Syria capita household consumption: $970.07.
One pair of Christian Louboutin platform pumps: $$695.00.
Bragging on Facebook about being the stylish wife of the guy in charge of one of the most repressive regimes in the world: Priceless.
There are some things money can’t buy. For the rest, there is the enslavement of your countrymen.
I am in the process of writing an extended article on one of the most depressing news: Chavez is not only raiding the the home of Globovision president Guillermo Zuloaga but is closing the last independent TV station left in the country. This increases the likelihood that true news reporting will soon come to an end in Venezuela.
In the meantime, here are some very interesting articles,
Larry Kudlow speech: “One man, one woman, can make a huge difference.”
The kindergarteners were locked out of the White House, but the Steelers got in.
The 10 punches Dick Cheney landed on Barack Obama’s jaw Number nine:
9. “It’s worth recalling that ultimate power of declassification belongs to the president himself. President Obama has used his declassification authority to reveal what happens in the interrogation of terrorists. Now let him use that same power to show Americans what did not happen thanks to the good work of our intelligence officials.”Cheney is pushing Obama to declassify documeents relating to the information gained from terrorist suspects who were subjected to Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. This puts Obama in a bind. If he does so, it prolongs an argument he wants to move on from and prolongs the Obama vs Cheney meme that is distracting and doesn’t really help him. if he doesn’t, he looks like he has something to hide.
How about that idea of sending the Gitmo detainees to supermax prisons? Supermax too full
Supermax’s approximately 480 concrete cells already are jammed with the likes of Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols, Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph and other notorious domestic criminals. There also are 33 international terrorists, including Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, 1993 World Trade Center bombing mastermind Ramzi Yousef and failed airline shoe bomber Richard Reid.Only one bed was not filled Thursday at Supermax, U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Tracy Billingsley said.
So getting any more than a handful of detainees from Guantanamo to Florence would require considerable logistical maneuvers to clear room or an even longer-term solution through prison expansion.
Phyllis Chesler writes on The Fatherless Sons of Jihad: Bigger Than the Bronx Four
Why has America been so foolishly complacent about—nay, even complicit–in the recruitment of jailed African-American men by radical Islamists? Perhaps, for a variety of reasons, this particular prison population may already have been brainwashed to hate Jews, Israel, and America. `Why has America failed to understand that, just as Islamists routinely prey upon the poor, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, the vulnerable–and on women and children in Muslim countries–to become human bombs, that Islamists will surely, inevitably, prey upon their counterparts in America?
In Argentina, Judge Refuses Bail to Buenos Aires Antisemites
Victor Davis Hanson is touring Europe and observing Euroamericans:
If heaven is retiring at 55, leaving the apartment each mid-morning to sit in the local coffee shop, and then protesting on weekends about my lower than anticipated pension cost of living increase, then I would prefer hell.
My feelings exactly.
How to hurt the economy: Hiking taxes, failing to kill the AMT, and preserving the death tax, among other things.
Via Soccer dad, Bibi Rejects Obama’s ‘UN Flag at Kotel’; Star of David to Remain
Prime Minister Netanyahu declared, “The flag that flies over the Kotel is the Israeli flag… Our holy places, the Temple Mount — will remain under Israeli sovereignty forever.”
Via Maria, the “smart car” comes short on mileage. There are a few of these scooters with a big chassis driving around The Principality and all I can think of is what would happen to the passengers if someone with a larger vehicle ran into them.
I’ll be driving my Volvo until the duck tape doesn’t hold it together anymore, thank you.
Speaking of cars, Scott Ott, only a day or two ahead of the headlines: GM says no problem for new drone in meeting emissions, fuel standards.
In shoe news, the Bernardo folks are celebrating. I spent most of my teens in Puerto Rico wearing that brand of sandals and still own a pair (bought new a couple of years ago) that I wear frequently in the summer. They are also offering good money for 1940s, 50s and 60s Bernardos, if you have any at home.
UPDATE
First the TOTUS, now Biden’s Bunker. What next, Hillary’s pantsuit?
Where is Hillary, anyway?
Choose the item that does not belong:
a. Official state visit
b. Queen Elizabeth II
c. Cardigan.
Choose the item that does not belong:
a. Official visit in the morning
b. Gordon Brown
c. Sequined cardigan
Choose the item that does not belong:
a. Recession
b. Feeding America food bank
c. $540 Lanvin sneakers
If you chose c on all of the above you are a person who understands that the occasion requires that you adapt what you wear. However, if you believe that you are above such rules and that you are the one who will set the tone, the trend and the form of all events that you grace by your exalted presence, you will, consistently, see nothing wrong with c.
Four people sent me this link:
First Lady Michelle Obama steps out in Lanvin sneakers and they’re only $540!
Michelle Obama has taken casual to a haute new level.While volunteering Wednesday at a D.C. food bank, the First Lady sported her usual J.Crew cardigan, a pair of utilitarian capri pants and, on her feet, a sneaky splurge: trainers that go for $540.
That’s right: These sneakers – suede, with grosgrain ribbon laces and metallic pink toe caps – are made by French design house Lanvin, one of fashion’s hottest labels. They come in denim and satin versions, and have been a brisk seller all spring.
If you go to the Feeding America Food Bank website and click on the Fill A Magic Summer Lunchbox, you can
Fill a Magic Summer Lunchbox and help feed a child all summer long for only $36!
$540 ÷ $36 = 15 children.
UPDATE
Frugal shoes Friday!
I don’t begrudge Michelle Obama’s fashion choices. The point is that she begrudges so many other Americans’ choices in how they earn their money. Will have more to say about that later. But for now: Happy Frugal Shoe Friday!
Here’s what I’m wearing,
J. Crew flats in a William Morris print, from a couple of years ago, bought on sale for $55.
Update 2
Michelle Obama: For the first time in her life, she’s proud… of her shoes
Update 3
Via Larwyn, Just One Minute links to Starbury‘s shoes. $15, and fabulous.
And NeoTango shoes, in red. I love them!
Imelda Marcos paid for her shoes with the blood of her people; Annette Yeomans paid for her shoes with her co-worker’s jobs.
VISTA, Calif. – A former bookkeeper embezzled $9.9 million, forcing her company to make layoffs as she bought 400 pairs of shoes that she kept in a room-sized closet decorated with a crystal chandelier and a plasma television, authorities claim.Annette Yeomans, 51, surrendered at the Vista jail on Friday and was booked for investigation of grand theft and embezzlement. She was being held Saturday at the San Diego County jail in lieu of $10 million bail.
…
Authorities allege that Yeomans embezzled the money from 2001 to 2007 while she was chief financial officer for Quality Woodworks, Inc., a cabinetry business in San Marcos.She spent at least $240,000 on 400 pairs of shoes, $300,000 on designer clothing and 160 purses valued at $2,000 each, investigators allege. She also remodeled a bedroom into a closet with the chandelier and a 32-inch TV, they said.
“On a weekly basis Yeomans would spend $25,000 on her credit card and then pay off the balance the following Monday with company funds,” said Sgt. Mark Varnau of the sheriff’s Financial Crimes Unit.
It wasn’t just shoes:
Investigators also found that Yeomans gambled heavily at local casinos and lost extensive amounts of money.“We have witnesses who can testify to literally $3,000 to $4,000 cash in a safe in her house that she referred to as ‘gambling money,’ ” Varnau said. “Her jewelry was described as being measured in pounds.”
How did she get away with it for so long?
The losses went unnoticed and the company never hired an outside auditor to check the books because she had a trusted position, Varnau said. Meanwhile, he said, the company was forced to lay off workers and restructure operations because of the losses.
Auditors: a company’s best friend.
Yeomans worked at a cabinetry business. I assume there weren’t other women working there who would have noticed how expensive her clothes were.
H/t Prairie Pundit, who asks,
Is there a shoe channel?
Probably, but I haven’t found it yet.
IN OTHER SHOES NEWS,
Report: Shoe hurled at Ahmadinejad in Iranian city
A shoe was recently hurled at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while he was in the city of Urmia, an Iranian Web site has reported.The incident in the Iranian city was an apparent imitation of a similar attack on former U.S. president George Bush in Iraq last year.
Urmia News, the Iranian site, reported that Ahmadinejad was in a car en route to an election rally when the shoe was thrown. Ahmadinejad was traveling to a local stadium where he was meant to deliver a speech ahead of upcoming presidential elections.
Waiting for the media to cover that one…
The beautiful Skye brought to CPAC the gorgeous silver shoes. Flopping Aces posted the photo.
I settled for a more conservative style, from Sofft
which you can buy at Amazon:
Among the gentlemen, David All was wearing classic Ferragamos.
UPDATE
Obi’s Sister asks where did I get the walking shoes I wore.
I’m not sure if she means the flats or the heels, but both are Privos. I bought the flats a couple of years ago and I can’t find them on line anymore, but here are two suggestions for flats:
The heels are these:
Via Larwyn,
Fresh Look at Martha Washington: Less First Frump, More Foxy Lady
Contrary to popular opinion, even among some historians who should know better, Martha was not fat when she married George. Yes, she liked to read the Bible, but she devoured gothic romance novels, too. She capably ran the five plantations left to her when her first husband died, bargaining with London merchants for the best tobacco prices. And unknown to most, while George was courting her she had another suitor, a Virginia planter with much greater wealth and stature. In a little-known letter, Charles Carter wrote to his brother about what a beauty she was and how he hoped to “arouse a flame in her breast.”
See the description of those shoes Fausta. Hubba hubba. Sound like some that Sarah Palin would wear. I hope she was pretty, and that Washington was not marrying her for her money. I would hate to think that he was the first John Kerry.
I’ve always felt that George & Martha deeply loved each other.
And those are great shoes!
UPDATE
Martha was beautiful!
Remember the Palin shoe auction on eBay?
It ended, and the shoes sold for $2,025:
As part of the purchase agreement, the governor is supposed to autograph the shoes for the winning bidder, whose identity was not revealed on the eBay site.
Now, let’s see if the RNC will get around to auctioning those clothes that The New Majority claims are sitting in trash bags. The Republican party needs the fundraiser!
Hat tip Sissy Willis, who’s pounding the shoe beat!
Via Sissy Willis,
Sarah Palin’s shoes are being auctioned on eBay
As of the writing of this post, the top bid is $1,200 but the reserve hasn’t been met. The auction goes until Jan-27-09 01:33:04 PST.
According to AP’s Colleen Starr,
Sarah Palin’s Red Naughty Monkey Heels eBay auction is from Sarah Palin’s Niece
However,
There is no way for a interested buyer to confirm these shoes are actually being sold by Sarah Palin’s niece or if these are the exact pair of heels she wore. The fact that eBay has not pulled the auction tends to make me believe this auction is 100% legitimate.
You can buy a pair of brand-new shoes in this style in your size from the store that sold Governor Palin hers:
Shoefly Inc.
DBA: Shoefly + Hudsons
109 Seward Street
Juneau, AK 99801Phone: 907.586.1055
Fax: 907-586.3230
http://www.shoeflyalaska.com
I didn’t get the ones above, instead I got a pair of these.
More Sarah Palin shoes here.
Correction: I mistakenly and inexplicably linked to Sister Toldjah instead of Sisu. My apologies
Haven’t done these for a while, but here you have them, mostly because it snowed and I’d rather go outside later, and don’t feel like doing the Christmas cards just now:
Roundup links, via Larwyn, and also now that my Feed Reader is – mostly – rebuilt (my old feed reader, which was a laptop add-on had 200 feeds, and then *kaboom* died):
Red State and Pamela remember Pearl Harbor, When men were men and America knew who she was
Reader Pappy sent this photo of Pearl Harbor just now:
The Baron just sent this, Saudi funds first mosque in Norway’s North Pole so now they can claim the North Pole is Muslim, too.
Hugh Hewitt’s Getting Twitter smart by getting a mentor.
Jeff Jarvis wants a Broadband nation.
Roger Kimball announces the winner of the silliest argument to be offered by a serious academic in the last 25 years and to be taken up and be gravely masticated by the larger world of intellectual debate.
Jim shares my opinion of Sudoku.
Richard looks at The madness of our age
Last but not least, Soccer Dad’s got Shiny Happy Dhimmi #4 ready for your reading pleasure.
Larry Gwin, former US Army captain, Silver Star, Purple Heart, XO of Alpha Co., 2/7 Cav, 1st Cav Division, veteran of the Ia Drang battles of 1965 and author of “Baptism: A Vietnam Memoir,” spent many years trying to understand war and find some context for his own horrific combat experience by exploring war literature. It is useful exercise, because in this manner the combat veteran may learn from other people, find commonality in what they write, ease the alienation and find his or her place in history. It is an important part of the post-combat normalization process. Make that post-combat normality transcendence process. There is the risk of obsession, but if that is an issue, take it up with your shrink.
Go take a look – it’s an excellent sellection of books.
Add to that list this week’s WSJ’s Five Best Books That Emphatically Debunk Pseudohistory
These books emphatically debunk pseudohistory and spurious ‘knowledge,’ says Damian Thompson
More tango shoes at Guaranteed Fit (I wear a pair of these), and at Tara, which Neo wears and highly recommends.
