Viskiä ja olutta! Whisk(e)y and Beer!

This post has nothing to do with the typical topics of this blog. This is a statement against the nanny state my beloved Finland has become. We've reached the point where the Finnish authorities have banned the word viski (whiskey or whisky depending on our viewpoint and the nature of the actual drink at hand) in private blogs, because they interpret it as an advertisement for Olutexpo festival.

Yes, you read that correctly. The authorities here, in a supposed Western democracy with free speech as its natural ingredient have in fact threatened to cancel alcohol licenses for the Olutexpo festival unless the Olutexpo organizers get unrelated private bloggers to take down their blog posts where they discuss the upcoming event and possible whiskeys served there (read more about in Finnish here). Yes, that's right. An unaffiliated private blogger can actually do major harm to your business by blogging about it. All this in Finland in the year 2014. What the hell is going on in this country? WTF? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? WHAT THE FUCK!?

In their over-obsessed craze over diminishing alcohol consumption in Finland the authorities in Aluehallintovirasto have simply gone too far. Free speech is one of the cornerstones of a modern civilized society, and abusing one's legislative position (holding the alcohol license to unfair ransom) to diminish such a basic freedom is simply unforgivable. Just in case you wonder why the expo has only olut (beer) in its name when it has also whiskey there, it's because the very same authority made them drop the whiskey part from their name. That's how low they can go.

I just want to make clear that Olutexpo does indeed carry also whiskey (viski) and friends of either or both beverages might find the expo highly entertaining. I also wish to make it clear that I'm not in any way affiliated with Olutexpo but I'm furious about Aluehallintovirasto trying to turn this country into a new North Korea. I'll be awaiting for the takedown request.

I also suggest that folks in Aluehallintovirasto and everyone who shares their point of view take a brief course in Finnish history. The course should focus especially on how well the prohibition period managed to abolish alcohol consumption in Finland (Hint: Not quite).