Westen: Nobel committee creates Peace Derivatives market

Psychologist Drew Westen has inside sources on the Nobel Peace Prize committee:

Nobel Committee Admits Getting into Derivatives Trading in Giving Peace Prize to Obama

What led to the unusual decision to bet on futures rather than follow the century-old precedent of selecting someone who has actually accomplished something?

By Drew Westen

A spokesman from the Nobel Committee yesterday spoke on condition of anonymity about the controversial decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama, who as yet has solved no international crisis or created peaceful resolution to any conflict but has delivered some awesome speeches that have breathed new life into the Norwegian stock exchange, the Red Herring 500, according to the committee member. “There’s derivatives trading now in virtually every commodity known to humankind,” noted the source. “So why not peace?” He added that rare commodities with unpredictable futures are particularly attractive to derivatives traders, and that peace certainly falls into that category. With many on the right objecting that Obama hasn’t done anything to earn the prize and many on the left complaining that his record domestically has been to deliver magnificent speeches without following up with any decisive actions and to paper over conflicts with inspiring words and half-measures, the Nobel Committee member admitted on background that he wasn’t sure whether the action of the committee technically could be considered hedging or derivatives trading, but he was counting on it to create a competitive market for both peace and Obama memorabilia.

America’s jailed youth: tortured and abandoned

While Americans rightfully demand justice for the horrendous acts of torture at Guantanamo, many prisoners here at home are victims of America’s overburdened incarceration system. Youth are the most vulnerable prisoners in our overcrowded and understaffed jails.

A report by the United States Department of Justice highlights abuses at four juvenile residential centers and raises the possibility of a federal takeover of the state’s entire youth prison system.  The investigation found that excessive physical force was routinely used to discipline children at several juvenile prisons in New York, resulting in broken bones, shattered teeth, concussions and dozens of other serious injuries over a period of less than two years.

The report read, “Staff at the facilities routinely used uncontrolled, unsafe applications of force, departing from generally accepted standards.” Though the details of this brand of torture are undoubtedly shocking, it’s not the first symptom of the omnipresent sickness infecting America’s juvenile jail system.

EU nations eye prosecution of Bush officials

European officials and lawyers seek to criminalize former US officials over torture charges amid the reluctance of President Barack Obama.

A number of European authorities and human rights groups have expressed dissatisfaction with Obama’s failure to press charges against ex-CIA authorities who sanctioned or administered the so-called ‘enhanced interrogation methods’ to terror suspects, saying that they will make an effort to delve into the torture case under a “universal jurisdiction” code.

Civil rights campaigners say the legal code adopted by some EU countries, authorizes lawyers across the globe to file lawsuits against war criminals, perpetrators of genocides and other human rights offenses, regardless of their country of residence.

In Spain and Germany, lawyers and social liberties activists have brought charges in domestic courts against former US authorities including the ex-defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

The European pursuit of charges against previous US administration officials for deliberately undermining the United Nations Convention Against Torture has sparked concerns in the US.