Talk politics.

Miss Iceland has quit an international beauty pageant after she was told she had too much fat and broad shoulders. Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir published a hand-written farewell note on her Instagram profile, where she explained why she was withdrawing from the Miss Grand International pageant in Vegas:

Since the pageant is international, the organisers have to be able to appreciate international beauty standards, she argues, while still wishing success to the show.

Arna Ýr has received plenty of support across the social media for speaking out on the issue, arguing that she has done more with her statement than decades of Miss-Whatever has even thought doing for young women.

Not to mention that she is truly gorgeous, looks very healthy, and bold enough to speak her mind (well, she is an Icelander after all). Her comment about international standards of beauty is also true. Just because America worships stick-figure women, that does not mean the rest of the world does, or should.

That said, perhaps it is time that in the 21st century, the whole beauty pageant thing just goes away and dies already. Just like some fashion magazines, they send a bad message to girls around the world - not to mention how outdated they are in their objectification of women.

Interesting suggestion, this one. Why Ted Cruz Should Drop Everything And Watch ‘Zootopia’ Immediately -- The #1 movie in the country could teach him a lot about the problem with racial profiling.

First of all, I did love the movie, for the record. A very smart one, it was. It is one of the few truly fantastic films I have watched lately. Full of appealing characters, as well as a delicate nuance skillfully conveying a complex issue. Or it could just be, as others have said, a film that is too simplistic and inconsistent to serve as propaganda for any one viewpoint - which is exactly where its charm is. But never mind. It did stir quite a few discussions with my kids afterwards, some of them unexpectedly complex. So I suppose it has served its purpose after all.

That said, the parallels between that cartoon and this year's US election (with Trump, Cruz and all the rest) are uncanny - and hardly incidental. We have all heard of Trump's "shocking rhetoric" (as Hillary Clinton called it) about racial and ethnic profiling, his comments on Mexicans, and his promise to ban Muslims from entering the country. We are also aware of Cruz' stance on immigration, what with his plans to deport millions of immigrants, and his remarks that there is "nothing compassionate" about illegal immigration. While Trump is playing by the lowest denominator and capitalising on people's fears and insecurities (his Islamophobic rhetoric being the starkest example), Cruz is being more subtle, but no less dangerous in his intentions.

My question is this. Why are these sentiments holding sway now? Why exactly now? Would our American friends who are better versed in the dynamics of American politics and the peculiarities of the US society, venture with an explanation? Why are guys like Trump and Cruz having so much success right now? Is it the terrorism threat? Is it the recent economic crisis now taking its toll on people's psychology? It is known that such sentiments tend to resurface at times of economic hardships - but oddly, the US economy has bounced back in recent years, and yet, people are still discontent to a point that they are letting their base instincts and worst forms of bigotry come to the surface. Why could that be? What explains the timing? Is it a perfect storm of discontent with the dysfunctional institutions at Capitol Hill mixing up with the above factors - or something else?