1115.org

That better not be recorded music you’re listening to.

At first, when President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan banned lip synching, it seemed like a good idea. Anything that hampers that thing Ashlee Simpson calls a career should be strongly encouraged.

Niyazov has ordered a ban on lip synching performances across the tightly controlled Central Asian nation, citing “a negative effect on the development of singing and musical art,” the president’s office said Tuesday.

It’s not quite as severe as sending her to neighboring Uzbekistan for a round of being boiled alive, but fitting nonetheless.

But it seems that Niyazov’s brain may have been boiled:

…Niyazov has banned the playing of recorded music at all public events, on television and at weddings.

and:

Banned opera and ballet

Forbade long hair or beards for young men

Banned car radios

Required video monitors in all public places

Closed all hospitals, except in the capital, Ashgabat

Renamed some calendar months after the president and his mother

I’ve seen this movie already, Woody Allen’s Bananas (1971):

Esposito: From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now… 16 years old!

Fielding Mellish: What’s the Spanish word for straitjacket?

Previously: W or Woody? One / Two / Three