Show me a culture that has thrived on the language of the marketplace? This is just the greatest load of crap anyone can come up with! If that is all culture amounts to, then let's throw the last 5,000 years of Estonian "baby" culture out with the bathwater. How pathetic it is when we have to prop up a stifling community with the coercive and corruptive language of money. No wonder fewer people are interested in Estonian language and literature than the post war golden days. I'd love to know how many people under the age of 30 have ever taken the trouble to purchase an Estonian novel out of their own personal interest? I would vouch to say the answer is probably aroun 0.99999999%!!!!! Seedrioru-a lot lies on your shoulders to change some underlying motives that have driven people away from the broader Estonian community. And for those who think there hasn't been a drop in numbers, I'd say those people must have just left their diapers stage of human progress.

Again, who are these people that have been driven away? I can think of one or two people who may be less active but it appears to me that people here think thousands of Estonian-Canadians have stopped being involved in the community in the past 10 years which I don't think is the case.

Nice try but no cigar. I'll just leave it at that. I will just say "Hi " if I see you at Seedrioru this year.

PB is one of the VERY FEW people who can be trusted at this site. The fact that you, Sherlock, have failed to pick up on this point should make us all very very wary of your own motives for being here. PB is probably wanting to make contact with you to for very good reasons. My instinct tells me there's much more reason to trust PB than there is to trust you. Or to put it another way, why do you distrust PB??

Ditto. Nice try but no cigar. I'll just leave it at that. I will just say "Hi " if I see you at Seedrioru this year. Maybe, just maybe Ahto=PB.

Mina kirjutasin ainult oma nime all ja lisasin oma email aadressi.
Kui julgust on siis tule utle tere ja kui oled huvitatud, siis anan sinule vahe infot edasi kui oled huvitatud.
Mina ei kull nae midagid pohjust miks sinul oleks habeneda, eriti kui luban sinu nime varjata.

Ahto = Maxim

You have a sharp eye, but this time you missed the boat by a month!
F.Y.I. Ahto is definitely, unmistakably Maximahv!

Let's adopt Tiritamm's "sane and serene" style and refer to Maximahv more accurately as "the freak-show".

You Sherlock I know, but who is Maximahv??? Who is Ahto?

I've invested time and effort at this site, and if your principle can be counted on, then the marketplace surely declares me an outright winner! I have upped the number of commentaries by a ratio of 2:1. That's an incredible feat by anyones estimation, and I am re-investing my "dividends" back into the Estonian community in an attempt to help bolster the numbers even more. Especially if, as some people claim, they are on the rise. I am willing to put my successful market share where my mouth is, and have the number of comments double again! But I'll bet no-one will comment after this, which proves that the Estonian community is really on a downhill slide in spite of the pep talk from our local enthusiasts.

Maxim is trying to invest. Unfortunately for him, the market doesn't recognize hot air as collateral.

Sounds like a talkfest of sorts is underway to convince us all that the Esto community has NEVER looked better in it 60 year history than it does right now. I find that very hard to believe, and I don't think I'm the only one who subscribes to that opinion. However, there's nothing like a positive antidote to convince yourselves that things are much better than they actually are, so at least this talkfest is achieving some ground, in spite of the obvious setbacks the community at large has suffered at the hands of our leaders down the ages.

Get real. The Estonian community has never based its existence on these sorts of principles, and even when it comes to finances, the Estonian community has sold itself out to Canadian interests due the the dwindling number of statical Estonians left. A total BS story

Joosua=Maxim. You are just soooo easy Maxim. Again you gave yourself away. Maxim, you can run but you can't hide.

Maxim answering under a different name AGAIN.

Maxim, STATISTICALLY, as we heard from Laas on Vabariigi Aastapäev, the number of Estonians in Canada is RISING.
That means there are more people who care enough about where they came from to mark on their census form that they are Estonian.

Yes, there are many who have rejected their heritage just as you describe. Similarly, there are many who are enthusiastic about their culture. Some have learned astonishingly good Estonian (better than yours, in fact). Why bark about it?

I think you need to up your dosage!

It's decent of you apologize to our community leaders and to Toomas Merilo.
But, what about the rest of us? Are we any less deserving of an apology?

I don't see why Maxim should apologize for other people's mistakes, and big mistakes at that! We all know that thousands of people have left our community, and though it's nice to keep our spirits as positive as possible, there are still too many so called leaders who are likely to say and do things which will cause the drift away from our community to continue. I propose getting rid of these people first, and then once the air is clean, set about trying to make amends with those people who may not be lost to us altogether. It's worth a try at least.

I have reason to believe that Maxim did not apologize. Someone else did and used Maxims name. Maybe his relative. Look at the language and spelling. Way too good for the likes of Erik. There are very specific characteristics in the apology that do not match his "profile" . I am not going to expose these characteristics as they may become helpful in the future to authenticate comments.

Who are all these people that have left? Estonian schools, academic organizations, camps and other social groups have large memberships.

Sure, a lot of older people have passed away or are too ill to be actively involved but I don't get who these thousands of people who have left are?

Erik who?

You might be right about Erik's apology.

I'm wondering about Ahto Männik's identity. He seem's to have a touch of Maxim's characteristic authoritarian megalomania.

It is speculated that Maxim is EK

I can tell you without any hesitation whatsoever, that there's more than one Maxim floating around this neck of the woods.

Methinks I smell something shtinky...

For once I believe Maxim. It means he never apologized. Message 30 has the true Maxim "profile" where he states that there is more than one person using Maxim as a name.

The loss is theirs...not ours.
Maxim..if you know 'lots of these hating estos...I don't know any!!!
Estonian events ( including this fundraiser for a children's camp) are intended for those may be emotional when they hear the Estonian Anthem, honor the blue,black and white, wear their esto ring, speak the language as well as they can or are trying to learn it better, have visited Estonia or wish to, honor the sacrifices of their forefathers and choose their friends and activities accordingly.
You can't please everyone...but we can sure try. Get with the new era and let some bygones be bygones.

Looks like the well is pretty much empty in your neck of the woods. Make the most of what you've got left-sounds like there's not much of it too appreciate anymore, but at least you're making the most of it.

Shirley, when you finally catch up to Maxim, will you hug him from all of us for the great work he is doing here!

Milles keeles on Teie kommentaar kirjutatud? Kindlasti mitte eestikeeles.

Aga kes teie olete kelle kommentaar kubiseb vigadest???

Vähemalt ta püüab ennast väljendada eesti keeles ja ma usun et me kõik saime aru.
Kiitust!

PS - Septembrist alates kavatsememe (T.E.S. täienduskoolid) pakkuda eesti keele "lihvimis" programmi esmaspäeva õhtuti neile kes räägivad eesti keelt ja on või ei ole eesti koolis käinud, aga kes tunnevad et nende keel on veidi kange. Tunnid saavad toimuma Eesti Majas, samal ajal kui keskkool / gümnaasium. Teretulemast kõigi huvilistele! (vanus 20 - 90)

Only Maxim is capable of writing 'shirley' in place of 'surely' and praising himself.

I think that it's time that EE did an extensive interview with Maxim. It's time we saw all facets of this ridiculous person.

Maxim... another unsubstantiated comment..".the well is pretty much dry!! " HUH... It is obvious that you have left the esto community for some stupid reason (where stubborness rather than co-operation won) and now you repeatedly broadcast this myth that the esto community is beyond hope. ( Unless you save it with your intellectual lectures) LOL

Anyone with half a brain has left the community a long time ago when they discovered that the community's hierarchy is largely made up of bigots and tyrants who have marginalized alternative opinion. As if it hasn't gone far enough, and there should be crocodile tears instead of the usual..oh we're so proud of our young people..look again and tell us all why, oh why has the community's number of active participants dwindled to such a pathetic three-digit number? I don't think that we need to wait for an answer from you, because we all know why things have deteriorated to this level. Just out of interest, I'd really love to know how many children at Seedrioru could accurately respond to questions like what happened in Eesti on 28th April? Anyway, I see myself as one of the last caring people around, and still you lay the boot into whoever wants to stand up and be counted for Estonia, but is colour-blind to all your bias that you represent. I think Jack's got a big job on his hands trying to right the wrongs of our community's so-called bright lights.

Many of the 'tyrants' have died. Many of the old Estonians with no leadership skills (but who thought they did) have also gone... Maxim.. you would be so wrong if you tried to suggest that the executives of major esto organizations like Sihtkapital for example, is not only intellectual, but also one that is not willing to just 'give up' and throw in the towel when the community was showing signs of weakness. Like a pheonix,...the esto community in Canada will rise, grow and continue to provide dynamic venues where people attend becasue of choice, and not due to feelings of sentimental obligations. Elagu Seerioru!!!

When did Ene die????