Lorindól

Indeed it is. And still our right wing populists are constantly screeching how the “general media is clearly and unfairly left-biased,” and “how the other side of the story remains untold”.

No shit, Sherlock. Nearly all journalists have college or university degrees, that’s what happens when you open your mind to the larger world.

I can do this too.

It’s fun to watch people freak out when one can raise his body hair up on command. And since I have an abundance of body hair, the effect is pretty profound.

Finnish legislation strictly forbids storing nukes inside our borders, even transporting them via our territory is a no-no. But laws can be changed.

Putin’s whining about nuking Finland is ridiculous. Most of the time the prevailing winds here blow to the general eastern direction, detonating a nuke or few above our capital would nicely contaminate both St.Petersburg and the Finnish Gulf right in front of it. And using tactical/strategic nukes against our defences would happen near the Karelian border, which would irradiate Putin’s and his cronies precious dachas located in the stolen Karelia.

So they most likely won’t be doing that. But on the other hand Russia has clearly demonstrated that their actions are not based on rational thinking, so it remains to be seen.

I’ve tasted both cat and dog kibbles, my kids used to love eating them when they were toddlers. I just wanted to know if I was missing out on something.

Neither tasted good, but the cat kibbles weren’t nearly as bad as dog kibbles. There most likely are brand differences, but my curiosity was satisfied by the sampling I had available at the time.

The caps must be made of different plastic in my country.

When I came across first attached cap, I just ripped it off clean without thinking twice. No problem whatsoever.

I have never discarded a bottle without screwing the cork back, but I guess many people do. Why they would do so, that I cannot fathom.

Tolkien’s Arda, First Age, Beleriand.

Yes, I know the clock for it’s utter destruction would be ticking. Still, the way it’s described in the books has kept me yearning to see such vistas with my own eyes.

My older daughter looked exactly the like her mother at the same age when she was 3-6 years old. When I compare their childhood photos it would be hard to tell which is which, if not for the hideous fashion of the 80’s being a a clear tell for mother.

After the age of 7 my daughter quickly grew into her own look, but when she makes certain faces the resemblance is still striking.

This is the true question. Also, do we still love lamp?

1kg per month sounds about right for what I drink at home.

But if I add the 2-4 daily large cups at work and a few “social visit cups” per month, I’d say that my personal total comes closer to 2kg/month.

Sweden and Finland will be among the last in Europe to decriminalize/legalize.

“Drugs are bad because drugs are bad” is too deeply ingrained into the older population. It will take years to change this attitude, even if the results of legalization in other countries will be positive.

“It just would not work here” is the eternal argument. And the only one.

No magic tricks or diet fads.

Eat less, move more.

Eat more vegetables and salad, cut down bread and meat.

Stop drinking sodas and juices with extra sugar in them and learn to quench your thirst with water.

Limit eating candy or cookies to one day per a week, if you can’t let them go entirely.

This. Learn basic economics at a young age and compound interest shall serve you well.

I collect movies that I know to be good. I’ve been a true film freak for over 35 years and I’ve learned how to find “my thing” from the vast market with the help from my friends, reviews and forums. Or when I see a truly good one at a theatre, it goes to my buy list and it might take years for it to come my way.

I have never bought a movie just because of the covers, this has actually never even occurred to me. I did rent films this way back in the day, but I only buy stuff I know.

Nowadays I rarely find anything I haven’t already seen before, but just few weeks ago I came by a modern classic that I was unable to see in a proper theatre. I save these specialties to watch with a projector and a good sound system, hopefully in a few weeks I’ll find the time…

This. Just yesterday I bought a batch of films, DVD’s 1$ and Blu-Rays 1,5$ a piece. And they were mostly new films.

DVD’s are perfectly fine for TV and Blu-Rays for my projector.

I never jumped to the streaming bandwagon and my disc collection has grown exponentially in the last few years, since most people gave up on discs. Their loss.

Nugent is a truly despisable creature, but his playing in Amboy Dukes’ “Journey to the Center of the Mind” album is very good.

Could you elaborate on this line of thought?

I cannot tell if you are suggesting a professional standing army or something else entirely.

performing labour or 6 months of jail does sound completely unforced

Forced labour is very different to military training, IMO. Your choices and freedom are restricted - that cannot be denied - but your days are filled with different training excersizes, not labour as I understand it. And I’ve had my fair share of that too, but by my own choice.

i said nothing about whether i see my own country as worth serving, but your pity is appreciated

True. Your earlier statement was ambiguous concerning this. This is why I started the sentence with “if”.

and youll continue to have the option to do so regardless of whether your government continues to threaten its citizens into doing so

Also true. But if I had to defend my country, the most effective way to do it would be as a part of a trained and coordinated effort, not as some loner seeking a Hollywood - style “heroic sacrifice”.

I do not see compulsory military service as forced labour, not by a long shot.

In my country when a man turns 18, he has to choose either military service (6 months for rank and file, 9 months for specialists or 12 months for specialist drivers and NCO and officer trainees) or civil service (13 months). Third and very seldomly used option is “total denial”, which means you get to spend 6 months in an open jail.

I very reluctantly chose military service, hoping to get the shortest 6 month option. I ended up serving 12 months in the reserve officer training program, so I do have some experience on the matter.

The population of my country is so small that an army based on professional or voluntary troops is not a possibility. Conscription is the only viable choice.

The service was rarely fun, but it was very effective and extremely valuable. The personal growth I experienced during that year was immeasurable and one year of my life is a very small price to pay to this country that my grandparents’ generation paid a very heavy toll to protect. A country that offers equal rights, universal healthcare and free education for all citizens, amongst many other tax-paid services.

If you do not see your own country worth serving, I feel sad for you. I would gladly give my life to protect mine.

I live in the Nordics and my house is prrimarily heated by a geothermal heat pump. The temperature here has been between -20C and -30C for the last week, the pump can easily keep the room temperatures at +19C until the outside temperatures drop under -25C, after that the electric resistor kicks in to provide assistance.

The secondary heat source is the giant baking oven, which i heat every other day if gets this cold. The fully heated oven alone raises the room temperatures by 5-6C, which helps a lot to take the load of the heating pump and keeps the electric bill smaller.

I have been planning to install air/air-water heat pumps to both floors, they would be a good backup during these cold spells and would also provide cooling during the summer. And if I install a smart control system, I can have the air units do extra heating/cooling automatically when the electricity is cheap.

I just haven’t had the time to do the research where it would be best to install them and the prices rose steeply after Russia attacked Ukraine. So I’ll wait for a while before I’ll get those.

It’s getting harder every year.

I remember well the constant fear of nuclear war in the 1980’s.

I remember the wonder we felt when the Berlin Wall fell and Soviet Union collapsed. A hope of a tomorrow free of fear.

I remember the dreadful recession of the early 1990’s and the steep economical rise that followed it.

I remember the amazing advancements in technology and the standard of living in the late 1990’s. And at the same time, it felt like the world was coming to it’s senses.

I was 21 in the year 2000. The world was full of promise, technological advancements were just pouring in, old mortal enemies were finding common ground and it seemed that we were slowly heading towards a Star Trek - like post scarcity utopia.

This age of hope eneded by the finance crisis of 2007-2008. Russia tried the waters with the war in Georgia. The general atmosphere of the world turned towards gloom again. And the downward spiral just seems to keeps going and going…

Yet I continue the work I started when I chose teaching as my profession in those golden years of hope. The kids are very different today, any class from 20 years ago would be a piece of cake compared with the problems they have now. But if a change for the better is to come, it will come from the kids. My generation is hopelessly lost in consumer greed and watching mindless “reality” shows that they somehow feel more important than real life.

I alone cannot be the change we need, but I CAN educate a few hundred kids and with good luck, maybe a dozen or few of them will have a some effect for a better future.