From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally higher in December. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, four states registered rate decreases, and three states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
...
Michigan again recorded the highest unemployment rate among the states, 14.6 percent in December. The states with the next highest rates were Nevada, 13.0 percent; Rhode Island, 12.9 percent; and South Carolina, 12.6 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 4.4 percent in December, followed by Nebraska and South Dakota, 4.7 percent each. The rate in South Carolina set a new series high, as did the rates in three other states: Delaware (9.0 percent), Florida (11.8 percent), and North Carolina (11.2 percent). The rate in the District of Columbia also set a new series high (12.1 percent).
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the high and low unemployment rates for each state (and D.C.) since 1976. The red bar is the current unemployment rate (sorted by the current unemployment rate).

Sixteen states and D.C. now have double digit unemployment rates. Indiana, Missouri and Washington are all close.

Five states are at record unemployment rates: South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Delaware, and several other states are close.

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GRID, DISTRIBUTED AND CLOUD COMPUTING RESOURCES

3TERA - Cloud Computing Platform
http://www.3tera.com/

Access Grid Project
http://www.AccessGrid.org/

Advanced Collaboration with the Access Grid
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue42/daw/

Amazon Elastic Computer Cloud (Amazon EC2)
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

Aneka: A Software Platform for .NET-based Cloud Computing
http://www.gridbus.org/reports/AnekaCloudPlatform2009.pdf

Apache Hadoop Core - Easily Write and Run Applications That Process Vast Amounts of Data
http://hadoop.apache.org/core/

Appistry-Cloud Computing Middleware
http://www.appistry.com/

AppNexus
http://www.appnexus.com/

Artificial Intelligence Systems Distributed Computing Project
http://www.intelligencerealm.com/aisystem/system.php

BioGRID
http://www.thebiogrid.org/

BOINC - Open-Source Software for Volunteer Computing and Grid Computing
http://boinc.berkeley.edu/

Boomi AtomSphere(SM)
http://www.boomi.com/

Building the Info Grid
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue45/buildinginfogrid-rpt/

caBIG™ - cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid
https://cabig.nci.nih.gov/workspaces/Architecture/caGrid/

CenterGate Research Group LLC
http://www.centergate.com/

CISS - Canadian Internetworked Scientific Supercomputer
http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~ciss/

Clean Energy Distributed Project
http://cleanenergy.harvard.edu/go/

Climate Prediction
http://climateprediction.net/

CloudBerry Online Backup
http://www.cloudberrylab.com/default.aspx?page=cloudberry-backup

CloudBuddy - Your Virtual Desktop
http://www.mycloudbuddy.com/

Cloud Computing and Emerging IT Platforms: Vision, Hype, and Reality for Delivering Computing as the 5th Utility
http://www.gridbus.org/reports/CloudITPlatforms2008.pdf

Cloud Computing and High-Performance Computing
http://search.techrepublic.com.com/search/cloud+computing+and+high-performance+computing.html

Cloud Computing Expo
http://cloudcomputingexpo.com/

Cloud Computing Journal
http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/

Cloud Computing Resource Center
http://www.deitel.com/ResourceCenters/Programming/CloudComputing/tabid/3057/Default.aspx

Cloud Computing Resource, News and Support
http://www.dabcc.com/section.aspx?sectionid=12

Cloud Computing - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

Cloudo - The Computer Evolved
http://www.cloudo.com/

CloudSim: A Novel Framework for Modeling and Simulation of Cloud Computing
Infrastructures and Services by Rodrigo N. Calheiros1, Rajiv Ranjan1, César A. F. De Rose, and Rajkumar Buyya
http://www.gridbus.org/reports/CloudSim-ICPP2009.pdf

Cluster Computing: The Journal of Networks, Software Tools and Applications
http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=101766

Cluster Resources
http://www.clusterresources.com/

Community Grids Lab
http://www.communitygrids.iu.edu/

Condor Project - High Throughput Computing
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/condor/

Cosmogrid - Grid-enabled Computational Physics of Natural Phenomena
http://www.cosmogrid.ie/

D2OL - Drug Design and Optimization Lab - Discover Drug Candidates
http://www.d2ol.com/

DataMiningGrid Consortium
http://www.datamininggrid.org/

Deep Web Research
http://www.DeepWebResearch.info/

dhtmlxGrid - Ajax-enabled DHTML Grid with Rich Javascript API
http://www.dhtmlx.com/docs/products/dhtmlxGrid/

Digipede Technologies - Distributed Computing Solutions on Microsoft.NET Platform
http://www.digipede.net/

Distributed.net - Node Zero
http://www.distributed.net/

Distributed Computing Resources
http://www.jamesthornton.com/hotlist/distcomp.html

Distributed Generic Information Retrieval (DiGIR)
http://digir.sourceforge.net/

Distributed Search Engines
http://www.openp2p.com/pub/t/74

Distributed Systems - Google Code University
http://code.google.com/edu/parallel/index.html

Distributed Systems Laboratory at University of Chicago
http://dsl.cs.uchicago.edu/

Economy Grid (EcoGrid) Project
http://www.gridbus.org/~raj/ecogrid/

EGEE: Enabling Grids for E-science in Europe
http://egee-intranet.web.cern.ch/egee-intranet/gateway.html

Einstein@Home Distributed Computing Research Project
http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/

EuroGRID
http://www.eurogrid.org/

ExcelGrid
http://www.gridbus.org/excelgrid/

eyeOS - Cloud Computing Operating System - Web Desktop - Web OS - Web Office
http://www.eyeos.org/

FightAIDS@Home Distributed Computing Research Project
http://fightaidsathome.scripps.edu/

Flexiscale
http://www.flexiscale.com/

Folding@Home Distributed Computing
http://folding.stanford.edu/

Force.com - Cloud Computing for the Enterprise
http://www.Force.com/

Ganglia - Scalable Distributed Monitoring System for Clusters, Grids and Clouds
http://ganglia.info/

Genome@home
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/genome/

GGF Document Process - Final Documents (Global Grid Forum)
http://www.ggf.org/documents/final.htm

GIS Working Group - Global Grid Forum Information Services Area Group Charter
http://www-unix.mcs.anl.gov/gridforum/gis/

Gladinet Cloud - Delivering Cloud Services to Your Desktop and Operating System
http://www.gladinet.com/

GoGrid
http://www.gogrid.com/

Google™ App Engine - Run Your Web Apps On Google's Infrastructure
http://code.google.com/appengine/

Google™ Apps - Software-As-a-Service for Business Email, Information Sharing and Security
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html

Google™ Directory - Cloud Computing
http://snipurl.com/ddrdr

Google™ Directory - Distributed Computing
http://snipurl.com/8jv3

Google™ Directory - Parallel Computing
http://snipurl.com/8jv6

GRACE - GRid seArch and Categorization Engine
http://www.ub.uni-stuttgart.de/grace/

GRID.ORG ™ - Grid Computing Projects
http://www.grid.org/

Grid Application and Deployment Projects
http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/~foster/grid-projects/

Grid Application Development Sofware Project (GrADS)
http://hipersoft.cs.rice.edu/grads/

GridBlocks
http://gridblocks.hip.fi/

GridCafe - The Place for Everybody To Learn About Grid Computing
http://www.gridcafe.org/

Grid Computing - IEEE Distributed Systems Online
http://dsonline.computer.org/gc/

Grid Computing Info Centre (GRID Infoware)
http://www.gridcomputing.com/

Grid Computing Planet
http://gridcomputingplanet.com/

Grid Forum
http://www.gridforum.org/

GridIron™ XLR8™
http://www.gridironsoftware.com/

GridLab: A Grid Application Toolkit and Testbed
http://www.gridlab.org/

Grid Market Directory (GMD)
http://www.gridbus.org/gmd/

Grid Markets Project
http://www.lesc.ic.ac.uk/markets/

GridMiner - Intelligent Grid Solutions
http://www.gridminer.org/

Grid Performance and Information Services (GGF)
http://www-didc.lbl.gov/GridPerf/

GridRepublic - Volunteer Computing
http://www.gridrepublic.org/

GridServer - Grid Computing for Business Critical Applications
http://www.datasynapse.com/

GridSim: A Grid Simulation Toolkit for Resource Modelling and Application Scheduling for Parallel and Distributed Computing
http://www.gridbus.org/gridsim/

GridSim Toolkit -- Resource Modeling and Scheduling Simultation
http://www.buyya.com/gridsim/

GRID'XY: IEEE/ACM Grid Computing International Workshop
http://www.gridcomputing.org/

GriPhyN - Grid Physics Network
http://www.griphyn.org/

Grub's Distributed Web Crawling Project
http://www.grub.org/

IBM Cloud Computing
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/cloud/

IEEE Distributed Systems Online
http://dsonline.computer.org/

IEEE Task Force on Cluster Computing
http://www.ieeetfcc.org/

iland Workforce Cloud
http://www.iland.com/solutions/workforce-cloud

Institute of Parallel and Distributed Systems (IPVS)
http://www.ipvs.uni-stuttgart.de/start/en

Internet-based Distributed Computing Projects
http://distributedcomputing.info

IRIS: Infrastructure for Resilient Internet Systems
http://iris.lcs.mit.edu/

JCGrid Web (Java Grid Computing)
http://jcgrid.sourceforge.net/

Journal of Grid Computing
http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=111140

JXTA Project
http://www.jxta.org/

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Above the Clouds: A Berkeley View of Cloud Computing
http://www.lbl.gov/CS/

LHC@home Distributed Computing Research Project
http://lhcathome.cern.ch/

Manchester HEP Grid Working Group
http://www.hep.grid.ac.uk/grid/

Manjrasoft - Innovative Cloud and Grid Computing Technologies
http://www.manjrasoft.com/

Mersenne Prime Search
http://www.mersenne.org/

Microsoft Cloud Computing Tools
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/cc972640.aspx

Microsoft Live Mesh
https://www.mesh.com/Welcome/default.aspx

Milkyway@Home - Help Discover the Structures in the Milky Way Galaxy
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/

Mithral - Client-Server Software Development Kit (CSSDK)
http://www.mithral.com/products/cs-sdk/

MoneyBee
http://uk.moneybee.net/

MusicGrid - A Case Study in Broadband Video Collaboration by Hassan Masum, Martin Brooks, and John Spence
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/issue/view/184

myGrid
http://www.mygrid.org.uk/

MyGrid - Open Source Grid and Grid Middleware
http://mygrid.sourceforge.net/

MysterNetworks - The Evolution of Peer-to-Peer
http://www.mysternetworks.com/

National Centre for eSocial Science (NCeSS)
http://www.ncess.ac.uk/

NetSolve GridSolve
http://icl.cs.utk.edu/netsolve/

Network World Fusion
http://www.nwfusion.com/

NeuroGrid - P2P Search
http://www.neurogrid.net/

NextGRID: Architecture for Next Generation Grids
http://www.nextgrid.org/

NIST Cloud Computing Definition
http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/cloud-computing/index.html

NMI-EDIT Consortium
http://www.nmi-edit.org/

NSF Middleware Initiative
http://www.nsf-middleware.org/

NVIDIA Tesla Personal Supercomputer
http://www.nvidia.com/object/personal_supercomputing.html

OGCE - Open Grid Computing Environments Collaboratory
http://www.ogce.org/

OneHub - Flexible Cloud to Share Files, Manage Projects and Online Collaboration
http://onehub.com/

Open Cluster Group
http://www.openclustergroup.org/

Open Data Grid
http://grid.okfn.org/

Open Grid Forum - Applied Distributed Computing
http://www.ggf.org/

OpenP2P.com
http://www.openp2p.com/

OpenSim - Open Grid Services
http://www.opensimulator.org/

Open Science Grid
http://www.opensciencegrid.org/

OSCAR : Open Source Cluster Application Ressources
http://www.csm.ornl.gov/oscar/

Parabon Computation - Internet Computing is Computing Outside the Box
http://www.parabon.com/

Parasitic Computing
http://www.nd.edu/~parasite/

Paremus - Redefining Enterprise Grid
http://www.paremus.com/

PCs Do Thousands of Years of Work By Jo Twist
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4270241.stm

Peer to Peer Working Group - P2P WG - Internet2
http://p2p.internet2.edu/

PlanetLab
http://www.planet-lab.org/

Platform GRID Computing
http://www.platform.com/

Proteins@home Distributed Computing Research Project
http://biology.polytechnique.fr/proteinsathome/

Public Data Sets on AWS
http://aws.amazon.com/publicdatasets/

PVM: Parallel Virtual Machine
http://www.csm.ornl.gov/pvm/

QADPZ - Quite Advanced Distributed Parallel Zystem
http://qadpz.sourceforge.net/

Quadrics
http://www.quadrics.com/

RackSpace Cloud - Cloud Computing, Cloud Hosting and Online Storage
http://www.rackspacecloud.com/

Reservoir - Infrastructure for Cloud Computing
http://www.reservoir-fp7.eu/

rPath - A Pragmatic, Incremental Approach to Cloud Computing
http://www.rpath.com/corp/cloud-adoption-model?pi_ad_id=2947665472&gclid=CLzfgpmhk5kCFQITswodsmUaZw

RSS Cloud
http://www.RSSCloud.org/

SETI@home: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

SmartFrog - Smart Framework for Object Groups
http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/smartfrog/

Spinhenge@home Distributed Computing Research Project
http://spin.fh-bielefeld.de/

Stratos Learning - Cloud Computing Education
http://stratoslearning.com/

Sun Grid Engine -- Data Sheet
http://wwws.sun.com/software/gridware/datasheet.html

Swarm - A Transparently Scalable Distributed Programming Language
http://code.google.com/p/swarm-dpl/

SZTAKI Desktop Grid
http://desktopgrid.hu/

TeraGrid
http://www.teragrid.org/

Terremark Enterprise Cloud
http://www.theenterprisecloud.com/

The Beowulf Cluster Site
http://www.beowulf.org/

The ChessBrain Network
http://www.chessbrain.net/

The Cloud, Cloud Computing, Cloud Hosting, and Cloud Services
http://www.mosso.com/

The DataGrid Project
http://eu-datagrid.web.cern.ch/

The Globus Alliance
http://www.globus.org/

The GRIDS Lab and the Gridbus Project
http://www.gridbus.org/

The Open GRiD Project
http://www.ecsl.cs.sunysb.edu/~maxim/OpenGRiD/

The Semantic Grid
http://www.semanticgrid.org/

ThinkCycle - Open Distributed Collaborative Design
http://www.thinkcycle.org/

TOP500 Supercomputer Sites
http://www.top500.org/

UNICORE Distributed Computing and Data Resources
http://www.unicore.eu/

UPnP™ Forum
http://www.upnp.org/

University of Florida - OCEAN Project
http://www.cise.ufl.edu/research/ocean/

VMLogix LabManager - Cloud Edition
http://www.vmlogix.com/VMLogix-LabManager-Cloud-Edition-Solution/

WaveMaker - Open Source Development Platform
http://www.WaveMaker.com/

Web Services Grid Application Framework (WS-GAF)
http://www.neresc.ac.uk/ws-gaf/

World Community Grid for Health Research
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org

Worldwide Virtual Computer - Legion
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~legion/

WS GRAM - Grid Resource Allocation and Management (GRAM)
http://www-unix.globus.org/toolkit/docs/3.2/gram/ws/

XtremWeb - Opensource Platform for Desktop Grids
http://www.XtremWeb.net

Yahoo! Directory Computer Science > Distributed Computing
http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Computer_Science/Distributed_Computing/

ZDNet - Grid Resources
http://updates.zdnet.com/tags/grid.html

Current Subject Tracer™ Information Blogs:

Accessibility Resources
http://www.AccessibilityResources.info/

Agriculture Resources
http://www.AgricultureResources.info/

Artificial Intelligence Resources
http://www.AIResources.info/

Astronomy Resources
http://www.AstronomyResources.info/

Auction Resources
http://www.AuctionResources.info/

Biological Informatics
http://www.biologicalinformatics.info/

Biotechnology Resources
http://www.BiotechnologyResources.info/

Bot Research
http://www.botresearch.info/

Business Intelligence Resources
http://www.biresources.info/

ChatterBots
http://www.ChatterBots.info/

Data Mining Resources
http://www.DataMiningResources.info/

Deep Web Research
http://www.deepwebresearch.info/

Directory Resources
http://www.DirectoryResources.info/

eCommerce Resources
http://www.eCommerceResources.info/

Elder Resources
http://www.ElderResources.info/

Employment Resources
http://www.EmploymentResources.info/

Entrepreneurial Resources
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Financial Sources
http://www.FinancialSources.info/

Finding People
http://www.FindingPeople.info/

Games Resources
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Genealogy Resources
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Grant Resources
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Green Files
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Grid, Distributed and Cloud Computing Resources
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Healthcare Resources
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Information Futures Markets
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Information Quality Resources
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International Trade Resources
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Internet Alerts
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Internet Demographics
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Internet Experts
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Internet Hoaxes
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Intrapreneurial Resources
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Journalism Resources
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Knowledge Discovery
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Military Resources
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New Economy Analytics, Resources and Alerts
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RestStress™
http://www.RestStress.com/

Script Resources
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ShoppingBots
http://www.ShoppingBots.info/

Social Informatics
http://www.SocialInformatics.net/

Statistics Resources
http://www.statisticsresources.info/

Student Research
http://www.studentresearch.info/

Theology Resources
http://www.TheologyResources.info/

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World Wide Web Reference
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© 2010 Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A.

Great list of Grid computing projects and information sources.

Several months ago Zero Hedge did an exhaustive study of relative contributions to GDP by consumer class decile: the conclusion was that even though it accounts for a mere 10% of US population, the ultra rich are responsible for over 40% of consumption in the US (yes David Bianco, that ever critical 70% of GDP, get over it). Of course, they end up being taxed for the privilege of consuming so much, but that's irrelevant for this post. What is, however, is a recent GALLUP poll which proves that Rosenberg's theme of "new normal frugality" is now entrenched in the consumer's psyche, and not just among the lower- and middle-classed, but, most surprisingly, in the higher income brackets as well. In November the richest Americans reported a 14% drop in average daily discretionary spending to $117. This is a far cry, and 30% off, from the peak of $185/day report in April of 2008. It also represents a disappointing downward inflection from October 2009, when hopes prevailed that upper income spending would once again take off courtesy of 33 Liberty.

More from Gallup:

In a sign that the new normal in consumer spending continues unabated, upper-income Americans' self-reported average daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online fell 14% in November, reverting to its relatively tight ($107 to $121) pre-October 2009 average monthly range. Middle- and lower-income consumer discretionary spending increased by 7% last month but remained in its tight 2009 average monthly range of $52 to $61. Still, consumer spending by both income groups continues to trail year-ago levels by 20%, even as those comparables have gotten easier to match -- possibly dashing hopes that upscale retailers and big-ticket-item sales will do better this year.

What is less surprising is that fragility is definitely the name of the game in the formerly "aspirational consumer" category:

Consumers' self-reported spending on discretionary items among middle- and lower-income Americans (those making less than $90,000 a year) was down 20% in November from the depressed spending levels of a year ago. As expected, this percentage decline from November 2008 is more modest than the year-over-year declines of earlier in the year as year-ago comparables have become easier to match. Although average daily spending among this group was technically at its high for 2009 last month, it continues to reflect a "new normal" spending pattern, staying within a tight $4 spending range that has persisted during the past four months.

 

The upper-class consumption inflection point happened in November...And not in the direction the administration desired:

Spending among upper-income consumers (those making at least $90,000 a year) had reached its highest level of 2009 in October and had closed the gap to -6% compared to the same month a year ago. The hope was that the surge on Wall Street and the seeming stabilization of housing values had encouraged some upper-income consumers to abandon the 2009 spending new normal. November's results dashed these hopes, as upper-income consumers joined their middle- and lower-income counterparts in spending 20% less than they had during the financial crisis days of 2008 and returning to the relatively tight 2009 daily spending range for this group prior to October.

Stratified by age groups, the biggest consumption drop happened in the traditionally richest age groups: the 50+ category.

Consumers in the child-rearing ages of 30 to 49 showed the smallest November-over-November discretionary spending decline at 15% -- possibly because they have the least ability to downshift their spending as the holidays approach. Younger consumers aged 18 to 29 experienced a larger decline of 23%. Those 50 to 64 years of age reduced their year-over-year spending by 29%, while those 65 or older had a decline of 32%. Overall, those in the 30 to 49 age group had the highest average daily spending level in November ($81), while those 65 or older spent the least per day ($52).

 

Gallup essentially repeats Rosie's new frugal thesis word for word in their summary observations:

Overall self-reported consumer discretionary spending has been essentially flat on a monthly basis throughout 2009 even when broken out by age, income, region, and gender. It has also been down significantly compared to the same months in 2008. The year-over-year differences have declined somewhat during recent months, but much of this closure in the 2008-2009 spending gap is a result of the easier spending comparables from last year's financial crisis.

Gallup's analysis of the relationship between job creation and consumer spending suggests that these lower spending levels are attributable, at least in part, to today's dismal job-market conditions. Further findings show that the current lack of job creation has its greatest impact on middle- and lower-income consumer spending.

In this regard, October upper-income spending provided new hope that the surge in the stock market and the increased stability of housing prices might be encouraging these consumers to break out of their year-long and relatively tight spending range. Instead, November's results show that upper-income spending reverted back to its new normal range. Given the greater discretionary spending flexibility of upper-income Americans, this reversion to the pre-October spending range tends to give added face-validity to the argument that a consumer spending new normal exists -- independent of the job situation -- as 2010 approaches.

On a national level, the spending new normal suggests slower economic growth than otherwise might be expected in the years ahead. In turn, reduced consumer spending will complicate the job-creation problem, not to mention fiscal and monetary policies. For example, one might argue that the federal government and monetary authorities (the Fed) need to take emergency actions to offset a temporary spending shortfall due to job losses, but the same arguments do not necessarily hold true when the spending reduction results from a new normal spending pattern -- generally speaking, the private sector needs to adjust to such changes in consumer behaviors.

For retailers, small businesses, and the companies that supply and support them, a new normal spending pattern can mean complex changes involving downscaling, upselling (people taking advantage to buy upscale for less), inventory management, and people-related adjustments. The U.S. economy is designed to allow the private sector to make such adjustments in order to optimize performance when faced with such a rapidly changing business environment. Of course, the same does not apply to maintaining the social safety net, particularly in the face of double-digit unemployment and even higher underemployment.

While the spending "new normal" may not be good for the larger economy in the short-term, it may be seen as a strong positive for individual consumer households. Consumers, like their business and banking counterparts, would be well-served to de-leverage by spending less, saving more, reducing their use of credit, and thereby strengthening their personal balance sheets. While this may not provide the immediate-term returns to the economy of the over-leveraging of recent years, a financially stronger U.S. consumer implies only good things for the longer-term well being of both the U.S. and global economies.

We look forward to how tomorrow's retail numbers are spun by the appropriate authorities (and Merrill Lynch) in hope of preventing the broader population from realizing that the old consumer spending patterns are as over as securitization.

h/t Geoffrey Batt

More accurate, and depressingly true, analysis from Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

December 10, 2009

Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize

Oslo City Hall
Oslo, Norway

1:44 P.M. CET

THE PRESIDENT:  Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world:
 
I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility.  It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations -- that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate.  Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.
 
And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated.  (Laughter.)  In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage.  Compared to some of the giants of history who've received this prize -- Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela -- my accomplishments are slight.  And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened cynics.  I cannot argue with those who find these men and women -- some known, some obscure to all but those they help -- to be far more deserving of this honor than I.
 
But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars.  One of these wars is winding down.  The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by 42 other countries -- including Norway -- in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.
 
Still, we are at war, and I'm responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land.  Some will kill, and some will be killed.  And so I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict -- filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other.
 
Now these questions are not new.  War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man.  At the dawn of history, its morality was not questioned; it was simply a fact, like drought or disease -- the manner in which tribes and then civilizations sought power and settled their differences.
 
And over time, as codes of law sought to control violence within groups, so did philosophers and clerics and statesmen seek to regulate the destructive power of war.  The concept of a "just war" emerged, suggesting that war is justified only when certain conditions were met:  if it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the force used is proportional; and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence.
 
Of course, we know that for most of history, this concept of "just war" was rarely observed.  The capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible, as did our capacity to exempt from mercy those who look different or pray to a different God.  Wars between armies gave way to wars between nations -- total wars in which the distinction between combatant and civilian became blurred.  In the span of 30 years, such carnage would twice engulf this continent.  And while it's hard to conceive of a cause more just than the defeat of the Third Reich and the Axis powers, World War II was a conflict in which the total number of civilians who died exceeded the number of soldiers who perished.
 
In the wake of such destruction, and with the advent of the nuclear age, it became clear to victor and vanquished alike that the world needed institutions to prevent another world war.  And so, a quarter century after the United States Senate rejected the League of Nations -- an idea for which Woodrow Wilson received this prize -- America led the world in constructing an architecture to keep the peace:  a Marshall Plan and a United Nations, mechanisms to govern the waging of war, treaties to protect human rights, prevent genocide, restrict the most dangerous weapons.
 
In many ways, these efforts succeeded.  Yes, terrible wars have been fought, and atrocities committed.  But there has been no Third World War.  The Cold War ended with jubilant crowds dismantling a wall.  Commerce has stitched much of the world together.  Billions have been lifted from poverty.  The ideals of liberty and self-determination, equality and the rule of law have haltingly advanced.  We are the heirs of the fortitude and foresight of generations past, and it is a legacy for which my own country is rightfully proud.
 
And yet, a decade into a new century, this old architecture is buckling under the weight of new threats.  The world may no longer shudder at the prospect of war between two nuclear superpowers, but proliferation may increase the risk of catastrophe.  Terrorism has long been a tactic, but modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale.
 
Moreover, wars between nations have increasingly given way to wars within nations.  The resurgence of ethnic or sectarian conflicts; the growth of secessionist movements, insurgencies, and failed states -- all these things have increasingly trapped civilians in unending chaos.  In today's wars, many more civilians are killed than soldiers; the seeds of future conflict are sown, economies are wrecked, civil societies torn asunder, refugees amassed, children scarred.
 
I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems of war.  What I do know is that meeting these challenges will require the same vision, hard work, and persistence of those men and women who acted so boldly decades ago.  And it will require us to think in new ways about the notions of just war and the imperatives of a just peace.
 
We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth:  We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes.  There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.
 
I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago:  "Violence never brings permanent peace.  It solves no social problem:  it merely creates new and more complicated ones."  As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence.  I know there's nothing weak -- nothing passive -- nothing naïve -- in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.
 
But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone.  I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people.  For make no mistake:  Evil does exist in the world.  A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies.  Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms.  To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
 
I raise this point, I begin with this point because in many countries there is a deep ambivalence about military action today, no matter what the cause.  And at times, this is joined by a reflexive suspicion of America, the world's sole military superpower.
 
But the world must remember that it was not simply international institutions -- not just treaties and declarations -- that brought stability to a post-World War II world.  Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this:  The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms.  The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans.  We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will.  We have done so out of enlightened self-interest -- because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if others' children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.
 
So yes, the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace.  And yet this truth must coexist with another -- that no matter how justified, war promises human tragedy.  The soldier's courage and sacrifice is full of glory, expressing devotion to country, to cause, to comrades in arms.  But war itself is never glorious, and we must never trumpet it as such.
 
So part of our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly inreconcilable truths -- that war is sometimes necessary, and war at some level is an expression of human folly.  Concretely, we must direct our effort to the task that President Kennedy called for long ago.  "Let us focus," he said, "on a more practical, more attainable peace, based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions."  A gradual evolution of human institutions.
 
What might this evolution look like?  What might these practical steps be?
 
To begin with, I believe that all nations -- strong and weak alike -- must adhere to standards that govern the use of force.  I -- like any head of state -- reserve the right to act unilaterally if necessary to defend my nation.  Nevertheless, I am convinced that adhering to standards, international standards, strengthens those who do, and isolates and weakens those who don't.

The world rallied around America after the 9/11 attacks, and continues to support our efforts in Afghanistan, because of the horror of those senseless attacks and the recognized principle of self-defense.  Likewise, the world recognized the need to confront Saddam Hussein when he invaded Kuwait -- a consensus that sent a clear message to all about the cost of aggression.
 
Furthermore, America -- in fact, no nation -- can insist that others follow the rules of the road if we refuse to follow them ourselves.  For when we don't, our actions appear arbitrary and undercut the legitimacy of future interventions, no matter how justified.
 
And this becomes particularly important when the purpose of military action extends beyond self-defense or the defense of one nation against an aggressor.  More and more, we all confront difficult questions about how to prevent the slaughter of civilians by their own government, or to stop a civil war whose violence and suffering can engulf an entire region.
 
I believe that force can be justified on humanitarian grounds, as it was in the Balkans, or in other places that have been scarred by war.  Inaction tears at our conscience and can lead to more costly intervention later.  That's why all responsible nations must embrace the role that militaries with a clear mandate can play to keep the peace.
 
America's commitment to global security will never waver.  But in a world in which threats are more diffuse, and missions more complex, America cannot act alone.  America alone cannot secure the peace.  This is true in Afghanistan.  This is true in failed states like Somalia, where terrorism and piracy is joined by famine and human suffering.  And sadly, it will continue to be true in unstable regions for years to come.
 
The leaders and soldiers of NATO countries, and other friends and allies, demonstrate this truth through the capacity and courage they've shown in Afghanistan.  But in many countries, there is a disconnect between the efforts of those who serve and the ambivalence of the broader public.  I understand why war is not popular, but I also know this:  The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it.  Peace requires responsibility.  Peace entails sacrifice.  That's why NATO continues to be indispensable.  That's why we must strengthen U.N. and regional peacekeeping, and not leave the task to a few countries.  That's why we honor those who return home from peacekeeping and training abroad to Oslo and Rome; to Ottawa and Sydney; to Dhaka and Kigali -- we honor them not as makers of war, but of wagers -- but as wagers of peace.
 
Let me make one final point about the use of force.  Even as we make difficult decisions about going to war, we must also think clearly about how we fight it.  The Nobel Committee recognized this truth in awarding its first prize for peace to Henry Dunant -- the founder of the Red Cross, and a driving force behind the Geneva Conventions.
 
Where force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct.  And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war.  That is what makes us different from those whom we fight.  That is a source of our strength.  That is why I prohibited torture.  That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed.  And that is why I have reaffirmed America's commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions.  We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend.  (Applause.)  And we honor -- we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it's easy, but when it is hard.
 
I have spoken at some length to the question that must weigh on our minds and our hearts as we choose to wage war.  But let me now turn to our effort to avoid such tragic choices, and speak of three ways that we can build a just and lasting peace.
 
First, in dealing with those nations that break rules and laws, I believe that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to actually change behavior -- for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something.  Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable.  Sanctions must exact a real price.  Intransigence must be met with increased pressure -- and such pressure exists only when the world stands together as one.
 
One urgent example is the effort to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and to seek a world without them.  In the middle of the last century, nations agreed to be bound by a treaty whose bargain is clear:  All will have access to peaceful nuclear power; those without nuclear weapons will forsake them; and those with nuclear weapons will work towards disarmament.  I am committed to upholding this treaty.  It is a centerpiece of my foreign policy.  And I'm working with President Medvedev to reduce America and Russia's nuclear stockpiles.
 
But it is also incumbent upon all of us to insist that nations like Iran and North Korea do not game the system.  Those who claim to respect international law cannot avert their eyes when those laws are flouted.  Those who care for their own security cannot ignore the danger of an arms race in the Middle East or East Asia.  Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war.

The same principle applies to those who violate international laws by brutalizing their own people.  When there is genocide in Darfur, systematic rape in Congo, repression in Burma -- there must be consequences.  Yes, there will be engagement; yes, there will be diplomacy -- but there must be consequences when those things fail.  And the closer we stand together, the less likely we will be faced with the choice between armed intervention and complicity in oppression.
 
This brings me to a second point -- the nature of the peace that we seek.  For peace is not merely the absence of visible conflict.  Only a just peace based on the inherent rights and dignity of every individual can truly be lasting.
 
It was this insight that drove drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the Second World War.  In the wake of devastation, they recognized that if human rights are not protected, peace is a hollow promise.
 
And yet too often, these words are ignored.  For some countries, the failure to uphold human rights is excused by the false suggestion that these are somehow Western principles, foreign to local cultures or stages of a nation's development.  And within America, there has long been a tension between those who describe themselves as realists or idealists -- a tension that suggests a stark choice between the narrow pursuit of interests or an endless campaign to impose our values around the world.
 
I reject these choices.  I believe that peace is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear.  Pent-up grievances fester, and the suppression of tribal and religious identity can lead to violence.  We also know that the opposite is true.  Only when Europe became free did it finally find peace.  America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens.  No matter how callously defined, neither America's interests -- nor the world's -- are served by the denial of human aspirations.
 
So even as we respect the unique culture and traditions of different countries, America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal.  We will bear witness to the quiet dignity of reformers like Aung Sang Suu Kyi; to the bravery of Zimbabweans who cast their ballots in the face of beatings; to the hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran.  It is telling that the leaders of these governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation.  And it is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make clear that these movements -- these movements of hope and history -- they have us on their side.
 
Let me also say this:  The promotion of human rights cannot be about exhortation alone.  At times, it must be coupled with painstaking diplomacy.  I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation.  But I also know that sanctions without outreach -- condemnation without discussion -- can carry forward only a crippling status quo.  No repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door.
 
In light of the Cultural Revolution's horrors, Nixon's meeting with Mao appeared inexcusable -- and yet it surely helped set China on a path where millions of its citizens have been lifted from poverty and connected to open societies.  Pope John Paul's engagement with Poland created space not just for the Catholic Church, but for labor leaders like Lech Walesa.  Ronald Reagan's efforts on arms control and embrace of perestroika not only improved relations with the Soviet Union, but empowered dissidents throughout Eastern Europe.  There's no simple formula here.  But we must try as best we can to balance isolation and engagement, pressure and incentives, so that human rights and dignity are advanced over time.
 
Third, a just peace includes not only civil and political rights -- it must encompass economic security and opportunity.  For true peace is not just freedom from fear, but freedom from want.
 
It is undoubtedly true that development rarely takes root without security; it is also true that security does not exist where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine and shelter they need to survive.  It does not exist where children can't aspire to a decent education or a job that supports a family.  The absence of hope can rot a society from within.
 
And that's why helping farmers feed their own people -- or nations educate their children and care for the sick -- is not mere charity.  It's also why the world must come together to confront climate change.  There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, more famine, more mass displacement -- all of which will fuel more conflict for decades.  For this reason, it is not merely scientists and environmental activists who call for swift and forceful action -- it's military leaders in my own country and others who understand our common security hangs in the balance.
 
Agreements among nations.  Strong institutions.  Support for human rights.  Investments in development.  All these are vital ingredients in bringing about the evolution that President Kennedy spoke about.  And yet, I do not believe that we will have the will, the determination, the staying power, to complete this work without something more -- and that's the continued expansion of our moral imagination; an insistence that there's something irreducible that we all share.
 
As the world grows smaller, you might think it would be easier for human beings to recognize how similar we are; to understand that we're all basically seeking the same things; that we all hope for the chance to live out our lives with some measure of happiness and fulfillment for ourselves and our families.
 
And yet somehow, given the dizzying pace of globalization, the cultural leveling of modernity, it perhaps comes as no surprise that people fear the loss of what they cherish in their particular identities -- their race, their tribe, and perhaps most powerfully their religion.  In some places, this fear has led to conflict.  At times, it even feels like we're moving backwards.  We see it in the Middle East, as the conflict between Arabs and Jews seems to harden.  We see it in nations that are torn asunder by tribal lines.
 
And most dangerously, we see it in the way that religion is used to justify the murder of innocents by those who have distorted and defiled the great religion of Islam, and who attacked my country from Afghanistan.  These extremists are not the first to kill in the name of God; the cruelties of the Crusades are amply recorded.  But they remind us that no Holy War can ever be a just war.  For if you truly believe that you are carrying out divine will, then there is no need for restraint -- no need to spare the pregnant mother, or the medic, or the Red Cross worker, or even a person of one's own faith.  Such a warped view of religion is not just incompatible with the concept of peace, but I believe it's incompatible with the very purpose of faith -- for the one rule that lies at the heart of every major religion is that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

Adhering to this law of love has always been the core struggle of human nature.  For we are fallible.  We make mistakes, and fall victim to the temptations of pride, and power, and sometimes evil.  Even those of us with the best of intentions will at times fail to right the wrongs before us.

But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected.  We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place.  The non-violence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached -- their fundamental faith in human progress -- that must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey.
 
For if we lose that faith -- if we dismiss it as silly or naïve; if we divorce it from the decisions that we make on issues of war and peace -- then we lose what's best about humanity.  We lose our sense of possibility.  We lose our moral compass.
 
Like generations have before us, we must reject that future.  As Dr. King said at this occasion so many years ago, "I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history.  I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present condition makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him."
 
Let us reach for the world that ought to be -- that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls.  (Applause.)

Somewhere today, in the here and now, in the world as it is, a soldier sees he's outgunned, but stands firm to keep the peace.  Somewhere today, in this world, a young protestor awaits the brutality of her government, but has the courage to march on.  Somewhere today, a mother facing punishing poverty still takes the time to teach her child, scrapes together what few coins she has to send that child to school -- because she believes that a cruel world still has a place for that child's dreams.

Let us live by their example.  We can acknowledge that oppression will always be with us, and still strive for justice.  We can admit the intractability of depravation, and still strive for dignity.  Clear-eyed, we can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace.  We can do that -- for that is the story of human progress; that's the hope of all the world; and at this moment of challenge, that must be our work here on Earth.

Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

END
2:20 P.M. CET

Full text of the president's speech.

Just after Barack Obama was chosen for the Nobel Prize, I confidently predicted that his acceptance address would not become the second-ever truly memorable address in the long history of such presentations by storied writers, thinkers, leaders, etc. The only acceptance speech that is still remembered and quoted is William Faulkner's three-minute address on receiving the prize for literature in 1949.

I believe that prediction is still safe; and in terms of Obama's own political reputation and momentum, today's address will not supplant the most important speech he has delivered: the one he gave in Philadelphia, about race relations, in March, 2008. But this was a very good and serious speech, which like many of his major addresses -- the Inaugural address, the one in Prague about nuclear weapons, the one in Cairo on relations with the Islamic world -- will stand re-reading and close inspection, and which shared an obvious intellectual and structural architecture with all his other major addresses. Those trademark elements include:

The embrace of contradictions (in this case, a defense of war as a means to peace); the long view; the emphasis on institution-building; the concern about the distortion of religious and ethnic loyalties; and above all a consciousness that was once called Niebuhrian and at this rate will someday be "Obamian," which emphasizes the importance of steady steps forward in an inevitably flawed world. As Obama said near the end of this speech:

"Adhering to this law of love has always been the core struggle of human nature. We are fallible. We make mistakes, and fall victim to the temptations of pride, and power, and sometimes evil. Even those of us with the best intentions will at times fail to right the wrongs before us.

"But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected."

Analysis of Obama's Nobel speech by James Fallows of The Atlantic.

Submitted by Damien Hoffman of Wall St. Cheat Sheet
Extra, Extra! Read all about it: SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami told the Senate Judiciary Committee the SEC is “looking very closely at credit rating agencies” — Moody’s Investors Service (MCO), Standard & Poor’s (MHP) and Fitch Ratings — and is “focused on that area” for their role in the global derivatives scam.
Seriously? Do we live under the rule of law in a capitalist economy? If so, companies need incentives to avoid running scams before they run them. Otherwise, the cost-benefit analysis will continue to look like this:
1) Make mega-billions running a “legal” scam which will later come under scrutiny.
2) Pay millions in fines.
3) Replace executives who walk away after collecting huge salaries, bonuses, and dismissal packages.
4) Time passes, all is forgotten.
5) Repeat Step #1.
I wonder how many more years the SEC will “look at” the ratings agencies before they nail them for putting USDA Grade A stickers on rotting horse shit. Maybe the SEC should do some soul-searching and ask why they allow private for-profit companies (with tons of conflicts of interests) to act as an oversight committee for financial products. Is that not the role of a governor? It’s as laughable as renaming “bribery” the socially acceptable term “lobbying.”

Just after Barack Obama was chosen for the Nobel Prize, I confidently predicted that his acceptance address would not become the second-ever truly memorable address in the long history of such presentations by storied writers, thinkers, leaders, etc. The only acceptance speech that is still remembered and quoted is William Faulkner's three-minute address on receiving the prize for literature in 1949.

I believe that prediction is still safe; and in terms of Obama's own political reputation and momentum, today's address will not supplant the most important speech he has delivered: the one he gave in Philadelphia, about race relations, in March, 2008. But this was a very good and serious speech, which like many of his major addresses -- the Inaugural address, the one in Prague about nuclear weapons, the one in Cairo on relations with the Islamic world -- will stand re-reading and close inspection, and which shared an obvious intellectual and structural architecture with all his other major addresses. Those trademark elements include:

The embrace of contradictions (in this case, a defense of war as a means to peace); the long view; the emphasis on institution-building; the concern about the distortion of religious and ethnic loyalties; and above all a consciousness that was once called Niebuhrian and at this rate will someday be "Obamian," which emphasizes the importance of steady steps forward in an inevitably flawed world. As Obama said near the end of this speech:

"Adhering to this law of love has always been the core struggle of human nature. We are fallible. We make mistakes, and fall victim to the temptations of pride, and power, and sometimes evil. Even those of us with the best intentions will at times fail to right the wrongs before us.
"But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected."