Estonia eager to teach world about oil shale

New Jersey Herald ^ | May 30, 2013 9:31 AM EST | GARY PEACH

[ckilmer]

AUVERE, Estonia (AP) - Home to the creators of Skype and the first country to use online voting, Estonia relishes its image as a technological pioneer. But the tiny East European country's most far-reaching economic achievement could come from how it has learned to squeeze oil from a rock.

[TChad]

For such a tiny country, Estonia always seems to be doing interesting things.

[The Antiyuppie]

Countries with no other choice will be very interested in this immediately.

[ckilmer]

the Jordanians are building one of these plants

[ckilmer]

can you name a couple of other things the estonians are doing?

[the_Watchman]

can you name a couple of other things the estonians are doing?

They are still pretty exhausted from all the partying they did when they got rid of the Russians! :)

[4FreeSpeach]

Being in the forefront of stopping neo Soviet/Russian mischief in the Baltics?

[TChad]

can you name a couple of other things the estonians are doing?

Well, there's this:

Last year the president of Estonia went after Paul Krugman in a very satisfying manner.

Then there is Estonia's flat income tax. Steve Forbes is revered in Estonia.

Then there is the whole E-Stonia thing. Estonia is a "world power" in computing. The hugely successful Skype program is an Estonian product, though Microsoft bought the company for $8.5 billion in 2011. Estonia's annexation by the USSR ended in 1991, after which the country surged from low to high tech VERY rapidly.

Estonia's first satellite was launched last month.

All from a country with a population of about 1.3 million. The country has less than half the population of San Diego County.

I find Estonia interesting because it is a happy forward-looking success in a Europe with too many dismal stuck-in-the-past failures.

[sten]

spent a bit of time in tallinn running a small company.
the people are conservative and very nice.

i miss the beer house... otherwise, the food wasn’t so great. ‘rock’ beer was my favorite canned beer i’d get from the supermarket across the street.

i was known as the ‘crazy American’ as i worked 7am - 11pm, 6 days a week.

a good place to get stuff done.

[TChad]

a good place to get stuff done.

Did you see much evidence of the Soviet annexation, or is that all gone? Any comments on Estonian women?

[TexGrill]

Is it a good place for a vacation. When a national government despises Paul Krugman they deserve my tourist cash. But what about Estonia women too?

[TexGrill]

Estonia sounds like a good place for conservatives. But Azerbaijian seems to be the exact opposite. Here’s how they describe George Soros: “There is much to say about George Soros, a pragmatic financier, romanticist and philosopher. But there is no denying that in his activity in all post-Soviet countries and, especially, in the South Caucasus, of which until recently he little knew, his benefit was rather moral, than pragmatic.” That’s according to Irada Bagirova
Doctor of History, OSI-AF Board Chair

[Cronos]

Estonia still has a large Russian population and many mixed Estonians-Russians. The evidence of Soviet occupation, besides the demographics is reflected in the number of Soviet-style blocks you'll find around and the monumental Stalinist architecture of public places.

Estonian women: the ones that are pure Estonian are pretty, but many of the Slavics are beautiful, though not as pretty as the women you'll see everywhere in Warsaw or Kiev (ok, I'm partial to Slavic women -- I'm married to one :)

[Cronos]

It's a good place for a vacation -- I'd suggest a complete Baltic tour starting from Copenhagen through Stockholm, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Talinn, Riga and then through to Vilnius. From Wilno/Vilnius take a bus to Poland's Mazury lake-side --> very beautiful. Then head to Gdansk and go down to Toruń (lovely 14th century town) and through Warsaw (we have lots of things that'll remind you about WWII -- don't forget the Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego: the Warsaw uprising museum) and take a train to Kraków, spend 3 days there (see the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz as well as the Old Town) and then head to either Beskid Sądecki or Bieszczady (the mountains -- either straight to the south or to the south-east: Bieszczady to the s-e has more to recommend, including a very nice skansen at Sanok, but Beskid Sadecki has easier hiking routes and nicer hill-top inns :)

[TexGrill]

I’m not sure about the conservative credentials of Estonia’s government. Check this link out: http://www.oef.org.ee/index.php?id=143&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=223&cHash=9fe3445f42f1d6ebcd49e8d88b379083

[TChad]

TexGrill above says “Estonia sounds like a good place for conservatives.” Is he right?

[Teacher317]

But with only 1.3 million citizens, 1/2 female, 1/5 in the right age range, 1/3 unmarried, that leaves about 83,000 to choose from... but then again, you only need 1...

[Ann Archy]

Just got back from Talinn, Estonia....CHARMING place!!

[Cronos]

the problem with the above route is that you’ll have to go through 6 different currencies

[Cementjungle]

I was there in 1985 for a bicycle trip (with our Soviet minders in tow). They were doing some big protests back then against their “leaders” in Moscow.