Finnish military intelligence: the Russian army is at the limits of its operational capability

Finnish military intelligence has reported that Russia has relocated about 80 percent of the troops near the Finnish border to other areas, specifically to Ukraine. This particularly concerns ground forces, where, in addition to personnel, the remaining equipment shows signs of obsolescence.

The same is most likely happening in other military bases across Russia. Therefore, even if the ongoing war in Ukraine were to end at this moment, it would take several years for the Russian army to regain its previous level of combat capability.

This indicates that Vladimir Putin's army is at the limits of its endurance in its invasion of Ukraine. It also means that it would not be capable of launching large-scale military operations elsewhere at this time.

This also implies that Russia currently lacks the ability to defend against a conventional military attack directed against it. This might explain why Russia has recently brought up the possibility of changing its nuclear doctrine.

From the perspective of the war in Ukraine, the weakening of the Russian army is naturally a good thing, especially now that its ground attack in the Kharkiv direction has resulted in nothing but significant personnel and equipment losses for the attacker. This does not mean that Putin will abandon his plans, but it perhaps gives hope that the operational capability of the Russians will continue to weaken on the other Ukrainian fronts as well.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, suggested that Ukraine should cede part of its territory
Finnish weapons are being tested against the Russians in Ukraine
Technically backward, miscellaneous group of gunmen

Immigration issue

Immigration from developing countries has changed Swedish society in such a way that a country once considered among the safest and most egalitarian in the world has become a haven for violent drug gangs. This is obviously an unfortunate situation for Swedes, but it seems that Finns are not unaffected either.

The Finnish media company MTV3 published today information received from the police indicating that, except for one, all of the recent violent incidents in Oulu, located on Finland's west coast, are related to drug trafficking. Oulu is a large city in its region, with more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is located near the freely trafficked Tornio border station at the northern tip of the Baltic Sea and therefore acts as a kind of drug trade hub through which drugs are distributed further—if they are not sold in the city already.

However, the Finnish media, as usual, remain silent about the fact that the Swedish drug trade has practically entirely shifted to immigrants from the Middle East or Africa, or their descendants. And thus, it is very much an immigration issue as well.

The Finnish police have said some time ago that they have been largely able to prevent the landing of Swedish criminal gangs, but after the incidents in Oulu, one must ask whether they are now failing in this task. This may be hinted at by the police officer interviewed in the MTV3 article, who directed his words to politicians: "more resources should be allocated to preventing drug-related crimes."

However, it must also be noted that drug trafficking would not occur in Sweden or Finland if there were no market for it. And those markets are not an immigration issue, but largely a result of a wealthy middle class increasingly shifting from alcohol to other substances. It is precisely they who can afford the recreational use of drugs like cocaine, thereby maintaining the most profitable branch of the drug business.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
The stabbing of the 12-year-old led to political revelry among the left in Finland
Various forms of violence and prevention of terrorist attacks
An immigrant who stands out from the average has been taken into custody

Former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, suggested that Ukraine should cede part of its territory

Finland's most left-wing president in history, Tarja Halonen, suggested that Ukraine should cede part of its territory to the control of international forces. These forces should not include soldiers from EU or NATO countries.

The question, of course, is what kind of forces would make up this contingent occupying part of Ukraine. Chinese, Indian, Iranian, or African troops? Or even Russian and Belarusian troops?

In Finland, Halonen is known as a president who pursued Russia's interests and, as part of that, did everything she could to weaken the country's defense forces and opposed Finland joining NATO. Fortunately, she failed, and Finland still has the capability to defend itself.

It is important for Ukraine and Ukrainian´s to know this so that President Zelenskyi and his administration understand to immediately reject any potential consultation from Tarja Halonen. She is not an advocate for peace or security, and - for example - during her presidency, she never expressed concern about Russia's actions in world politics but rather about those of the USA.

The difference between Halonen and the current President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, is vast. This was evident most recently at a peace conference held in Switzerland, where he stated: "I strongly urge China to influence Putin, in particular, to stop this war and withdraw".

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finnish weapons are being tested against the Russians in Ukraine
The procrastination of Western countries is paid for with the blood of soldiers
Why Finland will apply for a membership in NATO

The stabbing of the 12-year-old led to political revelry among the left in Finland

There were two stabbings in the same town in Finland on the same day. In one of the cases, a person of immigrant background fatally stabbed an adult man.

In the other case, a well-known, notoriously violent Nazi, who despite multiple violent crimes was - according to Finnish legal practice - allowed to walk free, stabbed a 12-year-old immigrant child from behind. As of this writing, the child is alive and the Nazi is in police custody.

In due course, the judiciary will determine how soon he will be free again to continue his dangerous behavior towards his fellow citizens.

* * *

Of the two stabbings I mentioned earlier, it is the latter case that has received significant attention, and the identity of the perpetrator has been unusually reported because 'it is a serious act of societal significance, and the suspect has previously been convicted of far-right activities.' From this, one could infer that the killing/murder I mentioned first was not considered serious or of societal significance by the journalists writing about it, despite the death of the victim.

In contrast, the second case truly is, as Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns Party) mistakenly suggested that the perpetrator was of immigrant background - which is not surprising considering the recent increase in violence against children and young people by individuals of immigrant background. Of course, once the real ethnicity of the murderer was revealed, she corrected her view.

This has not stopped the far, extreme, or moderate left from reveling in the fate of the stabbing victim. At least just elected member of the EU-parliament Li Andersson (Left Alliance), long-time EU MEP Ville Niinistö (Green League), party leader and member of the Finnish parliament Sofia Virta (Green League), and member of the Finnish parliament Timo Harakka (Social Democrats) have done so. However, they do not appear to have had anything to say about the dark-skinned person's act of killing an adult man.

* * *

In this situation, it is important to state - and I state it myself - that both acts were heinous and should not be defended in any way. However, this cannot mean that discussions about immigration - its benefits, everyday realities, or drawbacks - should not continue.

Instead, these cases underline the government's - and also the opposition's - right and duty to strive to maximize the benefits of immigration and minimize its associated drawbacks.

The latter concerns both the actions of immigrants themselves and those of the marginal groups among the native population who are motivated by them. This includes groups such as the Nordic Resistance Movement, which served as the reference group for the perpetrator of the recent child stabbing and which the USA has just classified as a terrorist organization.

In Finland, the Supreme Court ordered the Nordic Resistance Movement to be disbanded already in 2020.

Aiempia ajatuksia samasta aihepiiristä:
Monenlaista väkivaltaa ja terrori-iskujen torjuntaa
Huumekaupan motivoimia jengisotia myös Suomeen?
Keskimääräisestä erottuva maahanmuuttaja on otettu kiinni

Two out of three Palestinians support October 7 attack

According to a recent opinion poll, as many as 67 percent of Palestinians still approve of the events of October 7, during which groups of Jews were murdered and raped, and hostages were taken. As a result, the war in Gaza continues.

This demonstrates to the whole world that Palestinians have not excluded terrorism from the means they use to destroy Israel. And this, of course, does not encourage the Jewish state to negotiate the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Therefore, it is easy to predict that the war in Gaza will not end with serious negotiations for the creation of an independent Palestine. Instead, it will lead at most to some sort of theater, where Israeli representatives are merely pretending to negotiate, and Palestinian leaders are gathering sympathy points from gullible Westerners.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Norway and Ireland are awarding the terrorists a prize
Palestinian responsibility
Palestinians: acknowledging facts is the beginning of wisdom!

University of Helsinki gained an anti-Semitic reputation

The University of Helsinki garnered international attention when it decided to bar Israelis from participating in student exchange programs. This was simply interpreted as anti-Semitism, which, of course, it was.

Now, Finland's largest and most scientifically prestigious university is attempting to remedy what can be remedied, which includes the university leadership requesting people who have been demonstrating in support of Hamas in the university premises for over a month to leave. Apparently, the university administration believes this will not happen voluntarily, as they had already requested assistance from the police when making the request.

It remains to be seen how the university leadership will react if the demonstrators do not leave. Or if they start resisting the dispersal of the demonstration with outright violence.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A caliphate was demanded in Germany
Demonstrations cause trouble in Helsinki and Sweden
International Master´s degree is an opportunity to be used

Can climate models predict the distribution of warming?

According to climate models, greenhouse gases warm the Arctic region faster than the rest of the world, although there is some discrepancy between their predictions and actual measurements. Therefore, it has been more than interesting to follow the development of the northern sea ice over the years.

The National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) publishes two statistics on its development: the extent of the ice and its area. Of these, daily data is available for the extent, but only monthly averages for the area.

Now that India has suffered from an unprecedented heatwave and southern Europe has also been reported as one of the areas experiencing the most exceptional temperatures, it has been interesting to note that the latest data on the extent of the northern ice shows it is the 37th largest, or 10th smallest, for this time of year in the measurement history starting from 1979.

The monthly area statistic of the northern polar ice surprises even more, as in May, the ice area was the 23rd largest, or 24th smallest, in the statistics, thus roughly at the median value of the statistics. Therefore, the area of Arctic sea ice does not support the idea that the climate is warming fastest in the Arctic region. And even the estimate based on ice extent supports that only weakly.

All this raises questions about the ability of climate models to predict the distribution of warming caused by greenhouse gases across different parts of the globe. Or alternatively, about the reliability of climate statistics: in this regard, the measurements of the Arctic ice cover, carried out with easily interpretable methods, are surely among the most reliable, even though the two different measurement methods of the NSIDC produce surprisingly divergent views of the size of the northern polar ice cover.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
The area of Arctic sea ice was exceptionally large in January
Does Arctic sea ice melt as atmospheric greenhouse gases increase?
The increase in carbon dioxide concentration warms more than anticipated

The European Parliament elections were a celebration for the far-left in Finland

The result of yesterday's European Parliament elections in Finland certainly surprised everyone following politics. It also surprised me, so a few words about it.

The big winner of the elections was the far-left formed by the Left Alliance and the Greens, which seemed to get the largest share of votes in all elections during Finland's independence. As much as 28.6 percent of the voters gave their vote to them.

This means that the Finnish European Parliament group will henceforth provide even more support for centralization, the migration of people from developing countries, wokeness, and efforts like Euro-taxes. At the same time, the result also means that the Finnish far-left knew how to take advantage of the low voter turnout.

This, however, was not understood by the supporters of the Finns Party. They decided to stay at home, perhaps cursing the entire European Union in their minds or protesting minor issues in the Finnish government's policy, where the party participates.

And they fulfilled my warning from a few days ago that the green-left would get one more representative in the European Parliament if people supporting other political directions did not go to the polls. Thus, the voting behavior of Finnish national conservatives was, to put it nicely, foolish.

* * *

If this kind of thinking had prevailed in all EU countries, the people from Africa and the Middle East seeking to come to Europe for welfare reasons would have thanked and set off in even larger numbers. Similarly, the preservation of raw materials for the Finnish forest industry would have become a real threat, and only imagination would have been the limit to what could be achieved on the wokeness front.

The silver lining was that the national conservatives in other countries were not as foolish as the Finns, but instead achieved an electoral victory while the entire left lost support. Of course, this victory would have been greater if Finnish voters had decided to support the Finns Party candidates instead of the far-left.

With the EPP group, including the Finnish National Coalition Party, achieving an electoral victory at the Union level, we can breathe a sigh of relief and hope to see healthier politics in the EU over the next five years than in the past term. Additionally, we hope that the most idiotic plans of the previous European Parliament will not be implemented.

* * *

In addition to EU politics, the election results will also impact Finland's domestic politics. Within the government, the National Coalition Party's victory in the European elections and the Finns Party's crushing defeat will increase the influence of the Prime Minister's National Coalition Party and decrease the influence of the Finance Minister's Finns Party. Thus, the issues important to the National Coalition Party will progress better than the wishes of the Finns Party.

This will be particularly evident in Finnish immigration and asylum policies, where the lines of the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party differ. My guess is that it will be even more challenging to bring related government program policies to the Parliament and thus into law during the current parliamentary term.

The danger, therefore, is that Finnish politics will see a repeat of the phenomenon witnessed during Juha Sipilä's (Centre Party) government from 2015 to 2019. Its immigration policy program was sensible, but ultimately it was never implemented. And to top it all off, a tremendous number of people from developing countries rushed into the country without the government taking any measures to prevent it.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Mass immigration is the greatest concern for EU youth
During the Eurovision song spectacle, the incompetence of EU officials was revealed
The EU's 7.4 billion euro aid package is intellectual dishonesty

Marxist far-right and bullies

Belgium is known for various things, such as its bilingual population and good beers. One more recent source of notoriety for the small country situated between Denmark and the Netherlands is the violent (example and another) neo-Belgian population.

Therefore, it was interesting to read a newspaper article with the headline, "Belgium votes in parliamentary elections – far-right separatists expected to succeed, making government formation painful."

According to the article, two parties are expected to succeed in the elections. One of them is the national-conservative Vlaams Belang party, which advocates for the independence of the Flanders region and opposes Belgium's immigration policies. This party is expected to achieve a significant electoral victory and become the largest Flemish party.

The second expected success is the nationwide Marxist PTB-PVDA party. So, extreme communists.

According to the article, these two parties would get almost a third of the parliamentary seats, but other parties would refuse to include them in the government. Thus, making its formation more difficult.

* * *

After reading the article, I was left wondering about two things. The first of these was, by what logic is a Marxist, i.e., a communist or far-left party, considered part of the far-right? I had thought that this term used by political journalists referred to national-conservative parties whose agendas include aspects that strengthen the market economy. To my understanding, Marxist-communist parties do not have such aspects.

The second thing that left me wondering – even more so – was that if some parties refuse to cooperate with others, the blame lies with the latter. Analogously: if a group of bullying kids excludes one child from their games, the fault lies with the latter, not with those who made the decision to exclude.

Therefore, it must be asked whether the author of the article in question, and perhaps all other journalists, should reassess their perception of reality. The article left the impression that those responsible and those not responsible for the difficulties in forming a government were declared based on the author's own – obviously delusional – worldview.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Orwellian Big Brother monitors journalists of Finland's Public Broadcasting Company Yle
Will the multinational force led by Kenyans help?
Finnish journalist called for British Prime Minister´s head to be placed on London bridge to dry

Finnish weapons are being tested against the Russians in Ukraine

Russia's attack on Ukraine seems to have stalled. The reason for this is likely both the weakness of the Russians and the increase in aid Ukraine is receiving from Western countries.

In this regard, it was interesting to note that Finland has sent both older equipment and the latest products of its defense industry to Ukraine. The reason for the latter is to gather information about their effectiveness in a combat situation, especially against the Russians.

The fact remains that no one other than Russia threatens Finland's security. However, Russia's enthusiasm may be curbed by the harsh experiences of World War II -including both Winter War and Continuation War during which nearly half a million Russian soldiers were killed or went missing on the Finnish front, and even more were wounded. And in the end, the small nation of Finland remained unconquered by the then-superpower.

Hopefully, the recent change in the war in Ukraine means that the Russians will experience bitter lessons similar to those on the Finnish front in World War II, and the country's leadership will learn such a lesson that it will understand to leave its neighbors untouched in the future. It would be wise for the simple reason that now there is equipment tested specifically against them, the effectiveness of which should be beyond doubt, as the weapon systems will undoubtedly be further developed based on the experiences gained from the war in Ukraine.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Technically backward, miscellaneous group of gunmen
The procrastination of Western countries is paid for with the blood of soldiers
Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs reminded Russians about their nightmare

Orwellian Big Brother monitors journalists of Finland's Public Broadcasting Company Yle

The Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat heard from a long-time journalist of the Finnish Public Broadcasting Company Yle that it is problematic for them that his articles feature "too many heterosexual men". When asked about this, the Ilta-Sanomat journalist discovered that our publicly funded media records not only the gender, age, skin color, and social status of interviewees but also what kinds of thoughts or bodies they have.

Subsequently, Yle's editor-in-chief Jouko Jokinen tries his best in the Ilta-Sanomat article to explain away the image of the company’s operations that the interviewer—and ultimately the reader—might have formed. The article also reveals that Yle systematically collects statistics on the content of journalists' articles.

These are "basic things that can be automatically identified by text analysis and whose tracking is ethical. What topics we cover, how they are geographically distributed, who are the most interviewed individuals, what gender they represent, what the most used titles are, which political parties are most frequently mentioned, and so on."

And finally, the development manager of Yle then—perhaps unwittingly—reveals that "we are trying to diversify our content. Nowadays, we discuss a lot in our editorial offices, for example, whether it is always privileged people who speak for us. There are many underrepresented groups that do not have a voice in society."

In other words, confirming that our tax-funded media operates like an Orwellian big brother, whose duties include collecting data based on which even long-time Yle journalists can be presented with "ratings on the table" if they have interviewed people from so-called underrepresented groups too infrequently.

After reading the article, I was left wondering if such an Orwellian big brother is really the kind of service that Finnish taxpayers want to fund. Or perhaps they would prefer that the money be used for something entirely different—either within Yle or in other sectors of society.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finnish journalist called for British Prime Minister´s head to be placed on London bridge to dry
Racism or self-preservation instinct?
Nightwish and the Disney Company

Mass immigration is the greatest concern for EU youth

Finnish political media reported that a survey conducted in March revealed that the greatest concern among European youth is the mass migration directed towards our continent. This is considered the biggest worry by 36 percent of the 5,874 German, French, Polish, Greek, Spanish, and Italian youths aged 16-26 who responded to the survey.

The concern over mass immigration is particularly high in Germany, where it is the biggest worry for half of the survey respondents. The restriction of immigration, on the other hand, was most supported by Polish and Greek youths.

Although the survey included many other questions, I highlight only immigration here. This is because it shows that the planned tightening of asylum policies by Finland's current government aligns with the views of the continent's youth.

This is a good thing in itself, but it also shows that the ideologies of young people continue to change from generation to generation, just like other fashions. The key point here is to understand that the prevailing fear of the future will - for the next ten years only - guide population policy in the same way that the previous generation's fear of climate change and its consequences has shaped political actions in recent years.

On this basis, the demographic future of the European Union - and consequently its societal development - looks somewhat brighter than before. In the best case, the youth's concern, combined with the weakening dependency ratio, may even lead to a long-term increase in the currently low birth rate.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A woman's logic, Putin's test, and the Netherlands' change
The Finns rewarded a mass murder with 213,000 euros
Getting asylum in Finland becomes significantly more difficult

Various forms of violence and prevention of terrorist attacks

Political violence claimed another victim when a German politician, known for opposing the Islamization of his country, was attacked with a knife in Mannheim, Germany. The incident occurred in broad daylight, injuring several other individuals.

Meanwhile, PT-media reported that the number of homicides in Sweden has risen from below one hundred a decade ago to over three hundred, in parallel with the country's multiculturalism. A significant portion of the deceased were immigrants who lost their lives in clashes between criminals.

The French government announced that it has successfully - or rather was forced to - prevent planned terrorist attacks targeting the football matches of the Olympic Games. The news does not specify who planned such attacks, but I have some idea.

Yesterday in Helsinki, a child who was not a student at the school used pepper spray and a stun gun on the students. The victims included, among others, the son of Ahmed Al-Jumaili.

Oh, and last night there was a stabbing in Helsinki. According to the police, the parties involved are young individuals, but the news does not provide any further details.

In connection with these Finnish cases, we must remember that in an earlier case, the police deemed it necessary to announce separately that the suspect did not have a foreign background. No such announcement has been made this time.

* * *

I will conclude this write-up by stating that the best way for us ordinary citizens to influence what Europe will look like in the future is to cast our votes in elections. Therefore, I encourage each of you - my dear readers - to exercise this right either in the ongoing advance voting or at the latest on the actual election day.

This is because a vote not cast is effectively giving power to the competitors of your preferred candidate and party. And supporting the policies they pursue.

According to a recent survey, in Finland it is particularly the supporters of the Finns Party who are offering this service to their competitors - and the political left-green faction especially thanks them for it.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A woman's logic, Putin's test, and the Netherlands' change
Is there a limit to stupidity?
An immigrant who stands out from the average has been taken into custody