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October 13, 2002

I know, I know, why don't I just move there

The follow-up link in an entry at randomWalks, but it lets me indulge my bizarre obsession with Finland. It's not a fetish, Kim isn't even originally from there.

From the Helsingin Sanomat International Edition:

Kaurismäki boycotts New York Film Festival
Filmmaker refuses to attend after Iranian director denied visa

Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki cancelled his planned participation in the New York Film Festival out of solidarity for Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostam, who could not get a US visa to attend the event.

Kiarostam was hoping attend a screening of his film Ten last Sunday. Kaurismäki's turn was to be on Wednesday this week, when his latest feature, The Man Without a Past is to be shown.

[. . .] Kaurismäki announced the cancellationof his visit to New York on Monday in a letter he sent to the director of the festival, Richard Peña. He expressed sorrow at having to make such a decision, praising the New York Film Festival as "one of the best in the world".

Kaurismäki explained his move by saying: "If the US authorities do not want an Iranian, they will hardly have any use for a Finn, either. We do not even have any oil."

This story is from Tuesday. On Friday:

The powerful explosion that shook a shopping mall in Vantaa on Friday evening, leaving seven dead and dozens injured, has been shown to be caused by a bomb. Finland's Minister of the Interior Ville Itälä (National Coalition) confirmed the fact at a press conference on Saturday morning.

Before you start jumping to conclusions, though:

A police press briefing held at 16.00 on Saturday revealed that the seventh victim (see above) had been identified as a Finnish student from the Greater Helsinki area, apparently around 20 years of age. Preliminary evidence would appear to suggest that the chemistry student, who died instantly, was responsible for the explosion.

The man has no criminal record, and no motive has as yet been put forward for his actions, nor would police be drawn on the likelihood that he acted alone. The possibility that others might be involved was not ruled out.

This was mentioned at InstaPundit, where Mr. Reynolds wrote:

Vantaa, I believe, is near an area where immigrants tend to cluster.

I would write asking what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but given he approvingly quotes Max Power in another entry:

What's wrong with a little colonialism? Are people saying that the brown peoples of Iraq aren't worthy of Western-style democracy and freedoms?

[. . .] It's frankly appalling and close to racist to see people complaining that a repressive and murderous dictatorship might get replaced by a democracy because the people leading the transition aren't the same skin color as the victims of the totalitarian regime.

I can make a very good guess.

The language couldn't be that hard to pick up. Children over there learn it. Sometimes they learn another one or two at the same time, so it must be terribly easy.

Update: There must be a simple way to link Google News related articles pages. Well, simpler than selecting and pasting, which may not be possible, now that I think about it. . .

Update: Oh yes, I'd forgotten.

In his entry on this, titled Welcome To The Real World, EUnuchs, Bill Quick writes:

I suggest you turn out the peace marchers. That should take care of the problem.

UPDATE: Sorry, make that the pro-Islamofascist, anti-American peace marchers.

I suppose that extinction-level cataclysm I start praying for every time I visit the warbloggers will take out Finland, too.

Still, a flight from Chicago is as low as $375. Are the Northern Lights visible there? They'd make a pretty backdrop when the meteor hits.

Posted by Aaron at October 13, 2002 06:12 AM

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