Nobel Peace Prize

[Varitek]

It's announced tomorrow, 11am CET.

I couldn't find a list of finalists on the website, though I didn't look that hard, but I know Bono is allegedly still on there (not gonna happen). Al Gore is on there and there's been that speculation that he's holding off running until after the announcement so it won't affect his chances - apparently the Nobel committee might be looking to award someone for anti-global warming work this year. Part of this speculation is just that the draft Gore people really want him to win because they think that will compel him to run.

Anybody know who else is on the list? Any speculation as to who might win, or whether it will be global warming or not?

 

[Irvine511]

word on the street is that it looks good for Gore.

 

[martha]

The Nobel Committee doesn't acknowledge or release a list of nominees or "finalists."

 

[verte76]

Gore would be a worthy recipient, that's for sure.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Yes, right up there alongside the likes of Yasser Arafat and Henry Kissinger.

 

[anitram]

Yes, right up there alongside the likes of Yasser Arafat and Henry Kissinger.

Absurd.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Like speech typed words can lack subtlety when used improperly, it was more of a point on the award itself and the politics behind the selections and is inconsequential to Gore.

 

[deep]

usually when you get to be 88 years old the one remaining thing on your to do list is:
















die

Lessing Not Impressed by Nobel Prize

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER – 1 hour ago

LONDON (AP) — Doris Lessing pulled up in a black cab where a media horde was waiting Thursday in front of her leafy north London home. Reporters opened the door and told her she had won the Nobel Prize for literature, to which she responded: "Oh Christ! ... I couldn't care less."

Lessing later said she thought the cameras were there to film a television program. Vegetables peeked out from blue plastic bags she carried out of the cab.

"This has been going on for 30 years," she said, as reporters helped her with the bags.

"I've won all the prizes in Europe, every bloody one, so I'm delighted to win them all, the whole lot, OK?" Lessing said, making her way through the crowd. "It's a royal flush."

"I'm sure you'd like some uplifting remarks," she added with a smile.

Lessing, who turns 88 this month, is the oldest winner of the literature prize. Although she is widely celebrated for "The Golden Notebook" and other works, she has received little attention in recent years and has been criticized as strident and eccentric.

Asked repeatedly if she was excited about the award, she held court from her doorstep and noted she had been in the running for the Nobel for decades.

"I can't say I'm overwhelmed with surprise," Lessing said. "I'm 88 years old and they can't give the Nobel to someone who's dead, so I think they were probably thinking they'd probably better give it to me now before I've popped off."

Surrounded by members of the international media in her flower-packed garden, Lessing was dismissive of the Nobel — calling the award process graceless and saying the prize "doesn't mean anything artistically."

She acknowledged the $1.5 million cash award was a lot of money, but still seemed less than thrilled.

"I'm already thinking about all the people who are going to send me begging letters — I can see them lining up now," she said. The phone in her house, audible from the street, rang continuously.

 

[deep]

She acknowledged the $1.5 million cash award was a lot of money, but still seemed less than thrilled.

"I'm already thinking about all the people who are going to send me begging letters

perhaps she should leave her phone off the hook
and take a nice long holiday

 

[anitram]

She sounds hilarious! Love it!

 

[Varitek]

She sounds kind of like Bono on South Park. "I've won all the damn prizes in Europe."

 

[sulawesigirl4]

lmao, that's awesome! I remember reading some of her short stories in literature class. Didn't know she was still alive.

 

[deep]

Didn't know she was still alive.

she still has one more thing on her
to do list

 

[indra]

"I can't say I'm overwhelmed with surprise," Lessing said. "I'm 88 years old and they can't give the Nobel to someone who's dead, so I think they were probably thinking they'd probably better give it to me now before I've popped off."

I love it!

 

[last unicorn]

This just in:

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize.

I'm surprised. Not.

I think this is the first time in years that a favourite is actually getting the price.

 

[Lila64]

from CNN

Gore, IPCC share Nobel Peace PrizeStory

(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 towards 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 split about $1.5 million. The award ceremony will be held Dec. 10 in Oslo, Norway.

"Through the scientific reports it has issued over the past two decades, the IPCC has created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming," Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the Nobel committee, said in making the announcement.

"Thousands of scientists and officials from over 100 countries have collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming."

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 collected two Oscars earlier this year for his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," which followed him on a worldwide tour publicizing the dangers of climate change.

Last month he also picked up an Emmy -- the highest award in U.S. television -- for "Current TV." The show, which Gore co-created, describes itself as a global television network that gives its viewers the opportunity to create and influence its programming.

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Previous American recipients of the peace prize include former presidents Jimmy Carter in 2002, Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

In 1973, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shared the award with North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho. The Rev. Martin Luther King received the honor in 1964.

Gore served as vice president for eight years under President Bill Clinton. In 2000, he garnered the Democratic presidential nomination and faced off against Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Gore won the popular vote but lost the election vote after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his challenge of voting results in the key state of Florida.

A spokeswoman for the IPCC, which draws on the work of 2,000 scientists, said the panel was surprised that it had been chosen to share the award with Gore and praised his contribution to environmental campaigning.

"We would have been happy even if he had received it alone because it is a recognition of the importance of this issue," spokeswoman Carola Traverso Saibante said, The Associated Press reported.

 

[BonosSaint]

I don't think I've enjoyed a Nobel Prize winner as much as I just enjoyed Lessing's reaction. I'm glad Gore won but I'm going to remember Lessing's comments long after I forget Al Gore. Go, girl.

 

[U2girl]

Gore.

 

[martha]

So global warming is real then?

 

[Vincent Vega]

Only if you believe in it.

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

for Al Gore


was hoping for Bman but knew that wouldn't happen...

 

[SeattleVertigo]

I'm so excited that Gore won. He's really made a difference in the way Americans see global warming and environmental issues. As someone who works to promote eco-friendly businesses for a living, I've seen a sea change over the past year or so in attitudes about green living.

 

[Varitek]

Go Gore!!!!!!

 

[redhotswami]

that's awesome! i was one of the lucky to see a live presentation of an inconvenient truth this year. he's made quite a difference.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Bush = worst president ever
Gore = Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Sweet.

I've always love Doris Lessing.
What a hoot.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I hope he doesn't run, for some reason I have a sinking feeling that everything will be messed up if he does. Maybe it's just leftovers from the last time.

 

[Irvine511]

so ... Gore has an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize, and Bush is widely considered the most incompetent president in history.

it seems as if Gore really did win in 2000, and it was America that lost.

 

[U2democrat]

 

[eltimbomofo]

Excellent! Now I can keep my "Re-elect Gore 2008" bumpersticker on my car awhile longer.

 

[verte76]

This is great. I'm so happy he won.