tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post4427670778210778887..comments2023-11-05T09:55:13.077+02:00Comments on Itching for Eestimaa: étienneGiustinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756707910693785516noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-2123998317241575552013-04-03T01:44:44.548+02:002013-04-03T01:44:44.548+02:00http://www.tallinnapostimees.ee/1189304/tallinna-t...http://www.tallinnapostimees.ee/1189304/tallinna-tanavad-lahevad-iga-aastaga-hullemaksLPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-20762138624789361062013-04-01T02:16:33.039+02:002013-04-01T02:16:33.039+02:00Happy Easter, everyone ...
from me and from Kung ...Happy Easter, everyone ...<br /><br />from me and from Kung Fu Grandpa ...<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYvw68IneV4<br /><br />LOLLPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-81520004266086824042013-03-29T22:56:13.507+02:002013-03-29T22:56:13.507+02:00Bea was right when he said a good post had been ig...Bea was right when he said a good post had been ignored by the ensuing discussion. I apologize for not expanding on your post. And do know, I was not offended by any counter arguments. Our motives should not be questioned and our beliefs should not always align.bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440146778884243239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-63218265881516708932013-03-29T15:36:23.781+02:002013-03-29T15:36:23.781+02:00Giustino, I love your thoughts and attitude of per...Giustino, I love your thoughts and attitude of personal touch to everything. Actually maybe you are right about 150 years. My own great grandparents from mother's mother's side had lived long enough for me to remember them. :) It's my mother who asked them to tell their life stories and told them over to us, her kids, when we were old enough to understand them. The stories had been about their life in proper Russia before 1918 and about their interwar commercial deals. It was interesting.<br />My fathers grandparents died before I was born but my mother had seen them and told some impressions about them. My father had asked his own father about his parents and told over to us as his children. :)<br />But I've found myself quite exceptionally lucky there, because some of my friends had seen their grandparents (not great grandparents) die when they were 6 or 10 y. o.<br />And it was Soviet stagnation and relative misery we had all lived then. It was not even that scary for us to hear some older stories of bigger misery. Now, I think even my Soviet stories sound too odd, incredible and useless to children. Grandparents are younger now, but life changes faster and it feels like nobody needs the past. Even their very own, let alone the stories about Jewish mass-graves in forests. :)<br /><br />Personally, I loved this blog post of yours. :)Beahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996480170809238457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-2351332150475404192013-03-29T07:44:29.414+02:002013-03-29T07:44:29.414+02:00Brett,
Sorry for being a bit bitchy -- full moon....Brett,<br /><br />Sorry for being a bit bitchy -- full moon. I hope it passes soon, because 90 percent of females around me are mysteriously attractive. I was booking a hotel online, and i found myself drawn to the tiny image of the Indonesian customer service agent. "Oh, she's cute ..." Of course, when the big moon passes, I wouldn't even notice the picture.<br /><br />Honestly, I would need to read several books before attempting to engage someone in a discussion about a Balanced Budget Amendment. The same thing happens in the US with other topics -- someone wants to start some shit about healthcare or taxes ... Look, do I look like an expert on American healthcare or taxation? As a consumer of healthcare, I often found the private model to be extortionate, based solely on squeezing as much money out of payers as possible while minimizing the support provided to them {and, of course, since they are sick, there's little they can do about it}, but that doesn't mean I can get up on a podium and lecture about it. Allow me to plead ignorance.Giustinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04756707910693785516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-71325822303848993602013-03-29T07:38:41.628+02:002013-03-29T07:38:41.628+02:00I think, it goes from the grandparents to grandchi...<em>I think, it goes from the grandparents to grandchildren and that's where it stops. I don't feel like telling all the scary stories of my grandparents to my children and people of that young or younger generations.</em><br /><br />I've heard the familial historical memory stretches back about 150 years. This might be true. The earliest personal stories I know about my family are from about the 1860s. My grandmother's great grandfather hid in the family cellar with a shotgun while the Confederate Home Guard rode around trying to round up deserters. He owned no slaves, and he refused to fight for the Confederacy. Another branch of the family made a living importing cotton to New York at that time. From what I understand, they collected the broken bales and somehow made them resellable. <br /><br />Those kinds of details are absent prior to that date. I honestly can't think of any personal memory from before then ... so maybe the 150 year spread is correct. There is a book in Estonia based on interviews with old Estonians done in the 19th century about the Great Northern War (1700-1721). I guess the same idea was at work there ... They couldn't remember the event, but they had older relatives who told them personal stories about it. These personal stories are often interesting, because they have nothing to do with what you have been taught in school.<br /><br /> Giustinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04756707910693785516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-59606358868832682402013-03-28T03:50:31.462+02:002013-03-28T03:50:31.462+02:00Three some?Three some?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075941401130868123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-22264275656869213762013-03-27T23:23:49.713+02:002013-03-27T23:23:49.713+02:00See! It IS a male dating site. We were such enem...See! It IS a male dating site. We were such enemies with Brett and now we are off to make out. <br /><br />Sorry Marko, I found a new guy.<br /><br />LOLLPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-39679878400777989862013-03-27T22:23:46.445+02:002013-03-27T22:23:46.445+02:00I am opposite a moderate...somewhere between a pea...I am opposite a moderate...somewhere between a peace loving hippie and rand paul libertarian.bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440146778884243239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-54086667671070043962013-03-27T22:11:48.432+02:002013-03-27T22:11:48.432+02:00I just wanted to needle your a## as a republican. ...I just wanted to needle your a## as a republican. If you are not, then you are not and I leave you alone.<br /><br />"Griftopia" actually addresses what you said. It is not left or right thing, it's the whole shabang.<br /><br />Peace.LPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-59670654684117780242013-03-27T21:57:36.283+02:002013-03-27T21:57:36.283+02:00I believe, Iraq and Afghanistan are examples of ex...I believe, Iraq and Afghanistan are examples of expenditures that are allocated for in the current budget. I argue that any expenditure should be subject to a balanced budget. In other words, in order to fund any project revenues must be increased or resources must e reallocated. For instances like Relief for Hurricane Sandy, the government should plan ahead and create reserves that can be tapped.<br /><br />My arguments have very little to do with the current platforms of either party, or faction. My point is that the system is broken because there is no special interest demanding smarter use of revenue. I have not argued against SS (a Social Democratic program), I have argued about how it is being funded and abused for political purposes.<br /><br />It's interesting all the references to GOP or Republicans, because I have consistently stated both parties are part of the problem and ignoring solutions. But feel free to frame the issue in whatever way you see fit.bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440146778884243239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-24933220441192723402013-03-27T21:45:49.344+02:002013-03-27T21:45:49.344+02:00Sorry Brett, not being rude, but not really intere...Sorry Brett, not being rude, but not really interested in America. I'm generally interested in foreigners in Estonia, snd how you guys get on. It doesn't matter to me if you're from Boston, Poland or Bangladesh. It's irrelevant, and even more so your former homelands political pickering.<br /><br />On the subject. Bea is absolutely right. Enough damage was caused by the events themselves, no need to prolong the agony. We don't discuss with the young ones their grannys autopsy results, do we? We talk about their life and stuff they did, not what was done to them. Markohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17501324932136870126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-30359504314969470242013-03-27T21:25:33.622+02:002013-03-27T21:25:33.622+02:00Giustino's blank eyed, brainwashed followers ....Giustino's blank eyed, brainwashed followers ...<br /><br />Sign me up.<br /><br />LOLLPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-63791926736409018962013-03-27T21:22:45.657+02:002013-03-27T21:22:45.657+02:00Brett, could we get reimburesd for the Iraq and Af...Brett, could we get reimburesd for the Iraq and Afhanistan wars? See we have this deficit whole that Republicans biaaatch about. We need some cash to fill that hole. Badly. <br /><br />Let's sue the party who started that s###t. <br /><br />Was that GOP? <br /><br />Bunch of rich white guys (and their clueless rendeck lackeys)<br /><br />Let's have them cough up the cash they spent so frivolously and balance the freaking budget already!!! LPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-25698980206949189082013-03-27T21:00:02.912+02:002013-03-27T21:00:02.912+02:00Correction...How Estonia can learn from the mistak...Correction...How Estonia can learn from the mistakes of the USA over the last 70 years...bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440146778884243239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-88247920242278691352013-03-27T20:56:26.527+02:002013-03-27T20:56:26.527+02:00Giustino, please reread how we got on the subject ...Giustino, please reread how we got on the subject of conservatism.<br /><br />Also, your post is about reflecting on the past. Why should we not be reflecting on the future and learn from the past? <br /><br />Also, are you only interested in an echo chamber? I hope not....To me I am not trying to convert you to my views, I am trying to thoughtfully discuss how we can make the USA better in 40 years and how Estonia can learn from the mistakes of Estonia over the past 70....I assume we are both jaded beyond return. Yet maybe you might have some followers (in the US and Estonia) who arent so jaded. <br /><br />bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440146778884243239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-14555613648803938222013-03-27T19:09:14.561+02:002013-03-27T19:09:14.561+02:00My grandparents are all dead already. I've hea...My grandparents are all dead already. I've heard some of their (mostly my father's parents) stories because my father asked them to tell us. My granddad had been deported to Siberia. He himself would mention what did they eat there when we, children, would awfully refuse to eat something.<br />I think, it goes from the grandparents to grandchildren and that's where it stops. I don't feel like telling all the scary stories of my grandparents to my children and people of that young or younger generations.Beahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996480170809238457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-57676733659205083462013-03-27T17:53:50.942+02:002013-03-27T17:53:50.942+02:00Giustino, why did this conversation become about t...<i>Giustino, why did this conversation become about the future?</i><br /><br />You are wasting your time, Brett. Watch this: "You're absolutely right, Brett. I agree, we really need a Balanced Budget Amendment. That's what our Founding Fathers [crosses himself] would have wanted"<br /><br />And now this: "I am opposed to such an amendment and will do anything within my power to stop it."<br /><br />Did anything change in that second between me writing those two lines? No. That's because it doesn't matter what my opinion is on this subject. Moreover, this post has absolutely nothing to do with fiscal conservatism. Nothing. Your comments are uninvited. You can continue to talk to yourself, but that doesn't mean we have to answer you ... Giustinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04756707910693785516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-70803949976898749362013-03-27T17:50:43.924+02:002013-03-27T17:50:43.924+02:00I have seen a very sad story fall from grace into ...<i>I have seen a very sad story fall from grace into the turbulent storm of a discussion on US financial priorities.</i><br /><br />He'd probably fit in better at a blog focused on US politics, such as Daily Kos or Red State. A man can waste years of his life arguing with people on the Internet about such things. Might as well waste all that time arguing with interested partners. Giustinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04756707910693785516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-89551919028506288322013-03-27T17:47:25.574+02:002013-03-27T17:47:25.574+02:00NRA, the paramilitary outfit of the republican par...<i>NRA, the paramilitary outfit of the republican party is spouting ideas of battle grade weapons in the hands of civilians as a means to fend off "government tyranny". Assuming that the government they have in mind is US government, they have now declared war and stand no different from AlQaeda. Hence, they should be rounded up and sentenced without trial.</i><br /><br />It is interesting how much influence they have. The big, bad NRA. And what are they really? Just another special interest group (except with guns).Giustinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04756707910693785516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-56251721381800360412013-03-27T13:40:38.040+02:002013-03-27T13:40:38.040+02:00Was it the Republicans who introduced and pushed t...Was it the Republicans who introduced and pushed through "The Patriot Act?"<br /><br />Under that act most republicans could be apprehended as enemy combatants and sent to Quantanamo.<br /><br />NRA, the paramilitary outfit of the republican party is spouting ideas of battle grade weapons in the hands of civilians as a means to fend off "government tyranny". Assuming that the government they have in mind is US government, they have now declared war and stand no different from AlQaeda. Hence, they should be rounded up and sentenced without trial.<br /><br />Using their own laws against them. The sweetest solution, if you were to ask me. <br /><br />LOLLPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-34684652014660281102013-03-27T10:40:04.747+02:002013-03-27T10:40:04.747+02:00"If a private comapny or an individual goes i..."If a private comapny or an individual goes into debt or is over leveraged, why would the average joe be concerned?"<br /><br />If a lot of them are over-leveraged it could become a problem for the economy as a whole, if they cannot pay back their debts or start massively to delever.<br /><br />"Trying to say the private sector is over leveraged so the Federal Government should be following the same practice is just sad."<br /><br />No one said this. Current government borrowing is just a consequence of the recession and the deleveraging of the private sector. It automatically increases the deficit because tax receipts go down and SS payments up, actual stimulus in the US is quite small. But if for you government spending is by definition wasteful, government borrowing is certainly wasteful. It seems that you even think that the government is the devil incarnate.Temestahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14614591949410689858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-47504189767522045492013-03-27T03:27:34.093+02:002013-03-27T03:27:34.093+02:00Liivimaa, TARP 1 and TARP 2 enough for to understa...Liivimaa, TARP 1 and TARP 2 enough for to understand how interconnected our leaders are with the corporate world. I am not arguing that this will change. <br /><br />Every State must balance their budget and many have part time legislatures. What if DC operated the same? States often have divided government and still seem capable of handling their business, maybe because they are forced too.<br /><br />Feel free to label me whatever you want, but also feel free to offer a constructive counter argument. But I do understand and feel your hopelessness. But Estonia, I believe still must have hope. They have yet to give into the entitlement society that is crippling the US budget.<br /><br />A Balanced Budget Amendment go a long way in cutting the waste out of government. As for the private sector, I could careless. It would be a lot harder to bail them out when a budget needs balanced.bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440146778884243239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-58200929915687725342013-03-27T03:09:18.132+02:002013-03-27T03:09:18.132+02:00Giustino, why did this conversation become about t...Giustino, why did this conversation become about the future? Well, I often think about what my grandchildren will ask me. What type of USA will they grow up under? What type of Estonia will my daughter be exposed to? <br /><br />I assume you would support a Medicare For All type solution in the USA? But first, shouldn't we be able to judge whether we can afford the impact on the Budget?<br /><br />I assume you thought Iraq and Afghanistan was a waste of resources (human and taxes)? Don't you wish our leaders would have been forced to make a cost benefit analysis before entering?<br /><br />Why is the Federal Government picking winners and losers? You just argued "they need a bailout on occassion". I think you are missing the point, when the government bails out a private party they are spreading the cost to the taxpayer. The failed pricate entity could have been just that failed, and we could spare the taxpayer the burden. <br /><br />Future generations can not vote but we are passing current bills to them. Also, we can vote but both the Dems and Repubs spend without regard. You, say "that's how they do business". That is exactly what we need to argue against. The "business" is not working. We need to force them to pay for their policies in today's revenue and today's elections.<br /><br />As far as generational theft and class warfare go? With 16Trillion in debt and 70% of Americans receiving more benefits from the Federal Government than they contribute these are more than just catchphrases they are a reality, that if left unchecked will dictate our converstations in 40 years.<br /><br /><br /><br />bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440146778884243239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-8892415028900581112013-03-27T03:04:17.442+02:002013-03-27T03:04:17.442+02:00I have seen a very sad story fall from grace into ...I have seen a very sad story fall from grace into the turbulent storm of a discussion on US financial priorities. Here in New Zealand the US economy is seen as much of a cot case as the Euro seems to be. Mean while the tragedy of my own family and the heroics of those who survived appalling misery have been washed away in something no one wants to come to grips with. Tyrants and their ilk will persist if we neglect the memory of their cruelty.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075941401130868123noreply@blogger.com