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Libya’s Gaddafi dies of wounds after capture near Sirte: NTC official

SIRTE, LIBYA: Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya’s interim rulers said. His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have…

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Steve Jobs Biography Reveals He Told Obama, ‘You’re Headed For A One-Term Presidency’

In one of the most hotly-anticipated biographies of the year, “Steve Jobs,” author Walter Isaacson reveals that the Apple CEO offered to design political ads for President Obama’s 2012 campaign despite being highly critical of the administration’s policies and that Jobs refused potentially life-saving surgery on his pancreatic cancer because he felt it was too invasive. Nine months later, he got the operation but it was too late. Those are just some of the tidbits about Jobs’ life revealed in the upcoming biography, a copy of which was obtained by The Huffington Post. The publication date of the official biography of the notoriously-secretive Apple co-founder was pushed up after his death in October. “I wanted my kids to know me,” Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying in their final interview. “I wasn’t always there for them and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.” Among other details unearthed in the book on the notoriously-secretive Apple co-founder: Jobs’ Meeting With Obama Jobs, who was known for his prickly, stubborn personality, almost missed meeting President Obama in the fall of 2010 because he insisted that the president personally ask him for a meeting. Though his wife told him that Obama “was really psyched to meet with you,” Jobs insisted on the personal invitation, and the standoff lasted for five days. When he finally relented and they met at the Westin San Francisco Airport, Jobs was characteristically blunt. He seemed to have transformed from a liberal into a conservative. “You’re headed for a one-term presidency,” he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly. As an example, Jobs described the ease with which companies can build factories in China compared to the United States, where “regulations and unnecessary costs” make it difficult for them. Jobs also criticized America’s education system, saying it was “crippled by union work rules,” noted Isaacson. “Until the teachers’ unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform.” Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit, that schools stay open until 6 p.m. and that they be open 11 months a year. Aiding Obama’s Reelection Campaign Jobs suggested that Obama meet six or seven other CEOs who could express the needs of innovative businesses — but when White House aides added more names to the list, Jobs insisted that it was growing too big and that “he had no intention of coming.” In preparation for the dinner, Jobs exhibited his notorious attention to detail, telling venture capitalist John Doerr that the menu of shrimp, cod and lentil salad was “far too fancy” and objecting to a chocolate truffle dessert. But he was overruled by the White House, which cited the president’s fondness for cream pie. Though Jobs was not that impressed by Obama, later telling Isaacson that his focus on the reasons that things can’t get done “infuriates” him, they kept in touch and talked by phone a few more times. Jobs even offered to help create Obama’s political ads for the 2012 campaign. “He had made the same offer in 2008, but he’d become annoyed when Obama’s strategist David Axelrod wasn’t totally deferential,” writes Isaacson. Jobs later told the author that he wanted to do for Obama what the legendary “morning in America” ads did for Ronald Reagan. Bill Gates And Steve Jobs Bill Gates was fascinated by Steve Jobs but found him “fundamentally odd” and “weirdly flawed as a human being,” and his tendency to be “either in the mode of saying you were shit or trying to seduce you.” Jobs once declared about Gates, “He’d be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger.” After 30 years, Gates would develop a grudging respect for Jobs. “He really never knew much about technology, but he had an amazing instinct for what works,” he said. But Jobs never reciprocated by fully appreciating Gates’ real strengths. “Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he’s more comfortable now in philanthropy than technology. He just shamelessly ripped off other people’s ideas.” Meeting His Biological Father Jobs, who was adopted, was a customer at a Mediterranean restaurant north of San Jose without realizing that it was owned by his biological father — from whom he was estranged. He eventually met his real Dad — “It was amazing,” he later said of the revelation. “I had been to that restaurant a few times, and I remember meeting the owner. He was Syrian. Balding. We shook hands.” Nevertheless Jobs still had no desire to see him. “I was a wealthy man by then, and I didn’t trust him not to try to blackmail me or go to the press about it.” Anticipating An Early Death Jobs once told John Sculley, who would later become Apple’s CEO and fire Jobs, that if he weren’t working with computers, he could see himself as a poet in Paris. “Jobs confided in Sculley that he believed he would die young, and therefore he needed to accomplish things quickly so that he would make his mark on Silicon Valley history. “We all have a short period of time on this earth,” he told the Sculleys. “We probably only have the opportunity to do a few things really great and do them well. None of us has any idea how long we’re gong to be here nor do I, but my feeling is I’ve got to accomplish a lot of these things while I’m young.” * * * * * For his first interview about the book, Isaacson talked to “60 Minutes” for the Sunday, Oct. 23 episode, telling host Steve Kroft that he was shocked about Jobs’s decision to initially skip surgery for his pancreatic cancer — that such a genius could make such a wrong decision about his own health. “I’ve asked [Jobs why he didn't get an operation then] and he said, ‘I didn’t want my body to be opened … I didn’t want to be violated in that way,’ said Isaacson. “I think that he kind of felt that if you ignore something, if you don’t want something to exist, you can have magical thinking. … We talked about this a lot,” he told Kroft. “He wanted to talk about it, how he regretted it. … I think he felt he should have been operated on sooner.”

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Libya rebels claim they have ‘captured’ Muammar Gaddafi

Your Comment Post your comment * Notify me when new comments are posted All comments Replies to my comment People brave strong winds and rain on a street as a typhoon hit Haikou in south China’s Hainan province. The powerful typhoon slammed into southern China on Thursday after skirting Hong Kong and bringing death and widespread flooding to the Philippines earlier this week – AP More From WorldRebels…

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Libya’s Gaddafi dies of wounds after capture near Sirte: NTC official

SIRTE, LIBYA: Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya’s interim rulers said. His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have…

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Greek lawmakers OK austerity bill despite riots

ATHENS, Greece – Ignoring two days of riots outside parliament, Greek lawmakers passed a deeply resented new austerity bill Thursday, caving in to the demands of international creditors in order to avoid a national bankruptcy. The austerity measures won 154-144 in the 300-member parliament despite dissent from a prominent socialist lawmaker who voted against a key article of the bill. The vote was expected to pave the way for a vital $11 billion payout from creditors within weeks so Greece can stay solvent. Clouds of tear gas choked central…

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Spain hails ETA end to Basque separatist violence

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Spain is claiming an end to four decades of violent bombings and shootings after the Basque separatist group ETA announced it would lay down its arms and try to negotiate its demand for a separate nation. ETA has killed more 800 people in its drive for an independent state and stopped short of declaring it was defeated, but issued an historic announcement Thursday ending its armed struggle with an appearance via video of three ETA members wearing trademark Basque berets and masks with slits for their eyes. At the end of the clip, they defiantly raised their fists in the air demanding a separate Basque nation. Spain has repeatedly refused any negotiations, but Prime…

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East Africa drought ‘remains huge crisis’ – UK official

Three months after famine was declared in Somalia, the scale of the crisis in the Horn of Africa remains huge, says a British official. International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said hundreds of people,…

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Basque separatists ETA end armed struggle

Basque separatists ETA have called an end to its

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Libya forces capture last pro-Gaddafi holdout – Sirte

SIRTE, LIBYA: Libyan interim government fighters captured Muammar Gaddafi’s home town on Thursday, extinguishing the last significant holdout of resistance by troops loyal to the deposed leader and ending a two-month siege. The capture of Sirte means Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) should now begin the task forging a new democratic system which it had…

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Hugo Chávez: I’m free of cancer

The Venezuelan president says there are ‘no malignant cells active in this body’ after undergoing treatment in Cuba The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has announced his recovery from cancer. Photograph: AP Nearly four months after publicly admitting he was suffering from cancer, the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, has claimed he is “free of the illness”….

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