Sunday, February 28, 2016

That's a bit rich

According to World's Richest Countries, these were the richest countries as of October 2015, by 2015 GDP


  1. China US$19.510 trillion
  2. United States $17.968 trillion
  3. India $8.027 trillion
  4. Japan $4.842 trillion
  5. Germany $3.842 trillion
  6. Russia $3.474 trillion
  7. Brazil $3.208 trillion
  8. Indonesia $2.839 trillion
  9. United Kingdom $2.660 trillion
  10. France $2.647 trillion
and these (stopping off at Top Ten unlike our source) are the richest countries by 2015 GDP Per Capita

  1. Qatar US$133,040
  2. Luxembourg $100,779
  3. Singapore $84,901
  4. Brunei Darussalam $78,476
  5. Kuwait $70,259
  6. Norway $67,671
  7. United Arab Emirates $66,997
  8. San Marino $62,120
  9. Switzerland $58,598
  10. Hong Kong $56,689


Saturday, February 20, 2016

Short Lead

  1. Khalid Bin Bargash  Sultan of Zanzibar
  2. Diosdado Cabello    President of Venezuela
  3. Ratu Tevita Momoedonu Prime Minister of Fiji
  4. Roger LaFontant     President of Haiti
  5. Joseph Goebbels     Chancellor of Germany
  6. Boris Yeltsin*         Prime Minister of Russia
  7. Skënder Gjinushi    President of Albania
  8. Carlos Manuel Piedra President of Cuba
  9. Siaka Stevens**     Prime Minister of Sierra Leone 
  10. Luis Filipe              Crown Prince of Portugal
*made himself Prime Minister (as well as President) until his legal staff pointed out that this was unconstitutional
**rebels broke into his office and arrested him a few minutes after reciting his oath of office. He was restored to power the following year and remained for seventeen years


Thursday, February 18, 2016

RE: Joyce

Warren Truss will wear retirement well while his replacement as Deputy Prime Minister is a gaffe-prone hick. This is the sort of thing you get when the coalition is in power but I would put him at the opposite end of Charles Blunt in terms of temperate behaviour and a thoughtful approach. Tim Fischer was more of a bumpkin than a clod, and I know from firsthand experience that there's nothing wrong with coming from a farming background.

Doug Anthony was an allstar with a crowded history of portfolios. From this point in history, being Fraser's deputy also holds water.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Leader bored

The youngest leader was, appropriately enough, the UK Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger who was 24 when elected.

The youngest leader currently is Kim Jong-un who is 33 years old.

The oldest leader is Robert Mugabe, who will soon be 92.

The longest lived documented leader since 1800 was Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum, prime minister of Cambodia in 1962, who was 103 years, 135 days when he died in 2009.
There have been fourteen state leaders who reached 100. The oldest still living is Piet de Jong, prime minister of the Netherlands 1967 to 1971. He is 100 years, 317 days old.

Thursday, February 04, 2016

Long lead

Image result for fidel castro
Image result for fidel castro
1 Fidel Castro Cuba
First Secretary
Prime Minister
President
Maximum Leader 16 February 1959 19 April 2011 52 years, 62 days

2 Chiang Kai-shek Republic of China (1912–1949)
 Republic of China on Taiwan (1949–present)
Chairman of the National Government
Premier/Director-General
Generalissimo
President
9 July 1926     15 December 1931 (1st time)
6 March 1932 21 January 1949 (2nd time)
1 March 1950 5 April 1975 (3rd time)
46 years, 82 days

3 Kim Il-sung North Korea
General Secretary
Premier
President
Generalissimo 9 September 1948 8 July 1994 45 years, 302 days

4 Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal Mongolian People's Republic
General Secretary
Prime Minister
President 8 April 1940 23 August 1984 44 years, 137 days

5 Muammar Gaddafi Libyan Arab Republic
 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution
Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council
Secretary General of the General People's Congress
Prime Minister 1 September 1969 23 August 2011 41 years, 356 days

6 Omar Bongo Gabon President 2 December 1967 6 May 2009 41 years, 155 days

7 Paul Biya Cameroon Prime Minister
President 30 June 1975 present 40 years, 214 days

8 Enver Hoxha People's Republic of Albania
 People's Socialist Republic of Albania
Prime Minister
First Secretary 22 October 1944 11 April 1985 40 years, 171 days

9 Mohamed Abdelaziz Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
General Secretary
President 30 August 1976 present 39 years, 153 days

10 Francisco Franco Spanish State
Generalísimo
Head of State
Caudillo
Prime Minister 1 October 1936 20 November 1975 39 years, 50 days

11 Gnassingbé Eyadéma Togo President 14 April 1967 5 February 2005 37 years, 297 days

12 Kaisôn Phomvihān Sam Neua, Kingdom of Laos
 Lao People's Democratic Republic
General Secretary/Party Chairman
Prime Minister
President 22 March 1955  21 November 1992 37 years, 244 days

13 Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Equatorial Guinea
Chairman of the Supreme Military Council
President 3 August 1979 present 36 years, 180 days

14 Josip Broz Tito Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia
 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
General Secretary/President of the Presidency of the Central Committee
Prime Minister
President
Marshal 29 November 1943 4 May 1980 36 years, 157 days

15 José Eduardo dos Santos People's Republic of Angola
 Angola Party President
State President  10 September 1979 present 36 years, 142 days

16 António de Oliveira Salazar Second Portuguese Republic
Prime Minister 5 July 1932 25 September 1968 36 years, 82 days

17 Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe
Prime Minister
President 18 April 1980 present 35 years, 287 days

18 Todor Zhivkov People's Republic of Bulgaria
General Secretary
Prime Minister 4 March 1954 17 November 1989 35 years, 258 days

19 Alfredo Stroessner Paraguay President 15 August 1954 3 February 1989 34 years, 172 days

20 Ali Khamenei Iran President
Supreme Leader 13 October 1981 present 34 years, 109 days

21 Ali Abdullah Saleh North Yemen
 Yemen President 18 July 1978 25 February 2012 33 years, 222 days

22 Mao Zedong Shaan-Gan-Ning, Republic of China
 People's Republic of China
Party Chairman
State Chairman
Paramount Leader 20 March 1943 9 September 1976 33 years, 173 days

23 Félix Houphouët-Boigny Côte d'Ivoire
Prime Minister
President 7 August 1960 7 December 1993 33 years, 122 days

24 Dawda Jawara The Gambia 
Prime Minister
President 12 June 1962 22 July 1994 32 years, 40 days

25 Denis Sassou Nguesso People's Republic of the Congo
 Republic of the Congo
President of the Central Committee
State President
8 February 1979  31 August 1992 (1st time)
25 October 1997  present (2nd time)
31 years, 302 days

26 Phạm Văn Đồng North Vietnam
 Vietnam
Prime Minister 20 September 1955 18 June 1987 31 years, 271 days

27 János Kádár Hungarian People's Republic 
General Secretary 25 October 1956 27 May 1988 31 years, 215 days

28 Habib Bourguiba Tunisia Prime Minister
President 11 April 1956 7 November 1987 31 years, 210 days

29 Lee Kuan Yew Singapore
Prime Minister 5 June 1959 28 November 1990 31 years, 176 days

30 Mobutu Sese Seko Democratic Republic of the Congo
 Zaire
President 24 November 1965 16 May 1997 31 years, 173 days

31 Hastings Kamuzu Banda Malaŵi
Prime Minister
President 1 February 1963 21 May 1994 31 years, 109 days

32 Rafael Trujillo Dominican Republic
President
Generalísimo 3 March 1930 30 May 1961 31 years, 88 days

33 Suharto Indonesia
President 12 March 1967 21 May 1998 31 years, 70 days

34 Hun Sen People's Republic of Kampuchea
 State of Cambodia
 Cambodia
Prime Minister 14 January 1985 present 31 years, 16 days

35 Joseph Stalin Soviet Union
General Secretary
Premier
Marshal 3 April 1922 5 March 1953 30 years, 336 days

36 Porfirio Díaz Mexico President
28 November 1876 (1st time)
17 February 1877 (2nd time)
1 December 1884 (3rd time)

6 December 1876 (1st time)
1 December 1880 (2nd time)
25 May 1911 (3rd time)
30 years, 106 days

37 Abdou Diouf Senegal
Prime Minister
President 26 February 1970 1 April 2000 30 years, 35 days

38 Yoweri Museveni Uganda
President 26 January 1986 present 30 years, 4 days

39 Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maldives
President 11 November 1978 11 November 2008 30 years

Image result for Chiang Kai-shek