It’s almost time for the second annual NICE Festival in Liverpool, UK.

The NICE Festival – ‘Nordic Intercultural Creative Events’ – is a two week long music, arts and film festival starting on the 19^th of November until 3^rd of December 2009.

The countries involved in the programme are Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Faroe Islands.

The aim of the festival is to “present the best in collaborative works between the UK and Nordic countries”

‘NICE aims to establish itself as a unique and inspirational highlight of the North West’s cultural calendar.’

The main Finnish events in this year’s programme are:

• Film: Helsinki Forever (12A)

Directed by: Peter Von Bagh

1hr 15 long

Finnish with English Subtitles

Thursday 19^th November 6:30pm

FACT, Liverpool

Tickets: Adult: £7 / FACT Member: £5 / Concessions: £5.50 / Under 15: £4.50

Book on www.fact.co.uk, Tel: 0871 704 2063

‘In a faraway land called Finland, all roads lead to Helsinki’… and so starts award winning director and film historian Peter von Bagh’s new portrait of Finland’s capital. Helsinki, Forever is a beautiful mosaic of the city’s history as captured by leading Finnish feature filmmakers over a period of a hundred years. Like Terence Davies’ love letter to Liverpool, Of Time and the City, Bagh’s city symphony reads as a homage to his home town, and is every bit as captivating.’

• Film: Hanasaari A (12A)

Directed by: Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen,

15 minutes

No Dialogue

Thursday 19^th November 2009

(This film is screened prior to Helsinki Forever)

“Hanasaari  A is an experimental documentary about the changing cityscape of Helsinki and the final moments of a coal-fired power plant. The old industrial milieu is being destroyed to make space for modern housing units. The film is a combination of animation, live action cinematography, and graphic elements. It is based on 500 000 photographs taken during the final two years of the existence of the power plant.”

• Film: Moomins and the Midsummer Madness (U)

Directed by: Maria Lindberg

88 minutes

In English

Saturday 28th November 2009 12pm

Tickets: Adult: £5 / FACT Member: £3 / Concessions: £3

Book on www.fact.co.uk, Tel: 0871 704 2063

“A tranquil summer day is interrupted by a volcanic eruption, causing a flood in the Moominvalley. The water rises higher and higher in Moominhouse, forcing the family to take refuge in a strange house that floats by. The unusual lifeboat turns out to be a theatre which has been set adrift. Moominpappa begins to write a play for the others to put on… The Finnish felt animated family are back for a new magical adventure based on Tove Jansson’s well-loved books, for young children and big kids alike.”

Close Protection

Corporations, Small Businesses and Private individuals face an ever-increasing threat from terrorists, criminals, racists and the mentally unstable. When a situation such as kidnapping, assassination, blackmail, industrial espionage and publicity arises, the need for Close Protection is paramount.

Security trained Chauffeurs and Security Drivers are an important part of any Close Protection team. Not only being able to transport the client from one place to another, but they are also trained to react quickly and safely to move the client out of immediate danger if a situation should arise.

Surveillance and Counter Surveillance

Our surveillance services are employed in Corporate, Individual and Legal information gathering such as marital disputes, fraud and counter industrial espionage. Our personnel are highly skilled in physical & electronic surveillance techniques, using the latest in state of the art technology and communication equipment. We can undertake surveillance operations ranging from static covert surveillance to teams of mobile operatives, with the ability to gather information from a wide array of sources such as voice recorders, camcorders, digital photography and others.

Protective surveillance is often used for sensitive situations such as the protection of spouses and children, where the overt attention of a Close Protection officer or team would not be conducive to their lifestyles or especially for at-risk teenagers who do not wish for their friends and peers to know that they are being protected.

Security specialists such as Close Protection and Executive Protection officers are often referred to as “Bodyguards”,  but the modern day Close Protection officer needs to be more than just the old fashioned “Bodyguard”. Executives and Media personalities no longer tolerate the stereotypical untrained “giant” when it comes to personal safety. Requiring their personal security operatives to be well mannered, intelligent and able to discreetly deal with any situation should it arise.

Published by: ABP World Group International executive protection services

I ett tidigare inlägg filosoferade jag en del kring vad som egentligen är svenskt, allteftersom intresset för frågor som rör invandring och förflyttning över gränserna har vuxit (se: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11). Fredrik Lindström, författare och populärhistoriker, säger till Agenda: “Att i en konfliktsituation alltid gå på den förnuftiga sidan och aldrig gå på den känslomässiga sidan, det skulle jag säga är väldigt, väldigt typiskt svenskt.”

Frågan är dock hur förnuftiga svenskar egentligen är när det förra året anmäldes 14 937 brott per 100 000 invånare i Sverige, det vill säga totalt 1 377 854 stycken. Det är ju också ett sätt att lösa konflikter.

Och kom nu inte med argument om att det anmäls många brott som egentligen inte är brott för det gällde svenskars förmåga att hantera konflikter, och hur förnuftigt är det att lösa en konflikt genom att anmäla en person för ett brott som aldrig har ägt rum?

Det är också intressant att koppla brottsstatistik till de vanliga ropen på att begränsa den icke-europeiska invandringen eftersom endast de närbeliggande kulturerna kan följa lagarna och vet hur man ska bete sig. Just precis. Det är därför det i Finland begås näst flest brott per invånare  i världen. Danmark kämpar på och ligger på en stolt fjärde plats, medan Norge är lite lydigare och bara ligger på en tionde plats bland jordens cirka tvåhundra länder.

Här har ni det skötsamma Norden!

Så om vi nu ska städa upp i landet och strypa invandringen från alla de skadliga kulturerna är ju Finland högsta prioritet då de inte bara är världens näst största brottskultur, utan också den största folkgruppen som invandrar till Sverige. Och då känns det rimligt att också såga bort Norrbotten eftersom de ändå pratar finska däruppe. Vi borde i princip ge bort Stockholm också för alla Finlandsbåtar, men det är ju självaste huvudstaden så vi får köpslå och erbjuder de Uppsala och Gotland istället.

Därefter gör vi oss av med de våldsamma danskarna, vilket givetvis innebär en bortsågning av Skåne och närliggande län – de pendlarju  över bron till varandra varje dag och pratar dessutom likadant därnere. Förtjusta i potatis är de också. Och slutligen stoppar vi all förflyttning över den norska gränsen, varför vi sedan också måste efterskänka Västra Götalands, Dalarna, Jämtland och alla andra svikare som låter norrmän åka över gränsen för att handla mat i våra butiker.

Sedan kan vi som är riktigt svenskt förnuftiga, och som aldrig agerar känslomässigt i konfliktsituationer, äntligen få leva i fred.

Simon Hedlin Larsson

PS. Någon får gärna räkna ut hur mycket som blev kvar av Sverige för oss skötsamma svenskar att leva på. DS.

By Jeremy D. Morley

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention) provides that a child who is habitually resident in one party country, and has been removed to or retained in another party country in violation of the left-behind parent’s custodial rights, should be promptly returned to the country of habitual residence. However, many countries are not parties to the Convention, and even some that are parties enforce the laws only sporadically or in accordance with their own societal customs. Thus, the attorney must take special care when faced with the possibility that his client’s foreign national spouse might take the children to such a country.

Preventing Abductions to Non-Hague Countries

The first 4 months are  the golden window, were you have the chance to get your children back due to the Hague convention.

The mother in Ahmad v Naviwala,  learned these lessons the hard way. The Family Court awarded her sole custody of the children but unfortunately (although represented by counsel!) she permitted the father to take them to Saudi Arabia for a 3-month visitation. Not surprisingly (to a jaundiced international family lawyer), the father refused to return the children from Saudi Arabia, refused to allow the mother to see the children and obtained an ex parte custody order in his favor from a Saudi court. Had he kept the children in Saudi Arabia, they would doubtless have never been reunited with their mother. Fortunately, he took the children on a trip to Texas, where they were seized pursuant to a Broome County Family Court order, and returned to New York.

The Family Court then granted custody to the father (!), with visitation rights to the mother. Recognizing that Saudi Arabia was not a party to the Hague Convention, and that the mother could not enforce her visitation rights there, the court imposed various conditions upon the father intended to ensure that he would allow the mother to visit the children in Saudi Arabia. For violating the prior custody order, the father was sentenced to a suspended term of incarceration conditioned upon his future compliance.

On appeal, the Third Department awarded custody to the mother, stressing the fact that the father had intended to permanently remove the mother from the children’s lives. The Appellate Division found that the Family Court’s efforts to ensure the mother’s access to the children in Saudi Arabia were entirely insufficient, and allowed visitation by the father only in the United States, with the mother having sole custody of the children’s passports. A successful outcome for the mother was obtained only because the father had brought the children to Texas. This case highlights the fact that, all too often, the courts are reluctant to impose strict conditions to prevent parental child abduction until after an abduction has actually taken place.

United States v. Amer

In United States v. Amer, Egyptian parents were living separately in New York without a custody order. The father abducted the children to Egypt. The mother’s efforts to secure their return failed and the father procured an order from an Egyptian court granting him sole custody. He returned to the United States without the children and was arrested for international parental kidnapping. He was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and a 1-year term of supervised release, with the special condition that he return the children to the United States. The Second Circuit upheld the requirement that the children be returned, since it was closely tailored to the crime and it served to deter others from wrongfully taking their children overseas.

While Muslim countries are generally not parties to the Hague Conven-tion (Turkey being an exception, although it does not fully comply with its treaty obligations), the problem extends also to many other countries. For example, those Asian countries with Confucian-based state family registration systems, such as China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, are not parties to the Hague Convention (except for Hong Kong and Macau), and provide minimal assistance for the return of parentally abducted children.

Japan is a renowned haven for child abduction, particularly if the abducting parent is a Japanese national. See http://www.international-divorce.com/ca-japan.htm. In any custody battle involving a Japanese national, it would be foolhardy not to draft a custody order that precludes visits to Japan considering the possibility that that parent might take the child permanently to Japan. The courts in Japan will not enforce foreign custody orders and will not take any effective steps to return abducted children. See “Japanese Family Law — or The Lack Thereof!,” by Jeremy D. Morley, http://www.international-divorce.com/d-japan.htm. A foreign parent in a Japanese court will have minimal chance of securing anything more than extremely occasional visitation with his or her child in Japan if the other parent is Japanese. (Thus, in a case on which the author is currently working, the American father who lives in Japan has been allowed to see his child only once in 6 months, for only 2 hours, in court and with supervision).

Accordingly, if a Japanese parent threatens to take a child to Japan, or wishes to take a child for a temporary visit there during a time of marital strife, it is highly advisable to seek a court order barring any such visit. While a U.S. court will doubtless be skeptical when faced with such a motion, it is extremely important to educate the court as to the law, procedure, customs and traditions of Japan, all of which support a Japanese parent’s desire to raise a child in Japan to the total exclusion of the other (foreign) parent. Similar admonitions apply with respect to other countries that are not party to the Hague Convention.

Parents who oppose prohibiting the removal of children for temporary overseas visits often assert that such orders are unnecessary, because wrongfully retaining a child in a foreign country is a felony. The International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act (IPKCA), 18 U.S.C. 1204, makes it a federal offense to remove a child from the United States or to retain a child (who has been in the United States) outside the United States with intent to obstruct the exercise of parental rights (custody or visitation). Unfortunately, this law often makes a bad situation worse, since parents who have wrongfully retained children overseas fear that they will be arrested if they return to this country (as happened in U.S. v. Amer, supra). In addition, foreign countries rarely permit extradition for international parental kidnapping, and those countries that are the most likely to do so are countries that are already parties to the Hague Convention.

Preventing Abductions to Non-Compliant Hague Countries

Merely because a country is a party to the Hague Convention does not mean that it will effectively enforce its treaty obligations. For example, the U.S. State Department has asserted that Mexico is “non-compliant” with the terms of the Convention. U.S State Department Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, 2004. Mexico’s noncompliance results from the following problems:

• Mexico has not enacted any legislation to implement the Hague Convention, which has not been integrated into the Mexican legal system.
• The Mexican Central Authority has no law enforcement powers and Mexican law enforcement agencies make no serious efforts to locate parentally abducted children.
• The burden of finding an abducted child in Mexico is left entirely to the left-behind parent. Mexican authorities provide no effective help and if the child cannot be located, nothing happens.
• There is an apparent lack of understanding of the Convention among the judiciary in Mexico.
• The Mexican Central Authority does not have adequate resources to perform its functions under the Convention.
• The “amparo” (a special appeal in Mexico claiming a violation of constitutional rights) is used by taking parents to block Hague proceedings indefinitely.
• Mexican courts are able to reconsider the facts of a Hague at any stage of the proceeding, which allows proceedings to be prolonged substantially.

Accordingly, custody orders concerning parents with strong ties to Mexico must be drafted so as to minimize the risk that the child will be taken to that country. It would be reckless to permit a Mexican parent who has expressed a desire to move to Mexico, and who has strong family or business ties to Mexico, to take a child into that country for a visit, regardless of the conditions that may be imposed to encourage the parent to bring the child back to this country.

The State Department’s 2004 report establishes that similar concerns exist with respect to Austria, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mauritius, Turkey and Romania and, to a somewhat lesser extent, several other countries.

Conclusion

When courts receive applications to prevent children’s temporary visits to their parents’ country of origin, they are tempted to rely on the need to respect other countries’ legal systems and on international comity to preclude them from deciding that the foreign country may not provide sufficient guarantees that the child will be returned. However, if counsel marshal extensive evidence to support the fact that a foreign country will not respect or effectively enforce an American custody order, the courts should be prepared to reach the necessary conclusion and issue an effective remedy. It is far better to prevent children being taken to such countries that do not fully respect their international treaty obligations than to attempt to procure their recovery after the fact.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

Visit our web site at: www.abpworld.com

Yes, we did it!!. Last 7th of November, we broke the Guinness World Record for the most nacionalities in a sauna. It was 56, it is now 76, thanks to multinational participants. It was a really great day, unforgettable. More information about the record in the works content asap.

Location: Finland » Helsinki

…others are having a party.

It’s now the time when friends, companies and other groups of people organize pikkujoulu (little Christmas) parties. During the party you are supposed to eat too much, drink too much, seduce a co-worker/friend and fight with your boss.

Hmmm. My friend in the UK, who was a “Flu Friend” last month? This month, she is the one who needed a “Flu Friend”. (search flu in the tags to the right to read that post) Yup-she has the swine flu.

One of her parents noted to me that the approaches are different across the pond. The UK geared up to treat people who came down with the H1N1 flu. The US is all in a tizzy over getting the vaccine to its citizens, and to prevent H1N1 flu from happening to us.

The UK has lots of doses of Tamiflu and a great plan to keep sick people at home, while they get the treatment they need to get better. They have a plan in the meantime to treat people who are actually sick.

The US doesn’t have enough vaccine; and people are standing in line to get it, when it comes in. Wall Street firms have gotten doses, but I have no idea when I can get mine.  And I don’t work for Wall Street anymore. Maybe my stock broker has some-I’ll have to see if a secondary market for that or Tamiflu has sprung up.

UK 2, US 0.

Barbara Ehrenreich had an essay published on the CBS website back on 11-4-09, which is where the next numbers come from. [120] to 160 million doses were promised to the government in July by the 5 private manufacturers of the vaccine and only 28 million had been delivered by Halloween. [Another news source said 38 million  were delivered] Something about the eggs. Apparently the alternative ways of growing the cell cultures were not used and they are faster.

Another WordPress blog has a post on the shortage. That writer  said only 13 million doses were available on October 20, 2009. Clearly there are some issues with the numbers!

The two approaches of the UK vs. the US are not right or wrong, said my friend, they are just different. But I wonder…

Ehrenreich’s opinion essay concludes with these words:

“Faith in private enterprise and the market has now left us open to a swine flu epidemic; faith alone — in the form of optimism or hope — does not kill viruses or cancer cells. On the public health front, we need to socialize vaccine manufacture as well as its distribution. Then, if the supply falls short, we can always impeach the president. On the individual front, there’s always soap and water.”

Biofuels Market – Finland report covering one of the industries expected to grow dynamically. Government initiatives and the large demand for green fuel are expected to attract investments in the sector. In order to meet renewable energy targets, implementation of certain policies have been forecasted. This is expected to boost the market. ( http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Biofuels-Market-Finland.html )

The report begins with an introduction of the biofuels market in the European Union (EU) indicating the segmented use of various biofuels, total import-export and consumption levels. It also includes the major policies forwarded towards developing the biofuels market in the EU. An overview of the energy market in Finland has been provided followed by an analysis of the biofuels market. Details regarding the production levels of major biofuels as well as the total bioenergy levels have been proffered. This section also includes data regarding the major energy sources in the country, the level of energy consumption by sector and the sources contributing to electricity production.

The characteristics of the market have been analyzed and include – large forests which provide raw materials for biofuels, usage of forest land to develop energy crops, biofuels dominated by high levels of imports, usage of biofuels as a route to reduce CO2 emissions, expected direct benefits to green car owners, policies towards mandatory sale of biofuels and reduction in dependency on oil.

The major government programmes and investments towards the development of the industry have been discussed including the climate and energy policy and the expected introduction of feed-in-tariff for biogas generation as well as various research and development projects carried out by TEKES, VTT Technical Research Centre and other government bodies. Competition section profiles the major players in the market. The section contains a snapshot of the corporations’ financial performance and business highlights, providing an insight into the existing competitive scenario.

To know more and to buy a copy of your report feel free to visit : http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Biofuels-Market-Finland.html

Or

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Have you joined the Meatless Monday movement yet?  If you have not yet, what are you waiting for?!  The movement has gone global with entire cities like Ghent, Belgium, and a month later, Tel Avivi, Israel declaring meatless days.

In Israel, it was the food magazine, Al Hashulchan, that organized the movement.  Why? The editor, Janna Gur, explains:

The idea is to say to diners: Eat less meat, save money and resources and also maintain your health…After all, it’s better to eat high-quality meat that has been carefully raised in good conditions and is maybe more expensive once a week than it is to eat meat everyday that we don’t know exactly where it comes from and might contain hormones and antibiotics. Most importantly, in Israel it’s great fun to be a vegetarian. There is an abundance of fruits and vegetables and it’s weird not to take advantage of this.

Al Hashulchan is supported by over 30 restaurants that have committed to serving more vegetarian dishes on Monday:

Every Monday, chef Hussam Abbas of the Al Babour restaurant adds an abundance of vegetable dishes from Arab cuisine.

“This is mainly because diners ask me for meatless dishes,” he said. On Mondays at his restaurant Abbas serves baladi eggplant with yogurt, rijli – a local plant from the north cooked with tomatoes and garlic, grape leaves “because it’s the season now” and meatless stuffed zucchini with rice and friki (smoked green cracked wheat). “Lots of people ask for this and in the summer it’s very suitable,” Abbas said.

How exciting to join a movement that has reached the Baltimore City School system , Ghent, and Tel Aviv!  Not to mention, if you join or are a member, you have fellow Meatless eaters around the world.  Check out the Meatless Monday movement in other countries and snapshots of their websites!  (Note: Click on the picture to go to that country’s site)

BRITAIN

BRAZIL

HOLLAND

CANADA

FINLAND

TAIWAN

If you need a little more motivation, listen to supporter, Paul McCartney’s tune:

So, what are you waiting for?  Join the movement today.

This post was written in support of the Meatless Monday Campaign.  Join the Movement.

These oldtimers I photographed two years ago. There might be some unknown to You like “Tsaikka” from Russia. / Estos viejos coches que fotografié hace dos años. Quizás haya algún desconocido a Usted como “Tsaikka” de Rusia. / Cettes Voitures anciennes j’ai photographié il y a deux ans. Il pourrait avoir quelques inconnu à Vous comme “Tsaikka” de Russie.

Oldtimers

Oldtimers-Lovely, elegant Lady and her chofer

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers-Trabant

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers-Tsaika

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

Oldtimers

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Oldtimers

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Oldtimers - BMW

Oldtimers - BMW

Oldtimers - BMW

Oldtimers - BMW

Zoals de mensen die Lien kennen weten is Lien vanaf vandaag ook mee een volwassene!  En aangezien ik het “kick-ass” feesje van vanavond moet missen door het heel “ik zit in het buitenland”-gebeuren, zorg ik er op deze manier voor dat de wereld toch wel weet dat ik het zeker en vast niet ben vergeten…

dus..

Happy birthday to  Lien!

Happy birthday to Lien!

Haaappy Biiirthday dear Liiieeen!

Happy birthday to Lien!

Ik zie je graag meid! En ik kom gauw terug om samen met jou nutteloze discusies op de bus te kunnen voeren op de bus ofzo…

Vanavond was er een vergadering van alle Leonardo-coördinaten vanuit heel Europa, en erna was er een diner met alle coördinaten en ik was dus ook uitgenodigd. Het was wel tof.. de  Claes, Quets en Vermeulen waren der ook.. Het heeft mij goed gedaan om nog eens Nederlands te praten.

Gewoon nog even een grappig weetje… in Helsinki gaat iedereen altijd rechts op de roltrap staan zodat de mensen die gehaast zijn er altijd door kunnen.

Vandaag zijn we weer een kerk gaan bezoeken en we hebben gewooon wat rondgehangen in Helsinki. Vannacht is het ook beginnen met sneeuwen dus dat is ook wel leuk dat ons mama da dan ook wel heeft gezien..

Here are the cards that I got through another round robin: They are sooo beautiful!

I’ve been to Mont Saint Michel during our high school’s student exchange to France. It was great there.

Finnair, the Finnish airline company is trying to attract more customers by offering free breast enlargement operations.

According to Finnair, it will soon be possible to exchange the acquired frequent flyer points for plastic surgery.  A breast enlargement will cost 3.180.000 points, while a facelift costs 4.640.000 points.

The surgery will be done by a famous Finnish plastic surgeon, Rolf Nordström.

bron: www.bild.de [13-11-2009], www.breakitdownblog.com [picture]

Some really great dark work from Finnish photographer Juha Helminen.

Ah, Finland, a Nordic country that to the outside world has it all- a stable, semi-presidential republic government, a stellar education system, healthcare for all and now, as was ruled on quite recently, it is within each Finnish person’s legal right to have high speed internet access.

In the United States, we as a people, can’t even decide to insure all of our citizen’s health, but in Finland, such heavy duty issues have been replaced by the triviality of internet access for all.  To me, an American who has been a witness to many measures in Congress that have been put forth to protect its citizens, but failed to make it past initial introductions, due to the pettiness and childishness of both Republicans and Democrats this step taken by the Finnish people is unprecedented. Creating high quality internet freedom for all? To hear such trivialities associated with government makes me want to throw up my hands, turn to the Finnish people and quip, “Really?”

But the deeper question that practically begs to be asked is how did Finland get to the point where internet access is the hot button issue of the day? Granted, Finland is a much smaller country than the US with a more homogenous population, but does that automatically mean that everyone in Finland thinks exactly the same way about all issues? The country has different political parties, nine to be exact, but three major parties come to the forefront, much like its European neighbors, the Centre Party, the National Coalition party and the Social Democratic Party. This plethora of political parties proves that there is some disparity amongst Finnish peoples, right?

Amongst this disparity though, positive legislation was passed in the areas of education, healthcare and finance. Is this the case possibly because Finland is an older country than the United States, so they’ve had more time to “duke it out” on these issues, leaving the field wide open to make a big deal about high speed internet freedom? Upon further research, this prediction can be thrown out, as Finland was only granted independence from Russia in 1917, served as an agrarian society until the 1950s and didn’t become the welfare state that it is today until major reforms began in the 1970s and ended in the 90s. Finland as a progressive country is beginning to look more like Iceland in terms of its recent modestness than its closer European neighbors.

Maybe the Finnish are more amenable to compromise? Though here I seem to be wrong thinking as well as Finland didn’t join the European Union until 1995 and even now, doesn’t totally agree with steps that the EU is taking, especially with regards to military actions.

Could it be that this country’s government simply cares more about its citizens, enough to realize that they are not invincible, in need of support throughout their lives, support that the government is only too happy to offer?   Despite a depression that struck the country in the 90s, following the collapse of the USSR, Finland today is the second most stable country in the entire world. That’s quite a feat for a country that gained total independence less than one hundred years ago.

Today, this stable government’s support has extended to the right to high speed internet access for all, mirroring its neighbor to the south, Estonia, that uses the internet to create a forum for voting in the country. Such a bill coming to Congress and passing would be impossibility in the United States, where some rural areas of the country have limited access in the form of dial-up, if they have service at all due to the outdated cable system that the country is still using. For quite a while now, countries like Japan and, mostly likely, Finland, have had the US badly outnumbered in the internet speed game.

What’s really gnawing at me, other than the fact that high speed internet service is what makes news in Finland, is how this country was able to get the point where social welfare extends to such lengths as to protect a device that a person doesn’t need to live and survive(although I’m sure that one could argue this point). Granted, the internet can be helpful and, if it is really to be accessed at all, needs to have a certain amount of speed behind it, as any current or former dial-up user will tell you, but does that mean that every Finnish household needs to have a fast computer? Why not reintroduce a bit of socialization by encouraging people to visit their local libraries, a much overlooked resource in these troubling economic times, to use high speed computers at that location?  Additionally and more to the point, why does the government feel that it needs to get legally involved in this issue?

All of this disgruntledness on my part could be the manifestation of my frustration and bitterness that the US government, the government that is supposed to represent me can’t even decide on health care in the face of “younger” countries that seem to have their houses in order, so much so that they are able to add further perks to their citizen’s well-being. It must be nice to have nothing better to focus on besides making sure that Finns get access to their Facebook pages and upload their YouTube videos quicker than their US counterparts. It would seem like a no-brainer for the US to take a page out of Finland’s playbook. Doing so, might help us as a nation come to a resolution on key issues (see healthcare) a little quicker.

So thanks Finland, for generating news that was too boring to ignore. It is a wakeup call that definitely puts things in perspective.

Vandaag zijn we dus in die 2dehands winkeltjes gaan winkelen en ik heb een supermooie trui gekregen van ons mama en zelf botten met bont gekocht. Dus ik ben nu officieel eigenaar van echte Finse bontbotten! (vreugdedansje…)

Vandaag zijn we naar de markt geweest aan de haven.. er stonden wel niet veel kraampjes (aangezien het Maandag is en we er ongeveer maar pas om 1 uur waren) maar het was toh leuk. Daarna zijn we gaan winkelen in 2dehands winkeltjes die we gisteren hadden gezien en dan zijn we de “Rockchurch” gaan bezoeken. dit is een kerk uitgehouwen in een rots… Ze is niet groot maar wel enorm mooi en gezellig.

Vandaag zijn we ook lang een winkeltje gelopen waar ze een mooi schaakbord verkochten… We hadden het bijna gekocht voor Casimir maar het lag net buiten ons budget.

..leaves many on the ground starting from today. Finnair and the pilots have not been able to agree about conditions relating to the outsourcing of pilots.

Finnair is one of the oldest and safest airlines in the world and a pioneer in non-stop flights from Europe to Japanese and Chinese major cities. Today its “operations focus on transporting passengers between Europe and Asia, via Helsinki.”

I hope an agreement can be found quickly that allows Finnair to be a successful airline also in the future. Having one in Finland is crucial as we don’t have any quick land connections to any major foreign cities.

The plane in the photo is a DC-3 that Finnair hasn’t used since 1967.