a brief recap

Recap:
This is no livejournal, so I will not post anything that deals in any way shape or form with typical angst, but its flowing nice and strong here in Helsinki(or elsewhere, depending on how you look at it).
Three days in Stockholm reminded me of the differences found between two countries so closely tied together by history, shared economic planning and welfare systems, but widely diverging views on immigration.
The first day walking around Stockholm, there were protests re: Iran. I hear that such protests have occured in Finland, but nothing to this extent. Iranians filled the square in a sea of green, chanting in Swedish and demanding investigation into the clearly fraudulent elections held on the 12th of this month. Another Tiananmen this most likely will be, but I was taken back by the fact that there even were so many immigrants. Swedish immigration policy has been far more open than that of Finland, to the extent that 1 out of 9 people in Sweden is either a political or social refugee. There is no way of escaping the significance of this fact. In terms of immigration, this is a stagerring number. From countries of 8 million or more this puts Sweden third, first and second being the United States and Canada. Multiculturalism has its shortfalls(see Denmark) but it is refreshing to see nonetheless, being the "cosmopolitan, emissions producing freak" I adhere to the label of.
This I am further reminded of anytime I go to the store. It has less to do with the people in Finland as it does with the variety of things I can buy. I recently shipped in 2 gallons of hot sauce from the states.

I spent midsummer next to a bonfire with Alina, Ulsa, Tuomas, and Alison. Accompanied later on by two drunken elderly Finns, it was exactly what I wanted.

I am not working nearly enough this summer, which is fault of my asshole Indian boss. That said, I am now working three nights in a row, which is sorely needed on my behalf.

And I brought my bike with me from the US, which is great because I no longer need to take public transportation anywhere.

So this is all.

News: Took a bus today from Madrid to Barcelona. I wanted to hitchhike down, but between the rain and the 27 euro bus pass, it didnt make a whole lot of sense, given that we would have probably had to take the damn bus anyways.
Oliver was a great host. We stayed with the dude for 3 nights, all as unpredictable and fun as the last. No complaints, was great to see the guy. Thanks man!

At the moment I am watching the Barcelona Madrid football match, waiting for something to happen. After that hopefully I'll meet up with Sergi, a dude I met on the border of Brazil and Bolivia and travelled with for about a week. Really cool guy and I'm pumped on hanging out with him again out in his stomping grounds.

At my brother's apartment out here, there is a Jamon Iberico, a giant pig leg being cut up. Between the pot and lack of hand eye coordination skills, 2 of 5 are out with cuts on their fingers. Good job, guys. Haha. I'm having fun.

: Hello Blogosphere, How I generally dislike you so.

Madrid, Spain

Introduction: Everyone seems to have a blog these days, and most of them are really bad. I am jumping on the bandwagon here, and will be writing bad things in poor grammar about things most people don't care about. Ah, the wonders of the internet. Check this out: Elvis is still alive. All the talk about him dying on the toilet was pure bullshit. If I could yell that to get my point across, maybe it would be more true. But my simple act of positing such a statement makes it real. Atleast makes it fact. Most things I care about, others don't.

Politics: The European Unions 20-20-20 plan is going ahead, though concessions are made to a number of member states in regards to cutting of greenhouse gasses and meeting the requirements.
Integration of the European Union, termed on a member state to member state level as Europeanisation is a process by which countries become more fit to the needs of one another in changes in norms, identities, legal and normative rules etc. This means that there always has to be the idea of a misfit. In order for the European Union to work, and as history's greates test of supranational and multilevel governance, there always has to be some level of misfit among or between member states. This pushes regulation towards a goal, and countries in Central Eastern Europe all should be held accountable when the EU pushes regulation.
Here is a bold idea: If a country cannot meet the criteria of new treaties, concessions only make the processes of the future less important. Opting out of European Union treaties has generally gone to hurt countries, or atleast push division. As John Major said in reference to a treaty on definitions of social exclusion(paraphrased) "Europe can keep their welfare state, we will keep our jobs."
In reference to the the EU's 20-20-20 climate change deal, Sanjeev Kumar of the WWF said "This is a flagship EU policy with no captain, a mutinous crew and several gaping holes in it."

Economics: The overall rise of wealth accompanied by higher disparate numbers determined by Gini coefficients in determining income inequality in the world does not mean more people are poor now than in the past. It gets to me when people point to this trend as surefire evidence that the way the world economy functions is for the rich to get richer and the poor to stay poor. We can agree that may be how it tacitly forms, but say that to the number of people risen from below the poverty line over the last 60 years. They may differ. Gini coefficients determine income equality, not the number of poor people. Income inequality certainly is at unprecedented levels, but keep in mind that in China alone, as of January 1st, 2008 there were 146 billionaires, up from 85 the year before. 3.3% of China's population is made up of millionaires.

Life: In Spain I am sitting in my friend Oliver's apartment, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. I will be going back to Barcelona in the next few days, and will be in Brussels for 10 days from Wednesday.
Hitchhiking in Spain is a ridiculous idea. My brother Tim and I hitchhiked from outside Barcelona to Madrid, winding up in Valencia, on the central coast of Spain for a night. People don't understand hitchhiking here, which is a shame, because it means you have to start asking people for rides. That style makes me uncomfortable. Spain may be Europe's least hitchhiking friendly country. Even Sweden beats it, and thats saying alot about Spain. We got a ride from BCN to Valencia from a Nigerian guy and his Hungarian girlfriend. Listening to Seal and 80's lovesong hits("Oh Mandy, you came and you gave without taking...") we blasted down the coast.

Interesting Fact: Camels have three eyelids. Dromedaries have one hump, bactrians have two, but all camels have three eyelids. In Turkey, where Camel wrestling is a popular sport, it is common to name camels after cigar chomping, bumbling TV Detective Columbo.

Conclusions: Life is interesting these days. Lots of different things going on, both good and bad. I still rant about alot of things, and my aversion to political orthodoxy in lieu of economic and socialogical logic is getting me lots of blank stares. Feel free to disagree with me, you won't be the only one. Finally, the next time you go to the pub and you decide you are a leading camel anatomist, mention the three eyelids. Happy days.