Irish abortion laws are about to be reviewed

When it was revealed to the public that the death of Savita Halappanavar, on 28th of October, was because health officials declined to carry abortion, it gave a lot to think about for the Irish society.

Protesters outside Leinster House in Dublin

All started on the 20th of October, when Savita felt back pain so disturbing, that it was decided that she and her husband would go to hospital. At that time she was pregnant and on her 17th week. Next day they went to the hospital, but only the persistence of Halappanavars got them signed in to the hospital. First, after a series of tests, they were told that nothing was wrong, and the same thing happened when they returned just a half an hour later after being released to go home. It was when they were appointed to doctor when it was realised, after further examinations, that the cervix was dilated. Seven days later Savita Halappanavar was dead. She could have been saved if the pregnancy would have been terminated.

Some say that it is legal to have an abortion in Ireland, and this is based on The Case X. Although it is illegal to have an abortion in Ireland, there is a basis for it, if mother's life is in danger. Ireland has been in juridical vacuum since the Supreme Court ruling in 1992. In this case, 14 year old rape victim was allowed to have an abortion since there was a risk of suicide. Supreme Court's reasoning was that if the mother was suicidal, the fetus' rights are contingent of the mother's rights.

Now the Irish abortion law is probably going to be written again, but that won't be an easy task. Telegraph reported yesterday that Maria Steen of Iona Institute stated that "Irish law already allows the ending of a pregnancy when there is no other choice and there is a clear threat to the life of the mother." Clearly this was not the case in the death of Savita Halappanavar. Iona Institute is an Irish think tank of conservative nature, that is to say, it produces material, which is aimed against same-sex marriage, abortion, morning-after-pill, etc. (Pro tip: I don't recommend using their search engine, located on their website, cause it works as slowly as an christian anecdote about freedom of conscience concerning matters of choice. You'll find the information your looking a lot faster by using google and adding your keywords plus Iona Institute). Here's more of Maria Steen in Newstalk.

At the moment it seems that the new law is going to be based on the Case X. With no disrespect to anyone, it is fascinating to be following how this political struggle will end, with regards to Irish distinctive history in matters of abortion. This debate might explode to have a law that also includes abortion by demand, which in itself is abomination to orthodox Catholics. I think that if the law is going to be a compromise, that nobody wants, it's going to allow abortion on medical reasons (for conservatives it's the same thing as on demand; for liberals it's the same thing as still illegal). Even this kind of compromise would still give a lot wider framework for pro-choice people. There is always the possibility that medical reasons could be widened to include suicidal tendency qualified by the standards of the conceived. Which could in fact end that people who want an abortion by demand, just say that they are suicidal.

Draft of the law is bound to be published New Year, according to Enda Kenny, and the legislation should be ready by Easter. This could be one defining moment for Ireland. So I would recommend that people follow this case with a keen eye, cause this is history in making.

Independence day of Melancholia

It is another sad day in human history and it is also the independence day of Finland.

So gather around, you little pear cheeks, while a very disturbed person tells you about the miseries of life, history, death and everything.

One of The Sad Stories of the north is the tale of The Winter War (Talvisota). Finland and Soviet Union had some disputes with the borders and it suddenly escalated to war. Finnish casualties were great. More than 25 000 soldiers were left dead and more than 50 000 wounded, some for life. That's almost fifth of the army's strenght of  350 000.

It was also a sad ending for many young lads of the Soviet Union too. Soviet Union lost more than 100 000 men during that cold winter, and almost 200 000 of the Mother Russia's children were somehow wounded. That's about a third of almost a million soldiers.

So that page of history probably left some bitterness on both sides. War never changes, only the people who speak about it.

Bitter bard takes a little break now. Here's a clip of Studio Julmahuvi's art movie "Roudasta Roospuuttoon" (lenght 4:16), with English subtitles for those who like to talk and otherwise socialize all the time.


Frozen bard comes inside and continues the story, now enlightening the mystery of Finnish melancholia with some world known facts.

They say the wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts. There are two depressing sides on that rusty coin. First of all, being the Lutherian state that Finland is, every quote is full of dark submission to the soon coming death of all life. Did I mention the suicide rates? No, I'll come back to that later. Anyways,  if one at least  takes seriously "the wiser...more it hurts"-statement (from Ecclesiastes), one understands the suffocating pain of knowing too much, cause Finns know it very too well. That's the other depressing side: Finland's literacy per cent is 100 %. That means every dark truth, that can be read and understood, can be done so by the Finns everywhere. Just listen to this love song.

 Him - Join me in death (best Finnish love song ever in circulation)

Maybe Finns are not the heaviest drinkers by European standards, being outshadowed by Czech and Irish. Latter being the low self esteem counterpart of Finns by it's own merits. You still have to remember that Finns drink it all at once and have a bigger suicide rating per capita than the early mentioned two beer states.

Here is Rich Lyons making few comments about it


And here's a quick version from Swedish poet (Anglo sax may refer to him as a comedian) Robert Gustafsson to those with shorter attention span (also with english subtitles).



How do Finns celebrate this day? Well, president throws a party to his closest friends, protegees, mentors and campaign benefactors using taxpayers money, and the rest of the country gathers around a television to watch that party live. It's covered by the national broadcasting company narrated with two languages (Finnish and Swedish). Before that there's a big military parade which still fails to one done in North Korea. Between those two spectacular shows, Finns watch war movies about the The Winter War.

There is some irony in that celebration; The 6th of December is also the St. Nicholas day.

Decembeaver time

Sarah Cooper starts this month with video promoting decembeaver: cancer, beavers and hairs. This should keep you warm during the winter.

Place for a Finnish bar in Dublin?

I was thinking about posting an entry about the Lithuanica in Blanchardstown. But there is also a another need. Lithuanica sells great rye bread of sorts, but what this country needs, at least for the Finnish involved, it's a bar where you're ordinary shot will not be Jägermeister. Don't get me wrong, I have had a few of those, and Jäger is good.

But a bar or a pub, which would sell these particular things:

1. Jallu (cut brandy)

Caramel-colored vodka with some brandy or cognac in it.

2. Lonkero (long drink)

Originally made for the foreign guests (from Finnish point of view) during the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.  It's basically Gin mixed with Grapefruit soda or Bitter Lemon (latter being the one usually sold as the 'house's long drink' [talon lonkero])

3. Salmari

Vodka and Turkish Pepper mixed togerher. Vodka is supposed to be Koskenkorva, a Finnish spirit, which has no comparison anywhere around the world, ever, period. It's just that bad.

4. Fisu

Fisu is the same kind of mixture than Salmari, just change the Turkish Pepper to Fisherman's friend. Note from a bartender: if you know how to make Salmari, you should use less of Fisherman's friend.

5. Laku

Same as previous two, except this time the mixture with Vodka is Salmiakki, or as we scientific people call it, ammonium chloride made for eating. Also the Turkish Pepper has some of it inside. It's poisonous in large amounts, but hey, paraphrasing Queen: Too much ammonium chloride will kill you.

Other things are well covered here. One thing still keeps me curious. It is that we, in Finland, at least us professionals, think that Kopparberg is the most least attractive cider in the world, as it is so sweet and so full of sugar, that bars sell it here as an exotic option. More of an exotic substitute for cider. But hey, nobody is a prophet on their on land. Meaning that Bulmers is usually sold in Scandinavian countries as the prestigious Cider, that should be consumed with at least a pride of getting treated like a royal. And it usually costs about 5 euros per third of a liter in a bar. In Ireland you get the whole pint for that price, and you still get out with a little bit of change.

So get rid of that shite and bring in the good stuff. Or at least, never, ever, take Bulmers away.

Movember, day 20

Donate money! Now! Visit my Mospace page:

http://mobro.co/JaakkoVasankari

9-year old girl prosecuted for Piratism in Finland

I know and I've heard of restrictions stated over children's computer use, but Finland's authorities may have set the new boundaries of how far can you go bullying children. Two of the major Finnish newspapers reported of a case where a child's computer was confiscated by the police, because of downloading a song from a locally well known musician called Chisu. Hufvudstadsbladet (biggest newspaper in Finland targeted for swedish speakers) tells that Electronic Frontier of Finland (Effi) and Pirate Party (Piraattipuolue) criticized   Finnish authorities for going to far.

Scandinavian's biggest Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported also that the local Copyright Information and  Anti-Piracy Centre in Finland TTVK's director Antti Kotilainen answered the critics by saying "of course we review every situation individually, but that in this case, it was better to let authorities to investigate what has happened." According to Helsingin Sanomat, Antti Kotilainen stated that it is not possible to load illegal music without knowledge.

Events started when last year's october family's daughter tried to preview to Chisu's new album. According to child's father, searches took her to the Pirate bay. Next spring the father got a letter from TTVK demanding 600 euros. TTVK's letter also demanded a nondisclosure. Father didn't oblige, but instead, wrote a letter back to the attorney. Letter included photographs of the bought album, and the tickets to the concert, which her child attended.

This case has been the story of many Finnish newspapers today and also it has gotten a lot of attention through facebook. As the father's story started to circulate, it seems that the piracy movement gets a lot of sympathy because of this. At least after this, anti-piracy movement might be more attuned to use softer means to fight piracy for a while.

Unfortunately there are no links in English at the moment, so you have to trust author's translations, or use some translator device. You will probably get more using Swedish links, because Finnish doesn't really translate to English using automatic translators. If I find some links in English, concerning this case, I will try to remember to update this blog.

Update #1. Today there seems to be few english stories. Here are few links that might be enlightening.
Technocrunch: Finnish Police Seize 9-year Old Girl's Winnie the Pooh laptop for Using Pirate Bay
Torrentfreak: Police raid 9-year Old Pirate Bay Girl, Confiscate Winnie the Pooh Laptop
The Inquirer: Finnish Police Raid 9 Year Old Girl for 'piracy'

Update #2. In Finland people under fifteen cannot be prosecuted. So this blog entry starts by throwing people a bit off. Sorry for wooing people. Girl's legal guardian, in this case her father, might still face trial.

Update #3. According to Torrentfreak, TTVK's english abbreviation is CIAPC.

Update #4. Electronic Frontier Finland seems to have made an English release stating that CIAPC is doing blackmaling in Finland.

Update #5. Boingboing seems to have used this entry as a part of their story. I might have had a good upper hand covering this story, because I can read Finnish newspapers in two languages. So I'll just crosslink their story here.

Abortion or death - Right for abortion raises it's fist in Dublin

In a country, where many think that god himself wrote the Bible, leave the choice to men shaving their beards, but don't leave a choice to women to decide what their fetuses do, is something that I refuse to accept. I'll probably have to explain that in the third of Moses, it is very clearly stated that any man who shaves his beard is to be stoned. After that I can continue with fetus, where there is no mention of it all in the Bible. At least I'm pretty certain of it, because I'm one of those rare people, who have actually read the book. Not the original, but one that is said to be the true word of God.

I'm very sad to call the passing of Savita Halappanavar a victory for something that should be legal in any case where you put human's life and choices in front of total destruction. I'm very sorry for using words of human and destruction in the same sentence, but I believe I have a very strong ground for it. Thousands of people gathered in the centre of Dublin yesterday to support the cause of at least giving people choice to decide for themselves what's happening in their body.

There's a good video on Irish Times giving a picture of the shock that locals are feeling here.

Independent: Pro-choice activists got tip-off on tragic death