No, actually I did NOT know Ms. Turkey became Ms. World or whatever. This isn't really a good omen for next year either is it? ... ala Turkey "thinking about" allowing us to use its military bases, etc? Why can't they just choose a normal nation like say, Denmark or Canada?

I have never understood the criteria for any pageant of this sort.

Last year, of course, Miss Nigeria won, so this year they scheduled the pageant in Nigeria, and all hell broke loose. At the last minute, they relocated to England.

Now presumably the next Miss World extravaganza will be set for somewhere in Turkey. Now Turkey is one of the neater places on earth, I think, and Turkish Muslims, after years of secularism decreed by Atatürk, are a lot less cranky than the ones who dominate the news these days, but still, this looks like a disaster waiting to happen.