Finland's Ovi

By Kim McLaughlin

East Coast fans in the United States have praised Finnish monster hard rock band Lordi for bringing rock and roll back to America, the band said on Friday.Lordi — who conquered their native country before storming to win the Eurovision Song Contest last year — kicked off a U.S. tour last month playing twice at the Bamboozle festival in New Jersey and will return in July and August for 16 gigs with the Ozzfest from Seattle to Indiana.

“It’s funny that American kids are saying ‘thank you for bringing rock and roll back to the U.S,” bandleader Mr. Lordi told Reuters.

“It’s kind of weird because we’ve taken all our influences from the U.S. and now the kids are thanking us for bringing it back.”

Around 100 million Europeans watched the Finnish rockers clinch their country’s first victory in the annual Eurovision Song Contest with “Hard Rock Hallelujah”, in a show characterized by over-the-top, horror-show theatrics and mock-demonic imagery.

In Helsinki to perform at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest a year after their shock victory in Athens, Mr. Lordi said that although the band had only played twice so far in New Jersey, the response from fans has been excellent.

“When you go to a new country you don’t know what to expect. Our die-hard fans were already there and were just there to see us,” he said.

The band, whose members never appear without their elaborate ghoulish skeleton and zombie masks and makeup, say the original inspiration for their gory costumes and lyric music came from the American rock group KISS.

Mr. Lordi, whose real name is Tomi Putaansuu said Lordi hoped to return to the studio next year to record a fourth album possibly for release in December.

Lordi has sold more than 300,000 copies of its album the Arockalypse, which includes “Hard Rock Hallelujah”. It was released in North America ahead of the tour.

“Put simply, we are no longer able to hear God, there are too many different frequencies filling our ears,” Benedict whined to the crowd, which stood quietly shoulder-to-shoulder on a field on the outskirts of Munich, where he served as archbishop from 1977 to 1982.

No, actually people are hearing God more than ever (too much sometimes, such as President Bush). However, as the Vatican looks more like the 700 Club, the Pope is increasingly on the wrong frequency to reach modern humanity, which hungers for more inspiration and less fear-mongering.

Link to this story  Eurovision Contest.

Three more days for Finland hosting the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest and expanding its popularity more and more in the gay communities. Many of the new gay participants in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest have attracted a gay a majority to this event which makes this song contest a gay icon in the world. Also it has attracted more viewers from around the world, not only Europe.

Finland won last years contest, which was pretty unexpected because of it’s “diabolic” style, but thanks to that this year’s Eurovision will be held in Finland. One could think of it as a modern new way of globalisation, which excludes the church’s blessing, since there’s no doubt about it not fitting into Christianities Ideals.

Maybe the winner of this years contest will be a gay naughty lil devil… which we all should look forward to. There has even been a Gay-Guide from Helsingin Sanomat for the Eurovision Song Contest, printed out on two pages and titled “Gay Guide to the City”. This being a great idea, because most of the gay communities are actually NOT from Finland! Either from the Vatican.. so the best would be to give them a little advice on how to get through the city and where to go and not to go.

Tom of Finland is one of the passive participants in this contest and has contributed in a indelible and sexy way to the gay life in this country. They say he has “fuelled” the fantasies of generation of gay men. In any way we will se what happens to this great event and will look forward to the entertainment and excitement it will give to Finns and Foreigners.

The Helsingin Sanomat has even published a Gay History of Finland.. that will probably very soon include the new Icon 2007:  Eurovision Song Contest.

Edit: The Ovi Magazine

By Miranda Hitti

Test Using a Tracer Chemical May Show Which People With Memory Loss Will Get the Disease

A brain scan test may help predict which people with memory loss will develop Alzheimer’s disease, a preliminary study shows.

Memory loss is a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. But most people with memory problems don’t develop Alzheimer’s.

Another hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease is the buildup of plaque in the brain. That plaque, made of amyloid protein, has been found in brain autopsies of Alzheimer’s patients.

The new study, published in Neurology, focuses on people with mild cognitive impairment, defined as memory loss that doesn’t impair daily life and doesn’t qualify for dementia diagnosis.

The study included 13 people in Finland with mild cognitive impairment. They were 70 years old, on average.

For comparison, the study also included 14 older Finnish adults (average age: 65) without memory problems.

Participants got an infusion of a tracer chemical called PIB, which binds to amyloid protein.

The researchers — who included Juha Rinne, MD, PhD, of Finland’s University of Turku — used positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans to watch participants’ brains absorb PIB.

Brain Scan Test
The brains of the patient group with memory loss tended to absorb more PIB than the comparison group without memory loss.

“This pattern of increased PIB in patients with [mild cognitive impairment] resembles what’s seen in Alzheimer’s disease and is suggestive of an early Alzheimer’s disease process,” Rinne says in an American Academy of Neurology news release.

But Rinne’s team didn’t follow the participants over time, so it’s not clear if any of them developed Alzheimer’s disease.

Larger, longer studies are needed to learn whether the PIB test predicts Alzheimer’s disease in people with mild cognitive impairment, note the researchers.

The journal notes that Rinne has a consultancy agreement with a branch of GE Health Care, which makes PIB.

:::
more about mild cognitive impairment

Archbishop Jukka Paarma, the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the country’s biggest, said at a synod in Turku on Monday that a member of the clergy who refused to officiate should seek other posts within the church.

Referring to a group of clergymen who refuse to officiate alongside female colleagues, the primate added that a Christian church could not condone any brand of discrimination or refusals to perform official duties.

Archbishop Paarma said he hoped the clergymen would seek posts that they could carry out with a clear conscience.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ordained its first woman priests in 1988.

STT

Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard), the youth wing of the leading United Russia party, has entered Atlet, a brand of cheese, and Gefilus yoghurts on its blacklist in St Petersburg. 

Both products are made by Finnish dairy group Valio in Estonia.

Representatives of the Young Guard on Monday posted a list of products to be boycotted on the fence of Estonia’s consulate in St Petersburg.

The boycott is a protest against the relocation of a Soviet second world war memorial away from central Tallinn.

Most of the products Valio exports to Russia are made in Estonia.
STT

The annual total of Finns who marry foreigners has risen by 30 per cent in the space of a decade, regional daily Keskisuomalainen reported Friday. 

In 2005, there were 3,000 such marriages whereas in 1996 the corresponding figure was 700 lower.

More Finnish men married foreigners then Finnish women did. In 2005, more than 1,600 marriages were registered between Finnish men and foreign women. The foreign spouses of Finnish men were most likely to hail from Russia, Thailand or Estonia, whereas Finnish women preferred Britons, Americans and Turks.

Number of recipients of Finnish citizenship falls

Last year, 4,450 people permanently resident in Finland were granted Finnish citizenship, down from 5,700 in 2005, Statistics Finland (SF) said in a statement Friday.

A total of 2,550 citizens of European countries became Finnish citizens, 1,140 fewer than in 2005.

The top three groups of recipients according to nationality were Russians (1,400), Somalis (450) and Iraqis (400).

STT

Minister falls short of calling for postponement of EU-Russian summit

On Wednesday, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Ilkka Kanerva (National Coalition Party) sharply condemned recent events at the Estonian Embassy in Moscow, which has been besieged by demonstrators opposed to the Estonian government’s decision to move a Soviet war memorial in the capital Tallinn.
“We roundly condemn these kinds of violations; it is very important that all states should respect the Vienna Convention [on diplomatic relations]”, Kanerva said during a visit to Tallinn.

Commenting on the fact that Sweden’s Ambassador in Moscow had visited the Estonian Embassy in the city, Kanerva emphasised that it is important for all EU member states to act in the same way. “Finland is ready for such a visit. It is not a problem.”
According to unofficial information, member states of the EU have agreed that some will pay such visits to the Estonian Embassy in Moscow, and some will invite Ambassador Marina Kaljurand for a visit.
Finland’s Ambassador in Moscow, Harry Helenius, said that he had not heard of any such agreement. He only returned to Moscow from a visit to Kiev by train on Wednesday morning.

Kaljurand was to have come to a meeting at the Finnish Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday afternoon. Helenius said that Kaljurand had cancelled the planned meeting because of the disruption of a press conference that she had attended earlier in the day. The meeting was broken up by demonstrators protesting the monument issue.
On Tuesday, a number of diplomats from the Swedish and Latvian diplomatic missions, and that from the European Commission, visited the Estonian Embassy in Moscow.
The Estonian Embassy says that the aim of the visit was to let the various diplomats see with their own eyes what the situation is like in front of the besieged embassy compund.
Diplomatic vehicles were able to get through unharmed, as police guarded the street.

In Tallinn, Finnish Foreign Minister Kanerva came out against proposals to postpone a planned summit meeting of the European Union and Russia. Such a move would be a protest against the encirclement of the Estonian Embassy.
“The summit is a good opportunity to continue discussions between Russia and the EU. What is significant is to continue dialogue with Russia”, Kanerva said.

Finnish Ambassador Helenius in Moscow says that it is good to keep the two events separate - events in Tallinn, and the actions keeping diplomats from doing their work.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urbas Paet thanked Foreign Minister Kanerva and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen for their support.

Also commenting on the dispute between Estonia and Russia was Finnish President Tarja Halonen. During a visit to Berlin, Halonen said that she hopes that the Russian leadership shows its capacity to cooperate in the statue dispute.
“Everyone should respect diplomatic rights”, Halonen said, adding that she felt that the events in Moscow have been serious and worrying. Halonen stressed that the ongoing spat is a matter for the entire European Union, and she noted that the task of mediating should fall immediately on the current holder of the rotating EU Presidency, Germany.
In some quarters there has been shock that the EU has remained as passive as it has over the travails of one of its small members. Some foreign affairs experts have characterised the current state of affairs as a Russian test of European solidarity.

Police Clash With Protesters as Estonia Removes Soviet-Era War Memorial

Police clashed with protesters at a Soviet war memorial in Tallinn on Thursday as authorities prepared to remove the bodies, The Associated Press reported.

After largely peaceful rallies throughout the day, a group of protesters tried to break through a line of police officers guarding the grave and the Bronze Soldier statue next to it.

Some protesters said police fired tear gas, but police spokeswoman Tuuli Harson said they used a type of foam for crowd control. “People tried to break through line and attacked police officers,’’ she said.

Dozens of police had formed lines to keep some 600 protesters away from the monument after workers erected a tent over the memorial to shield the excavations from public view.

Estonia’s government intends to relocate the Soviet grave, believed to contain the remains of 14 soldiers, and the statue next to it.

The Baltic state’s ethnic Russians — about a third of the population — see the memorial as a tribute to Red Army soldiers who died fighting Nazi Germany and have vowed to protect it. Many ethnic Estonians, however, say the memorial is a bitter reminder of five decades of Soviet occupation.

Eleven people were detained, Harson said. Some protesters shouted, “Estonia is a disgrace,’’ and one was detained after trying to jump the police barrier. Three others were detained after locking themselves in a car and refusing to obey police orders. Officers smashed the windows of the car.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The dispute over the monument has aggravated tensions between Estonia and Russia, which has repeatedly called on its small neighbor to halt the plans to move the grave.

“We express deep anxiety in connection with the plans of the Estonian government for transferring the buried soldiers of various nationalities who gave their lives for the liberation of Europe from fascism and for tearing down the Soldier-Liberator Memorial in Tallinn,’’ Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov called for economic sanctions against Estonia and rerouting the transit of Russian exports to other countries.

Soviet troops invaded the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — in 1940, but were pushed out by the Nazis a year later. The Red Army retook them in 1944 and occupied them until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Anticipating unrest, Estonia’s border guards this week stepped up security checks on the frontier with Russia and Tallinn’s police force was beefed up with reinforcements from across the country.

The government has said it wants to identify the remains in the war grave and then relocate the entire monument to an undecided location. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said the excavations would last up to two weeks.

Readers of the print paper this Thursday morning may have been surprised at the content of Page B2 in the foreign news section, sandwiched between reports of the disturbances in Moscow.

Readers of the print paper this Thursday morning may have been surprised at the content of Page B2 in the foreign news section, sandwiched between reports of the disturbances in Moscow. 

Readers of the print paper this Thursday morning may have been surprised at the content of Page B2 in the foreign news section, sandwiched between reports of the disturbances in Moscow. 

Readers of the print paper this Thursday morning may have been surprised at the content of Page B2 in the foreign news section, sandwiched between reports of the disturbances in Moscow. 

Along with other newspapers in Finland and around the world, Helsingin Sanomat marked World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd in stark fashion: the newspaper devoted an entire page, pasted up as if it were a normal page of the paper, to stories in which the pictures were more or less blacked out and the headlines, byelines, captions, and texts were replaced by strings of barbed wire.

The page is a sombre reminder of the fragility of press freedom. The advertisement was produced by the Finnish Newspapers Association, and the design took a Silver Award at last year’s Grafia Best of the Year competition.

The image, and another depicting a speech-bubble made of barbed wire, is shown in this link.

By Steven Eke

Journalists will mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May amid growing concern about what campaigners say is a continuing global decline in media freedoms.

Russia is again singled out, as a country whose government is allegedly taking aggressive measures to curb media freedom.In its recently published annual study, the US-based Freedom House suggests that Vladimir Putin’s policies have been a “template” for repressive governments the world over.

It asserts that Russia’s once “lively and probing” press, has been turned into “a toothless sounding board” for official opinion.The Russian government counters such accusations by pointing to the thousands of non-state publications.Generally, Russian officials react extremely badly to suggestions that their country ranks alongside Burma, Cuba and North Korea, for media freedom.

They insist that there is a genuine pluralism of opinion - in the printed media, at least.However, television remains the predominant source of information for the majority of Russians. And it does not allow opposition voices to be heard.

Many Russia-watchers have followed the change of tone and content of state television over recent years.

Shift to ‘positive’ news

Increasingly, hard-hitting investigative journalism has been replaced by Soviet-style “razoblacheniya” - or exposes. They often look crude and carry unsubstantiated allegations.

In addition, any form of satire aimed at the president or his closest associates seems to be totally forbidden.Equally, there is an obvious shift in favour of “positive” news, presenting an optimistic picture of Russian life, especially when compared to events in the neighbouring countries, which are often portrayed as unstable.The governments of some of those countries - especially Ukraine, Georgia, and, most recently, Estonia - complain that Russian state television sometimes broadcasts allegations that are simply untrue, and which exacerbate xenophobic sentiments.

Two weeks ago, Russian police and the FSB (internal security service) raided the offices of Educated Media Foundation (EMF), the main partner of the California-based InterNews Network.Investigators have brought criminal charges against the organisation’s director, Manana Aslamazyan, who had failed to declare 9,500 euros on a customs form.Lawyers say she acknowledges her error, but insist that it should in no way serve as a justification for the raid on, and subsequent closure of, EMF.Foreign cash
In an unprecedented response, nearly 2,000 Russian journalists, including many household names, have signed an open letter deploring the authorities’ action as “another step infringing on the civil rights enshrined in the Russian Constitution”.

The letter called on President Putin to intervene personally, to prevent the “destruction” of an organisation it described as producing “the pride of Russian television”.

There seems to be little realistic chance of that happening. In his recent - and probably final - address to parliament, the Russian leader warned of “ever-increasing flows of cash from abroad”, allegedly being used to finance opposition groups.

Media freedom groups warn that the Russian government may soon take measures to regulate the internet. Access is growing very quickly in Russia, there are thousands of ISPs, and content is not, so far, controlled by the government.

Last month, President Putin signed a decree establishing a new body to supervise the mass media and internet content. Officials insist it will be in charge of licensing, rather than regulating, what’s available.

But Russia’s parliament - which critics say rubber-stamps President Putin’s proposals - is considering ways of clamping down on “extremism” on the internet.

And in Russia, the concept of “extremism” has been widened significantly, beyond the initial intention of tackling violent racists and neo-Nazis. Increasingly, the mainstream opposition finds itself branded “extremist”.

Contract-style murders

Some of Russia’s leading online journalists say the government will not succeed in controlling the internet, if that is its intention. They point to the failure of similar measures abroad, especially in China and Turkey.

To be fair, there are newspapers in Russia - Novaya Gazeta, and Kommersant, among others - that carry considered, informed, balanced writing. Their readerships are not large - perhaps in the tens of thousands.

But they do put Russia in a different league than North Korea or Turkmenistan.

This said, Russian liberals warn that, in the current atmosphere, critical journalists are increasingly likely to be targeted for physical retribution.

Russia is acknowledged to be a dangerous place to be a journalist, with very few of the contract-style murders of journalists in recent years resulting in a conviction.

Who or what is Ovi?

Ovi is my Nickname. Oliver is my Name. It was back then when I was a child and just learning how to pronounce words, when I called myself Ovi for the first time. My friends, my family members and people that are close to me, call me Ovi.

Now almost a year ago I met some people from Finland over the internet that have been working on a website called The Ovi for Finland. Since I already had my website www.oviwebportal.com offering web development services, I thought I could get together with the Ovi website in Finland and work together, since we had one thing in common: Ovi.

I created an example of a website which they agreed to use. Obviously they didn’t really want to give up the control over their site and wanted a content managment sistem. One of those sites that publish artcles with one click. Dynamic websites we call this. But of course they had no money and I have always had a hand for good people, so I decided to at least create them a cool website for free, even if it wasn’t a CMS.

“You get what you pay” some would say. And I really am sorry that after one year of work they haven’t been able to show any kind of apreciation. My advices and tips I gave them were rejected indirectly by just ignoring them and continuing to send me stuff to publish. Every week I had to edit their mp3 files from a radio show called “the bad boys” in Finland and when I really started to get busy it seemed as if they were actually blaming me for not “updating” the forum or things like that that THEY could have done or asked their server administrator, since it seems they did have money for that, no?

“My daughter is very very ill” one of them told me. He had just became a father as his friend and somehow I had to convince myself again to help them out. Ok, Oliver I said to myself… they have been good people and I wont loose anymore than I already have, no? So I decided to create a content managment sistem which is a real masterpiece since websites like www.BanderasNews.com have agreed to use from me.

BUT. The day came where I got kicked out. Without notice, they had created already a website with a contentmanagment sistem. Of course now they didn’t need me anymore. First they ILLEGALLY deleted all my contents from the playarta.com server. Blog and Forum. Of course I had a backup and restored everything since it was my blog, my server, my work. But then they went even more into damaging me. They really thought the DMCA would “punish” me for using their material. Of course what the DMCA didn’t know was that in the first place: They lied. They said that I had removed their names and placed mine instead!

The materials which they had written, were still on my servers of course, since everything went so quick that I wasn’t even notifyed by my hosting company about the issue. Of course they appologized after and still said that they had contacted me, but strangley I never heard from them.

Anyways, as far they want to go, I wont stop them. And actually I know where my legal limit is and where not. Just because a silly lie to DMCA caused my servers to shut down for a while, doesn’t mean anything. IN FACT IF they don’t fill out a lawsuit the DMCA says I have the right as my hosting company to RESTORE all the content, since it seems the claim was not justifyed.

What happened? Did they run out of money? Are they soooo busy with their soooo great magazine that they forgot they actually have to sue me? What’s wrong boyz???

Anyways. IF THIS WEBSITE is taken from public AGAIN. Without notice. Without REAL evidence and facts. I WILL SUE YOU BACK and every company involved in this issue. Yes I do not see the DMCA as a friend, since they have acted without really prooving their point.

Besides. Yes I will publish all this articles in Newspapers and will make sure that anyone who searches the TRUTH about Thanos Kalamidas, Asa Butcher or anyone involved in this ridiculous “Dogfight” like the DMCA, etc. will get to know how sad these people are spending their time in looking for something that is not there just to “bother” me a bit.

Please. You are not more than sand particles in my shoe. If you can’t sue me STOP molesting me with your silly “threats”.

Oh and Thanos… you have a Family to worry about, no? Isn’t your daughter very very sick? Or is it that she is a LIE too?

PS: Any comments send me mail to: info@theovimagazine.com or use my contact formular @ http://www.oviwebportal.com/ovi-contact/

THX

Cosmic Dance
Mexican culture is just being re-discovered. In history we have traced happenings by collecting the left overs and by analyzing the symbols and objects we find. In many cases we are unable to determine a lot of things, in fact the most part of things that made and defined that culture.

But Mexico has survivors. Not all of the Mayan and Aztec tribes have vanished. Today we can not only tell this by looking at the actual indigenous races, but also by their language and life style. Languages, habits and even dances change with the time. But without analyzing the original native people from Mexico, we won’t be able to determine more than what we have found in dead objects, like the pyramids, artefacts and paintings.

It should not be easy to reconstruct the past, but much easier than trying to find answers to a tribe where nothing is left. Actual indigenous tribes are in total isolation from our civilization and continue their way of life. Some people analyze them for historical reasons, some others just because of interest and some, like Dan Arabel, study them to spread and reconstruct ancient rituals.

D. Arabel has started with her interest for mexican culture since she was a little girl. She was born in Mexico and has learned a lot of her countries past which she intends to use for her passion: Dance.

She has graduated in the Center of the Choreography Research of Fine Arts (CICO-INBA) and has participated in a range of International Art Festivals, creating ancestral dances, focusing in following the movements of some representative animals and some Maya codes in motion.

“My life’s roots are in the ancient and continuous Cosmo-Vision, that remind me of: the consciousness of my perpetual existence, of all that surrounds me, of the Earth, cosmos and their creations, of the natural elements and certainly…of the whole Cosmic Universe.”

Visit the COSMIC DANCE website, for more information on her services as a cosmic dancer.

Yes, we have patriotic iguanas
celebrating Mexico’s independence day
on September 15

I see no reason to ignore the fact that The Ovi from Thanos Kalamidas and Asa Butcher is runing now without me and I would not like to “confuse” people about it. So if you found this site by looking for the english finnish online magazine of ovi please go to www.theovi.com/

Anyways, TheOviMagazine.com will be out soon, and this ovi blog and the ovi forum will change totally, in fact they will disappear and be replaced with a total new project. So enjoy the few weeks left of it!

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes • ovi © 2006 oviwebportal.com All rights reserved

All IMAGES are copyright material of oviwebportal.com

In case somebody claims to have the right of images or text, we ask for notification, since we cannot control everything our users write on the Ovi Blog / Ovi Forum. Since we have no longer anything to do with OVIMAGAZINE.com and their respective owners we have deleted all images and content that might be of their copyright. You will find almost that ALL images used right now on ovimagazine.com were edited/modified by Oliver H. and should not be used without permision. YOU WON’T FIND ANY COPYRIGHT INFRIGMENT REGARDING OVIMAGAZINE.COM or Thanos Kalamidas or Asa Butcher here.If we have not had the time to react as quickly as Thanos and Asa did, we apologize; we will bring the contents back online as soon this is cleared. In any case we will delete all Ovi Magazine images and leave always a reference to the articles published under Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.