if anyone doubts what happens when rulers get too much power...

reporters in Turkmenistan can not mention the height of President Saparmurat Niyazov (thought to be 153 cms, just over 5 feet)

neither can they mention that he wears a toupee (men are forbidden to have long hair or beards in Turkmenistan)

President Niyazov renamed the calendar months after his family - what vanity!

all watches and clocks in Turkmenisatn must have a portrait of the President printed on the dial-face

Mr Niyazov thinks opera and ballet are unnecessary - so he banned them

Wikipedia page on Turkmenistan

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"The invasion of Iraq I believe will turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history." - Lt. General William Odom (ret)
- former director, America's National Security Agency
- former US Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence

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Of the 18,000 US servicemen killed or wounded in Iraq, 94% have been killed or wounded since the fall of Baghdad in 2003

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Bush and Cheney's bid for legal right to torture fails

maybe there is hope for the world after all...

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better that Stonehenge had never been built than one leg of a millipede be injured in its construction

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"we are all threatened by terror" - US national security adviser

the only terror threat i have nightmares about
is being abducted and tortured by the CIA

to paraphrase Ian Dury "there ain't half some evil bastards"

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Bushspeak - "America will help the Iraqis"
interpretation - "we'll take the oil and kill anyone who tries to stop us"

80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of US troops

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