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
Bankhi Kaida? (Comments Off on Bankhi Kaida?)
After my most recent adventure with new Kazakh tenge notes, I wondered what had happened about those misspelled bills. As you will recall, when they introduced the new currency x years ago, the first bills were released with a spelling error. In Kazakh the word for bank is bank but these bills had bankhi written on them (банқі for those of you with the right encoding).
One question that was never resolved is, what happened to those bills? Well I can tell you, because I looked for it. They were quietly released into the money supply and apparently no one has noticed. Which goes to show that there was no reason for all the noise in the first place.
I can verify that this bill has the word “bank” two times on it in Kazakh and this is the only error. So is this worth saving? Will it be worth some money as a collector’s item some day?
Shumenov is the Champion my friends (4)
Beibut Shumenov doesn’t have it easy. His job involves getting beaten up on purpose. He was shooting for 9 bouts and 9 wins last year when he lost to Gabriel Campillo, the WBA World and IBA light heavyweight champion. But then there was a scandal! Campillo allegedly locked himself in the men’s shower room with his trainer for eleven minutes directly after the match, instead of going to the drug testing room. The WBA ruled that Campillo had broken the rules and scheduled a rematch, which took place on 29 Jan in Las Vegas. This time Shumenov won on a split decision, 2 judges for Shumenov and 1 for Campillo. And this time Campillo complained, calling for the judges to be investigated.
However, Shumenov, who was born in Shymkent, has prevailed: The WBA has rejected a request for a third bout. In only 10 matches (9 wins to 1 loss, 6 KOs) Shumenov has become the world and international boxing light heavyweight champion. Congratulations!
Some coverage of the second fight and the fans who flew all the way from Shymkent to see him box:
In case you were wondering how to say “Kazakhstan is Number One in Boxing” in Kazakh!
All Your Oil Are Belong to China (2)
There’s been a lot in the news about allegations of corruption against Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. These allegations were brought by Mukhtar Ablyazov, opposition leader and former head of BTA Bank currently in exile after being charged himself with financial crimes. The police have dismissed the accusations as without evidence (and also refused to accept any new evidence on the matter) but the courts also refused to allow Kulibayev open slander cases against newspapers who published Ablyazov’s accusations. Anyway, in case you’re wondering what the big deal is, there are two great sources that explain clearly and in detail what exactly Ablyazov was alleging: The Oil and the Glory and The Wall Street Journal [Which apparently has gone subscribers only between the time I read this article and the time I posed the link].
It’s also a bit of a wake-up call on how much China is involved in Kazakh oil, for those who worry about such things. Interesting to note that in the comments on the WSJ article, many Russians post what appear to be copy-and-paste warnings to Kazakhs that the Chinese will take them over. Quick history lesson: Which country has ever taken over Kazakhstan? Russia or China? I don’t want to get into the midst of this because I have seen people in Kazakhstan get quite violent discussing why China is a serious danger to their national sovereignty. I would be more worried about whether or not oil money is being redirected for the good of the people, whether that money comes from China, Russia, the US or Fiji!
Anyone tried this GPS for Kazakhstan? (Comments Off on Anyone tried this GPS for Kazakhstan?)
Anyone tried this GPS for Kazazkhstan? Any good? http://kaznavi.kz/
Capital Moving (4)
We’re all pretty sick of the long winters here in Astana. It’s cold and windy. And all the new construction is hard to get done on schedule with the bad weather, not to mention the difficulty of finding materials that will stand up to the weather. It’s no secret that it can go to -30C in the winter and +30 in the summer. So not everyone who lives in the new capital is thrilled with it. There have been the occasional rumors that not even the chief architect of the capital, President Nazarbayev himself, is satisfied. Still, I was surprised to hear that a member of Parliament has suggested that the capital of Kazakhstan be moved again.
Apparently there is a movement afoot in Astana to move the capital to a more temperate climate and also to start over again in order to rectify all the mistakes that were made. According to Gazeta.kz, Member of Parliament Azamat Aldekimov has proposed the move for a number of reasons:
The residents of the young northern capital know that many conditions are not good for the reason that the Astana was originally built as the Akmola and Tsleningrad, which is to say is not to be as the capital of an independent country such as the Republic of Kazakhstan. So we have some problems with the traffic due to the roads width being of not sufficent. And the space zones for the erecting of buildings is limited except in the special new areas of Left Bank and others. It is for this reasons that I propose we move the capital once again to a new to be decided area of moderate climate and which is having no pre-existing infrastructure. Besides, I am freezing cold and even today, the first of April there’s still half a meter of snow on the ground. This is insane people!
Aldekimov went on to recommend the empty Sara-Arkai steppes near Lake Balkhash as the heart of Kazakh history and culture. “Hey, we could even put in a river like the River Ishim,” he was quoted as saying. “No one will notice the difference.”
Death of a Soldier (3)
A tragic story I came across on the death of a soldier from Aktobe [RUS]. Apparently on March 4, Sergeant Marat Serkebayev, commander of novice platoon 97617, stationed in Almaty oblast, hit Private Azamat Orazbayev, killing him on the spot from failure of the heart and lungs.
According to Megapolis [RUS] (which has the most detailed account of the incident), the commanding Lieutenant assembled the battalion for the usual end of the day debriefing when he was summoned by his commanding officer. Serekbayev was left in charge of the platoon. Apparently, Serekbayev lined the platoon up and began examining them. When Orazbayev’s answer did not please him, he punched him in the rib cage, knocking him to the floor. He never regained consciousness. Two other soliders were also beaten although they did not die.
Serekvbayev, who has not denied his guilt, has been removed from duty and the investigation is ongoing.
It is further alleged [RUS] that the army notified the parents by saying “[Your son] died. Do you want us to send you the body or will you come to get it?” No apology, no introduction, no softening the blow. Just a bureaucratic problem to be solved.
This case is more disturbing taken in conjunction with the recent sentencing of another sergeant for beating recruits. This case, in which a young recruit also died of his injuries, is even more disturbing because it appears that the convicted had a criminal record before he joined the Army. He received 5 years of jail time, which some feel is highly disproportionate to his crimes.
I will note from personal experience that when I recently lectured about getting a job in the US, I mentioned in response to a question that military service tended to look good on a resume because it indicated the applicant had discipline and knew a number of job skills. The audience looked shocked before explaining to me that most people in Kazakhstan view soldiers as one step above criminals. Is that in fact the case? How do you feel about soldiers? Why is the army not better regulated?
The Politics of Mathematics (2)
I love this story making headlines now about the genius Russian mathematician, Grigori Perelman who solved a legendary problem, proving Poincare’s proof. But he has refused to accept the $1 million prize that would be his. He is also the only man who has ever turned down a Field’s Medal. He lives with his Mom in St. Petersburg, having turned down professorships in the US. Apparently he doesn’t even cut his fingernails. And he is one of the world’s greatest mathematicians. And his work is allegedly being used by others to promote their own nations instead of giving Perelman the credit he deserves.
The New Yorker has a great story about his life and the politics of mathematics, along the way explaining this Poincare proof and its significance. It’s a great read whether you know anything about math or not.
We Inconvienenced You, Now We Kill You (Comments Off on We Inconvienenced You, Now We Kill You)
Didn’t mean to post on two funny translation errors so quickly, but c’est la vie!
This sign is up at the Keruen Shopping Center on the Left Bank. Slight translation fail. Terminal means fatal or final and is usually associated with things like diseases that can kill you. Temporary is I believe what they meant, but I have never seen this error before. I have seen timely mistakenly translated for temporary, because the Russian word, времменый would literally transliterate that way.
The way this sign reads, it looks like someone forgot to secure that giant boulder onto the roof and it’s about to fall off onto your head.
Passing Gas Fail is here!
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