The MRP: preparing the Soviet occupation
Kommentaarid on kirjutatud EWR lugejate poolt. Nende sisu ei pruugi ühtida EWR toimetuse seisukohtadega.
VanemadUuemad
Maxim.26 Aug 2005 12:41
Here we go again! We've heard it all before-what's changing now? Nothing. There is as much trust in Putin today as there has never been before. What has Putin given the West in return? Broken promises, begged huge handouts, strengthened the hand of the former KGB, and locking people up in a manner that would have earned him brownie points galore if his old friend Joseph Vissarionoffabitcshhhh had anything to do with it. And here we are still standing round flogging a dead carcass that's been smelling for around 654 years-wake up and find another reality agenda!
???30 Aug 2005 11:29
Maxim tells us that, "There is as much trust in Putin today as there has never been before."
I wonder how much trust has there never been? But, from the context, Maxim might be trying to say that trust in Putin is as high as ever. If so, he should say so. In either case, Maxim needs to be told that literacy is a prerequisite to communication.
Skeptic30 Aug 2005 13:46
At the risk of sounding ignorant, I'll confess that I didn't know that I've been flogging a smelly, 654 year-old carcass. Nor did I know that I've had a reality agenda that I'm supposed to change after I wake up.
So much news about myself in such a short time is a shock to the system. It's enough to wake me up and suspect that Maxim just might be full of b.s.
Maxim.31 Aug 2005 01:10
Many thanks indeed for the grammatical correction to my kommentaar, and apologies to Skeptic for pushing the additional key-the correct number of years was 65, not 654 as I had inadvertently written.
Anonymous31 Aug 2005 04:36
We still don't know what you're trying to say.
..to anonymous31 Aug 2005 04:47
You are one of the most bigoted and racist people that I know, Anonymous. These past few months I have done a little survey about you. Results; whenever I comment under another name, no problems-reasonable argument. Whenever I comment under the name of Maxim, it brings out the worst in you!! I feel sorry for people like you-and your attitude annuls any criticism you may have held out against me in the past as far as I'm concerned.
observer31 Aug 2005 08:18
Why assume that "Anonymous" is always the same person? I'll bet there is more than one reader that disagrees with you.

Responses to your comments are often harsh. It is probably because you have some outlandish ideas, you express them awkwardly and you are always there lecturing us with an air of superiority.

When you write under another name -- such as Rooman -- to praise a comment by Maxim, your style gives you away. No one is fooled. Why respond to Rooman when you can go directly to Maxim?

It's true that you have been criticised harshly for your queer ideas and hopeless English. But, what makes it bigoted and racist? Do you think readers don't like Estonian-Canadians? And what do you expect when you step into a public forum as a haughty know-it-all?

Personally, I think the criticism looks good on you.
Maxim.31 Aug 2005 09:57
Belive it or not, I respect your right to your opinion, even if I don't necessarily agree with you. Now I'd like to see if you have the same degree of self-dignity, and tell me I am at least welcome here as much as you-or are you only going to dish our another heap of criticism on me???
Maxim.31 Aug 2005 10:01
I didn't even right the comment under the heading of Rooman, whoever he or she is-that just goes to show you how hopelessly out of depth your critical judgement really is. Take some more English lessons and you might be able to fine-tune your judgement a little more accurately. Many thanks anyway to "Rooman"...
Maxim.31 Aug 2005 10:03
..and furthermore, "observer" (alias "Anonymous"!) the comments I refer to are the ones written in Estonian and not English.
eagleeye31 Aug 2005 10:51
After reading most of the comments posted in EE, one can reasonably conclude that:
1. Maxim is not born in English speaking country
2. (S)he writes under several pseudonyms, at least under Maxim and 'eesti poeg', probably also under 'von Plettenberg'
3. (S)he probably lives in Europe (Estonia) or (s)he is often awake during the night in North America.

Not that his/her identity really matters, just some observations.
observer31 Aug 2005 11:00
...who are bitchin' at?
Eagle eye 231 Aug 2005 11:25
I hope Maxim stays around, and doesn't get too offended by people who criticise him constantly. At least he sticks to the subject!
to - eagleeye31 Aug 2005 12:05
Truly, you have an eagle eye!
I never connected these three names to the same writer but, now that you point it out, I believe that it's very plausible.
I disagree with one of your observations, however; Maxim is a Canadian of Estonian heritage who moved to Estonia several years ago. He has stated as much in previous commentary. His English also betrays his background. He writes in the ungrammatical, conversational style of a Canadian high-school drop-out.This can't be duplicated by a "kodueestlane" who has learned English as a second language.
Your English, by the way, is far superior to Maxim's. Only a few subtle flaws betray you as a "kodueestlane". You have much to teach Maxim. Indeed, you have much to teach us all who have grown up in households where Estonian was spoken. We acquired a good base in the language but, for the most part, have failed to develop it.
But that too is changing. Today, with the internet and a free, prosperous Estonia, there is more incentive and opportunity to enjoy the culture of our parents and grandparents.
Maxim.31 Aug 2005 12:40
I don't know any of these other people, but since we have moved so far off the central subject, it's hardly worth my while making any further contributions on this topic. I reiterate my original comment-that regrettably many Estonians tend to find a scapegoat in the past, and in so doing completely fail to come to grips with our present danger; which largely has to do with Putin himself. It seems that critics here either don't understand a thing about the seriousness of the problem, or else they are completely blase to anything other than the ability to write in perfect English.
99%31 Aug 2005 13:30
99% of readers agree that Putin has a worrisome authoritarian disposition and
can say so in ordinary English.
You, by constrast, rant at us as if we disagreed, for being asleep as we "flog smelly, dead carcasses". You intend to wake us up and make us change "reality agendas".
You remind me of my neigbour's dog who barks all day long until his master comes home. Then it wags its tail, pleased that all that barking paid off.
eagle eye31 Aug 2005 18:47
kodueestlane? How do you figure?

You probably noticed eagleeye and a missing article, but that's about it. ...maybe they were typos? Or maybe not!
Maxim.31 Aug 2005 22:06
I leave it to other readers to decide on the degree on ranting and raving to which this column has been sadly reduced. I am appauled at the shallowness of thinking of some people here, and if it weren't for my sturdy group of supporters who welcome my comments, I would have given up sharing my opinions a long time ago. Fortunately though, true intellectual depth has a strong commitment to a broad range of opinions, and so I believe your opinions are as welcome as mine.
to - eagle eye01 Sep 2005 05:10
In addition to what you have already pointed out, you use the present tense to refer to Maxim's birth which took place in the past. This jumps off the page to a native english-speaker much like "Maxim sünnib..." would to an Estonian.
"(S)he probably lives in Europe (Estonia) or (s)he is often awake during the night in North America" is perfectly correct, but not idiomatic. A native-speaker would phrase the idea differently.
Still, your English is superior some of the commentators here who were born and educated in Canada. I wish that my Estonian compared to it.
.30 Aug 2005 16:29
Thanks. The article is well worth reading.
Rooman30 Aug 2005 10:23
Maxim is certainly on the right track. But a reminder of the Moscow-Berlin mind-set prior to the signing of the MRP helps western educated Soviet apologists (at least a few) realize that the USSR is equally to blame, with Nazi Germany for starting the Second World War. Russia's thirst for empire, re-enlivened under Putin, is a danger now, as it was then, to not only their immediate neighbours but all who expect a confrontation-free Europe.
Peter31 Aug 2005 06:14
It is actually the other empires, Britain, France and the USA who are to blame for WW II. If it were not for the Versailles Treaty then Hitler would never have been elected and there would not have been a second world war.

inclusion31 Aug 2005 11:47
all of the names mentioned (and maret-cleopatra) at least provide commentary that is not boring ... though not always coherent , nor always representing opinions that can be stamped 'eestlased paguluses', they offer perspectives which relate to their backgrounds and locations .... the mindless whiners offer nothing
Maxim.31 Aug 2005 11:59
My critics have an canny ability to put me so far down that I'm not worth a dime in their eyes, and then in the same breath attack me for being so "superior". This appears very strange juxtaposing of logic, but also seems a fairly accurate analysis of some people respose to me personally.
Appalled01 Sep 2005 05:48
Maxim struts his stuff again and the crowd laughs and jeers.

Of course, it's never occurred to anyone that Maxim has a learning disorder. This is embarrassing to witness. Appalling, actually.
Anonymous01 Sep 2005 07:07
Maxim is also a masochist.
Maxim.01 Sep 2005 07:46
I have nothing other to strut than just a healthy intellectual curiosity. I make no excuses for that, because since the days of Ancient Greece the life of the mind has always held an important place in civic society. It certainly took a long time for one of my critics (over 20 previous commentarites in total!) to admit that something is amiss with Putin, and that 99% of people take that for granted. I am not so sure of that-you lot certainly take a lot of persuading to acknowledge this fact. Be that as it may, the US and the EU are scared witless of the man, and I think that generally it would be a lot easier to tow the Russian line than the Estonian, and your relatively tacit support for Putin confirms that Estonia's future is every bit as precarious as some of the more pessimistic observers have indicated it may turn out to be. MRP holds very little interest and politically persuasive power over most young Russians living in Estonia, but whilst you have nothing else to fall back upon, I guess that argument will have to continue to suffice.
Maxim doesn't read01 Sep 2005 11:19
No one here has expressed support for Putin.
.01 Sep 2005 14:56
If the life of the mind is important to you, what accounts for your inability to express yourself in conventional English?
Anonymous01 Sep 2005 18:13
His Greek might be pretty good.
Anonymous01 Sep 2005 18:18
He refers to us as "you lot". Perhaps he's an Oxford grad.
Spectator06 Sep 2005 17:54
I have watched with interest the response to Maxim's comments. he makes a valid point in terms of recent historical events; the latest being putin's disavowal of a move to change the Constitution of the Russian federation to enable him to have a third term.
The KGB used to have a Directorate of Disinformation.Perhaps some of Maxim's detractors are serving officers of the SVR doing that exact same job; except that its called cyber war these days!.
Kommentaarid sellele artiklile on suletud.