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[Dead Man]

Source: AP via Yahoo

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize officials were facing a formal inquiry over accusations they have drifted away from the prize's original selection criteria by choosing such winners as President Barack Obama, as the nomination deadline for the 2012 awards closed Wednesday.

The investigation comes after persistent complaints by a Norwegian peace researcher that the original purpose of the prize was to diminish the role of military power in international relations.

If the Stockholm County Administrative Board, which supervises foundations in Sweden's capital, finds that prize founder Alfred Nobel's will is not being honored, it has the authority to suspend award decisions going back three years — though that would be unlikely and unprecedented, said Mikael Wiman, a legal expert working for the county.

Obama won in 2009, Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo won in 2010, and last year the award was split between Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen.

For this year's award, Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Cuban rights activists Oswaldo Paya and Yoani Sanchez are among the candidates who have been publicly announced by those who nominated them.

The secretive prize committee doesn't discuss nominations — which have to be postmarked by Feb. 1 to be valid — but stresses that being nominated doesn't say anything about a candidate's chances.

Fredrik Heffermehl, a prominent researcher and critic of the selection process, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that "Nobel called it a prize for the champions of peace."

"And it's indisputable that he had in mind the peace movement, i.e. the active development of international law and institutions, a new global order where nations safely can drop national armaments," he said

Especially after World War II, the prize committee, which is appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, has widened the scope of the prize to include environmental, humanitarian and other efforts, he said.

For example, in 2007 the prize went to climate activist Al Gore and the U.N.'s panel on climate change, and in 2009 the committee cited Obama for "extraordinary efforts" to boost international diplomacy.

"Do you see Obama as a promoter of abolishing the military as a tool of international affairs?" Heffermehl asked rhetorically.

Nobel, a Swedish industrialist and inventor, gave only vague guidelines for the peace prize in his 1895 will, saying it should honor "work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Nobel said the peace prize should be awarded by a Norwegian committee, and the other Nobel Prizes by committees in Sweden. The two Scandinavian nations were in a union at the time.

Geir Lundestad, the nonvoting secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, dismissed Heffermehl's claims.

"Fighting climate change is definitely closely related to fraternity between nations. It even concerns the survival of some states," he told AP.

Still, the County Administrative Board decided to sent a letter to the Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation, which manages the prize assets, requesting a formal response to the allegations.

"We have no basis to suggest that they haven't managed it properly. But we want to investigate it," Wiman said.

"The prize committee must always adjust its rules to today's society," he said. "But peace work has to be at the core — it can't deviate too much from that," Wiman said.

The peace prize and the Nobel awards in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and economics are always handed out Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

Couple days old but search gave me nothing.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Should have been disbanded after they gave one to Mother Teresa..

 

[Kurdel]

Should have been disbanded after they gave one to Mother Theresa.

Yes, this.

They were just high on Obamajuana. I am sure they regret it today...

 

[Xyphie]

Good. You can't trust Norwegians to do anything properly.

 

[Stumpokapow]

They were just high on Obamajuana. I am sure they regret it today...

Is Obamajuana supposed to be like Marijuana or like Mamajuana? Because Mamajuana is really, really terrible

 

[Yaboosh]

Should have been disbanded after they gave one to Mother Teresa..

Why?

 

[Peru]

Good. You can't trust Norwegians to do anything properly.

I always knew Swedes were salty we got the biggest prize to give out.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

It really was the most ridiculous decision. I recall quite a few gaffers even supporting it.

Still, Obama's Nobel Peace Prize lecture is pretty great and he's remained consistent in his thoughts expressed there to his actions as President. It's required viewing for anyone interested in his presidency.

 

[Dead Man]

Why?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa#Criticism

She has also been criticized for her view on suffering. She felt that suffering would bring people closer to Jesus.[78] Sanal Edamaruku, President of Rationalist International, criticised the failure to give painkillers, writing that in her Homes for the Dying, one could "hear the screams of people having maggots tweezered from their open wounds without pain relief. On principle, strong painkillers are even in hard cases not given. According to Mother Teresa's philosophy, it is 'the most beautiful gift for a person that he can participate in the sufferings of Christ'."[79]

The quality of care offered to terminally ill patients in the Homes for the Dying has been criticised in the medical press. The Lancet and the British Medical Journal reported the reuse of hypodermic needles, poor living conditions, including the use of cold baths for all patients, and an approach to illness and suffering that precluded the use of many elements of modern medical care, such as systematic diagnosis.[68] Dr. Robin Fox, editor of The Lancet, described the medical care as "haphazard", as volunteers without medical knowledge had to take decisions about patient care, because of the lack of doctors. He observed that her order did not distinguish between curable and incurable patients, so that people who could otherwise survive would be at risk of dying from infections and lack of treatment. Dr. Fox makes it a point to contrast hospice, on the one hand, with what he calls "Mother Teresa's Care for the Dying" on the other hand; noting that, while hospice emphasizes minimizing suffering with professional medical care and attention to expressed needs and wishes of the patient, her approach does not.[80]

Colette Livermore, a former Missionary of Charity, describes her reasons for leaving the order in her book Hope Endures: Leaving Mother Teresa, Losing Faith, and Searching for Meaning. Livermore found what she called Mother Teresa's "theology of suffering" to be flawed, despite being a good and courageous person. Though Mother Teresa instructed her followers on the importance of spreading the Gospel through actions rather than theological lessons, Livermore could not reconcile this with some of the practices of the organization. Examples she gives include unnecessarily refusing to help the needy when they approached the nuns at the wrong time according to the prescribed schedule, discouraging nuns from seeking medical training to deal with the illnesses they encountered (with the justification that God empowers the weak and ignorant), and imposition of "unjust" punishments, such as being transferred away from friends. Livermore says that the Missionaries of Charity "infantilized" its nuns by prohibiting the reading of secular books and newspapers, and emphasizing obedience over independent thinking and problem-solving.[81]

Christopher Hitchens and the German magazine Stern have said Mother Teresa did not focus donated money on alleviating poverty or improving the conditions of her hospices, but on opening new convents and increasing missionary work.[82] Mother Teresa accepted donations from the autocratic and corrupt Duvalier family in Haiti and openly praised them. She also accepted 1.4 million dollars from Charles Keating, involved in the fraud and corruption scheme known as the Keating Five scandal and supported him before and after his arrest. The Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles, Paul Turley, wrote to Mother Teresa asking her to return the donated money to the people Keating had stolen from, one of whom was "a poor carpenter". The donated money was not accounted for, and Turley did not receive a reply

 

[Joni]

My thoughts when Obama won "Do they give a Nobel prize for attempted chemistry? Do they?” I haven't see him do anything that deserved the prize.

 

[The Technomancer]

Good. I support Obama but in no way did he deserve that prize

 

[Count Dookkake]

Should have been disbanded after they gave one to Mother Teresa..

.

 

[Ghost_Protocol]

My thoughts when Obama won "Do they give a Nobel prize for attempted chemistry? Do they?” I haven't see him do anything that deserved the prize.

The Nobel PEACE Prize specifically doesn't require having accomplished a specific goal. People have won it in the past on the prospects that they will promote peace in a significant way.

 

[antonz]

While Mother Theresas influence of religion in some of her care is questionable there is no denying that the people got better care than they would have gotten otherwise.

The people being cared for would be left in gutters on the side of the road otherwise

 

[xbhaskarx]

Yasser Arafat, 1994 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

 

[SouthernDragon]

He did reduce the amount of nuclear armaments and started us down that path again.

But he hadn't done much when it was given, so... I believe they were slightly hasty.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Obama should not have had it. They gave it to him to try to influence him, and it didn't work anyway.

 

[Good Job Bob]

They should take away Obama's Peace Prize.

 

[Half and half]

They awarded this to Obama for his work towards nuclear disarmament.

This is silly that this keeps coming up.

 

[Trojita]

While Mother Theresas influence of religion in some of her care is questionable there is no denying that the people got better care than they would have gotten otherwise.

The people being cared for would be left in gutters on the side of the road otherwise

Her addiction to the pain of others is only something I would think I'd see in a caricature of a Chaos Worshiper from Warhammer 40K.

 

[antonz]

They awarded this to Obama for his work towards nuclear disarmament.

This is silly that this keeps coming up.

He got nominated before he was even President. They fell for the Hope and Change bullshit like most of America. Bush 3.0

 

[MIMIC]

I knew I was justified when I bitched about Obama not deserving it. =p

 

[Dead Man]

Yasser Arafat, 1994 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin, 1994 Peace Prize recipients.

Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, 1973 Peace Prize recipients.

 

[Particle Physicist]

The timing of this sure is interesting. Election year and all.

 

[Half and half]

He got nominated before he was even President. They fell for the Hope and Change bullshit like most of America. Bush 3.0

The work he was nominated for began well before he was president.

 

[Dead Man]

The timing of this sure is interesting. Election year and all.

It's an election year in Sweden?

 

[BocoDragon]

The Nobel PEACE Prize specifically doesn't require having accomplished a specific goal. People have won it in the past on the prospects that they will promote peace in a significant way.

It should probably go to Ron Paul, then

 

[PhoenixDark]

The funniest thing to me is that when Obama won the award, conservatives complained that he'd be a weak kneed Euro-esque pacifist in order to live up to the award/perception. 3 years later with a body count surpassing that of most 80s action film stars (including, you know, Bin Laden), they still view Obama the exact same way.

 

[Joni]

The Nobel PEACE Prize specifically doesn't require having accomplished a specific goal. People have won it in the past on the prospects that they will promote peace in a significant way.

I know Obama won for peace. Sideshow Bob just didn't mention the Nobel Peace Prize. He mentionned the Chemistry one. And if you win for the prospect of promoting peace in the future, I deserve to win it too. I promise I won't start any wars and will stop any wars I can stop.

 

[Particle Physicist]

It's an election year in Sweden?

In the US. And this investigation surrounds the prize given to Obama. I wouldn't be surprised if certain entities pressured for this to occur around this time.

 

[Paches]

The funniest thing to me is that when Obama won the award, conservatives complained that he'd be a weak kneed Euro-esque pacifist in order to live up to the award/perception. 3 years later with a body count surpassing that of most 80s action film stars (including, you know, Bin Laden), they still view Obama the exact same way.

You can't waver from the ingrained republican narrative of all democrats being appeasers if you are running for president.

 

[789shadow]

In the US. And this investigation surrounds the prize given to Obama. I wouldn't be surprised if certain entities pressured for this to occur around this time.

How the hell would this affect Sweden?

 

[BocoDragon]

The funniest thing to me is that when Obama won the award, conservatives complained that he'd be a weak kneed Euro-esque pacifist in order to live up to the award/perception. 3 years later with a body count surpassing that of most 80s action film stars (including, you know, Bin Laden), they still view Obama the exact same way.

I agree with Bill Maher's assessment that the Republicans are mostly battling a completely made-up image of Obama.

 

[Particle Physicist]

How the hell would this affect Sweden?

I dunno. It was just an observation about the timing. Seemed quite coincidental. Why did they decide to do it now instead of earlier?

 

[Paches]

I dunno. It was just an observation about the timing. Seemed quite coincidental. Why did they decide to do it now instead of earlier?

I'd say it was brought up now due to the wording in the first paragraph:

Nobel Peace Prize officials were facing a formal inquiry over accusations they have drifted away from the prize's original selection criteria by choosing such winners as President Barack Obama, as the nomination deadline for the 2012 awards closed Wednesday.

 

[Bo-Locks]

Should have been disbanded after they gave one to Mother Teresa..

Or Henry Kissinger a few years prior. I'm sure that someone can think of even more dubious laureates before him, too.

I can only summon up a mild amusement for any of the nonsense surrounding the peace, literature and economics Nobel prizes. They're just pathetic wannabes and always will be. Physics, Chemistry and Medicine are the only ones that matter. I just wish that the general media gave half as much as attention to these prizes as they do for the former.

 

[el retorno]

Or Henry Kissinger a few years prior. I'm sure that someone can think of even more dubious laureates before him, too.

I can only summon up a mild amusement for any of the nonsense surrounding the peace, literature and economics Nobel prizes. They're just pathetic wannabes and always will be. Physics, Chemistry and Medicine are the only ones that matter. I just wish that the general media gave half as much as attention to these prizes as they do for the former.

Yea screw the guys who enable these guys to do their work.

 

[Dead Man]

Yea screw the guys who enable these guys to do their work.

I don't think too many recipients of literature or peace prizes have directly enabled the winners of the science categories to do their work.

 

[Kosmo]

My thoughts when Obama won "Do they give a Nobel prize for attempted chemistry? Do they?” I haven't see him do anything that deserved the prize.

...and then he went right on droning brown people. Peace Warrior!

 

[Particle Physicist]

I'd say it was brought up now due to the wording in the first paragraph:

So they waited until after the current nomination deadline ended in order to investigate the reasoning behind the winner of the 2009 peace prize? There have been 4 winners since Obama.

 

[Vicetrailia]

I agree with Bill Maher's assessment that the Republicans are mostly battling a completely made-up image of Obama.

I'm pretty sure that they will attack him on any means. There is no image, they simply create any negativity.

 

[Bo-Locks]

Yea screw the guys who enable these guys to do their work.

To clarify, by "wannabes" I was referring to the awards themselves, not the actual laureates.

 

[A less bigoted Deku]

In terns of normalizing the world order and working with allies, Obama's win was justified.

I do agree he won mainly due to Hopium, but when you are a European starting into the abyss of a go-it-alone benefactor and ally, a figure like Obama coming back to the table to work constructively to tackle major questions to reach some sort of western consensus and position is quite productive.

Now, that doesn't mean everyone will agree. If you're Pakistan, Iran, Lybia or Syria, you're now facing a unified front instead of a crazy Texan in the whitehouse.