This is how World Wars begin
Forget this GOP tidal wave, let's get to the real election scandal gripping theWorld
China is reportedly furious since the Oslo-based Nobel Peace Prize committeeawarded the coveted prize to the jailed Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo, earlierthis month.
Miss Norway, Mariann Birkedal
Miss World 2010, Alexandria Mills of the United States
What happens when you mix international business and pleasure?
A bevy of global beauties has gotten caught between an international spat involving China and Norway, and the winner of the squabble is the United States — literally. Despite the assumption that Miss Norway, 23-year-old Mariann Birkedal, would take the crown at the Miss World beauty pageant in Sanya on China's tropical Hainan Island, the award landed on the head of American teenager Alexandria Mills.
There's talk that Beijing pushed away the Scandinavian sexpot because the Oslo-based Nobel Peace Prize committee awarded its prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in October. Before the results were announced, MIss Norway was perhaps the greatest favorite in Miss World history, getting 6 to 5 odds to win, while Miss USA lagged behind as a 7 to 1 underdog (and yes, people do bet on these things).
When Miss Norway didn't even make the Top 5, there were allegations that China might have gone as far as rigging the voting, with judges pressured to give Birkedal low scores.
Scandal wasn't limited to Chinese-Norwegian relations, however. The contest had to be moved from its original site in Vietnam because that location was an ecological heritage zone, and locals had reportedly been forcibly removed from their land, the Daily Mail reported.
This year represents the fifth time in the last eight years that Miss World has taken place in China. Since Beijing doesn't recognize Taiwan as a legitimate country, the island nation was uninvited. What's more, the Chinese audience gave Miss Japan the cold shoulder due to a dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, a collection of uninhabited rocks in the East China Sea.
Miss Norway is remaining gracious in her defeat, avoiding pointing any fingers.
"It is kind of stupid to start thinking that if this or that had not occurred, I would perhaps have been Miss World 2010," Birkedal said, "I do believe everything happens for a reason."
It wouldn't come as a surprise that politics chose the winner of the 60th anniversary of the Miss World contest. It also probably didn't hurt that the 18-year-old Miss USA is blonde and has a sizably larger chest than her Norwegian counterpart.
