Handicapping the Nobels

We make wild guesses at Friday's winner so you don’t have to.

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Facebook and Twitter

Julian Assange is too icky. It's too hard to pick one individual out of the Arab Spring. I predict the Norwegian Nobel Committee will choose to honor social media for its role both in the uprisings and as an international communications tool. Because Mark Zuckerberg isn't really the most passionate defender of democracy, I think the committee will award it to the companies rather than any individuals. (There's precedent for this with the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and several other NGOs.) Expect howls of outrage from online privacy advocates and the Arab activists themselves.

Odds: 8:1

-Joshua E. Keating, Associate Editor

SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images

 SUBJECTS:
 

DANADAMS

7:03 PM ET

October 6, 2011

Ahh so FB and Twitter were

Ahh so FB and Twitter were brought about to bring peace to the world. In which case, they are public companies and we should all own a share in its success and wealth.

FB and Twitter will never get it.,

 

GRANT

8:07 PM ET

October 6, 2011

That's a lot of focus on

That's a lot of focus on Egypt. Surely there are plenty of deserving candidates from Sub-Sahan Africa, Tunisia, South America and Eastern Europe? I could even recommend an Ecuadoran I know who chose teaching alternatives to violence in South America over a well paid job in the U.S.

 

NICOLAS19

3:31 AM ET

October 7, 2011

poor list

If Facebook or its founder gets the prize, I should probably stab myself with my own sword like a Roman emperor. It would mean new lows for the prize after Obama.

Recent years it has been a parade for "people advancing the policies of the US". Liu Xiaobo, Obama, Gore, ElBaradei... Only a few exceptions remained to remind us that the world would be a better place without American puppets (Martti Ahtisaari).

Maybe one of the Egyptian protesters should get it, for toppling a dictator. That would mean more incentive for the people to dispose of US-installed dictators in many countries, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia and such.

 

GRANT

6:57 AM ET

October 7, 2011

Perhaps they should have

Perhaps they should have given one to the 'Tank Man' in 1989.

 

YARINSIZ

12:20 PM ET

November 5, 2011

As per the hawker's family,

As per the hawker's family, she humiliated a real Muslim man. The hawker with hurt Islamic ego had no other option than to burn himself publicly. This was the beginning of Arab spring . seslichat This lady should be given the Nobel prize for igniting a revolution that might not have killed enough, but have indeed not replaced many of the tyrants.