З Днем НезалежностI! Слава Україні! Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!

Went to look at some locally made t-shirts last night. Fascinating to see that Russian-derived English spelling is gone from youth-oriented designs. The “kh” in “Kazakhstan” represented the Russian letter “х” that is absent from the way the country’s name is pronounced in Qazaq. Good riddance.

“Qazaqstan” is gradually replacing “Kazakhstan” because the latter is a direct transliteration from Russian “Казахстан.” The “kh” represents the Russian letter “x” which is absent from the native pronunciation.

My grandfather went on to have a long and distinguished career in finance, but he always regretted being unable to finish his education. He maintained life-long friendships with his college classmates many of whom became figures of national prominence in the years that followed..

May 31 is the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression and Famine in Qazaqstan. On this day, I remember my grandfather. Unfortunately, as time passes, memories begin to fade. However, one of the stories that he shared I still remember vividly. 🧵

It is morbidly funny to me that faculty everywhere are working so hard to come up with strategies for teaching in the age of AI. When the real problem is, how do you live in the world where global economic policy appears to be designed by ChatGPT?

It appears the dystopian world where AI destroys us wasn’t that far away at all.

Actually, the US decision to cutoff provision of military aid and intelligence to Ukraine is more like hitting a rape victim attacked by a known serial rapist “in the face with a two by four” because she refuses to stop resisting her attacker. #Kellogg

Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war, called democratically elected President Zelenskyy a dictator, and ensured that the US voted with Russia and North Korea at the UN. All of this happened BEFORE the ill-fated White House press conference. 1/2

Societies with history of Russian aggression and occupation seek the security of NATO membership to ensure that Russia won’t be able to occupy them again. When Moscow decries “NATO expansion” it is protesting the loss of ability to violate its former colonial subjects. Short 🧵

Seeing Washington side with Moscow is surreal and horrifying. Even the Central Asian governments, with all their dependencies and vulnerabilities vis-a-vis the Kremlin, abstained rather vote against the UN resolution condemning Russia’s aggression. #StandWithUkraine

If this real, America’s adversaries in Moscow and Beijing couldn’t have asked for more. #USAID

“The suicidal Russian strategy of waging war, while effective, is not sustainable in the long term… The fate of Russia’s invasion now effectively hinges on Western willingness to commit to Ukraine’s push for independence from Russia’s neo-imperialist aspirations.” foreignpolicy.com/2024/11/25/r...

Asiya’s father, Akhmet Barzhaksin, was a prominent Qazaq intellectual who authored articles on public education and gender equality and collected Qazaq proverbs, eventually publishing them in book form. He resigned from the Bolshevik party in 1928.

I recently came across this photo of my grandparents as a young couple. By the time it was taken, both survived incredible hardships. My grandfather was born in 1912, my grandmother in 1918. Today, I want to share her story. Her name was Asiya.

This level of moral clarity is extremely rare among Russian opposition figures in exile. The great chess champion is, of course, correct. But why is explicit support for Ukrainian victory so rare among Russian opposition leaders residing in the safety of Europe and North America?