Juri,

As someone who tries to keep an open mind to the possibility that he is being fooled, I wonder if you could tell me what it is that leads you to such a dark opinion of Cigane?

I am certainly not one of the smarter folk and I am all for a progressive tax scale. The only problem is that 35% of nothing is still nothing. The problems in Latvia are so deeply rooted that you have to fix the cart and figure out what can go in it first. Then figure out whether you want to put it in the front or the back of the horse. Once that is settled, then we can start thinking about how much of the stuff inside of the cart should go to the people lining streets and how much to the guy holding the whip.

Andrejs

Disclaimer:
1) The above pontificate has been made with no consultation or coercion by any clique, group or loosely affiliated organization, currently defined or to be defined at a future date, nor any individual, currently alive or dead or in the process of conception (conception being defined as starting at birth and defined with no consultation with any clique, etc., etc.).
2)The views expressed above are the sole responsibility of I. I being Andrejs, (aka Andrejs Makwitz, Andy Makwitz, Andrejs Makvics, Aryeh Makvics, ארץה מקביצ, Andrejs Kalnins, Puika, Scourge, Makdershowitz, Broham, I, me, myself or any other aliases by which I might be known).
3) I am a 46 year old white male. My mother is an ethnic Latvian non church going Lutheran conservative nationalist. My father is an atheist socialist Zionist Jew. I was born in Latvia, lived in Israel for 5 years and have been living in the US since August of 1977. I am in the center of the economic, political, social and class scales with occasional extreme swings on all the applicable scales. This might explain the occasional mood swings, or it might be the other way around. All biases, real or implied, are due to the factors stated in this paragraph. On the nature v. nurture scale I trend towards nurture, so none of the biases are of course my fault.
4) Any additional disclaimers are stated in the first paragraph of this pontificate.
5) Any statements, pro, con or non sequitor, related to above pontificate should be addressed solely to me, as defined in Paragraph 2), above, and not to any clique, etc., etc., as defined in Paragraph 1), above.
6) Being of sound body and mind I, as defined in Paragraph 2), above, do so solemnly swear without any consultation or coercion by any clique, etc., etc., as defined in Paragraph 1), above, so help me ____.
7) I, as defined in Paragraph 2), above, reserve the right to add any other disclaimers should anything stated in Paragraph 6), above, could be and will be proven absolutely and irrevocably wrong now or at any future date due to anything currently defined in, or omitted in, Paragraph 3), and directly or indirectly implied in the pontificate, this Paragraph or Paragraphs, 1), 4), and 5), above.

I didn’t ask for a blank check (well, I mean, you fat cats could send me one, of course, if inspired—I promise to spend it on literary endeavours!). To begin with, what provoked this tangent in the conversation was the increase in the VAT on books—the estimate I have heard is that it will bring in half a million LVL. That is a drop in the bucket even for Latvia, but the damage done to publishers, especially those that publish quality work (which is less profitable than the latest from Daniela Stīla), is disproportionate and destructive. Publishing books of value in Latvia is an exceedingly difficult proposition—I know what the budgets are like (trying to squeeze more out of the publishers as a translator), and I know that many significant books couldn’t be published without support from structures like the Culture Capital Foundation (KKF). The margins are tiny (and I want to point out that a whole book isn’t subsidized—it has a cover price, and the publisher is usually putting that projected income [which comes with glacial slowness, often, and is obviously not all the publisher’s but also the distributor’s and seller’s] together with grants that are not necessarily governmental to arrive at a budget at which he or she at least doesn’t lose money). The prices of books were already prohibitive for many (Russian-language books are cheaper because of the much larger market), especially to many of those who still read books of redeeming value—teachers, for example. You can say that a tax break is the same as giving publishers money, and you wouldn’t be wrong—but it is a standard tax break in most European countries, though the rate varies. As to KKF, in pre-war Latvia it was funded directly from excise taxes, such as the vodka tax (appropriately enough). Latvia between the wars was not at all a rich country, esp. in 1920, but culture was thought to be essential to the nation—again, because it is.

I think there are other venues which can be used to bolster both the language and identity. Comparable ones? Sorry, but regardless of how much gold one can find among the garbage heaps of the Internet, books still have an invaluable place. The quadrupling of the tax also applies to textbooks and children’s books, by the way—most people I know who acquired good language skills started to do so early. If one has to turn to Russian or English books ceaselessly—and Latvians turn to Russian books far more often than Estonians or Lithuanians do—the language suffers; it already is degraded, as is apparent from any perusal of the press or a dive into the abysses of the Internet. Take away broadcasting, or reduce it to such a level that it becomes insignificant, and you are destroying the language, the culture, and the nation. As I said—you can have a kitchen pidgin. That is all that will be left if people sit in front of Russian TV and read mostly Russian books, using Latvian only to say davai, let’s go out and hurl some cobblestones. Good Latvian skills have declined precipitously already. Education is in a nosedive—again, priorities; Estonia poured far more money into it all along. The cutbacks and tax increases are damaging the other arts, too, from music to theater—I don’t need to tell you how central those arts have been to our nation since the first play was performed and since the first song celebration was held. They’ve never lost their centrality—the only thing to knock riot-related news off page one of late was the death of Kārlis Sebris.

Vysu lobu,
/P

Mr Pontificator

I am not sure if some of the assumptions are accurate. Your assumption is (as I read it) that the folks who would pay 35% are as hard hit as those who would continue at 23%. What is the evidence? The anecdotes that I know of say that those in the lower brackets are disproportionately hit by our lovely krīzes laiks.  And some of the 35% payers would still be paying pretty well (given that they actually report).

I’ll tell you a sneaky truth- some of us (maybe even me) might even do better! Govt is getting rid of people and money, but not tasks. Lots of those tasks will have to be done by someone, and that someone will get paid. Some companies that I work with (yes, a god of consulting I am) stand to benefit by taking over some of these functions. I see it as a mixed blessing (don’t tell the people I contract with) I have actually had to revise revenue estimates UPWARD for a company. So I think that tax code changes should be made now.

And now I wait…...

P.,

I will confess to being culturally biased (nothing you didn’t already know) when it comes to literature, but I think you yourself provided an alternative method to preserve the Latvian language by bringing up Daniela Stīla. As long as they’re reading the latest opus in Latvian and there is no shortage of Latvian language opusi (or is that opussesses?) available the Latvian language is being preserved. Now the readers brains might be turning to putra after too much exposure, but at least its Latvian putra.

Tom,

Actually my assumption is not that the folks who will have to pay 35% will be hit as hard as those who have to pay 23%. My assumption is that the folks who will have to pay 35% are already finding every venue possible to them to find ways to avoid paying 23%. They also have the resources and the means and the motive to continue doing so. As Clem wrote on another thread their tax guy will always be smarter and more motivated and better equiped than the State’s tax guy. To make things more complicated those 35 percenters are often in a position of creating jobs for us 23 percenters. Even if you find a way to outsmart their tax guy and enforce your new tax code, and they can’t find a way to shift to another location, the first thing they are going to do is find ways to make up that 12%. The most common way of doing that is to eliminate as many 23 percenters on their payroll as possible. Which starts a new cycle which ultimately leaves you right back where you started.
For the record I am totally and completely oppossed to doing that on both personal and practical levels, morally and intellectually, but it is what it is and you have to take it into account. There’s the world as we like it to be and then there’s the real world. And we have no choice but to live in the real world no matter how idealistic we may or may not be. As someone who spends so much time in NGO type work I don’t think I am telling you anything you don’t already know.
I still file the 1040EZ form because I have no problem with paying my fair share. As a rule, the moment I hear a politician propose tax cuts I immediately put a check in the box under the do not vote for because column. Usually its meaningless populism anyway. As I wrote, I am all for a graduated tax scale where the people who make the most pay the most. I’ve gotten into quite a few intellectual scrapes with friends because I’ve always felt that a Bill Gates giving $1,000,000,000 to charity is not equal in my eyes to Joe the Plumber dropping five bucks in the Salvation Army bucket. Sure a billion is a lot of money, but Bill still has 39 of them left, while that $5 can be the difference of either paying the electric bill or buying groceries for Joe. But human nature and reality are what they are. Those who make the most are usually the least inclined to pay the most. Its how wealth is created. Its what makes them tick. And the very nature of their wealth provides them with the means of finding resources and people who will find ways for them to continue to accumulate wealth.
Least anyone misunderstand (Mikus), I am not a communist nor a socialist. Nor will I ever be. The same Churchill quote about democracy can be applied to economics just as easily. Markets are complex and capitalism the best method of making them work available to us. Communism has been proven time and time again to be an utter failure. This doesn’t mean that a balance can’t be found and why I will always be against completely deregulating markets, but you have to take all of the factors into account.

Andrejs

Disclaimer:
1) The above pontificate has been made with no consultation or coercion by any clique, group or loosely affiliated organization, currently defined or to be defined at a future date, nor any individual, currently alive or dead or in the process of conception (conception being defined as starting at birth and defined with no consultation with any clique, etc., etc.).
2)The views expressed above are the sole responsibility of I. I being Andrejs, (aka Andrejs Makwitz, Andy Makwitz, Andrejs Makvics, Aryeh Makvics, ארץה מקביצ, Andrejs Kalnins, Puika, Scourge, Makdershowitz, Broham, I, me, myself or any other aliases by which I might be known).
3) I am a 46 year old white male. My mother is an ethnic Latvian non church going Lutheran conservative nationalist. My father is an atheist socialist Zionist Jew. I was born in Latvia, lived in Israel for 5 years and have been living in the US since August of 1977. I am in the center of the economic, political, social and class scales with occasional extreme swings on all the applicable scales. This might explain the occasional mood swings, or it might be the other way around. All biases, real or implied, are due to the factors stated in this paragraph. On the nature v. nurture scale I trend towards nurture, so none of the biases are of course my fault.
4) Any additional disclaimers are stated in the first paragraph of this pontificate.
5) Any statements, pro, con or non sequitor, related to above pontificate should be addressed solely to me, as defined in Paragraph 2), above, and not to any clique, etc., etc., as defined in Paragraph 1), above.
6) Being of sound body and mind I, as defined in Paragraph 2), above, do so solemnly swear without any consultation or coercion by any clique, etc., etc., as defined in Paragraph 1), above, so help me ____.
7) I, as defined in Paragraph 2), above, reserve the right to add any other disclaimers should anything stated in Paragraph 6), above, could be and will be proven absolutely and irrevocably wrong now or at any future date due to anything currently defined in, or omitted in, Paragraph 3), and directly or indirectly implied in the pontificate, this Paragraph or Paragraphs, 1), 4), and 5), above.

anita - 16 January 2009 07:13 PM

I’m wondering how the LOL participants who haven’t checked in yet, but who live in LV, experienced things… Zinshamamma, jem???

Might be a bit of a late reply, but I was watching Panorama with the kitchen window open listening to the sirens and occasional fireworks/shots?? popping off every so often. The studio reporter on Panorama almost looked visibly shaken and the live reporter was having an even harder time wondering what was happening and what he should say. Basically clueless.

I didnt attend the protest as I dont believe its the right time to dismiss these jokers for a reconfigured set of other jokers. Lets just try and get some stability here for a bit please. Also it was such a blatant marketing stunt by Stokenbergs and co., exploiting the current feelings and fears to gain a new supporter base, that I couldnt bring myself to go. I understand the people that did go and I understand their reasoning for it, we should gather en masse once in a while to shake up the government but for me this one just wasnt it.

On a flippant note, heres what actually caught my eye whilst watching the events unfold:

http://latvia-wtf.blogspot.com/2009/01/all-your-bongs-are-belong-to-us-riga.html

tom - 18 January 2009 09:05 AM

Juri,

As someone who tries to keep an open mind to the possibility that he is being fooled, I wonder if you could tell me what it is that leads you to such a dark opinion of Cigane?

Tom,

I have no any opinion about Cigane since she has left journalism, and would prefer not to have any opinion on it in the future.

For, as above, Cigane has no any relation to journalism fortunately for this purpose.

Living in Moscow I have some opinion about 1st All-Russian television channel informs. It informs about, as it appears, the reasons of disorders in Riga on January, 13th were the loss by Latvia of the control over the Russian oil transit and also the fact that “there is 96 percent of ethnic Latvians in Latvian establishment (including Saeima) “.

I agree that the First Russian television channel also has not anything common with journalism, as well as Cigane. However, the film crew, having finished shooting events in Riga, without hurrying up has gone to Vilnius (not to Tallinn, btw,  for some reason) where also without hurrying up has filmed the drama events in the Lithuanian capital.

As has told: “It is a shame to suspect, knowing for certain».

And this television channel belongs to the Russian state, existing by tax money (including my money i mean).

I would leave for protest action against such lies in Moscow, but here ‘OMON” disperses demonstrators on approaches to a place of the action and very painfully breaks fingers.

The Russian Far East has tried to provide the action against interdictions for import of the Japanese cars (it is the single earnings for the half of Far East population), but the action has been declared this by “inspired by the West on purpose to tear away the Far East from Russia”, and the demonstrators – “puppets of the Western special services”.

So there is a quite popular opinion in Russia.

Best Regards,

Juris

PC, I think it was quite obvious that it was the IMF that insisted upon those recent “changes” (Afterall, I posted that article on the IMF’s pending decision), but the real fault again (and not really having to do with any ideal, future balanced budgets) lies in the fact that in joining the EU, artificial cost-of-living parity is a “forced dah”.
...And PC, the article I posted also indicated that to continue with EU integration, may only result in a bitter pill.

Mikus E.

P.S. Oh PC, is it 20 and some-odd percent or a full 21 percent? Either way, your hands should be trembling more.
P.P.S. PC still mutters more: “We now have the highest VAT on Ireland, as noted at my blog, is 0%—the EU isn’t asking them to raise it. We now have the highest VAT on books in Europe, with the sole exception of Denmark’s (Denmark has no reduced VAT for anything).”
—- So does Denmark still have the highest tax on books in Europe?—-Just what are you trying to say?

Andrejs likes all to know: “Least anyone misunderstand (Mikus), I am not a communist nor a socialist. Nor will I ever be.”

Glad to know that some of my observations are not completely ignored. But in your case, I have never wondered, as it is obvious you are just a liberal. But now what I do wonder about is your defiant: “Nor will I ever be” statement—-as hasn’t the normal progression been from liberal, to socialist, to communist? (So what does the party-is-over call themselves now?)

Mikus E.

P.S. The thing about short-term observations, is they can be sometimes very false. But would becoming the host of a talk show (to be able to personally interview nearly anyone in the limelight) prevent me from gradually succumbing to “liking” everyone as my newer, learned direction would be simply to remain popular?

So what does the party-is-over call themselves now?

Looking out from my vantage point on all of the going ons today and those planned for tomorrow, I would say “Republicans”.  :)
Janis

Let’s see if it’s possible to share a retouched photo found on the web.

13. janvara ballite

a giver, not a taker, a lover not a fighter

tom - 18 January 2009 09:05 AM

I agree that the First Russian television channel also has not anything common with journalism, as well as Cigane. However, the film crew, having finished shooting events in Riga, without hurrying up has gone to Vilnius (not to Tallinn, btw,  for some reason) where also without hurrying up has filmed the drama events in the Lithuanian capital.

 

I’m sorry to go back into this, but you say on one hand that you have no opinion and then you make a dark comment about her. What is this opinion based on? It is really not fair to insinuate something and not support it.

tom - 23 January 2009 02:07 AM

I’m sorry to go back into this, but you say on one hand that you have no opinion and then you make a dark comment about her. What is this opinion based on? It is really not fair to insinuate something and not support it.

Exactly.

Regards,

Juris