Mr. Marek Helm, director general of Estonian Tax and Customs Board met on March 22, with Mr. Scott A. Hodge, president of the Tax Foundation. Mr. Helm introduced Estonian tax collection principles and aims –  microbusinesses should be able to operate with a minimum number of accountants, if they want to. All data could be retrieved automatically by the Tax Board. Text and photo by the Estonian Embassy

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Published: March 27 2016

Mait Malmsten in “Phenomenon”

The Estonian Society of San Francisco recently welcomed fellow Estonian Mait Malmsten to the Latvian Lutheran Church in hilly Noe Valley, San Francisco, for a special performance of “Fenomen” featured in Estonian with English subtitles.

Authored by Bulgarian playwright Hristo Boychev, the play is a 64-minute monologue wherein a mysterious man (portrayed by Malmsten) shares his peculiar and extraordinary life experience and intuition with an anonymous panel of experts who try to gain insight into past events and foresee future events.

Malmsten delivered a remarkable performance, touching on a backward perception of time and sensitive cultural jokes, which seemed to combine the dystopian world of “1984” and the film, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” The play was produced by Märt Meos and inspired by his interpretation of the performance at his theatre “R.A.A.A.M. Ühendus in Estonia.

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Published: March 27 2016

Arne Kalm

PRESS RELEASE  3/14/16

The Estonian American National Council is pleased to announce that Arne Kalm will be honored by the Baltic American Freedom League (BAFL) in recognition of his dedication to the cause of Baltic freedom and security. Kalm will be honored at BAFL’s 34th Awards Banquet on April 2, 2016 at the Latvian Community Center in Los Angeles, California.

Arne Kalm is an Estonian-born American businessman with a long record of participation in civic and community activities.

Now retired, he is an elected member of the Estonian American National Council, where he serves on the Board of Directors.

As an active member of the Estonian community in Los Angeles, Kalm’s career over the years has emphasized participation in local, state and national political activities as a means of bringing the cause of the Baltic peoples in front of the people of the United States and their elected representatives.

Kalm has held numerous leadership positions in the Estonian League of the West Coast, which organizes the biennial West Coast Estonian Days in various Pacific Coast cities, including vice president in 1961-63 and president in 1997-99.

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Published: March 18 2016

Tiina Lokk

By Peter Belsito SydneysBuzz

March 9, 2016 - Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival director Tiina Lokk, and Estonian Golden Globe and Oscar nominated producer Ivo Felt, ("Tangerine," and "The Fencer,") sponsored a cocktail this week at the headquarters of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association HFPA on N. Robertson Blvd. West Hollywood.

The gathering was held under the auspices of the Estonian Embassy in the U.S, the Estonian Film Institute, the Ministry of Culture of Estonia and Enterprise of Estonia.

Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival (POFF) is at its 20th edition having received a "A Status" by the Federation of Film Producers Associations "FIAPF" for the high quality of it's programming and the level of it's participants that are attending each year.

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Published: March 18 2016

Aili Sarapik wearing an "I speak Estonian" t-shirt on a local school field trip in 2002. (Private collection)

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Published: March 18 2016

Andre Nakkurt, Leelo Kask, Marit Davey, Eerik Marmei, Mai-Liis Bartling, Tõnu Viitas, Andrus Viirg. Photo by Marko Kullapera

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Published: March 14 2016

Minister of Foreign Affairs Marina Kaljurand meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry on March 8, 2016

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Published: March 14 2016

This is revealed in a recently published study: The World’s Most Literate Nations (WMLN). It’s the first study to analyze large-scale trends in literate behavior and literacy in more than 60 countries.

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Published: March 14 2016