Big Drama in Not-So-Little China

China, Angered by Peace Prize, Blocks Celebration (NY Times)

The Chinese government...angrily described the decision to honor Mr. Liu as “blasphemy” and an insult to the Chinese people.

Mr. Liu, 54, a former literature professor who has spent the past 20 years pressing for political reform in China, is serving an 11-year sentence for “inciting subversion of the state,” based on his writings and a pro-democracy manifesto, Charter ’08, that he helped to draft. The document, which demands an end to single-party rule and calls for expanded liberties, gathered 10,000 signatures before government censors blocked its circulation on the Internet. 

Anytime the Communist Party of China is this angry, someone's doing something right. Thanks, Norway. Your pick this year has been both informative AND entertaining.