I'm voting for North Korea
Just watching newsnight. They're mental! So you spend a shedload of cash on nuclear weapons, massive army etc so as to posture ridiculously, and completely alienate yourself from the rest of the planet. All while your population dies of malnutrition
Insane! Your nominations please
The Duchy of Grand Fenwick
America
USA - so rich but a significant minority have virtually no healthcare. So rich but child mortality rates like a third world country.
5% of the worlds population and 25% of the worlds greenhouse gas production and they don't care.
A totally weird patriotic stance that blinds them to their follies and flaws
Scotland.
A nation wealthy enough to stand on its own but would rather point and blame the English for all their woes.
I've got to disagree with you there druid. Scotland has true ambition. It wants to be the next.... erm.... Iceland
Leaving aside all political correctness gone mad in UK jokes, Turkmenistan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan , it's just crazy, and the guy running it makes Kim Jong Il look like a cuddly old man.
[i]Just watching newsnight. They're mental! So you spend a shedload of cash on nuclear weapons, massive army etc so as to posture ridiculously, and completely alienate yourself from the rest of the planet. All while your population dies of malnutrition[/i]
Sorry, but did you say Britain 100-150 years ago?
I want to say America too. I've been there a few times and I've seen them on TV and while they are far more British than people like to admit, their extremes are off the scale. At times I had to tap my own jaw closed as I stared in disbelief at some crazy American antic or other.
China - So much history so hidden from its people.
So you spend a shedload of cash on nuclear weapons, massive army etc so as to posture ridiculously
Maybe crazy, but not so daft. God knows what America/Isreal are planning for Iran but as NK actually has big bomb, and a missile capable of getting as far as Tokyo (and probably working on one to reach Los Angeles) America may rule out the military option there...
Not sure what signal that sends to Iran.
I prefer North Korean traffic lights.........they've got [i]that[/i] right imo.
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Not a bad looking army too.....
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I've got to disagree with you there druid. Scotland has true ambition. It wants to be the next.... erm.... Iceland
Aye, the "arc of prosperity".
Oh, and another vote for China.
Israel. They really do not care about anyone, but criticise them and you're a fascist.
wow andrewh this chap "President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov" is off key, luckily he is now dead. Good read.
Israel thats a weird place, lets give the jews some land, I know lets stick a pin in a map blindfolded. Why they did not just give them a lump of Germany i do not know.
Strangely every year many South Koreans still defect to the North.
this chap "President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov" is off key, luckily he is now dead
For those who haven't read it
Gold teeth were outlawed in Turkmenistan after Niyazov suggested that the populace chew on bones to strengthen their teeth and lessen the rate at which they fall out. He said:
"I watched young dogs when I was young. They were given bones to gnaw to strengthen their teeth. Those of you whose teeth have fallen out did not chew on bones. This is my advice
Saudi Arabia, I spent two god forsaken years there.
I have seen be-headings, modern contract slavery, injustice, bigotry on an unimaginable scale.
I'll stop there before I get carried away...................
Why they did not just give them a lump of Germany i do not know.
Indeed. If there was one country in the world which should have given up land in reparation for what the Nazis did to the Jews, then it should have been Germany - not the Palestinians.
They could have given them a whole German state like Hesse or Brandenburg. They even would have had their own German language in the form of Yiddish.
+1 USA - Some of the nicest, warm-hearted, generous people I've ever met yet utterly potty about certain things. You expect a degree of irrationality from places like N Korea - it's a repressive, paranoid dictatorship - but the US has enshrined freedom and democracy and is still barking.
Also, isn't there an island in the South Pacific that worships Prince Phillip? One of the cargo cult places. That's got to be up there.
Cuba.
Clearly it's Iceland. Irrespective of what the rest of them are like, they have Bjork which has to knock their combined barking score off the scale.
Coyote - Member
>I've got to disagree with you there druid. Scotland has true ambition. It >wants to be the next.... erm.... Iceland
Aye, the "arc of prosperity".
Like Norway you mean?
People's Republic of Barnsley
I work there but I'm not sure if I'd want to [i]live[/i] there 😉
Scotland.
People are allowed to ride their bikes in their own countryside....
nay, that's just not right, that
Also, isn't there an island in the South Pacific that worships Prince Phillip? One of the cargo cult places. That's got to be up there.Posted 24 minutes ago # Report-Post
deadlydarcy - Member
Cuba.
Pardon?
I think you'll find it's Tanna, part of Vanuatu, rather than Cuba. Not sure why though.
Israel, there I said it 😀
Zimbabwe. I don't think it needs pointing out why.
Scotland - why would anyone persevere with life in a country with such shit weather..........?
serisously? the UK obviously.
Saudi Arabia, I spent two god forsaken years there.
Yup Saudi.. spent 1 god forsaken year there.. don't know how you managed 2.. you must have a good therapist!
The place is like being thrown back into the dark ages. Total separation of men and women. No cinemas/theatre. Alcohol is illegal. Women cannot travel without a permission letter from father/husband. Expats cannot travel without a letter from their employers..
Leading on from Ernies pretty Korean traffic lady, I like this one better.
Wait for them to change operatives. It made me laugh anyway.
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Dubai, not on the scale of North Korea but when they arrest people for kissing in public or having stepped in something illegal in another country or even eaten the wrong sort of bread roll!
[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7234786.stm ][/url]
The problem with the US is that its such a huge nation you are bound to get extremes. Its like grouping Europe together.
Leaving aside all political correctness gone mad in UK jokes, Turkmenistan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan , it's just crazy, and the guy running it makes Kim Jong Il look like a cuddly old man.
Well, not any more - Niyazovh died a few years back, and the names of the months have gradually reverted back to their normal names... I went, and while I obviously only saw the outside of things, once you got away from Ashgabat it seemed like a combination of ex-Soviet state (grotty cities) and desert nation (big desert, flaming gas craters).
Whereas North Korea looks properly bonkers. Really want to go! 🙂
I've been to the US and I've been to North Korea. In a game of mentalist tops trumps, North Korea will win every single hand.
Whereas North Korea looks properly bonkers. Really want to go!
Well it's not cheap, or an easy place to visit by any means but it's certainly an education and a trip that I'm glad I made.
I think I need to visit central asia though. There seem to be some properly mental countries there too.
I have to vote for my current country of residence...
Ethiopia
My favourite two barking mad facts:
Its the year 2002.
They tell the time in a completely different way! 6am is 12 oclock, so now at 11.37 in the morning western/ferenji time, it is 5.37 Ethiopian time.
It makes it hard to work out when you should be at meetings...
England - they think they will win the World Cup!
gonefishin - when did you go to N Korea? Obviously I'd really want to get off the approved track there, but that ain't gonna happen...
Central Asia is fascinating - I really recommend it. After a while, mind, the Soviet-built cities all get a bit depressing, particularly the ones that really don't have much reason for being there any more (like Dashogus).
New entry [url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/10130195.stm ]****stan[/url]
Is Turkmenistan the country where the driving test consisted of questions about the Presidents wife?
Libya must be pretty crazy
Uganda under Idi Amin. The guy was a total head case.
Amin titled himself as "His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor[B] Idi Amin Dada, VC,[C] DSO, MC, Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular".[8]
new entry Burma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma#Rule_by_military_junta_.281962_.E2.80.93_present.29
I was there the day they set off their Nuclear Bomb, 2006 I think. As claims to fame go it is quite a good one and I do win the "I've been to a more remote country than you have" discussions 😉
As for getting off the beaten track, forget it, it's not going to happen and you will be escorted everywhere. If this is something that you can't cope with on a holiday then DPRK isn't the place for you. If you did manage to get away and were found out, not only would you be in trouble but so would your guide and your guides family.
It you are prepared to put up with being shown around and take most of the things you are told with a pinch of salt then it really is fascinating. Mental but fasciniating. You will have to like train journeys though as I think the only way in and out is the train from Bejing. There is an airport but there was an issue with plane inspections when I was there but this may have been resolved.
I've got some photos online but I can't access them at work.
Sorry but +1 for the USA. I love visiting, been to most areas of the States, North, South, East, West, really like the people in the main, going twice again this year, always fun, but absolutley bonkers and so detached from the rest of the world its untrue.
❓
England - they think they will win the World Cup!
And so it starts.
Haven't heard a single person claim that yet ❓
