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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.

Welcome to the GLENN BECK television thread...Shake the cobwebs out of your brain...We are one day closer to the REVOLUTION...All comrades, infidels, sick twisted freaks and lurkers are WELCOME!

More high school girls are playing competitive sports than ever before. But for some devoutly religious girls, balancing faith and athletics can be a challenge. This week in Washington, DC, a Muslim high school track star was kicked out of a meet because her special uniform violated competition rules. Last month in Canada, the issue made national headlines when a 14-year old soccer player was ejected from a game for wearing her hijaab head scarf. Here in Connecticut, a unique girls basketball team has so far managed to skirt the controversy. The girls can remain true to traditional Judaic principles...

(snip) During the last two seasons, youth basketball coaches had anointed Justin as one of the most talented 10-and-under players in the country -- a distinction that would have won him nothing but cheap trophies a decade ago. But now, Justin had become the sought-after prize, pursued by Amateur Athletic Union summer league teams that troll nationally for players, high school coaches who recruit aggressively and shoe companies whose scramble for potential future endorsers continues for a second decade.

THE 'Y1-HUF'Outrage over stereotype. Photo: J. Scott Wynn April 29, 2006 -- Adidas' hottest new sneakers are being kicked to the curb. The trendy sportswear line released a sneaker with a slant-eyed, bowl-cut, bucked-tooth caricature of an Asian man popping off of the tongue earlier this month, enraging critics who dubbed the shoe racist. Now, in response to pressure from the Asian-American community, the sneaker is being pulled from shelves. "Out of respect to those offended and to demonstrate our deep commitment to inclusiveness and diversity, we have chosen to pull the remaining shoes from the marketplace," Adidas said...

SAN DIEGO – The high-top sneakers cost $215 at a San Diego boutique, but the designer is giving them away to migrants before they cross to this side of the U.S.-Mexico border. These are no ordinary shoes. A compass and flashlight dangle from one shoelace. The pocket in the tongue is for money or pain relievers. A rough map of the border region is printed on a removable insole. They are red, white and green, the colors of the Mexican flag. On the back ankle, a drawing of Mexico's patron saint of migrants.

When 17-year-old Steve Terrett was found shot to death and shoeless in a South Side alley last week, his mother feared he was killed for his new $110 Nike Air Jordan shoes. Sunday it turned out she was right, Chicago Police said. Jordan shoes were a motive for many robberies in Chicago, but police could not recall anyone being killed for a pair before the Terrett youth was slain.

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- In his school, LeBron James wore the signature shoe of his idol, Michael Jordan. Now fans can wear James' shoe. Nike launches the product endorsed by the Cleveland Cavaliers' rookie Saturday, and store managers nationwide are expecting teenagers to sleep outside, just as they did for debuts of the Air Jordan line. James' shoe launches in 2,225 stores nationwide, starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, when New York City's Foot Action opens its doors. "You could call it the Harry Potter of sneakers," said Jamelah Leddy, a sportswear analyst with McAdams Wright Ragen Inc. in Seattle. The hype...