the nobel peace prize.  it seems odd to me that a ‘prize’ is necessary at all, in other words, isn’t the mere notion of giving and encouraging peace rewarding enough?  well, i suppose that’s besides the point, and SOMEtimes humans can be outstanding, but those individuals are few and far between. (gandhi never got one did he?  and obama did, albeit prematurely…)  anyway, this years’ nobel peace prize has been awarded to the european union, “for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe”.  although, the last time i checked, the union has only been the union since mitterand and kohl established it as so in 1993.  doesn’t quite add up to sixty years, but we get the point, we are talking about the origins in the ECSC and the EEC which is completely legitimate i suppose.  i am truly trying to play devil’s advocate here; if you think about it, the EU has come light years from where they were decades ago.  tumultuous wars, disintegrating world powers, ego fights of the most treacherous and monumental kind…and here we are.  sure, there are still some serious economic difficulties and peril, but as much as it pains me to say, those things are often inevitable, especially in a world like ours.  citizens in athens are up in arms about this award, where germans are happy and feel as if their work and struggle has paid off in a way.  but now the $1.2 million dollar question—where is the check going to go, and who is it going to be awarded to come this december in oslo?  this is when we will truly see the demonstrative nature of peace. by sv