win unanimous approval to the proposal already in the preparatory stages. The message that came through the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK) was quite clear: if the bill is not passed into law, Nokia will leave Finland”, said one civil servant.

“It was a take-it-or-leave-it situation. Nokia organised big events with leaders of the central organisations present”, said one influential labour market figure.

Huawei case looms in the background. It was then, at the latest, that Nokia became exasperated that it cannot monitor the e-mail traffic of its employees as closely as it would like.

The current law on data protection for electronic communications took effect in the autumn of 2004. Already before the law took effect, the then-Minister of Transport and Communications Leena Luhtanen (SDP) set a follow-up group to examine the impact of the law.

According to those who followed the preparations of the law, there was concern expressed in the business community that a law on the protection of privacy at work would excessively restrict the rights of employers.

A follow-up group of the Ministry of Transport and Communications then began, in complete silence, to prepare changes to the brand-new data protection law.

Those who were in key positions during the drafting of the legislation say that Nokia succeeded in convincing key civil servants of the necessity of such a law. Nokia claimed to have lost large sums of money through information leaks, and nobody questioned the veracity of those claims.

Civil servants did not see any constitutional problems in the matter.

“When a matter involves a legislative proposal which affects fundamental rights, those preparing the legislation should be especially sharp and critical, if people other than officials try to affect the content of the law”, says Mikael Hidén, Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law at the University of Helsinki.

In the autumn of 2005 Finland got a new Minister of Transport and Communications. Luhtanen was replaced by Susanna Huovinen (SDP). Ministry civil servants presented the bill to Huovinen as a “technical change”.

One ministry employee felt that the problems of the bill and the disputes within the working group were kept hidden from Huovinen. However, the fresh minister had received word that the proposed law would violate the constitution.

Huovinen refused to bring the bill before the government. In the summer of 2006 she asked Chancellor of Justice Paavo Nikula for a statement. Nikula sharply denounced the proposal.

In the view of the Chancellor of Justice, fundamental rights should have been weighed with more precision and from more points of view than was done in the proposal.

This was a great setback to the business community, the ministry, and to Nokia. The plan to pass the bill into law quickly crumbled.

The civil servants of the Ministry of Transport and Communications started working on a new set of tactics.

In Nokia, the man responsible for turning the heads of civil servants and labour market organisations was Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Relations and Responsibility Veli Sundbäck, according to those who were the targets of the lobbying. Sundbäck, who retired at the beginning of this year, is a former high-ranking civil servant of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who took part in the negotiations in Brussels on Finnish EU membership in the early 1990s.

Sundbäck could not be reached for a comment, and Nokia not want to comment on the bill to Helsingin Sanomat at all.

Those behind the bill noticed in 2006 that Huovinen and Milister of Labour Tarja Filatov (SDP) were not supporting the proposed legislation. More pressure was put on the labour market organisations. Those promoting the bill thought that the Social Democrats might be persuaded to back it if the strong labour unions were first convinced of the need for such legislation.

According to several civil servants, the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK) was acting as Nokia’s errand boy in the matter. Some civil servants suspected that Sundbäck had a direct line to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) at the time that the bill was being drafted.

When the labour market organisations were persuaded to back the bill, the Ministry of Transport and Communications began to market the proposal to Members of Parliament. Now the argument that was used was that the bill had extensive support in society. This was, in fact, the case, but what was not mentioned was that labour market organisations cannot take issue with citizens’ fundamental rights.

While the lobbying and drafting of the bill was going on, Nokia continued to spy on the e-mails of its employees.

In January of 2005, before the Huawei case, Nokia had become the target of an investigation. The reason was that Nokia had gone through the sender and receiver data of its employees at the beginning of the decade. At that time Nokia had suspected that Microcel, an Oulu-based subcontractor of the Swedish Ericsson, had received information by e-mail about the security features of Nokia’s new mobile phones.

However, the information that was gleaned did not yield enough evidence of an information leak, and the issue faded away.

In the spring of 2006 prosecutor Jukka Haavisto felt that Nokia had violated the law on communications privacy in the Microcell case. However, by that time, it was too late to prosecute.

Soon thereafter, in August 2006, Urho Ilmonen, Nokia’s head of security at the time, asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to drop the investigation of the Huawei case. According to Nokia, the information from the e-mails was not sufficient evidence, that someone at Nokia would have been leaking corporate secrets.

In the spring of 2007 Nokia tried once again to learn about a suspected crime with the help of e-mail information. One employee in Salo had criticised the company’s management, because the bonuses that had been promised to the whole staff were not paid. The employee sent messages to thousands of other Nokia employees around the world. Nokia filed a criminal complaint alleging interference with data traffic. Prosecutor Antti Pihlajamäki felt that there was not enough evidence to justify prosecution.

All of this must have been very frustrating for Nokia.

In the autumn of 2006 the entire bill appeared to be in jeopardy on the basis of Nikula’s statement.

Already in the spring, the labour market organisations had asked Law Professor Kaarlo Tuori for an expert opinion, hoping to overturn the paper from the Ministry of Justice that was very critical toward the bill. Although Tuori proposed many changes to the bill, it offered a straw that the Ministry of Transport and Communications could grasp, allowing the process to move forward.

Later the ministry ordered a statement from Veli-Pekka Viljanen, a professor of constitutional law. However, his views were pushed to the side because they were too critical.

Finally, in the autumn of 2007, the proposal, which had been patched up many times, was almost ready. All that was left to be done was a review by the office of the Chancellor of Justice.

In January 2008, Deputy Chancellor of Justice Mikko Puumalainen called the Ministry of Transport and Communications and demanded that the bill be removed form the government’s list. He said that there were still shortcomings in the proposal, which the country’s top official responsible for supervising the legality of state activities could not approve of.

A couple of months later, Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka decided that there were no legal impediments to the government’s proposal. However, he informed Liisa Ero, director-general at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, that the bill remained problematic.

The bill was sent to Parliament in April 2008.

“If the interests of one enterprise are decisive, the foundation for objective constitutional consideration will fall away”, said Teuvo Pohjolainen, Professor of Public Law.

Listening to the professors was basically a formality, because even their severe criticism was not taken into account. In November 2008 the Constitutional Law Committee made a unanimous decision when it determined that the proposed legislation was not in violation of the constitution.

The chairman of the committee, Kimmo Sasi (Nat. Coalition Party) commented on the bill in Helsingin Sanomat on November 20th, 2008: “Numerous experts have seen employers as being the equivalent of officials. We have interpreted the matter differently, because an employer is not an official, but rather a parallel citizen.”

Defenders of the bill also state that employees at the workplace, using their employers’ equipment are not entitled to completely confidential communications.

Professor Ojanen feels that this point of view goes against rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.

“It sounds a little like the way of thinking about institutional power in the 1930s. At that time the thinking was that in institutions such as prisons, people had no fundamental rights”, Ojanen says.

“On the basis of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights we are no longer in a situation in which an employee loses his or her fundamental rights when walking through the door of the workplace.”

In addition to the legal experts, the bill has been tenaciously criticised by the civic group Electronic Frontier Finland. The organisation is involved in arranging a demonstration against Lex Nokia at the House of Parliament next Thursday.

The passage of the bill by Parliament in about two weeks is almost certain. Passage of the law was advanced by a statement by the Constitutional Law Committee, which allowed its passage as a normal law (and not as a constitutional amendment).

Now a Parliamentary majority - the support of the government parties - is sufficient. If the bill was to have been passed as a constitutional amendment, a five-sixth majority would have been needed.

Minister of Communications Suvi Lindén (Nat. Coalition Party) has seen to it that the largest government parties are behind the bill. Before the proposal was passed on to Parliament in the spring of 2008, Lindén spoke about it to the “quartet” - the leaders of the four government parties.

Lindén noted that the government’s policy programme promises to improve the protection of corporate secrets.

“Legal protection of the individual will also improve, because the rules of the game will be clarified. Existing legislation already vaguely allows the handling of the information when there is suspicion of abuse”, she says.

The only minister to submit a dissenting opinion was outgoing Green League chairwoman, Minister of Labour Tarja Cronberg. Her fellow party member, Minister of Justice Tuija Brax, supported the bill, but is not speaking very enthusiastically on its behalf.

“The party’s chairwoman negotiated a deal in the quartet, under which only one of the Green ministers is opposed to the bill”, Brax says. She feels that the law improved in the final stages of preparation.

Prime Minister Vanhanen does not want to explain further why he supports the bill.

The opposition has been more critical. For instance, MP Erkki Tuomioja (SDP) feels that “the law would expand the espionage society into a grey area”.

Leading legal experts also find it incomprehensible that on the basis of the new law, private companies and organisations would be granted more power to curb fundamental rights than the police have.

“The proposed law goes against nearly all principles of justice. This cannot be avoided, no matter how much the politicians try to claim otherwise”, says Matti Tolvanen, Professor of Criminal and Procedural Law at the University of Joensuu.

“The evidence value of the e-mail information is non-existent in a criminal process. It is quite strange that a private entity would need the information for something. In a country under the rule of law, the preliminary investigation of a crime should not be outsourced to a private entity, as is not being proposed.”

Jukka Kekkonen, Professor of Legal history and Roman Law at the University of Helsinki feels that there has long been a tendency in Finland, either deliberate or unconscious, to increase the control over citizens. Lex Nokia is part of this trend. Kekkonen is also worried that authority to restrict fundamental rights is being granted to private entities.

“It shakes the fundamental principles of the Western rule of law”, he says.

Kekkonen feels that it is positive that the statements given to the Constitutional Law Committee by the legal experts were all in agreement.

“It is not very common, and that is why the voice of the legal experts should have had special weight.”

The turnover of Finland’s largest company, Nokia, was EUR four billion more than the initial budget of the Finnish state for this year. Nokia’s corporate tax in 2007 was EUR 1.3 billion - one fifth of the total yield of corporate taxation.

That is considerable leverage.

Nokia’s report on social responsibility states that the company respects human dignity and promotes human rights: “Nokia recognises, together with the international community, that certain human rights are fundamental and universal, and are based on accepted international agreements and practices, such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Professor Ojanen feels that the view the European Court of Human Rights would be needed for Lex Nokia. He hopes that some civic organisation would bring the matter before the court.

“The European Court of Human Rights has at times handled questions of abstract legislation, if there is reason to suspect a violation of the eighth article of the human rights treaty”, says Ojanen, with reference to an article in which each individual is guaranteed the right to a private life.

“If the court feels that the law violates the human rights treaty, it will give a ruling on it. It would be impossible for Finland to bypass it.”

According to Nokia, universal rights include the right to an opinion, and a right to express opinions. Information and Technology Law Professor Jukka Kemppinen wrote in a statement that he gave to the Constitutional Law Committee that in the final instance, the bill is about the right to free expression.

About the breach of that right, that is.

John - :mad:

Eleanor

02-24-2009, 1:32pm

Thanks for the info John :love:

Troll

02-24-2009, 2:53pm

Thanks John

FinnFreak

02-27-2009, 5:43am

The New Zealand Herald - Friday February 27, 2009

The Kiwi Abroad Blog: Matt Kennedy-Good extends his OE and follows his heart to Finland

Food fight!

http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/media/blogs/entries/2009/02/27/photo/pizza-blog.jpg
Pizza Berlusconi - The Best Pizza In The World - is made in Finland

By Matt Kennedy

I love food.

Not all food, of course. Obviously, Brussels sprouts are inedible. I don't like boiled potatoes either, especially when I am not allowed to leave the table before finishing them.

Otherwise, food and I have always had a great relationship.

I think about it every time I leave the house. Whether deciding to visit a friend or a foreign country, my choices are often influenced by my stomach.

As I was contemplating whether or not to move to Finland late last year, food was an important consideration.

Yes, my Finnish girlfriend Sanna is a nice person, but do they have good bakeries in Helsinki? I wondered.

My initial research uncovered some troubling controversy.

In 2005 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that Finnish food was something he had to "endure" when visiting the country.

Finns, he said, eat marinated reindeer and don't even know what Parma ham is.

On this basis, Italy's richest man claimed that Italy was a more suitable location than Finland for the site of the European Food Safety Authority.

The criticism didn't end there. Concerned that Berlusconi's gaffes might help Italians to usurp the French as the most unpopular nationality in Europe, President Jacques Chirac of France stated that the only country with worse food than Britain was Finland.

I was becoming nervous. With all this smoke, was there a fire in the Finnish kitchen?

According to Wikipedia, there is some historical basis for these remarks. Years ago, the range of food available in Finland was limited. This is partly because most fruit and vegetables can only be grown for three months of the year in Finland's harsh climate.

Instead, Finns traditionally relied on staples such as tubers, potatoes, dark rye bread and fermented dairy products.

Making matters worse, other than salt, very few spices and fresh herbs were available for seasoning purposes.

Unflavoured potatoes, tubers and "fermented dairy products" - whatever they are - did not excite my palate.

Variety is okay, but I'm a firm believer that spice is actually the spice of life. Perhaps Berlusconi had a point. I read on.

Apparently, even with the development of modern transportation and agriculture the prices and selection of food did not improve immediately in Finland.

Heavy tariffs and bans on certain imported products restricted the range and affordability of food right up until Finland became a member of the EU in 1995, at which point the situation improved.

Obviously, given I am writing this blog, this improvement was enough to convince me to take the chance and move over here.

Now, after four months, I am prepared to submit my preliminary findings:

For a start, quite apart from traditional Finnish fare (thanks to globalisation) in Helsinki it is possible to survive entirely on foreign cuisine.

From the two Michelin starred restaurant chez Dominique and the "ethnic" food stores in Hakaniemi, to the Greek cafe opposite my apartment, there is no shortage of great international food.

Of course, I don't have the time, money or the inclination to eat in restaurants all the time. Thankfully, there is no need. I don't know what food was like here in the past, but today Finnish food is delicious.

Bread is a good place to start. More than any other food, in my experience, bread turns people into raving nationalists, fiercely loyal to what that they grew up with.

London provides a good example of this. I noticed while living there that in areas where there are a lot of New Zealanders - such as Clapham - supermarkets would stock Vogel's bread. Unlike in the advert, there is actually no need to take it with you on the plane. I ate it every day.

But even if they sold Vogel's in Finland, I wouldn't buy it. In my opinion, Finns make the best wholemeal and rye breads in the world.

Every supermarket has an enormous selection of white, wholemeal, rye, dark, crispy and full grain bread. A type of muesli rye bread is my current favourite, although on special occasions the home-made rye bread that all Finns over 30 seem to know how to make is unbelievably good.

I publicly challenge Jacques Chirac to find a better example in a French bakery (I hear he never says no to a dare).

Amongst other foods, Finns also eat a lot of smoked and pickled fish (such as salmon, perch and herring), seasonal berries and a selection of unique bakery food. By and large, it is all excellent.

They also have an obsession with salty liquorice which I don't quite understand, but enjoy nevertheless.

Finally, when Santa's reindeer become too old to pull the sleigh, they are smoked and not marinated, as Prime Minister Berlusconi claimed.

Although Italy won the right to host the Food Safety Authority, in 2008, Finland had the last laugh.

In New York, before impartial judges, Finland met Italy in the final of the America's Plate International pizza contest (France did not make the final).

The Finish pizza - which I sampled on Saturday - was a tasty combination of cream cheese, red onions, mushrooms and smoked reindeer on a wholemeal crust.

"Pizza Positano" from Italy featured fancy imported "oo" flour from Naples, finest Italian peeled tomatoes, fresh calamari, mussels, shrimp, clams, cherry tomatoes and extra-extra-virgin olive oil.

In the end, there was no contest.

"Pizza Berlusconi" from Finland was declared the best pizza in the world.

Unusually, the Italian Prime Minister has not made any comment.

http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/kiwi-abroad/2009/2/27/food-fight/?c_id=7&objectid=10559072

John - :p

greek fanatic

02-27-2009, 8:13am

I'd like to have that reindeer pizza:D
and Finland has great cheese:great:
pickled fish is very good too:D

Troll

02-27-2009, 8:58am

Interesting article John

FinnFreak

03-04-2009, 10:32am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 4.3.2009

Can a movie about Mannerheim reach an audience of a million?

Troubled film's cost estimate based on huge box-office success

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135243900233.jpeg
Mikko Nousiainen, the actor chosen to play Mannerheim
in the Solar Films' production. Nousiainen, 33, has been
given the ageing treatment by Oscar-winning make-up
effects artist Greg Cannom. Cannom recently won his
fourth Academy Award for work on The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button. The Finnish production, now on ice
because of financing problems, also features Hollywood
action-movie director Renny Harlin and art director
Steven Lawrence.

By Veli-Pekka Lehtonen

There are tons of questions related to the planned Mannerheim film, of which at least the following are surely of interest to the most inquisitive:

Where can the millions required for the film’s budget possibly come from?

What is the actual budget of the film, branded as the most expensive Finnish movie of all times? What kind of cinema attendance estimates has the production been based on?

And...will the film ever be made?

Let us start with the easiest one.

Within the film industry it is generally believed that Mannerheim will reap excellent commercial success - that is, if the movie about the legendary WW II Finnish Field Marshal and sixth President of Finland (1944-46) C.G.E. Mannerheim ever gets completed.

This is the assumption of not just the film’s principal production company Solar Films, but also that of its closest rivals. Apparently Solar Film has based its calculations on an attendance figure of one million.

It sounds wild, but it is not entirely ill-founded.

For example Norway’s most watched film at the moment is Max Manus, with more than a million bottoms on seats registed so far.

The hit film has many similarities with Mannerheim. Max Manus is the most expensive Norwegian film ever made, its protagonist is a WW II resistance fighter, and its storyline is tangential to the Winter War and the Soviet Union.

Or take an example from Finland: Bad Boys – A True Story attracted 615,000 cinemagoers and is the highest-grossing Finnish film in recent history.

Attendance figures of this sort Mannerheim should be able to reach more realistically.

The Sibelius biopic, even with all its shortcomings, still attracted 300,000 Finns to the cinema. And unlike Sibelius, Mannerheim might just raise some interest abroad as well.

No precise cost estimate is available for Mannerheim.

The Finnish Film Foundation does not make public such information and the project does not involve public money from abroad. The film has not received any public funding from abroad because, according to the information obtained by Helsingin Sanomat, no such funding has been applied for.

A Finnish film can receive noteworthy foreign support from two sources: the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, and the Council of Europe’s Eurimages programme.

From either source up to half a million euros could have been obtained with optional reimbursement. As a rule, the support becomes a loan if the film makes a profit.

The condition for getting Eurimages funding is that the film in question also has another European backer, who covers a fifth of the film’s cost. Mannerheim does not fulfil this criteria.

Mannerheim cannot get any backing from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, because the film’s television rights have been sold to the Finnish commercial television channel MTV3, the only Nordic television company that does not belong to the Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Solar Films has repeatedly announced EUR ten million as Mannerheim’s total budget, and according to sources close to Solar, the budget is currently short of a few million euros.

Within the movie industry, many suspect that the actual budget is smaller than what has been announced.

According to Solar Films the film’s budget cannot be compromised because of the action style of the film. A chamber drama could be produced with less money.

The filmmakers’ rewards also eat up a sizeable part of the budget. An Oscar-winning make-up effects artist hardly works for peanuts.

Films in Finland are mainly funded from three sources: the Finnish Film Foundation, the film’s distribution company, and the television channel that buys the film’s TV rights.

The Foundation’s production support to Mannerheim is EUR 470,000.

The distribution company, which takes care of such things as the film’s marketing, shares in the expenses after having made an advance estimate of the likely box-office revenue. Often the producer and the distributor only make a profit after the film comes out on DVD.

A cinema ticket costs around eight euros on average, of which the theatre’s cut is roughly 50%.

Normally a top minimum advance based on likely bookings in cinemas is in the region of EUR 400,000.

In Mannerheim’s case this may well be more like a million euros upfront.

The film’s distributor is the Danish Nordisk Film, Solar Film’s parent company, into whose lap producer Markus Selin poured the film’s entire funding crisis last week.

The price of the television rights to Mannerheim is also around a million euros.

This, too, is several times as much as for an average Finnish film.

What is likely to increase the price is the film’s hit potential combined with the possibility of a follow-up television series.

Mannerheim is yet to clinch an international distribution deal and the price of any such deal is difficult to estimate. It may well be that Mannerheim as a story is too “Finnish”, albeit that it is supposed to be in several languages: Finnish, English, Swedish, Russian, German, and French. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867-1951) was, after all, a pretty cosmopolitan chap.

Then again, surprise interest towards the film may also spring up, for example in Russia.

Among the definite financers of the film there are around ten Finnish companies contributing through “marketing cooperation” deals.

The cooperation usually means for example free advertising, logistics, and accommodation. The value of such sponsorship deals is around EUR 1.5 million, again a record in its class.

Further donations may also come through commemorative medal sales and sundry support organisations such as the Champion of Liberty Association.

With the backing of all the above-mentioned parties there is around EUR 5 million in the film’s budget.

EUR 3 million has already been spent in pre-production.

The remaining funds have to be found from venture capitalists, firms, and organisations. Already a budget running to 6 million euros can be considered large in the European cinema.

Solar Films is still conducting negotiations to secure further funding.

One funding possibility is the issuing of shares. If that was to take place, Solar Films would give up its sole authority over the separate production company Liberty Productions, set up for the film.

A less significant but perhaps more public means is the sale of "supporters' tickets" with a face-value of 50 euros, entitling the holder to a seat when and if the film is released.

Producer Markus Selin does not regard this as a serious means of financing as such: he estimates sales could be from 1,000 to 5,000.

After costs are taken out, each ticket sold would be worth around EUR 30 to the producers of the film.

If the film founders and is not released, ticket-buyers will get their money refunded.

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

03-04-2009, 10:50am

The Associated Press - Wednesday 4 March, 2009

Finnish Parliament approves e-mail tracking law

HELSINKI (AP) — The Finnish Parliament has approved controversial legislation that allows employers to track workers' e-mails.

Lawmakers approved the government proposal in a 96-56 vote on Wednesday.

The legislation does not allow employers to read employees' e-mails but gives them the right to see the recipients and attachments of workers' e-mails.

Employers' organizations strongly back the law, saying it will help combat industrial espionage. Opponents say it will infringe on people's privacy.

Local media dubbed the law "Lex Nokia" after reports that Nokia threatened to move its headquarters from Finland if it was not approved. Nokia has vehemently denied the accusations.

It was not immediately clear when the new legislation would take force. It is subject to the president's approval.

:smirk: - ...interesting to see if Tarja has the balls to say "NO"... giving companies, public organizations, powers - that not even the police have - is simply a very, very, VERY BAD IDEA.

IMHO.

John - :scowl:

Troll

03-04-2009, 12:53pm

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

03-09-2009, 9:33am

Helsinki Times - Monday, 09 March 2009

Finland's Ahtisaari calls for aid overhaul

http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/images/2009/mar/martti.jpg
President Martti Ahtisaari

[STT] -- The former Finnish president, winner of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, Martti Ahtisaari was quoted as saying by Tampere-based daily Aamulehti on Sunday that an aid policy based on traditional poverty alleviation had failed, particularly in Africa.

Mr Ahtisaari told the paper that spending should be focused on education and job creation in a root-and-branch overhaul of the country’s foreign aid policy.

“Some 1.3 billion young people will enter the job market over the next few years,” he was quoted as saying.

“At best, 300 million will find a job. What on earth will the remaining one billion do?”

“When young people have proper jobs one is already well on the way to a much more peaceful world.”

Aamulehti quoted Mr Ahtisaari was saying that an education-centred aid policy would also benefit donor countries in the form of a reduction in the need for aid down the line and a pool of skilled immigrants.

John - :)

FinnFreak

03-09-2009, 9:49am

The Finland For Thought (http://www.finlandforthought.net) Blog - 8.3.2009

Puhutko Suomea..? - erm... Do You Speak Finnish..?

By Megsu

At least for the past year, I have been fairly strict about a self-imposed rule that I follow. You see, I don’t often get many chances to practice my Finnish anymore, so besides the hour and a half of my weekly “textbook” Finnish class, (a different language entirely from spoken language, I might add) I really don’t ever use it. That is why, when I go to a store, the bank, a restaurant, etc., I have to speak Finnish. If they switch over to English, then whatever, I tried, and sometimes I continue in Finnish. This works fairly well most of the time, even when I know I am making errors; maybe my scrappiness is seen as some strange form of sisu, struggling onwards, in spite of my lack of awareness of the distinctly different sounds produced by double consonants vs. single consonants. I still cannot differentiate my own speech with words like “kukka” and “kuka.”

Something strange happens when you are constantly surrounded by a language that you don’t understand. Sometimes you become overly defensive, relying too heavily on body language, and you may become paranoid, imagining everyone is laughing at you or reveling in the stupidity of the inept “kielitaidaton.” Even when you are in sticky or important situations where you insist you don’t understand or speak Finnish, the sometimes stubborn persistence you encounter, of people continuing to speak Finnish, almost willing you to, (it’s so easy if you just listen, idiot,) can sometimes be maddening and calls for desperate measures. I have had too many extreme experiences to always be open minded that people are going to consistently be patient and understanding with you as a person learning a language, and it leaves me a little weary when every time I speak Finnish I feel like I am about to step in a huge pile of dog, well, you get the idea.

Recently, at a birthday party, I asked the bar tender, “Hei. Saisinko yks Lonkero, ja yks cokis, kiitos.”

“Yeah, let’s just do this in English, okay. It’s easier for everyone,” the guy said, a little too gruffly.

Astonished at how rude he was, I asked him if he was the only bartender.

“Yep, you have to deal with me,” he said, laughing.

“Right, that’s okay, I think I’m not really thirsty tonight anyway.” I said, refusing to support jackass behavior.

I puffed off, ready to either scream or cry. I told my astonished friends, who were ready to rip this guy a new one, when I saw him leave the bar and head over towards me.

(Step in dogsh*t feeling, insert here, mixed with sheer panic.) Now what, I thought.

“Hey did I offend you or something?” he asked, with the concern of a robot.

Honesty is the best policy, so here goes, I thought.

“Yeah, you did.” I started. “Look, I’m trying, and I’m sorry if I made a mistake or if my accent is off or whatever, but I am trying to speak your language and you didn’t have to be so rude!”

“Ah, the Finnish?” he asked.

“Yeah, my Finnish,” I answered.

“You see, I don’t speak Finnish, I am French, and I speak French, and English, is it a problem?”

(Dogsh*t feeling times ten. A mountain of it.)

“OH! I’m so sorry,” I said, my face a beetroot now. “I didn’t realize, I thought you were making fun of me!”

“No I’m sorry,” he says, and offers, “ Hey, what do you want to drink? Whatever you like, on the house,” he insists.

“I’m really, really, sorry,” I continue.

“It’s okay,” he says. “Those Finnish guys can be real *ssholes when you don’t speak the language, eh?”

Pretty rich coming from a French guy, I think, I can’t help erupting into laughter, the tension of embarrassment is just too much now.

John - :p

Troll

03-09-2009, 1:14pm

Very interesting

FinnFreak

03-11-2009, 10:25am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 11.3.2009

Familiar images reside in the soul of the Finns

Tuula Karjalainen mapped out collective memory of Finnish art

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135244070130.jpeg
Hugo Simberg: The Wounded Angel, 1903

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Gallen_Kallela_The_Aino_Triptych.jpg
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: The Aino Triptych, 1891

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/The_Fighting_Capercaillies_by_Ferdinand_von_Wright .jpg
Ferdinand von Wright: The Fighting Capercaillies, 1886

By Anu Uimonen

"I’ve been putting together the jigsaw of the Finnish soul”, PhD Tuula Karjalainen describes her long project, as the final outcome of which a book called Kantakuvat – yhteinen muistimme (“Core Images - Our Collective Memory”) was published on Thursday of last week.

Karjalainen classifies as core-images those Finnish works of art that “every Finn” recognises.

“Even if the precise name of a work or an artist escapes a Finn, he or she will still recognise as familiar the young Aino of the Finnish National epic Kalevala fleeing from her aged suitor the shaman Väinämöinen, or the wounded angel with its bearers, the wide-eyed girl on the smoking slash-and-burn clearing, or those fighting capercaillies”, Karjalainen lists.

The number of the so-called ur-images is surprisingly limited, all the same

To determine the number we are dealing with , Karjalainen asked people about Finnish works of art that they could name even when woken up from the deepest sleep. “The same 10-15 works were repeated over and over again. The generation of the respondents, whose ages varied from 18 to 80, played no role.”

The core-images are kind of pictures beyond pictures, keys to other impressions and things.

“A work of art is alive if it exerts an effect on today’s world in other ways than just by hanging on a museum wall.”

Versions of the core-images one runs into constantly: in advertising, modern art, folksy "outsider art" - to say nothing of mouse mats, bank cards, and plastic bags.

In this way, the images develop into a kind of “national album” that can be compared to an average family album.

"New photos are constantly added to a family album. Likewise, old pictures are removed: images lose their meaning, when we no longer recognise the people in them.”

Likewise, the national album of our core-images gets renewed, only much more slowly. But its images, too, require a narrative; they need stories that can be associated with them.

“Even if the work of art remains the same, its narrative keeps changing”, Karjalainen says.

“For example The Wounded Angel has become the symbol of the Finnish Civil War to the people of the city of Tampere, after it was used in a Civil War commemoration day parade in 2008.”

It makes no difference that Hugo Simberg finished the painting already in 1903, fifteen years before the Civil War took place.

Among the core-images in Karjalainen's collection, The Wounded Angel is in a league of its own. It is a kind of ur-image of ur-images that appeals to the Finns in a completely unique way.

A couple of years ago it even won the “Painting of Our Land” vote organised by the Ateneum Art Museum.

“Simberg’s expressionist painting calls for constantly renewed interpretations also because the mystery it contains will never be resolved”, Karjalainen says, and she draws a parallel between The Wounded Angel and Edouard Manet’s Le déjeuner sur l'herbe from 1863.

“Then again, I have never quite understood, why people love The Fighting Capercaillies so much. Even though it does have all the Hollywood ingredients.”

Whatever. An ur-Finnish image Ferdinand von Wright’s famous bird painting naturally is, as are Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Aino Triptych, Eero Järnefelt’s The Wage Slaves, Helene Schjerfbeck’s The Convalescent, Albert Edelfelt’s Boys Playing on the Shore, and so on.

There is no recipe for how a painting becomes a core image in the national psyche.

In the same era many other paintings may have been painted that are just as good, but, for some reason they have failed to establish similar status in the minds of the Finns.

“The singling out of images happens gradually. First they start to become more common as reproductions, wall rugs, and crochet works. Then they start appearing on the pages of school textbooks.”

Karjalainen began her research into images that ring a Finnish bell some sixteen years ago, but the undertaking remained on the table for a long time, while she worked first as the director of the Helsinki City Art Museum and then of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma. Once retired, she finally had time to finish the book.

“This is the perfect time for the book to come out. The research into visual culture and its roots is manifested in the Kalevala exhibition in Ateneum, the Disney exhibition in the Tennis Palace Art Museum, and the recent Picasso exhibition in Paris.”

The "Picasso and the Masters" exhibition looked at the influence on Picasso of artists both old and modern, and showed how iconic works had affected the Spanish painter's art.

The ur-images chosen by Karjalainen are all from or near the ‘Golden Era of Finnish Art’, which was between 1880 and 1910. Karjalainen believes, however, that in time newer art will also come into the frame.

“For example Tyko Sallinen’s The Fanatics and The Barn Dance, or some of Juho Rissanen’s works may become part of the national album. Also from the realm of modern art, for example photographic art, new core images will surely arise. But it will take time.”

John - :)

Troll

03-11-2009, 2:43pm

Thanks for the article

FinnFreak

03-13-2009, 11:10am

NewsRoom Finland / STT - 13.3.2009 at 16:41

ABC airs Good Morning America from Finland

The American Broadcasting Company aired parts of its breakfast programme Good Morning America from Kemi in Finnish Lapland on Friday.

Among segments featured on the two-hour programme were a tour of Kemi's snow castle, a plunge into the icy Baltic Sea by Diane Sawyer, one of the GMA presenters, an interview with Jorma Ollila, the Nokia chairman, and Finnish male choir Huutajat's rendering of the Star-Spangled Spanner.

The programme was expected to attract an unusually high number of viewers as it included the first interview with Michelle Obama since her husband's inauguration as president of the United States.

* * *

ABC News / Good Morning America - March 13, 2009

The BIG Chill: 'GMA' Takes the Plunge in Finland

Ice-Breaking Ships, an Ice Hotel and an Arctic Sea Make Finland a Must-Visit

http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/ap_snow_castle_090312_mn.jpg
In 1996 some 7,000 people visited the SnowCastle of Kemi,
made entirely of ice and snow. A few of those visitors are
pictured here. Each year the castle, on Finland's west coast,
melts and has to be rebuilt - a process that can take months.

More Photos (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/GMABig/popup?id=7068494)

By MARGARET ARO

After visiting the home of the world's tallest skyscraper, the globe's biggest city, the largest rainforest and the biggest castle, what's a fitting end to "Good Morning America's" BIG series?

Try the residence of the biggest ice hotel, and a place where massive ice-breaking ships are deployed to keep frozen harbors open so imports and exports can flow. Finland offers more than just frozen tundra.

Click here (http://abcnews.go.com/gma/video/playerIndex?id=7074834) to learn about life from the Finns.

Breaking the Ice

Each year the tourists flock to the tiny city of Kemi to visit the Sampo. The world's biggest icebreaker was built in 1960, and the ship was retired from service 21 years ago.

The Sampo is the only ship in Europe on which visitors can experience the thrill of crashing through ice as thick as 50 feet in the coldest winters thanks to tourists cruises on the ship.

From November until the ice breaks up in April, travelers come from around the globe to get a look at the Sampo.

But Finland's ice-breaking ships aren't just a tourist attraction; the nation has a fleet of eight for their critical function.

Ice-breaking ships work in two ways: One is to crush the ice by the pure weight of the ship and the other is to pound the frozen water by moving the enormous vessels back and forth to slam into the blocks of ice like a battering ram.

Taking the Plunge

If the sea is so cold that thick layers of ice form atop it, imagine how frigid the water beneath must be. That shivering thought didn't stop "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer from taking a plunge into the Baltic Sea.

Click here (http://abcnews.go.com/gma/video/playerIndex?id=7074766) to see Diane's frigid dip.

Armed with a special suit that allows visitors to bob in the icy water while keeping them safe from the chill, Diane dived into the sea, which registered at a glacial one degree.

Technology Leader

The classroom science successes may explain, in part, why Finland's economy is driven by technology. The country, which is big on electronics and telecommunication companies, is home to Nokia.

"We are at our strongest when we are between the rock and a hard place," said Nokia chairman Jorma Ollila. "Historically, Finland was one of the first countries to adopt technology. So, if you look at electricity one year after its invention, Finland has electric power and light. One year after the invention, we had telephones in the 1880s. We always adopt technologies early and are very savvy with technology."

Ollila is a success story of Finland's education system, turning what was once a rubber boot company into the world' s biggest cell phone maker, Nokia.

"I think the key thing with the education is that we do have a very successful schooling system," he said. "Primary schools, and then going to our second and third, but particularly the early years, the first eight to nine years is very well organized."

Click here (http://abcnews.go.com/gma/video/playerIndex?id=7073388) for more from Nokia chairman Jorma Ollila.

For more information on Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, visit www.oasisoftheseas.com

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7071701&page=1

John - ;)

Troll

03-13-2009, 12:38pm

Great stuff

Troll

03-13-2009, 8:30pm

Finnish act shouts instead of sings

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1043353

FinnFreak

03-16-2009, 11:38am

ScreenDaily.com - 16 Mar 2009

Renny Harlin's Finnish biopic Mannerheim delayed to 2010 due to financing

Finnish Hollywood director Renny Harlin's comeback to local filmmaking, the $12.6m (Euros 10m) Mannerheim, which was scheduled to have its world première in Helsinki on Jan 15 next year, has been delayed and is now expected to open during the autumn 2010.

By Jorn Rossing Jensen

The biopic of Finnish historical legend Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was due to start shooting March 9 in Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Russia, but Solar Films producers Markus Selin and Jukka Helle had counted on additional financing which failed to materialise.

”We will certainly finalise the budget, but it will take some time, and when everything is ready, we will still need three or four weeks for preparations. By then the snow will have melted,” explained Selin, who has been working on the project for 10 years.

The winter-themed shoot planned for this spring will now take place next winter.

Harlin, who was in Helsinki to discuss to discuss the new timetable, left for the US today to promote his latest Hollywood movie, 12 Rounds, which Fox will release. His previous credits include Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Cliffhanger, Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodbye.

Mannerheim - the largest feature film project staged in Finland so far – will be preceded by a novel about Finland’s national father figure, written by Finnish author Hannu Raittala and largely based on Vihinen and Laino’s screenplay. Starring Finnish actor Mikko Nousiainen, the film depicts the life of the Swedish-speaking nobleman, who served the Russian Tsar, before he returned to Finland in 1917, later to be president. The Finnish Film Foundation has chipped in $566,000 (€450,000) for the production. Solar Films has collaborated with Finland’s Champion of Liberty Association to package which will be domestically released by Solar co-owner, Nordisk Film, with TrustNordisk in charge of international sales.

John - :)

FinnFreak

03-16-2009, 1:21pm

The Atlantic - Travel - April 2009

In the countryside of Finland, solitude is a national pastime

http://www.theatlantic.com/images/issues/200904/finland-wide.jpg

Saunas and Silence

The Finnish idea of a perfect vacation: a Mökki on the shore of a quiet lake

by Trevor Corson

In the farthest corner of northern Europe, tucked between a remote finger of the Baltic Sea and Russia’s frigid port of Murmansk, lies Finland. In North America, this latitude can land you in igloo territory. But when I touched down in the capital of Helsinki, Finland felt familiar—in fact, it felt a lot like Maine, where I spent my childhood summers.

Finland possesses a few features that Maine does not—for starters, a vast number of steamy wooden rooms full of naked people. But apart from the saunas, the similarities are striking: Finland has the same flat landscape, the same crisp air, the countless lakes, the fir trees and birches, and the fragrant wildflowers. Like Maine, Finland has a convoluted coastline dotted with rocky islands, and Finns even celebrate summer with lobster dinners—or rather, raucous evenings spent obliterating bucketfuls of crayfish. I was already feeling right at home when I met several Finns who revealed that they, just like my grandparents in Maine, owned a vacation cottage in the woods.

My new Finnish friends explained that staying at a cottage—called a mökki in Finnish—is basically Finland’s national pastime. Nearly half a million mökki dot the countryside, and that comes to roughly one cottage in the woods for every 10 Finns.

My friends decided I should experience a mökki for myself. I assumed this would be something akin to the comfortable vacations I’d enjoyed with my grandparents, when a stay at the cottage entailed plenty of cocktail parties, meals with neighbors, and strolls to town for a daily gabfest.

I was in for something else. When I asked a young woman in Helsinki to define the essence of cottage life, she gazed dreamily into the distance. “Washing dishes without running water or electricity,” she murmured. A man next to her nodded approvingly, and added, “Digging ditches.” (Only later did I realize he was probably referring to going to the bathroom.) And they both said emphatically: “Not socializing with other people.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/images/issues/200904/finland-photos.jpg
On the shores of the Baltic Sea

On the drive to my first mökki, the roads twisted through green fields of barley and rye and stunning yellow swaths of rapeseed. Sturdy red farmhouses and barns were scattered across the countryside. We arrived at a lake, and there in the woods was a very small, very charming cabin. My friends unloaded our supply of drinking water—which, in accordance with mökki tradition, consisted primarily of beer—and built a fire to heat the sauna. Someone pointed out the rowboat at the shoreline, noting that a rowboat and a sauna were the only two pieces of equipment necessary for mökki living. I was more concerned with a third piece of equipment, but when I found it—and indeed, it was more or less just a ditch—I was pleased to discover it was covered by an equally charming outhouse.

My hosts, men and women alike, armed themselves with forestry gear and disappeared. Had I been a Finn, I would have set off with industrious intent to thin trees, net fish, forage for mushrooms and berries, putter with hammer and nail, or even hunt down a reindeer. But I remained perched on the porch, enchanted by the sudden quiet.

When the others returned, it was time to unwind. We sat in the sauna. We jumped nude into the lake. We savored some drinking water. Then we clambered back into the sauna and did it all again. And again.

Soon I was much too relaxed to bother with the rowboat, so I just swam out to the middle of the lake and floated naked in the cool water, surrounded by silence and trees. The sky was a pure, empty blue, and there wasn’t a single plan for socializing in sight. It was the most carefree and restorative afternoon I’d spent in a decade.

Finland’s population is aging and growing richer, so some Finns have expanded the notion of the cottage getaway. When another Finnish family invited me to their mökki, I gladly accepted, but was startled to arrive at a large new home with vaulted ceilings, a fancy kitchen, and exquisite plumbing. It was still on a lake, and had a rowboat and a sauna—a slick electrified one—but lacked any Stone Age charms.

After another day surrounded by woods and water, though, I realized that what made Finnish cottage life so uniquely refreshing—and so different from my summers of socializing in Maine—was just as apparent at this fancy mökki as it had been at the simple cabin. These Finns, too, would happily spend weeks in the forest, never seeing a single neighbor. Even with a higher standard of living, the most desirable luxury was still the simple satisfaction of solitude.

Trevor Corson is the author of The Secret Life of Lobsters and The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice.

VIDEO: "The Simple Life in Finland" (http://podcasts.theatlantic.com/2009/03/finland-cottage.php)
Trevor Corson shares images from his mökki vacation.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200904/finland

John - ;)

Troll

03-16-2009, 1:46pm

Interesting article.

FinnFreak

03-18-2009, 10:15am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 18.3.2009

British historian writes book on Mannerheim’s journey through Asia

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135244317830.jpeg
Researcher Jonathan Clements at home in Jyväskylä

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135244317828.jpeg
Mannerheim measuring the altitude in the pass of Chapchal, south of Kuldjan

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135244317826.jpeg
The equipment for the expedition was received at Andian railway station in 2006.
Paul Pelliot is the man in the black hat in the middle of the photograph, which was
taken by Mannerheim.

By Juha Mäkinen

In the beginning there was a spaceship.

In 2005 the British publishing company Black Flame released a science fiction adventure novel entitled Strontium Dog Ruthless. The book, by author Jonathan Clements, is unlikely to be a major event in literary history, but from a Finnish point of view it is interesting that it includes a spaceship called Mannerheim.

This spring the British Haus Publishing is releasing another book by Jonathan Clements - a biography of Finland’s wartime military commander and postwar president, Carl Gustav Mannerheim, under the title President, Soldier, Spy.

What kind of a man is Jonathan Clements, and why in the world was he interested in Mannerheim?

A casually-dressed man, 37 years of age, opens the door of a flat in Jyväskylä. The walls of the apartment contain numerous souvenirs from China and Japan. A small sculpture of Mannerheim sits on top of a chest of drawers in the living room.

Clements is a non-fiction writer specialised in the cultures of Japan and China. He studied Japanese and Chinese at the universities of Leeds and Stirling.

One of Clements’ special interests is animé - Japanese animation. As an expert in the field, he was invited to Finncon, an event for Finnish Sci-Fi fans in 2003.

The consequences of the trip were more profound than he could have expected. Clements met a Finnish woman at Finncon, and they later married.

The love created a need to study this strange northern language, and it was during a Finnish language class that Clements first heard about Mannerheim.

“The lesson was not about Mannerheim’s life. It was about asking for directions in Helsinki: Where is the House of Parliament? Where is the Museum of Contemporary Art? And so on. The Mannerheim statue was used as a landmark”, Clements recalls.

As he gradually got to know more about his new home country and its history, Clements became interested in Mannerheim. He had already written a few biographies about Mao and Marco Polo, for instance.

At the London Book Fair he mentioned to his publisher that he had learned about a man whose life was at least as fascinating as that of Marco Polo.

Naturally, we Finns know about this even without Clements. He points out that his book is primarily aimed at British readers.

“In the 1940s and 1950s Mannerheim was an international celebrity, but after that he has been largely forgotten outside of Finland. In Britain there is very little literature about him.”

As an expert on Asia, Clements was interested above all in Mannerheim’s adventures in Asia. The focus of his book is on Mannerheim’s life before 1917, especially his trip through China, which he made on horseback from 1906 to 1908.

Clements had already sent the fisrt version of his book to his publisher when he heard that the Asian diaries of Paul Pelliot from 1906-1908 had recently been published in France.

Pelliot was an explorer and Sinologist whose expedition was joined by Mannerheim. They travelled together only as far as Kashgari, after which point Mannerheim took his own route.

Mannerheim’s diaries reveal that he did not like Pelliot, but what did Pelliot write about Mannerheim? Clements immediately ordered Pelliot’s diary Carnets de Route and proceeded to compare the two works.

“Mannerheim and Pelliot were like an old married couple who do not get along with each other. Their accounts of the events of the same days often differed from each other, at times in an amusing manner.”

Clements takes as an example a meeting of the two men on a train on April 18th, 1906. They had met once before, and Mannerheim writes that Pelliot had trouble recognising him, as he was in civilian clothing, and exceptionally, had no moustache.

Pelliot, for his part, writes that he was annoyed when Mannerheim interrupted his conversation with other passengers. Mannerheim spoke to him in French, but according to Pelliot’s account, Mannerheim’s demeanour was that of an American - not much of a compliment coming from a Frenchman.

Before China, Mannerheim and Pelliot travelled in Russian Turkestan. Pelliot spoke Russian Uzbek, and Turkish, and appears to have adapted better to local conditions than Mannerheim did.

In Andizhan, the men met a merchant who offered them some greasy food prepared in mutton fat. Mannerheim describes the dinner as not very tasty, and mentions that Pelliot had hinted that it would be insulting to leave food on the plate. According to Pelliot, the meal was luxurious.

The antipathy that the men felt toward each other comes out best at a Kirghiz wedding which they attended on August 19th. Both took part in a game known as Baiga, in which men on horseback compete over the carcass of a goat.

Mannerheim commented sarcastically on Pelliot’s poor horsemanship, and noted that he might have succeeded in the game himself with a good horse under him. The cape that Pelliot donated as a prize is described by Mannerheim as a “modest cloak”. Pelliot, for his part, was angry because Mannerheim would not pay for his share of the gift.

So why did the men not get along with each other? One might have imagined that while travelling in remote areas they would have enjoyed each other’s educated company.

“They came from different worlds. Pelliot was a young and gifted academic, but he was not one for the outdoors. Mannerheim, for his part, was a soldier who was accustomed to discipline. From the very beginning he was annoyed by the inability of the French to get on the move early enough in the morning”, Clements says.

Both men looked down on each other. Mannerheim felt that Pelliot was a petty upstart, while Pelliot felt that Mannerheim was sullen and - in contrast with himself - a man of weak language skills.

In the eyes of Pelliot, Mannerheim was a necessary burden. In order to travel to Central Asia, Pelliot needed a Russian visa, and to get it, he had to take Mannerheim along on the expedition.

Money was also an issue. Pelliot had been promised considerable monetary compensation for taking Mannerheim along, but the money did not come with Mannerheim, as Pelliot had expected. Pelliot was irritated that Mannerheim benefited from the equipment that the expedition shared, but did not share in their costs.

“I believe that as the journey continued, Pelliot started to do things to deliberately annoy Mannerheim”, Clements says.

“He writes, for instance, about a conversation that he had with a prestigious Kirghiz man, and mentions that Mannerheim withdrew to his tent. Not speaking the language, Mannherheim was forced to be an outsider in these conversations.”

When Clements told the relatives of his wife that he was involved in drawing up a biography of Mannerheim, they took a suspicious view of the project.

“I discussed the matter with my wife’s uncle and insisted that my intentions were good. I said that I understood that Mannerheim is a demigod for Finns. The uncle commented by saying that the ‘demi-’ part might reasonably be dropped off”, Clements says.

“Younger Finns, for their part, felt that it was strange that I was interested in Mannerheim at all. It came out that they knew only about his role in Finland’s wars, but not about how he taught archery to the 13th Dalai Lama. It would appear that Mannerheim’s early years are not known in Finland very well.”

Clements feels that many of the books on Mannerheim that were written by Finns portray him as too perfect, and that the human disappears behind the words of praise.

“Those books produce a serious-minded portrait of a hero, while overlooking the British-style sarcastic humour that he cultivates in his letters, for instance.”

Clements himself admires Mannerheim, but he knows that the Finnish Civil War has divided Finnish opinions.

“Once I started to talk about Mannerheim in a bar with a Finn whom I didn’t know. He tried to convince me that the wounds that were inflicted in the Civil War had not yet healed, and to prove his point he managed to get a fight going with the table next to us.”

Clements was amazed at the controversy that arose in connection with the puppet animation film Uralin perhonen (“Butterfly from the Urals”).

“As an animation, it was done beautifully, and it was entertaining. However, the historical claims that were made in it are deceptive.”

As a result of the furore, the first question that a Mannerheim biographer is usually asked nowadays is whether or not Mannerheim was possibly a homosexual.

“Yes, it is frustrating, because the question of his sexuality is in no way the most interesting aspect of his life.”

John - :)

Troll

03-18-2009, 11:38am

Very interesting

FinnFreak

03-20-2009, 9:36am

The Wall Street Journal - MARCH 20, 2009

Finland's AAA Rating Secure For Now, Says Fitch

By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires

Fitch Ratings said Finland's AAA ratings aren't under near-term threat because of the global recession, noting the Scandinavian country entering the woes "from a position of strength."

Senior Director Paul Rawkins also called Finland's credit-worthiness "robust relative to peers" as the country's financial companies have yet to seek any government help "and leverage in the non-bank private sector is low."

Fitch said in a report Tuesday that AAA-rated countries can absorb the near-term costs of the financial crisis and maintain their strong credit quality over the medium to long term. But it did say that some smaller AAA nations - such as Ireland, Spain and Switzerland - are most exposed to the economic crisis, partly because of the relative sizes of their banking systems.

As for Finland, its positives include high per-capita income and debt as a percentage of gross domestic product being nearly halved during the last two decades.

The future for the country will turn in part on whether Finland's government can return to running annual surpluses of 4% to 5% of GDP, said Fitch. Other risks include a prolonged global downturn weakening public finances further, as well as little population growth and slowing productivity gains potentially hampering the country's longer-term growth and competitiveness.

John - :)

FinnFreak

03-23-2009, 10:24am

The Financial Times - March 23 2009

Nordic model is 'future of capitalism'

http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/images/2009/mar/jorma.jpg
Jorma Ollila, chairman of Finnish mobile phone maker
Nokia and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell

By Richard Milne in London

The world should consider adopting the Nordic approach to capitalism and learn from the region's response to its financial and economic crisis in the 1990s in the attempt to stave off depression, according to the chairman of two of Europe's biggest companies.

Jorma Ollila, chairman of Nokia, the mobile phone maker, and oil major Royal Dutch Shell, said the Nordic style of capitalism was characterised by openness to globalisation balanced by strong government programmes to protect people from its excesses and an egalitarian education system.

"What is the future of capitalism? In one way or other the answer is to solve these issues that the Nordic model does well. These are the ingredients. The Nordic model has a good bid [to be the best system]," Mr Ollila, who is Finnish, told the Financial Times.

His views carry weight as he is one of Europe's leading businessmen after 15 years as chief executive of Nokia, which he turned from a struggling Finnish conglomerate into the world's largest mobile phone maker. He is also head of the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT), a Who's Who of nearly 50 of the most prominent business leaders on the continent.

He said Nordic politicians in the 1990s showed "a lot of wisdom" and did not resort to protectionism while taking risky decisions. Companies, including Nokia, restructured heavily and made themselves highly competitive, said Mr Ollila.

He expressed hopes that policymakers today would follow a similar path. "It would be very much on my wish list for Europe," said Mr Ollila.

If politicians failed to resist protectionism, there was a "serious" chance that the world could slide into economic depression, he argued.

* * *

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - BUSINESS & FINANCE - Monday 23.3.2009

Finnish labour unions outraged at moving Stora Enso orders to Sweden

Paper workers’ Petri Vanhala faults state-owned company for running after cheap currency

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135244400238.jpeg
Stora Enso's mill in Gävle, Sweden. The company's announcement last week that it
was moving production from Finland to Sweden has angered Finnish forest owners
and labour unions.

The announcement by forest industry company Stora Enso that it will move some of its production of paper and sawn timber from Finland to Sweden has angered Finnish labour unions.

Stora Enso CEO Jouko Karvinen announced last week in the Swedish financial journal Dagens Industri that as much production would be moved to Sweden as possible, because of the cheap Swedish currency and the low price of raw timber in Sweden.

Karvinen had not modified his stance on Friday, even though the Paperworkers’ Union, the Union of Salaried Employees (TU), and the Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners had all reacted strongly to the Stora Enso action.

“When there is clearly less demand than capacity, orders have been moved, and are being moved, to more cost-efficient production units. Orders are being channelled to units where the best profitability can be achieved in this difficult situation”, said Karvinen, who was reached at his company’s London offices.

Karvinen feels that everyone involved should admit that “we have a problem”, and that “the situation is difficult”.

In some grades of paper, orders have been moved from Finland to Swedish mills, and orders from Finnish sawmills have been also moved to Sweden.

Russian sawmills are also producing more products than in Finland, due to the high price of wood in Finland. Some orders from German factories have also been moved to Sweden, and some orders have gone to Belgium.

“People are very disappointed, sad, and depressed”, said Petri Vanhala, secretary of the Paperworkers’ Union.

According to Vanhala there have been questions from the union’s rank-and-file of possible industrial action.

“There are no decisions on industrial action at the moment. Everything is always possible, but it is better not to speculate on these things right now."

Vanhala noted that there have been temporary layoffs at Stora Enso facilities already before this blow. Of the company’s 11,000 employees, at least 5,000 are to be made temporarily redundant in the spring.

“People are looking for common ways to save money at the local level. After this, the foundation of all long-term development falls away.”

Stora Enso employees are also disappointed the Finnish state is not intervening.

“The state continues to own a large amount of Stora Enso shares. It seems strange that a state-owned company would go after cheap currency in a situation when there is an economic crisis in the country. Is the state using its decision-making power in any way? [Jyri] Häkämies is responsible”, Vanhala thundered.

Vanhala notes that the government of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has “specifically repeated the need for responsibility on the part of companies”.

Aides for Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party), who is responsible for government policy in companies in which the state has a holding, indicated on Friday that Häkämies is not the right target for the complaints.

The one responsible is Kari Järvinen, CEO of Solidium, the state company that deals with state corporate ownership.

On Friday, Järvinen indicated that non-interference in such matters was a basic starting point.

“Decisions on production are the responsibility of the company’s board and operative management. We cannot help the fact that the Swedish krona is weakening. The krona has declined already by 20 per cent, which gives Swedish industry a big competitive advantage”, he said.

The Swedish Paperworkers’ Union has not yet formed an opinion on the dispute between Stora Enso and the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union.

“We know nothing more of this than what we have read in the papers. We have not been contacted by unions in Finland”, said Jan-Henrik Sandberg, chairman of the Swedish Pappers union, which represents paper workers in Sweden.

“Nowadays it is common for industry to move production to where activities are cost-effective. We need to become more closely acquainted with the situation, and preferably to discuss the matter with Finnish colleagues.”

Sandberg notes that if there were a strike in Finland, the Swedish union would see to it that the strike cannot be circumvented by moving production to Sweden.

THIS "nanny state" means business. Ruhahaa.

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

03-24-2009, 9:30am

Finland for Thought Blog - 21.3.2009

Over 112 years ago in Finland - and its still the same old s**t

By Hank W.

Let me introduce the readers to my favorite Victorian Lady; Ethel Bielliana Harley Tweedie, who travelled the world in the turn of the 20th century and made quite a few popular travel books published under the name “Mrs. Alex Tweedie”. Her book published in 1897 “Through Finland in Carts” (http://openlibrary.org/details/throughfinlandin00tweeuoft) is that ages answer to Lonely Planet and Berlitz guides. The book is readable online at www.openlibrary.org that is a virtual treasure trove of literature.

But lets get back to Mrs. Tweedie and Finland. She is in a sense a very modern Lady, as it seems its been over 112 years since she was here and foreigners still observe similar things. So I guess its really not worth whining over some things as its been a hundred years and nothings changed. Of course - some things have changed immensely, but some things just do not change.

Like the fact we’re at the a**e-end of Europe and nobodys heard of us.

No one ever dreamed of going to Finland apparently. Nevertheless, Finland is not the home of barbarians, as some folk imagine, neither do Polar bears walk continually about the streets, nor reindeer pull sledges in summer

Like we’re a bit silent and obtuse.

Nothing excites a Finn. Although he is very patriotic he cannot lightly rise to laughter or descend to tears ; his unruffled temperament is, perhaps, one of the chief characteristics of his strange nature. ……

They are a grave, serious people, who understand a joke even less than the Scotch, while such a thing as chaff is absolutely unintelligible to them. Life to the Finns seems a very serious matter which can be only undertaken after grave thought and much deliberation. They lose much pleasure by their seriousness. They sing continually, but all their music is sad; they dance sometimes, but the native dances are seldom boisterous as in other lands. They read much and think deeply, for both rich and poor are wonderfully well educated ; but they smile seldom, and look upon jokes and fun as contemptible.

And yeah, FINNS STARE!

But the stolidity of a Finn is always remarkable, and the appearance of strange English- women in somewhat unusual attire appeared really to fascinate the gentleman, who neither moved nor spoke, only simply stared.

Not to mention they ask WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

The peasant asks where you come from the moment he sees you are a stranger, and the better-class folk soon turn the traveller in their midst inside out with questions. They ask not only “Where do you come from ?” but, ”Where are you going ?” ”What is your business?“

And the language has always been easy.

The language is intensely difficult to learn, for it has sixteen cases, a fact sufficient to appal the stoutest heart.

And the students wear those funny white caps.

All the students of both sexes wear the most charming cap. In shape it closely resembles a yachting cap ; the top is made of white velvet, the snout of black leather, and the black velvet band that encircles the head is ornamented in front by a small gold badge emblematic of the University. No one dare don this cap, or at least not the badge, until he has passed his matriculation examination.

And Finns are ugly, fat and drink a lot.

The Finns, though intellectually most interesting, are not as a rule attractive in person. Generally small of stature, thickset, with high cheek-bones, and eyes inherited from their Tartar-Mongolian ancestors, they cannot be considered good-looking; while the peculiar manner in which the blonde male peasants cut their hair is not becoming to their sunburnt skins, which are generally a brilliant red, especially about the neck where it appears below the light, fluffy, downy locks. Fat men are not uncommon ; and their fatness is too frequently of a kind to make one shudder, for it resembles dropsy, and is, as a rule, the outcome of liqueur drinking, a very pernicious habit, in which many Finlanders indulge to excess. There are men in Suomi—dozens of them—so fat that no healthy Englishman could ever attain to such dimensions ; one of them will completely occupy the seat of an Isvoschtschic, while the amount of adipose tissue round his wrists and cheeks seems absolutely incredible when seen for the first time, and one wonders how any chair or carriage can ever bear such a weight. Inordinately fat men are certainly one of the least pleasing of Finland’s peculiarities.

Not forgetting that Finns apparently never have had any fashion sense.

Top hats seemed specially favoured by Finnish gentlemen. Flannel shirts and top hats are, to an English mind, incongruities; but in Suomi fashion smiles approvingly on such an extraordinary combination. At the various towns, therefore, mashers strolled about attired in very bright-coloured flannel shirts, turned down flannel collars, trimmed with little bows of silken cord with tassels to fasten them at the neck, and orthodox tall hats.

And theres no decent cuppa.

The old market folk all drink coffee, or let us be frank at once and say chicory, for a really good cup of coffee is almost unknown in Finland, whereas chicory is grownlargely and drunk everywhere, the Finlander believing that the peculiar bitter taste they know and love so well is coffee. Pure coffee, brewed from the berry, is a luxury yet to be discovered by the Finlander.

Finns are racists of course.

But it has its advantages, as the passport rigorously keeps anarchists, socialists, Jews, and beggars out of Suomi.

And the TAX RECORDS ARE PUBLIC - which comes as a surprise… to whom?

Very few persons are rich in Finland according to English lights, but many are very comfortably off. It would be almost impossible there to live beyond one’s income, or to pretend to have more than is really the case, for when the returns are sent in for the income tax, the income of each individual is published. In January every year, in the Helsingfors newspapers, rows and rows of names appear, and opposite them the exact income of the owner.

Apart from cultural and ethnographic observations, Mrs. Tweedie goes on to a thorough analysis of the economic and political situation of the Grand Duchy towards the end of the book. She is amazed of the equality of women, the fact that women are studying in the university and riding bicycles, she writes pages on the Finnish education system - sound familiar, that?

There is no sex in Finland, men and women are practically equals, and on that basis society is formed. Sex equality has always been a characteristic of the race, as we find from the ancient Kalevala poem.

I warmly recommend the book as a read, it also has descriptions of a past world that is no more. And some things still are - someone travelling here should not be “shocked” of these “Finnish things” - mind you if she observed something 112 years ago - it is not exactly any news over here.

John - :p

shaniafan339

03-29-2009, 2:56am

Thanks for sharing John :p

Troll

03-29-2009, 7:57am

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

04-06-2009, 9:13am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - FOREIGN - Monday 6.4.2009

Halonen and Vanhanen meet Obama - briefly

Half of EU leaders get to speak, Sweden speaks on behalf of Nordic region

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135244988273.jpeg
Participants at the EU-USA summit gathered for a group picture in Prague on Sunday.
Attending the meeting were Finnish President Tarja Halonen (front, second left)
and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (rear, centre).

Both President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) downplayed the fact that they did not get a chance to speak in connection with the Prague summit between the European Union and the United States.

The holder of the EU Presidency, the Czech Republic, was reportedly offered two topics to choose from. Halonen would have spoken about foreign policy, and alternately, Vanhanen would have spoken about the economic crisis.

However, the only Nordic EU member to be granted the opportunity to speak was Sweden.

“The President [the Czech Republic] announced that we will follow a geographic balance. Sweden is the next holder of the EU Presidency, and I understood that this was the reason [for Sweden being chosen]”, Vanhanen said.

About half of the leaders of the 27 EU member states were given the opportunity to speak at the summit.

According to Vanhanen, a “comprehensive desire for cooperation” was the main achievement of the EU-US summit.

“No ideas came up that the other side could not subscribe to.”

Halonen also praised the Americans’ new desire to cooperate with Europe. Halonen and Vanhanen got the chance to exchange just a few words with Obama.

Before saying goodbye, Halonen invited Obama to Finland.

The US President asked Halonen if it was best to visit Finland in the summer or winter. He said that he had heard that the Finnish winter is very cold. Halonen advised Obama to come in the summer.

According to the Finnish President, the exchange should not be construed as a promise that Obama would be coming to Finland. Other European leaders also extended invitations.

hmmm... I wonder what Obama first said when he met Halonen...

"Hey - you're that president who looks like Conan O'Brien."

John - :p

Troll

04-06-2009, 9:19am

Thanks for the article.

dreamer

04-06-2009, 12:55pm

there are some great photos here

FinnFreak

04-07-2009, 10:32am

there are some great photos here

Thanks. Finland is *very* photogenic.

John - ;)

FinnFreak

04-07-2009, 10:39am

Reuters - Mon Apr 6, 2009 9:47pm EDT

INTERVIEW

West must stop boycotting Hamas, Ahtisaari says

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/pieni_webkuva/1135245008041.jpeg

- Dangerous to exclude Hamas from negotiations

- Hamas and Fatah should "get their act together"

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - Hamas must be brought into talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it is both dangerous and pointless to exclude the militant group, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari said on Monday.

"We have to start, I think, talking to Hamas," Ahtisaari told Reuters in an interview. "You can't eliminate those who have power. You have to talk to those who are representative, whether you like their views or not."

The United States regards Hamas as a terrorist organization and has worked to isolate the group since it won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, defeating the Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which holds sway in the West Bank, "have to get their act together and form a united front" to end their power struggle, Ahtisaari said.

He suggested it was unrealistic for the West to demand that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce violence and respect past peace deals before it would deal with the group.

"I am not a card player but I would definitely not start my game with you by saying 'Hey, I have four aces,'" he said.

"It's dangerous if you exclude. Look at Algeria," he added in a reference to the brutal insurgency that erupted in the North African country after the authorities in 1992 canceled an election the Islamic Salvation Front, an Islamist party, appeared poised to win after the first round of voting.

"I don't think you can make peace if you try to eliminate those who have the support of the population," he added.

Asked if conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could make peace with the Palestinians, Ahtisaari chuckled and said: "How about Mr. Nixon and Mr. Kissinger and China?"

Former President Richard Nixon, and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, broke a quarter-century U.S. policy of isolating China by visiting Beijing in 1972.

"I am not saying that Netanyahu is Nixon but -- just to draw the parallel -- it would be foolish for us to say that this government can't do anything," he said.

PEACEMAKER

Ahtisaari, who was president of Finland from 1994 to 2000, won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for helping to bring peace to places as far-flung as Kosovo, Namibia and Indonesia's Aceh province.

In his speech accepting the award, Ahtisaari said he hoped U.S. President Barack Obama would delve into solving the Arab-Israeli conflict in his first year in office.

"Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled," he said at the time.

Critics accused former President George W. Bush of neglecting the conflict for much of his presidency only to launch a failed push to bring about a settlement in his last year in office.

Obama got off to a fast start, naming former U.S. Senator George Mitchell a special envoy on his second full day in office and quickly sending him to the region. Mitchell returns next week for his first visit since Netanyahu formed a government.

Asked how to resolve the conflict with al Qaeda, Ahtisaari said festering problems in the Middle East, Afghanistan, South Asia and elsewhere had to be tackled.

"In order to be able to create the conditions for dealing with the problems that we are facing at the moment, you have to move on the whole region," he said. "There are a lot of people here I know in the new administration who think (this way)."

He also said the world had to reduce poverty, saying this would help deprive militant organizations of their foot soldiers and reduce the appeal of their ideology.

"If you live (on) less than two dollars a day, how much freedom of choice does a person have? Not terribly much," Ahtisaari said, adding that if young people could not find jobs "you might as well give them the address for the (nearest) suicide bomber recruitment center." (Editing by Chris Wilson)

John - :)

FinnFreak

04-15-2009, 9:55am

Thanks. Finland is *very* photogenic.

;)

...and - has always been:

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Wednesday 15.4.2009

Helsinki 1908 comes to life in photos by I.K. Inha

Celebrated photographer of landscapes and White Sea Karelia charted the changes to the capital

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245059132.jpeg
A view from the end of Aleksanterinkatu, looking east. On the left is the
Old Student House, and further down the street the ornate facade of
the Tallberg Building. Where the tree stands is now the premises of the
Suomalainen Kirjakauppa bookstore. Compare with the photo below.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245059134.jpeg
The same scene today. The Old Student House is still there, but the view
at the right is dominated by the imposing edifice of Stockmann's flagship
department store, which went up in 1930.

By Anu Uimonen

The photographer I. K. Inha (1865-1930) was at the height of his posthumous modern-day glory a couple of years ago, when two books were published on his work, while two museums simultaneously widely presented his photographs.

One side of Inha’s photographic production, however, only played a minor role at that time, namely images of the Finnish capital Helsinki.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245059064.jpeg
In Inha’s photograph of Korkeavuorenkatu there are still old wooden houses and
undeveloped plots of land along the street. The twin spires of St. John's Church
can be seen in the background.

In the exhibitions staged by the Finnish Museum of Photography and the Gallen-Kallela Museum, Inha was spotlighted above all as a recorder of nature, the Finnish countryside, and the area known as Vienan Karjala, or White Sea Karelia (also "Archangel Karelia"), now mostly across the border in Russia.

But when nearly two hundred glass negatives of photographs that Inha had shot in Helsinki were recently uncovered in the archives of the publishing house WSOY, there was suddenly a good reason to produce one more Inha book and to set up one more exhibition.

The subject is Helsinki a hundred years ago.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245059066.jpeg
The Hietalahti harbour was home to lively waterbus traffic in the early days of the
last century. Inha often photographed Helsinki’s seafronts and beaches.

Into Konrad Inha was not just a photographer but also an editor, translator, and author.

Towards the end of the 1800s, Inha toured around Finland and took photographs for a book called Suomi kuvissa (“Finland in Images”), captured images of people in the Karelia wilds, and documented Finnish agriculture for the Paris World Exhibition.

More than 2,000 of Inha’s photographs still remain today.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245059068.jpeg
On the corner of Tehtaankatu and Kapteeninkatu there is an imposing residential
building designed by Inha’s brother, Usko Nyström. The tram line still runs past it.

The Helsinki images were Inha’s last large-scale commission. In the summer of 1908, publishers WSOY asked him to take photographs for a Helsinki guide book to be produced.

The small Helsingin opas (“Guide to Helsinki”) was published in 1910 with 60 matchbox-size photographs taken by Inha on its pages.

This was less than a third of the 190 glass negatives that were then carefully filed in the WSOY image archives.

There the images lay dormant and forgotten for nearly a hundred years, until they were discovered in connection with a storage inventory in 2006 and were promptly handed over to the Finnish Museum of Photography.

“It was known that Inha had photographed Helsinki, but the total number of images came as a surprise, as did the fact that the glass negatives were in such good condition”, explains special researcher Jukka Kukkonen from the museum.

In cooperation with the long-time WSOY image editor Ritva Toiviainen and the author Kjell Westö, Kukkonen has now produced a book based on Inha’s images, called Helsinki – valon kaupunki (“Helsinki - a City of Light”).

An exhibition by the same name was launched on Wednesday of last week in the Virka Gallery of the Helsinki City Hall.

When observing Inha’s Helsinki images it is easy to accept the description of Inha as Finland’s first actual photographic artist.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245059060.jpeg
I.K. Inha's panorama of the area known as Merisatama, just off the coast from
Kaivopuisto, has been put together from three separate shots. In the distance
to the right one can just make out buildings along the Eira shoreline, where Helsinki's
most expensive residential complex has been going up in the past few years.
The docks of the West Harbour (also over to the right in the distance) have yet
to be built at the time of this image, but the carpet-washing stands in the left
foreground are still there and still in use today.

He understood light, and with each image he chose the moment of exposure with great care.

In his work light caresses the city’s stone walls and the rippling waters.

Inha’s Helsinki is, above all, a city of buildings. Inha’s interest towards the built environment may well have been sparked by the fact that his brother Usko Nyström was an architect.

People in Inha’s images are quite anonymous. They remain as composition elements rather than recognisable individuals.

In this respect Inha stands apart from his contemporaries Signe Brander and Ivan Timiriasev, who also photographed Helsinki, and in whose images one can often catch an eye-to-eye contact from decades ago.

I. K. Inha limited the Helsinki he was interested in photographing to the south side of the Pitkäsilta bridge crossing the Kaisaniemi Bay.

Inha avoided the working-class quarters, unlike Brander, whose take on Helsinki was more sociable all-around.

In his text, author Kjell Westö characterises fittingly that in her photographs Signe Brander concentrated on depicting the disappearing small town, whereas Inha’s object of interest was the emerging much larger city.

Inha’s Helsinki is an elegant European capital, characterised by Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture, lush parks, trams, and ships.

The city is in transition: streets are being constructed, goods are brought into the docks.

The urban nature was also important to Inha: for one, he photographed every one of Helsinki’s beaches.

Even though Inha photographed for a tourist guide, he does not concentrate on boastful images of tourist attractions.

The St. Nicholas Church (Helsinki's Lutheran Cathedral) and the Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral merely lurk in the background.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245059062.jpeg
In the Kaisaniemi Park there is a “Freemason’s Grave”,
explains a Helsinki guidebook from 1910.

Inha depicts facades and street views of the stone city, or beaches and parks from the point of view of someone wondering in the streets, but he skips over modest wooden houses and their backyards.

When one views the images today, a strange sense of peace exudes from them.

If two trams happen to fit in the same image, that can be considered a major traffic jam.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135242064397.jpeg
I.K. Inha showed off his home town in this slim
guidebook, which was published in 1910.

The new book also includes excerpts from the 1910 Guide of Helsinki. The descriptions give a much more frenetic impression than the unperturbed images. Of the street Aleksanterinkatu, the guide says:

“The sidewalks are packed with people, and on the street itself trams, automobiles, and bicycles frequently hurtle by accompanied by horse-drawn carriages and heavy cargo wagons. As far as the eye can see the street flanks are filled with shops and businesses, the large display windows of which compete with each other in ostentation, and the light flooding from which - when it is dark - quite outshines the dim glow of the street lights.”

Helsinki - Valon kaupunki (Helsinki - City of Light) I.K. Inha's images from the early 20th century. Publ. WSOY, 240 pp. EUR 49.00.

An exhibition of the photographs from the book is open to the public at the Virka Gallery in City Hall (Pohjoisesplanadi 11-13) until April 23rd. Mon-Fri 9-19, Sat-Sun 11-17.

John - ;)

Troll

04-15-2009, 1:10pm

Thanks for the info.

FinnFreak

04-16-2009, 3:43pm

Iltalehti - 16.04.2009

The world countries destroy Finland in South Park episode

In the popular animated series, South Park, other countries decide to nuke the tiny, too honest Finland

http://static.iltalehti.fi/etusivu/kansipark1604JP_410_et.gif

http://static.iltalehti.fi/viihde/juttupark1604JP_vi.jpg

"The UFOs will find it out sooner or later. Better to confess it all now. We can't live with the guilt no longer", the Finnish PM says to other world leaders over the phone.

Earth's nations have together embezzled the aliens' funds and the traitor Finland is about to admit the crime.

"We must get rid of Finland", Stan's father furiously states. Other world leaders, including Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkozy agree.

And in no time at all, nuclear missiles have hit Finland, and the whole country has been blown off the world map. Aliens are told, that Finland had committed suicide.

The South Park episode that held such a grim fate for Finland was shown in the U.S. on Wednesday, gathering some 3 million viewers.

hilarious

John - :p

Troll

04-16-2009, 8:29pm

Very interesting

FinnFreak

04-23-2009, 11:05am

;)

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - Thursday 23.4.2009

Chez Dominique heads up the fine-dining charts

Helsinki restaurant now ranked 21st in the world's top eating experiences

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135231414657.jpeg
Chefs meet in Helsinki. Gordon Ramsay (right) paid a visit to Chez Dominique, the
restaurant owned and run by Hans Välimäki (left), during a book promotion tour
in 2007.

Some years ago both Silvio Berlusconi and Jacques Chirac put the cat among the pigeons with less than complimentary remarks about Finnish cuisine, but at least the culinary flag is being flown by Helsinki’s only 2-star Michelin restaurant, Chez Dominique.

The latest feather in the cap of chef de cuisine Hans Välimäki came on Tuesday with the announcement of this year’s “San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants” as published in the magazine Restaurant.

The eatery on Rikhardinkatu made its first entry in the World's Best list at No. 39 in 2006.

It had then hovered in the lower 30s for two years, but this time around it had zoomed up the rankings to 21st, one of the biggest "climbers" in the Top 50.

The restaurant was opened in 1998, winning a first Michelin star three years later. A second star followed in 2003.

The San Pellegrino list, now in its eighth year, is variously described as “a bit of fun” or “hugely important” or “utterly stupid”.

It all rather depends on whom one asks, and on their location - European restaurants do tend to dominate at the expense of Asian and other areas - but in any event it is judged by “a worldwide poll of 806 chefs, critics, and other industry experts”, so there is no earthly harm in being on it, and particularly when one is moving up rather than down the rankings.

As always with these surveys, it is as much who is “out” that draws the attention, and one prominent name missing this year is that of the F-word celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Ramsay's 3-star restaurant on Royal Hospital Road in South London (in fact the only establishment in the UK capital to have three Michelin stars) does not figure even in the Top 100 eating experiences, after placing 13th last year.

Top spot for the fourth year in a row goes to the legendary - not least for the extraordinary difficulty involved in getting a table - ElBulli in the small Spanish town of Roses on the Costa Brava.

Also unchanged is the runner-up, The Fat Duck, located in Bray, Berkshire, in the U.K.

The Scandinavians can hold their heads up high.

At a lofty No.3 is the Copenhagen restaurant Noma, which also wins this year’s coveted "Chef's Choice Award" - from a separate poll of the chefs of all 50 restaurants on the new list.

There are also two Swedish restaurants making the 2009 Top 50, albeit lower down the pecking order than Chez Dominique.

Helsinki bar voted best in world

Cocktail bar A21 operates in former sex shop

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245383411.jpeg
Bartender, entrepreneur Timo Siitonen mixing drinks in the victorious A21 bar last
November.

My goodness, it's all happening in Helsinki.

No sooner has restaurant Chez Dominique cemented a place among the top restaurants of the world, and suddenly the achievement pales as one of the capital's watering-holes is chosen the best bar on the planet!

The A21 Cocktail Lounge in Helsinki’s Punavuori district has been voted as the best bar in the world in an Internet poll organised by a website called World’s Best Bars.

The site receives around 3.6 million visits each year.

According to the website’s line of argument, “if you're at all interested in cocktails, you really need to pay this place a visit.”

The interior of the bar, which operates in the premises of a former sex shop, is described as “incredibly elegant and attractive”.

The staff are said to be “friendly” while the atmosphere remains “exclusive without being stuffy”.

“Well, it did come as a surprise”, is entrepreneur Timo Siitonen’s reaction to the establishment’s newly-discovered world fame.

In Siitonen’s understanding, in addition to fame and honour, the bar will receive a metal plaque to commemorate the achievement.

In a short space of time A21, which opened in September 2007, has established itself as a bar with stellar merits.

“Finnish experts chose A21 as the best bar in the country last year, and in an esteemed British ranking we currently hold the number four position”, Siitonen explains.

The bar’s name comes from its address: Annankatu 21.

According to Siitonen the bar's international success results from “a passion towards the industry”.

John - ;):up:

Troll

04-23-2009, 12:30pm

Congrats to them

FinnFreak

04-29-2009, 9:57am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - NOTES TO READERS - Wednesday 29.4.2009

VAPPU / MAY DAY, MAY DAY

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245549380.jpeg
One vital element of the Vappu revels is the washing and "capping" of the nubile
statue of Havis Amanda in Helsinki's Market Square.

Tomorrow will be May Eve, or Valpurgisnacht, or Vappuaatto, depending on your preference.

Whatever term you care to use about it, it signifies Finland's most boisterous and generally extremely liquid* festival and carnivalesque gathering , spilling over from the Eve itself into the following May Day, and as a consequence the International Edition will not be appearing on Friday May 1st, but will resurface after the weekend on Monday.

If you live in Finland, you will almost certainly know what Vappu is all about (read the old, old article from 2000 below if you are a complete beginner and wish to know about the origins and the traditional rituals), but do please remember that shops and banks will not be open on Friday owing to the holiday. The all-important Alko liquor stores will close at 18:00 on Thursday, so the magic ingredient for the annual event should be secured by then, if that is you can get served for all the queues.

Sales of champagne and sparkling wine go skyrocketing at this time of year.

Bus and train services will also be affected - there will be additional services late on Thursday night for revellers heading home, but Friday will see Saturday or Sunday schedules in force.

Some tram and bus lines in the capital will face diversions on both Thursday evening and on Friday, because of the crowds downtown.

It is a good idea to check from the Finnish Railways (VR) or Helsinki City Transport (HKL) websites below.

As with all public holidays, beware closed shops and services. Supermarkets and other stores are allowed to remain open until 18:00 on Thursday, but will be closed on Friday, with the exception of the stores in the tunnel under Helsinki's main railway station, which will be serving customers until 22:00 on both days, though they only open at 10:00 on Friday.

Banks will be open as normal on Thursday, but will be closed on Friday. ATMs should be working as normal.

We shall probably update this notice with more details on Thursday, but the best advice is to check timetables and opening-times in advance, and if you do plan to go downtown on Thursday or Friday, be prepared for crowds and for large numbers of people who have had an ample sufficiency of the party spirit.

http://www.hs.fi/english/

Previously in HS International Edition:

Vappu (an article from 2000 that still gives the basics, even if the some of the links no longer work) (http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/thisweek/18042000.html)

See also:

Warm weather favours May Day celebrations in Helsinki (2.5.2008) (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Warm+weather+favours+May+Day+celebrations+in+Helsi nki/1135236025878)

Links:

VR Finnish Railways (special commuter train schedules for Vappu) (http://www.vr.fi/heo/eng/lahi/lahi.htm)
VR Finnish Railways (long-distance schedule alterations) (http://www.vr.fi/heo/eng/aika/fjuhlapyha.htm)
Helsinki City Transport (HKL) (http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/HKL_en/Artikkeli?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/HKL/en/current+and+news/mayday)
Finnish Meteorological Institute - Forecast for Helsinki (http://www.fmi.fi/weather/local.html?place=Helsinki)
Havis Amanda (Wikipedia) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havis_Amanda)

* Yeah, we're gonna bathe the baby... ~ SPLASH ~

John - ;)

Troll

05-04-2009, 7:33am

What Finland can teach America about true luxury

New York – What is true luxury? Just when I thought I'd settled on my answer – a flat-screen TV the size of Kansas and a leather-upholstered car that can travel at triple the speed limit – I made several visits to Finland. Shortly after my return the financial crisis hit. Finland has been on my mind ever since. In these hard times, we could learn a few things about luxury from the Finns.

Strolling the streets of Helsinki, the capital, I noticed a lack of grand architecture and opulent homes, and an abundance of modest cars. Helsinki was a nice enough city, and it had some gems of modern design, but part of me felt that Finland was a bit dull. And, strangely, some of the Finns I met seemed to take pride in this.

Finland seemed even duller on my next visit in July. The weather was glorious, but Helsinki felt like a ghost town. I learned that most Finns take a five-week summer vacation, and that many of them disappear for the entire time to tiny, bare-bones cottages in the woods. Curious, I wrangled an invitation to visit one of these secluded cabins. It was meticulously cared for, but lacked any creature comforts. I quickly realized that there was nothing to do and no one to see.

After a couple of days at the cabin I was a convert. It was marvelously relaxing, and I realized the Finns were on to something – a form of luxury that had little to do with high-end products, the quest to acquire them, or the need to show them off. While some Finns pursue the material trappings of success, most seem to feel that the pleasures of time and solitude are more precious.

During my visits, I met some North American expats, including a Canadian who'd lived in the US for years. "I talk to friends back in North America," he told me, "and they tell me about all the latest toys they've bought. Here I'm just puttering away on my little house like a Finn, and that's about it. The pace of life is slower. I like that."

Americans in Finland shared similar sentiments. But they weren't naive about the place, and there was a reason they weren't buying the latest toys. "I'll never become rich in Finland," one explained, "the taxes are just too high." But for him it was a trade-off worth making. "Great healthcare, basically free. My kids get one of the best educations in the world, free." By the way, that includes college, free. He had no plans to move back to the States.

As I spent more time in Helsinki, my own notion of the luxuries available in Finland expanded to include more than just the quiet pleasures of a cabin getaway. Finnish cities are filled with universally well-maintained and high-quality schools, hospitals, buses, trains, and parks. While most Finns might never be able to own a well-appointed SUV or a big house, they value the less-tangible assets they do have, which add up to quality of life and peace of mind.

Finland doesn't pay lip service to providing a level playing field for all its citizens. It really does give the vast majority of its citizens a fair and equal chance in life, in a way that the US just doesn't, no matter how much Americans like to think it does.

Finland has its downsides, of course. The Finns I met described high rates of depression and alcoholism among their countrymen, and admitted that many Finns seem to suffer from low self-esteem. When I returned to the dynamic bustle of New York, I was happy to be back, even with the financial crisis decimating the economy.

Compared with Finns, Americans have qualities I admire and treasure: optimism, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a willingness to be opinionated, for starters. These qualities will help us fight our way back to economic health.

But let's face it: The single-minded pursuit of outsized material consumption helped get us into this mess. As we struggle to get back on our feet, perhaps we should pause for our own "Finnish moment."

Trevor Corson is the author of "The Secret Life of Lobsters" and "The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20090501/cm_csm/ycorson

FinnFreak

05-04-2009, 8:20am

they value the less-tangible assets they do have, which add up to quality of life and peace of mind.

True. Quality of living and a luxurious consumpting lifestyle are NOT the same thing. Last year, I was outvoted on the issue of having an electricity feed installed to our cottage - I still don't see it necessary; there's the forest full of wood, to heat up the sauna by the lake... a beautiful scene on it's own - wind in the trees' leaves and birds' cries echoing above the lake, providing the soundtrack...

http://www.stargarden.fi/kuvat/evirj.jpg

Peace of mind. Enjoy the silence.

John - ;)

Troll

05-05-2009, 1:11pm

Lovely pic

FinnFreak

05-07-2009, 11:37am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - FOREIGN - Thursday 7.5.2009

Berlusconi sneers at Finland - once again

Italian Prime Minister draws comparison between Finnish wooden church and architecture in Rome

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/pieni_webkuva/1135227510233.jpeg
Silvio Berlusconi

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, famed for his gaffes and outspoken remarks, has once again ridiculed Finland.

Berlusconi, who appeared in Rome yesterday as a guest of the Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno, praised the beauty and the cultural heritage of the Italian capital. To further emphasise his point Berlusconi compared Rome with Finland.

“Can you imagine, when I was in Finland they took me to see an 18th century wooden church. I remember how important this was to them. We woke up early in the morning and travelled to the church for three hours. Over here such a church would have been bulldozed to the ground”, Berlusconi said drawing an X sign in the air with his hands.

The Prime Minister continued by saying that he did not want to go further than this, because he liked Finland and Finnish women. Encouraged by the press conference audience’s laughter, the Prime Minister continued:

“I failed to complete the sentence. I was going to say, I love Finnish women so long as they are of age.”

With this joke Berlusconi referred to his ongoing divorce battle, which in recent days has been the most talked-about item in the Italian media.

Berlusconi’s wife Veronica Lario announced on Sunday that she would be filing for divorce from her 72-year-old husband.

“I cannot be with a man who spends time with underage women”, Lario has told the news agency Ansa.

Berlusconi is renowned the world over for his diplomatic blunders and weird comments. The Finns are in good company.

Nevertheless, Finnish food does seem to be one of his pet hates. On several occasions the Italian Prime Minister has commented on how he has had to put up with Finnish food each time he has visited the country.

In the 2005 inaugural ceremony of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, Berlusconi bragged about having used “playboy tactics” on the Finnish President Tarja Halonen to persuade Finland to allow Italy to play host to the agency.

The dispute between Finland and Italy over the location of the EFSA dragged on for several years and took place on the prime ministerial level. Halonen did not have a noteworthy role to play in the matter.

Already in 2001 Berlusconi ruffled Finnish feathers by saying that the food agency could not possibly be situated in a country, where people do not even know what Parma prosciutto ham is.

Previously in HS International Edition:

Foreign Ministry summons Italian Ambassador over Berlusconi comments (23.6.2005) (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Foreign+Ministry+summons+Italian+Ambassador+over+B erlusconi+comments/1101980006828)

Berlusconi says he used "playboy skills" in contest with Finland over Food Authority (22.6.2005) (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1101979994400)

:rolleyes:

Here's one, in Muhos, Finland - built in 1634:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Muhos_Church_2006_08_26.JPG/260px-Muhos_Church_2006_08_26.JPG

I was married in this one, in Evijärvi, Finland - built in 1761:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Evij%C3%A4rvi_church.jpg/280px-Evij%C3%A4rvi_church.jpg

We've got plenty of wooden churches - it shows our ability to build things of wood to last, symbolizing our commitment, and strength of our faith in God - something Mr. Berlusconi obviously due to his unique way of thinking, was unable to comprehend.

John - :p

FinnFreak

05-08-2009, 5:15am

“Can you imagine, when I was in Finland they took me to see an 18th century wooden church. I remember how important this was to them. We woke up early in the morning and travelled to the church for three hours. Over here such a church would have been bulldozed to the ground”, Berlusconi said drawing an X sign in the air with his hands.

Today in the news, according to Finnish officials' knowledge, Mr. Berlusconi has NEVER been taken to visit a Finnish wooden church.

:smirk: - Seems like the Italian PM has a very vivid imagination indeed.

These amusing remarks of his should be compiled as a book, that would surely be massive, unlike books about 'German Humour', 'Italian War Time Heroism' and 'Great Statesman Efforts Of Silvio Berlusconi'...

John - :p

FinnFreak

05-08-2009, 5:44pm

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Saturday 9.5.2009

Berlusconi’s church comments met with astonishment in Finland

Petäjävesi Church looks like reasonable candidate, but Silvio is not in the visitors' book

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245784295.jpeg
The Petäjävesi Church (1765) is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Wednesday statement ridiculing a Finnish wooden church prompted astonished reactions and even a measure of resentment within Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs as well as in the Finnish congregations conserving and appreciating their wooden places of worship.

The Italian PM was even suspected of having confused Finland with some other country that he had visited.

Iceland has for instance been put forward as the real victim. At least the last four letters are the same...

During a recent appearance in Rome as a guest of the mayor of the Italian capital, Berlusconi - who is renowned for his gaffes and outspoken remarks as much as he is for cultivating the image of a Lothario - praised the beauty and the cultural heritage of the city.

To emphasise his message Berlusconi then went on to compare Rome with Finland.

“Can you imagine, when I was in Finland they took me to see an 18th century wooden church. I remember how important this was to them. We woke up early in the morning and travelled to the church for three hours”, the Prime Minister said in front of the TV cameras.

“Over here such a church would have been bulldozed to the ground”, Berlusconi continued, drawing an X sign in the air with his hands.

On Thursday morning the Ministry for Foreign Affairs protocol department immediately started looking for information regarding which Finnish church the Italian leader had been referring to, and when an 18th century wooden church would have been shown to him.

No such information was found.

Berlusconi has not even visited Finland as a guest of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Berlusconi himself has recalled his unofficial 1999 trip to Finland, when Finland hosted a meeting of representatives of Europe’s conservative parties. But even this tightly-scheduled conference’s programme did not include a 3-hour drive to see a church.

The best-known wooden church in Finland from the time that Berlusconi mentioned is the old Petäjävesi Church in Central Finland, which was completed in 1765.

The church is regarded a masterpiece of northern wood architecture, and since 1994 it has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

On Thursday the Petäjävesi Church was considered the prime candidate as the target of Berlusconi’s possible excursion.

Vicar Seppo Ojala, however, gave an assurance that Silvio Berlusconi has never visited the site.

In Vicar Ojala’s opinion, the Italian Prime Minister’s comments should not be shrugged off as a mere joke.

Instead, the Finnish state authorities should react to the slanderous criticism towards the cultural value of Finnish wooden churches.

Approximately at the same driving distance from Helsinki are also located the Central Finland wooden churches of Keuruu and Pihlajavesi, which were completed in 1758 and 1780 respectively. Berlusconi, however, has not been seen as a guest at these churches either.

According to Keuruu Vicar Ossi Poikonen, the Italian Prime Minister’s mockery of the Finnish wooden churches can just be ignored as opinions of no value whatsoever.

Note: It is quite heart-warming that we have received a large number of emails from embarrassed Italian readers apologising for their Prime Minister in no uncertain terms. We are very grateful for the support. If it is any consolation, Finland can almost certainly boast politicians occasionally capable of similar feats: as they say, "there's one in every crowd"

Italian voters should keep this in mind, when the next elections arrive.

John - ;)

Troll

05-08-2009, 8:33pm

Good for them.

FinnFreak

05-11-2009, 8:13am

:p

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - FOREIGN - Monday 11.5.2009

Former Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja launches scathing attack on Berlusconi

Ultimately insignificant "wooden church" incident looks to have been a geographical error

Just as Finland was preparing to shrug its collective shoulders and pass the Silvio Berlusconi buck to Iceland (the presumptive home of that wooden church), the entire subject of the Italian leader was thrown into the spotlight once more on Sunday by a scathing blog entry from the former Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja (SDP).

Tuomioja let fly at Berlusconi with exceptional ferocity in a piece entitled “Italy’s Shame”. In actual fact, he widened the net still further, describing the Italian leader as a cause of shame for the entire continent.

Erkki Tuomioja’s assessment of Berlusconi was based on his actions on the public stage and also on Tuomioja’s own personal experience.

He encountered the Italian when Berlusconi took over for a year as Foreign Minister (in addition to being Italy’s PM), following the resignation of Renato Ruggiero in 2002.

At an unofficial “Gymnich” gathering of EU foreign ministers in Elsinore in August 2002, during the Danish EU Presidency, Berlusconi’s chauvinist remarks allegedly managed to anger the then Swedish Foreign Minister, the late Anna Lindh, to such an extent that Lindh refused to speak to him thereafter.

"The Prime Minister’s out-of-order gags about such matters as the culinary prowess or cultural merits of other countries can be dismissed as simple bad taste, but his chauvinist behaviour and manner of speaking would scarcely permit him to continue in the job in any other civilised nation”, charged Tuomioja.

The former Minister for Foreign Affairs then turned to matters he described as “more serious than this making a clown of himself”, namely the fact that Berlusconi has amassed a sizeable fortune through unscrupulous actions that have certainly exceeded the bounds of propriety and which have prompted serious accusations of corruption and the transgression of many laws.

These have brought a string of charges and police investigations that were ultimately resolved last year when Berlusconi used his Parliamentary majority to pass a law guaranteeing immunity from prosecution for the four highest public servants in Italy (the President of the Republic, the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, and Prime Minister) while they are in office.

Prior to that, Tuomioja charges, Berlusconi had constantly harassed and disparaged the Italian judiciary and sought to hamper its actions.

“Berlusconi has a democratic mandate to govern from the Italian people - just as Hamas had in Palestine and [Vladimir] Putin in Russia - even though it might not have been won by completely fair means”, notes Tuomioja.

The remarks are an apparent reference to conflict-of-interest and the use and abuse Berlusconi makes of the “frighteningly broad media sway” he enjoys both through the companies he owns - which control roughly half of Italy’s TV-channels - and by the way he harnesses Italy’s state-owned radio and television services to his own ends.

Erkki Tuomioja was Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2007 in the governments led by Paavo Lipponen (SDP), Anneli Jäätteenmäki (Centre Party), and Matti Vanhanen (Centre Party).

An MP from 1970-79 and thereafter from 1991 until the present, Tuomioja is currently Chairman of Parliament’s Grand Committee, which deals among other things with the formulation of national policy associated with Finland’s membership of the European Union, with the exception of foreign and security policy, which in turn falls to the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Tuomioja has criticised the Italian Prime Minister for his behaviour on previous occasions.

As we had already reported on Friday, the wooden church that was the subject of the latest off-colour remarks by Berlusconi earlier in the week appears not to have been in Finland at all, but more probably in Iceland.

At least this is the view of Italian political journalist Gianlucca Luzzi, who works for Italy’s second-largest daily La Repubblica.

Luzzi says that does not even remember that Berlusconi would have visited Finland, or that if he has, it was a good long time ago (a fact confirmed by Finland’s own authorities - although he attended a party political gathering in Finland in 1999, Mr. Berlusconi has not been here on an official visit as PM).

Luzzi does say that the Prime Minister visited Iceland some years ago, and that the programme included an excursion to a church.

Luzzi, who has followed Berlusconi around the world for years, stresses that the belief that the 72-year-old premier might have simply muddled up the two Nordic countries is based purely on his own supposition.

“I couldn’t swear to it, but my strong suspicion is that the church memory offered up by Berlusconi does not exist in Finland.”

All of this rather pulls the rug from under any Finnish indignation at the slur.

This will come as a disappointment to the many who wrote rather caustically on Internet discussion forums about the Italian leader’s shortage of diplomatic and other skills, and even noted archly that the marble tiles for the facade of Helsinki's Finlandia Hall (they kept falling off, and had to be expensively replaced ) come from...Italy.

Finns do tend to get quite excited about comments, both positive and negative, from abroad - although there were also plenty of posters who felt that Berlusconi’s latest remarks should be quietly ignored as “full of sound and fury” and not worthy of being dignified by a response.

Finland's Centre Party apparently falls into the excitable group, since they rapidly produced an advertisement for the upcoming European Parliament elections in which the party positions itself as the best counterweight to Mr. Berlusconi, who "doesn't always seem to be on Finland's side".

Helsingin Sanomat and the paper’s International Edition received numerous apologetic messages from Italians wishing to point out that their Prime Minister was not speaking in their name.

We are naturally very grateful for their words of support. However, we regret that they may now need to be addressed to the people of Iceland instead, although there are still some questions remaining - since Iceland is largely treeless, where on earth did they get the wood from?

In any event, it looks as though Finland’s five minutes in the Berlusconi spotlight have passed.

He now faces tougher criticism from the Catholic Church and the Italian Left after declaring that Italy - once a country of emigrants - was not and should not be a multi-ethnic society.

At the same time a small storm is brewing over reports that the 18-year-old lingerie model whose birthday party seems to have prompted Mrs. Veronica Berlusconi to file for divorce last week, after 19 years of marriage, believes “Papi” Silvio will arrange her a seat in Parliament.

With this sort of competition, Finland and its food, women, or churches will necessarily take a back seat.

John - :p

FinnFreak

05-12-2009, 1:41pm

;)

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Tuesday 12.5.2009

Italians in Finland distance themselves
from Berlusconi's recent remarks

Just under 100 names added to online address in first day

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245877380.jpeg
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

In the latest development in Finland’s minor spat with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over remarks about the country’s women and its wooden churches - although the church now appears to be somewhere else altogether - a number of Italian nationals living in Finland have signed off from their premier’s comments in an online address.

The names have been collected on the Larondine.fi online portal under the heading “Gli italiani in Finlandia a Berlusconi", and make it clear that the signatories do not share his views.

"We the undersigned Italian residents of Finland completely dissociate ourselves from what President of the Italian Council of Ministers Silvio Berlusconi has affirmed about Finland and Finnish culture in all its forms. In our view such positions are harmful to our reputation and personal relationships in the country in which we currently live".

The short message then goes on: "We would also like to stress the importance of absorbing positive models from other nations, in accordance with the ideals of a United Europe".

The person behind the project, translator and editor of the online newssheet Nicola Rainò, says that many Italians living in Finland have got in touch with him of late and told of their feelings of anger and shame.

"We are saddened that Berlusconi's ignorance and intellectual poverty dominates the perception of Italians. We are constantly having to explain how we come to have such a Prime Minister", said Rainò.

Roughly 2,500 Italians are currently living in Finland. After Monday's address was launched, by mid-evening it had been signed by just under 100 of them.

As it happens, the "dissing" of Finland's wooden churches appears now to have been another embarrassing slip by Mr. Berlusconi, who would seem to have confused Finland with Iceland.

In a speech in Rome last week, he had described a visit to a Finnish wooden church that was so insignificant a work of architecture that in Italy it would have been summarily demolished.

Nevertheless, no record of any such visit has been found, and at least according to the Italian political journalist Gianlucca Luzzi of La Repubblica the building is more likely to have been in Iceland.

The "search for the church" has unearthed one possible candidate, cited on at least one message board (which widely quotes our earlier articles) and on the Flickr image hosting website.

This is the church at Thingvellir (Þingvallakirkja), at the location of one of the oldest parliaments in the world. It is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The occasionally strong reactions to Berlusconi's statements in the Finnish media and among the online community have also been followed with interest in the Italian press.

However, the Prime Minister's remarks on Finnish women (he likes them) and churches (he doesn't, apparently) are naturally secondary to articles about his divorce travails or his recent comments on immigration, which have prompted an angry response from the Roman Catholic Church and the Italian Left.

John - :p

EilleenTwain88

05-14-2009, 2:29am

He certainly as "a thing" for us Finns, eh? :p

FinnFreak

05-14-2009, 3:11am

Maybe he's a slightly disappointed Ferrari fan.

John - :p

Myyde

05-19-2009, 5:15am

Last friday on finnish TV.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/Myyde/misc/tartumikkiin.jpg

If someone missed it. It`s out there, just search. Too bad that only Finns can see that vid.:p

PS. Omalla vastuulla...;)

FinnFreak

05-19-2009, 9:42am

PS. Omalla vastuulla...;)

Sheer butchery, eh..?

John - :p

Myyde

05-19-2009, 1:14pm

Risk taker.:p

Maybe, maybe not, find out.;)

FinnFreak

05-19-2009, 2:09pm

Some things are better left without further exploration.

John - :p

Groucho

05-19-2009, 7:38pm

Love that photo at post 1631.

FinnFreak

05-20-2009, 12:13pm

Here's some more from Evijärvi (where the soul can truly rest):

http://suomiopas.fi/uusi/thumb/small_2_evijarvi_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Evijarvi.jpg

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva979.jpg

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva154.jpg

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva105.jpg

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva130.jpg

http://trinity.siteadmin.fi/File.aspx?id=490229&ext=jpg&routing=281668&webid=286782&name=Laihorinne-Kemppainen%2013

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva161.jpg

http://trinity.siteadmin.fi/File.aspx?id=490190&ext=jpg&routing=281668&webid=286782&name=Anna%20Sulkakoski%20039

http://trinity.siteadmin.fi/File.aspx?id=490239&ext=jpg&routing=281668&webid=286782&name=Hilla%20Honkaniemi%2011

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva964.jpg

http://trinity.siteadmin.fi/File.aspx?id=490274&ext=jpg&routing=281668&webid=286782&name=Mariel%20Mofidi12

http://trinity.siteadmin.fi/File.aspx?id=490289&ext=jpg&routing=281668&webid=286782&name=Saila%20Latukka12

http://trinity.siteadmin.fi/File.aspx?id=490292&ext=jpg&routing=281668&webid=286782&name=Sonja%20Laukkonen11

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva967.jpg

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva146.jpg

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva147.jpg

http://www.kotikone.fi/juha.ritala/melonta/images/Kuva969.jpg

...and, when the summer's gone:

http://www.paramotor.fi/Kopio%20_MG_4585%20copy.jpg

http://www.paramotor.fi/Kopio%20_MG_4584%20copy.jpg

http://www.paramotor.fi/Kopio%20_MG_4587%20copy.jpg

http://www.paramotor.fi/Kopio%20_MG_4614%20copy.jpg

John - ;)

Troll

05-20-2009, 12:24pm

Awesome pics

FinnFreak

05-21-2009, 4:58pm

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - CULTURE - Thursday 21.5.2009

Once we were the last venue on earth, now Finland is seemingly a band magnet

Strong currency, Europe's changed geopolitical situation, and increased equipment rentals all factors

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245906923.jpeg
AC/DC's Angus Young will be back on stage at the Olympic Stadium in June, after
an absence of eight years.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245906925.jpeg
Madonna is the big draw in August, performing
before a record crowd of 80,000 at the
Jätkäsaari site in Helsinki.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245906927.jpeg
Slipknot, an American heavy metal band originally from Iowa, are among the
headlining acts at this year's Ruisrock Festival. Ruisrock, first held in 1970,
is the second-oldest still extant rock festival in Europe.

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245907417.jpeg
Welsh singer-songwriter Duffy will be seen and heard at this year's
Pori Jazz Festival in July.

By Jarkko Jokelainen

This coming summer promises promises to be the busiest yet for Finnish fans of popular music.

The tip of the iceberg is the arrival - her first appearance in Finland - of Madonna in August, and the #1 name in heavy metal Metallica will be playing no fewer than three dates in Finland in June and July.

The traditional round of summer festivals ensures that the weekends will be full of foreign names on stage.

But weekdays, too, are booked nearly solid - at least in Helsinki, where The Eagles, AC/DC, Faith No More, Morrissey, Pet Shop Boys, Korn, Britney Spears, and electro-pop diva Lady GaGa are all scheduled to appear in a hectic two months from the beginning of June until Madonna’s mega-gig in Jätkäsaari.

It used not to be like this, but the growth in the number of artists putting Finland on their calendar is no accident.

There are several sound reasons.

1. There are a record number of artists available

The music industry’s revenue structure has undergone some thoroughgoing changes of late.

In past years, big tours were made, often with a measure of reluctance, as a marketing vehicle for a new album - and touring was seen as a kind of “loss leader”, like cheap coffee or beer in the supermarket.

Now, however, with record sales on a seemingly irreversible decline, live gigs are a means of improving the finances.

As a result, bands tour ever more intensively.

At the same time a good many stars of yesteryear have found it hard to stay out of the limelight, and they have returned to the live concert market, tapping in to the older generation's free time and money.

Right now Finland is also benefiting from the strength of the euro against sterling and the US dollar.

“There is a lot on offer, but the biggest acts are still a very tough call”, says Juhani Merimaa, who pulls the strings at Tavastia [a popular club venue in Helsinki with a capacity of 700], the Ruisrock Festival in Turku, and Ankkarock in Vantaa.

“In some countries the recession seems to have hit hard, but up north in Scandinavia there is apparently still money in the punters’ pockets, which attracts the artists like moths to a candle”, adds Merimaa.

“Uncertain economic times show up in the fact that if you can pay well, it is less difficult than it once was to persuade acts to come here”, says Juha Kyyrö of promoters Fullsteam.

2. There are more agencies importing bands than there once were

In earlier decades, foreign acts were as a rule brought to Finland by just one or two promoters. Now the big stars can pick and choose among four decent agencies: the multinational market leader Live Nation Finland (formerly Welldone Agency & Promotions), the traditional events organiser EastWay, and two newcomers in Fullsteam Agency and Speed Promotion.

Fullsteam has gone for rising names, and this summer the agency’s biggest enterprise is its own two-day Long Hot Summer (Pitkä kuuma kesä) festival in Helsinki at the end of June, with Social Distortion and The Flaming Lips as headliners.

Speed Promotion, on the other hand, has specialised in arena gigs: upcoming acts include Korn in the Helsinki Ice Hall and Britney Spears in the Helsinki Arena.

“New players have come into the market, which has increased competition and also swelled the supply of available acts”, believes Juha Kyyrö.

“At least the volume of supply has grown. All the same, Finland is still a small market-area, so many of the biggest and hottest names omit it from their itineraries.”

The summer festivals are active, too. Provinssirock in Seinäjoki, Ruisrock in Turku, and Ilosaarirock in Joensuu are all working in collaboration with other events on the European circuit with a view to creating an attractive package of gigs for touring artists.

For many American bands, a summer tour of Europe can be almost exclusively festival dates.

3. There are more suitable venues than there once were

For the first time this year (and with a fairly short window of opportunity before it is redeveloped for housing), Helsinki can boast in the Jätkäsaari docklands site a venue capable of holding 80,000 people.

This honey-trap was partly responsible for enticing Madonna to play the Finnish capital this summer. Suvilahti, too, appears to be developing into a regular festival location in Helsinki, with Long Hot Summer and the Flow Festival (Aug. 13-16) both using the site that once housed an electrical power station.

There are a number of venues in town with a capacity of nearly a thousand, meaning that several gigs can be held on the same day.

Concerts are not the sole property of Helsinki, in any case.

Bruce Springsteen (who played Helsinki twice in 2003 and again last July) is this time bringing the E Street Band to Ratina Stadium in Tampere, Metallica will be playing in Pori along with Linkin Park and Machine Head, and Whitesnake are booked in Oulu Arena at the end of this month.

4. Finland is no longer "the end of the line"

This is possibly one of the most significant changes in the concert landscape.

Years ago, during the Soviet era, Finland was seen as the last Western outpost, and its peripheral status made life difficult.

In part because of the sea trip required (see below), artists often thought twice about going further east than Stockholm and Sweden.

In practice, Finland often lost out, or at best got the first date of a tour - when the bands were still a bit ragged and under-rehearsed - or the last - when they were often eager to fly home.

Now things have changed dramatically. Helsinki has become just another stop on the way to and from the big cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia, and also the capitals of the Baltic States have added to the drawing power of the region.

To take just one example, Madonna will be playing dates in Tallinn and St. Petersburg just before her Helsinki appearance.

5. You can fly over the Gulf of Finland, too

Finland is not really an island, but it might just as well be.

For years, tour managers looked at the map, did some simple arithmetic, and came to the conclusion that wasting a day each way lugging the band's equipment on the ferries from Sweden simply wasn’t worthwhile, when one could play an extra two or three dates in Germany instead.

Finnish fans looked wistfully at the names who came as far as Stockholm’s Globen or the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg but then turned south and west.

These days a large number of the acts arrive here by plane and use rented P.A. equipment. Rental of speaker stacks and even some instruments has become a professional business hereabouts, and the artists get what they ask for. Only the biggest acts bring all their own gear, and in some cases - The Rolling Stones are a good example - their touring show is SO colossal these days that they will have two or even three complete stadium stage sets on the go all the time, thereby reducing the annoyance of downtime from the sea crossing.

But the gear rentals aspect has taken off strongly.

“Things get pretty crazily busy in the summer”, says Risto Järvelin of Backline Rental, and he calculates nearly 40 dates in the calendar this year. “Our biggest customers are probably the acts coming to Pori Jazz, like Duffy.”

6. Public demand is holding up

The recession is not showing up, at least not yet, in ticket sales.

The bulk of gigs have been sold out, often in a matter of hours, as happened with Madonna, Metallica, and Bruce Springsteen.

To be fair, there have been one or two signs of oversupply, as for instance Limp Bizkit and Primal Scream both had to move their dates to smaller venues than were originally planned.

“Well-known names have no difficulty shifting tickets”, says Juhani Merimaa. “For the newer faces it has been harder to drum up an audience.”

To some extent, demand for tickets has been kept buoyant by an expansion of the potential audience.

If rock music used to be the sole province of the teenagers, now there is interest right up to pension age, particularly towards artists who have been around for decades and who might themselves be as old as the grizzliest of punters.

Bob Dylan (last here in 2008) is still touring intensively at nearly 68, and the likes of Deep Purple, Lou Reed, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, or albino guitar virtuoso Johnny Winter (coming to Helsinki in June) are no longer exactly spring chickens.

Since many of these people wrote the soundtrack to the baby-boomers' youth, it is hardly surprising that they draw in some of the old-timers.

Foreign acts offered up practically every day of the week

Highlights include Springsteen in Tampere, Johnny Winter, Nick Cave, Metallica, AC/DC, The Pretenders, Faith No More, Slipknot, Korn, Dr. John, Duffy, Booker T., Britney Spears, Lady GaGa, Madonna, Lily Allen, and Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson

This summer sees an absolute deluge of acts playing dates in Finland, and by no means all of them are long past their sell-by date, as might have been the case a decade ago.

You have missed the first few gigs - this article was published on May 13th - but there is still plenty to go around.

MAY

Date, act/festival, venue.

13. 5. Client. Tavastia, Helsinki.
14. 5. Jenny Wilson. Tavastia.
15. 5. Gothminister. Nosturi, Helsinki.
16. 5. Jean Michel Jarre. Helsinki Arena.
18. 5. Darkest Hour. Nosturi.
21. 5. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet. Helsinki Ice Hall.
22. 5. Loney Dear. Korjaamo, Helsinki.
22. 5. IAMX. Nosturi.
25. 5. Alesana. Nosturi.
25. 5. Limp Bizkit. Cable Factory, Helsinki.
26. 5. Sixgun Republic. Valtavirta, Tampere
26. 5. Dead By April. Nosturi.
27. 5. Sixgun Republic. Bar Loose, Helsinki
27. 5. Ghostface Killah. Nosturi.
28. 5. Whitesnake. Oulu Arena.
28. 5. Anna Järvinen. Tavastia.
29.–30. 5. Funky Elephant Fest.: Alice Russell, Bonobo, etc. Tavastia.
30. 5. Taxi Taxi. Korjaamo.
30. 5. Moneybrother. Bar Loose.

JUNE

Date, act/festival, venue.

2. 6. Heaven and Hell. Helsinki Ice Hall.
2. 6. Deerhunter. Tavastia.
2. 6. Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band. Ratina Stadium, Tampere.
3. 6. Duff McKagan's Loaded. Virgin Oil, Helsinki.
3. 6. Gaslight Anthem. Tavastia.
3. 6. Johnny Winter. Finlandia Hall, Helsinki.
4. 6. Electric Boys. Virgin Oil.
4. 6. Wooden Shjips. Tavastia.
4. 6. Eagles. Helsinki Arena.
5. 6. Blackfoot. Tavastia.
5.–7. 6. Sauna Open Air, Tampere: Mötley Crüe, Hammerfall, etc.
5.–7. 6. Kivenlahti Rock, Espoo: Cradle of Filth, DAD, etc.
6. 6. Dweezil Zappa plays Zappa. Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki.
6. 6. Anastacia. Helsinki Arena.
7. 6. Method Man. Nosturi.
12.–14. 6. Provinssirock, Seinäjoki: Manowar, Nick Cave, Supergrass, Placebo, Volbeat, etc.
13. 6. Ariel Pink. Korjaamo.
13. 6. KMFDM. Nosturi.
14.–15. 6. Metallica. Helsinki Arena.
17. 6. AC/DC. Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
17. 6. The Pretenders. Kulttuuritalo.
17. 6. Aura Dione. Tavastia.
17.–18. 6. Metro Station. Nosturi.
18.–20. 6. Nummirock, Kauhajoki: Arch Enemy, Napalm Death, Hatebreed, etc.
24. 6. Bouncing Souls. Nosturi.
24. 6. Faith No More. Kaisaniemi Park, Helsinki.
24. 6. Black Box Revelation. Tavastia.
26.–28. 6. Tuska Open Air, Helsinki: Immortal, Suicidal Tendencies, Volbeat, etc.
27. 6. Puistoblues, Järvenpää: Gov't Mule, James Hunter, etc.
27. 6. Morrissey. Cable Factory.
27.–28. 6. Long Hot Summer, Helsinki: Social Distortion, The Flaming Lips, The Sounds, Mogwai, etc.

JULY

Date, act/festival, venue.

1. 7. B.B. King. Helsinki Ice Hall.
2. 7. Pet Shop Boys. Helsinki Ice Hall.
3.–5. 7. Ruisrock, Turku: Faith No More, Slipknot, Disturbed, Mew, Glasvegas, Calexico, etc.
6. 7. Korn, Pain, Entombed. Helsinki Ice Hall.
7. 7. Eagles of Death Metal. Tavastia.
11. 7. Raumablues: Dr John, Janiva Magness, etc.
11.–19. 7. Pori Jazz: Duffy, Erykah Badu, Booker T, Brian Setzer, etc.
16. 7. Britney Spears. Helsinki Arena.
17. 7. Obituary. Tavastia.
17.–19. 7. Ilosaarirock, Joensuu: Röyksopp, Killing Joke, Bad Brains, Femi Kuti, etc.
17.–18. 7. Rockperry, Vaasa: Backyard Babies, Turbonegro.
17. 7. Deep Purple. Kotka Maritime Festival.
18. 7. Deep Purple. Tampere Ice Hall.
20. 7. Primal Scream. Tavastia.
23.–26. 7. Tall Ships Race, Turku: Gary Moore, Eva Dahlgren, etc.
24.–25. 7. Qstock, Oulu: Heaven and Hell, Pain, etc.
25. 7. D'Espairsray. Nosturi.
25. 7. Sonisphere, Pori: Metallica, Linkin Park, Machine Head, Anthrax.
28.-30. 7. New York Dolls. Turku, Helsinki, Tampere.
28. 7. Lady GaGa. Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki.
29. 7. The Birthday Massacre. Nosturi.
31. 7.–1. 8. Miljoonarock, Tuuri: Europe, Scorpions.

AUGUST

Date, act/festival, venue.

1.–2. 8. Ankkarock, Vantaa: TV on the Radio, National, Testament, etc.
6. 8. Madonna. Jätkäsaari, Helsinki.
13.–16. 8. Flow Festival, Helsinki: Kraftwerk, Lily Allen, Grace Jones, Ladyhawke, etc.
17. 8. Wilco. Huvila Tent, Helsinki (Helsinki Festival).
18. 8. Band Of Horses. Tavastia.
30.–31. 8. Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson. Huvila Tent, Helsinki.

A number of the festivals are still firming up their programmes. Other acts may be booked in the near future.

It is worth checking promoters' sites and the Lippupalvelu and Lippupiste ticket listings.

John - ;)

Troll

05-21-2009, 9:09pm

Thanks for the info.

FinnFreak

05-22-2009, 9:31am

:scowl: - Here's one huge mess, that really gets my blood boiling...

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Friday 22.5.2009

Child abduction case prompts ministerial-level altercation between Finland and Russia

Finnish Foreign Ministry official used diplomatic vehicle to drive father and son back to Finland

Finland and Russia have sharply differing views with regard to a recent border-crossing child abduction case of a little boy.

According to the Finnish view, a Russian-born mother abducted her son unlawfully from Tampere, Finland in March 2008 and took him to Russia. Russia, in turn, claims that a Finnish man kidnapped his five-year-old son from Russia at the beginning of May of this year and brought him to Finland.

Before the son was abducted by her mother, a Finnish court had awarded the father the sole custody of his son.

An employee from Finland’s Consulate-General in St. Petersburg drove the Finnish father and his son Anton across the border to Finland in a private car equipped with diplomatic licence plates.

According to the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs the actions by the Finnish Consulate-General in St. Petersburg are in stark violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations “and cannot remain without consequences”.

Olli Perheentupa, Consul General of Finland in St. Petersburg, does not believe that the operation of Finland’s Consulate-General will become more difficult as a result of the squabble.

“The Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs has not contacted us regarding the matter. In this respect everything has been completely peaceful.”

Perheentupa was not aware of the worker’s intentions to drive the father and son out of Russia. Perheentupa believes that as a result the border checks of diplomats will be intensified in the future. The employee will continue to work for the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, but will not return to Russia.

On Thursday night the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded an explanation over the telephone from his Finnish colleague Alexander Stubb.

In Russia’s view, taking Anton away from the country against his mother’s will is a “severe violation against Russian laws and subject to penal responsibility”.

Finland, in turn, claims that the mother took her son to Russia unlawfully in the spring of last year.

There the boy was granted Russian citizenship.

The boy’s Finnish father took the matter to court and the citizenship was revoked.

"After this the boy was again granted Russian citizenship”, explains Director Pasi Tuominen, Unit for Consular Services, Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The man sought refuge with his son at the Finnish Consulate-General in St. Petersburg at the beginning of April, after they have been denied permission to cross the border to Finland.

Efforts were made to extend the man’s expired visa, but they fell flat.

Stubb emphasised during the telephone conversation that an arrangement protocol should be agreed on between the countries with regard to kidnappings across the border.

Russia has not ratified the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, and it therefore does not return children abducted to Russia.

Finland and Russia do not have a bilateral agreement on the matter, either.

“From the Finnish viewpoint the consulate matter is now closed”, Tuominen says. Two other kidnapping cases in Russia are still pending.

Anton Salonen's mother does not dare to return to Finland

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135246121317.jpeg
Paavo Salonen and his five-year-old son Anton in Kokemäki on May 15th.
Reportedly the local police have contacted Salonen with a view to ensuring
the boy's safety, although no signs have emerged that the mother in the
custody case would be seeking to wrest the child back by force.

The Russian mother at the centre of the child abduction case that has emerged between Finland and the Russian Federation gives an assurance that she had no intention of kidnapping the child from Finland to Russia.

Rimma Salonen, the mother of five-year-old Anton, left for Russia in March 2008, in her own words only on a vacation trip.

"In fact I never really decided to move to Russia. The situation changed when I heard that I was regarded as a criminal in Finland and that I could end up going to jail. Hence I decided to stay here in Russia and give the child a Russian upbringing. I am Russian, after all”, Rimma Salonen explains.

The mother settled with her young son in the small town of Balakhna on the Volga River in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where she found work at the kindergarten attended by her child.

Mother and boy lived in Russia for just over a year before the child's father Paavo Salonen - who had received an earlier custody judgement from a Tampere court - tracked them down.

This time the father took the child to Finland with him, hidden in the back of a car driven by a Finnish consular official.

Now the mother dare not herself come back to Finland for fear of the possible consequences.

The mother is stunned at the child’s having been taken to Finland and cannot imagine that the action could be in any way justified in terms of the boy's interests.

“It is illegal to take a child across the border in this way! And how might the child feel, when he does not speak Finnish and his father does not speak Russian?” wonders Rimma Salonen.

"As a mother I can say that it is very sad to see that everyone in Finland has stood behind the father in this matter, when he is the one who has committed a crime here.”

According to the mother, Anton had already forgotten his father altogether, and did not miss him at all.

The father says the direct opposite - according to his statements, the boy asked after his father and missed him.

“I nevertheless believe that my son will come back to me. My support group will do everything they can to help me”, says Rimma Salonen, who allegedly took the child to Russia in the first place on forged documents.

Rimma Salonen does not know precisely what steps she is going to take.

A lawyer is preparing a court action, and a demand has been placed with the Russian legal authorities for charges to be levelled of premeditated abduction of a child.

In the little town of Balakhna, the Salonen story is known to many, and Rimma Salonen’s colleagues at the kindergarten back her up.

“A lot has been said about this case on TV and radio, so a good many people know about it. Here on our side the view is that the child should be with his mother. The father should answer for his actions in a court of law”, says Rimma Salonen’s immediate superior, the manager of the kindergarten Natalia Shatonova.

The boy is a Finnish citizen by birth and custody was awarded to the father by the Tampere District Court, prior to the mother's actions in taking the child to Russia.

The sad affair of a marriage breakdown and child custody dispute flaring into a minor international incident has divided opinions within the Russian media, with some siding with the mother and calling for charges against Paavo Salonen and those who assisted him.

Meanwhile others note that the mother had no right to change the child's nationality without the formal approval of his father, and that in law Paavo Salonen is the child's legal guardian.

A not-dissimilar case in Finland some years ago caused equally strident reactions for and against over the nationality and custody of two boys born to an American father and a Finnish mother.

The boys were eventually returned to their father, under the terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Russia sends diplomatic note over Anton Salonen incident

The Russian Federation has left an official diplomatic note with the Finnish authorities in the wake of the bringing back to Finland of 5-year-old Anton Salonen.

The note was handed in to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Wednesday afternoon by Minister-Counsellor Sergei Beljayev.

Simo Pietiläinen, employed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at the Finnish Consulate-General in St. Petersburg, brought Anton and his father Paavo Salonen to Finland in secret in a car with Russian diplomatic plates some two weeks ago.

In the background to the incident was a long-running custody dispute over the child, whose mother is Russian.

The Russian Federation would now like clarification of whether the consular official was carrying out his official duties when assisting the flight of Anton to Finland.

Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (National Coalition Party) took the news of the note calmly.

“We shall respond in due course and in the proper fashion, as is the custom with normal diplomatic relations”, Stubb told Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.

He stressed that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs had had no part in the smuggling of Anton Salonen to Finland.

“From a humanitarian perspective the situation was extremely difficult for both the boy and his father, so from this point of view I can understand his [Pietiläinen’s] actions. I also understand why the Russian Federation authorities have reacted as they have. We should go through this normal state-to state discussion quite calmly and peacefully”, commented Stubb.

Simo Pietiläinen is currently working in Helsinki.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has not instigated disciplinary proceedings against him.

Foreign Minister Stubb hopes that the Russian Federation would sign up to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

This would in his view give a concrete judicial framework for resolving thorny situations such as this.

Something had to be done, says diplomat who brought abducted boy back to Finland

Simo Pietiläinen tells Helsingin Sanomat of dramatic escape; Russia sends diplomatic note over incident

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135246127341.jpeg
Consular official Simo Pietiläinen, an expert on legal matters employed by the
Finnish Consulate-General in St. Petersburg, brought five-year-old Anton
Salonen and his father back to Finland in the back of his car. Sitting behind
the wheel at the border crossing, the diplomat pondered whether he was
doing the right thing, and concluded that to do nothing in the circumstances
would have been equally wrong.

“No, there was no way they could have got back into Finland by legal means. I do not regret my actions.”

Simo Pietiläinen, who brought five-year-old Anton Salonen and his father Paavo Salonen back from Russia in secret in the back of his car, stands behind what he did.

The man sitting in a Helsinki hotel meeting room is a Finnish civil servant. Officially he is still an expert adviser on legal matters attached to the Finnish Consulate-General in St. Petersburg. Custody disputes are part of his brief.

Even if he is still officially on staff, there is apparently no going back to St. Petersburg for Pietiläinen.

This has been made clear by both the Finnish and Russian authorities.

Things began to roll forwards just over two weeks ago.

A complicated custody dispute had been festering for some time.

The [Russian] mother in the case had acquired Russian citizenship for her son Anton using false documents.

Two courts in Russia had quashed the decision and ordered that the citizenship papers be rescinded.

Then Pietiläinen heard some shocking news from Moscow.

An immigration official in Nizhny Novgorod had initially declared the boy’s citizenship application invalid, but had then abruptly reversed the decision after a verbal request from the mother.

“At that point I realised that the father and son were never going to get out of Russia and back to Finland by any legal means. Junior officials are not adhering to the decision handed down by the Russian courts.”

The Finnish father had come to Russia earlier in the spring to collect his child, a Finnish citizen.

He traced the boy and in April he unilaterally carried out the terms of an earlier Tampere District Court ruling awarding custody to the father.

In 2008 the mother had taken the child to Russia without the father’s consent and using forged documents.

In spite of the Finnish court ruling and subsequent Russian court decisions, the father had been unable to get the child back to Finland.

Having taken the child, Paavo Salonen found himself in an awkward bind, as the boy’s mother had filed an official complaint with the Russian police. Even though the prosecutor in Nizhny Novgorod ruled that the father had done nothing in violation of Russian criminal law, he was still not permitted to leave the country.

By the first week of May, Paavo and Anton Salonen had already been on the Consulate-General’s premises for three weeks, day in day out.

The father’s tourist visa was running out, and the Russian officials would not grant him an extension. And now things were further compounded by the immigration official’s about-turn on the boy’s Russian citizenship, in direct opposition to a Russian court ruling.

The situation was intolerable. Paavo Salonen could not leave the country and yet he could not remain there legally without a valid visa.

On Thursday May 7th, Paavo Salonen and Simo Pietiläinen discussed a way out of the impasse.

The idea of smuggling the child out of Russia began to take shape.

"Would I be guilty of a more serious offence by doing what I did, or in the circumstances, by doing nothing, and ensuring that two Finnish citizens are unable to get home?” says Pietiläinen of the thoughts that went through his head at the time.

The getaway trip began on the Friday evening. Paavo and Anton Salonen sat in the back seat of Pietiläinen’s dark-blue Audi station wagon.

The car was afforded some protection by carrying red Russian diplomatic licence-plates.

“I bought some chocolate and some soft drinks for the child, and off we went.”

Around ten kilometres before the border, the passengers clambered into the rear of the station wagon, conceunderneath the pull-out blind. “The boy was so incredibly plucky and cheerful the whole time it really was no trouble.”

At the crossing between Russia and Finland the pressure built up.

“We weren’t scared exactly, but definitely tense. I think that describes it.”

The Russian border officials were somewhat preoccupied, in that they were preparing for the celebrations of the following day’s anniversary of Victory Day (May 9th, 1945).

Shortly after passing through the Vaalimaa checkpoints, Anton and Paavo crawled out from their hiding place.

From Hamina they travelled onward in another car.

The journey from St. Petersburg took around two and a half hours altogether.

Pietiläinen returned immediately to Russia, heading back to St. Petersburg the same Friday evening.

A call came in from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on the following Sunday, May 10th.

“I was in St. Petersburg, washing the car. I was instructed to report in Helsinki that evening.”

“It was an OK meeting, but there were so many people present that I’d rather not say any more about it”, observes Simo Pietiläinen.

Even though the incident stemmed from Pietiläinen’s own choice of course of action, in his view it contains the seed of a profound question about the relations between the two countries.

“It cannot be that an individual civil servant or diplomat handles these matters on the basis of his or her personal conscience. There have to be some reliable ground-rules. My way of doing things cannot be the normal way of carrying on. I can see that perfectly well.”

Pietiläinen’s fixed-term contract will be up for consideration roughly a year from now.

"The Foreign Ministry will get my things brought out of there [Russia]. I have not been dismissed. That’s about it.”, says Pietiläinen in describing his present position.

A couple of things:

Two wrongs doesn't make things right... and a five-year-old does NOT forget.

The officials to solve this matter do not have a crystal ball to show what the future holds for Anton, IF the chosen social network around him will prevail - or fail.

"Parents"... *sigh*

John - :sad:

FinnFreak

05-22-2009, 10:27am

I see Phil's Finland For Thought Blog has also been carrying this abduction case:

Finnish-Russian custody battle

Tags: Finland's Neighbors — Author: Phil @ 4:28 pm

I’ve covered Finnish custody/abduction battles in the past (remember Outi Koski (http://www.finlandforthought.net/2007/02/21/outi-koski-thrown-in-us-jail/) or this strange fellow (http://www.finlandforthought.net/2006/01/05/another-outi-koski-situation/)?) - Here’s one about how the Finnish father abducted his son (http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/05/finnish-russian_custody_battle_makes_big_headlines_in_russ ia_744885.html) from the Russian mother, then the Finnish consulate in Russia drove them back to Finland…

In the interview, Anton’s mother describes how she met the boy’s father 15 years ago in Tallinn. After a few years she moved to Finland, but when Anton was born, over five years ago, his parents had already separated. The mother said that the Finnish father promised to take care of the boy after the divorce.

A few years later, relations between the two parents deteriorated, and the mother decided to leave Finland to live with a friend near Moscow, along with her son. While in Russia, she got her son Russian citizenship.

Izvestija wrote that in April this year Anton’s father decided to do as the mother hand done, and abduct the son and take him back to Finland.

The mother said that she was walking on the street with her son when the father, wearing dark glasses, abducted Anton. Father and son spent time at the Finnish consulate in St. Petersburg, until they fled to Finland, in a car driven by a Finnish diplomat.

33 Comments (some valid, some otherwise... umm... interesting) :p

“Here’s one about how the Finnish father abducted his son from the Russian mother, then the Finnish consulate in Russia drove them back to Finland”

Here’s one about how the Finnish father abducted his son BACK from the Russian mother, then the Finnish consulate in Russia drove them back to Finland.

Brings back chilling memories from the Cold War era. Only they weren’t kids who were hiding in the trunk back then..

* * *

The hypocrisy of Finns; there are lots of foreigners here, divorced from Finns, but forced to live here because they ca’t leave Finland with the children.Some of these foreigners include women ( mothers of the children.)Some of these foreigners are from peaceful countries with stable economies.

But the Finns can just go to another person’s land, and abduct a child, and it is alright! This is not the first time Finns have done this, and have been aided by the Finnish authorities!

* * *

Yeah, that’s the real shocker here IMO, the consulate supported all of this. Was he duped? Is there another side to this story?

* * *

“The hypocrisy of Finns; there are lots of foreigners here, divorced from Finns, but forced to live here because they ca’t leave Finland with the children.Some of these foreigners include women ( mothers of the children.)Some of these foreigners are from peaceful countries with stable economies.”

No, they are free to leave… without the children. The Finnish point of view isn’t necessarily pleasing the mother, but to do what’s best for the child. A child would unarguably have a very good life available in Finland. When it comes to education, social and medical care, and this kind of stuff, Finland is one of the best. Finland is also one of the safest countries in the world today. If the child is a citizen of Finland, the government will do what they can to make sure the kid is able to live here. When the kid is old enough, he is free to leave. The mother of this child is clearly mentally unbalanced if she thinks it’s best for the child to grow up in Moscow. Half of Russia would agree with that.

“But the Finns can just go to another person’s land, and abduct a child, and it is alright! This is not the first time Finns have done this, and have been aided by the Finnish authorities!”

The child was abducted to Russia. They only brought him back. It goes without saying, Finland is currently a better country for a child to grow up than Russia. The mother of the child is mentally unbalanced, she belongs to some weird religious cult group similar to these american babtists who are preaching all over the planet sharing the wisdom of The Lord.

“Yeah, that’s the real shocker here IMO, the consulate supported all of this.”

The real shocker? Well isn’t this what consulates are for, Phil?

* * *

Yeah, but to be born in Finland doesn’t make you a Finnish citizen , especially if your parents are foreigners or non- finnish citizens, unlike Usa, France and some other EU countries.

* * *

“No, they are free to leave… without the children. ” Can tell that you are not a parent. How can any parent leave a child behind? Impossible. So most of these unfortunate foreign parents stay in Finland, instead of leaving Finland without their children.

Finland is not the best country in the world.There are countries in the world better than Finland!

You talk of the Finnish education system being one of the best. I will disagree with you! Maybe the education for younger students is one of the best, but not at the tertiary level. I was schooled at one of the better tertairy level institutions in Finland, and though I am eternally grateful for the opportunity, I will also say, that it was of a lower standard than what I am used to.

Yes, the medical care and social security systems are among the best in the world! THAT IS A FACT!

But of what good are the best medical care and social security systems, when a child born and raised in Finland, is more likely to:
1) be depressed
2)become an alcoholic
3) commit suicide.

NB. Not all immigrants are from war ravaged, filthy poor,crime ridden , desolate places. Some are from peaceful countries which others refer to as “paradise”!

* * *

1) be depressed
2)become an alcoholic
3) commit suicide.

NB. Not all immigrants are from war ravaged, filthy poor,crime ridden , desolate places. Some are from peaceful countries which others refer to as “paradise”

if these are facts, what’s the point of Finland being one of the best place to live in?

* * *

“How can any parent leave a child behind? Impossible.”

For some reason you don’t think this applies to the father of Anton.

“So most of these unfortunate foreign parents stay in Finland, instead of leaving Finland without their children.”

Must be so hard for them, to live in the horrible Finland.

“Finland is not the best country in the world.”

Yes it is.

“There are countries in the world better than Finland!”

Rubbish.

“You talk of the Finnish education system being one of the best. I will disagree with you!”

So what.

“Maybe the education for younger students is one of the best, but not at the tertiary level.”

It’s very good on all levels.

“I was schooled at one of the better tertairy level institutions in Finland, and though I am eternally grateful for the opportunity, I will also say, that it was of a lower standard than what I am used to.”

Where have you used to a better level? Let’s discuss about this one in particular.

“a child born and raised in Finland, is more likely to:
1) be depressed
2)become an alcoholic
3) commit suicide.”

1) It’s called “seasonal affective disorder” or SAD. It’s counterpart is Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder or RSAD.
2) better than a drug addiction
3) if it’s that likely, every Finn would be dead already

“Some are from peaceful countries which others refer to as “paradise”!”

Yup. Sounds like Moscow. Streets paved with ****, drug and crime problems, daily car bombings, mafia wars, high unemployment, countless opportunities to fail in school, stressful environment… ah, what more could a child ask for..

* * *

Funny pathetic brainwash! Many persons in Europe grow up happier than in Finland.

* * *

And many persons in Finland grow up happier than elsewhere in Europe. Of course Moscow isn’t inevitably a bad place to live and grow up in, but this kid was a Finnish citizen who was abducted to Russia, and now abducted back. The situation is rather complicated.

(As for depression, alcoholism and suicide - those are all very severe problems in Russian society and generally far worse than in Finland)

* * *

“Finland is not the best country in the world.There are countries in the world better than Finland! ”

So then leave to your paradise and make everybody happy.

* * *

The case is messy. Its been in the papers for a couple years.

The case was first in news in 2008 “Religious sect abducts child to Russia”
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/200804047469553_uu.shtml

Basically you can follow the story unravelling - heres a good thread with links to news articles.
http://www.murha.info/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3580

* * *

Moscow? It was some nowheremäki town close to Nizhnyi Novgorod… not that where the father is from which is a nowheremäki town in Finland is any more metropolitan…

* * *

The child was abducted to Russia. They only brought him back.

Is that true? The article says otherwise. But they very well could be giving just one side of the story.

It goes without saying, Finland is currently a better country for a child to grow up than Russia.

That is arguable as much as it is laughable, and should have nothing to do with this case.

* * *

You are clearly the biggest idiot I have met (fortunately not face to face).

Finland is NOT any best place, you guys have NOT best education, your doctors are so stupid they make every tenth diagnosis wrong (today’s uutiseet), your living standards are c**p and the whole society is f*cked up either by alcohol or self-amiring brain washing.

And hey - f*ck off to your metsä man and preferably stay there. You will feel like in heaven.

Do you idiots Finns REALLY think that we like your country, that we want to steal it from you, that we enjoy being here? Vi..u, for most of us it’s a life or few years sentence. Lucky ones leave after some time, others have to suffer living among morons like you.

* * *

You know, if I’d be a stupid loser like you and come to Finland, I’d be very quiet and try to act so nobody would notice what an idiot I’d been. But then again it ain’t the intelligent foreigners that end up here whining is it?

* * *

If I was unlucky looser BORN in here, like you and the rest of the bolshevicks, I would keep my trap closed and not humilate myself spreading the **** lies about my country worldwidely. Those lies are disclosed immediately after anyone lands in Vantaa and spends a day in Helsinki “city”. Observation of Suomi life leads often to a severe culture shock. And thoughts of running away from here.
I don’t whine you idiot - I just point out to you that the paradise Suomi is not any ****ing great place as you picture it. So you can keep it to yourselves. Noone wants it, not even Russians.
Btw. I noticed you call ANYONE who criticizes your f..ing country an idiot. Is that a national style, implemented by your government to keep you bunch happy and satisfied with your poor lives?

* * *

@Phil: The background for the story is that over a year ago the father of Anton had spend time with his son as per the agreement between the parents. They all lived in Finland then. After the father returned the boy to the mother, she took him to Russia with people from her sect (the role of the sect in all of this is ambiguous) without telling the father. After few days this was revealed to the father as the mother told him in phone she had taken the boy to Russia and may not ever come back.

Over the next months the mother tried to get the son a Russian nationality which was at first denied as he was seen ineligible (don’t know exactly why). She tried it again in different places and finally managed to get him the nationality making it pretty much impossible for the father to claim any rights to his son considering that there are no child abduction laws between the two countries. The father contacted the Finnish consulate after finding where his son lived, and it became apparent that there are no diplomatic ways to get the boy back to Finland.

It’s a big unpleasant mess, but I find the version above quite plausible. The mother broke the deal trying to get herself and the boy to Russia against the mutual agreement, and not telling anything to the father can be easily seen as a conscious fraud. The father did “abduct” the son back to Finland but what choices was he left at that point?

* * *

The previous poster forgot to mention, that Anton’s father has tutelage over him, and his Russian citizenship has been annulled. So, the father just took back his son, who had been kidnapped by the mother.

* * *

What is it that the “intelligent foreigners” here do ? Clean your bathrooms or pick up litter off your streets ? Oh, oh, I know; all of the intelligent foreigners here are sitting in the streets or in the parks, PISSED DRUNK! Too drunk to even have an opinion on what is going on around them.

In that case, I rather be classified an unintelligent, idiotic, moron!!! Thank you.

* * *

“You are clearly the biggest idiot I have met (fortunately not face to face).”

You’re cute. Does your mum know you’re arguing here with the big boys?

“Finland is NOT any best place”

Yes it is.

“you guys have NOT best education”

Yes we do.

“your living standards are crap”

Compared to what?

“the whole society is f*cked up either by alcohol or self-amiring brain washing”

You’re just jealous.

“Do you idiots Finns REALLY think that we like your country”

Who’s “we”?

“that we enjoy being here?”

Apparently you do. You wouldn’t be here otherwise, would you?

“Lucky ones leave after some time, others have to suffer living among morons like you.”

This makes no sense at all. What prevented you from signing out today?

“Observation of Suomi life leads often to a severe culture shock.”

It does if you’re an idiot. You see, idiots think that every place on this planet should be just like home. They don’t know how to adjust themselves into the new environment, instead they try to change everything around themselves.

“And thoughts of running away from here.”

So what’s keeping you here?

“I just point out to you that the paradise Suomi is not any f**king great place as you picture it.”

Is for us.

“So you can keep it to yourselves.”

Oh thank you. You are very generous, my Lord.

“Noone wants it, not even Russians.”

Can you keep a secret? The Russians like Finland. There are 320,000 Russians living in Finland and their number increases every day. I actually have Russian friends. Imagine that. How many do you know?

“Btw. I noticed you call ANYONE who criticizes your f..ing country an idiot.”

No. Just you. Because you are.

“to keep you bunch happy and satisfied with your poor lives?”

Mine isn’t poor. I’m very happy and all of my friends, people I know, my family, are happy. Your writings seem very bitter to me. I can understand that though… life must be twice as hard for an idiot.

* * *

“Is that true? The article says otherwise. But they very well could be giving just one side of the story”

Phil, WTF? Don’t you read the articles you post yourself?? It says in the article:

Izvestija wrote that in April this year Anton’s father decided to do as the mother hand done, and abduct the son and take him back to Finland.

“That is arguable as much as it is laughable, and should have nothing to do with this case.”

Yeah well I’m just saying what my Russian friends are saying. How many do you have?

* * *

Well, for one thing, the “intelligent foreigners” (whatever that means) I’ve met over the years have adapted and live their lives as usual… work, play, raise a family… they do what ever it is that they want to do… and do it regardless of where in the world they reside at any given time. What they don’t do is compare themselves to a bunch of drunks on a park bench / heroin addicts in an alley, and make ridiculous generalizations about the entire population. Neither do they consistently whine, moan, and complain (or scream “Racism!!”) when they don’t get everything automatically served to them on a silver platter.

Based on your ridiculous observations and generalizations, general inability to differentiate between fact and complete bullsh*t, your incredible ability to consistently get a result of 1 everytime you add 2 to 3… not to mention your awesome problem solving skills while visiting a Finnish supermarket, I have to draw the conclusion that you certainly aren’t one of the “intelligent foreigners” and I probably wouldn’t hire you to even clean up bathrooms or pick up litter… not to mention to do a job requiring any kind of logical thinking. And before you start calling me a racist, etc…. trust me, it doesn’t have anything to do with where you are from or your genetic background. It’s all based on reading your postings on FFT. Now, if I was to apply your wonderful “intelligent” style of logical deduction, I should apply this way of thinking to all foreigners in Finland since if one apple is bad, they all must be, right? Sound familiar? But I don’t.

Maybe you should quit bullsh*tting yourself, stop externalizing the reasons why you can’t land a job (eventhough it is a strong psychological protection mechanism of the mind that we all use)… and take a long hard look in the f**king mirror. And if you can’t change what you see, move somewhere where your personal traits are considered virtues.

* * *

And that goes for all you… regardless of whether you are different indviduals or just different voices in that poster's head

* * *

At least I have an excuse for moaning and whining as you put it; I am a foreigner here trying to adapt.

What is your excuse for trolling every discussion board out there? Who knows, possibly you have already met me; I am the really friendly, cheerful foreigner. This board here , because it affords anonymity of sorts, allows me to discard my friendly persona, and say things which I would not normally say! Isn’t that how it works for most of us under the veil of anonymity?

Do not get me wrong, I also raise hell, when I feel I have been wronged. Have done so numerous times here in Finland, but normally, I am a cheerful person.

Like I have said before, I have a family here, am married to a Finn, have worked here in Finland, been to school in Finland, and am now back in school to get a Master’s degree. So yes, I have worked, played,and am raising a family in Finland.

* * *

Still, all this talk about parents causing this years-long, international incident-causing by mutually kidnapping their five year old son, and no one yet has mentioned what total f**king *sswipes they must be.

They get an F in parenting.

* * *

You wanna talk about depressed Finns? Take a look at this kid. The press even published his photo. What a tragedy for him to have this legacy behind him.

Home Sweet Home.

* * *

Your problem, is that you are stupid. Your fellow men might or might not find a problem with it, but it interaction with them suffers.

He said his opinion, I’m not having much to add to that.

* * *

If he is stupid - what does it make you? An imbecil?

* * *

You are so right and you have my 100% support.
Often I wonder - why there are so many dumb Finnish *sses on this forum anyway? This is foreign forum. They don’t like to read our opinions, then why not **** off to their caves as they usually suggest to us?
Anonymous or whoever that f.. troll is wrote “I’m very happy and all of my friends, people I know, my family, are happy”. Well, I say - give a monkey its banana and tree to jump on and it will feel happy even in a ZOO. A human however, thinking one, always tries to improve its living standards. But Anonymous and most of Finns writing here only prove that their long education does not mean a good education. Even 20 years of repeating ABC as they do here will not improve the avarage Finn’s IQ. That’s why the government here has such an easy task to rule this poor nation anyway they want to. As one Nazi officer said “the easiest way to conquer any nation is to make it drunk”. Well, kippis suomalaiset.

* * *

“Often I wonder - why there are so many dumb Finnish *sses on this forum anyway? This is foreign forum. They don’t like to read our opinions, then why not **** off to their caves as they usually suggest to us?”

If you don’t like opposing views then internet forums and blogs might not be the place for you.

The father kidnapped the child back after she had kidnapped the child, do you think that it was fair to keep the child away from the father after the kidnapping?

* * *

Thnks very much for the support! Some of these brainwashed people just can’t take any criticism of Finland, but they love criticizing other places!!

* * *

Only idiot will believe that diplomat acted on his own. Very well prepared action done by Finland.

Look at the hero who is using diplomatic car for moving people accross the border illegally.

Who is whining? It’s finland whinning now that Russia want to stop transit via Finland:)

This is typical Finnish mentality. They say f**k you Russia and then start whinning when Russia cuts their business:)))) Please russia don’t do it, think about us, you are our only hope, who else will use finnish ports for moving goods.

* * *

John - :smirk:

Troll

05-22-2009, 12:55pm

Very interesting

Myyde

05-22-2009, 3:15pm

Oh man! They are figuring us out! How did that happen..? Must be inside job. Who is it? Traitor!!!:p

FinnFreak

05-23-2009, 9:40am

;)

National Geographic Magazine - June 2009

Northern Light

At Oulanka National Park in Finland, a forest floor outshines the sky

http://gallery.agriskrusts.lv/photos/322106671_hsGqa-M.jpg

Click Here To View Photo Gallery (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/oulanka-national-park/essick-photography)

By Verlyn Klinkenborg

The next time I visit Oulanka National Park in the far north of Finland, I want to be two feet tall. That way the autumn mushrooms will come up to my knees, and I'll find myself walking in a waist-high forest of heather and lingonberries and crowberries and lichens. At that height, too, the wood-ant nests will tower over me. I will have to keep a sharp lookout for moose and reindeer, it's true.

Not that there's anything wrong with Oulanka at my normal height. Young Scotch pines grow on the slopes like closely spaced lances, and the old ones tower overhead, outgrowing the red of their bark as they age. The long winters and deep snows have trimmed the candle spruces into the slenderest of columns. In summer and fall the quiet northern light flickers on the leaves and the bark of silver and downy birches. This is the boreal forest, the forest that covers nearly all of Finland.

Here in Oulanka there is an uncharacteristic richness underfoot, a striking biodiversity, especially for a landscape that lies just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle. The main reason is limestone, an extrusion of youngish dolomitic rock—composed largely of carbonates—overlying the older granites and gneisses that make up the bedrock in so much of the rest of Scandinavia. The carbonate helps neutralize what would otherwise be acidic soils, and it adds critical nutrients. "Without the limestone," says Pirkko Siikamäki, head of the University of Oulu's Oulanka Research Station, at the heart of the park, "Oulanka would be just like the rest of Finland."

Instead, Oulanka is unlike almost anything else in the Finnish landscape, a place where a surprising number of biological zones converge. Because of its topographical diversity—high fells and low river valleys, mires, bogs, and alluvial grasslands—it is a kind of crossroads for species that normally do not overlap. Here is one of the few places where European, Arctic, and even Siberian species come together, mingling at the very edge of their ranges.

I came to Oulanka, as so many visitors do, to witness the grandeur of its glacial landforms—especially the canyons carved by the Oulanka River, which flows eastward through the park toward the border of Russia, just a few miles away. But the farther I hiked along the park's popular footpath, the Karhunkierros (Bear's Ring) Trail, the less I found myself noticing the major features of this landscape: the kettle holes—basins created by melting boulders of ice left behind by glaciers—or the gaping crevices worn away by the Oulanka River, or even the canopy of pine and spruce boughs overhead. Instead, I found myself lost in contemplation of the forest floor.

The word "floor" does not capture the intricacy, the complexity of this terrain. The word is too two-dimensional, too dismissive. This is not the flat, dry mat of needles you often find in the conifer forests of the American West. The needles you do see on the surface here—thrust aside by upspringing mushrooms or caught up in the leaves of a lingonberry—are like a roof of thatch on an interconnected, underground city. This is a place where the years can be measured in voles, especially the bank vole and field vole, which bore through the mass of low-lying plants at ground level. Some years vole numbers boom, thanks to abundant food and few disease outbreaks. A good vole year—plenty of voles everywhere—is good for just about every meat-eating member of the food chain: foxes, stoats, weasels, owls and other birds of prey. A bad vole year—and the past few years have been disappointing—is a bad year for predators in general.

In a sense, the forest in Oulanka is not made up of trees. The trees are woven together into a forest by the biotic community at their roots, by the stunning variety of beetles, plants, lichens, and mushrooms. These species are all sheltered by the canopy of branches above them, and in turn they help break down and circulate nutrients in the soil.

Above all, the forest is woven together by wood ants. One afternoon, near the aapa mires —the wet peatlands—on the sandy northern edge of the park, I sat and watched an ant colony at work. Its mound, some three feet tall, looked like the great shoulder hump of a brown bear with pine needle fur. The mound swarmed with small red ants making their way in and out of several entrances. The movement was so constant, so determined, that the entire mound seemed to be shifting in and out of focus before my eyes.

And yet this was just the superficial activity of these ants. In fact, their trails lead all over the forest: underground, aboveground, up the trunks of the trees, and out onto the highest branches. The ants recycle everything around them, including dead insects. They farm aphids for their honeydew. Wherever there are wood ants there are also richer populations of earthworms and richer nutrients in the soil. Brown bears tear the nests apart, foraging for grubs, and they have been known to hibernate in the soft earth inside the mounds.

In themselves, the ant colonies—some of which may be as old as Oulanka's mature trees—constitute large-scale organisms that suppress the presence of other insects. If all the biomass in an ant colony were concentrated into a single individual capable of wandering over the landscape and showing its true biological proportions, it would tower over even the biggest bear. In short, wood ants play a vital role in regulating the economy of the forest in Oulanka. They are its keystone species.

National parks preserve more than the life and scenery within them. They also preserve the cultural assumptions of the nations that create them. Like the rest of Finland's parks, Oulanka helps preserve an intense cultural bond with the forest, part of the annual, and deeply beloved, Finnish retreat to the countryside in summer and fall.

Throughout Oulanka—in its campgrounds, on its swinging bridges and well-groomed trails—I met hikers carrying bags of edible mushrooms they had gathered along the way. In an American national park such as Yellowstone this would be illegal. But the Finns cherish a custom called "everyman's right." Among other things, this allows any person to gather berries and mushrooms—though not wood or lichens or mosses—wherever they like, including Oulanka.

To an American sensibility, the reindeer are perhaps the most puzzling inhabitants of Oulanka National Park. Singly and in small herds, they move through the park grazing on mushrooms and lichens and green plants. The reindeer are soft gray in color, often with white hair growing down their legs to their hooves, which gives them the appearance of wearing spats. In this setting they look entirely natural, a Finnish version of mule deer or elk. And yet these are semidomesticated reindeer, sources of meat and pelts that wear ear tags and collars, whose owners will gather them in the fall and corral them through the winter.

All of Oulanka National Park is considered part of the local reindeer herding range. It's as though Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, which is just slightly smaller than Oulanka, were part of the local grazing district, and cattle were turned loose into its alpine meadows during the summer.

Corralling and feeding the reindeer during the winter has reduced the damage they do to the undergrowth in Oulanka. There is a feeling among some Finns, however, that the days of the reindeer herder are numbered, at least in this part of the country. The work is simply too hard, and the dividends too small.

For all its serenity—the quiet oxbows on the river, the deep stillness of the upland mires and spruce stands—Oulanka bears some scars of modern history. This is an old, old land, but a very young park, for Oulanka was established only in 1956. The locals can show you the sites of machine-gun emplacements high above the river, and they will remind you—with feeling that still seems very fresh—that the Finns fought the Russians bitterly in the early days of World War II. If you drive to the boundary zone, a metal gate blocks the road. But it does not block the geology or the biological communities that make Oulanka so rich. They continue across the border into what was once Finnish territory but is now a Russian national park called Paanajärvi.

Kari Lahti, the director of Oulanka National Park, talks to his Russian counterpart in Paanajärvi almost every week. Together they are trying to find a way to make the two parks one, from the visitor's perspective at least. Perhaps someday it will be possible to step into a canoe, slip away from the sandy banks of the Oulanka River, and drift into Russia, uninterrupted by anything more than a family of goosanders taking flight.

But you might not want to. Once you've seen a wood-ant nest, or the autumnal uprising of mushrooms, or the ground white with reindeer lichens, you may find yourself wandering among them in your mind, two feet tall in a realm where voles are the size of sheep and an acre of Oulanka is a whole world.

John - ;)

Paul

05-23-2009, 9:43am

Sami Hyypia plays his final game for Liverpool tomorrow. :( What a legend he has been, thank you Finland. :bow:

Myyde

05-23-2009, 3:15pm

Plays, if they doesn`t forget him in the doghouse again. Release the dog!!!:p

Paul

05-23-2009, 3:20pm

Well I would still play him even at 35, he is a top player...he really has been a terrific player for Liverpool for the last 10 years and all the fans will miss him.

Groucho

05-23-2009, 4:46pm

Wow! Oulanka National Park is so beautiful and diverse. Thank God for places like these being protected. Lots of interesting pics. Your other photos of the "soul" in Summer and Fall were also very good. Thanks a lot!!!

Paul

05-24-2009, 2:47pm

Sami's last game for Liverpool...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/melmanshania/n67920382572_2491783_3907683.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/melmanshania/n67920382572_2491781_7564468.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/melmanshania/4704_99592642572_67920382572_249178.jpg

shaniafan339

05-24-2009, 2:49pm

That's neat! ;)
Cool pictures!

Paul

05-24-2009, 2:51pm

It was really sad, he has been a real hero for 10 years and a great guy. Finland has produced some real sporting legends and he is up there with the best.

shaniafan339

05-24-2009, 2:52pm

Good for him! ;)

Troll

05-24-2009, 2:53pm

Great pics

FinnFreak

05-25-2009, 4:28am

LA Weekly

Rock Picks:

IRINA BJORKLUND AT THE HOTEL CAFÉ

http://static.iltalehti.fi/viihde/juttubjorklund2405JID_vi.jpg
Irina Björklund

Irina Bjorklund is a striking figure onstage, wielding her musical saw like a fearsome weapon — which it literally is. Far from being a mere novelty performer, the Finnish actor-singer bends and manipulates her saw to coax out quivering, high-pitched sounds that have a chillingly alien beauty. The musical saw is similar to a more-controllable theremin, and, when its glassy waves are combined with Bjorklund’s warm, soft folk-pop cooing (in Finnish, English, Swedish and French), the effect can be quite haunting. Much of the impact depends on the songwriting, which ranges from mysteriously alluring ballads like “So She Runs” and the eerie “Natascha’s Bee Song” to blander easy-listening pop tunes like “Leroy.” She’s less mysterious and more lighthearted in Vintage Espresso, a pop side project with guitarist/co-songwriter Peter Fox, but even a sleepy Western instrumental like “Sawlero” is enchanting when her saw hovers overhead like a shimmering spacecraft. (Falling James)

John - ;)

Troll

05-25-2009, 9:04am

Saw playing is cool.

shaniafan339

05-25-2009, 3:01pm

Neat ;)

FinnFreak

05-26-2009, 10:28am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Tuesday 26.5.2009

Finns - masters of silence

American academic sees positive sides to phenomenon that embarrasses many Finns

By Antti Tiainen

Being silent is a natural skill that Finns are very good at. It’s just that we have never actually talked about it much. Fortunately, Michael Berry, an American academic who has settled in Mynämäki, has clarified the phenomenon somewhat.

We could start with one example: a Finnish girl is being driven by her American friend through the Appalachian mountains. The Finn is captivated by the magnificent scenery, which she admires in silent awe.

After a moment the driver stops the car, turns to her and says in a sharp tone: “Now, you tell me what’s bothering you!”.

The American had interpreted the Finn’s silence as a sign of discontent.

Such misunderstandings are familiar to Berry, who teaches inter-cultural communication at the Turku School of Economics.

They are influenced by an imperialism of “discomfort with silence” that can be called “silence is unpleasant”, to which Finns need to respond by explaining the multiple visual messages that silence can convey.

First, it is necessary to reject an imperialist “talk vs. silent” yardstick for interpreting communication.

Silence can be interpreted and communicated as active or passive as well as positive or negative, Berry says.

It all depends on interpretation and social context.

In Berry’s English language courses, Finnish silence is often perceived as negative shyness, and even coldness.

Once an international group of students had again ended up talking about how speaking is something positive, and silence is negative.

At this point Berry asked one of the Finnish students in the group to describe a thoughtful Finn.

The answer was: the person listens and thinks while others are talking, but also talks when it is one’s turn to talk, and feels that he or she has something meaningful to share with the others.

So, the Finn is often initially silent, but in an active and positive sense.

Finns are certainly quite capable of sulking in silence and being indifferent - that is, of being silent in a negative manner.

Berry’s aim is to shake the Finns away from negative stereotypes about themselves.

He has written a book on the subject, in collaboration with four other writers, titled That’s Not Me.

“You Finns are lucky because you are able to enjoy both silence and speech”, he points out.

Berry has lived in Finland for more than 30 years, and has learned to enjoy Finnish silence.

Nowadays he can actually become uncomfortable in the company of the kinds of Americans who always try to keep conversations going at any cost.

The real challenge, according to Berry, is to make it clear to others how culturally rich our propensity for silence is.

“Finns learn already in their childhood that being quiet is acceptable behaviour. But it is taken as something that is self-evident, and Finns rarely know how to explain it to people who have not grown up in the same way”, Berry explains.

Berry has noticed that cheerful Swedish-speaking Finns and jovial South Karelians are more likely to feel awkward about silence than other Finns.

However, he feels that they also know how to interpret and enjoy Finnish taciturnity.

“Finnish silence is not silence, even if the dictionary convinces us so”, one of the students on Berry’s course once wrote.

Let us reflect on that in silence.

John - ;)

Troll

05-26-2009, 1:05pm

Very interesting

FinnFreak

05-26-2009, 2:20pm

I've heared many foreign musical performers wonder what's wrong with the Finnish audience: they seem to stand totally still during the first numbers, then go absolutely crazy towards the end - it's the show of respect through silence... but, it's silently disappearing, methinks...

John - ;)

Myyde

05-26-2009, 4:10pm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/melmanshania/n67920382572_2491783_3907683.jpg

:great:

Well, now you have to survive 2-3 year without any Finns on your team, might be difficult, but hang in there...:p

PS. Don`t ruin that finnish guy who is on your academy...best thing since "Litti" if not even better...;)

FinnFreak

05-28-2009, 9:12am

The Economist - 25 May, 2009

Asia loses top spot for business-friendliness to Finland

“Here is a winner from the global economic downturn — Finland, which has eclipsed Hong Kong and Singapore as the world’s most business-friendly place – but the environment for doing business will worsen in many places because of the crisis, a new survey shows.

Of 82 economies surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit for its business environment rankings, conditions are expected to worsen in more than half. And for the first time since the survey was launched in 1996, the average score for the economies surveyed has fallen — dropping from 6.47 to 6.41 out of 10.

Bearing out this point, Singapore’s score fell nearly twice as much as Hong Kong’s — by 0.61 points, to 8.27 out of 10, compared with the latter’s 0.36 point drop, to 8.24, the same as Canada, in third place. Finland, the home of mobile-phone giant Nokia, scored 8.31.

The new rankings are for the period from this year to 2013. The previous rankings were for 2004 to 2008. The survey measures the business environment based on 91 indicators covering macroeconomic conditions, politics and policy on taxes, the labour market, investment and infrastructure.”

John - ;)

FinnFreak

05-29-2009, 10:32am

The New York Times - May 29, 2009

In Finland, Nuclear Renaissance Runs Into Trouble

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/28/world/nuke.650.jpg
After four years of construction and thousands of recorded defects and deficiencies, the price tag on the reactor
in Olkiluoto, Finland, has climbed at least 50 percent.

By JAMES KANTER

OLKILUOTO, Finland — As the Obama administration tries to steer America toward cleaner sources of energy, it would do well to consider the cautionary tale of this new-generation nuclear reactor site.

The massive power plant under construction on muddy terrain on this Finnish island was supposed to be the showpiece of a nuclear renaissance. The most powerful reactor ever built, its modular design was supposed to make it faster and cheaper to build. And it was supposed to be safer, too.

But things have not gone as planned.

After four years of construction and thousands of defects and deficiencies, the reactor’s 3 billion euro price tag, about $4.2 billion, has climbed at least 50 percent. And while the reactor was originally meant to be completed this summer, Areva, the French company building it, and the utility that ordered it, are no longer willing to make certain predictions on when it will go online.

While the American nuclear industry has predicted clear sailing after its first plants are built, the problems in Europe suggest these obstacles may be hard to avoid.

A new fleet of reactors would be standardized down to “the carpeting and wallpaper,” as Michael J. Wallace, the chairman of UniStar Nuclear Energy — a joint venture between EDF Group and Constellation Energy, the Maryland-based utility — has said repeatedly.

In the end, he says, that standardization will lead to significant savings.

But early experience suggests these new reactors will be no easier or cheaper to build than the ones of a generation ago, when cost overruns — and then accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl — ended the last nuclear construction boom.

In Flamanville, France, a clone of the Finnish reactor now under construction is also behind schedule and overbudget.

In the United States, Florida and Georgia have changed state laws to raise electricity rates so that consumers will foot some of the bill for new nuclear plants in advance, before construction even begins.

“A number of U.S. companies have looked with trepidation on the situation in Finland and at the magnitude of the investment there,” said Paul L. Joskow, a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a co-author of an influential report on the future of nuclear power in 2003. “The rollout of new nuclear reactors will be a good deal slower than a lot of people were assuming.”

For nuclear power to have a high impact on reducing greenhouse gases, an average of 12 reactors would have to be built worldwide each year until 2030, according to the Nuclear Energy Agency at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Right now, there are not even enough reactors under construction to replace those that are reaching the end of their lives.

And of the 45 reactors being built around the world, 22 have encountered construction delays, according to an analysis prepared this year for the German government by Mycle Schneider, an energy analyst and a critic of the nuclear industry. He added that nine do not have official start-up dates.

Most of the new construction is underway in countries like China and Russia, where strong central governments have made nuclear energy a national priority. India also has long seen nuclear as part of a national drive for self-sufficiency and now is seeking new nuclear technologies to reduce its reliance on imported uranium.

By comparison, “the state has been all over the place in the United States and Europe on nuclear power,” Mr. Joskow said.

The United States generates about one-fifth of its electricity from a fleet of 104 reactors, most built in the 1960s and 1970s. Coal still provides about half the country’s power.

To streamline construction, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington has worked with the industry to approve a handful of designs. Even so, the schedule to certify the most advanced model from Westinghouse, a unit of Toshiba, has slipped during an ongoing review of its ability to withstand the impact of an airliner.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has also not yet approved the so-called EPR design under construction in Finland for the American market.

This month, the United States Energy Department produced a short list of four reactor projects eligible for some loan guarantees. In the 2005 energy bill, Congress provided $18.5 billion, but the industry’s hope of winning an additional $50 billion worth of loan guarantees evaporated when that money was stripped from President Obama’s economic stimulus bill.

The industry has had more success in getting states to help raise money. This year, authorities permitted Florida Power & Light to start charging millions of customers several dollars a month to finance four new reactors. Customers of Georgia Power, a subsidiary of the Southern Co., will pay on average $1.30 a month more in 2011, rising to $9.10 by 2017, to help pay for two reactors expected to go online in 2016 or later.

But resistance is mounting. In April, Missouri legislators balked at a preconstruction rate increase, prompting the state’s largest electric utility, Ameren UE, to suspend plans for a $6 billion copy of Areva’s Finnish reactor.

Areva, a conglomerate largely owned by the French state, is heir to that nation’s experience in building nuclear plants. France gets about 80 percent of its power from 58 reactors. But even France has not completed a new reactor since 1999.

After designing an updated plant originally called the European Pressurized Reactor with German participation during the 1990s, the French had trouble selling it at home because of a saturated energy market as well as opposition from Green Party members in the then-coalition government.

So Areva turned to Finland, where utilities and energy-hungry industries like pulp and paper had been lobbying for 15 years for more nuclear power. The project was initially budgeted at $4 billion and Teollisuuden Voima, the Finnish utility, pledged it would be ready in time to help the Finnish government meet its greenhouse gas targets under the Kyoto climate treaty, which runs through 2012.

Areva promised electricity from the reactor could be generated more cheaply than from natural gas plants. Areva also said its model would deliver 1,600 megawatts, or about 10 percent of Finnish power needs.

In 2001, the Finnish parliament narrowly approved construction of a reactor at Olkiluoto, an island on the Baltic Sea. Construction began four years later.

Serious problems first arose over the vast concrete base slab for the foundation of the reactor building, which the country’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority found too porous and prone to corrosion. Since then, the authority has blamed Areva for allowing inexperienced subcontractors to drill holes in the wrong places on a vast steel container that seals the reactor.

In December, the authority warned Anne Lauvergeon, the chief executive of Areva, that “the attitude or lack of professional knowledge of some persons” at Areva was holding up work on safety systems.

Today, the site still teems with 4,000 workmen on round-the-clock shifts. Banners from dozens of subcontractors around Europe flutter in the breeze above temporary offices and makeshift canteens. Some 10,000 people speaking at least eight different languages have worked at the site. About 30 percent of the workforce is Polish, and communication has posed significant challenges.

Areva has acknowledged that the cost of a new reactor today would be as much as 6 billion euros, or $8 billion, double the price offered to the Finns. But Areva said it was not cutting any corners in Finland. The two sides have agreed to arbitration, where they are both claiming more than 1 billion euros in compensation. (Areva blames the Finnish authorities for impeding construction and increasing costs for work it agreed to complete at a fixed price.)

Areva announced a steep drop in earnings last year, which it blamed mostly on mounting losses from the project.

In addition, nuclear safety inspectors in France have found cracks in the concrete base and steel reinforcements in the wrong places at the site in Flamanville. They also have warned Électricité de France, the utility building the reactor, that welders working on the steel container were not properly qualified.

On top of such problems come the recession, weaker energy demand, tight credit and uncertainty over future policies, said Caren Byrd, an executive director of the global utility and power group at Morgan Stanley in New York.

“The warning lights now are flashing more brightly than just a year ago about the cost of new nuclear,” she said.

And Jouni Silvennoinen, the project manager at Olkiluoto, said, “We have had it easy here. Olkiluoto is at least a geologically stable site. Earthquake risks in places like China and the United States or even the threat of storm surges mean building these reactors will be even trickier elsewhere.”

Matthew L. Wald contributed reporting from Washington.

John - :smirk:

Troll

05-29-2009, 12:48pm

Very interesting stuff

shaniafan339

06-06-2009, 2:52am

Interesting.. Thanks.. ;)

FinnFreak

06-06-2009, 4:04am

I think it shows pretty well how corruption is handled over here.

John - ;)

Myyde

06-09-2009, 2:40am

More good reasons to raise electricity price. Started to be bit boring, too cold here or too cold there, too hot here(?) too hot there, too dry here(?) or too dry there, too wet here, too wet there...always good weather to raise price.:smirk:

***

Real Shania on TV today.;)

I Heart Huckabees

21:00 - 22:45 TV1 Elokuva

USA 2004, 100'
Veikeä komedia ympäristöaktivistista, joka palkkaa kaksi yksityisetsivää selvittämään elämänsä outoja sattumuksia. O: David O. Russell. N: Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Isabelle Huppert.

Any recommendations? Too extreme?:p

FinnFreak

06-09-2009, 5:30am

It has it's moments.

John - :p

EilleenTwain88

06-10-2009, 4:03am

Actually I turned to TV1 when Lily Rush was on commercial and after Cold Case finished our boys - for some strange reason since they are NOT Shania fans - wanted to watch this thing into its bitter end.

I thought it was - hmmm - strange.

FinnFreak

06-11-2009, 9:42am

Screendaily.com - ‎Jun 4, 2009‎

Gaming firm Unibet saves $14.2m Mannerheim

http://www.geocities.com/a_f_g_m_v/mannerheim.jpg
A film on Finnish historical legend Carl Gustaf Emil
Mannerheim will be filmed thanks to Unibet gaming
firm.

The production of $14.2m (€10m) Mannerheim, the most expensive Finnish feature, is back on track after securing new funding from a gaming company.

Solar Films producer Markus Selin signed a deal with online betting operator, Unibet Group, earlier this week. It is the first time the company has funded a film.

Unibet chief executive Petter Nylander said: “We have been looking for a culture-related project for some time, and Mannerheim is better than we could have imagined.”

The film is being directed by Renny Harlin and is biopic of Finnish historical legend Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. It will commence principal photography on Aug 17, on location near Joensuu, Askainen and the capital of Helsinki.

Most of the film will lense in Lithuania, with second unit shooting in St Petersburg and Rovaniemi-Lapland, among others. The world première, originally scheduled for January 15 this year has been delayed to October 22. Local distribution and international sales are still open.

Solar Films publicity manager Rampe Toivonen said: “We are currently checking the availability of the original cast which should have started filming in March. “However, it is absolutely certain that Mikko Nousiainen will play the lead.”

Scripted by Heikki Vihinen and Marko Leino, Mannerheim will be produced by Selin and Jukka Helle for Solar Films (partly owned by Danish major, Nordisk Film) and Liberty Productions. The Finnish Film Foundation has chipped in $638,000 (€450,000) for the project.

Finnish commercial broadcaster MTV3 Finland has signed for local TV rights, and Selin has secured $1.7m (€1.1m) from non-film-industry partners/marketing collaborators, including VR, Sinebrychoff, Neste Oil, Fortum, Muuttopalvelu Niemi and Helsingin Sanomat.

Mannerheim tells the story the life of the Swedish-speaking nobleman, who served the Russian Tsar, before he returned to Finland in 1917 to become the father and later president of his country. He died in 1951. Oscar-winning make-up artist Greg Cannom will be in charge of his ageing looks.

John - ;)

Myyde

06-12-2009, 1:03pm

Last friday on finnish TV.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/Myyde/misc/tartumikkiin.jpg

Dääääääääääääääämn! Why i posted that one.:banghead:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/Myyde/misc/pbuc.jpg

Now i have to upgrade to pro version, so i can see where that pic went.:funny: (Unless someone wanna share that information??)

FinnFreak

06-15-2009, 6:35am

:shocked:

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Monday 15.6.2009

Member of Herlin industrial dynasty held hostage for over two weeks

Kidnapping of Minna Nurminen unprecedented in Finland

A dramatic kidnapping drama came to an end in the early hours of Saturday, with the release of 26-year-old Minna Nurminen.

Nurminen is a member of the Herlin family, which owns the elevator manufacturer Kone, and was abducted from her home in Helsinki on May 27th.

The kidnapper(s) had demanded a large ransom in exchange for Nurminen’s freedom.

Nurminen was found unharmed in a forest in the southwestern community of Vahto on Saturday morning.

Two hours after Nurminen was found, police arrested a middle-aged Turku man in connection with the kidnapping.

Police did not immediately say if Nurminen knew her kidnapper. However, the commercial television network Nelonen reported in a news broadcast on Saturday that the suspect, named as Juha Turunen, was a 44-year-old corporate lawyer and had been a candidate for the social Democratic Party in municipal elections, and had held a job with the University of Turku.

“Nurminen left her home against her will”, says Kari Tolvanen of the Helsinki police.

A large ransom had been paid by Hanna Nurminen, the chair of the Kone Foundation, and farmer Jaakko Nurminen for the release of their daughter Minna, when police pursued a suspect in the kidnapping in the centre of Turku on Friday.

The police chased the man into a parking garage in Turku, when the suspect dropped part of the ransom money.

The kidnappers had threatened to harm Nurminen if the police got involved in the events.

To protect Minna Nurminen, the police decided to deliberately lie to the media on the money in the parking garage.

“The strange thing is that we know of no original crime from where the money might have originated”, stated Timo Malinen of the Turku police to Helsingin Sanomat on Friday.

“The Turku police gave the statement at my request”, Tolvanen admitted on Saturday.

“The hostage was being held by the suspect, and for that reason we were not able to come out with the truth of the matter, and had to hold back information”, Tolvanen said.

Nurminen was reported missing three days after the abduction, at a time when there was no knowledge that a crime was involved in her disappearance.

The arrival of the ransom demand sparked a major operation, involving police units, as well as personnel of the Defence Forces, the Border Guard, and Finnish Customs.

A paper shopping bag full of money was found in the parking garage.

Tolvanen said that only part of the money was in the parking garage.

Nelonen reported that a ransom of EUR 10 million was paid. The banknotes were real, according to the police, and had been provided by Nurminen’s family.

Nurminen was in good physical condition when she was found, and police have interviewed her about the ordeal.

Police say that she had not been mistreated.

It was not immediately disclosed where the hostage and her abductor or abductors had spent the previous couple of weeks.

The Herlin family is among the most well-known of Finnish industrial dynasties.

Members of the family remain among the principal owners of the elevator company Kone and the cargo handling equipment manufacturers Cargotec. Kone was the 13th-largest Finnish company by turnover in 2008.

The kidnap victim is the daughter of Hanna Nurminen, who is in turn the eldest of five children fathered by the late Pekka Herlin (1932-2003).

Kone came into being in 1924, and grew into a large industrial concern during the era of Pekka Herlin's father Heikki Herlin (1901-1989).

John - :shocked:

Myyde

06-17-2009, 9:16am

Lauantaina 16:15 - 16:45 TV2

Upea Anne esittää englanniksi naisvokalistien hittejä. Mukana kappaleita artisteilta kuten: Shania Twain, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Carpenters ja Fairground Attraction.

;)

FinnFreak

06-17-2009, 9:22am

:huh: - Kuka Anne..?

* tarkistaa *

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Anne_Mattila_Vihre%C3%A4t_Niityt_musiikkitapahtuma ssa_kes%C3%A4ll%C3%A4_2005.jpg/255px-Anne_Mattila_Vihre%C3%A4t_Niityt_musiikkitapahtuma ssa_kes%C3%A4ll%C3%A4_2005.jpg

Anne Sisko Mattila (s. 31. toukokuuta 1984 Karvia) on karvialainen iskelmätähti. Hän on lähtöisin seitsemänlapsisesta perheestä. Hänen sisarensa Anneli ja Anniina Mattila ovat laulajia ja myös perheen nuorin tytär Anitta Mattila laulaa sekä tekee omia keikkoja.

Anne Mattilan ensimmäinen julkinen esiintyminen oli 9-vuotiaana Kauhajoella. Keikkailun hän aloitti 11-vuotiaana kauhajokelaisen Risto Ala-Ikkelän orkesterin solistina. Vuotta myöhemmin Mattila hakeutui Asko Järvelän yhtyeen solistiksi esiintyen yhtyeen solistina vajaat pari vuotta pääasiassa erilaisissa pienimmissä tilaisuuksissa. Samoihin aikoihin hänellä oli myös ensimmäinen oma konsertti Karviassa. Laulu-uran alku-aikoina hän osallistui menestyksellisesti useisiin laulukilpailuihin joista voi mainita esimerkiksi jo 13 -vuotiaana voitettu jenkanlaulun Suomen mestaruus. Syksyllä 2000 Mattila vaihtoi säestäväksi yhtyeekseen Maestrot -yhtyeen. Hänen ensimmäinen tv-esiintymisensä oli samana syksynä YLE TV2:n Huvin vuoksi -ohjelman Tähtiputkessa.

Ensimmäisen levytyksensä Mattila teki jo vuonna 1998. Vuonna 2000 hän solmi levytyssopimuksen BMG levy-yhtiöön. Suuren yleisön tietoisuuteen hän ponnahti kesällä 2001 julkaistuilla Jori Sivosen säveltämillä ja Vexi Salmen sanoittamilla singleillä Asfalttiviidakko ja Pienen hetken. Singlet nousivat pikavauhtia Suomen soittolistojen kärkeen. Singlejä seurasi huhtikuussa 2002 julkaistu albumi Anne Mattila. Albumi Anne Mattila myi loppukesästä kultaa ja seuraavana vuonna platinaa. Mattilan seuraava albumi Enkeleitä, onko heitä julkaistiin lokakuussa 2003 ja levy saavutti kultalevyrajan parissa viikossa. Hän on levyttänyt kaikkiaan 12 albumia ja saavuttanut kaksi platina- ja viisi kultalevyä. Annen viimeisin pitkäsoitto ilmestyi vuonna 2008. ”On siitä aikaa, kun radiota kuunneltiin” -nimeä kantava levy pitää sisällään Suomeksi käännettyjä versioita Carpenters -yhtyeen suosituimmista kappaleista. Mattilan siskokset ovat levyttäneet yhteisen joululaululevyn ja esiintyneet useissa yhteiskonserteissa. Syksyllä 2008 siskokset tekivät ensimmäisen laajamittaisen konsertti kiertueen joka käsitti kymmenen konserttia eri paikkakunnilla. Kiertueen jatkoksi sisarukset esiintyivät viikon Iskelmän -risteilyllä Punaisella merellä Egyptissä sekä Jordaniassa.

Vuodesta 2002 lähtien Mattilan taustalla on soittanut Mistral-orkesteri. Hän tekee nykyään vuosittain yli 150 keikkaa ja on eräs kysytyimmistä iskelmälaulajista maassamme.kenen mukaan?

Anne Mattila oli ehdokkaana Iskelmä Finlandia -palkinnon saajaksi vuodelle 2007.

Hänen vapaa-ajan harrastuksiinsa kuuluu öljyvärimaalaus, askartelu ja lenkkeily.

Huomionosoitukset

Vuoden tanssittaja tulokas (2002) (Lavakauden Päättäjäiset, Ikaalinen)
Vuoden tanssittaja (2003) (Lavakauden Päättäjäiset, Ikaalinen)
Kullervo Linna - palkinto (2005)
Vuoden naisartisti 2006 (Iskelmä)
Iskelmä-Finlandia -ehdokkuus (2007)

Mistral taustayhtyeen kokoonpano

Jukka "Sputnik" Nurmi (basso, taustalaulu)
Juha "Farmari" Haapio (kitara, taustalaulu)
Kari "Kille" Tenkula (rummut, taustalaulu)
TJ "Räyski" Määttä (acc, koskettimet, taustalaulu)

Diskografia

Albumit

Yksinäinen hiekkaranta (Anne Mattila & 4 muuta artistia) (1999)
Tunteita riittää (1999)
Anne Mattila (2002) – platinalevy 2004
Enkeleitä onko heitä (2003) – platinalevy 2003
Unihiekkaa (2004) – kultalevy 2004
Minun joululauluni (Anne Mattila & siskot) (2004) (Vuoden 2004 joululevy /radioiden musiikkitoimittajat)
Maailman onnellisin tyttö (kokoelma) (2005)
Kaikki parhaat (kokoelma) (2005) – kultalevy 2005
Perutaan häät (2005) – kultalevy 2005
Tyynyyn jäljet jää (2006) - kultalevy 2007
Nyt voimme jatkaa (2007)
40 Unohtumatonta laulua (kokoelma) (2008)
On siitä aikaa, kun radiota kuunneltiin (2008)

Singlet (vinyylisingle)

Unihiekkaa (2004)
En tietää mä voi (2004)

Singlet

Casablanca / Ystävälle myrskyssä (1999)
Muistojen sillalla (1999)
Tähdet ja Kuu (1999)
Onnen amuletti (2000)
Valveuni / Rakkauden kaipuu (2000)
Rakasta mua, pidä tiukemmin / Maailman onnellisin tyttö (2000)
Asfalttiviidakko (2001)
Pienen hetken (2001)
Kun syntyy sieluun silta (2002)
Sielu salamoi (Anne, Anneli Mattila ja Janne Tulkki) (2002)
Valokuva (2002)
Enkeleitä onko heitä (2003)
Tuhlaajatyttö palaa (2003)
Kutsuvasti rummut soivat (Anne ja Anneli Mattila) (2003)
Unihiekkaa (2004)
En tietää mä voi (2004)
Perutaan häät (2005)
Tyynyyn jäljet jää (2006)
Kaipuuni on uskomaton (2006)
Kun silmät suljen (2007)
Nyt voimme jatkaa (2007)
Katsees kuin tulta (2007)
Hei postimies (Anne ja siskot) (2008)
Käy luonain eilinen (2008)

Aiheesta muualla

Anne Mattila (http://www.annemattila.com/) (kotisivut)
pronmusic.se - Anne Mattila (http://www.pronmusic.se/Anne%20gallery.htm)
Suomen SonyBMG (http://www.sonybmg.fi/) (Annen levy-yhtiö)
YLEn Elävä arkisto: Mattilan laulavat sisarukset (http://yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=8&ag=94&t=662)

Haettu osoitteesta http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Mattila

No sepäs oli upeaa.

John - ;)

Myyde

06-17-2009, 3:25pm

Eikös näin isot starat pitäs tuntee jo pelkästä etunimestä? ;)

Näköjään tulee ensimmäisen kerran jo perjantaina klo. 20:30. Noh, ei muuta ku jäänestoainetta koneeseen, pitäs toimia.:p

FinnFreak

06-17-2009, 5:18pm

Sounds promising - I've been listening to The Carpenters quite a bit lately.

John - :cool:

EilleenTwain88

06-22-2009, 6:33am

I just listened this show in www.yle.fi.

Her TWIM was really good, but Mattila IS one of the best female singers in Finland at the moment. I just don't like her choice of recorded music style (humppaa yäk!) - like another good one Eija Kantola. Her singing showed also, that TWIM with its reduced intervals and long sounds is NOT anything easy to sing. It might be easy listening but not producing... heh.

I remember being in trouble once in my friend's wedding when she asked our band to play Shania for the almost all night. She thought to be doing me a favor and asking for something familiar to me... :shocked: .. the band and I were really having hard time getting it sound something even close to it. Taking Mutt's arrangements to the band of three was not any easier than my part singing... :(... finally we had to hire a violin player!!

FinnFreak

06-22-2009, 6:41am

It wasn't bad at all - I liked Anne Mattila A LOT MORE than her band.

She chose some REALLY tough songs though: those fast vocal parts are NOT easy for a native Finn. Starting with Karen Carpenter's 'Superstar'... tough.

Technically impressive, but artistically mediocre.

...next..!

John - ;)

EilleenTwain88

06-22-2009, 7:13am

It wasn't bad at all - I liked Anne Mattila A LOT MORE than her band.
Yes. Their arrangements were not really good. Hyvärinen (Antti) was much needed, heh.

Technically impressive, but artistically mediocre.
The chosen songs were also a little too much alike. But maybe the band set some restrictions too :D?!?

FinnFreak

06-22-2009, 8:05am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - Monday 22.6.2009

Midsummer tourists unprepared for largely deserted Helsinki as locals flock to countryside

Major traffic problems avoided at end of holiday weekend, better weather in store this week

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135247083901.jpeg
Helsinki Help guides Maaria Laurila (left) and Kirsi Kalliomäki had to explain aspects
of the Finnish Midsummer celebrations to many tourists during the weekend.

Foreign summer tourists stood out more than usual in Helsinki during the Midsummer weekend, a time when local residents generally prefer to go to the countryside.

The number of visitors was about the same as in a normal weekend, and there was no lack of tourists needing advice and assistance, says Mikko Tolsa, director of the Helsinki Help tourist advisors programme of the Helsinki Tourist Invormation Office.

On Friday, the green-clad Helsinki Help guides assisted 897 foreign visitors, and on Saturday the number was 836. “These are typical figures for an early summer weekend”, Tolsa said.

There were also plenty of foreign guests at the city’s hotels.

Not all foreign visitors were aware that the city would be largely empty and that most businesses would be closed at midsummer.

Helsinki Help guides Kirsi Kalliomäki and Maaria Laurila said that the holiday weekend and the way that Midsummer is celebrated came as a surprise to many.

“Many have wondered where all the people are”, Kalliomäki said. “People have also asked if the holiday is celebrated indoors”, she added.

Both said that they ended up explaining the celebration of Midsummer to many foreigners. “We have mentioned summer cabins quite a few times”, Kalliomäki laughed.

Many were displeased at the apparent shut-down of much of the city.

“When people have planned to to specific places, naturally the failure of the plans is disappointing”, Laurila said.

The unseasonably cool weather was also a disappointment: on Friday, Midsummer Eve, the high temperature in Helsinki was less than 15 degrees.

Return traffic on Sunday at the end of the holiday weekend proceeded in good weather conditions, with no major problems.

Although traffic on most highways was quite busy from about noon, serious backups were avoided.

No major traffic accidents were reported on Sunday. There were four highway fatalities over the whole weekend.

After a fairly cool weekend, the coming week is expected to be closer to what a Finnish summer is supposed to be.

Temperatures are expected to rise to near 20 degrees Celsius in Southern and Central Finland, and by Wednesday, temperatures could exceed 25 degrees.

However, the record temperatures that prevailed during the early heat wave in late May are unlikely to be reached this time.

:huh: - "Summer in the city"..? - Why not. But, forget about: Midsummer in the city - in Finland. ANYWHERE. NOT happening. :cool:

:nervous: - Yeah, the lake was COLD. Eiku lisää jäänestoo.

John - :p

Myyde

06-22-2009, 12:36pm

Jeps. Todella hyvinhä toi Anne veti. Luultavasti joutus käymään keikoillakin, jos tollasii biisei olis ohjelmistossa.

Seuraava...? Jaahas, ketäs muita meillä on ketkä laulaa Shanian biisei. Hmmm... no oisha noita, mutta ei kai nyt kaikkii viittii kerralla mainostaa. Sulatellaan ja nautinaan nyt hetki tästä, ei makeaa mahan täydeltä. ;)

Hieno kesähän tää on ollu. Talviturkkikin hävis juhannuksena johku 13 asteiseen lätäkköön. Melko virkistävää.:p

Paul

06-25-2009, 1:02pm

Never fight a war with Finland. :p I just saw this on another site...:eek:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/3009425719_22ed96d23f.jpg

Troll

06-25-2009, 1:24pm

That is interesting

FinnFreak

06-26-2009, 9:20am

Never fight a war with Finland. :p I just saw this on another site...:eek:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/3009425719_22ed96d23f.jpg

:D - Heh... Stalin stated before his death, that the Soviet Union's plans on invading the whole of Finland would've been a HUGE mistake: "Those Finns are incredibly stubborn..."

http://www.wfyi.org/fireandice/index.htm

John - ;)

FinnFreak

06-26-2009, 9:44am

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/andyll-try-it-062409/1129685/

John - :p

Troll

06-26-2009, 12:46pm

Thanks for the video.

FinnFreak

06-30-2009, 10:01am

Reuters - Tue Jun 30, 2009

Finland's Saariaho: "Music is mystery - like love"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/Foxtrotfan/kaija_saariaho.jpg
Kaija Saariaho - www.saariaho.org (http://www.saariaho.org)

By Michael Roddy

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's music has taken the opera houses, concert halls and audiences of the world by storm. Just don't ask her why.

"I think music is really one of the big mysteries in our life and for me it's in the same category as love," Saariaho, who is 56 and whose music has been described as "dreamlike" and haunting, told Reuters in an interview.

"Music has enormous powers and it's part of everybody's life in some form -- so I cannot answer that question, really."

The slender, bright-eyed, elfin Saariaho spoke on the eve of the London premiere of "L'Amour de Loin" (Love from afar), an opera for three singers and chorus based on a true story about an unconsummated "courtly" love affair between the pining troubadour Jaufre Rudel from France and Clemence, the Countess of Tripoli, in whose arms he dies after a voyage to see her.

The opera had its premiere in Salzburg in 2000 and has had many productions since, but the version at the English National Opera is one Saariaho admits she would not have permitted nine years ago. It will be sung in English, instead of the original French, and will have acrobats from Cirque du Soleil on stage.

"Well, yes, there seem to be people who are quite acrobatic...but this thing about the director's view, I've gotten used to it because this is the seventh production so there have been...very different kinds of 'L'Amour de Loins'.

"It is living its own life so I told myself, 'Why not?'" Here's what else she had to say about her music, her influences, and why living in France is good therapy for a Finn.

Q: Your music is described as a "dreamscape" or as having an "icy beauty." Would you subscribe to any of that?

A: "When one says 'dreamlike' it's often like 'dreamy' and if that's a description I don't like it because there is so much more. If you think about your dreams, they can be very violent and they can be very sweet and they can be painful and if you think about all these characteristics and you say, 'Your music is like that', then I like it. It depends on definitions."

Q: You once said you would never write an opera but there will be three soon -- or four, if you count your oratorio about the French Jewish philosopher Simone Weil. Do you see yourself as an opera composer, and if so, with a feminist viewpoint?

A: "Why not? I'm a woman and of course I choose the subjects that interest me...and I pick different things than some of my male colleagues. But no, I don't consider myself to be an opera composer, I love to do different kinds of things. But opera is interesting because...it's like a meeting point with other artists. Plus the other thing is that the musicians must stay with your music a long time and the singers need to learn the music by heart, so it takes the music to another level."

Q: You've said of "L'Amour de Loin" that the writing of it somehow allowed you to reconcile being a woman with being a composer -- that you joined two parts. How so?

A: "At one point I understood why I was so intrigued by this story because there is (the troubadour) and the lady Clemence who has left her country and there is the destiny of the pilgrim who wants to bring them together and I had a feeling that I was drawn into that story because I wanted to be both -- I wanted to bring them together too."

Q: When you were young and realized what Mozart had done by the time he was your age, you almost gave up -- but you didn't. What are the big influences on your musical palette?

A: "Mozart, Debussy, Messiaen's (opera) 'St. Francois d'Assise' -- that and one billion other pieces. Stravinsky, Sibelius, Berlioz...Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday...There is Bach...Is there any composer or musician who doesn't love Bach? It's unfair to pick out one or two because there's so much."

Q: You and your husband have two children and live in France. Isn't the French mentality different from the Finnish?

A: "It's so far from my character that it's good for me. I have a tendency to be a very strict and ascetic person and they are sometimes so superficial and sensual and there is the lunch which takes two hours and all that and I think it's good for my strictness. It rarely happens to me, still, but it's good for me to see that life around me."

(Kaija Saariaho's "L'Amour de Loin" open on Friday at the ENO with additional performances on July 7, 9 and 11 www.eno.org; the latest recording of her music, including "Mirage" for cello, orchestra and soprano, with singer Karita Mattila, is on the Ondine label, ODE 1130-2)

(Writing by Michael Roddy, editing by Paul Casciato)

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE55T2MO20090630?sp=true

John - ;)

aFinn

07-02-2009, 9:51am

Jussi, want one?

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary

:p

Troll

07-02-2009, 12:11pm

Looks interesting

FinnFreak

07-03-2009, 9:36am

Jussi, want one?

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary

:p

heh... the keyboard WILL go at some point. ;)

http://newsroom.finland.fi/netcomm/ImgLib/3/115/0630_jackson_b.jpg
Finnish fans of American pop singer Michael Jackson, who died on June 25,
gathered together in Helsinki railway station on June 27, to remember their
idol.

May he RIP. :sad:

Helsinki Times - Thursday, 02 July 2009

Finland's tango fever

http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/images/2009/jul/106/tango.jpg
The Finnish love affair with the tango is still going
strong even after 100 years.

[The Christian Science Monitor] - Despite being continents away from Argentina, the shy Finns have a passion for the melancholy music and dance.

Finland. A nation of reindeer, saunas, Nokia cell phones, and its own special version of... tango?

Yes. It seems the melancholic music is a perfect match for the typical Finnish soul. "It's a little bit sad, and it's beautiful", a woman tells me at a dimly lit Helsinki restaurant that regularly hosts dances. Paradoxically, when she moves to these sad melodies, she feels "happy".

When Finns first laid their eyes on performances of the Argentine tango nearly 100 years ago, they latched on and soon made it their own. By the 1930s, songwriters were penning original Finnish lyrics, setting the stories in their own snowy landscape.

"The lyrics spoke of people longing for each other, feelings of passion, desperation, hope, the hunger of love. Tango became the way of communication between people during the war", says Maarit Niiniluoto, an expert on the history of Finnish tango.

Tango music doesn't sell so well these days. … Nevertheless, it's etched deeply into the culture. Most schoolchildren learn the Finnish version of the dance, along with the waltz, foxtrot, and a Finnish dance called humppa. Most Finns know by heart classic tangos like "Satumaa". Composed in the 1950s by Unto Mononen, a 1962 version became a bestseller.

"At countryside dance pavilions scattered throughout Finland, you see all kinds of people between 18 and 80", Niiniluoto says. All ages also follow an annual tango-singing competition on television here. The tango "king" or "queen" is named at the Seinäjoki Tangomarkkinat, a popular July festival that has at times attracted more than 100,000 visitors.

"The Finnish dance is not as expressive as the Argentine version", Jari Sillanpäa, the Tango King of 1995, says, "which is like telling a story to your partner. The dance is easier, but no less potent or romantic. If it wasn't for tango, I think this small country would have less people", he says with a laugh during our interview in a quiet hotel near his home in Helsinki.

Shania should do a tango.

John - :p

Troll

07-03-2009, 12:34pm

Yes she should

FinnFreak

07-07-2009, 6:59am

Here's some Finnish advertising taken to another level:

"Me ollaan aina haluttu soittaa, ja ollaan aina soitettu."

http://www.virtanenband.dna.uxi.fi/bandikuva.jpg

- Guys, seriously: ditch your manager. NOW. :p

http://www.myspace.com/thevirtanenband

Music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIrGCO8ucvM

AD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzrGDM1nmmw

Change of Heart

(C’mon)

Hey what are we gonna do
In terms of where we’re going to?
'Cause we've gotta put some thought into this
If we're gonna be serious

Hey baby we've got a lot to lose
Been thinking about how to choose
And we're gonna have to be apart
'Cause I wanna get a brand-new start

It is time for a change of heart
-you gotta face it-
Because we need a change of heart (change of heart)
It is time for a change of heart
for a change of heart

Sometimes it's hard to let go
we can't stop - keep it up

(oh yeah)

‘Cause we've gotta put some thought into this
If we're gonna get serious

Ooh baby, we gotta find the moves
for shaking away the endless blues
So we're gonna have to do this smart
'Cause we got it wrong from the start

It is time for a change of heart
-you gotta take it-
Because we need a change of heart (change of heart)
It is time for a change of heart
-I can't fake it- no more
Because I need a change of heart
(change of heart)

I've been loving with half a heart, oh yeah
Because leaving is the hardest part

We need a change of heart
-you gotta face it-
Cause it’s time for a change of heart (change of heart)
It is time for a change of heart
I can't fake it no more
Baby we need a change of heart (change of heart)

+ The song ain't bad at all :up:

+ The guys get a #1 album, tour the world like crazy driving in their old Volvo, even performing at the Madison Square Garden - and ALL the money goes to their manager. FUNNY. :up:

- It's NOT a movie trailer, but an ad for a mobile phone operator :down:

John - :biglaugh:

FinnFreak

07-08-2009, 9:10am

YLE TV1:

Kooste Jacksonin muistotilaisuudesta

Keskiviikkona TV1 8.7. klo 18.30

Michaelin muistolle

http://tv1.yle.fi/sites/tv1.yle.fi/files/imagecache/nosto-paraati/jackson.jpg

Näyttävä tilaisuus yhdisti omaiset, ystävät, kollegat, fanit.

Lähetys alkaa kello 18.30 ja päättyy 19.55. Ohjelman selostaa Ville Vedenpää.

Muistotilaisuudessa kuultiin muun muassa Jacksonin omaisten puheita ja artistien esityksiä.

Michael Jacksonin muistotilaisuus järjestettiin tiistaina Los Angelesissa urheilu- ja konserttiareena Staples Centerissä muutama tunti hautajaisten jälkeen. Tapahtumaan osallistui arviolta 20 000 ihmistä. Tilaisuudessa esiintyivät muun muassa laulajat Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey ja John Mayer.

John - :sad:

FinnFreak

07-09-2009, 4:40pm

Salon.com - WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009 15:30 EDT

Fox News' Kilmeade: We "marry other species," Finns "pure"

See the video: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/07/08/qotd/

Watching Fox News' morning show, "Fox and Friends," is a little bit like watching the aftermath of a particularly nasty car crash. Yeah, it's awful, but you just have to keep looking, because, well, who knows what mangled body parts they'll pull from the wreckage next?

Even by those standards, though, host Brian Kilmeade's performance on Wednesday was just terrible.

Kilmeade and two colleagues were discussing a study that, based on research done in Finland and Sweden, showed people who stay married are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's. Kilmeade questioned the results, though, saying, "We are -- we keep marrying other species and other ethnics and other ..."

At this point, his co-host tried to -- in that jokey morning show way -- tell Kilmeade he needed to shut up, and quick, for his own sake. But he didn't get the message, adding, "See, the problem is the Swedes have pure genes. Because they marry other Swedes .... Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society."

:really: - ?

No, we have a clean society. Because we go to the sauna. Lots. At least once a week.

Comments:

Finns marry Finns so they have a pure society?????

Gee, I've been through some small towns in Georgia where they must have a REALLY pure society!

* * *

OMG

I am soooo grateful I do not have cable so I CANNOT watch these idiots. Obviously, this guy didn't get the memo that racism must now be subtle.

I wonder if all the right wing talking heads who have been attacking Obama's alleged eugenics will now attack this meathead for his grotesquely racist remarks.

* * *

Of Course Fox Isn't Racist

They just hire deeply racist hosts.

Other species? So now African-Americans (and even Irish and Italian--listen to the guy!) aren't human, they're other species!

Holy Cow. Now that's another species....

* * *

no wonder...

My purely Icelandic grandmother married a Welshman... no wonder I am such a dork.

* * *

It's not racist...

...it's just deeply ignorant. He's clearly misusing nomenclature and misapplying concepts he doesn't understand. Fox and Friends wouldn't be half as embarrassing if they stuck to cheese-puff topical issues and didn't try to weigh in with thoughtful analysis of, well, anything.It's not racist...

...it's just deeply ignorant. He's clearly misusing nomenclature and misapplying concepts he doesn't understand. Fox and Friends wouldn't be half as embarrassing if they stuck to cheese-puff topical issues and didn't try to weigh in with thoughtful analysis of, well, anything.

* * *

Fox & Friends, the UK view

I'm in the UK right now, and Fox & Friends is one of the few American news shows played on TV here. Compared to BBC, Al Jazeera (probably the best coverage of all) and even Sky News, Fox can't even be considered a news program.

But while I'm here I watch it religiously every morning, even though I've never really watched Fox News at home for longer than 10 or 15 seconds at a go. But why here? Because, from this angle, shows like Fox & Friends have the same allure as Jerry Springer (which is also massively popular here). It's like, "Damn, look how freaky the Americans are!"

That's how Fox News comes across internationally.

* * *

Those pure Swedes...

...marry Americans, Italians, Iranians, Slovakians, Greeks, Ghanans, Thais, Turks and all sorts of humans. But, no, they probably don't marry other species, like cows or goats, which apparently they do wherever Kilmeade is from (probably down south somewhere close to the Appalachians... just kidding!) The last time Swedes purely married other Swedes was probably back in Viking time. But I forget, then they went and plundered and raped the Irish and English and so on, so mixed breeding was already going on then. It's always funny to me, as a Swede, when Americans make ignorant comments about Sweden. Based on some idea cemented fifty years ago or more. Like Sweden is a socialist country. Sweden is more capitalist than the US in many ways! That ol' welfare state is long gone. And not all Swedes are blondes either. Or sex fiends. Sorry to disappoint ya, folks.

* * *

In a technical sense

Kilmeade is actually correct. The scientific study relating to a particular gene pool and specific disease(s)amounts to essentially being a "controlled" study, less subject to aberations and more likely to provide a valid conclusion. It's not about increasing or decreasing the strength of a gene pool, it's about arriving at a reliable conclusion. I always work to avoid variability in research - the more control the better.

Perhaps not politically correct the way Kilmeade explained it, nonetheless, Kilmeade's point is correct.

* * *

the best part?

right near the end of the clip, you can hear somebody start to whistle "If I only had a brain."

* * *

John - :p

FinnFreak

07-10-2009, 2:43am

icenews.is - Jul 9, 2009

Finland finally wins its own wife-carrying race

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Estonian_Carry_style.jpg

For the first time in over a decade, a Finnish couple has won the coveted title of the World Wife Carrying Champions. This quirky, but extremely popular, annual competition was created in Finland, but it has been 11 years since the Finns captured the title.

This year’s contest was again held in the eastern Finnish town of Sonkajarvi, the original site of the event, according to the YLE news agency. This was the 14th year the event has been held in Finland since its inception, and 36 couples from 13 different countries made the trip to try and finish fastest. Participants came from as far as the United States, Japan and Australia for the 14th annual World Championships.

The 2009 gold medal was won by Finland’s Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapanen, who edged the Estonian pair of Alar Voogla and Kristi Viltrop by a mere half second. Last year, the Estonian couple took gold, but this year they were pipped by the Finns, and had to settle for silver.

Sikunews says the first Wife Carrying Championships happened in 1992, when local businesses in Sonkajarvi came up with the brilliant idea to promote their far-flung town and lure more summer tourism to the area. Over the past 14 years, the event has gained a huge cult following around the world and regularly attracts 10,000 spectators to the big event.

Wife Carrying World Championships 4.7.2009 RESULTS

1.Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapanen (Kauniainen / Helsinki) 01:02,090

2. Alar Voogia ja Kristi Viltrop (Rakvere, Estonia) 01:02,670

3. Heikki Hannukainen and Heini Rauhamaa (Espoo) 01:08,510

4. Kosti Eskola and Inkeri Niinimäki (Espoo) 01:08,620

5. Petteri ”Flash” Rusi and Pia Salmela (Espoo / Södertälje, Sverige) 01:09,800

6. Ri Fahnestock and Sarah Silverberg (Exeter, USA) 01:10,200

7. Anthony Partridge and Cath Whalan (Australia) 01:13,110

8. John O’shea and Aoife Desmond (Caherdaniel Castlecove, Ireland) 01:13,340

9. John Lund ja Johanna Ålander (USA / Sonkajärvi) 01:14,150

10. Joni Juntunen and Jaana Haavikko (Lapinlahti / Rovaniemi) 01:15,480

11. Jyrki Simpanen and Saija Yrjölä (Lahti) 01:21,780

12. Petri Riski and Kristina Rossi (Jämsä, Palokka) 01:23,080

13. Marko Mäki-Fossi and Minna Lemettinen (Lapua) 01:24,380

14. Rauno Hemminki and Sofia Gondallier de Tugny (Turku) 01:25,130

15. Ryan Price and Annikaisa Keränen (USA / Sonkajärvi) 01:25,590

16. Lari Halonen and Susan Halonen (Pori) 01:25,900

17. Aki Ruohonen and Minttu Kauppinen (Muurame / Vaajakoski) 01:28,180

18. Esko Kotivuori and Sari Jäppinen (VO 2) 01:28,460

19. Jyrki Kähkönen and Anne Eskelinen (Joensuu / Sonkajärvi) 01:30,870

20. Mike Koy and Gillian Kirby (Hallerup, Danmark) 01:34,880

21. James Chester ja Erika Chester (Anscbach, Germany) 01:35,580

22. Christopher Hill and Nanko Minami (Palmyra, USA / Osaka, Japan) 01:39,840

23. Stig Gustavsson and Minna Gustavsson (Kirkkonummi) 01:40,310

24. Jura Miettinen and Katja Röyttä (Muhos / Oulu) 01:40,790

25. Ari ”Vaara” Lehtinen and Marketta ”Princess” Hormia (Helsinki) 01:42,780

26. Marko Seppä and Riitta Seppä (Loimaa / Toivakka) 01:45,530

27. David Dobogai and Jitka Dobogai (USA / Czech Rebublic) 01:45,940

28. Vesa Pentikäinen and Päivi Pentikäinen (Pori) 01:53,280

29. Henrik Heinsen ja Melanie Stefanik 01:55,600

30. Teemu Viinonen ja Mimosa Salimäki (Vuokatti) 02:00,030

31. Jarmo Surakka and Päivi Ohtola (Kouvola / Ylöjärvi) 02:03,280

32. Harri Väisänen ja Mari Väisänen (Iisalmi) 02:04,230

33. Mauri Zahkna ja Julia Galvin (Estonia / Ireland) 02:22,750

34. Toni Kähkönen ja Suvi Korhonen (Kuhmo / Sotkamo) 02:23,480

35. James Kennedy and Ciara Crossan (Cork) 02:29,540

John - :p

EilleenTwain88

07-10-2009, 4:47am

These two articles right following each other WAS rather funny. If I Only Had A Brain, I Would Find A Much Nicer Things To Do With My Wife Than Just Carry Her Around Upside Down... eh?

The "pure" Finns have a mass of genes related diseases spreading amongst them? From this point of view, the Victorian Royal Family was the purest them all - until they died of hemophilia... :huh:?

Troll

07-10-2009, 7:35am

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

07-14-2009, 10:27am

YLE - NEWS - Tuesday 14 July, 2009

Linguists Worry About English Language Infiltration

Some linguists in Finland are concerned about the infiltration of English-language words into the Finnish language. They fear that it may alienate Finns who aren't proficient in English and create inequalities, especially in public service.

The use of English words in every language, not just Finnish, is a common phenomenon. Business and technology jargon is frequently heavily anglicized, for example. But some linguistic researchers are wary of its spread into daily life, such as in banks and government offices.

Oulu University social studies professor Airi Mäki-Kulmala said she was struck by potential problems when she noticed that Tampere's central hospital began using the English term for the stroke unit, instead of the Finnish sydänyksikkö.

"I began questioning whether we can really expect everyone to know English. This type of usage in daily life may be difficult for some people to come to grips with," she says.

Mäki-Kulmala feels that the proliferation of English in many normal, everyday situations may put people on unequal footing if they can't follow the English jargon. If a new trend, product, or service only has an English name, many people may be confused or be unable to take advantage of it.

Riitta Eronen, of the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland, says that the problem isn't the introduction of indivudual words into the Finnish language, but the transformation of entire offices and professional fields into English-based environments. This can handicap many Finnish workers who could do their jobs better in their own language.

Eronen fears that Finnish could become a second-class language.

"The worst threat is that we throw Finnish into the bin. We shouldn't think a "coffee shop" is any fancier than a good old Finnish kahvila," adds Eronen.

* * *

:uhh: - True. It's absolute nonsense.

On the other hand, we have a bunch demanding Finnish names for town districts that have only a Swedish name today. Confuse the heck out of folks, eh..?

Btw - how many knew, that the town of Seinäjoki is called Östermyra in Swedish..?

Tairan pitää breikin. Latte kutsuu.

John - :p

FinnFreak

07-15-2009, 7:43am

ABC News - July 15, 2009

Foundation Seeks to Find 7 Wonders of Nature

Swiss-Based New7Wonders Foundation Aims to Identify the Seven Wonders of Nature

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/abc_seven_wonders_090714_mn.jpg
Seven wonders of nature include, clockwise from top left,
Belogradchik Rocks in Bulgaria; Lebanon's Jeita Grotto;
Vietnam's Ha Long Bay; Thailand's Puerto Princesa
Subterranean River; Brazil's Iguassu Falls and
Finland's Lake Saimaa.

By CORNELIA TREPTOW

(LONDON) - Following the success of their campaign to name the new seven man-made "Wonders of the World," the New7Wonders Foundation has set out to identify another set of wonders: the official new seven wonders of nature.

In pursuit of his goal to raise awareness of our natural heritage, Bernard Weber, a Swiss entrepreneur and founder of the New7Wonders Foundation, has set himself this new task.

The campaign's slogan explains that "if we want to save anything, we first need to truly appreciate it!"

The process will allow the public to decide the final seven natural wonders. You, too, could be one of the estimated 1 billion people who Weber says he hopes will vote for the final seven via text message, online or by telephone.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/nm_ha_long_bay_090714_main.jpg
Vietnam's Ha Long Bay

A short list of 77 is currently being reduced to 28 finalists to be announced on July 21 from which the public will be able to pick.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/nm_lake_saimaa_090714_main.jpg
Finland's Lake Saimaa

The current 77 (http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/nominees/top77/) includes Devil's Town in Serbia, Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, Finland's Lake Saimaa, Thailand's Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, Lebanon's Jeita Grotto, Brazil's Iguassu Falls and the Belogradchik Rocks in Bulgaria.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/rt_puerto_princesa_090714_main.jpg
The Philippines' Puerto Princesa Subterranean River

The Grand Canyon is the only site still in the running from the continental United States, though other U.S. sites nominated include the Everglades National Park, Lake Michigan and beaches of the Big Sur region of Northern California.

In order to be considered, candidate sites must be "clearly defined natural sites that have neither been created by nor significantly altered by humans for aesthetic reasons."

http://www.new7wonders.com/file/inline/id/1758/art/290x218/
Lebanon's Jeita Grotto

Weber says that for the natural wonders list, there are many spectacular sites that, unlike the man-made wonders," are not well-known outside their country or region."

The 7 Man-made Wonders (http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1464920&page=1)

The seven man-made wonders were announced July 7, 2007, at a spectacular gala in Lisbon, Portugal, in front of an audience of 50,000 as well as millions watching the broadcast at home.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/nm_iguassu_falls_090714_main.jpg
Brazil's Iguassu Falls

The event included appearances by actors Ben Kingsley and Hilary Swank as well as a performance by Jennifer Lopez. For those curious, the seven man-made wonders are Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ Redeemer in Brazil, Italy's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, the Petra in Jordan and Machu Picchu in Peru.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/nm_belogradchik_rocks_090714_main.jpg
The Belogradchik Rocks in Bulgaria

Seven Ancient Wonders

The list of seven man-made wonders was created to update the original list of ancient wonders, of which only one, the Pyramid of Giza, still exists. The other original wonders were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. This list was compiled by several ancient Greeks and is most often credited to Antipater of Sidon and Philon of Byzantium.

www.new7wonders.com

John - :)

FinnFreak

07-15-2009, 10:13am

The Wall Street Journal - JULY 10, 2009

Summer Road Trips

Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a sunny ride. We look at six great European driving excursions.

By Spencer Swartz

Finland: The Turku trail

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/EW-AH156_sdfin_NS_20090709205218.gif

From old castles that recall Sweden's 600-year history in Finland to the Soviet Union's military conquests in the Nordic country, this drive threads together Finnish history and culture. You'll depart Helsinki for Hanko, the country's most southern city, and round off the journey in Turku, Finland's former capital and oldest city.

Take the Ring I Road west out of Helsinki and hop onto Highway 51. From here it's roughly 130 kilometers southwest to Hanko. Before heading into Hanko's city center, visit the Front museum near the village of Lappohja on Road 25 on the outskirts of Hanko for an exploration of Finland's World War II history (www.frontmuseum.fi).

For something lighter, take Highway 51 all the way into picturesque Hanko to visit some of the best beaches in Finland. The Water Tower in the city center offers great views of the Baltic Sea and Hanko's marina.

Before leaving Hanko and heading northwest around 150 kilometers to Turku, have lunch at "The House of the Four Winds." The seaside café is known for its cakes and cookies and has a tasty pork chop steak with mushroom cream sauce.

To reach Turku from Hanko, take Road 25 to Tammisaari, Road 52 to Salo and then Highway 18. Turku, which dates to around 1230, served as Finland's capital from 1809-12 until Russia took control of Finland and Czar Alexander I wanted the capital moved to Helsinki. Among the highlights in this city is the Lutheran Cathedral, an important place of worship for Finland's practicing Lutherans. The impressive medieval church, located in the town center, features a patchwork of masonry styles, some of which date to the 13th century.

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/EW-AH153_drives_G_20090709192223.jpg
Turku Castle

Turku castle, another must-visit, once served as an important administrative hub for the Swedish Crown. It's located at the Turku harbor about three kilometers from the heart of the city. After checking out the castle's dungeons, it's a pretty easy walk to Svarte Rudolf or one of the other charming restaurant boats nearby for lunch or dinner on the River Aura. Try the pan-fried herring with mashed potatoes.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124717452291819665.html

John - ;)

FinnFreak

07-15-2009, 11:45am

Pollstar.com - Friday July 10, 2009 [update: Wednesday July 15, 2009]

Would You Boycott Britney?

http://static.iltalehti.fi/viihde/britneyboikotti1507TV_vi.jpg
The Scandinavian media is boycotting Britney

After Britney Spears performs at the Stockholm Globe Arena July 13, local newspapers might not contain any photographic evidence the pop star was actually in the capital of Sweden.

Four major Swedish newspapers have threatened to boycott Brit-Brit’s show. Is it because of the skimpy costumes she sports in “The Circus” tour? Nope.

The papers are peeved because of all the rules Spears has when it comes to photographing the diva. Spears’ photog contract states that papers cannot resell pictures and can’t publish photos more than 30 days after the show.

Swedish papers Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen and Aftonbladet say that if it’s Spears’ way or the highway, they’ll just take the highway. The papers say that unless Spears agrees to tweak certain conditions in regards to how the images can be used, the publications won’t send photographers to the show.

Dagens Nyheter photo editor Roger Turesson said, "The next step would be to tell critics they can't write anything critical."

Hmm. Does Britney have so many photo rules because of tabloid articles like a recent U.K. Mirror story whose headline declared “Britney Spears looking fuller figured on Paris outing of Circus tour – see the pics”?

The article include three not so great photos and wrote, “Showing off her newly-dyed brunette hair, Britters appeared to have a spare [tire] as she writhed around behind bars in her bra and pants as part of the show. It may just have been an unflattering photo angle, or it may be that the junkfood-loving Toxic star has started chunking up a bit again.”

Or maybe it’s just that Spears doesn’t want papers cashing in on her fame by selling images to other publications.

Swedish photographers at the show or not, ticket sales at Spears’ shows are doing AOK. Brit Brit’s Circus tour came in first place for gross ticket sales in North America for the first six months of 2009. Spears’ 37 shows in 30 cities resulted in an average of 20,498 tickets sold per show at an average price of $99.29 for a total gross of $61.1 million. Spears’ ticket sales came in third worldwide – 48 shows in 33 cities at an average ticket price of $95.04 and grossing 74.6 million total.

After performing in Stockholm, Britney is on to Finland, Russia, Poland (now cancelled) and Canada followed by a month-long U.S. tour and a number of Australian shows. Dates are on the books through November.

Finnish media in the boycott: Helsingin Sanomat, Aamulehti, Lehtikuva, MTV3, Nelonen, Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti. (That's about 100% - NO Finnish media company has agreed to Britney's rules)

The Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE announced today, that since Ms Spears seems to have such a dismissive view on the media in Scandinavia, YLE News will NOT mention one word about Britney even being in Helsinki tomorrow evening.

Sorry, Britney.

John - :dunno:

Myyde

07-15-2009, 2:25pm

Troll

07-15-2009, 3:16pm

Thanks for the articles.

FinnFreak

07-16-2009, 8:47am

Oh, no pics of Britney, how sad...:sad:

..who cares, started to see dreams of Britney last weeks...:devil:

..ooooops...öööööö....she owns rights to those too...?:nervous:

oh well, i see lobotomy coming...:hide:

:shocked: - Ticket prices for tonight's concert have gone down by over 35 Euros..?

...some fans are gonna love this... and some NOT. ;) - hehheh...

What a phreakin circus.

John - :p

Myyde

07-16-2009, 9:16am

Whaaaat!!!:shocked: Thanks for the info. Gotta go....:swoosh:

:p

FinnFreak

07-16-2009, 9:21am

Helsinki Times - Thursday, 16 July 2009

World’s longest letter to Santa on display in Bucharest

http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/images/2009/jul/108/father.jpg
Father Christmas gets into reading mode

THE LONGEST letter in the world addressed to Santa Claus is to be displayed in the National Philatelic Museum in Bucharest on 15 August. The letter is entitled "Saving our forests to save our youth" and was written over a period of nine days by 2,110 children from Romanian schools at the end of last year.

The letter is 1,355 feet long and weighs an incredible 220 pounds and arrived in Rovaniemi, Finland in time for Christmas last year … The World Record letter was officially approved on 18 December 2008.

John - ;)

Troll

07-16-2009, 1:06pm

That is cool.

FinnFreak

07-28-2009, 7:38am

BBC News - Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Looking for the land of opportunity

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46096000/jpg/_46096994_finland_getty.jpg
Look up - children in Finland are among the best academic performers the world

If top professions in Britain are tough to break into for disadvantaged children, as former UK minister Alan Milburn's report on social mobility found, is there a land of opportunity that can serve as a beacon? Yes, but it's not the US, argues University of Ottawa professor Miles Corak.

The American Dream promises that aspiration, hard work and individual enterprise
will be rewarded with prosperity, regardless of family background.

President Barack Obama, the first black president, epitomises this; but all too often the dream fails to match reality.

The truth is that the US sits with the UK at the bottom of the international league table of social mobility.

SOCIAL MOBILITY

TOP

Denmark
Norway
Finland
Canada

BOTTOM

France
US
Italy
UK

Miles Corak compared 12 countries, measuring
the link between a child's success in the labour
market and the family's economic status.
A strong link equates to low social mobility.

Family background has as strong an influence on socio-economic opportunity in the classless United States as it does in the supposedly hidebound class-ridden UK.

In terms of giving children a good start in life and having a fair labour market, both countries probably have much to learn from those at the top of the league table - Finland, Norway and Canada, among others.

A generation ago the UK spent less on the education of its children than most other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

This without doubt contributed to the lack of social mobility experienced by today's adults.

Class in the classroom

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46097000/jpg/_46097013_006678075-2.jpg
Ready for school? Obama has encouraged
all children to achieve

But Finland spent no more per pupil than the UK; the United States the most.

School financing in the US, based on local property taxes, is a strong force for concentrating advantage across the generations.

More affluent parents in America shop for schools, move neighbourhoods and spend a great deal on private tuition for their children.

This is in sharp contrast to the broad-based and universal structure of the Finnish system.

The UK has a good deal more in common with the US than it does with Finland, but is increasingly recognising that access to good quality education is a playing field that needs to be levelled.

Reform of school financing does not appear to be a priority for the current US administration.

But President Obama's focus on healthcare - if it is truly reformed in a way that will boost access for poorer children - may well pay dividends in promoting social mobility for the long run.

The point is that what matters is not so much the size of the government's social budget, but the degree to which the dollars, pounds or euros are advantageous to the disadvantaged.

In a similar way, removing labour market inequality also helps social mobility.

Nepotism

"Children are like their parents for all sorts of reasons, some of which are valued by the labour market"

If the UK and the US have the lowest degree of social mobility it is not only because poorer children don't get the best start in life, but also because the stakes are higher.

In both countries labour markets are more unequal than elsewhere.

The barriers - both implicit and explicit - to entry into particular occupations, sectors and even firms are higher.

Taxes are less progressive and the gap between low and high incomes is greater.

Whether the degree of social mobility is a problem that needs to be addressed by our politicians depends very much upon the underlying causes.

Children are like their parents for all sorts of reasons, some of which are valued by the labour market.

If the reason adult incomes resemble that of their parents has to do with parental values and styles, and instilling motivation, then most of us would also agree there is likely little role for public policy.

But if it also extends to the role of connections, contacts or nepotism most would feel the opposite - that the playing field is not level.

In many advanced economies, most jobs held by young people are found through family and friends, and a good many children will end up working in the same occupation as their parents.

Old boys' network?

Whether it matters or not for social mobility depends upon whether there are other options available to young job seekers, whether the best jobs and occupations are allocated this way, and whether the resulting restrictions lead to excessive incomes.

In Canada - arguably the country whose labour market is closest in structure to the US - about four in 10 young men have worked at some point for the same employer as their fathers.

A significant proportion make careers with the same employer as their father had.

But only at the very top of the income distribution is this excessive, and suggestive of nepotism.

In the US and the UK on the other hand, where all the signs are that to a similar degree, children end up working for the same employer as their parents, the effect on social mobility is much greater.

This is because high-paying jobs are more concentrated within the professions, and the overall level of inequality is higher.

What many of the Nordic countries and Canada have recognised is that the full development of a child's early years - schooling, healthcare, and socialisation - is the first and most necessary prerequisite in developing a socially mobile society.

What they also teach us is that this is only a prerequisite, not a guarantee.

The degree of fairness, openness, and equality in labour markets is also a reason some countries are at the top of the league table, while others languish so much further down.

SOCIAL MOBILITY REPORT

Final Report on Fair Access to the Professions (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/21_07_09_fair_access.pdf)

Summary and recommendations (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/21_07_09_fair_access_summary.pdf)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8162616.stm

John - ;)

FinnFreak

08-04-2009, 8:00am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Tuesday 4.8.2009

President takes phone call from International Space Station

Halonen invites astronaut Timothy L. Kopra to Finland

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135248179846.jpeg
President Halonen was at her summer residence in Naantali when she took the call
from the International Space Station on Monday.

President Tarja Halonen received a call from outer space on Monday. Speaking at the other end of the line was astronaut Timothy L. Kopra, the grandson of Finnish immigrants.

“So far, interesting conversations have taken place on the planet earth, so this was an exciting experience”, said Halonen, soon after the end of the call.

The space-to-earth conversation took about ten minutes. The tone was relaxed and pleasant.

President Halonen emphasised that international scientific work is very important for all of humanity. According to Kopra, every day in space is different, and full of fantastic experiences. He told the President that sunsets and sunrises are particularly amazing.

He also said that he hopes that he might inspire children to take up science. Kopra’s experience also reinforced his view that the earth needs to be cared for.

“Everyone here has a passionate and deep connection with space. International cooperation is necessary for progress”, Kopra said.

President Halonen asked about daily routine at the space station. Kopra said that time is spent exercising, doing service work, and performing scientific experiments.

Kopra added that he has never slept as well as he has in space. It was hard to pinpoint his location at any time, because the shuttle orbits the earth once every 90 minutes. Kopra said that he takes pictures of the earth whenever he can.

“Everything is planned well, and we are trained very well for our task.”

Kopra’s grandparents moved from Finland to the United States 100 years ago. His grandfather was from Karelia and his grandmother was from Helsinki.

Kopra said that it was a great honour for him to speak with the President of the Republic of Finland.

“I am a Finn at heart. It is great to look at our planet with a Kalevala medal with me. Finland is a clean and beautiful country”, Kopra said.

The President invited the astronaut to visit Finland. He hoped that he could make it as soon as possible. After three weeks on his mission, Kopra said that he most missed his family and the sauna.

Timothy Kopra is one of six astronauts on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. He is scheduled to spend several months on the ISS.

:huh: - They DON'T have a sauna at the ISS..?!? - Now, THERE'S a project.

John - :p

canoilers

08-04-2009, 8:15am

Troll

08-04-2009, 8:15am

Thanks for the article

canoilers

08-04-2009, 8:17am

Troll

08-04-2009, 8:30am

I'm sure that would work awesome in space. :p Get on it I say. :D

I agree.

FinnFreak

08-06-2009, 4:38pm

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Shes+here+-+Helsinki%E2%80%99s+J%C3%A4tk%C3%A4saari+draws+lar gest+single+crowd+on+Madonna%E2%80%99s+current+wor ld+tour/1135248252263

John - ;)

Myyde

08-07-2009, 5:53am

Damn, all that Madonna media cr.. ööö HYPE, and not even one dream.:scowl: Bring Britney back!:p

EilleenTwain88

08-07-2009, 10:21am

Oh? Finnish audience hard to please, how come :D? Nothing much impresses us, that is true...

But isn't it "cool" that the "coolest" entertainer of the world gets "cool" reception. Just approriate methinks. Heh.

Myyde

08-08-2009, 4:04am

Well, there was something that should have impress someone?:uhh: Would be a lie to say that singing sounded great, most peoples couldn`t see a thing and not many "classics" on the setlist.

Well, lets give her some credit.
...but the use of mobile phone cameras or pocket cameras is allowed.

Going to right direction...:up: Not quite enough to make it great concert, but at least something good.:p

EilleenTwain88

08-08-2009, 6:04am

Going to right direction...:up: Not quite enough to make it great concert, but at least something good.:p
It is rather "lame" to give permission to photograph, when only thing you can catch is going to be too small to be visible in the picture or video, right? Heh.

Anyways. I have never been a Madonna fan, and this type of mega concert is not my thingie. So I decided to pass. There would have been too many VIP people yawning and looking bored, as usual.

Myyde

08-08-2009, 6:36am

Yeah, well, depends on the size of the pocket.:p To some pockets cameras with 15-20X zoom goes easily. But yes, those 3X zoom cameras are pretty useless, unless one wants to take pics like, "me at the (Madonna) concert, or me and the stage" etc...) Lame, maybe, but better that way.

JimColyer

08-10-2009, 4:05pm

I was in Helsinki for one day in 1994. Nice people and nice place!

Paul

08-18-2009, 12:20am

Nice tribute to a great Finn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD8OV9SbR-4

EilleenTwain88

08-18-2009, 4:56am

Nice tribute to a great Finn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD8OV9SbR-4

WoW! This made me cry, even though I have nothing to do with football or Hyypiä, myself. Except my nephew played with him in the Finnish International Team (Youth) back in the golden 90s.

But I never realized how greatly he was appreciated in Liverpool... proud to be a Finn right now. The only "flaw" is the Zimmer music; he should have used Nightwish heh.

Paul

08-18-2009, 10:25am

Yes he was much loved in Liverpool, he only left this year and we already need him back! :cry:

FinnFreak

08-24-2009, 7:31am

Iltalehti.fi - 21.8.2009

Madonna Breaks More Records

Not only was Madonna's concert in Helsinki the largest ever in Scandinavia by the size of the paying audience (over 85,000) - but also the largest of Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour by net gain: over 8,5 million Euros (over 12 million dollars).

John - :shocked:

Troll

08-24-2009, 7:39am

That is a lot of money.

SevenUp!

08-25-2009, 10:53pm

...wow...:eek:...good for Madonna...:up:...

FinnFreak

09-13-2009, 4:07am

http://finland.fi/public/gfx/gfx_5/ThisIsFinland/logo.gif (http://finland.fi/public/)
finland.fi (http://finland.fi/public/)

Helsinki South Harbour and surroundings by webcam

http://www.ek.fi/kamera/tn_palace00.jpg (http://www.ek.fi/kamera/palace00.jpg)

Located atop the headquarters of EK (Confederation of Finnish Industries) in downtown Helsinki, this webcam offers a range of views of the South Harbour and its surroundings.

The camera is able to pick up details of this historically fascinating area that remains one of the most popular locations among Helsinkians and visitors alike.

Depending on the camera angle and the amount of zoom, you can often see the colourful open-air market stalls, City Hall, the Presidential Palace, the green-domed Lutheran Cathedral, the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral with its traditional onion-shaped cupolas and the marble-clad Stora Enso office building, designed by the distinguished Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.

http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/helsinki.gif

Click on the locations below for a closer look.

Old indoor market hall (http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/webcam1.jpg)
Lutheran Cathedral (http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/webcam4.jpg)
City Hall (http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/webcam2.jpg)
Open-air market (Market Square) (http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/webcam3.jpg)
Presidential Palace (http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/webcam5.jpg)
Stora Enso office building, designed by Alvar Aalto (http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/webcam6.jpg)
Orthodox Cathedral (http://finland.fi/finfo/images/season/webcam7.jpg)

The EK webcam often also shows the huge passenger ferries that sail between Helsinki and Stockholm. And during the summer months in particular, you will also have a chance to see the impressive luxury cruise ships that visit Helsinki, plus a host of private motor vessels and yachts.

In addition, during state visits, the EK webcam people show spectacular shots of the official ceremonies taking place in the forecourt of the Presidential Palace. A return visit to this page, which offers new angles and events every day, is always rewarding. And, for those seeking information on Finnish industry and the economy, we recommend the EK home page.

Links

EK (Confederation of Finnish Industries) (http://www.ek.fi/www/en/index.php)

Other webcams

Webcams in other Finnish cities (http://www.webcam.nu/finland/)
Road weather cameras (http://alk.tiehallinto.fi/alk/english/frames/kelikamerat-frame.html) by the Finnish Road Administration
Osprey's nest in Nauvo, southwestern Finland (http://www.saaristomeri.info/tietopankki/in_english/webcams_in_the_archipelago_sea/) Note: The osprey's nest camera is working again! A storm put it out of commission on May 23 and it was repaired on July 2 when workers visited the nest to band the chicks, who have been named Aarni and Eliel.
Osprey's nest on Hailuoto (http://kotinetti.suomi.net/saaksi/index.php), an island off the coast of the northern Finnish city of Oulu

John - ;)

Troll

09-13-2009, 9:21am

Cool

FinnFreak

09-25-2009, 5:32am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - COLUMN - Friday 25.9.2009

Finland acting like a colonial power

By Antti Tuuri

In the summer much was written and spoken about whether or not Finland is at war in Afghanistan. The official stand seemed to be that Finland is not at war - it is securing peace.

Nevertheless, Finnish soldiers are carrying weapons and wearing military gear in Afghanistan. They are shot at, and they return fire. It certainly sounds like war. It comes to mind, how we spoke about the Winter War for decades, even though the Soviet Union did not consider it a war at all. In their history writing the war was referred to as a conflict in the Leningrad region. Perhaps official Soviet history writing said that the conflict in the Leningrad region secured peace.

Also interesting is the present phase of Finnish industry, which representatives of industry refer to as internationalisation. The forest industry is closing factories in Finland, acquiring big land holdings in South America, and planting eucalyptus trees, ignoring the objections of the local people.

Finnish companies are building factories in developing countries, where wages are a fraction of what are paid in Finland.

This kind of thing used to be referred to as colonial policy. Then, as now, it involved the acquisition of vast holdings of land, keeping in power politicians who are willing to cooperate by financing their activities, promoting favourable legislation, and making reference to the legislation if any objections are made.

In Finland laws were passed to limit the right of forest companies to buy excessively large holdings of land, because it was clearly seen that they would distort ownership relations, and give the companies power in matters in which they should not have power.

There are no such laws in the developing countries, and nobody in our forest companies seem to understand history well enough that they could imagine why laws restricting forest ownership were drawn up in Finland long ago.

At the time when colonies were divided up, Finland was a part of Russia, and even after that we never owned colonies in distant continents. We never extracted our well-being from there while raping nature and crushing human rights, even killing people, which is what was done by many other European countries, whose colonialism people in Finland have grown accustomed to frowning upon.

Now even the Finnish state, as a major owner of companies operating in developing countries, is organising election funding for politicians, and even using the forces of a developing country against the country’s own citizens in order to safeguard its property.

We could start to talk about issues with their real names: Finland is at war alongside NATO forces in Afghanistan, and in developing countries, Finland is involved in industrial activities in which the natural resources of a colony are exploited, nature damaged, supportive leaders are kept in power, and the people are kept under control with the help of machine guns.

Finland is a colonial power at war.

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

09-25-2009, 8:45am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Friday 25.9.2009

Election funding row sparks serious discussion of dissolution of Parliament

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135249548711.jpeg

The furore over election campaign funding has led to serious consideration of the possibility of dissolving the Finnish Parliament and calling new elections.

The possibility of holding early elections has split the ranks of both government and opposition parties.

Leaders of the Parliamentary groups of the opposition parties are meeting on Thursday to discuss the current situation. The meeting was proposed by Tarja Filatov, chairwoman of the Parliamentary group of the largest opposition party, the Social Democrats. The topic of the meeting is “restoration of the credibility of politics and possible new elections”.

“I think that the government is not capable of functioning”, said SDP Chairwoman Jutta Urpilainen.

Left Alliance Chairman Paavo Arhinmäki told the Finnish News Agency STT that the government should be changed for many reasons - not only the election funding issue.

Filatov did not want to take a stand on possible early Parliamentary elections. “The election financing law is important. It needs to be passed quickly, and it needs to be powerful enough”, she said. In addition to looking for ways to achieve that, the opposition parties are looking for “other measures” for the restoration of credibility.

Filatov said that the credibility of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has been “shaken”. She noted that it is not necessary for a candidate to be able to account for every postage stamp used by the campaign, but if the Prime Minister is not aware even of the large sums that are spent, the question arises if state finances are also dealt with on the principle of “I don’t know, I don’t remember”.

On Wednesday, both Vanhanen and Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party) rejected the idea of dissolving Parliament.

Katainen said that there is no need for new elections. Under the law, the Prime Minister would need to propose such a measure, and Vanhanen said that early elections “are not being planned”.

The idea of early elections was proposed by former Centre Party MP Jukka Vihriälä, who resigned from his post as chairman of the board of the Finnish Slot Machine Association. (RAY).

Opinions among Members of Parliament on the matter were varied.

MP Jyrki Kasvi of the Green League, a government party, favours holding new elections. Opposition SDP veteran Jacob Söderman felt that there would be no point in holding early elections unless the election finance law is reformed before that.

The general view is that it would be most important to pass a new law on election funding. Seppo Tiitinen, the Secretary-General of Parliament, said that it is Parliament’s task to come up with rules for election financing, because otherwise “the same mess” would exist after new elections.

Many government party MPs say that the political crisis is not yet the kind that was meant when the current procedure for dissolving the Parliament was written into law.

Election funding causes rumblings in government

Greens criticise "old parties and their candidates"; opposition calls for Vanhanen to resign

The controversy over election funding caused problems within the government on Wednesday, when the Parliamentary group of the Green League distanced itself from the other three parties of the government coalition.

The Greens denounced the activities of “the old parties and their candidates” in election funding, and indicated that if election finance reform did not go far enough, the party might go against the government in an upcoming confidence vote.

The Greens say that the “concrete goals” of legislation which guarantees openness need to be included in a statement on the election funding bill, which the government promised to present to Parliament soon.

The debate on the government’s statement will include a vote of confidence in the government, and noises from within the Greens lending support to a possible dissolution of Parliament raised a few eyebrows.

In addition to criticising the “old parties”, the Greens’ statements put forward demands and set goals for reform of election funding. Green Parliamentary group chairman Ville Niinistö said, however, that his group does not expect the government to follow the goals set by the Greens in minute detail.

The two largest parties in the government had varying interpretations of the implications of the rumblings within the Greens.

The Centre Party’s Timo Kalli said that the Greens’s statement on confidence in the government lacked logic, because the government will have to stay in office possibly for months before it is known what kind of an election finance law is coming. “You’re either in the government or out. Then you either have confidence, or don’t, and you don’t go hiding behind any corner.”

Ben Zyskowicz, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary wing of the National Coalition Party, did not see the Greens’ statement as an ultimatum. However, he warned the Greens that “it is not a good idea to sit on two chairs, because you might fall between them”.

Green League chairwoman and Minister of Labour Anni Sinnemäki insisted during a visit to Brussels that the Greens are not split on how to bear responsibility as a government party in matters related to the election campaign controversy.

She did not want the Green League to join the opposition Social Democrats in toppling the government. “Our goal is to reform the election campaign law, and not to serve the Social Democratic Party in opposition."

Sinnemäki feels that it was quite normal for the Green Parliamentary group to put pressure on the government on Thursday, even though the Greens themselves have two ministers in the current four-party coalition. In her view, evaluating one’s own activities is part of being in government.

Leaders of the Parliamentary opposition parties issued a joint statement on Thursday calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) over the election funding furore.

However, the opposition group leaders did not say anything on the possible dissolution of Parliament, even though that was on the list drawn up by Social Democratic Party group leader Tarja Filatov, who had called for the meeting.

The opposition groups were split on the issue of early elections, with the Left Alliance and the True Finns calling for dissolving Parliament, while the SDP and the Christian Democrats wanted to wait for a statement from the government. Annika Lapintie (Left Alliance) called for new elections, saying that “big money” had distorted the composition of Parliament, pushing it to the right.

Prime Minister Vanhanen said during a visit to the United States that he has no intention of resigning, and Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party), who serves as the Prime Minister’s substitute while he is away, noted that parties of the left also get money to promote their cause.

President Tarja Halonen, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, would not speculate on what she would decide if Prime Minister Vanhanen were to resign, considering that he has said that he does not plan to do so.

Halonen also noted that Parliament has set a very high threshold for its dissolution: the Prime Minister must ask the President to dissolve Parliament, and Parliament itself must set the timetable.

Halonen said that the furore over election funding has “certainly” affected how the government works. She emphasised that an ability to work is especially important during an economic crisis.

Parliament was last dissolved in Finland in 1975, during the rule of President Urho Kekkonen.

A change to the Constitution in 1991 removed the previously almost unrestricted powers of the President to dissolve the assembly and call new elections.

Since 1983, all governments have sat for the full four-year Parliamentary term, with the exception of the brief administration led by Anneli Jäätteenmäki (Centre Party) in 2003.

In that instance, the resignation of the Prime Minister (over the so-called "Iraqgate" issue) did not lead to fresh elections, but a new government composed of almost exactly the same ministers continued under the leadership of Matti Vanhanen.

This kind of election funding has been carried out continuously since 1918... and only NOW it's started bothering people..?!? - :really: - No way. Kicking out the Parliament now, on basis of some "new found" hypocritical conscience, and replacing them with populistic True Finns would be a disaster in the long run - like Germany in March, 1933.

Vanhanen is history, though.

John - :smirk:

FinnFreak

10-08-2009, 11:53am

FinlandForThought.Net - 3.10.2009

Famous Finnish phrases translated to English

Recognize any?

http://www.finlandforthought.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Finnish-phrases.jpg

...here's some more:

11. Left slickly as the janitor off a tin roof on a frosty day.
12. Sad as a cat taking a *****.
13. This is better than a new one made in Russia.
14. Face like a vultures ****.
15. Dropped like mom’s brother from the boat.
16. Cheap as soap.
17. Silent as a p!ss in the sock.
18. Silent as in a felt boot factory.
19. Looks at like a cheap sausage.
20. Just in case, like nuns nipples.

John - :p

Troll

10-08-2009, 3:28pm

Intresting

FinnFreak

10-15-2009, 2:27am

YLE NEWS - Wed 14 October 2009

1Mb Broadband Access Becomes Legal Right

http://yle.fi/ecepic/archive/00146/LAAJAKAISTA_146264b.jpg

Starting next July, every person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection, says the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Finland is the world's first country to create laws guaranteeing broadband access.

The government had already decided to make a 100 Mb broadband connection a legal right by the end of 2015. On Wednesday, the Ministry announced the new goal as an intermediary step.

Some variation will be allowed, if connectivity can be arranged through mobile phone networks.

Comments:

The Finnish government has done what no other nation has; it has made broadband Internet access a guaranteed legal right of its citizens. According to Finnish news site YLE, The Ministry of Transport and Communications says everyone in the country will be entitled to a guaranteed 1 Mbit connection by next July. This is fascinating, but it's really only half the story.

The real news is that the country considers this just a preliminary stepping stone to a 100 Mbit service guarantee by the end of 2015. According to the story, "Some variation will be allowed, if connectivity can be arranged through mobile phone networks."

Granted, Finland's population is more like a very large city than a country as big as the U.S. There are 5.3 million people residing in Finland, mostly in the south. This would place the country about 30th in the ranking of world cities by population, but it still makes it bigger than any U.S. city save New York. Which begs the question - if Finland can do this, why can't more major U.S. cities?

- Jason Cross, PC World

From the middle of next year Finland will become the first country in the world to incorporate access to broadband into its legislation as a basic human right.

From July next year, every person in Finland will have the right to have access to 1MG broadband connection. The Finnish government is already planning to make access to 100MG broadband a legal requirement by the end of 2015.

The Finnish government dedicated about €12.5 million to continue the rollout of its rural broadband initiative. On the government’s website, it said its aim was ensure nearly all citizens had access to high-speed broadband by the end of 2009.

The government said the construction of telecommunication was an efficient way to create jobs. Labour MP Clare Curran agreed, saying the internet and access to broadband was the "highway of the future."

"It's a very interesting discussion, broadband and connectivity to the internet. Yes, I do think it is important [as a human right]."

Ms Curran said broadband had its heart in New Zealand's economic future, and that Finland was leading the way in promoting it as social and public interest to the world.

She added that people in rural areas had a direct disadvantage to people in urban areas in New Zealand who had access to high-speed broadband.

"I think it's very encouraging [Finland's move to make broadband a legal human right]. Finland is leading the way, as so often these Scandinavian countries do."

- Kelly Gregor, The National Business Review, New Zealand

Finland has long been a tech-industry leader that has done a fine job investing in technology, more than many of its European counterparts. It's also home to Nokia, among other tech firms.

- Don Reisinger, CNET NEWS columnist

While the US is still struggling to figure out how to define broadband and where it's even available, Finland has decided that 1Mb broadband access should now be considered a legal right, with plans to boost that to 100Mb by the end of 2015. There do appear to be some exceptions for remote households, but if I were living in Finland right now, instead of the heart of Silicon Valley, my "legal rights" would be denied. While I'm not sure it makes sense to define broadband as a legal right, it's yet another reminder of how far behind the US appears to be on broadband deployments.

- techdirt

And by the time Finland has their 100Mbit internet the US will have 0Mbit internet since everyone will have been accused of file sharing and either been kicked off the internet or fined until they are homeless.

It's amazing how many Americans think of Europe as the "old world" and the rest as the "third world." In many forums the mere mention of another country being ahead of the USA in any way will be viciously attacked as misguided liberal propaganda, eliciting frothing rants about socialism and freedom.

:biglaugh: - !!!

Liberal, conservative, it's all stupid. The truth is that no matter where a good idea comes from it should be investigated.

But the FCC is working hard with the RIAA and MPAA and telcos and cablecos to ensure that everyone gets a decent broadband connection for a decent price :)

John - :p

FinnFreak

10-15-2009, 2:56am

ChipChick.com - Tech and Gadgets from a Girl's Perspective - October 15, 2009

Finnish Government Announces Broadband for All
– Is Internet the New Human Right?

http://www.chipchick.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/broadbandforall.jpg

By Lydia Leavitt

For those of you that have been following ChipChick lately, you probably know that I spent an amazing week in Finland profiling Nordic startups and Finnish culture with a group of bad-*** bloggers from around the world. So I was clearly excited when I saw that Finland was in the headlines today! The Finnish government announced that it would be the first country to provide broadband Internet to the entire nation by law: all 5.5 million of them. According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the law states that by July 2010, each person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabyte broadband connection, and by 2015 it will be more like a 100MB broadband connection. So basically, by 2015, Internet access will be available throughout the country to all its inhabitants. Although the broadband not for free, it will be available if you choose to cash in.

My first reaction was – sweet, how forward thinking of them! But once I started reading other people’s reactions to the story, a few other questions came to mind like, how? Why should the government take the time and effort to implement broadband throughout the country? Is it a trivial waste of time and money? When considering this debacle, I turned to Ville Vesterinen, Finnish Editor and Co-Founder of Arctic Startup, a website and information source that focuses on technology startups and growth entrepreneurship in the Nordic and Baltic countries. When I asked Ville (pronounced Vill-lay) his thoughts on the matter and what implications the law may have, he responded:

Well functioning Internet access – which today means Broadband access – will be one of the corner stones of our equalitarian society in the future and comparable to the universal suffrage in importance. The first European country to introduce women’s suffrage was the Grand Duchy of Finland. Finnish women got the right both to vote (universal and equal suffrage) and to stand for election in as early as 1906. Today Finland is again among the first to advance the principles of a truly egalitarian society. Well functioning Internet access should a birth right in every modern country.

What Ville helped me understand is that there is so much more to this decision than just a Finnish nerd’s dream of 100 Mb of broadband. It’s about the wealth of information and connectivity that the Internet provides. This form of Finnish “egalitarianism” is more about leveling the playing field and providing everyone with the same tools to succeed, if they choose to use them. I wonder if perhaps when universal suffrage was announced whether people had the same type of reaction; How? Why? Is this a waste of time and money? The Finnish government not only recognizes the value of the Internet, but sees it as an invaluable resource, one that its people should not, and will not go without.

http://www.chipchick.com/2009/10/finnish-broadband.html

John - ;)

FinnFreak

10-15-2009, 3:33am

HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - HOME - Thursday 15.10.2009

NEWS ANALYSIS:

So who actually sent that letter to the Nobel Committee?

Helsingin Sanomat milked poltical insiders on who tried to blow the whistle on Martti Ahtisaari

http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135245201495.jpeg
Former President Martti Ahtisaari addressing Parliament at a special plenary
session called to mark the award of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.
At right is the Secretary-General of Parliament Seppo Tiitinen.

By Tommi Nieminen

Pär Stenbäck revealed this week what Geir Lundestad disclosed to him in April 2007. A “well-known person” in Finland had sent the Nobel Committee a letter giving reasons why the Nobel Peace Prize should not be given to Martti Ahtisaari.

The letter contained “many negative assessments of the President”. Stenbäck speculated that the motivation for such a move might be “small-mindedness, jealousy, and a desire for revenge”.

However, the most significant matter remained unresolved: who wrote the letter?

For this story Helsingin Sanomat contacted eight political insiders who know Ahtisaari well. None of them would say publicly - under their own names - if they had any suspicions of who might have written the letter. However, there were many hints - not all of them anonymous.

Writer Lasse Lehtinen (SDP) was an information consultant of the Ahtisaari Presidential election campaign.

“What does slander legislation say if I were to give someone’s name?” Lehtinen asks. “Would you offer confidentiality of sources?” he adds with a grin. Lehtinen has clearly been following the debate over YLE's allegations towards Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.

He says that he heard about the poison-pen letter “right away” in 2007. The identity of the writer was reportedly a matter of speculation among politicians.

“It seems that it might refer to someone who was treated badly.”

Lehtinen does not seem to have any information, but he suggests reading memoirs of ambassadors who might have grown bitter during the Ahtisaari term. “That is maybe where I would look”.

What is the information that we have about the letter?

”The secretary of the committee said that a well-known person is involved. Even he recognised the person”, Stenbäck says.

He emphasises that Lundestad did not mention the person’s position in society. One can certainly assume that only a high-ranking Finnish politician or other influential person would think that their opinions would carry any weight among the Norwegian Nobel Committee members.

That effectively rules out short-term politicians and civil servants, in the view of one political insider.

What about the content of the letter? Stenbäck says that Lundestad’s revelations contain no deep insider information. There was just generally-known allegations about Ahtisaari - “as seen in gossip magazines”.

“I could mention the word bandage”, Stenbäck says.

In April 1994, Ahtisaari came home from his first state visit to Sweden with a bandage on his forehead.

According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Ahtisaari had held a rowdy party in his hotel, where he is said to have fallen on the floor. An ambulance was called. The suspicion was that the President had been powerfully intoxicated, but Ahtisaari himself blamed his slippery shoes.

Stenbäck wrote a letter to the Nobel Committee defending Ahtisaari, his long-time friend. However, he does not plan to publish the letter.

“There are no secrets there, but it is a letter of rebuttal”, Stenbäck says.

In a few sources, suspicions target the campaign of Ahtisaari’s rival for the Presidency, Elisabeth Rehn (Swedish People’s Party) in the 1994 elections.

There were people involved who felt a deep disgust toward Ahtisaari - and who never accepted his victory.

According to one political insider, the rumours of Ahtisaari’s alleged heavy drinking were started by certain women of the National Coalition Party operating in an “Elisabeth Rehn frenzy”.

Rehn and Ahtisaari themselves apparently get along well with each other - at least these days.

Professor Juhani Suomi, an expert in the career of former President Urho Kekkonen, is a veteran civil servant at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. He sees nothing new in the controversy.

“Each time a Finn has been a candidate, if you think of [novelist] Frans Eemil Sillanpää, A.I. Virtanen, and Urho Kekkonen, there has been contrary information about each of them coming out of Finland, which has been brought to the attention [of the committee].”

Professor Suomi has his own suspicions of who might have sent the letter. He brings out whom he suspects, but insists that it not be mentioned in the article, considering how hot a potato such a letter would be in a country of small political circles.

One political insider draws up a long list, including names such as former Presidents Mauno Koivisto and Tarja Halonen, supporters of former Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa (who lost the Social Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination to Ahtisaari in 1994) as well as Juhani Suomi and political scientist, former Foreign Minister and newspaper editor Keijo Korhonen.

Korhonen is one of the first names to be raised in the media on the matter.

He is known not to hold Ahtisaari in very high regard. His comment on hearing that Ahtisaari had won the Nobel Peace Prize was icy: “One should not expect any more wisdom of the Nobel Committee of Norway’s Stortinget than of parliamentary committees in any country.”

Korhonen has vehemently denied that he was behind the letter.

Another insider suspects that the writer of the letter might be a Social Democratic politician in a very high place.

Former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen grunts that there is “no point even calling me” about the subject.

There has been a massive change in Finnish attitudes toward Ahtisaari.

During his presidency, he got negative comments for being overweight, for his travels to the Finnish provinces, and over allegations of a drinking problem.

Now he has become almost untouchable.

Criticising him is so awkward that the criticism was sent by letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which has an obligation to confidentiality.

In the worst of cases, the mystery of the letter will not be resolved before 2057, when the documents from 2007 are made public.

That would also not be much of an endorsement for modern-day Finland.

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 11.10.2009

Previously in HS International Edition:

Stubb hopes Ahtisaari´s Nobel opponent will step forward (7.10.2009) (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Stubb+hopes+Ahtisaaris+Nobel+opponent+will+step+fo rward+/1135249862940)
Stenbäck: “Notable” Finn tried to block Martti Ahtisaari from getting Nobel Peace Prize (6.10.2009) (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Stenb%C3%A4ck+%E2%80%9CNotable%E2%80%9D+Finn+tried +to+block+Martti+Ahtisaari+from+getting+Nobel+Peac e+Prize/1135249838469)
Martti Ahtisaari wins 2008 Nobel Peace Prize (10.10.2008) (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/bMartti+Ahtisaari+wins+2008+Nobel+Peace+Prizeb/1135240130124)

:mad: - Incredible BS (Back Stabbing). I hope the Finnish government, for once, does the right thing & goes forward in nominating [B]Ahtisaari as our candidate for the first European Union President. NOT Lipponen - though NordStream has plenty of influence on things.

John - :smirk:

faithfully

10-15-2009, 3:43am

The first European Union President should be none other than our esteemed Prime Minister of Great Britain Gordon Brown:funny::p

FinnFreak

10-15-2009, 3:46am

The first European Union President should be none other than our esteemed Prime Minister of Great Britain Gordon Brown:funny::p

Is THAT your best offer..? ;)

John - :p

faithfully

10-15-2009, 3:54am

Is THAT your best offer..? ;)

John - :p

Hes the cream of the crop, matador of all politicians in GB:funny:

Troll

10-15-2009, 7:40am

Thanks John

FinnFreak

10-15-2009, 9:44am

guardian.co.uk - Thursday 8 October 2009

Airline's claim that flying to Asia via Helsinki is green vanishes into Finnair

Finland's national carrier blitzes Europe with plain stupid marketing strategy that amounts to eco-vandalism

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/10/7/1254919222570/Greenwash-Finnair--001.jpg
Eco-smarter than your average fare? Finnair's CO2 emissions calculator.
Photograph: feel.finnair.com

By Fred Pearce

The national airline of Finland has a new marketing strategy. Finnair wants us to fly to Asia via Helsinki. It's a sensible business plan, I guess. There aren't so many Finns wanting to fly to Asia, so they encourage others to fly to Finland and join them on the long haul.

The company is currently blitzing Europe cities such as London with posters claiming that flying Finnair to Asia is both quicker and "eco-smart".

So is this greenwash?

I took this up with Kati Ihamäki, who was last year appointed the company's vice-president for sustainable development "as part of [Finnair's] quest to become the airline of choice for environmentally conscious passengers in international travel".

Her case is this. First, Helsinki is on a direct route to much of Asia from both Europe and North America. It may not look like it from most maps, but you'll see what she means if you check out a globe, or look at this Great Circle Mapper.

Fair enough, but most direct routes to China, India and south-east Asia already fly over Finland. So why bother to land and take off again? Her answer is that breaking the journey means planes can carry less fuel.

Most of the payload when a long-haul flight takes off is not passengers or cargo but fuel. It can be five times the "payload", so breaking the journey into smaller hops cuts the fuel load.

But there is a catch. Planes use most fuel during take-off and getting to cruising altitude. Typically this process burns as much fuel as cruising for 700-800km. Taking off twice (say, once in London and once in Helsinki) will therefore burn up more fuel than taking off once.

So there is a balance. And Ihamaki's case is that on those really long hauls to Asia – anything over 10 hours, she writes in a blog on the company site — the balance is in favour of a stopover.

You can cut your emissions when flying from New York to New Delhi by 28% if you make a stop-off at Helsinki, Finnair claims.

Others agree that stopovers are best on the longest journeys. When Britain's Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution investigated air travel a few years ago, it found that the fuel burned "per passenger kilometre" was highest for short-haul flights (where most of the journey is fuel-intensive takeoff and climbing) and for very long-haul flights (through carrying so much fuel).

But the commission found a modest "sweet spot" in the middle. At around 4,300km (2,672 miles), emissions were as much as 10% less than for very long or short flights.

So does that make Finnair right? Not quite.

For one thing, a flight from London (or Frankfurt, or Amsterdam) to Helsinki is less than half the "sweet spot" distance.

By my calculation, based on the Royal Commission's findings, Finnair is right that if you are flying from London to Hong Kong it is better to stop over at Helsinki than go direct. But Finnair's scientists agreed with me that for a journey from London to Beijing it makes virtually no difference, and for Delhi or Mumbai you would emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions on a direct flight.

So Finnair have their science right. But their marketing is hype. It is by no means always "eco-smart" to fly to Asia via Helsinki, because the emissions from the short hop to Finland's capital often outweigh the benefits on the rest of the journey.

Worse still, a lot of the stop-over flights Finnair offers from Europe to Asia via Helsinki are plain stupid. Its schedules advertise crazy dog-leg journeys like Moscow to Bangkok via Helsinki. That is: flying west to Helsinki before taking a flight east that is even longer than going direct from Moscow. Istanbul to Bangkok via Helsinki is equally crazy. But those "eco-smart" guys are desperate to sell you a ticket.

Finnair has opened a debate. In the coming years, as the airline business struggles to come to terms with internationally imposed limits on emissions, there will be a lot of new thinking: about taking more direct routes; reducing those irritating and fuel-burning holding circles before landing; cutting out super-long haul.

All that is good. But Finnair's blanket claim that flying via Helsinki is eco-smart does not hold water. It is a marketing ruse, based on cherry-picking data, to help fill more planes to Asia. It is, for many journeys, greenwash.

And encouraging us to think that it can be "eco-smart" to fly to Asia at all is an act of eco-vandalism.

A cynic would say the best eco-news from Finnair this year is that collapsing demand has forced it to cancel 14% of its flights. Now that really is eco-smart.

John - :p