Migrant Tales will launch stories about how the cold war, or Finlandization, encouraged self-censorship and censorship. My journalism career began in 1986, when I made a living from writing. As a journalist writing for the Finnish and foreign media, the foreign ministry warned me several times about questioning Finland’s foreign policy and human rights violations…
Month: June 2022
Avoid turning Finland into a United States
In a thousand years, if there’s History, America will be remembered as a nasty little Country. Full of Pricks… Allen Ginsberg, Epilogue from “The Fall of America poems of these states 1965-1971” Following the dysfunctionality and cultural war raging in US politics, any sensible person can conclude that the present situation is due to several…
What does Finland’s far-right Perussuomalaiset think of the overturning of Roe and Wade and attack of a gay bar in Oslo?
Setting aside the US Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe and Wade, which effectively took away women’s rights to have an abortion, we saw the cold-blooded attack at a gay bar by a man in Oslo that left two dead and 21 wounded. Meanwhile, in Finland, Yle reported some MPs’ reaction to the Supreme Court…
Sexual harassment scandal takes a political toll on Kokoomus MP Wille Rydman
The scandal that embroiled National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, has forced him to resign “indefinitely” from the Kokoomus parliamentary and Helsinki city council groups. A Helsingin Sanomat investigative story exposed MP Rydman’s sexual harassment of underage girls to whom he sometimes offered alcohol. The police, who investigated the case, did not bring any…
What’s all the commotion about Wille Rydman? Why is Kokoomus now shocked?
A big question remains after a Helsingin Sanomat investigative journalism piece exposed how National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman treated women – even underaged ones – inappropriately. Some of these women, who were minors then, claimed that Rydman forced them to drink alcohol. A question remains: Why does Kokoomus appear so shocked today, even after the…
Wille Rydman exposes Kokoomus’ hypocrisy and its racist politicians
I wonder if National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman has ever heard of Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for sexually abusing minors, among other crimes? Helsingin Sanomat exposed in a story Rydman of inappropriate behavior and abusing sexually minors Sunday. Like Gaetz, Rydman is in hot water and denies all…
Kokoomus’ “Jussi Halla-aho” is suspected of harassing underaged girls
National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, whose xenophobic views have earned him the dubious label of being Kokoomus’ Jussi Halla-aho, is suspected by the police of harassing underaged girls. He is the same MP pushing hardline policies against asylum seekers because he is worried about sexual harassment. Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was…
Exposing white privilege in Finland #87: Social segregation is not white Finland’s fault
The recent article and editorial in Helsingin Sanomat about social segregation in Finland is a good example of how white privilege deals with growing social segregation. Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, published an editorial Thursday about how social segregation is growing in Finland. That follows a story about how some schools in Espoo have more…
The PS’ crystal ball racism based on selective scenarios
With the parliamentary election about 10 months away in April 2023 and a disastrous county election showing and equally depressing opinion poll results, it’s clear that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is desperately trying to connect with voters. One example of these underhanded tactics is a proposal by the PS to close the border with…
Ilta-Sanomat’s message hasn’t changed in the past 30 years: Islam and refugees are a threat to Finland
Ever wondered why tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat continue to publish racist stories? When the first Somalis came to Finland in the early 1990s, the tabloid had a field day (see billboards below). Imagine headlines like “Somalis will remain in Finland,” “Somalis tricked (authorities) to get asylum,” and twenty years later, “10,000 illegal refugees will come this…