The Trust in The Finnish Parliament is Currently Very Thin

For many years Finland was the world’s least corrupt country in the widely referenced Transparency International’s reports but now our politicians are making sure the ranking is going to drop.

This year the Finnish media has revealed many election campaign funding scandals and it seems that a lot is still to come. Most recently some politicians had received funding from public money that they personally were able to control. Companies have also supported candidates in ways that are not very acceptable in a society where, in theory, transparency is valued. You can only wonder the motives of a company that supported very generously many politicians before it went bankrupt.

Ruokolahden leijona (The Lion of Ruokolahti)

Remember you saw it first here – a photo of the Lion of Ruokolahti (Ruokolahden leijona) published for the very first time.

During summer 1992 Finland was talking about the sighting of a lion at Ruokolahti in Eastern Finland near the Russian border. Naturally there are no lions in Finland so the explanation was that it had escaped from a Russian circus. Except that there were no reports of missing lions. Well, it took a long time for the Soviets to report about Chernobyl and lions are a minor nuisance compared to blown up nuclear reactors.

In July nothing happens in Finland when people are having their vacations but news organizations still have to publish news. And if something even slightly interesting has happened or might have happened, it will get a lot of coverage. The Lion of Ruokolahti has became a term for such news.

Surprisingly the lion was never found. It was also a bit surprising to read now that there are some credible people who think that there actually was a lion. Some of the theories were also pretty wild: the lion returned to Russia where the locals, suffering from the collapse of the Soviet Union, ate it.

Early Exit for Team Finland at the Ice Hockey World Championships

Finland's ice hockey team is known as leijonat (lions) and they are now very disappointed after a 3-2 quarter final defeat against USA.

USA made all their goals in just four minutes and Finland was not able to convert game dominance into goals. The game plan was to frustrate the Americans who then would take stupid penalties but this time it was the Finns who took the stupid penalties without any American provocation.

Next year is a big year as the olympic ice hockey tournament is played and then all the top nations will have much better teams than in the world championships. In Turin Olympics  2006 Finland got only silver medals despite trashing ice hockey’s two great powers Canada and Russia earlier in the playoff games.

Lex Nokia – Privacy vs. Guarding of Trade Secrets

The Finnish parliament is currently working on a controversial law known as Lex Nokia.

Lex Nokia would give companies a right to follow their employees electronic communications. The main argument has been that companies need to be able to protect their trade secrets. Finnish mobile phone company Nokia has a big interest in the law which explains the nickname.

The law has been heavily critiziced by many stakeholders to such an extent that there have been even tv advertisements against it. It is said that the law will reduce the basic privacy rights given by the constitution. The police critized the law because it would allow companies to do more than what the police can do during an investigation. In addition to companies, the law would also apply to any community that provides means for electronic communication such as schools and housing associations.

What Is Imporant In Independence?

Tabloids made independence day extras.

The highlight of independence day celebrations is a party held by the president. An invitation is sent to people who have achieved something special during the year, people in important positions in the society, foreign diplomats etc.

In the years most popular tv program Finns watch as the president and her spouse shake hands with a few thousand guests. You can read from their lips that they also say “Happy Independence Day.” TV presenters try to identify the guests and – most importantly – comment the dresses of the women. For many years even the Finnish Broadcasting Company has used a fashion expert so that the general public will know who has made the dresses and what is special about them.

How can you get a big photo of yourself to the front page? You have to be prime minister’s recently new girlfriend or a member of a parliament with a history as an MTV video jockey. or a beauty queen.

A Sauna has been Stolen

This mobile sauna has just been stolen according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Sauna is an essential part of Finnish culture. Ideally you have a sauna by a lake and it is warmed up using wood. More typically people have a sauna in a city apartment that is heated with an electric stove.

After getting a good sweat at the sauna, you should cool down a bit by swimming in a lake and go back to the sauna. If the lake is frozen, you make a hole to the ice and swim. Alternatively you can roll naked in the snow. A beer tastes exceptionally good after (or during) a relaxing session at a sauna.

Finns are not that enthusiastic about saunas while they are abroad. Often they are too cold and you are not allowed to throw water to the sauna stove. That’s like football without a ball. Many Finns are disgusted when they see a foreign sauna that provides sexual services. Even if they ignore or enjoy the same services somewhere else.

One of the more recent triumphs of sauna is the Facebook and Washington D.C based Diplomatic Finnish Sauna Society of D.C.