Turkmen book 'blasted into space'

[emad]

Turkmenistan's idiosyncratic President, Saparmurat Niyazov, has found an unusual way to spread his message - by sending his writings into space.

Part One of the Ruhnama was blasted off on a Russian Dnepr booster rocket from Kazakhstan's Baykonur launch site on Wednesday, local media said.

People are obliged to read Mr Niyazov's book, an interpretation of Turkmen history, for moral guidance.

Known as Turkmenbashi, or Turkmen father, he has ruled from Soviet times.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4190148.stm

[The Stranger]

1. Is there a translation of it into Klingon or Betazoid or Vulcan?

[htuttle]

2. Welcome to Planet Turkmen!

Isn't this the guy that names everything after himself?

[bicentennial_baby]

5. Yeah! Check his statue!

[emad]

3. Pity that comet (Swift/Tuttle??) ain't around - the one that crashed

into Jupiter a few years back.....ideal carrier for Niyazov's new tome...

[Tyranny_R_US]

4. Isnt this the same Wayne Newton/George Bush hybrid...

that made lip syncing a crime?

[Art_from_Ark]

7. Yup, that's the one

He's also declared that everyone in his country can live on $100/month (him, his family, and his cronies excepted, of course)

[daleo]

6. I wonder what the real purpose of this story is?

Generally, when the western press (I obviously include the BBC in that category) prints stories about those wacky foreign leaders, something is cooking. This is pretty strategic territory, so I am waiting for the coin to drop. There is a Turkman minority in Iraq, so maybe that connects up somehow.