On Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:37:10 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2008-01-13 07:41:02 +0000, Edward W. Thompson
said:

On 11 Jan 2008 18:52:16 GMT, Huge wrote:

On 2008-01-10, Andy Hall wrote:
On 2008-01-10 13:18:11 +0000, The Natural Philosopher said:

I guess a counyty that is so depserately cold and dull, learns to
regard waste of energy in laughing and smiling, to be a Mortal Sin. I
hear the Finns are even worse.


Different entirely. Quite quiet. They describe themselves as shy
and humble, which is a reasonable stereotype. There is not a lot of
body language at all, but once one has passed the initial shyness, are
very friendly and genuinely so.

Depends how ****ed they are. Most of the Finns I met in Helsinki were paralytic
for a substantial part of the time.

It's that sort of remark that gives the 'British' the reputation they
have. I'm sure you will claim that you were trying to be amusing.
Just try a litle harder you ignorant sob!

Have you ever actually been to any of the Nordic countries? There
is quite an element of truth in the degree of alcohol use and abuse;
predominantly because of the state operated booze shops in Norway,
Sweden and Finland. Originally there was a Church ethic behind this,
but of course it has become now a convenient way to get extra tax
revenue. There is a slight advantage in Sweden at least, where the
buying power of Systembolaget does lead to good availability of quality
French and other wines.

Even so, the abuse of alcohol in Finland is a serious problem, to the
point that there are paramedic patrols in all of the major towns during
the winter months picking up people on the streets who would otherwise
die of hypothermia in temperatures well below -20 degrees. I have
seen people being picked up in Helsinki, Tampere and other cities on
several occasions and we are not talking about down and outs in shop
doorways, but people in suits.

Having said that, Russia has a far more serious problem with this.

That may be the case but it does not excuse the content of the
original post and a follow up which contained insulting generalities
which are blatantly false and are designed to offend.

You can visit most 'western' countries and see yobish and drunken
behaviour, the UK comes to mind, but the majority of citizens do not
behave that way. To extrapolate the behaviour of the few to the
nation is simply absurd. Further, the incidence of drunken behaviour
is generally found in city centres where most visitors tend to
frequent. To extend this behaviour to the majority of inhabitants
makes no sense.

Having returned to the UK after living overseas for 30 years I am
appalled at what I perceive as the decline in standards of behaviour
In my more rational moments I recognize that this decline relates to a
small minority. Nevertheless, there is no pride in being 'British'.

The essence of this topic is a cause for embarrassment.