The New York Post publishes an excellent editorial on the Nobel Prizes, quoting Harold Pinter, the latest literature prize—winner:

"I've been writing plays for about 50 years," he said. "But I am also very politically engaged and I am not at all sure to what extent that factor had anything to do with this award."

Then he went on to blast the war in Iraq, which is pretty much par for the course for Pinter, whose past political rants included railing against "the nightmare of American hysteria, ignorance, arrogance, stupidity and belligerence."

The Post also goes on to make a terrific point:

The Swedish Academy, which awards the literature prize, and the Nobel Committee, which selects the winners of the other prizes, clearly share a common mindset: The most important criterion for selecting non—scientific Nobel laureates is the glibness with which they hurl invective at the United States.

Meanwhile, in this year's science—oriented awards, six Americans (and two Australians) largely swept the field, as usual. So we must be doing something right.

Ed Lasky  10 14 05