Meanwhile in Zealand (the new one)

In non-US related matters, New Zealand seems to have their own Berlusconi:

Brownlee's 'unemployed, murderous Finns' comments raise hackles in Europe - National - NZ Herald News

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Brownlee's 'unemployed, murderous Finns' comments raise hackles in Europe
By Amelia Wade
5:30 AM Tuesday Mar 27, 2012

Gerry Brownlee has drawn fire in Finland for his comments summing Finns up as uneducated, unemployed murderers who don't respect women.

Finnish media have picked up the story and say Mr Brownlee caused embarrassment to their country, while a Facebook page has also been set up calling for him to travel to Finland to "learn some facts".

The storm started over comments Mr Brownlee made in Parliament last week in response to Labour leader David Shearer's speech calling for New Zealand to follow in Finland's footsteps.

Mr Shearer said the Finns had managed to transform their economy "through innovation and talent".

"I think we need to understand a few things about Finland," Mr Brownlee, who is Leader of the House, said in his response.

"It's unbelievable isn't it. That you'd ... make a speech saying I want New Zealand to be like Finland which has worse unemployment than us, can hardly feed the people who live there, has a terrible homicide rate, hardly educates their people and has no respect for women."


Over the weekend, his comments made headlines in the Nordic nation with one news site saying Mr Brownlee sneered the remarks.

Minister-Counsellor Juha Parikka from the Finnish Embassy in Canberra, which is accredited to New Zealand, said Finland intended to examine Mr Brownlee's comments carefully. Ms Parikka told Helsingin Sanomat that her interpretation was that it was just a "domestic political torque in New Zealand" and colourful language was more common in the New Zealand Parliament.

"It is very different from that which Finland has become accustomed to."

She said that New Zealanders and Finns understood each other very well because the two countries were of the same size with similar problems.

"My guess is that New Zealanders will be very sorry," Ms Parikka said.

The deputy head of mission at the Finnish Embassy in Canberra has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade seeking an explanation, saying he wants to know if there will be any reaction from the Government, Radio New Zealand reported.

Meanwhile, Mr Brownlee's comments have also upset Finns living in New Zealand and a Facebook page has been set up calling for him to go to the country to "learn some facts".

Merja Myllylahti, a Finnish lecturer at Auckland's University of Technology, created the group so people had an outlet to "politely discuss" Mr Brownlee's knowledge about Finland and share facts about the Finnish education system, gender equality and welfare of its people. Last night the page had more than 150 members.

A spokesman for Mr Brownlee said last night that the minister had "no comment".

According to the OECD Better Life Index, Finland's murder rate is nearly twice that of New Zealand. It also has worse unemployment and health provision.

But on economic indicators such as income and work-life balance, Finland is ahead of us - and for education is rated best in the world. Its GDP is also rising faster than New Zealand's.

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As to add insult to the injury, the article seems to believe Juha Parikka is a female (Juha is a male name), unless they got the name wrong.

Brownlee is a former school teacher.

Gerry Brownlee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/im...124177#8664911 (Garden gnomes have been made of Brownlee )
Brownlee Says Dalziel 'Grumpy' Over Red-Zone Offer... | Stuff.co.nz
Photos - the-press | Stuff.co.nz (Photo sequence of building demolition)

So, Eki, what's the deal with the murder rate in Finland? I'm not picking on Finland, this is an honest question. With a strong economy and an excellent education I would think you should do better on that.

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Originally Posted by Rudy Tamasz

So, Eki, what's the deal with the murder rate in Finland? I'm not picking on Finland, this is an honest question. With a strong economy and an excellent education I would think you should do better on that.

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It might be genetic:

The violent gene: Genetic mutation found only in Finnish men that makes them fight | Mail Online

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The 'violent' gene: Genetic mutation found only in Finnish men that makes them fight
By NIALL FIRTH
UPDATED: 12:53 GMT, 23 December 2010
Comments (15)
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A genetic mutation that makes men impulsive and aggressive, especially when drunk, has been isolated in Finnish men.
Research on violent criminals in Finland has uncovered a genetic variant of a brain receptor molecule that contributes that makes people more likely to be aggressive when they have been drinking.
The findings could lead to a better understanding into why some people are more prone to sudden bouts of violence and to the treatment of violent offenders.

Finnish men watch an ice hockey match while having a sauna in Helsinki. A genetic mutation in some Finnish men makes them more pre-disposed towards violence
Incredibly, the gene is only found in men from Finland and so cannot explain similar behaviour in other countries such as the UK.
A report of the findings appears in the December 23rd issue of Nature.
'Impulsivity, or action without foresight, is a factor in many pathological behaviours including suicide, aggression, and addiction,' says David Goldman chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics at the NIH's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
'But it is also a trait that can be of value if a quick decision must be made or in situations where risk-taking is favoured.'
In collaboration with researchers in Finland and France, Dr. Goldman and colleagues studied a sample of violent criminal offenders in Finland.
The hallmark of the violent crimes committed by individuals in the study sample was that they were spontaneous and purposeless.
'We conducted this study in Finland because of its unique population history and medical genetics,' says Dr. Goldman.
'Modern Finns are descended from a relatively small number of original settlers, which has reduced the genetic complexity of diseases in that country.
‘Studying the genetics of violent criminal offenders within Finland increased our chances of finding genes that influence impulsive behaviour.'
The researchers sequenced DNA of the impulsive subjects and compared those sequences with DNA from an equal number of non-impulsive Finnish control subjects.
They found that a single DNA change that blocks a gene known as HTR2B predicted highly impulsive behaviour. HTR2B encodes one type of serotonin receptor in the brain.
They discovered that carries of the gene who had acted violently were all male and had all been drinking alcohol before the incident.
The researchers then conducted studies in mice and found that when the equivalent HTR2B gene is knocked out or turned off, mice also become more impulsive.
Scientists say that the gene itself is not the only reason for the violent behaviour as there are many different environmental and social issues which can also lead to violence.

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Maybe you Belorussians should be careful too. It says here that in 1939 when Stalin was forming his "Finnish Folk's Army" from Karelians, Ingrians and Finnish communists who had fled to the Soviet Union, he had to take also Belorussians who looked enough "Finnish", because he didn't have enough ethnic Finns, Karelians and Ingrians:

Suomen kansanarmeija

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Originally Posted by Eki

Maybe you Belorussians should be careful too. It says here that in 1939 when Stalin was forming his "Finnish Folk's Army" from Karelians, Ingrians and Finnish communists who had fled to the Soviet Union, he had to take also Belorussians who looked enough "Finnish", because he didn't have enough ethnic Finns, Karelians and Ingrians:

Suomen kansanarmeija

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Sorry, I can't read in Finnish. The Czech and Slovak versions of the article do not mention Belarusians, though. Many Belarusians indeed look Nordic and some live in Russian Karelia. From what I know, most migrated there after WWII because the Soviet government paid extra bonuses for living and working in regions with difficult living condtions. Maybe we even share some common genes. Many populations from more northern parts of Europe have a reputation for drunken violence.

Returning to the topic, is there any social or cultural factors for the problem? I believe culture must figure prominently on the list of factors inducing violence and murder. For instance, Americans have a very visible presence of violence in mass culture. In Belarus there's a culture of excessive consumption of hard liquor, often paired with low income and low life in general. What is that in Finland?

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Originally Posted by Rudy Tamasz

Sorry, I can't read in Finnish. The Czech and Slovak versions of the article do not mention Belarusians, though. Many Belarusians indeed look Nordic and some live in Russian Karelia. From what I know, most migrated there after WWII because the Soviet government paid extra bonuses for living and working in regions with difficult living condtions. Maybe we even share some common genes. Many populations from more northern parts of Europe have a reputation for drunken violence.

Returning to the topic, is there any social or cultural factors for the problem? I believe culture must figure prominently on the list of factors inducing violence and murder. For instance, Americans have a very visible presence of violence in mass culture. In Belarus there's a culture of excessive consumption of hard liquor, often paired with low income and low life in general. What is that in Finland?

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The 'violent' gene was discovered to be much more frequent among Finnish prisoners convicted for violent crimes than among ordinary Finns. Most of them also had a drinking problem and it's drinking that usually triggers their violent behavior.

I thought a drink makes you sleepy....

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