CSUE

My apologies for the month pause in blogging; I have been exceptionally busy working on things and have had lovely guests, too, whom I have showed around the state of Oulu as well as Lapland over the holidays.

I recently talked with my father-in-law, who is a cosmopolitan and grew up in Austria, France, Louisiana, The Bronx (NYC), and finally, Englewood (New Jersey) and has worked at JFK and the IAEA in Vienna, about rent. He said that a person's rent should not be more than 25% of his or her income. In Oulu, Finland, this is still possible (although rents in neighbouring towns, ca. 25 km away are ca. 60% of that of Oulu). However, I have friends in different places, such as Barcelona, Spain, who pay 650€ rent and get a 1400€ salary for a good job at the bank; friends in Edinburgh, Scotland say rents have sky-rocketed over the few years when even before young professionals were forced to live in communes to survive (which ultimately means not having children, for example. Think of all the studies they do to find out why birth rates are so low in Europe).

Friends in Amsterdam say that what used to cost one guilder now costs one euro, although the official exchange rate is 2.2 guilders to one euro. This is true for rent as well as a cup of coffee at the café.

If there is a scheme behind this, maybe it is linked with the eternal problem of old-time factory owners: how to pay as little as possible to workers, but still enough so that they have money to buy our products? Henry Ford was one of the first factory-owners who decided that he wants the people who build his cars to also affors to buy one for themself.

This eternal dilemma of factory owners has taken a new step in Eastern Europe, which was "liberated" from communism (to 19th century feudalism). I have a friend in Hungary who earns around 800€/month as a manager at a factory department of a large international company. 825€/month is considered to be the EU-wide poverty limit. 800 is an exceptionally good salary in Hungary. Somehow this does not add up.

Although in Hungary prices and cost of living is lower than in Holland or Finland, most basic things cost more or less the same: gas litre, milk carton, etc.

I am afraid if things go on like this, there will be another October Revolution taking place this century. In Czarist Russia, people were facing the kind of conditions the majority of young people in Europe are facing, slowly, bit by bit. We have already witnessed ever-more aggressive demonstrations in eg. G-20 summits, and these demonstrations are not getting more relaxed in the future.

Sometimes I try to imagine what 25th century history books will say about the 2oth and 21st centuries. It could be something like this:

"The renaissance and the enlightenment were succeeded by the welfare state society culture, which was at its highest in Northern Europe, and the capitalist culture, which both created a beneficial scientific and artistic atmosphere. In the 21st century, however, these systems suddenly vanished, probably due to an increasing greed of the owning-class and the so-called stock owners, and due to disregard towards the environment. This was followed by a period of chaos which eventually turned into World War III, in which the waring factions were not states, but the working classes against the owning class. As a result of this, China occupied Russia, and installed Soviet Europe as its puppet state, with the capital in Moscow. Soviet Europe consisted of ex-Soviet Union and the European Union.

Following this, the relations of the USA and the Chinese Soviet Union of Europe (CSUE) were very bad in late 21st century, which is referred to as Cold War II. The Iron Curtain was now formed by the Atlantic Ocean, often referred to as The Water Curtain.

In the 22nd century, however...."

An acquaintance of mine said Finland is a "Country for losers"

An acquaintance of mine from Country X recently referred to Finland as a country of losers. In addition to that the venue was a meeting of recent immigrants and expats to Oulu, his opinion was rather illplaced. Another matter altogether is why he would have such a view after having lived several years in Oulu, the 4th biggest city area in Finland, roughly at 65 degrees northern latitude, 25.5 eastern longitude. Oulu is a technology oriented (I am fed up with technology which is why I often bash Oulu myself) at the gateway to the arctic with other cities of similar magnitude being more than 500 km away, in southern Finland (Tampere) and Russia (Murmansk, a major port city at the Arctic Ocean)

I will, in the following provide an analysis of the statement, based on my extensive research on Oulu, and my experiences in the 10 or so countries or states I have lived in, and from experiences related to me by friends and family.

Finland, sandwiched between Russia and Sweden, was ethnically and culturally too splintered so they could not build a union strong enough to counter foreign attacks from the 11th century onwards. This led to Finland falling under the spheres of Russia and Sweden until the 20th century.

For a city so far away from anything else in the Arctic, Oulu has actually done remarkably well. I am guessing that in referring to Finland as a country of losers, my acquaintance is referring to the broad industry base in his small and affluent country, which has created wealth and employment, and the wealth has then created excellent infrastructure, and trickled over to culture, for instance. Finland, being more isolated from major traffic routes, and with a very low population density, has had less money to deal out in a much bigger area, funded by much fewer tax payers not to mention that international companies seek logistic advantages by settling in a country that is centrally located.

My aunt’s husband is Dutch, for instance, and when I related the view presented by Mr X, he said that he moved away from Holland because it’s wall-to-wall insurance company/car store/etc., and little nature.

If you compare Finland to Sweden and Norway, Finland has done well considering it does not have Norway’s luck of oil (after Soviet Union asked Finland to cede its Arctic Sea Coast with its oil in 1944). The Finnish border is at the closest 14 km away from the Arctic Sea. These borders were not decided by Finns of course but in the 1751 Strömstad peace treaty with Denmark and Sweden and the 1826 peace treaty with Sweden and Russia (after Norway passed from Denmark to Sweden in 1812 and Finland passed from Sweden to Russia in 1809). Sweden has the luck of not having been in war in over 200 years and they have been able to develop in peace.

If you look at the world map or the globe and look at how far up north Oulu, is actually a wonder that there is anything like a major city this far up north. Oulu was founded in 1605 and the Swedish King who founded it between three other trade towns close by lured people to immigrate there from all over his empire and from across Europe and beyond. This immigrant background of the people created a spirit of entrepreneurialism which had to rise from the ashes several times after sackings by Russia, which is probably the reason why people up here have been slow to capitalize on the economic opportunities presented by Russia today. Unfortunately, Oulu still had not woken up from the Cold War, when the effects of the 1990s depression settled in as a result of the Center Party and National Coalition right-wing government cuts starting from 1991. Unlike Sweden, whose Social Democratic government took early hits in 1991-1992 by not cutting on public spending but who swung soon back, Finland’s cuts created an Oulu of high employment, and with a technology-only based industry, which is not a very healthy base for any city. Oulu’s employment figures started rising slowly, more due to people moving out and finding work in southern Finland and beyond than due to an ameliorated economic situation.

Still, the unemployment and subsequent bad economic situation is worse in many other cities as far up north and isolated as Oulu. Cities as far north as Oulu in the world include Fairbanks, Alaska; Arkhangelsk, Russia; and Reykjavik, Iceland. That’s about it. Most of Siberia and Canada lie south of Oulu’s 65th latitude.

Taking for granted that the country of losers –statement is based on experiences related to employment and culture, is not true, even if you compare it with similar unemployment figures in other less isolated places such as southern Italy, Portugal, eastern Germany, but even less true when considering the logistic challenges due to an isolated location, arctic winters, and having only 5 million inhabitants and tax payers in a country the size of Germany with 90 million inhabitants and tax payers.

Considering culture and Oulu, firstly you have to know that contacts are everything. Many artists in Oulu have to move to Helsinki, cause that’s where the funding is. Its more about who you know than what you know to get a name. Of course in the end you need to be good as well, but I have seen many wonderful works of northern Finnish artists who, if they were well connected, would be famous.

You also have to question what is conceived as art. Are not natural wonders, for instance, also art? Art does not always take place within four walls and a ceiling. Have a look at the annual snow castle in Kemi for instance, which is different every year at www.snowcastle.net. Or street graffiti?

I mean do not get me wrong here; the small, compact and populous Country X is a lovely country, but it’s a bit unfair to say another country that’s quite different from your own, is a country for losers (and then still self live in this so-called country of losers) just because it’s not like your own country.

I have often been asked by people who do not know Finland very well over a few matters. One of these issues is the following:

Q: Students graduate late.
A: Students get good benefits from the state, most notably: 50% on meals in student cafeterias, and train tickets. There is no real internship tradition in Finland. Youth unemployment is high, for people under 25 the official figure is 18,4%, and in every country the real figure is always higher. Finnish companies always expect experience from even recent graduates. This has led to the situation in which students have to gather work experience (if they can find relevant employment) before they graduate. This postpones graduation. In Britain and the USA, companies often hire students, especially from so-called good universities, right when they graduate, which is an incentive to graduate. In Finland, the incentive is to prolong your theoretical study period in order to work while studying, and to keep on getting student benefits.
I did a combined Bachelor's and Master's, which took eight in years in theory, but in practice I was working full or part time throughout my studies, and upon graduation, seeing that there was no full-time employment in sight in Finland I went to work in Holland. Nowadays recent graduates often go and work in Sweden or Britain, or volunteer in third-world countries.

Another reason for the prolonging of studies is that companies actively look for engineering end-stage students to employ them. The reason for this is that according to trade union rules and government laws students can be paid lower wages than graduates. An acquaintance of mine who was six months away from graduating as a geotechnology engineer was offered a job, and when he told the company he could start in a few months after he graduates, he was told this is not possible since in that case he will be overqualified for the job..!

Another acuaintance of mine has been working as a telecommunications engineer, who was hired in the final stages of his studies, has been working for the company for five years now and is still officially a student, and about 40% of his immediate colleagues are in a similar situation.

The government has been trying to make students graduate faster, which has worked to some extent, but the real problems of wanting to have a recent graduate with several years of experience, and legislature that enables hiring students at cheaper rates than graduates are still there.

Appeals Court Overturns District Court Decision concerning "Finland's Lewinsky Scandal"

The Finnish PM Matti Vanhanen won a case against his ex-girlfriend and her publisher in the Appeals Court yesterday.

The District Court, which consists of lay members, had acquitted Vanhanen's ex Ms Ruusunen and the publisher of her 2007 book "Pääministerian morsian" (The Prime Minister's Fiancée) of any wrongdoing.

I personally think there was nothing in the book that would have incriminated Ms Ruusunen and the whole case just shows the humourlessness of Vanhanen. Why could not he just simply let it be, and let a clearly badly written book remain at its low literary level? Let the poor lady have her attempt at stardom and riches; the book did not even sell.

Instead, Vanhanen could have published a book of his own in which he counterargues his ex-girlfriend's points.

Now, this whole thing just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Especially as the court also ordered, vengefully in my mind, for Ms Ruusunen to pay back over €4000 of "illegally obtained funds" - her book sales proceedings.

Ms Ruusunen is a single mother, and would have needed those €4230 to look after her family. This makes Vanhanen's worries uttered in public over Finnish citizens who are struggling to make ends meet sound like lip service.

I recently went to the local night school, where I a few years started studying Hebrew and Arabic, to pay for this semester's fees, and I realised there had been a price hike. My Hebrew teacher told this was due to the fact that Ylikiiminki had ceased to exist as an indepenent municipality and joined Oulu, and that since now the population density of the new Oulu had dropped, state support for the school was also cut down. Now I realised one of the reasons behind the eager of many politicians to make small towns join bigger cities or to form a completely new township of their own. Namely, the money thus spared will then be channeled to big businesses; recently the government announced they will abolish the so-called "social and pension welfare fees" companies have had to pay for each employee.

Of course, the bigger the company, the more youthus benefit. In stead of doing all-round business tax refinements that would benefit small and medium-sized companies, which are in danger of first going out of business during a recession, big companies and their lobbies are making sure they can wipe out competetion during a recession and monopolise the market. Even according to the EU, the level of monopolies in Finland is alarmingly high now: grocery stores, department stores and to a degree hardware stores are controlled by three chains: Sokos, Kesko and Tradeka. They all call their stores with different names to give a semblance of variety.

Most drink manufacturing and importing are controlled by two large companies. As a restaurant owner, you have to choose between two packages, provided by these two companies, and the prices are non-negotiable. You are not allowed to pick one brand here and another there to establish a line of drinks you prefer.

There are also some weird laws in place that benefit big cafes over smaller ones. If you have only one unisex toilet in your café, you are not allowed to sell sandwiches, and you must stick to certain types of pastries. Small cafés have therefore no chance of expandening their business unless they move to a new, bigger, location; a huge risk and investment for a small business owner.

Two years ago, they said they would abolish smoking in cafés and restaurants, but then in the last minute, they switched it around so, that there will be a 2-year dual phase, when you can assign a part of your bar/restaurant/café for smokers - if your institute is big enough to have the required space. I talked to a restaurant owner whom I know person ally who owns a bar at the market place who said that the last minute switch was typical to Finnish politics in that it favors big businesses who have the space needed to ward off smoking sections. The two years dual phase, he says, works in making people accustomed to going to the bigger places, and forgetting their old habits of going to the small independently owned bars, who cannot afford or is not physically possible to set up smoking sections for just two years.

Even the EU has criticized Finnish election laws, which make it possible for Company X to donate money to NGO X, which then donates money to candidates. The candidate then lists NGO X as the campaign funder, and not Person X. Therefore, Company X thus can and will have direct say concerning how Electee X votes on smoking laws in bars, or sandwich laws in cafés.

Oulu is a funny mixture, and therefore an interesting place to visit, of high-tech and old-fash; Nokia and its affiliates have large factories here (still) but Oulu is also the World Headquarters for the Lestadian movement. Lestadianism is a Christian sect mixed with features of Sami shamanism, and Judaism. Its founder was a half-Sami, Lars Laestadius. Lestadians are not allowed to use contraception and therefore usually have several children, and they can not watch TV. Lestadians are also business-minded and some of the largest independent department stores are owned by Lestadians.

One of the most interesting festivals of the year for me in Oulu, Poroferia, which mixes Sami traditions with Andalucian ones, is organised this weekend in Oulu. Originally, Oulu city did not wish to be a part of it, and it looked like last year's 2nd Poroferia would have been the last one, which would have been a shame. Maybe the reason was the line of sponsors, which include smaller businesses rather than large ones had something to do with it? Large companies and thei lobbies could not have their say? Who knows?

Middle East

It is difficult to find an objective account of the Middle Eastern conflict in Israel and Gaza. Most American mainstream newspapers are pro-Israel and most European ones are tilting towards Gaza. The only thing that has stopped Europe to condemn Israel more strongly is that Hamas, not Fatah, is in control of Gaza. I believe it is good to study history in order to understand the present. I also would like to lay forth a mid-Atlantic, or rather, a neutral-Finnish view on the matter.

Fact 1: Israel was born in 1948 after a UN vote. Israel's neighbours did not accept the vote and attacked Israel after its declaration of independence. Israel won the war and gained land in the war, which resulted in the present Israeli internationally accepted borders.

Fact 2: In 1967 the U.A.R., the United Arab republic (encompassing present-day Egypt and Syria) attacked Israel together with Jordan and troops from other Arab countries in the 6-Day War. Israel won the war and annexed East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan. The international community never accepted this occupation of Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian territory. Neither did the founding father of Israel, David ben-Gurion accept it; he wanted Israel to retreat from the occupied lands, and concentrate on developing the Negev.

Fact 3: Hamas is a radical organisation that does not accept the existence of the state of Israel. Their response to this has been suicide bombings, and the consecutive shooting of Qassam rockets into Israel from Gaza. Every now and then, Israel has retaliated with massive force with a few days' or weeks' "campaigns", where they usually shoot first and then ask questions. This has resulted in several innocent people getting killed and many important buildings being destroyed. In some of these buildings, Hamas fighters have mixed with civilians; a guerilla tactic used often by Hamas. Both IDF and Hamas have been accused of disregard for civilian lives because of these tactics.

Fact 4: Israel probably wanted to have a show of force in Bush' last days as president, since they can not be certain what USA will do under Obama; will USA continue to veto anti-Israeli bills in the UN? Will USA cut down on military aid to Israel under Obama and the increasing economic crisis? Israel was ridiculed in the Arab countries after they retreated from the Lebanese security zone a few years ago. Hizbollah and Hamas took this as a sign of weakness, probably leading to an increase in Qassam rockets fired at southern Israeli towns, which have been under constant assault over the last few years. Now, Israel wanted to show that they are not as "weak" in their response on Gaza as they were on Libanon.

I recently signed up for a group on facebook that wants to have Martti Ahtisaari broker a peace deal with Israel, Hamas, etc.

There is always a flip-side

I decided to publish a flip-side version of my blog of 25 Nov. I will now quote myself, and then debate against the view I stated 8 days ago as as an imaginary alter-ego blogger "Sowing Gohlo".

Going Sohlo, Nov 25 2008: "The government (i.e. an unknown consulting firm) is planning to sack thousands of people from the Employment Office just as thousands of people are being sacked from companies, who the Employment Office should help in finding a job for them."

Sowing Gohlo: There are way too many employees in employment offices already. Guess who is the biggest employer in the municipality of Utsjoki? The Employment Office! Yet, these people still are not able to find jobs for people. I recently talked to an owner of a café in Oulu. According to the law, he is not allowed to sell sandwiches because there is only one bathroom in the café, but he is allowed to sell coffee and buns. The law says if he wants to sell sandwiched he has to build a second toilet. Also, the laws in Finland are too strict for small business owners in general, and as such they benefit large companies. Hiring a first employee should be made easier, the limit of VAT liability should be increased, since small companies cannot suddenly add 22% VAT and expect their customers to pay it. They will go to larger companies who can absorb VAT costs more efficiently.

Going Sohlo: "The Finnish Government has not wasted time since the municipal elections less than a month ago in pushing on with its drastic cost-cutting agenda."

Sowing Gohlo: Government officials often have too much time on their hands and their days are filled with seeing to that ancient laws such as the one described above are adhered to. As we decrease government staff, such ancient laws should be discarded, and made more business-friendly and inducive especially to small and medium-sized enterprises, since they are the ones least likely to shift their operations abroad to save costs and skip Finnish taxes.

Going Sohlo: "The UK recently put Iceland on the terrorist list. Iceland had been thinking that the strong historic ties would yield some understanding from its long-standing ally. Iceland should study European and world history better. The UK, as well as other heavy-league countries, have often sold out their "friends" for personal gain when push comes to shove. The Hungarians were sold to Soviet Union in 1956 in exchange for the control of the Suez Canal. Israel was promised independence in 1917 in the UK's Balfour Declaration, only to be repealed once WW I was over, and the UK had no need for the Jewish League (army unit who had been fighting in the British Army). Even after the Holocaust, Britain was blocking and putting Holocaust survivors in concentration camps on Cyprus, as they were trying to enter "British Palestine" i.e. Israel after WW II."

Sowing Gohlo: Where has Iceland been getting its money? It has been speculated that the Icelandic operations were funded with money from Russia. Where did they turn to first when they needed more? Russia. However, there is a faulty assumption that Russian money is always dubious, and that money from other countries is not. It has been revealed that the Bush government and its affiliated companies have been involved in swindling 23 billion US dollars of US taxpayers' money and seized Iraqi funds (see BBC documentary BBC Panorama: Daylight Robbery). If this link fails, search for BBC Panorama Daylight Robbery on www.video.google.ca.).

Brown had to act decisively to appear firm in the eyes of UK voters, as many people have their savings in icelandic banks.

I once talked to a reserve captain of the Israeli army, who said he understands UK backing down on the Balfour Declaration. There are 16-18 Arab countries that are much more important allies globally than 1 Jewish country, Israel. This was a logical decision. Similarly, although the Hungarian Uprising in 1956 should be respected in their valour, the west just simply could not afford to lose Suez and Egypt to the Soviet Union, hence they had to strike a deal in which they stood down on their promises to protect Hungary from the Soviets, as much as it sucked.

Martti Ahtisaari - not a prophet in his own land

Martti Ahtisaari has never really been liked in Finland. He is praised in other countries. The Finnish media has traditionally been rather hostile towards him. I recently published in my blog how before the recent municipal elections the media tried to link him with an NGO who was accused of money-laundering and scamming. I explained in my blog how Ahtisaari had firstly received a very small campaign donation, when he was running for President as a candidate of the Social Democratic Party (he was elected President and served for one term) from the NGO, and that all the suspected crimes of the NGO had occurred much later. Recently, even the NGO was acquitted of all charges. At the same time, the media played down how a major company received 800 000 euros in structural grants from the government after it had donated money to the Center Party's campaign.

Usually, the sitting President is re-elected as the party's next candidate, but in 1999-2000, the SDP decided to subject Ahtisaari to an election within the party as to who would be their next candidate. Ahtisaari took this as a sign of distrust and announced he would not run for second term.

This is typical to politics in Finland (as well as elsewhere). No matter what your skills, international standing, charisma, abilities, qualifications etc are, if you do not please a few other power-corrupt guys in your own party, you are out. Ahtisaari did not wish to yield his own principles or to mix with cronies, and stayed true to form. He would not have really stood a chance in the SDP vote in 1999, despite his clear merits. Let's hope that the current renovation programme will change this.

In the same way, Niinistö is being chastised by his own party, Kokoomus, because he has criticised Kokoomus' plan of cutting down the role of the President, and Kokoomus' stubbornness of going through with tax cuts against the advice of even the IMF.

Many Finnish politicians rushed to strainedly laud Ahtisaari for his Nobel Prize, once it was announced.

The Finnish Government has not wasted time since the municipal elections less than a month ago in pushing on with its drastic cost-cutting agenda. Actually, I doubt that the government is even so much behind the pushing, as this has probably been outsourced to one of a multitude of half-grade consulting companies. You can see how fast these plans have been drawn, as for instance the announcement yesterday of reducing staff at employment offices by 34 % contradicts with the previous government statement of not sacking staff, but just not hiring new staff when people retire. Even if the Employment office would not hire any new staff to replace those that retire in the next 7 years, they would still be short by far.

The government (i.e. an unknown consulting firm) is planning to sack thousands of people from the Employment Office just as thousands of people are being sacked from companies, who the Employment Office should help in finding a job for them.

The UK recently put Iceland on the terrorist list. Iceland had been thinking that the strong historic ties would yield some understanding from its long-standing ally. Iceland should study European and world history better. The UK, as well as other heavy-league countries, have often sold out their "friends" for personal gain whn push comes to shove. The Hungarians were sold to Soviet Union in 1956 in exchange for the control of the Suez Canal.

Israel was promised independence in 1917 in the UK's Balfour Declaration, only to be repealed once WW I was over, and the UK had no need for the Jewish League (army unit who had been fighting in the British Army). Even after the Holocaust, Britain was blocking and putting Holocaust survivors in concentration camps on Cyprus, as they were trying to enter "British Palestine" i.e. Israel after WW II.

No wonder that Iceland has turned to Russia in order to acquire a loan.

Vote 526 - Ilari for City Council

My election themes:

(1) School Discipline. Bring discipline back into the schools. Teachers do not always have either the time or rights to deal with bullying and disturbing behaviour in classrooms., especially since Aho’s government in the 90s started cutting down on public spending.

Now, with already strict hand gun laws, Oulu should set a further example and adopt zero tolerance on bullying and classroom disturbance. Finland is at the top according to Pisa studies, but at the bottom when it comes to students feeling happy and satisfied at schools.


(2) Oulu has long sworn on technology, IT, and wireless communications. The current financial crisis is proof that this policy has not been on a healthy base. The City Council should draw up a livelihood diversification programme to widen the livelihood base in Oulu. Livelihoods offering wide potential include tourism and the bio-energy industry.

Tourism is the world’s fastest growing industry, and Oulu has not capitalised on that at all. Ostrobothnia has lots to offer in terms of nature, sports, and city life. Tourism euros are distributed amongst a wider group of stakeholders than technology euros; the trickle-down theory has not worked in practice.

The energy companies with their friends in politics swear in the name of hydro- and nuclear energy only because the profits from these energy branches are steeper than from wind, bio-fuel, wood pellet, and wave energy. The current government has decided to tear open the 1983 environmental protection laws that protected Kollaja, one of the last wilderness areas near Oulu, and build a huge reservoir there to power planned hydropower plants in the Ii River, one of the few remaining natural salmon rivers in Finland.

(3) Rent Commission. Adopted from Holland, the Rent Commission is a city agency that tenants can contact if they feel that their rent was raised unfairly. Landlords are only allowed to raise rent according to a general inflation index and to cover expenses after e.g. a renovation. Soaring rents in Helsinki has meant that a person might have to pay up to 60% of their month income on rent. This has thwarted development in Helsinki as there is a dearth of workers, and that people have to commute long distances.

The same development is starting in Oulu; in Liminka rents are already now 35-40% cheaper than in Oulu. The ensuing time spent on commuting means more time spent away from home, traffic jams, and pollution. Sometimes it does not pay off to go and work in the city, when your standard of living would be lowered as opposed to living off welfare or working part-time in a small town: this is a burden on the social budget and not good for individual development either.

(4) Why are there companies actively bringing workforce through personnel companies? Some of these are registered in e.g. Estonia. At the same time many Finns and foreigners are unemployed or have to work at positions below their capabilities. For personnel recruitment workforce, the language requirements do not seem to be an issue. It was discovered that in places personnel recruited people were working for ca. 3€/hour, in blatant circumvention of Finnish laws. The reason is that new foreigners and temporary workforce do not know their rights, and they are more easily duped than those of us who have been here longer. However, one must bear in mind that there are several personnel companies that do good work in mix and matching worker and job demand, so this is not an attack at the personnel firm industry itself.

The requirement for searching through the locals base of workers first is also derived from Holland, which I where I used to live.

(5) Secretly, minorities, as well as pregnant women are still being treated differently when recruiting, although this is banned in Finnish law. Usually the reasons are disguised as something else. Oulu should promote an active campaign against discriminatory policies. This should not mean, however, that e.g. young men are discriminated against simply to make the statistics appear more favourable on paper.

(6) Several city-owned houses are being left to rot, only to be burned down mysteriously or declared as being beyond repair a while later. Then a major construction firm acquires building rights. Something fishy? These houses should be renovated and rented cheaply to fledgling artists and musicians, or NGOs.

Nobel Peace Prize is always a political slap-in-the face to the opponents of the prize winner

Finland' Foreign Minister seems to have read "The Secret", which advocates positivism in the face of disaster or adversity. The idea behind "The Secret" is that positivism stimulates e.g. neurons in the mind, that when you think positive, positive things also happen to you, whereas negative thinking is asking for negative things to happen.

I just heard Stubb on the radio commenting in superfluous terms on Martti Ahtisaari's winning the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008. Martti Ahtisaari is a superb peacemaker and ex-President of Finland, and a social democrat. Stubb is from the National Coalition, a right wing party, or the "Finnish Republican Party", as some argue.

The Nobel Peace Prize is always a slap-in-the face to the political adversaries or counterparts of the prizee.
-2007 Gore's prize was a slap for Bush's antienvironmentalist agenda.
-2006 Muhamed Yunus and the Grameen Bank: Slap on failed/false World Bank and IMF policies.
-2005 IAEA/Mohamed el-Baradey: Slap on Bush/Cheney's false statements on Iraqi having Weapons of Mass Destruction.
2004 Wangari Maathai: Slap on anti-environmental friendly activities and policies.
-2003 Shirin Ibadi: Slap on Iran's and other anti-women's rights promoting countries' stance on women
-2002 Jimmy Carter: Slap on Bush/Cheney
-2001 UN/Kofi Annan: Slap on Bush/Cheney for putting Annan under pressure in the UN and for criticising the UN.

2008: Slap on Russian/Serbian nationalism, and slap on the surge of right-wing governments in Finland, Sweden, etc.

Abkhazia - South Ossetia

Why should not Abkhazia and South Ossetia be allowed independence, but Kosovo yes? Isn't it written in the "constitution" of the UN, that every nation has the right for self-governance? Finland's foreign minister has also spoken out against the independence of these countries, saying that it is against the principles of the OSCE.

The real reason must be that OSCE, which hence appears to be a front for NATO, is worried that Russia increases her sphere of influence in the Caucasus.

In Finland no one has spoken out for Abkhazia's and South Ossetia's independence yet, since we are now in Finland in the other end of the spectrum, which meant during the Cold War that you could not speak out against the Soviet Union in public and hold a public office. Now, people who grew up in that kind of a climate, want to prove to their peers, that they are not governed by this culture anymore.

In any case, I repeat once again: why are South Ossetia and Abkhazia not allowed independence, and Kosovo is?

Of course it's another matter altogether, what are Russia's intentions with these two new states, and that it is not ok to leave troops in Georgia itself, as they now have. However, in any case I do not think there will be a similar mess in the Caucasus as "the Coalition of the Willing" has instigated in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Whu didn't EU listen to me about ten years ago? I suggested that the EU enlargement should be done so, that one or two countries join each year, and not in one big bang. As we now know, the one big bang theory resulted (luckily) in the massive rejection of the (false, errant) Lisbon Treaty.

I suggested in 1998 that the ten new countries should be placed in a ranking order. The order should have been then 1. Slovenia, 2. Hungary, 3. Czech Republic, 4. Estonia, 5. Slovakia, 6. Latvia, 7. Lithuania, 8. Poland. Malta and Cyprus would have been placed before these eight, pending on the resolving the situation with the Turkish half of the island. As it turned out, they tried to rush a treaty, it failed, and only the Greek part of the island joined. Malta could have joined, pending that they apply to EU hunting rules; i.e. no indiscriminate shooting of migratory birds as "sports". There are about 2-3 million birds shot just "for fun" each year in Malta. As it turned out, the hunting ban in Malta was watered down in order to make Malta accept membership. The first four on my list would have been at the top because of their then strong economy, and Poland would have been last, due to its size, and its large agricultural sector. Now, as it turned out, Polish small farmers are suffering because the transition period was too short, and they have to apply to rules that do not make sense in the Polish context, and are seemingly there to benefit western companies, and not the Polish farmers.

They say that you never call a foul or raise the red flag in a small town. At least this is what they say in Finland, but I could imagine the situation is the same in many other places, too. Here is just a list of recent events from Oulu, and the area around it, that could probably be labelled either as corrupt, shortsighted, or illegal, but were one to talk about these events with the real names, it would make the lives and work of many people difficult. I am already, by even writing anything negative about Oulu, decreasing my chances of a decent career in the area, but I was never one to shut down just for the sake of glory or money. Besides, since I speak several languages and have lived and worked in 9 different countries or states, I am not restricted to Oulu.

Oulu has long been a place were connections ans only connections got you far: it is not what you know, it is who you know. Once again, this is by no means restricted to oulu, I just write about Oulu, since I live here, and know of these issues first hand.

Case #1: a mother on maternity leave is invited for a job interview at a public institution, and she is asked:"I know we are not allowed to ask this, but how long will you still be on maternity leave?" In between the lines she could read that she would not get the job. Still, according to Finnish law, it is not allowed to let someone's status as being on maternity leave affect decision-making, or to even ask about it in a job interview.

Case #2: A lady working at a R&D unit at a company, has created equipment in her company, that has been sold around the world for ca. €3 million euros worth. Still, the company sees the need to reduce staff, and cut down on spending, since the shareholders and major investors are not satisfied. Some people are fired, but most people are put on forced leave of absence without pay for a few months. In her unit, they are told everyone got the same amount of forced leave. Closer scrutiny shows, however, that all the women get a 50% longer forced leave than the men. According to Finnish law it is illegal to single out women or men because of their gender, and to treat women differently.

Case#3: A man, well qualified for the job, has been on a fixed-term assignment at a certain Public Institute in or near Oulu, and he is promised that once the position becomes available, he will get it. However, in the meantime, at another unit of the institution, there is a man, whose wife is looking for a job. The lady is clearly less qualified for the position, but she gets the position, and the man, who has been lingering around Oulu waiting for the position and passed other opportunities aside, is left without a job.

In all of these cases, if the victims were to speak out and demand for their legal rights, they could might as well leave Oulu and never return, because such a whistleblower would not be tolerated in the future.

Here's a picture of my class at the Jericho Elementary School, Jericho, Vermont, USA, when I was 9-10. I am currently looking for these people on the internet, and I have already found one: Corrine is second from the left in the middle row. It is sometimes difficult to find female classmates, since they are most likely to change their surnames. I found one other friend, because she had added née so and so after her current name!

Georgia's Summer War

I was wondering last fall when NATO announced last year that it would not accept Georgia into the NATO in the foreseeable future. Now we perhaps know why. NATO did not want a direct conflict with Russia. Georgia has been left alone to fight Russia; Israel announced it would stop selling arms to Georgia in order to give leverage for persuading Russia to stop arming Iran. Israel announced their fair and understandable reason. Other countries have either issued lip service, such as Bush' lame comment while watching the Olympics saying that Russia "should not attack Georgia".

Some of the western media, too, have put economic ties with Russia first, and reported Russia-biased views of the war. The whole war is apparently just a gimmick by Saakashvili to divert attention away from domestic problems, according to Kaleva.

Georgia, despite of lip service talks, cannot expect any foreign help. Russia seems to be a more important trading partner than Georgia. It remains to be seen whether Russia is bold enough to annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia, or to issue them with a puppet-style independence, or full independence. Meanwhile, Chechnya remains in the grasp of Kremlin, and the effective mainstream media-blockage of Chechnya prevails.

Finland Funland Fundingland

A few small fish were revealed of having received funding/positive political decisions on funders in Rovaniemi. The Centre Party member who received funding was depicted by HS in a negative tone, whereas the Kokoomus fundee was reported on in a more positive way (it really appears from the story he did not know of the connection).

One has to doubt why HS or other major newspapers have almost exclusively targeted Centre Party, and even unrelated clean fundraising activities by SDP from 1993 have been reported in a suspecting tone. Nothing has been reported of Kokoomus or the Swedish People's Party (SFP), who have received substantial sums from the same sources as Keskusta. Of course HS cannot really openly say they stand behind Kokoomus and SFP; this would take away their credibility as a "neutral" news source (:

I do not think the whole thing is a Kokoomus conspiracy. I think Kokoomus has hired some very sharp media analysts and PR staff, in addition to being silent partners with HS, and other media sources, and that they jump fast when they see a chance, clean up their backyard, and can maintain an effective media block on their own activities.

Here's the deal. The whole funding scandal is the tip of the iceberg. They just crossed a thin red line, and they did not count on how active journalists are, especially at A-Studio; the show where Keskusta chairman Kalli first slipped away the news.

The current situation is the culmination of decades of political tactics of making sure "our guys" rule the roost. Already a few years ago, Kaleva's wonderful charicaturist Jari published a drawing in which sparkling wine drinking old men comment on the news of Finland being the least corrupt country in the world by saying: " The people who did this study are our guys, right?"

I would daresay that well over 50% of today's top politicians got where they are by juntta-ing, or with what can be called tit-for-tat corruption. Junttaing could be translated as whealing & dealing. One "small" example of tit-for-tat corruption can be the following. One of my friends started a business importing gravestones from southern Finland to Oulu. He started selling the grave stones to customers. Soon, the manager of all of the Oulu city graveyards contacted him and said only certain types of gravestones are allowed at the graveyards. When my friend contested this, the manager showed him a legal decree stipulated by the church board (that are highly politicized in Finland) that indeed only certain types of gravestones are allowed. My friend later found out that all Oulu gravestones are provided by few local companies, some of whom also sit in the church board, and some of whom are members of certain political parties. The "wrong-type-of-gravestone" -argument was just a well-covered-up "legal" excuse to keep competitors off the market, and to upkeep an oligarchic cartel - and high prices.

On the rest, I will have to do some more research on this and get back to this later. it is 5 pm in Finland on a Friday evening, and it is time to end this blog with something positive.

Many of my readers might never have been to Finland, so here are a few tips if you ever decide to visit:

- the west-coast has some hidden gems of cities, such as Raahe, which have not marketed themselves very well; their wooden house structure is largely intact and are a good indication what life was like in centuries past in bigger cities, too.

- you can pitch your tent almost anywhere more than 200 metres from a construct in Finland. there are also several nature trails especially in eastern and northern Finland where there are bothies, huts where you can stay for free up to 2 nights. Please dont stay longer and clean up afterwards, because if you dont, they will stop this system or start charging others once you are not here anymore.

- There is a village called Angeli in lapland, which according to a Sami shaman is the navel of all spirituality in the world. Angeli is close to the Lemmenjoki (Love River) National Park, where you can also pan for gold.

- There are several wonderful festivals all around Finland, with all sorts of music and something for everyone.

- Finland is a cyclist's paradise.

What they have done within Keskusta (Centre Party) and Kokoomus, the Swedish People's Party a few right-leaning SDP and Green politicians

Ahtisaari 1600 € in 1993 without corruption-> 2-page article with corruption insinuations. Kokoomus' 200 000 + € mafia-money not reported on at all.

One can only wonder how especially Helsingin Sanomat has been biased towards reporting as little negative as possible about Kokoomus without appearing too obviously biased. On Sunday, HS published a 2-page article about how in 1993 President Ahtisaari's campaign received 1600 € from an NGO that was found to be a money launderer 6 years later. At the same time, Minister of Industry Pekkarinen's over 800 000 € state support for a company that funded his campaign is dealt with in a small matter-of-fact article, while Kokoomus over 200 000 € support they received from KMS, the pseudo-NGO-in-reality-business-consortium of three businessmen (one of whom the fundees wanted to reward with a state title, and one of whom is being investigated by Belgian police for mafia connections) has not been dealt with in much detail at all.

I could bet that KMS is not the only "NGO" that has been funding Kokoomus over the years.

HS gains credibility by staying officially neutral, but in reality not publishing any grim details of Kokoomus-received funding.

It seems like the public administration units are cutting costs so fast in Finland that they cannot keep up with their own pace anymore. I was recently perturbed as my local tax office uses two parallel names. I pay my VAT every month to the tax office, and officially the office changed their name to "Tax Office of Northern Finland" on  1 January 2008 when they cut down on costs and unified the offices of Lapland and Oulu states. However, when I pay my VAT, the bank does not recognise the new name, but demands that I still use the old name. The cost-cutting seems to be quite haphazard; since they dont have enought staff anymore, no one has had time to think of everything, including letting banks know by May that their name and bank account numbers have changed (apparently someone was alert and directed my payments from the old account to the new one, either at the bank, or at the tax office).

A while back I saw a guy running around half naked with a broken off broom hunting down his brother on the street. I called 911 (112 in Finland), and the lady was taking her time to explain to me that there are not any police available to come and deal with the situation.

We are moving, so I tried to call the Magistrate all afternoon the other day, but all the numbers are busy. The law requires that evryone report to the Magistrate when you move, but in practice this is very difficult as there is not anyone to pick up the phone anymore. They might be working on a robot who could take the calls at a 0-salary, who knows.

The maternity ward is the last bastion, I was told by our nurse in the spring, where cost-cutting has not reached yet. A few weeks ago, the situation was different already, it seems, since our midwife told us we should not call the maternity ward (since they are so busy dealing with pregnant moms, and there is not enough staff around anymore) when the water breaks, but that we should wait until the contractions are every three minutes, and then just show up.

I guess one could go on for a long time were one to do some more research on this, the abovementioned situations are just my experiences from this spring in the city of Oulu. Just to mention: Oulu is Europe's 4th fastest growing city, yet they city is cutting down on costs. Needless to say, it all just results in chaos.

Our nurse told us that if we want to see something truly horrible, and not just something like I have described above, we should go to the Hiironen Old People's Home, where cost-cutting and low wages and bad work atmosphere have produced a truly inhuman situation, where senior distinguished citizens, many of whom became ill defending Finland for 5 years in freezing temperatures during WW II, lie in their own excrement, perhaps too weak to shout out for help. This is happening today in Oulu, a city that churns out rhetoric of being a a city of hi-tech innovation and lip service is paid to our war veterans in public ceremonies by people estranged to reality. 

Austrians and Swedes: Do not follow Finland's example. Please!

Austrians and Swedes! No! Don’t do it!!!

Please don’t follow Finland’s example! To my horror, I recently read in the newspaper that Austria and Sweden want to follow in Finland’s footsteps in public saving. Apparently, the reason for this is that Finland has been doing such a good job in cutting costs.

If you ask a woman-of-the-street many people don’t even have a clear notion of what cutting costs truly entails. Sometimes people dont make the connection, if they're young for example, that it means not hiring new staff in hospitals, ministries, the tax office, etc etc. Most people just think politics are only after their own pockets, so it does not really matter. Some will tell you that you’re being leftist or a conspiracy theorist for criticizing.

The rightist parties in Finland, mainly Kokoomus and Keskusta, say: ”You cannot just give money away. Someone also has to make money.” Very true. But. They are cutting down on public spending without really creating any new jobs in Finland. It would be ok to cut down on public spending, if salaries were increasing, and if there were jobs for everyone. The last government (SDP and Keskusta) as well as the one now (Kokoomus and Keskusta) both say they have created a 100000 new jobs. Still, if you count the amount of working hours, it is less than 400 000 woman hours per year. This means most of the new jobs are part-time or freelance in nature. You could also say that you create a new job by halving the working hours and salary of someone and giving a new “job” to someone. The present government, instead of creating new jobs, let state-owned companies take jobs abroad, such as was seen in the case of the Kemijärvi Stora-Enso paper mill. Stora-Enso, according to a very small news article in HS for example, is "suddenly" planning to set up a new factory in Russia... Just like I predicted earlier. Thus, they try to avoid Nokia's bad rep by announcing to "move the factory", which is essentially what Stora-Enso is doing.
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INCREASING FOOD PRICES AND THE ENSUING INFLATION

Many people in my acquaintenceship has couples where one has a decent job, and the other is scraping by as a freelancer, or have started their own companies exactly in their field. Most of these entrepreneurs have been hit hard this year, however, because of the massive inflation this year. The price of food and basic commodities have gone up. Hence, people have less money to spend on extras (buying caravans, getting massages, traveling abroad, buying a new bicycle, getting a new car, going on a Spanish course.) Well-being is best counted in the percentage-wise amount people use in getting their basic commodities such as food and rent. Such figures are hard to find (since governments do not wish to make such bad publicity) in Finland, as well as in other countries inn Europe hit hard by inflating rents and food prices (e.g. France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, to name a few). The distance between politicians and women-of-the-street is increasingly striking.

In the weekend HS, EU’s agriculture commissary Fischer-Boel spake in answer to the journalist’s “allegations” of increased food prices and ensuing consumer peril thus: ”Food is not expensive. Who cooks at home anymore?” This is unbelievable but true. She also said: ”when prices go up, more people will enter food production and the prices will come down again.” Again, a stupendous lack of pragmatism and common economic understanding. I witnessed with the advent of the Euro, for example, that food prices never ever come down. My favourite pastry in Austria used to be one that cost 7 schillings. With the euro, it was 0.51 €. It never ever became 0.49€, or 0.50€.

The Finnish government aims to lower the VAT on food next year, contrary to tax experts’ advice. According to the experts, e.g. when VAT was lowered for barbers, most barbers did not lower their customer prices. Some did, only to soon increase them back again to the same price and higher as before.

If you are a leftist or a rightist voter, I urge you to do the following: read objectively. Don’t get caught in the propaganda. Do your own research. I do my research on the internet and I do not watch TV and get my often-skewed news from there.

election funding scandal in Finland - HS plays it down.

Helsingin Sanomat, the main Helsinki-based newspaper of Finland is defending the ministers and MPs who received campaign funding from three Finnish businessmen, one of whom is a suspected oligarch that has suspected links with Kazakhstani and Russian mafia. The “businessmen” were hiding behind an NGO, as well as two companies. Uptil now, Finnish law has allowed campaign funding to be registered as coming from NGOs, without the NGOs having to reveal how they acquired their funds. Recently, Mr Kalli, the leader of the Keskusta (“Centre”, i.e. Liberal (not the US swearword “liberal”, but the European “liberal” meaning rightist) party revealed his contributors, which has been followed by a public outcry. Kalli, the Prime Minister (Keskusta), as well as other Keskusta and Kokoomus (National Coalition, i.e. Liberal (European) ministers claim they had no idea from whence the money actually derived from.

Oulu-based Kaleva newspaper, which I have criticized heavily in the past, now surprises me and therefore receives recognition and praise from me. In true investigative journalism fashion, Kaleva reveals that the link between funding from the three oligarchs/businessmen and decisions taken by Vanhanen’s government(s) is striking. Vanhanen has been pushing for e.g. the Vihti Ideapark, which is a business venture of the oligarchs/businessmen.

I then started thinking: as the oligarchs are also planning to set up more businesses in Russia, maybe the recent lacklustreness of the government to stop the closure of the Stora-Enso Pulp Mills at Kemijärvi, of which the state owns around 25% of, also has links to received funding? Namely, Stora-Enso is pushing to open new pulp mills in Russia, where wages– partly due to poorly managed IMF policies (as revealed in the Nobel-winning study by Joseph Stiglitz) – are about 10-15% of that of Finland’s. (At the same time Finnish unemployment levels still soar higher than most other European countries, combined with lowest public spending.)

The soaring unemployment and poverty can best be seen in the part of town I live in. The area once used to be a wooden-housed area of houses and villas, with leafy boulevards. In the 70s, the villas (all but one) were razed, and the area was built full of modernist high-rises. All was well in the time of the True Nordic Welfare State from the 60s to the early 90s. In the early 90s, when Finland lost its traditional trade with the Soviet Union, unemployment soared. The rightists saw their chance and used the situation as an excuse to cut down on public spending and drive down the True Nordic Welfare State, and started introducing Thatcherist “reforms”. This is the reason why unemployment has remained high in Finland, crime has soared, and poverty has seeped in. The difference with Sweden is striking. Sweden was affected in the early 90s almost as bad as Finland was, but they did the opposite as the IMF and OECD told Finland to do (they did not listen to these institutions, but made their own research). Sweden increased public spending, and invested in social welfare in order to curb poverty. They knew that when people can make ends meet, they have time and energy to find a new career, set up companies, and be positive. Unemployment figures did not remain high in Sweden for very long, unlike in Finland. In Finland, many people became destitute, and as in Russia, alcoholism is now the biggest killer of working-aged men (not to mention the cost of having working-aged men drinking (drawing benefits), getting sick from it (burdening the hospitals), and not paying taxes.

Review of the past week/Early Finnish History

It is funny to watch how the mainstream media now calls Burma Myanmar again, while during the protests, when it seemed for a while that the monks would conque, the old name Burma was prevalent. When Than Shwe prevailed, it was back to Myanmar again. "One must please those in power." 

I recently visited Austria and Holland, I used to live in both before, and I weas shocked at how the Euro had brought prices up. A cup of coffee used to be 2.25 guilders  (1.05 €) in Amsterdam, and now it is 2 €. Rents, too, are almost the same on the private market now in Euros as they used to be in guilders, i.e. they have doubled.

In Austria, too, prices have soared in supermarkets, bananas now cost more in Austria then in Finland, and a litre of milk is 1.15 €, when it was well under a Euro 5 years ago. 

In Finland, a renowned professor called Unto Salo recently published a study documenting well that the province of Satakunta (Pori and Kokemäki river region) was a politically organised entity quite early on, and that the region was heavily influenced by Christianity already from the 7th century onwards. Many documents concerning history prior to 1300 were burned either by the emerging Russian and Swedish empires who started vying for what is now Finland in earnest from the 13th century onwards. Most of Salo's peers are ignoring recent archeological, linguistic and genetic research results, because acknowledging this would mean the acceptance of the status quo, i.e. the early Swedish imperial propaganda that Finland was a land of pagans when in a series of crusades between 1050 to 1250 Sweden conquered and converted the Finns into Christianity and brought western civilization into the country. 

Even the very name of the region: Satakunta is a direct translation of the Roman concept of Centurio, the unit of 100 soldiers who helped the ruler of a certain area to maintain power, collect taxes, etc. Salo's critics have tried to derive the name of Satakunta from a myriad choice of less likely options. They know that acknowledging the true etymology of Satakunta would mean accepting the fact that the region was a politically organized entity of its own prior to the so-called crusades (it has been suggested that i.e. the 1st crusade never really took place, and that the "crusades" were probably just standard pillaging trips of the time). Acknowledging that would put the whole official early history of Finland into a new perspective. Creating a new false history by e.g. destroying evidence of a conquered area's past glory is a known tactic, used e.g. by the Romans on the Etruscans.

There are hints of a different early history in Finland in Russian, Polish, and German chronicles, there is talk of a Kingdom of Kwenland (that was based in Satakunta, in Kalanti), and "Finland" and "Karelia" also get mentioned. We and my wife have dealt with these issues in one chapter of our recently published book "Kulturshock Finnland", which is published in German by our German publishing house Reise-Know-How. 

Another intersting detail is the myth of Agricola (as a result of the Swedish empire" importing enlightenment" into Finland) being the creator of the Finnish written language, when e.g. a document was found in a swamp in Karelia with written text on it dating back to 300 years before Agricola.

Interestingly, archeological evidence suggests that Satakunta (Kwenland) had close ties to Gotland in Sweden, and Upland (Uppsala), and this is backed up by foreign village names, and genetic lineages, which are more germanic/Swedish-influenced in Satakunta then the present-day Swedish-speaking areas north and south of Satakunta. It appears that many ethnic Finns "became" Swedish(-speakers) in the Swedish empire-era in order to step up the social ladder (the Finnish language and culture was suppressed in the Swedish empire), whereas the old ties to Swedish/Germanic tribes can still be seen in the genetic footprint and village names today.

back again - with an analysis

I just took a look back at my blogs and realized that reading it objectively, there are many more negative aspects in there than positive. Also, I realized that I criticize things a lot. I then started analyzing at why I do this, and realized that I criticize the things and places I actually really like. I criticize Finland, but I really love Finland. I also criticize the British government, but I love the British system. I criticize French and German politics but I like many things about France/Germany, although I do not really know these countries enough to say much about them. I also criticize US politics, although I love the country (lived in Vermont and California and have been to 36 states).

Thisn brought me to think about the story of Job, whom God brought bad things but whom s/he actually loved dearly ( I don’t think of God as a guy in a white robe, but rather as a force, and as a law of nature). Anyway, I would like to make a point here of listing good things here of a) Finland b) Britain c) the F-D duo d) USA, and some negative sides linked with the good things, observed by a mind that has lived in 6 European countries, India, and 2 US states.

1. Finland:
- safe in terms of raising children
- little theft
- excellent system of looking after pregnant women and children (9 month paid leave during pregnancy/maternity, 3 years guarantee to return to same position/pay grade after maternity leave (both public and private positions).
- Many basic grocery items have remained cheap, while elsewhere the €uro has resulted in drastic inflation.
- Very cheap energy, heating, and water fees.
- Outside Helsinki, very easy access to cheap housing/cheap rents.
-- drunken assaults by young men, mostly between 11 pm and 5 am in the weekends, and holiday periods (linked with a drinking culture of getting drunk fast, a macho culture of “having to score”. Interestingly, I noticed a somewhat similar drinking culture in Scotland, and to a degree it also sometimes felt like that in Holland. I believe the drastic shifts in the appearance of the sun have something to do with this. In the Mediterranean sphere and in Hungary, people seem to enjoy and occasional drink here and there and not get fit-shaced.
-- under-developed service-field: governance of hypermarkets and chains who keep out the competition (unfortunately, in many places in countries where small entrepreneurs have been strong, many chains are gaining ground).


2. Britain
- Undisturbed by foreign intervention and assault, Britain has had time to develop a working system in terms of higher education, a vibrant job market, entrepreneur-boosting economic laws, a creative atmosphere, and in short a country inhabited by wonderful people.

3. Frermany and Geance (Germany and France)
- probably the best thing about this duo today is - judging from my rather limited deep knowledge of the countries - is that they are not fighting each other anymore. Wars between these two countries have dotted the last 1000 years or so, and most times they have attacked and fought each other through and in other countries, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, so I am sure the Belgians are the ones most to gain from this friendship. Maybe this is why the EU is based in Belgium. Germans are also wonderful in the way the take to the streets for example when corporations clean benefits from the state, only to move to another country within a few years, and claim other benefits once more (Nokia-> Bochum->Cluc).

It is funny, that if Nokia were a person, right wingers would be calling them scumbags who gather state benefits and skimp on paying taxes.

As said, I am not an expert on France, but I did notice a few things when I was there on holiday recently, and this was the way people dress is really attractive, and you cannot have a picnic in a better urban spot than in the park right underneath the Eiffel Tower.

d)USA, when I was in Iran, I was amazed to hear how every Iranian I talked to, loved Americans, but did not like the Bush government or American foreign politics. This is a distinction you do not often hear in Europe, where if a European does not like American politics, they very often also start talking about how they also do not like Americans. As an American friend of mine, Michael Lockard, once said:"it is funny how unthankful Europeans can be, thinking how Americans came and fought and died in order to free Europe from Fascism." How true. Even this should be enough to make a distinction between a country's foreign policy and its people.

America is so full of wonders that I do not know where to start. I lived as a child there, and half of my wife's family are Americans, so I know enough to say: The supportive way in which people relate to you, how people are used to different cultures and therefore it is easy to be different and accepted (as a Finn I experienced xenophobia towards me in Austria and Holland - but when I said I was Swedish - interestingly no). The natural wonders; national parks, etc etc.

I could list many more things, but now I have to return to the normal Going Sohlo style, i.e. publishing the news that do not get published in Finland (or wherever I am at the moment) or get only very bried coverage...

ps.sorry for the long pause: I was away on business/holiday in Central Europe

Clarification and afterthoughts on yesterday's blog, concerning Ike and Alexander and related issues

I forgot to mention some things yesterday in my blog. I might have been too haste in claiming that Dr Stubb does not know the Real World well enough. Obviously, I cannot know what Dr Stubb's life has been like, and we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. It appears that he is a clever man, well-spoken, energetic, and quite affable. I am happy that the younger generation starts getting shots. My criticism on him at this point is the fact that he is an avid supporter of both the EU and NATO. To say more, I would have to read some of the books he has written. More on that later.

Also, the most interesting reason for firing Ike was probably one piece of news mentioned somewhere in a side sentence in one of the main newspapers, probably included there by accident was the statement in one of Ike's earlier sms-rounds a few years ago: another lady Ike sent sms's to - Ike promised her space for her paintings at the Parliament if she would be lenient towards his suggestions. Yet this fact, far more incriminating and important when considering Ike's loss of public credibility, was not elaborated on. This is a very important detail, as it reveals what everyone has already known; namely the level of corruption in Finland, too. Corruption such as this pulls away the carpet from under the feet of not only other young aspiring artists, but citizens in general. This is the reason why so many young people today are so passive and fatalistic in terms of politics, and their ability to affect the ways of the world.



Your experience, talent

We Want Ike Back!

We want Ike back!

Ike aka. Ilkka Kanerva, Finland's foreign minister was fired Monday night 31 March 2008. But, his successor is bad news. Alexander Stubb is a rabid EU-Nato supporter, who says he can now "fold in with the official government policy". Sure.

I somehow like Ike, the now fired foreign minister. I also liked the fact that he was not fired in the past few weeks leading up to Monday, although his sms-escapade was already headline news. (Ike is a divorced 60-year old man, who has a common law wife, and he has been frequently in the news for approaching young ladies, flirting with them, and promising career advancements based on their "friendliness".) Never before did this mean that he had to be fired. It was always ok in Finland, up until Monday, to approach (i.e. not harass, this is something Ike never did) to send sms's to anyone you like, and you only got judged by what you did in your job, not by what you did in your private life.

Now I am disappointed, Finland caved in to international pressure, and is moving towards the direction of Sweden, where ministers have to abdicate or be fired at the slightest hint of foul play.

The fact that Ike first denied sending text messages to Ms Tukiainen of the dance group Dolls is also ok with me. No one wants nasty news of themselves to be made public. The fact that he was texting with a taxpayer-paid cell phone conenction is also ok with me. Everyone I know or have talked to uses their government-paid or company-paid cell phone for private use.

It is sad that Alexander Stubb was chosen, because he is "international" and "risk-free". I am afraid Mr Stubb has not been exposed to the Real World enough; he has never been involved in Finnish politics before, only that of the EU.

I had hoped that Finland would stand out as a country, like it has until Monday, who plays fair and judges people according to what they do in their job, and not by what they do in their off-time. This is now gone. One should not cave in to "international pressure" (who defines what is right or wrong, the international media?).

One should only judge people and governments based on what they do. How about the following important news that have emerged while Ike was headline news:

- Worklife accidents in Finland have gone up by 15-20 % in the last 2-3 years, due to the cutting down of public staff who check on workplace safety.

- Ministry of Finance claim the Purchase Power of Finns will increase 3 % this year. This is after it was made public that inflation from December to january was 13 %, and the report by OP Bank that a Finnish family of four will spend 1500 € more this year than last, and salaries are not going up 1500 € in a family of four.

- The Ministry of Education wants to fund the creation of a top university in Finland, at the expense of other universities. The President of the European University Association, Georg Winckler, put it aptly: "The German system of funding succesful universities more than others is great, whereas deciding in advance to fund one university over another is not a good idea". Right, it is not a good idea to use tax payers' money to fund one university over another, it is corrupt to do so, especially knowing that the likelihood of a "friendship" between the Minister of Education and the Rector of the University-to-be funded is high.

Elsewhere, HS (AFP-Reuters) reported that the rebels in Basra are the problem as to why Iraq is having difficulties. Hmm.. If the people of a country occupied by foreign troops are fighting back, you can hardly speak of "rebels". This sounds an awful lot like Soviet reporting of 1940: e.g.: "The Finnish rebels are fighting back in Karelia, in violation of the (puppet) government at Terijoki, which is the reason to the problems; the Finnish rebels oppose peace".

Does anyone even know the name of the Iraqi president? And why was Iraq "liberated" and Tibet or Turkmenistan are not? The reason should be clear to everyone, despite the flawed reporting in most of the mainstream media in the world: Oil, and "gentlemen's agreements". There is no oil in Tibet, and the Chinese government is friends with those in the "west". As is the case with Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan: they are friends with the "west", while they do have oil. Hence, if you have natural resources, you had better sell it dirt cheap to "the west", and get 30 silver coins for it, and keep your country unstable, undemocratic and/or unsustainable, or you will be "liberated".

Alas the liberated Iraqis. One would hope for a degree of investigative journalism in Finland, and not just churning out AFP-Reuters propaganda (or OECD propaganda, modified by Finnish ministry personnel) , which is the case of more than 50 % of the news in Finnish mainstream media today, such as HS.