Above the din, the Nobel message screams: "U.S. OUT OF AFGHANISTAN, & GO FOR SOLARTOPIA!"

It's now up to US to use that Nobel to win that dual prize.

This award never went to two of the most critical peacemakers of the 20th Century: Mahatma Gandhi, who pioneered the successful use of mass non-violence; and Eleanor Roosevelt, feminist godmother of the New Deal's social programs and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It has not gone to Cesar Chavez, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Thich Nhat Hanh, John XXIII and so many more.

But yes it did to Barack Obama. Why?

Right now we have no choice but to defer to the committee that took the plunge. Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland explained that "It could be too late to respond three years from now. It is now we have an opportunity to respond---all of us."

Respond to what?

"We couldn't get around these deep changes that are taking place" under Obama.

ARE taking place? Or WILL take place? Or MIGHT take place if somebody plays this card right.

The stunning rejection of Barack Obama's play for the Chicago Olympics had better teach him a good lesson about escalating in Afghanistan.

Ignoring fierce grassroots resistance in Chicago itself, the Obamas flew to Copenhagen with Mayor Richard Daley to "persuade" the International Olympic Committee to give the games to the Windy City.

Imagine yourself a member of the Olympic Committee as the almighty President of the United States and his entourage, with the world media in tow, swoops down from Olympus to tell you how to make your decision.

Are we surprised Chicago was summarily bounced?

Imagine yourself an Afghani villager as the almighty President of the United States shoots down from Olympus those murderous drones that kill your family and your neighbors, to be followed by heavily armed troops who---after eight years of brutal slaughter---now want to "help."

Obama's decision on Afghanistan will define the rest of his presidency---and the fate of our nation.

PITTSBURGH -- A new world order is emerging at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh with a decision by the group to become the premier coordinating body on economic issues. Radio Free Europe, Sep. 26, 2009.

The world's most exclusive public club, the G-20, met last week in Pittsburgh for "the opportunity to take stock of the progress made and discuss further actions to assure a sound recovery from the global economic and financial crisis." The G-20 consists of finance ministers and senior banking officials from the world's 20 largest economies. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were there for the United States. But the real action comes from the gathering's function as an informal summit for attending heads of state.

The Pittsburgh Summit focused on changing the regulations governing the world's financial institutions and processes In addition to rewriting the rule book, the "new world order" announced that the G-20 is now the "premier coordinating body on economic issues" which will benefit the wealthiest interests in each member country.

Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009, Ohio had its third botched execution in as many years. It is unacceptable to put people to death under a system that is fundamentally flawed. Please call Governor Ted Strickland and tell him to put an immediate stop to all executions indefinitely. His number is (614) 466-3555 or contact him electronically here. After over two hours of excruciating needling, the execution team could not locate a viable vein in Romell Broom to conduct the lethal injection. Governor Strickland delayed his execution for one week, so officials can devise a way to put him to death.

Broom’s failed execution follows the similar experiences of Joseph Clark in May 2006 and Christopher Newton in May 2007. If we continue using this system next week with Mr. Broom or the following month with the next condemned person, it is simply a question of when, not if, another horrible problem will occur. Please call Governor Strickland today and urge him to stop executions in Ohio.

On Sept 20, The Toledo Blade published an article in which President Obama is quoted as saying, in reference to the G-20, “protests about abstractions [such] as global capitalism or something, generally, are not really going to make much of a difference." While I am not sure what the opposition to the G-20 accomplished last week in Pittsburgh, I found that many of the activists there were quite concrete about what they don’t like about the elite economic club.

(To express the details of what you do or don’t like about the G-20 and other global financial institutions or about the protests, contact the Columbus Free Press at truth@freepress.org or phone 614-202-0178 and your input will be added to this article).

On Sept 24, about 150 people gathered for the People’s Tribunal against the G-20 at the Emanuel Episcopal Church in an area of Pittsburgh called the North Side. This part of town was quiet with no more than the usual amount of police I have seen in various cities.