we only just met

Colorful Turkmen leader dies
Burt Herman, AP, 12/21/06

The world has lost a giant. President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan died Thursday (I wonder which family member Thursday is named after) of heart failure.



There's nothing quite like a leader erecting statues of themselves or putting their face on their nation's currency to announce that they're completely insane. Of course that wasn't even half the story with ol' "Turkmenbashi," or the "Father of all Turkmen".

From the AP article:

"He's on every banknote and coin, his name proclaimed on billboards lining every main street. Golden statues of him are a landmark in every town. He was on TV and in newspapers, in schools and offices -- his portrait even graces the cabin in planes run by the state airline."

"All offices and schools are required to have rooms dedicated to studying a pseudo-philosophical tome authored by Niyazov called "Rukhnama," or "Book of the Soul."

I wonder how this will affect the price of Turkmeni time pieces.