tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-164217822024-03-07T10:54:33.555+02:00AnTyxAn inside perspective for an outside audienceantyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.comBlogger610125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-92079833825289452322020-09-03T15:40:00.001+03:002020-09-03T15:40:15.567+03:00A question of Intent https://www.err.ee/1130538/ringkonnakohus-moistis-martin-halliku-seksuaalkuriteos-oigeks "Ringkonnakohtu arvates ei nähtu maakohtu otsusest põhjendusi, millest pidi süüdistatav aru saama, et kannatanu tunnetas tema käitumist sunnina."Sõltuvussuhte ärakasutamine tähendab seda, et toimepanija kuritarvitab tahtlikult kannatanu sõltuvust temast, mis objektiivselt võimaldab või lihtsustab antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-88462808556985717952020-04-14T12:56:00.001+03:002020-04-14T12:56:43.236+03:00A genuine conversation on Universal Basic Income
My friend Danny sent me a meme about Universal Basic Income.
Me: I have issues with the whole Universal Basic Income concept.
Danny: Tell me more! Also, it was more about the "money can't buy happiness", but I can always use a good Andrei Opinion.
Me: Strap in.
So, there are two fundamental assumptions in UBI. One, that it is an Income - not just subsistence/survival, antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-77569381916405220362019-11-29T09:55:00.003+02:002019-11-29T09:55:32.506+02:00Åland Islands On a Motorcycle
Aland is a collection of islands about half way between mainland Finland and Sweden. Although technically a part of the Republic of Finland, it is an autonomous region - with its own government, its own flag, its own license plates, and, most importantly, its own deal with the European Union. Aland is a tax-free zone, and if a ship calls at the port of Mariehamn on its way from one EU antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-7414215253760636132016-04-23T23:00:00.004+03:002016-04-23T23:00:52.737+03:00AsiaTrip: Low's Peak
I'd arrived at Laban Rata after one o'clock, having done the climb in a little over four hours. Dinner would not be served for another three, and a clique of anglophones quickly formed at the tables. This is the social spirit of backpacking at its best: it happens not on the Thai beaches of a full moon party, and not at an Amsterdam coffee shop, but at a place like Laban Rata, or like Lencois, antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-22871421622778456532016-01-07T12:25:00.000+02:002016-01-07T12:25:09.626+02:00AsiaTrip: Alternate Climb Path
I found the original text I wrote on the night train from Kuala-Lumpur to Penang. It describes the same thing as the previous post, but I can see no reason not to post it. The second part of it forms the start of the next chapter, but that's it for the reserves - everything from then on is recollected a year or more later.
I wake up at ungodly o'clock, surprisingly upbeat and full of nervous antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-5389428481897841032015-12-16T23:04:00.002+02:002015-12-16T23:04:59.011+02:00AsiaTrip: Upwards and Onwards
(The story starts back here. I could have sworn I'd typed up the next chapter on the overnight train from Kuala Lumpur, but I can't find it anywhere, so I am continuing as recollected.)
I wake up at an ungodly hour and semi-check out, leaving most of my luggage behind. Downtown Kinabalu is quiet, and the tour company's van picks me up for the two-hour drive to the national park. As the vanantyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-16511569644598124192015-09-29T16:31:00.002+03:002015-09-29T16:31:41.805+03:00E-voting, New Zealand, something something
Jon Worth posted this link on Facebook and asked e-voting advocates to address the points in it, specifically as it concerns the prospects of e-voting in the EU.
So I did.
So Jon asked me to put them in a separate blog post for easy reference.
So I did.
(As always, I encourage you to read that entire post to understand my replies.)
Myth 1:
"How to verify that an eligible antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-44474536954202288802015-06-11T10:10:00.003+03:002015-06-11T11:33:24.263+03:00Jurassic World: Presented by Michael Bay.
The named characters to die off are, in order: a Japanese security commander, an Indian CEO, a snooty British nanny. Oh, sorry, there was also a comically fat security guard who got eaten. Meanwhile, Vincent D'Onofrio's operatically terrible villain is the only white guy in Costa Rica to have actually picked up a strong tan, just to make sure you don't feel as bad for him when he dies horribly (antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-27050117775563111622015-06-02T14:59:00.004+03:002015-06-02T14:59:57.732+03:00
Stealing an idea: Estonia's counter-offer to the European Commission is to accept zero refugees in the country, but instead to issue e-residence for free to all refugees admitted into Europe, so that they can start their businesses and pay their taxes here (while still physically living somewhere else).
We'll even throw in a bunch of WiFi routers to set up around the camps on Lampedusa.
antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-45693523589935759562015-04-07T14:49:00.001+03:002015-04-07T14:49:56.459+03:00Couldn't we have just gone on without a government? It worked for Belgium...
If there's one word to describe the state of Estonian domestic politics, it's *sigh*.
After an election that put two new parties into parliament and should have forced a broad multiparty coalition, followed swiftly by the unexpected medium-term exile of the Dark Emperor, we ended up back with basically the same coalition we had after the last elections, with basically all the same old people antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-59516990323270201352015-02-21T18:31:00.001+02:002015-02-21T18:35:36.903+02:00AsiaTrip: Day One, If I Say It Is
There is a school of thought that says a day does not really end until you have fallen asleep and woken up again after a decent rest. By that standard, in one day I have gone very nearly around
the world.
The necessities of limited vacation time and ambitious planning led to a very dense start for this trip. I got up on Thursday morning, before the 7.45am alarm rang; I was leaving my own bed antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-4850873729480853192014-12-10T16:07:00.002+02:002014-12-10T16:07:58.981+02:00On the Impossibility of Cultural Estrangement
Charles Stross writes on his excellent blog about the lack of cultural estrangement in far-future science fiction. His objection is that far-flung societies ought to be significantly removed from what is familiar to us; and yet many space operas present a future that is essentially the status quo, plus made-up technology:
The gender politics, religious framework, ideologies, fashions(!) and antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-82858379884118460232014-12-03T15:03:00.003+02:002014-12-03T15:05:49.213+02:00On Offense
K. says...
"So what is your take on "cultural appropriation"? Seems to be a hot topic on tumblr and instagram. Got to an argument about this on the last one."
The primary irony here is that this conversation about cultural appropriation is being had by white Europeans. The secondary irony is that worries about cultural appropriation are being dismissed by people from a nation whose antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-21477191247317232302014-10-27T18:19:00.001+02:002014-10-27T18:19:36.422+02:00Paalalinna
So, there was a school shooting in Estonia today. A 15-year-old kid from a small town shot a 56-year-old lady teacher of German with a revolver. The teacher died. School staff took away the kid's gun; the police have him in custody.
His name and Facebook account leaked already, of course. No, I won't link it. He looks like a regular kid. Some of the stuff on his FB is disturbing in hindsight, antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-77096254296272475772014-03-24T20:49:00.003+02:002014-03-24T20:49:41.456+02:00Teiter's Dream
A thought exercise, if you'll indulge me by participating.
Imagine that you are invited by the Estonian government (assume you are an Estonian resident and citizen) to participate in a survey. The purpose of this survey is to gauge the opinion of a small, but broadly representative, vertical slice of the population to a potential course of action in case of an impending crisis. The scenario is antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-71525440087817369032014-03-14T16:45:00.000+02:002014-03-14T16:45:32.682+02:00The Truth is Out There, but Not in the Middle
This is the full, long, somewhat too sarcastic and personal version of an article of mine posted on Estonian Public Broadcasting's English-language page. It is a rebuttal to this opinion piece.
In all that is going on around Ukraine, the thing that
bothers me most is the occupation of sovereign territory by the army of a
country that borders my own, closely followed by the increasingly antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-36875703159200759622013-07-11T00:18:00.000+03:002013-07-11T00:18:17.642+03:00MPDG Postmortem
I came across this excellent article by chance the other day. I have never heard of the author before, but I understand from friends' comments that she is fairly prominent; in any case, the article does a very good job of elaborating on a matter which, to me, is intuitively incontrovertible, but has been difficult to enunciate:
Men grow up expecting to be the hero of their own story. Women antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-72152482561866587272013-03-17T23:39:00.003+02:002013-03-17T23:39:39.077+02:00Fast Forward: Buenos Aires, Day Two
Spent the morning at Recoleta cemetery - a long walk after getting spooked by BA's byzanthine bus system. Found Evita's tomb easily thanks to a cheat in my guidebook. The place is certainly impressive, but it reinforced my preference of cremation: I don't understand the self-obsession that leads people to construct such elaborate postmortem edifices. In BA's main church, there is a tomb of the antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-357789498032584452012-12-31T13:19:00.003+02:002012-12-31T13:19:59.590+02:00Intermezzo
A fellow blogger was asked by a 9-year-old what he would do if he was the President of Estonia.
Some time ago I was asked something similar, in a more serious way, by a fully grown-up and politically aware Indonesian.
My answer was: Legalize all forms of stem cell research in Estonia. I think it would be a perfectly Estonian move, in the vein of the cultural legend that is "nobody ever antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-48779103893864376812012-12-23T23:29:00.002+02:002012-12-23T23:29:49.709+02:00WestCoastTrip: Barcelona
There are not many
cities where I want to come back.
My greatest extravagance is experience, and the only thing
on which I spend money with no hope of ever getting it back is travel. My kind
of travel is unusual and, by necessity, almost always solitary. To travel fast,
and to travel on rare cheap deals, requires the ability to decide immediately
and to decide only for myself. I don’t antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-35054991405086332182012-12-20T23:22:00.002+02:002012-12-20T23:22:53.295+02:00WestCoastTrip: Kaiserlich und Königlich
Every great city has a natural axis.
On my second day, I set out along the Danube to the
Parliament, to book a tour. It is the grandest building in Budapest, in all of
Hungary, and quite possibly in all of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; built to
reinforce the nation’s sense of self-worth, as part of the millennial celebrations
of 1896. The notional beginning of Hungarian statehood is not antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-28380243084022118292012-12-19T23:11:00.002+02:002012-12-19T23:12:59.257+02:00WestCoastTrip: Welcome to Budapest
The mark of a good
city is that it invigorates you, even if you arrive exhausted.
After a night in a hostel’s dorm bed and an early-morning
slog to the bus station, the Malev jet gets me to Budapest in the early
afternoon. I don’t know very much about Budapest, other than a vague historic
background, the fact that it’s two cities separated by a river, and that one of
the cities is hilly. antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-1180479952933707492012-12-18T22:31:00.001+02:002012-12-18T22:31:17.254+02:00WestCoastTrip: Prologue
The trick to having an adventure is to rush into it.
This adventure did not begin with the shot of a starting
pistol, and it did not begin with me telling anyone “well, I’m off”. It began
with another, smaller adventure – two days volunteering for a youth culture
festival, while a friend from abroad visited. On the Saturday, after the day’s
event schedule was done, I took Tom to Tartu’s antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-12931139846390669682012-10-15T15:28:00.000+03:002012-10-15T15:28:01.498+03:00On Estonian Customer Service
Customer service stories are always popular with readers, right? Got a few different ones saved up for you.
The Good
Motodepoo is a largish motorcycle supply shop (and Kawasaki dealer). Along with Tartu's Motohoov, it tends to be the default choice for parts and gear, and it has a nice big storefront in Tallinn with a good stock of gear on the premises. Beyond that, it has an online presence, antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-73652081942884655442012-10-08T23:10:00.001+03:002012-10-08T23:10:20.067+03:00Medical Strike Demands
Came upon a link to a letter sent by the medical workers' union to its members. It sets out, in clear language, what exactly it is that the doctors and nurses are asking for. Figure it's worth translating for anyone who's following the events.
For what it's worth, the taxation issue warrants further discussion, but otherwise I personally find these demands to be reasonable.
The Purposes and antyxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06567309109757565293noreply@blogger.com0