Obama wins second peace prize

Originally Posted by FloorJack

It's the first time ever someone has won two Nobel prizes.

Originally Posted by e1618978

They announce the peace prize winner on Friday, there are 237 nominees.

Originally Posted by FloorJack

Kim Jong Un for Peace Prize

Originally Posted by FineTunes

Is Obama on the short list of nominees??

A Vatican official has said the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Medicine to British IVF pioneer Robert Edwards is "completely out of order".

Originally Posted by segovius

Vatican Stick their Oar In

Originally Posted by segovius

Vatican Stick their Oar In

Originally Posted by e1618978

They keep the nominee list secret for 50 years, evidently.

http://nobelprize.org/nomination/nomination_facts.html

Floorjack - where did you get the information for your original post?

Floorjack - where did you get the information for your original post?

Originally Posted by FloorJack

Kim Jong Un for Peace Prize

Originally Posted by FloorJack

Shocking news. Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for the second year in a row. It's the first time ever someone has won two Nobel prizes. Of course the Nobel committee denies they are trying to influence politics inside the US before the mid term elections.

Originally Posted by FloorJack

What!? Oh wow get with the program man.

#Nobel Prize 2010 nominees: who will take the peace prize?

Liu Xiaobo (Reuters)


After last year's controversial choice of President Barack Obama for the Nobel peace prize, speculation over this year's Nobel recipients has run wild.

There are 237 nominees this year, including six Chinese dissidents, the radio group Democratic Voice of Burma and the Internet.

For the peace prize, Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo is topping the list of front runners at the PaddyPower betting site with odds at 3:1. China, however, has urged the Nobel Prize committee to not give him the top prize.

The head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, which assists the Nobel Committee in making its decisions, told reporters Monday that a senior Chinese official had warned him that awarding the peace prize to Liu would hurt relations between Norway and China.

Other highly rated choices are the Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and Sima Samar, an Afghan women's rights activist who leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

A few long shots include Bono with 50:1 odds at Paddy Power and Tony Blair, with 80:1 odds.

Originally Posted by FineTunes

WEBCAST LIVE!!!!@FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8TH 9:00AM GMT

http://nobelprize.org/index.html

Other News

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blo..._who_will.html

Originally Posted by segovius

Blair.......nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bonio........wankeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Originally Posted by segovius

Blair.......nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bonio........wankeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Originally Posted by FloorJack

What!? Oh wow get with the program man.

The director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo tips Afghan women's rights crusader Sima Samar as his favorite for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, but there are 237 candidates.

Keen Nobel Peace Prize handicappers may differ over who is likely to win the prize, but all agree that after the aspirational nature of Mr. Obamas win, this years prize is almost certain to be awarded based on accomplishments.

I would speculate that the wording in the preceding year [in Alfred Nobels 1895 will establishing the famed prizes] will be emphasized by the committee this year, says Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

Accomplishments vs. aspirations

A number of the earliest Nobel Peace Prizes were awarded based on aspirations, Mr. Harpviken says, but he adds that the committee that decides the award has over the decades balanced the accomplished and the hoped-for, and he expects a move back to the former this year.

In the year since Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize, work on the president's foreign policy agenda has been a hard slog, and many of his signature initiatives are a long way from being fulfilled.

When it announced the award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee made clear that it was recognizing the new American president's "vision," and his efforts to strengthen multilateral diplomacy the unspoken corollary being that the U.S. was turning away from the unilateral approach of Obama's predecessor.

The message from the Norwegians and many other Europeans was, "Goodbye, George W. Bush. We're glad you're gone," says Aaron David Miller, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. "But the issue is whether this president can achieve a success in foreign policy that convinces the skeptics and doubters that he has done something historic."

In the past year at least, analysts cite some policy successes, but they say the president has a long way to go on a variety of peacemaking efforts, ranging from America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the Middle East peace process, to reducing the threat from nuclear weapons.

Miller points out that Obama, like Woodrow Wilson, won the Peace Prize even though he is a wartime president. Obama kept his pledge to remove all combat troops from Iraq by the end of August, but he did so by re-purposing combat units as trainers and advisers, leaving some 50,000 American service members in the country.

Originally Posted by jazzguru

Comparing Obama to Woodrow Wilson is no compliment.

The Norwegian Peace Prize committee has a dilemma this year: how to top last years surprise award to President Obama.

The prize aroused criticism for being awarded just nine months into Mr. Obama's presidential term and while the US was heavily engaged in two military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. The committee granted him the prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

The controversial selection will probably compel the committee go for a more traditional choice on Friday such as human rights campaigner or pro-democracy organization which could have an impact on the political process, according to Kristian Berg Harpviken, director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo.


[T]he nominations of Chinese dissidents are seen by some as controversial, despite the political independence of the Nobel committee.

Harpviken said it would be problematic for the prize to go to Liu or any Chinese dissident because of the political tensions it could cause between Norway and China. Geir Lundestad, Norwegian Nobel Institute director, recently told Norwegian national television NRK that Chinas deputy foreign minister warned them this summer not to award the peace prize to a Chinese dissident. [FT: Who knew that politics had anything to do with awarding the Peace Prize]

Kjell Magne Bondevik, foreign minister at the time the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, recalls the diplomatic tension that ensued. He said he received a very clear message from both the Chinese government and embassy about their displeasure over the selection. He believes giving the award this year to a Chinese dissident could result in a similar diplomatic reaction, but would not affect economic relations between the two nations.


China is Norways most important trade partner in Asia. The two countries are currently negotiating a possible bilateral free trade agreement.

Originally Posted by awsomedeal

Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize
Former president honored for 'untiring effort' on behalf of mankind

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Jimmy Carter, for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.

During his presidency (1977-1981), Carter's mediation was a vital contribution to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, in itself a great enough achievement to qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize. At a time when the cold war between East and West was still predominant, he placed renewed emphasis on the place of human rights in international politics

Originally Posted by FloorJack

Shocking news. Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for the second year in a row. It's the first time ever someone has won two Nobel prizes. Of course the Nobel committee denies they are trying to influence politics inside the US before the mid term elections.

Originally Posted by FloorJack

Shocking news. Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for the second year in a row. It's the first time ever someone has won two Nobel prizes. Of course the Nobel committee denies they are trying to influence politics inside the US before the mid term elections.

Originally Posted by sheldon25

Is this for real?
Common..... Nobel prize means nothing now, pretty sure there are more people who deserve this award.

Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said Mr Liu was "the foremost symbol of the wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China".

Mr Liu's wife and some Western nations have called for his immediate release.

'Curtailed freedom'

Mr Jagland, reading the citation, said China's new status in the world "must entail increased responsibility".

"China is in breach of several international agreements to which it is a signatory, as well as of its own provisions concerning political rights."

Mr Jagland said that, in practice, freedoms enshrined in China's constitution had "proved to be distinctly curtailed for China's citizens".

He said the choice of Mr Liu had become clear early in the selection process.

Mr Liu, 54, was a key leader in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Last year he received an 11-year sentence for "inciting subversion" after drafting Charter 08 - which called for multi-party democracy and respect for human rights in China.

The Nobel Foundation citation read: "Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both China's own constitution and fundamental human rights."

It praised Mr Liu for his "long and non-violent struggle" and highlighted its belief in a "close connection between human rights and peace".

Ending the citation, Mr Jagland said: "The campaign to establish universal human rights in China is being waged by many Chinese, both in China itself and abroad.

"Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China."

Beijing quickly condemned the award, saying it could damage China-Norway relations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said: "Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who violated Chinese law. It's a complete violation of the principles of the prize and an insult to the Peace Prize itself for the Nobel committee to award the prize to such a person."

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said it would be "negative for China's reputation in the world" if it chose to punish Norway over the award.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said China should free Mr Liu so he could attend the ceremony.

France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also welcomed the award and called on China to release Mr Liu.

UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay said the prize recognised a "very prominent human rights defender".

The London-based rights group Amnesty International said Mr Liu was a "worthy winner".

But Catherine Baber, Amnesty's deputy Asia-Pacific director, added: "This award can only make a real difference if it prompts more international pressure on China to release Liu, along with the numerous other prisoners of conscience languishing in Chinese jails."

No candidates are announced ahead of the Peace Prize but others mentioned in the media included Afghan women's rights activist Sima Samar, Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, former German chancellor Helmut Kohl and Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Liu Xiaobo's path to the Nobel Peace Prize began during the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989, when he joined student demonstrators on hunger strike two days before the protests were crushed by the Chinese military on the night of June 4.

Until then, Mr Liu had concentrated on his academic career as a Chinese literature lecturer at Beijing Normal University. But witnessing the brutal crackdown in Tiananmen helped to turn him into China's most outspoken and best-known activist.

Originally from Changchun in north-east China, Mr Liu's part in the Tiananmen protests earned him his first prison sentence and resulted in him losing his teaching post. That did not deter him from speaking out. In 1996, he was sent to a re-education labour camp for three years on charges of "disturbing public order" after criticising the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

On his release Mr Liu continued writing articles critical of the CCP's grip on power. But it was his key role in the Charter 08 movement that made him the CCP's public enemy number one. The Charter 08 manifesto called for democratic political reforms and the end of one-party rule, guaranteed human rights, freedom of expression and an independent judiciary. It was issued on December 10th 2008, the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Two days before the manifesto was released, police came to Mr Liu's Beijing apartment and took him away. For the next six months he was held in solitary confinement in an unknown location without access to his wife or a lawyer.

In June 2009, he was formally charged with "inciting subversion of state power", a vague, catch-all charge commonly used against anyone who criticises the CCP. On Christmas Day last year, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Since then, the 54-year-old has been held at Jinzhou Prison in Liaoning Province north of Beijing. He is allowed a monthly visit from his wife, who says that he is in reasonable health and not cowed by his situation. A media blackout on his case in China means few of his compatriots are aware of his decades of peaceful campaigning for democracy and human rights. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize will not change that, but it will focus the spotlight once more on China's lamentable record on human rights and the determination of its leaders to crush anyone who opposes them.

1989: Massacre in Tiananmen Square
Several hundred civilians have been shot dead by the Chinese army during a bloody military operation to crush a democratic protest in Peking's (Beijing) Tiananmen Square.
Tanks rumbled through the capital's streets late on 3 June as the army moved into the square from several directions, randomly firing on unarmed protesters.

The injured were rushed to hospital on bicycle rickshaws by frantic residents shocked by the army's sudden and extreme response to the peaceful mass protest.

Demonstrators, mainly students, had occupied the square for seven weeks, refusing to move until their demands for democratic reform were met.

The protests began with a march by students in memory of former party leader Hu Yaobang, who had died a week before.

But as the days passed, millions of people from all walks of life joined in, angered by widespread corruption and calling for democracy.

Amid the panic and confusion students could be heard shouting "fascists stop killing," and "down with the government".

At a nearby children's hospital operating theatres were filled with casualties with gunshot wounds, many of them local residents who were not taking part in the protests.

Early this morning at least 30 more were killed in two volleys of gunfire, which came without warning. Terrified crowds fled, leaving bodies in the road.

Meanwhile reports have emerged of troops searching the main Peking university campus for ringleaders, beating and killing those they suspect of co-ordinating the protests.

Other dissidents to win the peace prize include German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1935, Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov in 1975, Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa in 1983 and Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991.

The Nobel committee praised Liu's pacifist approach, ignoring threats by Chinese diplomats even before the announcement that such a decision would result in strained ties with Norway. Liu has been an ardent advocate for peaceful, gradual political change rather than confrontation with the government, unlike others in China's highly fractured and persecuted dissident community.

The Nobel committee cited Liu's participation in the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing in 1989 and the Charter 08 document he recently co-authored, which called for greater freedom in China and an end to the Communist Party's political dominance.

Originally Posted by FloorJack

Liu Xiaobo Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Darn it. They actually found someone that put their own ass on the line for freedom and democracy. How could they bypass Obama again? We were robbed!

Chinese officials reacted angrily to the news that this year's Nobel Peace Prize has gone to the country's most prominent dissident, but analysts say the decision could provide an opportunity for Chinese leaders who favor human rights reform.

China's official reaction has been to condemn the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee, saying it violated its own principals by awarding the prize to "a criminal" dissident Liu Xiaobo. The 54-year-old writer and human-rights activists is currently serving an 11-year prison term for "subversion."

President Obama issued a statement calling on the Chinese government to release Liu, and he compared the cost of Liu's achievement to that of his own Nobel Peace Prize.

"Last year, I noted that so many others who have received the award had sacrificed so much more than I. That list now includes Mr. Liu, who has sacrificed his freedom for his beliefs."

Richardson says the most immediate reaction is likely to be a wave of curiosity about Liu, as millions of ordinary Chinese try to find out more about him and why he was sentenced to prison.

She says it's also likely to lead to more publicity for Charter 08, a document that Liu co-authored, which calls for greater political freedom in China and an end to the dominance of the Communist Party.

Richardson says Liu's case reflects the on-going debate between hardliners and relative moderates in the Chinese leadership. Liu's dissent had been somewhat tolerated, but his involvement with the Charter 08 manifesto angered hardliners and led to his trial and imprisonment last year.

Chinese state media blacked out the news of Liu's Nobel Prize, and censors blocked reports about it from the Internet in China.

Chinese officials said the decision would harm its relations with Norway, whose parliament chooses the Nobel Peace Prize committee.

The officials refused to allow access to Liu in prison on Friday, and it was not even clear whether he knew of the award. He may not find out until his wife is able to meet him at the prison, which is about 300 miles from Beijing.

"As the [Nobel] Committee recognized, China's new status in the world comes with increased responsibility. China should embrace this responsibility, have pride in his selection, and release him from prison," the statement said.

Economy says it will likely take some time for the Chinese government to get over "the backlash of embarrassment" created by the award, and that signs of the debate among China's leadership are likely to emerge "not in the next few weeks, but in the next few months."

"You'd have to see the opening coming not just from [Premier] Wen, but from other Chinese leaders in the Politburo," Economy says.

Meanwhile, Richardson says the prize and the attention it has brought to China's human rights issues will be a concern for the officials such as Xi Jinping and Li Kejiang, who are expected to take over China's leadership in the next few years.

She says it's likely that they will consider freeing him when they come to power.[FT: Hope that it's not that long--FREE HIM NOW!!!!]

Originally Posted by FloorJack

Shocking news. Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for the second year in a row. It's the first time ever someone has won two Nobel prizes. Of course the Nobel committee denies they are trying to influence politics inside the US before the mid term elections.