[tpaine]

As far as civility, I call them as I see them. I grew up in a German Pennsylvania dutch community in which euphemis was looked upon as a dangerous and insulting form of lie.

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Hmmmmm, My german relatives in Wabasha County MN. valued euphemism as social grease, and a witty man that could make his point without insulting others was highly respected.
Different strokes I guess.

[dandelion]

Now, as far as CIVILITY goes, (which is different than "tolerance" in the PC world) I will say I've seen a dramatic drop in the level of civility concerning attacks against posters. This happened most notably after the 2000 election, and the worst attackers/offenders have usually been newbies who have signed on since then. We've also gained many wonderful newbies, so I guess it's worth it to get a few bad apples in the barrel. But those few "bad apples" have a tendency to post with such fervor that it's hard to get away from them. I'll wager that not a few of those "bad apples" were "hand picked" by a certain group for our little forum...

[RLK]

Minnesota, depending upon the area, is much more Scandinavianized in culture. Where I was raised was nearly exclusively Germanic from a certain area of Germany. We had three Turner Verein Hallen in the town. In Minneapolis the biggest organization used to be the Sons of Norway hall. It also depends on your age. I'm in my 60s. In the 40s I knew old time Krauts who were born befor the civil war.

In the last 40 years there is no similarity in the populations. The area has been over=run by outsiders. The turner halls are now closed dure to lack of interest.