We just explored the Orwellian Chinese campaign against “fake journalists.” Now, we have a story that would make Big Brother blush. China has long opposed the Nobel Peace Prize because of its recognition of people the regime has oppressed like imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo. China therefore offers the alternative and laughable Confucius Peace Prize. The regime just announced its 2011 winner of the man who inspires millions with his image and message of peace: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin celebrated the news recently by bragging that he can destroy America in 30 minutes. Mother Teresa is lucky she did not have this competition when she lived.
The ceremony will be held on December 9th in Beijing, an event that has already triggered a rush on tickets by people like Castro and Mugabe. The prize comes with $15,000 in cash and a free tour of a Chinese jail for journalists and dissidents.
Of course, jealous leaders are likely to say that this is a faux prize that has even less substance than the recently admitted staging of Putin discovering ancient artifacts. Moreover, China can point out that Barack Obama was given the Nobel Prize with just a few days in office, no accomplishments as President or a U.S. Senator, and proceeded to strip citizens of civil liberties and started a new war. The fact that Putin has called for beating down protesters while reestablishing a Russian police state fits neatly into the Chinese definition of a humanitarian. After all, Mao’s cultural revolution had the word “culture” in it. What can be more uplifting?
So, here is a heart congratulations to Vladimir Putin — the world’s new humanitarian.
Source: WSJ
Pete, It would be an awesome machine, LOL.
LK
there’s an idea for a sci-fi story. aliens trying to build a machine based on the math found in chuck berry’s song
Malisha, great story, it’s amazing how and where we get ouu little reality-checks. Perhaps the authors of the gold LP whereon the messages were stored, figured it would take so long for Voyager to reach another possible culture that we have time to ‘evolve’. I liked the idea of the message LP; aspirations are often noble gestures that even if imperfectly executed or futile are worth making. I ike that we stuck that gold LP on Voyager.
I recall a short Sci/Fi story at the time that had a premise an accidental first contact situation and the dilemma faced by both parties to be welcoming and non-threatening while maintaining their respective planet’s security by not divulging the location of their home planets, unlike NASA. You never tell if the newly met aliens where you live because you never know if they want to visit you – and eat you – until you get to know them.
Getting that clip of Chuck Berry playing “Johnny Be Good” was a minor controversy at NASA but by virtue of the gold LP, well, ‘hey hey my my, rock & roll will never die’, to paraphrase Niel Young 🙂
After Barack Obama won the 2009 Prize, it falls into the who cares file. However I do wonder how Dmitry Medvedev must feel. Maybe he can win a spot on Celebrity Jeopardy when Putin takes the presidency back.
Speaking of play pretend, have you read what Moyers says of Powell, who will have done more damage than Putin if his story is believed.
Involuntary servitude is extinguished by the elixir from Stockholm it would seem.
There, that is my two
linkscents worth. 😉“China can point out that Barack Obama was given the Nobel Prize with just a few days in office, no accomplishments as President or a U.S. Senator…”
Not that it’s necessarily worthy of a peace prize, but he did put in a lot of work on Nuclear Disarmament.
Lottakatz —
Once again you have reminded me of one of my stories.
In the early to mid-nineties I was in the home of the parents of a friend of mine. They were in their late 80s at the time. They wanted to get rid of a bunch of books and soforth and I offered to make a run to the “Friends of the Library” to donate. I located a book (they did not donate) that was a coffee table book comprised of messages that were sent by NASA into some sort of space craft that was meant to fly out there and perhaps at some time in the future (it should live so long) reach sentient beings on another planet or in another solar system or somewhere in the Universe, capital U. So it had messages of various sorts. Recordings of music (did they have boom boxes?) and written messages, etc. There was a gross typo in the introduction to the book, which was a message to the aliens from the then secretary of the UN. It said that it was a message from the secretary-genteral of the “United States” instead of “United Nations.” I read it over and over and over and over to make sure I had it right that it was indeed wrong. BIG GLOSSY BOOK! Anyway, I was then moved, for some reason, to read the various messages that were sent to the aliens from the various countries of the world, in the various languages of the world. They had three columns: The language’s own written words containing the country’s message; the English transliteration of the language’s own words; and the English transLAtion of the language’s own words. One that amused me was some Chinese language whose greeting was: “Did you have lunch yet?” Then I saw that the greeting from Israel was “Shalom” translated as “Peace,” and the greeting from 7 or 8 of the other Middle Eastern countries was “Salaam” translated as “Peace.” I wanted to send up a little “amendment” satellite saying to these poor unsuspecting (and we presume naive) aliens: “DON’T BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY; THEY ARE FIGHTING LIKE ANGRY CATS!”
Yes…Yes…Yes…Obama and the Peace Prize….Interesting Concept….Was Hitler in the Posthumous Running per chance?
eniobob,
How are you … and just as important, how are the grandchildren?
How unfair this post is to not recognize that we have the next world leader/superhero in Mr. Putin. We have had Hitler able to channel the spirit world and show superior generalship, then Mao who could swim miles at age 80, now Putin whose super powers are wide ranging. He has supplanted Peter the Great as the “Father of the Russian People”, even though Peter had him by 11 inches. By 11 inches I mean height, as for the other measurement implied we all know that Mr. Putin considers himself super in all respects.
I hope there are no Extra-Terrestrials watching lately because the world is getting so Bizarro that I’ve become ashamed of being a Terran.
From Wikipedia:
“The Bizarro World (also known as Htrae) is a fictional planet in the DC comics universe.” ….
“In the Bizarro world of “Htrae” (“Earth” spelled backwards), society is ruled by the Bizarro Code which states “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!” In one episode, for example, a salesman is doing a brisk trade selling Bizarro bonds: “Guaranteed to lose money for you”. Later, the mayor appoints Bizarro No. 1 to investigate a crime, “Because you are stupider than the entire Bizarro police force put together”. This is intended and taken as a great compliment.”
Malisha: “Anyway, we have a federal agency named “Department of Justice.” So who are we to complain?”
———
Ouch 🙂
“Blouise
1, November 16, 2011 at 10:45 am
Think we could talk Rush into reporting live from the party.”
He could report from here:
” a free tour of a Chinese jail for journalists and dissidents.”:=)))
Since war is such good business, and since business trumps government over and over, it only follows that those who can make profitable wars will win the prizes, regardless of what words are assigned to the prizes. Anyway, we have a federal agency named “Department of Justice.” So who are we to complain?
Think we could talk Rush into reporting live from the party.
That award represents a lot of people.
One has to wonder why those who receive peace prizes are the warmongers.
These daze play pretend is big business I guess.
Maybe Obama can win the Confucious Peace Prize next year.
I’m glad you mentioned Obama’s Peace Prize. Does the prize have a “clawback” provision?