Finland Santa - Photo

We got a visit by Santa this afternoon.

Santa was very good and wise. He also brought a huge bag a presents for everyone.

The kids were used to Santa showing up after they go to bed. In Finland Santa normally drops off gifts sometime during Christmas Eve and for a lucky few even makes an appearance.

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Merry Christmas! - The Finnish Christmas Tree (Photo)

A Merry Christmas to All from Finland!

Our Finnish Christmas Tree.

Had a small debate about the tree in that my in-laws decided that we were not going to have a tree as there was no room for one. I objected and the end result is the tree in the photo above. Now that my wife's brother and sisters are here, they have thanked me for insisting that we have a tree. We actually went out last night to the forest by the church to find it. Nicely enough it was already cut down. Even better, we can return it when we take it down;)

Little Charlie-Brownish don't you think???

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Finland - Christmas Piparkakku/ginger Cookies (with Blue cheese)

One of the 'treats' available during Christmas season in Finland is ginger cookies.

A couple years back someone convinced all of Finland that it was a good idea to put blue cheese on the cookie. I have tried it and it is OK. I had pointed out to my Finnish in-laws that you could put anything on these ginger cookies and they would still taste OK. To drive my point home, I put some 'egg butter' (chopped boiled egg mixed with butter) and I have to say that it tastes better than using blue cheese. And this is coming from a person who hates boiled egg!

I think this year I will try salmon paste.

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Ice Cold Finland - Photo

Here is a photo of one of the windows on my Father-in-Laws porch.

The photo was taken during the 30 minutes that the sun was out...
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ClimateGate: CRU Scientists Did Destroy Data. Their defense is pure BS

Many of the ClimateGate issues have to deal with the raw data used by the scientists as proof that the world is warming. This is an issue because the scientists have taken raw weather readings and made corrections to this data which seem to alter the trend of the readings. Watts Up With That? has been documenting this scandal/fraud, with the Darwin weather readings a perfect example of how other scientists adjustments resulted in a warming trend where none was observed before.

(Analysis from Watts Up With That?)

In the above example it is possible to analyze what kind of corrections have been made as both the raw data and the adjusted data were available. Thanks to the availability of the raw data, other researchers discovered that the corrections applied to the data grew over time, effectively creating evidence of global warming where there was none before. Even more odd, is that the corrections were made to the newer data rather than older readings, as I would expect the more-recent readings to be more accurate/compatible with readings taken in the present. (Maybe there is a reason for this that I am not aware of, so it is posted as mere comment)

Unfortunately, at the moment, it is not possible to create similar graphs for other weather station readings being used to 'prove' Global Warming because the raw data from the UK's Climate Research Unit is not available because the scientists destroyed their raw data.

Of course they deny destroying the raw data.

CRU scientist: "We haven't destroyed anything. The data is still there." According to an October 14 Greenwire article, Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit, said, "We haven't destroyed anything. The data is still there -- you can still get these stations from the [NOAA] National Climatic Data Center." The article said that Jones' statement came after the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) "blasted the research unit for the 'suspicious destruction of its original data.' " The article further noted that Jones "said that the vast majority of the station data was not altered at all" and that "[t]he research unit has deleted less than 5 percent of its original station data because the stations had several discontinuities or were affected by urbanization trends, Jones said." - MediaMatters

Simply put, this is a BS answer. Just because the data still exists 'somewhere' does not mean that they did not destroy the data. After all, how is anyone going to be able to check their work if there is no confirmed starting point? How can anyone be sure that Phil Jones or anyone in his team started with raw data and not data already adjusted by the source? How can anyone be sure that they used the right data and not another set of data by mistake? We can't. At least not without working backwards; taking the adjusted data and undoing the corrections made to get back to the original numbers. This of course would require the record of adjustments made. However, it does not seem likely that we are going to get access to this information. That is very convenient given that there are two unknowns, the raw data and the corrections, which then prevents any analysis of the corrected data. And when you are talking about a change of only 1 degree, it becomes very easy for a scientist to adjust the data to back up his work, in this case a planet that is warming. (They then of course simply blame humans as the cause of rising temperatures)

Worse, given that there is no official starting point, any attempt to deconstruct their work can simply be met with the response that they did it wrong. Also, by being the first ones, their work, no matter how flawed, becomes the version that has to be disproven by others, even though they themselves cannot possibly prove their work without the raw data that they started with.

To Summarize:

• The claim is that the CRU did not destroy data in that the data exists elsewhere. This is not accurate for two reasons.

1. We need to see the base readings in order to better understand the adjustments made
2. We need to be able to confirm that the source data they are using matches the data from the source itself.

• Now, it should be able to work backwards to get the source data by undoing the corrections that they made. However, there has been no mention of releasing that information. Without that information and without the source data that we started with their work cannot be accurately checked.
• So, there are two pieces of data that is needed in addition to their adjusted numbers

1. - Source numbers
2. - Corrections

• Scientists can do with one of the two to get the other, but with both ‘missing’ it is impossible as there are two variables. Plus, the suggestion that they could destroy the source data because it exists elsewhere is bogus. That data is the starting point of their analysis. They should have it. Period.
• In some respects the data on the corrections made are more important than the raw data given that this is where they would introduce their bias if they wanted to.
  

There are many bigger issues but that does not mean that the scientists should get a free pass in this area. Not for anything, but this 'trivial' issue makes the job of checking their work that much more difficult, if not impossible.

That said, if the scientists cannot release the raw data that they started with, then they should release the adjusted numbers as well as the information on the corrections made to get to these numbers used for their study. This is especially important given that there are questions concerning the types of corrections made in addition to issues about the raw data itself.

After all, in something this important, they should have to 'show their work' just like the rest of us.

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Obama's $100 Billion Lie (Attacking Tax Havens)

Democrats, Including President Obama, have been claiming that the US loses about $100 Billion in tax revenue due to tax havens each year:

Levin, Coleman, Obama Introduce Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act (S. 681)

Bill targets $100 billion in lost tax revenue each year from offshore tax dodges

WASHINGTON – Today, citing $100 billion in revenue drained from the U.S. Treasury at the expense of honest, hardworking American families who pay their fair share, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., introduced comprehensive legislation to stop offshore tax haven and tax shelter abuses.

For more than four years, Levin and Coleman, the Chairman and senior Republican of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, have led an in-depth Subcommittee investigation into offshore tax havens, abusive tax shelters, and the professionals who design, market, and implement these tax dodges. Experts have estimated that the total loss to the Treasury from offshore tax evasion alone approaches $100 billion per year, including $40 to $70 billion from individuals and another $30 billion from corporations engaging in offshore tax evasion. Abusive tax shelters add tens of billions of dollars more. - US Senate

There is just a small problem. The actions that the President and Senator Levin are planning will do little to collect the money lost to tax havens. Interestingly enough, the Government itself is the one stating so:

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Politicians who like higher taxes would like to shut down so-called tax havens so they can set up an "OPEC for politicians" and implement higher tax rates. Yet since all the evidence shows that low-tax jurisdictions are very beneficial for the global economy, the politicians often resort to dishonest demagoguery. This educational video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity debunks President Obama's two most common smears against tax havens. www.freedomandprosperity.org - YouTube

Link

Here is the section in the Treasury document noting how much the Government would recover by implementing legislation to stop tax abuse.

Cracking Down on the Abuse of Tax Havens by Individuals: Currently, wealthy Americans can evade paying taxes by hiding their money in offshore accounts with little fear that either the financial institution or the country that houses their money will report them to the IRS. In addition to initiatives taken within the G-20 to impose sanctions on countries judged by their peers not to be adequately implementing information exchange standards, the Obama Administration proposes a comprehensive package of disclosure and enforcement measures to make it more difficult for financial institutions and wealthy individuals to evade taxes. The Administration conservatively estimates this package would raise $8.7 billion over 10 years by: (click the link for the measures) - Leveling the Playing Field: Curbing Tax Havens and Removing Tax Incentives for Shifting Jobs Overseas, US Treasury (TG-119)

Given this information, then either the President's $100 Billion figure is completely wrong or the measures that they want to put in force are a complete waste of time because they are ineffective given the amount of the $100 billion they think they can recover.

Worse, it could be that they eliminate close to $100 Billion in yearly economic activity in order to collect $870 million a year in taxes. This would simply be a joke, other than the economic damage it will probably unleash in it's wake if ever passed into law. One question I have is how many more jobs do they plan to kill off with this little jewel of legislative vindictiveness.

And you can be that they plan to do nothing other than to buy votes with whatever money they do manage to collect!

More:
IRS Commissioner Exposes Senator Levin's $100 Billion Lie

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The Democrats Horrible 'Health Insurance' - 'Car Insurance' Analogy

It seems that the Democrats are going to manage to force most of us to pay for health care for the rest. So I guess we are all going to learn the hard way what a bad plan they have come up with.

One argument Democrats have used to back up a Government requirement for citizens to have health care insurance is to compare it to rules that require all automobile drivers to have car insurance.

“What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don't, you're subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it's affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there's a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are -- are burdened by because of the fact that people don't have health insurance, you know, there's nothing wrong with a penalty.” - ABC

I find this analogy not only bad but worse, also very misleading.

After all, it is not a requirement that every person in America buy insurance but instead that all cars driving on the road have insurance.

Now if the Government wanted to lower car insurance rates, then requiring everyone in the US to have car insurance would be one way to do it. That would add millions of new premium payers. Given that almost none of them would ever collect on this insurance, given that they do not have cars, it would be little more than a tax on those who do not require the insurance now.

Also, another reason why comparing their push for mandatory health care insurance to auto insurance is a bad idea for them is because car insurance is actually based on risk, something the Democrats are loath to permit when it comes to health insurance.

After all, a person's car insurance rates depend on many factors, including:

• The type of coverage desired
• Where you get your insurance. You can buy car insurance across state lines (Mine comes from Texas. I live in VA)
• The type of car you drive
• Your age
• The age of others in the house
• Your driving record
• The driving record of others in the house

Basically, what you way for insurance is calculated against the risk the insurance company thinks you are. There is the one issue that does generate lots of complaints, and that is the penalty for young drivers both in general as well as when there is a young driver in the house.

One issue that has always bothered me about car insurance is that in some states where I have lived I was required to purchase as part of the policy, uninsured insurance. (So much for the requirement to have insurance, right?)

One would think that health insurance rates would be based on a person's:

• Present health and health history
• Physical condition (Overweight, obese)
• Type of coverage that they are looking for (All-inclusive, catastrophic only, or anywhere in between.)
  
• Lifestyle choices (Smoking, excessive drinking, drug abuse)

And if they really want to connect health care to how the Government handles car registrations, then all you need do is look to New York State, which is using their role in car registrations as a way to get additional revenue from it's residents by forcing them to buy new license plates:

ALBANY — New York drivers will start paying for new license plates next year — whether they want to or not.

Beginning in April, car and tractor-trailer owners alike will have to shell out $25 for spruced-up license plates, by dictate of state leaders coming up with new ways to wring out revenue as an unprecedented budget shortfall looms.

The new plates, featuring a bold new gold hue and a highly reflective surface, will make the roads safer and “reflect New York’s force and its resilience,” according to the state’s commissioner of motor vehicles.

They will also generate $260 million in revenue and create more than 100 jobs — at the maximum security prison where inmates make the plates for up to 42 cents an hour. - New York Times

The blow-back in this case was so bad that the Governor has admitted that this action is little more than an asset grab from State citizens.

ALBANY — So much for that reflectivity argument.

Gov. David Paterson said Tuesday that the controversial new $25 fee on New York license plates was nothing more than a "revenue grab" and drivers do not need new license plates.

The state had hoped to bring in $129 million in new revenue by forcing drivers to get new plates when their vehicles' registrations expire. Paterson said the state moved up the date by a year to require the new license plates in order to raise revenue. - Democrat and Chronicle

This is how Government does motor vehicle registrations. Imagine the games that they are going to play if/when they get control of health care!

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Sucks to be a Finn - Car Rentals

This post was originally written prior to a previous trip to Finland, and quickly forgotten. However, it remains relevant to today, to I have taken the opportunity of my current trip to post this:

May, 2008: We are just in the final planning stages of taking a three week vacation to Finland. The first week we are spending in a rental apartment in Helsinki. the last two weeks we will by by my in-laws near Tampere, about 45 minutes from the city, somewhere in the forest. So, we are going to have a rental car. As any Finn will tell you, renting a car in Finland is expensive. Here are some prices for a two-week rental, the prices being for persons resident in the US:

Now look at how much the price jumps for people resident (living) in Finland:

The price for Finish residents quoted in Euros. At a recent exchange rate of 1.56 dollars to the Euro, the rental for the Opel Vectra (The size we reserved) comes out at $3,943. That's over three times the rental fee for the very same car, just because your living in Finland. Hell, that is enough to go and buy your own used car.

At least it makes me feel better paying the $500 a week for my rental.

Now this preference is not exactly one-sided. Seems that Finns vacationing in the US also benefit from a slight discount for most car rentals over the fees charged to US residents unless they want a 'cool car'

US Resident - 2 Week rental from JFK Airport:


Finnish Resident - 2 Week rental from JFK Airport:

So, pay attention when the car rental company asks about residency. It matters!

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The last ten kilometers to Grandpa's House, in Finland - Video

Here is a short video of taken during the last ten kilometers on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Finland.

The roads at this point were not so bad, other than being covered in ice. The kids, were being loud.... Nice to say that we made it in one piece and all in good moods to boot!

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Reindeer Steak - Finnish Seafood Restaurant Meri Makasiini

So for our stay in Helsinki, we had one very nice celebration lunch/meal at the Finnish Seafood Restaurant Meri Makasiini. However this time instead of choosing a seafood dish, I took the Reindeer Steak.

The reindeer was great. Very tasty. Not only that, but all four of us managed to find something good on the menu. This being the second time we managed that. So if you are in Finland and looking for a good place to eat, this is one place to go.

Previous:
Finnish Seafood Restaurant Meri Makasiini

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Helsinki - Cafe Ship KATHRINA

On our first day in Helsinki, we made a trip to the harbor to go have a snack in the sailing ship KATHRINA which is docked downtown most winters where they run a cafe while the ship is locked in the ice. It was a favorite place for me to go have a coffee when living here. One winter they had art for sale and I purchased a nice painting.

From the ship's website:

The history of m/aux Kathrina

M/aux Kathrina was built in 1947-1949 at Sarfsalö, Pernaja, on the east coast of Helsinki. Albin Gustafsson, a Porvoo shipbuilder, was master builder and Walter Forsell from Sarfsalö foreman.

The Kathrina was launched in the spring of 1949. She is an exceptionally wellbuilt three-masted schooner with a length of 31.75 m, breadth 7.34 m, and draught ca. 2.5 m.

With a crew of three to four men, Arne Lindberg, the Kathrina’s first master sailed the Baltic between Finland, Sweden and Denmark carrying cargo such as coffee, bicycles, steel, coal, grain, timber and lime. In 1953-1971 the Kathrina freighted about 300 000 tons of sand for the Finnish building industry.

In the early 1970s the Kathrina was sold to Richard Thompson Coon, who begun a lengthy and thorough restoration intended to transform the freighter into a passenger ship. The work originally took place in Sarfsalö, but was continued at the wharfs of Sköldvik in Porvoo and Ruoholahti in Helsinki, and finally in dry dock at Suomenlinna.

In 1993 the Kathrina was bought by Juha Stillman, who recommenced restoration following a standstill of some years. In 1994 Johanna Panelius purchased the ship, and restoration at Suomenlinna continued at a pace determined by limited means. The ship was equipped with a new deck, masts, booms, after cabin, tanks, engines, and electrical and water installations. The restoration was presented in some radio and TV programs.

Today the fifty-year-old Kathrina is registered as a passenger ship. During the sailing season she is used mainly for chartered tours,both for companys and private persons.During winterseason the kathrina serves as a café and luncheon restaurant, and can also be rented for private parties and sauna evenings. - m/aux KATHRINA

So if you are around it is worth going and getting coffee, a snack or even lunch onboard the ship.

Also downtown was a nice Christmas market where lots of Finnish-made gifts could be found. They must have started this in the last couple years as this was not here back when I was living in the city.

Yes, Helsinki is covered in snow and yes, the harbor is icing over. So far this winter there are no signs of global warming here. Guess we have the idiots in Copenhagen to thank for this freezing weather.

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Helsinki City Rental Apartment - Photos

Here are some photos of our rental apartment for this week. We lucked out and found something right downtown. As a bonus, the apartment is much larger than the one we had last time.

(Living Room)

(Bedroom)

(Kitchen)

(The view)

That is the national museum out the window. Yes, I am checking Instapundit to see what I have been missing while traveling the last day.

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