Finland should mark August 26th 2006 as an important day in its history. It was on that day when its land area has been reduced by 50 m². But this time it wasn’t the Russians who are to blame for taking over some of the Finnish territory, rather it was one of their own fellow compatriots, Ari Paska Peltonen (yes, Paska as in Shit paska) who took over a piece of territory and claimed independence.

Come again?

But there really isn’t anything new about it either. You know, already for a while quite many such micronations, or microstates, have been in existence and every once in a while a new one pops up. There’s the almost 40 years old Principality of Sealand, fundamentaly artistic Ladonia, the universal state of NSK-State, the state of all boundaries unified in Kingdoms of Elgaland&Vargaland, and the utterly civil Transnational Republic. In fact there are enough micronations in existence that in 2003 the first Summit of Micronations was organized in Helsinki. But if you keep a list of micronations, you can add a new one: Valtio.

Naturally one should ask, Why is this necessary? and Do we really need another state? I guess it’s quite clear that all these micronations could just as well be called egonations as most often they are brainchildren of various artists and serve no other but purely egoistical purpose of their creators. But then again, how does that differ from the purpose of many other “real” nations. I’ll let you muse on that one.

According to Ari Paska Peltonen the founding father of the Valtio (which literally means the State) the first sparks around the idea for the Valtio were made around the brief encounter and inspiring conversation during the Laibach concert in Helsinki where representatives of NSK-State were also present. The concept brewed in his head until he decided to get his own state. How to do it?

In a recent article in Nyt liite Mr. Peltonen describes in what can be seen as Valtio’s manifest and public proclamation of independence, that his next step in the genesis of his State was to contact a professor of international law who told him that in order to have a state one needs at least three things: land, citizens and international relations. That easy? So, Ari went shopping for statehood.

He got the land for Valtio from Ilkka Malmberg a Helsingin Sanomat journalist who years ago out of curiosity bought the cheapest piece of land he could find in Finland–a hectare, to be exact. Being a generous fella, Ilkka donated a whole 10 by 5 meter piece of land to Ari. One down, two to go. Ari now needed only citizens and international relations. Piece of cake.

Creatures of the universe who intercept this transmission, and you dear earthlings too, can apply for Valtio’s citizenship by sending an email to Ari Peltonen. I guess he cannot be too picky about his citizens as many states have become over time in granting something devoid of meaning that they mutually recognize, so I’m sure that your chances of obtaining Valtio’s passport are pretty good right now. And I’m telling you this is an investment in your future. Read on.

Ari has already set up a government with four ministers and himself as the prime minister, president and the monarch. In September 2006 the government of Valtio had their first meeting and so far it looks like it is more stable then the new Swedish government appears to be, or Hungarian, for that matter. And now that they have the basic structure up, Valtio has already started the process of joining the EU, the UN and they are already looking into details on how to participate in the ice hockey, football world championships and, what is most important in the almighty Eurovision Song Contest. Paska has got all of it figured out. All these integrations will catapult Valtio into the last frontier of statehood; into having relations with other nations. But Valtio and Ari really do have stars on their side as the current EU’s commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, speaks their language.

In fact, according to Ari Valtio has already applied for the EU membership and Olli has been positive about their application. All they are waiting for now is the official letter of invitation from the EU. And, of course, there’s a minor detail I forgot to mention, the Finnish parliament must first decide whether they will give Valtio their independence or not.

So far, so good. It seems that Mr. Paska does not have any problems with the Finnish authorities. Although it is really hard to establish what the Finnish politicians make out of it. It seems like they have taken Ari’s actions in a typically relaxed Finnish manner and as a witty move, rather than a serious attempt to alienate a piece of their land and ruin the country’s integrity.

No worries, I’ll keep you posted on how Valtio is doing.

Mladen

You probably remember that a few weeks ago I wrote about all the benefits students are entitled to in Finland. The monetary part, which is at the same time in my opinion also the part with the most profound impact on student’s life, was established some 30 years ago. However, students have been receiving the same monthly allowance for the last 14 years now. Yes, the state has been rude enough not to take into account the inflation or changes in living costs for all those years.

But students want more, they always want more. Well, who doesn’t. For several months already Finnish students have been quite eloquent regarding their demands. Being Finnish, they have kept it quite simple and to the point: “We want more money.” No babbling. There’s been lots of attention dedicated to the topic in both student newspapers issued by universities across the country as well as in the mainstream media. The response was sometimes mixed among the plebeians, but never among the students who know exactly what they are after. Not to mention that 127.000 people have signed the petition in favor of the rise (here’s the pdf listing everyone who signed it).

The government has been quite silent and didn’t take any concrete actions. Students have had it enough and took the matter to the streets. They want a 15% increase on their 260€ per month. But the minister of the finance did the calculations and figured out that this would cost the state more than 70 million Euros a year more. I understand both sides and as I’ve already written about it a few weeks ago, I think that the idea of student state support is an excellent one. Nevertheless, I think that students are pushing their luck a bit too far on this matter.

I’m not saying that they should go shopping around for a different model as this would result in benecide–killing of the benefits altogether. But some of them don’t really get it how good they have it, even though it’s just 260€+ Euros each month. I’ve spoken to a few of my Finnish friends who were not even aware that I am not receiving any such monthly benefits from any country. And outside of Nordic countries, as far as I know, no other country has anything like that. Although Finnish students are arguing that they get the least money of all the Nordic countries.

Of course, it’s wonderful if practically 80% of your rent is paid for by the state, plus you get the pocket money for free. And you get free education and many other benefits. You should be rather happy. Really, come on, it’s an incentive, a stimulation, a support and not free life kind of support. But then again even though the inflation in Finland has been extremely low and annually it never exceeded 3,4% in the last 14 years (it was only 0,9% in 2005 and 0,2% in 2004), it did eat away the total value.

I’ll have to dig a bit, but it would be interesting to find out how this model even got started in the first place: what were the political and what were the real reasons for it, how did those benefits evolve, and so on. I’ll make a follow up on the topic when I find out more about it.

Mladen

I have no idea what to say. I’ve received so many useful comments regarding my last week’s post that it will take me a while to process all that information–I have only a certain amount of time, two eyes, and one merely one ganglion. Meanwhile here’s the fresh news from the North.

And interesting it is. Now, there probably isn’t a non-ignorant soul in the Western world that wouldn’t have already heard about the brutal murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, but for all those who have not yet, it’s about time you read about it.

Any kind of murder is brutal and shouldn’t be allowed to take place, but I guess the case of Politkovskaya echoes with incredible stamina because she was a strong opponent of president Putin’s administration and his war in Chechenya. Her murder is more than just the act of killing of a person, it is the act of silencing and oppressing.

What made a very strong impact on me was how the Finnish society reacted to Politkovskaya’s assassination. First of all, since Saturday, October 7th, when she was murdered, Finnish newspapers have been full of articles on the topic and writing in practically all sections from commentary articles from the editors, to the letters to the editor (except maybe sports and economy sections haven’t touched on the subject).

Then there was the silent, candle protest in front of the Russian embassy in Helsinki where people have gathered semi-spontaneously the very next day, Sunday. More than 2.000 people gathered to mourn and protest against the oppression and in support of freedom of speech and press in Russia. It was the largest such event in the world, even larger than the one in Moscow.

It is not so much the full-page support for freedom of the press campaigns in many daily Finnish newspapers, which were published within the last few days that have impressed me so much. What made a strong impact on me is that people came out of their warm and comfortable homes to express their exasperations on the streets of Helsinki. They spontaneously understood what the brutal act means and that it is practically only the tip of the iceberg of many alarming human rights issues in Russia.

One of the public figures in Finland that also strongly condemned the violent act was also Finnish writer, producer and director Aki Kaurismäki. Aki harshly criticized the oppression of the press in Russia in an interview he gave to Novaya Gazeta in which he has also said that Novaya Gazeta is “the last free newspaper [in Russia].”

Kaurimäki has already on several occasions expressed his opposition to the Russia’s military actions in Chechenya, but even more so in this interview where he has also said that “Russia should immediately pull out of Chechenhya and give the country its independence” and that “only then could KGB man prove that he is also a human being. Otherwise I cannot respect him.”

The Novaya Gazeta journalist then asked him if he knows where Chechenya is. To which Kaurismäki straightforwardly replied: “Between Dagestan and Ingushetia, in the Northern Causasus.” Journalist openly responded that he does not know that much about Finnish geography. To which Kaurismäki replied only: “Russia used to belong to Finland.”

Emotionally laden memories from the past spring forth.

Mladen

Have you ever heard about the two Suns effect? No? I’m not surprised. Neither have I, until last night. You can experience it while you stand right at the equator. I mean, right on the equatorial line; one foot on the northern hemisphere, the other on the southern hemisphere; right above the spot where the halves of the egg shell connect, not a millimeter further. You have to be really precise about this as when you move just a bit, both Suns disappear.

When you stand at that exact point, positioned precisely as I have instructed just now, look up towards the sky, right down the equatorial line and you’ll see the two Suns not far from each other: one floating above the southern hemisphere, while the other doing the same thing over the northern hemisphere. You don’t even have to look far away, or with the two eyes staring apart in different directions (which not many people are trained to do, anyway)–you’ll see both Suns right there in front of you, with both of your eyes. One eye, one Sun, the other eye, the other Sun. Does that sound familiar? I feel like I’ve just been there.

But, equator is far from me, really far … Too far, in fact. And so is that one Sun–not to mention how far you’ll have to go to reach the other one. Far. The equator actually is reachable rather easily. The Sun? Well, that’s a different story. You can see it, but you can’t really ever get there and experience it first hand. The equator is an agreed line. Tyhmä juttu. The Sun is all scientifically explained and real. Tosi juttu. Or is it? I guess it’s like going to the origin of the rainbow. Have you ever been there? I have, but then, surprise, the rainbow disappears. Does someone know if the same happens with the Sun when you actually get there? Could be. Let me know.

So, what about that other Sun? That one is just as hard to reach and it might just as well disappear when you get there too. I don’t know. All I know is that they are all a rainbow.

I’ve been writing on this spot for a bit over a year now. And it has been a very pleasant and sometimes even rewarding experience. It is especially rewarding when I’m reading about my own writing in digested and reinterpreted form, like for instance here and here. In one word: fun. But not fun enough, though. Why?

When starting this blog in August 2005 I opened it up and wrote my post with mixed feelings. I perceived it both as an experiment while I was at the same time also curious about the blogging experience since before I’ve only been reading other people’s blogs. And then again, I set a very ambitious goal for the blog: to keep in touch with friends on a regular basis and possibly to make some new acquaintances in the process. Ambitious.

Despite the fact that I’ve been reading quite a few blogs on a regular basis, I really saw the whole blogging phenomena as a new television: you sit and read (instead of watch), you’re entertained and when you’re done reading, you almost forget what the hell you were reading about. Of course, it was not always exactly like that, but quite often it was. You left with a smile on your face and many saw it as way of wasting time. How could it be different from the television?

And I never really put much thought into what makes those blogs interesting, at least what brings me time and again to those same places. I guess there were so many different things that amused me, which made it so much more difficult to put my finger on something more specific. Then I’ve opened my own vent and suddenly I was in the position of all those bloggers whose interesting writing I’ve been reading before. Although I have to admit that I never had any problems with finding the topic of my writing; there has always been plenty of stuff that I’ve had in my little head that I wanted to discuss in either a dialogue or a monologue (read: a blog). No, the problem lied somewhere else: what would people like reading about, or what would make people like me keep returning to that very same blog on a regular basis.

On this spot I’ve discussed many things from daily trivia, to politics shit, I’ve been writing my travelogues and talked about art shows and cultural peculiarities. I even posted several hundred pictures. And believe me, there’s a lot of stuff still in the pipeline. But before I return to the old rut of writing the blog my way and begin discussing some dull politics or how cultural this-or-that baloney, I’d like to hear from you, you who read this blog. Whether you’ve been reading it regularly or whether this is the first post you’ve read, it does not matter at all. I want to hear from you.

Drop me a line or two in the comments department (think of it as letters to the editor). Tell me: what you’ve found to be fun; what entertained you; what you’ve been missing; what I should write more about; what pissed you off; what made you happy; do you like reading long posts or are you a snippet type; do you love your grandma’s cooking or are your clients full of it. It doesn’t have to be blog or blogging related at all, but if it has something to do with me and you or you’d just like to tell me something, I want to hear from you. Knowing who my readers are will hopefully help me keep it fresh and fun to read in the future too.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Mladen