Today....

I walked into Peter's apt, dumped the groceries started the soup, and decided to turn on the tee-vee. Because it was time for Larry King from yesterday, and he fucking hates Larry King....

Except!!! as so often, the show was pre-empted for 'breaking news' over here on the european version. Which is usually so lame, you could barf. It is always, 'well, there is this story, and something happened, and we don't know exactly what yet, but stay tuned because this might be big.'

Note to CNN: either you know what is happening or you shut the fuck up. Till you know. And deliver facts. I know it is difficult running a 24 hour news channel, but keeping people salivating, and then delivering no facts is so bloody lame, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I had a course on journalism in school. I got an A+. I would give CNN a D-.

Today was a little different. The 'breaking news' was that President Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

And I said, 'WHAAAA???'

Not that am envious or anything, but my first thought was 'what did he DO?'

I really couldn't wrap my head around the reasoning for it. And went into shock.

I always thought it was for acheivements, not good intentions....

Which called Bertha von Suttner to mind. Yeah, I know, her name won't ring a bell with you... but she was an interesting woman.

She was one of the first women to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1904. She wrote a tract to abolish weapons. She was a suffragette, and many other things. And fought for world peace. She was the fifth recipient of that recognition.

She died of cancer shortly before the outbreak of WWI in 1914. And on our 'old' money, the Schilling, she was on our one thousand Schilling note. Everyone knew who she was, and what she had acheived.

So... upon thinking it over... maybe it wasn't such a bad call.. if someone can reach out, and get people to be civil, and begin a discourse... that IS an acheivement, and I hope he can keep it on that level.

Obviously, the level of discourse over the eight years before January riled and sowed hatred among many countries in this world, if they decided to award Obama such an honour. So whatever has gone on behind the scenes must have been right so far.

In other words, after the initial shock... ok, can understand... she was awarded because she was a moral compass, and influenced some people's thinking. I think that is what is at work here.... And oh yes, she was Austrian.