The blogger Lord-Fame was visited by tax authorities, who found his company to have an insufficient number of employees, below the “industry average” [ru]

What moron came up with this rule? How stupid do you have to be to hold ALL companies within an industry to the same standard?

Continuing the economic theme, Thousand-pa cannot understand why, despite the background of optimistic statements by the government, authorities have decided against the planned increase in salaries for employees of government-funded organizations [ru]:

Why were we talking about the end of the crisis, only to use that same crisis as an excuse to go back on earlier promises a month later?

D-lov is concerned by the lack of discussion in Kazakhstan regarding sexual harassment in the workplace [ru]:

Women here inherently accept male chauvinism on every level and in every form, which is typical of a second world Asian country. Sleeping with the boss is considered a great honor. If an attractive female employee has no intention of flirting with management, and, additionally, demonstrates intelligence and skill in the workplace, she becomes a “competitor,” a “dangerous player,” a “bitch,” etc.

Megakhuimyak is worried about the quality of Kazakhstan’s potential in research science and education [ru]:

Analyzing the history of science in Kazakhstan shows that our perennial leaders have been found in natural science: geologists, mining engineers, biologists. The country no longer has scientists who could perform work on a comparable level – and, given the quality of our education, we will never have them again.

pycm
a href=”http://pycm.livejournal.com/422260.html”>summarizes the situation with a sarcastic aphorism [ru]:

The paradox is that the country has no culture, yet it has a Ministry of Culture. On the other hand, there is corruption everywhere, yet there is no Ministry of Corruption.

Also posted on neweurasia (translated by Andrey)

The [popular Kazakhstani forum] Center of Gravity now prevents users from typing the word “Aliev,” automatically replacing it with ellipses. This also happens when “aliev” is a component of another surname.

After some animated discussion of the new rule, the forum’s administrators stopped blocking the name and removed the discussion thread. “They gave us a tiny pittance after all,” comments megakhuimyak [ru].

mnatali33 cites a declaration written by the opposition regarding the trial of Kazakhstani human rights activist Yevgenii Zhovtis, who was sentenced to 4 years in prison. The declaration asserts that the sentence was motivated by his substantial criticism of the law enforcement, judicial and political systems. The blogger adds, in despair [ru]:

As long as we’re quietly grubbing this for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we will never – you hear me? – NEVER have rights, or human rights activists, or a lawful state.

As if to confirm, dass cites official statistics for embezzlement since the beginning of this year – about nine billion tenge (over $60 million) – and adds his own mathematical reasoning [ru]:

The publicized figures are only for the first six months of the year, and only include theft that has been officially exposed by court decisions. Assuming that the majority of theft has not yet been discovered, and a part of the cases is still in the process of investigation, I estimate the total volume of embezzlement to be about 200 billion tenge for the current year.

Mantrovkz returns to the topic of Aliev, who recently announced the creation of an opposition movement [ru]:

The opposition in Kazakhstan is a ragged assembly of former officials who got exposed for their machinations. Now the maniac Rakhat Aliev is trying to create a unified opposition group called “For a Free Kazakhstan.” Personally, I’m for a Kazakhstan free from Aliev, Abliazov, Kazhegelgin and others, including current embezzlers and thieves who haven’t declared themselves the opposition yet.

Also posted on neweurasia

“And there was Vladimir Ilyich, hanging in a noose!

It turned out that the owners of the gas station saw this bust lying around behind the local Culture Building. They purchased it for some 1000 tenge and decided to install it in front of their business. I happened to catch them as they were in the process of doing it.

The old lady then gently washed the holy scalp with hot water. As we were leaving, I recommended that they get a sign saying, “The V.I. Lenin Memorial Red Flag Gas Station.”

The next day, on our way back, we passed by again. A sculptor was already working on the bust, restoring the original shape of the nose.

As the title of his post pycm from Karaganda used the famous Soviet phrase, which one was supposed to utter with particular pride and reverence: “I have seen Lenin!” [ru]:

In the past, there used to be an administrative building behind the gray picket fence. In the near future, a new car dealership will be opening here. Entrepreneurs are attracting more local businesses. Now the building has a café and a store. Ilyich stands on a pedestal in the middle of a small fountain, surrounded by flowers. Very amusing. The owner of the building is named Volodya (diminutive of Vladimir).

Also posted on neweurasia.