Post dictatorial nutcases and the hilarious laws they've

the last one is pretty hilarious

>>1813244

>Post dictatorial nutcases and the hilarious laws they've passed.

That dude in Venezuela who started having people arrested for having too much toilet paper. It all started when the Venezuelan government decided that toilet paper should be free so they sent soldiers down to stores to confiscate toilet paper and distribute it among the population. This worked for a short time, expect that the stores decided not to restock toilet paper in fear that it would be confiscated again. And so while there was more toilet paper for everybody in the short term, in the long term toilet paper became rare because stores simply stopped selling it. Then end result is that they now have a black market for toilet paper. It gets smuggled into the country and sold by the same people who sell drugs.

this breaks the 25 year rule

>>1813244
>Niyazov banned the use of lip syncing at public concerts in 2005 as well as sound recordings at "musical performances on state holidays, in broadcasts by Turkmen television channels, at all cultural events organized by the state... in places of mass assembly and at weddings and celebrations organized by the public," citing a negative effect on the development of musical arts incurred by the use of recorded music.

This is unironically a great policy.

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>>1813244

Everything this fuckhead ever did:

>Guys, I'm going to make it legal to criticize the government! We're going to have freedom of speech now! In fact, those who fail to criticize my government will face scrutiny!

>Oh wait, I didn't think people would actually do it. Yeah, everybody who submitted critical letters is going to a gulag now for the crime of hurting my feelings.

>By the way, let's just kill all the birds while we're at it.

>Oh wait, now we're being overrun by insects that the birds used to eat! Nobody could have foreseen this!

>>1813278
>people should be allowed to horde toilet paper and sell it for a profit in a time of crisis
you don't even have to be a commushit to see that the law isn't exactly ridiculous.

>>1813332
>implying "toilet paper crisis" is something that happens outside of places like Venezuela

The obvious questions being are there other kinds of paper available, are bidets available, and can other countries smuggle in TP.

>>1813244
I am probably one of the few people who ever frequented this sight that spent a considerable amount of time in Turkmenistan. If you want, ask me questions. If not, whatevs

>>1813283
>Mods
wew

>>1813244
When Napoleon III conquered Mexico and ordered a tax on doors and windows.

>>1813301
>a great policy
Yeah, if you're not paying for it.

>>1814025
Well, is it really that backwards over there?

>>1814025
How's the pizza?

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>>1814060
hilarious you should ask that. Fucking disgusting. Pic related

>>1814057
Backwards is the wrong way of describing it. Its just really insanely bizarre. Like it feels like you are in some alternate reality. However, the people there were way more hospitable than any other central asian state. And they all were generally pretty decent.
They do assign you a "tour guide" (minder) when you go. So they keep close watch on you. But when you do have contact with the average people they are really sweet. I stumbled upon a wedding there and crashed it and danced with everyone and they were all really sweet.

>>1814079
Doesn't look THAT bad desu

>>1814087
Its bad. It tasted really bad. In all fairness its not their thing though. The shashlik was aight tho

>>1814079
>Backwards is the wrong way of describing it
Fair enough, I apologize.

How are the women there?
How does it stand in the current Middle Eastern crisis?

>>1814130
Women are aight. They have a certain look... and they dont have a certain cultural drive to look a way we are used to as attractive, because of how insanely isolated they are (still basically no internet access for all intents and purposes and it is insanely hard to enter and leave the country)

It doesnt really. Its not in the middle east. it is closer culturally to Russia and other former soviet states than the middle east. However, a few wackos have run off to join isis somehow from what i understand.

>>1814025
how long where you there and on what visa? since you only get max 1 week visa.

what places other than ashgabat did you visit?

did you only stay in hotels?

did you take pics of the statues of Leader

>>1813244
>>After having to quit smoking in 1997 due to his resultant heart surgery, he banned smoking in all public places and ordered all government employees to follow suit. Chewing tobacco on Turkmen soil was later banned as well.
his one good law

>>1814079
Why were you in Turkmenistan? Where are you from?

>>1813244
Niyazov is /his/ leader?

he strictly preserves national identity:

every female wears traditional national dress (no decadent western styles)

no decadent forms of entertainment: western music, ballet opera...only traditional Turkmen stuff

no immigration: no one leaves and no one enters - Soviet style closed borders

government gives everyone a house and pays the bills, even food

>>1814032
not actually crazy
think it was because people were evading tax though a loophole

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>>1813244
Francisco Macias Nguema

>banned the use of the word 'intellectual'
>banned fishing and attempted to destroy all boats in the country
>changed the national motto to "There is no other God than Macías Nguema"
>killed the governor of the Central Bank and took all the remaining funds to his house
>banned the Catholic Church and used a cathedral in the capital as weapon storage
>a director of statistics had his body dismembered to ‘help him learn how to count' when he gave figures which displeased the president
>banned the workers in the Malabo city power plant from using lubricating oil, promising that he could run it using magic
>Moroccan soldiers were used for his firing squad out of fears his ghost would seek revenge

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>>1814303
We were there for two weeks. And I am not sure. I went as part of a study abroad thing i was doing. Our handlers in kyrgyzstan arranged for us to go there. The first time we applied for a "letter of invitation" we were denied. Next time around we were granted one and could go.

Ashgabat, Mary, and Turkmenobat. We went out into the country to see a lot of the amazing parthian ruins as well. The crazy sight to behold were the ruins of old merv. Still smashed to pieces from when the mongols laid waste to it

yes. Only in hotels. The kind that our "tour guides" arranged for us. They were interesting. I saw a lot of Turkmen propaganda on the TVs.

and yes. Quite a few. Including the giant mobile statue of his masterwork the "Ruhnama"

>>1814317
Part of a study abroad program i was doing. I stayed mainly in Kyrgyzstan. BUt I saw all the stans, save for Tajikistan.

>>1814354
>studying abroad in the *stans
This raises more questions. When I think of "studying abroad" I think of North America, Western Europe, and East Asia. Are you from Eastern Europe?

>>1814376
not him but not everyone wants to go to a first world country that's basically the same as the country you come from for study abroad opportunities.

>>1814354
thanks
seems like it is really hard to obtain a visa, especially for a month though it is worth exploring for atleast a month

taking pics of the monuments is considered illegal, not sure if people have been arrested for it...

what did you think of the food?

heard it is pretty bland, tasteless, and inferior to uzbek/tajik


did you take the ferry from Turkmenobat to Baku?

Belarus and Turkmenistan are the only 2 USSR republics left that follow the old stalinist-soviet legacies

>>1814385
Well the purpose is studying, not vacationing. I don't see Turkmenistan topping any OECD charts.

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>>1814376
see
>>1814385
Everyone in my family did cliche study abroad places. So i wanted something crazy and adrenaline inducing. So i did it. And it was so far the greatest adventure of my life. I am an upper middle class american.

Not to mention my main areas of study center around Russian and Persian languages and security studies. So the trip killed a lot of birds with one stone. I stayed in the region for about 8 months in all.

>>1814320
Starting to remind me of El Presidente from Tropico, except he's in central Asia.

>>1814386
It really is. They turned me down the first time I applied probably because I had a beard in my photo.

and I wont tell if you wont.

DEpends. Uyghur food was generally awesome (particularly boso lagman and other noodle dishes). Kyrgyz food was aight... super filling and fatty. Kazakh food was decent. The horse sausage was good but its pretty similar to Kyrgyz food. Besh barmak and such. Uzbek food is like Uyghur food, except more emphasis on rice than noodles. They love their plov. The best food is Caucasus food though. Cant go wrong with some good meat on a stick AKA shashlik. Or delicious georgian hachipuri.

I didnt take the ferry! but i know people who have and say it is a really crazy but awesome trip. The trip is Baku to Turkmenbashi (the city not the leader) though. Turkmenobat is really far inland. Turkmenbashi is the ghost town pseudo atlantic city las vegas gettaway ha.

>>1814398
>that pic
Ugh. I think the thing I'd hate about living in an authoritarian state the most is seeing the leader's picture fucking everywhere.

>>1814405
Oh believe me... it was FUCKING EVERYWHERE. And Berdimukhamamajewjaboogabooga!@#(#*%)$(!wiwimedow is supposed to be more sane than his predecessor

>>1814354
>BUt I saw all the stans
care to share some more impressions?

I am interested in what you thought about Kazakhstan in particular because it's fascinating what foreigners think of us

>>1814354
have any pics of the ruins?

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>>1814410
Is there anything left of the traditional nomadic/family life, or is all Westernised now?

>>1813244
based as fuck

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>>1814765

>>1813244
based

>>1813278
You need to stop reading American media.

Venezuela's supply issues stem from poor monetary policy and the fact the country doesn't really produce anything but oil, but monetary policy makes it too complicated to do business to import.

Also people weren't arrested for "having too much toilet paper" managers and such were arrested for hording toilet paper secretly, saying they had none, while in reality, smuggling all their supplies to Colombia or onto the black market. It's a scam called Carousel.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11992

Literally an indepth looked at what the Venezuelan crisis is about.

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>>1814792
They look like white-trash Irish travellers.

I mean more in the sense of isolated close-knit farming villages carrying on a traditional way of life. Is there any of that left?

>>1814817
Berbers and bedouins, cattle cultures in Africa, central Asian tribes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWJdNXpv_Go

>>1814817
>>1814765
pictures you're so enamored with are showing life of city dwellers: Khiva, Buchara are located where people have been living in cities for at least millenium by now -- today's Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan.

Whatever romanticized image you you had in your head looking at them has absolutely nothing to do with actual nomadic life which is harsh and bitter

>>1814817
>farming villages
>nomadic
make up your mind

>>1813244
>>1814320

In 1991, Turkmen Jewish Niyazov's government put forth a decree granting "the free use of water, gas and electricity and refined salt by the people of Turkmenistan for ten years";[2] when the decree expired, he extended it to 2020


In keeping with the predominantly Islamic nature of Turkmen society, Turkmen Jewish President Niyazov granted pardons each year on the Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny) in Ramadan month.

For example, in 2005, 8,145 convicts were pardoned including 229 foreign nationals.[24] In 2006 Turkmenistan set free 10,056 prisoners, including 253 foreign nationals. Niyazov said:

"Let this humane act on the part of the state serve strengthening truly moral values of the Turkmen society. Let the entire world know that there has never been a place for evil and violence on the blessed Turkmen soil."[25