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1 Introduction Nearly every thing Bret Stephens says in this articlehttps://www.quora.com/link/Opinion-The-Real-China-Challenge-Managing-Its-Declineis wrongly based or politically founded. That’s no way to write an objective economics article about China.1.1 Corrections To The Stephens New York Times Article I propose in this Answer to analyse nearly every segment and aspect of Stephens’ article, correcting his mis-statements and mistaken parallels and correcting these where they are wrongly based and stating what is more likely to be right. I apologise that this activity has taken me a few days to complete.2 The Corrections2.1 The Countries with Less Macroeconomic Understanding Than China: The Failures of Foreign Direct Investment2.1.1 Brazil The Stephens article begins by pointing out that in 2009, the Economist suggested that Brazil was an up-and-coming economic power, because of its then-recent economic high growth trends plus oil resources plus manufacturing production it was poised to become a great economic power. But Brazil is now and always has been a country resting on the misperceptions of the Washington Consensus, and the idea that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can fund its development.Instead of“Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first tout as countries of the future.”The correct conclusion is“Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make reliant on the fickle funding of Western FDI.”2.1.2 Three Invalid Parallels to China: The Soviet Union, Japan, and the European UnionBret Stephens says than when he read he about the “series in The Times” he thought about another country of the future: China and he claims that the erroneous predictions about the rise of the Soviet Union in the 1950s and ’60s and about Japan in the ’70s and ’80s; and about the European Union in the ’90s and ’00s are precedents foretelling the economic collapse of China.And Stephens asks: “Why should current clichés regarding China’s supposed rise be any different?”A better question is “Why should Stephen’s faulty parallels be worthy of any consideration?” because China has researched and understood the Shimomuran policies and procedures which caused the Japanese economic miracle and China has not and is not likely to allow the 1986–91 Japanese asset bubble to be created in China so as to allow the BoJ/Central Bank to become “independent” and for its CB/PBoC to create speculative credit and an asset bubble so as to become become the alleged solution to the problems that it had created. The Chinese Government is clever enough to disallow that.The Faulty Japanese Parallel The “Princes of the Yen” of the BoJ after 1991 [when they received their “independence”] sat on their hands and presided over 27 years, so far, of Japanese relative economic decline based on the acceptance of the Western idea of accepting “structural change” and making Japan more similar to the USA!! Professor Richard Werner has completely explained that issue in his outstanding book Princes of the Yen. FDI has been a great failure in Japan, its markets have been opened and damaged without any significant benefit. So long as the Chinese Government keep to their policy of ruling in the interests of nearly all their people, Chinese economic growth will continue to be [on average} about three or four times higher than that of Western countries.The Faulty Soviet Union Parallel The Soviet Union accepted all the nine yards and six mistaken postulates of Washington Consensus Macroeconomics and privatised its major industries which was a great gain to the Russian Oligarchs and to the Western advisors who gained large fees from that process, but a loss to Russia. The Soviet Union collapsed into a number of independent states. Russia became a large low-growth country with a semi-membership in the Western camp, adopting a “rule by the rich” system but finding difficulty in controlling or benefitting from its expatriate oligarchs. There is no parallel of that behaviour, or presence of any of these factors, in China, so Russia is not a precedent for the future of China. The only common factor between Russia and China is that both countries once claimed to be communist, and in their economic behaviour neither of them now are.The Faulty European Union Parallel Since the malign 1979 election of the UK’s Margaret Thatcher in the UK and the 1980 Presidency of Ronald Reagan in the USA, which enthroned the “rule of the rich” in these economies and replaced the previous government Keynesian focus on full employment, the nations of the EU have accepted the American insistence that Washington economics “was as valid as Physics” when it is more similar to astrology than astronomy. If anyone uses the new macroeconomic technology of the Clive Granger/Robert Engel Correlation Predictive Mathematics (for which these economists received a well-deserved 2003 Nobel Prize) and as Professor Richard Werner has done, they will find that none of the six postulates of Washington Consensus Macroeconomics have ANY statistical validity and each of these drop out as insignificant in any equation attempting to predict economic growth. Since the early 1980s Western economists have wasted their energies and their lives and careers on an entirely worthless edifice of mistaken belief. The privatisation of major industries and the lack of investment in manufacturing because in Reaganite and Thatcherite terms “the workers are the enemies of the people” has created vast rust belts in the USA and in the UK and reduced millions of working people to relative poverty. See How is the creative class driving economic development in the United States? and George Tait Edwards's answer to What are the biggest reasons for why wage growth in the US has been so terrible for decades?Economic decline is the inevitable result of rule by the rich, as Spengler has thoroughly asserted in his book the decline of the west. See George Tait Edwards's answer to What are your thoughts on the 20th century, German philosopher Oswald Spengler and his theory on the decline of the West? Bret Stephens knows nothing about this, despite living in the USA which is second largest ruled-by-the-rich economy in the world. He therefore does not understand either domestic or international economics and is not equipped to comment on either.2.2 The “Quantity Wins” New York Times Argument Which Bret Stephens Says He AcceptsAmericans should all accept that quantity often beats quality. If quality won in the case of World War III, Germany would have won the second World War. The jet aircraft planned but but not produced in Germany (which were designed to be able to drop a 2,000kg bomb on New York and return to Germany at 2,000 km/h) and German rocketry and cameras and camera film, to name but four items, were in 1945 far in advance of anything the Allies had. But Roosevelt’s economic miracle (1938–1944) used the economic technology of FED investment credit creation to produce the abundant capital, SME-innovative economic explosion of war munitions, aircraft, vehicles and ships and the American wartime upgrading (similar-to-OBOR?) system of much better roads, airports, railways and ports and US-European sea lanes, and it was the vast quantity and effectiveness of all these that were decisive in winning the war. See FDR’s American Economic Miracle 1938-44, or the First Economic Bomb - The USA from 1938 to 1944 (Part 1)The greatest theft of another nation’s technology occurred under Operation Paperclip - Wikipedia when the USA forcibly “recruited” and relocated over 1,600 scientists and their families from Germany to the USA.“Operation Paperclip was a secret program of the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) largely carried out by Special Agents of Army CIC, in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians, such as Wernher von Braun and his V-2 rocket team, were recruited, after the end of World War II, in Germany and taken to the U.S. for government employment, primarily between 1945 and 1959. Many were former members, and some were former leaders, of the Nazi Party.[1][2]The primary purpose for Operation Paperclip was U.S. military advantage in the Soviet–American Cold War, and the Space Race. The Soviet Union were more aggressive in forcibly recruiting more than 2,200 German specialists—a total of more than 6,000 people including family members—with Operation Osoaviakhim during one night on October 22, 1946.[3]”You should also note that“By early 1943, the German government began recalling from combat, a number of scientists, engineers, and technicians; they returned to work in research and development to bolster German defense for a protracted war with the USSR. The recall from frontline combat included 4,000 rocketeers returned to Peenemünde, in northeast coastal Germany.[11][12]The Nazi government's recall of their now-useful intellectuals for scientific work first required identifying and locating the scientists, engineers, and technicians, then ascertaining their political and ideological reliability. Werner Osenberg, the engineer-scientist heading the Wehrforschungsgemeinschaft (Defense Research Association), recorded the names of the politically cleared men to the Osenberg List, thus reinstating them to scientific work.[13]In March 1945, at Bonn University, a Polish laboratory technician found pieces of the Osenberg List stuffed in a toilet; the list subsequently reached MI6, who transmitted it to U.S. Intelligence.[14][15]Then U.S. Army Major Robert B. Staver, Chief of the Jet Propulsion Section of the Research and Intelligence Branch of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, used the Osenberg List to compile his list of German scientists to be captured and interrogated; Wernher von Braun, Germany's premier rocket scientist, headed Major Staver's list.[16]”It was German technology transferred to the USA which enabled the US Moon project. It is even possible to wonder to what extent previously German-based scientists assisted in the Manhattan Project, but Germany was so far behind US efforts that could not have happened. It was Einstein’s letter recommending the development of the Atomic Bomb along with the Groves/Oppenheimer team which at first had no workable bomb designs then developed two. As the Manhattan Project - Wikipedia says“Through Operation Alsos, Manhattan Project personnel served in Europe, sometimes behind enemy lines, where they gathered nuclear materials and documents, and rounded up German scientists.”See Alsos Mission - Wikipedia which says:“Alsos teams were successful in locating and removing a substantial portion of the German research effort's surviving records and equipment. They also took most of the senior German research personnel into custody, including Otto Hahn, Max von Laue, Werner Heisenberg and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.”These are not minor scientists, but the US Manhattan project was conducted on an immense price and scale - $1.98bn at 1945 prices, equal to perhaps about $22bn in $2016, and with about 130,000 workers involved and at a production cost of about half a billion 1945 dollars per atomic bomb.The point of these observations is that the greatest of American triumphs - the Moon Project - was built upon the military theft of German technology. The idea of not copying or stealing the technology of other countries is another American policy of “Do as I say, not as I have done.”2.3 Bret Stephens Lies by Saying “The Picture China Presents the world about its economic strengths is misleading.” This is the old accusation that “Chinese statistics are next to worthless” which has frequently been shown to be utterly untrue. The vast American imports from China and Chinese exports to the rest of the world are no illusion. Stephen’s article is “make believe” as opposed to the very real rapidly increasing productivity of China, its newly built Chinese cities, its manufacturing excellence and its rapidly rising living standards.Apart from his allegation, Stephens provides no credible data to support his monstrous and utterly misleading fabrication. Of course he is just repeating nonsense which has been said before. A good response to his mistaken claim is the World Bank and CIA data quoted at Section 3 below.2.4 Bret Stephens Can’t Read The Chinese Public Debt Accounts the Right Way Up, use the most accurate figures, or Interpret Them ProperlyChinese public debt figures do not relate to public debt at all. These figures are the partial public debt numbers produced by the Chinese authorities. What they seem to relate to is the credit creation of the Beijing HQ of the People’s Bank of China. See The Public Debt of Japan and China – George Tait Edwards – MediumChina is a Shimomuran-Wernerian economy in which the PBoC creates investment credit in its HQ and in its provincial centres to pass out as large loans to the provinces, to state-run organisations and to manufacturing companies. These recipients of loans are charged a low interest rate (running at about 5.3% pa when I last checked). These loans are interest-earning, so from the viewpoint of the PBoC are an asset. See George Tait Edwards's answer to Where does China borrow the money for the global Belt and Road Initiative? about the funding of the B&RI/OBOR investments.The most important things to note about Chinese ”debt” statistics are thatThe “debt” numbers are not debt at all but the total of some some PBoC credit creation interest-earning assets, so are not a risk at allFor decades, China has not and does not consolidate all the PBoC Provincial branches’ credit creation into an overall figure, so the numbers foreign observers assume as debt is the Chinese declaration of the credit created by the HQ of the PBoC and not a national figureChina does not count non-performing loans as part of “public debt” at all and this reduces and makes incomplete any valid estimate of the extent of that total credit creationI do not know why China does not consolidate local provincial PBoC credit creation into an overall national figure, but I suspect that policy may be partly due to the mistaken demonisation of debt by Western observersIt appears that China may be cancelling or converting into grants some previously created credits in order to assist some national industries. I think that is why the CIA debt figure which I believe relates to created credit for centrally-supported PBoC industries and military expenditures is sometimes reduced year on year. The only precedent for that behaviour was the Japanese BoJ conversion of previous debt into grants in the early years of post-war Japan.The PBoC have every right to cancel previous loans to their industries if they wish to do so. Credit-created loans by the PBoC are an internal issue and if the Chinese Government wishes to cancel such items it is nobody’s business but the Chinese. The post-war American Government of Harry Truman cancelled the FDR created credit of the FED to enable the sale of steel and rubber factories into private hands and China can do something similar if it so chooses.Western observers usually understand none of this because Shimomuran credit creation economies are outside their mindset so they only observe “debt” as a liability when they should realise these numbers refer to credit creation. FDR got round this problem by redefining FED credit creation as “the savings of the people” and the Japanese have followed suit but the Chinese have seen no need to do so.I and others assess the total loans to businesses and credit creation by the PboC to be much a much larger asset than the much smaller miscalled “debt” Stephens quotes.2.5 Then Stephens trots out the idea that the USA is built on defending and broadening the “freedoms granted to ordinary people.” Does he not know any American history? Does he not know that the USA imprisons more of its people than any other nation on earth? Does he not know that healthy black men were and are regularly imprisoned to ensure that the Electoral College votes in Florida went to George W Bush because his brother Jeb Bush refused to reinstate their voting rights?See How Jeb Bush became a player in one of the South's darkest traditionswhich provides this mapand which says:“The 2000 presidential election was ultimately decided by a 537-vote margin in Florida. More than 500,000 ex-felons were barred from the polls, including at least 139,000 African Americans, who vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates. Their exclusion almost certainly changed the outcome of the race. The beneficiary, of course, was Jeb Bush’s brother.”That’s not the actions of a democracy! Bret Stephens does not know the history of his own country. He tries to accuse China of not being democratic but fails to notice that the USA isn’t a democracy.Bret Stephens also does not appear to know that the Federal Government profits as do many US corporations by leasing prisoners to cotton farms and for other industrial work. SeeThe Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery? - Global ResearchThe international behaviour of the USA has not broadened the freedoms of foreign people nor defended their welfare. Allende was murdered because he wanted to serve the interests of his people. Most of the world believes Venezuala’s President Hugo Chavez was murdered because he was also trying to do that. In much of the world, the USA has used its military and economic power to instal US-dominated dictators, and only when these became drug lords or too murderous, were these replaced.The idea that the USA has spread democracy is a fiction. It neither practices democracy at home nor exports it abroad. There is no evidence it has done that, although the Western media regularly use that as a cover story for US military and other actions. See Why do some countries not give America credit for spreading democracy around the world and liberating people from dictators?The USA cannot expect credit for things it does not do.2.6 Bret Stephens Confuses Overseas Capital Investment By China With Capital FlightBret Stephens makes no distinction between the increasing Chinese overlands or overseas investments and genuine “capital flight” of money moved abroad to avoid taxation and create anonymised money. He appears not to know anything about the Paradise Papers or the great involvement of American and Chinese billionaires and companies in moving money abroad. See George Tait Edwards's answer to What do the Paradise Papers reveal about the world's wealthiest individuals?3 Bret Stephen’s Missing Data: The real problem which Bret Stephens does not either recognise or discuss, and is unwilling to face up to in any part of his article, is this one:The real growth rate of the United States of America has been about a quarter of the Chinese equivalent growth rate during the 1975–2005 period. These are World Bank figures in PPP. Assessments from other sources (eg the CIA world Factbook commentaries) have the same multiplier of four but suggest that China has grown at about 10% pa during the 1975-2005 years when the USA grew at an average rate of about 2.5%. These two sources do not deal in fictions, as Bret Stephens obviously does.The reality which Bret Stephens fails to acknowledge is that China is on nearly every index delivering to its people a much better and safer society than America does. See George Tait Edwards's answer to Is China more developed than the USA?4 The Reborn Disappointing Anti-Chinese Bias in the New York Times4.1 A Great Neutral Article About China in the New York TimesI had high hopes that the NYT had belatedly become an excellent provider of relevant unbiased information when I read this articleThe World, Built by China4.2 The Uselessness of Bret Stephen’s ArticleThis Bret Stephens Article however re-creates the NYT as an unreliable propaganda newspaper. The NYT should be better than that and it sometimes has been.4.3 The Modern Truths About Economic DevelopmentThe NYT could become much better by printing these sort of articles:See George Tait Edwards's answer to How could the economy achieve the goals of growth and low interest rates? and read and learn aboutThe Most Successful Economic Policy Of All Time - The German Historical Economics Development of Shimomuran-Wernerian Macroeconomics5 Overarching ConclusionChina is not going to collapse at all. It is the American Government and people that need an economic education, not the self-delusive garbage produced by Bret Stephens and his similars.I have no idea if Bret Stephens is the inheritor of Gordon Chang’s punditry but I would like to hope than even Bret Stephens might not be beyond becoming better. On the basis of the article considered above he could hardly get worse.

46 Famous Movie Scenes before and after Special EffectsBack in the day, filmmakers used matte paintings, miniature models and trick photography to achieve impossible looking cinematic effects. Today, Hollywood has nearly perfected the art and application of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in movies and TV shows. In fact, most film scenes that you think are filmed in spectacular locations are actually CGI composites shot in a studio. Here’s a list of 46 before-and-after CGI images that’ll leave you amazed.The AvengersMarvel's The Avengers (classified under the name Marvel Avengers Assemble in the United Kingdom and Ireland), or simply The Avengers, is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was written and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner as the titular Avengers team, alongside Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Tony Stark, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor's brother Loki from subjugating Earth.The film's development began when Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch in April 2005. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The Avengers would be released in July 2011. With the signing of Johansson in March 2009, the film was pushed back for a 2012 release. Whedon was brought on board in April 2010 and rewrote the original screenplay by Zak Penn. Production began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, in August and New York City in September. The film was converted to 3D in post-production.AvatarAvatar, marketed as James Cameron's Avatar, is a 2009 American epic science fiction film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. The film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the mineral unobtanium, a room-temperature superconductor. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film's title refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body with the mind of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.Development of Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron's 1997 film Titanic, for a planned release in 1999, but, according to Cameron, the necessary technology was not yet available to achieve his vision of the film. Work on the language of the film's extraterrestrial beings began in 2005, and Cameron began developing the screenplay and fictional universe in early 2006. Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion.[19][20][21] The film made extensive use of new motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats), and for "4D" experiences in select South Korean theaters. The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology.Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton. The film stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas and Mia Wasikowska, and features the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. Based on Lewis Carroll's fantasy novels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, the film tells the story of a nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh, who is told that she can restore the White Queen to her throne, with the help of the Mad Hatter. She is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, a dragon-like creature that is controlled by the Red Queen and terrorizes Underland's inhabitants.The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and shot in the United Kingdom and the United States. The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in Australia on March 4, 2010, and the following day in the United Kingdom and the United States through the Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats as well as in conventional theaters. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2010.Boardwalk EmpireBoardwalk Empire is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on premium cable channel HBO. The series is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era and stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson. Winter, a Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer, created the show, inspired by the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson about historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson.The pilot episode was directed by Martin Scorsese and produced at a cost of $18 million. On September 1, 2009, HBO picked up the series for an additional 11 episodes. The series premiered on September 19, 2010, and completed its five-season run on October 26, 2014.Captain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned following the war and the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has remained in publication.The character wears a costume bearing an American flag motif, and he utilizes a nearly indestructible shield which he throws as a projectile. Captain America is the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum to aid the United States government's efforts in World War II. Near the end of the war, he was trapped in ice and survived in suspended animation until he was revived in the present day. Although Captain America often struggles to maintain his ideals as a man out of his time with its modern realities, he remains a highly respected figure in his community which includes becoming the long-time leader of the Avengers.Deadly HoneymoonA wealthy couple take a honeymoon cruise in Tahiti, but the husband disappears without trace. The captain asks an FBI agent on holiday to investigate, believing he may have been murdered. Suspicion falls on his wife, who may have objected to his infidelities, but also a trio of Hungarian gamblers with shady secrets.District 9District 9 is a 2009 science fiction action horror film directed by Neill Blomkamp, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand, the United States, and South Africa. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James, and was adapted from Blomkamp's 2006 short film Alive in Joburg.The film is partially presented in a found footage format by featuring fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras. The story, which explores themes of humanity, xenophobia, and social segregation, begins in an alternate 1982, when an alien ship appears over Johannesburg, South Africa. When a population of sick and malnourished insect-like aliens is found aboard the ship, the South African government confines them to an internment camp called District 9. Years later, during the government's relocation of the aliens to another camp, one of the confined aliens named Christopher Johnson tries to escape with his son and return home, crossing paths with a bureaucrat named Wikus van der Merwe. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events in District Six, Cape Town, during the apartheid era.Game of ThronesGame of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, the first of which is A Game of Thrones. It is filmed in Belfast and elsewhere in the United Kingdom, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Spain, and the United States. The series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and its seventh season ended on August 27, 2017. The series will conclude with its eighth season premiering in 2019.Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, Game of Thrones has several plot lines and a large ensemble cast but centers on three primary story arcs. The first story arc centers on the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms and follows a web of alliances and conflicts among the dynastic noble families either vying to claim the throne or fighting for independence from the throne. The second story arc focuses on the last descendant of the realm's deposed ruling dynasty, exiled and plotting a return to the throne. The third story arc centers on the longstanding brotherhood charged with defending the realm against the ancient threats of the fierce peoples and legendary creatures that lie far north, and an impending winter that threatens the realm.GravityGravity is a 2013 science fiction thriller film directed, co-written, co-edited, and produced by Alfonso Cuarón. It stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as American astronauts who are stranded in space after the mid-orbit destruction of their space shuttle, and their subsequent attempt to return to Earth.Cuarón wrote the screenplay with his son Jonás and attempted to develop the film at Universal Pictures. Later, the distribution rights were acquired by Warner Bros. Pictures. David Heyman, who previously worked with Cuarón on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), produced the film with him. Gravity was produced entirely in the United Kingdom, where British visual effects company Framestore spent more than three years creating most of the film's visual effects, which make up over 80 of its 91 minutes.Grey’s AnatomyGrey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as a mid-season replacement. The fictional series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attending physicians, as they develop into seasoned doctors while trying to maintain personal lives and relationships. The title is a play on Gray's Anatomy, a classic human anatomy textbook first published in 1858 in London and written by Henry Gray. Shonda Rhimes developed the pilot and continues to write for the series; she is also one of the executive producers, along with Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Krista Vernoff, Rob Corn, Mark Wilding, and Allan Heinberg. Although the series is set in Seattle (at the fictional Seattle Grace, later known as the Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital), it is filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California.The series was designed to be racially diverse and used color-blind casting. It revolves around the title character, Dr. Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo, first featured as an intern. The original cast consisted of nine star-billed actors: Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, T. R. Knight, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey. The cast has undergone major changes through the series' run, with many members leaving and being replaced by others. In its fourteenth season, the show had a large ensemble of fourteen actors, including four characters from the original cast (Meredith Grey, Alex Karev, Miranda Bailey, and Richard Webber).The HobbitThe Hobbit is a film series consisting of three high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. They are based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, with large portions of the trilogy inspired by the appendices to The Return of the King, which expand on the story told in The Hobbit, as well as new material and characters written especially for the films. Together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The films are subtitled An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).The screenplay was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct before his departure from the project. The films take place in the fictional world of Middle-earth sixty years before the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, and follow hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). The films also expand upon certain elements from the novel and other source material, such as Gandalf's investigation at Dol Guldur, and the pursuit of Azog and Bolg, who seek vengeance against Thorin and his ancestors.The Hunger GamesThe Hunger Games is a trilogy of young adult dystopian novels written by American novelist Suzanne Collins. The series is set in The Hunger Games universe, and follows young characters Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.The novels in the trilogy are titled The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010). The novels have all been developed into films starring Jennifer Lawrence, with the film adaptation of Mockingjay split into two parts. The first two books in the series were both New York Times best sellers, and Mockingjay topped all US bestseller lists upon its release. By the time the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was released in 2012, the publisher had reported over 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.Iron ManIron Man is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The character made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963).A wealthy American business magnate, playboy, and ingenious scientist, Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping. When his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction, he instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Later, Stark develops his suit, adding weapons and other technological devices he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man. Although at first concealing his true identity, Stark eventually declared that he was, in fact, Iron Man in a public announcement.Life of PiLife of Pi is a Canadian fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry who explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.The novel has sold more than ten million copies worldwide. It was rejected by at least five London publishing houses before being accepted by Knopf Canada, which published it in September 2001. The UK edition won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction the following year. It was also chosen for CBC Radio's Canada Reads 2003, where it was championed by author Nancy Lee.Man of SteelMan of Steel is a 2013 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is a British-American venture produced by Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment, Syncopy Inc., and Cruel and Unusual Films, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film is directed by Zack Snyder written by David S. Goyer, and stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe. Man of Steel is a reboot of the Superman film series that retells the character's origin story. In the film, Clark Kent learns that he is a superpowered alien from the planet Krypton and assumes the role of mankind's protector as Superman, but finds himself having to prevent General Zod from destroying humanity.Development began in 2008, when Warner Bros. took pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters, and directors, opting to reboot the franchise. In 2009, a court ruling resulted in Jerry Siegel's family recapturing the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's copyright. The decision stated that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films, but if they did not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Shuster and Siegel estates would be able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film. Producer Christopher Nolan pitched Goyer's idea after story discussion on The Dark Knight Rises, and Snyder was hired as the film's director in October 2010. Principal photography began in August 2011 in West Chicago, Illinois, before moving to Vancouver and Plano, Illinois.Oz the Great and PowerfulOz the Great and Powerful is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Raimi and produced by Joe Roth, from a screenplay written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner. The film stars James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis, with Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King, and Tony Cox in supporting roles. Based on L. Frank Baum's Oz novels and set 20 years before the events of the original novel, Oz the Great and Powerful is a spiritual prequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, The Wizard of Oz. The film tells the story of Oscar Diggs, a deceptive magician who arrives in the Land of Oz and encounters three witches: Theodora, Evanora, and Glinda. Oscar is then enlisted to restore order in Oz, while struggling to resolve conflicts with the witches and himself.Kapner began developing an origin story for the Wizard of Oz after a lifelong interest of wanting to create one for the character. Walt Disney Pictures commissioned the film's production in 2009, with Joe Roth as producer and Grant Curtis, Joshua Donen, Philip Steuer, and Palak Patel serving as executive producers. Raimi was hired to direct the following year. After Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp declined the titular role, Franco was cast in February 2011, with principal photography commencing five months later. Danny Elfman composed the film's score.Pirates of the CaribbeanPirates of the Caribbean is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park attractions, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with the Pirates of the Caribbean theme ride attraction, which opened at Disneyland in 1967 and was one of the last Disney theme park attractions overseen by Walt Disney. Disney based the ride on pirate legends and folklore. As of October 2016, Pirates of the Caribbean attractions can be found at five Disney theme parks. Their related films have grossed over US$ 3.7 billion worldwide as of January 2015,[1] putting the film franchise 11th in the list of all-time highest grossing franchises and film series.Rise of the Planet of the ApesRise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, and Andy Serkis. Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, it is 20th Century Fox's reboot of the Planet of the Apes series, intended to act as an origin story for a new series of films. Its premise is similar to the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), but it is not a direct remake of that film.Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released on August 5, 2011, to critical and commercial success. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It was also nominated for five Saturn Awards including Best Director for Wyatt and Best Writing for Jaffa and Silver, winning Best Science Fiction Film, Best Supporting Actor for Serkis and Best Special Effects. Serkis's performance as Caesar was widely acclaimed, earning him many nominations from associations which do not usually recognize performance capture as traditional acting. A sequel to the film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was released on July 11, 2014, and a third film, War for the Planet of the Apes, was released on July 14, 2017.The Dark Knight RisesThe Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer.[5] Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the final installment in Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, and the sequel to The Dark Knight (2008). Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of allies: Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. The film introduces Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and Bane (Tom Hardy). Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, merciless revolutionary Bane forces an older Bruce Wayne to resume his role as Batman and save Gotham City from nuclear destruction.Christopher Nolan was hesitant about returning to the series for a second time, but agreed after developing a story with his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "No Man's Land". Filming took place from May to November 2011 in locations including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras for much of the filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the quality of the picture. A vehicle variation of the Batplane and Batcopter termed the "Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were created specifically for the film. As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign: developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film, screening theatrical trailers, and sending out information regarding the film's plot.The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, starring an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman. In the film, Bruce Wayne / Batman (Bale), Police Lieutenant James Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos.Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, the 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face's origin. The "Dark Knight" nickname was first applied to Batman in Batman #1 (1940), in a story written by Bill Finger.[4][5] The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film. Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker. Ledger died on January 22, 2008, some months after the completed filming and six months before the film's release from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and movie-going public.The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a 2013 romance drama film based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name. The film was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the eponymous Jay Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Elizabeth Debicki. Production began in 2011 and took place in Australia, with a $190 million budget. The film follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbor Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), who recounts his encounter with Gatsby at the height of the Roaring Twenties in New York state.The film polarized critics, receiving both praise and criticism for its acting performances, soundtrack, visual style, and direction. Audiences responded more positively and Fitzgerald's granddaughter praised the film, stating "Scott would have been proud." As of 2017, it is Luhrmann's highest-grossing film, grossing over $353 million worldwide. At the 86th Academy Awards, the film won in both of its nominated categories: Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.The MatrixThe Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by The Wachowskis (credited as The Wachowski Brothers) and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. It depicts a dystopian future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality called "the Matrix", created by sentient machines to subdue the human population, while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Cybercriminal and computer programmer Neo learns this truth and is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, which involves other people who have been freed from the "dream world."The Matrix is known for popularizing a visual effect known as "bullet time", in which the heightened perception of certain characters is represented by allowing the action within a shot to progress in slow-motion while the camera's viewpoint appears to move through the scene at normal speed. The film is an example of the cyberpunk subgenre. It contains numerous references to philosophical and religious ideas, and prominently pays homage to works such as Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Wachowskis' approach to action scenes drew upon their admiration for Japanese animation[8] and martial arts films, and the film's use of fight choreographers and wire fu techniques from Hong Kong action cinema influenced subsequent Hollywood action film productions.The Secret in Their EyesSecret in Their Eyes is a 2015 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Billy Ray and a remake of the 2009 Argentine film of the same name, both based on the novel La pregunta de sus ojos by author Eduardo Sacheri. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris, and Michael Kelly.The film was released by STXfilms on November 20, 2015. It received mixed reception from critics, who praised its performances but compared it unfavourably to the original.The Walking DeadThe Wolf of Wall StreetThe Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy[3] directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Terence Winter, based on the memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort. It recounts Belfort's perspective on his career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm Stratton Oakmont engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street that ultimately led to his downfall. Leonardo DiCaprio (who was also a producer) stars as Belfort, with Jonah Hill as his business partner and friend Donnie Azoff, Margot Robbie as his wife Naomi Lapaglia and Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham, the FBI agent who tries to bring him down. Matthew McConaughey, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, Joanna Lumley and Jean Dujardin also star. The film marks the director's fifth collaboration with DiCaprio, after Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and Shutter Island (2010), as well as his second collaboration with Winter after the television series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14).TransformersTransformers is a series of American science fiction fantasy action films based on the toys created by Hasbro and Tomy. Michael Bay has directed the first five films: Transformers (2007), Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014) and The Last Knight (2017). A spin-off entitled Bumblebee: The Movie, directed by Travis Knight and produced by Michael Bay, is scheduled for December 21, 2018. The series has been distributed by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks.The live-action film series has received mixed reception, with criticism of the plots, sophomoric humor, overuse of product placements and the lengths of the films, but praise of the visual effects, action sequences and music. It is the 11th-highest-grossing film series, with a total of $4.3 billion; two films in the series have individually grossed over $1 billion.The Twilight Saga: Breaking DawnThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn: Part 1) is a 2011 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The first part of a two-part film forms the fourth and penultimate installment in The Twilight Saga film series, and is the beginning of the 2012 film Breaking Dawn: Part 2. All three main cast members, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprised their roles.Wyck Godfrey and Karen Rosenfelt served as producers of the film, along with the author of the series, Stephenie Meyer; the screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter of the first three entries. It was released in theaters on November 18, 2011, and released to DVD on February 11, 2012 in the United States. The film grossed over $712 million worldwide. Though the film gained predominantly negative critical reviews, it was a box office hit.300300 is a 2006 American epic war film based on the 1998 comic series 300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. Both are fictionalized retellings of the Battle of Thermopylae within the Persian Wars. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant. It was filmed mostly with a super-imposition chroma key technique, to help replicate the imagery of the original comic book.The plot revolves around King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), who leads 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian "god-King" Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his invading army of more than 300,000 soldiers. As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios (David Wenham). Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing 300 within the genre of historical fantasy.Sources: 46 Famous Movie Scenes Before And After Special Effects

Good enough, if you weren’t Libyan.Gaddafi ruled Libya for 42 years between 1969 and 2011. He gained power by deposing King Idriss As-Sunusi in a coup at a time when Nasserist Arab Nationalism, Socialism and secularism were surging throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Gaddafi was removed from power during a popular rebellion in 2011.In the first part, I will explain the background of the situation in Libya throughout different times, in order to give the rule of Gaddafi a background. Then I will address the claims of Veljko Radulovic, whose answer fetched 1.3k upvotes. Misinformed individuals like him only serve to spread misinformation and praise a ruler most Libyans would rather have been without.During his 42-year rule, there were many phases that were passed, each of which changed the conditions for the average Libyan. Since this 42-year history was unusually eventful, I will split this into 4 parts: the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s.Part 1 - A Historical Background1970sThe 1970s started when Gaddafi was in his first year of power. As a Nasserist himself, he initially wanted to cede power to Gamal Abdelnasser of Egypt, in order to create another Pan-Arab union after the previous one had failed.The Libyan Arab Republic spanned from 1969 to 1977, and immediately re-aligned itself from the USA to the Soviet Union, but also maintained its stance as a member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Due to its deterioration of relations with the West, it started to arm itself rapidly, starting a buying spree that spanned to the 1980s, and buying more equipment than could be theoretically be manned by the entire population of military age.Libya’s relations with its Southern neighbour, Chad, deteriorated as Libya and France sought total dominance over the country. In 1973, Libya took over the Ouzhou Strip, located to the South of Libya. The Libyan-Chadian War, which was fought between Libyans and Chadians, and Americans, French and Chadians, escalated to an all-out war in 1978. The ensuing war had American and French planes pounding the dis-organised Libyan Army, which had a strength of 15,000 men, eventually killing 5,000 of them.Libya also entered another war with Egypt in 1977, after the latter signed the signing of the Camp David Accords, announcing a “March to Cairo” with his military. As soon as his army reached the border with Egypt, they were (obviously) rejected by the border officials, prompting Gaddafi to announce an invasion of a country with ten times his country’s population. They only managed to capture one town before being chewed up and spat out by the Egyptian Army. More than 1,000 Libyans died.The 1970s saw Libya’s increasing involvement in the international arena and negligence towards Libyan internal affairs. Internally, the 1970s was characterised by the gutting of Libyan politics, through the abolition of all parties but the Arab Socialist Union.In the international stage, Gaddafi sought to use the politics of oil to influence world powers. It was the first to embargo the US after Nixon announced a $2.2bn aid package to Israel in 1973. Other Arab countries soon followed, triggering the 1973 Oil Crisis.He also made sure that Libya would nationalise and increase its oil production, which necessitated a seizure of oil-producing assets from BP and other companies and withdrew $550 million in investments from British banks. After rejecting the small compensation offered by the Libyan Government, the British Treasury banned Libya from participation in the Stirling Area.During most of the 1970s, Libya’s economy was diversified, with oil taking up a minority share of the economy. Its GDP per capita was also a lot more than that of other countries, and even with the slow collapse of the industrial sectors, managed to make it through the 1970s with a GDP per capita (PPP) double that of America. In the 1980s, despite some efforts to reinvigorate the industry, its death was finalised. Agriculture, however, boomed in a country where less than 10% of land was arable, due to massive subsidies towards farmers.The rule of Gaddafi during these periods was marked by a sudden transition to “Socialism” in a system that was almost communist in itself. What marked the main difference between the rules of Gaddafi and his predecessor was that Gaddafi focused on the countryside and isolated villages a lot more than on the major cities. King Idriss’s Libya featured a Tripoli that was known to be the cleanest city in the world at the time, and life there was luxurious, while the villages that scattered the mountainous areas and other isolated spots still had high illiteracy rates.This strategy was implemented to such a degree that my grandfather’s village was evacuated to a nearby spot, where they moved to new houses with electricity and landlines. However, to this day, many roads in Tripoli remain unpaved, and it is one of the only capitals in the world with no sewage system. They would drill holes and fill them, then hire a truck to pump out the sewage when it fills up.1980sThe 1980s were characterised by the ongoing Chad War, the building of the Great Manmade River, the Libyan-American conflict over the Gulf of Sidra and the international campaign of sponsoring terrorism.Chadian WarThe Chadian War was going quite well. Libya had captured the Ouzhou Strip, and went on to hold around one third of Chad. The French and Americans thought that Libya would never possess the logistical capability to initiate such a massive deployment, and so, dismissed Gaddafi’s threats of invasion. It was all going fine, with Libya’s enormous amounts of high-tech Soviet-made firepower and numbers.However, Hassiene Habre, the president of Chad at the time, called America and France to intervene. Things quickly went downhill after that.Due to the fact that the Libyan Army was purposely decentralised in order to prevent a coup, joint coordinated combat was rendered impossible between the Army and Air Force. The force could not match French intelligence, aerial and military support, combined with American logistical support.The last phase of this war was the Toyota War, by which France donated many Toyota pickup trucks, fitting them with Milan anti-tank missiles. This gave them a maneuverable tank-killing machine and the biggest innovation in asymmetric warfare, the technical.Using their new-found firepower, they launched a devastating attack on Ouadi Doum Airbase, killing many, many conscripts and capturing a lot of state-of-the-art Soviet equipment. The equipment was shared evenly between France and America for research. The attack also opened the way for a brief Chadian invasion of Libya.Great Manmade RiverIn 1984, plans were made to provide every Libyan with water. In the committees of experts rounded up to do the research, many proposals were made, including the installation of desalination plants and, quite stupidly, to bring water in pipes from the heart of the Sahara desert. Initially, the GMMR project was dismissed for being too expensive, not offering drinkable water, being insecure as a system of transit and because the water reservoirs had no means for replenishment. However, it was chosen as a project and it started. The project was largely a success in the fact that it did technically give us water, a failure in that the water was unfiltered and tasted so awful that it was undrinkable.Libyan-American ConflictIn August 1981, the US shot down two Libyan jets in a dogfight, after “freedom of navigation exercises” held by the US in the Gulf of Sidra were regarded by Libya to be a violation of its sovereignty. That December, America issued an importation ban on Libyan oil.On the 23rd of March, the US carried out airstrikes that destroyed some ships of the Libyan Navy, killing 35 Libyan sailors, and targeted SAM sites and bases within Libya. The retaliation was in the form of the West Berlin “La Belle” nightclub bombing, which killed three US servicemen and injured 229.On the 15th of April 1986, in retaliation to the bombing of the West Berlin Discotheque, the US attacked Libyan forces in the Gulf of Sidra and in Libya, destroying air defences, three army bases and two airfields, killing dozens of officers and Gaddafi’s adopted daughter.In response to that, Gaddafi intensified support for anti-American Government entities, funding Jeff Forte’s Al-Rukn faction of the Black P. Stones gang in Chicago. Forte was later convicted of preparing strikes on US Government buildings, assassinations and airplane hijackings on behalf of the Libyan Government.Gaddafi’s campaign in sponsoring terrorismDue to the length of this section should I have written it, I will mention, in bullet points, the various armed groups and operations Gaddafi had been funding and supporting, or has personally endorsed, throughout his tenure:North-Chad’s InsurgencyJapanese Red Army (Lod Airport Massacre)Black September Movement (Munich Massacre)Irish Republican ArmyMoro Islamic Liberation FrontNew People’s ArmyCommunist Party in the PhilippinesEgyptian President Anwar Sadat’s assassinationSandinistas in NicaraguaLibyan diplomats instructed to shoot 11 protesters, killing Yvonne FletcherLa Belle Nightclub bombingsWorkers Revolutionary PartyAttempted radicalisation of Maoris in New ZealandAttempted radicalisation of Aborigines in AustraliaThe Free Aceh MovementPan Am Flight 103 Bombing (Lockerbie)Revolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaAs can be seen here, the number of groups supported by Gaddafi is huge. This ensured that sanctions were put in place in order to limit Gaddafi’s spending. However, this just made him even more inclined to spend abroad, and also to buy huge amounts of weapons. During the 80s, Gaddafi bought six Foxtrot-class submarines, but they only made a grand total of three patrols before being put to storage due to high costs of operation.1990sThe 1990s were characterised by the imposition of international sanctions after the Lockerbie bombing and the support of Gaddafi for Islamists in Algeria. This time was the most uneventful and peaceful in the history of Gaddafi’s rule, but witnessed a steady decline in Libya’s GDP. There was also a rise in dissent and repression after a failed attempt to assassinate Gaddafi by elements of the Libyan Army.2000sIn the 2000s, under many sanctions, Gaddafi agreed to hand over his nuclear and chemical weapons programmes and pay reparations for the bombings of Lockerbie and the Discotheque. This time was characterised by the improvement in Libya’s relations with the West, Gaddafi & Sons’ massive spending sprees and worst of all, international cooperation across intelligence agencies to provide information of and to deport Libyan dissidents and activists, meanwhile using Libya as a “black site” for many intelligence agencies’ dirty work.Part 2 - Addressing claims made by some Quorans on rights given to Libyan citizensIn this section, I will address many popular myths surrounding the rule of Gaddafi.In Libya, a home is considered a natural human rightIn Libya, it was true that having a home was a right, but it came at the cost of utterly destroying the housing market. There were stories of people who had worked for their entire lives to buy two houses in different cities, and were only allowed to have one.There was also the issue with robbers and squatters. If you were to go to another city with your family, or to go on holiday somewhere, or ever so much as leave your house unattended, a squatter may break into your house and claim it and everything inside to be his.There was no property register to prove that the house was yours, and there was a massive risk in housing fraud. If you paid for a flat, the owner could easily claim that the buyers tried to push him to homelessness, and he would keep the money and the flat.The only people it was good for was Gaddafi’s supporters, who often received confiscated houses. The law turned a blind eye on many squatters who supported Gaddafi.Education was freeThis notion is often why many people seem to like Gaddafi. It is because education was free. However, Libya as a whole had free education since independence, and so, it was not an achievement itself.However, the quality of education in Libya deteriorated to the point that in Tripoli, private schools outnumber public ones. Having been a student of this school system myself, I can attest to the scale of the infusion of propaganda into every subject. The curriculum went from being accepted by most Western universities to one that is not accepted by any. The politics of Gaddafi also changed the foreign language taught in schools from English to French to Russian and back to English.Gaddafi also abolished entrance requirements in many universities. He once said that if somebody wanted to become a doctor, they can. With this, universities had to cope with massive numbers of entrants and vet them while being in University, making it a lot less efficient and lowering the universities’ standards.Medical treatment was freeThis was the case before Gaddafi’s time, and it still is the case in modern Libya. It is also the case with most of the countries around the world. However, in Libya, the hospitals which treated Libyans were often neglected, with poor work conditions for the doctors and a salary of only $1,200. I can attest to this because two of my relatives are surgeons.Libya’s chronically underfunded hospital system also had very outdated equipment. Even now, when I go to an NHS hospital in Scotland, I would likely receive treatment with state-of-the-art equipment that has been properly sterilised and used by experienced professionals. In Libya, we only had experienced professionals.There were no electricity bills in Libya, electricity was freeThis bothers me a lot. If anybody has been to Libya, they would know that we face power cuts that sometimes last for weeks at a time. Common power cuts often last for three to six hours per day.This is not only because people may misuse this “right” of free electricity. It is also because when Libya had a research nuclear reactor and made breakthroughs in nuclear technology, Gaddafi hadn’t thought for one time to build a nuclear power station to ease the pressure on the current generators. He built a nuclear bomb, he built many chemical weapons, but not once did he think about a power station.If anything, this shows how detached from the populace Gaddafi had been.Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Manmade River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country.The GMMR project, although a success in bringing water to households, was both late and unnecessarily expensive. Gaddafi could have chosen some other projects which were both faster, cheaper and more efficient. But instead, he spent many hundreds of times more of Libya’s money to build a series of pipes to extract water from the desert.All newlyweds in Libya would receive 60,000 Dinar ($50,000 USD) by the government to buy their first apartment to help start a family.Firstly, 60,000 dinars aren’t $50,000. They aren’t and never were.Secondly, this almost never happened. Gaddafi didn’t even like the idea of having a housing market, and when I asked my parents about this, I was told that there was no such payment.A portion of Libyan oil sales is or was credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.This never happened either. I have a close relative who was working back-to-back with a Frenchman and a Canadian. Yet, those two people earned twenty times as much as he did for the same work.Taxes utterly crushed any semblance of hope in Libyans with ambition for prosperity. After taxes, a car buyer must pay the ten times the car’s value, in taxes, because it was considered a luxury. If anybody here has been to Libya, they will know how large the area is, and how necessary it is to have a car.Libya had it’s own state bank:Libya had its own State bank, which provided loans to citizens at zero percent interest by law and they had no external debt.Libya still has many state banks and private ones. It also had them before Gaddafi took power. It is not really something special to Libya, as every Muslim country has a bank that charges zero interest for loans. Otherwise, there would be an outrage.A bursary was given to mothers with new-born babies:When a Libyan woman gave birth she was given the equivalent to $5000 USD for herself and the child.This “bursary” was also non-existent.If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government would fund them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US $2,300/month accommodation and car allowance.… if you can dare to criticise the institutions.Virtually nobody claimed this allowance for medical care, as it would require criticism towards the healthcare system, and therefore, the regime. That could very easily get you killed.The only real way to be allowed to go abroad was to have your company give you a contract in a foreign city, and to have an offer for a place in a foreign university.This also required extreme vetting measures, which meant that many who weren’t allowed to travel abroad were also arrested at home. And even when abroad, you can’t criticise the regime, as Gaddafi was fond of spending money on assassinating critics abroad.Libya had a semi-Communist system which gave every person work. This was, however, not the work that you would get in other Communist countries like the USSR, where they actually did something. Many were simply employed in the public sector and paid or doing absolutely nothing, no questions asked.This is not to mention the taxes held on every single thing one could buy. A close relative’s first mobile phone was bought in 2001, and it cost him around 1500 LYD, an equivalent to 750 USD. Not to mention the extraordinarily high costs of making a phone call. The only thing that taxes did not touch was the heavily subsidised food, which was the only way of keeping us Libyans alive throughout this misery. Sometimes, there would be no food in the first place. I know a closer relative whose family hunted a wolf to eat it. Some people were that famished.Meanwhile, Gaddafi was spending ungodly amounts of money on gold-lined silk robes, the best cars and luxury planes, his sons were spending on football clubs, throwing parties, buying the many lamborghinis, Paganis and the best cars, and even spending several billions of dollars of Libyan money to form their own militias.Gaddafi is said to have hidden around $200 billion in offshore accounts, and a lot more hidden completely. The Libyan GDP, by contrast, didn’t budge past the $40 billion range. There are many beneficiaries who benefit from these accounts today, sucking out the money the we Libyans deserve. Libya’s foreign reserves have plunged, from $125 billion in 2012 to $34 billion now. The thieves who take this money are both individuals and governments alike.Many people like to claim that Libyans aren’t ready for democracy, and that they don’t care. Libya’s civil society was destroyed in the 70s, and rendered non-existent ever since. Gaddafi had employed informants on every corner, and somewhere between 10% and 20% of the entire population was employed as informants.People could not go to the same mosque for too many consecutive prayers, as they risk enforced disappearance. Even in prisons, nobody documented who was in these prisons, and why they were there. Some prisons were bloody and brutal. The infamous Bousleem prison tortured inmates so regularly that it was well-known to the entire country.With the Libyan people’s money, Gaddafi decided to buy many weapons of all calibres, including 20 million small arms. Libya’s population is six million. If you decided to give every man, woman and child in Libya three weapons, you’d still be able to arm a fighting force of two million. This is what is causing the instability that is plaguing Libya and preventing it from building up again.So when the Libyan people rose against him, with absolutely nothing to lose, he did nothing but kill many and threaten to kill many more.After all, these people have been humiliated for forty two years. Could they not be humiliated more?Thanks Ahmed Abdelhaq for the A2A.