Strength in a smile A new discipline moves to centre-stage Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. By Martin Seligman. Free Press; 368 pages; $26. Nicholas Brealey Publishing; £14.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk The idea that it is the business of governments to cheer up their citizens has moved in recent years to centre-stage. Academics interested in measures of GDH (gross domestic happiness) were once forced to turn to the esoteric example of Bhutan. Now Britain’s Conservative-led government is compiling a national happiness index, and Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, wants to replace the traditional GDP count with a … Continue reading THE POWER OF YOUR SMILE

Military Academics Block Degree for Author Criticizing Afghan War Tuesday 3 May 2011 by: Ramzy Baroud, Truthout Deepak Tripathi’s most recent book, “Breeding Ground: Afghanistan and the Origins of Islamist Terrorism” (Potomac Books), raises several issues, both within and outside of its content. It is based on research for his doctoral dissertation, the qualification for which he never received. Tripathi, a former BBC producer, is immensely proud of his latest volume, even while it is associated with a tumultuous experience at the University of Sussex, a renowned British university. For a while, things had gone according to plan, and the … Continue reading Military Academics Block Degree for Author

“Sort of like Murder, Inc.”: Behind the Forces Who Took Down bin Laden by: Jeremy Scahill, The Nation Osama bin Laden from a 2001 image. (US Attorney’s Office/The New York Times) The team of US Special Operations Forces who killed Osama bin Laden in a pre-dawn raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, were led by elite Navy SEALS from the Joint Special Operations Command. Operators from SEAL Team Six, also known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or just DevGru, are widely considered to be the most elite warriors in the US national security apparatus. Col. W. Patrick Lang, … Continue reading Sort of like Murder, Inc.

The al-Qaida leader evaded intelligence agencies for years, until a complex trail led to a garrison town outside Islamabad Jason Burke guardian.co.uk Osama bin Laden became known to the world as the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks in 2001, but intelligence services had been concerned about him since the early 1990s. Photograph: Russell Boyce/REUTERS Mohammed Umr remembered when he last heard from the sheikh. He was crouched in a cave high in the Tora Bora mountains in easternAfghanistan in December 2001. Huge bombs dropped by American B-52s shook the ground around him. A thousand feet below, Afghans loyal to the Northern … Continue reading Osama bin Laden: the long hunt

As America celebrates the death of its greatest foe, a younger cadre is ready to direct jihad against the West – including one whose real name no one knows. By our Diplomatic Editor Praveen Swami. An al-Qaeda training camp outside Mogadishu, Somalia. Jihadists are expected to wage a long war of attrition against the West Photo: AP By Praveen Swami History,” wrote Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden’s mentor, “does not write its lines except with blood… Glory does not build its lofty edifice except with skulls; honour and respect cannot be established except on a foundation of cripples and corpses.” Osama … Continue reading Al-Qaeda: The next generation

‘Rethink energy taxes or we’ll close UK gas field’: British Gas owner’s threat  to Osborne By DAILY MAIL REPORTER UK oil and gas producers ‘face some of the highest taxes in the world’ ‘We may choose to buy gas on the wholesale markets,’ warns energy giant The owner of British Gas has warned it may be forced to shut one of its gas fields unless the Government rethinks its tax hikes. Centrica’s announcement fuelled concerns that Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to raise taxes on oil and gas could hasten the demise of UK production. Industry body Oil & Gas UK has … Continue reading Centrica – The British AlQaeda! But will politicians stand up to it?

Bin Laden is dead, By AFP This May 2, 2011 photo shows a journalist in Washington, DC looks at the FBI website announcing the death of Osama Bin Laden. PHOTO: AFP PARIS: Osama bin Laden, killed on Sunday, is survived by high-ranking leaders and supporters of his al Qaeda militant movement. Here are profiles of the top 10 at large, according to media and Western intelligence. Ayman al-Zawahiri Age: 60 Country of origin: Egypt Suspected location: Pakistan Role: Bin Laden’s right-hand man and co-founder of al Qaeda. An Egyptian doctor who met bin Laden in Afghanistan where they were fighting the Soviets and … Continue reading Bin Laden is dead, meet the rest of Qaeda!

Osama a casualty of the Arab revolt By Spengler More surprising than the death of Osama bin Laden on Monday was the fact that he lived unmolested in a mansion in Abbottabad, about 65 kilometers north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad. How many Pakistani officials and others must have known about this? “America can do whatever we set out mind to,” President Barack Obama intoned in his May 1 announcement of Bin Laden’s death at the hands during a strike by Pakistani and American special forces. Not, apparently, without a little help from its friends, and remarkably belated help at … Continue reading Did Osama bring a democratic awakening to the Arabs?

Osama’s al-Qaeda ready for a fight By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – Command of al-Qaeda will be taken over by a select handful of leaders who had been chosen in advance of the death of Osama bin Laden, who was killed on Monday morning in a strike by Pakistani and American special forces on a compound in Abbottabad, about 65 kilometers north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad. The death of the 54-year-old Bin Laden, who had a US$50 million reward on his head, is also likely to mark the beginning of a shift of the war theater from Afghanistan to Pakistan, … Continue reading AlQaeda will shift focus against Pakistan?

Shut the Libyan British Business Council down When this group claims to have discovered its human rights alter ego in Libya we should reject it – it’s business first all the way John Walters guardian.co.uk A Libyan about-face … politicians and businessmen are now disavowing their previous positive views on Gaddafi. Photograph: Xinhua/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images As large numbers of Libyans try to rid themselves of Gaddafi, the British political class all seem to agree: the support of pro-democracy movements in Libya is paramount, while Gaddafi can only be understood as a murderous butcher, a madman, a dictator, a tyrant … Continue reading Pimping for Gaddafi – Libyan British Business Council