Was Moammar Gadhafi the last of the “buffoon dictators?” asked BBC News.
His legend was earned not merely with his now-famous, dirty-old-man scrapbook of Condoleezza Rice photos. Wrote a BBC reporter, “One day (Gadhafi) was a Motown (backup) vocalist with wet-look permed hair and tight pants.
“The next, a white-suited comic-operetta Latin American admiral, dripping with braid.”
Nonetheless, Gadhafi had competition, according to a report in the journal Foreign Policy.
For example, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s dictator owns, among other eccentric luxuries, a $1.4 million collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Il owned videos of almost every game Michael Jordan ever played for the Chicago Bulls.
Not in
line for
best boss
William Ernst, 57, owner of the QC Mart chain of Iowa convenience stores, excitedly announced a company-wide employee contest with a prize of $10 for guessing the next worker that Ernst will fire for breaking rules. “Once we fire the person, we will open all the envelopes containing the entries, award the prize, and start the contest again.”
Ernst added, “And no fair picking Mike Miller from the Rockingham Road store. He was fired at around 11:30 a.m. today for wearing a hat and talking on his cellphone. Good luck!”
After firing a cashier who had complained about Ernst’s attitude, he challenged the woman’s unemployment-compensation claim, but a judge ruled in her favor.
(Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa Fla. 33679 or go to www.newsoftheweird.com.)