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EESTI ELU reedel, 20. novembril 2020 — Friday, November 20, 2020
Sad States of affairs Electing one old privileged white man to replace another to the presidency of merely the most economically power ful country in the world is an improvement? The most star tling aspect of the historic 2020 election is the fact that the Democratic Party, after 4 years in opposition, was unable to find a candidate that would reflect the world today. As well as doing more than sniping at the incumbent during the years after an old, privileged white woman failed to win the position. For in fact both elections, four years ago and this year, were lost, not won. Had Donald Trump’s abrasive personality, his loose cannon approach to just about all important issues not been in play and the GOP financial, economic record been the platform, then the odds of Joseph Biden capturing the White House in his third kick at the can would have been very high against. Uncle Joe, as he is derogato rily known, unfortunately re minding many of a certain age that the same sobriquet was applied to Stalin, for some of his more absent-minded com ments, does seem to be a pleasant fellow, certainly in comparison to the arrogant Trump. However, why him? FDR’s first vice-president Texan John N. Garner’s sole
contribution to posterity was the famous earthy expression that the vice-presidency wasn’t worth “a pail of warm piss.” Indeed, perhaps the greatest vice-presi dent, at least in the last century, was Richard M. Nixon, who in effect, and effectively, ran Dwight D. Eisenhower’s White House, while the General basically basked in adulation for his work on the battlefield and chose to avoid most contro versial decisions. But times were different in those optimistic post-WWII years. The anxieties of the present age were certainly a determinant in the election results as well. Add the difficul ties of addressing the pandemic and the result was a perfect political storm. Vice-presidents often run for, and win, the top job in the nation. Nixon himself – and look where that led. Forced to leave office, the next election saw his successor Gerald Ford replaced by a nice Southern Baptist, Jimmy Carter, certainly a fine gentleman – but a disas ter on both the foreign and economic policy fronts. One does not always agree with journalist Rick Salutin, but on Friday the self-described “leftish-sort” sure hit the nail on the head. In an opinion piece published by the “leftish” Toronto Star, Salutin described the Democratic party’s choice
Estonia ranks second in global Internet freedom index ERR Estonia has been ranked in second place in U.S. think tank Freedom House’s global Internet freedom index and maintained its previously high score. Freedom House published its “Freedom on the Net 2020” report for the 10th year in a row, analyzing the rights and freedoms of people in 65 coun tries in public webspace. Estonia’s overall score of 94/100 has remained as high as in the previous two years. Iceland came first with a score of 95/100. The index covers areas such as obstacles to access, lack of unfounded restrictions on online content, ensuring user rights, as well as the freedom and respon sibilities of online user be haviour. Laura Kask, one of the Estonian contributors to the re port, CEO of Proud Engineers said: “The Estonian government places no limitations on internet access, few limitations on on line content, and ensures robust protections for user rights. This approach served Estonia well during the COVID-19 pande mic, as society was able to function with relatively little interruption by making use of digital public services.” She adds that, although Estonia ranks high globally, the
report sets out signals that are worth paying attention for all institutions who exercise over sight on rights and regulations. “We need to be careful in keeping the balance between the obligation of telecommuni cations companies to store data and this data being accessed by law enforcement in order to avoid excessive interference with privacy – for the purposes of national security, for investi gating and prosecution of criminal offenses,” says Kask. According to another rappor teur, open government expert Hille Hinsberg, internet free dom is not at risk in Estonia, constant vigilance is needed to notice any warning signals. Governments around the world have used the COVID-19 pandemic as cover to expand online surveillance and data col lection, censor critical speech, and build new technological systems of social control. “We witness restrictions on rights in other countries, indi cating that erosion of internet freedom can take place slowly and emerge as a series of changes in regulation and by government decisions. There fore, the issues related to pri vacy, free speech, data protec tion must be constantly addressed,” said Hinsberg. She added that authorities as well as online publications need
of candidate thus: “a life-long, go-along mediocrity complicit in all the misdeeds of neo-liberal economics, free trade, crime crackdowns, demonizing Black ‘predators” and smearing Anita Hill.” In a nutshell, how is that for a description of a politician who has been around since 1973? One also recalls the opinion of P. J. O’Rourke, who covered the 1988 Democratic nomina tion campaign for Rolling Stone. The humourist, doing serious coverage for a change, found Biden to be the weakest candi date of all. This from a lacklustre field, a party that decided on Michael Dukakis. 32 years ago, Biden was forced to withdraw from the primaries for a number of reasons, not least charges of plagiarism. A politician without independent thought is not reas suring. Perhaps, though, with maturity – and having achieved his boyhood ambition to be president – Biden may deliver more than what the voters ex pect. However, as Salutin points out, any person should be con cerned about the state of affairs. He emphasizes the inability to prepare, the “inept, corrupt leadership” of the Democratic Party “(prime example: the Clintons), their retainers and paymasters (Wall St., Silicon Valley)” among other reasons to fear the next four years. Opponents have expressed concern about Biden’s age as
well. The oldest to hold the post. This may not be an issue. But unfortunately here the choice of vice-president comes into play. FDR’s health was kept a secret. He is Biden’s idol. But can you imagine if he either dies in office or becomes incapacitated? Sorry folks, Kamala Devi Harris is no Harry S. Truman. With only three fractious years of experience as the junior senator from California, Harris has almost no right to be there. Can you say affirmative action? At least to the party’s credit she is not, like Hillary Clinton, when the hier archy opted for her, saddled with a lengthy history that no one could be proud of.
to stay alert to cases that under mine free public debate. The Estonian rapporteurs point out that people can moni tor how their data is used on the www.eesti.ee portal. Guidance on the rights and legal protec tion can be found in the Charter “Everyone’s rights in an e-state” prepared on the initia tive of the Chancellor of Justice. Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) said it is an important recognition for Estonia as the leading advocate of internet freedom. “Estonia considers online freedom an integral part of human rights. The availability of internet makes countries more transparent, strengthens the civil society and grows the economy. Whenever we are sharing our digital lessons with other countries, we always explain that only a free society can be a truly successful digital society,” Reinsalu emphasised. He highlighted the fact that Estonia was an active member of the Freedom Online Coali tion. This year, Freedom House commissioned the independent private company Proud Engi neers to compile the report on Estonia. The Freedom House report Freedom on the Net covers the period from June 2019 to June 2020. The assessment is based on public information and re flects issues affecting online freedom, including current tech nical, political and legal en
Estonian American Business Alliance
Canadian complacency, ex pressing thanks for not living south of the 49th parallel, is also dangerous. While Justin Tru deau is polite, like most Canadians, his track record eth ically is scary; his concept of entrenched privilege, his hem ming and hawing does not en gender any confidence. If it were not for some in his cabinet doing the dirty work, his mi nority would have been toppled by now. Curiously, the hard-working Chrystia Freeland, although a George Soros acolyte, is the reason Trudeau remains in power. Much like Nixon for Eisenhower. Or for that matter Ontario’s Finance Minister Rod Phillips. (Notice the pattern here?
Dear Fellow Estonians and Friends of Estonia, Save the date – November 28th, 2020 Välis-Eesti päev/A Day for Estonians in the World. The event is being organized as part of the Global Estonian Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with Vabamu and the Estonian Worldwide Youth Network. During the day you will get to see the first clips from the collection of films of get-to gethers, birthdays, weddings and other important occasions being celebrated by Estonians living abroad that show how na tional traditions and culture were upheld in communities abroad during the years of Soviet occupation. Call to action All Estonians living abroad
vironment and public media space including online and social media. The overall findings of the report were that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating a dra matic decline in global internet freedom. For the 10th conse cutive year, users have ex perienced an overall deteriora tion in their rights, and the phe nomenon is contributing to a broader crisis for democracy worldwide.
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Premier Doug Ford, political neophyte, son of a long-time politician. Justin and Pierre Trudeau? All relying on ex perienced financial and foreign policy advice.) In essence politics is a popu larity contest. Which is sad, it should be decided on ability, not affirmative action or charis ma. Consider what the twitter ing president, or more exactly his administration achieved eco nomically. For all his personality flaws Trump does know busi ness, even if he did inherit his fortune. In 2018 U.S. GDP growth was 3.18%, a 0.97% in crease from 2017. Which was the first year of Trump’s presi dency, reversing the declines of the Obama presidency. To put that number into perspective, at its peak, the summer of 2018 U.S. GDP growth was a whop ping 4.2 per cent. At a time when Canada was stumbling along at 1.5 percent and the Eurozone at a piddling 0,4 per cent. Twenty times less than that of the U.S. Blame bureaucracy for those latter numbers. That is a chal lenge everywhere. But the Reagan economic formula, which Trump adopted, gener ates growth. While social issues are certainly important, the trickle-down impact of a power ful economic engine, such as enjoyed by Americans, allows for entitled demands. Chal lenges abound, everywhere, for Uncle Joe. TÕNU NAELAPEA
find your old tapes and share your memories. A selection of the films will be shown on Estonian television channel ETV2 in a series called 8 mm ELU (‘8-mm LIFE’) and stored in Vabamu’s archives. More de tailed information can be found here. There will be live crosses to Estonian communities abroad during the event. If you would like to send live greetings to any of the participants, mark your interest in doing so on the registration form below. Program (Estonian time) 18:00 |Virtual gathering and live crosses to Estonian communi ties abroad (MC: Martin Tulit). Welcoming addresses by Minister for Population Affairs Riina Solman, Vabamu director Keiu Telve and representatives of the Estonian Worldwide Youth Network. 18:20 | Live crosses to commu nities with video recollections. 19:15 | Concert: Duo Ruut (with singalong) 19:45 | Closing remarks You can take part in and contribute to the event via Zoom. Please register your virtual attendance here: https:// vabamu.ee/what-s-on/ events/a-day-for-estonians-inthe-world
