Errata

Yesterday’s article on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama was written hastily in response to the announcement. Too hastily for accuracy.

First, after quickly consulting an Associated Press link that gave all appearances of being a comprehensive list of all peace laureates and that began with the 1980 award I erroneously concluded, and wrote that the peace prize was of recent birth and should have been extinguished in utero. Subsequently however I read elsewhere that Theodore Roosevelt had been a recipient, thus dating it to no later than President Roosevelt’s first term in 1932. I corrected the article. Swine A.P.

Also, I believed that a king bestowed Nobel Prizes and after quickly consulting Wikipedia I wrote that it was the King of Sweden and that President Obama would have to bow before that monarch who would drape the medal around his neck. After posting the article I was nagged by doubts that Oslo was in Sweden and upon further research determined that it was not, it was in Norway. I do not know if Norway has a king.

Finally, I was unsure about the technicalities in the relation of all the countries and cities that have intruded unwanted upon thought two Friday’s in succession: Norway, Sweden, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Denmark, Scandinavia, to say nothing of Holland and the Netherlands. After further quick research I learned that Oslo is the capital city of Norway, Stockholm is the capital of Sweden, and Copenhagen the capital of Denmark. I also verified that all of these places are located in the far northern hemisphere in the vicinity of Minnesota.