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EESTI ELU reedel, 18. oktoobril 2019 — Friday, October 18, 2019
Nr. 42
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publishing Committee Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editorial Board: Enn Kiilaspea, Jüri Laansoo, Tarvo Toomes Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca
Words not to live by The following attributes have been used to describe the character or personality of a prominent American: Dishonest, irresponsible, delusional, psychopath, cruel, liar, uneducated, unprincipled, ir responsible, racist, mis ogynist, childish, power hungry, mean, crooked, uncaring, stupid, treasonous, nasty, unfit, disloyal, self-serving, ego tistical, vain, corrupt, immature, manipulative, arrogant, blowhard, inconsistent. Deceitful, cheater, malicious, petty, inconsiderate, mean spirited, immoral, simpleton, irrational, insensitive, petty, unkind, uncouth, greedy, vindictive, power hungry, simple minded, abusive, cheat, draft dodger, unethical, untrust worthy, self-centred, bully, vulgar, sleazy, untruthful, superficial, self-aggrandizer. Ignorant, egocentric, back-stabber, unfair, emotionally needy, cowardly, ignorant, narcissistic, uncultured, un hinged, braggart, disrespectful, despi cable, thin skinned, needs sycophants, adores tyrants, humourless, mentally unstable. Who is described above…. No guessing. You may dis agree with some. You probably agree with others. That says something. “I’m a really smart guy.” “Part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich.” “The only guys I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes all day.” “My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars.” “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-compet itive.” “You know it does not really matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ___. “I’m intelligent. Some people would say, I’m very, very, very intelligent.” “… my I.Q. is one of the highest and you all know it! “I’ve said if [my daughter] weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” “…I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” “The point is you can never be too greedy.” “The U.N. is not a friend of democracy. It’s not a friend to freedom. It’s not a friend even to the United States of America, where as we all know it has its home. And it surely isn’t a friend of Israel.” “ … I’m a big fan, a very big fan of the United Nations…and all it stands for…the concept of the United Nations and the fact that the United Nations is in New York is very important to me and very important to the world… So I am a big fan.” “[Putin] is not going in to Ukraine. OK?” “I think I’m actually humble.” “I’d like to punch him in the face.” “[The New York Times] don’t write good. … they don’t write good. They don’t know how to write good.” “Good people don’t go into politics.” What one says can’t be refuted if it’s on the public re cord. It’s bewildering that people who value decency, hon esty and consistency in principles would simply shrug at the above and say “he’s different.” It’s said that those who admire someone see in themselves some of his/her very LAAS LEIVAT same qualities or aspire to them. Pity.
At the recent 70th anniversary of the St. Andrew’s Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, guest pastors helped preside at the service marking the historical event. From the left: Pastor David Berg, Toronto First Evangelical Lutheran Congregation council chairman, pastor Matti Kormano, Agricola Finnish Evangelical Lutheran congregation, pastor Pamela Kormano, Saint Anskari Evangelical Lutheran congregation, Riitta Hepomäki, ELCIC Eastern Synod bishop dr. Michael Pryse’s assistant, Pastor Jüri Puusaag, Toronto Estonian Baptist congregation, St. Andrew’s Pastor Kalle Kadakas.
Kersti Kaljulaid, the Estonian president, invited her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to attend the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples in June 2020 Estonian World, October 2019 Kaljulaid sent the invitations to the presidents of Finland, Hungary and Russia – Sauli Niinistö, János Áder and Vladimir Putin, respectively. The congress, which will take place at the Estonian National Museum in Tartu from 17-19 June 2020, will focus not only on preserving and passing on the Finno-Ugric languages but also the impact of climate change on people and the issues related to cultural innovation. “I am very pleased that next year’s congress is being held at the Estonian National Museum, whose permanent exhibition on the Finno-Ugric peoples pro vides an overview of the rich heritage we share,” Kaljulaid wrote in the invitation sent to the three presidents, adding that
Self-driving vehicles waiting for a new law Government of Estonia, October 2019 Recently the E-Estonia Council was given an overview of the current state and future pers pectives of self-driving vehicles. The conclusion reached at the discussion was that although there is already a working legal framework for testing self-driving vehicles on Esto nian public roads, it is neces sary to wait for the algorith mic-liability law (a.k.a. the kratt law) to apply it in our broader legal landscape. The main aim of the socalled kratt law that is currently being developed by a working group of AI experts working alongside the Government Office is to enable the use of AI
the congress would provide a good opportunity to discuss the preservation of the cultural heri tage of Finno-Ugric peoples in a changing world. The World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples, organised since 1992, takes place in every four years. Estonia has hosted it once before – in 2004 – while Russia, Hungary and Finland have all hosted it twice. The presidents of the four countries have so far always participated in the event. The Finno-Ugric peoples are the peoples who speak the Finno-Ugric languages. The four most numerous Finno-Ugric peoples are the Hungarians (13– 14 million), Finns (6–7 mil lion), Estonians (1.1 million) and Mordvins (744,000). The first three inhabit independent states – Hungary, Finland, and Estonia – whereas
Mordovia is a republic within Russia.
in various fields, but at the same time protect people from possible negative outcomes. “There is a legal framework for testing self-driving cars on Estonian roads, but things get more complicated when we try to combine our legal frame work, the driver of the vehicle, and actual city traffic,” said Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister and Chairman of the E-Estonia Council. He added that the constant development of AI and its in creasing prevalence in our lives brings about the need to create a legal framework to regulate the use of AI as well as to pro tect people from possible nega tive outcomes. “Pursuant to our current laws, the driver of the vehicle is responsible for their activities in traffic,” said Ratas, adding that the responsibility for the decisions made by self-driving vehicles remains to be regulated. The Ministry of Economic
Affairs and Communications will soon start drafting a new Transport Development Plan, which will include the topic of self-driving cars. The Ministry of Justice will present a draft of the so-called kratt law, in cluding regulation related to self-driving vehicles, by the middle of next year.
Other Finno-Ugric peoples have autonomous republics within Russia: Karelians (the Republic of Karelia), Komi (the Komi Republic), Udmurts (the Udmurt Republic), Mari (the Mari El Republic) and Mord vins (Moksha and Erzya; the Republic of Mordovia). The Khanty and Mansi peo ples live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Russia. The Komi subgroup, KomiPermyaks, used to live in the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug, but, today, this area is a territory with special status within the Perm Krai in Russia. A significant number of Finno-Ugric peoples also live in the United States, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Canada and Norway.
The E-Estonia Council di rects the development of Esto nian digital society and e-gover nance, sets up expert commit tees and working groups when necessary, and commissions studies in the field of ICT (in formation and communication technology) policy. The chair man of the council is Jüri Ratas and the council includes other ministers involved in the de velopment of the information society, as well as experts and representatives of the ICT sector. The work of the council is or ganised by the Strategy Unit of the Government Office.
