The U.S. gets knocked for (rightfully so) combining church and state issues, even though the U.S. constitution deliberately mentions a seperate of church and state – but in Finland where church and state are not seperated, many Finns have this illusion that they are autonomous from one another – yet Finland still has cases like these that proves the state and church are practically holding hands…

Parliament has rejected a proposal to impose copyright fees on music performed during religious services. The proposal was rejected by a vote of 91 to 58 in the first reading.

If the proposal is passed in the second reading, it will still have to be voted on by the next Parliament; the Parliament’s Constitution Committee felt that the proposal had implications for religious freedom, and therefore required the procedure of a constitutional amendment for passage.

Supporters of the proposal say that the aim of the bill is to treat producers of religious music equally, and to encourage the composition of new hymns. Most hymns performed at Finnish churches are hundreds of years old.

Under present law, churches pay copyright fees for church concerts.

Uh-oh, armed robberies have shot up in Helsinki. Police are looking for “a group of dark-skinned foreigners” who have been involved in these crimes – Police advise that you don’t walk in the city alone at night, what a shame…

About a dozen boys or young men have been robbed in downtown Helsinki in the course of the past two weeks. The majority of the incidents have occurred in the Kaivopuisto and Kaisaniemi parks in the evening or later at night, while some of the robberies have taken place in the street. Police are looking for a group of dark-skinned foreigners aged 15 to 22 who are suspected of having been involved in these crimes.

All robberies follow a similar pattern: First several youngsters approach a victim asking for cigarettes, for example. Then a larger group surrounds him starting to threaten or assault him.

One characteristic of the robberies in the streets has been violence or the threat of violence. “The muggings have been cold-blooded. Many of the victims have been assaulted without warning”, reported Inspector Sampo Suomala of the Helsinki Police Department on Thursday.

Hey so, if a group of “dark-skinned foreigners aged 15 to 22″ are heading towards you at night – are you a racist if you get concerned or walk in the other direction? I wonder what Johanna Maula of Caisa would think.

“Should the fuel tax be lowered?” – This question was asked to Finnish parliamentarians, here’s their responses by party, in order of most willing to cut the fuel tax…

True Finns – 2 yes – 0 no – 0 no direct answer – 1 could not be reached
Kokoomus (Conservatives) – 22 yes – 2 no – 2 no direct answer – 4 could not be reached
Christian Demorats – 4 yes – 1 no – 1 no direct answer – 1 could not be reached
Left Alliance – 14 yes – 3 no – 0 no direct answer – 2 could not be reached
Social Democrats – 15 yes – 16 no – 14 no direct answer – 8 could not be reached
Swedish People’s Party – 2 yes – 3 no – 1 no direct answer – 3 could not be reached
Keskusta (Centre) – 10 yes – 16 no – 11 no direct answer – 18 could not be reached
Greens – 0 yes – 11 no – 1 no direct answer – 2 could not be reached

Wow! …way to go neo-left winger Left Alliance – 14 yes and just 3 no’s!! And no surprise there – not a single “yes” from the Greens, proving once again that they just like to fuck poor people. And way to go Keskusta for having 18 representatives no able to be reached (did hunting seaons start already?).

162 of the country’s MPs were interviewed and 80 of them supported the idea of a fuel tax cut. 52 MPs said “NO”, while 30 of the MPs “directly or indirectly avoided answering the question”.

From A to Z – Locusts are coming next, oh my!!

From The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

One of a billion reasons why I don’t like government – The Finnish government forcibly sterilized deaf women (just women?) and forbade deaf people to marry – These laws weren’t overturned till 1969…

The data shows that Finland tried to weed out what it considered unfavourable genetic traits. In the 1920’s, the government forcibly sterilized deaf women and forbade deaf people to marry. They also banned the use of sign language in schools.

The deaf population’s status improved little by little after World War II. These laws weren’t overturned until 1969. The constitution was reformed to guarantee their rights in 1995.

Sweden actually continued this practice until the 70’s. I know I’ll get blasted for this but I’ll ask anyways – Could this be a reason why the welfare state works so well? Finland has just been killing off (or preventing) those who aren’t “worthy” for society? I mean, (for instance) what a way to cure poverty, just kill off all those who statistically might become poor. Think about it.

Wikipedia is full of fun stuff, here’s a good one: “List of words having different meanings in British and American English” – Be also sure to check out: “American and British English differences“, “List of British English words not used in American English“, “List of American English words not used in British English”

Word: fanny
British: vulva (vulgar slang) “to fanny about” or “to fanny around” = to mess about or prevaricate (very mildly vulgar slang)
American: buttocks (slang, but not obscene)

Prices are expected to go down to about the level they were before the hurricane

They also banned the use of sign language in schools

The gender balance in the cabinet is to be maintained despite the shake-up

Younger people prefer Internet to television

Church music, Internet and mobile phone entertainment to stay exempt from copyright fees

Finland put five past Macedonia, and strikers march past press

Concentration of ownership in retail branch surges forward