Muammar Gaddafi is dead

News reports are saying that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed in his home town of Sirte along with one of his sons

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

 

Just had the Libyan ambassador on tv saying he was dead (captured alive but died of wounds to the head and legs) and also the Prime minister did a quick press interview on the subject

A rather grusome vid
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/20/gaddafi-dead-says-libyan-pm

 

LOL

 

I am going to ask the unpopular question that has been carefully avoided since the Arab Spring. I am all for self-autonomy and a country's people choosing their own government. And I was never a fan of Gaddafi. But now that he is gone, what is next? Egypt is having its issues, and it is beginning to look like another military dictatorship will be instituted to replace the old one. What can we expect in Libya? It would be a shame if all of these people died for more of the same, just in a different package.

 

Nothing unpopular about that question John, it is a very good one. Will we end up with a tribal situation and armed militias running there own little enclaves or will they actualy try to go down the rout of one person one vote! at this moment in time I would have to say the jury is still out
I hope that they will be able to put aside there diffrences and try to build a better future for the ordinery folks but the lure of power can be a very strong thing

 

I fear for most of that region. They are in such a state of flux right now, with opportunity on one side and disaster on the other. If strong people of character can chart their course, things may go well. If it's just strong people, well, we've seen how that goes...

 

I heard on NPR that a lot of correspondents are nervous because so many celebrants are firing guns into the air...

 

I don't know. I could be too negative. But I just fear all of these guys are going to wake up this morning and say "uhhh...whats next?" And no one will have an answer.

 

That makes me laugh you see these guy's standing there letting of streams of bullents into the air, I wonder if they have ever stopped to consider what happens to that bullet when it stops going up!

 

You need to watch Mythbusters. The answer might just surprise you.

 

If I remember basic physics, they would fall harmlessly to the ground? A bullet weighing a few grams moving at the speed of gravity would be about as dangerous as a medium-small hailstone, wouldn't it?

 

Actually, it is more complicated than that. If you shoot it straight up, pretty much what you say is correct. Terminal velocity is more than a small hailstone, but far from lethal. However, if you shoot at an angle (not well defined), it will maintain its spin and act more like a bullet and has been documented as being lethal. I assume that the angle required has to do with minimizing the speed at its apex to enable it to begin tumbling.

 

Hmmmm. Gadfly's dead. I don't feel any more safe or less safe, or any better or worse, than I did last week. As far as the Libyans...good for them I guess.

 

In a country like Libya it would not surprise me at all if they have some type of power struggle. Who knows? - maybe theyll end up with a Gadahfi "Light".

 

Quadaffi lite. Scary. Given that the U.S. gets involved in so many disagreements/wars/revolts on that side of the world, I am wondering what is going to happen now that NATO is pulling out. One thing is for sure -- it will not be pretty.

 

I don't know why we get so self-congratulatory about creating power vacuums.

 

It seems to me that the Libyans created their own power vacuum. But yeah, I don't think it's going to be pretty when the celebrations stop and the new guy moves in. We had better not expect the result to be in our favor, either.

 

Because we naively believe that everyone wants to be like us if they are just given a chance.