Ahmadinejad Hotter than Merkel, Gulf Dichotomy of Looks, Arabs Dominate Ugly Ducklings, the Pope Beats Kim, the Reliable Swimsuit Test……..

The list of hottest heads of state is out, whatever it means. Here are some interesting rankings for all its worth, which is nothing more than entertainment and giving me a chance to vent. I have added my own insight after every name:

1. Yulia Tymoshenko Prime Minister of Ukraine, and almost deservedly so.
5. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner President of Argentina. I thought she should be a close runner-up.
9. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo President of the Philippines I though she should be the second runner-up.

15. Barack Obama President of the United States of America . They broke Michelle’s heart with this one, but gave the Republican right a lift, especially former co-president Dick Cheney who probably thought he would be on the top ten list.

18. Vladimir Putin Prime Minister of Russia. Must have been his Street Car Named Desire undershirt.

22. Saad Hariri Prime Minister of Lebanon. They must have slipped him in as a joke, or maybe it was the old Lebanese way: money changing hands. And what about Hassan Nasrallah? He cuts a nice figure in a swimsuit.

31. Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel. Now that is another joke: they must have looked at him, say, twenty years ago…

48. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad President of Iran. This one is rather confusing. I am not sure he deserves such a high ranking: after all we have never seen him in a swimsuit, although he probably wears one in the shower.

50. Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. Not sure what he is.
54. Abdullah II King of Jordan. This one is also over-rated. I’d put a swimsuit on him then quickly move him past 100.

82. Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah King of Bahrain. They are being too generous here. Bahrain royalty, like those of most of my native Gulf states are ugly, to put it politely- unlike us the peoples who are mostly handsome. A strange dichotomy of looks, This one is lucky he was rated so high, too high. Maybe they got his photo mixed up with someone else. I’d put him past 120.

At the bottom were the following. I certainly have no further comments on these. There is no need, is there?:
138. Nouri al-Maliki Prime Minister of Iraq
164. Abdullah King of Saudi Arabia
166. Omar al-Bashir President of Sudan
168. Robert Mugabe President of Zimbabwe
170. Hamad bin Khalifa Emir of Qatar
171. Pope Benedict XVI Sovereign of Vatican City
172. Kim Jong-il Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea
Cheers Mohammed

GCC Gulf Currency Acrobatics, Watermelon Ministry, Watermelon Economics, Watermelon Policy……...

“Kuwait ‘strongly backs’ Gulf currency in January. Kuwait strongly backs the launch of the Gulf monetary union and single currency on time in January 2010, the undersecretary of the finance ministry said on Monday, a day after the ministry demanded a delay.
"Kuwait strongly supports the Gulf monetary union and the launch of single currency as scheduled next January," Khalifa Hamada said in a statement cited by the official KUNA news agency. "Kuwait is keen to cooperate with its partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at all levels to speed up the completion of all issues related to launching the single currency on its target date in January 2010."…..On Sunday, a statement by the finance ministry carried by KUNA called for a delay in the 2010 launch date to allow committees and concerned parties to complete unfinished technical issues……..”

“Kuwait calls for delay on Gulf currency launch. Kuwait, one of four Gulf states to sign a pact to launch a monetary union and single currency, on Sunday called for a delay in the 2010 launch date, citing incomplete preparations. "The ministry of finance calls for revising the target date for launching the Gulf single currency until all committees and concerned parties have completed technical issues," the ministry said in a statement cited by the KUNA news agency.
" The ministry of finance calls for revising the target date for launching the Gulf single currency until all committees and concerned parties have completed technical issues "……..”

I don’t know who this Finance undersecretary is and how he got his job, but he certainly did not get it for his expertise on monetary affairs. I suggest they give him the task of preparing, synchronizing, and choreographing for the implementation of a unified currency by next January (2010) as he suggests, then fire him when he fails to get it ready, which he certainly will. That would be the best outcome of the futile task: getting rid of one incompetent official.
Such is economic policy done in a watermelon economy, by watermelon officials……
Cheers
Mohammed

GOP Nominates Failure for Nobel Prize, Carla Nominates Sarkozy, Hariri Nominates Saudi King, I Preferred Pete Seeger……

“It's also created a remarkable bit of fury among the president's Republican opponents. One week after conservatives were exuberant with Obama's failure to secure the Olympics for his hometown of Chicago, they were left bitter and bemused that he was bestowed the world's most prestigious honor. The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?'" reads a statement from the Republican National Committee. " It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain -- President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action........" HuffPost

There were 205 nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. Organizations can nominate anyone they deem deserving. French president Nicolas Sarkozy was nominated, presumably by Carla Bruni (he didn’t nominate her). Also nominated wwere Ingrid Betancourt of Colombia, Chinese dissident Hu Jia, among others. Some organizations were also nominated, and I thought that The Cluster Munitions Coalition should get the prize (it campaigned effectively against cluster bombs, which means they may not be used over the Shi’a tenements in the next Lebanon war). My second choice was Pete Seeger.

Someone had nominated King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, presumably by the Lebanese Saad Hariri or Fouad Saniora, or maybe alseyassah. For some reason Hezbullah did not nominate Ayatollah Khamenai. The Republican Party (USA), discovering that ‘Dr. No’ was dead, nominated failure.

I doubt that I was among the 205. My spouse refused to nominate me, claiming we never got an invitation from the Nobel Committee to submit nominees..
Cheers
Mohammed