Free Republic

The eurozone can in theory still be saved, if two sets of conditions are fulfilled; if the leaders of Germany, Austria, Finland, and the Netherlands accept fiscal union and a common pooling of debt, and can persuade their parliaments and courts to ratify such a revolution. If the Germanic bloc agrees to tear up the mandate of the European Central Bank, letting it switch from inflation-targeting to job-targeting ("Unemployment must not exceed 10pc in two or more EMU states, or some such formula), effectively instructing the ECB to embark on Fed-style stimulus for three to five years. This might allow...

The deliberations to form a new Finnish government after the April 17th election have finally come to an end. The bizarre new government is comprised of the center right party the National Coalition Party, three left wing parties, the Left Alliance and Social Democrats and the Green Party. In addition to this, the conservative Christian Democrats and the Swedish People's Party joined the colorful bunch. The new prime minister, Jyrki Katainen was under tremendous pressure after failing to form a government with his more natural political allies, namely True Finns and The Center Party. The biggest winner in the elections,...

For the new Finnish government, “the endurance test has begun,” headlines Lapin Kansa, following the inauguration of the government led by conservative Jyrki Katainen. Constructed after two months of laborious negotiations, the coalition, led by 39-year old Katainen is, in effect, composed of six parties. These include his own National Coalition Party, the Social-Democrat Party, the Left Alliance, the Green League, the Swedish Popular Party and the Christian-Democrats all of which have widely differing political views. The Lapland-based Lapin Kansa greets the new government with caution because of the compromises it has already agreed to during the talks and because...

A group describing itself as a supporter of worldwide Islamic jihad has praised on an internet discussion forum two bomb scares that occurred in Helsinki last week. On Friday morning, police cordoned off an area in the Pasila district after a homemade device was discovered. Early Saturday a petrol bomb was thrown into the yard of a service station in the Tapaninvainio area of the city. The group hoped fresh attacks would succeed. The Finnish Security Police (SUPO) says it is taking the matter seriously but does not wish to speculate at this stage.

[Note: Includes photos.] SNIPPET: "UPDATE: For the benefit of readers newly arrived on this site from Finland. The guy who goes by the name Abu Suleiman al-Nasser and has been calling for attacks in Finland..."

Swedish paleontologists were the first scientists to go to China in the early 20th century, and they carried out a series of expeditions in collaboration with Chinese colleagues. They found large numbers of fossils of dinosaurs and other vertebrates. The material was sent to Sweden and the well-known paleontologist Carl Wiman, who identified and described the fossils. But when the direction of research changed after Wiman's death, 40 cartons were left unopened and forgotten -- until know. In recent weeks, they have been opened by Per Ahlberg, his colleague Martin Kundrát, and Museum Director Jan Ove Ebbestad, who had drawn...

[Credit & Copyright: Catalin Beldea (Stiinta si Tehnica Team)] Explanation: On June 1, the shadow of the New Moon was cast across a land of the midnight Sun in this year's second partial solar eclipse. This picture of the geocentric celestial event above the Arctic Circle was taken near midnight from northern Finland's Kaunispää Hill in Lapland. Of course the region's reindeer were able to watch as both Moon and Sun hugged the northern horizon just above a cloud bank. Also visible from parts of Alaska and Canada, the eclipse began at sunrise in Siberia and northern China at 19:25...

- To be perfectly honest, I'm sick and tired of people of lesser intelligence and historical teaching who fail to understand just why they can go and enjoy a hamburger at a mall without the fear of their family being targeted by V2 rockets. A close reltive of mine fought the troops of Stalin, got shot, recovered and then went back to the front. Another one drove buses from Sweden to Nazi concentration camps and back. I'm no hero. I was born in 1969. But I regard my ancestors of that time heroes. They fought Hitler, Stalin and saved lives....

- Perhaps, but Northern Europe didn't get rich by adopting policies resembling what Obama today is doing to the US.

My ancestors have lived close to Russia since the dawn of Mankind. We have lost territory to them, counqured it back and so forth. In 1809, Sweden had to give up Finland to Russia during the Napoleonic Wars. Later on, Finland became sovereign and stood up very well to the test when challenged by Stalin in the wake of WWII. Tiny Finland in fact even ridiculed Stalin and his Soviet warriors in the legendary Winter War. Most often, Stalin is seen as a brutal yet efficient ruler, but Finland, aided by Sweden, really demonstrated to the World how weak and...

Yesterday, when we posted the full original letter submitted by True Finns leader Timo Soini titled "Why I Won't Support More Bailouts" as presented by the Wall Street Journal in verbatim, we were surprised that the WSJ, traditionally the bastion of various Fed interests (a topic previously dissected in "On The New York Fed's Editorial Influence Over The WSJ"), would allow such a truthy letter to appear on its pages. Today, courtesy of Karl Denninger who pointed out something glaringly disgusting, we were forced to look again at the letter as it now appears on the website of the WSJ....

When I had the honor of leading the True Finn Party to electoral victory in April, we made a solemn promise to oppose the so-called bailouts of euro-zone member states. These bailouts are patently bad for Europe, bad for Finland and bad for the countries that have been forced to accept them. Europe is suffering from the economic gangrene of insolvency—both public and private. And unless we amputate that which cannot be saved, we risk poisoning the whole body. The official wisdom is that Greece, Ireland and Portugal have been hit by a liquidity crisis, so they needed a momentary...

Why I Won't Support More Bailouts Insolvency must be purged from Europe's system and it must be done openly and honestly. When I had the honor of leading the True Finn Party to electoral victory in April, we made a solemn promise to oppose the so-called bailouts of euro-zone member states. These bailouts are patently bad for Europe, bad for Finland and bad for the countries that have been forced to accept them. Europe is suffering from the economic gangrene of insolvency—both public and private. And unless we amputate that which cannot be saved, we risk poisoning the whole body....

When I had the honor of leading the True Finn Party to electoral victory in April, we made a solemn promise to oppose the so-called bailouts of euro-zone member states. These bailouts are patently bad for Europe, bad for Finland and bad for the countries that have been forced to accept them. Europe is suffering from the economic gangrene of insolvency—both public and private. And unless we amputate that which cannot be saved, we risk poisoning the whole body. (Excerpted fom WSJ, full article at link.)

Finland's eurosceptic True Finns party said on Monday it was sticking to its pre-election stance that it cannot support Portugal's bailout package. We cannot with good conscience support Portugal's package nor the creation of permanent bailout mechanism. Neither do we approve the hike of Finland's guarantees in the temporary stability mechanism," the party said on Monday as its formal answer to Jyrki Katainen, the leader of National Coalition party, who is leading the talks to form the country's new coalition government." As has been reported previously, absent Finnish approval, the European rescue is virtually halted in its tracks, and means...

<p>Drudge, Breaking NOW: Obama to show long form birth certificate!</p>

Timo Soini, 48, is standing in front of "Hesburger," a fast food restaurant in the western part of Helsinki. It is shortly before 10 a.m., and he is waiting patiently for the restaurant to finally open its doors. Soini, the chairman of the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset, or "True Finns" party, has been giving interviews for almost three hours. There are more than 250 new text messages on his mobile phone. Now he's hungry. It is the morning after an election that brought what the papers have called a "revolution" to Finland. Almost one in five voters voted for Soini's party...

There is hardly a country on the continent that has been a more steadfast supporter of the European Union than Finland. For more than 20 years, the voters here have returned the same three parties to power in various coalition governments, with few changes in policies. People joked that watching Finnish politics was about as interesting as watching paint dry. Until now. In the general election last weekend, the nationalist and populist True Finn Party emerged from political obscurity after largely campaigning on the evils of the European Union and its bailouts of Greece and Ireland. It claimed 39 seats...

The recent surge of scepticism in Finland toward the eurozone bailout package has gone down badly in Portugal, where many have taken offence. Finland can now scupper the whole package, which is currently being negotiated in Lisbon. Former Portuguese President Mario Soares wrote on Thursday that Finland has become an ‘arch-conservative country’. The True Finns’ charge has affected Finland’s image in many countries. The True Finns are seen as extreme right wing nationalists who are anti-Europe and anti-foreigner.

The head of the euroskeptic True Finns party, confident his opposition to the terms of a Portuguese bailout was gaining traction, said on Wednesday euro zone members might face a new solution to the debt crisis by next month. ... He said the best solution to the European debt crisis would be to require banks to recapitalize and bear more of the liability for debts, as he had suggested during his campaign. ... Under the existing rules, funding for the expected 80 billion euro package would come roughly one-third from the IMF and two-thirds from the EFSF and a smaller...