BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

When Russia invaded Estonia – and Jack Ryan saved it

The time is “present day”. Russia’s president is a former KGB officer who uses phrases like “The fall of the Soviet Union was one of the greatest tragedies of the last century”. The modern reincarnation of the KGB – the FSB – is all-powerful in Russia. Businesses are “nationalised” – which is “new-speak” for stealing – and their stolen wealth is for some peculiar reason handled by Russia’s national natural gas company Gazprom.

Indeed, that is a pretty accurate description of today’s Russia, which in recent years has come more and more to resemble its predecessor, the Soviet Union. The country is run by a czar who says there is a “special democracy” which exists in Russia; and when the czar decides to extend the country’s sphere of influence beyond its borders, the rest of the world just watches without having the cojones to do anything about it.

Fortunately, this is not the case in Tom Clancy’s latest and last novel, Command Authority . Clancy, who in October last year sadly died, didn’t believe in appeasement and rightly so. And that is what makes his last novel so enjoyable.

Using historical facts and situations that have happened in the recent years in and around the Russian Federation, Command Authority paints a grim picture for Estonia. The tiny Nordic country is invaded by Russian forces, retaliating for “terrorist acts” against its eastern neighbour, and despite it being a NATO member, the alliance hasn’t seemingly come to Estonia’s defence. Clancy’s description of the brief war, including a map of the town of Põlva in south-eastern Estonia, titled “The Battle for Põlva”, sends shivers across one’s back, especially when one has a connection with the country – mainly because the action is so incredibly realistic that one could actually imagine it all happening.

Olivia Laing : "The Trip to Echo Spring - Why Writers Drink"

Thanks to the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle for the strange but positive news that alcohol tourism by Finns helps to fund Estonian literature.

What happens is that Finns nip across the Gulf of Finland to Tallinn to stock up on the cheaper booze there, and some of the taxes raised by that spending are ring-fenced to support an Estonian cultural fund.

The Finnish Commerce Federation found that 84 per cent of Finns visiting Estonia had bought alcohol, indirectly contributing to a healthier Estonian cultural scene. In all, Finns imported some 28.5 million litres of alcohol from Estonia, and this contributed to a boom in publishing, with 4,000 books hitting the shelves last year.

It’s the best proof that drinking is good news for literature since Olivia Laing’s "The Trip to Echo Spring": Why Writers Drink" was published earlier this month.

New publication on Estonian coins and banknotes

Publication, “EESTI VABARIIGI RAHA” 1919 to 1940 and 1991 to 2010 complete.
By Allan Tohv. Softcover – 50 placards included
ISBN number: 978-9949-30-126-3
Estonian Language first print, 2011.

From the author of several publications focusing on the coins and banknotes of Estonia, Allan Tohv, a leading expert on the subject, has released a new informative and practical publication which includes illustrations of all the coins and paper money issued by the Republic of Estonia since independence in 1918.

Concentrating specifically on the illustrations, the collection of images are brought together in a functional tri-folder presentation whose format cleverly divides these issues from the first and second periods of Estonian nationhood. On one side of the folder, the coins and banknotes from Estonia’s first era of independence which covers the marka coins issued in 1922 right up to the last krooni & senti coins issued in 1939. The placards are cleverly printed (and exactly aligned) on both sides in full color and illustrating obverse and reverse images in clear depictions. Also included are images of Estonia’s first payment notes issued in 1919 (50 Marka) fidelity notes, treasury notes (1919 – 1923) - the pre-cursor to eventual banknotes issued by the Bank of Estonia beginning in 1928.

The second side includes both the circulation and commemorative coins issued by the Bank of Estonia since the restoration of Independence in 1991. The first coins, also dated that year are illustrated as well as the first silver commemorative coins issued for the 1992 Summer Olympics. Images for the gold and silver collector coins dated 2010 which mark the introduction the Euro are also included.

Savisaar book to be published next week

Tallinn Mayor and Center Party leader Edgar Savisaar's much-delayed book "Tõde Eestist" (The Truth About Estonia) is to hit store shelves on January 15.

Billed as a political tell-all, the work aims to deliver "the truth about what is actually happening in Estonia, which has been hidden and masked," according to an announcement by the Apollo bookseller. The chain is hosting the launch event at its outlet in Tallinn's Solaris Center.

Publication of the first of the multi-volume series was initially slated for last April, then pushed back to November before being rescheduled once again. Plans for an English-language version of the book have been mentioned in past press reports, but Apollo representatives told ERR News that they had no information about its arrival.

Savisaar has linked production of the book to a money-laundering case currently being investigated by the Prosecutor's Office. In an interview given to the Center Party's newspaper Kesknädal in July, Savisaar said that the case had arisen because the prosecutor was "trying to find a bogeyman" related to the book's publishing.

In 2005, Savisaar published a book of memoirs under the title "Peaminister" (Prime Minister).

Carmen Kass poses nude for Harper’s Bazaar - España - 01/2013

You know, as much as I do not want to wind up naked on the Internet, I have to admit that I am partial to walking around the house with as little clothes as possible. I have been staying as a houseguest the past few days and, fortunately for me, Miss Chatel does not mind my walking around in my underwear constantly. But I have lived with people who are uncomfortable with their bodies sans clothes, and thereby uncomfortable with other people’s bodies sans clothes, so I haven’t always had a chance to do this. Harper’s Bazaar España, the magazine’s European edition, has a cover coming out next month that pretty accurately describes my feelings on the topic.

This January, the magazine is starting off 2013 with a bang — a very attractive and talented bang named Carmen Kass. You might remember her as that totally awesome model who’s posed for incredible (and incredibly sexy) fashion campaigns, including that infamous (NSFW) Gucci ad in which her pubic hair was waxed into a ‘G’.

Here, she is engulfed in an enormous Viktor & Rolf coat, posing in an extremely strategic (and kind of uncomfortable-looking) position to ensure the covering of anything too risque for the stands. The phrase “¿Por qué no?” or “Why not?” weaves around her legs. And you know what? Why not, indeed: everybody should be stoked to be running around naked once in a while, god dammit. Even if they’re referring to something completely different, I will still choose to interpret it as such.

Fortunately, it seems they skipped out on the “weird creepily Photoshopped January covers” thing that their edition down under seems to have opted for. Good job, España edition, at ringing in our new year with a good ol’ dose of fashionably nude.

Tallinn to buy new trams from Spanish manufacturer CAF

City of Tallinn’s transport agency Tallinna Linnatranspordi (TLT) has chosen the Spanish company Construcciones y Axiliar de Ferrocariles S.A to supply at least 15 trams for the capital, reported ERR.

The company beat the offer of Swiss-German company Stadler Bussnang AG/Stadler Pankow GmbH, the only other company to tender a bid.

According to the procurement, the Spanish company has to offer training for  drivers and service mechanics to use the new technology when it arrives in Estonia.

The Estonian party has the option to buy additional 15 trams from Spain.

TLT's new air-conditioned trams store energy when braking and later re-use it. Some infrastructure upgrades on the tram line are expected. The transport agency is currently preparing another public procurement for this purpose.

Stadler Bussnang has said that it plans to dispute the outcome of the tender because its bid was not qualified.

“We know that our bid was cheaper than the one of CAF so we would like to know on what grounds out tender was rejected,” said a representative of CAF.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Karmen Pedaru in Valentino

A sheer blouse with contrast collar and cuffs, paired with short lace shorts (all Valentino), is given the effortless off-duty model treatment by way of pared back hair and makeup.

"Watching the dark" by Peter Robinson

He’s still soothed by Bach and still drives his shabby Porsche – but intimations of his own mortality are starting to ruffle the equanimity of Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks.

Banks is also used to wrestling with his own personal demons, a good preparation for the down-to-earth Yorkshire cop as he follows the labyrinthine trail of some truly evil ‘cons’ in Peter Robinson’s latest crime mystery.

People trafficking, a missing teenage girl, migrant labour scams, the back streets of Estonia’s capital city and a murdered policeman provide the sleazy backdrop to this subtle and intriguing thriller. Watching the Dark is Robinson’s 20th DCI Banks novel and, far from losing the plot, the master crime writer continues to seduce with his finely-tuned storylines, gritty cast of characters and hard-hitting, contemporary themes.

The ITV1 series DCI Banks, adapted from Robinson’s novels and starring Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe, has raised the profile of the books to a new level. Here we find the tough inspector investigating the death of ‘one of our own’ when the body of DI Bill Quinn, from the Leeds force, is found in the tranquil grounds of a St Peter’s Police Convalescence and Treatment Centre.

He has been shot through the heart with the bolt from a crossbow after appearing distracted and edgy, ‘as if he was carrying a burden,’ the previous evening. Compromising photos of Quinn with a very young woman are found in his room but Banks is not convinced about their authenticity and wants to probe further into the murdered man’s background, knowing only too well that the solution to a crime ‘more often than not lies in the victim’s character.’

Unofficial biography of Estonian President Ilves to be published

An unofficial biography of Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is scheduled to be published this week, writes LETA/Postimees.

The book titled “Toomas Hendrik Ilves. Behind the Bow-Tie. The Life and Story of the President” will be published in Estonian by the publishing house Fookus Meedia. It is authored by former and current journalists Anneli Aasmäe, Kai Kalamees, Kärt Blumberg, Kristi Vainküla and Krister Kivi.

Manager of Fookus Meedia Siim Saidla stated that the book is currently in print and ought to reach bookstores before the end of this week.

According to him, the book is a so-called unofficial biography for which the President has given no interviews. At the same time, he said that the manuscript has been read by the Office of the President and factual mistakes have been corrected there.

The authors of the book stated that the book will describe the facets of President Ilves that have thus far stayed hidden from the public. They asked what do people know about their President besides the facts that he likes to wear a bow-tie and is interested in modern Estonian music.

Estonian citizen is opinion leader in Moscow

At first glance, he seems to be a valuable asset for Estonia with an established position within the intellectual elite of Moscow opinion makers. His observations in brief:

The Soviets did occupy Estonia; the independence of the Estonian state was destroyed; Soviet deportations of women, children and the elderly were inhumane; in diplomatic standoffs between Estonian and Russia, the latter comes off as an idiot.

He’s Mihhail Veller, best-selling Russian author, Estonian citizen, recipient of the Estonia’s White Star presidential order, who keeps homes both in Tallinn and Moscow. A member of the Estonian Federation of Authors, Veller was born in Soviet Ukraine, of Jewish parents, graduated from Leningrad State University in Russian language and was “forced” by the authorities to move to Estonian in 1979. (It’s also said that Teet Kallas, editor of the literary journal “Looming” brought him to Estonia as an up and coming writer. There is a wide difference between the two reasons for moving to Tallinn. The first implies opposition to the regime. The second leaves the motivation open.)

Going Baltic over Tallinn

It had been 15 years since I last stepped foot on Tallinn’s soil. Estonia’s capital back then was still trying to find its long, lost identity having only recently cast off the oppressive clutches of Mother Russia. I remembered my first glimpse of Tallinn back in December 1997 with the unmistakable sight of the huge chimney of the old power plant acting as a beacon for our creaky Viking Line ferry as we made our way through the early morning mist. Tallinn was cold, dark and sinister and immediately appealing to explore.

Fast forward to the current day and Tallinn is now a leading European tourist destination, promising and delivering on a captivating historical past and a few pleasantly surprising additions as well. According to popular opinion, the quality of food and restaurants has improved tenfold since communist days. Sampling the culinary delights of Tallinn with some Finnish friends was the perfect way to reacquaint myself with this fascinating city. Helsinki’s locals often pop over for a day trip (think of a visit out of London to Oxford followed by a pub lunch, this is Helsinki’s equivalent). I could not believe what a make-over Tallinn has done to itself…..once you get away from the old port terminal, where we docked, which sadly dates back to the grey, concrete ways of the Russians. The city today is alive with hipster locals and happy tourists.

Leave touristy Tallinn behind
It pays to leave the tourist maps at home and deliberately get lost in the old town as aimless wandering around these beautiful cobbled streets reaps rich rewards.

"Tuesday In Paris" - Carmen Kass by Txema Yeste - Interview - Germany - May 2012

Carmen Kass by Txema Yeste

Estonian output price inflation rises In February

Estonia's producer price inflation accelerated in February, data released by Statistics Estonia showed Tuesday.

The producer price index increased 3.5 percent on an annual basis in February, following the previous month's 3.1 percent growth.

Output prices in the manufacturing sector grew 3.3 percent year-on-year, while mining production advanced 0.8 percent. There was a 6.8 percent annual growth in the production of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply during the month.

Month-on-month, output prices moved up 0.4 percent in February, the agency said..

The export price index rose 0.9 percent on a monthly basis in February, taking the annual growth to 4.7 percent. Import prices moved up 2.1 percent essentially, and 6.1 percent compared to February 2011.

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De Gendt wins as Wiggins holds Paris-Nice lead

NICE — Belgium's Thomas de Gendt won the seventh and penultimate stage of the Paris-Nice here Saturday with a lead of more than six minutes over Estonia's Rein Taaramae and nine minutes over the peloton.

Bradley Wiggins retained the race leader's yellow jersey, on the eve of Sunday's 9.6 km uphill time trial from Nice to the Col d'Eze, putting him on course to become the race's first British winner since Tom Simpson in 1967.

At 219.5 km, Saturday's stage from Sisteron to Nice was the longest of the race.

Vacansoleil rider De Gendt and Cofidis' Taaramae broke from the peloton in the 48th kilometre and stretched their advantage to almost 13 minutes.

Fifty-six kilometres from the finishing line, De Gendt outdistanced the Estonian as they neared the summit of the Col de Vence, and pulled further ahead as they began the long ride down into Nice.

De Gendt has sported the number 103 in the race, which he noted had proven lucky before.

"It's the same one I had last year when I won the first stage," he said.

Estonia diver bumps into subsea treasure

An amateur diver discovered a 13th century treasure chest on the bottom of the Tallinn Bay in Estonia.

The chest contained more than 200 old coins and merchant belongings and was described as a “stunning find” by experts.

The coins helped experts to establish the age of the treasure and the route it had been following, which was between Tallinn and Visby in Sweden.

Flashes in the Night : The Sinking of the Estonia

In September 1994, almost 900 lives were lost in Europe’s worst peacetime maritime disaster of the century. The MS Estonia, which sailed between Estonia and Sweden, sank in the Baltic Sea during a stormy night, and only 137 people survived.

Author Jack Nelson details the events of that tragic night, during which many were trapped in a ship whose list made it very difficult to escape, and in which those who were able to get out of the ship spent many dark, cold hours waiting for rescue.

The Estonia could transport more than a thousand passengers between Estonia, which was just emerging from Soviet rule, and Sweden. It was a popular quick, cheap vacation for Swedes and a gateway to a new world for Estonians who had been unable to travel for years. The bars, restaurants, dance floors and karaoke room hosted revelers who often partied all night during the overnight 14-hour voyage, and those who didn’t party could sleep in peace in comfortable cabins below deck. On the night of the disaster, there were groups of business people and a large contingent of Swedish police officers as well as a Bible group traveling between the two countries.

The voyage that night was particularly rough, with a storm and huge swells tossing the ship. Seasoned travelers mostly took it in stride, assuming the ship was built solidly enough to weather the storms of a choppy Baltic Sea. Others simply retired to bed early and hoped sleep would help them deal with their upset stomachs. But many knew something wasn’t right when around midnight a metallic grinding sound was followed by the ship starting to tilt steeply. The smartest got up to the top decks quickly, wearing warm clothes.

Book tells of dark times in Lithuania

In 1941, the lives of 15-year-old Lina Vilkas, her brother and their mother are turned upside-down when they are forced from their home in the middle of the night. Deemed “enemies of the people,” they are expelled from Lithuania and forced to work in a Soviet labor camp in Siberia, where prisoners are routinely starved, brutalized and killed.

Under the 1939 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, areas of Eastern Europe were divided between the two countries. The Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were annexed by Stalin, who deported members of the intelligentsia and their families to maintain control of the region.

These countries were under Soviet control for over 50 years until declaring their independence in the early 1990s. Unlike the well-documented atrocities of Jewish people in Nazi Germany, accounts of Soviet brutality have only recently become known.

“Between Shades of Gray” is a fictional story inspired by actual accounts and experiences of prisoners. It is told from the viewpoint of Lina, an aspiring artist, and follows the Vilkas family during their first few years of imprisonment in Siberia.

Lina is feisty and opinionated, a dangerous combination in an era of communist oppression. She secretly documents Soviet atrocities in her drawings.

Fellow prisoners become an extended family of sorts while working at a collective farm harvesting potatoes and beets.

Jack A. Nelson's 'Flashes in the Night'

"FLASHES IN The NIGHT: The Sinking of the Estonia," by Jack A. Nelson, Apprentice House, $26.95, 314 pages (nf)

The sinking of the Titanic has become an iconic event embedded securely in the public consciousness. But a similar maritime disaster that occurred in 1994, in which 852 people died in the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea, has not registered similarly for those who live outside of Europe.

The M/S Estonia sailed daily between Estonia and Sweden, making an overnight passage on which there were often many revelers. The bars, dance floor and karaoke lounge provided plenty of opportunities for relatively inexpensive fun. Those who didn't plan to party were able to sleep through the journey in comfort in cabins below deck.

One night in September 1994, however, the partying and sleeping were interrupted around midnight by a loud metallic grinding sound and the tilting of the large ship to the side. Within 30 minutes, the ship was at the bottom of the sea, and those who had been able to get out of the ship were floating in the frigid water in life vests and rafts.

After a long, dark, cold night in which most rescue efforts were hampered by the darkness and stormy conditions, only 137 people survived. Most were young and male, strong enough to climb out of hallways that turned into slick shafts by the extreme tilt of the ship.

As with the Titanic, many elements contributed to the huge loss of lives. The weather was particularly rough during the night, warnings to passengers from crew members didn't occur early enough, Mayday calls didn't reach enough rescuers as rapidly as they should have, life boats couldn't be detached from the ship and the inflatable life rafts didn't function well either.

A terrible time, punctuated with hope

Back when I worked in Duluth, an elegant middle-aged man used to come by the newsroom now and again to chastise us about Estonia. He usually showed up after we had run wire news from the Soviet Union; if the story carried a dateline of Vilnius, USSR, or Tallinn, USSR, or Riga, USSR, he would voice his firm objection.

USSR, he would tell us -- calmly at first, and then with mounting frustration -- did not belong in the dateline. These were not Soviet cities; these would never be Soviet cities.

The man had fled Estonia in the 1940s when it, along with Latvia and Lithuania, was annexed by the Soviet Union. Over time, he had made it his mission to pound into our young and history-deprived journalist brains the sad fate of the Baltics.

If only Ruta Sepetys' novel had been around then; it would have hammered that history home.

"Between Shades of Gray" -- billed as a young-adult novel, but one that everyone should read -- opens with a clash between normalcy and terror. On a balmy June evening in 1941, a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl named Lina sits down to write a letter when she is interrupted by someone pounding on the front door. Soviet secret police burst in and order the family to pack their things and get out.

What follows is a series of intense scenes, almost unbearable in their detail. The family is crushed with dozens of other deportees into one car of a long train labeled "Thieves and Prostitutes." There, with no bathroom, almost no food, no ventilation, nowhere to sit, they must endure an interminable journey east, and north, into exile.

Xenophobe’s Guide to the Estonians

Xenophobe’s Guide to the Estonians
By Hilary Bird, Lembit Őpik, Ulvi Mustmaa
Oval Books 2010

Reviewed by Katrin Volt at GSI, www.diversophy.com
The Xenophobe’s Guide to the Estonians is filled with clever observations and self-ironic descriptions that shed light on the Estonian soul, its uniqueness and its phobias. Here you can find our best kept secrets to piece us together. Bird, Őpik, and Mustmaa, the authors of this short book, describe the Estonian way of life with humor and wit. Okay, a hilarious read–but you may wonder, “Who are the Estonians and where is Estonia?” Some think it is somewhere in Siberia or part of Russia. No? Australia, did you say? Slovenia? On the Moon? Never heard of it.

Does it exist? Yes, it does. “Find it underneath Finland, about the size of Denmark or Switzerland,” would be a quick Estonian orientation. A land between East and West, next to the Baltic Sea, a place where wandering tribes and invaders have passed leaving their mark on this nation of nature worshippers, who have somehow made their way into the 21st century.

While Estonia is very multicultural, with more than 120 ethnic minorities, native Estonians define nationality through language and ethnicity. The Xenophobe’s Guide to the Estonians focuses on those who see themselves as the original Estonians. Meeting an Estonian for the first time and speaking Russian would generally not be in good taste, though you may never know if you offended your interlocutor or not.

Why? Simply because Estonians have their own identity and they can be great poker players. Don’t expect an Estonian to talk about their feelings openly or what is bothering him or her – the one who suffers lives longer. Estonian Russians would be a different matter but they are not under the microscope here.
Bird, Őpik, and Mustmaa review Estonian national symbols, for example, Kalevipoeg, the national epic and the Estonian flag’s horizontal stripes (top to bottom) of blue , black and white. Blue is for loyalty, the beautiful blue skies, seas, and lakes; as well as the blue peasant jacket of the past; black speaks of both oppression and fertile soil; white recalls virtue, winter snows and the light of summer nights. These colors help explain Estonian likes and experiences.