I'm running behind

I know it's been a long time.. Yes I know I've become lazy. Last time I went to the hair dresser was during the summer. It must be 6 months ago or something.

The girl at the hair dresser looked at me and asked:
"Do you want to keep the surfer style?"

I smiled since I had no idea I had become part of hairstyle movement called 'the surfers'.

I replied with a lack of confidence:
"Sure, why not."

I'm going to Mexico in one month so the surfer style sounded just fine.

The whole experience was really fun. The girl had just come from the dentist and her mouth was still numb from the local anesthesia. I could see some drool on her lip. We were both laughing about it.

What finally proved that I'm running behind trends was the moment she asked if I wanted some sticky stuff put on my hair. It was fine for me so she started this 4 stage process.
1. Some strange dry powder that mostly resembled Anthrax from my Al Qaida training days. Apparently the powder makes the hair more fluffy. The stuff is especially useful if you like wearing a hat.
2-3. Two different waxes mixed together to create some special effect. I don't know if it was the local anesthesia or the fact that she was from Venus but I didn't understand this part of the process.
4. Finally some hairspray to make the creation stand the test of time and the wind outside.

Reality check to life every 6 months is not a bad idea. I scheduled the next one for June 2009. Then I might even change my style.

Inconvenient

It's convenient to take the car.
It's convenient to forget things.
It's convenient to to avoid responsibility.
It's convenient to blame other people.
It's convenient to think others will take care of it.
It's convenient to believe in God.
It's convenient to go instead of staying.
It's convenient to buy new one.
It's convenient to write in bed.
It's convenience that will turn out to be inconvenient.

Finnish hospitality

My first day not working. The sun decided to show up this morning so I packed my photo gear and jumped in the first tram heading east. Then the sun got a bit shy and went behind the clouds.

Well, I was in Kallio wondering what to do next. It was freezing and I was starting to get cold. Then I saw this 56 years old man weighting 92kg. He was sitting on the pavement trying to get up. This man was one of these people that we often call alcoholics. Few minutes later I also heard a new term ' losers who should drink less next time'.
Anyway few WOMEN were trying to help him get up and after a while he was back on his feet. The women left as I watched the man fall down again. He was totally out of strength as I soon came to find out.
Next a WOMAN stopped to help him get up again. At this point I went to help her. We got the man on his feet. The woman smiled, thanked me and left as I stayed and was a bit suspicious of the mans ability to walk. As expected, he collapsed again on the pavement.

Next I helped him up on my own, put his hat on an hoped for the best. He was able to walk few meters before crashing down head first. This time it looked bad. The man's face hit the ground really hard and the gravel asphalt combination did the damage. Now he was bleeding quite heavily and there was a clear cut in his face. I called the emergency number and told them to send some help.






After that there wasn't that much I could do and the man didn't really feel like talking. I decided to continue my photo session. 4 minutes later I took this photo of a dog shit with the flag on it in the park near the man. After the photo I felt like a piece of dog shit wearing a colorful beanie.

I went back to make sure the ambulance would come. At that point there were already medics helping him. They showed up from the government building next to the place of the accident. Five minutes later the police came and saw that the situation was under control.

I was cold, took the metro and headed south.

Now some of you might think it's wrong to take photos of a drunk man who is bleeding. Somehow a photo is still able make things a bit more concrete for some of you %#%# who turn the head the other way when something bad happens. There's something seriously wrong with this nation and I don't meant the alcoholics.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

It's getting dark in here

I didn't remember that sun goes down in Finland at 2 in the afternoon. I think I knew it but I didn't remember. There's a difference.

It's like I know I took this photo about a month ago but I can't remember the moment. Strange.

Intresting video about history of human

Maybe we don't know everything about our past. Who knows.

Edit: I've now watched the first 4 parts of the program at it's actually really interesting. Is it a hoax? I don't know.

Living in the moment is not the same as living like ther is no tomorrow

A relative of mine died suddenly and unexpectedly few years ago. No warning no nothing. She just collapsed. She was quite young. That was one of those reminders that life is short and unpredictable. It seems only during sudden tragedies we seem to remember these facts of life.

Usually after a while we forget this fact. It's buried underneath our other worries. I use the word 'worries' because that is how we often see it. We see death as a one more thing to worry about. Death is a problem to us. It's so big that we don't like to think about it. When we think about it, it's usually when something really unfortunate happens.

Personally I'm starting to see death as only one more event in our lives. I'd like to say solution but that sounds way too suicidal. I have no intention of speeding up my departure of this 65kg of meat, water and bones, that is delicately put together. When death is not a worry in my life I don't see it as something that could ruin my life prematurely.

So I'm trying to live in this moment just like everyone else. It's trendy these days but It's often trendy in all the wrong ways. Many of us think that living in this moment means doing as many things as possible in as short time as possible. We think we have to jump out of an airplane, ski down the mountain, buy a Ferrari, get respect, power, and fame before we die. We have to do it all, because it feels we would die in vain if didn't achieve something in our lives.

This whole living in the moment thing has twisted to something really strange. We collect all the things we can (money, experiences etc.), because some day we will be old and then we can't do anything. We justify our action today by thinking about our future.

Now there is the first argument that makes no sense: We live in the moment while worrying about the future. That's not living in the moment.

Secondly, we've become egocentric. Actually I think we've always been egocentric but now it seems it's getting worse. We are competing against each other on a global scale. Who's got the biggest ego, who is the greatest individual!

I'm not constantly worried about death, but I am worried about turning into egocentric in a time when I'd like to be eco-centric. There is no point in living like there is no tomorrow. There is always tomorrow. Maybe not to you and me because of a sudden accident or failure in our bodies, but there is always tomorrow for all the other people on this planet. It's egocentric to think otherwise.

For me living in the moment is realizing all that. Unfortunately my memory is often short. That is why I write it down.

Aphorism of the day

I rather be an artist with uncertain future than a worker with a certain future.
(artist = poor)


Of course 2pac disagrees with me:
"..I'd rather be a dead than o poor nigga.." song: I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto

But then again 2pac is dead so now he might disagree with his own statement.

I'm living like a monk

2 months without getting drunk. My new personal record in 12years. I've had few beers but nothing more. I really don't know if this is a good thing or not. The fact is anyway that my social life has taken a big hit, i've lost weight (from where, I don't know). Those were the negative things. Positive things are that my shoulder is getting better, i've come up with few good ideas for my south america trip, and I haven't destroyed any brain cells with mild nerve poison called alcohol.

I'll get fired next week and if I decide to quite right away, my social life is quite non existing. I have the option of continuing until I leave to Mexico. How ever right now I see no obligations towards a company that fired me because of cold termination negotions (not sure of the term).

Let's see what happens. If anyone knows professional photographers that need free-of-charge assistants, let me know. Work doesn't have to be in Finland.

Election conclusion

I really don't know why I started reading about the presidential elections in USA 2 years ago. During that time I was living in Spain as an exchange student and had just ordered TIME magazine. Probably I just had too much spare time so I started reading articles about Hillary and other candidates.

I know I'm quite critical of everything that happens in US but dear readers don't take it personally. I'm  extremely critical towards many other things as well. I analyze everything I read, see, and hear and finally I glue all gathered information to one giant piece of modern art and hope that my fragile installation holds.

From time to time this installation crashes down and when that happens I have to admit that my view of the world was wrong. After the crash I start rebuilding from the scratches. The higher the installation gets the harder it is for me to admit I was wrong. Because of multiple crashes I've become quite humble. Nowadays I like building wide things instead of high ones. I have broadened my perspective of life so to speak or as a wannabe photographer would put it - broadened my histogram.

The last two years have shown me that USA is not the ultimate evil, neither are Islamic countries or anything else for that matter. For me, USA is more like the ultimate battle ground between good and bad (what ever those things are). USA is really the country where everything can happen. A man can rule the country for 8 years without ever admitting that some of his decisions have been 'unwise'.

So, these elections proved that anything is possible in USA. A black man from Honolulu will be the next president of a country that is probably more polarized than even before in it's history. Something even remotely similar could never happen here in Finland. For that I really respect USA. It's a country of great contrasts but it's still one united nation.

Of the topic:
Having said all this I do not understand why people want to be leaders? I think the founding fathers of USA had a vision of a perfect country or even a continent that was led by great leaders.

My Utopia is self-governance. Both of these of course are absurd visions since they would require all 7 billion people on Earth to agree upon everything.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Nice video (about voting)

Vote or don't during your life. Don't really care but I like this video.

This guy makes me stress

"Toimitusjohtaja" means CEO.
(the other people in this grave don't have their titles/portraits.)

It seems you have to be a CEO and then you will be remembered and are granted a stone portrait. Cool or ridiculous? I'm quite sure there is only one correct answer to this. Still from time to time I seem to forget it and that is when stress sneaks up on me.

edit: It seems our CEO lived the shortest life of these people if you don't count the little child...

Wake up calls are strange

Why do people lie when somebody calls in the morning?

*ring ring* .... *ring ring* .... *ring ring*

me: "Hi.. What's up?"

caller: "Sorry did I wake you up?!"

me: "No no no. I was just lying in the bed and chilling.."

Why do we always have to lie instead of just saying:

"Yes you did wake me up but it's cool. What's up?"

or: "Yes you did. Call me back when the sun comes up!"

These election videos just keep on coming

I'm sorry but I had to put this video here. First of all,the woman is so funny with her stupid questions and secondly she mentions 4:36 Sweden in strange context.

New party rising?

Would that be a new party rising to USA.
www.ConservativesForChange.com
The name sure is designed for that.

Future of Facebook

Few days ago I saw in the news feed of Facebook a girl writing to her notes about how everything goes downhill for her. I couldn't even remember why this girl was my "friend" but still I could read about her problems (cat is sick, she is sick, too much work etc..). Her written note was in a way call for help/ support and it worked. Many of her real friends wrote to her.

That could be the future of Facebook; creating a support network around us. Still I think the news feed that everyone is reading will turn out to be a message board for different corporations and organizations.

Most of the Facebookers are not to ready share their thoughts of the world online and it's a shame. A real community is about sharing feelings and thoughts, not just what we bought today or who is our favorite musician.

If facebook is one of the worlds biggest online communities and we spend our time messing with Vampire bites and 'I hate the new layout groups' then what does it tell about us as users?

Facebook is not the cutting edge when it comes to online communities in the true meaning of the word. New and innovative stuff is never popular with the masses.
(edit: Don't ask me what the next big thing is. I don't know.)

Conclusion:
News feed = advertising or self expression?
Let's try to keep these things apart from each other. We all have the Diesel t-shirt and Nike hoodie with the cat sized letters. Isn't that enough? Do we have to bring all that online as well?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

McCain's last change (crazy conspiracy)

Bush met the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, today. Bush was careful not to say any strong opinions about the current financial crisis. Sarkozy on the other hand showed very strong opinion towards examining the whole capitalist system, bringing up few exact examples. His hope was to bring the whole system to 21st century.

Now if McCain can somehow put Obama in the same group with Sarkozy then he could argue that Obama is a radical socialist just like the president of the country that if full of American haters.

This would take some serious advertising/propaganda and the end result would lead to terrible relations with Europe, not just France. With this attack McCain could win.

If that doesn't help...
Well today I watched the movie Gangs of New York. There was this one scene where a top politician said something funny during the election day to this guy in charge of organizing the whole election:
"Don't worry if people vote twice. It's the counting where the winner will be decided."

It's not like it would be the first time that we witnessed this trick in the short history of USA.

yours truly,
-1 Armed man with totally out of control, crazy imagination

we're partying like there is no tomorrow

I watched Die Untergang, the German movie about the last days of Hitler's life in the bunkers of Berlin. The movie is largely filmed from the perspective of Traudl Junge who was the secretary of Hitler. There was something really scary in peoples behavior in those last few days before the final defeat of the Nazi goverment. Of course the whole war in it self was one big tragedy but I just got from shoulder surgery and covering all that is a bit too much with just one hand.

In this movie that was based on facts, many of the people in the bunker knew that the enemy was closing in. They knew that all hope for conquering and ruling the world was over. All the trust they had put to their great leader was about to collapse if not already collapsed. Even thought the collapse of the empire was just around the corner, the future wife of Hitler, Eva Braun organized a party and almost everybody joined him. Not even the closing mortar fire could stop them from drinking and partying. Eventually a bomb hit the building and everybody still alive had to return underground.

Next day it all continued. These people "privileged" enough to stay in Hitler's bunker continued ignoring the reality. Many of them were just drinking all the time. Many of these people knew they would die or at least the ideology that they believed in and to which they had build their whole identity as human beings was going to die. They didn't care about anything anymore or then they cared about things that were totally unimportant and absurd. I guess when a person losses all hope of future no one can really predict how (s)he bahaves.

Here is the part of the post that I'm going to blow over the top. I think we, the western civilization, are in the same situation as the people in that bunker. At the end of the day we're not taking cyanide or shooting ourselves in the head but we are partying like crazy and spending our time ignoring the problems that are happening outside our well guarded bunker.

What I'm saying is that we fail to take responsibility of the things that are happening just around the corner and to admit that many, not all, are caused by our actions in the past. I'm not saying that we should save the whole world. Funny enough is the fact that both Hitler and his party and our current political system have the same core principal, they both want the world to be better place FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE.

Politicians main worry is to please the people that give them the mandate to stay in power where we as individual people don't have to worry about that. I am in charge of my own life and that is why I can do what ever I want. I can either drink and party until it's all over or I can walk out of the bunker and see what is really going on.

(I don't mean that things are that bad (yet) or that it's the alcohol and dance music that is destroying our minds (I use both of them).

Traudl Junge, the secretary, of Hitler was interviewed at the beginning and at the end of the movie. She was inside the bunker to the bitter end so she saw it all. She was also probably one of the last people that realized that it was all over. She had kept her faith to her leader longer than most of Hitler's “closest friends". At the end of the movie she said something like this:

It's no excuse that I didn't know about the killings and suffering and what they were doing to people. Ignorance is no excuse. I could have found out about things.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Life after surgery. Past and future goals.

I was in a shoulder surgery 1,5 weeks ago. All went well and now I'm healing my shoulder at home for the next month. It should be healed perfectly in 6 months. I REALLY I hope I wont fuck up the healing process since today I bought one way ticket to Mexico. At the end of January I should be there for the beginning of the semester. The fear factor is that if I hurt my shoulder before it's completely healed it's back to operating table again.

I've dislocated my shoulder many times but exactly year ago I was training for kickboxing match. After almost two months of intense training and no alcohol, few weeks before the match I hurt my shoulder for the last time and decided to put down my boxing cloves.

After that I've been drinking quite a lot. I'd say about once a week + 4 skiing trips that were quite "wet" to say the least. I don't feel like I drink too much. Then again all my friends drink quite a lot as well so I don't actually know if I drink too much or not. (What ever that 'too much' is.)

A year has past from my previous alcohol-free diet. Then my goal was to go inside the loneliest place on an earth, the (kick)boxing ring (at least that is what they say. I wouldn't know). Now my goal is to go to Mexico. It's not the loneliest place on earth but I'm going there alone.

It's funny how easy it's actually to stop drinking when you have a clear goal your aiming for. I think the same aplies to everything in life. Decisions Decisions Decisions.

It's funny how often I feel that everything that happens, happens for a reason.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

My blog predicted the stock crash

I've always said I'm ahead of my time (at least to my self) and here is the proof.
These are the statistics of the visitors to my blog:



As you can clearly see I peeked and crashed before the Wall Street. A clear indication that I'm ahead of time. Through my blog you can see the future! To be fair I guess it was you, the readers who predicted the future. The statistic tools of my blog just showed it..

So you want to know how is this all going turn out? Read the blog. =P

Arianna Huffington and Tim O'Reilly in web 2.0 Expo

Two of my favorite videos in this years Web 2.0 Expo in New York

Watch here the "full screen version if the screen is cropped from the right side.


Watch here the "full screen version if the screen is cropped from the right side.

The dark side of McCain?

Japanese IQ test

Funny Japanese IQ test game. It's solvable. I promise.

Cost of war (in money)

Show me the money

thanks.

decisions decision decisions

That's what everyone keeps telling me. “You have to make a decision between this and this!” And if the others are not telling me that then I'm telling it to myself.

Can't I just be happy that what ever happens, happens anyway. I mean how hard can it be? All it takes for me to change the way I think is one... decision.

Damn it!

(Actually I happy at the moment. I just like to play around with thoughts :P )

Watch it.

If you call yourself an American, you will watch this and you will feel something stir deep within you. You will KNOW that now is the time to free yourselves of the chains of debt that enslave each and every one of us. This nation can be great again but it will take each and every one of us. Just as Paul Revere rode through the night warning of the impending British invasion, I warn you now. Stand up, prepare to fight for your rights as an American. The same rights that were bestowed upon each and every one of us in the Constitution of the United States of America. If you are a true American you will fight to restore the Constitution and the freedoms that our forefathers died fighting to give to each of us.
"Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have." - Ron Paul

Carrotmob in Finland

This video is from USA

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

Their first organized happening in Finland was last night in a restaurant/bar. I was there and it was great to see the place packed. They were able to raise 3400 euros. Let's see what the future brings...

Some video material of the event here in Helsinki:

Porkkanamafia Juttutuvassa from Ville Räty on Vimeo.

Link of the night: Alcohol as a commodity

http://www.dearmrb.se/

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Choose one. Business as usual

I'm getting tired of the business world already. There exists this thinking that you have to concentrate on one particular thing if you want to be successful. It gives me the creeps that I'm suppose to choose one particular interest and stick with it to the bitter end.

It seems that I'm not allowed to be interested of everything that happens around me. Don't think outside the box is the way to go in the business world. I beg the difference!

The more someone tries to push me to some category the less I want to be part of the whole thing.

If one day I own a company it will be the opposite of every company I've known. It will be fun.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

My vision of stuff in the future

If nearly 75% of all material produced in the world return to nature in less than a year something needs to be done. We waste too much stuff it's as simple as that.

Everybody talks about McDonald's and how stupid it is that they use plastic cups and knifes and forks. It's stupid your right on that but it's just the top of the iceberg. We buy every day food to our homes. Everything is packed in plastic. We buy a new pair of socks. Those are ofter wrapped in plastic etc. I'm sure you get the point.

So my solution is the tupperware stuff. What if we would start packing all our daily and weekly groceries into these re-usable plastic containers. I really mean all; serials, cookies, bread, cheese, ham, salt, pasta, tennis shoes, cameras, phones, computers, everything!

There would be different size of plastic containers. The idea would be that all these containers had a deposit (f.ex. 20 cents-2 euros). The whole deposit thing works really well in Finland with bottles (over 90% return rate) so I see no reason why it couldn't work with other daily products. Recycle baby!

Yes I know that this idea would require a total reconstruction of our current production line of stuff and it sounds absurd but the fact that 75% of the things we buy go to trash is the thing that is really absurd!!

Of course this idea doesn't work unless everyone agrees to join this campaign. 20 years ago this idea could not have been done. Nations were too distant from each other. Then came globalisation and warming of the planet. There is a reason why the world is smaller than ever before. It's really time for us all to start using tupperware.

It's not as ridiculous idea as it first sounds. Here is why: Thousand largets companies in the world produce 80% of all the industrialized products in the world and these companies control 70% of the world trade.

I think it's time for these companies to show that they are not the ultimate evil in the world like many people think. These thousand companies are the key to our plastic lifestyle and without their co-operation on this big challenge we're all going to suffocate with plastic bags wrapped around our heads. These companies have more power than any country in the world. If they say tupperware is the next standard for storing peanuts then it will be!!!

Story of stuff

I'd say this is one of the best short movies out there to get a good perspective of the world we're living in (stuff wise).
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Science vs. War

Story of Opening the CERN laboratory (NY TIMES).
"After 14 years of labor, scientists at the CERN laboratory outside Geneva successfully activated the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest, most powerful particle collider and, at $8 billion, the most expensive scientific experiment to date. -NY TIMES"

This new project cost 8 billion USD. It's funny if you hace ever played Civilization on your PC (game where you have to conquer the world either with force, technology or diplomacy) you know that if you put too much money on culture your technology and military innovations lack behind compared to other nations.

Well it seems that Europe's tactic is to concentrate on technology these days unlike USA that puts its money to military.

USA use to be a great country when it comes to technology but nowadays it seems their not the leader anymore.

"In 1993, the United States Congress canceled plans for an even bigger collider and more powerful machine, the Superconducting Supercollider, after its cost ballooned to $11 billion. In the United States, particle physics never really recovered, said the supercollider’s former director, Roy F. Schwitters of the University of Texas in Austin. “One nonrenewable resource is a person’s time and good years,” he said. -NY TIMES"

"Total U.S. military spending in 2006, over $528 billion, was 46% of the entire military spending in the world and greater than the next fourteen largest national military expenditures combined. (In purchasing power parity terms, it was larger than the next six such expenditures combined.) The per capita spending of $1,756 was approximately ten times the world average.[54] At 4.06% of GDP, U.S. military spending is ranked 27th out of 172 nations.[55] The proposed base Department of Defense budget for 2009, $515.4 billion, is a 7% increase over 2008 and a nearly 74% increase over 2001.[56] The estimated total cost of the Iraq War to the United States through 2016 is $2.267 trillion.[57] As of September 2, 2008, the United States had suffered 4,152 military fatalities during the war and over 30,000 wounded.[58] -WIKIPEDIA"

CERN laboratory, 14 years, $8 billion and you might find out what happened in the Big Bang.

IRAQ war, 13 years (2003-2016) $2.267 trillion and you might have peace in the Middle East.

Personally I don't believe in either of those things will happen any time soon but you never know.

Good day

Two things happened today.

I went out for a drink with a stranger (girl I met in a bar last week) and I listened football match Finland-Germany from radio while watching the stadium from the distance.

Can't remember the last time I've done that.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Bill O'Reilly does his best

Gezuz if this is the level of journalism...

Very very interesting videos

If you think you can concentrate I recommend this video and the other 11 videos as well that are part of this program. It's some really interesting stuff (if you like quantum physics, religion and philosophy).

I just finished the last one of the videos and I'm feeling happier than in ages. :-)

Tobacco kills, so what?

Everybody wants to sue tobacco companies because they are trying to hide the fact that smoking causes cancer.

Why aren't people suing the alcohol industry since alcohol is proved to cause cancer as well?

Am I stupid or why don't I get this?

Swedish government already sold their share of Absolut vodka since they thought that it wasn't ethical to be involved in in a business that isn't good for the people. Wise decision.

About my last post

In my previous post I said something about respecting only people that are smarter than I am. Well that was quite stupid statement.

• Writing that means I'm quite stupid
• If I'm stupid it means that rest of you are smarter me
• And that means that I respect all of you

See how my mind works? It never fails me, even when I'm stupid.

My new Image v.0.2

Busy day. I came up with my personal image, went to MRI and attended a fancy marketing event.

As I was sitting and listening three panelist talking about the digital world and how the business has developed during the last 10 years I started thinking. That happens quite often these days. I was surrounded by people with nice suites and skirts and haircuts...

My appearance? I came there straight from MRI. My hair was greasy and I wasn't at my freshest since I had been lying in a really claustrophobic tube for 30 minutes without moving a muscle. It's not like laying in sofa and enjoying a little time of from the rest of the world, trust me!

First they injected my shoulder full of some radiation stuff and they told me to lay down and not move at all during the magnetic photo session. They asked if I wanted to listen to some music inside the tube but I declined since I really didn't want to associate my favorite music with an experience that could be quite awful. Well actually I didn't want music because wanted this experience to be “pure” without any distractions.

It was an interesting experience. They gave me these headphones to protect my ears because of the noise. And indeed I needed them because the noise was really something straight from Star Trek. Huge pounding noise. Big bangs: BANG BANG BANG and then some noise that sounded like rifle bullets hitting the machine with a really rapid pace. At some point I realized that every muscle in my body was really tense. When I realized this I couldn't really relax anymore because that would have resulted into moving my body and moving was not allowed.

So after 30 minutes of tensing my muscles I was sweating a bit. The lady said that the photos were very good. I think she referred to the quality of the photos not to the quality of my shoulder that isn't working properly.

So I went straight to this fancy happening feeling not so fresh, "not properly" dressed with a greasy hair. You know what? It didn't bother me a bit. It was fun to see everyone wearing black as I had my orange North Face GoreTex jacket and my woolen winter gap on. When the panel ended me and my work mates started talking about facebook and came up with a concept of Cockbook and laughed our asses of.

When we were leaving I found a lollipop from my pocket. I opened it and stuck it in my mouth. At that point a friend of mine mentioned that it might not be good for my image. I told her I really don't care about my image because I don't want one.

That was the moment when I realized that I guess everyone has to have an image. If it's so then my image will be this:

I don't care what you think of me. I don't care what you think of my clothes, I don't care if you laugh at my hair and I really don't care if some finds it ridiculous that I'm wearing a winter hat and I'm eating a lollipop inside a fancy bar full of cool advertisement and marketing folks. I actually enjoy if they feel uncomfortable around me and they think I should be thrown out.

This doesn't mean that I'll tell everyone to F** off if they don't like me. On the contrary I'm trying to keep my own identity intact because I've already seen what the desire for money and power does to people in business world. It's a whole other topic and I don't want to go to it just yet.

I think I have issues with authorities and that is a problem in Finland. People here look up to authorities such as bosses, police and politicians. I look up to people that are smarter than me. I don't respect anyone because of some hierarchy system that is thought to us. I respect people not titles. Sorry boss, police officers and Presidents.

My new image isn't bullet proof. Nothing is. I did think about few lines I wrote on this post and I EVEN re-wrote few lines and added this sentence at the end.

So please don't judge me because of this post. Words are just letters and in my next post I'll rearrange them. If you do judge me, well...

I wonder what brand describes the best my “I don't care” attitude and image? FCUK, Quicksilver, Burton, North Face??

You know what! I really don't care!

Food wasting

Interesting article:Half of all food is wasted.

Many of my friends while eating leave the plate unfinished if they are full. I always try to eat everything no matter what. This action of my friends of course isn't going to destroy the world but in some way it shows that people think differently about food.

I've been thought not to waste food so I try to do my best.

I'm just waiting for the day when this food wasting is really going to stop because as long as fast food places such as McDonald's etc. are allowed to throw away perfectly good food because it's been on the counter for more than 4 minutes (don't know the exact time), no major change is going to happen.

Same goes for grocery stores that throw away perfectly good vegetables, fruits and other food just because the the product isn't "pretty" anymore or the date has expired.

I just think there is something wrong with the food system we have at the moment. I don't know exactly how to make it better but for all I care all the so called fast food places could be turned into slow food restaurants where everything that goes bad in 4 minutes isn't ready before ordering.

By the way: Next time when buying a Big Mac with Coke acknowledge the fact that it takes 250 liters of fresh water to make one liter of Coke.

Cold doesn't stop anything

A Lucid Dream

Movements of the future are.. .

This whole “we can't do that because that would be just stupid” attitude for me is really old fashioned way of thinking. What are some really old habits that people don't seem to get rid of? Armies, bombs, gasoline, gold and diamond rings...

I've been a vegetarian that eats fish for almost a year (what ever the right term is). (Why? I don't think the Earth can support 6-10 billion meat eaters.) so I started thinking about the whole thing. Let's start with war. It's an age old way of expanding or keeping our own territories. It's been in fashion since the stone age and for my taste it's starting be a thing of the past.

The world is rapidly turning into this one unified place that we as a movement call globalisation. It has it's ups and downs put eventually it will diminish borders like it's already done in Europe. We can now move freely, use the same currency and even cross-border shopping is a reality thanks to Amazon and eBay.

So as the world is getting smaller independence of nations is becoming irrelevant. We are not defending anymore our countries but our ideologies and larger cultures such as communism, capitalism, freedom of speech etc. The future isn't in independence but in movements. China is no longer a communist country but a mixture of many things. It's a country that isn't fighting with other countries anymore, but it's fighting with it's self. Young generation wants consume and party all day long when the old folks want things to be the same, meaning the family values and traditions (not the spying and torture and other human right issues).

Inside the nation is were the modern battles are fought. Of course there are these countries that still rely on good old methods of controlling their citizens when fighting abroad. They praise certain gods or make people think that everything they do they do it for their great nation and their wonderful citizens.

I mentioned that different movements are the future but nationalism isn't one of those. It's a nice thing but when you use that feeling to death and destruction it's not that nice..

Movements have to start from somewhere. For example most of us want a world without wars and killing. What does that kind of movement need? I'll tell you what it doesn't need. It doesn't need armies. Solution: Let's not join the army. I didn't think it that way when as a kid (18 years old) I had the choice between army or voluntary work for 12 months. Nowadays I've been thinking about resigning from the army, if it's somehow possible.

Russia attacked Georgia or Georgia attacked Russia. How ever it went now Finnish people are AGAIN talking about joining NATO. Wouldn't it be much cheaper to just destroy all our tanks and machine guns and destroy the whole Finnish army? Since no one in public dares to think that Russia is a threat to us where do we need our army?

Wouldn't it be cool if Finland was the first real nation (Monaco, Vatican and Andorra are not real countries to me) who dismantled it's army? That would really be the movement of the future. I know it sounds stupid but can you imagine the worlds first vegetarian who said to his/her friends that he/she doesn't eat meat because it's against his/her values and moral?

Boys night out

Tonight I decided to break out from the normal routines. We drank some really expensive champagne and saw the elite girls of the city. It all started fine when I talked to some girls on behalf of my friends and at the end we ended up dancing with the girls on the dance floor without any shoes or socks.

I did my best to convince one of the girls that she looked liked one hollywood star. She actually did so It wasn't new to her so I told her she had something in common with Jessica Alba (I wish). Eventually her humor ran out and I decided to move on.

Next I met this really nice looking girl that had traveled around the world. She was really interested about our company but I couldn't tell anything. She was quite interested of me since she spent like 2 hours with me when she could have danced or gone to home.

Finally we had to leave the disco and at the door she met her friend, Jenni Dahlman (wife of Kimi Räikkönen the F1 driver) and after that it was all gone. I was like air so I decided to walk home (45min). Still I really enjoyed the night.

Now it's 5.10 a.m so I think I have to go to sleep.

a hug idea

I saw this video and remembered that our marketing team at work made posters that say: "Marketing team offers free hugs."
It's kind of lame so I made this t-shirt

I'll wear it at work tomorrow and then let you know what happened. Might be that I'll become the joke of the company but I don't care. There are few good looking girls so I'm willing to take the risk.

NEXT DAY:
Well I got hugs from almost all the nice girls and my boss after I signed my contract (not with my blood unlike I thought). Rest of the gang didn't seem to pay any attention. I'll wear it every week until they start to give me hugs automatically. It might take a while since we are in Finland...

New chapter

Lately I've kept myself busy by writing only to myself. I don't know why that is. I hardly post any of those writing. Like now, I don't have anything in my mind that would suite the style of my blog, what ever that style is... Probably that is the problem. I'm stuck with a certain style. I've forgotten that the whole point of blogging is that I can write what ever I feel like.

At first I did that. I wrote what ever came to my mind. Nowadays I'm trying too hard to influence 'something'. I'm trying to lead my thoughts and other peoples thought as well to a certain direction. Since I don't know what is that direction the idea loses it's point.

This might be the end of one chapter. I'm not going to stop writing but I might start a new blog or at least forget my own style since I don't want to have my own style.



I've always been hungry but I've forgotten how to be foolish (actually I like more of the word impulsive).


It' time to get down to the basics. "This is not the end this is the beginning of something new." I wonder who said that...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

My blog continues

I haven't been quite sure what I'm going to do during next six months. My options were to go to Mexico as an exchange student or stay in Helsinki and work for Fruugo Ltd. Well today they offered me a permanent job and when we came to an agreement of the compensation I decided to stay in Helsinki... for now.

My intention is still to go to Mexico in half a years time with or without the blessing of my current employer. For a long time I wasn't sure what to do I mean Mexico and Helsinki are totally opposite to each other. At the moment my goal is to "get" them both because I want it all.

Anyway this decision means I'm going to keep on blogging and when I move to Mexico I'll start entirely new blog. But for know let's stick to this one. I've been writing quite a lot during the past few months. I just have to go through all of it and post the things that other people might find even remotely interesting. I'll promise to write more.

Summer is almost over so it's time to prepare myself for the dark autumn that lurks behind the corner. It's time to get productive.

My next post will be about time. I calculated I have 5 years in my life for myself (if I live to be 70) and the rest is just waste of time.

34x25x36

McCain is getting...

You need more surveillance? Buy the Olympics

I'm really eager to see how much are the Olympic Games in London going to affect the surveillance of regular people in London. The place is already the most tightly guarded city in all Europe and I think no city in US can be compared to it either.

It's strange that the media and politicians always say that Olympic games and politics should never be mixed and that is why China should be allowed to hold the Olympics despite it's political situation. Still leaders of many countries are going to attend the opening ceremony and they are going to be shaking China's political representatives at every possible change.

Somehow all that feels like it's in conflict with the principals of the Olympic movement, what ever that is these days.

"According to the Olympic Charter, established by Pierre de Coubertin, the goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." (www.olympic.org)

"In 1992, the first initiatives were launched by the IOC, in collaboration with the United Nations, allowing athletes of the former Republic of Yugoslavia to participate in the Barcelona Games. In 2000, during the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Games, the South and North Korean delegations paraded in the stadium together under the flag of the Korean peninsula." (www.olympic.org)

"without discrimination" is funny phrase when in fact the IOC can decide which countries are welcomed to the Olympics according to their political situation. Again they are mixing sports and politics.

So the London issue... The idea that police and other authorities are given more power over free citizens because of the Olympics (the movement that is against all discrimination) for me might very well be the final straw. Silencing and observing people because the Olympics are coming to town is not the way to build a better society. Of course we're not still there and what I'm writing is just speculation but usually I'm right on these things :P

What do you think happens to all those surveillance cameras and other spying equipment across London after the Olympics in 2012? Do think they are going the remove all those gadgets? Think again.

The best way to ensure that the future Olympic games can be organised without the fear of terrorism and demonstrations against human right issues is to start using diplomacy in stead of waging war. It's not going to happen immediately but after decades the tactic should start paying off. If it doesn't then we might as well forget the Olympics for just a little while and concentrate on bigger problems we're probably facing.

If all this is too much to ask then maybe at least the media could stop making the Olympic games this huge fight between nations. I dare to say that a Finnish athlete isn't feeling proud of Finland when he wins an Olympic medal. He is feeling proud of himself and proud of the fact that all the hard work has paid off.

Ooops... This post is derailing (as usual) but I guess what I'm trying to say is that long gone are the days when the Olympics were about fair play and respect for other nationalities, if it ever has been about that. I'm quite young so I'm not sure.

Are you dear reader the leader of some rich country (natural resources, industry, banks) with problems with terrorism or some guerrilla movement or just some minorities that are really making your everyday life harder? Don't worry! Just send your application to organise the Olympics in some of your major city and you too are entitled to close your borders and start arresting everyone who looks suspicious.

Our calendar is quite full for the next 3 Olympics but 2020 might be your lucky year!

ps. Your views on commercialism have to match with ours.

Yours truly,
International Olympic Committee. Sponsored by China.


2016 is a tricky year for the IOC.
Wikipedia and the list on nominees.
My guess is the underdog Brazil will be elected given the fact that they have so much forest for industrial use. Of course at the end of the day it all comes down to current WTO negotiations in Geneva between developing countries and first world countries concerning western agriculture benefits and opening borders to international companies in countries like Brazil.

Brazil needs to find a POLITICAL solution to that problem fast since the decision of the Olympics will be made in October 2009. No terrorists there but maybe some "drug dealers" and organised crime could need some extra surveillance.

Jew-dudes and Rasta-dudes

I'm no expert on religious matters so this is jut my view of the present situation. I might change my mind in the future.

It's funny how two quite similar religions have evolved into totally different directions. Both religions hope to return home some day and claim what they think belongs to them. At the moment the other group of people have decided to stay in Babylon and and continue life as it is. They've come to realize that peace is the way to go. The other religion is using every possible method to reclaim what they believe belongs to them. Of course I'm talking of Jew-dudes and Rasta-dudes.

Well of course Jew-dudes aren't really only a religion but a political movement as well.

Which group do you think lives in Babylon? The people who's king lives without the crown or the people who's king is desperately trying to hold on to his crown? Rasta-dudes don't want power and influence where as Jew-dudes want it badly.

So Rasta-dudes decided to chill while jew-dudes went in to action. Of course Jew-dudes have been in action more or less actively for the past 2000 years. Rasta-dudes dropped out of the globalizing world where as Jew-dudes are trying to keep up the pace with all the other groups of the world. Jew-dudes regained some of their country. They've gained some very powerful political allies. Of course with great power comes great responsibility like Spiderman's uncle used to say. How they've done with those powers? Well I guess everyone has their own opinion of that. I'm not going to tell mine because some might accuse me of antisemitism or being a jew-lover.

(By the way.. Don't you just love the freedom of speach. When your views are in line with others you are a smart man and when you think differently you are a hippie, communist, idiot, etc..)

Nowadays religions often have to join forces with political agendas and commercialism if they want to survive. They have to plan marketing strategies to send the right message to people and take care of their image. That's how the world works these days. Of course Rasta-dudes never really got to this marketing stuff and that is why it's not really a rapidly expanding religion. It's still quite a new religion so I guess we have to just give them more time. although I can't see Rasta-dudes trying to change their image of pot smoking dudes in the nature to something else mainly because they are so laid back that they don't give a rats ass what other people think of them.

Rasta-dude is the ultimate response to commercialism and that is exactly what marketing forces have used to make us consume more. They've made Rasta-dudes the new trend. “White boy take dreadlocks and you'll be an individual in this commercialized world!”

Rasta-dudes are cool, Jew-dudes are not. Jew-dudes want to be cool and they try to improve their image but they don't understand that you can never be cool if your trying to be something you are not. Jew-dudes religion isn't a laid back religion/culture that people want to relate to. World sees Jew-dudes as people who spent their time arguing and fighting. No marketing campaign is going to change that image in the near future.

Rasta-dudes are cool because they are real. It's as simple as that.

There is a third religion as well that is oppressed from their point of view. The Buddha-dudes have also lost their crown and live in exile. How do they react? They pray for their enemies and try to share peace and love to people around them. Dalai Lama went in to politics but as a neutral person who just wants to find a solution to current problems. He is using love and diplomacy.

Under some extremely hard times Buddhists some times stand up and fight but in general they do their best to sympathize and pray for their enemies. Buddha-dudes are also popular around the world. People rarely have anything bad to say about them.

So what is the ultimate difference between all these three religions?
I'll tell you what's the biggest difference. Jew-dudes are not considered cool!
How can I be sure of that?

If you travel around the world you hardly ever see a Jew-dudes logo on a t-shirt.

Animation of Lennon's interview

In 1969 14 years old Jerry Levitan interviewed John Lennon in his hotel room in Toronto.

38 years later Jerry published the interview in youtube and after that Josh Raskin directed an animation of those 5 minutes.

I wanted to make this

It's been quiet

I haven't stop blogging, I've just been busy. New work takes a lot of my time and energy these days. Can't really tell a lot about the company since it's a secret. Some details about it can be found here.

For the past month I've been writing quite a but bit it's stuff that isn't that interesting to others.. yet. Anyways let's just say I've got some good ideas. The last good idea came today when I took a free traveling brochure from a book store. That idea needs some fine tuning but it's one of the best ones I've had in long time. It's a tv-show but more of that idea in the future.

Now it's time to watch who is the champion of Europe in football. GO SPAIN!!!

Who owns our food?

Interesting article about food production and it's history.

Hurry makes us consume

I'm living in friends flat. He's got two different jobs at the moment (his 9 to 5 job and his company that does business in the summer time). That means his in a hurry right now.

We had, or he had, a really tight schedule today and that meant we had to go to supermarket and eat real fast. That is why we bought ready made food from the supermarket and in a hurry I bought some basic groceries that I need to make breakfast and dinner for few days.

Afterwards I was angry with myself because I didn't really have time to check the products properly. I didn't buy these fair trade bananas, I wasn't able to find organic eggs and finally I just bought some noodles since they are easy to make.

Hurry made me consume like there is no tomorrow. In the car my friend said something like this:
"When my leisure time gets shorter I outsource my day-to-day tasks like washing the car, eating etc.. My free time is important to me and I want to maximize it and that is why I'm willing to pay a little extra from many things."

I can't blame him. Free time is important and this is how people act. Often the more money people make the less spare time they have. Rich people don't wash their pools because they are too busy.

I've never been rich in the true meaning of the word (I mean money wise) and that means I always have time to do almost everything myself, fix my bike, cook my dinner, walk to school, compare prices etc.

Of course it's everyones own choice what they want to do with their money. I'm just saying that maybe it's constant hurry that prevents us from thinking clearly how we should spent the money we earn. I don't have many option but the richer you are the more options you have. What I would like to see is people think before buying. In my book money doesn't bring you just options but responsibility as well. Of course we all have to same responsibility but money seems to be the thing that makes the world go round...

For readers living in Finland a nice documentary about consumerism problems in USA (video available until 4th july)

I moved

Sorry for not writing in a while but last few weeks have been quite busy. I graduated and moved to our lovely little capital. Or I don't know if you can call it 'moving' when you live in your friends living room on his couch.

Anyways new work start in two weeks time. That doesn't mean I'd be settling down or something. So far this work is just for the summer. If that one doesn't work out I might have some other plans. More of those later.

For now Nomad isn't heading home since he is basically homeless. If you have a nice/cheap flat for rent in Helsinki let me know.

Should I buy cheese or not

You know what's really annoying? The fact that you are running out of everyday stuff but you're not sure if you should buy new stuff. I'm almost out of shampoo, sugar, salt, toilet paper, cheese and soap just to mention few.

Why am I not then buying these things? Well because at the moment I don't know how long I'm going to live in this flat anymore. Might be weeks or months. If I have to move within the next few weeks I really don't want to buy more stuff to carry away. Throwing away totally usable food just isn't an option.

Luckily the wait is over and in few days time I can buy more shampoo and salt or start packing. Either way the wait is over. Waiting is boring. I like the fact that I don't have to do anything (except read and eat) but waiting for something to happen isn't that fun. hmmmm.. It seems I'm not a patient guy.

Gasoline is Closing 4USD

Just putting this here so I can check what's the situation same time next year.

"All this has led to a vast transfer of wealth from American drivers to domestic and foreign oil producers. Every one-cent increase in gasoline prices means Americans pay $1.42 billion more a year for gas, according to Stephen P. Brown, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Nearly two-thirds of that goes to foreign producers."

"In the first four months of the year, Americans spent $158 billion on gasoline. In 2003, just as oil prices started to take off, they spent $88 billion over the same four-month period, according to Michael McNamara, vice president for MasterCard’s Spending Pulse, an indicator of weekly gasoline sales."

....

“There are too many politicians’ hands in our pockets, and too many crooks in the oil companies,” said Ms. Sebastian, an Army veteran who served in the Persian Gulf. “I’m all for helping other countries, but we need to help our people here in the U.S. first.”

The entire article

In Finland gasoline at the moment is about 8.7USD/gallon at today's exchange rate. No decline in usage of cars.

Few videos

Alternative 1st of May 2008

Usually in Finland 1st of May is all about boozing in the park. Me and a friend of mine decided to break the rules and headed South. Photos of the trip:
Alternative Wappu 2008. The Perfect Trip.

Bold video from Philips

Still away from my dear mac

2nd week of my break from my laptop is under way. Haven't really missed my laptop. Only bad thing is that I have one urgent work project that I can't do because me and my love are appart.

Anyway new posts with some content in them next week. Probably some nice photos of the highest mountain in Europe and much more.

We're on a break

I'm putting this on writing so I can't back down :P

I decided to leave my precious computer behind for a few weeks. I mean I just think we've spent way too much time together during the last 8 months. It's like she is always there and I don't have any time for my own stuff. She's taken over the hole flat with her DVDs and portable hard-drives. I don't have any space for my own stuff. All my books and drawing paper are inside my closet.

Because of all this I'm going to leave my computer behind and head south. I've heard there is some good snow still in the Alps so that's where I'm heading. What's you think of that my Mac?!? I'm only taking your smaller portable hard-drive with me so I can upload my photos from my camera. That'll teach you not to mess with me!

Looptroop is back!

22 years ago

Now 22 years later Finland is showing the way for the rest of the world what is our innovative solution for global warming. We came up with this great solution called new Nuclear plant. Building it has been full of mistakes and safety violations, it's going to cost 4,5 billion euros instead of the 2,5 billion that was planned, and it's going to be ready 2.5 years behind schedule thus costing consumers about 3 billion euros.

Luckily our solid ground can hide all the nuclear waste. That is one truck load of waste annually per nuclear plant. Who cares if half a glass of that waste can make our biggest lakes undrinkable.

The smell of bottled water

..smells like pollution.

I can't imagine a more unnecessary invention in Europe and North America than bottled water. If some countries are about to ban light bulbs for all I care they could ban bottled water as well.

"According to a recent Fast Company article, in 1976, each American bought an average of 1.6 gallons (6 liters) per year. Today, that average has jumped to 28.3 gallons (107 liters)."

"Bottled water is not healthier than tap. According to Blogging Stocks' Thirst for Profits post, "An NRDC study actually found that 33 percent of the waters it tested 'violated an enforceable state standard or exceeded microbiological-purity guidelines,' ...""

"In addition to not being regulated, many bottled water companies don't have to pay for the water they sell.
Coca-Cola (Dasani) and Pepsi Co. (Aquafina) bottle municipal tap water. So instead of paying 1/100th of a penny per glass of your own tap water, you can buy the same in a bottle for about a $1.25."

"the pay out on a $1.29 bottle of water is: 50% to retailer, up to 33.3% goes to distribution, 12 to 15 cents to the production of the bottle and that leaves about 10 cents of profit for the company."

"The United States throws away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour."

(Source)

A whole industry based on vanity. At least in my country where clean water is available in every building.

Of course bottled water is better option than a Coke but you don't have to buy either of those. During last two years I've been traveling around Europe quite a bit. Not once did I buy bottled water. I always carry a plastic bottle with me that I fill up with tap water. Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia. Never did I crap my pants!

Sometimes I did have headache but that had nothing to do with water. On the contrary. I think a dead rat in my mouth and lack of water were the reason for that.

My reward for lost time

Few months ago I was in nice job interview. I mentioned it on my blog a while ago.

I got to the second round from the interview. (My guess is that they couldn't decide which one to pick after the first round so that's why the second round.) This time there was no interview. We "just" had to come up with a new idea for their website.

I made a presentation and a demo of the site and what it would look like. You can check it here. Making the website and pdf-presentation took me about a weeks work.

Well finally I didn't get the job. Shit happens and you can't win them all. I didn't let it bother me. What happened next was the funny part.

I told my friend that I kind of wasted time for nothing. He then told me about his friend who prepared a lecture for some firefighters. It took his friend 20 hours to prepare it. Then day before the presentation he was told that the lecture was canceled. Nice. Week after that he received 2 tickets to cinema to compensate the time he lost making this presentation.

Now one week after I found out I didn't get the job a letter came with the mail. Guess what was inside it? Yes, 2 ticket to cinema!

Honest to god I couldn't stop laughing! Those tickets were compensation of the time I lost in the interview (about 4 hours). No mention of the website presentation (about 40hours of work).. According to my calculations that would make about 20 movie tickets more.

I didn't ask for any compensation because I didn't want any. They gave me an assignment and I wanted the job so I did the assignment as well as I could in the given time.

I know this company meant nothing but good by sending these tickets. I appreciate it! Thank You! But please, please, please don't give away tax deductible movie tickets for a work that took time and effort. It's not really innovative solution from a company that works in the advertisement industry. Actually it's never an innovative solution.

A simple thank you will do just fine.

democracy will prevail! ! ! !

Democracy expands. It's purpose is to give everyone freedom of speech and the right to express themselves. We want to save all the parts of the world from the evil and provide them with the tools that allow them to implement democracy to their society. That way everyone can become part of our global economy.

How do we destroy evil from the face of the earth? We support developing nations and their governments. Give them food and good advices. The problem is there is only certain amount of countries we can handle and save at a time. We are wise but we don't have enough resources to save the entire planet at a time. So how do we choose the countries that need our help the most? The countries that absolutely need democracy before anything good can happen there. The countries that are crying for help and salvation.

Our role is god-like and we have to decide who has the right for salvation and who doesn't. We pass sentences without a hesitation. We choose the country that possesses potential. Just like we choose our spouse we choose the country that we are going to save. In our women it's beauty and figures that count. In countries it's natural resources and geopolitics. Some might say that salvation is happening because the country has been oppressed for so long. There are human rights violations etc. In my eyes those reasons are made up so that our global economy can keep on growing.

The idea of saving entire nations is beautiful but the reality is often different. We use goodness as an argue when in fact it's greed that motivates us. The sad thing is we can't see that anymore.

Finland participates in these “salvation” missions by telling that people need our help. We never stop to question why these people need to be rescued. What led to this situation that is so bad that our soldiers need to protect innocent people. The truth is that Finland is afraid of questioning the decisions of the big leaders. That would make us look bad in the eyes of other members of the global network. We became part of this network when our nation became independent in 1917. Or at least that's when everything changed. Why question everything when we are doing so much better than before when we were part of Russia.

Maybe some day it's our turn to be saved from evil. You might think that it's ridiculous. “We are already saved!” We're on the winning team. Are we? What if one day something immensely valuable is found inside our borders? Largest oilfield in the world is probably not under our feet but I have a crazy scenario. Bare with me. One day global drought will sweep across the world. Global warming threatens to turn our planet into one big desert. Nordic countries are one of the last oasis that include vast amounts of fresh water. Our northern location has helped us to close our borders from the immigration from Africa and Southern Europe.

At that point some super power might think that our nation is run by evil president and we need salvation. Now I might go out of line with the next statement but I'll say it anyway. Why were we able to separate from Soviet Union? We were meaningless for them. This piece of land that we stand on wasn't strategically important for Soviet Union anymore. I know that it's a bit exaggerated but I think there is some truth to it.

I think the keyword is meaningless. Finland is quite meaningless for the world and that's a fact. Cuba wasn't meaningless so it got in to trouble in 1960´s when it came a part of USA-SOVIET argue. Kuwait isn't meaningless so it needed salvation from evil. Iraq isn't meaningless so it needed salvation from evil, twice. Chile needed salvation, Europe needed salvation. Venezuela needs salvation. The list could go on.. So why aren't these countries meaningless? They've got something we want. Something that keeps us gods of the world. Oil, minerals, Food... You see good thing about being a god is that you have some natural benefits that others don't posses.

One of the sales arguments when recruiting new nations to our network is the phrase “Look at what we got!”. If this doesn't help they can be lured to heaven by changing governments or giving them a new dictator or by just making them addicted of some of the cool stuff that we have. Usually that leads the changing attitudes with in the society in few decades time. This tactic is usually used only in the cases when our “persuasion” resources are limited or there is no hurry.

So who are the ones that don't need salvation? North Korea. They are just fine. Their people are happy and well on their way to democracy. Zimbabwe doesn't need salvation. They just had an election. That's a good proof that they are a democratic country. No human right violations there. Russia is the model example of Democracy and so is China. They just need a little more money so that they too can join our group of gods but not too much so that they don't come our gods. That wouldn't be nice.

Controlling nations or even entire continents isn't that hard. The same principle works in governing nations. Again the word meaningless comes in to play. Leaders should never waste time on things that are meaningless. Concentrating on the stuff that is important for normal life is the key. Energy, food, water, transportation connections. These are the things that are not meaningless and so these are the things that are needed to control large populations. What I find scary is the that some if not all of these things are privatized little by little. The key elements are given to corporations that operate on a global level. If you give water plants to global business what happens when there comes a global water shortage? The water is sold the anyone who makes the highest bid. It's happening with oil so why wouldn't it happen with water one day.

What happened in Bolivia..
“In 2000 the World Bank, under the belief that “poor governments are often too plagued by local corruption and too ill equipped to run public water systems efficiently. …[and that the use of private corporations] opens the door to needed investment and skilled management“,[2] declared it would not renew a $25 million dollar loan to Bolivia unless it privatized its water services.” -wikipedia-

That led to privatization of all the water supplies in Cochabamba and it meant that the owner had monopoly on all the water in the city. It also led to claim that the government would require a license be obtained for people to collect rainwater from their roofs! So what happened? People protested, a kid died, president changed and the water was returned to the hands of the government. A battle with global economy had been won.

I wonder who gave us to power to play gods and decide who gets to be saved and who is not wroth our grace? If one gets this kind of power should it not be used for good? We say we use it for good but do we really? Too often power corrupts. I'm not a religious guy but I can't help to think of the saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, even if the intension is democracy.

Mutual Trust

The photo is from a supermarket and says something like:
To preserve mutual trust please open your bag! Thank You!

How an Earth is this going to build mutual trust between the store and the consumer? So I show you what is inside my bag and then you can trust me? WAIT A SECOND!? And how does this help me to trust the store?! I mean it's obvious that they don't trust me...

So am I allowed to ask the store to show me the statistics of their profits for the products? I'd like to know just for mutual trust. I mean I just want to know that they are not ripping me of.

ARGH! (Obvious to say that I've never shown them what's inside my bag.)