LIfe imitates art. Remember Woody Allens Bananas. The Spanish dictator gets into power and ludicrously mandates the official language of the country will be Swedish, all citizens age 16 and under are now 16, and underwear will be changed twice a day. To check on that, underwear will be worn on the outside. Well, check out what the ruler of
Turkmenistan told his citizenry;
Turkmenistan Postpones Old Age AP ^
Posted on 08/13/2002 10:56 AM Pacific by Dallas
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) - Turkmenistan's president issued a decree Tuesday that extends adolescence until age 25 and postpones old age until 85, well beyond the life-span of the average Turkmen man or woman.
Saparmurat Niyazov's edict, published in the national newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan," divides life into 12-year cycles.
According to the edict, childhood lasts until age 12. Next comes adolescence which will not last to age 25. Turkmen aged between 25 and 37 are considered youthful, while those aged between 27 and 49 years are mature.
The next 12-year cycles are divided into periods labeled as prophetic, inspirational and wise.
Niyazov, who turned 62 this year, would be in his inspirational period.
Old age begins at age 85, while Turkmen who reach age 97 enter a period named for Oguzkhan, considered the founder of the Turkmen nation, who died at age 109.
According to the World Health Organization , the average life expectancy at birth for Turkmen men is 60; it is 65 for women.
Niyazov has built an elaborate cult of personality in his impoverished former Soviet republic, with cities and a meteorite named after himself and his portrait gracing the currency and nearly all public buildings. Last week, he proposed that months of the year be renamed, including January, which he said should be named after him. |
