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Moscow's high society has been rocked by a scandal after a pair of prominent Vladimir Putin cronies were allegedly heard insulting the Russian despot. Oligarch and former Russian senator Farkhad Akhmedov and high-profile Moscow music producer Iosif Prigozhin, both supposedly supporters of Putin, have been accused of calling him a 'Satan' and a 'dwarf'. An audio recording of what is reportedly a 35-minute phone call between the wealthy pair was shared by Ukraine's Channel Five and quickly jumped on by other outlets - as well as Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). In the audio clip, the pair are heard eviscerating...

Kim Jong-il back in the high-heel shoe groove May 17, 2011 From left: Kim Jong-il in high heels in October 2007, Kim in 1-inch heels in November 2008, and Kim in 2- or 3-inch heels on May 14. [YONHAP] North Korean leader Kim Jong-il seems to have gotten back on his feet after his 2008 stroke - or back in his high heels, to be exact. The communist leader has recently been seen strutting about in 1-inch heels, a shift from the more comfortable shoes he had taken to wearing since he reportedly fell ill in August 2008. The change,...

(Political Animal) HUCKABEE AND THE MONEY-CONS....Matt Yglesias notes that Christian conservative darling Mike Huckabee is gaining on Mitt Romney in Iowa: In retrospect, it all sort of makes you wonder why social conservatives didn't just get behind Huckabee in the first place, rather than blessing Romney's preposterous conversion to religious right values and trying to drag Fred Thompson into the race. Sure, Huckabee's not well-liked by the economic hard-right, but cultural conservatives' objections to Giuliani didn't stop his backers from pushing him on the party. Part of the answer, of course, is the obvious one: it's hard for an also-ran...

/begin my abridged translation  Kim Jong-il's 'Platform Shoes' Caught in Pictures 4-5 inches tall, foreign photographers spotted them [ 2005-05-24 11:48 ] A photo from Oct. 2002 issue of 'Korea Today', taken during the 2001 summit with Russian President Putin.    Kim Jong-il is said to be 165cm(approx. 5' 5") tall. However, he is believed to be smaller. It is well-known that he wears platform shoes to compensate his short stature. His platform shoes are kept as top secrets among N. Korean media photographers.  We analyzed photos taken by foreign media during Kim's trips to China and Russia in 2001 and 2002....