Nobels, Pulitzers, Oscars, Cannes, who cares, you name it. They have all devolved to the point of silly attempts to bestow more moral momentum on some selected political viewpoint. These awards have little or nothing to do with actual merit or the standards for which they are supposed to be awarded, as has been pointed out ad nauseum each time one of these things is awarded. It slowly but irreversibly reduces the moral value of the award, just as the journalism industry slowly but surely sacrifices its credibility, its only asset, in pursuit of a political goal. The rest of the world sees all this as the obvious reinforcing echo chamber it is, and values it as such.

I won the bet! There is someone more cynical than me!

yep al and yasser, two of a kind....