Commodore Frank Bainimarama has engineered a coup on top of a coup in sacking the judiciary, suspending the constitution, controlling the press, quashing dissent and taking over the central bank pdf press release. With no reportage of the takeover or criticism of the junta allowed, and with local journalists arrested and foreign correspondents expelled, how is the Fiji’s story being told? Bloggers have taken to the task, but are undertaking huge risks.
posted by mattoxic on Apr 16, 2009 - 27 comments

Meet Adolf Hitler. Godwin! Look right into Stalin's eyes. 350 people from the dictator's country, Photoshopped together to create eerily alive photographs. (via kottke, via conscientious) [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Aug 1, 2008 - 41 comments

His Excellency Alhagi Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh , President of the Gambia and American Biographical Institute 2000 Millennium Medal of Honour, has reportedly called for the murder of all homosexuals. But it's all good, because he can cure AIDS (or so he says).
posted by Skeptic on May 22, 2008 - 31 comments

Dear Friend, I am a Swiss Banker currently in possession of over $ 1 Billion in funds stashed away by the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of the Congo. Our Swiss Confederation President Micheline Calmy-Rey said her government is holding just $6.6m frozen in accounts. "We discussed the question of Mobutu's funds and my government is prepared to restore the money to the DR Congo as soon as possible," Ms Rey told reporters in the DR Congo capital, Kinshasa, after talks with Mr Kabila. But we can help you get the rest of the 92.4 million dollars if you will just send us your bank account number and call to confirm your ID and pin number.
posted by infini on Jul 17, 2007 - 65 comments

The art of Hitler. For sale. What a roundabout way to up the value of your paintings.
posted by 6am on Jul 16, 2006 - 66 comments

Dictator of the Month. Your one stop shop for all your dictator-oriented needs. Even includes scorecards. From Amin to Zedong, they're all right here, folks. Enjoy some righteous anger.
posted by Meatbomb on Mar 21, 2006 - 17 comments

Muammar Qadhafi's Official website (in Arabic, English and French) is a collection of rantsthoughts by the Libyan Numero Uno about politics, including terrorism (Talibans: guilty of "tergiversation libertinism"), Turkey's EU membership (Turk Islamists "believe in polygamy, maids and what the right hand possessed, i.e. European Christian women") and AIDS (a CIA creation). A companion website gives you Qadhafi the Humanitarian, Qadhafi the World Thinker and Qadhafi the Inventor of the Safest Vehicle On Earth ("the leader spent so many hours of his valuable time thinking of an effective solution").
Of course, there are many reasons for not being amused at all by Qadhafi, but these folks know why he's such a despicable character: "This man is actually a Jew". And to teach him a lesson they stole the Qadhafi thumbnails of his official site.
(Slighly related news: Mustapha Akkad, producer of the Halloween horror movie franchise, but also the director of the Qadhafi-sponsored propaganda/epic The Lion of the Desert, was killed (with his daughter) in yesterday's hotel bombings in Amman.)
posted by elgilito on Nov 11, 2005 - 49 comments

The Dictators Contest "Back by popular demand is the Original Dictators Contest. 16 of the last century's most fearsome autocrats have been selected and pitted randomly against one another to compete for the title Dictator of Dictators". If you don't see your favorite Dictator, try The Second Dictators Contest. Agree with their results? Did they forget anyone?
posted by Mack Twain on Apr 11, 2003 - 5 comments

This war plan forces me to stand by the dictator who tortured me. Iraqi writer, an exiled dissident and victim of Hussein's regime speaks against war and sanctions: "You are "either with us or against us", they say. As an Iraqi that means choosing between war and the dictator. To be on the side of the oppressed does not mean we are unaware of the complexity of the situation. To campaign for the lifting of sanctions, for an end to the paralysing bombardment and daily threat of war is to stand by the Iraqi people; it is that policy which will help them to change the oppressive regime. Any change should be initiated from within Iraq, not imposed by Bush or Blair."
posted by talos on Sep 18, 2002 - 11 comments

Reuters confirms that our friend Dubya did in fact authorize the attack on Iraqi radar stations. We're killing people and giving a dictator fuel for the propaganda mill he needs to prop up his regime. But that's okay, because the people who are dying don't share our race and religion and so, in fact, they're not really "people" at all. They're ciphers and objects and statistics. Apparently it's only when white Protesetants die that death really matters. Incidentally, remember this bombing isn't a matter of protecting the Kuwaiti ethnic minority (read: our oil interests), this is over perceived violation of arbitrarily imposed NATO sanctions. Scum. Scum scum scum!
posted by hanseugene on Feb 16, 2001 - 40 comments

Guess the Evil Dictator or Television Sit-Com Character Hours of fun.
posted by ignu on Nov 17, 2000 - 25 comments

What comes next? Idi Amin asking to return to power in Uganda?

Has Jean-Claude Duvalier gone completely mad?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Sep 23, 2000 - 2 comments

Oh my lord. The Guess the Dictator/Sit-com character site works by asking a series of questions about a person you have to think of. I selected an obscure sit-com character, Chris Elliot from Fox's ill-fated "Get a Life" series. If you would have asked me to bet money on it before proceeding, I would have gladly put $20 on the site not figuring it out. After about 15 questions, it guessed right. This is scary stuff. [via rebeccablood]
posted by mathowie on Feb 26, 2000 - 15 comments