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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Life in Libya, Going off the Grid, and More

On Libya:
- Berber tribes are indigenous people. For most of its history, Libya has been subjected to varying degrees of foreign control, from Europe, Asia, and Africa. The modern history of independent Libya began in 1951. The history of Libya comprises six distinct periods: Ancient Libya, the Roman era, the Islamic era, Ottoman rule, Italian rule, and the Modern era. Very small population of around 6 million. Arabic, Berber languages along with Italian and English in common use
-  mostly sand with a tiny strip by the sea. Obviously a lot of trouble of late. Biggest issue is that the country has been effectively split in half. The funny thing is that the oil is located in one half of the country and that's the side that seems to be most stable? ISIS and other groups have taken hold and public order has broken down. Government are now paying off these groups to help maintain public order? Public didn't consider Gaddafi an overly horrible guy? Conflicting theories about why there was intervention there. One was for Human Rights issues, another was because Gaddafi was anti-US/West and was planning to usurp them via new pan-African gold backed currency, etc...
life in libya
Life in Libya [1980]
What Was Libya Like 20 Years Ago
Libya before and after Gaddafi
Libya, two years after Gaddafi
Libya - Insight into daily life of the green resistance
Libya - Islamic State group cornered in one last district of Sirte
Life in Libya
Life in Tripoli-Libya today 16 December 2011.mp4g
'Now devastated' - 5 yrs after Libyan revolution
Tripoli Citizen - Life was better when Gaddafi was in Control (august 28, 2011)
What Does Libya After Gaddafi Look Like
Libya - Insight into daily life of the green resistance
Libya - Man sacrifices life, family mourns CNN NEWS
Future of Libya, Life After Capitalism & Merging the Emergency (EP 307)
Imazighen n Yefren (يفرن) - starting a new life in post-Gaddafi Libya
- country looks not much different from other parts of the Middle East?
Libya _ Flair Media covers daily life of civilians
Night life in Tripoli - Libya
Life In Tripoli  16.08.11, before NATO & Rats Freedom, NATO War On Libya
- clearly, different sides are playing off against one another so that the people will side with them so that they can run things... Ancient Sufi shrines being destroyed. Country being turned into an Islamist state? Different accounts of what is happening depending on who you ask. Traps being left all over the place
Benghazi attack - What is life like in Libya after Gaddafi - Truthloader
Life After Qaddafi — Libya - A Broken State (Extra Scene)
Life After Qaddafi — Libya - A Broken State
Human Rights Watch Details Life Under ISIS in Sirte, Libya
- things are unstable so people are seeking options elsewhere. Have heard that Libya used to act as a cap on Africa to stop refugees from heading into Europe. That's obviously now changed with political stability an issue
Why Are So Many Migrants Fleeing Libya
Libya - The gateway for a better life in Europe
A hard life for Libya's African migrants
- Gaddafi came from a poor/nomadic background. Parents illiterate. Strong Islamic background. Became interested via Nasser of Egypt as a high school student. Frustrated by Western imperialism when young especially with regards to pro-UK Libyan government prior to revolution. Surprise is that revolution came without bloodshed? Wrote 'Green Books' in order to rectify the Libya/world (true democracy/localised rule making). Perfect egalitarian? Business 'partners' not 'workers', equal rights for women, cars for everyone, etc... Pushed the edges to maintain control but honestly believed that he was doing this for the overall good? Funded many anti-US/Western/imperialist groups such as Castro/Cuba, Mandela/South Africa, IRA/Ireland, rebels/Angola, etc... Was anti-Israel/Zionist and pro-Palestine. Was grooming daughter to run things after he was gone? Has been acknowledged as an idealist who forced his vision/will upon others. As state previously, finding it difficult to believe that he was as bad as some people have been saying? Brought supermarkets to Libya, gave everyone cars and housing, a massive man made water project which brought water to everyone in Libya, etc... Free healthcare, education, money for marriages, cheap petrol, housing was considered a 'human right', high on the HDI (Human Development Index), enough food to go around, etc...? Was a nationalist and another world leader who had anti-US/West tendencies... Those who already thought along those lines in Libya are probably worse now?
Muammar Gaddafi (Qaddafi) Biography Years before he is Murdered LIBYA
Life in Libya [1980]
What Was Libya Like 20 Years Ago
YOU'LL WISH YOU LIVED IN LIBYA WHEN GADDAFI RULED WHEN YOU HEAR THE TRUTH
Libya after the fall of Qaddafi (2015)
Libya and Gaddafi - TRUTH NOW!
Libya - Insight into daily life of the green resistance
LIBYA - Nurse talks about life with Gadhafi
Libya, two years after Gaddafi
A Man Called Gaddafi (His Life & Death) (Documentary)
- situation with Castro/Cuba, Gaddafi/Libya, Chavez/Venezuela, Kim Jong- Un/North Korea, Duterte/Philippines, all remind me of one another. Complicated... Trying to make the best of bad circumstances?
- technically, it's in Africa but the Middle Eastern/Arabian influence is obvious to see. Main difference between Asian and Middle Eastern food is that they substitute fish sauce and lemon juice for one another in their marinades and sauces. Food seems to be more unique to the country then some of the other Middle Eastern countries I've looked at such as Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc... You see the influence of European colonisation in some of their food from time to time with strong hints of Italian heritage if you look closely enough
libya food recipes
- like Syria it's not really possible to gauge the state of the economy. Going off of old data. Main source of income is oil. Labour force is mainly composed of service and government, petroleum, steel, iron, food processing, textiles
libya economy
- most interesting on first glance is the Barbary ground squirrel
libya animals
- semi-free press. Mostly Arabic and English that I've seen. Simple websites (common theme to the Middle East and Asia?). Focused mostly on relations with neighbours when it comes to international relations
libya media
- limited abilities with regards to their military (and old as well). A mix of NATO, French, and old Soviet/Russian equipment. Defense forces focused on self-defense, not power projection, and certainly not internal insurrection... Makes sense that they are struggling with maintaining stability
Libya - Islamic State group cornered in one last district of Sirte
- one of the funny things that I've come to realise about the so called 'evil states' such as Libya, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Russia, etc... and that other parts of the non-globalist economy is that some metrics just don't really work or are applicable to their circumstances? For instance, let's say that the 'Somerandomzia' is really, really happy and has perfect education, health, food, housing, and so on but doesn't trade with the rest of the world 'Somerandomzia' is going to have a GDP of $0 which makes them technically living under poverty according to the rest of the 'globalised world'...

On alternatives in life:
The reason why I'm looking at 'alternatives to the mainstream' is because if the government and the business world fails you often there isn't a lot that you can do. So let's look at some alternatives. The most frustrating thing about liberal, capitalist, democracy is that it's fundamentally still a hierarchal structure that is still based on indoctrination rather then choice. Across all core metrics (trust in all core institutions such as media, politics, parliament/congress, etc... is extremely low while metrics related to poverty, healthcare, happiness, education, inequality, etc... seem to be worse then in a lot of other countries? (as long as these numbers are valid/can be trusted)) it's also clear that liberal, capitalist, democracy is basically failing/collapsing?
What's So Bad About Nazis 
TheTinyDot 
TinyDotExplained.mp4 
The Myth of Authority (Video Contest Winner) 
- infrastructure such as Internet and telecommunications. We can rely on mesh/hybrid networks composed of long range wireless infrastructure to get around some of this particularly if the government isn't rolling things directly to you and somehow someone close to you has. Effectively build your own infrastructure. Use, deploy, build, etc... caching and proxy technology wherever appropriate. A lot of people using the Internet backbone/infrastructure to overlay over technology such as video, SMS, VPN, etc... You should/could think in the same way. Else, go all the way and overlay your technology/concepts over existing amateur radio systems. After all, it's just standard modulation/demodulation with error correction, encryption, etc... thrown in right?
- power and electricity. Stick to renewables if at all possible. Note that camping class gear versus residential class equipment is very different. One is designed for temporal use, the other permanent. Note that a lot of fuels can be substituted for one another. Think of combustible engines as an example. If you look around you'll realise that they can be easily modified to run on things such as home brewed alcohol that can be made from food scraps
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2013/05/going-green.html
- water. Know your local sources and how to sterilise it in case something goes wrong
- search engines/reference. Go back to books, public libraries, op shops, download what you need and ignore the rest (think about how much of the content on the Internet do you actually use. It's probably a fairly narrow band/window?). There are heaps of website downloading tools out there. Use alternative search engines such as http://duckduckgo.com or even build your own if you find you can not get what you need. Plenty of Free and Open Source Solutions (FOSS) options out there...
download wikipedia
- software. It's clear that EULA's are becoming more draconian all the time. To avoid this avoid the Internet and the cloud. Try to do everything on your own and give yourself a choice so that you can choose when to use services online or offline. FOSS whenever possible such as Linux, BSD, Plan 9 for OS, older versions of software, etc... Helps to avoid problems with cost, licensing, government and private enterprise overreach, etc... https://f-droid.org/, build your own, https://github.com/, https://sourceforge.net/. Learn to code at least on a rudimentary level
- social networks. There are a lot of alternatives out there. You just need to go out and look
- news and media (be honest with yourself. A lot of 'news doesn't make sense'. Think about war correspondance in particular. If both sides are telling the truth then it means that both sides are supporting terrorism and attempting to maintain peace at the same time? It makes sense but doesn't? There's a lot of shenanigans going on out there now. On top of that there's just slack, lazy reporting, etc... Ironically, most of this stuff is noise and irrelevant to most people's lives. If certain things are important to you go out and research things for yourself. Ironically, democracies would probably work better this way?). 
Goebbels, The Master of Lies (RT Documentary) 
Bullhorns - Trump Watch (CrossTalk)
NATO 'Mistruths' - Alliance publishes list of 'myths' spread by Russia
If RT Is Just the Kremlin's Mouthpiece Explain This Video -- Putin Pays American Lady to Savage Him 
'Fake News' - Jeremy Corbyn calls out BBC
Blame ping pong - WikiLeaks accuses BBC of lying about leaks on French politicians
US Congresswoman calls for Trump impeachment because Putin’s attacking... Korea
Fake news firewall Le Monde launches news filter app
Fake News Reality - NYT, Washington Post implicated in publishing false facts on Russia
Arbiter of truth Hunt for fake news rages as Wikipedia bans Daily Mail as ‘unreliable’ source
- food. Agorism, local farming and agriculture (more difficult with advent of zoning of areas but possible especially in countries where gardens are more common), stock up on non perishables whenever possible and things are cheap. Some of the more 'adventurous' even live off of 'roadkill' instead of store purchased meat
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-17/dumpster-diving-food-not-bombs-feeding-west-end-community/8356172
- medicine. One of the things that you'll realise is that while Western medicine is important it's not the only option out there. Western medicine seems to be work along the lines of plugging the most immediate leak. Other forms of medicine and taking care of your health are generally often more holistic and work just as well. That's how countries such as Cuba are able to take care of their population despite significant US/Western sanctions. Learn first aide for your own sake as well as that of your family and friends...
- defense and public order. One of the interesting things about this area has been the advancement of AI and private enterprise into the defense sector. My guess is that just like during the breakup of the USSR things could become like that with increasing reliance on criminal (and other random) elements to maintain public order. You may need to figure out a way to figure out to fend for yourself as well. This may mean taking self defense classes and taking things into your own hands?
- security and anonymity. One alternative is to become so good at this that others can't break into your systems/networks. The other is to stay off of digital technology if possible. Since the security services want control of everything and have backdoors in everything simultaneously it's inevitable that they'll be breaches and corruption on their side (as we've seen with Snowden and many other whistleblowers). Setup your own system. We were able to live without the Internet before and we can live without it now. Download everything you need and don't bother thereafter. VPN and proxy technology are possible but are becoming increasingly banned around the world
online proxy
- money and finance. Bitcoin/blockchain/cryptocurrency, cash (have foreign reserves and hard goods/commodities such as gold and silver as a hedge against local problems), barter. Use the exact same methods that countries use to defend themselves in times of economic difficulty
- electronics and other goods. Think carefully about this one. If you are relatively knowledgeable (or curious) you can build things or outsource things to cheap overseas factories yourself. With the advent of 3D printing local manufacturing is increasingly viable...
- transport. Need to personalise this as much as possible. Ride sharing, walking, bike/scooter (rules regarding these vary based on jurisdiction. There are sometimes no licence requirements for very lower power devices), build your own (difficult given road safety regulations now. They effectively act as a market barrier and inhibitor to innovation whether deliberate or not...), etc...
- education. Look into self education and extra tutoring. The government can't handle everything...
- housing. Check with family and friends. Charities and religious groups often provide shelter for the poor. Try moving (interstate or even overseas) if things are really bad locally. Plenty of people who are willing to 'house share' out there if you look
http://brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/a-simple-fix-for-the-housing-crisis-live-in-smaller-cheaper-homes-20170320-gv1ujy.html
- politics. You'll need to search for this one. There are more then two parties in most countries but in reality people only
- occupation and finance. If the existing banking and finance sector you'll have to make do. Crowdfunding (https://www.indiegogo.com/, https://www.patreon.com/), friends/family, etc... Basically watch what has happened to other countries in financial difficulty and do the exact same
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-in-venezuela-examining-prophetspre.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-in-syria-why-jsf-isnt-worth-it-and.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-in-egypt-life-in-saudi-arabia-and.html
- realistically, the biggest problem with breaking apart from the mainstream is that the mainstream already has so much content/access? Where possible copy/keep everything you can that is good/legitimate onto any potential new network that you are to create
- be cynical but realistic. Possible though unrealistic. If the whole thing collapses (look at Europe and Latin America for good examples of even developed economies collapsing) people will stock up and attempt to profiteer like we've seen in Venezuela, Middle East, etc...
http://www.itwire.com/technology-regulation/76844-google-told-to-pay-us$20m-over-chrome-patent-violation.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-new-cold-war-economic-crisis-and-more.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/03/psychological-warfaremind-control-more.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/06/religious-conspiracies-is-capitalism.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/06/is-capitalism-collapsing-random.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-in-venezuela-examining-prophetspre.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-in-syria-why-jsf-isnt-worth-it-and.html

Random Quote:
- All of which is to say that American primacy, as we know it, is dead. Those who seek its restoration by doubling down in their support of “democrats” in trouble spots around the world are chasing a mirage, as are those who promise to make America great again by . . . whatever. America was great. It remains great. But it will never have the authority or power that it enjoyed following the Second World War, and Washington would be wise to husband the power it does have. To borrow a formula from Hans Morgenthau, America’s policymakers must learn to distinguish, first, between what is essential in foreign affairs and what is desirable, and, second, between what is desirable and what is possible. What is essential is for the United States to find ways to coexist with other great powers—Russia and China at the present time; possibly India, Indonesia, Japan and Brazil in the future—and that means understanding that those countries have national interests of their own that one ignores at one’s peril, even when they clash with American values. To view compromise and accommodation as diminutions of power while invoking images of Munich is a dangerous exercise.
- China's rise as an economic superpower has impacted Australian cities beyond trade figures, tourist arrivals and international student enrolments. With mainland Chinese migration sharply increasing in recent years, state-backed political astroturfing has become more pronounced, from pro-Beijing South China Sea demonstrations in Melbourne and Sydney, to mobilising cheering, flag-waving crowds to drown out Free Tibet and Falun Gong demonstrators during President Xi Jinping's visit in 2014.

The organisers are typically business, community and patriotic associations with close ties to the Chinese embassy and consulates which harness the local community in an attempt to advance the mainland's strategic interests and have a greater influence on public discussion in Australia.
- China has proved time and again in its modern history that when there is enough determination, things can get done. It also has a lot of motivation as well as an example in the U.S., which is now nearly self-sufficient with regard to energy thanks to the shale boom.

This drive towards self-sufficiency can have a pretty bad effect on international gas prices, as Oilprice.com warned earlier this month, if it turns out successful. Its chances of success shouldn’t be underestimated in light of the three factors listed above. China wants to decrease its energy dependency, and it looks like it’s prepared to spend heavily to develop its shale gas reserves, which are estimated to be the largest in the world, or 1.7 times greater than those in the U.S.
- The mesmerising glow of a jellyfish could soon see safer lasers available to map human cells.

At the moment, two types of lasers are used to produce light.

The first, a conventional laser, emits identical photons that have bounced around inside a cavity to produce light. This is the type of laser that you would use to highlight parts of a diagram in a presentation.

The second, a polariton laser, passes photons back and forth between excited molecules. These are released and reabsorbed within the laser – allowing it to produce light.

But both types have drawbacks. A conventional laser uses a massive amount of energy and is unviable to scale up, while a polariton laser will only operate at very low temperatures.

As polariton lasers use less energy they are safer for medical applications (as they are less destructive). It was this insight that lead scientists to begin work on a polariton laser that could be used at room temperature.

Jellyfish proteins just happened to be their answer. The barrel-shaped proteins are unique in that their light-emitting molecules are spaced widely enough to produce laser light at room temperature.
- Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that enemies of Muslim nations have no hostility towards a “secular” version of Islam, based on which religion has no role in sociopolitical affairs.

In a Sunday meeting with a group of clerics and prayer leaders in Tehran on the occasion of World Mosque Day, the Leader said a “secular Islam," which is restricted to individual or collective worship, is not the subject of hostility for domineering powers.

What bullying powers are opposed to is a “powerful Islam” which lays the foundations for a sociopolitical system and guides nations towards prosperity, Ayatollah Khamenei added.
- When Crimea was controlled by Ukraine, goods and services were affordable, and the plant's workers were able to treat themselves now and then, they say. But after Kiev blocked freight supplies last year, prices soared.

"I can only buy food and it's hard to buy clothes," said Pavel, a technician, who said he was paid 17,000 roubles ($350) a month. That is only around half the average monthly income in Russia.

"It would be enough in Ukraine because prices were lower. I'm shocked. My wage is stuck and everything grows in price."

Three other workers described monthly salaries ranging from just 10,000 roubles for a laboratory assistant to 21,000 for a man who runs an engineering department.

The Crimea Titanium plant is controlled by Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash. His spokesman and the plant's management did not reply to for requests for comment.

Russia is building a bridge to link Crimea to southern Russia it hopes will establish a new supply route and reduce consumer prices. However the first trucks are not expected to be able to use it until 2018 at the earliest.
- WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. economy risks getting stuck in a prolonged period of low-growth amid slowing productivity and a shrinking middle class, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.2 percent in the second quarter this year, following a downwardly revised 0.8 percent gain in the first quarter, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. That marked the third straight quarter in which the U.S. economy grew at lower than 2 percent, the weakest period in four years.

The weaker-than-expected economic data underscores the continuing frustration about the current U.S. recovery, which has repeatedly failed to shift to higher gear in the past seven years.

The U.S. economy has grown at an average pace of 2.1 percent since the recession ended in the mid-2009, registering the weakest U.S. economic expansion since World War II. During the postwar period up to the current recession (1947-2007), the average annual growth rate for the United States was 3.4 percent.
- Japan’s Defense Ministry wants its 200 F-15 fighter jets to carry twice as many air-to-air missiles as they do now, in a bid to prepare for a possible confrontation with Chinese Air Force around disputed East China Sea islands.

The Defense Ministry is likely to request more budgetary allocations to upgrade capabilities of its US-built F-15 fighter jets operated by Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF), Nikkei Asian Review reported on Sunday. 

These upgrades would double the number of air-to-air missiles carried by ASDF F-15s, from eight to 16 per each aircraft. In addition, damaged wings and other parts of the fighter jets will be repaired to extend their lifespan.

Currently, the Japanese Air Force operates 200 F-15s in combat and trainer variants as well as roughly 90 Mitsubishi F-2 multirole fighters, a development of F-16 design.

The 2017 military budget worth $51 billion will reportedly include a separate purchase of an undisclosed number of controversial fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter jets, said to be deployed at the Misawa Airbase at the northern tip of Honshu, Japan's main island.
- The Russian space agency is designing a new launch vehicle for future moon missions incorporating legacy technology from the Energia-Buran project instead of pushing for the extra-lift version of the Angara rocket, the chief of Energia Corporation said.

Energia and Roscosmos are “working on a super heavy-lift launch vehicle (SHLLV) that would use an engine that we already have, the RD-171,” Vladimir Solntsev told Izvestia newspaper.

The RD-171 is derived from the Energia-Buran, the short-lived soviet reusable manned spacecraft project similar to NASA’s Space Shuttle. The Energia launcher used four strap-on boosters each equipped with a four-chamber RD-170 engine for its first stage. The engine was later modified for the Zenit rocket family. Other variants with fewer chambers are currently used in Atlas V rockets and Russia’s newest Angara rockets.
- A Canadian company that makes and sells vibrators has been caught out storing details of vibrator settings used by purchasers and their personal email addresses on its servers.

A lawsuit filed in the US state of Illinois accused Standard Innovation of Ontario of "selling products that secretly collect and transmit highly sensitive personally identifiable information about the consumers using them".

The suit was filed by a woman, N.P., who said she had purchased a vibrator known as We-Vibe in May, according to a court filing which was linked to by the website Ars Technica.
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Market Consolidation/Neo-Feudalism, Random Stuff, and More

- it never occured to me until recently how consolidated things in the world were in the global market place. In this post we'll take a ...