#Colonel Gadaffi

[wezg]

Review: Defending the Realm - MI5 and the Shayler Affair - by Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding

This is just another one of the many books I’ve read on the security services / spies / intelligence agencies in general. I guess I have a morbid fascination. Non-fiction throws up some pretty weird stuff – Life itself is a lot stranger than fiction. This tale from a turncoat ex MI5 employee David Shayler, comes from a time of great change in the world, Security Services in general and it…

[allovertheworldblog]

South Korea to New Zealand via China

I take the brand new trainline to the airport.

The train is full of information, almost an overload.

On TV screens close to the door of each carriage departure times of planes are displayed.

Then it’s time for news headlines, sports news and world weather forecasts. 

The news tells me that Switzerland has leased a pier in the north east of North Korea; Seoul shares inch up on institutional gains.

The other stories deal with college tuition fees; military medical services; household debt; North Korean military intentions; and that South Korea is to develop an unmanned research ship.

The airport is big, but doesn’t feel overwhelming.

There is much thought given to the traveller and it’s almost a pleasure to be there.

I have no onward flight out of New Zealand, because I don’t need one.

The lady who is checking me in for China Southern Airlines tells me that I should have one.

She’s pretty nice about it. It’s an advisory, not a strict requirement on the part of New Zealand she tells me but I can’t check in without one.

A lady from Korean Air can sell me a refundable ticket for 1 million Won, about 680 Euro.

Instead I buy a flight online myself, from New Zealand to Australia for 100 Euro.

There are no newspapers on sale in the airport.

There isn’t even a bookshop, so I read the newspaper on the plane, the Global Times, a Chinese government sponsored newspaper. 

It’s full of wacky, weird and wonderful stories.

There’s a picture of Colonel Gadaffi playing chess with the Head of The World Chess Federation, who claims that chess is a gift from outer space, he also claims to have been abducted by aliens.

There’s news of a new high speed rail line to connect Beijing and Shanghai which goes at 300km/h, with tickets priced at 555 Yuan, or you can go business class for 1,750 Yuan.

There are also 250km/h trains that’ll cost you 410 and 650 Yuan depending on your class. 

They say there’ll be 63 pairs of trains running at 300km/h.

The article talks about the massive debts that the Ministry of Railways has incurred. A university professor is quoted talking about ‘air/rail intermodality projects’.

Another story deals with the 8,653km long natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China which cost $22Bn, which is designed to 'feed China’s growth’.

Other stories include two Siberian tigers that are due to give birth in China; flooding in Hunan; the latest on Syria and Yemen; baby trafficking; bribery and corruption; financing of a 'shadow internet’ by the US. 

The business pages deal with Chinese GDP, money supply, the CPI, and IPO’s; the growth of luxury spending in China, the fact that Louis Vuitton opened 27 shops in 22 Chinese cities in two years. 

The United States is warned to stay out of any regional disputes that China may have with Vietnam and The Philippines.

'It would not be a wise move’ for the US to get involved.

Events to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party take up a full page.

I get the feeling that this story is only covered because they feel they have to, it’s all very low key.

When we land in Guangzhou there is powerful humidity in the air.

We’re so far from the airport that we have to board a small bus to bring us to the terminal.

All the likewise pasty foreigners who are just transiting through China are put aside and our passports taken away.

An official appears 20 minutes later with a stack of passports.

She tries to give passports back to people based on their passport pictures, it’s all a bit hopeless.

She doesn’t believe that I’m the same person as the person in the photo on my passport.

Eventually she gives me my passport. 

I have about 7 hours to wait until my connecting flight to Auckland. 

[allennewssource]

More than two tonnes of Colonel Gadaffi’s uranium was accidentally stolen, according to a Libyan...

[media-observer]

This is what the corporate media isn’t showing us.

While Obama and Hillary Clinton are posing as champions for #BlackLivesMatter, Africans are getting sold in open slave markets in Libya thanks to the war that they waged alongside their NATO allies.

A black slave in Libya today costs as little $200 dollars.

Slave trading was punishable by death under Colonel Gadaffi - until the Libyan government was destroyed by a coalition led by Hillary Clinton/Obama. And now they’re tweeting about #BLM

Hypocrisy at its finest.

http://mediaobserver.net/2020/06/14/hypocrisy-at-its-finest/

[anti-imperialist-squad]

Plaques dedicated in memory of 'dictators' such as Kim Jong-il and Colonel Gaddafi have mysteriously appeared on benches in a Dulwich park.

The plaques on benches in Goose Green are dedicated to the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il; Colonel Gaddafi of Libya; Romania’s Nicolae Ceascecu (sic); and the Russian revolutionary Peter Kropotkin.

Each of them has a bizarre tag-line. Kim Jong-il’s plaque reads: “Kim Yong-il, 1942-2011. Always preferred George Lazenby.” 

A plaque for Colonel Gadaffi, who was killed after his capture by a militia in 2011, has the barmy caption: “have i told you lately that i love you?”

Another is for the communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu, who was executed by firing squad on Christmas Day, 1989. His memorial plaque states: “1918-1989. Do ya think I’m sexy?” 

A fourth, and final, plaque dedicates itself to Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin, which has a tagline from an advert for the cleaning product, Cillit Bang. It reads: “Bang! And the dirt is gone!” 

Baffled park-goers in Goose Green did not appear to know much about the plaques when asked by a News reporter this afternoon. 

One woman, who had been sitting on a bench dedicated to Kropotkin, was unaware of the anarchist, and had thought he was a deceased local whose family members had donated a plaque. 

Another person had stopped to take a photo of a plaque dedicated to Ceascecu (sic), because of its bizarre tagline, but did not know who he was.  

Asked why he thought the plaque was there, he said: “I don’t know, it is one of those modern art things, like a Banksy?” 

Mystery surrounds the plaques – but this is not the first time plaques dedicated to despots have been spotted in a London park.

In 2018, a plaque dedicated “in loving memory” of Saddam Hussein was spotted in Wanstead, east London. Nobody ever came forward to claim responsibility for the plaque, which had sparked a backlash among some for insensitivity.

Redbridge Council later removed it. Southwark Council has been contacted by the News for information about the plaques and whether they will be removed.

[rvexillology]

1977-2011 Libya but it's rotated 180° and mirrored horizontally

from /r/vexillologycirclejerk Top comment: Such a peaceful and easy-on-the eye flag, God bless Colonel Gadaffi

[031cinephile]

The 42nd Durban International Film Festival - Framing the Future, Cinema Unleashed

Durban International Film Festival has selected films with the theme “Framing the Future, Cinema Unleashed”. The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts will host the Durban International Festival (DIFF) from 22 July to 1 August 2021. This year, for its 42nd edition, the festival curated a film programme that focuses on narratives that will speak hope for tomorrow.

The programming team received over 3000 films, and after an intense selection process, the festival has curated a film programme consisting of over 120 shorts, documentaries and feature films.

With the theme “Framing the Future, Cinema Unleashed”, the plots in the selected films, through different lenses, provide meaningful solutions on how to adapt to our dynamic and ever-changing environment. The programme includes several films that offer solutions to questions that haven’t been asked yet, broadening our viewpoints and allowing for robust critical discourse. 

"The Durban International Film Festival has been a platform that celebrates a legacy of supporting South African and African filmmakers as well as our partnership with a global film industry. Programming DIFF 2021 was fascinating, given the challenges faced in 2020 globally across the different industries that contribute to the film landscape.  The diversity in the narratives in the submissions is a testament to the resilience shown by filmmakers who continued to work their craft. As is every year, the selection is a daunting task, which the programming team took to diligently and as it is for me, yearly, the heartbreak that comes with not being able to screen more films than allotted. We hope that the selections, a culmination of months of hard work, will speak to our audiences as much as they have moved us.” says Head of Programming Chipo Zhou. 

At the heart of the Durban International Film Festival is a mission to enable partnerships that aim to strengthen the film industry and create opportunities for African, and newer voices. 

Encounters Documentary Film Festival will co-premiere four African documentaries in partnership with DIFF. Murder in Paris, directed by Enver Samuels, a political crime-thriller that traces the motives for the assassination of anti-Apartheid activist Dulcie September. I Am Here, where we meet the phenomenal 98-year old Ella Blumenthal through the eyes of the director Jordy Sank. The Colonel’s Stray Dogs, a profile of political activist Ashur Shamis, who lives with a million-dollar bounty on his head after a lifetime in Muammar Gadaffi’s crosshairs, directed by Ashurs father, Khalid Shamis. The Last Shelter, by Malian director Ousmane Samassekoou, in which we journey to the Malian city of Goa on the edge of the breathtaking Sabel Dester, where audiences get an inside look into the infamous House of Migrants. Zinder, directed by Aicha Macky, is a town in Niger, where in the impoverished area of Kara-Kara, which used to be the lepers’ district, a culture of gang violence reigns. In I am Samuel, directed by Pete Murimi, we are given a window into the life of Kenya’s LGBQTI community where Samuel, a gay Kenyan man, has to balance his duty to his family with the care of his partner. 

The missions to create inclusion in the film industry is emphasised through a robust community engagement programme titled isiPhethu. This year, the programme will host various online workshops and seminars. Additionally, through valuable partnerships, some films by up and coming filmmakers will be screened as part of the DIFF programme. One of these partnerships is the one with Social Transformation and Empowerment Projects (STEPS). This non-profit media company works with documentary film to connect filmmakers, audiences, and organisations, giving marginalised and disadvantaged communities a voice to inspire social change. The recent Mzansi in the time of Covid-19 project, a collection of four documentary short films on Covid-19 that engages diverse audiences in open discussions about the impact of the virus on South African individuals and communities, will screen at DIFF. These films are Lindela under Lockdown, directed by Sihle Hlophe, Schools Shut Down, directed by Kastarine Kgola, Jeanette Makes Masks, directed by Nadine Cloete and Lefu – The Funeral, directed by Omelga Mthiyane.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts (CCA), will host the Durban International Festival (DIFF) from 22 July to 1 August 2021. This year, for its 42nd edition, the festival presents a programme of close to 140 feature films, documentaries and short films alongside an exciting industry programme: Isiphethu.

On 22 July, DIFF 2021 opens with a virtual screening of the action-thriller, The Eagle’s Nest, by Cameroon Born British director Olivier Assoua. From 23 July all other films will be available to watch for free online. Documentary ‘Threshold’ by the Brasilian Coraci Ruiz is the closing film and will be screening on 1 August just after the annual DIFF Award Ceremony. The DIFF jury is consisting of an international team of industry specialists including South African producer Cait Pansegrouw, filmmaker Sam Soko from Kenya and Dutch producer Raymond Van Der Kaaij.

The DIFF Awards Head of programming, Chipo Zhou is proud to announce the films in competition, that are diverse but have a common thread. “The DIFF deliberately cultivates indigenous talent development and grants access to audiences and aspirant filmmakers particularly women, children, LGBTQI+ communities in highly conservative regions of the world. Ultimately, all the narratives in competition speak to this vision and are an illustration of the challenges of overcoming adversity and adapting to an altered world — one where, sadly, not everyone has fared so well. These are the kinds of stories that DIFF sought out this year, stories of hope, stories that show the light at the end of the tunnel, even if for now, it seems like just a flicker. “ says Zhou.

Documentaries in the 2021 Competition:

Areum Married, in which director Areum Parkkang tries juggling her film and her marriage in this autobiographical documentary. The Republic of Korea, 2021

As I Want, directed by an emerging voice in Arabic documentary film making, Samaher Alqadi, who picks up her camera as a form of protection and begins documenting the growing women’s rebellion. Egypt, 2021

Downstream to Kinshasa, in which director Dieudo Hamadi shares the forgotten tragedy of the victims of the six-day war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2021

Hard Livings, a film about a city, a country and a continent plagued by ills stemming from inequality, directed by Solomon Staggie, South Africa, 2021

I Am Here, in which we meet the phenomenal 98-year old Ella Blumenthal through the eyes of the director Jordy Sank. South Africa, 2021

I, Mary, in which director Aliki Saragas Georgiou shares a lyrical telling of Regina Mary Ndlovu’s story who is a survivor of a lifetime of sexual abuse, and a fiercely determined woman with Albinism. South Africa, 2021

Mein Vietnam, about a Vietnamese couple that has been living in Germany for the past 30 years by director Thi Hien Mai. Germany/Vietnam, 2020

Murder in Paris, a political crime thriller doccie that traces the motives for the assassination of anti-Apartheid activist, Dulcie September by director Enver Samuel. South Africa, 2021

Postcard, Finding an old picture postcard of a mountain village marks the start of an existential journey for director Asmae El Moudir. She explores life in Zawia, Morocco, where her mother was born. Morocco, Qatar, 2020

The Colonel’s Stray Dogs, a profile of political activist Ashur Shamis, who lives with a million-dollar bounty on his head after a lifetime in Muammar Gadaffi’s crosshairs, directed by Ashurs father, Khalid Shamis. South Africa, 2021

The Last Shelter, by Malian director Ousmane Samassekoou, in which we journey to the Malian city of Goa on the edge of the breath-taking Sabel Dester, where audiences get an inside look into the infamous House of Migrants. South Africa, 2021

The Sit-In, Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show, in which director Yoruba Richen examines the importance of this lost broadcast history through vibrant interviews. USA, 2021

Zinder, directed by Aicha Macky, is a town in Niger, where in the impoverished area of Kara-Kara, which used to be the lepers’ district, a culture of gang violence reigns. Niger, 2021

Features in the 2021 Competition:

Coming of age story, A Little Bird Reminds Me, directed by Shi Xin, follows the joys, sorrow and struggle of a Chinese boy and his family during the last decade of the 20th century. China, 2020

Granada Nights, directed by Abid Khan, in which a British-Pakistani tourist must mend his broken heart before he can restart his life in the transient city of Granada in Spain. UK, 2021

Psychological thriller Lost directed by Driss Roukhe in which a young woman finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy. Morocco, 2021

My Son, directed by Equan Choe, in which a father, taking care of his 18-year old, handicapped son, can’t turn his son down as he declares his independence, Republic of Korea, 2020

Nandi, directed by Khalid EL-Jelailati, follows the spiralling journey of Nandi in the underbelly of the criminal world. South Africa, 2021

Pusha Pressa Phanda, directed by Dick d’vLz Reubïn, follows the story of street youth Mandisa as she struggles to obtain medication and sanitary pads for her sister who is under her care, South Africa, 2021

Rickshaw Girl, a personal story, directed by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury in which a daring and artistic Bangladeshi teenaged girl disguises herself as a boy and braves the dangers of the big city. Bangladesh, 2021

Sons of the Sea, directed by John Gutierez, in which a gifted reclusive teenager from a poor South African fishing community, is pressured by his older brother to steal two bags of ocean treasure – abalone, from a dead man. South Africa, 2020

Valentina, directed by Cássio Pereira dos Santos in which trans girl and her mother move to a new town in order to start fresh, but quickly face dilemmas when the local high school needs a second parental signature for enrolment. Brasil, 2020

The opening film, action-thriller The Eagle’s Nest, directed by Olivier Assoua, a story set in Africa on migration and poverty.UK/Cameroon, 2021

The full programme of shorts, consisting of a selection of 52 powerful short films that were thoughtfully curated for DIFF2021, are in competition.

Programme and details The full programme, alongside all the films that will be screening, is accessible through www.durbanfilmfest.com. Tickets for the virtual screenings are only available from South Africa for free, and are only accessible through a booking system, which opened on 21 July.

The 42nd edition of the festival is organised by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, in partnership and with the support of the KZN Film Commission, the National Film and Video Foundation, Department of Arts & Culture, the Film and Publications Board and other valued funders and partners.

[tubafilms]

My second feature length film premiering at HotDocs 2021.

For over 40 years Ashur Shamis was a member of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and Colonel Gadaffi’s enemy number one in exile with a $1m bounty on his head. His dream of a ‘free’ Libya almost cost him his life and his family. When the 2011 revolution rid the country of their dictator, Ashur finally returned home to a hero’s welcome but soon found a land vastly different to the one he left. As Libya slipped into civil war he was rejected by the new country and found himself exiled once again. His dream of Libya now distorted, Ashur’s son uncovers a dangerous past and questions the choices his father made to inherit the mess Gadaffi left.

You can see the trailer here

and some press

Modern Times review

Variety write up

Distro: https://www.journeyman.tv/film/8098/the-colonels-stray-dogs

[monsurahkamal]

Monsurah Kamal

Beyond the Frame

Hypernormalisation Review

 The Soviet Union became a society where everyone knew that what their leaders said was not real because they could see with their own eyes that the economy was falling apart. But everybody had to play along and pretend that it WAS real because no-one could imagine any alternative. One Soviet writer called it "hypernormalisation". You were so much a part of the system that it was impossible to see beyond it. The fakeness was hypernormal.

This comment in the movie is the part that made the most sense to me and applies to what is happening around the world today. We are so much part of the system that we cannot see beyond it.

The movie was very informative, greatly illustrated with footages of events and the sound effects and background music made a great impact on the overall documentary. Most of the topics that were discussed weren’t basic knowledge to a lot of people. It really opened my eyes to how politics work, how the government were able to deceive people by different means necessary.

. The term "hypernormalisation" is taken from Alexei Yurchak's 2006 book Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation, in which Yurchak argues that for many decades everyone had known the Soviet system was failing, but as no one could imagine any alternative, politicians and citizens were resigned to maintaining a pretence of a functioning society. Over time, this delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy and the "fakeness" was accepted by everyone as real, an effect that Yurchak termed "hypernormalisation. - Wikipedia

The movie is divided into nine parts; 1975, The human bomb, Altered States, Acid Flashback, The Colonel, The truth is out there, Managed Outcomes, A Cautionary Tale and A World without power.

An event took place in the year 1975 at the same time in both New York and Damascus between two politicians; Henry Kissinger, US Sectary of State and President of Syria – Al-Asaad. Al Asaad wanted to unite the Arab nations while Kissinger felt that would not keep him in power, so he undermined Al Asaad by playing a double game and making a deal with Iran, which aggravated Al Asaad and made him brutal. To cut a long story short, this would be Al Asaad’s mental breakdown where he became more brutal, lost his optimisms and trust in the world.

The poor man’s atomic bomb which is now called the suicide bomb is a sick and appalling way of becoming a martyr. This martyrdom was first instilled into the minds of people by Khomeini as a way of attacking American’s troops in Lebanon; the troops which later pulled out of Lebanon and made Al Asaad the first Arab to defeat the Americans and pull them out of the Middle East. This “suicide bombing’ method has now become disastrous that the men who first initiated it can no longer control it.

Altered States and Acid Flashback: Cyberspace was created and was a tangle of giant information invisible to ordinary people and to politicians. No laws or politicians to protect you.

The Colonel: It shows how when things don’t go as planned for a government administration, the best solution is to look for a common enemy. President Reagan used Muammar Gaddafi as a pawn making him to be a villain and Gaddafi gladly played the role. He was already an isolated figure so with a good amount of fame he was able to push forward his propaganda theory which was called The Third Way.

The Truth out there: Perception Management is the method used by the government to distract and deceive its people from the actual reality. It shows how the government was testing a new weapon and wanted to keep it a secret so instead they led the people to believe it was UFOs landing on Earth. There is another footage shows how people now focus on themselves rather than change the world.

Managed Outcomes:  The Creation of Eliza and Alaadin. Alaadin is a computer program that can predict possible outcomes and risks of a financial deal. Eliza was created for reassurance instead of medication, it became a program tell their inner feelings and secrets too. It basically repeats what is being told and that made people reassured.

A Cautionary Tale:  At the beginning it was about Trump casino in Las Vegas and banks have realized he no longer had money to pay so they took over his buildings. He was worried about Kashiwagi whom he had lost millions of dollars to, so he devised a plan to win back his money by asking for help from Jess Marcum, a card counter. After five agonizing days, Kashiwagi finally lost but before he could pay up his debt he was hacked to death by yakuza gangsters.

There was also the talk of the Lockerbie bombing and who was responsible for it. Syria was blamed for it but it turned to be Libya behind it. They couldn’t accept that Libya did it because they thought the West was trying to appease to Syria’s leader.

Another topic was of suicide bombing which was a thing of Shia has now turned into what Sunnis are using to attack. They were attacking civilians which Shias never did..

Later on, Muammar Gaddafi became the people best friend through a means called Perception Management by framing the narrative.

A World Without Power: the effect of the war and people moving on to cyberspace. It was later discovered that cyberspace was used in different ways like sharing their intimate parts to another person and watching pornography. Muammar Gadaffi was no longer the West best friend; they turned their backs on him once again.  The Arab Spring was disastrous.

[wezg]

Review: Red Horizons - The True Story of Nicolae & Elena Ceausescus' Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption - by Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa

I was just chatting away to Ionutz a security nurse in the local mental hospital and he’s Romanian. I passed through Bucharest a few years ago en route to Istanbul on a train journey traversing Eastern Europe. Romania seemed quite rural, poor and quite different to the Europe with which I am more acquainted. Curiosity and a quick Amazon search later and  I’ve got this rare gem of a book in my…

[proudlymanutd-blog]

Turkish Financier Reveals Colonel Gadaffi Was A 'Few Hours' Away From Buying Man Utd in 2004 http://bit.ly/2EjvWZO

[fromthebottomoftherecordbox]

Tinariwen take us deep into the desert night

Tinariwen are today's Triple Bookend! Tuareg musicians par excellence - they take us on a transcendental trip deep into the Western Saharan desert night. And what a trip it is. With guesting musicians from the annals of rock history and traditional Mauritanian folk masters. This double LP release that is only a couple of weeks old is a must-have for any record collector. Richard presents 3 tracks of his choice from that release, Amadjar. Released on double 180g premium vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with additional 28pp road trip booklet AND digital download, order here. As if the sonic landscape created by Tinariwen was not enough Tobin brings us a 52 year old Record Box Classic. Despite the difficulties recording this in the studio it's a cracking listen. In fact, it acts beautifully as a Record Box Classic. In so much that you've not heard it for ages but it sounds brilliant. Go right on ahead and listen, you'll understand what we are saying. In addition to this, we have New Music from Ayelle where we all get a bit confused about what she is actually singing about. Crabs? Cycle paths? Eh? Yeah, it's a real fun listen and you could have heard it 3 weeks ago if you were a patron of the show. Want to get involved? Get some deep personal enlightenment right here. Furthermore Tobin lifts the lid on Caamp's new LP and Richard adds some cautionary listening advice. It's a great new release but comes with a caveat. Zawal TinariwenAfter The Rain KysonTramp Carla Thomas & Otis ReddingKel Tinawen TinariwenPsychopaths AyellePenny, Heads Up CaampMadjam Mahilkamen Tinariwen A very British problem This is a bit embarrassing, and we don't like to ask. However, we've had to renew our music licence this week and it has more than doubled in price! That means that it is going to cost us twice as much to broadcast for the coming 12 months. It'd be great to feel your support dear listener, for only $1 a month you could help us cover this increase. If only a small fraction of our listeners could get to a $1 a month pledge we'd be more than buoyant. Please help us continue broadcasting. In return, we will email you a New Music Shot mini show every week where Tobin offers you his musical selection for the week. It's exclusive and only for people like you who contribute to our success. Go ahead, click below to help us out Become a Patron! Tinariwen - true rock 'n' roll rebels Well right off the bat, friend of the show Will has been in touch with us to tell us his best mate used to work at a record label and worked with Tinariwen at said label! There you are, a personal Listener Recommendation if ever there was one. But there's more… Tinariwen (meaning "deserts") were founded in 1979 in Algeria by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib who aged 4 witnessed the execution of his father. His father was a Tuareg rebel and was killed in a 1963 uprising in Mali. Tinariwen returned to Mali in the 1990s after a ceasefire. Ibrahim Ag Alhabib was influenced by a movie he saw as a young child which featured a cowboy playing a guitar. Ag Alhabib built his own guitar out of a plastic water can, a stick and some fishing wireAbdallah Ag Alhousseyni In the late 70's Ag Alhabib joined with other members of the rebel Tuareg community. The band began to explore Morroccan folk music and Algerian pop music. They began to fuse this with more western sounds like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana et al. The music collective used to play at weddings and other social gatherings, and whilst not having an official name people came to know them Kel Tinariwen. This translates in the local Tamashek language as "People of the Desert" or "The Desert Boys". The 1980s ushered in a new era for Tinariwen In 1980 Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi issued a cry to Tuareg people living illegally in Libya to receive nine months military training. His idea was to have an elite fighting force honed from the tough Tuareg people to patrol Western Sahara and assist in his campaigns in Chad and Niger. Ag Alhabib and other band members heeded the call. They did so with a similar call in 1985, this time by Tuareg rebel leaders in Libya. This is where many of the musicians met and formed Tinariwen. The idea was to create songs about the struggles Tuareg people faced. They built a makeshift studio and vowed to record music for free for anyone who supplied a blank audio cassette. The resulting cassettes were traded widely throughout the region of the Sahara. In 1989 the band left Libya, returning to Mali. Ag Alhabib returned to his home village for the first time in 26 years. Rock 'n' roll rebels whose rebellion, for once, wasn't just metaphoricalSlate magazine In 1990 the Tuareg people revolted against the government. Members of Tinariwen acted as rebel fighters and soon a peace treaty was forced in the January of 1991. It was finally time for Tinariwen to leave military service and start focussing on music full time. Since 2001 new Tuareg musicians have joined Tinariwen who did not live through the military conflicts contributing to the bands multi-generational evolution. Read the full article

[its-changemod]

I...

So Colonel Gadaffi had a German rocket scientist married couple called Lutz and Susi Kayser working for him, and they fled to a privately owned island in the middle of the Pacific.

They’re happily talking to an interviewer who came to meet them on their island but I mean...

They’re German rocket scientists with a private tropical island who used to build missiles for a dictator, and their surname sounds like Kaiser.

They’re just straight up bond villains.

[simoncroberts]

Going through some old boxes today and found my fake Rolex watch featuring face of Colonel Gadaffi from a trip to Libya ten years ago. I wonder whether @martinparrstudio has one in his Parrworld collection!? Brighton, April 2017 #dictatorwatch #simonroberts

[c0ry-c0nvoluted]

What the frigiddy-FUGDE-monk is happening here?? -cc

colonel Gadaffy by imagist

[port-salut]

LE TESTAMENT POLITIQUE DU COLONEL KADHAFI

* C’est exactement 6 ans que Mouammar Gadaffi a été tué *

  *Prophéties de Mouammar Kadhafi :*

« _Je ne m’exilerai dans aucun pays étranger. Je suis né ici en Libye et je mourrai ici. Ce pays était un dessert et je l’ai transformé en une forêt où tout peut pousser._

_Personne n’aime cette terre plus que ses citoyens. Si l’Europe et l’Amérique vous disent qu’ils vous aiment, soyez prudents. Ils…