So this year's Nobel Peace Prize goes to... the European Union.

[Lenin McCarthy]

Thoughts?
1. Weird timing.
2. I haven't noticed that many wars in Europe lately, so that must count for something.
3. The EU has done a lot to bring Eastern and Western Europe, and Germany and France closer together. North and South? Well..
4. Interesting that this comes from non-EU member Norway, where the EU is very, very unpopular (everything we ever hear is that they're going to take our snus tobacco, our postal services monopoly, our privacy, our workers' rights, our oil, our agriculture and our fish away.)

[LMNO, PhD (life continues)]

I really don't know what to make of this one.  I really don't see it.

[Lenin McCarthy]

I really don't know what to make of this one.  I really don't see it.

Torbjørn Jagland, the chairman of the Nobel Committee wants a high-level post in Brussels, probably.

[Cain]

The International Crisis Group congratulates the European Union as this year’s recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

At a time when the EU is under tremendous day-to-day strain, it is essential we never forget the historical perspective: the EU has been above all else one of the greatest conflict resolution mechanisms ever devised.

We hope that the EU will continue to expand that zone of stability to its neighbours and also bring the message everywhere that deep regional integration and the strengthening of societies built upon the rule of law can be a tremendous force for peace and stability.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I hear that Nero guy was good at resolving crisises, too.

[Sano]

Isn't it a bit weird, what with all the opression going on in Spain and Greece? 

[Verbal Mike]

Isn't it a bit weird, what with all the opression going on in Spain and Greece? 

I DONT SEE ANYTHING ABOUT THAT IN THE PAPERS HERE IN GERMANY SO ITS PROBABLY JUST A LIE.

[V3X]

Isn't it a bit weird, what with all the opression going on in Spain and Greece? 

That isn't "oppression," it's the healing hand of austerity teaching people how to be proper stewards of their money.

[El Twid]

That nero guy- once the head of the original european union

[The Good Reverend Roger]

How can a fucking country/association of nations receive a fucking Nobel Prize?

This is stupid as fuck.

[Demacrux]

Can't say I really know what to make of this.

[Verbal Mike]

How can a fucking country/association of nations receive a fucking Nobel Prize?

This is stupid as fuck.

Federations are people, my friend.

[Cain]

OK, so some interesting points on this, all mockery aside:

1) the EU is being given the peace prize in recognition of past works.  Obama was given the peace prize in hope of his future efforts.  So you can give prizes out apparently to practically any nation, by this standard.

2) Should NATO be getting joint ownership of this award?  Obviously not so important post 1999, and even less important in the 90s than it was in the Cold War, but NATO provided the military framework which allowed the economic and political one to flourish.

3) Since 2000, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to The United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Grameen Bank, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  I'm not sure I'd want to be part of that exclusive club.

[Cain]

Also, the Literature prize was given to a Chinese writer who is not a dissident.  Which is IMO actually a good thing, as it explodes the pernicious myth that true creativity can only come about via opposition to a authoritarian regime, a curiously self-serving argument that gets repeated every so often in literary and political circles.  Usually the kind of circles that believe George Orwell was a greater freedom fighter than Simon Bolivar and that kind of nonsense.