Saparmurat Niyazov

[SunTzu]

In todays Parade magazine the world's worst dictators were ranked . # 8 Niyazov intrigued me and for some reason , not because he has killed and jailed thousands but maybe cause he is just fruit loops . Thank God above we are here in the USA regardless of our politics . Go to Parades website or read about the other dictators in the Sun paper insert .

8) Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan. Age 65. In power since 1990. Last year's rank: 8

Niyazov has created the world's most pervasive personality cult, and criticism of any of his policies is considered treason. The latest examples of his government-by-whim include bans on car radios, lip-synching and playing recorded music on TV or at weddings. Niyazov also has closed all national parks and shut down rural libraries. He launched an attack on his nation's health-care system, firing 15,000 health-care workers and replacing most of them with untrained military conscripts. He announced the closing of all hospitals outside the capital and ordered Turkmenistan's physicians to give up the Hippocratic Oath and to swear allegiance to him instead.

[Ironlung]

Sounds like a real winner.

[imported_MoonlightGraham]

isn't he one of the mods here?

[SunTzu]

Here is a despot that will not win "Man of the Year" honors.

4) Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe. Age 81. In power since 1980. Last year's rank: 9

Life in Zimbabwe has gone from bad to worse: It has the world's highest inflation rate, 80% unemployment and an HIV/AIDS rate of more than 20%. Life expectancy has declined since 1988 from 62 to 38 years. Farming has collapsed since 2000, when Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms, giving most of them to political allies with no background in agriculture. In 2005, Mugabe launched Operation Murambatsvina (Clean the Filth), the forcible eviction of some 700,000 people from their homes or businesses"?"to restore order and sanity,"? says the government. But locals say the reason was to forestall demonstrations as the economy deteriorates.

[RaiderWahoo0105]

This is one of the most random threads ever, good job to whoever started this, I'm a fan of stuff like this lol.

[SunTzu]

I find it as real eye opener to see what so many have to suffer with just because of where they live.

6) Hu Jintao, China. Age 63. In power since 2002. Last year's rank: 4

Although some Chinese have taken advantage of economic liberalization to become rich, up to 150 million Chinese live on $1 a day or less in this nation with no minimum wage. Between 250,000 and 300,000 political dissidents are held in "reeducation-through-labor"? camps without trial. Less than 5% of criminal trials include witnesses, and the conviction rate is 99.7%. There are no privately owned TV or radio stations. The government opens and censors mail and monitors phone calls, faxes, e-mails and text messages. In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, at least 400,000 residents of Beijing have been forcibly evicted from their homes.