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
I Am Not a Number! (Comments Off on I Am Not a Number!)
It has been noted here and elsewhere that there is a lot of bureaucracy in Kazakhstan. One of the most frustrating aspects of this is the number of ID documents and ID numbers one must carry around with one to do anything. Whereas in the US my Social Security card is sitting safely in a bank vault with my birth certificate, here to deposit money in the bank I have to show my original Pension Fund Registration (SIK) and to do most anything else I have to produce my Social Security Card (RNN) and national ID. It’s extremely worrying because I am always afraid to lose them, not to mention the fact that if you forget one, you have to go home, get it, return to whatever office you were at, and get back in line again.
The government is trying to make it easy by introducing the new Individual Identification Number which will be used as a universal identifier. I’m sure we’ll still have to carry a million documents around with us, but at least we’ll only have to remember one number. However as usual, there’s been a lot of confusion and unclear information and gossip and suspicion. How do I get one? What happens if I don’t have one?
So here’s a nice article that appears to clarify what an INN is, who needs an IIN and how to get one [RUS], in an interview with the Chairman of the Committee of Registration Services of the Ministry of Justice, Amirkhan Amanbayev.
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RT @matrix_tv Armed rebel group not allowing Kyrgyz politicans to cross the border http://murl.kz/PXNm #freekg
Kazakhstan Reacts to Events in Kyrgyzstan (Comments Off on Kazakhstan Reacts to Events in Kyrgyzstan)
Two articles on Kazakhstan’s reactions to events.
First, Kanat Saudabayev, Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the OSCE, is sending his Special Envoys to Bishkek [RUS], Zhanikbek Karibzhanov, who is deputy speaker of the Mazhilis of Kazakhstan as well as chairman of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz Interparliamentary group. Herbert Zalberg, Director of the OSCE Center for Conflict Prevention, will also be going to Bishkek to assist Karibzhanov.
Also, from Baku, Nazarbayev condemned the rioting and looting [RUS] and indirectly criticized the government for playing politics instead of feeding the people.
It’s not politics one needs to attend to, nor barricades. [The government] should work on first feeding the people and giving them jobs”
Nazarbayev noted that the instability in Kyrgyzstan is leading to capital and foreign investors leaving the country.
My Encounter With the Police in Kyrgyzstan (Comments Off on My Encounter With the Police in Kyrgyzstan)
Was going to reply to this comment by Lucky on Video from Bishkek, showing police running away from protesters but I thought this little anecdote might be interesting.
A few summers ago I was in Bishkek and a friend and I were walking around behind the White House where there is a nice park with shashlik stands and amusement park rides and so on. Suddenly a policeman (or at least a man dressed in the uniform) came out of the bushes and said, “Hey, give me some money for bread, huh?” I thought it was a sad commentary if the guards near the White House 1) were begging off of foreign tourists and 2) couldn’t even get it together to intimidate us, take our passports, threaten us with problems and then ask for a large sum of money.
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And Switzerland, so small and hard to find, so hard to spell. Seriously does anyone know exactly where this place is?
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What’s up with all these countries ending in -land? England Ireland Poland Iceland Switzerland Finland New Zealand Scotland Netherlands?
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US says KG not proxy war for US + Rus RT @EurasiaNet RT @AP US-#Russia considering cooperation on #Kyrgyzstan http://bit.ly/96DP6i #freekg
Quitting Cigarettes Slightly More Attractive (1)
I caught this article on Gazeta.KZ, that the government is increasing the minimum price of cigarettes. I didn’t know there was a minimum price mandated by law. Does this mean they aren’t raising taxes? Do other goods have legal minimum prices?
The other interesting bit was that cigarettes seem to be classified by length since there is one minimum price for cigarettes that measure from 45 to 85 mm and another price for cigarettes that measure from 87.1 to 160mm in length. Which is actually quite a range, since 160mm is almost 4 times longer than 45mm.
Of course Westerners will be shocked to hear that cigarettes in Kazakhstan are so cheap. While the increase is around 33%, that comes out to 20 tenge or 13 cents. Most cigarettes currently cost between 60 and 150 tenge. Or 40 cents and $1. It’s actually quite frustrating because I quit and one suggestion for motivating yourself to quit is to sum up how much money you’ve saved and buy yourself something nice. But I’m actually spending more money on gum now than I was on cigarettes since a pack of gum is the same price as a pack of cigarettes but comes with fewer pieces!
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Now can we move to Almaty? RT @slynn87 Astana : Plane with UN Secretary General cannot land due to blizzard http://url4.eu/2Rory
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Usually Kaz and Kyr citizens cross border just flashing ID. RT @dtrilling: local press reporting #kazakhstan #kyrgyzstan border closed.
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