Helvetin Pastori/Pastor of Hell

Translation of a Finnish blog post. Original available here Some of you are probably aware that recently the Finnish Greens voted in favor of an initiative calling for cannabis legalization at their party conference. The vote was close, 183 to 181. As expected, this caused some intense debate, if you can actually call it that. As somebody who was there, I guess I have to say something. Because ultimately, the idea is not as radical as it's portrayed as. The decision means that the Finnish Greens are the first party in parliament to support cannabis legalization. Obviously this is a historic moment, but ultimately we're not alone with this demand. Before the Greens three minor parties have already called for legalization. Or what about political youth groups? The Green Party Youth, which I represented at the convention, have been calling for legalization for years. From other parties in parliament, the youth wings for the National Coalition and the Left Alliance are calling for ...

Translation of my speech at the Finnish Green Party's convention on the 12th of September 2021. Finnish version available here Hong Kong is a former British colony, which in 1997 was handed over to China. Before the handover, the countries agreed on a special arrangement which was meant to secure civil liberties for Hongkongers for at least 50 years. In the Summer of 2020, China betrayed those promises by legislating the so called "National security law". For Hong Kong's democracy movement, effects of the national security law have been catastrophic: since the law was enacted, every single democrat has been kicked out, or pressured to resign from the regional legislature. Around 30 organizations, which includes political parties and trade unions. have shut down operations. At the moment of writing this 146 people have been arrested and 84 people prosecuted under the national security law. Apart from this, the Hong Kong police has issued arrest warrants on at least 10...