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EESTI ELU reedel, 16. septembril 2022 — Friday, September 16, 2022
For Russia, after Putin Abbas Gallyamov is a former Putin loyalist, who is now calling for democracy in Russia. How? By way of a massive scheme of Western aid; something resembling the Marshall Plan which rebuilt Germany after WWII. He’s also asserting the importance of promising aid immediately. Presumably, this would energise the opposition to Putin and bring a quicker end to his regime. He also specifies the importance of an aid package ‘with no strings attached’ or, ‘any rewriting of history’. https://publizist.ru/blogs/ 112974/43549/By ‘no strings attached’, he’s asserting that donors shouldn’t humiliate Russia by monitoring the aid, for example, to ensure money is dispersed as intended. The ‘rewriting of history’, is a reference to the West’s version of WWII, where it’s the USA and Britain, and not the USSR, who are chiefly credited for the defeat of Nazi Germany. Abbas Gallyamov doesn’t grasp the purpose of the Marshall Plan – it was to preclude the Soviet domination of western Europe. His current proposal is based on a profound misconception of Russia, during its Soviet period and the present day. Since 1922, Russia has been tyrannised by a criminal gangs, ruling without the restraint of law. The original gang was The Communist Party of the USSR. It’s dispensation was then subsumed by mafia-style oligarchs and Vladimir Putin. Corruption rules Russia at every level and, as Putin’s dispensation ends, it’s likely to be replaced by something, neither better nor worse, since all possible aspirants to power will have been schooled in the culture that produced Putin – they’re like fish from the same pond and they’re oblivious to the quality of their water. Ergo, Putin’s successor will be, like him, the most ruthless. In her book, Putin’s Russia, the murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaja portrays daily life under Putin. It’s as brutish as life in the USSR, without the deportations and mass murders. For her trouble, she was shot at her front door by unknown assassins. The British journalist, Edward Lucas describes the ubiquitous crimi-
nality of Putin’s rise and exercise of power in, The New Cold War: Putin’s Russia and the Threat to the West. There, we see the familiar old Cold War with different actors and modified rhetoric. Before the collapse of the USSR, Alexander Solzhenitsyn contemplated the damage done to Russia during 70 years of Communist Party domination and, writing in, From Under the Rubble, he speculated that recovery will require 50 years. That’s a sharp contrast to Abbas Gallyamov’s hopelessly quixotic quick-fix – a massive hand-out from the West with no humiliating ‘strings attached’ or authentic history. Indeed, Gallyamov is opposed to Putin. But, can he promote democracy with no understanding of its essence – limited government reigning with popular consent? – the idea is absurd. Politics in Russia is practiced mafia-style, where a gangster, like the mafioso John Gotti, rose to power by murdering his boss, Paul Castelano. Putin also advanced with criminal methods. He is suspected of bombing a civilian apartment building, blaming Chechen extremists, then campaigning as a law-and-order candidate. Sergei Yushenko, a Russian politician, was shot to death as he tried to expose Putin’s hand in that bombing. The former FSB agent, Alexander Litvi nenko, blamed Putin for both the bombing and also the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. He was subsequently poisoned by polonium-210, a deadly substance hardly available to anyone apart from the military. Once Putin was in power, nosy journalists like Anna Politkovskaya and Natalia Estemirova were shot to death. After exposing corruption, Sergei Magnitsky, was clubbed to death in a jail cell. The former politician, Boris Nemtsov, was shot in Moscow; the oligarch, Boris Berezovsky died in London, under puzzling circumstances; the Russian news network executive, Mikhail Lesin, died in a Washington hotel room from blunt force injuries. All of the above were critics of Putin who died at the hand of unknown culprits. Further more, this list is only illustrative; not exhaustive.
Estonia and…
was “a great opportunity to celebrate the dawn of a new era with our Estonian hosts,” including a street celebration with fans and a waterworks show from some fireboats.
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origins, with no access to amplification. And they both have a connection to Estonia. Lexsoul Dancemachine, of course, is from Estonia. The Shuffle Demons, on the other hand, performed in Estonia just shortly before independence was restored in 1991. Saxophonist Rich Underhill and drummer Stich Wynston speak of how it
ANDRES GUTMAN Sept. 2022
100,000 rubles were paid out for their concert, in “big stacks of five, 10 and 20 ruble notes” due to the imminent currency switchover. With shopping bags of money in hand, they “injected it back into the local economy, buying souvenirs, artwork and even donating some back to our
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(The views presented in contributed material do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Eesti Elu/Estonian Life. Part one of this survey has been published in the paper’s previous issue.)
St. Peter’s Church – a new focus – Part 2 Our Plan for the long-term financial sustainability for St. Peter’s Church was divided into 3 Parts. 1. Value analysis and cost savings 2. Revenue potential of excess capacity 3. Events, member support, and donations We presented Part 1 pre viously. It is available on our website www.friends-of-st-peters.com. Part 2 Utilization of excess capacity St. Peter’s church is a registered charity under the Income Tax Act. This does not preclude the church from engaging in related business activities pro vided that they are linked to the charitable purpose and sub ordinate to that purpose. Even at the best of times the church as a single purpose facility is underutilized. With our current services, it amounts to less than 1.5 hours every Sunday for less than 10 people. The historical size of our congregation allowed us to become complacent. Although some rentals of the premises have occurred, the church has not aggressively pursued initiatives to market the excess capacity of our church property. This is no longer an option. Once we lose the income that we presently receive from renting the church to the Salvation Army, we have to find a way to replace this income. It is clear that it is not possible to achieve this within our own congregation. We no longer have the donation income to absorb the cost of an under utilized facility. We have been centred on the way things have been done in the past, rather than acknowledging our current predicament. Our rental to the Salvation Army has shown that the church can be used by others. We can share our facility. It does not have to be dedicated to our congregation alone. In fact, it is essential to take advantage of the excess capacity of our facility to help us pay for its ongoing costs and the programming that we need to undertake to revitalize the congregation.
guides.” Whimsy continues for these bands even off-stage. Both bands are enthusiastic about playing on the same bill, with Robert Linna particularly excited about being part of Estonia’s “big cultural reach”, about “Estonians keeping in touch worldwide”, and meeting new audiences like us. Get your tickets and invite your friends while you still can!
Rental revenue: 1. Primary consideration has to be given to finding a congregation(s) that is/are willing to rent/lease our premises. With the proposed development of the Agricola Church location there may be congregations that currently lease that facility that would consider an arrangement with St. Peter’s church. We cannot expect the same revenue that we currently enjoy with the Salvation Army. However, we could anticipate a realistic rental revenue of $2,600 per month or an annual lease revenue of $31,200 per year per congregation. 2. We have 8 parking spots on the south side of the Sanctuary that are not used during the week. These are prime parking spots, in a high traffic area, that will be subject to major condo construction. These spaces will be marketable to the construction company that will be building the condos on the Roe hampton Hotel site. Consider $20.00 per spot per day. Or $160.00 per day for 8 spots. $800 per week from the parking lot (weekdays only). Estimate that yearly rental could be $40,000. Note: The Executive’s concerns about the current homeless shelter will soon be nonexistent. 3. On the ground floor we have a room designated as a room for the “Women’s Auxiliary” space. It is used as a staging area for choirs and miscellaneous events such as weddings and funerals. It is, however, empty most of the time. We should consider a long-term lease for this space. Ideally it would be to a charitable organization in need of space such as the Estonian Foundation. We understand that they will need temporary accommodation be ginning October 2022. Alter natively, it could become the administrative office of another congregation that we partner with. Approximate rental could be $1,000 per month for the space including a parking spot on the north side of the lot. Total income could be $12,000 per year. 4. With the increased condominium construction in the area, the area needs educational space for children. There is a need for schools such as the Montessori School, Spirit of Math, or Government sponsored day care. Our basement facility can be rented out weekdays for any of these purposes. Daily rental for this space could be $230. A negotiated monthly lease could be $2,600 per month or $31,200 per year. 5. The basement and youth room are ideal for activities
such as the Estonian Saturday morning pre-school or scouts/ guides. With the Estonian House closing effective October 01, 2022, this would be an ideal transitional opportunity. Our rental charge would be no more than what they are currently paying Estonian House. This space would be compatible with the proposed utilization of the space by the Montessori School or day care. 6. The church sanctuary is a single use facility. Its pews sit empty for 6 days of the week. Even on Sundays our attendance is at times less than 10. It is time to acknowledge this and develop a business plan to utilize this excess space when it is not used for church services. This does require removing the church pews to establish a flex space. If we make it available for programs that are government subsidized, we will not only generate income for our congregation but also provide a community service. Consi deration should be given to community programs such as a drop-in centre, health clinic, exercise for seniors, yoga classes, and fitness classes. During weekdays, the daily rental could be up to $600. Urgency Rental revenues have been estimated based on comparable prices currently available. Market conditions and time constraints may result in nego tiated adjustments. We cannot afford to be complacent. Some of these initiatives require immediate action to take advantage of opportu nities that currently exist. The Estonian House is closing its door to all Estonian activities at the end of October. With Covid restrictions lifted, childcare facilities, and specialty day schools are looking for accommodation this fall. Our own timeline must recog nize that our agreement with the Salvation Army terminates in February of 2023 (unless once again extended). There are some activities that have a longer realization date, such as finding a congregation(s) that would share our facility. The process requires a long lead time and it needs to be initiated as soon as possible. We need to find a prospective client or partner by the middle of 2023 and have them in place before the year end. We look forward to community feedback in order to prioritize the activities to be undertaken and input with respect to the timeline to implement the initiatives.
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