Kazakh history is mysterious and complicated. In Soviet times, the capital of Kazakhstan was Almaty, the largest and most developed city in the southeast of the country. Almaty used to be majority Russian. Another power center was developing in the north and was called Akmolinsk. During the Virgin Lands campaign, Khrushchev was interested in this region and asked what Akmolinsk meant in Kazakh. It meant "white grave". He didn't like it at all and renamed it Tselinograd to emphasize the agrarian theme, as Tselina = virgin land.

In 1997, the capital moved to Akmola, the new name of Tselinograd. The name still meant "white grave", just like Akmolinsk, but without the Russian ending. In 1998, Akmola was renamed Astana, a loanword from Farsi that could mean "royal castle" or "mausoleum". In 2019, Astana was renamed Nur-Sultan ("Sultan of Sunlight"), but in 2022, it was reverted to Astana again.

It was a long journey from "white grave" to "mausoleum". Astana is a spooky place. Pictured here is the "Palace of Peace and Reconciliation". Almaty is still way more organic and Russian-speaking - despite being further away from the border.

USAID funds the BBC.

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This delicious row keeps getting better

The leader of the Left Party in Germany has suggested that the country could grant asylum to a million migrants a year in order to protect them from “the consequences of climate change.”

https://modernity.news/2025/02/04/leftist-leader-in-germany-suggests-asylum-for-millions-of-climate-refugees/

"Another week, another record high for the gold price. Cue wild celebration among goldbugs — and frantic speculation from everyone else about the reason for the explosion in demand for the precious metal.

"Geopolitical turmoil is one obvious explanation. Inflation concerns amid insane tariff dramas is another. However, there is a third, less noticed, issue bubbling away too: some hedge fund contemporaries of Scott Bessent, the hedgie-turned-US Treasury secretary, are speculating about a revaluation of America’s gold stocks.

"Currently these are valued at just $42 an ounce in national accounts. But knowledgeable observers reckon that if these were marked at current values — $2,800 an ounce — this could inject $800bn into the Treasury General Account, via a repurchase agreement. That might reduce the need to issue quite so many Treasury bonds this year."

https://archive.is/oXVD4#selection-2389.0-2411.332

"Idiot says protecting video games is pointless & stupid & the USAID story is a nothing burger. These are the same kinds of people who were totally fine to see all your favourite things turn into transgender playgrounds. We won, you lost. Seethe all you want, we’re burning it all down. The fact everything I spoke about while I risked my livelihood when censorship was at its highest only to be proven TRUE all along…you’re damn right I’m going to shout it out from the rooftops. We won, and we must ensure these pathetic losers never grasp power ever again. Destroy it all, raze it to the ground. Keep the pressure no matter what. Thank you."

https://voxday.net/2025/02/08/it-was-never-just-video-games/

SEE IT! Video shows moment Israeli forces took out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his underground bunker in Beirut's suburbs

Blitzing the Deep State

How the President’s team is overwhelming the entrenched bureaucracy with an unprecedented technological blitzkrieg: In Treasury’s basement, fluorescent lights hummed above four young coders. Their screens cast blue light across government-issue desks, illuminating energy drink cans and agency badges. As their algorithms crawled through decades of payment data, one number kept growing: $17 billion in […]

https://voxday.net/2025/02/08/blitzing-the-deep-state/

UOC lawyer: America funds the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (+VIDEO)
https://orthochristian.com/167117.html

Robert Amsterdam and the firm have spoken with Western media outlets and international human rights organizations many times in order to raise awareness of the Ukrainian government’s plans to ban its largest religion.

"The reconstruction comes after another study revealed that a 'traumatic brain injury' may be to blame for the philosopher's death.

"Aquinas was invited to the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, where Pope Gregory X hoped to heal the 'Great Schism' between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

"And though Aquinas set off in good health, he would never arrive, with his death variously attributed to illness, assassination, or a knock to the head."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14358905/Saint-Christian-Thomas-Aquinas-face-revealed.html

Elon Musk has hit a major roadblock in his controversial mission to dismantle US government agencies and scrutinise federal spending via his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

In an emergency order overnight, US District Judge Paul A Engelmayer cut off DOGE from accessing personal and financial data stored at the Treasury Department, warning there was a risk of “irreparable harm”.

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/irreparable-harm-judge-blocks-elon-musks-doge-from-treasury-data/news-story/e038c795e6fcc776c7aa08f97cb028af

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🇺🇸Water on the cooking oil trick, always a classic!
Who knew dorm life could be so creative? Definitely a step up from the usual setup.

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"Institutions are comprised of people. When meritocracy is sacrificed for woke diversity, an institution rots from within. All we need to do is look at the Pulitzer board to understand why it has faded to farcical irrelevance. The selection committee is commissars all the way down. That explains why they have awarded only lefty social justice reporting for decades and why I’m sure they will give one to a Trump Derangement Substacker soon. MSM “journalists” disgrace their profession because they are trying to impress this group of cringey, out of touch Marxists that would make Pravda’s publishers blush. They will predictably vote blue no matter who.

"How many of them have taken USAID funds?"

https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/pulitzer-prize-committee-propaganda-commissars#:~:text=Institutions%20are%20comprised,taken%20USAID%20funds%3F

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