Even when it has nothing to do with him, Sascha Baron Cohen’s journalist character manages to pop into the news.

US Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi announced Monday that he will retire from the Senate after a long career. Analysts think the Governor may choose Mississippi Representative Chip Pickering as Lott’s replacement until the election which will be on Nov. 4th 2008. If Pickering decides to run, then the big question will clearly be his role in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. No, he wasn’t seen in Washington answering stupid questions presented by the most famous journalist in Kazakhstan. He was caught on film in a Pentecostal revival attended by Borat where he was cheered by the crowd as he swore to love Christ forever. The Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court and according to the Huffington Post, so was Representative Pickering.

In all serious I don’t see this scene causing Pickering too many problems, but it is amazing how Cohen manages to insert himself into the news!

According to the MSNBC.com, Kazakhstan will likely not be given the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2009. As the preliminaries get underway for the OSCE annual meeting in Madrid on the 29th of Nov, sources indicate that Kazakhstan will be offered the chairmanship in 2010 or 2011. Spain, as the current chairman is putting together a plan it thinks Kazakhstan will be willing to accept, including taking off the table any conditions liked to democratic development.

Under the compromise, Greece will take the chairmanship in 2009 and Kazakhstan in 2010. Lithuania, another former Soviet Union nation, would assume leadership in 2011. Finland has already been selected to lead the organization next year.

However, nothing is certain. The plan relies in part on Kazakhstan agreeing. It is possible that having put so much energy into securing the rotating chairmanship for 2009, the government will feel that any compromise is unacceptable, a form of losing face. And there is no information as of yet on which nations support the compromise and what other alternatives may be put on the table.

For more on this issue you can check out my post on the debate over giving Kazakhstan the chairmanship and throw your voice into active debate in the comments!

By sheer coincidence I had another culinary adventure this weekend.

I had heard of the tradition of cutting бас, a sheep’s head on major occasions. On large holidays such as a wedding or a major job promotion or even on Nauryz, a family may choose to slaughter a sheep. While the meat is taken for beshbarmak, the head is boiled and served to the oldest member of the party. He must then carve and distribute the parts of the head. The ears are traditionally the most delicious part and thus reserved for the guest of honor. The eyeballs, brain, mouth and nostrils are also distributed, often with some kind of meaning. For example, the eyes may be given to a wise person because he can see into the heart of a situation. The brain may be given to a student who is studying for exams, and so on. The rest of the meat is then distributed among all the guests.

I knew about this tradition. Once I had come late and missed my chance to see it done. Once I had been at a wedding party and seen the head go by my table on its way to the head table. Upon seeing my interest, the waiter kindly reserved me a piece of meat–which was pretty good. Tasted like sheep, surprisingly enough.

But this Sunday, I got to see the sheep head cut up close. The occasion was a very traditional Kazakh feast. We sat on the floor on cushions. Most of the women ate separately from the men, since they first served us and then would eat only when we were done. Besides the beshbarmak, the food was mostly nuts and dried fruits, as befits a traditional southern Kazakh diet. There were forks but most people ate with their hands.

Feeling slightly out of place and desperately scared that I would do something wrong–I needn’t have worried because the company was kind and understanding–it took me a minute to realize that the old man next to me was carving away at a sheep head.* I was quite shocked when the ear landed on my plate and despite everyone’s assurances that I didn’t have to eat it, I decided I would at least take a bite. I did quickly whisper to my wife, “Should I gobble it up right away, or should I wait? What’s the etiquette here?” I guess the timing of eating it was not important.

It wasn’t bad tasting, but it was extremely soft and felt a bit strange. Like someone else had already chewed it so I swallowed my bite down before letting that train of thought develop. By the time I had gotten that down, I was handed a big chunk of fat on a bone (курдук) and was told that it was for a son-in-law (ку бала). And that the bone should be picked clean! This was later retracted as I was eyeing the last big chunk of fat and trying to figure out how to get the meat from between the bones, I was told, “Thank you, that’s enough.” I took another bite to make the point and gladly got down to meat and noodles!

So believe it or not, sheep ear and sheep fat is not as horrible as it might sound. It’s not something you would want everyday of course. But once in a while it can be done. And I am as ever amazed at the hospitality and kindness of Kazakhs who honor foreigners without making you feel uncomfortable or out of place.

* One of the interesting things I have noticed about “rituals” or “ceremonies” here is that they are rarely accompanied by some kind of announcement–as in a church the taking of Communion is announced by certain hymns. Nor are things met with ‘Ooohs’ and ‘Aaahs’ as a Christmas pudding might be. So one doesn’t always catch what is going on.

My wife recently returned from a business trip to Ust-Kammengorsk, in the East of Kazakhstan. This region is famous for its elixir made from pantocrine—extract of reindeer antler. She brought home a variety of tonics. One made just from the antlers extracted in alcohol. Another also contains honey and berries. Another has blood from the antlers in it!

In general pantocrine is a health tonic to make you strong, help you heal, and give you energy. Traditionally it’s very good for male potency (nudge nudge wink wink), a widely held belief about horns.

The bottle recommended a teaspoon in your tea and my wife thought that because it makes you energetic, it was a good think to have in the morning. So the other morning I opened up the bottle. The first thing that hit me was the clear scent of vodka. I took a small sip and thought, “Well, the alcohol content doesn’t seem very strong; none of that throat burning associated with vodka.” I went to make some coffee and suddenly realized that my head was buzzing a bit! After a small teaspoon in my coffee and the passage of an hour or so, my head is still buzzing.

So pantocrine has something in it! One does wonder if this is how henpecked husbands get their vodka doses:

“Where have you been all night? Is that vodka I smell?”

“Oh no, no..that’s pantocrine. It’s medicine!”

“Oh, well that’s all right then.”

I did decide that whether it’s the alcohol or the power of reindeer horn, being drunk at 9 in the morning is a bit much! I’m taking my dose at night when I can enjoy it! For today, I think I’ll just sit around the house and take my medicine!

Struan Stevenson, a Scottish Conservative Member of the European Union has spent a lot of his career trying to bring public attention to the tragedies surrounding Semipalatinsk. During the Soviet period, the “Polygon” an area near this city was the testing-ground for nuclear weapons. As a result, the population still suffers from cancer, birth defects and other serious health issues. Recently, his book Crying Forever was released in Almaty. It is an excellent, if extremely disturbing read about the issue. The pictures certainly lay to rest any doubts about the severity of exposure to radiation.

In 2004, his essay of the same name won the Power of Purpose award, and you can download that essay here.

Amazon.com lists the book as unavailable, but hopefully you can find a copy near you.