Why?

1. Why was I up at 5:45 a.m.? My daughter, Tess, is into science. It's her favorite subject, at least for now. She wants to be a vet.

Or own a chcolate shop. She's 7, and has a while to decide.

Tess was sort of jazzed about NASA's mission this morning, smacking the moon with a couple of probes in  a search for water. So we got up and watched it on the NASA channel.

Mission control narrated in its normal mix of radio chatter and calm explanation. The moon got closer and closer before the screen went white at impact. We didn't see any massive plume of blowed up moon, as was advertised by NASA animation, which was sort of disappointing to my small inhabitant of planet Nickelodeon.

But it was still cool, spending some quality time with Tess, explaining how finding water on the Moon would make it easier to explore the solar system. Oxygen to breathe, hydrogen for fuel etc.  She seemed interested in what I had to say, which is always remarkable.

Her younger sister, Ella, was also up, but this was still too much for her attention span. She did manage to jump on me at a crucial moment in the mission, forcing a scalding plume of coffee to land on my belly. Yow. Houston, we have a first-degree burn.

2. Why did Barack Obama win the Nobel Peace Prize? That was one question my daughter asked this morning I couldn't quite answer.

Very few things sneak up on us in the this hyper-connected world. This did. And I'm pretty sure you can hear the debate from the moon.

Basically, I don't think he deserves it. I'm not trying to bust on him, but the Nobel should be about landmark achievement, about long years of hard work. And for all his strengths, Obama has neither. Maybe someday, but not today.

I hope it provides inspiration and motivation, but he'd better deliver or it's an Olympic-sized asterisk in Nobel history.

Andrew Sullivan posted several reactions. A couple good ones.

Joe Klein:

I'm as relieved as anybody that the Bushian gunslingers have been given the gate and, as regular readers know, I'm a big fan of patient, rigorous diplomacy--and there's a certain lovely irony to any prize that brings the Taliban and the neoconservative Commentary crowd together in high dudgeon--but let's face it: this prize is premature to the point of ridiculousness. It continues a pattern that holds some peril for Obama: he is celebrated for who he is not, and for who he might potentially be, rather than for what he has actually done. If he doesn't provide results that justify the award, this Nobel will prove a millstone come election time.

And Matt Welch at Reason Mag:

Among many other things, this selection illustrates the United States' way-too-oversized role in the world's imagination. And it shows how people–almost touchingly–remain suckers for likeable politicians who replace guys they hated, investing in them a kind of faith mere mortals usually don't merit. As Chili Davis famously (and presciently) said about Dwight Gooden, "He ain't God, man."

Honestly, I like the U.S.'s oversized role in the world's imagination.  But writing about the Nobel prize and quoting Chili Davis. Impressive.

3. Why will Iowa beat Michigan? Because I will smoke a meteorite-sized slab of pork Saturday to perfection and offer it as a sacrifice. How can the gridiron gods refuse such a generous, tasty gift?

Iowa 31, Michigan 13.