#79: My Political Views

My political compass (red dot in the first image is where I stand)
Economic Left/Right: -0.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.67
Take the test here

#78: Iraq For Sale

Watch this Robert Greenwald documentary about the war in Iraq and the role of the corporations such as Halliburton, Blackwater, and others in the war.


Update: In addition to this, look what ex-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld did to the soldier, who turned in the pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison. What an @#$%&! Never liked that old creep!

#77: HIV/AIDS Confirmed in Nookat

What a hell is going on? It was confirmed today that 14 people in Nookat district (my father was born there) were infected by HIV/AIDS because of doctor's negligence. Kazakhstan had a similar incident last year when 80 people, mostly children, were accidentally infected in a hospital in Shymkent. Kazakhstan then jailed a bunch of doctors (although senior health officials were not imprisoned) in connection with this case.

Update: This breaking news was not even #1 news on the Kyrgyz National TV. First they showed President Bakiev meeting with the Iranian Ambassador, then PM Atambaev's visit to Aksy, and only then it was mentioned, but in the context of the Health Minister "reprimanding" health workers and firing several of them.

#76: Issykul on Weekends

A group of 9 people is leaving Bishkek today at 6 pm towards Cholponata, where B. booked a few places for us to stay. Although it is raining cats and dogs in Bishkek (my feet were soaked as I walked back to the office from lunch), I am hoping that it will be warm enough to swim and sunny enough to get some tan. I might even have to do some shaman dances and fir tree burning tonight to call for my ancestors to bring us good weather.

No sign of sunny weather in Bishkek. No wind at all. Rain pouring non-stop. Grey clouds above Bishkek as far as you can see.

#75: GRE

Every day for the last three weeks I've been working for 2 hours on GRE's math section. I even took an intensive math course at AUCA to refreshen my math that I had almost forgotten. I plan to take the test in September and most probably in again in October because I will not do that well. I have not even looked at the verbal section of the test. It is a nightmare. I hope grad school admissions will pay more attention to my TOEFL score rather than me verbal score on GRE. Now have to contact my former professors and employers to ask them for recommendation letters.

#74: Wedding Season

Last Saturday marked the opening of the wedding season among my male friends (many female friends are already married), most of whom are in mid-20s. They all suddenly realized that it is time to get married. A&B got married in Koy-Tash at a wonderful wedding. It was my first time being a best man at a wedding. It was interesting though to see two people making such an important step. Next in the line are two couples, M&E and K&M, who will get married in September. I think M. too will get married in fall, although he is still looking for his better half.

I am not getting married any time soon. :)

#73: AUCA Alums in Almaty

#72: Internet and Politics

This video has been watched by more than 2.5 million people on YouTube!


Obama Girl vs. Guiliani Girl


McCain Mama


It will be years till Internet starts influencing Kyrgyz politics.

#71: Nelson Mandela

Yesterday South Africa's ex-president Nelson Mandela turned 89. About a year ago I read his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, which I recommend everyone to read. An excellent book depicting the difficulties faced by the anti-apartheid movement, which was led by Nelson Mandela and his colleagues. Having spend 27 years in prison and leading the charge against an oppressive and racist regime, he continues to inspire many people and drive change in many areas. He is a person of immense internal strength and integrity.
Photo courtesy of The Guardian.

#70: Issykul

Dying to get to Issykul.

This image is taken by a NASA satellite. You can also see other images of Kyrgyzstan (and the rest of Central Asia).

#69: Blogging for money...

A couple of western organizations (for example Hivos-backed blog and TOL's project) entered the Kyrgyz blogosphere with cases of money to "stimulate" people to be more involved in the new media. What they are doing makes complete sense, but on the other hand, why pay people who are already writing blogs for free. The money creates a distorted marketplace while encouraging short-term entrants (amateurs?) dominate the blogosphere. I might be wrong, though.

#68: Груз 200

I think Груз 200 (Cargo#200), which refers to a code for Russian soldiers' corpse sent home from Afghanistan, is one of the best Russian films made lately. Despite its title, the movie is about a depressing life in a Soviet industrial town in 1984. Violent and some perverse sexual scenes with a sophisticated plot makes it a very hard movie to watch. Plan to do something fun after watching a movie. I watched in Moscow a few weeks ago, but now it made to Bishkek's theaters.

#67: Hate Chain Letters

I don't understand why people believe the crap about the curse if they don't send stupid chain letters.

#66: CIA conspired with mafia to kill Castro

The Guardian: The CIA conspired with a Chicago gangster described as "the chieftain of the Cosa Nostra and the successor to Al Capone" in a bungled 1960 attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba's communist revolution, according to classified documents published by the agency yesterday.
...
The documents are available at: www.foia.cia.gov/

#65: Facebook challenges MySpace

Facebook became a big hit among my friends.

"I've added you as a friend on Facebook..." This plaintive introduction to the web's fastest growing social phenomenon has been appearing with growing frequency in email inboxes across the world as what started life as a way for American college friends to stay in touch has become one of the internet's hottest properties.

The rise of Facebook, created by Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg three years ago, is challenging the dominance of MySpace in the social networking market, which may go some way to explain why that site's owner, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, has considered exchanging it for a 25% stake in online portal and search giant Yahoo! [Read the rest of the article by the Guardian.]

#64: Trip to the Caucasus

During the last two weeks I've been travelling a lot. First went on a working trip to Batken, then went to the Caucasus. I had a roundtable in Baku, but decided to take the chance to see the region. First flew to Yerevan (where I had a friend I met at previous job), spend half of the day seeing the town, then took a taxi to Tbilisi. Drove all night, while it was raining like hell. Although I heard the scenery was beautiful, I missed it all only seeing the silhouettes of mountains, gorges, and rivers elluminated by thunder. It was a scary ride because I was afraid we would fly off the cliff. Because of the rain (and the driver), it took us 8 hours instead of 4 hours to get to Tbilisi. Got there at about 5 am. Walked around Tbilisi till noon. Gorgeous city. Amazing. Loved it. Then hooked up with colleagues in Georgia, who gave me a ride to Baku. After two days of not sleeping, I slept on the way to Baku (7hrs). Was in Baku for 3 days. Great city too, although fuelled by petrodollars. I liked Tbilisi the most. On the way back to Bishkek, I stayed with Elnura in Moscow. Met Veta too. I did not do much sight-seeing or touristy stuff because I was soo tired. So just relaxed in Moscow. Flew in to Bishkek this monday, and the same day took off to Karakol (6hrs). Returned only yesterday. I am sick of travelling. I want to sleep in my own bed.

All in all, I brought 3 bottles of the famous Armenian cognac, 4 bottles of Georgian wine, and 2 bottles of Azeri narsharap (pomegranate sause - good stuff).

Baku: Maiden Tower (Qiz Qala).
Tbilisi: A Samarkandesque building turned into a banya, however the minaret in the back belongs to a working mosque in an Azeri neighborhood in Tbilisi.

Yerevan: Masrop Mashtots, creator of the Armenian alphabet, is playing keyboards, as locals says.

#63: Host an International Student

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Host a International Student, ACTR/ACCELS
Theory to Practice: Working With Foreign High School StudentsAmerican Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, manages programs for students from the former Soviet Union (FLEX), Serbia andMontenegro (A-SMYLE) and Afghanistan (YES) sponsored by the U.S.Department of State. We are an international not-for-profit workingsince 1974 in education and research. If you are interested in hosting, coordinating for a student or beinginvolved in some other way, please contact us at:inbound@americancouncils.org, or 202-833-7522.
To potential host families: I guarantee it is a fun experience

#62: Putin's Heir?

Russian journalist Vladimir Soloviev wrote today that the issue of Russia's next president has been solved - it will be the current Vice-Prime Minister, Sergey Ivanov. This ends the battle between the two contenders: Sergey Ivanov and Dmitriy Medvedev, another Vice PM, which lasted for a year and a half. Official Russian media could not cover an event attended by one contender without showing a similar event of the other. It was known in November 2005 that one of these people would succeed Putin, who himself was, as a western newspaper in 2000 wrote, "put in" by late ex-President Boris Yeltsin.

Unfortunately, the idea of a president appointing an heir is taking deeper roots in Russia. Russian people are not being given a genuine choice. The fact that Russia's president is not chosen in the general elections, rather by the incumbent, makes the western countries worry more about Russia and development of democracy in the region. The recent arrest of opposition activists, including world chamption in chess Garry Kasparov, is an indication of how far Russia is away from that path.

And what worries me the most is that events (and methods) in Russia are copied by Central Asian rulers.

#61: Я сдал ЕГЭ

Мой результат теста "Проверь себя: Сдай ЕГЭ! " Azamat! Твердая четверка. Если вы взрослый и уже давно окончили школу, значит, вы, видимо, много читаете или у вас гуманитарная профессия. Если вы юноша, готовящийся к выпускным в школе, вам стоит полистать учебник, чтобы закрасить кое-какие пробелы в знаниях.

through edil

#60: Monopoly and Development

One of the things that could change the way people handle their finance is to start playing Monopoly. Introducing it in Kyrgyzstan, especially to kids, could help understand and more importantly internalize the basic concepts of investment, rent, and trading of property.

Here is something more specific to development though - Fighting Poverty Efficiently.

#59: On Ambassadorial Journalists

If the news about Melis Eshimkanov's possible appointment as the Kyrgyz Ambassador in Switzerland is true, it will confirm his "reputation" as the least trust-worthy politician in Kyrgyzstan. Other journalist-turned-ambassadors are Zamira Sydykova (ResPublica/U.S. and Canada), Rina Prizhivoit (MSN/Austria and Central Europe) and Kuban Mambetaliev (Journalists Association/UK) . Now it might be the owner and MP (althoug he still secretly writes) of Agym, Melis Eshimkanov.

Background: Journalist-turned-politician Melis Eshimkanov ran for the presidency in 2000 and parliament in 2005. Because of his changing political alliances, the editorial policy of his newspaper shifted accordingly. In 2002, Melis Eshimkanov accompanied ex-president Akayev to the U.S., where Akayev introduced him to President Bush as the country’s “most outspoken opposition figure." Some speculated that Akayev had promised him the post of the State Secretary and, as a result, Agym changed its editorial policy from critical to pro-government. These critics were proven to be correct, when the paper returned to publishing critical articles as he never received a government appointment. Currently, he is distrusted as being an unpredictable editor/politician, who changes allegiances based on the favors he receives.

Update: According to Azattyk Radio, Melis Eshimkanov sold his newspaper.

#58: Kudaga şügür, bügün juma*

I am so tired of everything. I need to find a place where I could be alone and not think about anything. I don't want to do anything. Just lie on a hammock and stare at the sky.

*TGIF in Kyrgyz

#57: Issykkul and Naryn

During the last four days I spent a lot of time on the road between Bishkek and Issykkul with friends and Bishkek and Naryn with colleagues. On weekends, Boris+Asyla, Meder+Elya, and me spend a very relaxing time at Meder's bungalow. Jumped into the cold water of the lake, got some tan (although I burned by back a bit and it is itching now), and visited the Georgievskiy Gorge. On Monday, left to Naryn on a work trip and met journalists from Kochkor and Naryn. Ate a lot of meat and drink fresh kymyz. Two interns joined me on the trip. Returned with a project in mind to start in Naryn.

I am hoping to travel to Osh and Batken at the end of May.

#56: Wonderwall*

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
But I don't know how

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me?
And after all
You're my wonderwall
* by Oasis

#55: Going to Astana, Think Again!

Thinking of going to Astana, think again. Astana, as many other town in the region, is being affected by sand storms. Here is a picture of yesterday's sand storm that killed at least 2 people.
By the way, Russia's Channel 1 is advertising "elite" housing in Astana. Come to Bishkek. We don't get these sand storms and you can see stars at night, unlike in Almaty.