Thanks, Venus Raj

In a week which began badly with the tragic hostage-taking in Manila, the Philippines badly needed a shot in the arm for morale.

Venus Raj did it by breaking into the top 15 of the Miss Universe pageant ... and later on, making it into the top 5.

She didn't win (see previous video to see why) but it doesn't matter. (Beauty contests don't matter in the great big scheme of things, after all, and they never will.)

What matters is that, for a brief moment (see 2:17 of this video), we all felt like the kids in this video. In a week that promised gloom, despondency, darkness -- we had a ray of sunshine, even if only for an hour.

Thanks, Venus Raj.