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British lingerie label Agent Provocateur have seen annual sales jump by more than 12 per cent in a year which also saw First Lady Michelle Obama joining their list of elite customers. Mrs Obama, is said to have spent $50,000 (£31,794) in the one shopping trip to the boutique which closed down part of Madison Avenue when she visited with the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah.

Amid shaking hands and signing campaign posters, Mitt Romney did something he has never done before on the ropeline: He took out his wallet and handed a wad of cash to a woman waiting to shake his hand. [snip] According to Williams, she followed the campaign bus to the Columbia airport on Wednesday, the same day Romney was arriving from New Hampshire. When Romney wasn’t on the bus, aides told her to go to the rally scheduled in Columbia later that day. When she showed up, Romney found her to say hello and pulled over South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley...

President Obama is learning what Nancy Reagan already knows: When it comes to White House glamour - and the spending that comes with it - it’s not so much what you do as when you do it. Decades ago, the former first lady was criticized for wearing expensive designer clothing and buying a pricey new White House china set - paid for by private donations, by the way - during a recession. In the here and now, Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, have prompted similar complaints for hosting a lavish, unpublicized “Alice in Wonderland” White House Halloween party in...

First lady Michelle Obama says her husband deserves re-election not only for his first term accomplishments and vision for the future, but because of his genuine empathy for families dealing with tough economic times. “He understands these issues, not just because he’s smart but because he’s lived them,” Obama told a group of 100 campaign donors at a $2,500-a-plate luncheon in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. “He was raised by a single mother who struggled to put herself through school and pay the bills. And when she needed help, who stepped in? His grandmother, waking up early every morning to take a...

As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending Congressional elections for the next couple of years. “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.” Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members...

First lady Michelle Obama today spoke in very frank and personal terms to a Massachusetts audience as she described her conversion to a political wife, as well as the toll President Obama’s job takes on him each day. “I see the worry creasing his face. I hear the passion and determination in his voice. ‘You won’t believe what these folks are going through;’ he told me that last night. ‘Michelle, it is not right. We’ve got to fix this. We have to do more,’” she said during a visit to Boston for a fund-raiser on behalf of the Democratic National...

At a time when many Americans can barely afford Burger King and a movie, Obama boasts of spending a billion dollars on his re-election campaign. Questioned at a recent appearance about the spiraling fuel costs, Obama said, "Get used to it" – and with an insouciant grin and chortle, he told another person at the event, who complained about the effect high fuel prices were having on his family, to "get a more fuel-efficient car."

A dizzying succession of major world events is bombarding a president who insists on controlling his own time, emotions and political message. With Japan’s nuclear crisis teetering on the verge of catastrophe, with Libya and Bahrain in violent turmoil, and with financial markets crashing in response, President Barack Obama has been adamantly sticking to his own political and policy playbook. That has meant muscling past the red-siren headlines to hammer away at the jobs-and-education message that will be the centerpiece of his 2012 campaign, the kind of discipline that is a hallmark of his new senior adviser, David Plouffe. And...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House says President Barack Obama will keep his plans to travel to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador despite mounting crises demanding his attention. Obama is scheduled to visit the three Latin American nations starting Saturday and through March 23.

VAIL — Michelle Obama had at least five options for weekend destinations, but insisted on Vail, sources told the Vail Daily. The first lady and her daughters were among those who packed up and headed for home Monday, closing out a busy Presidents Day weekend in the Vail Valley. Michelle Obama's press secretary issued a statement Saturday that the family is picking up the tab for personal expenses. Sources say that because Obama was largely paying her own way, she insisted on the final say.

Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein bagged a $14.6M compensation package.....including stock awards, which were also paid to other top executives. Blankfein also got a 230% bump in his base salary to $2M, up from $600,000 since 2007....excluding private jets, cars and other perks. CFO David Viniar, COO Gary Cohn and Vice Chair Michael Evans received identical boosts, with each hauling in $1.85M annually. Blankfein's pay in the halcyon days of 2007, was $67.9M. Other firms have been hiking base pay at a time when regulators are mulling new rules for Wall Street pay.

CHICAGO — Showing up to check on the construction progress, the owners of the stately old brick house being renovated on Greenwood Avenue could be forgiven for feeling a bit stressed. There are blockades at each end of the block, and signs warn people that they need permission from federal authorities to go any farther. Every carpenter, roofer and mason to set foot on the job site must submit to a background check. Each night they are required to e-mail their schedules for the next day. If they say they are going to arrive at 8 a.m. and they do...

Michelle Obama thinks being America’s First Lady is ‘hell’, Carla Bruni reveals today in a wildly indiscreet new book. Miss Bruni reveals that Mrs Obama replied when asked about her position as the U.S. president’s wife: ‘Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!’ Details of the private conversation, which took place at the White House during an official visit by Nicolas Sarkozy last March, emerged in Carla And The Ambitious, a book written in collaboration with Miss Bruni.

I don't know about you, but when I paint fixtures with a sloppy broad brush, I make sure to wear my finest, most expensive designer shirts. Just like Michelle Obama.Below are photos of Michelle "Antoinette" Obama wearing a $207.90 t-shirt by Tom Binns and John Eshaya at a National Day of Service and Remembrance event at the Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, Va. on Saturday.I suppose if she got paint on it she can claim it as a charitable deduction. The rich are just different from us.AP photosA woman lucky enough to have a job in the Obama economy...

The stunning decline of Barack Obama: 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in meltdown By Nile Gardiner The last few weeks have been a nightmare for President Obama, in a summer of discontent in the United States which has deeply unsettled the ruling liberal elites, so much so that even the Left has begun to turn against the White House. While the anti-establishment Tea Party movement has gained significant ground and is now a rising and powerful political force to be reckoned with, many of the president’s own supporters as well as independents are rapidly losing faith in...

There’s a lot of talk about Michelle and Sasha Obama’s mother-daughter trip with 40 friends to a ritzy resort on the coast of Spain, and some of the commentary is a little harsh. Andrea Tantaros of the New York Daily News calls the first lady a “material girl” and a “modern-day Marie Antoinette”--but she also brings up a valid point about the cost to taxpayers of taking an estimated 70 Secret Service agents and Air Force Two on an overseas vacation. Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post writes that the attacks are unfair and that it’s not reasonable to expect...

When it comes to food, President Obama is like any other guy -- upscale with the missus, comfort fast food when he's traveling solo. On Thursday, POTUS made an unscheduled stop by Duff's Famous Wings near Buffalo for the local delicacy. "This is the wing capital!" he explained to reporters. The president opted for medium wings ("Hot"), then -- at the urging of the crowd -- added a few extra spicy ones, plus french fries and onion rings to his order. --snip-- Here in D.C., Obama takes the first lady to upscale restaurants (Komi last week, Nora's, Citronelle, Equinox, Blue...

President Obama's family had its own prescription for any pre-health-care vote tension: a foot-stomping Broadway show. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia took in a performance of the musical "Memphis," a story about a white radio disc jockey and a black singer whose love of music -- and each other -- transcends race lines and airwaves. They were joined by the first lady's mother, Marian Robinson. Read more: http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/st_family_enjoys_drama_here_TU72qlNLgYz2UXsgCrYZXL#ixzz0iv31biSt

First Lady Michelle Obama evinces no concern for the tens of millions of Americans suffering the consequences of her husband's failing economic policies as she is once again seen flaunting her Imelda Marcos taste in ridiculously expensive designer clothers.Women's Wear Daily reported today that Michelle Obama wore a dress that retails for $1850 to the State of the Union address given by her husband, Barack Obama, on Wednesday night.Last week, the White House featured as the 'photo of the day' a picture of Michelle Obama wearing a $2763 designer coat with matching dress of unknown cost and $850 custom made...

With the nation still mired in a deep recession that has millions of Americans experiencing economic ruin, the Obama administration marked Barack Obama's one-year anniversary as president by displaying a photograph of First Lady Michelle Obama wearing a $2,763 designer coat as the 'White House photo of the day' on the front page of WhiteHouse.gov.First Lady Michelle Obama greets a young visitor touring the White House during a surprise visit in the Blue Room with family dog Bo on the anniversary of the inauguration, Jan. 20, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)Nola Weinstein, Fashion Editor for Glam.com noted...

Port au Prince (AFP) .- Hundreds of Haitians attended on Tuesday, between resignation and anger, the impressive helicopters landing of U.S. troops in the presidential palace, in an act considered by many a loss of sovereignty. "It's an occupation. The palace is the country, represents our power, our face, our pride," Feodor Desanges criticism. A week after the earthquake that devastated the Haitian capital, leaving between 100,000 and 200,000 dead, this was the first time that the Haitians were able to observe the troops sent by the U.S. in the downtown. "I have not seen distributing food in the city...

After Obama Tells America “Everyone Must Sacrifice� the White House Throws 1 Party Every 3 Days in First Year Back in January 2009, before he signed his failed $787 billion stimulus bill into law, Barack Obama told America that everyone must sacrifice for the greater good. Everyone must have “some skin in the game.� What he meant, of course, was that everyone would have to sacrifice to lift American out of the worst recession since the Great Depression except for Barack and Michelle Obama. Now we learn that the the Obama White House has held one party every three days...

President Barack Obama's Daughters Surfed Through The End Of 2009, Showing Off Their Skills On The Waves To Their Mother While On Holiday In Hawaii. [Pics in URL] Michelle Obama clapped as Malia and even her younger sister Sasha both managed to stand up on their boards to ride the waves in.

Photo: Huffington Post.Photo: New York Magazine. Barack Obama enjoys living like a king, so why shouldn't Michelle Obama live like a queen?The First Lady was photographed last night in Hawaii wearing $635 per pair designer shoes by Maison Martin Margiela.The shoe style is called "Leather open toe flat pumps." It features a "thin nude leather strap across the top of the toe."A woman lucky enough to have a job in this economy and working for the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would have to work 88 hours (without taxes taken out) to make enough to pay for Michelle...

Michelle Obama: It's a 'sacrifice' to travel to Europe to pitch for the Olympics. For Oprah and the president, too. But we're doing it for the kids. By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent09/30/09 5:12 PM EDT In her speech in Copenhagen today, First Lady Michelle Obama said her trip to Denmark, along with the travel of her "dear friend" and "chit-chat buddy" Oprah Winfrey, as well as tomorrow's visit by President Obama, is a "sacrifice" on behalf of the children of Chicago and the United States. "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or...

Senator Boxer pushes book while crowds protest Senator Barbara Boxer at Book Passage Marin got a small dose of the health care protests on Wednesday evening when U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer made an appearance at Corte Madera's Book Passage to promote her newest work of fiction, Blind Trust. Holding hand-made signs, about two dozen protesters lined the entrance to the Book Passage's parking lot. Boxer protestor, Pam Silleman of Napa "She should be doing town hall meetings with her constituents instead of book tours," said Pam Silleman who was waving at cars and carrying a sign that read "Born Free...

"Let Them Eat Cake"The quote, as attributed to Marie Antoinette, was claimed to have been uttered during one of the famines that occurred in France during the reign of her husband Louis XVI. Upon being alerted that the people were suffering due to widespread bread shortages, she is said to have replied, "Then let them eat brioche" (not really cake but more of an egg bread).This type of callousness on the part of the monarchy has often been referred to in writings about the possible factors that led to the French Revolution The arrogance of the elitist progressive liberals in...

In a very orderly discussion of the Health care issue on Saturday 8/8/2009 Congressman Doggett was asked about mandating all Congressmen, Senators, government workers and the President to be required to use the same health plan as the American Public. His committee has studied health care for 2 years but says that such provisions are not part of the overall plan. Both sides of the healthcare reform issue cheered when this was brought up to the Congressman.

Click the source link to see our four-year-old-in-chief making fun of the tea party protesters. Obama should be grateful folks were just holding tea bags, signs and flags instead of what most of them felt like holding.Obama was at a town hall appearance in Missouri today when he made fun of Americans.

Holding signs reading "Stimulate Business, Not Government," "Families Against Porkulus" and "Say No To Generational Theft," protesters opposed to the $787 billion stimulus package have been mobilizing across the country. It started last Monday in Seattle, then moved Tuesday to Denver, where President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law. That was followed by another one in Mesa, Ariz., where Obama unveiled a mortgage rescue plan. Another protest was planned for Saturday outside the office of Rep. Dennis Moore in Overland Park, Kan. The Democrat voted for the stimulus. His office didn't return calls seeking comment. A New Populism? As...

Governor calls up record number of Guard troops Some 4,600 Kentucky National Guard troops are part of a record-setting effort to dig out from a paralyzing winter storm that continues to leave hundreds of thousands Kentuckians in the dark and is being blamed on a growing number of deaths. "We're in for a long haul here," said Gov. Steve Beshear at a Saturday night press conference at the Boone Guard Center in Frankfort. Kentucky "is in the middle of the biggest natural disaster this state has ever experienced in modern history." Beshear said state officials have confirmed seven deaths as...

There's a report out that The Dear Leader (Hussein Obama) REALLY, REALLY enjoys his new status as Emperor Of The World. Most of us thought that dietary items like arugula were a bit on the pricy (and eccentric) side. Now, however, The Dear Leader has added a new item to our national food lexicon:Wagyu Beef For you Saxon dog serfs out there, we're talking about a type of steak that runs over $100 a pound. In some instances, Wagyu beef can run over $100 a 6-8 ounce serving. You won't see this at your local McDonald's when they unchain you...

HAVANA - President Raul Castro's government is allowing ordinary Cubans to have cell phones. The luxury was previously reserved for those who worked for foreign firms or held key posts with the communist-run state. Friday's decree officially lifts a major restriction on daily life in Cuba.

No tangerines for you? July 24, 2007 The politics of global warming got very concrete, and oddly difficult, In a meeting with local environmentalists in the coastal town of McClellanville today, where Elizabeth Edwards raised in passing the importance of relying on locally-grown fruit. "We've been moving back to 'buy local,'" Mrs. Edwards said, outlining a trade policy that "acknowledges the carbon footprint" of transporting fruit. "I live in North Carolina. I'll probably never eat a tangerine again," she said, speaking of a time when the fruit is reaches the price that it "needs" to be. Edwards had talked about...

March 31st is Al Gore's birthday (he's an Aries), and astrologer Shelley Ackerman has responded to my initial please-lose-the- grief-weight-Al post so intelligently, that I must quote her here. She posted this on her website KarmicRelief: "How about examining WHY we're so freaked out by weight in the first place? Do we really understand what causes it? Is it the same for everyone? "I've felt for a long time that, beyond the obvious benefits of diet and exercise, there is an "X" factor...I've noticed in my own life, and in the lives of other very sensitive friends and associates (especially...

LONDON - Prince Charles suggested Tuesday on a visit to the United Arab Emirates that banning McDonald’s fast food was crucial for improving people’s diets, a British news agency reported. Charles’s comments came while visiting the Imperial College London Diabetes Center in Abu Dhabi for the launch of a public health campaign, Britain’s Press Association news agency reported. ”Have you got anywhere with McDonald’s? Have you tried getting it banned? That’s the key,” Charles asked one of the center’s nutritionists, according to the news agency. A McDonald’s spokeswoman called the remark disappointing. ”This appears to be an off-the-cuff remark, in...

Six Arrested Outside of Sen. Clinton's Office Tuesday January 30, 2007 11:35am Capitol Hill (AP) - U.S. Capitol Police have arrested six people outside the offices of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Sergeant Kimberly Schneider says the six people were demonstrating outside of the New York Democrat's suite of offices in the Russell Senate Office Building around 11 a.m. Senate rules prohibit such demonstrations inside of buildings located in the U.S. Capitol complex. Schneider says the people are being charged with disorderly conduct.

Just announced by MSNBC

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Disturbing statistics on the number of Hispanics who daily go hungry in America was released at a press conference on Wednesday by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). The national Hispanic civil rights group found that nearly one in five people lack nutritious food. NCLR officials said in a press release that increasing federal nutrition assistance programs would help decrease the growing "food insecurity" faced by 19.6 percent of Latinos in America. "Lack of access to resources is forcing far too many Latino families into choices no one should have to make, such as between...

My face time with John Kerry has been brief but choice. In 2003, I was at a campaign event in New Hampshire chatting with two old coots in plaid. The senator approached and stopped in front of us. The etiquette in primary season is that the candidate defers to the cranky Granite Stater's churlish indifference to status and initiates the conversation: "Hi, I'm John Kerry. Good to see ya. Cold enough for ya? How 'bout them Sox?" Etc. Instead, Kerry just stood there nose to nose, staring at us with an inscrutable semi-glare on his face. After an eternity, an...

WHEN he was president, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing refused to let anybody sit opposite him at dinner, reviving a tradition dating from the court of Louis XIV. François Mitterrand thought nothing of dispatching his chef to Brittany for the day to buy fresh oysters for dinner.Ever since General Charles de Gaulle, French rulers have been famed for their enjoyment of absolute power and its trappings: Jacques Chirac’s pilot knows better than to land before le patron has had a good sleep, even if it means flying in circles. Like so many other French traditions, however, the extraordinary privileges of power are...

"U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, center, poses for a photograph with well-wishers outside the Helen B. Atkinson Health Center in Harlem, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, in New York, following a press conference at the center calling for a decision on 'Plan B' emergency birth control by Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach, who, Clinton says, has delayed a decision on Plan B's application." "U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton , D-NY, third from right, greets well-wishers outside the Helen B. Atkinson Health Center in Harlem, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, in New York, following a press conference calling for a decision...

KATIE Couric had fellow passengers aboard a New York-bound jet on the warpath this week when, as their plane was about to taxi to the runway, she got out of her seat and begged the pilot to allow one of her late-arriving producers to board. "It was like, 'Who the hell does she think she is?' " fumed one passenger who observed Couric's diva-like antics. "If you or I attempted something like this, we'd be cooling our heels at Guantanamo." The witness told Page Six that attendants on Wednesday's 6:30 p.m. Delta Shuttle flight out of Washington, D.C., had already...

It comes at little surprise that the House, again, passed the amendment to outlaw the burning of the American flag. But yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, among other Senate colleagues, announced their support for the June 26th Senate vote on the Flag Desecration Amendment. The announcement came on non-other than Flag Day. How quaint. But don't be too alarmed, it seems a 2/3 majority is still lacking in the Senate. The House has passed a similar amendment half a dozen times in the past few years. While it has never gained enough votes in the Senate, it gets closer...

President Bush's proposal for a guest worker program as a way of addressing illegal immigration is gaining support from Gov. Mitch Daniels, but doubts from officials with agencies that work with northwestern Indiana's growing immigrant population. Bush's desire for a guest worker program has been stalled in Congress since he proposed it while running for re-election, although at least two competing bills would establish temporary worker visas. He made immigration the subject of his weekly radio address Saturday and addressed the issue during appearances in Arizona and Texas last week, saying it will top his legislative agenda next year. "These...

According to Bob Geldof, two billion people watched his snazzy Live8 concert thingamajig. Therefore, he declared, "It's now for the leaders to act." He also added, "Now feel the force of the gale that's hit you." At the top of Geldof's gale-force demands: debt relief for African nations. O.K., so here's what I'm confused about. People watched a concert, which was chockablock with acts supposedly popular with the young 'uns and old 'uns alike. From Snoop Dogg, Will Smith, and Coldplay to the more aged likes of Madonna, Sting, and Bono. There were even a few troubadours with last names...

HAVILAH, Calif. — St. James and LaDonna Davis raised Moe the chimpanzee as their son. That was the word they used to describe him, and that was how they treated him — like a hairy, rambunctious child who was a pampered member of the family. They taught him to wear clothes, to take showers, to use the toilet and to watch TV in their West Covina home. They had their picture taken in bed with him. On Thursday, the day they marked as Moe's 39th birthday, their love for the chimp nearly cost them their lives. The Davises were visiting...

Chimps Shot Dead After Attacking Visitors At California Sanctuary POSTED: 8:08 am EST March 4, 2005 BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A couple's plans for a birthday party for their former pet chimpanzee turned tragic when two other chimps at an animal sanctuary escaped from their cage and attacked. The man was critically injured with massive wounds to his face, body and limbs, and the attacking animals were shot dead. St. James and LaDonna Davis were at the Animal Haven Ranch in Caliente to celebrate the birthday of Moe, a 39-year-old chimpanzee who was taken from their suburban Los Angeles home in...

BORDEAUX, France, Jan 6 (AFP) - Bordeaux wine producers announced more depressing export figures Thursday, with sales to the United States down by more than a third in a year. Overall exports from the historic wine region of southwest France were down 10 percent in volume and 24 percent in value for the first three quarters of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003, according to the Interprofessional Council of Bordeaux Wine (CIVB). Exports to the United States were down by a massive 35 percent in volume and 59 percent in value, and sales to Britain down by 21...

Peter Parks/Agence France-Presse-Getty Images, top Compared with the average Gulfstream jet, a Hummer H2 can seem downright fuel efficient. THERE are objects or possessions that scream "I'm better than you" - items that remind the average Joe of a cultural and economic divide that cannot be crossed. It's a $10,000 bottle of wine, a Hummer, a real Rolex. This year's conspicuous object seems to be the private jet. Once, this prized possession was associated with corporate executives and reclusive stars. Or with congressmen on a junket. There was nothing political, or at least nothing partisan, about them. But since...