Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Here's the AP:

President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said. "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

According to the Nobel Committee's press release:

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

This should further derange the already deranged crazies on the right.

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize :-)

From cnn.com:

(CNN) -- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their work raising awareness about global warming.

The Nobel committee cited them "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

The IPCC and Gore will each receive a gold medal, a diploma and a share of $1.5 million. The award ceremony will be held December 10 in Oslo, Norway.

[snip]

The Nobel committee praised Gore as being "one of the world's leading environmentalist politicians."He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted," said Mjoes.

Gore gets to add this new award to his two Oscars and an Emmy won earlier this year.

In unrelated news, pResident George W. Bush won the award for Worst President EVER and picked up a Worst Performance in a War. He adds that to his winning the scorn of 70% of the American public and 99.9% of the rest of the world.

CONGRATS, AL!
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