Hell on Earth: The Migrant Torture Chamber in Gadhafi’s Old Stronghold

www.ozy.com [OZY.COM]( [VIEW ONLINE]( 10 MUST READS TODAY [Daily Dose]( Wednesday Dec 18, 2019 1 [Around the World]( [Around the World]( [Hell on Earth: Former Gadhafi Stronghold Becomes a Migrant Torture Chamber]( The toughest journey for migrants trying to reach Europe isn't the Mediterranean. It's a patch of Libya's heartland. For decades, Bani Walid, Libya, was a natural transit for migrants trying to reach the coast to board rickety boats to Europe. It is also the base of the Warfallah tribe — one of Libya’s biggest communities, with a population of nearly one million — which enjoyed privileges under Moammar Gadhafi. But after backing the self-described Brother Leader against an armed uprising in 2011, Bani Walid was marginalized in the new political and economic order. By the end of 2018, 23,000 migrants reached Europe from Libya, a drop from 118,000 the previous year. With little prestige to protect, and with smuggling less profitable, militias and gangs in Bani Walid turned to extortion, often leading to the torture and killing of migrants. [READ MORE]( 2 [Good Sh*t]( [Good Sh*t]( [The Studio Owner Behind SZA, Chance the Rapper, DaBaby a​nd More]( Chicago-based Chris Classick has cultivated the sounds reshaping today's music scene. “This person/place literally saved my life,” Grammy-nominated rapper, songwriter and producer Smino tweeted this past September. Talk about a life being saved in rap and one’s mind could easily wander to the worst-case scenario. However, the multitalented St. Louis-born musician, who’s sonically redefining rap in his own right, wasn’t referring to a tragedy. Our hero of interest isn’t a paramedic, third-grade teacher or lawyer, either. Rather, Smino was referring to a different type of savior: manager, engineer and founder of Classick Studios, Chris Classick — the man and place responsible for honing, shaping and cultivating some of America’s best hip-hop over the past 13 years. [READ MORE]( 3 [News + Politics]( [News + Politics]( [Why California Should Not Adopt New York’s ‘Right to Shelter’]( The best of intentions can have unintended consequences where homelessness is involved. No locality has been more generous in funding for homeless services than New York City. The city’s Department of Homeless Services’ annual budget currently tops $3 billion, more than the gross national product of Swaziland or Laos. Where does that money go? Eighty-eight percent of the budget goes to sustain a sprawling industry of shelter providers, whether city-run or contracted to nonprofit organizations, according to the DHS. If West Coast cities follow in New York’s footsteps, the same Bureaucracy 101 outcome could ensue: “Temporary” shelters become a self-perpetuating industry with no incentive to change course. [READ MORE]( [Sponsored by: Roadtrip Nation]( [Forget Everything You Know About Community College.]( [Roadtrip Nation’s new documentary special Community Driven]( follows three community college students as they travel across California to take a hard look at the issues most crucial to the state today, including police brutality and immigration. Through interviews with California’s change-makers — and community college alumni — the students start to shed the stigmas around their education, instead learning to embrace its power to widen horizons and move us closer toward overcoming our divides. [Watch the documentary online for free right now.]( 4 [News + Politics]( [Merry Christmas: We Can Already Rule Out One-Third of the NBA]( Data from the last decade show the playoff teams are already pretty much set by late December. 5 [Good Sh*t]( [This Hilarious Swedish Show About a ‘Bonus Family’ Is Your Next Must-See]( This funny Swedish dramedy is about extra family and all the baggage that comes with it. 6 [The New + the Next]( [How Perfect Moment Became Instagram’s Favorite Ski Brand]( Jane Gott­schalk has conquered the slopes one post at a time. 7 [The New + the Next]( [Are Police Finally Learning to Deal With Autism?]( From car license plate tags to specialist training, tools are in place to curb police excesses. 8 [The New + the Next]( [How This Fertility Guru Is Set to Ease the Pain of 176M Women]( Startup founder Heather Bowerman plans to launch the first noninvasive test for endometriosis. 9 [True Story]( [Debunking Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Mockery’ of Bruce Lee]( The real stunt guy played by Brad Pitt is irked by the liberties taken in ‘Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood.’ 10 [News + Politics]( [Your Data Is Big Business. Nevada’s Shaping How You Can Protect It]( Could the Silver State serve as a model for a federal privacy law? You Should Know This [Can an Extra 16 Minutes of Sleep Score You a Promotion?]( OZY Media Mountain View, California 94040 This email was sent to {EMAIL} [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Read Online](