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worldleaderdujour
One world leader a day, 5 days a week. I do the work, you look worldly.
Hi Loyal Readers—
Fifty posts later, I’m rethinking the “du jour” part of this endeavor. I’ll be back, but not every day.
I need another name….World Leader au Jus? Suggestions welcome.
Next time we meet? The former Yugoslavia.
South Africa has one president, and three capitals. (!) From Wikipedia: “Cape Town, the largest of the three, is the legislative capital; Pretoria is the administrative capital; and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital.”
So now you know something about South Africa.
Here’s the president:
South African President Jacob Zuma
And here’s their cool flag.
We’re still in Southern Africa. And I think it’s time for a cute animal appearance. How about a lechwe? It’s a kind of antelope. Here’s one:
A lechwe in Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
Botswana was a British colony until 1966. Sine then, it’s been a democratic republic and has had regular elections. Here’s the man who won last time:
He’s a pilot.
He’s been accused of human rights abuses against the Kalahari Bushmen.
Actually, I don’t know anything about it. Except that it’s near Angola. And Zambia.
Some things I learned today:
It used to be a German colony (from 1884 to the end of WW1).
It was part of South Africa until 1990.
It is the second least densely populated country in the world after Mongolia.
Here’s the man in charge:
Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba.
It’s a continent. But you knew that. We already hit North Africa and Nigeria, but there’s still a lot to see here.
Where to begin? Here’s a map for starters:
How about Angola?
Angola became independent from Portugal in 1975. Knowing that makes this guy’s name make more sense:
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
While we’re in the neighborhood let’s have some Turkey. We have two choices—a president who is the head of state, and a prime minister who holds executive power.
First:
Turkish President Abdullah Gul
And:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Some interesting things about Turkey.
Turkey is a transcontinental country. Part of it is in Europe and part is in Asia.
Oil wrestling is the national sport.
But the former Soviet Republic one. The one where this guy is in charge:
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvil.
He’s a Columbia Law School grad. That’s all I got.
And what better time to think about Friday, and what Armenian President Serge Sarkisian (below) might order at happy hour?
How about Tina’s Armenian Kiss Martini? (Thanks Tina!)
Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
• 2 ounces quality vodka
• 1 ounce cointreau or Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
• 1 tsp. orange blossom water
• cup of ice
• garnish with pomegranate arils and citrus peel
Instructions:
Garnish chilled martini glasses with pomegranate arils and a citrus peel. Shake all ingredients in a shaker and pour into garnished glasses.
(Yes, this is a stretch. I just wanted to think about vodka and pomegranates for a while.)
There’s a man in Azerbaijan
Who makes tasty plov off and on
He also eats lamb
But never a ham
As Muslim is his religion
I know. It’s late. Write your own damn limerick.
Here’s a rhyming challenge you can start with: The leader of Azerbaijan (which is officially not a Soviet Republic as of 1990) is Ilham Aliyev. That’s him with the ’stache.
Dagestan, that is. I’ve never heard of it. Turns out it’s not “technically” its own country, but a republic of Russia. (For now. There’s a strong separatist movement, says Wikipedia.) Dagestan is across the Caspian Sea from the other ‘stans.
And here’s the man in charge:
Dagestan President Magomedali Magomedovich Magomedov
