What a Waste of Bomb Threath

Today I finished my work and was planning to take the train, go near Amsterdam Arena and go to see Indy4 (No, not the Fate of Atlantis, but the movie. Crystal skull thingie... I guess there's 13 of them. Ssssh... don't tell me anything about it. Don't want to know before I see it.) Of course the train was late. So was the next one. And one train had stopped right after the station. Something was wrong.

Then I heard there was a bomb threat at Central Station of Amsterdam. I got all exited. To the city centre it is! Panic, chaos and most likely a false alarm! And I had my camera! (Plus, if something would happen, I know first aid. And as a medic in the army we kinda learned how to quickly temporary fix big holes in people.) But how to get there? Bus to Schiphol? Naw, too full and how to get to centre from there?

Finally, after 30mins of waiting, got to train that goes to Amsterdam Zuid, where I was not going. But good enough. Can switch to metro and then to tram and go to city centre. And to Central Station. My ticket wasn't towards there, but that was the only train that wasn't gonna go through city centre, thus it was moving. Got off at Zuid.

But the Dutch are sometimes so Dutch that I have hard time describing how Dutch they are. Of course there was absolutely no information why the trains were not going. But that's normal. If a train is 20 minutes late and another train comes, it is usual not to inform about it and daily there are people in wrong trains. This time it was even more Dutch than that.

Got off from the train, and of course they had put ticket check on the station. Three passages, two guys in each passage, except one of them had only one guy. I though I just explain to the guy that the trains were not going so I took a wrong train. As I was going, the guy in front of me had the same story. Boy that ticket inspector had a devilish smile when he started to ask the guy's ID. But, just the right moment for me to just wave the ticket of mine and pass. The guy was so concentrated on ... ehm ... making the other guy bend over and giving it to him unlubricated that he didn't pay any attention.

I thought that was a bit odd. Considering all trains were on halt because of a bomb threat. But I still paid my metro ticket and was going to the stop. Of course there was the metro company's inspectors! Are you friggin' kidding me? During a friggin' bomb threat they make sure no-one explodes without a proper ticket! Lucky me, I got the ticket.

I saw police officers on the pier where I was waiting, so I asked them what was going on.
- A delay, but it's over.
- Yeah, but what's the reason.
- Just a delay.
- Ok, I heard a rumour that there was a bomb threat.
- Oh, that one... yeah, just a small luggage that was left unattended but it is gone now.

Yeah, thanks for informing the public. Especially if it was a false alarm, and I would read it from tomorrow's paper anyways. I guess you can't trust anyone who's title starts with "Poli". Got to my metro, and surprise, surprise! Ticket inspectors came from the next stop! To a packed metro! Do they enjoy pain? Just what I need when I am crammed into a sardine-tin and have some lady's elbow, size of a Christmas ham, in my mouth.

And all of this because some tourist forgot his luggage on the friggin' pier when he jumped to train to Schiphol. And so very Dutch, who think they are a world-wide power, to think that someone really would like to bomb Central Station. Who? Terrorists? They friggin' live in Amsterdam and their families need the train to go to work! And what kind of message would that be? Dutch soldiers in Middle-East, so we kill a lot of tourists and our own people? Get serious.

Den Haag would be more suitable target anyways for political attack. It's not like there is any separatist movement in the Netherlands to whom an attack on civilians would be of any help.

So:
* Was late coming from work. (But that's more of a rule anyways with NS.)
* No info why the trains were late. (That is their code-of-silence at NS, so it's normal also.)
* Three friggin' times I was checked for the ticket during a friggin' bomb threat.
* And there wasn't even a bomb, but Dutch egoism since they can't see they are not as big and bad as some other countries who are the invading hordes in the Middle-East.

Plus it feels like thunder is coming, so it's moist, hot, pressurised and sweaty.

But I guess it was a good thing the threat was a false alarm and no-one was hurt. I still wanted those pictures.

Aphorism Of The Day Pt.23

If your life is like dancing on roses, remember to wear shoes.

Aphorism Of The Day Pt.22

Popped into my head today:

Q: When you take the trashbag from under your sink to throw it outside, what do you call that gooey stuff that drips from the bottom of the bag?
A: Naples-syrup!

7 Deadly Sins, Part 1: Pride

I feel proud. One of my photographs was selected as the Reader's Photograph of the Week.


Already a second time in a short while when my photograph has been in a newspaper.

One down, six to go.

Finnish Imago Outside Of Finland

Finnish have always been very sensitive about the image about us in foreign countries. We can't even decide anything before Sweden makes the first move. So yes, I think we have to bring out our most educated, sophisticated and wisest side out more agressively.

Like this guy.

(Yeah, I have said I don't like to linke this kind of nonsense before, I still don't, but this just shows how smart we Finnish really are.)

Children As A Tool Of Control

I read from the news today that Kate and Gerry McCann plead for European 'amber alert' on abduction. Is this the step one?

This post is not about the abduction of Maddy. Abductions should not happen. But the horror scenario I've been ranting about on forums and in real life might've taken the first step.

Here is a quote of my post on a certain forum on 2006:

This is so beautiful way to make people to trap themselves - children. We can introduce a (RFID) chip which is 'only' a passive one, that can be activated to locate a missing child when radio signal hits it. (You can already have this kind of chip on your dog.) Just to protect the children from being lost, kidnapping, etc... The children grow up with the chip in the hand and it is easier to introduce a similar chip, but with credit capabilities. It is easier to get a parent to get a chip on child's arm to protect the child than to get the parent him/herself to get a chip to pay his/her bills.

We are used to having chips in the products we buy, that trigger the alarm should we nick the product from the store. If you buy any program, you have to nowadays register yourself in order to get any support. Windows checks wether your copy is legal when you enter their website. More and more small invisible/transparent control and tracking devices are introduced into our lives, some of them to prevent illegal activities, some of them to make our life 'easier'.

Before all of this we first got a bank card, then a credit card, a library card, Tesco-card, AH-bonus card, a driver's license, a social security card, an ID-card, what have you - this is the situation today. When we get introduced a combo-card (perhaps approximately at the same time as the passive chip), with all of this in one, it will make it easier to handle. Only, this will bring an issue. What if someone steals it or if you lose it? How about that chip? Then you can pay your bills, borrow your library books, open your doors, start your car, etc. with just a touch of a finger. And why not? You are used to have the passive locator chip in your hand anyways.

Now, with either active or semi-active chip, which draws the power from either kineticly from your movements or directly from your nerve system, you can even set up a little electric field around your skin. You cannot see, feel or notice it in any way. It doesn't interact with your current electrical devices, but what you can do is you store the data you want to show to other people. To connect into someone's chip, you just simply need to touch the skin of another person. From your reader, which can be for example your watch, you see the data the other person wants to give out. For example in a club you touch a pretty girl's hand while walking by and you can read what languages she speaks, is she single, what type of guys she likes, etc.. (Less human interaction and less 'failures' in it, you can see if the girl can potentially be interested in you even before you say one word to her.) Of course for police or doctor, who would have higher authorization to view more detailed information, the doctor could see your medical status and police could see your prior criminal offences. This field, or the RFID in combination of your thumbprint could be used to pay, borrow, open, etc. with just a touch of a finger.

Not only they can see where you shop, what you shop and when you shop, it will be possible to see and even control where a person is at any given moment. Control - if you have your personal ID embedded into you and you can open your car door, why wouldn't be possible to lock a door (even just) for you as well? A similar system for cars is in use today in few places. You have your chip on your windshield and when you drive past a toll bridge, it automatically detects your card, charges your bank account and opens the gate. This means that for example in Singapore they already know where people's cars are at any given moment.

Effective control is disguised as security. Most effective control is the type people demand upon themselves.

Ok... I will stop now and go to put one more layer of tinfoil into my room...

I was a bit agitated while writing this, so nevermind the all out crazy stuff and the parts that are figment of my imagination. Just think about the core-point.

And if that Amber-Alert comes to UK, where pets already have to have RFIDs, it takes only one media campaign where any famous person blurts out "but our pets are better secured than our children"...

Although I am not trying to say that this Maddy case wouldn't be horrible, I am still saying that this can be abused. If this kind of Amber-Alert turns into Red Alert and RFIDs go under the skin, with this media hype no-one is going to say anything against in the fear of being labeled as a supporter of child abduction.

Freedom Of Speech Is Stronger Than Privacy In Finland

(This is a small referate of my Finnish rant.)

Finland has just decided there's no need for privacy.

Our Foreign Minister sent couple of text messages to a girl. When he was interrogated for it by the media, he paniced and denied the whole thing. Mistake, yes, but is denying a small flirt in his private life with a woman really big enough mistake to let him go? There are bigger mistakes in Finnish politics that led to no-one's dismissal.

The woman was an erotic dancer. So she was employed and she pays her taxes. As long as the job is legimate, should it matter what the job is? Better an erotic dancer than a CEO of a large international company. The latter would compromise the integrity of the Minister's position. Even two politicians dating would be scary thing to hear, especially if they are in different parties.

FM Kanerva used his work mobile to text few text messages. 200 SMS' is hardly excessive. If I join my mobile phone company's some music plan, I would get 200 free SMS' per month as an extra. Big deal. Mr. Taxman knows he has the mobile and charges him because they expect him to use it for his private calls, too.

Many of the messages were during the evening or during the night. So he didn't even spend company time to send those.

He has a woman he lives with, though. But as the text messages didn't lead to anything sexual, it is not so immoral he would have to be fired. This whole discussion about faithfulness should be between him and Elina, the woman he lives with.

The Finnish media has been quiet lately when it comes to news. First the domestic "news" side was full of our PM's woman adventures, now it has been completely stacked with the ex-FM's text messages. Finnish people have become more and more like Brits and the Americans. We do not care about real news. We want a show.

And of course media has no morals anymore. People want gossip, media sells gossip. It's not like they do this for charity. Too bad the private side suffers. Private things like this should not be published. Especially if the other side does not want that. I do like freedom of speech, but I'm not talking about that now. I'm talking about ethics, which were wolfed down by the freedom of speech.

The people want a show so badly, it gives the media the power to get even our Forgeign Minister fired.

I hope there's no more sex scandals in Finland for a while. I want to read some news for a change.

A Fit(na) Over Nothing

Geert Wilders has now released the anti-islam infomercial "Fitna" on his political party's, PVV, webpage. I watched the Google video version and I must say that is a disappointment.

The muslim nation is of course angry. Geert has repeatedly said the Islam religion is violent and demands blood of all those who oppose them. To show Geert is incorrect, the muslim nation has calmly and peacefully burned Dutch flags, treathened the Netherlands and EU with punishment and has put a death-penalty on Geert.

How can Geert publish such lies that Islam is a violent religion? Islam is the last one to come from the three branches of christian religions. Israel has never killed anyone who doesn't deserve it. In Christian-God's name there has been no killings over nothing. The crusades were just peaceful recruitment rallies. Therefore it would be amazing if Islam as the youngest of them all would all of a sudden turn into violence.

Although the rest of the movie is muslim people - including imams - calmly explaining that muslims should peacefully kill non-muslims, there is one thing that might justify even some anger. He has no respect towards copyright laws!

In the beginning and in the end there is a picture of Mohammed by the Danish artist, Kurt Westergaard. It is the original artist who has the copyright in the first place. Therefore this is something that might enrage Danish.

Other than that, the movie contains basically parts of Quran and what some imams and other muslim-leaders have said. This cannot be why muslims are burning flags. This is their religion. Maybe not all of it, but at least a part. Geert was careful even with the ripping of the pages. He does not show he rips a page off of the Quran. And the ripping sound, he explains, is from a telephone book. If this would've been anti-christianity infomercial, he probably would have no problems ripping, peeing on and finally burning Bibles.

The movie was a bit American infomercial-like. People who do not like Geert's ideas might say it's propaganda, but I don't see any specially different from every other point of view made nowadays. For me it was a big disappointment. I've read the news and I've seen the responses from some extremist-muslims to many many things so there was nothing really shocking and nothing really new. The movie itself probably doesn't make people think that much. I hope the media hype and the reactions do. But I doubt that, too.

I would recommend that Geert removes the picture of Mohammed. Although there are several images of Mohammed in arab-worlds, it is clearly blasphemy for a western-pig to make or show an image of the prophet. If a picture of Mohammed has to be there, rather use a picture by a muslim-artist.

Most importantly we must stop Geert. He is a constant reminder that there are people who dear to think even those things that are not allowed for us to think. And foolishly he even excercises his right of an opinion. If this goes on, people might start to think there is something called "freedom of speech".

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, Author, The Friends Of Voltaire, 1906.

Liquid Ban Explained

The reason for the strange liquid ban on airplanes may be explained now.

ThruVision has developed a camera that can read the electromagnetic radiation of objects and can show shapes through clothing as far as 25 metres.

A small bit at the end of the article mentions:

This electromagnetic radiation is a form of low level energy emitted by all people and objects.

These are able to pass through clothing, paper, ceramics and wood but are blocked by metal and water.

The system works by collecting these waves and processing them to form an image which can reveal concealed objects.

They are blocked by metal and water? There's already metal detectors at every airport. The liquid ban starts to make sense. They must have developed that for years, so the knowledge of a device-to-come has also been there.

Life Is Winning!

It's noon. And I can already think! Might be that my first day at the new job is not going to be a sick day! Yay!

I think I need to stay low today. Still got sour throat (maybe there's a frog inside?) and a head full of fluff. Otherwise I start to be ok.

I have slept most of past 3-4 days now, so it would be worrying if I wouldn't be feeling better.

Just reading my friend's blogs, and noticed the huge winds here have a name. The storm "Emma" is wiping Europe.

Very good name for the storm. Since the real Emma I know reminds me of Neil Young's lyrics...

"You are like a hurricane. There's calm in your eyes. And I'm getting blown away."

Great Way To Finish My Employment

My second last day in this company. Off to newer and better opportunities. Starting in a new company on monday. (Could've kept a holiday, though...)

So now I need to clean my desk, move personal files away from computer, delete work-related... Can't be off, no matter what.

And yesterday evening got a friggin' fever. No voice coming out and head is like a huge cotton ball. It's nice that our "airco" is not really airco. It just rotates the air inside the company. There's been so many people sick in our company lately that I'm sure it's just some rotated bacteria or something. Nice.

It came in couple of hours. 8PM I was fine, 10PM I was in fever. Weird thing.

And my head is full of fluff.

Sorry Sir, But You Are Too Smart To Be A Police Officer

While searching for something I came across with couple of news articles from late 90's. It seems that you cannot be a police officer in US if you are too smart.

Explains a lot.

Walkers Contain Trace Amounts Of Alcohol

Apparently some Muslims have criticised Walkers' crisps when they found out it may contain trace amounts of alcohol. Walkers use alcohol during the manufacturing process to extract some flavours. Crisps themselves most likely do not contain alcohol anymore, but in trace amounts.

They claim that even if it is trace amounts, it has to be printed on the package.

What kind of hypocricy is this?

If we count trace amounts, they themselves sell alcohol to muslims every day. Trace amounts, but I've seen it done.

They sell bread. How do you rise bread dough? Put some yeast in it. What does yeast do? Expands the dough. How? By fermenting sugars, producing carbon dioxide. And as a side product, also alcohol.

They sell cheese. And I've seen a muslim eat cheese! When cheese is aging, there's a trace amount of alcohol produced in the cheese.

They use vinegar in salads. Um... D'uh... Vinegar is produced from ... wine. And where do they get their vinegar from? Can you even have halal-vinegar?

Is eating ripe fruits also forbidden? Although it takes a long time for a fruit to ferment, even just ripe ones may contain trace amounts of alcohol.

I've seen muslims buying xylitol and sorbitol chewing gums. Which alcohol are we talking about? Ethanol? Sorbitol? Methanol? Xylitol? ...any alcohol with -ol? Or is it only ethanol which is bad? If so, why only that alcohol? Didn't their book only prohibit drunkenness, not alcohol itself?

Do they brush their teeth with western toothpaste? Have you looked at the ingredient list? How many -ol ending chemicals can you count? (Mouthwash and aftershave can be found alcohol-free. Difficult, especially mouthwash since they put sorbitol and/or xylitol to most of them.)

I haven't seen even one sign on halal-shops where they warn about bread! And it is clearly rised with yeast.

WWIII?

"If the EU works out a single position or if NATO steps beyond its mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will be in conflict with the U.N., and then I think we will also begin operating under the assumption that in order to be respected, one needs to use force." - Dmitry Rogozin, Moscow's ambassador to NATO

Interfax

Peasoup (Vegan, I guess.)

I made peasoup the other day. Accidentally it became vegan. Easy peasy. This is how:

About half a kilo of peas, peeled. (Not the individual peas, but as in, take the peas out of the shell.)
A huge biologically grown carrot. (Or 3 smaller ones. Or 6-7 thin small early carrots.)
About quarter kilo of lentils
0,5 large onion would go nicely if you have one (I didn't have)
White pepper
Freshly ground pepper mix
Bunch of parsley
A table spoon (and then some) of Mustard
Soy milk (just a splash)
Water
Couple of Vegetable bullion cubes (I think they are vegan stuff?)

Blend the carrot, add peas but blend a bit less. (I like it chunky.) Put in pot. Add lentils, splash of soy milk, a cup or two of water, spice it up and boil until carrot is cooked. I made it quite thick. Add more water if you want it more soup-like.

Done.