Leadership In These Trying Times: The President Of Turkmenistan Has Banned The Word "Coronavirus"

(source)--Turkmenistan's government has reportedly banned the word coronavirus, while also arresting people wearing face masks or talking about the pandemic in public, according to Reporters Without Borders. The country's state-controlled media are not allowed to say or publish the word, and information about coronavirus has also been removed from government health brochures distributed in workplaces, hospitals and schools. 

The official Turkmen response to the Covid-19 Pandemic:

And lets see how effective that policy has been

Turkmenistan is the country immediately north of Iran, which was one of countries most gravely impacted by coronavirus, and....ZERO cases in Turkmenistan. Amazing work by everyone involved. Which, of course, is just the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. The world's biggest bad ass leader who doubles as a DJ, sharp shooter, stunt man, race horse champion, action hero, and weight lifter. Decent resume

It's amazing to me that places like this still exist. A place where an all-powerful, probably evil, dictator can rule with an absolute iron fist. Oh you want to wear a surgical mask to protect yourself? Well tough shit, we are throwing you in that giant fire pit as a punishment. If you think about thinking about coronavirus, well now you're sentenced to prison. No thoughts allowed. This guy is handling a global pandemic which could kill hundreds of thousands of people like I handle problems in my life. Relationship trouble...don't talk about it. Looming financial problems...couldn't be me. A budding dependence on alcohol due to quarantine, no idea what you're talking about. Just put your fingers in your ears, head in the sand, and just ignore and interalize your problems until they go away. If you ignore things, they can't hurt you. Those are the facts. That is what I like to call..."being Irish". It's a totally normal and healthy way to handle your personal life, but on a macro level when dealing with global crisis when lives are at stake...not the best. Thousand of people are probably dying from a disease that officially doesn't exist in their country because they're run by a single psychopath. Just goes to show that no matter how bad you think you have it, there are people who DEFINITELY have it worse than you and that is basically everyone born in Turkmenistan.