Fighting in the Winter War between Finland and Russia, during a three month period Simo Häyhä obtained the highest number of confirmed kills in a major war. Aided by superior Finnish mitten technology (warm hands, strong people!),

in temperatures between -40 and -20 degrees Celsius, dressed completely in white camouflage, Häyhä was credited with 505 confirmed kills of Soviet soldiers — 542 if unconfirmed deaths are included. The unofficial Finnish frontline figure from the battlefield of Kollaa places the number of Häyhä’s sniper kills over 800. … Häyhä was also credited with over 200 kills with a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun, bringing his credited kills to at least 705.

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On March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in the jaw during combat by a Russian soldier. The bullet tumbled upon impact and left his head. He was picked up by fellow soldiers who said “half his head was missing.” He regained consciousness on March 13, the day peace was declared.

He went on to live in to his 90s.

When asked in 1998 how he had become such a good shot, he answered, “Practice.” When asked if he regretted killing so many people, he said “I did what I was told to as well as I could.”

Finnish photographer Tiina Itoknen photographs Greenland. (Large.)

Jätkäsaari is the target of a new planned district of Helsinki. Originally several islands, it was reshaped and reattached to the headland by way of land reclamation. They are in the process of relocating the current harbor industry to the eastern side of the city to make room for the construction.

Jätkäsaari is not a suburb, but occupies 100 hectares (about .4 square miles) along the southwestern coast. The plan calls for a dense urban neighborhood with housing for 15,000 that combines “top technology, ecological considerations and the centuries-old traditions of city life”.

Let’s hear it for the pedestrians:

Jätkäsaari will run counter to today’s constant growth in the number of cars; this will be a district designed primarily for pedestrians, with excellent public transport. It will have up to three tram lines, and the Helsinki Metro already runs close to the northern edge of the area. Cycle paths are being planned with great care to serve those living and working in every part of the district. The area will have very few streets allowing vehicular access, and every residential street will be a cul-de-sac. Through traffic will thus be minimal.

All that is old is new again:

The principle of minimizing motorized traffic will also apply to waste management. A process has been designed in which sorted household waste will go straight into a pneumatic conveyance system leading to a central underground collection point. This means that residents will not need to avoid garbage collection trucks navigating the narrow streets.

Read more here.

Is it too late to nominate Fricara Pacchu’s “Stories of the Old” for best record cover of 2007?