September 21, 2004
Bookmakers are setting odds on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize:
Considering the progress in Libya against that in Iran, something about this list looks wrong to me.
The odds of U.S. President George W. Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair winning the Nobel Peace Prize look about as grim as those for Slobodan Milosevic, who's standing trial for war crimes - about 1,000 to one, bookmakers said Tuesday as the buzz over the prestigious prize begins.I suppose it is all a matter of opinion on who has done the most to reduce the spread of WMDs, although I find my own opinion not well represented when I look at the whole list:Instead, Norwegian Nobel-watchers and bookmakers think the odds-on favourite for this year's prize - to be announced Oct. 8 in Oslo - are people or groups who have led efforts to stifle the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
| Mohamed ElBaradei (IAEA Director) | 5:1 |
| Hans Blix (UN Weapons Inspector) | 6:1 |
| Sam Nunn / Richard Lugar (Threat Reduction) | 7:1 |
| Vaclav Havel (Czech President) | 7:1 |
| Oswaldo Paya (Cuban Dissident) | 13:1 |
| Pope John Paul | 15:1 |
| The Salvation Army | 21:1 |
| Lakhdar Brahimi (UN Envoy to Iraq) | 26:1 |
| Bono | 34:1 |
| The European Union | 26:1 |
| Slobodan Milosevic | 1000:1 |
| Tony Blair | 1000:1 |
| George W. Bush | 1000:1 |
Ahh, there we go. It looks better when I invert my monitor.
