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As I've commented in a few other places, I think that ultimately its probably a little too soon for Obama to have gotten the Peace Prize - the timing was ill considered, and for the most part its been made more as a representation of the hope the Nobel Committee has that he will not be George W. Bush mk. II in his handling of world events. On the other hand, what he was awarded the Prize for (ie. working towards nuclear disarmament, and confronting global climant change) are things he has accomplished, and both of these are things the Nobel Committee things are probably pressing problems that were ignored in the United States and the world under the last presidency.
Plus, I think that turning down the Prize shows a lot more arrogance and disregard for the Prize than accepting it. The Prize isn't something you can seek - its awarded by an independent committee, and is used both as a reward and an encouragement for people whom the Nobel Committees feel are making great strides in the world. Obama himself has said that he thinks that he is unworth of the Prize, and will donate all of the prize money to charity. He clearly thinks that he hasn't done anything worth of the prize either, and I think he's handled the situation well.
On the other hand, there have been a grand total of 6 people who have turned down the Nobel Prize, and only one person has turned down the peace prize. And Le Duc Tho was a joint recipient with Henry Kissinger for the Vietnam peace negotiations - he turned it down because there were purges being conducted in Vietman following the war. Kissinger accepted it, although he took the same route Obama has. The other declined prizes were turned down by a variety of people - one who never accepted a single award during his entire life, three people who were afraid to take the prize because Hitler said he would shoot them (they recieved it later anyways) and one who was told that the Soviet Government would be... displeased if he didn't return it.
In the end, I just look back to the 1994 Peace Prize recipient for precident on this. If Yasser Arafat - who had in his life probably done more for the cause of destroying Israel than making peace with said country - can recieve the Peace Prize, then I don't think Obama is entirely out there either.
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Happy Turkey Day, everyone!
In other news, finally finishing up college, at least degree-wise. After changing my degree this many times, I think it feels quite strange to be looking at finishing up. But its finally going to happen, which is enough to make me cheer a bit on the inside.
For those in the D/FW area who are interested, my graduation is on the 13th of December. If you'd like to come along, please let me know - we've got a little bit of a group, and I'll try and get info out and all that.
Now just finals in a little more than a week... thankfully, I've actually (by some small miracle) done well in Spanish this semester, so I should be graduating with little trouble.
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| How to make a runegrey |
Ingredients:
5 parts intelligence
1 part ambition
5 parts energy |
Method:
Blend at a low speed for 30 seconds. Top it off with a sprinkle of lustfulness and enjoy! |
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