[img]7|left|||no_popup[/img]“I exercised my freedom of speech and was punished for doing so,” said the runner-up in the Miss Solar System Pageant, Miss Enhanced California Katie Preechin. The statement came during a press conference addressing the growing controversy over her answer to the now infamous “What is 2 + 2?” question posed by celebrity blogger Pezhed Milton.

As the representative for California, her answer that she is opposed to even numbers and believes “5” is in line with her numerological beliefs sparked a roar of outrage from pro-numbers groups opposed to efforts to ban mathematical literacy in the Golden State.

“She is clearly spreading misinformation and promoting bad education,” said Moore Upryte, director of the non-profit mathematical literacy group Numbers California. “What she said at the Miss Solar System Pageant was wrong – it plainly didn’t add up.”

A recent proposition measure to ban even answers to mathematical equations like “2 + 2 = x” passed with a narrow margin, with the validity of the proposition currently under consideration by the California Supreme Court.

Guilty of Numerology?

With the recent release of images showing Miss Preechin posing with a calculator and a library shelf of dictionaries, the controversy shows no sign of abating. “I believe no one should be silenced if they are speaking from their heart. I am a model,” said Ms. Preechin, who believes the photos, taken when she was 17, were released in retaliation for stating her belief that 2 + 2 is equal to 5. Miss Preechin then tearfully defended her right to state her numerological beliefs by explaining how “we should all have the freedom to add numbers up in our own way. I believe that society is suffering, thanks to allowing even solutions to mathematical problems, even ones as simple as 2 + 2.”

Although no ones knows the source of the leaked images, the release of the photos has prompted even greater controversy regarding her eligibility to wear the crown of Miss Enhanced California – questions as to whether she violated the terms of her agreement with the Miss Enhanced California Pageant.

“Posing with explicitly intellectual items in photos is against pageant rules,” said a representative for the Miss Enhanced California Organization. “We prefer that brains, real or perceived, not interfere with beauty, which, let’s face, is the only thing anyone is interested in.”

Miss Preechin’s proposed campaign with the National Organization for Numbers that are Odd (NONO) also violates pageant rules, leading to an appeal to the Miss Enhanced California Pageant’s owner. Hugh G. Rump is deliberating on whether Miss Preechin should be stripped of her crown.

Meanwhile, commentators have been buzzing over the whole incident. One particularly intelligent and handsome bloviator for a scrappy L.A. newsmagazine observed, “Y’know, freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from criticism. If you speak your mind and someone disagrees, they have the same freedom of speech you do.”

Frédérik invites you to discuss this week's column at his blog (http://www.inkandashes.net).