Gaddafi’s fall from power inevitable: Obama

When Gaddafi inevitably leaves or is forced from power, decades of provocation will come to an end and the transition to a democratic Libya can proceed,’ he said, defending his decision to take military action against the Libyan leader’s government.Three months into the unrest, rebels control eastern Libya and pockets in the west but the conflict has reached a stalemate as rebel attempts to advance on Tripoli have stalled.Obama’s comments echoed NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen who said military and political pressure was weakening Gaddafi and would eventually topple him.Obama is still delusional,’ Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said. ‘He believes the lies that his own government and media spread around the world...It’s not Obama who decides whether Muammar Gaddafi leaves Libya or not. It’s the Libyan people.Tripoli however reiterated a ceasefire offer, saying forces were ready to withdraw from cities if the rebels laid down arms. But the rebels have rejected all advances so far, saying they cannot trust Gaddafi and insisting on his departure.A series of apparent high-level defections suggest Gaddafi is struggling to hold his inner circle together. Libya’s top oil official Shokri Ghanem has left and not been heard from for days although his name has appeared on a list on a flight to Vienna.Tripoli says he is on an official visit to Europe but Tunisian and rebel sources say he has defected.Senegal late on Thursday recognized Libya’s Benghazi-based rebels as the legitimate opposition and said they should be given international support to lead transition to democratic elections.Acting under a UN mandate, NATO allies including France, Britain and the United States are conducting air strikes that aim to stop Gaddafi using military force against civilians.NATO aircraft sank eight warships in overnight attacks on the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte, the alliance said.Libyan officials took journalists to Tripoli port where a small ship spewed smoke and flames, and cast doubt on whether boats targeted by NATO had been involved in fighting.Mohammad Ahmad Rashed, general manager of Tripoli’s port, said six boats had been hit by missiles.The boats, five belonging to the coastguard and a larger naval vessel, had been undergoing maintenance since before the start of the fighting, he told reporters, adding that the port was still functional and capable of handling commercial traffic,NATO bombs struck Tripoli, Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte and Zlitan east of the capital, state TV said late on Thursday.It also showed footage of Gaddafi meeting a Libyan politician in Tripoli. Government spokesman Ibrahim said the politician had been in a delegation that met Russian officials in Moscow to explore possibilities for a ceasefire.The footage zoomed in on a TV screen in the room that showed Thursday’s date displayed in the corner.Gaddafi was last seen on May 11 when state TV showed him meeting tribal leaders in Tripoli. NATO bombed his compound the next day, and a day later TV broadcast an audio clip in which he taunted NATO and said the alliance could not kill him.

The crimes of national pride

The language of statism has a remarkable capacity for transforming a turf war between two gangs of thugs into an all-embracing conflict between two nations. The notion that the disputed land ‘belongs’ to either state, that a government could possess rights in any legitimate sense, reveals the derisible assumption underlying the power of all ruling classes.Because the state is simply systemised aggression, it cannot so much as exist without violating rights. Any claim of right it asserts, then, is an invasion, a trespass against true freedom, and in the case of land a theft. Through confrontations like the one between Thailand and Cambodia, crimes are ennobled as matters of national pride.Politics is necessarily and inevitably divisive. Since political solutions are, perforce, coercive, they are not solutions at all, merely subjecting some to the will of others in violation of the latter group’s autonomy. The common man, the worker who goes about his life peacefully, producing and trading to fill his needs, should not at all identify his interests with those of his government. Appeals to patriotism are the gilding used by the political class to garner popular support for conflicts for power, stemming from power, with no mind to the woes of the productive class.Rather than a specific implication of the same sort of pride one feels with regard to one’s familial group or community, patriotism stands opposed to the kinds of friendly ties that bind human beings. It asks the Cambodians and the Thai to hate one another because they stand on the opposite side of a line on a map, one that has been drawn arbitrarily by members of a ruling class that have no interest but to plunder the societies that exists within their own borders.Besides its more obvious uses, war is of service to the elite in that it obscures the alignment of interestsacross all national, cultural, religious and language divides between all those who would use only nonviolent, voluntary means in their relations with others. Market anarchism, in advocating mutual respect for individuals’ rights and consensual exchange, does not prescribe a fixed or predetermined vision for society without the vulturine impositions of the state.It asks only that the ruling class be forbidden from using the artifices of the legal structure, ultimately enforced at the point of a gun, to gain from the constructive achievements of others. Renouncing the hope that the state ‘could be made an instrument in the hands of the oppressed to alleviate their sufferings,’ Lucy Parsons understood that governments are always a vehicle for ‘the machinations of the scheming few.’ And those few do not stand in for the people of Thailand or Cambodia, for the land itself, for separate individuals, or for society at large.The absurd nationalism at the heart of the Cambodia-Thailand clash, a needless waste of life for the elevation of governmentsn ot people displays the vile reality of statism. Thailand and Cambodia alike would be better off without their respective states, without a few malefactors exploiting people who could get along just fine without them.

Whitepaper: Enhancing Meetings Through Food

Food for thought" is more than just a figure of speech. It's also a scientific principle that can help meeting planners improve their meetings and events, according to The National Conference Center in Leesburg, Va., which yesterday released a new meetings industry whitepaper on the topic of food psychology.Titled "The Science of Food for Thought: Enhancing Meetings Through Food," the whitepaper is the first in a quarterly series of whitepapers from The National Conference Center. Showcasing research from Executive Chef Craig Mason, as well as Andrea Sullivan of BrainStrength Systems which specializes in education for "brain friendly" meetings  it presents tips for meeting planners on how to improve meeting productivity with food."Meeting planners everywhere are always looking for the answer to this question: How can I help my attendees gain and retain the most from their meeting experience?" reads the whitepaper. "One might answer that question by looking into conditional factors that may influence an attendee leading up to a meeting as well as during. Aside from sleep and stress levels, meals play a large role. The center of all brain focus at meetings comes down to: What are my attendees consuming and what is the timing of those meals?"Based on neuroscience research by Sullivan, and experiments conducted by Mason  who examined different food choices during lunch programs and breaks  The National Conference Center recommends: Reducing the quantity of red meat  which slows attendees down and makes them drowsy for the second half of the day  and replacing it with lighter options such as fish and chicken, which require less energy to digest.Sourcing in-season ingredients from within 150 miles of the meeting venue, as foods with the most nutritional value are always local.Serving vegetables cooked at higher temperatures for shorter periods, which maximizes nutritional content.Replenishing break stations with healthy snacks throughout the day so attendees can replenish their energy as needed. Instead of chips, cookies, candies and pastries, which result in a sugar rush and subsequent crash serve fresh fruits, nuts, yogurt and energy bars.Serving breakfasts that consist of a complex carbohydrate and a protein  for instance, a whole-grain bagel and a hard-boiled egg  in order to maximize attendee alertness.Putting spinach on the menu because it's high iron and folate, which are beneficial for thinking, learning and memory. Serving whole grains or pasta that produce tryptophan, which relaxes the brain and creates a sense of well-being, as well as items such as yogurt, bananas, beans, rice, peanuts and dark chocolate, all of which have been shown to improve cognitive functioning. Other good menu choices include water, granola, blueberries, mangos, broccoli and peanut butter.In conclusion, Mason and Sullivan say to: avoid sugar highs, keep things light and buy local.We often struggle with our body and mind, yet this science gives us insight and an understanding to apply to our daily lives," Sullivan says. "We learn to use our brain and be in charge of ourselves and become the person we want to be."To read "The Science of Food for Thought" in its entirety, download a complimentary copy at

Osama Bin Laden dead US President confirms news

terror strike, al Qaeda mastermind and world's most dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden was today killed by US forces after being hounded in a special operation in Abbottabad in Pakistan.Bin Laden, 54, is dead and his body is in US custody, President Barack Obama announced today at half past 11 Sunday US time as crowds outside White House chanted 'USA, USA'.Giving details of the operation, Obama said last week he determined that "we had enough intelligence to take action and authorised an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan". Abbottabad is about 150 kms north of Islamabad.