Helena-Reet: Who is supported by EAS, Estonian state and tax system (besides the president?) or Contemplation of the article “From the flamboyant number of designers of Estonia only a few have managed to break into the World arena”

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January 7, 2018

NordenBladet – I read the article in the ERR portal, “From the flamboyant number of designers of Estonia only a few have managed to break into the World arena” in which it was written that the number of Estonian designers is steadily increasing, but in the world only a small part of them has been able to make a breakthrough.

An example was provided (read the article HERE) that 110 designers came up with their work in the Design Craft Gallery in December, but only a few Estonian designers managed to capture Europe or the world. “This is not a big success story at the moment, but it’s just that you first have to make your name at home and get recognized and then go out to the World,” explained Maris Orav, Communications Manager at the Design Center.

In order to break out of Estonia, continuous work is needed on this matter, but in comparison with Europe, our designers also have less support from the state, stood in the article and only one success story was presented. “Fashion designer Marit Ilison is one of the success stories of recent years, whose design is currently on sale at 16 stores abroad.” It was added that Ilison decided to collect the fame immediately abroad. “We decided to go abroad right away,” said Peeter Ilison, Marit Ilison’s brand manager.

Is there really only one success story in Estonia? Is it really so that you need to be famous at home first? I do not think so. Especially because it is relatively unprofitable to affirm in Estonia because of a small market and Estonia is doing everything to kill its last enterpreneurial people and businesses. And what is the definition of success at all? Is successful the person/brand whom the world knows, who earns more, whose clothing is seen on celebrities, whose models walk on fashion weeks, whose designs are most recognized or have more stores open? Without a lot of effort, I happen to know a lot of great successful Estonian designers abroad who have successfully met one or another of the success criteria mentioned above – among them Ohmygossip Couture brand, which I own and marketing abroad (in Brazil, Scandinavia), because in Estonia usually everything new is oppressed. I’m not, of course, a designer and do not qualify for this title, this is not the best example here, and Ohmygossip Couture is my “side project”, but the numbers speak about success, and I can say that it is definitely a success story. I want to say that there are a lot of success stories in Estonia (both tiny, big and very large) and these should be recognized. We have to keep and acknowledge our people!

However, it must be accepted that the Estonian state does not support self made people or designers with university diploma or representatives in other areas. The Estonian state does everything to stop small businesses – both in terms of taxes and (non existing ) subsidies, as in the form of empty bureaucracy. The EAS (Enterprise Estonia), which should be a big friend of the companies, has, over the years, gained popularity mainly with spinning skills and spellbinding policy. Support was received by the President (former President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, OÜ Eramaa scandal), support was received by the Prime Minister’s wife (former Prime Minister Taavi Rõiva’s wife Luisa Värk received a solid sum for her companies, Rahvusdisain OÜ and OÜ Noodivõti), subsidies are given to strange companies which, after being paid a subsidy, within a year will fill in the documentation, but after that cease to exist. Without “bribes,” you cannot get close to a honey pot – the talent or serious work is here entirely secondary criteria. The talent does not count. Be an athlete, be a designer, musician or do something else. Estonia should think very seriously about the fact that young people know that the world is open to talented people and if you are better welcomed elsewhere than at home, then the enterpreneur stays abroad and launches the new company where it has a chance to survive. The question is not that people do not have patriotism or love for their homeland. The question is, however, that in order to survive, decisions must be taken that are often not as pleasurable as may be desired by perhaps the first preference of the heart.

I invite you to support, help and recognize the talents of your country! I promise that I also publish and recognize the talent and good people in NordenBladet’s pages, because at present, only those who have “bought” mediocre journalists in the mainstream media are striking out. Each country is as strong as its people – and the Estonian people are good, caring and tough! Let’s keep and love each other and hope that our politicians and distributors of the money from our state and Europe will one day open their eyes and look beyond their own bottle tray.

Helena-Reet: Poor people are bitter, envious and mean

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 7, 2018

NordenBladet – All my life I have said to myself that poor people are honest and good but the truth is that they are bitter, envious and mean. My parents have raised me in a spirit that poor people are nice and honest. But are they really? In my opinion, there is nothing to admire in a poor person and while speaking about a poor person I do not mean a person who has little money but the person who is not able to dream anymore and has lost one’s self-confidence.

A poor person does everything to make also other people fade away, give up their dreams and just give in. A poor person complains and accuses everyone, and he or she does not like anything. A poor person is always whining and looking for a person to blame for one’s fucked up life (Excusez moi!). A poor person hates work and is honest only in fairy tales. A poor person is a loser who wants to spread one’s bad mood like a plaque, he or she is bitter and does not remember anything good, just bad.

An envious poor person is poor because he/she is dumb and jealous. Envy makes you stupid and stupidity envious. A smart person can see further and likes cooperation, he/she is not greedy and likes sharing. In addition, I have noticed that a rich person is a lot more hard-working and caring than a poor person. A poor person is complaining while a rich person is solving problems. A rich person sees life positively, he/she is creative and kind. The rich stick together, whereas the poor keep bragging. In other words, a rich person is kind and happy because everything is fine. But whose fault is that? Are the rich guilty in having a nice life and coping well?

Why am I writing about this? Because sadly to say, I have lost faith in commoners as I have been repeatedly disappointed in them. I do not want to generalize, but I am sad, that the play titled Mindless by Jaan Tätte is 100% about real life. I just do not understand why the play is advertised as a comedy. I think it is depressing. The poor people try to get a free-ride at the rich’s expense and when they do not benefit directly from it, they turn their backs. The poor do not have any aims, priorities, nor moral. No dreams. You may hate me, if you would like to, but I find the world to be fucked up. People’s values are fake and wrong, I do not know whom to believe or not. All the people want is money, nothing is sacred to anyone anymore.

I just want peace and quiet…
and to pat my cat …
I am so disappointed in people at the moment.

Dot. The end.

Featured image: Lovely picture about my dream Estonia – simple but never poor (specially in the heart).

World Economic Forum: 81 percent of Danes feel the EU pays off for Denmark

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – 81 percent of Danes feel the EU pays off for Denmark – the sixth highest approval rate among the 28 member nations. According to a new report from the World Economic Forum, the vast majority of Danes believe their country benefits from being a member of the EU.

The figures showed that 81 percent of Danes found the EU beneficial to Denmark, ranking the Danes among the populations with the highest regard for what the EU brings their country.

Across the Øresund Sound, the view changed drastically, with only 62 percent of Swedes feeling that the EU was a benefit to Sweden. The Finns found the EU’s contribution equally dubious at 66 percent.

Ireland topped the charts with 90 percent, followed by Malta (89), Lithuania (88), Luxembourg (86) and Poland (84).

The countries with the most scepticism were Italy (39 percent), Cyprus (45) and Greece (48).

Other notables included Germany (77), the Netherlands (76), Spain (70), France (58) and the soon-to-exit UK, which chimed in with 55 percent, almost 7 percentage points more than the 48.11 percent who voted to remain in the EU in June 2016.

Popular tourist destinations in Norway are now available on Google Street View Nature

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – Popular tourist destinations in Norway are now available on Google Street View Nature. This feature can be used by tourist who are planning on visiting these destinations so that they can better idea of what the terrain is like. Google Norway believes that this will make hiking safer and decrease the amount of rescues on hiking trails.

Anybody can apply to use Google Norway’s Street view equipment to help them on their mission of recording all of the trails in Norway. The equipment consists of a backpack with 15 cameras that weighs about 20 kilograms. It takes pictures every couple of seconds, which are later put together to create a 360 degree panorama that can be viewed in Google Maps.

“We receive far more application than we have the capacity to accommodate,” Press Manager Helle Skjervold told NRK.

Director of Culture for the Municipality of Odda, Lage Thune Myrberget is excited about the project and believes that it will help prevent dangerous situations that occur when tourists aren’t prepared.

“Consider tourists in Australia, China, USA, Canada that want to come here. This gives them a totally unique opportunity to experience the trip as they plan it. They can see how challenging the first kilometer is,” Myrberget tells NRK.

He hopes that if prospective tourists make use of this new feature, then there will be fewer occurrences of people needing to be saved from the trails due to lack of preparation.

Photo: Trolltunga or “Troll Tongue” in Odda, Hordaland County, Norway (NordenBladet)

24-year-old is Norway’s richest with a capital of NOK 11.1 billion

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – The 24-year-old Gustav Magnar Witzøe is Norway’s richest person with a capital of NOK 11.1 billion. He is shareholder of his father’s marine business. According the tax list, The 24-year-old Gustav Magnar Witzøe has the most wealth and paid the highest tax in Norway last year.

Towards the end of 2011 Witzøe has taken over all shares from his father’s company Kverva, which at that time made him Norway’s youngest billionaire.

After five years, he has now been listed with a capital of NOK 11.14 billion as the richest person in Norway. This is an increase of NOK 1.3 billion from the previous year.

The country’s second richest is the businessman in fishing industry, Kjell Inge Røkke with a capital of over NOK 11 billion.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdQghxGnOED/?taken-by=guswitzoe

Photo: Gustav Magnar Witzøe (Instagram/@guswitzoe)

Young Norwegians with immigrant background receive less social assistance

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – A recent report from Proba samfunnsanalyse confirms that young Norwegians with immigrant background benefit from social assistance less than ethnic Norwegian youths. While 1.2 per cent of this group receives social assistance, the figure is 1.6 per cent for Norwegians without immigrant background.

“This is interesting but not surprising finding,” says Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Anniken Hauglie (H) to NRK. The motivation for seeking jobs among young immigrant background Norwegians is influenced by the public perception about immigration and unemployment, according to NRK.

“Because we do not want anyone to think we came here just to get social assistance, but we want to work,” 20-year-old Tasbih Hindi says to NRK.

The report “Social Assistance Expenses – Driving Power and Measures” is commissioned by The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS).

Municipalities, want to reduce the costs of social assistance, which is increasing every year. There has been a sharp increase of 38 per cent in social assistance expenses from 2012 to 2016.

General immigrant population makes up a large part of the social beneficiaries.

Norway to build world’s tallest timber building – Mjøstårnet

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – “Mjøstårnet” will be more than 80 metres tall and stand 30 metres higher than what is today considered the world’s tallest timber building. “Mjøstårnet sets new standards for timber constructions. The building is the closest we come to a skyscraper in timber,” says investor and contracting client, Arthur Buchardt.

Mjøstårnet, named after its neighbour and Norway’s largest lake, Mjøsa. The record-breaking construction will sit on the edge of the north-eastern tip of the lake in the small town of Brumunddal, an hour and a half’s drive north of Oslo.

Spanning over 18 floors, the building will reach 80 metres high, and include apartments, an indoor swimming pool, hotel, offices, restaurant and communal areas. Construction is scheduled to be completed in December 2018. Moelven, a Mjøsa-local Scandinavian industrial group, will supply the timber constructions from local spruce forests required to construct the tower and the swimming pool area.

“The assembly and construction of the Mjøstårnet is nothing short of world-class engineering, and will be managed without external scaffolding, despite the complexity of working at heights. We are primarily using cranes and supplementing with lifts as needed. We have reached 33 metres to date, meaning we have 50 metres to go,” says Buchardt.

Source: tnp.no

Norway´s Prime Minister Erna Solberg will visit President Donald Trump in the White House on January 10th

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – The White House confirms the visit in a press release. Solberg and Trump have encountered earlier during international meetings, but it will be the first proper meeting between Solberg and Trump.

“The United States is important for Norway for security and commerce. Such a meeting gives us the opportunity to promote our view of open world trade and the importance of working together internationally to solve climate challenges,” says Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

“President Trump looks forward to exchanging views on the bilateral ties between the United States and Norway, and how jointly to advance regional and global security, and economic prosperity. The President and Prime Minister will discuss shared defense and security goals within NATO and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, as well as trade and investment between the United States and Norway,” writes The White House.

Four Norwegian musicians – Kygo, Alan Walker, Sigrid and Aurora – to Coachella Music Festival

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – Sigrid, Kygo, Aurora and Alan Walker will take the stage in one of the biggest music festivals in the world, the Coachella in April. Coachella is considered one of the largest and most important music festivals in the United States and will be held on April 13 this year.

This year , the organizers have invited four Norwegian artists- Kygo, Alan Walker, Sigrid and Aurora to the festival.

The Norwegian artists will be on the stage together with big names like Beyoncé, The Weeknd and Eminem.

The first Norwegian artists who debuted at the prestigious festival were Turboneger, 120 Days and Datarock in 2008.

Source: tnp.no

Tourist influx triggers food-delivery boom in Finnish Lapland

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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January 4, 2018

NordenBladet – The busy tourist season is boosting food deliveries, with an international clientele demanding dishes familiar from home. The rapid growth of tourism in Finnish Lapland and the culinary tastes of international visitors have led to a spike in food deliveries on northern roads. The volume of wholesale deliveries has risen by a third over the past year.

This winter some 600 charter flights are bringing guests to Finnish Lapland and nearby Kuusamo from various European airports. At Kuusamo airport, the number of incoming leisure flights nearly doubled in December compared to a year earlier.

Some locals find it odd that tourists come from Britain and Asia all the way to Lapland, but prefer to eat their own familiar cuisine rather than Lapland’s own signature dishes, says Soile Lehtilahti, regional sales director for wholesaler Metro-tukku. However shops on Spain’s Costa del Sol, cater to Finnish tourists by selling imported rye bread and liquorice, for instance.

Metro-tukku delivers food, alcoholic beverages and cigarettes to Lapland’s tourist resorts from its main warehouse in Helsinki, with northerly terminals in Kemi and Rovaniemi. It is just one of many such firms servicing the ski centres of Finnish Lapland.

Lehtilahti explains that tour operators set the menus for foreign groups. Lapland’s restaurants strictly follow these as they place their wholesale orders. British tourists are served British dishes, while Asians are served their own.

These menus are critical to the pricing of group tours. Operators can keep package rates low by serving familiar, middle-of-the-road foods to each group rather than exotic Nordic offerings such as salmon, reindeer or bear.

Source: finland.fi