121–130 of 218 posts
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It does seem awfully fast, but for what it's worth: 1) He banned torture (waterboarding) 2) He wants to close Guantanamo. I know he hasn't done it yet, but it can't be easy. 3) He's willing to negotiate with Iran without pre-conditions 4) He's actually trying to push for a Middle East peace deal, and is being vocal about settlements 5) He wants a world without nukes. 6) He didn't put the missile shield near Russia, s…
> But considering how leaders of Superpowers have behaved in the past, he is unique. Yes, he is unique. As is everybody else. Uniqueness is not a reason to give someone a prize, achievement is. And from where I'm sitting the only thing that has changed is that the American President is no longer making a fool of himself on the international stage and hasn't made the rest of the world wonder if he still has all his ma…
Kanye West comment, Racial card and calling police "stupid" before knowing the facts, et cetera.
Bound to happen when you're in the spotlight and decide to have an opinion on something, but one of those was a public comment made directly to the press.
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To play the devil's advocate... USA has a prison system that is 19th century, compared to the rest of the western world. How much worse is Guantanamo than that? Also, afaik prisoners of war can be held until the conflict is ended. The conflict in Afghanistan is arguable not ended. What I find shocking is the water boarding and sending people for interrogation to places which are really barbaric. Edit: A couple of gra…
> USA has a prison system that is 19th century, compared to the rest of the western world. How much worse is Guantanamo than that? Good point, so maybe upgrade the US prisons to Guantanamo Bay standards ? > Also, afaik prisoners of war can be held until the conflict is ended. The conflict in Afghanistan is arguable not ended. But it isn't a war. Besides that, even if it was there are pretty strict guidelines on the t…
The term is "unlawful combatant" and has the meaning of someone on the battlefield out of uniform. In the case of spies, they can be summarily executed perfectly legally - i.e. without breaking the Geneva Convention (which doesn't even apply in this case - it requires both sides to be signatories, and the Taliban aren't).
Gandhi died before he was awarded the Peace Prize, even though he was nominated five times. Obama gets it less than a year into his Presidency? I like Obama, but that's just wrong.
He also gets it while USA are in two wars (wars which have very little to do with peace and most likely related to oil and revenge). Anyhow, I like Obama as well, but giving him a peace award is just too early.
To me the wars are more of a response to America's high state of emotion after 9/11, judging by the amount of people (even in political positions) who at the time agreed to them.
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By tainting the Nobel Peace Prize the others get devalued as well, it is one institution. So, I really did mean the Nobel Prize as such and I'm really sorry they did that. From the wikipedia article on the Nobel Prize: "The interval between the accomplishment of the achievement being recognized and the awarding of the Nobel Prize for it varies from discipline to discipline. The prizes in Literature are typically awar…
"By tainting the Nobel Peace Prize the others get devalued as well, it is one institution." That's just a part/whole fallacy. The badness of what some priests did to boys doesn't devalue what Mother Theresa did by virtue of them both being Catholic.
It is a shame that being a priest in the Boston area is now linked with being a pedophile
Earlier quoted context omitted.
By tainting the Nobel Peace Prize the others get devalued as well, it is one institution. So, I really did mean the Nobel Prize as such and I'm really sorry they did that. From the wikipedia article on the Nobel Prize: "The interval between the accomplishment of the achievement being recognized and the awarding of the Nobel Prize for it varies from discipline to discipline. The prizes in Literature are typically awar…
"By tainting the Nobel Peace Prize the others get devalued as well, it is one institution." That's just a part/whole fallacy. The badness of what some priests did to boys doesn't devalue what Mother Theresa did by virtue of them both being Catholic.
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Nobel Peace Prize. No reason to drag the other Nobels into that.
I have two words for you, my fine feathered friend: Paul Krugman.
Krugman, as an economist, did a great deal to further the field (although he has since forgotten these things, apparently). Economists who I respect feel that his prize was deserved.
What better way to encourage peace then to start building anti-nuke stations around the world to nullify that threat from all parties.
What the Nobel price really means: Obama needs more support and less obstruction. The old elites don't give up just because one guy gets elected. The struggle against the military-industrial complex, the neocons, the conservative lunatics, etc. will be long. Plus the US is not prepared for deep structural reforms (like getting rid of the two party system, getting rid of commercialized prisons, getting rid of a fake economy, really reducing the military budget, etc.).
It is a sign from the international community that his intentions are recognized as going in the right directions, now people need to work with him to get stuff done. Like the russians and the chinese leaders need to really reduce the nuclear arsenals. Other leaders need to understand how useless these weapons are today.