Turkmen leader orders ice palace

[emad]

By Monica Whitlock
BBC Central Asia correspondent
Snip


President Niyazov of Turkmenistan has ordered the construction of a palace made of ice in the heart of his desert country, one of the hottest on earth.

It is the latest in a series of colossal building projects instigated by the all-powerful president that seem to defy the country's environment.

"Let us build a palace of ice," said President Niyazov, "big and grand enough for 1,000 people."

The palace will stand in the mountains just outside the capital, Ashgabat.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3554626.stm


Is DONALD TRUMP to be a major shareholder I wonder????

[amber dog democrat]

1. It was a miracle of rare device

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

< Snip >

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves ;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice

[emad]

2. Talk of synchcronicity......

My 16yr old has to know this whole poem by lunchtime tomorrow to collect a £10 bet......

How about....
"Xanadu
full of poo
always sticking
to my shoe...
Thus did Kubla Khan remark
'pon steppin' on somethin' in the dark..."
(Alternative version)

[amber dog democrat]

4. its a shame to have to compel someone to learn a nice poem.

I remember several books i resented beind forced to read too.

I like your alternate.

[jdj]

3. Great, now Bush will want a bigger one.

On Mars.

[Bat Boy]

5. His entire life has been the quest for a bigger one.

Oh...you meant...

Never mind.

[emad]

6. The old Prez sends in his trusty firm of builders: PICS

Asian elephants receive blocks of ice at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, August 11, 2004. Temperatures in the Japanese capital have passed above 30 degrees Celcius (high 80s Farenheit) for 37 consecutive days, according to the country's meteorological agency. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

An Asian elephant receives a block of ice at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo August 11, 2004. Blocks of ice containing various fruit were given to the elephants as temperatures in the Japanese capital have passed above 30 degrees Celcius (high 80s Farenheit) for 37 consecutive days, according to the country's meteorological agency. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

[BadGimp]

7. someone needs to Cap this asshat

I am of course referring to President Niyazov, not this clown..

[allemand]

8. "Turkmenbashi" is completely nuts

Most of the stories about him seem to come directly out of a novel by Garcia Marquez.

My personal favorite: the "36 km Health Walk":

"Just recently, Mr Niyazov had his whole cabinet take a walk along Serdar Yoly, a 36km path on the outskirts of the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat.

The walk was to mark Health Day, a public holiday declared by Mr Niyazov after he recovered from a heart attack some years ago. Only Mr Niyazov completed the route - in his presidential helicopter."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1021567.stm

"Knowing the highway code is not enough to get a driving licence in Turkmenistan - candidates now need to pass an exam in the president's spiritual writings."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3528746.stm

"The leader of Turkmenistan shows another side to his talents - by revealing himself as a poet."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3924585.stm

"The president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, has ordered that his own words be inscribed alongside verses of the Koran on a new mosque being built just outside the capital Ashgabat, intended to be the biggest in all Asia."
"The new mosque is vast, with ample room for 10,000 worshippers.
There is a 50-metre-high dome, which has just been set into place by helicopter, and minarets twice as tall, towering above Turkmenbashi's ancestral village, the site chosen for what Mr Niyazov hopes will become a place of pilgrimage."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3773667.stm

"Turkmenistan's president-for-life tells his citizens he would rather they avoided getting their teeth capped with gold."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3607467.stm

"Turkmen leader inspires devotion to melon"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3142311.stm

"The parliament in Turkmenistan has declared that the year 2003 is dedicated to the late mother of President Saparmurat Niyazov."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2673001.stm

"Turkmenistan's President, Saparmurat Niyazov, decrees changes in the definition of human age, extending adolescence to 25 and youth to 37."
"According to his own decree the 62-year-old Turkmen leader is in his inspirational period."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2191117.stm

"Turkmenistan's President, Saparmurat Niyazov, proposes renaming the months of the year and days of the week."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2181151.stm

"Streets and towns have been given his name and a recent decree renamed the months of the year and days of the week after the president, his mother and Turkmen folklore heroes."
"A giant golden statue of the president, revolving on top of a tower so that it always faces the sun, has been built in the centre of Ashgabat."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2512271.stm

"Turkmenistan's President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov dominates his country, and even the book he wrote is compulsory reading."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2014334.stm

"The President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, has announced that street names in the capital, Ashkabad, are to be replaced by numbers."
"Several main streets, including those named after the president and his relatives, will not be changed."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1218000/1218726.stm

"Turkmenistan hails leader's anniversary"
"Government offices are holding thanksgiving meals and state television is broadcasting congratulatory poems, describing Mr Niyazov as a shining torch and his administration as the most perfect democratic organisation."
"He was elected with 99.5% of the vote and later declared president for life."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3826767.stm


The "Father of all Turkmens":

[Krasnaya Lastochka]

10. Good grief.

What a weirdnik. This guy is even stranger than the dimwits that run our dear old USA. I'm glad I don't live in Turkmenistan...and I see why my Turkmenistani friend doesn't want to go back!!

[TO Kid]

9. He should buy it from Canada, we can build him a navy too...

Mountbatten was Chief of Combined Operations, an organisation responsible to the Chiefs of Staff for the development of equipment and special craft for offensive operations. One of his scientific advisers, Geoffrey Pyke, presented the idea of constructing "berg-ships" - up to 4,000 feet long, 600 feet wide and 130 feet in depth – that could be made cheaply, and in great numbers, from ice. The ships would be insulated and cooled, made practically invulnerable to bombs or torpedoes. They could be used by aircraft to provide protection for shipping, particularly in the mid Atlantic, and as a base for invasion. With Winston Churchill’s enthusiastic endorsement, the project got underway.

http://www.combinedops.com/Pykrete.htm

[Fuzz]

11. Who gets to operate the Zamboni?