....and those Lutherans just carry on as if everything is still normal.

I wonder why? Could it be that Lutherans think that Maxim has some mental problems and a low IQ? Probably; and I'd bet that some of the Russian Orthodox and Persian Zoroastrians agree with them.

Maxim. If you had something worthwhile to contribute to Eesti Elu, then you would compose an article -- just as Eva Vabasalu has done -- and submit it to the editor. You know, of course, that you aren't capable of that. But, there is another way in which you can make a positive contribution -- that is, by paying for a subscription. The paper needs subscribers to survive.
What you do instead is put on a freak show where you, a know-it-all with a grudge, tries to get the readership riled up. It's an repulsive thing to witness.
Never has anyone agreed with you. Never has anyone even taken you seriously. (Your friend Peter has defended you, but only on the principle of free speech -- not because you are informed, or even sane.) So every week, it's the same thing -- Maxim says something stupid or provocative and gets jeered. This is a "lively exchange of opinion", as you say? You can't be serious.
And, to boot, you have no shame. You know that many of us know who you are, but don't care.
Give it a rest, Maxim, and take out a subscription and enjoy the paper like the rest of us. When they need a columnist with your qualifications, they'll get in touch.

I have never been a man of extremes, but since you go to such extreme lengths to dampen Christmas spirit and goodwill, then I think it is my humble duty to sugget you go back over past issues of EE, and there you will see a number of people who have shown strong support for my opinions. Also, at times when I have not commented, and the sublimely ridiculous looks like winning the argument, then some readers have pleaded with me through cyberspace to PLEASE come here and suggest a counterargument. I think that in all fairness, your comments are a little too much towards the downside of the etiquette of a healthy response. Please don't take that too personally, but it may help you to soften your approach in future.

Maxim. Show us a letter of support or agreement that you didn't compose yourself.

You're my single opposition who like to think that there are many more of your kind who would like to see me two metres under the ground. It's not going to happen as soon as you would like, and I'm pleased to say that I'm here for as long as people want me to keep actively contributing with my lively comments.

Do you really think Maxim is that stupid, that he would do your homework for you?

"Also, at times when I have not commented, and the sublimely ridiculous looks like winning the argument, then some readers have pleaded with me through cyberspace to PLEASE come here and suggest a counterargument."

That's nonsense Maxim! You can prove me wrong by pointing to just one example of this.

I appreciate the expression of thoughtful opinions. And while I don't always agree with Maxim; I appreciate his ability to do this.

On the other hand, I cannot stomach the demonstration of hatred towards intellectual discourse that so often plagues these forums. Posts like the one this refers to are simply vulgar and undignified. They put a stain on our community, where no stain should be.

I think I need to explain something at this point. It is highly important to understand that my comment is more than slightly ironical, because Estonia and its people are full of an irony that I dared not believe possible, until I came to live here myself. It astounds me that life without a sense of the ironical leaves most kodu-eestlased high and dry. The fact that it creates in you the opposite response is, on the one hand, quite natural, but on the other-without a sense of understanding how kodu-eestlased think and act/react, you can't possibly claim to be any more Estonian than someone who has come from Mars and claims they are a genuine Toronto-Estonian. Perhaps it is time for many people to realize that either they preserve themselves in some sort of pre 1930's straightjacket, or else realize that they represent the last of a species that is quickly dying out right under their eyes. Being Estonian these days means throwing all into the wind. Life a tough battle for most Estonians, and irony helps overcome that problem, if at least you want to avoid drowning in a bottle of Saaremaa viin.

Irony shmirony: I've experienced drowning in Saaremaa viin and lived to tell the tale. I can say with all honesty that it was actually quite pleasant at the time.

I think that people who come here to push their own barrel, which is full of the usual kind of nonsense that shows little respect for anyone else's opinion except their own, is the standard by which many readers of this paper live. There is nothing inappropriate in what I have said, and my clarification is all too clear to anyone who wants to understand it. To those who refuse to understand it, I don't see that as a problem-but I do see a problem with putting others down, like JK, and demoralizing his positive attitude to others like me. Most of my critics are sheer intellectual hooligans, who see nothing positive in anything anyone says that is just slightly different to their abnormal way of thinking. Yet they think they hold the only rights to determine the way the intellectual compass moves in this paper. It's an act of hijacking free thought, and I'm pleased that EE has stubbornly refused to be bullied by my critics, and has stood its ground in defending Intellectulal freedom. I applaude EE for this, and continue to prod the consciences of those people who have nothing better to do than bully and dictate the right to express oneself in this paper. There are more than sufficient reasons for my critics to put up and shut up, when it is more than clear to them that there are respectable citizens who also respect my right to an opinion, and that is something with which my critics refuse to come to terms.

Again, while I may disagree with Maxim on many of his thoughts, none of his posts are as vulgar and crude as this one.

Though this sort of commenting deeply offends most morally-minded citizens, including myself, I still find it incredible how post-Stalinist fabrications find their way into the pages of EE when there is ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE I have ever said anything like the lies that are concocted against my good name. However, I believe most responsible readers see through my critics' extreme behaviour, and fortunately it just doesn't add up with the general tone of my comments. I can only say that everyone has the right to comment as they wish, but it deeply troubles me that my opponents continue to attempt to smear me, in spite of the fact that I have never chosen to do anything remotely similar to them. Why they think that intellectual brutality is a tool to be used without hesitation, I do not understand. But I do wish them the Peace of Christmas, and perhaps they may find that something gives way in their hardened hearts to make for a better and more balanced level of discussion in EE during 2008. My very best wishes to everyone who reads these lines, and in future when responding to me or anyone else, please do your utmost to avoid using this kind of brutally offensive language.

Leave the guy alone, for heaven's sake. What's he ever done to you that gives you the right to be so offensive?

I've actually apologized for my past sins on an earlier occasion, and I'm pleased that you have noticed a change in the tone of my comments. Thank you for your thoughtful response. Maxim.

If you have actually apologized for your past sins, then you deserve forgiveness and wholeheartedly so.
Please direct us to that apology. We'll all be better off for it.

What you need to understand is Maxim's logic. If he states that he has apologized but in reality he hasn't. Then in his mind he has. His comments have become more suttle but he is still Maxim. He also comments under different names more often than before.

You probably mean http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crs...