The future of Russia

This was posted as a comment reply in YouTube.

Before we "build them up" as an ally, the non-ally has to be contained. The USSR was too large to take on, so it was contained, and it collapsed under its own weight.

One scenario is Russia losing a large number of territories to become new independent states (Ichkeria, Dagestan); other territories would return to their previous owners: Königsberg, Karelia, Abkhazia, Crimea, etc.

This is fair, and the collapse would follow the Soviet scenario almost to the letter. Russia would democratise, and will be paying reparations to Ukraine for many decades to come.

There is a more difficult scenario:

Large swathes of the Russian Far East would get returned back to China somehow, if China (the PRC) won't ever touch Taiwan in return.

This would require separate treaties: between China and the West, and China and other South-East Asian nations, requiring China to then also give up territorial ambitions elsewhere, including the nine-dash line stuff in the South China Sea.

Per treaty:
• the People's Repulic of China would recognise Taiwan as an independent state. Taiwan then becomes a UN member state.
• Plus separate and stronger protections for the full autonomy and perhaps even political independence of Hong Kong and Macau. Since they are originally Chinese territories, China would remain responsible for their defense. It should be arranged as a confederation.

Somewhere along these lines, Tibet should also become free.

Another scenario would be the West, China, and others creating an alliance to rid Russia of its grabby ambitions. This would be similar to an alliance that rid France of Napoleon, and Germany of the Kaiser (WWI) and then of nazis (WWII). It would be a very bloody war.

Another, or an additional future for Russia would be the East Germany scenario, whereby China returns its own historical territories _and_ grabs the non-Chinese lands in the Far East and Siberia that Russia had previously obtained.

This arrangement would create a lot of tension, because then, China would be occupying the territories that were never its own.

The PRC would then have to build a new Great Wall of China to keep the possession to itself.

Some of the tension would be formally relieved under the long-term "two systems, one state solution" through treaty, or another arrangement between China and the new democratic Russia in its West Germany role backed by the free world. Even then, tensions would remain, and will simmer under the surface.

Why the Engineers began cloning themselves. A hypothesis.

First posted as a comment on YouTube.

One of the possibilities for the Engineers giving up traditional reproduction might have been some kind of a biological accident.

If we assume, that after a series of upgrades comparable in fashion to Weyland-Yutani obsessively wanting to upgrade humanity, perhaps using the synthesized form of Black Goo as a possible active ingredient which the Engineers might have picked up somewhere else — either from the Deacon prototype stuck on the mural, or from the big head set in the urn chamber in the Pyramid on LV-223, or by combining both — biological reproduction then produced something awful (à la the Offspring).

The progenitors could probably no longer be fixed through state reversal, or that there was some other reason precluding any form of going back, and so, they resolved to cloning.

There may be a possibility for future stories, that the Engineer civilisation became dormant somewhere, hoping and waiting until a separate group of Engineers (maybe even that of LV-223) provides a resolution, or someone from the outside might.

Why winner-take-all voting is bad for democracy

This was initially posted anonymously on slashdot.

No, in 'the last 50 years', voters and politicians have often not fudged up: the most recent five decades have seen massive advances in technology (often driven by policy), the fall of communism and the USSR, the introduction of the Internet and mobile phones to the masses, and the ascension of Eastern European countries into EU and NATO. This was highly rewarding for whichever party was in power at the time, and to voters, too.

The 'fudged up' part comes with the passage of time, when political incumbents become complacent (as parties), and are no longer able to create good policy, which then causes many countries to surf or skid on the inertia of previous achievements.

Consider Estonia, for example: Reform Party, Isamaa / Pro Patria, the former Res Publica party (since merged into Pro Patria), and Social Democrats / SDE were often in coalition, had in place great policies, interesting programmes (Tiigrihüpe computerisation of schools, the brainchild of Toomas Hendrik Ilves), consulted great visionaries (Linnar Viik), introduced the ID card for electronic two-factor authentication, and so on. Estonia and Estonians are still enjoying the fruits of many of these politicians' labor, including the current construction of Rail Baltic (pushed by Juhan Parts).

In 2012, Mart Laar, a superstar politician from Pro Patria had suffered a stroke. The retirement from politics of Mr. Laar caused a change in leadership in Pro Patria, which eventually resulted in rather average people becoming party leaders (ex.: Helir-Valdor Seeder).

In 2016, the coalition of Reform, Pro Patria, and SDE collapsed, IMO, because of a very scathing personal insult of one Estonian politician to another. These events lead to a change in the makeup of coalitions, introducing contrarian parties (Centre and EKRE) to government and power, who introduced bad policies, such releasing the pension money from the second-column pension plan (similar to a 401k), thus increasing inflation, and taking too many loans to burden all the future state budgets.

Time passed by. The EKREIKE coalition finally dissolved after yet another scandal involving Centre and EKRE.

Enter Kaja Kallas (Reform), arguably a very capable superstar politician and Prime Minister, who set out to fix many things, but who couldn't fix everything during her not-long-enough tenure as Prime Minister.

The passage of time during the previous Centre-lead coalitions resulted in the attrition of valuable talent from Reform and SDE parties, which resulted in the emergence of politicians who are less-than: Kristen Michal as PM from Reform, Lauri Läänemets from SDE, and Joakim Helenius from the Eesti 200 party. The current coalition of Reform, SDE, and E200 is satisfactory only because Centre and EKRE are not in power.

Ostensibly to rebalance the state budget, these politicians in the current coalition set out to raise taxes by introducing the car tax, and raising the property tax, which hits people of scant finances more than well-to-do and wealthy people. (2024)

2016 was also symbolic for two other major events: the stupid Brexit referendum (with not-very-surprising results), and the election of Trump that same year.

To summarize, the great coalitions in Estonia, which typically consisted of Reform, SDE, and Pro Patria, were held together not only due to their having superstar politicians in (party) leadership (Ansip, Laar, Marju Lauristin), but also because of these parties' desire to keep out the Centre party, which remains contrarian in many ways, and which leadership in the form of Edgar Savisaar sought to appease Russia.

Such coalitions were possible because of Estonia's electoral system, which favours proportional representation. In a first-past-the-post / winner-take-all system, Centre would have ruled Estonia to the country's detriment for too long.

The mistake of the U.S. and UK winner-take-all / first-past-the-post electoral systems favours only a two-party political system. A two-party political system invites the extremes into either party: the extremes of the U.S. Left into the Democratic Party, and the extreme-right into the Republican Party in America. Such an electoral and political system can easily lead to vacillations between extremes. For many decades, this had not been happening, as Democrats and Republicans were unified with regard to opposing the USSR and the wider socialist and blocs.

Now, even if a good party wins (the Democrats), there is a higher chance of it and the country being lead by well-meaning politicians, who are great bureaucrats, but who are very weak in foreign policy: these would be Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Trump (appeasement of the Taliban in Afghanistan), and Joe Biden (2021-2025). I'll add Neville Chamberlain (1937-1940), Angela Merkel, and Nicholas Sarkozy, who also sought the politics of appeasement.

With regard to Russian aggression in Ukraine, Obama before Trump, and Biden himself sought appeasement ('de-escalation', stuff like that), though to a lesser extent, only because superstar politician and President of Ukraine Zelenskyy and many Eastern European politicians (Kaja Kallas), did not budge.

Proportional representation in the Western democracies that have adopted it, helps prevent the emergence of bad or weak politicians, and helps heal many of the bad politicians' mistakes. While it does not entirely prevent awful politicians from getting to power (both in Hungary now, and in Estonia in the recent past), a single-winner system almost always makes it worse, if the system of a political party favours and allows terrible politicians to run for office.

That is why it's never surprising, and by design, that the first-past-the-post and winner-take-all systems favour the emergence of only two major political parties. If their policies are not too different from another in domestic or foreign affairs, then this indeed makes it appear, as though there is little difference between the two.

Proportional voting usually prevents nations from stepping on that rake. (But doesn't help too much in countries where all, or too many parties are extreme, and willing to form a far-right coalition.)

To counter the argument of the parent poster, it's really not 'the last fifty years', but 2016 as one of the focal points in the West of things going wrong at the same time.

The difference of PAL haves and SECAM have-nots in the transition-era Estonia

This post is a reply to a YouTube comment under a clip from a "MacGyver" two-parter "Legend of the Holy Rose". [Updates in this blog in square brackets.]

I was watching this episode in Estonia, if not perhaps in 1989, then close to that time, from Finnish tv.

Estonia was the only country in the entire USSR that could receive terrestrial Finnish channels, and then only in the north of the country.

Wealthy households could afford a satellite dish made in Estonia (the name of the satellite dish company was "Merge"). In the south of the country, I remember seeing those dishes atop private housing, and cable tv with German satellite channels in a middle-class housing block — everyone who lived in that apartment block, must have all had it.

What follows, is a recounting of some tv history, and bittersweet nostalgia.

When colour tv was in development in the USSR, the USSR chose SECAM-D/K, as it was/is a French television standard and not that Western, because it was incompatible with PAL. (I hope I haven't mixed upu D/K and B/G)

This incompatibility ensured, that people in the Eastern Bloc wouldn't be able to catch the PAL-B/G video and audio of the "rotting West", or probably because de Gaulle, then the long-time leader of France, held anti-American sentiments.

[I speculate, that] The French developing and promoting SECAM, was also because post-WWII France was very weary of post-WWII Germany[, which had adopted PAL].

The Finnish MTV3 was a commercial channel started in 1986, and aired in PAL B/G, but not all households had tv sets with this PAL support: the picture in a SECAM set was black and white, very wobbly, and there was no sound. I learned of MTV3 only after I'd gone to school, from classmates.

OTOH, the picture out of YLE2, which aired MacGyver, was stable, and an old Soviet-made SECAM-only set could show it in black-and-white, with sound and all.

As a kid between seven and eleven, soon-to-be-introduced to MacGyver, I knew very little about the U.S./Soviet competition in space, and wasn't aware of lasers until a few years later.

Instead, I loved to collect stamps, because they opened me up to the outside world. The Soviet-era stamps promoted the USSR space programme, and I liked all stuff to do with space. There were plenty of foreign stamps, too, [including probably U.S. space-themed stamps, which made me aware of separate U.S. and Soviet space efforts, but not about the Space Race proper.]

The Estonian kid's journal "Täheke" ["Starlet", supposedly after the Red Star] only had child-oriented content when I was reading that one, but no space stuff.

But the one popular kid's journal that our family had been ordering from Moscow (I'm from a bilingual family), was "Murzilka", the titular character and mascot of which was/is a yellow anthropomorphised kid-height furry wearing a red Soviet beret.

"Murzilka" had plenty of Soviet propaganda well into the late eighties, though less during the latter years of the USSR, as it inched closer to collapse. But there always was plain non-political kid's stuff, even a comic series about computers featuring Murzilka and an 'almost-evil' witch trying to manipulate her three-headed dragon "computer".

Par for the course, the journal promoted the Soviet space programme, carrying interviews with cosmonauts. [The interviews were meant for the USSR propaganda to promote the commie way of life, but I passed those long-form interviews with too mnay words by to look at and read the set of "Murzilka" comics in the middle of the journal.]

Can't remember if this was the last form of kindergarten, or my first class of school. I lean towards kindergarten. So the teachers took us to the local cinema, which showed a very eerie Soviet space film that apparently had been rated as appropriate for children. [To the mind of a six- or seven-year-old me], it was very, very eerie, because it apparently showed aliens carrying big globes for some reason, and I was a bit squeamish watching them. The imagery stuck with me.

On many days, probably when sick, I was bored, and rummaged through the family bookshelves for books with pictures. (We had lots of books, as did most well-educated families in Estonia.)

I discovered a large Estonian hardcover about the history of space exploration, and loads of colour pictures of real-life spacecraft [either] in the middle of the book[, or throughout. I think it was titled "100 kosmoseaparaati" ("100 space vehicles").] It was easy to look for those images even from a closed book, because photos and pictures of any kind were printed on special paper, which was whiter, thicker, and shiny. [It seemed to be the Soviet tradition to put colour pictures in the middle of any book, but print on shiny glanzpapier was probably expensive. Well into my current adulthood, I've realised, that this style was common also to pre-WWII and Tsarist-era print, and not unique to Soviet typesetting.] Among other things, there were pictures of U.S. spy satellites. Can't say if this was before or after I'd had my first taste of 'Trek ca 1988...1991.

Then I got my hands on Dad's entire stash of nearly all editions of "Horisont", the pre-eminent Estonian science / popular science journal. (alas, his fine collection was irretrievably lost to the dark side. RIP and RIP.)

Right, and so, during Gorbachev's Glasnost and the late-Soviet era, "Horisont" began having copy about two things: introductory stories about computers, and a lot of stuff to do with UFOs, mentioning the names of then-eminent ET researchers (one, whose name stuck, was Däniken). I was browsing those editions for the otherworldly pictures, [mostly paintings].

And then in the country during Summer, I'd bought a boulevard gazette, where its cover featured a well-designed sci-fi image of an alien with very abstract, almost square body and facial features, and small and very luminescent green eyes. Or perhaps he was green, and the luminescent eyes were blue.

The 1997 "MiB" movie line about yellow journalism always having copy about UFOs rang very true well after the fact.

The above tidbits set me up to be even more receptive of space stuff. Real space stuff.

Now, back to regular programming..

Due to the differences in the tv sets that mine and most of my classmates' households had, as ours had a much older SECAM-only "Raduga" color tv ("Radugas" were later infamous for catching fire [due to a design flaw]), I could not see fancy stuff, unless I succeeded in making a cordial visit to a classmate. (This lasted for a very short while, and quickly ended for various reasons.)

Seeing TNG for the first time at a good classmate's home made me a lifelong fan of Star Trek and space-based sci-fi. By sheer coincidence, my first Star Trek episode was "Q Who?" — the very first Borg episode. This entire experience was massively fantastic: [USS Enterprise 1701-D was a fantastically beautiful and sleek-looking ship; and the Borg Cube, a rightly menacing, gigantic and powerful vessel defying all the rules of streamlined design.]

Of the seven young men in my earliest class makeup (there were 25 kids in all), the classmate who invited me over so I could see "Q Who?" (he and I didn't know the title of the episode before the fact), remains the only mate whom I remember only with good words.

The difference [say, the PAL/SECAM divide, not unlike the digital divide] was even more stark, in that YLE2 only showed "MacGyver", which I could see and did watch, just because it was there, plus action-adventure; while the commercial MTV3 aired "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (TNG), which I wanted to see more than anything else, but couldn't. [as our home didn't have a set that would show PAL and MTV3]

MTV3 also had "Knight Rider" in its lineup, which, for some reason, was almost never missed (in the sense, that I didn't crave watching it). ["Knight Rider", locally called "Ritariässä" after the localised Finnish title of the show, was apparently very popular with my classmates and almost all the male youth in Estonia. I'm not sure if the show and its episodes were ever discussed amongst them during recess. I knew I couldn't see it, and it's possible, that I'd switched myself out of the others' discussion, if the show ever passed my ears. Ultimately, compared to the very high quality of Star Trek: TNG, "Knight Rider" didn't seem very appealing.]

Yet in the very early 1990s, I got stickers from Spanish chewing gum, because Michael Knight was very masculine, and I wanted a piece of the West with me. Any piece, in part only because I couldn't watch that show, and many other guys could.

Because of an older tv at home, I didn't miss too much the Finnish ads for all the foods that people in the USSR never got access to, and we Estonians could then only salivate over. I saw those ads only at classmates' places, and then, too, very rarely.

[Oddly enough, there are particular Finnish foods that I like, but which were never shown in the few Western and Finnish ads that I remember. For example, I tried "Snickers" once in the early 1990s, and it was wholesomely yucky.]

As it was, most everyone did crave any and all stuff that was Western.

Of the few Western/Finnish ads I saw, I recall them depicting idyllic scenes of happy people enjoying tasty things, or something adventurous (there were several ads for "Tupla" chocolate bars). These were the years of transition in Estonia, and I wanted that kind of happiness, too. [one "Tupla" ad was modelled after Indiana Jones films.]

What I missed, therefore, was the experience of eating the advertised berry yogurt and watching something I couldn't.

The tv sets with PAL support always set any classmates' households a notch above those of anyone else: because they had a window to the world that I didn't. Two [or three] of those homes must have had access to hard foreign currency, showing off their nouveau-riche status to the fullest extent. It seemed, as though they were filthy-rich.

And it was massively disappointing, that other kids could get to watch the best sci-fi that there ever was, and I could not, which made me really unhappy. [I didn't mind them seeing and enjoying it, just that it was difficult to live with the knowledge, that I could not. I cannot recall envying them for this, more, that I genuinely missed seeing great science fiction.]

TNG kept running, and I continued not seeing it, while the local TV guides taunted me with its entry for each Saturday.

As an interesting alternate, these were the years when, from at least 1991, I'd caught a local retransmission each evening of VOA Europe, which played then-popular and chart-topping tracks, thus gracing me with a unique taste in expensive sound. (Our household didn't have a cassette deck until 1993 or 1994, I think, so it was the radio for me.) Eventually, there was mutual estrangement with those classmates, so I'd never learned what music did the others like.

Eventually, to the credit of the good classmate, who, along with other dudes, had seen "The Best of Both Worlds", he retold me the entire two-parter in vivid detail. [I was incredibly happy to hear the whole story from him, and to see his happiness in having seen it, and in retelling it to me :) ]

All this set me up to having a general interest in sci-fi, space, and woo.

I couldn't see any of "Star Trek" properly and at home until a few years later, but that's a different and overall happier story.

While interested in "MacGyver" as a pre-adolescent, it stopped catching my imagination in my teens and twenties. Reason was, that [I'd become a teenager, and] "MacGyver" the show was not as realistic in terms of dialogue, and it felt outdated, whereas TNG and DS9 were the future.

Then again, in the early-to-mid-1990s, I loved "The A-Team" (the parents didn't super like it for its unrealistic dialogue and scenes, but sometimes kinda-sorta tolerated it), and my favourite was "The Equalizer", which always aired at 22:00, which was too late for me.

Then followed "Homicide: Life on the Street", sort of capturing the very realistic feel of early-to-mid-1990s America, hope and anxiety. But its airtime was also late.

[I could not reconcile the fact, that "The A-Team", "The Equalizer", and "Homicide" were very late to me. Especially the latter two, which were high-quality fare. While I massively craved to be in that other world of suspense and adventure, where the good guys were good and well and genuine, and the bad guys always lost.]

"MacGyver" now retains the charm of mid-to-late eighties' Americana.

"Knight Rider" was perhaps similar, targeting the same or somewhat younger age brackets, but was even more outdated and wackier in terms of dialogue and scenes.

The eighties were full of tv shows featuring a man on a journey, usually across America, and fixing all kinds of problems in his way. [Or several men, plus a woman sometimes.] One of the common themes was their being a Vietnam veteran. There were fewer of those shows in the 1990s.

"MacGyver" and "The Equalizer" had a more worldwide appeal: the activities of both often intersected with politics and spycraft: The Equalizer was usually based in New York, and featured plenty of foreigners visiting the city, whereas MacGyver travelled the world.

["MacGyver" introduced me to fixing things by way of tinkering and ad-hoc solutions. Sometimes, the solutions that I had made, worked, and had served me for some years, flawed or perfectly prescient some of them were. As I'd eased into my middle years, some of my wonderment of discovery in tinkering has faded, and the world has offered a plethora of ready-made solutions that are not to be tinkered with.

[Looking back, the PAL/SECAM "analogue" divide took me on a different path of life than that of most of my classmates.

When a year of school ended, and the Summer break began, my family went to the countryside, which was a whole world unto itself. The parents were no longer exposed to nervous city life, and I got to sleep longer, and sleep in. It was bliss.

The countryside offered such a different and blissful existence, that I subconsciously protected it from all of my other classmates. My birthday is sometime during Summer, and when it came to thinking of the people I'd invite to celebrate getting older by a year, I could not think of anyone from the city (the school).

My childhood logic was always, that all the kids I knew from the city (the classmates) 'were too far away, and that it would have been impractical for them to come over.'

The countryside felt like a different country, one, that was inaccessible to the kids (the classmates) I knew from the city.

I've realised in adulthood, that not one of my classmates was a friend to me, as some of them and I had both failed to develop good relationships on the basis of mutual trust. There might have been potential for this, but I let go of some of the opportunities, as did they.]

Milline Eesti laul meenutab lapsepõlve kõige rohkem

Oli kunagi r/Eesti küsimus, kus ma postitasin oma variandi, kuid lõnga esitaja kustus ära.

Sõltub ajastust ja eluperioodist.

Lapsepõlv

Lasteaias

"Kevadel" / Juba linnukesed. "Boamadu" ROCK FM konkursi kaver

Kodus ja maal

"Kodulaul" "Nukitsamehest.

"Päikeseratas" ei ole lemmik, kuigi ma olen sellest loost teadlik.

"Kui mina alles noor veel olin" (Veljo Tormis, "Kevade") (cover by Reet)

3Pead – "Lillelaps" — See on sellest perioodist maal, kus ma polnud enam väga pisike, aga suur ka veel mitte. Oli seiklusi ja avastamist. Laul kirjeldab maa-elu suhtelist tormilisust just ilmapoole pealt, kuigi maa-elust meenuvad enamasti vaid ilusad hetked.

"Kui on meri hülgehall" / "Majake mere ääres" (muusika: Ülo Vinter, sõnad: Enn Vetemaa) — Üldse üks ilusamaid laule seitsmekümnendatest aastatest. (Film ise on jäädavalt kehva.)

"Põhjamaa" / "Laul Põhjamaast" — "Pipi Pikksuka" teatrietendusest, lingitud 2019.a. laulupeo kooriesitluses. Sügaval N. ajal oli see "Pipi Pikksuka" näidendi lõpulaul, ning selle esitamise ajal seisis absoluutselt kogu publik aupaklikult püsti.

Teismeiga, varateismeiga

Gunnar Graps – "Valgus" — Seda nägin ja kuulsin telekast ühe korra üldse lapsena, aga sööbis mu mällu. Oli vist mingi limonaadireklaami tunnuslugu. Mässumeelse teismeea laul.

Suhte otsimine

Ummamuudu – "Kõnõtraat" (Elina Borni cover)

Armumine ja esimene armastus

Genialistid – "Leekiv armastus"

Best B4 – "Ma armastan luuserit" — eestikeelne kaver algupäraselt Nylon Beati soomekeelsest loost, nagu ma mäletan. Laulu all kommentaarides meenutatakse, et Best B4 versioon avaldati varem. Üldse kõige kaverdatum Soome laul.

Ans Andur – "Kare tekk"

Eelmäng lahkuminekule

Code One – "On küll hilja". — Klassikaline 1990ndate ballaad, mis ilmestab hästi kogu aastakümmet.

Lahkuminek

Terminaator – Raudteejaam

See on see koht,

...kus ma olen täiskasvanu, aga noor ja teen palju vigu.

3Pead – "Poolel teel"

Hu? – "Exind"

Ikka veel kooliaeg

(mul pole eluperioodid kõik lineaarsed, ning osa laule on avaldatud alles *peale* mingit eluperioodi. Mitmed laulud lihtsalt kirjeldavad ühte või teist aega.)

Leslie Da Bass – "Dressibluus"

Hannaliisa Uusmaa – "Depressiivsed Eesti väikelinnad"

^ Kehtivad ka maakoha kohta teismeeas.

Sügavam noor täiskasvanuiga,

kus teen vähem vigu, aga jäi igatsustunne ilusa järele:

Avenova feat. Andriana – "Вечность" (Avenova on Narva bänd)

Noorusajast elu lõpuni

(positiivne take)

Sõpruse Puiestee – "Ma olen õnnelik, et inimesed on nii ilusad ja head"

3Pead – Armastuse valgus — see veidi uuem versioon kui algupärane.

Üldse kogu Veljo Tormise "Kevade, "Suve" ja "Sügise" muusika.

"Aeg läheb aga õnn ei kao" / "Imeliku kandlelugu", "Suve" lõpulaul. Veljo Tormis / Paul-Eerik Rummo. Ülemakstud Rentslihärrade cover

The triggers for "Spencer" in Impostor (2001)

This was written in reply to a comment under a YouTube movie recap.

After the hospital scan, the main agent knew with definite evidence, that Spencer was a planted robot with a bomb inside his body. Whether there was prior knowledge of his wife, is unknown.

The greater plan for humans must have been to move the married couple away from populated areas, which would defeat the aliens' big plan, though they did get some solace in the knowledge, that the entire ruse managed to decimate the robot-detecting operation. — This explains, why the agents are inadequate or inexperienced, in that similar explosions have happened before, and there's a manpower problem.

The film is clever, in that Spencer's detonation trigger was actual definite knowledge of being a robot. On second viewing, we see how close he is to learning of his botness and his body detonating, but the aliens did not account for Spencer's humanity even as a bot.

There may be differing accounts as to what other things may have triggered Spencer and his bot "wife". It could be, that both the "husband" and "wife" had to be in close proximity, and Spencer's earlier refusal to acknowledge his botness must have been due to the absence of his "wife".

We must assume very sophisticated programming: Spencer's AI mind learns, that he's about to be exposed, but he cannot yet trigger his internal explosive unless and until he's relatively close to his "wife", which "subconsciously" causes him to escape and seek his wife in order to prevent the bomb from being safely removed from either unit for reverse engineering, and to complete the mission to minimise exposure.

The movie shows a setting, where humans are able to make a stand, but are always one or two steps behind.

The True Estonia

This was initially written as a reply under a YouTube video, but the text was published here first.

Estonia is true in every place Estonia is at within its current borders :-)

There are certain spots and landmarks that one gets a feel of like a local:

The Tallinn Old Town. Raising of the Estonian flag at the Pikk Hermann tower on 24. February Independence Day and 20. August Reindependence Day (restoration of independence).

The Parliament building, which has only one open-door day. Opposite that, the Russian Orthodox Church, which few Estonians visit, for good reason.

The 24. February Independence Day military parade and small air show. It's still cold. The "parade of the penguins", which is the President's reception with politicians and dignitaries that same evening.

The Tallinn central business district and Linnahall (of Tenet). Kadriorg and the Kadriorg Park, with squirrels. The Singing Grounds (Lauluväljak) during the concert of a major star, or a massive song festival.

The traffic jams on Tammsaare tee and Järvevana tee during peak hour, and because the city is continually carving up road on main streets and replacing it with the new shiny. (I think the Centre-led city always invents new ways to carve up road on main streets so as to distrub traffic.)

The 'mäed' (hills) with apartment blocks in Mustamäe, Õismäe, and Lasnamäe. The Laagna tee canal of Tenet in Lasnamäe. Pirita and Štromka (Stroomi beach).

Going to a Prisma at night and buying liquorice and salmiakki candy, kõrsik, and Georgian Tarhun (either Zhedazheni or Natakhtari). For those not in the know, Prisma is a Finnish big-box grocery chain, which has several stores open 24 hours a day.

Kopli and Kalamaja. The Russian cemetery adjacent to the Tallinn Central Hospital (Keskhaigla).

The Rocca al Mare open-air museum with all old and rustic buildings mostly from the 19th century and earlier, and the model kolhoz (collective farm) residential apartment block with each flat showing a decade of the Soviet era.

The Museum of Art / Kumu, the Museum of Occupations / Vabamu, the Museum of the Seas (Meremuuseum), the Fat Margareta, the Seaplane Harbour, its submarine, and icebreaker Suur Tõll.

The ferris wheel at T1, and the near-emptiness of T1 itself. It's got a free toilet and free Wi-Fi, and a free old book exchange rack (tho not vintage). It's lovely.

The free public transit in Tallinn for registered city residents, and the sometimes-free bus transport in the regions outside cities. Contactless rider cards, with a system developed by Estonian company Ridango.

In Tallinn public transit, you'll have seen people of all nationalities and colours. The best part is, that people almost never bother one another, and almost never talk to strangers.

Excursions on the retro and vintage buses of the Timeless Buses collection during Museum Night (Muuseumiöö). The Museum Night as an event in and of itself, which happes only once a year.

By car: the Tallinn−Tartu road that never completes as a four-lane highway, which has been a local meme for many years, if not decades already. Traversing that road by car is an adventure in an of itself, and not without danger.

The similar path on the often-overcrowded "carrot" train / porgand 🥕, and the venerable Tartu train station. ERM aka Eesti Rahva Muuseum / the Museum of the Estonian People.

The Americana of Tikupoiss near Viljandi, and the American Beauty Car Show in Haapsalu.

There's the Rummu quarry (karjäär; private property, btw), its pristine water and the adjacent abandoned prison.

Then the Narva fortress/castle and museum, the open-air old vehicle museum (Maanteemuuseum), the mining museum (wrt oil shale) near Narva (I think there's an underground trip even).

Most of the beaches and shores across the country. I've heard, that Nõva is nice.

All the bogs and marshes and their beauty, which you can traverse on boarded-up paths. Mukri raba. You will encounter other hikers.

The forests, and the picking of berries and mushrooms there. Don't pick anything you don't know, and better have a friend who knows mushrooms well, plus consult a local mushroom book or lexicon, but those are in Estonian. Usually, avoid eating berries until they're cleaned and washed, as those may carry stomach parasites.

Beware the thousand Estonian bears, plus wolves, elks, wild hogs, foxes, and other wild mammals. Some may have rabies, and the government / forest service / RMK regularly drops anti-rabies feed. There may be viper snakes.

Beware the ticks, as they are the most insidious and the most dangerous of all. Also anyone who trades with timber and makes frequent calls to buy your forested property cheaply, if one happens to have any.

The delicious and a bit pricey onions of lake Peipus (Peipsi sibulad).

The often-rainy and sometimes-chilly *Jaanilaupäev* + *Jaanipäev* in the countryside, with a thousand mosquitoes who think that _you_ are their best meal that evening, and not anyone else. You'll need an anti-bug spray, gel, or stick ahead of the event.

Into the night, a warm bonfire with friends and family and lots of gossip, if and when other villagers (local friends) are made welcome to join. It's warm only because the people are huddled close to one another, like bats in a cave.

Have various disinfectant on hand to dispense on your person and to others before eating, though people usually rely on napkins.

Never throw plastic or trash into any fire, because it's toxic, and the fire may have been intended to grill food.

Eating onion-laced šašlõkk grilled on a UFO grill oven (well, it does look like a saucer) ontop of coal fire, complementing it with white or vegetarian salad, and marinated pickles 🥒. Eating the previously-collected and later-washed wild strawberries 🍓, raspberries, and other berries, plus rhubarb cake (rabarberikook), and drinking fizzy drinks well into the morning. Beware of ticks and drunk people, so pick your company.

Then there are Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Vormsi, and Kihnu.

Watching Kevade, Suvi, and Sügis with friends and family.

When losing a friend or a closed one, a funeral send-off at Pärnamäe chapel/crematorium, if in Tallinn. I hope you won't have to attend, as send-offs of loved ones can be very personal. Though this comes as part and parcel with long-term living in Estonia, if you have close ones.

Discussing and signing inheritance documents via videolink and ID card online, at the same time with the notary, with family members scattered across the globe. (that is, if there are no inheritance disputes.)

The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and the films from all over the world, including South Asia.

Christmas with gingersnaps / piparkoogid. Easter with a specially-prepared Pas'ha meal (пасха, originates from Russia).

The True Estonia is the friends and family you have around you on most of these events.

Prestige science fiction series

I've posted here first as a comment reply on reddit.

Prestige sci-fi, in order of appearance:

* Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987−1994)

* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1992−1999) — very much stands the test of time, especially all the episodes featuring Cardassians and Garak (Andrew J. Robinson).

The first American tv show to talk about comfort women in "Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" (1998).

Behind the camera: Ira Steven Behr, Ron D. Moore and Naren Shankar.

* Farscape (1999−2003, 2004) — Made in Australia. Great animatronics and puppeteering, fantastic sci-fi.

Starring: Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Virginia Hey, Lani Tupu, Wayne Pygram (once played Tarkin, btw), Jonathan Hardy (voice), Gigi Edgley, Rebecca Riggs, and many others.

Behind the camera: Brian Henson, Rockne S. O'Bannon and Naren Shankar.

* Star Trek: Enterprise (2001−2005). There was a lot of fan disdain for it, but it seems to have gained a resurgent following. 9/11 changed the world, and took the show with it.

* Battlestar Galactica (2003, 2004−2009) — upped the space physics realism part. Created and ran by Ron D. Moore. Score by Bear McCreary.

* Stargate Universe (2009−2011) — Starring Robert Carlyle, Louis Ferreira, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith, and Ming-Na Wen (The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett).

SGU features the first LGBT primary character in a space-based sci-fi show, and is one of the earliest to have a gay starring actor in a sci-fi show in Brian J. Smith (not related to the in-show character), though he wasn't out yet at the time. Brian J. Smith has starred in Sense8*, *Treadstone*, *Matrix 4*, and the upcoming series Essex County

Stargate Universe features an awesome score by the late Joel Goldsmith (son of Jerry Goldsmith), comparable in quality to that of Andor, and musical montages with the eclectic music of the day.

Some of the episodes depict in some detail what it's like to live with a family member who has HIV/AIDS, a life-long disability, and separately shows the progression of ALS and explains what it is.

By the time SGU aired, Star Trek: TNG had become dated in terms of style and presentation.

* The Expanse (2015−2022) — upped the space physics realism and greatly raised the standard on that. Shohreh Aghdashloo steals the show.

* Westworld — Season 1 and Season 2 stand out and raise the bar. Seasons 3 and 4 are weaker.

* The Mandalorian — the great space western. The Book of Boba Fett is good, too, once I disregard the inclusion of the teen biker gang. Boba Fett fills the lone ranger genre very nicely.

* The Boys — A very gory anti-superhero show, but worth watching for the gallows humour. Serious issues through and through. Adults only!

* Invincible — A bloody, gory, and messy cartoon, and a very good one at that. If you're an adult, it's worth the watch.

I must add extra caution wrt The Boys and Invincible, because they are so gory, that anyone who has seen bloody deaths, war, and battle trauma, might find these two shows very triggering.

Invincible is like the superhero version of Happy Tree Friends. If you know what that is, you'll get the gist.

* Andor — hugely raises the bar, and is on par with SGU, BSG, Farscape, DS9, and Westworld. (I've lost interest in The Expanse, though.)

Edit:

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is great Star Trek and captures some of the classic feel with Captain Pike and Lt. Spock.

• Star Trek: Lower Decks is a lot of fun, captures the TNG feel, and has some lovely moments.

• Star Trek: Prodigy is a great choice for children.

The other Star Trek shows are meh.

The status of post-conflict diaspora language

This was initially written as a response to a comment under a Reddit post in a thread that discussed the tender relationship between the diaspora big-minority Russian language, and the indigenous majority-status Estonian language in Estonia.

I think it will take a while for Estonians as a group to disassociate the Russian language from the titular people in Russia, from the titular state, and the regime that runs it.

In my view, the Russian language as such is not guilty of any crimes.

But it has long been used as an instrument of oppression, colonization, and foreign machinations; it's been the titular language of oppressive dictatorships, and has been spoken by a great many people who have advanced, and continue to advance the policies of said regimes. — All this dismays me quite a bit.

As a consequence of having been used as an instrument of colonisation, the countries in which russification took place, naturally gravitate towards undoing said acts of colonisation and their many outcomes, which have had an effect on a number of majority-status indigenous cultures that have come to fear the loss of their native language.

This uncompromising undoing, as it were, of the results of occupation and colonisation is done perhaps as a measure to reduce the chances of their indigenous language(s) — with not too many speakers on a world scale — from becoming endangered sometime in the future.

And so, this creates the externality of the Russian language suffering the fate of collateral damage as a somewhat self-inflicted result of several conflicts and wars started by the Russian state.

Yet the Russian language itself is not in any way in danger.

But how the many Russian diasporae are to develop a culture in each of their respective host countries, which culture would be immune to foreign (Russian) influence measures and meddling, is something that requires a lot of care and nurture.

It's important to note, that in Russia proper, several indigenous non-Russian languages remain endagered, or are under the threat of extinction. Their speakers are discriminated against, and their sons have been thrown into the meat-grinder that is the Russian-initiated war in Ukraine.

There, in Russia, several indigenous non-Russian languages have already become extinct. As such, their extinction is always a major harm and irreparable loss to humanity.

Tööstusrevolutsiooni nö. hukatuslikkus on ülepaisutatud

Algselt avaldatud veidi lühemal kujul siin.

Theodore Kaczynski manifesto avalause: "The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race."

Tööstusrevolutsioon ei ole inimkonnale õnnetuseks. Suuresti *ei ole õnnetus* sellepärast, et selle tagajärjel on paljude inimeste elatustase tõusnud ja vaesus langenud. Õnnetuseks *on* seetõttu, et suurem osa inimesi ei oska tööstusrevolutsiooni teha õigesti, eriti kui tekib palju õnnetusi ja avariisid.

Mitte et tööstusrevolutsiooni tagajärjed ei ole olnud mitmes kohas hukatuslikud (Tšernobõl, Fukushima, Bhopal), vaid et *välisus*te tulem (the outcome of externalities) on oluliselt rohkem hajutatud ja seega vähem kontsentreerunud kui arvatakse selleks, et teha "üleilmset hukatust" kuulutavaid üldistusi.

Kuid see tööstusrevolutsioon, mis kuskil toimus, on selle ajahetke ja asukoha kohta parim, mida teatud regiooni asustavad inimesed oskasivad teha. 'Parimaks' võivad seda hinnata terriooriumi haldajad, kui see pole *tegelikult* parim, või asula elanikud, kui see *on* ka päriselt õnnestunud (mõnikord võib propaganda abil nõustumist ka *toota*).

Tööstusrevolutsiooni tulemusel on arendatud tuhandeid uusi tehnoloogiaid, mille tagajärjel on ühiskonnad saanud kokku hoida aega, raha ja muid ressursse, ning mille järelmiks on ühiskondade kiirem areng.

Postindustriaalseks revolutsiooniks võib täiesti vabalt pidada digirevolutsiooni.

— mitte et tootmine ja rasketööstus oleks mingis maailma regioonis lõppenud. — Või isegi kui paljudel juhtudel on, siis on tootmine ja rasketööstus liikunud kusagile mujale. Ning toodetavate kaupade profiil muutub, käies sedaviisi sammu muutumistega tehnoloogiais.

Postindustrialismi üheks märgiks on ka turgude küllastumine mingite tootekategooriatega. Kui mingit toodet on mõnel turul palju, ning kui toode on oma olemuselt kauakestev, jätkusuutlik (!) ja hästihoitud, väheneb vastavalt ka vajadus selle tootmiseks, ning väheneb nõudlus. Teoorias vähemalt.

Saatuse irooniana on paljud ühiskonnad meie maakeral raiskavad, ning asjade hoidmise asemel kiputakse isegi täiesti töökorras seadmeid välja viskama.

Eesti iseseisvuse taastamise järel mitmed tööstused ja kollektiivmajandid suleti, ning sellega lõppes selline forsseeritud industrialiseerimine, mis on kujundlik diktatuuridele (NSVL) ja nende poolt okupeeritud maadele ja riikidele (Balti riigid, Ukraina jmt.).

Postindustrialism ei ole industrialiseerumise kui sellise lõppemine, vaid üleminek uuele etapile.

Eestis sai selleks uueks etapiks digirevolutsioon.

All the boonies of the world

Inspired by the town that time forgot by North!

There's a Russian proverb, which says, that 'Moscow is not Russia'. True to form, all the sticks on this Earth suffer the kind of oblivion that are spared to distant regions out of their conglomerating metro areas.

The regions of Russia are massively muddy and decrepitly derelict. Asphalt on the main roads is like the surface of the Moon, with a 20 km/h speed limit, or simply a distant dream. No war traversed those roads.

Stateside regions are adorned with flying trash, dysfunctional police, the smell of meth, and the edges of city blocks littered with people standing upside down. Not just in the sticks somewhere, but in Philadelphia, too. An entire city of brotherly love. For some obscure reason, the cult of AR-15 has strewn its deathly mandibles throughout all these tiny places we never knew the names of.

And then there is the very pockmarked Ukraine, mixed with light where there is freedom, and darkness where there is none. Albeit less-developed, it was and is striving to where Estonia is now.

Compared to all that hopeless despair, Viljandi is like a little island of paradise: there is no war, there are no junkies, the streets are clean and safe to walk, and the roads don't have potholes. Everything works, and the police do, too.

Undeniably, there is some poverty. All countries have poverty. But in Viljandi, in Estonia, there is this uncharacteristically strange sense of contentment, that everything will turn out to be ok. — Like an enduring hope for a better future: "some things are not nice, but they'll be fine one day." Maybe this is how peace feels like.

And so, I am to end this post with a somewhat sarcastic coda: "All the boonies of the world, unite!" :>

15 aastaga viie rikkama riigi hulka

Ühelt poolt avaldas Reformierakond oma lubaduse 2. novembril 2006, pidades ilmselt silmas kriteeriumina sisemajanduse kogutoodangut inimese kohta (nominaalne või PPP, sõltuvalt sellest kumb number peale jääb).

Praeguseks on mööda läinud 15 aastat (2007–2021, k.a.) ja veel natuke.

Et lubadus on "Viime...", tähendab see seda, et 'Reformierakond viib', aga sellisel juhul, kui juhib valitsust.

See ongi selles mõttes tinglik, et Reformierakond ei ole kogu selle viieteist aasta jooksul valitsust juhtinud, nii et Reformi juhtimiseta valitsusperioodid tuleb maha lahutada.

2. novembrist 2006 – 2. novembrini 2021 on täpselt viisteist aastat ehk 5479 päeva.

Seega kui me lahutame 5479-st päevast Jüri Ratase (Kesk) kaks valitsusperioodi (888 + 638 = 1526 päeva; vahesaldo 3953 päeva), ja liidame Kaja Kallase valitsuse 406 päeva (08.03.2022 seisuga), jääb 5479-st päevast alles vaid täidetud 4359 päeva. — Mis tähendab seda, et Reformierakonna valimislubaduse täitmiseni on päevi veel 1120, seisuga 08.03.2022.

Seega oodata tuleb 3 aastat, 3 nädalat ja 3 päeva kuni 1. aprillini 2025, kui Reformierakond on kogu selle perioodi jooksul juhtinud valitsust (ja koalitsiooni).

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Reformierakonna valimisloosungi kallal vingujate agenda ja motivatsioon on teada, kuid selle suhtes mõistmist (ehk toetust) avaldada ei oleks inimlikult sünnis.

Eesti 2022. aasta riigieelarve on keskmiselt 13,38 miljardit eurot; eelarve on enam-vähem tasakaalus, sest tulude ja kulude vahe on vaid 0.5 miljonit eurot.

See on lähedal nominaalsele, aga mitte tingimata struktuursele eelarvetasakaalule. Viimaseni jõudmise nimel töötatakse.

Eurole üleminekuaja kursi järgi (15,6466 krooni euro eest) oleks see 209 392 885 433 krooni ja 70 senti — kakssada üheksa miljardit kolmsada üheksakümmend kaks miljonit kaheksasada kaheksakümmend viis tuhat nelisada kolmkümmend kolm krooni ja seitsekümmend senti.

Rublades oleks see 1992. aasta raharefomi "üks kroon kümne rubla eest" kursiga kaks triljonit 93 miljardit 928 miljonit 854 tuhat 337 rubla. (!)

Eesti 2022. aasta sisemajanduse kogutoodang elaniku kohta aastas (PPP) on U.S. $44.853,00 ($3737,75/kuus), nominaalne kogutoodang elaniku kohta aastas U.S. $29.735,00 ($2477/kuus). Avaliku sektori laenukoormus on Euroopa väiksemaid, aga seda tuleks vähendada veelgi.

Eesti on juba praegu suuteline iseseisvalt kompenseerima välispoliitilistest turukõikumistest tingitud hiiglasuured energia-arved kehvemalt elavatele elanikele.

1.32-miljonilise rahvaarvuga Eesti annab 41-miljonilise rahvaarvuga Euroopa riigile Ukrainale märkimisväärset sõjatoetust, ning avastas, et on suuteline vastu võtma 10.000 Ukraina sõjapõgenikku (29.05.2022 seisuga 40.178 põgenikku).

Eesti on maailma üks kõige vabama majandusega riikidest; me oleme digiriik, kellest võetakse eeskuju; ning Eesti on mitmes majandus- ja inimarengu-indeksis väga paljudest Euroopa ja Põhja-Ameerika arenenud riikidest ees, samal ajal kui supervõim Ameerika Ühendriigid on meist paljude näitajate poolest päris palju maas.

On self-awareness, introspection, and the disposition of self

This is a reply-as-a-comment to a YouTube video, in which the narrator exhibited an unusually deep sense of self-awareness and introspection.

I saw your video in the recommendations sidebar.

The Estonian word for this kind of sadness is "kaamos", while the Russian word for this is "тоска" (tos'ká).

It is not depression, but a flavour of sadness, which comes as a wave, and then subsides and recedes.

You are not the centre of the world, but the centre of yourself. It is not egocentrism, but rather more one of being in the centre of your own maze, in your own self. (Ego is not egocentrism, btw.)

Other people possess different levels of self-awareness; if that video is any indication, then yours goes a bit deeper.

The Maze is a reference to the first season of "Westworld", which concentrates itself with the idea of being a self-aware being, and what are the personal qualities and levels of such self-awareness that would qualify someone to have agency.

"Westworld" the series then goes on to explore if and whether androids should be recognised as equals to humans in having a similarly functional, if different, combination of self-awareness + agency — something that makes them whole unto themselves, and thus worthy of life.

Addendum:

I guess what you described in the video could be described as detachment, as the sum of self-awareness, introspection, and a dash of being mindful of the difference between what I glimpsed as the real you inside, and what you present yourself as to your friends, or the people currently in your orbit.

Said difference might have been caused by some of the recent losses that you say you've experienced, but which losses you appear to not have chosen to express and reveal to your friends, for said losses are too personal to reveal. It is okay to not let them know.

Whereas the relative anonymity and greater distance of the Internet permits one to signal a bit more of your inner self outside the circle of those in your orbit.

Dr. Ford in "Westworld" proceeds to posit, that suffering, through loss, is that which in his mind makes us us, and androids self-aware.

The catch here is, that not all people have experienced the profundity that often comes with losing a close person, be it a human or animal, and not all people have the ability even.

Feeling detached through loss confers not a state of being special, but different, apart from others.

Not wishing to share your inner feelings with those in your orbit is therefore normal, for they are not to know all that, because their reactions are predictable, maybe even boilerplate.

There's a passage in one of the songs by the Swedish band Eskobar: "I'm not lonely, but, yes, I am alone.

This inner journey in detachment is not one of loneliness, but one of having a whole self.

It is your inner journey, one which your friends and acquaintances are not part of, not even relatives and spouses. — I'd let perhaps only a very few close people I've personally met or known close to my spirit like this.

Why Garak joined Tain in DS9: "Improbable Cause"

This is a comment reply under "It Doesn't matter I'm Back."

Garak did not play him. Tain implicitly threatened to kill Garak all the time in that scene — these were never just charming words, and this was never an empty threat, as all their previous associates met their maker a bit too soon — and so, Garak was pleading for his life ("I never betrayed you!") by explaining why he was there in the first place.

Tain believed him, and offered Garak a position by his side.

See: after Tain exposed his entire diabolical plan of genocide to Garak and Odo, Garak realised, that he's expendable.

Considering their common past, Garak must have understood, that Tain would never let someone go 'just like that'.

To confirm his fears, he asked, if Tain was concerned, if Garak, on potentially leaving 'just like that', might warn the others ahead of time (who would then attempt thwarting Tain's crusade), and Tain confirmed that he was not, by offering a denial by saying, that it's too late.

Odo deduced just as much, who correctly warned Garak.

Taking that all in, Garak decided to play along to join Tain.

Because the alternative would have been for Tain to order Garak's demise yet again, without the Flaxian perfume this time.

Science fiction and fantasy in Estonian music videos

This began as a comment reply under Wateva's music video, but quickly expanded into something more.

(all dates are upload dates on YouTube, given here in the dd.mm.yyyy format)

As the comment and this blogpost expanded, I noticed roughly two phases of Estonian music video production.

Based on the songs linked in this post alone, the earlier phase spans the years 2014–2017. Its main characteristic is Estonian nature in a romantic setting, often interlinked with various elements of fantasy, as ancient Estonians were once fond of finding a spirit in each item, even a rock.

Estonian Fantasy and Nature

In 2014, Trad.Attack! released a fantasy-themed production Kuukene / Moon (15.07.2014) with the Moon as the main character in the song and video, filled with flying Estonian berries and greenery (and plenty of fan service :).

In 2015, Kõrsikud released "Tähetolm" ("Stardust") (uploaded on 15.05.2015), with space-based lyrics, including a passage of an 'angel's wings'.

In 2016, the Mother Earth theme was introduced in Kerli's "Feral Hearts" (25.02.2016), which contains strong fantasy elements set in beautiful Estonian nature.

Curly Strings also produced a magical video, one of the few having the Estonian winter as the main character: Hommik (09.03.2016)

A year after that, Trad.Attack! released a beautiful and emotionally risible song and video Säde / Spark (02.04.2017). The video depicts a flying golden spehere (a disco ball) in the dark of the night spreading around magical energy and life across the the nature of my country. As it was, Arthur C. Clarke's quote puts it best: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

The same month of that year, Trad.Attack! published Imepuu / Magic Tree (21.04.2017). The pipe sounds are perhaps too imposing at the start. But the video shows the band playing next to a "magical" tree (in Estonia, obv.), with three lights as substitutes for yellow spheres.

In the Summer that followed, Curly Strings dropped "Miks sa murrad mind" (06.07.2017), showing amazing flyover scenes of Estonian nature. No special effects or anything.

Space, science fiction, and fantasy

The second phase presents a generational shift, and so shows productions from people heavily influenced by science fiction. These would be people who got to see the various Star Trek and Star Wars movies and series, Japanese anime, and much more.

This collection totals six Estonian sci-fi music videos, released in what is a very short three-year timespan of November 2018 and September 2021.

• Nublu – tmt (tujud, mitte tunded) (17.11.2018) — the music is the main point, and the lyric video displays a shiny animation of a viewer's point-of-view traversing above the ground of a sphere;
• nublu x Mikael Gabriel – Universum (06.11.2020) — the video (feat. Valdis in a cameo) is shinier than the music, but features both space and a planet suffering various stages of apocalypse;

2021

Alone in the year 2021, Estonian musicians have released four music videos featuring heavy science fiction. (I'm not in any way claiming 'realistic' or 'hard' sci-fi.).

Much of the same energy musically and thematically is cast in their videos: dark undercurrents in music, dystopia, and apocalypse and the Earth (or a random planet) —

• Maarja Nuut & Ruum – Kuud Kuulama (NOËP remix) (01.03.2021)
• Raul Ojamaa – Moonstrk (feat. NOËP) (lyric voyage) (08.03.2021)
• WATEVA ft. Manna - Disposable Society (03.09.2021)

Thematically, "Kuud Kuulama" presents an apocalypse, "Moonstrk" has that same world in a post-apocalyptic setting as a follow-up, and Wateva's "Disposable Society" probably depicts the rebirth of Earth.

And the latest splash:

• 5Miinust – "Koptereid" (24.09.2021) — a dystopian anime cartoon in Japanese style, with car chases, blood and and gore, and a fight between good and evil. Space is probably adjunct to the main themes of the video. I won't link to it due to its adult themes, but it's searchable on YouTube.

In the first three, the dark undercurrents as one of the backing sounds (for fail of knowing a better term) are now characteristic to modern Estonian music, and the use of background undercurrents in contemporary compositions shows the maturity of Estonian-made soundscapes.

I'd noticed a similar trend in 1990s music from mostly the United States, the music of which was then at its very height, and UK and Canadian songs of that same decade, which could have erroneously been construed as having originated in America. So there was a lot of influence to and fro.

Nukitsamehe natuke kaasajastatud variant

Postitatud paar minutit varem siin

Long story short: Õde-venda Iti ja Kusti läksid metsa marjule ja eksisid ära, aga sattusid kurja nõia hurtsikusse, kus kõigil olid sarved peas. 5G antennid, noh.

Nõid ja vanamees olid pereväärtuste suured toetajad, nii et nad olid valmis treinud lausa kolm last: kaks vanemat poega Mõhk ja Tölpa: "Üks laisk, teine loll!!!11" (mõlemad perverdid) ja kolmas oli Nukitsamees, aga tal olid nooruse tõttu veel 2.5G sarved. Õieti sarvekesed.

Omavalitsus, kus mets, polnud see, kust Iti ja Kusti pärit olid. Niisiis selle natuke korrumpeerunud omavalitsuse abil ja mahitusel "adopteeris" nõid Iti ja Kusti, et saada veel rohkem lasteraha.

No ja kui omavalitsuse lastekaitsetädikesed enam ei vaadanud, pani nõid Iti ja Kusti orjatööle ja tegi neile palju haiget.

Iti ja Kusti põgeneda ei saanud, sest ümberringi on hirmus, kõrge mets, mis kubiseb huntidest.

Nukitsamees kiusas ka Itit (tõmbas vist juustest), kuid Kusti kaitses Itit, mille eest Kusti sai Nõialt kõvasti sugeda. Iti suutis kõigest hoolimata väikse Nuktisamehe vastu õrn olla ja Nukitsamehel tekkis kasuvenna ja -õe vastu kiindumus.

Aga järsku avastas keegi suure kullapaja ja kogu pereväärtuste eest seisev pesakond läks ahnelt kullapada välja kaevama. Sarvik vanamees samuti.

Nukitsamees jäeti omapead.

Iti ja Kusti kasutasid võimalust ja põgenesid ära. Nukitsamees põgenes neile järele, mispeale kraaksus vares pereväärtuste eest nii väga seisvale ja suure himuga rahapaja ümber askeldavale nõiaperekonnale, et näe, lapsed on ula peal.

Hakkas suur tagaajamine, kuid Iti, Kusti ja Nukitsamees jõudsid veel õigel ajal metsast välja. Selgus, et nõiaperele päikesevalgus eriti ei meeldinud.

Iti, Kusti ja Nukitsamees jõudsid õnnelikult koju, aga Nukitsamees tundus kõigile väga räpakas. Selge see, et väikelaps ja orb, kuigi sarvedega, oli oma vanas peres väärkoheldud (räpakas, noh).

Laps pesti puhtaks, pandi puhtad riided selga-jalga ja anti korralikult süüa.

Nõialt ja Nõid-vanamehelt võeti vanemlikud õigused ära ja Iti ja Kusti pere ajas adopteerimispaberid korda ja laps jäeti perre.

Aga Nukitsamehe 2.5G sarvekesi kuidagi eemaldada ei saadud. Prooviti igat moodi, viilides ja saagides nukitsad 2G, siis 1G ja siis 0G suuruseks, aga sarved kasvasid kähku tagasi.

Lõppu ma hästi ei mäleta, aga Nukitsamees sai sarvedest mingi ime läbi lahti (ta sai juhuslikult haiget ja nuttis esimest korda siiralt).

No ja nii elasid kõik õnnelikult elupäevade lõpuni.

Epiloog:

Mis nõiast sai, ei ole täpselt teada, aga nähtavasti viidi kogu laste väärkohtlemise asi politseisse, mille tagajärjel mõisteti Nõid laste orjastamises ja väärkohtlemises süüdi ja kohus andis jälle liiga leebe karistuse. Nõial oli palju tegemist vangiminekuga ja ta puksis vastu. Aga lõpuks läks.

Nõid-vanamees viidi nõukogude atmosfääri ning kurjade ja õelate hooldajatega haisvasse hooldushaiglasse (mõistagi surema).

Mõhk ja Tölpa said kaasosalistena kahepeale paar kuud + tingimisi. Tsoonist väljudes viidi nad sotsiaalkorterisse ja ühiskondlikult kasulikule tööle. Sest Tallinn aitab. Kasu nendest midagi ei olnud, nii et kõik saadeti sunniviisiliselt hullumajja.

Kuna nõiapere hoidmine oli kulukas, kuulutati nõrgamõistuslikkuse diagnoos valeks ja nad saadeti kõik nõiamajja tagasi.

Aga ahned bürokraatiast mitte väga kaugel olevad kelmitädikesed kuskilt naabermetsast nihverdasid vahepeal nõiapere ID-kaardid endale. Järsku toimus nõiamajas tulekahju. Kuna vingu- ja suitsuandurit majas polnud, põlesid kõik maha, aga mets imekombel pääses. (maja oli lagendikul, tulekahju talvel)

Tulekahjust ja surmadest teatasid kelmidest tädikesed alles peale seda kui olid jõudnud nihverdada surnud nõiapere ID-kaartidega korrumpeerunud notari juures ära nõiapere kõigi liikmete testamendid endale; tädikesed olevat olnud "nõiapere kauaaegsed sõbrannad" ja lausa "ainsad pärijad". Loomulikult lasid nad nõiapere surnukehad kremeerida.

Nii sahkerdasid nõiapere ID-kaartidega kelmitädikesed nõiapere varanduse endale ja müüsid metsa metsafirmale maha, et see saaks harvesteridega lageraiet teha.

Mis rahapajast sai, ei ole teada, sest keegi sellest Muinsuskaitseametile ei hinganud.

Food on the cheap in Tallinn, Estonia (May, 2021)

Inspired by a video under which I wrote a comment.
This post applies, when one is on a very, very tight budget.

The Grossi store in Tallinn has the "Säästusai" white bread (sai) for 18 cents/220g. Maxima and Grossi have cheap pasta (macaroni) for 20 cents per 400g pack. Grossi has some kind of a tomato paste at 54 or so cents for a tiny jar. Tin cans of beans or chickpeas can be between 55 cents (on a good day in Maxima), but usually hover around 65–75 cents. Grossi has one or two kinds of ground tea that's below one euro/pack, too. If memory serves, cooking oil can be around 1€ or so. Prisma has the best prices for a pack of broth / bullion cubes (puljongikuubikud).

Prisma has the best big-store prices, while Selver is the most expensive. Prisma has the best website, which also has an English-language section. All products available at Prisma are searchable.

For comfort food at affordable prices, Prisma has "Xtra" crisps (potato chips) that are at 1.10€, with the best price-to-weight ratio. Maxima has the cheapest 100g slates of chocolate (45 cents), and both Grossi and Maxima have the cheapest lemonades (fizzy sugary drinks). Grossi usually has the most affordable ice creams, though Prisma can sometimes have really good sales for certain ice creams.

Survey company gift certificate

OTOH, Norstatpanel, which is a survey company, offers only Selver gift certificates ("Partner kinkekaart") for completed surveys.

Norstatpanel is free to sign up with, and the survey company needs to know the participant's name, phone number, and home address in Estonia. This is likely meant to prevent fraud, and verify a person's identity.

On their website, you'll need to reach at least 83 points to order a 5€ gift certificate. This takes filling several surveys, which are usually in Estonian or Russian. They also have a mobile app, though some surveys must be filled in desktop computers.

The Partnerkaart gift certificate is a printable PDF via e-mail that is sent within three weeks of ordering. You can get a different gift certificate for Circle-K, or a bookstore, but Partnerkaart is the only one that a person can use in a grocery store, which happens to be Selver.

The Partnerkaart gift certificate for Selver (the store in the chain that sells groceries) is reusable for as long there is money left on it. One can check how much money a gift certificate has, at the Partnerkaart website (Estonian or Russian only). For that, you'll need an ID card, Mobile ID, or SmartID to sign in and verify your identity. These authentication services obviously requires a valid Estonian residency.

Return bottles, get cash

Returnable bottles of water, fizzy drinks, tonics, and beers (but not wine and vodka) can get one a small paper cheque from reverse vending machines, with a sum printed on it. Cashiers in a nearby store exchange that for cash (they get the cheque and you the cash), or one can use that cheque to buy stuff in a shop, and/or get a price reduced from the total with money purchases.

Each bottle or can is 10 cents, so two returned bottles can get one pack of pasta for 20 cents, for example. If you've bought less than the sum on the cheque, the cashier will return the unused difference in cash (usually coins). Banknotes are given in exchange only, if the unused sum on the reverse vending machine cheque is greater than five euros; all depends on how many bottles have been returned.

The reverse vending machine bottle cheque can be good from 30 days to 3 months, I think, and is valid only in the store near which the bottles were returned to. Beware the terrible smell near some reverse vending machines. The reverse vending machine sections near Prisma stores are some of the cleanest.

Best prices on medicines

For the best deal on medicines, check out raviminfo.ee. It's only in Estonian, but if there is something specific you need from a pharmacy, you can make a search (otsing), and limit that to the big city or county you live in. If you have a favourite pharmacy that serves you in English (still good to know Estonian), then ask for generic drugs, if a doctor has only specified the type of medicine in your prescription, and not its brand name.

Miks esoteerika on Eestis nii popp

minu Redditi-postitusest

Disclaimer/Lahtiütlus: UFO-teema kuulub tänapäevani suuremalt jaolt esoteerika ja konspiratsiooniteooritate valdkonda. Palun ärge uskuge kõike, mis teile sel ja teistel uhhuu-teemadel jahutakse, iseäranis anonüümseid postitusi.

Soovitan tõsiselt lugeda, vaadata ja kuulata tõsiseltvõetavaid ja respektaableid väljaandeid (ERR, Postimees) ja mõelda oma peaga, ning mitte pimesi uskuda (anonüümseid) postitusi ning inimesi (sh poliitikuid, millistest suurem hulk on äärmuslike vaadetega), kes vandeseltslaslikult ja/või salapärasel hääletoonil räägivad asjadest "mida nemad teile ei räägi, ega taha, et teie teaksite...", ning kes avalikult pröökavad "süVaRiiGiSt".

Niisiis...

Eesti raamatupoodides on alati olnud väga kirev esoteerikasektsioon.

Üleminekuajal, peaaegu et vahetult enne iseseisvuse taastamist olid esoteerika-teemalised eestikeelsed ajakirjad ja ajalehed putkades laialdaselt müügil, ning nad oli tolle aja kohta väga huvitava sisuga.

Vähe sellest: rohkelt UFO-jutte oli samal ajal nii "Horisondis" (tõsine teadusajakiri) kui "Põhjanaelas" (noorteajakiri, mis keskendus ulmele ja fantastikale).

Head seletust eestlaste konkreetselt UFO-huvile ei ole. Üleminekuperiood Eestis tekkis XX sajandi kaheksakümnendate lõpul, kui oli glasnost, mis kehtis Nõukogude perioodil Gorbatšovi ajal: kõigest rääkida veel ei saanud, aga osadest asjadest juba sai.

Seega Eesti vabaks-saamine oli perioodikas (ajalehed-ajakirjad) tundlik teema, sest iseseisvus polnud veel saavutatud ja Nõukogude väed veel sees, aga UFOdest sai kirjutada küll ja veel.

Regiooniti oli UFOdest kirjutav perioodika kaootiline, sest näiteks Tallinna putkades ei saanud seda materjali, mida Tartus või Põlvas, ning vastupidi.

Eestlaste esoteerika-huvi algas tegelikult vist juba palju varem, ilmselt vanade eesti muinasjuttudega — igast "Ennemuistsed lood", kus paranormaalsed ja hauatagused ilmingud olid väga levinud.

1980ndatel (sh. 1980ndate lõpp — 1990ndate algus) levisid kvaliteetsed raamatuseeriad eri rahvaste muinasjuttudest. Üks seeria oli väiksematele kooliealistele lastele, kus pealkirjad olid Eesti kalligraafi Villu Tootsi joonistatud. Teine seeria oli siis väiksemas formaadis ja kõlbas lugemiseks vanematele lastele. Kummagi seeria nime ma kahjuks ei mäleta.

"Põhjanaelas" oli mingil perioodil üldse erakordselt hea sisu, kus Eesti noorte enda tehtud Väga Head™ koomiksid maavälisest elust.

Üks koomiks oli puhta värviline ja väga tõsine, ning rääkis tulnukate tsivilisatsioonist Kuu sees (!) ja maalaste katsetest Kuu ära vallutada, ilmselt, et krabada endale sealne tehnoloogia, ning et töösturid saaksid pururikkaks. Sellest tuleks nii hea ideega teha mingi animafilm vms.

Teine koomiks oli mustvalge ja huumor, aga mitte halvem: üks Eesti jõmm saab tulnukaga suureks semuks ja suurem osa ajast möödub (mõlemal) purjus peaga mööda ilmaruumi tuulates; nad teevad pummelungi ja kooserdavad oma laevukesega ringi, kuni ufo-politsei nad ebamäärase lennutrajektoori eest vahele võtab. Lõpuks kui mees koju jõuab, on Eesti jõmmi jaoks paaripäevasest ringuitamisest Maa enda peal möödunud vahepeal mitu aastat (kui mitte paar aastakümmet). Mingi ime läbi oli tal naine ikka veel sama.

Lastele mõeldud perioodika ja ajalehed ei jäänud ka maha: ühes, näiteks, oli Disney koomiksiseeria "Must Auk" (põhines Disney' filmil "The Black Hole"), mis oli täitsa hea.

Süvariigi- ja vandenõude-teema avas hoopis fiktivine telesari "Salatoimikud", mis 1990ndatel oli üks vaadatuimaid telesarju nii Eestis kui ka mujal.

Nõidade kultuse otsa tõmbas lahti TV3 saade "Eesti Nõiad", mis oli täitsa tore. Seejärel tekkis "Nõidade tuleproov" (välismaiste "tõsielu"-meelelahutuse eeskujul).

Siis tuli "Halloo, Kosmos!", mis oma formaadilt oli tegelikult väga professionaalne. Intervjueeritavaid oli nii palju, et sinna sattus ka mõni väga kahtlane tegelane.

Why Spock used the Vulcan proverb about Nixon in Star Trek VI

This is a reply in a comment thread to a YouTube video.

I've meant to offer a reverse interpretation re Nixon for two or so years since this comment (or another one like it), but only now got myself to write it.

Spock's Vulcan reference to Nixon suggests, that after the devastating accident on the Klingon moon Praxis, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon as a politician was suddenly on precarious ground. Nixon might have felt his re-election efforts to be like that, when he sought a second term in office.

(Nixon's China visit was throughout 21–28 Frebruary 1972, the break-in at the Watergate hotel was on June 17 of that year, and plans to wiretap the Watergate complex were drawn up in January by Nixon re-election officials.)

Spock then suggests, that if the peace overture is not accepted by the Federation, the Klingons might seek to acquire Federation technology through force.

As it was, Chancellor Gorkon would have none of it, and that would further set the stage for his toppling. — Think a Bat'leth fight by a challenger to the throne.

Aware of this, Gorkon then went to the Federation in a last-ditch effort to prop up his position and maybe save his life, in the hopes, that there would not be any co-conspirators onboard the Enterprise, and then later on Earth.

Hallist passist ja topeltkodakondsusest

Alo Raun avaldas hiljuti artikli, milles ta soovitas hallipassi-staatuse ära kaotada. Kuna artikkel on maksumüüri taga, eeldus kommentaaridest, et tegemist oli topeltkodakondsuse pakkumisega.

Mistahes topeltkodakondsuse ideed mina ei toeta.

Kodakondsus ei ole kingitus, ning selle mistahes "kinkimine" justkui nulliks ära nende vene emakeelega Eesti kodanike pingutused kodakondsuse saamise nimel õppida ära eesti keel ja anda kodakondsuseksam: paljud inimesed pingutasid ja siis näevad nad, et mingi kohort saab Eesti kodakondsuse täiesti niisama. Nii ei lähe.

Seni suhteliselt paralleelse haridussüsteemi puhul on asjad keerulisemad, sest seal määrab palju näiteks ka õpetajate keskmiselt kõrge vanus.

Ülal pidada 100% venekeelset haridust on kallis ja aastatepikkused liikumised selle nimel, et osa antavast haridusest oleks eestikeelne, on tervitatavad.

Olen siiski leidnud, et parem on ülal pidada (osaliselt) paralleelset haridussüsteemi Eesti Vabariigi poolt kui et seda kaotada, sest siis hakkaks moel või teisel tegema Vene Föderatsioon. — Muidu Eesti-poolse venekeelse hariduse puudumisel võib tekkida mingi põrandaalune VF haridussüsteemil põhinev liikumine, mida oleks oluliselt raskem kontrollida. — Sõltumata tõsiasjast, et paljud venekeelsed lapsevanemad soovivad oma lapsi panna eesti kooli. Paljud jah, aga mitte kõik.

Läti otsustas üle minna ühe ropsuga lätikeelsele haridusele, kuid nähtavasti osutus Lätis asjastus paremaks.

Sest leidub arvukalt ka selliseid peresid, kellel tekib tugev vastumeel, kui venekeelne kool suuremal määral järsku ära kaotatakse. Seetõttu venekeelne haridus niipea ei kao. Järk-järgult on asju lihtsam korraldada. Riigigümnaasiumid on väga tore ettevõtmine.

Soome, Belgia või Kanada kakskeelsuse mudelit üle võtta ei ole Eesti väikest rahvaarvu ja okupatsiooni ajal toimunud venestamist silmas pidades praktiline, sest oletatava (hüpoteetilise) seadustatud kakskeelsuse puhul võivad esile tulla okupatsiooniaja ebameeldivamad elemendid, mida ma tagasi ei taha.

Kakskeelsete lääneriikide mõned elemendid võib-olla saab üle võtta, aga mitte kõik. Sest tegelikult on Eesti mitmes mõttes juba lääneriik. (Seda lääneriik-olemist murendab küll praegune valitsus, kuid kunagi möödub seegi.)

Praktiliselt on Eesti naguni kakskeelne ja laiemalt mitmekeelne (+inglise keel).

Omaette huvi pakub samuti eestis kõneldava vene keele erinevus Venemaa vene keelest, ning seetõttu on eesti vene keele edasist arengut huvitav jälgida.

Kõike arvesse võttes on Eestil mõistlikum jätkata oma tee rajamist ja arendamist.