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Young people are heavily involved in the uprising now underway in Libya: They are members of the rebel military; they are working to help form a new government. They are also producing revolutionary artwork, publications and music.
On any given day you can find at least a few of Benghazi's young and restless in a large empty cement lot off one of the city's main thoroughfares.
In the late afternoon, young men gather to see just how much tire rubber they can burn. Fishtailing Toyotas leave a smear of swirling, smoking, sticky blackness on the pavement. From a hotel room high above, the streaks appear like some kind of postmodern design.
About a mile away, just off Revolution Square, more substantive creations are taking shape. This is the Media Center for the 17th of February Revolution — a dingy, dog-eared building bustling day and night with frenetic 20- and 30-somethings trying to process what's going on in Libya.
On the second floor, a cottage industry of sorts has developed, producing anti-Moammar Gadhafi posters. The walls are plastered with mainly black and white cartoons of the leader.
In one, he's a fanged vampire with bombs and machine guns popping out of the top of his head. In another, Gadhafi is depicted as a monkey picking lice off a crony. They all ooze vitriol.
Akram Muhammed el Biriky, 32, one of a cadre of cartoonists working at the center, says he cranks out four to five drawings a day. This afternoon the caricature he's working on presents the dictator in oversize sunglasses dripping blood from the lower half of his body.
The artist, sporting a goatee and jean jacket, says he used to draw his sketches at home in secret and then tear them up for fear of being discovered and imprisoned. When things quiet down, Biriky hopes for a career in fashion or interior design — occupations, he says, that were stifled under the old regime.
Overseeing things at the center and making sure the cartoonists stay on message is Suzanne Hemy, who helped found the place.
Hovering about in a dark headscarf, Hemy says she tries to make sure that as the artists lampoon Gadhafi, they don't offend any of Libya's tribes.
Hemy studied law but says she found her true calling during the uprising that began in February: demonstrating against the regime and admonishing the men to join her. She urged her husband and 17-year-old son to take up arms, telling them if they die, they die as martyrs — and if they live, they live as revolutionaries.

 Patience is a virtue, unless Lady Gaga is involved.
For the last week-plus, E! has been touting its exclusive premiere of Gaga’s new video, “Judas,” set to be broadcast at 7 p.m. Thursday. But when does a timed release ever go according to schedule? On Thursday morning, Gaga's fans were treated to the video in full when a leaked copy spread throughout the Internet.
The clip for “Judas” -- like all things Gaga -- is sure to cause a firestorm, as it tells a Gaga-esque re-imagining of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus with the singer as Mary Magdalene. Her version, however, opens with Christ (wearing a modern gold crown, and cornrows) and his Apostles channeling “Sons of Anarchy” as they cruise down a Los Angeles freeway on motorcycles and in leather regalia. Loads of religious imagery follows, including an interesting take on foot washing and, of course,  plenty of gyrations. 
“Judas” was directed by Gaga and her creative director-choreographer, Laurieann Gibson. We caught up with Gibson to talk about her continued work with the singer and her reality show, which airs on, you guessed it, folks, E! Gibson directed the video, which was filmed in early April at Universal Studios Hollywood. She promised that “Judas” would be just as controversial as anything she's done before.
“I've been waiting my whole life [for this]. I'm really blown away by it,” Gibson said. “You might cry, and not for the visual content, well you might because the visual is beautiful, but [fans will] be proud. It’s almost like the struggle is over. It was amazing.”
Gibson admitted there was some resistance from Gaga’s label for her to direct the clip; it’s only the second video she’s directed (she helmed Keri Hilson’s “The Way You Love Me”).
“What I learned was dealing with people that doubt my process. Or don’t understand that I’m capable of directing. I know you’re nervous, I understand,” she laughs. “You’re looking at me like, ‘It’s a bigger artist, it’s more money.’ But you forgot, I’ve been here since Day 1. I’m really proud of it.”
Gaga has called the filming and directing of the video "the most exciting artistic moment of my career. It's the greatest work we've done."