A BBC correspondent accompanies a Finnish police patrol as they deal with the Friday night drunks in Helsinki…

We saw our first really drunk man at around 10pm, picked out by the headlights of the police van as it cruised slowly down the road.

He looked like an office worker in his 40s, dressed in a suit and overcoat, with a laptop bag slung over his shoulder, weaving and staggering along the pavement, narrowly avoiding obstacles like lamp posts and trees.

The two enormous policemen we were travelling with were unfazed. They see a lot of this kind of thing on their regular Friday and Saturday night patrols. So they ignored the office worker. He looked like he was on his way home to sleep it off.

Then the Biased Broadcasting Company throws in this one…

Alcohol consumption has soared in Finland following a tax cut

We’ve seen sales of spirits drop this year, and alcohol consumption has dropped, then it was reported that the number of drink drivers have remained the same or even decreased - and the number of arrests for drunkenness have dropped significantly - and we’ve seen a nice chunk of change sitting in our wallets at the end of the month thanks to these tax breaks, considering the price of a 12-pack of beer at the supermarket has dropped in half.

Hat Tip to FinnPundit for the link!

Bush picks another conservative to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor…

So consistently conservative, Alito has been dubbed “Scalito” or “Scalia-lite” by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to conservative Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia. But while Scalia is outspoken and is known to badger lawyers, Alito is polite, reserved and even-tempered.

[…]In the early 1990s, Alito was the lone dissenter in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a case in which the 3rd Circuit struck down a Pennsylvania law that included a provision requiring women seeking abortions to notify their spouses.

…ew, I don’t like this guy already!

The Finnish state really don’t want us foreigners in the country…

The Finnish tax authorities regard as many as hundreds of foreign au pairs working in Finnish families as illicit labour. The problem is that Finland has not ratified the European Agreement on Au Pairs by the European Council, which stipulates that au pairs do not have to pay taxes.

…and even if they paid taxes…

Strange enough, even if an au pair paid taxes she would not have Finnish social security coverage. Typically, an au pair earns less than EUR 930 per month, which is not enough for her to be eligible for residence-based social security benefits.

…and why do au pairs come here in the first place…

According to the European Council and the Finnish Directorate of Immigration, au pairs are in the country primarily hoping to improve their linguistic knowledge as well as their general grasp of the culture, and not in order to work. Consequently, all they need is a residence permit - not a work permit.

Yes yes, it’s the Finnish language and culture they come for.

In order to be granted a residence permit, an au pair from outside the EU has to prove that she has studied either Finnish or Swedish, is interested in Finnish culture, and intends to attend a language class.

How can they prove you’re not interested in Finnish culture? Maybe if you come here and date a dark-skinned foreigner?

All jokes aside - these stricter au pair rules will only make it harder for Finnish families to have au pairs. Only the wealthier, elite Finnish families will be able to afford them.

This is interesting - Last year, illegal drugs were found in the blood of 88 deceased Finns who died under the age of 30. However, not a single death was recorded in Finland due to heroin overdose. Yet, the taxpayer-funded and state-issued buprenorphine drug for opiate dependence was the biggest killer. So maybe if they would have stuck to heroin instead of going into detox, they’d still be alive?

Last year evidence of illicit drugs was found in the blood of 88 deceased Finns who died under the age of 30. The most common finding was of buprenorphine, while not a single case of a heroin overdose fatality was registered. Buprenorphine is used for the treatment of opiate dependence. One preparation, Subutex, has been widely abused by addicts.

Singer Robbie Williams and his label, EMI, are demanding 200,000 euros in compensation for copyright infringement from one of Finland’s main TV stations, MTV3. MTV3 and advertising agency Kuubi used the song “Let Me Entertain You” in a television spot promoting Idols without Robbie’s permission…

The defendants in the case are MTV3 and Kuubi, the advertising agency that created the spot. Fremantle Media, the London-based company that owns the Idols franchise, is not involved in the case.

“As I understand it the situation is a sum of many coincidences. No one had taken care of getting a permission to use Mr Williams’s music. However, that permission would probably have been denied as Robbie Williams does not approve of the concept of the Idols competition,” Mr Susiluoto added.

12 young pedestrians or cyclists have died in traffic accidents

Hi-tech accounted for around 30 percent of Finnish exports in 2000. It is now down to 25 percent.

NATO: A Four-Letter Word?

Demanding a total of 200,000 euros in compensation and damages for a copyright infringement

Finnish oil company not involved in any violations

Would seriously strive to make it to the second round of the elections despite lagging in the polls

Cooperation based on close personal relations

Preliminary investigation: Police believed to have been aware of monitoring of email

MRSA hospital bacteria outbreaks are proving to be a be a heavy burden

Environmental tax cuts and more variety in packages have increased the popularity of cans