Beyond Borders

Colonel G

Since seizing power in 1969, Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi has been a man of many parts. As power now slides away from him, the Colonel may be pondering what a career as ruthless dictator, funder of international terrorism and sartorial buffoon has prepared him for on the job market. One possible answer has come from a highly unlikely source based in Tel Aviv in the shape of 31 year old Israeli musician Noy Alooshe who has launched Gaddafi's post tyrant career as a rapper. Noy edited extracts from a video of a recent rambling speech given by Gaddafi, set some of the selected phrases and footage to remixed club beats and posted the parody on the video sharing website Youtube. He then set about promoting his resulting music video called 'Zenga Zenga' on social media networks Facebook and Twitter. Within three days the clip racked up over half a million hits, mostly from viewers in the Arab world who have given it wildly favourable reviews even after the nationality of its producer emerged. In the sad knowledge that following his seemingly inevitable downfall Gaddafi won't be the world's last dictator, as indeed he was far from being its first, today's Highly Questionable quiz takes the theme of dictators.
 Dictators Quiz 

 1   Following a bloody war fought during much of the 1920s, which European dictator ruled Libya as a colony throughout the 1930s?   
 2  Which internationally lauded comedic actor satirised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in his 1940 film 'The Great Dictator'?   
 3  What was the title of the 1982 Hollywood film starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek which highlighted the means by which Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet came to power in a CIA backed coup? 
 4  What was the name of the deeply feared secret police in Haiti that did the bidding of that country's father and son dictators Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier during their reigns of terror from the late 1950s through to the mid 80s? 
 5  What was the name of the man who headed the Khmer Rouge dictatorship, the brutal activities of which claimed the lives of more than a million Cambodians during the 1970s? 
Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz and associated post. 

 Festivals Quiz Answers 

The answers to yesterday's Highly Questionable quiz which took festivals around the world as its theme are:-

 1  Pamplona in July each year hosts the Fiesta de San Fermin which features the encierro, the famous early morning bull run. 

 2  Munich is home to the Oktoberfest annual beer festival.

 3  Venice is the beautifully unique venue for the theatrical Carnival famed for its extraordinary masks. 

 4  New Orleans plays host to the party of parties that is Mardi Gras.

 5  Ulaanbaatar is the location every July for the horse riding, archery and wrestling events that constitute the 'manly games' of the amazing Naadam festival.

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com.