Free Republic

Shoes are hollow objects that humans enjoy sticking their feet into as a means to keep them warm and dry, and to protect them from rough terrain. Interestingly, men and women have widely differing opinions on such a simple invention.

Alexander McQueen’s runway shows are some of the most anticipated ones during Fashion Week and his Spring/Summer 2010 show was no exception. The King of drama presented his signature art pieces, but THE SHOES were the most eye-catching highlight. We just wonder, will anyone actually wear them in real life?

In a clear dig at former president George W. Bush, the State Department lauded President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize award by saying it's better for the U.S. to have "accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes." In a clear dig at former President George W. Bush, a State Department spokesman compared President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize to the flying footwear his predecessor faced in Iraq. "From our standpoint, you know, we think that this gives us a sense of momentum … when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters...

From the BNO Newsroom. COLUMBIA, South Carolina (BNO NEWS) -- A day after South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst in Congress during President Obama's speech, political figures from all fronts are condemning his actions. But not only political leaders are voicing their outrage, also citizens are taking part. About 18 hours after his outburst, Wilson's Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, had received more than 11,000 individual grassroots contributions raising more than $400,000, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told BNO News. "It's a shattering amount," he said, while adding that contributions are still coming in.

Dear MoveOn member, Last night, President Obama challenged Congress to "meet history's test" and finally fix our broken health care system. He pledged to seek common ground between Democrats and Republicans, and assured them all: "My door is always open." Republicans responded by heckling, booing, and hissing. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) screamed out "You lie!" as the President defended his health care plan against false right-wing attacks. We can't afford to let right-wing extremists like Joe Wilson hold health care reform hostage. As Obama put it, "the time for games has passed. Now is the season for action." Let's send...

Democrats must drop efforts to censure a GOP representative who shouted "You lie" during President Obama's speech, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. Democratic leaders Thursday were looking into what formal action the House could take against Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., whose outburst during Obama's address on healthcare reform to a joint session of Congress the night before, shocked the chamber, The Hill reported. "It's time for us to talk about healthcare, not Joe Wilson," said Pelosi, D-Calif. One option Democrats considered was censure. Pelosi nixed censure, as well as a call for Wilson to apologize on the floor. "I'm...

"Obama is correct," Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, tells Newsmax. "The legislation states illegals won't get the affordability credits [to pay for their healthcare]. But Wilson's comment is correct in that the normal enforcement mechanism was excluded from the bill. I think that's the fundamental question."

Excuse this simple post.... I really feel we need to set aside a thread to THANK Joe Wilson!! Joe singlehandedly spoke up AGAINT the despicable LIES of President Obama last night! Whether or not you feel it was the appropriate place for him to speak out or not, he DID say what most of us were thinking while listening to the President spew out bold faced LIES. Joe Wilson's website has been down since last night! Let's use FreeRepublic right now to say THANKS!! THANK YOU JOE WILSON!!!!! I have donated $$ towards your re-election!! Polly

After what he called an "excellent and informative Cabinet meeting," President Obama told reporters that he accepts the apology of Rep. Joe Wilson, R-SC, who shouted "You lie!" during the president’s address to a joint session of Congress last night. "Yes I do," the president said. "I’m a big believer that we all make mistakes. He apologized quickly and without equivocation. And I’m appreciative of that." Mr. Obama then turned to use Wilson as something of an example – making this a teachable moment, perhaps – saying that "we have to get to the point where we can have a...

Did President Obama Lie? Well, did he? I heard a figure for the number of speeches Obama has given since elected. The number was a little hard to believe but after some checking, I believe the number is close. CBS reported that President Obama delivered his 200th speech since taking office when Obama announced his nomination for U.S. Surgeon General on July 13, 2009. At a later date, a blog site posted the number of speeches and remarks as 262. The addition of the word “remarks” detracts somewhat from the information I was seeking but worthwhile nothing nonetheless. The 262...

Alan Wilson, son of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, said he is proud of his father for standing up for what he believes in and for his apology today over his outburst during President Obama's Wednesday night address.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Cambridge Police are on the lookout for a middle-aged foot-licker with a penchant for accosting high-heeled shoppers outside a local organic food store. An Arlington woman told police she was walking into a Whole Foods about 4:15 p.m. Aug. 15 when a man stopped her at the entrance to the store. “I like your shoes. I like high heels. I do shoes,” the foot fanatic allegedly told the woman. “What, you wear them?” police said the woman reportedly responded. “No, no, I have a Web site,” the foot aficionado allegedly said. The woman went into the store...

I got an email with some of the MOST outrageous footwear I have EVER seen. Even in my younger days there is no way I could ever...or would ever, wear the likes of these fashion statements. Some of them are funny. Some of them are silly. Some of them are horrendous.....and some of them look downright PAINFUL. No Thank You. I'd rather go barefoot! Check it out.....I'd like to see her standing up and walking in those. I know it would be entertaining. Great bridal shoe! Hope the groom is eight foot tall Now I know I've got to get...

Left top: Oct. 2007. Platform shoes Left middle: Nov., 2008. Low-heeled ordinary shoes Left bottom: May., 2009. Sneaker shoes(?) Right: Jun., 2009. Athletic shoes (most comfortable?)

Friday Fritter Poll: How do you put on shoes and socks?

Reebok Shoe Car

The Huffington Post actually has a poll and a slideshow up about Governor Palin's toenails. No, I'm not kidding, and it's already got hundreds of poisonous comments. This reminds me of the numerous wire photos of the Governor's feet and lower legs during the 2008 campaign, and the interest seems to be continuing. For instance, Ben Smith's Politico piece from last Saturday's Auburn visit included this quote: Her four-car motorcade, including two black SUVs provided by the New York State Police, then headed to Seneca Falls, where Palin, bright red toenails visible in open shoes, trooped through a museum that...

A shoe-maker and a technology company are teaming up to develop footwear with a built-in GPS device that could help track down "wandering" seniors suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. "The technology will provide the location of the individual wearing the shoes within 9m (30 feet), anywhere on the planet," said Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University who served as an advisor on the project. "Sixty per cent of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease will be involved in a 'critical wandering incident' at least once during the progression of the disease - many more than once," he said. The...

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- OutKast's Big Boi is a junkie, has been for years. The multiplatinum rap star got his first shoe fix back when he was better known as Antwan Patton, a busboy at Steak and Ale. He saved up his paychecks and rushed to a dealer to cop the only thing that could cure his jones -- a pair of British Knights tennis shoes. "I've actually been into sneakers since I was a little kid," Big Boi, 34, said backstage before his concert this month at the Sneaker Pimps exhibition in Atlanta. "You can really tell a lot...

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.

At Stanford University, California, two sales representatives from Nike were watching the athletics team practise. Part of their job was to gather feedback from the company's sponsored runners about which shoes they preferred. Unfortunately, it was proving difficult that day as the runners all seemed to prefer... nothing. 'Didn't we send you enough shoes?' they asked head coach Vin Lananna. They had, he was just refusing to use them. 'I can't prove this,' the well-respected coach told them. 'But I believe that when my runners train barefoot they run faster and suffer fewer injuries.' Nike sponsored the Stanford team as...

The beautiful, ultra-leggy, and mane-of-gold American actress Angela Lindvall in a pair of uber-heeled, oh-God-they’re-just-so-damn-sexy Jimmy Choos. What woman or man could resist such a pleasing proposition? Buy, buy, buy.

The newest in hot, trendy Celeb footwear belongs to the Louis Vuitton label and costs almost $2,000 dollars. It’s name? Oh, yeah, it’s Spicy, a beaded, bejewelled confection set with purple, green and orange stones.

Christian Louboutin, showing not a care in the world about the credit crunch, designed a capsule collection of yellow, pink and blue silk shoes inspired by Marie Antoinette. The collection is limited to approximately 36 pairs, each priced at $6,295.

As a women's shoes fetishist, I'm glad these Lamborghini Gallardo stilettos are just a concept. Unless they come with a voluptuous Swede in a tiny bikini so my eyes automagically look in another direction. [Jalopnik]

Shoe throwing has jumped the shark? Code Pink gals say hand cuff 'em, just like they did Karl Rove.

How can this be? I thought all the world loved Obama and that Bush was the reason they hated America. How could we have been so wrong? Video

The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush is seeking asylum in Switzerland, Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve reports. Muntadar al-Zaidi has been in custody in Iraq awaiting trial since the incident during a visit by Mr Bush to the country in mid-December. He fears for his safety in his Baghdad prison, the paper says, quoting his lawyer, Mauro Poggia. The lawyer argues his client likewise cannot resume his old job in Iraq. Since his arrest, the Iraqi has reportedly been beaten in custody, suffering a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, his older...

On Monday, January 19th on President Bush’s last day in office, people will gather at 11:00am at a site near the White House (TBA) for what will be a cathartic action of hurling shoes at the White House. We will be acting in the spirit of Mutadhar Al-Zaidi, the journalist who threw his shoes at Bush during a press conference on behalf of the widows, orphans and all those killed in Iraq, and in solidarity with the Iraqi people as well as all of those who have suffered under the Bush regime....

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Jan. 14, 2009 – Every Friday, 60 to 70 Afghan children get shoes and socks at Forward Operating Base Kala Gush through the efforts of the provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan’s Nurestan province. An Afghan boy tries on a new pair of shoes at Forward Operating Base Kala Gush in Afghanistan’s Nurestan province while visiting for medical treatment. Shoes, socks and coats are donated from several organizations throughout the United States. U.S Army photo by Spc. Casey Ware  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The project began when PRT member Army 1st Sgt. Terry Pittman saw...

For those who don’t have the address handy, the president will be residing for the next few weeks at: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Hanania thoughtfully suggests shoe mailers label their package indicating it’s part of the “Shoe Protest” campaign. Gives new meaning to voting with your feet.

Doc Martens by Levi Strauss For long time Doc Martens fans like us, there’s no better news than this. The classic and iconic 1460 kicks received a super makeover. Vivienne Westwood, Preen, Rick Owens and other designers – all put their collectivist heads together and delivered a super funky and exclusive redesign of our favorite docs. Doc Martens by Lulu Guinness

Mark of protest: Hundreds of shoes seen on the road along the Whitehall as police guard the entrance to Downing Street in London on Saturday. LONDON: Shoes were flung at Downing Street on Saturday by angry protesters calling for more active British intervention to bring an end to Israeli bombardment of Gaza. There were scuffles and angry exchanges as the police tried to control the crowd. An estimated 10,000 people, including a number of high-profile political figures and celebrities, marched through central London raising slogans against Israeli attacks and carrying placards saying “End the siege of Gaza” and “Freedom for...

Thousands of work boots, bath slippers, tennis sneakers and beach sandals -- even roller blades, all inexplicably materialized, strewn upon the southbound lanes, disrupting traffic for hours. A mountain of those thousands of used shoes is now somewhere in northern Miami-Dade County, and Florida Highway Patrol officials are distributing them to local and national nonprofits that promise to give them to the poor. No witnesses have yet come forward to explain just how thousands of shoes appeared at 7:42 a.m. on the southbound lanes of the busy highway between the Bird Road and Miller Drive exits. Some think a truck's...

MIAMI (CBS4) ― Thousands of shoes dumped onto the Palmetto Expressway's southbound lanes near Bird Road. Thousands of shoes were dumped accidentally from a truck on the southbound Palmetto Expressway after the Bird Road exit in Miami causing significant traffic delays Friday morning. City workers with broom sticks and Road Rangers who come to the aid of stranded motorists were all taking part in clearing one lane of a quarter mile section of expressway where shoes fell from a truck earlier in the day. Of the task clearing all the shoes that littered the road, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Pat...

US activists call for release, pardon of Iraq shoe-thrower Dec 29 03:52 PM US/Eastern US activists on Monday urged Baghdad to release the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush, insisting that his gesture was meant to insult, not harm the US leader. "This was a form of insult... If he had wanted to hurt George Bush, he would have chosen a different weapon," Medea Benjamin of the Codepink peace activism group told AFP at a rally of about a dozen people outside the Iraqi consulate in Washington. Zaidi, 29, threw his shoes at Bush...

Bush Derangement Syndrome is curable, but like alcoholism, those who suffer from it must first want to be cured. The sickness manifests itself in, among other symptoms, a failure to acknowledge anything positive that has been accomplished during the president's time in office. Saturday Forum columnist John Foster recently had much to say in regard to the failings of the Bush administration. Not shockingly, he had not a word of censure for the present do-nothing, Democrat-led Congress. Following an Arab journalist's temper tantrum at a press conference in Iraq, where he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, Foster...

Someone please explain to me the intricacies of men’s wallets. The QC needs a new one, and Max wants one of his very own for Christmas (a REAL leather one, please); so off I went in search of the same. Nordstrom’s had some that looked just like wallets for $98, while Kohl’s had some that looked just like wallets for $25 (on sale for $15). Upon close examination, I observed that some are “slim;’ some are tri-fold (others bifold), and some have “extra capacity.” I punted and bought several varieties from which the QC may choose. Max is being given...

For the antiwar crowd, the shoe is now on the other foot. The activists were really cut off at the knees when the nation voted in a president who promises to bring an expeditious end to the war in Iraq. And in a month, the other shoe will drop: George W. Bush will be gone — and with him will go the raison d’etre of those who have protested, picketed and heckled him these last eight years. And so they assembled Wednesday on Pennsylvania Avenue, outside the White House gate, to take a few final shots. Literally. They assembled a...

BAGHDAD – The jailed journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush has asked for a pardon for what he described as "an ugly act," a spokesman for Iraq's prime minister said Thursday. Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for an Iraqi-owned television station based in Cairo, Egypt, could face two years imprisonment for insulting a foreign leader. He remained in custody Thursday night. "It is too late to now to regret the big and ugly act that I perpetrated," al-Zeidi wrote in a letter delivered to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, according to the prime minister's spokesman.

Iraq's parliament speaker announced his resignation Wednesday after a parliamentary session descended into chaos as lawmakers argued about whether to free a journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush. The speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, has threatened to resign before and has been suspended for embarrassing the prime minister with erratic behavior. On Wednesday, after arguments erupted among lawmakers over the fate of the journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the speaker said: 'I have no honor leading this parliament and I announce my resignation.' Al-Zeidi's family went to the Central Criminal Court expecting to attend a court hearing for him, said...

BERKELEY (BCN) Anti-war activists from the group Code Pink will hold a march at a Marine recruiting station in Berkeley this morning to show solidarity with an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush on Sunday. Members of the group and others will march around the recruiting station holding shoes in the air to show support for Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who hurled two shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad. In many Arab countries, showing the sole of one's shoes, much less throwing shoes at another person, is considered a sign of extreme disrespect. Organizers...

Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi will be known for a long time as the shoe thrower. He who succeeded in throwing a pair of shoes at U.S. President George Bush last Sunday in Baghdad. The shoes are now priceless. A Saudi entrepreneur has offered $10 million for one of the pair of shoes. The shoe throwing incident has been hailed as heroic by many people around the world, especially those who opposed the foreign policies of the outgoing US president. What are the reactions of Southeast Asian bloggers and residents? Hafriz from Singapore thinks al-Zaidi should become president of the world:...

Within a few unlikely seconds, a pair of size 10 shoes have become the most destructive weapon the people of Iraq have managed to throw at the occupying powers, after nearly six years of occupation and formidable resistance. One Iraqi writer called the shoes, hurled by a journalist at George Bush, “Iraq’s weapon of comprehensive destruction”. While the uprisings of Fallujah, Najaf, Basra and Baghdad against the occupation will always remain as landmarks of a people resisting occupation, these incredible seconds have united Iraqis in the most dramatic fashion. Contrary to most media coverage, the 28-year-old TV reporter Muntadar Al-Zeidi...

Herr Olbermann and his MSNBC goons as expected were absolutely orgasmic as they slobbered all over the incident and video at a press conference in Iraq where President Bush was the shoe-target of a rogue member of the Iraqi Press Corp. If you study these two videos, you might note that there are parts of at least 25 replays (total) of the President getting shoes thrown at him; At one point during the second video with Howard Fineman MSNBC ran the video EIGHT straight times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUItgEIfe-g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9-xlMWfqJM

Muntadar al-Zaidi has suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury, his older brother, Dargham, told the BBC.

(NECN) - President George W. Bush addressed the progress made in the Iraq War on Sunday, in a visit to Baghdad just 37 days prior to handing off the war to President-elect Barack Obama. But President Bush got more than he bargained for -- he was able to show off his dodgeball skills. Or, dodge-shoe skills, in this case. Who throws a shoe, you ask? Al-Baghdadia television correspondent Muntadar al-Zeidi, who peeled off both of his shoes and threw them a the U.S. President, shouting "This is the end!" Bush dodged both shoes as they whipped past his head. "All...

Here's the link to the video of an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at Bush. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYBGl9q30c Luckily the President has quick reflexes.

BAGHDAD (AFP) — An Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes and an insult at George W. Bush, without hitting him, as the US president was shaking hands with the Iraqi premier at his Baghdad office on Sunday. As the two leaders met in Nuri al-Maliki's private office, a journalist sitting in the third row jumped up, shouting: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," and threw his shoes one after the other towards Bush. Maliki made a protective gesture towards the US president, who ducked and was not hit.