Smoking prohibited in your own car

Finland is going to prohibit smoking in cars when children under the age of 18 are present some day in the near future.

This has already been done in some other countries I do not remember currently, which seems fair enough, we have to protect our children, but what bugs me about it is that you won't be fined or charged with anything if you smoke in your car here in Finland

Prohibiting smoking in cars will be just as useless as talking on your mobile when driving, which also is prohibited by law, but who bothers to use a hand-free appliances when driving anymore, as nothing is done about it?!?

Smoking in restaurants just was banned, you are not allowed to smoke on the premises anymore but still when you are in a restaurant, you are still allowed to smoke in the outdoor decks and terraces. Or is that not on the premises?

Just another useless law, just ordinary paper pushing again to keep the politicians occupied. People will still smoke in their cars, and talk on their mobiles, when driving...no matter whether it is against the law or not.

At least they have not been able to ban people to smoke on their own balconies yet here in Finland, but seems likely that day will come too.

Updating benefits

A committee, called the 100-committee, was founded by the Government to scrutinize the updating the social benefits in Finland.

The social benefits, like unemployment benefits and old-age pensions, are suggested to be guaranteed to a fixed minimum level of income which would automatically be paid to you. This would facilitate the lives of people depending on social benefits quite a lot, as you currently have to first to find out about what benefit you eventually might be entitled to, how to and where apply for it. Then apply for it and maybe get it. Some social benefits that today are handled in the municipalities, would according to the suggestions be handled by KELA, The Finnish Social Insurance Institution as they are already in charge of so many of the existing ones.

Now, this is just a suggestion so far, these changes in benefits, some of them expected to take place by the beginning of next year, but still, the parties of the cabinet are still to agree upon it, as some parties at present are said to be very much opposed to any changes at all in social benefits, just out of their political doctrines, not out of reason, it seems to me.

Still, one of my old question remains, where to take the money from?

The Government has promised to ease the taxation by next year, in order to make the money go around, as the more we consume, the more money it generates and boosts up the economy, well, the state getting less tax money, and paying more in social benefits, also from next year on, that adds up to less than zero, at least in my maths.

Anyway, I am happy to not be into politics and having to worry about it.

Back to normal

I can not seize to wonder at the politician even though they are not fully back into office after their summer break, the retired part of the population has been promised by the government that their taxes will be lowered and they who get more than 13000 euros a year in pension will benefit from this.

So where once again did this go wrong? What about the retirees that have smaller pensions than that, why are they not taken in concern in this?!? It is the citizens with the little income than need this to be able to cope without having to go to the social services to get money so they’ll survive. First you go to work every single day for forty years and something and pay your taxes, then you retire and have to pay more taxes out of your already earned pension than you had to when in working life. See what I mean, you once already did pay our taxes now you have to do it once again.

And the pensioners with the lowest incomes are of course the mothers that had to stay home with their children as there was no other option back then. How many of these women really wanted top quit their job instead of having to quit back then? Then came back to working life after the kids grew up leaving a fairly small pension to live on, the husband divorcing remarrying a younger one, well then there is not even his pension to rely on for survival. Only one option remains, applying for social benefits. The money still has to come from somewhere and it seems that it is just shuffled around as show.

Anyway, with the more consistent than intermittent rain showers of yesterday some things than needed to be done finally got done. Like paperwork which I just hate, but as it was due to be sent off today the deadline was hanging threatening my peace of mind all the time. Then there was the rhubarb that had to be taken care in the afternoon of along with the picked redcurrants than needed to be cooked into jelly and the weekend’s catch of perch and pike. This time a couple of quite big likes to my surprise which will make a nice soup later when it is not as hot as it still tends to be.

Tomorrow for instance the forecast promised steaming rain showers as it should be 27 degrees hot!

And today school finally started and I can get back into my normal day routine with no one disturbing it!

Jam this time

The latest stirrings of the soup are if I have not got it wrong; the Finnish ministry of internal affairs in considering an audit done at the security police about the files kept secret and also denied having been misled by the security police and said that she has full confidence in their activities. She is also considering an investigation about the allegations of her having been lying.

The president in her turn has asked for the secrecy and covering up of the former DDR security service Stasi case. And the president’s chancellery denies the earlier published about president having been mislead by the security police announcing it having been an error, that there are two different cases with Stasi papers that have been mixed with each other. Then the prime minister finally has a say in the matter, he announces that he thinks it best for the security police to find out how the files from the Stasi concerning Finland could be opened for research use and now as the security police gets a new director it should only be natural to do so.

It is currently high season for berry picking here in Finland and there are pickers all the way from Thailand, The foreign berry pickers have usually from neighbouring countries like Estonia and Russia and as berry picking is tax free, no additional VAT or social costs to pay as the pickers are not employed by anyone, it is good money for all concerned.

Yesterday’s fishing trip took long but then the catch was not an ordinary one, the guys got tired of just sitting around in their boat and went on for some berry picking on a nearby swamp. They came home with some cloudberries and of course the compulsory mosquitoes bites, which meant some jam cooking for me first thing this morning. Nice with some home made cloudberry jam even though the berries were on the edge of being overripe as the season for them is at its’ end here in the south. Only two glass jars, but still jam, and the blueberry season is not yet over and talks were about cranberries, but I gather they are not yet in season as they were just in full bloom a couple of weeks ago when I got some pictures of them.

Stirring the soup

The Finnish security police have apparently been misleading the president concerning these secret spy documents according the media.

If I have not got it all completely wrong following the Finnish media; The president announced her open line 7 years ago and acclaiming the documents to be made publicly available when the information about the Finnish spies would to arrive in Finland, but as the documents in question were already in the possession of the security police at the time, they stayed in safekeeping, the security police has apparently not been acting according to the set open.

The German head researcher of the Stasi-archives earlier called the Finnish investigation of the Finnish president’s aide amateurish and a major cock-up as it has resulted into the former presidential aide having been accused of spying on false grounds.

The Finnish Foreign business- and development minister emphasises that the government is to pay compensation for it at the same time admitting the misuse of the Rosenholz files. The court proceedings about compensation to be paid begins in Helsinki in august and the former presidential aide, today the itinerant ambassador of Finland in the western Balkan countries hopes to win the case and be paid compensation for the personal harm of being falsely accused as a spy.

The Finnish prime minister has so far not made any statements in the matter as has few other ministers of cabinet but it being July and in the middle of the holiday season in Finland should be as good excuse as any other.

A strange coincidence though seems the announcement of the senior police commander in office of the security police about his resignation out of health reasons at this time after having been on sick-leave already for some time, claiming it having nothing to do with the spy business scandal currently at hand.

Thrilling will be to follow the suit, all different stories told and developments after all the stirrings of this soup to come in the near future. Who says what and denies saying so right after.

Trying pizzas

Drug testing is today becoming more and more common in many workplaces here in Finland and an increasing amount companies run routine drug tests on their new employees. The drug testing is most common in trades with safety instructions, such as driving motored vehicles or running mechanical engines but now even banks and insurance companies have taken drug testing of their employees into their policies and failing the drug tests might result in not getting the job or getting fired.

Today is one of the days I do not have to cook for dinner, still today it is troubling me a bit as it is the offspring with the culinary ambitions trying anything with everything that is doing the cooking. Normally the things are quite simple, and making pizzas should be just that, simple. Just simply making the dough, get some tomato sauce, grate some cheese is still harmless enough but what goes on top of it, the pizza is where I begin to get worried. I know the possibilities lying around in the fridge but what was brought home from the supermarket that might surprise me.

Suggestions so to go on top of the pizzas have so far has been ham, pineapple, prawns, tuna and that still sounds quite normal to me, nothing to worry about as yet.