[ILUG] T-shirt images(wrong address)

[fuzzix]

Bryan O'Donoghue wrote:
> 
> Uh huh... I take your point. Then again, in this country, binge 
> drinking is a *serious* problem. We all know this... yet generally as
>  a society choose to ignore it.... and continue to ignore it...
> 
> There's nothing patriotic about Guinness... it's a business... and 
> like every other business, it's out to make money... off of us 
> (Irish) and off of our utterly stupid self destructive attitudes 
> towards alochol.
> 

Guinness is associated with Ireland - that's it. There's nothing
patriotic about it (thankfully - patriotism is a pretty short-sighted
activity to engage yourself in - the less things which have patriotic
associations the better), but most people get images of shamroguery and
diddly-eye when Guinness is mentioned.

As for our attitude towards alcohol, I don't think it has changed much
in recent years - it's pure economics which are prompting government
campaigns to consume responsibly. If there was really any concern about
the well being of the average citizen then there'd be prohibition as
there is with heroin, cocaine and the dread marijuana. Guinness is a
business, but so is the running of the country. Neither entity changes
until economics dictate they should.

> To be quite honest... and.... I'll expose myself to the fire brands 
> of the ILUG here.... I'd sooner have the country thought of as a 
> tool, of Microsoft global software hedgemony... then as a nation of 
> drunks !
> 
> Then again... it's well known, I'm a Pavlovian nationalist !
> 

So, you take pride in the fact you're conditioned and prefer to be
exploited by a software company than a drinks company? Fair enough.

> [quote]
> 
> New research shows that 58% of the drinking done by mem in Ireland is
>  binge drinking, the London Press Association reported. The study 
> conducted for Ireland's Health Promotion Unit further found that 48%
>  of all men and 16% of women in Ireland binge drink at least once a 
> week. Ireland is the _highest_ of all European countries in terms of
>  binge drinking. In the UK the precentage of men who binge drink is 
> 40%, while in France it is 9%
> 
> http://www.aim-digest.com/gateway/pages/binge/articles/ireland.htm
> 
> [/quote]
> 
> *sigh*

As I said, this phenomenon is not a recent development, it's just the
hype that's new.

The thing is, is it an "attitude" problem or are the people of this
country being reamed so hard on a day-to-day basis, lied to so often and
generally thought of as plebians so much by our social betters in HQ
that by the end of the week we just want to embrace oblivion and mourn
the decline of democracy and self-respect with a pint or 10 in the local
embibing emporium? I swear to grog, every time I hear Mary Harney or one
of her ilk explain how some responsibility of hers going unfulfilled is
my fault I want to shoot whiskey into my eyeball.

"The study conducted for Ireland's Health Promotion Unit..." - we're
ready to believe you! For me this report now holds as much water as your
average paper on Microsoft's Get The FUD site. Conclusions were mapped
out before pen hit paper.