Photograph of Libyans protesting in NYC yesterday by greenelent on Flickr

There are some rumors out there that Libyan strongman Moammer Gadhafi has been shot. Reuters reports, "A U.S. official said the U.S. government has no reason to believe that the Libyan leader is dead. However, the rumor swept through oil markets and sent prices tumbling more than $2 a barrel in late Thursday trade." On the other hand, Gadhafi has been blaming Osama bin Laden and hallucinogenic pills mixed with Nescafe for his country's tumult.

Gadhafi, who previously called the protesters "cockroaches" and "greasy cats and rats," called a state TV station said, "[The protesters'] ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe." He also mentioned the city of Zawiyah, the site of a violent clash apparently started by security forces, "Shame on you, people of Zawiyah, control your children... They are loyal to bin Laden... What do you have to do with bin Laden, people of Zawiyah? They are exploiting young people ... I insist it is bin Laden... What is happening in Zawiyah is a farce ... Sane men don't enter such a farce... You people of Zawiyah, stop your children, take their weapons, bring them away from Bin Laden, the pills will kill them. Leave the country calm.'

Government control in Libya has reportedly "eroded." And Gadhafi's former justice minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil told Swedish newspaper Expressen, "Gaddafi's days are numbered. He will do what Hitler did -- he will take his own life."