Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

In Massachusetts, we've just completed a special election, characterized by tepid candidates and low voter turnout. Politics used to be something special around here, but we've become as dull as Wonder Bread.
Meanwhile, across the pond and to the north, Tuevo Hakkarainen has released a karaoke recording that will be featured at the Gold Cucumber competition in October. (You have to slog through a few translation services to figure out what's going on. Even then, if the resulting phrases are Gold Cucumber, karaoke, and evil foreboding name, you know that you're onto something.
In the case that you have doubts, here's the man himself, singing at an outdoor festival.

And if that wasn't enough, Hakkarainen missed the opening session of Parliament because of gastroenteritis. News reports referred to him as " the Lost Teuvo Hakkarainen."

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This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.

Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

If you refer to blacks as niggers but don't call yourself a racist, then you're not a racist. So said Timo Soini, leader of the True Finns party in a BBC Hard Talk interview. (The video clip does not play on mobile devices. When I find an audio link, I will update this post.)
Soini was defending his party leadership when the interviewer asked about Tuevo Hakkarainen, who had used neekeri-sanan in a speech in Parliament. "Don't use that kind of language," said Soini.
He went on to say that it isn't OK to use that kind of language, even if you're not a racist. "You should be improving in your behavior."

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This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.

The first of December ...

We are well on our way to a repaired home.

You may remember that the hurricane knocked down a tree that knocked down our chimney that broke the ceiling where Sandra sat. The chimney is fixed. A new roof is on. The ceiling will be replaced early next week.

We are, for the time being, nomads in our own home. The living room furniture is scattered to other rooms. We're quite ok, though.

A thin layer of fresh snow may delay some additional repairs on another part of the roof that are planned for today. More snow and ice is in the forecast for the overnight and then a warm-up.

Happy 99th Birthday, Huck.

And, for people of a certain age, here's that song that's in your head today.

Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

It's been a somewhat quiet summer in Finland, so we have just a couple of news items. Both are brought to us by way of Google Translate because neither story reached the English-speaking press.

Previously, Hakkarainen found himself with unwanted press and political attention for racist, sexist, and a bunch of other *ist remarks. When censured by his party and Parliament, he claimed that he'd been drinking but would stop. This summer, however, he found it inconvenient to stay stopped while on holiday. As a result, he missed a couple of government meetings. Another MP urged Hakkarainen to find a way to sobriety. Juha Väätäisen said that Hakkarainen has clearly shown that he has a problem with alcohol and that complete sobriety is the only option.

Maybe it's related, maybe not. Hakkarainen was, well, we don't need to translate this headline and photo:


Hakkarainen claims that the relationship is platonic.

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This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.

Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

[This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the newly elected True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.]

The Helsingin Sanomat  is reporting that our man in Helsinki was out drinking with a biker gang and did not pay a woman for sex. (He did say that he gave the woman €100 "out of pity." The biker gang, Bandidos, are listed as an organized crime organization in Finland.

Here's Mr. Hakkarainen's  contrite explanation (in Finnish) of what happened.

[caption id="attachment_3298" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="Channel 4 also has the story"][/caption]

Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

[This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the newly elected True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.]
It appears that our new public servant fancies the taxis. According to the Helsinki Times,  Mr. Hakkarainen spent more than €2000 in his first two months in office.

Mr. Hakkarainen goes to Helsinki

[This post is one of a series about Teuvo Hakkarainen, the newly elected True Finns Party MP from Viitasaari. For the record, my grandfather was born in Viitasaari.]

Teuvo Hakkarainen
[Photo credit Sami Kero from Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition]

MP Hakkarainen recently urged that refugees who were denied asylum in Finland should be sent on their way. Except that he referred to the asylum seekers, many from Somalia and other parts of Africa, as niggers. “I didn’t know that it was an abusive word. It came naturally to me,” he said. He was surprised that his comments drew a lot of attention. He is from a small town in the country where people speak plainly, he noted, characterizing his choice of words as "a little mistake".
Hakkarainen was chastised by True Finns leader Timo Soini. For our American readers, this is the equivalent of Rep. Michele Bachmann telling someone in the Tea Party to tone it down.