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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Oct. 12. Ostrom is the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. She is co-founder and senior research director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at IU.

As critics continue to mull over whether President Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite says the U.S. Constitution does not allow him to accept the award without the consent of Congress. In a letter to Obama delivered on Monday, Brown-Waite, R-Fla., along with Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, claim the president is obligated under the Constitution to obtain Congress' approval before he formally accepts the prize. Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the emolument clause, states: "And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent...

According to the latest Pew Research Poll, only 35 percent see global warming as a very serious problem, down from 44 percent last year. Fifty-seven percent believe there is solid evidence that man is driving climate change, down from 71 percent in 2008. As the public concern over climate change continues to erode, Lord Christopher Monckton -- the former advisor for science policy to Lady Margaret Thatcher -- says the alleged science behind manmade climate change is eroding as well. Christopher Monckton"First of all, it's now been demonstrated by measurement that CO2 has only one-sixth of the warming effect on...

At the launch event for his latest book, Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago attacked the bible, saying that the world would be better off without it. The writers latest book "Cain" is an ironic retelling of the story of Cain and Abel from the book of genesis. Looks like President Obama is in great company. ...

President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, and we are having a difficult time figuring out why. The prize committee cited its decision on this: “For his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Really? We missed this. Obama seemed surprised by this announcement and said winning the prize was a “call to action.” The nominations for the prize took place in February, which was only a couple months after Obama’s inspirational and change-promising “Yes We Can” campaign. In fact, he is the first U.S. president to be awarded the prize in his first term. Obama...

Americans Disagree With Nobel Prize for Pro-Abortion Barack Obama Washington, DC -- A new CNN poll finds the majority of Americans disagree with giving pro-abortion President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. The survey also finds Obama hasn't done anything to merit the prize, for which his name was placed into nomination, at the earliest, just days after he took over the White House. http://www.lifenews.com/nat5582.html

Peace has been an almost fleeting dream since the beginning of history, many died defending it, far more died pursuing it. Perhaps, it would be fitting for Obama to go Norway and accept the Nobel Prize in the name of the over one million American GIs who died during WWI, WWII and other conflicts throughout the world fighting tyranny. Yes, it would be most fitting for President Obama to accept the Nobel Prize in the name of those Americans who gave their lives so the world would enjoy freedom. But, he won't! Such emotions, such admiration, such pride, form no...

This is a powerful and disturbing piece. Although long it's worth seeing to the end. All the quotes were from articles I found including the Boston Globe and the Atlantic.

People can, and undoubtedly will, argue for some time about whether President Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Meanwhile, though, there's a simpler and more immediate question: Does the Constitution allow him to accept the award? Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the Emolument Clause, clearly stipulates: "And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State." The award of the peace prize to a sitting President is not unprecedented. But...

Many ardent fans of Mahatma Gandhi have won the Nobel Peace Prize with the latest being US president Barack Obama, but why was not the 'Apostle of Peace' bestowed with the honour despite being nominated five times? Though he was shortlisted thrice, the selection committees had given different reasons why Gandhi was not conferred the honour, like "he was too much of an Indian nationalist" and that he was "frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly an ordinary politician". One of the committees was also of the view that he was "no real politician or proponent of international law, not primarily...

OSLO — Three of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee had objections to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to US President Barack Obama, the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang (VG) reported Thursday. "VG has spoken to a number of sources who confirmed the impression that a majority of the Nobel committee, at first, had not decided to give the peace prize to Barack Obama," the newspaper said. In a surprise move last Friday, the Nobel committee attributed the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama less than nine months after he had taken office. The committee, appointed by the Norwegian...

Behind closed doors in the Nobel Committee to three of the five members have argued against that Barack Obama should get the Peace Prize. VG can today reveal that both Inger-Marie Ytterhorn (FRP), Kaci Kullmann Five (H) and Ågot Valle (SV) had objections underway. VG has talked with a number of sources that confirm the impression that a majority of the Nobel Committee, at an early stage, was not prepared to give the Peace Prize to Barack Obama. Finally, however, was a combined committee behind the final decision to give the award to the U.S. fresh president. Read also: Jagland...

Obama's words and deeds don't merit getting this award let alone any award.

Liberal and conservative Catholics alike would prefer not to discuss how the Catholic Church, here and abroad, functions like a liberal/left-wing political lobby. Some pro-life Catholics are acting shocked that the Vatican warmly greeted the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama, who is pro-abortion. They don't seem to understand that the Vatican and Obama agree on most major international issues. This is the untold story-how Obama and the Vatican accept major ingredients of what has been called a New World Order. Another untold story is how, despite a disagreement over abortion, the U.S. Catholic Bishops and the...

Some of my colleagues in the fraternity of conservative commentators have expressed shock and consternation that after only 9 months in office, Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. They note that he was nominated after just 10 days as president and wonder what he could have done in that short time to merit such distinction. I believe our president and messiah-in-chief is fully deserving of this major award, for the following reasons:

President Obama goes to Oslo to accept the award. A surprising group of people show up. President Obama reads from his book Dreams From My Father during his speech.

<p>This Tom Friedman column surprised me, but it was a pleasant surprise. Several bloggers have highlighted it, and I want to do so too, because it says some things that really need to be said—not that Obama will say them.</p>

<p>Every so often, actual breaking news is so absurd that parody is the only answer. After news of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize broke on Friday, the website, FreeRepublic.com was deluged by its members with Breaking News! parody posts.</p> <p>The faux headlines kept me giggling all day, and a few have already made it into my inbox via e-mails gone viral. Sometimes, ya just have to laugh.</p>

This was Barack Obama’s chance. Here was an opportunity to cut himself free, in a stroke, from the baggage that’s weighed his presidency down — the implausible expectations, the utopian dreams, the messianic hoo-ha. Here was a place to draw a clean line between himself and all the overzealous Obamaphiles, at home and abroad, who poured their post-Christian, post-Marxist yearnings into the vessel of his 2008 campaign. Here was a chance to establish himself, definitively, as an American president — too self-confident to accept an unearned accolade, and too instinctively democratic to go along with European humbug. He didn’t take...

Be careful of what you never in a million years dared wish for, it just might cause you unending headaches. President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize had the unusual effect of uniting the American political class in universally declaring that the award was premature -- at best. While conservatives largely unleashed mockery and venom, the left hardly rose up in defense of the award. On the contrary, some were so puzzled that they were forced to try to explain the award giving process; but with the notable exception of Democratic elected leaders, the move illuminated an incomplete agenda. Like...

“My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.” - Alfred Nobel According to Nobelprize.org, Obama received the prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" Honestly, gentle reader, other than his amazing reading of a telemprompter can you name even one "extraordinary effort?" Can you name even one result that actually strengthened "international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples?"

How funny! President Soetoro said that he didn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize but he’s going to take the unmerited award anyway just to placate the international community. A community that likes and wants to continue to encourage Soetoro’s America bashing. Plus they don’t mind continuing their attempts to influence any of his decisions. You know the ones which are detrimental to our safely,to our security and to our national sovereignty. There are many reasons that president Soetoro was awarded the Peace Prize; The international community is still attempting to meddle in internal U.S. affairs, the international community is attempt...

Two American economists, Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson, who study the way decisions are made outside the markets on which many other economists focus, were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics Monday. The judges cited "her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons," the way in which natural resources are managed as shared resources. It is an area of research that she said was relevant to questions surrounding global warming, and suggests that decisions by individuals can help solve the problem even as governments work to reach an international agreement. Ms. Ostrom "challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is...

It’s fairly obvious that one of the major reasons for giving President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize was influencing American politics. The Nobel Peace Prize committee is selected by the Norwegian Parliament, and represents the best opportunity for tiny Norway to influence global politics each year. When they announced Obama’s award, the Nobel committee cited “the change in global mood wrought by Obama’s calls for peace and cooperation, and praised his pledges to reduce the world stock of nuclear arms, ease U.S. conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen its role in combating climate change.” Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel...

Now that the laughter has died down over the Nobel Prize awarded to our empty suited president Barack Obama here’s a look at others who have won or been passed over. The first fraud that comes to mind is Woodrow Wilson. In 1919 the world got its first look at the twisted perversion of the Nobel Committee when Wilson who had fooled America with his 1916 motto “He kept us out of war” won a Nobel Peace Prize. In 1917 just one month after his second term began he got Congress to declare war on Germany for no discernable reason....

The fact that I'd ever written a piece on the Noble prize had totally slipped my mind until this past Saturday. (This shows you what writers are like.) I see little I'd retract at this point. Al Gore's worthless Nobel did in truth mark his high point, from which he has inexorably faded to his current status as the shady salesman for a questionable product. (I'd like to see his balance sheet since September 2008.) Will Obama match Al's trajectory? I think so. The Norwegians have done our Dear Leader no favor. What the award has done is to mark...

The Nobel committee becomes the pundit pinata on the Sunday morning news shows, for its decision to award President Obama the Peace Prize before the end of his first year in office.A raft of conservative pundits and even one network anchor used the Sunday morning news shows to batter the Nobel committee for awarding President Obama the Peace Prize before he had a chance to turn his lofty rhetoric into historic accomplishments. The decision, announced Friday, to award Obama the peace prize has drawn widespread astonishment. While past recipients like Al Gore praised the move, even Obama said upon learning...

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace. But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build -- a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor...

October 11, 2009 Another Fine Mess: Comics Whack Obama By MARK LEIBOVICH WASHINGTON — Is President Obama in trouble with his late-night comedy base? It’s likely he hasn’t noticed or doesn’t care. He is, after all, in the midst of his oft-invoked “full plate” of supposedly “defining moments” in his presidency — a “defining” decision on Afghanistan, “defining” legislative battle on health care, among other “defining” things. But there is perhaps another more subtle set of "defining” episodes playing out for Mr. Obama in the televised comedy salons that had previously, by and large, been relatively gentle spaces for him....

The problem for Obama is it simply brings into sharp focus the fact that he has never really done anything in his life. When Republicans said that during the election, a lot of people took it as "just politics." Now they have a glaring example of it staring them in the face. If the guy could win a Nobel Prize for doing nothing, then maybe he really did get into Columbia, get into Harvard Law, get selected Harvard Law Review editor, get a $150K book deal, get a job at a big name Chicago law firm, get elected to the...

"The Thesis: The Nobel Peace Prize means nothing. It is now just another paragon of political correctness manifested on the world stage. It’s the international equivalent to “Student of the Week” or any other unearned, self-esteem-based prize.:See video at link.

Last week's SNL opener was a hopeful start for those of us who believed the crew at SNL would never find anything humorous about the Obama presidency.   This week they were handed a golden  premise on a Nobel Prize platter and fell flat.  Just Karl of Patterico and Green Room fame saw it coming 13 hours before air time.  That alone was funnier than anything in the skit.  After a long look around conservative websites, I have come to the conclusion we know how to spot humor and how to write it.  Here is a top ten list that I...

Before we go anywhere, with the Nobel Peace Prize, I think something should be said in defence of Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain has received a bad press, these last 70 years, though famously it was a good press after he signed the Munich agreement 71 years ago with Adolf Hitler, and flew home to England promising, "Peace in our time." Let us grant, the result of his policy of appeasement was not what he intended; and let us allow, that Hitler negotiated in bad faith.........

If President Obama wishes to be seen as a serious world leader, he should decline the Nobel Peace Prize. Doing so would be, in fact, the most honorable thing for him to do. A very simple expression of gratitude for being considered would be appropriate. And a courageous footnote of honesty, by simply stating that because he had been in office for only twelve days at the time of the nomination, he had done nothing to deserve it, and that he would not feel at ease accepting the prize, would be refreshing.

When he heard the Nobel Peace Prize shocker on Friday, Bill Clinton went into one of his purple rages. He picked up the phone and dialed the one person on earth who would be as steamed as he was.CLINTON: Hey, man, it’s me. This thing is plumb crazy. Can you believe it?W: No way, Jose! CLINTON: First that prig Carter. Then that prig Gore. And now President Paris Hilton. -SNIP-CLINTON: Fine, but you never expected to win this prize. You were the quote-unquote war president and proud of it. I had to put up with a gazillion hours of...

NewsReal's bloggers have had a variety of points to make in reaction to the surprise news of President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize win: Ben Johnson had the opening post on the subject here, shortly after the news broke.Mark J. Koenig had a witty 2 sentence summary here.David Horowitz weighed in here in a post appropriately titled Nobel Puzzle.John Perazzo had a two part series in which he demonstrated how the Peace Prize has become the Leftist Prize.Joseph Klein surveyed what foreign policy "accomplishments" might have merited Obama's victory.I listed the nominees who lost to Obama here. One can be...

Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for one thing - getting elected president in a country that has never had a woman or a person of color as its leader. I expect an Oscar, a Tony and a Pulitzer will all follow, and all will be equally deserved. The Nobel is great news for Obama and for America, but is bad news for the Rev. Al, Jesse and me, as the prize committees have now met their quota.

A British farmer who stood up to Robert Mugabe and was beaten, abducted and finally had his house burnt down has travelled to Washington to ask the Obama administration to put pressure on the Zimbabwe government before it seizes the last remaining white farms. Ben Freeth and his wife Laura with their children Anna, Phillip and Josh. Ben Freeth, who moved to Zimbabwe from Kent, joined his father-in-law Mike Campbell in taking Mugabe to an international court to stop the farm seizures. Their secret footage of the campaign of intimidation launched against them will form part of a film to...

Either the Red Sox win this afternoon at Fenway or they go home for the winter. There’s only one man who can absolutely guarantee this must-win game. Now pitching for the Red Sox: Barack Hussein Nobel Obama, the southpaw who wants to get both of his paws on your wallet. So what if he’s 48 and has never played the game? He’ll get the “W” - that’s the lesson of this Nobel Peace Prize nonsense. He can throw the ball in the dirt in front of home plate - strike one! He can toss it over the catcher’s head -...

Adapted by Barry Rubin from Jean Hersholt's translation of Hans Christian Andersen's story, "Keiserens nye Klæder" Many years ago there was a man who wanted to be Emperor, for according to the peculiar customs of that country of which I speak, the Emperor was elected. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for many others, the man met a couple of political consultants who saw him as the ideal client. Together they would ride to the heights of power. To become Emperor, they explained, required a good image, a fine manner of speaking, and a handsome appearance. But in those days before...

US President Barack Obama has mentioned that he will be donating his $1.4 million prize money which he received from Nobel Prize for Peace to the charities. But he mentioned that the decision regarding the charities or charity for whom he will be giving away the prize money has not yet been decided. Obama should give money to the Panzi Hospital in Congo. Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Denis Mukwege had dedicated his life to help Congolese women who are the victims of gang rape and sexual violence. Learn more about Dr. Mukwege's wonderful work at the following link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/27/denis.mukwege/index.html

US President Barack Obama basked in new-found glory today, vowing to consider his surprise Nobel Peace Prize as "a call for action" to address the challenges of the new century. But critics argued the award may have been premature. A visibly surprised Mr Obama, 48, said he did not feel fit to join the honour roll of revered Nobel peace laureates, but vowed to use the prize as a “call to action” to lead the world in confronting its deepest challenges. As shockwaves from the Nobel committee in Oslo raced around the world, many saw the award as a final...

President Obama on Friday won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, bringing the relatively novice leader a new measure of prestige on the world stage but also potential complications in carrying out a foreign policy that includes managing two wars. In making Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee praised the president's cooperative approach to global issues, a clear rebuke of the Bush administration's aversion to international organizations and treaties. The prize comes after Obama has been in office less than nine months, and as he decides whether to send additional combat troops to...

MY FIRST three thoughts upon hearing that President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize were: ■ For what!?!? ■ So this is how low our image sunk under President Bush? ■ This is our Nobel! Even the most fervent Obama supporters have to scratch their heads. The Nobel Committee praised Obama’s “extraordinary efforts’’ on international diplomacy and cooperation, citing his nascent efforts to reduce nuclear weapons and America’s “more constructive role’’ on climate change. The committee said Obama had become “the world’s leading spokesman’’ for international policies the committee has sought to “stimulate’’ for 108 years. Talk about giving...

....In other words, the prize was conferred by experienced politicians who seem to know exactly what they were doing. Expressing its particular approval of Obama's "vision ... of a world without nuclear weapons," the committee wrote: "Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. ... Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. ... For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading...

Bruck’s message to President 0bama: Give it back. My first thought upon hearing that President 0bama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, or, I should say my first rational thought was, “couldn’t they find anybody who’s actually done anything for peace or human rights in the last year?” Well, of course there are many people working on various fronts, in the less sexy places of the world, toiling thanklessly against the ravages of poverty, genocide, human trafficking, and other scourges of the human condition. Perhaps in a future column I could highlight some of our modern human rights warriors whose...

But that was then, and this is now. As the historian Robert Dallek told Obama recently, "War kills off great reform movements." As the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne reminded the president, his supporters voted for him not to win a war but to win a victory on health care and other domestic issues. Obama's priorities lie not in the Hindu Kush but in America: Why squander your presidency on trying to turn an economically moribund feudal backwater into a functioning nation state when you can turn a functioning nation state into an economically moribund feudal backwater?

Do you miss those days in Little League when everyone received a trophy no matter how poorly you played? Now glory can be yours, for the Nobel Peace Prize is within reach of even the most incompetent fools. Just open a box of Cracker Jack.