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Hello Freepers, I am wring a thread about the lifestyles of the liberal and decadent. Think of the lifestyle of a typical upper class decadent liberal: Living in an affluent and high-priced area (e.g. Beverly Hills, NY, Chicago, etc.) posh car, travels in a stretch limo or Hummer, lives in a mansion or luxury apartment, private jet (if then can afford one), liberal ideologies, DemospLabRat voter, bank account with seven, eight or nine figures, sometimes ten, eleven or twelve, wears posh clothes and even immodestly in revealing dresses (for women), is a party animal, attends movie premieres, logs onto Huffington...

President Barack Obama says he's a night owl. Obama tells C-SPAN in an interview airing Saturday that after he's had dinner with his family and tucked his daughters into bed, he typically stays up until midnight going through a big stack of material he's taken into the White House residence. He says he sometimes pushes the big stack aside to do some writing and focus on some of the issues "that are coming down the pike" — rather than immediate issues.

Making lifestyle changes to prevent climate changeHave you resolved to help the environment and curb climate change? Here are seven easy steps you and yours can take at home By LISA DAVIS - Special to the Star-Telegram Posted on Thu, Jan. 01, 2009 Our family’s small quest to save the planet began a couple of years ago, when my 8-year-old daughter saw a heartbreaking photo in National Geographic of a polar bear stranded on a shrinking ice floe. She wanted to know why the polar bear looked so scared, so we explained about climate change, greenhouse gases and carbon emissions...

A woman celebrating her 105th birthday says that celibacy and staying single has been the key to her long life. Clara Meadmore, a retired secretary, who still has her own hair, teeth, and sharp wit, never had time for a family and lived alone until going into care. She said: "I've always had lots of platonic friendships with men but never felt the need to go further than that or marry." "When I was a girl you only had sex with your husband and I never married. I grew up in an era where little girls were to be seen...

- In Sweden that is. All the same, if various experts are right, the Nordic countries are not only the richest part of the world, but also global leaders in the domain of QUALITY of life. Therefore, living in this part of Stockholm is probably as good as life gets, or? The article: "The Stockholm suburb of Danderyd is the best municipality in which to live, according to a new ranking by the magazine Fokus. Lund and nearby Lomma in southern Sweden follow closely behind. Ljusnarsberg municipality in the Bergslagen region of central Sweden ended up in last place. The...

Despite being the finest people in the world, we Americans have a very short attention span – and even a shorter memory. We continuously have to complain, with the aid of cheap politicians, about “excessive” corporate profits. When we see someone making more money than we think they “deserve,” we are distraught and call for the government to “control” these profits. In essence, we forget about the massive good that a minimally regulated market has done to our quality of life, and point to these “unnecessary” profits to justify our skepticism about capitalism and appeal for increased government intervention. Oh...

My husband and I are getting ready to do what many couples in these brink-of-recessionary times would consider unthinkable. No, we're not buying a Martha's Vineyard retreat or planning a month in St. Bart's or eco-decorating our house. We're planning to have a third child. What shocks people, when we tell them, isn't the thought of hauling three kids onto a place for a vacation, or even the idea of coming home every night to a houseful of runny noses and homework assignments. What gets them is the sheer financial audacity. Raising kids today costs a fortune. Last month, the...

We’re starting what’s become an annual conversation about the price of gas a bit early this year. Seems like every summer, there’s lots of talk of how the price of gasoline has set new records, and a new set of circumstances that’s causing it. The plain fact that we apparently haven’t quite grasped yet is that the days of cheap gasoline are over. Oh, it’s something people might acknowledge if you really put it to them, but not in a way that suggests that anyone thinks it means anything more than paying more at the pump when getting from Point...

Danes have always loved the US as a travel destination. But with the dollar at its lowest point in 30 years, residents are now gobbling up the many discount offers being pitched by the nation's travel companies. Several travel bureaus are reporting increases of up to 140 percent on sales of trips to the states, where Danes can feel like wealthy plantation barons. In the past two years, the dollar has fallen from a value of 6.4 kroner to a shocking 4.8 kroner today - its lowest point since 1977. Weekend trips to New York City have been a hot...

For the fourth consecutive year, New Hampshire was named the nation’s Most Livable State by Morgan Quitno Press, which determined its 17th annual award from its just released reference book "State Rankings 2007." At the other end of the spectrum, statistics returned Mississippi at the bottom of the scale for the ninth time in the past 10 years. Louisiana, which ranked No. 50 last year, is No. 49. “ New Hampshire does an outstanding job in a number of quality of life areas,” said Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press. “The state has the lowest crime and poverty rates...

RETROSEXUAL CODE A Retrosexual, no matter what the women insists, PAYS FOR THE DATE. A Retrosexual opens doors for a lady. Even for the ones that fit that term only because they are female. A Retrosexual DEALS with IT, be it a flat tire, break-in into your home, or a natural disaster, you DEAL WITH IT. A Retrosexual not only eats red meat, he often kills it himself. A Retrosexual doesn't worry about living to be 90. It's not how long you live, but how well. If you're 90 years old and still smoking cigars and drinking, I salute you....

In bars, restaurants and homes across Sweden champagne is flowing in abundance as Swedes enjoy a seemingly endless thirst for the bubbly beverage, spurred by a gastronomic "revolution" and a rosy economy. Champagne sales at stores run by the alcohol distribution monopoly Systembolaget are expected to hit an all-time high of one million bottles this year, excluding sales in bars and restaurants. That figure can be compared to 738,000 bottles sold last year and 287,000 a decade ago. "Drinking champagne is usual now and it's common not only at the weekend or to celebrate a special event, it's an everyday...

Sultan of Brunei lets slip his £4bn lifestyle By Andrew Pierce Last Updated: 1:46am BST 25/10/2007 The Sultan of Brunei, who is embroiled in the most expensive family feud in legal history, transferred $8 billion (£3.9 billion) of state funds into his personal bank account to help fund his lavish lifestyle, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. The Sultan of Brunei and his wife, Queen Hajah Mariam, is the world’s wealthiest monarch, with a £10 billion fortune The sultan, one of the world's richest men, has been forced to disclose his personal finances in a court case at the Privy Council...

Scandinavia has been rated as the best place to live, that’s according to a ranking by Reader’s Digest. Using a range of environmental and social indicators based in part on the UN’s Human Development Index, the survey rates countries on care of the environment and quality of life for their citizens. Finland tops the 141-nation list, followed by Nordic neighbours Iceland and Norway, with Sweden coming in at fourth place. And the Swedish capital comes top of the Reader’s Digest ranking of 72 world cities when it comes to quality of life. Cities were rated according to quality of public...

(Sweden:) An unusual feud has soured relations between two neighbours in Norrtälje as a woman battles for the right to retain her outdoor jacuzzi. Ever since the 51-year-old woman bought the hot tub last year, her journalist neighbour has complained about the noise of the motor. The 62-year-old jazz journalist has a writer's den close to her garden and has been finding it impossible to work. The journalist has primarily struggled to understand why his neighbour needs to have the jacuzzi turned on all year round and for more than ten minutes every hour, Norrtelje Tidning reports. She in turn...

Should biblical churches host gay-glorifying funerals? Should evangelical politics move leftward? Many news organs give us one answer: Yes! The lead of an Aug. 11 Associated Press story seemed to expose a clear case of homophobia: "A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay." The story stated that officials at High Point Church in Arlington, Texas, offered to host the service for a gay janitor who wasn't a church member but had worked there -- only to say no when his obituary listed a life partner....

A married couple in Kinda in the south east of Sweden have lost a court bid to retain their current level of welfare payments. For almost ten years the husband and wife pair have asserted their right to opt out of the rat race and live on a combination of state support and their own crops. Östergötland county court disagreed however, ruling that there were no health issues preventing the pair from taking up employment and that their benefits should therefore be reduced, Corren.se reports. In a letter to the county court, the husband had argued for a reversal of...

Storm-battered and abandoned in winter, Sweden’s harbor-side restaurants come alive in the summer. But two million boat lovers’ thirst for good food and seaside relaxation means tough work for the seasonal restaurant owners.

No longer content to offer consumers Swedish meatballs and self-assembly shelves, Ikea in Norway is now offering weary shoppers the chance to sleep over in one of its Oslo showrooms free of charge. From July 23 to July 27, the public will be able to spend the night in special rooms set up in the store, with a choice of bridal suite, complete with hanging chandelier and a round bed, or a luxury suite that includes breakfast in bed. Others can share a bunk in the dormitory, while parents and children can join in the fun in one of Ikea's...

Vaesteraas, Sweden - Thousands of mint-condition Chevrolets, Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles from the 1950's boulevard-cruise with Brylcreemed greasers draped over the steering wheel and rock 'n roll hits blaring on their radios. You might think you've been transported back a half-century to small-town America but, no, this is a scene found in any number of towns across Sweden where the early days of the US car culture never went out of style.