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Monday, October 29, 2007

Beauty Contest (scroll down for the text)


I can't get the text to get any closer to the picture. So, please scroll down
(If you know how to fix it, please let me know how)































































































Miss America Miss Afghanistan
On the left is Katie Harmon, Miss
America, wearing the swimsuit she chose for the
competition.
On the right is a typical Afghan
girl, wearing the heavy smothering burqua as required by the
oppressive Taliban regime.
Miss America is a junior at Portland
State University, hoping to eventually get a Master's degree in
Bioethics.
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from
receiving any education at all, and cannot read or write.
Miss America has worked as a lab
assistant at both the Oregon Health Sciences University and the
University of Puget Sound.
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from
working.
Miss America's father is an
engineer. Her mother is a teacher.
Miss Afghanistan's father was
shot by a gang of Taliban militants. Her mother begs for bread scraps
since she cannot work or remarry.
Miss America wowed the judges by
singing a Puccini aria, "O Mio Babbino Caro".
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from
singing or even listening to music of any kind.
Miss America will be traveling the
nation nonstop during her reign.
Miss Afghanistan cannot leave her
house without a male family member, cannot drive, and cannot be out
after dark.
Miss America is an advocate for
breast cancer research.
Miss Afghanistan cannot be treated
by a male doctor, and for all practical purposes has no access to
medical treatment of any kind.
Miss America can date, marry, or
divorce anyone she chooses.
Miss Afghanistan will be stoned to
death if caught in the company of a male outside of her family. She
is likely to be sold into an arranged marriage to a man who already
has two wives.
Miss America wears sunscreen on the
beach to keep from burning.
Miss Afghanistan cannot live in a
house with windows unless they are painted black. Since she must wear
a burqua outside, her pale translucent skin has not seen a ray of
sunlight in years.
Miss America could have been
disqualified if her swimsuit did not meet pageant
standards.
Miss Afghanistan can be flogged if
the holes in the mesh covering her face are too large.
Miss America will decide how many
children, if any, she wants to have.
Miss Afghanistan will be pregnant
3-4 times more often than Miss America. Unfortunately, her babies are
25 times more likely to die in the first year. One out of four will
not see their 5th birthday.
Miss America is majoring in speech
communications at PSU.
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from
speaking in public.
Miss America is 21. Since the US
life expectancy for women is 80, she's still a very young
woman.
Miss Afghanistan is also 21. But
since the life expectancy for an Afghan woman is 43, next year she
will be over-the-hill". (Besides having a shockingly short life
expectancy overall, Afghanistan is one of the only countries in the
world in which women have a shorter life expectancy than
men)
Miss America is a beautiful,
intelligent woman and everyone knows it.
Miss Afghanistan could be a
beautiful, intelligent woman, but nobody will ever know
it.
God Bless Miss America. God Help Miss Afghanistan.

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