KZBlog is going down (2)
After some thought, I have decided not to renew KZBLog’s lease. As you may have noticed, I don’t do a lot of posting here anymore. I don’t have time to blog regularly. Thus I am taking the site down–it does generate some ad revenue but not as much as it costs to keep it up. […]
Culture
- Yurts Are High Fashion and Slum Fashion Too
2011-12-05 - Apples, Sure. But THC is from Kazakhstan too?
2011-10-05 - Naked Man Pot
2011-09-23
- Yurts Are High Fashion and Slum Fashion Too
Resources
- Oh, CNN
2012-07-21 - What Do You Know About Kazakhstan?
2012-07-19 - Books for Kazakh Students
2011-11-06
- Oh, CNN
Politics
- Image
2011-07-28 - Sub Rosa Endorsement
2011-07-26 - The Naked Truth
2011-06-12
- Image
News
- KZBlog is going down
2013-09-10 - Oh, CNN
2012-07-21 - Repentence
2012-07-15
- KZBlog is going down
Fun
- What Do You Know About Kazakhstan?
2012-07-19 - Yurts Are High Fashion and Slum Fashion Too
2011-12-05 - House Hunters Bishkek
2011-12-02
- What Do You Know About Kazakhstan?
Tourism
- Asian Games Torch
2011-01-12 - Wikitravel
2010-08-07 - ALZHIR, the Soviets and Democracy
2010-07-30
- Asian Games Torch
Life in KZ
- Photo Gallery: Almaty Subway
2011-12-07 - Healthcare and the Private Sector
2011-11-30 - Naked Man Pot
2011-09-23
- Photo Gallery: Almaty Subway
Redbubble
Fishy Language Policy (Comments Off on Fishy Language Policy)
Apologies for the pun in the title. Couldn’t resist.
Apparently a shop in Aktobe is being sued by a customer for being unable to explain a tin of fish in Kazakh. The language law says that all consumer information must be available in Kazakh. For those who don’t live here, all products made in Kazakhstan have product information in both languages. Most products made abroad are targeted for the former Soviet Union and have information in any combination of Russian, Kazkh, Ukranian, Belarussian, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Armenian, Azerbaijanian and sometimes even Korean, Mongloian, Chinese, and other obscure languages.
Foreign products that do not have information in Russian or Kazakh have labels glued to them with that information. No idea who does it, whether it’s customs or the shop or the distributor, but everything made in Europe from frozen fish sticks to mac and cheese to shampoo to glass cleaner has a white label with nutritional information, preparation instructions and warnings as well as the name of the manufacturer in Kazakh and Russian (it’s especially amusing when the preparation instructions are different from the original). So I’m not sure how this tin of fish slipped through the cracks. Interesting to see how this turns out.
As the Eurasianet article points out, chances are the buyer knew what to do with the fish and this law suit is probably designed to just raise attention to the contentious issue of Kazakh language use in Kazakhstan.
Prison Riots (1)
Disturbing news from Kazakhstan’s prisons. Prisoners have been mutilating themselves and 38 were injured during a riot in Akmola oblast last week. Prisoners claim that they are routinely beaten and tortured, that prisons are overcrowded, and that there is no complaint system. The government claims that there is a complaint system in place which is effective and that most complaints “prove not to be true.”
Nonetheless it is hard for the government to ignore self-mutilation and one prisoner who allegedly set himself on fire. The BBC article linked above has some disturbing pictures of the inmates’ injuries.
One interesting note that has come out of this is that Kazakhstan far more prisoners than other post-Soviet countries or Europe:
According to a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, the prison population in Kazakhstan is three times the average in Europe and well above the number in other post-Soviet countries. At the beginning of 2010 there were nearly 64,000 prisoners in Kazakh jails. Officials say that number has now been reduced to just over 60,000.
Nowak came to Kazakhstan in May of this year and noted many “
Giffen Trial Ends Not in a Bang (Comments Off on Giffen Trial Ends Not in a Bang)
After prosecuting James Giffen for seven years, Giffen pled guilty to avoiding paying taxes by failing to give information about a foreign bank account in his 1996 tax return. As for the accusation that he bribed government officials in Kazakhstan for oil deals to the tune of $84 million, well apparently consultants will be consultants.
Steve Levine, author of The Oil and the Glory, has been the go-to-guy to read about this case and he predicted that Giffen was trying to prolong things by claiming he was ordered by the CIA to try to bribe Kazakh officials. Apparently, the government would prefer to drop the charges of bribery rather than reveal intelligence documents.
Kazakhstan has been quiet about this case and many citizens don’t even know about it. However $84 million found in secret bank accounts was frozen in 2007. That money is independently managed and is being used to help children and increase oil industry transparency in Kazakhstan. However allegations go unanswered that Giffen paid for:
…expensive speedboats, fur coats, jewelry, and tuition for a Nazarbayev daughter to an exclusive Swiss school.
Camelot and Kazakhstan (2)
This promotional film about Camelot Castle, a luxury hotel overlooking Tintagel, the birth place of King Arthur of legend, happens to feature a celebration of the birthday of President Nazarbayev. Not that the President came to the event:
Camelot Castle Celebration – The Secret of Camelot Castle from Camelot Castle on Vimeo.
The owners of the hotel are a British couple one of whom was born in Astana. The husband notes that he held the event in gratitude for what Nazarbayev has done for his family; one wonders what he has in mind. John and Irina Mappin certainly give off the vibe of being very wealthy and connected people. I was also amused to note the locals in T-shirts and the Kazakhs in tuxedos!
Overall the video is wonderful in a sort of old fashioned way. Outside of Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, I’ve never heard anyone refer to anything as “the great hall”!
If you want to hire the hotel as well, this looks like the page to go to, but I couldn’t figure out what to do next. Incidentally, while the hotel is stunning I was surprised to note they had rooms for 39 pounds, and even the most expensive rooms are only 200 pounds. Cheaper than luxury hotels in Astana. So perhaps next year Nazarbayev will come to Camelot, if only to save some money!
Kazakhstan Pirates: Twitter.kz (1)
Twitter.kz does not appear to be affiliated with the real Twitter, but they are using the name, the color scheme and the bird logo. Does anyone know what’s up with this? Apparently it uses Twitter.com because the registration link goes to Twitter. So it just filters Kazakhstan tweets? Why do we need this? Personally I don’t want to follow or hear from everyone in Kazakhstan, or everyone in the US.
I do wish our computer programmers would spend more time coming up with original ideas rather than copying or riding on pre-existing services.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Comments Off on Smoke Gets in Your Eyes)
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, smoke from the fires in Russia has reached Kazakhstan. I suspect that’s why it’s been so humid and the air has been so smoggy here in Astana. Yesterday I was driving around 8pm. Normally the sun is in my eyes and I need to use the sun visor, but yesterday there was so much haze, the sun wasn’t bright at all. And I think we all know it’s been humid and hot.
Hope this ends soon.
PSA: Meteor Shower Tonight (Comments Off on PSA: Meteor Shower Tonight)
According to Lifehacker, 13 August between 18:00 and 7:00 Universal Time. (midnight to 1pm Astana/Almaty time) will be the best time to see the Perseid meteor shower. If you miss it today, apparently it will be going on for a few days, so you’ll have another crack.
EDITED TO UPDATE TIMES from original source: the International Meteor Organization.
Turkish Pirates (2)
Dear US Polo Association,
Perhaps if you want to pirate Ralph Lauren, not only the style and the logo, but also the photoshoots in advertisements, perhaps you could bother to make your website English. When I open a website in Turkish, chances are I’m not going to believe it’s actually a US made product, no matter how many times you say the word “US”.
Caveat emptor. US Polo Association has nothing to do with Polo by Ralph Lauren. Just so you know.
Tweet (Comments Off on Tweet)
Note that @newepatriots are following me not other way around. Too bad it’s not official. Love the idea of Brady checking up on KZ politics
« Newer Entries Older Entries »
Or go to the Archives page.
