It's just a thrill to be nominated - not that I've experienced that either. Given who's been nominated in the past, I'm more than qualified. If you would like to
nominate me for a Nobel Prize, it's never too early to start the process. In the meantime, I suppose
this year's winners are okay. I mean, they do some work with the poor or something, so I guess that's important. From CNN:
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work in advancing economic and social opportunities for the poor, particularly women.
The economist and the bank he founded will share the prize. They were cited for their efforts to help "create economic and social development from below" in their home country by using innovative economic programs such as microcredit lending.
Grameen Bank has been instrumental in helping millions of poor Bangladeshis, many of them women, improve their standard of living by letting them borrow small sums to start businesses.
Loans go toward buying items such as cows to start a dairy, chickens for an egg business, or mobile phones to start businesses where villagers who have no access to phones pay a small fee to make calls.
"Every single individual on earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life. Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development," the Nobel Committee said in its citation. (Read Nobel Committee citations)
Apparently the way out of poverty is capitalism. Who woulda thunk it? By the way, after this remark I expect the Nobel Committee to get bomb threats and fatwas calling for their deaths from some of the less enlightened in the Middle East:
In its citation, the committee noted that "economic growth and political democracy can not achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing with the male," the committee said.
Let the riots begin!
