commoner's security update from DC

Just about a week ago I caught myself pondering, how surprisingly optimistic (for Americans) the new slogan of DC metro warnings was - "Let's be prepared, not scared". It has been so calm around here for the past year that I have lived in the DC area that it didn't even feel like living in one of the prime terror target zones.

Well, thanks to those dummass schemers in London, that's all gone now. Got a fresh reminder yesterday on the metro. Instead of the happy slogan reminder, they now keep banging every 60 seconds how you should look out for bags and weirdows. Btw, I am not exaggerating, I timed them, and the announcements did go about every 1 minute. And ... they have added a bonus - they even have started announding their warnings in Spanish now :) And that was all just quiet Saturday night, I'll see how it all looks during Monday morning rush hour.

Well, I guess at least some good has come out of the overflow of information - the news reporters claim that people are so well informed of the new flying rules, that the DC area airports are quite decently functional. They say 3 hours should be enough to get on your flight :)
Well, I will go and check it out on Friday on my way to Estonia.

blokk

See on nii ebaaus - avastan end jälle mõttelt, kui vaja miskit paberile panna ja pole viimane kuu või enam intensiivsemat kirjatööd teinud.

Ma ei ole mingi eriline grafomaan, aga pidevalt lühemate ja pikemate kirjatükkide kirjutamisharjumuses olemisel on see eelis, et võid iga kell kiirelt mõned read kokku visata ja jutt jookseb nagu iseenesest. Lihtsamast lihtsam, 10 lk päevas nagu üle õla sülitada. Ja siis kui mõtled, et peale 5 kuud intensiivset kirjatööd teed väheke puhkust ja õpid ja teed muud tööd, siis kuu aega hiljem ei tule enam üldse välja. Mitte et ei oskaks, aga lihtsalt ei jookse. 2 lk strateegilist plaani kokku kirjutada võtab nii palju imemist ja inspiratsiooniotsimist, et läheb vähemalt terve päev selle nahka. Ja siis tundub selline ajaraisk - kuu aja eest olekse sellele kulutand maksimaalselt 2 tundi.

today I found my soulmate

"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful."
Marie Curie

officially English

So guess what, apparently it is only now that I am finally staying in an officially English-speaking country once the Senate has voted English as the official language of the USA.

I bet there are good reasons for opposing this, and once you live in US you kind of get the mindset, but for all practicality reasons I think its a pretty wise decision. I meant its not like other languages are not used anymore, but it is better on an international scale to know the terms of conduct. Then again, looking at how much Spanish is being used in everyday conversations, I would not be surprised at all if this country soon also became bilingual. Have even contemplated multiple times that if I only took a beginners course in Spanish, the rest of the environment would probably be enough to get me fluent in the language.

blogs vs orkut

Blog-reading is slowly but steadily taking over the lead position from orkut in my procrastination habits. I wonder it this is an evidence of some major global behavioural trends - I have noted myself to be a mid-follower, namely (not among the first, but neither among the last ones).

lynx economies :D

Since Eastern Europe does not have tigers, Economist has now decided to call us lynxes :D
Pretty witty parallel.

The online version is unfortunately lacking the cute purr lunx picture.

hmmmm ... Valton

ma arvan, et Valton võttis oma veidi veidralt hüpleva jutustuse "Roheline rügement" viimase kolme lausega kokku mõtted, mis minu ja ilmselt paljude peas keerlevad:

"Tulevik ei jää tulemata. Milline see on, eks näis.
Seni tuli tegutseda."

Ikka ja jälle tekib omagi elus toimetades mõte, et ei tea milleks ja mis sest tolku - lõppkokkuvõttes ju nagunii ei tea, et mis tulevikus tuleb, ehkki tuleb ta nii ehk naa. Aga tegutsemisvajadus on küll - hea, et on tegevus, muidu tuleb masendus, et ei tea mille nimel see kõik :D

eile tuli meil suvi ...

eile algas õhukonditsioneerihooaeg ja vihm ei tulnud enam maapinnale maha, vaid jäi õhku rippuma. Ja öösel kell 12 metroo pealt koju jalutades näitas temperatuur 73F, mis vist meiekeeles on midagi 23C kandis.

Hommikul avastasin, et päike on jooksmiseks juba liiga palav ja et nokatsit on kangesti vaja. Potomoaci peal käisid juba 4-mehe paadi trennid ja muud süstalised ja paadilised hulpisid ka ringi.

Ja kool hakkab ka selleks õppeaasaks läbi saama. Esimene eksam on juba vähem kui kahe nädala pärast. Nii et rabamine käib täie hooga.

presidenditeema jatkuks

no vot see mees pani alles asjaliku paugu. Myts maha! Leiduks vaid Eestis heade soovituste jargimiseks kellelgi tahtmist ja jaksu.

P.S. Ei ole veel taielikult hea emakeele tahestikku minetanud. Lihtsalt arvuti streigib Eesti tahestiku peale ja pole veel valja nipitanud, kuidas tagasi panna - ja ei ole nii rumal, et ei oskaks ingliskeelse klaviatuuri funktsioonilt eestikeelsele lylitada. Miksit p6hjalikumat on mada.

end of an era

Former President of the Republic of Estonia Mr Lennart Meri has passed away.

And those things happen, and life goes on. But this person was special to the whole nation. Not only was he able to give his own speeches in 5 different languages, which he spoke fluently, and actually write several of his own speeches thanks to his extraordinary literary skills. What we will always miss most about him, is his soft and very insightful skill to raise important topics for discussion among the broader public and provide great intellectual guidance in those discussions.

People like these do not come around often. I suspect that for a small nation like ours we might have to wait long until we see next one of those raise to the same prominence. Because not only does it take a great person, but it also takes the right place and time for people to recognise that uniqueness and actually respect that person to take on a prominent position. All these things come together but rarely. Even as big and intellectually great country as the US has but very rarely managed to dig out any of those.

So what now. I think the best tribute to Mr Meri is to respect his heritage and try our best to nurture a continued debate and intellectual reflection. How else can new generations of great thinkers be raised? It is our moral obligation to provide the best environment for new intellectuals to grow.

kodukülastus

nii, nii
nüüd paluks kõik sõbrad seltsilised ritta võtta ja ennast järgmise nädala jooksul näole anda. Kodukülastus kestab 11.-20. märtsini ja järgmine võimalus antakse alles augusti lõpus :D

Czech mate - me not tough enough for this kind of business

Well, gotta say, I learned a lot about the world of tough business today. And I am growing worried that I would never become a successful businesswoman even if I wanted to. It is just not my first assumption that people are evil and greedy by nature, even though I have heard of the cases and even encountered a few of them.

The case that brought me down so bad tonight in our International Business Strategy class was the famous Czech Mate between CME and the notorious Mr Zelezny. But I guess this shook my perception of people enough that I will only need a few more cases to be ready for the tough business world. And at the end of the day you still reach the conclusion that it is all the fault of the government that is not able to establish good legislation and curb the greedy and evil human nature. I guess its the good thing then that CME got back at the Czech thanks to the Bilateral Investment Treaty. Ehh, so the world is tough, but on some rare good occasions, still fair as well.

Well, now that I am much wiser and tired as hell from the long day, there's a few more emails waiting to be written and a nice long-distance conversation to be held :D

To all you back home and in the Northern part of Eurasia I hope the coming cold will not be too bad!

State of the Union

Eilne õhtu oli nii oluline ja mina nii ignorantne, et ei näinudki live`is :-I
Aga noh, siin linnas vähemalt ei saa olulisematest sündmustest ka kõige suurema ignorantsuse korral informeerimata jääda :D

Kõik sai muidugi alguse eile õhtul, kui jalutasime sõbranna Raminta juurde ning möödusime teel Kongessist. Karjakaupa autosid nähes meenus Ramintale, et täna on ju Bushi State of the Union ettekanne. Möönsime kahetsusega, et Ramintal telekat pole, nii et jääb nägemata. Kusagilt kostis kõva kära ja muusikat - järeldasin, et Kongressi ees oleva platsi peal on mõni traditsiooniline kontsert, nagu seal pidevalt on. Mu vähem ignorantne ameeriklannast toanaaber Katrina aga valgustas mind täna, et tegelikult oli see hoopis mingi suur meeleavaldus, mille eesmärk oli selles, et teha hästi palju kisa ja sellega avaldada vastumeelt Bushile.

Noh, aga meie jalutasime Ramintaga õndsas teadmatuses edasi. Politseid oli palju, nagu arvata võis, ja tänavad ümberringi peaaegu inimtühjad. Raminta kurtis, et miks pole Kongressi juures üleval suuri ekraane, et näeks Bushi esinemist live versioonis. Mina lõõpisin, et ekraanid on rohkem popstaaridele ja ilmselt pole Bush nii populaarne. Selle peale sai vist kergelt pahaseks kõrvalseisev politseinik ja kamandas meid teisele poole tänavat, et see pidavat olema liiga lähedal esinemispaigale :-I Jõudsin järeldusele, et kuigi Washington on 95% demokraatlik, siis oleks pidand vist ikka nati rohkem suud koomale hoidma. Jalutasime läbi politseinike karja ja tiirutavate helikopterite Raminta koju.

Hommikul rabasin metroo peale minnes kohaliku tasuta linnalehe Express ja sain teada, et Bush oli kurtnud USA naftasõltuvuse üle ja lubanud teadusele raha juurde anda :D Lisaks sain veel teada, et M. L. Kingi naine oli ära surnud :-I ja et Alito oli Ülemkohtu kohtunikuks ära nimetatud. Koju jõudes sain Katrinalt teada mõningaid kommentaare teiste Kongressmanide poolt ja kuulsin, et Hillary Clinton põhipoint oli seisnenud silmade pööritamises. Samuti kuulsin, et keegi vahva Kongresman olevat kutsunud Bushi esinemisele ka siinmaal kuulusa tädi, kelle poeg sai Iraagis surma ja kes on sellest ajast saati Bushi vastast kampaaniat aretanud. Tädi olevat aga otsustanud kanda T-särki tekstiga "How many more?", mis peale jõudis ta muidugi Bushi esinemise asel kohalikku politseijaoskonda. Katrina oli nõutu, et kuidas nii väikese asja peale saab kinni panna. Mina siis korraliku konspiratsiooniteoreetikuna avaldasin muidugi arvamust, et tegelikult oli turvadele käsk antud, et see tädi sinna ruumi täna õhtul ei tohi saada ja et nad oleks ta ükskõik millisel ettekäändel kinni pannud.

Soojendasin lõunasöögiks Campelli purgist tomatisuppi, lisasin mitteameerikalikult ka mõned herned. Seepeale otsustasin oma südametunnistuse leevenduseks vaadata telekast CNNist Bushi kõne või vähemalt kommentaare. Nüüdseks olen umbes 30 min CNN Headline News`i vaadanud ja olen teada saanud, et Britney Spears pidavat esinema "Will&Grace" ühes osas mingi kristlasena ja et see kutsub ilmselt esile suurema pahameeleavalduse siinse konservatiivse elanikkonna poolt. Siis veel hunnik Entertainment Newsi ja siis viimased 10 min ühe Iraagi kunstniku kohta, kes paneb tänavale oma pilte üles, et aidata kaasa ülesehitustööle. Ja täiesti ausalt räägiti State of the Unionist ka lõpuks, nii umbes 1 min ja öeldi, et pidas ära kõne. Ja vot selline siinmaal ajakirjanduse kvaliteet ongi - see siin oli kommentaar minu kullakesele Liisale, kelle blogist lugesin hiljuti järjekordset kurtmist, et Eesti meedia on kehva kvaliteediga :D

See oli lihtsalt üks väljavõte tavalisest tähtsast päevast siinkandis.
Aa, ja et teiegi väärtuslikust kõnest ilma ei jääks, siis teile ka suvaliselt ettejuhtunud lingi pealt täistekst. Seal on video ka.

Tervitused kõigile. Igatsen ja tulen teid märtsis kaema.


ooooot .... nüüd tuli jälle pool minutit Bushi kõne kohta ....

long time no see

what can I say ..... time flies ..... but I bet you know that already

I'm back to the ranks of working people, in addition to being a student. So I guess that maybe explains some of my absence.

News?
I guess I sound repetitive and this is probably the topic most discussed on this blog, but it just keeps surprising me, how warm it is here in DC. Nothing like the winter I know. It's January and the temperatures jump around 5-15C. But then again, I guess it is geographically on the same line with Lisbon.

Other than that - been here and there. Explored some of Chicago, Indiana, and some more of NYC. Chicago was cold, reminded of winter at home. Indiana was sweet and fun - you know, truck people land, and NYC was crowded.

Now back in school and working.

lumi tuli, lumi tuli :D

yay, ma ei teadnudki kunagi, kui väga mulle tegelt lumi meeldib kuni praeguse hetkeni. Talv on ilma lumeta ikka nii igav.

Aga täna hakkas meil lund sadama :D
Tegelt ükskord varem sadas ka öösel natuke. Aga praegu on kohe ilus helbene lumi.
Ega ta siinkandis muidugi maha ei jää, aga vähemalt on ilus aknast välja vaadata.

Nii et te kõik kes te seal lumehangedega võitlema peate, nautige ilusat talvelund!

vaccine against cancer ????

Getting smarter every day!
My roommate Katrina suggested an article in Time magazine to me today, which said that Merck has come out with a vaccine against cervical cancer, the second most widespread cancer for women. A vaccine for cancer ???? Definitely sounds too weird to be true. But then again, I'm no medical person here, right.

So I go and do some research and see what Wikipedia says.
Cervical cancer is a malignancy of the cervix. Worldwide, it is the second most common cancer of women. It may present with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in advanced stages, which has made cervical cancer the focus of intense screening efforts utilizing the Pap smear. Most scientific studies point to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection as a necessary pre-requisite for development of cervical cancer. Treatment is with surgery (including cryosurgery) in early stages and chemotherapy and radiotherapy in advanced stages of the disease. A effective vaccine for the two most common strains of HPV has recently been licenced.

So aparently there can be a vaccine against a cancer since this cancer is caused by a virus. And quite a big developmental leap there - from surgery/chemotherapy to vaccine!
Well, I guess the world is getting better again for all the poor women like me doomed with their family history of cervical cancer and other related problems.

To all you men that read this post, sry for forcing you to get deep into the female stuff! But just remember how many women out there have it, so I'm afraid you cannot escape hearing about it at some point anyways.

other cultures

You learn a lot while living in another culture, even one that's relatively close to yours. And one of the most striking things I've recently learned, is how little I actually know about other cultures.

Estonias, me included, go out proclaiming loud that we know so much more about what is going on in the rest of the world than people in some other countries, especially in the US, do. Well, I have to admit, I know quite a bunch about Europe, about the US and other western countries .... but I actually know very little about Asia, Africa, Australia and Southern America. They are just sooooooooo far from our little tiny country, and our limited capacities just do not seem to reach that far. Of course we have our own experts and so on, but on the general basis, these regions do not seem to be much of our interest.

And this is sad. Because this is the point where I have to admit how narrow my world really is. Its as though because we are small in terms of country size we have just adopted the western world and then maybe Russia to work as our horizon of knowledge, and we are just as ignorant about what the life is really like in other cultures as the average American can be about the rest of the world.

On the bright side, though, this only means that there's tons of more interesting worlds to discover :)

inimesed, palun ostke endale korralikud kõrvaklapid ...

eriti kui teil on plaanis seada ennast sisse ruumis, mille ukse peale on pandud suur silt kirjaga "QUIET STUDY ROOM". Pole midagi rõvedamat, kui üritada keskenduda mingisse üliteoreetilisse teksti samal ajal kui kõrval piniseb kogu aeg mingi muusika just sellise valjususe astmega, et kui hästi muusikat teaks, siis võiks vist isegi ära aimata, mis lauludega tegu. Ja ma olen täiesti näinud inimesi, kellel on viisakad kõrvaklapid, mis ei lase seda pininat läbi - alles eile istusin ühe tütarlapse kõrval, kellel olid sellised.

Üldiselt olen täheldanud suhteliselt tugevat positiivset korrelatsiooni bitchimise vajaduse ja tressi taseme vahel. Ja kuna täna oleks hädasti vaja välja mõelda teema ühe suure kodutöö jaoks ja mitte ei ole häid sähvatusi pähe tulnud, siis hakkavadki igasugu asjad häirima. Näiteks oli meil üle-eelmisel nädalavahetusel mingi tuletõrjealarm koridoris segi läinud. Päris kole on 5 päeva järjest 24h kuulata sellist äratuskella sarnast pininat.

networking + studying = networking study?

So many of my friends that have studied or are studying in US complain how most of the universities are in the middle of nowhere and so, since there is absolutely nothing else to do, everyone's stuck studying. And this is how all the good grades and results come :)

Studying in Washington DC is definitely different in this respect. Here its all about networking. So you rapidly get into this and then at one point you discover that for the better part of time you have to sit behind your computer writing all kinds networking emails or going to some meetings and seminars and presentations. This even becomes part of your schoolwork, since its taken as granted here that once you have so many opportunities around you better use them.

So here's another one of those days. Started out in the morning by compiling a list of all the emailing I have to do and that has been piling up over the week. And the list is long - about 20 items with all the other small things. And then there's more people to meet and things to do .... So where's the time for reading and writing :) The only way to go is to make yourself work more and try to economise on time.

People here are being really efficient on time-management. Never seen so many people reading all the time and all at once like I see every day on the metro. And its pretty useful. That's the only way I get through my weekly Economist readings.

By noon I'm done with about 4 items - so 16 more to go. This means either a long night again or more work for tomorrow.

taas imeilus sügisilm

ühe põhjamaa inimese jaoks on ikka 15-20 kraadised sügisilmad megakogemus. Hullult meeldib lehtedes sahistada ja sibavaid oravaid vaadata.

Aga üldiselt kulgeb jälle tavalise koolitegevuse tähe all. Järgmise semestri ained tahavad registreerimist. Ja siis peab minema kuulama mingit nanotehnoloogiaeksperti, kes räägib väikesest rohelisest energiast vmt. Aga vähemalt antakse neil avalikel loengutel päris hästi süüa :)

Washington DCs olevat mingid ajakirjanikud hiljuti katse teinud, et nad 6 kuud järjest ei osta midagi süüa ja käivad söömas ainult igasugu avalikel loengutel, seminaridel ja igasugustel networking üritustel. Tuli välja, et Washington DCs toimub neid üritusi pidevalt nii palju, et tüübid muutusid isegi pirtsakateks ja hakkasid toidu sortimenti valima :D