With everything else going on in Kazakhstan right now, the following video is a nice reminder that elections still have to go to the people. Here is one of Mr. Nazarbaev's election videos in a series called: Don't Change Horses, or perhaps, Don't Change the Horse that has Carried You. I particularly like this one because it […]
I couldn't tell if Ferghana.ru was laughing or cursing (maybe both) when they wrote this article: Bob Gates saves US base from Kyrgyz authorities. Secretary Gates flew in from Afghanistan, compared base agreements between the U.S. and other countries with base arrangements in Kyrgyzstan, and then announced their parity to the Kyrgyz press. After the […]
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives voted for a USD 6.4 billion aid package for Afghanistan through 2010. According to yesterday's Reuters report, the House also stipulated that Afghanistan's aid should not go to provinces where officials are involved in drug trade or aiding insurgents. Reports on province-by-province governance will now be required for Congressional […]
Over at the Eurasian Transition Group Web site, Mr. Laubsch has translated into English and posted Rakhat Aliev's interview with Austria's Profil Magazine. In it, Mr. Aliev states that his nomination of Mr. Nazarbaev to King of Kazakhstan last year was an ironic statement, which I personally missed along with a bunch of others. Or. That […]
The undisclosed percentage of Aliev-Nazarbaeva shares in Nurbank has at last been reported at 51% in Financial Times. Along with the 6.3% owned by Mr. Aliev's father, we now know about 60% of Nurbank ownership is held by Aliev connections. I don't believe in conspiracy theories very often, for the simple reason that few people keep […]
Mexican President Felipe Calderon kicked off a five-nation tour of Europe this week, hoping to promote trade relations, increase investment in Mexico, and boost European tourism to Mexico. Calderon began his trip in Rome, where he met with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Calderon was scheduled to meet with 400 Italian business executives in Milan […]
For the next few weeks I’ll be on the road celebrating my impending (Saturday . . . tick … tock … tick … tock) nuptials and so while I’ll be blogging as I can, it might be both light and a bit less analytical than usual. In other words, more links, less of my opinions. […]
The UBS Art Gallery in New York City is hosting an exhibition to highlight the life and art of Mariana Yampolsky, an American-born artist whose work celebrates Mexico's culture, history, and landscape. “Embracing Mexico: Mariana Yampolsky, Life and Art,” is featured in the Gallery until August 3rd. Yampolsky (1925-2002), who was born in Chicago, went to Mexico in 1944 […]
In this five-minute video, we can hear an Afghanistani official's opinion and will to follow official, nation-building policy; the best-faith efforts of an Afghanistan soldier who is supervising poppy eradication, an enormous manpower effort on one field of many. This is followed by an attack by Taliban forces on U.S. troops; and the troops’ return to safety. […]
In yet another angle on the Zimbabwe crisis and the relationship between Zim and South Africa, The Mail & Guardian reports that skilled and semi-skilled construction workers are flooding from Zimbabwe to work on jobs building facilities for the 2010 World Cup. The deluge seems less problematic for South Africa, as despite its own unemployment […]
Madonna and Brangelina have been in the news for their adoptions of African babies. But ordinary folks (well, ordinary white folks with quite a bit of resources) are also adopting African children in increasing numbers. Ethiopia has become a popular source of these children, which is raising some concerns in that country. There is a […]
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, an independent government council investigating the 2006 unrest in Oaxaca, recently concluded that the federal government should have intervened sooner after state authorities were overwhelmed. The commission also said that hundreds of human rights complaints it received from the uprising were credible, and the 12 people killed in the clashes were mostly protesters […]
Mr. Grono and Ms. Nathan of the International Crisis Group have written a new article in the Christian Science Monitor about the two most prominent debates concerning Afghanistan's opium/heroin economy. They accurately note that neither poppy eradication nor legalizing pharmaceutical-end use poppy cultivation looks like a workable idea–they’re right. They target instead the corruption of Afghanistan's officials: they’re right […]
Well, the authorities nabbed Mr. Aliev as he returned from the barber shop, based upon a court order issued in Vienna. Personally, with his millions, I would have asked for a house call. The puns that come to mind are endless: e.g., giving one's head for washing. . . but on to the serious aspects […]
This video explains a little about poppy cultivation:[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Aqn-6Asqixo” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] And then this is the next half of the video instruction. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/KbIFmPBsN7Q” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] These were number 4 and 5 of a six-part series at YouTube, and I know I learned a lot.