Fall bouquet, Merci, Paris.
We interrupt the series of Longchamp photos to focus on unexpected news today:
Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples."
"The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral
diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role
that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.
"The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations.Thanks
to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role
in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.
"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. His
diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the
world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared
by the majority of the world's population.
"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 spokesman.The Committee endorses Obama's
appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of
responsibility for a global response to global challenges."
Let's hope Obama can live up to his promise, with jealous naysayers (with no ideas or solutions of their own) determined to obstruct his every move.
So refreshing: Alan Grayson dares to speak the truth.
Am glad that this outrageous law is being challenged in court. What an invasion of privacy!
And a very Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!
Update: The Democratic National Committee responds to Republican criticism of the Nobel Peace Prize announcement:
"The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists — the
Taliban and Hamas this morning — in criticizing the President for
receiving the Nobel Peace prize. Republicans cheered when America
failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President
of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize — an award he
did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American
can take great pride — unless of course you are the Republican Party.
The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no
shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at
every turn. It’s no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being
Republicans anymore – it’s an embarrassing label to claim."
Mohamed El Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency:
"There is nobody today in my view who is more deserving of that peace
prize than Barack Obama. In less than a year he brought a radical
change in the way we look at ourselves, in the way we look at our
world. He is restoring the basic core values that every one of us
should live by - dialogue, respect, democracy, due process, human
rights, a security system that does not depend on nuclear weapons. His
dedication to these values rekindles hope that, finally, we could have
a world at peace with itself."
Read more reactions to the news here.
An excerpt of President Obama's speech:
"Let me be clear: I do not view it as a
recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of
American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all
nations.
"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 specific
achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set
of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action
-- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st
century."
"My husband and I went on a short three week holiday having left our very young children with my mother in Australia - it was supposed to be a bit of a second honeymoon. We'd spent a week driving around Ireland - which went well despite me navigating and him having to follow instructions.
"We flew out from Ireland and arrived in Paris on a beautiful, sunny autumn day - it was more like spring than autumn it was so warm.
"After we had checked in at our hotel, we decided to go for a walk - so there we are strolling down the Champs Elysee heading towards the Eiffel Tower. I said something in French. He made fun of my pronunciation and corrected me. He was wrong. I told him so. He asked me what would I know as - after all - he had done French at school. So had I - up to the final year of high school and being younger than him - my experience of high school French was more recent and far broader. He wasn't having a bar of it. Neither was I. The whole discussion quickly disintegrated into an embarrassing public slanging match, culminating in him storming off in a huff back to the hotel.
"So that's what can happen to you on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Paris walking down the Champs Elysee with the one you love. That story happened 12 years ago - and we still can't talk about that fight without it starting another one! I am quite sure we will never feature in a Willy Ronis picture postcard of Paris."
Megan, hope Paris Postcards triggers happier memories of the City of Light!