Wednesday, February 14, 2007

snow cancellations

This post is really for all people like myself coming from up North where snow and ice are the norm in winter.

After having successfully managed to catch a nasty cold after two nights of clubbing and two days of touristing in the wintery Washington, DC, I am out and down trying to get back on track within a week. Yet the fun part about this all is that I didn't really miss out on much, sinc almost everything I had on plan was cancelled and postponed anyhow. Why? Oh, no, not just because of me :D

The reason is, instead, a thing called SNOW. Well, I am not exactly sure how this works around here, becaus I have seen it snow a few times around here before, and I knew that primary and high schools were cancelled every time it snowed. But this time, they also cancelled school in universities, receptions, meetings and the like. They say this is because there was some ice on the roads along with snow. And apparently no such things as winter tyres have yet been discovered in these areas.

The one thing that always gets me confused here is when they talk about snow blizzards, which I have never seen here, but apparently everyone else has. I guess this is because I always thought that was just a light snowfall. And I wonder, what would they call a true snowstorm where visibility is about 1m maximum and the snow is half a meter or more thick. A snow tornado?

Well, I guess winter is still a surprise aournd here. On my part, regardless of the cough and cold, I do enjoy the sight of a nice and fluffy snow outside. I just hope it won't be all gone by the time I finally get out of the house.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Eesti majandus- ja börsielu küpsusest ning ajakirjandusest

Avastain täna Postimehest üllatuslikult hästi kirjutatud artikli, mis selgitas mõistlikult ja kõigile arusaadavalt ära, mis siis Tallinna börsil viimastel päevadel toimus. Paraku polnud aga tegemist sugugi mitte Postimehe ajakirjanike näputööga, vaid Tallinna börsi juhi Kaidi Ruusalepa arvamuslooga "Tallinna börs: Uued õppetunnid börsil".

Pr Ruusalepa kompetents börside hingeelu ja käitumise osas on loomulikult konkurentsitult kõrgem kui ühelgi Eesti ajakirjanikul, kuid sellegipoolest soovitaksin igal endast lugupidaval ajakirjanikul antud kirjatüki just kirjutamisstiili nurga alt põhjalikult läbi uurida. Varasema kahe päeva artiklid börsiliikumistest tekitasid tunde, et juba jälle puhutakse tühja koha peal jaanika-paanika üles ning Postimees suudab taaskord tõestada oma kollasust ja ajakirjanike kompetentsi piiratust ..... mõtlemiskoht Postimehele ja teistele ajakirjanduväljaannetele!

Kangesti tahaks näha ka Eesti ajakirjanduses mõstlikku analüüsi ja otsejoonelist selgitust olukorrale, mis kirjutatud lihtsas keeles ja rahulikul meelel. Sellist ajakirjandusstiili tuleb vist aga jätkuvalt kvaliteetsetemast välisajakirjandusest otsida. Tänuväärt siis seegi, et Eestis leidub vähemalt häid eksperte, kes vaevuvad meeldivas vormis ka Eesti rahvast keerulistest asjadest valgustama.