On the deaths of Brown, Ford, Saddam, and the Turkmenbasi

The final weeks of 2006 was characterized by the deaths of James Brown, Gerald Ford, Saddam Hussein, and Saparmurat Niyazov. These people were all talented in their own ways during their stay on Planet Earth, which translated into hordes of admirers -- and haters (maybe except for Brown).

Brown was widely regarded as the Godfather of Soul with his unique style of music, and his funeral was more like a carnival. The world will remember this talented singer as he sold more albums than anyone else not named Elvis Presley. Gerald Ford was remembered as the person who stabilized America after the debacles in Vietnam, yet his records were marred by the decision to pardon Richard Nixon. Saddam Hussein was seen as a friend to the Regan Administration (for going against Iran -- America's #2 public enemy behind the former USSR) and a demi-god to the Sunni Muslim population around Tirkrit in Iraq, but his ruthlessness and savagery to the Kurdish and Shiite population to the north and south eventually led to the split of Iraq after he was toppled by American forces in 2003, in an apparent revenge by President George W. Bush for attempting to assassinate his father, former President George H.W. Bush.


His Holiness the Saintly Writer of the Ruhnama Turkmenbasi Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan was without doubt my favourite dictator of all time, and was likely a victim of deathbed betrayal by his subordinates. He was famous for the numerous and wacky presidential decrees that put Kim Jong-Il to shame. Also Kim's mushroom cloud hairdo certainly looks awful compared to Niyazov, who sported a sleeky jet-black hair that made Elvis proud.