Future of SAAB

The international media has been speculating about the future of SAAB, the automaker owned by FORD and now to be sold to the Dutch company, Spyker.

SAAB is not just an automaker.

Here is the latest news about another division of the company.

The Finnish military defence department awarded a follow-on contract to Saab for an additional delivery of the widely deployed air defence technologies.

Swedish based Saab said that it has been selected by Finland to deliver an order for its Robotsystem 70 (RBS 70), a ground based air defence system.

This is an approximately Euro 25.29 million order. Global defence contractor Saab will deliver its RBS 70s, a short-range man-portable laser guided missile system, to the Finnish army.

"This is very positive and it further proves the capability of the RBS 70 system which until now has been exported to 18 countries located on all five continents," Tomas Samuelsson, Saab Business Area Dynamics head, said in a statement.

A shot in the arm for troubled car maker SAAB?

Can Finland afford this extravaganza? Is it really necessary for a small country like Finland to invest in such technologies? Or is it the Finnish male egoists that continue to play war games for their own pleasure.

Since all Finnish males go through the compulsory army service, where they are brain-washed, this would seem a logical move. Very few survive this brain washing process.

If any opposition is voiced, angry fingers will be pointed by the "nationalist"!

Is it for me?

Yesterday was an exciting day as I was waiting for 9 pm Finnish Time, 10 am US Pacific time. It was at that hour Steve Jobs, CEO f Apple Inc. was to unveil details of Apple's new product.

Unfortunately, just minutes before the scheduled time, when it was going to be streamed live on the Internet, the internet connection in the US collapsed leaving us all in limbo and watching the text description of what was happening along with many iPhone pictures of what was happening on the stage as this new product, called the iPad was being released.

iPad docked with a keyboard.

As excited as I was to see this thin product with over 100000 applications ready to go by the time it hits the market in 60 days, I wondered whether it was a product for me.

The iPad looks like a very large iPhone. It is a 1.25 cm thick, weighs 675 gms, and has a 24.65 cm LCD screen (with 1024 by 768 resolution). It will use a custom-made 1GHz CPU and flash storage and, Jobs claimed, will get up to 10 hours of battery life.

For connectivity, in addition to the optional 3G, it has 802.11n, WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1; it can sync to a Mac via USB. To feed those 3G connections, Jobs announced two new cellular data plans from AT&T in the US: $14.99 a month for 250MB of data, $29.99 a month for unlimited data; both are prepaid, neither requires a contract.

I am a multi-tasker - I am working on my computer, browsing, using email, handling my calendar, writing books, working on enhancing photographs, editing my photograph collection, blogging, updating all my address books, wishing my many friends on their birthdays, posting updates in Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo and other social networking sites, and / or listening to music or Talk Radio.

Yes, I really do multitask. So far, only a full fledged computer, like the Mac Mini, has that flexibility at a low price.

What I was looking for may not exist on the new iPad, or so it seemed as was explained. It does not seem to have the power and workability that I need.

Although I am an early adopter of Apple Products, it is only when I am convinced it will meet my requirements.

I see Apple moving closer to my vision of the multi-tasking keyboard, which idea I shared with Steve Jobs way back in 2002. But Apple has not yet fully grasped my concept. They are working towards my visions in very tiny incremental steps.

Will I buy the iPad?

Probably not, even though the price seems very attractive.

I think I will wait for Model 2 or even Model 3 of the iPad before I think of indulging. I think many Apple early adopters will probably follow my lead.

Well done Steve. Your team has created a good product, but not one YET good enough for me!

Interesting question - one which I had not addressed!

Today I met an avid reader of my blogs. Although an acquaintance of a long time, I have never had a chance to have an in depth word with him.

So he hit me right between the eyes when he asked me a direct question, which I have never addressed on my web pages or my blogs ever.

He asked me that in most cases I write on the blogs using the "Royal " WE. What he wanted to know was how much do Annikki and I have in common to write as WE?

Annikki is an introvert while I am an extrovert.

Me by Armeane Choksi.

Annikki is highly religious and focused on her faith. I am a secularist where all religions have the same meaning to me so long as it personal and not organised.

Of course we have differing views on most subjects. Our children will probably testify about the shouting matches we used to have when they were kids.

But, after discussion and debate, on everything we write about, we agree absolutely. Life in India, life in Finland, clothes (she chooses mine), hair styles (she designs mine), kids, grandkids, parents, grandparents, family, bureaucracy, police, lawyers, judiciary, and almost every subject about which we have very strong opinions - we tend to agree - but not without debate.

There are a couple of areas where we tend to disagree about life styles. One is the use of medical drugs and supplements . I tend to use none, except when ordered by a doctor for a specific condition. Annikki is a health fiend in that she reads everything there is to know, does not accept the advice of a doctor as she has read something different, and usually suffers much longer than me to get rid of a problem. The minute I feel any ailment approaching, I gargle with boiling hot water with sea salt added, and cool off the system with a teaspoon of honey. Lately I have moved to having cinnamon and honey. In the old days my mom kept me fit as a fiddle with ginger juice, lemon juice and some ground pure gold.

My migraine was cured by an old woman in the wilderness of India after all the doctors in the town had failed. My sinusitis was cured by a homeopath when nothing else worked.

So our differences are quite superficial, but our agreements run deep.

Over our 43 years of married life, we have had very few intense disagreements and usually they are settled before we get to bed.

Annikki is my friend. I look up to her as such a talented person you cannot find on the face of this earth. That talent is not for money, but for love. Whether it is her paintings, her cake designs, her garden designs, her house interiors, everything is to a perfection.

To see my views about her, I suggest you read my tribute I wrote about her on her 60th birthday! that was 6 years ago.

And I have not changed my mind one iota since that time!

Thank you for asking that question as, on the 28th of January we will celebrate our 43rd Wedding Anniversary and celebrate 19 years since the launch of Findians Briefings - our first publication together, of which this blog is one of the outcomes!

Work load keeps increasing

Many thanks to so many of you for the kind advice on how to handle my increasing workload.

But, it is not that simple when one is a writer and unofficial legal advisor.

I presently have four books under preparation, and each requires that I suffer no writer's block.

The first book is the Coffee Table Book of Cake Designs, called "Edible Art" by Annikki.



The fact that we very successfully did the Coffee Table Book for our Mumbai Cathedral School 59ers 50th Year Reunion, (ruined by the ICICI Bank with no remorse, of course) has only driven Annikki to complain that I have not given enough thought and put in enough effort to complete her book. That is true, as all of the work is on my table, Annikki having done her part in producing those fantastic cake designs over the last 25 years.



The second book, a real life story called "Last Will and Testament" will be on hold so long as some of my older relatives in India are still alive. I have completed this book. Recent developments only helped confirm my suspicions. Now I have the required proof of the misdeeds of the people concerned. But this book is on hold, although I continue to work on it at regular intervals.

Oulu "Lawyer" Kari Kantakoski outside the house
he has illegally appropriated for himself!

The third book called "Inheritance Nightmare" is another thriller real life story of the degree of corruption prevalent in Finnish Society. Although the original manuscript was ready many weeks ago, new facts keep coming to light which makes it mandatory for me to update the chapters till I am sure that I will not have to change it again for a couple of years. It shows the handiwork of a Finnish Master Conman working through the corrupt Finnish System!



The fourth book, which handles the ineffciency and incompetence of Banks in India, primarily with Annikki and my recent experience with the ICICI Bank, was originally just going to be a letter or web page.

But the grossness of their actions and their inability to take responsibility, plus a whole lot of new evidence which came to me through the internet and also by contact with persons who have had the horror of dealing with this bank, made us change it from the internet / letter idea, to a full fledged book.

Let there be no mistake about this - if you deal with the ICICI Bank, you do so at your own risk Ask my friend "Mr. N." who was promised a Housing Loan Application to be cleared in 48 hours. It took over 3 months!

Or take the experience of someone who, because of tragic circumstances, defaulted on a loan given by ICICI Bank. The bank, in a manner chosen especially to embarrass the loan taker in front of his community, sent the collection goondas at the midnight hour, to stir up a dramatic scene and cause the embarrassed individual to lose face.

I am assured that ICICI bank is the only Indian bank that follows such a horrible degrading practice.

But all this pales into comparison with what Annikki and i experienced between October 27th 2009 and January 2010. If any person was to view the data which is now contained in the book, whose title is yet to be chosen, I think they must be real fools to keep their money in this bank.

But more fool them then us, as we have already withdrawn all our funds from the ICICI Bank!

So this book, is now raring to go, once I find an appropriate title. Any suggestions?

In addition I have one application for justice to file with the European Court, another application to be filed with the Finnish Chancellor, another application to be filed with the European Ombudsman, and several small but major litigations to handle in Finnish Courts at different levels.

Most Finnish Lawyers are untrustworthy. Their only intention is to line their own pockets. These litigations and applications, therefore, have to be done personally by me! Annikki steps in whenever a Finnish Translation is required.

So this workload can never decrease, as each day sees many more steps of work coming along the way.

Oh, to be retired!

The feeling of home

You have to wander around our home (except my office room) and you will understand how much of an artist, my dear wife, Annikki is.

Everything has a correct place. The detail is exquisite. It is so fine that one wonders how her brain works.

Yesterday, as I sat in the living room, not really watching anything on the TV, I glanced around the room. It was so beautiful.

I decided to record it on my digital camera. With the flash off, I could not capture the detail I wanted to. So I am giving below a series of shots taken with the flash (hence the light reflections) as I looked around just one room in our home.

It is like sitting in heaven!















Three diverse items of her personal art creations, the chalk sketch of the trees on an island with its reflection in the lake, the crayon drawing of the grazing zebras and the hand-stitched creation of the zebras bottoms which she made for my mother. The last item took over seven months to finish and it adorned my mother's living room till she died.

But there are many more handiworks from Annikki's collection on display here, too incricate for a non-artistic brain of mine to describe. Of course, our collection of art glass, crystal and really beautiful modern glass creations are also found at different locations, each complimenting the other.

Usually friends who walk into our house are stunned by the sheer grandeur, but they do not know that almost 95% of the stuff is from the Flea Markets around Oulu!

And this is just our living room.

I shall take you round other rooms in a day or two - except that Annikki must not catch me taking the photographs, as she would never allow me to put them up on the internet if even one detail is not exactly as she wants it!

What does it feel like to be ahead of your time?

Almost 6 years ago when my dear friend from Bangalore, Anil Ananathkrishnan, the brilliant electric vehicles designer, sent me the present of an "electric scooter", it was the first one to ht the shores of Europe.

When I drove it around, I sort of visualised how the picture would pan out in the years ahead.

Europe's first Electric Scooter - FinnScoot.
A present to me from Anil.


The dashboard of the scooter.


The soundless direct drive which gives
100% power transmission.


A rare shot of me driving my electric scooter
near our home.

One of my predictions, at that time, was that supermarkets would have parking places where one would be able to recharge the electric batteries.

Yesterday evening, I drove into the Stockmann Department store parking garage under the store. As I drove around look for a parking slot, I saw a strange blue light in a couple of parking slots. As one of these slots was empty, I parked my jalopy and went to examine what was the blue light atop a green pillar.


An electric charging point.


Close up of the charging point

It is the first charging slot for electric vehicles. One can just plug in the vehicle when one is shopping.

My vision is now a reality!

As yet, this charging is not going to attract any fee, and it is included in the parking fee.

But do not expect that to last for long. As soon as the "financial managers" start to look at what it can do for the bottom line, we are going to see the charges introduced.

From 2004, Anil's Electric Scooters have come a long way. I had the good fortune to see his latest models, including the EV 60 Elektric, while I was in Bangalore in October 2009. It was just fabulous. Very comfortable compared to the earlier models. It is a 1878 Watts, 60 Volts Electric Scooter - Two Seater. It is wonderful to see how far they have progressed.

The models still to be released looked very exciting.

Considering that I gave Anil, and his lovely wife, Lalitha, the name of their company "Eko Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.", I am really happy to see the company doing so well.

My only hope is that Anil hands over marketing and sales to some enterprising dynamic company, while he puts his efforts into research and development, as India is fortunate to have such a wonderful brain at its disposal.

If you are interested in getting a scooter with a special JM discount, let me know and I will see you get a scooter directly from the factory.

Trust me, it is a super vehicle and Anil's deals are really great. It is a BEST BUY anywhere in the world!

But as the saying goes "A great man is recognised last in his own home."

Dilemma! What do I do?

I was in this dilemma when I stated blogging in December 2004. I had one blog for all my different audiences. At that time I also had web pages devoted to different sectors of readers.

There was a clamour amongst my readers of the blog that I was out of tune with them as they were reading many items that they were not interested in as they pertained to my alma maters or something specific to Oulu, etc.

It was then I started breaking up my blogs - besides my primary Blog (Jacob's Blog), I started one on Politics, another related to my association with Cathedral School (Mumbai), another about St. Stephen's College (Delhi), another about finding goods and services in Oulu, etc.

Everybody was happy!

All went well till my recent trip to India, where I stopped all my auxiliary blogs and kept only my main blog going, with just a few very specific entries to my other blogs.

My readership shot up as it appeared that many were interested in all aspects of my trip around India - which I had termed as "Incredible India".

The readership more than doubled at one point. People were referring others to my blog and it just snow-balled into a massive readerfest. Old and young, relatives and friends, school and college mates, Findians, O-Indians, my professional colleagues, past and present, were all tuned in. And many strangers from around the world were liking my style!

Wherever I went I found I needed no introduction as people had been following my blog. As I recorded, at one stage it became highly embarrassing, as people would come up to me and ask whether I knew them!

On returning to Finland, I went back to my old system.

Now I am having a spate of complaints. Many say that I should only blog at one point.

That would be great for me but not fair on my diverse audience. For instance the Cathedral School Alumni Association have especially complimented me on my sustained effort to keep the school spirit at its height by my blogging.

That is definitely not possible as my Seventh Heaven and Kooler Talk Blogs have very specific readerships. And not everyone likes my Politics. To burden all my regular readers with MY political views would be unfair. And my Oulu Best (Worst) Buy Blog is very specific to my Oulu Readers. Who in India or USA wants to read about the price of eggs in Oulu?

Is there any single solution, which is outside my very limited knowledge, which will help keep all my readers happy?

One way is that you could become a "Follower" of a specific blog. Whenever the one you are interested is updated, you will get a message from Google. No infringement of your privacy. You can always stop the "Follower" program whenever you want.

That way, it would stop my having to post important blog entries on my multiple blogs. (Possibly - as I have not yet looked into the ramifications of this alternative.)

If you have any suggestions, please email me or leave me a COMMENT. (Although my blogs are not exactly "Comment" blogs, I do read all the comments and reply them appropriately - also knocking off the spam that does come in.

This entry is being posted on all my major blogs, as it concerns all my readers in all categories.

Obama gets kicked in his teeth

This piece was carried on my Jacob's Politics Blog.

Yesterday was the crucial Massachusetts election to elect the replacement Senator for the late Edward Kennedy.

It is true that the Republicans ran a good campaign while the Democrats ran one of the worst campaigns ever run by a Senate candidate.

But the difference of almost 5% (52% Republicans - 47% Democrats) in a "safe" Democrat seat was not a result of this.

The result reflected a total rejection of how President Barrack Obama is keeping his campaign promises when he promised "CHANGE".

What has changed in troop deployments? The US forces are still stuck in Iraq. A new front has been opened by sending additional troops to Afghanistan. The "Stop Loss" programme in the US army has not been reformed. Another new front has opened in Yemen. Extra-judicial killings using drones and hit squads has continued. Guantanamo has not been closed. America has experienced another suicide bomber aboard a US plane! The area of attacks has widened.

This is not what the American people voted for when the elected Barrack Obama. He kept claiming he voted against the Iraq War - now we see that was a big lie!

In addition the attacks on the USA has increased BECAUSE of the "collateral damage" inflicted by US forces on innocent lives in different parts of the world.

The bank bail out has benefited Wall Street, and not Main Street.

Barrack Obama is weak on how he tries to negotiate with the Republicans.

With 60 votes in the Senate all his efforts are mired.

Did pResident Bush ever have 60 votes when he hammered the American people with his agenda?

It shows the weakness of the Democrat Party and also President Obama.

The Democrats may cry all they want - but as long as they have such weak leaders in both the House and the Senate, things are goíng nowhere. America will be back in Bush country before long and the Republicans will be talking about the "nuclear option" when the do not even have 50 votes in the Senate!

To give a Democrat Senator a personal sweetener to get him to vote for a Democrat sponsored bill on Health Care reform, really took the cake!

Say bye-bye Democrats - you had your chance and it seems you BLEW IT!

Health advice from a layman

Yesterday, I had an email which was forwarded to me by a good friend in Mysore. It contained details of the benefits of consuming cinnamon with honey.

I am not a doctor and have absolutely no knowledge of health matters. I live a simple life and eat mainly what my wife puts on the table. I did not take any medicines for many many years, and although I have been a borderline diabetic, it really never crossed over till my recent visit to India, where the partying almost every day, the rich food, plenty of Indian sweets, pushed me right over the top.

When I visited the diagnostic clinic in Chennai, the doctor was worried and put me on a crash 2 month 1500 calorie diet advice with a string of medicines and health supplements.

My partying continued for another week in Mumbai (as we had a class 50th year reunion) and then I went on to the advice given by the doctor.

A month later, before I left Delhi, I went to check the values that were problematic at another diagnostic clinic. My problem values had halved, bringing most of them in line with normalcy.

I have continued the medicines for another month and will get myself tested in Oulu shortly.

When I received this email from my friend, it seemed very interesting, as it sort of handled all my problems.

I discussed this with Annikki, who reads all the possible health news sheets that she can lay her hands on. She pointed me to a book by an Indian author she had picked up almost 16 years ago called "Herbs That Heal". (The author does not sing great praises about all discoveries being ofIndian origin and gives the history of the medicinal uses of most herbs as it is knwn from literature.)

H. K. Bakhru was an employee in the Indian Railways till his retirement in 1984. But he has a countrywide reputation as an naturopath and has written much on the subject.

The book contained quite a bit about cinnamon which sort of agreed with the contents of the email.

I went to the supermarket, yesterday, and got myself a large bottle of cinnamon powder. I had a couple of cups of cinnamon / honey tea yesterday. This morning I replaced the jam on my toast with a spread of cinnamon and honey.

I like the taste and smell of cinnamon. Before coming back from India, i bought large tube of toothpaste, which is cinnamon flavoured. (I also bought one which is neem flavoured as I also like neem.)

I enjoyed the tea and the breakfast. Now that I am off my medicine routine, i hope that this combination with my wife's control of my diet, will keep my in trim.

I reproduce below the contents of the email I received.

CINNAMON AND HONEY

FYI....Here's some new uses for cinnamon and honey.


NEVER GIVE HONEY TO A BABY UNDER THE AGE OF ONE YEAR.


Cinnamon and Honey

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot. It will do what some call turning to sugar. In reality honey is always honey. However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will do what I rather call "crystallizing". When this happens I loosen the lid, boil some water, and sit the honey container in the hot water, turn off the heat and let it liquefy. It is then as good as it ever was. Never boil honey or put it in a microwave. To do so will kill the enzymes in the honey.

Cinnamon and Honey

Bet the drug companies won't like this one getting around..

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a 'Ram Ban' (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases.

Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, in its issue dated 17 January,1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASES:

Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada , various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

ARTHRITIS:

Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONS:

Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CHOLESTEROL:

Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS:

Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACH:

Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GAS:

According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM:

Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION:

Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals..

INFLUENZA:

A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ' Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY:

Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and boil to make like tea.. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increase and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

PIMPLES:

Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS:

Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

WEIGHT LOSS:

Daily in the morning, one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER:

Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day.

FATIGUE:

Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

BAD BREATH:

People of South America , first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSS:

Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it!

Maybe I do not believe everything contained in the above email, but as it checked out with what my wife was saying, I thought it a better alternative to consuming a pile of drugs. My wife did warn me that she had read somewhere that there are a coupe of side effects of using natural cinnamon, which has some additional ingredient which is not all that beneficial.

So I will let you know the result of my trials in a few weeks.

Thank you Naval for this email, as it certainly came when I needed to take some positive action in my health life!

Something out of place?

A walk around the Vesaisentie garden last summer after it has been reinvented by Annikki will reveal this scene. It is truly beautiful and the devil is in the fine detail that Annikki has put into it.

I am sorry that it is being posted out of season.

This entry was actually made in summer, but for some reason, never got published.

The "Green Door" of Kampitie has become the "Silver Door" of Vesaisentie. It is an amazing piece as we look at it out of the kitchen window.

However, publishing it in the heart of winter, gives us something to look forward to!

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to a great Spring to be followed by a wonderful Summer.

Unparalled beauty alongside tragedy

As I stepped out at midday today, to go an pick up Mika from his water immersion physiotherapy, I drove out of the gate, and was struck by the scenery in front of me.

I stopped the car, got out and clicked this photograph.

Scenery from gate of Vesaisentie, Oulu, Finland.

When one is surrounded by such beauty on a normal day, at one's door step, it is difficult to see much further than the tip of one's nose.

But inside the house, on TV, scenes of tragedy from Haiti were just unfolding.

One was forced to think how unfair life can be.

As I witnessed the scenes from Haiti, Pot-au-Prince was a city of 50,000 which now housed 10 million, I thought back to my visit to Bangalore, a city of 120,000 which now houses 8 million. The civic society there has collapsed. Building activity, authorised and unaithorised, matches the economic growth by many fold as people crowd into this city. The pumping of ground water, legally and illegally, goes on. The level of corruption is increasing every hour, as only money talks!

Those who have read Annikki's book "...for the hour of his judgement is come:..." (The Holy Bible, Revelations, 14:7) will know that Bangalore is in an earthquake prone. We lived through one in 1984. More than 5 on the Richter scale.

Such building and construction activity which goes on presently in Bangalore does so with a blind eye being turned to quality and safety. Even if the contractors want to do an honest job, the sheer chaos that prevails in the city means that they cannot!

What has hit Port-au-Prince could well hit Banaglore.

I sincerely hope not. But it is something all who live and work there must take seriously, and SOON! It is your life which is bering put at risk.

Integration Council members

I read today in the Indian Telegraph about the new "Minority boost to integration council".

Here are the names of people that may be on that council:

The Telegraph has learnt that the proposed names include those of Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Omar Abdullah, Salman Khurshid, Syed Shahabuddin, Asaduddin Owaisi, Shahid Lateef, Shabnam Hashmi, John Dayal, Ramdas M. Pai (president and chancellor, Manipal University), Valsan Thampu (St Stephen’s College principal), Roman Catholic Archbishop Vincent M.C. Concessao, Ratan Tata, Rahul Bajaj, N.R. Narayana Murthy and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.

Recognise some names in that list?

Shahid Lateef is the wife of 62er Stephanian Sarwar Lateef. John Dayal is a Stephanian, as also present Principal of the College, Rev. Valsan Thampu. Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Rahul Bajaj, is both a 58er Stephanian and also a 54er Cathedralite. Ratan Tata was a Cathedralite for a part of his education. I have not had the good fortune to meet him personally, although his younger brother, Jimmy, was a close friend and my hockey mate.

During my recent visit to Delhi I did meet John, Valsan and Rahul.

John broke protocol and came to see me the day I was leaving. He had just got back from Orissa and he came over that morning just to spend a few minutes over breakfast. And I did say a short prayer, holding hands with him, for his devoted work for the people of India. Maybe this is where I show him the meaning for that prayer.

I met Thambu at the St. Stephen's Founder's Day celebration on Monday 7th December, where I took part in the Holy Communion Service in the College Chapel, and then at the proceedings in the College Assembly Hall where former Indian President Abdul Kalam was the Chief Guest.

Sadly I do not see Valsan as a man with much vision at this moment of time. Hopefully God will lead him in the right direction if he gives up his ways of playing politics for power!

And Rahul paid me the greatest tribute by staying on a extra day in Delhi to be present at an event organised by Delhi Cathedrtalite to meet with Annikki and me. Having led an industry to the zenith, he now has a wondeful opportunity to show his fellow men that he has the vision to lead minorities to the centre of Indian society as equals.

Sadly, I did not learn till later that Sarwar and Shahid were in Delhi, as otherwise I would certainly have met up with this very dear couple. Shahid has always been at the forefront of the women's movement as well as a powerful spokesperson for uplifting of Muslim women.

I do hope this Council will stop beating about the bush and get a move on, not on the antiquated model of reservation of seats for the minorities in schools, colleges and jobs, but by uplifting the hearts and minds of these people labelled as minorities, into them thinking that they can compete on equal terms with the best of the world. They are not second class citizens of the world, so let us stop treating them as such.

You treat people as weak and they will be weak. You treat them as human beings and they can outstrip the very best.

Look at the fantastic performance of the black community in sports in the USA and UK (and also Kenya, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Canada, France, etc., etc.). They do not need to be treated as weak and powerless minorities. Given the right role models, they will bring in performances that are better than the best of their more fortunate brothers and sisters.

That itself is the tonic for success, not reservations, which is the sure tonic for failure!

I remember the words of my friend, former Ambassador Niranjan Desai, while we were having lunch together at the International Centre just a few weeks ago. He said that by treating the minorities as we do presently, we will not achieve any improvement in their standards.

I fully agree with his reasoning. This Integration Council should start looking at other ways to uplift the ethnic minorities in India than stupid and unrealistic reservation policies!

Recognise inherent cultural and ethnic talents. Build on successes. Do not force people into streams where they are doomed to fail.

In short, I hope this council will bring forward a new vision to the way we handle the integration of minorities into mainstream society!

Irrational unhappiness?

During our recent vist to India, many things were very pleasing, but an equal number were displeasing.

One possibly irrational view was that I could never lay hands on a Telephone Directory in any Indian city!

Everyone told me I should ring "Just Dial" which has many access numbers, all particular for the city you are in.

I did just that. After the first call, when I dialed in the second time, I was addressed by my name, even before I said "Hello".

Just Dial was quite efficient in tracking information and sending it to me, either as a text message or to my internet email address. However, the appropriateness of such a response was far from satisfactory.

I asked for a colour photocopy service near to Tardeo In Mumbai. I was referred to one near Thane which also "serviced" the Tardeo region.

Aditionally, many of the requests got blank replies - no trace. Further, Just Dial is an Yellow Page Service and not able to locate private phone ummbers.

For that I was directed to 118, (I think).

This phone number was unable to locate even one of my enquiries, and being a Government service, the replies were rude and lethargic, and more than once, I was simply just cut off.

I still think the traditional Telephone Directory is something that cannot be replaced. I may want several pieces of interlinked information, as each subsequent request may be triggered by what I read in an entry. Just Dial would never be able to give me such a response except by multiple calls.

It is never a cut and dried piece of information that I would be looking for.

In short, dialing Just Dial, is a waste of my time and theirs, however nice, courteous and polite the operators may be. (And they were!)

Why am I irrational?

It is unnecessary to waste so much paper in printing Diectories as maybe 90% of every Directory is not required by any user.

However, even in the home of technology, Oulu, I get about 3 different Directories every year, and they are all used for a variety of purposes.

Every Directory has a Cty Map with index. I am able to locate places just before leaving from my home or office and not have to use my GPS system all the time.
Every Directory contains the Post Codes of locations. I am able to get information when writing a letter.
Every Directory has Emergency Numbers as well as numbers for priority services. This is vital when one needs to tackle the bureucracy.
Every Directory contains the names of all the lawyers and advocates, and similar services. The choice of a particular lawyer or service can be made based on one's personal preferences.

Maybe an interactive Reader on every phone with direct access to online directories would make sense. But these easily accessible directories must be complete and definitely better than the present day online Directories on the internet, which are slow and incomplete in many ways.

They do not work as per the demands of the customer. They work as envisaged by a few software designers!

There are many tens of reasons why I would like to carry a Directory, both in my briefcase as well as my car, and have one on my telephone table at home and at work.
Although I have been using the internet for over two decades and am familiar with all the services, and although I come from where the mobile phone revolution was born and do have access to many service numbers, as Just Dial, I still say, in my own irrational way: Do not discard the traditional Telephone Directory, Hard Copy.

Useless Terrorist profiling

This post should be under my JM Politics Blog, but I thought it important enough to get multiple exposure, so it is also posted on my main "Jacob's Blog".

I just read an excellent article in Think Progress, January 6, 2010, by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani, and Alex Seitz-Wald: "TERRORISM: The Wrong Kind Of Profiling" (reproduced below, Copyright acknowledged) which highlighted how the right wing conservatives in the US and other countries are talking about ethnic and racial profiling, as they consider all Muslims as terrorists before they board an aircraft, etc.

TERRORISM
The Wrong Kind Of Profiling

Following the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack by 23-year old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a public debate has erupted over the proper way to prevent terrorists and other criminals from endangering airline passengers in the future. While many politicians, pundits, and public policy leaders have engaged in responsible and rational discussions about the intelligence failures that allowed Abdulmutallab to bring bomb materials on an aircraft, a whole host of conservatives have endorsed racial and ethnic profiling that would seek out terror suspects simply on the basis of the color of their skin or religious identity. While many right wingers seem to be comfortable with succumbing to racist and nativist hysteria, the truth is that racial and ethnic profiling is tremendously ineffective. A more rational approach to profiling based on behavior -- rather than race or identity -- would help keep Americans safe while maintaining our civil rights and constitutional freedoms.

THE RIGHT'S EXTREMIST REACTION: It wasn't long after Abdulmutallab's failed attack that conservative pundits and politicians began to call for racial and ethnic profiling of people from Muslim backgrounds. Right-wing radio host Mike Gallagher argued for separate lines at airports to "scrutinize anybody with the name Abdul or Ahmed or Mohammed," which are some of the most common names in the world. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said, "One hundred percent of the Islamic terrorists are Muslim, and that is our main enemy today. So why should we not be profiling people because of their religion?" Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote a column on Human Events titled "On Terrorism it's Time to Know, to Profile, and to Discriminate," in which he claimed that "cultural sensitivities" are preventing security officials from stopping terrorism; the next day, Gingrich clarified his comments by saying he thinks that profiling should be based "on behavior, not ethnic ... [or] racial profiling." Perhaps the most brazen call for ethnic profiling came from retired Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney, who declared, "If you are an 18 to 28-year old Muslim man then you should be strip searched. And if we don't do that, there's a very high probability that we're going to lose an airliner."

WHY RACIAL PROFILING DOESN'T WORK: The fact is that racial and ethnic profiling doesn't work. It creates a false sense of security and causes law enforcement resources to be wasted in chasing the wrong targets. As the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights' reports, racial profiling "diverts precious law enforcement resources away from investigations of individuals...who have been linked to terrorist activity by specific and credible evidence...[and] ignores the possibility that someone who does not fit the profile may be engaged in terrorism." Indeed, On Dec. 28, two Middle Eastern men were pulled off a flight heading to Phoenix because passengers reported they were engaging in suspicious behavior; it ended up that the men were simply speaking a Middle Eastern language. The same day, a Nigerian businessman was taken off an airplane because passengers became suspicious that he was lingering in the bathroom for too long. The FBI confirmed that the individual's behavior was due to a legitimate illness. It's important to note that terrorists come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and do not simply belong to one religion, ethnicity, or nationality. The "shoe bomber," Richard Reid, was Jamaican and British. Al Qaeda recruit Adam Pearlman was an American. Germaine Lindsay, one of London's 7/7 bombers, was Afro-Caribbean. Scott Roeder, who killed abortion-performing doctor George Tiller last year, was a white evangelical Christian. Racial profiling would, as Salam Al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council notes, extend our police dragnet over "potentially hundreds of thousands of [innocent] people every year" and drain precious resources away from other, more important security measures. And as a recent study by the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science concludes, racial profiling has been no more effective than random screening in rooting out terrorists.

A BETTER WAY: While racial and ethnic profiling is a failed strategy that goes against our basic values, there are smarter profiling methods that police and other security officials can use to prevent acts of terrorism. A memo titled "Assessing Behaviors" circulated by law enforcement officials in October 2002 outlined such a strategy. One of the writers of the memo pointed out, "Fundamentally, believing that you can achieve safety by looking at characteristics instead of behaviors is silly. If your goal is preventing attacks...you want your eyes and ears looking for pre-attack behaviors, not characteristics." Former Bush counterterrorism officials have also objected to racial profiling and point out that looking for suspicious behavior is much more important. Former Bush CIA director Michael Hayden said that seeking out terrorists isn't "a question of ethnicity or religion." Rather, "it's what people do that we should be paying attention to." Former Bush Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued that "relying on preconceptions or stereotypes is actually kind of misleading and arguably dangerous" because terrorists intentionally recruit people "who don't fit the stereotype." Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, suggests "effective profiling...is based on the analysis of the...behavior of a passenger and an inspection of the traveler's itinerary and passport; it does not and should not be based on race, religion, nationality or color of skin." As former Homeland Security press secretary Russ Knocke explained in 2006, security personnel are, and should be, trained "to look for abnormal human behavior. ... That is in no way racial profiling. That is behavioral profiling."

The article shows the stupidity of such an act as ethnic and racial profiling, as valuable resources are squandered.

It is my "contention of 1" that Al Qaida and other terrorist groups are flying out all sorts of schemes just to throw the entire security apparatus into a tizzy. The more failed attempts, the better for them, as the stupid security analysts start chasing shadows rather than real targets.

That pResident Bush went about wire tapping and searching his entire US population (just to stay ahead of his political opponents) shows how this sort of behaviour by a meglomaniac has squandered the valuable resources of an intelligence community.

Obama has fallen into the same trap. In his recent speech he talked about the failure to connect dots. The reason is that with one million or a billion dots to connect, even with super fast computers, this is impossible. It is easy to see this in hindsight!

During my recent trip to India I passed through so many security checks - Helsinki, London, Mumbai, Cochin, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Delhi. Every single airport followed a different procedure. Every single airport failed to focus on the real problem - separating the real and honest traveller from the potential terrorist. Hence, 99.9% of the procedure was just a waste of valuable resources.

If I were a terrorist, one look at these illogical procedures would have given me 200 ways on how to beat the system. That is what Al Qaida and other terrorist organisations are focusing on.

The security analysts want to show us they are doing a great job (to get a greater allocation of financial resources and to show important they are), but all they are doing is following a set of useless procedures.

As one writer put it, soon we will be travelling on airplanes in the NUDE - but then they will need to do an internal body scan, so we will all be cut open before we get on the plane. Great news for surgeons!

Stupid? Well, that is how stupid the present procedures are, and everyone mutters, "Oh, this is to keep US safe!" (No pun intended!)


We are no safer now than we were 25 years ago. In fact, every new procedure the security analysts introduce makes us less safe as it cuts out one more method the terrorists would have considered. They will concentrate on other more effective methods while sending the security analysts barking up the billion wrong trees!.

Last day of Christmas

In Finland, we have had a holiday today, as it is the last official day of Christmas. But I noted that all the guys here from India were busy working from home, as their contacts in India were not on holiday.

The Christmas sales, etc., should technically have stopped yesterday, as today is a bank and commercial holiday. But many shops still have loads of stuff left over from the Christmas season, so you should find plenty of bargains in the shops during the next few days.

As the days get longer and brighter, do not be surprised if it also gets colder, right up till the middle of February, when, if we are lucky, it should get warmer.

The skiing season will then start on a rotation basis, with the students in South Finland, the first to get their winter skiing holidays. The next week it will be the turn of those in central Finland, followed, the folowing week by those in North Finland.

Many head up to the Arctic where skiing conditions should be just perfect, both for long distance as well as down-hill skiing. There is plenty of sunshine and plenty of snow.

The Tar Skiing Compettion in Oulu (Tervahiihto) is very famous. It is held at the end of the second week of March.

I brought together a lot of foreigners in 1999 and we took part in the race. A friend of mine who worked in the same project gave us all elementary lessons on how to ski, but it was mainly how to get up when you fall down with long unwieldy flat sticks attached to your legs!

It is the one ski race I attempted 11 years ago, when I put on skiis for the first time in my life at the age of 56 and completed a 20 km ski course. It started on the frozen Oulu River and ended at the Oulu Sports Dome.

I hobbled in at the end of 20 km and got a certificate to prove I had taken part (and probably proudly come in among the last 10).

However, it proved that even at that age you may be able to start skiing, although, I must say that I probably tore every muscle and ligament in my body attempting this feat!

The following year I supervised the entry by the foreigners, while I stayed well out of harm's way! :-)

Frozen banana

In all my 25 years in the Arctic, I have never forgotten any food in the back of the car, especially in winter.

Well, finally I did it. Two bags, one containing bananas and the other containing some nice seedless green grapes, dropped out of my shopping bag onto the back seat of the car. I left them there overnight.

When I reached office the next morning I saw a brown mass in a plastic bag, and wondered what it was.

When I took it ou,t I found the banana bunch, hard as rock and the colour had turned from a golden yellow to a brown.

I ciút one open with a knife.



After it thawed, I tried to eat it, but there was no taste. As it got up to room temperature, the banana was mushy and uneatable.

Not so with the grapes. They too turned to brown, nearing red, making them closer looking to red grapes. (Is this how red grapes originated?)

I did not try a hard grape, but as they thawed the flavour had not deteriorated and it was just a superficial colour change.

As they say, you live and learn.

Coldest winter in 7 years

I had one tenant arrive at 00:40. I dropped that person off at our apartment, got a couple of hours sleep, as the next one arrived by the 06:15 train from Helsinki.

As I glanced through the Kaleva, our local newspaper, before leaving for the station, the headline was that we are having our coldest prolonged winter in the last 7 years.

The year we came to Finland, 1984, was really cold. In end January and early February we had a long spell of -30 C and lower.

Then for a long period the winters were milder. Or, was it that they appeared milder because of that first hard one?

Now, on our return from India, we have had a really long and cold winter, not just that it seems cold because we have returned from India.

But one must remember that in mid-October, when we were driving down to Helsinki to catch our flight to India, we already went through blizzard like conditions almost all the way through our 600 km journey.

I can certainly say that we have had a really long winter in Finland. And if, what the Kaleva writes is correct, we are certainly having a really cold one!

The temperature last night on the Russian border, just 200 km away, was -36.5 C last night! (We really do live just 200 km away from our mighty neighbours!!!)

We are certainly obsessed with the weather!

Angry at Police incompetence

Although I have a bee in my bonnet, at this moment I am not still riling about the most incompetent bank in the world, the ICICI Bank in India, but the total incompetence of the Finnish Police.

I received information about the killings in Espoo from Facebook friends from far and wide. They were expressing their amazement at the killings in a peaceful country, Finland.

I was unaware of the developments till about noon. Then messages and emails started to pour in asking what was the reason for this tragic situation in a peaceful country.

(My first reaction, not knowing anything about the incident at that stage, was that it was probably the work of an Open Care Psychiatric patient, as in Finland they are closing psychiatric wards and letting these patients out to fend for themselves. A stupid policy with serious repercussions.)

These killings of today were totally unnecessary. The responsibility lies totally with the Finnish Police. They were incompetent, as for generations of a Police State, have been the masters of being behind the rich and powerful - in short corrupt.

I remember how, in 1975, they were trigger happy and killed an innocent fisherman in a boat on a lake in Helsinki, just because there was an international conference (European Security Conference) to be held at the Finlandia House a mile or so away! Consequences after whitewash - NONE!

Here was the case of a man who had been convicted twice of having used firearms violently. The Police, preoccupied with their own agenda, had left him in possession of a lethal weapon.

Recently, before our trip to India, Mika, Annikki and I had visited the Sello Shopping Complex for some last minute shopping. Anneli, Annikki's sister, had been with us and we had had lunch in the Complex. Mika in the meanwhile, while window shopping, had got lost, causing him (and me) to have a terrible fright.

Location Espoo, Finland
Built 2003/2005
Architect Helin & Co Archiects
Floor space 99 000 m²
Customers in 2006 17,3 milj. v. 2006
Sales in 2006 307,0 milj. v. 2006
Parking places 2 900
Number of floors 4
Web page Sello Shopping Complex

The Shopping Complex is so enormous and totally useless (in my opinion).

Both Annikki and I had been to the PRISMA market (where the shootings took place). We needed help to buy some stuff. During the half hour we were there, we could not find a single shop assistant to help us. (To be fair, the situation in the neighbouring CITYMARKET, was equally bad!) we bought nothing!

How this gunman found four shop assistants in a few minutes and killed them will remain a mystery to me!

The gunman, a 43 year old Kosovo Albanian refugee, had broken up with his ex-girl friend who had a job in the PRISMA shop.

My reasoning is that this was a crime of revenge against someone who had been a thorn in his ego. Probably at being dumped, something which is very common in Finnish society, but not obviously a very good experience for a new Finn, a person coming from a male chauvistic alien society. (This type of social mores should be one of the most important aspects to be taught when any refugee settles here, especially when coming from a male dominant society.)

The gunman went there early morning, probably looking for his ex-girl friend, and in the process shot four of her colleagues. Then he calmly walked out, went to his ex-girl friend's home and killed her. He returned to his home and then killed himself.

In all that time, the Police were twiddling their thumbs as they could not piece together the information and save lives. They knew exactly who the person was within minutes of the shooting, and yet they had no one posted at the man's residence soon after the event.

In Finland, the Population Register System is so efficient, that if one moves house, within a week, all agencies are aware of the move!

The Police were obviously relieved that the gunman shot himself, as they would be no nasty investigation about how they let him hold on to his gun when he had been twice convicted of using the firearm unreasonably, first by the Court of Espoo and then by the Court of Helsinki.

Espoo is a neighbouring city to Helsinki with an adjoining border, very much like the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in India.

Sello Shopping Centre is situated in Leppävaara, a suburb of Espoo, where we have a number of furnished apartments for rent, as it is well connected by bus and train to Helsinki and is also a place where several IT companies and Nokia and NSN have major operational centres. Additionally, being on the Ring Road 1, it is well connected by road to all parts around Helsinki.

The first thing I did was ring our local representative in Espoo, Ganesan, to check whether he was OK. He lives and works just a few hundred metres from the Sello Shopping Complex. He assured me that he (and all our tenants) were OK as it was a working day and they would all probably have been at work.

I was worried about some of our tenants wives, who may have ventured into this large shopping complex, as it has everything under one roof. A sort of window shopping paradise for a housewife.

Then I heard that the first four victims were all members of staff of the PRISMA shop, which meant none of our tenants or their wives would be on the tragedy list.

I watched TV after that.

The Police Press Briefing was at 14:30, where they were still reporting that the gunman was on the loose, several hours after the shooting. This told me what I already knew, the incompetence of the Finnish Police force.

Call the Finnish Police for an incident, and if your opponent has "credentials", they will turn a blind eye to the situation and the law. Police Chiefs stand firm behind their corrupt underlings and their powerful friends. In our experience, there is no more corrupt force (in my humble opinion) than the Finnish!

This time they had turned a blind eye to 2 convictions.

No one but the Finnish Police must be held responsible for this tragedy, which never should have been.

Being hacked

No, not my computer, as I use a hack proof Apple Mac!

Just yesterday, I received a message from a very dear friend of mine in a language that I did not understand. I used Google translate and found it was in Portuguese.

The message had as the Subject Fotos. 15/12 and was

Cuidado com essas pessoas falsas.
Salvei essas fotos pra você ver
Olha só o que aconteçeu...

anexo.

219,5Kb Baixar

This translates as

Beware of these fake people.
I saved these pictures for you to see
Look what happened ...

Annex.

Download 219.5 Kb

.

If one clicked on the attachment, the hacker could get into a computer running Windows. On a Mac, as this is an .exe file, I got a warning about it and was able to stop the download. Although, even if I had saved it, the .exe file would not have been able to run on my Mac.

I immediately emailed my friend asking for an explanation.

He replied that the email had not been sent by him.

Exactly as he was sending me that message, I got another email from him with a repeat of the earlier message, which meant the hacker or his software was at that precise moment operating inside his account.

Also, the hacker managed to send 3 messages to our Seventh Heaven Google Group.

The minute I marked those messages as spam, my friend's email ID would have been banned from the Google Group.

I got his alternate email ID, subscribed him and then marked the messages as spam. Within seconds Google had banned the old email ID.

In the Google Gmail, at the bottom of the page you can see a note

Last account activity: 8 hours ago on this computer. Details

When you click on the word "Details" it gives the last 5 log ins along with the IP address from where you have logged in. If it is not from your computer, you know you have a hacker and from where.

I do not know whether other email providers have this facility.

As I use a Mac and have used one for the last 25 years, I do not even have to have virus protection software installed on my computer. It has saved me much hassle, time and money!!!

Now my friend has to change all his sensitive information as the hacker had access to all his emails, passwords, and probably credit card numbers, expiry dates, etc.

Fascination with weather

Annikki is passionate about the weather, whether it be the snow fall in Houston or the burning heat wave in the Antarctic causing the glaciers to melt!

I often wondered why, we, in Finland, and also in many parts of Europe, have this fascination with weather as we watch every possible weather bulletin, or even tune into it on the radio while driving.

As I was looking out of my kitchen window this morning I saw two snow ploughs working in tandem to clear the snow from a smallish side street. This is round the clock work in Finland as not a day of work is lost because of heavy snowfall, even if the temperature is down to -40 C.

It dawned on me that I will not venture out in winter without pausing to look at the thermometer outside my bedroom window. it is a sort of natural reflex action.

Based on what I see, i will pick up the correct outdoor gear, the shoes, the sweater, the overcoat, the gloves, the scarf.

It would be foolhardy to step out without the correct trappings.

Hence the fascination with weather reports is a sort of safety self preservation method if we are to survive in the freezing temperatures.

And does our fascination with the weather of other people sort of make us feel better or worse, happy or jealous, sad or joyful.

We certainly do not feel overjoyed at seeing the disastrous consequence of bad weather in different parts of the world, but we do feel confident and safe that the roads are being maintained properly here in Finland. It is a sort of comparison that we are automatically making. When we see something that is better than our system, off will go the letters to the authorities to take steps to improve our system.

In winter the speed limit on all our roads drops by 20 kmph automatically. it is a fool who does not follow this guideline as, not only is her or she risking his or her life, but the lives of several others.

Even at low speeds there can be havoc.

Just yesterday, I took a turning right in the centre of town. The car in front of me stopped in the middle of the road to make a left turn. I sort of automatically braked, as I have not yet got used to driving on the icy roads again. The car started to slither. There was no room on the right of the car, so I had no option but to let it slide to the left of the stepped car, right into the on-coming traffic. Luckily, the car stopped sliding as I shifted gear quickly, and the on-coming car, realising my predicament went to his extreme right, avoiding me.

The mistake was that of the driver of the car in front of me, as he should have moved to the centre of the road to make his left turn, leaving enough room for me to go through on his right.

But in an accident situation who is going to look at the right and wrong.

It was wrong of me to be so close to the car ahead. It was wrong of me to swing into the on-coming traffic. What I should have done is rammed the guy in the back. But any accident where you hit someone from the back will be counted as your fault!

I thank my lucky stars that I got out of that situation unharmed.

If I had watched the weather news in the morning before I left home, I would have seen the warning sign that driving conditions in our area were dangerous. My fault!

Drones again and more American stupidity

A few weeks ago, while we were in Ahmedabad I blogged a report about Drones

Guess what. The "terrorists" have acquired software called "Sky Grabber" which enables them to watch exactly what the Americans are doing with their drones.

This is a huge embarrassment to the American military.

It is only two steps from there to be able to grab control of the drones and use them the way they like.

The Americans's are furiously working to now encrypt the data being transmitted, but anyone who has the skill can break the encrypting.

The foolishness of the American's continues to astound me.

The Soviets fought long and hard in Afghanistan. Did they win?

The Americans and NATO forces are also doing the same there. Do you honestly think they will win? And win what?

First they were fighting Al Qaida. Now they are fighting the Taliban. And they support a corrupt regime in Kabul!

Anyone heard of the support for the Shah of Iran by the Americans.

It is said that only fools commit the same mistake twice!

Americans have been committing the same mistake, again and again. Need I remind you of North and South Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, the cold war against the Soviets, Pakistan, Iraq, etc., etc.

When will that country learn that they are only a banana republic. They have been unable to oust the Cuban leader Fidel Castro for many decades. Do they think they will win over the Afghan warlords even in two or three decades! Unlikely, even if they commit their entire US forces to that country.

They can never win hearts and minds through conflict, and that is all there is today in Afghanistan!.

The most sensible policy available is to move out of Afghanistan, ensure that the opium trade is unable to flourish, control all the neighbouring borders through detente, and the Afghan people will soon come to their senses and control their own destiny.

If people are so worried about Afghan women, then take them over to their country as refugees.

What society can function if there are no women to breed the fighters.

Today, the American action is only helping to breed more and more fighters. Every Afghan killed results in 10 or 100 more "freedom fighters".

As was so eloquently said by the Egyptian leader before the Iraq war, the Americans have created 1000 bin Ladens by their stupidity.

Remember, it was a Nigerian who tried to blow up the plane yesterday in Detroit. Nigeria is a far away place to Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan.

And do you remember what I wrote about the stupid airport security measures just a few days ago?

Will the Americans even pause and think: WHY?

Splitting up blog entries from now

Holiday is now officially over. I am going back to splitting up my blog entries into the old system.

Just to remind you of the Blogs:

Jacob's Blog: This one is my daily routine blog for all general entries.
Seventh Heaven Blog: Specific entries related to Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, India. All generations.
Kooler Talk Web Version Blog: Specific entries related to St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India. All generations.
Jacob's Politics Blog: My views on world and local politics.
Oulu Best (Worst) Buy Blog: Reports of good offers in Oulu and Finland and also reports on good and bad services in Finland, and occasionally, internationally. To be taken seriously.
Move The UN Blog: A movement to move the UN away from New York, USA to a place more conducive to justice.

There are some other blogs on special subjects, but these are the ones that get inputs as regularly as there is something of interest to report.

You are free to comment on all the blog entries, although my blogs are not really Comment Driven Blogs. But honest discussion is always welcome and I will change my mind if I can be persuaded. But I am a bit hard-headed, so don't expect me to just nod and accept anything that may be said.

Thank you for staying with Annikki and me on our journey through India. It was your emails, phone calls, text messages, Facebook comments, that helped keep this going through the last two months.

In short, I love all my readers, even if they hold diametrically opposite opinions to mine.

Christmas morning 2009

Is there any breakfast on par with Masala Dosai?



In Finland, the best breakfast, I can think of, is salted salmon on rieska.

Rieska is a round bread, like a chapati, made from wheat flour, corn flour and potato flour. You can buy it ready made, either as small round or square pieces or as larger ones about the size of a very large chapati.

This morning I was able to enjoy this breakfast as Annikki had prepared the salted salmon a couple of days ago (It takes a few days for the flavouring to permeate into the raw fish) and had kept it in the fridge under a weight.

Besides salt, the salmon was seasoned with freshly ground home grown pepper, which had been given to us by my cousin's wife, Annammakochamma (Mrs. Mammen Varghese) in Kottayam, Kerala, when we visted them a few weeks ago. It was also seasoned with fresh herbs. I used a little vegetable oil based margerine on top of the rieska.

Sitting, in the picture, at the back on the table is the delicious pulla (Finnish sweet bread), given to us yesterday, by Ani.

So has started a great Christmas Day, where I will do precisely nothing after making this blog entry, except have some tea with the pulla and then wait for the Christmas dinner (left overs from yesterday, along with the Christmas pudding we bought in London Airport two weeks ago! No lunch today, as I am still full from our last night's stuffing! :-)

The candles, which Annikki put out in the snow last evening, are still burning brightly.

Season's Greetings to all of you from wonderful Oulu.

Christmas dinner 2009

This year, as Annikki was not well, we did not call anyone over to share in our traditional Christmas dinner.

Annikki was busy in the garden putting up her candles in the snow and decorating the garden, in between her work in the kitchen.

A grand Christmas dinner for the three of us was prepared by Annikki. Actually, at 14:00 hours Annikki did not know it was Christmas Eve. I reminded her gently as the frozen turkey was sitting in our front room (temperature -10 C). She suggested we have it tomorrow, but at my insistence, she thawed it out by immersing it for a couple of hours in warm water.

Dinner consisted of roasted potatoes, carrots, Swede, Brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, sausage and a whole small turkey, all beautifully but very gently spiced with herbs and pepper and salt, and served with a fresh green salad, rossoli (a typical Finnish Christmas salad), gravy and mint jelly. We did not take out the Christmas pudding we had bought at London Airport, as earlier in the evening, Ani and her sister brought a freshly baked pulla (Finnish sweet bread loaf) which smelled, looked and tasted really delicious. Thanks Ani for that, we all really loved it. (Annikki and I have voted this girl is our eldest granddaughter!)

Lots of left overs for the next two days.

Tomorrow morning I will have the salted salmon (prepared by Annikki), which we did not even touch today, with Christmas bread (with molasses added). There was much too much for the three of us.

Spoke with Jaakko and Joy early in the evening. They will have Christmas lunch with Joy's father who will celebrate his 80th birthday tomorrow, Christmas Day.

Will try to speak with Joanna (in Newcastle) and Susanna (in Portugal) and their families later.

As you may have guessed, the garden and the kitchen are not my domains of activity, but I did baste the turkey when Annikki was not looking. :-)

Season's Greetings to all our Findians, Chaff, LinkedIn, Orkut, Plaxo, Twitter, Facebook, Cathedral and John Connon School, St. Stephen's College and Oulu University friends, relatives, professional colleagues and alumni.

A nice warm sauna and bath now and then I hit the sack. Annikki will watch the Christmas service from Rome.

Am I anti-Indian or anti-Finnish?

I had a conversation with a dear friend from Delhi, yesterday morning, after he had read my blog entry, who asked me not to give up hope about India.

He mentioned that, just yesterday, that someone had actually stopped to give him way to turn from the main road into his colony! Also he told me that he had been driving behind a DTU bus which was hogging the centre lane. He overtook it, stopped and asked the driver whether he knew what wrong was being done, to which the driver asked for an apology!

How many people have that much time to spare to correct the mistakes of others on an hour by hour basis. On the highway from Delhi to Jaipur, if one has to follow this principle, one would have to stop every minute as every truck and bus and slow moving vehicle uses the fast lane!

What people see on this blog is only mine or Annikki's personal expressions. It is a personal log - a blog! And we are in unison in almost 99.9% of the cases we talk about.

It is neither anti-Indian, anti-Finnish or anti-anything else.

Anyone who really knows Annikki or me, will know that we are the ONLY ONES in Finland who publicly stand up and criticise the Finnish Police, Judiciary, Bureaucrats, Lawyers, etc. in the OPEN on Free Speech Day as well as in our media of choice, the internet.

Anyone who has read either of our books "Handbook for Survival in Finland" or "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University", know exactly how outspoken we have been about the ills of Finnish society and parts of the system which are broken. And such ills can only be measured against systems that are better! (And what is coming in our next book "Inheritance Nightmare" is probably the biggest shocker from our arsenal!)

Does that mean we are anti-Finnish?

One should be able to express one's opinion on any subject and not get rudely condemned for saying what one believes. If something is wrong in India or Finland, or the USA or England, one should be able to say it.

In the USA, I am probably on the FBI list as an undesirable alien. Anyone who has read my email CORRESPONDENCE WITH AN "EDUCATED" AMERICAN [CHRISTIAN(?) & WHITE] in 2001, well before BEFORE the Iraq Shock and Awe attack, will understand why my correspondent went to the extent of reporting me to the FBI!

Was I anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-White, or did I believe in what I stood for?

How many of you will put your money where your mouths are?

I had a lucrative contract to write the handbook of Extrusion Coating (a special process used in plastics manufacture to make continuous lengths materials of two or more film materials) with the largest English Research Association which is also a noted publisher. That contract was with me well before the Iraq War. When, Britain joined that war, I had already finished my manuscript. Rather than earn the money and pay taxes in the UK, part of which would be used to fund the illegal war, I withdrew from the contract, at a huge personal financial loss!

So when I criticise something, someone, somewhere - it is because I believe in what I stand for.

My criticism of India is because the country had the solutions well before the present crisis, but the politicians and industrialists chose to ignore the warnings.

May I remind you of that wonderful book I had referred to earlier in one of my blog entries, "The Affluence Machine" by Abraham Thomas the former Managing Director of Southern Investments which was published in 1975. It was ignored!

As Annikki noted, the problems in India are exactly where the IT boom has hit.

Is it a coincidence or is it because of the personal greed of those at the helm of the IT industry.

I think the latter! They may be knowledgeable about IT but have not the slightest concept about city planning and development, civic services, and a whole host of technologies required to set up and run a growth area. Hence the chaos!

Will I compare one society with another?

Yes, I will, as if one cannot learn from what is good and works, then one is blind. If as a chemical engineer i can scale from 5 litres to 5 oo litres, then an experienced planner can scale from 5 million to 50 million! And are there not successfully planned cities of 10 and 15 million around the world?

I am not driven by patriotism to any nation as I owe loyalty to only one person, the Lord God above me. If I stand condemned in His eyes, then I am guilty.

As I had mentioned on an earlier blog that someone had written to me that India is a democracy and it has a population of 1 billion people.

May I remind all of you that when I was a child the population of India was BELOW 350 million and we were a democracy. It the problem today better or worse than then?

As I had asked ten and ask again now: What is the reaction going to be when India is a democracy with 1.5 billion people?

As was pointed out by several during my visit to India, including the Home Secretary, Mr. G. K. Pillai at this year's The General K. S. Thimayya Memorial Lecture Series at Bishop Cotton School in Bangalore, the national security problem has three major issues to be considered:

(i) Externally sponsored threats,
(ii) Secessionist and ethnic identity issues,
(iii) Internal armed movements.

Anyone interested in the lecture by an old school colleague can visit this site, INDIA’S INTERNAL SECURITY :
CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES BY SHRI GOPAL K. PILLAI UNION HOME SECRETARY AND SECRETARY (JUSTICE) for the transcript.

Or you may recall my attending the lecture by the famed Norwegian Peace Negotiator and Activist, Professor John Galtung at the Ahmedabad Institute of Management who talked about the Gandhian way to approach the problem of terrorism.

The Naxalite problem is not so far away, and if, as at present, greed and lack of concern for one's fellow man continues to expand in India at the rate that I have witnessed, the effects will be rather sooner than later!

One small incident will show why I am concerned.

I walked to a nearby shop in Ahmedabad. After making the purchase, I was provided with a bill. I did not need the bill, so I crumpled it in my hand on my way back home, but I held on tightly to it, not wanting to litter the streets. Annikki laughed at me, as we were walking literally through muck and paper all around us, and there was I, reluctant to throw that little ball of paper in with the existing mess.

Am I a fool or am I a concerned human being?