REGULAR FEATURE
(See Next Colum for Finnish Version)
GOING
SOHLO - THE EQUALIZER
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Yes. You bet. Sohlo is
back, to back this up.
In case you have been wondering where I have been - I was engulfed
by the Netherlands. There I made the mistake of working for a
large corporation. I ended up doing time, incarcerated in a huge
office, confined to a small space, separated from the other convicts
by 120 cm, four-feet, high plastic walls which were infinitely
more potent than the material leads you to expect.
The good thing about it was new friends and wider knowledge of
a few European languages. I also enjoyed the public transportation
pass, which enabled me to travel, free of charge, on all trains,
buses and local transportation like the metro and trams. I saw
all of Holland.
The city where I had to live,
Amsterdam, disgusted me. It was particularly the city's degenerate
and sleazy atmosphere that I found revulsive. Junkies begging
for money, junkies pushing dope to you on every street corner.
Sexually explicit ads on the streets, genitalia were portrayed
freely every which way the pleased had decided to portray it.
Once I saw a magazine cover in a window portraying a woman and
a dog having ...... I hope I can erase this picture from my mind
by writing about it now.
The rest of Holland was beautiful,
especially the Frisean islands, with their sand dunes, idyllic
fishing villages and endless beaches. What I found surprising,
however, was that the Dutch tolerance was only skin-deep on many
concerns. For EU-citizens, it is easy to emigrate there, but
most people thought of Finland as Eastern Europe, and, therefore,
a threat.
I think many Central Europeans are actually afraid of the feared
influx of Eastern European immigrants. This is the age-old fear
that fueled Hitler into power. It is the same fear that is fueling
people like Haider in Austria and Vlaams Blok in Belgium. The
Dutch are more careful of their reputation and do not show their
prejudice as the nations around them do.
Anyway, I did have an actual
topical issue for my comeback of 2001. And that is the discussion
on-going about sexual equality. Dr Richard Swaab from the Dutch
Brain Research Institute in Amsterdam claims that there are physiological
differences between the male and female brain; that there is
scientific credence behind cultural stereotypic about male and
female being different.
The two areas most different are the hypothalamus and the corpus
callosum. Swaab has found out that the hypothalamus starts shrinking
in girls' brains from the age of five onwards. The hypothalamus
controls our sleep, appetite, mood and libido. It also produces
testosterone, which has been proven to affect spatial reasoning
that has to deal with shapes and angles. The corpus callosum
is a bundle of nerves, which connects the two sides of the brain.
This is needed when you need to look at a matter from the other
person's point-of-view. Or call it empathy. The apparently holistic
nature of the female brain also results in more emotion and intuition.
Men, however can concentrate their thinking more on the right
side only - because data from the left side does not disturb
the concentration. The right side is responsible for three-dimensional
thinking and reasoning. What about the changing roles of the
two genders in today's fluctuating world.
I mean, let's face it, it's
a lot easier being a woman than a man. Dress as she likes, a
woman will still be daring and interesting. Dress as he likes,
and he is a tramp or a transvestite. Try to be a man who does
not drink or smoke and you are not a man at all. When he gets
drunk, passers-by will laugh at him, but not at her. She should
not get so drunk. This is how it is in Finland for sure, not
to mention Russia. (Finns will be mad now, they do not want to
be reminded of their adjacency if not proximity. For most Finns,
their country is an island. They talk about going to Europe when
they mean going to places like France and Germany. Has anyone
noticed yet how much I like brackets. I guess it is because I
like diving. Brackets are like diving into another world only
knowing you cannot stay there and the imminent return is right
around the...bracket).
And I have heard so much BS
about the process of dating. The very fact that we feel comfortable
using the word "process" disturbs me. It has become
so schizophrenic to date a girl nowadays. You do not know if
you can pay for her movie ticket for fear of not being P.C. Or
get Sued (:
What can a guy rely on anymore,
you cannot buy her drinks, cause then you are trying to get her
drunk. You are supposed to be equal, so you should go Dutch,
but then you are a cheapskate. No wonder so many guys just turn
passive and watch pornographic movies at home. At least you know
what to expect. At least it is easier.
There are too many rules on what once used to be natural courting
and enjoying life as it evolved. Now there is too much input
that makes youth passive and confused. Like my grandmother said,
she feels sorry for today's children, growing up basically without
their mother, when she is at work. Do not get me wrong, I believe
in equal opportunity, but I think it is also important to discuss
the impact of day-care centers and being woken up at an early
hour and then driven over to to this place with a surrogate mom.
I would imagine that is a bit fragmenting.
And that's all for this restart
issue of Findians Briefings. Make it a pleasant start to a new
Millennium. Look forward to the next issue of my violin sohlos.
Looking for Books
- Try this link to our Associate
uk.bol.com
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REGULAR FEATURE
Findians Exclusive 1: Prolific
Authors - Findians
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The Findians Community extends to well over 10,000 individuals
and is the subject of interest of over 80,000 persons around
the world. But the hard core of Findians are located in Finland
and a few in India. The one thing about Findians is that they
are prolific authors. This week I will mention just two of our
most famous - Prof. Asko Parpola, Head of the Institute of Asian
and African Studies at the University of Helsinki and Professor
Emeritus at the New Delhi Institute of Management, Professor
at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, Visiting Professor
in Business Studies at the Helsinki School of Business Administration
as well as the University of Tampere University, Ajeet Mathur.
Professor Asko Parpola is probably
one of the most famous of the Findians in that his work on Indology
is well known and well respected. He has visited India several
times and is competent not only in the language but also the
cultures of that country. During the celebrations of the 50th
year of Indian Independence, he organised a conference at his
parent university, Helsinki, where a number of papers were presented
on the subject of Indology. The publication is available from
me.
The proceedings of the International
Symposium held on 6th May 1998, have been published in the University
of Helsinki Studia Orientalia series, edited as part of the Finnish
Oriental Society by Prof. Asko Parpola of the Institute of Asian
and African Studies and Social Anthropologist Sirpa Tenhunen,
both in the University of Helsinki. (314 pages) The Foreword
is by the two editors. The contributors are:
- Don Handelman: Husband
and Wife and the Game of Dice: ´Siva and Pãrvati
Fall Apart
- Virpi Hämeen-Anttila:
For Ever Thou Shalt Love and She Be Fair: Kãlidãsa's
Vision of the Ideal Marriage
- Klaus Karttunen: Mutual
Agreement or Auction of Brides: Ancient Indian Marriage in Greek
Accounts
- Lina Fruzzetti and Ákos
Öster: Hierarchy Revisited
- Heli Uusikylä: The
Seeds in the Container: Metaphors of Conception and Kinship in
Rural Bangladesh
- Minna Säävälä:
The 'Hindu Joint Family': Past and Present
- Sirpa Tenhunen: Urban Hierarchies
in Flux: Arranged Intercaste Marriages in Calcutta
- G. Gopinathan: The Process
of Rehumanisation Initiated by Sri Narayana Guru and Its Impact
on Kinship and Other Social Relationships in Kerala
- Mohan K. Gautam: Santal-Munda
Kinship and Family
- Antti Pakaslahti: Family-centered
Treatment of Mental Health Problems
- Asko Parpola: Sãvitri
and Resurrection: The Ideal of Devoted Wife, Her Forehead Mark,
Sati, and Human Sacrifice in Epiv-Purãnic, Vedic, Harappan-Dravidian
and Near Eastern Perspectives
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Prof. Mathur published a very
interesting report for The Research Institute of the Finnish
Economy in 1998 called "Finland - India Economic Relations:
A Twinning Study of Trade and Investment Potential". Prof.
Mathur and Reinhilde Veuglers pioneered the concept of twinning
studies of trade and investment potential between a pair of any
two countries at K.U. Leuven, Belgium in 1993. The method was
developed further by Prof. Mathur to identify and list specific
products and services in those sectors in which business opportunities
may be profitably created and sustained for the pair of Finland
and India. The book reveals the comparative advantages of Finland
and India with respect to each other and provides information
on business opportunities for Finnish business in India and vice
versa.
The revised edition of this
book will be available this year, 2001. Also available from Prof.
Mathur will be his periodical Newsletter Called "Indian
Economic Outlook.
Another publication just released
by Tampere University is fascinating document entitled "What
Knowledge if of Most Worth?" This is the revised version
of the invited paper presented by Prof. Mathur at the international
conference on "Internationalisation of Curriculum Studies"
at the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA between April
27-30, 2000. The document inquires into the old Spencerian question
in relation to three potential referents, Knowledge, learners,
society, which are concerned with the conversion of data to information
and the wisdom to derive insights and knowledge.
Write
to me to obtain details
of how to lay your hands on this document..
(Other Findian authors I will
be highlighting in this series will be Prof. G. Gopinathan, Malathi
Khembhavi, Mathew Verghese, Virpi Hämeen-Anttila, Heli Uusikylä,
Minna Säävälä, Sirpa Tenhunen, Antti Pakaslahti,
Annikki Matthan, Joanna Matthan and of course, the most prolific
of all, myself, Jacob Matthan.)
Prices of Finnish
Stamps
Due to the enormous pressure
by several world-wide collectors of Finnish Stamps we have launched
this page Finnish
Stamp Prices which gives the current prices of Finnish
Stamps from 1960 onwards. We intend to bring all our Stamps related
items and connected ones onto this page over the course of time.
This has been requested by several of our collector friends.
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REGULAR FEATURE
GOING SOHLO -
Finnish Version
TASA-ARVO KUNNIAAN - NAISET ARMEIJAAN
Sohlo on palannut. Juuri parahiksi
kereten uudelle Millenniumille. Se kolmas. Ja joulu on taas.
Ja ihmisillä hyvä mieli? Unohtakaa lahjahysteria. Mikä
on tärkeintä? Rakkaus. Rakastakaa lähimmäistänne.
Aloittakaa vaikka tervehtimällä naapurianne. Ja puhumalla
selän takana hyvää kaveristanne. Unohtakaa kaikki
juorut ja keskittykää tekemään omasta elämästänne
parempi. Muistakaa että joka käden käänteessä
juoru saa lisämausteita, niin että riisistä onkin
yhtäkkiä tullut joulupuuro.
Olen pretty much ollut Hollannissa
nämä viime vuodet. Se on sitä Keski-Eurooppaa,
ja heille Suomi on Itä-Eurooppaa. ääni muuttui
kellossa, kun sanoin joskus olevani Ruotsista. Epäluuloinen
kyräily vaihtui iloiseen vastaanottavaiseen hymyyn. Hollanti
on kaunis maa, mutta sen ihmiset ovat näennäisuvaitsevaisia.
Hollantilaiset näyttelevät toleranttia ainoastaan maineensa
vuoksi. Hyvä maine tuo maahan turisteja ja rahaa. Amsterdamilaiset
ovat degeneroituneet toleranssi-käsitteineen siihen pisteeseen
asti, että kaupunki on jopa vastenmielinen. Siellä
voit törmätä kuviin sukuelimistä missä
tahansa, mainokset ovat täynnä niitä. Huumeet
tunkevat läpi joka paikassa, niitä yritetään
kaupata joka kulmassa. Narkkarit ovat erikoistuneet pyörävarkauksiin.
Niinpä on erittäin yleistä että pyörän
lukot maksavat enemmän kuin itse pyörä.
Itse aihe tällä kertaa
liittyy tasa-arvoon. Neurobiologi Richard Swaab Alankomaisesta
aivotutkimusinstituutista Amsterdamista on löytänyt
biologisia syitä miesten ja naisten käyttäytymiselle
aivoista. Kaksi tärkeintä rakenteellista eroa löytyy
käpyrauhasesta ja aivokurkiaisesta. Miesten käpyrauhanen
on suurempi. Naisten aivokurkiainen taas paksumpi. Käpyrauhanen
kontrolloi ihmisen mielentilaa, unta, ja tuottaa mm. seksuaalihormoneja.
Testosteronin on todettu vaikuttavan positiivisesti geometristä
älyä vaativissa äO-testeissä. Aivokurkiainen
taas yhdistelee asioita kahden eri aivopuoliskon välillä,
jolloin aivot pystyvät paremmin eläytymään
eri tilanteisiin tunteella. Esimerkikiksi aivohalvauksen sattuessa
naisten puhekyky ei merkittävästi heikkene, koska he
pystyvät kompensoimaan menetystä toiselta aivopuoliskolta.
Näiden ja muidenkin asioiden
vuoksi, en ymmärrä feministejä. Tuntuu että
heille ei kelpaa mikään. Meillä on Suomessa maailman
tasa-arvoisin parlamentti (tätä kohtaa en ole ikinä
ymmärtänyt: jos kerran kaikilla vime vuonna 18 vuotta
täyttäneillä kansalaisilla on äänioikeus,
miten miesenemmistöinen parlamentti voisi mitenkään
olla epätasa-arvoinen), ja nyt jo naispresidenttikin. Silti
kuulen erittäin usein, ellen jopa aina - tasa-arvosta puhuttaessa
- kuinka Suomessa on vielä parantamisen varaa tasa-arvoasioissa.
Itse asiassa olen samaa mieltä. Aloitetaan tasa-arvottaminen
siitä että naiset armeijaan.
Eivätkö naiset muka
pysty tappamaan vihollista? Totta kai, senhän pitäisi
olla helppoa: ei muuta kuin maali tähtäimeen ja vedetään
liipasimesta. Kaikille kansalaisille tulee antaa mahdollisuus
tähän erittäin stressilliseen tapahtumaan, kun
otat toiselta ihmiseltä hengen pois. Lisäksi tämä
on ristiriidassa kristillisen kasvatuksen kanssa. Meille opetetaan:
älä tapa, ja rakasta lähimmäistäsi.
Kaikki, jotka ovat joskus jotuneet tappamaan vihollisen, ja joiden
kanssa olen puhunut siitä (Libanonin ja Persianlahden sodan
veteraaneja), kertovat kuinka epämiellyttävä kokemus
se on. Vaikka tätä kuinka yrittäisi peitellä
niin terveelle ihmiselle on luonnotonta ja yksi stressitekijä
lisää elää tietäen alitajuisesti ottaneensa
elämän.
Sitten (rakastan aloittaa kappaleen
tällä sanalla, tämä on kosto äidinkielen
opettajalleni) on vielä erittäin tärkeä asia,
jonka haluan kaikkien kansalaisten, myös ahvenanmaalaisten,
ja naisten siis, kokea, on tämä paljon puhuttu yhteenkuuluvuuden
tunne kaikkine nauruineen, pieruineen.
Tilastoja pitäisi/ myös
tasa-arvoistaa. Pitäisi aloittaa projekti, jolla miesten
odotettu elinikä saadaan naisten tasolle. Vankiloiden sukupuolijakauma
on myös vinoutunut. Sama koskee itsemurhatilastoja. Ja sydänkohtaukset.
Mistäköhän muuten johtuu että naisilla ei
ole paljonkaan eturauhassyöpää eikä miehillä
rintasyöpää?
Treffailuun pitää
saada myös uudet säännöt. Eihän poikarukka
enää tiedä mitä saa tehdä ja mitä
ei. Saako hän tarjota vai ei/. Entä kuka tekee ensimmäisen
siirron? Vai onko se sitten seksuaalista ahdistelua? Mietitäänpä
näitä asioita ja pidetään joulua ja uutta
vuotta.
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