Meet a 'stan

First Dannystan, now Afghannystan:

Karzai's decree, published last week, gives him authority to appoint the five members of Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), according to reports from the BBC and U.K. newspapers the Guardian and Telegraph.

[...]

The commission, headed by Canadian Grant Kippen, helped expose massive fraud in last year's presidential race, forcing Karzai to call a second vote.

"A strong and independent ECC is vital for the future of a democratic Afghanistan, and any efforts to weaken this body are disturbing," Cannon said in a statement released after his interview with CBC.

Gee, if only there were some kind of organization in Canada that would, like, keep a watch on democracy or something.

And while we're in the neighbourhood, look! India has some wacky laws!

...a record 17 people died every weekday on the city’s suburban railway network in 2008.

The figures, which were obtained for The Times using India’s Right to Information Act, show that most deaths were people being run over while trespassing on the tracks.

[Emphasis and hotlink added.]