Dear Mr. President: 

It recently came to my attention that you are “considering” skipping the opening ceremonies to protest China’s human rights record.   I applaud you for the miniscule amount of effort towards the fight for human rights. I was beginning to think that human rights abuses were being swept under the rug in the Oval Office.  I’m glad to see that when violence erupts around a sporting event that it grabs your attention.  Perhaps we should put footballs into the hands of the Sudanese that are being murdered in Darfur to peak your interest. 

I understand that Chinese president, Hu Jintao, extended an invitation to you and your family to attend the Olympics and that you were “anxious to accept”.  It is nice to see that your emotional range extends to anxiety because it had begun to appear as though that was not part of your emotional repertoire.

• Violence and genocide in Darfur?  Apathy.  
• Rioting and chaos to free the state of Tibet? Indifference.  
• Detaining the Chinese population from basic rights such as freedom of expression and speech?  Disinterest. 
• Detention without trial? Unresponsiveness.
• Torture and the death penalty? Impassivity.

Sincerely counting down the days until your departure from office,

I admit that I absolutely abhor beauty pageants with women parading across stage in their bikinis and evening gowns trying to convince judges that they are beautiful despite the fact that some of them can’t even string words together to make complete sentences.  Though I am by no means saying that the women who participate in these pageants are ignorant and uneducated.  Wait, I take that back.  I DO think that the women participating in these pageants are both ignorant and uneducated if they think that sending an unhealthy message to girls and promulgating a societal stereotype that women should be admired for their looks is some form of feminism.

It’s ok with me if you want to have so much surgery that you end up looking like a Michael Jackson/Cher hybrid.  Just don’t subject the rest of the world to your unnatural skin hues, reshaped nose, and unnaturally large breasts atop a waist with two fewer ribs.  Just remember this, all the plastic surgery in the world cannot turn back time forever.

Despite the inherent heinousness of the majority of beauty pageants; one beauty pageant is prepared to change the world through their message.  In the African country of Angola, judges recently awarded one woman the title of “Miss Landmine Angola 2008“.  Though the pageant maintained the traditional formula with a swimsuit and evening gown competition there was one glaring difference.  All of the contestants were maimed in landmine explosions.

 After a decades long war, Angola is still littered with undetonated mines which maim and kill between 300 and 400 people a year.  The beauty pageant was initiated to bring awareness to the prevalence to landmines while restoring the contestant’s pride and dignity.  Each contestant is a winner as the Angolan government will help all participants either go back to school or start a small business.  A blessing for the women who were once unemployed due to their disability.

It’s been brought to my attention by a particular reader of this blog that I MUST blog soon and that it has been WAY too long since my last blog.  Never fear, a new blog will be here soon.  My excuse, you ask?  Well, let’s just say I was tied up and serenaded.  And it’s difficult to type when your hands are tied behind your back.