Friday, October 9, 2009

Nobel Peace Prize: "Four Norwegian Leopards and a Rhino* Walk Into A Bar..." "FORWARD!!"

First up, congratulations to President Obama on winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
Although not in the same intellectual league*** as the Physics, Medicine (Physiology) or Chemistry prizes, the recipient of any of the Nobel Prizes deserves a "cool, dude".

Regarding the Peace Prize Committee...

A "leopard" is a cougar with liver spots.

Committee members

Thorbjørn Jagland

b. 1950.
Chair of the Nobel Committee.
President of the Storting.
President of the Storting. 2005-2009. Prime Minister 1996-1997. Foreign Minister 2000-2001. Member of the Storting 1993-2009.
Member of the Committee since 2009, appointed for the period 2009-2014.

Kaci Kullmann Five

b. 1951
Deputy chair of the Nobel Committee.
Self employed Advisor Public Affairs. Chairman of the Young Conservatives, 1977-79. Member of the Storting, 1981-97. Cabinet Minister for Trade, Shipping and European Affairs, 1989-90. Chairman of the Conservative Party, 1991-94.
Member of the Committee since 2003, reappointed for the period 2009-2014.

Sissel Marie Rønbeck

b. 1950
Chairman Social Democratic Youth (AUF) 1975-1977. Member of the Storting 1977-1993. Cabinet Minister 1979-81, 1986-89 and 1996-97.
Member of the Committee since 1994, reappointed for the period 2006-2011.

Inger-Marie Ytterhorn

b. 1941
Senior political adviser to the Progress Party's parliamentary group. Member of the Storting, 1989-93. Member of the Election Law Ad hoc committee 1998-2001.
Member of the Committee since 2000, reappointed for the period 2006-2011.

Ågot Valle

b. 1945
Member of the Storting.
Member of the Storting 1997-2009. President of the Odelsting 2001-2005.
Member of the Committee since 2009, appointed for the period 2009-2014.

*Rhino, from the Urban Dictionary:
Rhino

An older man on the prowl for a younger woman and by definition, the gender opposite of the cougar. The rhino derives his name from his appearance because the specimen is more often than not both horny AND ugly. The rhino is usually found in warmer locales and can be spotted wearing either a flowered or pastel shirt (with 3 buttons opened to expose a mature mane of chest hair) tucked into khaki shorts and sporting boat shoes. Also look for horrendous dance moves, a white man's overbite, male pattern baldness and a penchant for picking up the bar tab.

"Hey, that guy's totally checking you out ... you should go for him!"
"Ugh, are you kidding me? He's a total rhino."

Some insight into the above definition and the apparently anticipatory predilection of the committee, via Wikipedia:

...In 1998, Jagland was confronted with another incident, after placing his hands on Synnøve Svabø's breasts on national television. Svabø was at that time talk show host for Weekend Globoid. Two years later, she was prosecuted for adultery against Jagland by the Labour-politician Gaute Hareide from Ulsteinvik. Svabø replied to here prosecution "Am I accused for the Jagland-grip? I had considered an accusation, but not three years afterwards. And not against me ... I was innocent". The police dropped the case shortly afterwards. It was seen by many at that time that Svabø "lured" Jagland.

Workers' Youth league membersip scandal

Also in 1998, four leaders and treasurers of Oslo AUF were convicted of fraud and jailed as part of the Workers' Youth League membership scandal. They were found to have filed excessive membership numbers in order to receive increased municipal grants, and the court case revealed that most youth parties and their leaders had been engaging in this practice since the 1970s. Jagland testified in the case and said it was not necessarily wrong to "advance" money for memberships...
So there you go. You know this fore- or pre- thing is a deeply held philosophy.
Joining folks like the State of Wisconsin: "Forward"**

The Third Btn. 290th Infantry Regiment with their "Toujours En Avant" (Always Forward) motto.

The Scottish Clans:
Balfour ("Forward"), Douglas ("Fordward"), Stirling ("Go Forward") and Seton ("Hazard Yet Forward").

**Wisconsin state mottos rejected in favor of "Forward.":

11. Kinda chilly in the winter, but the 'skeeters take yr mind off that in the summer.

10. What did Michigan do to deserve the Upper Peninsula, anyway?

9. GO PACKERS! WHOOOOOOO!

8. America's Finland.

7. Home to America's burgeoning Indie Amish Rock scene.

6. At least we're not Minnesota

5. Our State's Name Doesn't End In "A"

4. Like Canaan but without the honey

3. Land of quite a few lakes

2. The Dairy-Product-Headwear-Generated Whiplash State

1. Behold the power of cheese.

***Here's The Physics Chanteuse, Lynda Williams: