Peace on earth ???

It's been a quiet week and Walt has been preoccupied with things he considers important, like the funeral of Jean Béliveau (+RIP) and the price of crude. [I've been saying for a long time that there's an oversupply of crude. Ed.] There wasn't anything else about which I felt moved to write...so I didn't.

I did notice, however, that the committee of ultra-liberals that awards the Nobel Prize for Peace made yet another bunny-brained but ultra-PC decision, giving medallions, half-shares of 8,000,000 kronor (= £690,000 = $1,110,000 in real money) and a year's supply of Rice-a-roni to "child rights activist" Kailash Satyarthi of India and "child education activist" and prominent victim of Islamic extremism Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan.

Miss Yousafzai is a young Muslim woman and Mr. Satyarthi is an older Hindu male. They represent two nations, Pakistan and India, which have hated each other ever since Partition in 1947 and have actually gone to war two or three times within living memory...not counting the sectarian violence which killed millions at the time of Partition itself. Nice balance there. Got a bunch of boxes ticked.

Walt admits to not having heard of Mr. Satyarthi before. Who had? Miss Yousafzai, however, has been an object of adulation down at the pub for years, what with being one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, an honorary citizen of Canada, etc etc and so forth.

Would it be churlish to ask exactly what Miss Yousafzai has done to bring peace on earth? [Yes. Ed.] She has addressed the United Nations and many other august assemblies, received numerous degrees and other honours, shaken the hands of rulers spiritual and temporal. But what has she actually done?

As nearly as I can determine, her sole "accomplishment" so far in life was to be shot in the head -- by a fellow Muslim -- and live to talk about it. And talk and talk and talk.

Never let it be said, though, that the lack of any concrete achievement should disqualify her or anyone from consideration by the Nobel Prize committee. Why, only five years ago, the Peace Prize was awarded to one Barack Hussein Obama, who up to that point had done nothing more than get himself elected President of the Paranoid States of America.

The Prez accepted the prize in Oslo on 10 December 2009. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Obama said he was "surprised" and "deeply humbled" by the award. He stated that he does not feel he deserved the award, and that he did not feel worthy of the company the award would place him in. Cries of "Amen!" may well have been edited out of the video.

And what has the 2009 laureate done since for the cause of world peace? Unlike Malala, he didn't get shot by a fellow-Muslim. He did declare an end to the American occupation of Iraq, which finally took effect earlier this year. But then he reversed himself and ordered the beginning of yet another invasion and occupation, under way as we speak. Is the committee going to ask him to give his Peace Prize back? Errr, not likely. (Lifetime pct .964.)

World peace remains an elusive goal. But Walt's for it! Peace on earth, I say! And if you don't believe in peace on earth, then peace on you!