Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Kazakhstan social issue
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154481.htm
When I was in Kazakhstan, my host-family and I eventually got on the topic of government. I asked if the government followed the rules of Human Rights well, and at first they were hesitant to tell me, but then they told me that the government was rather dubious when it came to freedom of speech. He, the father of course, told me that the government had recently begun to limit the spectrum of freedom of speech, and had taken upon itself to protect its reputation. He said they use restriction laws, harassment, license regualtion, restriction of internet access, and conviction. The government harasses the media with lawsuits and fines and the threat of such to keep the media from criticizing the government. the freedom of speech of individuals is also targeted by the government, discouraging people from criticizing the government in similar ways. The government goes further by completely prohibiting slandering the president's name, his family, or any other important political figure. Some people are completely prohibited from having free speech, and if these people try to voice their opinions, they are charged with inciting terrorism. Most of the radio stations in the more urbanized areas have, through government action, been consolidated under one company favored by the government. He said that a similar incident is suspected to have happened with the television station as well. The government has put a time limit on how much foreign media can be aired on the radio and television. Journalists are continuously persecuted by the government, they have forced some media to omit stories that went against the government's wishes. The government makes it a goal of their's to eliminate opposition media through harassment and intimidation. He said that the police do not equally protect journalism-related people from crime and violence as they would most other citizens. Instead, in the case of a crime victimizing a journalist, they will often ignore the incident or down play the event. He said that when Kyrgyzstani nationals killed a Kazakhstani citizen intending to set an opposition newspaper, they searched for suspects and published their finds, but never followed up on the incident in the intention of justice, they just swept it under the rug. Ultimately, I could tell that Kazakhstan's government was very proud of itself and intended to keep its good looks at the cost of its citizens' opinions.
Mongolia Social Issue
While I was at a market in rural Mongolia one day, the cops were arresting someone accused of stealing. Although he was indeed a suspect, I felt the police were a little too harsh on him, like the stereo-typically dubious cops of colonial Britain. It seemed like he was completely caught off guard when the police targeted him, which makes him seem less guilty as he appeared oblivious of committing any crimes. When he noticed the police had accused him of stealing, he just had a puzzled look on his face, not even bracing himself, when the cops tackled him and shoved his face in the dirt. They also beat him with batons almost instantaneously like he was a pinata, and demanded he admit to his crime. I thought little of it at first, but then as I was walking back to my car, I found the town jail. I looked around at the place a little, trying not to make a scene of it. As I watched the police, I noticed that they essentially treated anyone in the jails like crap. They disrespected them quite a bit, and I noticed they were still trying to crack the person I saw at the market. They burned him with cigarettes and continued to cyclically beat him with batons, and they would kick at his shins with their steel-toed combat boots. The man still seemed fairly confused as to what was going on. The police clearly used torture rather generously, the few inmates looked disoriented and scared, although the disorientation may have been from what got them in jail, like alcohol or drugs. Nevertheless, some of the inmates looked to have infections where dirt got in their sores from being beaten. Some of the cots were stained with blood from untended injuries. The air in the building smelled stale with vomit, wounds, rats, and infectious bacteria. I also noticed there were rats running around under the cots, talk about setting up for another outbreak of the black plague. One of the inmates was sneezing profusely, probably in response to the tie-dye colored mold growing on the wall. I saw an article posted on the wall that titled "Police Officer Charged With Violating Suspect's Human Rights", it looked like they had used it for dart practice. I also noticed that there was an angry drunk locked up in the same cell as a juvenile who must have shop-lifted or started a fight, the drunk was bad-mouthing the boy and it looked like the boy was having a challenging time at continuously ignoring the man. Many of the prisoners appeared to have a disease with similar symptoms, something resembling tuberculosis. There was a box of books regarding different subjects, from the bible to woodworking books to transcendentalist works. The label on the box said that it was from an NGO of some sort, and other than the books in the box, there was very little for the prisoners to do with their time. Ultimately, the cells looked overpopulated and the prisoners within them looked neglected and unhealthy.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Kazakhstan economy
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.html
After being in Kazakhstan for only a couple days, I could see that Kazakhstan's economy was much better-off than that of Mongolia. Firstly, when traveling through the markets, I saw just almost as many meat stands as in Mongolia, but these markets also emphasized on something barely seen locally-produced in Mongolia: grains. Well, mainly grains. Of course there were other plant-based commodities such as fruits and veggies, but grains was the most boasted. Mongolia's growing season is fairly meager in length, hence the rarity of Mongolian produce. Globally, Kazakhstan has a better foot-hold in the world economy, too. They were the first of the former soviet nations to get an investment-grade credit rating. I started a conversation with my host family on the third day. Going off of what I learned about Mongolia, I asked them some related questions to get started. I asked them how hard Kazakhstan was hit by the financial crisis of 2008. He responded that Kazakhstan handled the situation very well, and their economy has continued to expand at a steady rater ever since. I asked him about their economic relations and interactions with nearby countries, and he said that they mostly depend on other countries with ocean access for further exportation of goods. The children and mother continue to respectfully sit idly by while the father answers all my questions with almost surreal self-confidence and authority, and a small Russian accent. Going off of that, I asked about their infrastructure. He said that insured good pipelines, railways and ports (however meager the latter being) for for their oil, but most everything else is left in the background, like roads and airlines. He also said that communications and information technology is slowly moving forward, but still behind most modern technology. I asked about any other economic issues they have had recently. He said that the biggest was the financial crisis I asked about. The preliminary shock was felt in late 2007 in the banking field when the global market started to slow down, and the banks' money flow hit a bit of a drought, causing a credit crisis. This in turn made their prime oil and goods prices fall steeply which just made things worse and sent the country into a recession. Ultimately, their part of the blow and their response was smaller than but similar to the situation in the U.S. The economy was able to get back up quickly by mounting the rising commodity prices. Similar to Mongolia, they fear the economy is founded too much on its rare commodities, but they are otherwise confident in it. To solve this, he said, the government is striving to diversify their economy more emphasis on things like transportation, improved telecommunications, other oil-based chemicals, and food products. He also said that in terms of economic relations, Kazakhstan joined the Belarus-Kazakhstan-Russia Customs Union in 2010 which also helped to encourage foreign investment. Kazakhstan also has been planning to better its trade relations by joining the World Trade Organization for a while now, and acceptance has been pushed back to 2013; this will also help to improve the manufacturing and service fields of the economy.
After being in Kazakhstan for only a couple days, I could see that Kazakhstan's economy was much better-off than that of Mongolia. Firstly, when traveling through the markets, I saw just almost as many meat stands as in Mongolia, but these markets also emphasized on something barely seen locally-produced in Mongolia: grains. Well, mainly grains. Of course there were other plant-based commodities such as fruits and veggies, but grains was the most boasted. Mongolia's growing season is fairly meager in length, hence the rarity of Mongolian produce. Globally, Kazakhstan has a better foot-hold in the world economy, too. They were the first of the former soviet nations to get an investment-grade credit rating. I started a conversation with my host family on the third day. Going off of what I learned about Mongolia, I asked them some related questions to get started. I asked them how hard Kazakhstan was hit by the financial crisis of 2008. He responded that Kazakhstan handled the situation very well, and their economy has continued to expand at a steady rater ever since. I asked him about their economic relations and interactions with nearby countries, and he said that they mostly depend on other countries with ocean access for further exportation of goods. The children and mother continue to respectfully sit idly by while the father answers all my questions with almost surreal self-confidence and authority, and a small Russian accent. Going off of that, I asked about their infrastructure. He said that insured good pipelines, railways and ports (however meager the latter being) for for their oil, but most everything else is left in the background, like roads and airlines. He also said that communications and information technology is slowly moving forward, but still behind most modern technology. I asked about any other economic issues they have had recently. He said that the biggest was the financial crisis I asked about. The preliminary shock was felt in late 2007 in the banking field when the global market started to slow down, and the banks' money flow hit a bit of a drought, causing a credit crisis. This in turn made their prime oil and goods prices fall steeply which just made things worse and sent the country into a recession. Ultimately, their part of the blow and their response was smaller than but similar to the situation in the U.S. The economy was able to get back up quickly by mounting the rising commodity prices. Similar to Mongolia, they fear the economy is founded too much on its rare commodities, but they are otherwise confident in it. To solve this, he said, the government is striving to diversify their economy more emphasis on things like transportation, improved telecommunications, other oil-based chemicals, and food products. He also said that in terms of economic relations, Kazakhstan joined the Belarus-Kazakhstan-Russia Customs Union in 2010 which also helped to encourage foreign investment. Kazakhstan also has been planning to better its trade relations by joining the World Trade Organization for a while now, and acceptance has been pushed back to 2013; this will also help to improve the manufacturing and service fields of the economy.
Mongolia economy
Friday, December 14, 2012
Kazakhstan Culture
http://www.silkroadtreasuretours.com/kazakhs-culture
For my lodging during my Kazakhstan excursion, I will be staying with a local Kazakh in Southern Kazakhstan where the Kazakhs are the predominant ethnicity in comparison to the northern Russian- and Ukrainian-Kazakhstanis. The second I arrived, they all stood up, almost in unison, as a sign of greeting. They showed me to a special seat they have for guests, the tor. They offered me kumiss and it tasted creamy and refreshing like yogurt, as it is a fermented milk drink. After I finished the kumiss, they said hello to me. I asked them why they waited so long to say hello. They told me they wanted me to refresh myself and relax before they bothered me with conversation. Later, we had supper at the dastarkhan, the feast table. They had made a variety of meats including horse meat-it tasted pretty good-and shashlik(similar to shish-kebabs), and plov, a type of rice pilaf. After the meal, we had tea in the chaikana, tea house, and continued our conversation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4ZiZdBFCg
The next day, my host family played music. Music is an ancient tradition of Kazakhstan, dating back to the stone age. Most of the family's songs were passed from one generation to the next through oral tradition until just recently in the 1900's when some of the common ones were purchased at the bazaar. My host family practices both vocal and instrumental music. They have two star instruments: the dombra and the kobyz. They also told me that professional singers are called akyns, poets, and that they have been known to have public improvising contests, sort of like a rap battle.
For my lodging during my Kazakhstan excursion, I will be staying with a local Kazakh in Southern Kazakhstan where the Kazakhs are the predominant ethnicity in comparison to the northern Russian- and Ukrainian-Kazakhstanis. The second I arrived, they all stood up, almost in unison, as a sign of greeting. They showed me to a special seat they have for guests, the tor. They offered me kumiss and it tasted creamy and refreshing like yogurt, as it is a fermented milk drink. After I finished the kumiss, they said hello to me. I asked them why they waited so long to say hello. They told me they wanted me to refresh myself and relax before they bothered me with conversation. Later, we had supper at the dastarkhan, the feast table. They had made a variety of meats including horse meat-it tasted pretty good-and shashlik(similar to shish-kebabs), and plov, a type of rice pilaf. After the meal, we had tea in the chaikana, tea house, and continued our conversation.
The next day, my host family played music. Music is an ancient tradition of Kazakhstan, dating back to the stone age. Most of the family's songs were passed from one generation to the next through oral tradition until just recently in the 1900's when some of the common ones were purchased at the bazaar. My host family practices both vocal and instrumental music. They have two star instruments: the dombra and the kobyz. They also told me that professional singers are called akyns, poets, and that they have been known to have public improvising contests, sort of like a rap battle.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Mongolian Culture
http://www.explorient.com/Attractions/MongoliaCulture.htm
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While walking to the Ulaanbaatar museum, I noticed that many of the elderly women were wearing essentially the same thing. There were subtle differences, of course, like color, but they pretty much looked like the same thing that they had all decided to wear to a senior-citizens' flash mob or something. They wore a sort of loose gown that covered their entire body, and a piece of cloth wrapped around the waste to serve as a belt and to bring it snugger to the body. They looked unflattering but exceptionally warm as most were made of wool. They were also pretty baggy. They almost completely enveloped and hid their physique, except for their feet. I eventually worked up the nerve to ask one of the women why all the old ladies weren't wearing normal clothes. She first told me that it was the traditional garb of Mongolia. I then informed her that that didn't seem like a very good reason to wear something so (ugly, uncool, bathrobe-like)...unflattering. She then decided to sit down as if she was going to stay a while, and she proceeded to unload this clothing's history onto me. she said it was called a del, with two e's, a deel. It was so popular among the elderly women due to its ease of putting on and its versatility. She said that a person could do just about everything in this, from house-work to sleeping and everything in between, some of which you might not suspect. I inquired as to what these peculiar abilities might be, and, most notably, she said, "Shitting!" followed by an outburst of laughter. I was slightly taken aback from both her sense of humor but mostly from what she had just told me. I said, "when would you ever need to use it for that when there's a bathroom in every building?" She pointed out to me that most of Mongolia is miles of country-side, and that a farmer doesn't always have access to a toilet especially if he doesn't have a vehicle. In addition, the people of old would use their deel as a base of dressing and as a blanket, which are both still present in Mongolian country culture.In the cold winter, deel-wearing people will either put on warmer clothes over the deel, or they will upgrade from the basic fabric "dan deel" to a lightly padded "tergel" or to the winter deel, which is padded with wool. In places more faithful to the deel traditions, the only real differences are gender based: dull colors and a wider size for men and slimmer, brighter deels for women. there are also special deels for holidays which are normally light blue or green, or made of silk. Another winter deel additive is the deel coat, or khurim, which is also put on over the deel. The traditional clothing set would also include hard leather boots,called gutals, in-lined with felt. These traditionally have no real sole, like rubber, so they can be put on either foot. Most people wear thick, heavy, quilted socks with these boots. They kind resemble cowboy boots what with the pointed and curled toes of the gutals. This fashion line would also include a hat, similar to a pilot's hat. It has the side flaps which are tied down in the cold and tied up on top of the hat in the short summer. the hat comes to a point at the top to represent Mount Sumber, legendary origin of the Mongols. A knot is placed at the tip of the point to represent national untiy (of nomads, which is kind of a big deal since, well, they're nomads, their lives don't really require a government). Some hats also have red ribbons, a symbol of the sun. Of course, like with all these articles of clothing, they would traditionally vary in fine-detailed decoration according to social status and regional identity.
After looking through the museum, which you can see if you take a tour of Mongolia, I saw a wedding ceremony taking place. I heard singing coming from the ceremony and decided to see how the ceremony went, so I watched from outside the main crowd. The first type of singing I heard was some kind of throat singing. At some points of the song, it sounded like there must have been more than just one singer because he was making like 5 different sounds at once. I have a video of it above. These throat songs were rather sort, though, in comparison wityh the next song. The next singer did a more conventional type of singing, except the song was like 20 minutes long. I was able to mine some information from one of the other witnesses. He told me that the throat singing is called Khoomi, also spelled khoomei. He also told me that this type of singing along with the "square cello", the Morin Khuur (horse head fiddle), are supposed to represent the landscapes and animals of Mongolia. The morin Khuur has horse's head carved at the end and two strings along with a fiddle bow. Another instrument is the Yagta, the other instrument in the video, it's like a guitar or banjo. The more conventional song is a type of singing called Urtyn Duu, meaning "long song". Obviously, they are supposed to be longer in length. He informed me that most "long songs" are about love or the land.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Kazakhstan environmental sustainable development
http://srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu/cases/kazakhstan-002.html
Kazakhstan has a lot of environmental diversity and dependence. its border hold within it every type of landscape, from deserts to tundras and everything in between. In addition, one some of its most profitable markets are founded upon the environment's bounties, such as the sturgeon's black caviar from the Caspian Sea, a delicacy throughout the world. It also has a thriving mineral economy. Land is also consumed for such common things as urban development, agriculture, and government purposes such as military bases and nuclear weapons testing grounds. Under these factors, especially the latter, Kazakhstan's environment bordered on complete destruction and collapse. Kazakhstan is now fighting for its environmental health along with the UN and EU, combating desertification, extinction, and climate change. ecologically sustainable development has become one of their key goals in moving forward for fighting this trio. To get moving in this direction, the president approved the Concept of Ecological Safety in 1996, which clearly sets a foundation of Kazakhstan's environmental policy in the future. The council on Sustainable Development was created, and soon after the National Environment Action Plan for Sustainable Development (of Kazakhstan), abbreviated NEAPSD. To prevent ineffectiveness, poor planning, and wasting of funds, the Ministry of Ecology was created to coordinate NEAPSD and make sure that funds are spent on top priority environmental issues in the most effective and efficient of ways. However, progress has been hindered by the inability to enforce new environmental laws, essentially meaning nobody cares about or respects the laws above their profits or quality of life. A new process was created to compensate for this problem, which identifies top-priority issues and then plans projects regarding that issue which will hopefully be direct roots to solving the issue at hand. the NEAPSD Center was then also created to prepare for the NEAPSD process and coordinate all ecological projects. The government of Kazakhstan has gathered support for the NEAPSD process from the World Bank, the UN Development Program, and TACIS. the NEAPSD Center accomplishes the following (in Kazakhstan): analysis of the environment and identification of top-priority issues, coordination and execution of projects and programs for the resolution of top-priority issues, keeping the community engaged and informed regarding the NEAPSD, and local support of environmental projects and programs. the NEAPSD Center also makes sure that any actions committed toward the environment are in line with international environment laws, and it educates the public by sourcing consultants and experts in Kazakhstan willing to share their knowledge, and by using the assistance of the German Society for Technical Assistance. top-priority focus has been broken down by province with the exception of a national level and a level for the city of Almaty specifically. Some of the current projects (that are currently blocked by government processes) include: the foundation of a center that essentially keeps tabs on donors (similar to the American blood drive), and another that would further involve and inform the public about the NEAPSD Process and its progress coupled with an environmental education system at preexisting education institutes. Ultimately, the NEAPSD Center has done a lot to further environmental improvement and regulation in Kazakhstan.
mongolia sustainable development blog
http://www.uncrd.or.jp/env/4th-regional-est-forum/Presentations/04_BS1_Mongolia.pdf
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For my Mongolian excursion, I was thinking of taking the train to most of my destinations, but the mongolian train only covers the capital and some of the surrounding area. There is also a small rail line in the northwest. Ultimately, though, most of Mongolia doesn't have a railway. So, I will be forced to use the roads, which are pretty low-quality and disorganized. They are slmost all dirt, save those around the capital. One would definitely benefit from a 4x4 truck in this landscape. Maybe I'll get lucky and the rental company might have a truck. i guess I could gamble with the local airlines.
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For my Mongolian excursion, I was thinking of taking the train to most of my destinations, but the mongolian train only covers the capital and some of the surrounding area. There is also a small rail line in the northwest. Ultimately, though, most of Mongolia doesn't have a railway. So, I will be forced to use the roads, which are pretty low-quality and disorganized. They are slmost all dirt, save those around the capital. One would definitely benefit from a 4x4 truck in this landscape. Maybe I'll get lucky and the rental company might have a truck. i guess I could gamble with the local airlines.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
mongolia map
kazakhstan map
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