Beauty Queen Miss Wisconsin Laura Kaeppeler is surrounded by fellow contestants as she deposes the former "Miss America," Jan. 14, 2012 (Eric Jamison/AP).
LAS VEGAS - A 23-year-old beauty queen from Kenosha, Wisconsin, has become our Miss America. Queen Laura Kaeppeler won the pageant after strutting in a white bikini and black beaded evening gown, singing opera and answering a cute question about whether beauty queens should declare their politics by saying: "Miss America represents everyone, so I think the message to political candidates is that they represent everyone as well." More
Disposable Beauty
Do original native languages have words for "disposable," "waste," or "trash"? Julia Butterfly Hill has yet to find one. Why? All traditional knowledge systems know that there is no such thing.
"It's only called 'waste' if you're not using it properly." We have a waste consciousness, a disposability consciousness. We have lost our connection to the sacred.
[For profit competitions to crown a "disposable queen" is a powerful example of that.] Where are all the places this waste mentality or disposability consciousness infiltrate our lives?
We have internalized our oppression. And those forms of oppression are our disconnections: They work best when they subtly weave themselves into the fabric of our lives leading us to take things for granted.
(GoVegasDog) Arbor sniffs out the princesses competing for the 2012 Miss America title.
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- Real-life princess (Duchess of Cambridge) and future queen is the "most photographed woman in the world," a figurehead, a fashion icon, and a great potential force for charity just like Princess Diana once was.
- Butterfly had the redwood Luna: What's your tree?
- Miss America contestants beat hardship to take the stage
- Nicole Kidman swears off screen: Privacy is key
- Evangelicals hate Romney, back vulture capitalism, Rick
Long live the Queen, whose shelf-life is exactly one year.
