Live data from Hacker News

The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

nobelpeaceprize.org

241–248 of 248 posts

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An op-ed is an outside opinion piece published by a news organization, historically in a print newspaper or magazine. It's irrelevant if he's giving his opinion on a subject in a YouTube video; it's still not journalism (and it's not even an op-ed, since he's effectively self-publishing).

I don't consider Kimmel a journalist anymore than I consider him funny — all his jokes were written for him. He helmed a failing TV show, for which he was being paid millions. None of that stops him from trying to present himself as a journalist or a comedian. I know what an op ed is. You don't need to tell me. It doesn't have to be in print anymore. (You obviously looked up that definition somewhere.)

Your entire argument hinges on the claim that he's presenting himself as a journalist. He's not doing that. You're not arguing in good faith and it's clear you have an axe to grind - so I'm going to disengage now.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#242

The whole situation is a disgrace for all involved. It's blatantly obvious that Machado is trying to suck up to Trump. I bet she will get nothing out of it. And Trump looks like a complete fool. Maybe it's time to shut down the peace nobel prize. Too many questionable winners like Arafat, Obama (for what did the get it?), Kissinger, now Machado. On the bright side, I always wanted to get a physics noble prize. I thin…

To borrow an idea from xkcd, maybe the $5 wrench method is the most likely way.

The original meme-tool for password extraction was a rubber hose, which made more sense. It also pre-dated XKCD by several decades.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#243
post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I need to note that my understanding of geopolitics have changed since then, but I recall thinking that putting John McCain and Sarah Palin as VP in the White House would have spread political and physical wildfire over the whole world, not quite unlike the situation we have now. From that perspective I considered the Obama Peace Nobel fully earned just by virtue of getting elected.

This is the most absurd mental gymnastics I’ve read in a long time. “The political party I don’t like might have done bad things, so even though my guy did bad things, he stopped the other guys from doing bad things by winning. So it’s deserved” My god.

I'm a bit left of Bernie, and I agree. Obama's Peace Prize was BS theatrics, and a world-stage attempt to flip a middle finger at the outgoing POTUS, GW Bush.

We CAN'T know what WOULD have happened.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#244
post #232
post #16

The underlying issue here is that the Nobel Peace Prize is a useless, politicized joke. It appears to be almost designed to give newspapers something to write about. It's a shame it gets tied with scientific prizes which represent actual merit.

Now you need to look into the "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel" - Economics wasn't part of Nobel's original endowment so the Swedish Central bank funded it in the 60s.

No "Nobel Prize" thread is complete without this pedantic observation, however otherwise off-topic.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#245
post #16

The underlying issue here is that the Nobel Peace Prize is a useless, politicized joke. It appears to be almost designed to give newspapers something to write about. It's a shame it gets tied with scientific prizes which represent actual merit.

You mean like the 1949 Nobel Prize for Medicine being awarded to the person who developed lobotomy surgery?

An imperfect record doesn't mean the whole process is a sham.

But with the Peace Prize, the failures are numerous, and it becomes harder to claim they are outliers.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#246
post #226
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the criminal complaint in Sweden route is the only path that has had some success in the past in trying to make these organisations accountable for the peace prize. Swedes like to wash their hands of Nobel Peace Prize responsibility, pointing to Norway instead (it's the only prize where the comittee deciding is in Norway and not Sweden). But the foundation that pays all the winners, including the peace prize…

I didn't realise Julian Assange's full complaint had been published (I couldn't find it at the time I looked into it). But it's now available for anyone interested. Extract below: CRIMINAL COMPLAINT Submitted to: • Ekobrottsmyndigheten (Swedish Economic Crime Authority), Hantverkargatan 15, 112 21 Stockholm. • Krigsbrottsenheten (Swedish War Crimes Unit), Kungsholmsgatan 43, 106 75 Stockholm. [snipped] The political…

Thanks for posting the link to the PDF. I've long tried to find the specific references to the legal grounds for the complaint.

You don't happen to have a reference to the status in the Swedish legal system? The police are responsible for referring this stuff to a prosecutor, and that status should be public.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#247
post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't realise Julian Assange's full complaint had been published (I couldn't find it at the time I looked into it). But it's now available for anyone interested. Extract below: CRIMINAL COMPLAINT Submitted to: • Ekobrottsmyndigheten (Swedish Economic Crime Authority), Hantverkargatan 15, 112 21 Stockholm. • Krigsbrottsenheten (Swedish War Crimes Unit), Kungsholmsgatan 43, 106 75 Stockholm. [snipped] The political…

Thanks for posting the link to the PDF. I've long tried to find the specific references to the legal grounds for the complaint. You don't happen to have a reference to the status in the Swedish legal system? The police are responsible for referring this stuff to a prosecutor, and that status should be public.

Did my own research, and the Swedish police has decided not to continue with the complaint:

https://omni.se/assanges-anmalan-mot-nobelstiftelsen-laggs-n...

from 2025-12-19

Machine translation in part:

> The report contained no information indicating that a crime had been committed. Therefore, no preliminary investigation is being initiated, Rikard Ekman of the police told AFP.

Re: The Nobel Prize and the Laureate Are Inseparable

#248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for posting the link to the PDF. I've long tried to find the specific references to the legal grounds for the complaint. You don't happen to have a reference to the status in the Swedish legal system? The police are responsible for referring this stuff to a prosecutor, and that status should be public.

Did my own research, and the Swedish police has decided not to continue with the complaint: https://omni.se/assanges-anmalan-mot-nobelstiftelsen-laggs-n... from 2025-12-19 Machine translation in part: > The report contained no information indicating that a crime had been committed. Therefore, no preliminary investigation is being initiated, Rikard Ekman of the police told AFP.

That's unsurprising. There's no willingness to challenge the Nobel Foundation on the basis set out by Assange, even though they themselves reluctantly admitted in 2012 that they have a duty to ensure the will is respected:

> "...pursuant to the current legislation governing foundations, the Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation is legally accountable for ensuring that [...] the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in accordance with the criteria stipulated by Alfred Nobel."

This was from a press release from 2012 that now appears to be deleted from their site: https://web.archive.org/web/20120601234000/http://www.nobelp...

I think a serious examination of Nobel's will and how the Nobel Committee chose Machado over other candidates would make the Norwegian Committee look very bad. It would also show that the Swedish Nobel Foundation failed in its legal duty to ensure the will was respected. A result that would embarrass both Norway and Sweden. So what you get instead is quick dismissal of any such complaints.

The Swedish press has also been terrible in reporting this. I saw articles trying to make Assange out to be stupid for filing in Sweden. Journalists either didn't bother reading the Wikileaks press release, or wanted to keep their readers in the dark about it.

Here's one example from Aftonbladet (Sweden's largest news site):

> WikiLeaks alleges that Assange sent his letter to Swedish authorities, although it is the Norwegian Nobel Committee that appoints peace laureates. ("Wikileaks påstår att Assange skickat sitt brev till svenska myndigheter, även om det är den norska Nobelkommittén som utser fredspristagare.")

There's a book by Norwegian lawyer Fredrik Heffermehl that goes into the 2012 challenge to the Nobel Foundation. I've only skimmed it, but looks quite interesting: The Real Nobel Peace Prize - A Squandered Opportunity to Abolish War https://www.kobo.com/se/en/ebook/the-real-nobel-peace-prize-...

Post reply on HN