Queen for a Day

Good news from Iraq! After three years of exile, the Miss Iraq pageant has come home. Last week Tamar Goregian was crowned the new Iraqi Queen of Beauty, declaring in her acceptance speech that "Maybe beauty is the final step to end violence and preach world peace after all."

There's one snag, though:

Iraq's newly crowned beauty queen, Tamar Goregian, has decided to step down -- just four days after her election, making this the shortest reign in the pageant's 60-year history.

On April 9, the 23-year-old, who was the first Armenian Iraqi to win the Miss Iraq pageant, announced her resignation after receiving threats by a group of religious extremists who referred to her as "the queen of infidels" for participating in the contest.

The security-conscious runner-up refused to accept the title in Goregian's place, as did the woman who finished third. Pageant organizers finally persuaded Miss Teen Iraq to take the job.

[Via Jim Henley, who headlines the item "Democracy! Whisky! Sss-ubject Change!"]