Video - Abdul Sattar Edhi: Pakistan's richest poor man

Video - Abdul Sattar Edhi: Pakistan's richest poor man. HT: TheExpressTribune .

For over 60 years, Abdul Sattar Edhi has shown us the power of one individual’s unwavering commitment and sincerity to the cause of humanity. As I write this, it pains me to say that Edhi has been robbed of just that.

Edhi, the obstinately humble hero to Pakistan’s masses

Maya Angelou famously said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Such will be the legacy of Abdul Sattar Edhi. His story will only live among the people; long after he has left us. Hmmmm......Now that's a real Nobel Peace\Prize winner!

Read the full story here.

Going once, twice....Sold! How Much for That Nobel Prize in the Window?

Going once, twice....Sold! How Much for That Nobel Prize in the Window? (NDTV).

Swedish scientist and philanthropist Alfred Nobel created these Nobel Prizes. Oslo: No need to make peace in the Middle East, resolve one of science's great mysteries or pen a masterpiece: the easiest way to get yourself a Nobel prize may be to buy one.

In the 114 years since the Nobel prizes were first handed out, they have been awarded 889 times for pioneering work in the fields of peace, literature, medicine, physics, chemistry and, since 1969, economics.

But over the years, following reversals of fortune and splitting of inheritances, at least a dozen Nobel gold medals and diplomas have ended up on the auction block.

Yes, it's the easy way out, as buyers don't have to have "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind", as stipulated by Swedish scientist and philanthropist Alfred Nobel in his 1895 testament when he created the prizes.

But as any mediator will tell you, peace comes at a price. And surprisingly, it is not always as high as one would think for a Nobel Peace Prize.

The cheapest Nobel ever sold at auction is that of France's Aristide Briand, honoured in 1926 for his role in France and Germany's shortlived post-war reconciliation.

His prize went for a steal in 2008 at just 12,200 euros ($13,650 at today's rate). That of Britain's William Randal Cremer, who won in 1903, did only slightly better, going under the hammer for $17,000 in 1985.

Auction prices have skyrocketed since, prompting a growing number of laureates or their families to sell their prestigious possessions.

Since early 2014, at least eight Nobel medals have gone up for auction.

"There is a heightened interest in the discoveries and developments of the 20th century and the Nobel prize really symbolises the biggest achievements of the century whether they are in science, economics or whether they're in peace," explains Francis Wahlgren, the head of Christie's international book and manuscripts department.

"We now have to consider them among higher value things that we handle," he adds.

Recently several Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry and economics have sold for between $300,000 and $400,000.

Even more lucrative was the 1909 Peace Prize awarded to Belgium's Auguste Beernaert, which sold for $661,000, and the 1936 Peace Prize to Carlos Saavedra Lamas of Argentina -- found in a pawn shop years earlier -- which went for a staggering $1.16 million.

The peace medals are made of 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of 18 carat gold -- up until 1979 it was 23 carats -- and feature the profile of Alfred Nobel on one side and three naked men forming a circle on the other.

The gold itself is worth, at today's rates, around $5,500. Hmmmm......Anyone interested for Obama's medal? He sold everything else........including his Soul. read the full story here.

Former secr of the Nobel Peace Prize committee: "Giving Pres. Obama the esteemed award, didn’t have desired effect'

Former secr of the Nobel Peace Prize committee: " giving the president the esteemed award, didn’t have desired effect" (TOI).

In a break with Nobel tradition, the former secretary of the Nobel Peace Prize committee says the 2009 award to President Barack Obama failed to live up to the panel’s expectations.

Geir Lundestad writes in a book to be released on Thursday that the committee had expected the prize to deliver a boost to Obama. Instead the award was met with fierce criticism in the US, where many argued Obama had not been president long enough to have an impact worthy of the Nobel.

“Even many of Obama’s supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,” Lundestad wrote in excerpts of the book read by The Associated Press. “In that sense the committee didn’t achieve what it had hoped for.”

Lundestad, who stepped down last year after 25 years as the non-voting secretary of the secretive committee, noted that Obama was startled by the award and that his staff even investigated whether other winners had skipped the prize ceremony in Oslo.

That has happened only on rare occasions, such as when dissidents were held back by their governments.

“In the White House they quickly realized that they needed to travel to Oslo,” Lundestad wrote.

Speaking to AP on Wednesday, Lundestad said he didn’t disagree with the decision to award the president but the committee “thought it would strengthen Obama and it didn’t have this effect.”

Nobel Peace prize winner Obama has approved more arms sales than any U.S. admin since World War II.

Nobel Peace prize winner Obama has approved more arms sales than any U.S. admin since World War II. (DN).

I'm joined now by Bill Hartung, Director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy. His latest book is, "Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex."

He recently wrote an article headlined, "The Obama Arms Bazaar: Record Sales, Troubling Results." Welcome back to Democracy Now! , Bill. Talk about the numbers. Talk about the weapons. Where are they going?

WILLIAM HARTUNG:

Well, I was astonished in researching the article that Obama had sold this much. I mean, I knew there were record deals with the Saudis, but to outsell the eight years of Bush, to sell more than any president since World War II, was surprising even to me who follow these things quite closely. 

The majority, 60 percent, have gone to the Persian Gulf and Middle East and within that, the Saudis have been the largest recipient of things like U.S. fighter planes, Apache attack helicopters, bombs, guns, almost an entire arsenal they’ve purchased in just the last few years.

AMY GOODMAN: As we see the Obama administration’s dramatic acceleration of U.S. weapons sales abroad, can you talk about the U.S. requirements on the licensing of weapons and weapons-related exports?

WILLIAM HARTUNG:

Well, the industry has wanted relaxation for years. The Obama administration finally delivered that.

They took things from the State Department, which does a somewhat better job of vetting human rights and so forth, and took thousands of items and put them in the Commerce Department which historically has been involved in promoting arms sales, not vetting them. 

So it’s going to be easier for some countries to get arms without a license and those countries will become hubs of smuggling, no doubt. So it’s going to be counter to even the narrowest security interests of the United States, but it’s something industry has wanted for quite a while. Hmmmm........"CHANGE". Read the full story here.

Krauthammer knew already in 2009:

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Calls on Obama to Promote Books, Not Bombs.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Calls on Obama to Promote Books, Not Bombs. (RN).

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenage girl who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for women’s and girls’ rights to education, called on President Barack Obama to put an end to arming the world and instead promote education, NBC News reports.

"I said instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending weapons, send teachers," the young human rights activist spoke of her recent meeting with Barack Obama. In her opinion, the US President could contribute more to peace in many countries if he would use soft measures instead of military tactics.

Malala Yousafzai began to advocate for girls’ and women’s education rights when she was 12. She started writing an internet blog where she described her life under Taliban rule and tried to promote literacy, as well as better education prospects for girls and women.

When Malala was 15, she was shot in the head by Taliban attackers while returning from school. She managed to survive and is currently living with her parents in Great Britain, where she is continuing her “rights for education” campaign, as reported by Reuters.

Malala often says that her life is similar to a novel or a film story. "At the end, the villain loses and the hero wins, and there is a happy ending."

The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Malala jointly with an Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education." Her prominent co-winner, Kailash Satyarthi, aged 60, has also dedicated his life to the protection of human rights, championing for children’s education opportunities and fighting against child slavery.

Video Live: Announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 to Indian Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani Malala Yousafzay

BREAKING NEWS: The #nobelprize2014 in Peace is awarded to Indian Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani Malala Yousafzay pic.twitter.com/W1K0rh9An6

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 10, 2014

Watch inspiring @PBS docu on well-deserved #nobelprize2014 Kailash Satyarthi's fight against child labor in #India, http://t.co/hwWHmhPwgy

— Peter Bouckaert (@bouckap) October 10, 2014

CEO Canadian Jewish organization to Nominate Canadian PM Harper for Nobel Peace Prize.

CEO Canadian Jewish organization to Nominate Canadian PM Harper for Nobel Peace Prize.(Matzav).

The head of a prominent Canadian Jewish organization says he plans to nominate Stephen Harper for a Nobel Peace Prize Mr. Harper is a staunch supporter of Israel whose comments on the Middle East have at times put him at odds with other Western leaders.

In a news release issued by B’nai Brith Canada, Mr. Dimant praised the Prime Minister’s approach in dealing with major international conflicts.

The international development minister says aid packages, including tents and hygiene kits, are being sent to Iraq to help religious minorities. Christian Paradis says the supplies are meant to “address basic needs.”

He said Mr. Harper has demonstrated international leadership and a clear understanding of the differences between those who “seek to do evil” and their victims.

“More than any other individual, he has consistently spoken out with resolve regarding the safety of people under threat - such as opposing Russian aggression and annexation of Ukrainian territory - and has worked to ensure that other world leaders truly understand [the] threat of Islamic terrorism facing us today,” Mr. Dimant said.

The Conservative government has said that its outspoken approach is part of a “principled” foreign policy that means it is unafraid to choose sides in conflicts.

Critics, including some former Canadian diplomats, have countered that the Conservative government’s outspoken approach often involves more rhetoric than action and have said that it could limit Canada’s ability to play a constructive role in resolving global conflicts.

This summer, when the United States and others criticized Israel’s shelling of a United Nations school in Gaza, the federal government continued to blame Hamas alone, saying the militant organization was solely responsible for the continuing violence in the region.

University professors are on the list of individuals permitted to submit nominations to the Nobel Foundation.

Global chemical weapons watchdog wins Nobel Peace Prize.

Global chemical weapons watchdog wins Nobel Peace Prize.(RT).

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was founded in 1997 to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty that bans the production, storage and use of chemical weapons.

Its main job since then has been the ongoing monitoring of the process of chemical disarmament by the treaty’s signatories, particularly the US and Russia, the countries that held the largest stockpiles at the time it was signed.

The watchdog recently attracted headlines after a Russia-brokered deal with Syria, which agreed to join the convention and dismantle its chemical weapons arsenal.

The organization’s inspectors are currently on the ground in Syria, supervising the destruction of the country’s estimated 1,000 tons of chemical arms stockpiles.
The task would not be easy in a country engulfed by a two-and-a-half-year war. The current roadmap indicates Syria should be left without chemical weapons capability by mid-2014.

The OPCW team currently working in Syria consists of 27 field experts, with the number expected to rise to roughly 100 by the time the dismantling is in full swing.


The organization said Syrian authorities are ‘quite cooperative’ with them, but the inspectors may find it difficult to access the sites or their interest, which are currently located in rebel-held areas. The sites are presumed to have been emptied from all chemical weapons and related equipment, but the experts needs to ensure that.

Destruction of production equipment and weapons-filling systems for the Syrian chemical weapons is underway and is expected to be completed by November. Destroying the chemicals themselves is a more labor-intensive and risky job. The best approach to the task is still under discussion.
The resolution of a stand-off between Syria and the US – the latter of which threatened to attack the Middle-Eastern country for alleged use of chemical weapons against rebel forces - through Syria’s joining the prohibition treaty is viewed by many as a major achievement for the cause of peace. 
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in brokering the deal, but the application came too late to be considered this year and was pushed to 2014.
Awarding the prominent prize to the OCPW came as a surprise to many. Nobel Prize watchers didn’t mention the organization as a likely laureate. 
Predictions favored several individuals, including Malala Yousafzai, a teenage Pakistani women’s rights campaigner who survived a Taliban attack, Dr. Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist and rape victims’ defender from Congo, Claudia Paz y Paz, the resilient mafia-fighting Guatemalan attorney general, and Sister Mary Tarcisia Lokot, a nun at the forefront of post-war reconciliation in Uganda.

The Committee’s choice was predicted about an hour before the official statement by the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

Global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW to win 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

Global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW to win 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. (HD).

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is overseeing the destruction's of Syria's arsenal, will win the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Experts from the Hague-based global chemical weapons watchdog, supported by the United Nations, aim to help destroy Syria's chemical weapons production facilities and weapons-filling equipment by Nov. 1.

Under a Russian-U.S. deal struck last month, Syria's entire chemicals arms programme is due to be eliminated by mid-2014.

The $1.25 million prize will be announced at 0900 GMT. It will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
NRK has a strong track record reporting winners and last year announced that the EU would win an hour before the official statement.More here.

Iranian Lawmaker Urges Taking Back Nobel Peace Prize from Warmonger Obama.

Iranian Lawmaker Urges Taking Back Nobel Peace Prize from Warmonger Obama.(Fars).

A senior Iranian legislator underlined the necessity for revoking the Nobel Peace Prize given to US President Barack Obama in 2009 due to his warmongering policies against other countries, specially Syria.

"The parliament will support any Iranian campaign to take back Obama's Nobel Peace Prize," Chairman of the parliament's Cultural Commission Ahmad Salek told FNA on Wednesday.

"Obama and the White House leaders are warmongers and not peace advocates and wherever there is a war, the Americans are involved. Now how can the warmongers receive the peace prize?" he asked.

Salek called Obama an international villain who should be tried for war crimes.

In relevant remarks on Tuesday, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) said that he's willing to reverse his opposition on a military strike against Syria if President Obama agrees to answer a number of questions, including whether the president is willing to return his Nobel Peace Prize.

In a Tuesday statement, Stockman said he'd "like to offer President Obama a deal" ahead of his national address on the Syria conflict.

“I am prepared to vote in favor of Obama’s folly if he can fully and truthfully answer eleven questions about the Syria operation and his bungling of it," Stockman said.

A Stockman spokesman told The Hill that Obama would "indeed" have to answer "yes" to the Nobel Prize question in order to receive the congressman's support.

Video - "Nobel Peace Prize" Candidate Erdogan's Police beginning to evict Taksim Square on 29 june Istanbul.

Council of Europe chief ready to nominate Turkish PM for Noble Peace Prize.

Council of Europe chief ready to nominate Turkish PM for Noble Peace Prize.

Stalin and Hitler were both nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize!

Council of Europe chief ready to nominate Turkish PM for Noble Peace Prize.(Focus).
Ankara. Turkish Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin held talks with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland, who is on a visit to Turkey.
After the meeting she said that “the process of EU integration strengthens Turkey’s positions and weight”, Turkish NTV reported.
Later on the minister wrote on her twitter page about her impressions from the meeting with Mr Jagland, as follows: “Apart from Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland, who told me literary the following: “Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a Noble Prize candidate if he manages to solve the Kurdish issue”, is also Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee”. At the meeting Minister Şahin confessed that the violence over women in Turkey was a problem of the society and there was a need to take the necessary steps in this field.Hmmmm.......European Court of Human Rights: " Turkey is worst human rights violator."Read the full story here.

Pakistani schoolgirl-turned-icon of Taliban resistance Malala up for Nobel Peace Prize.

Pakistani schoolgirl-turned-icon of Taliban resistance Malala up for Nobel Peace Prize.(E24/7).Malala Yousafzai, the shot Pakistani schoolgirl-turned-icon of Taliban resistance, and ex-Eastern bloc activists are among those known to be nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, as the deadline expired on Friday.
This year's award will be announced in early October, but speculation was already underway as the deadline for nominations ran out on February 1.
Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot by a Taliban gunman at point blank range as she travelled on a bus to school on October 9, targeted for promoting girls' education.
She has since become an internationally recognised symbol of opposition to the Taliban's drive to deny women education, and against religious extremism in a country where women's rights are often flouted.
"A prize to Malala would not only be timely and fitting with a line of awards to champions of human rights and democracy, but also ... would set both children and education on the peace and conflict agenda," said the head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Kristian Berg Harpviken.
Others known to have been nominated are human rights activists whose names have been mentioned in previous years, including Belarussian human rights activist Ales Belyatski -- currently behind bars -- and Russia's Lyudmila Alexeyeva.
Belarus, which former US President George W. Bush's administration had branded as the "the last dictatorship in Europe", is governed by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has cracked down even further on opponents of late, rights groups charge.
Trying to predict who will win the Nobel Peace Prize is a difficult task, complicated by the fact that the list of nominees each year is kept secret for 50 years.
But thousands of people are eligible to nominate candidates -- including former laureates, members of parliament and government around the world, some university professors, and members of certain international organisations -- and they are allowed to reveal the names they have put forward.
As a result, it is known that French, Canadian and Norwegian MPs have all separately nominated Malala.
Beliatsky's and Alexeyeva's names have meanwhile been put forward by two Norwegian lawmakers.
"They have both defied authoritarian state structures and the illegal and illegitimate abuse of power," one of the two MPs, Jan Tore Sanner, said.
Other possible candidates are Israeli former nuclear technician and whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, who leaked Israeli nuclear secrets to a British newspaper, Coptic Christian Maggie Gobran, dubbed Egypt's "Mother Teresa" for her work to help the poor in Cairo's slums, and Denis Mukwege, a pioneering doctor who founded a clinic for rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in early October and will be handed over at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10.Read the full story here.

Pentagon may put special ops in Afghanistan under CIA control to meet 2014 pullout deadline

                          Yes you're not dreaming that's Karzai (Middle Row, Third from Left).

Pentagon may put special ops in Afghanistan under CIA control to meet 2014 pullout deadline.(MN).WASHINGTON -- Top Pentagon officials are considering putting elite special operations troops under CIA control in Afghanistan after 2014, just as they were during last year's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, sources told The Associated Press.The plan is one of several possible scenarios being debated by Pentagon staffers. It has not yet been presented to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the White House or Congress, the sources said.
If the plan were adopted, the U.S. and Afghanistan could say there are no more U.S. troops on the ground in the war-torn country because once the SEALs, Rangers and other elite units are assigned to CIA control, even temporarily, they become spies.No matter who's in charge, the special operations units still would target militants on joint raids with Afghans and keep training Afghan forces to do the job on their own.
The idea floated by a senior defense intelligence official comes as U.S. defense chiefs try to figure out how to draw down troops fast enough to meet the White House's 2014 deadline. Pentagon staffers already have put forward a plan to hand over much of the war-fighting to special operations troops. This idea would take that plan one step further, shrinking the U.S. presence to less than 20,000 troops after 2014, according to four current and two former U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.Pentagon spokesman George Little denied the idea is being discussed.
A CIA-run war would mean that the U.S. public would not be informed about funding or operations, as they are in a traditional war. Oversight would fall to the White House, top intelligence officials, and a few congressional committees. Embedding journalists would be out of the question.
Two senior defense officials said that neither the CIA nor Special Operations Command has put this plan forward officially to Panetta.The notion of longer-term assignments to the CIA does not sit well with some senior commanders, who want their units to remain autonomous in order to keep their troops under Defense Department legal parameters. If CIA-assigned troops are captured, for example, they are treated like spies, not protected by the Geneva Conventions.Hmmmm......"Nobel Peace Medal Winner"......Kinetic actions Mogul.Read the full story here