Of the almost 200 countries belonging to the United Nations, only about 50 are fit for human habitation. So, why should we be surprised when we hear preposterous statements emanating from this "tower of Babel"?

If Estonia's Russian community felt oppressed, we'd see more among them "voting with their feet" by taking advantage of the financial incentives to move to Putin's Russia. Very, very few have been so foolish -- not even the nationalist, Maxim de la Trine, who expresses pride in his Russian background and proclaims membership in Naši.

Instead, we see Russian parents enrolling their children in Estonian schools and Russian adults speaking Estonian with varying degrees of competence.

Of course, many of them favour the official biligualism of the "good old days" where Estonians worked on their bilingualism, so that Russians wouldn't have to. Why not? It was better for them that way.

Nonetheless, as they face the question of learning Estonian or moving to Russia, they "vote with their feet" and stay put.