Finland's Ovi

The Finnish government has not instituted an immediate ban on outdoor poultry, but has decided to move up a deadline for the implementation of bird flu prevention measures following confirmed cases of the virus on the Baltic Sea.

The original plan called for poultry to be kept indoors during the main spring migration period, from mid-March to the end of May. A Ministry working group now says that this will be a requirement at the beginning of March.

If you have a spare room, then please notify your nearest official and you can keep a turkey, goose or chicken from roaming the streets of Finland.

nb. Please don’t furnish beds with feather pillows.

It was reassuring to hear that Members of the European Parliament have condemned the violent protests in Europe following the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. They expressed solidarity with Denmark, saying an attack on one EU country was an attack on all.

MEPs strongly rejected the idea that a clash of civilisations was at the root of the uproar, but called for dialogue. Several speakers in the debate also called for press to exercise its freedom with responsibility.

Speaking on behalf of the main centre-left group, Danish MEP Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said Europe had learned the values of peaceful co-existence the hard way. “We say no to those who claim it is us against them,” he said. But he criticised Islamic extremists who had, he said, used the cartoons to create new myths and inflame violence.

Solidarity, but calling for dialogue. Not solidarity and inciting violence. Maybe civilisation can teach religion a few lessons…

A Serbian funeral director is facing legal action after organising the burial of a man who was still alive.

Mourners realised a mistake had been made when the dead man rang his daughter on her cellphone during the funeral service to ask why no one had been to visit him for a few days.

Lucky he didn’t just leave a message, although why did she have her phone switched on in the first place? At least it isn’t as bizaare as Finns taking photos at funerals.

Is this an Olympic medal or a cd?

I think it looks like a RW-CD, so they can format it and rewrite it with a new …trophy!

These winter Olympics look more and more like a big cold …joke!

Sports officials in Taiwan made it clear yesterday that the 2008 Olympic torch relay cannot come to the island unless the torch first passes through a third nation.
Beijing will host the next Summer Games and it has got approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to start negotiating the route for the torch, bringing China closer to involving political rival Taiwan. During a presentation to IOC members in Turin, Italy Thursday, Beijing organizing committee chief Liu Qi said the proposed torch route covers 28 foreign cities and 70 in China.

There’s nothing like seeing sport bring two nations closer…and this is nothing like it.

Michael Jackson has been cut off and kicked out by Prince Abdullah, son of the King of Bahrain. He is no longer funding Jackson, his kids and nanny in an extended stay in Bahrain.

The first clue that this was the case was Jackson’s traveling last week on commercial flights in business class. There was no more private plane. “Jackson is essentially bouncing around the United Arab Emirates looking for handouts,” sources say.

Jackson’s $270 million worth of loans owned by Fortress Investments are due on Feb. 20. Fortress had given Jackson a 60-day extension, which began on Dec. 20, to resolve his problems with it, but nothing’s happened. Now Fortress will either foreclose on Feb. 20 or make a deal with Sony Music.

Come on Michael, it is as plain as the nose on your face…oh wait.

The erotic retailer Ann Summers has found itself on the front line of Islamic protest after Muslim leaders discovered that their new range includes a blow-up doll called “Mustafa Shag”.

Unfortunately, Mustafa was one of the names given to the Prophet Mohamed. Bestowing it upon, in the words of its catalogue, “an inflatable escort for your hen-night adventures” is considered highly offensive.

“We don’t want to offend, but this feels like political correctness gone mad,” an Ann Summers’ spokesman said. “If anyone has a better name for a blow-up doll, please let us know.”

Our suggestions are: Carnal Christ, Virginal Vishnu, Blue Buddha, Gimme Guru or Juiced-up Jehovah…ok, we’ll stick to ovi, you can’t go wrong there.

A group of villagers in northern Kerala have become the centre of a controversial battle between environmentalists and a major cashew nut plantation.

The villagers blame pesticides used by the plantation for causing widespread physical and mental illness in hundreds of children and adults. But pesticide manufacturers say there is no scientific basis to the claims.They are fighting for the right to carry on using the chemicals.

Abinash is 12 but has the speech of a three year old. His big achievement this year was learning to crawl. He was born with cerebral palsy - just one in a whole generation of children in this small village of Padre with acute mental or physical problems.

(BBC 08/03/2002)

An international team of scientists says it has found a “lost world” in the Indonesian jungle that is home to dozens of new animal and plant species. “It’s as close to the Garden of Eden as you’re going to find on Earth,” said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the group.

In their song The Last Resort, The Eagles sang: You call someplace paradise, Kiss it goodbye.

Pucker up Indonesia!

BTW - ‘Adam & Eve’ means ‘believe’ in cockney rhyming slang.

A UK mum appeared on national TV to explain why she still breastfeeds her daughter who is nearly eight – and why she gave her older daughter breast milk as a ninth birthday present.

What is it with the world wanting to push those taboos further and further towards the twisted, ‘I need a shrink’, boundaries.

No kid needs a milk moustache from suckling upon their mother’s aged niplet.

Anyway, we shall continue to monitor the story in order to keep abreast (ahem) of the situation.

Check out ovi on Ovi…

Anger over the cartoons [and subsequent reprinting of said cartoons] has reached a fever pitch.

Just two days ago an unidentified man became so upset over the unfair stereotypes in the strip that he attempted to blow up the newspaper’s offices. In a note attached to the improvised explosive device, he explained the reasoning behind his desperate act: “This will teach you people to to automatically assume that Muslims are terrorists- oh, wait.”
What can I say to that?

An officer charged with enforcing Islamic Shariah law canes a woman in front of a mosque in Banda Aceh Indonesia, on January 27th. The woman was punished for allegedly living with her boyfriend.

When will they grow up? Cowardly hiding their faces… what a disgusting scene… thank god they didn’t stone her to death! Probably because the camera guy who took this foto was presence!

I think this cartoon expresses exactly what i think about the whole issue and how it turned with all the apologies!!!

The cartoon was made by Arne Sorensen and I think is brilliant!!!

I’m speechless and scared. Helsinki? Most of the people I know can not even pronounce the name correctly. When my friends visited me last summer, were shocked of the prices.

But then as I read somewhere, these surveys cover from shopping to baby-sitting and are for companies that have employees and executives living with their families abroad. Otherwise you can find your way in OVI and have a reasonable life.

“Protests have spread across the Muslim world over the publication in Europe of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.”

So the whole thing with the cartoon continues and how the other side shows the spirit of respect making a democratic argument? Burning flags, cover faces and shooting with machine guns to the EU buildings! That gives a real lesson over respect to symbols.

Doesn’t the image of men with machine guns, covered faces and promising revenge fills you with terror? And all that for a cartoon? I suppose that’s the idea of freedom of speech, with a machine gun on your head!!! How can you explain to these people that they just done more damage to their cause than any demonstration or suicide killer. And please don’t tell me any more about respect, the pictures of people walking over flags, burning symbols and threaten lives has nothing to do with respect.