More than 15,000 people have signed an Internet petition calling for the late pop star Michael Jackson to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.
Started by an American college student, the petition praises Jackson for his commitment to humanitarian causes and calls on the Norwegian Nobel Institute to name the singer as next year’s winner.
“We the Undersigned, believe Michael Jackson has given of himself completely and selflessly in a lifelong effort to help better global conditions for children, and all of humankind,” the petition said.
“Michael Jackson has undoubtedly earned the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize,” said the petition posted at www.petitionspot.com/petitions/mjnobelpeaceprize.
The Web petition has a stated goal of one million signatures and had more than 15,000 supporters within days of starting.
But calls for Jackson, who died from a cardiac arrest on June 25, to get next year’s prize are bound to fail — the rules state that Nobel prizes cannot be awarded posthumously.
Secondly, only certain people are eligible to submit nominations, including members of parliament and government worldwide, university professors, previous laureates and members of several international institutes.
The Nobel Committee that awards the prize is also eligible to nominate candidates.
This year, US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are among the 205 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The winner will be announced Oct. 9.(AFP)
已有超過一萬五千名網友連署，為已故流行巨星麥可．傑克森爭取二Ｏ一Ｏ年的諾貝爾和平獎。
這項連署由一位美國大學生發起，請願書中讚揚傑克森對人道關懷的奉獻，並呼籲挪威諾貝爾基金會明年將獎項頒給傑克森。
請願書中提到：「本簽署人相信，麥可．傑克森畢生全然且無私地致力於改善全球孩童及全人類的福祉。」
這份張貼在網站上的請願書中寫道：「麥可．傑克森無疑有資格獲得二Ｏ一Ｏ年諾貝爾和平獎。」（網址：www.petitionspot.com/petitions/mjnobelpeaceprize）
這項網路請願活動預計爭取一百萬人連署，活動開始不過幾天，就有一萬五千多人支持。
但為傑克森爭取明年諾貝爾獎這項請求註定會失敗，因為諾貝爾獎明文規定不能將獎項頒給已故人士。傑克森六月二十五日死於心臟病發。
其次，只有特定人士才能提名諾貝爾獎候選人，包括全世界的國會議員與政府閣員、大學教授、過去獲獎人和若干國際機構的成員。
諾貝爾委員會也有資格提名候選人。
今年諾貝爾和平獎的兩百零五位候選人中，包括美國總統巴拉克．歐巴瑪及法國總統尼可拉斯．薩科吉。
得獎名單將於十月九日公佈。（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang While many early surnames in England were strongly influenced by the work people did, like Carpenter or Plumber, jobs were not the only factor. Physical characteristics, personal nicknames, geographical locations and even parents’ first names also played a role. It’s not hard to imagine how the color of a person’s hair could have led to a surname like “Redhead” or “White,” while a darker complexion might have resulted in the last name “Black.” Meanwhile, someone known as a quick runner might have earned the surname “Swift,” while a clever or cunning individual could have been called “Fox”
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