BoyLegs

Try something less, like $4 a gallon, I can't beleave people sustaining SUVs at such a price. I drive a Celica and get 30MPG, driving to work and back is 75 miles a day. It's taking a bite out of my wallet making only 16.50 an hour just only working 40 hours a week. Currently there is no OT so it's even worse. Bottom line with bills, car payment, home heating oil at $3.00 + a gallon, 10 grand of credit card debt acclaimed between jobs in the last 6 years. Nope we are all ready F%$Ked, the working poor the majority of the economic purchasing power. This country is going flat on it's face before it's over.

I don't want to gloss over the difficulties energy prices cause currently; I am just expecting worse, as explained in earlier posts. Right now we still are so reliant on moving goods by truck that there is a driver shortage. Throughout the first half of the 20th century it was the policy of the Interstate Commerce Commission to erase the respective cost advantages held by trucks for short-haul and trains for long-haul cartage. Then the interstate highway system provided a brand new right-of-way for trucks at minimal cost. Right now there are some rail corridors in development, as described in the Wall Street Journal; these are news items because it is so infrequent to have rail laid down rather than torn up. The rail net in the Northeastern US has been substantially shredded in the past 50 years, including the removal of the most direct route from Buffalo to New York City.

It takes 14 ounces of fuel to move a ton of goods 100 km by train, and about half that by large ship. By truck, 1% of the weight moved will be consumed as fuel every 100 km [Dunnigan, How to Make War, p. 311]. A doubling of fuel costs will be ultimately offset by substitutions, but there will be dislocations during the process because the penalty has to be borne immediately and the substitutions can only be achieved over time.

hi guys, those of us in the old country are in the sh*t too....

Now am i being a bore, but i s this site a hh site or a rant against Bush or the american way ? or western way if you want to be picky...

I can't speak for anyone else, but it was not my intention to devolve into an anti-Bush, anti-American or anti-western rant. I am taking a cold hard look at the economics.

My expectation is that the Democrats will win this year (while mindful of the ability of the Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory). They will want to dry every teary eye in the country and that takes money. There are only three ways to finance gov't operations: tax, borrow or print. The new administration will choose to print. This will also help with the real estate crisis: if you bought your house at $250k and financed 100%, but it's now worth $200k, you're in the hole. If we inflate the economy until you house is now worth $400k, your problem is solved.

The world financial community realizes this and has priced the dollar recognizing the risk that this will occur. There are laws on the books that require the federal gov't to manage the economy for job growth: the Full Employment Act of 1946 and the Humphrey-Hawkins Act of 1978. I believe that the world generally and the oil producing nations specifically expect the US to print its way out of trouble.

A whole range of economic effects, from longer commute times to global manufacturing competition, are predicated on cheap transportation. If gasoline goes to $6/gallon, it will be economically very destructive.

I like round, peep and almond toes, but pointed are the best.

Delicious red patent peep toe pumps

I would still want to wear heels myself. I like to see my wife in her heels, and I still want heels of my own. The one really doesn't influence the other.

Love the straps with buttons.

Look at the picture. Which shoes would you rather be wearing?

I'd rather not be on display in the shop window. Approachable sales help also goes a long way.

Most sandals; I don't want to see too much foot. Peep toes, however, are not included; I like them. I have become right sick of mules over the past ten years, but my wife has some I really like.

Yes we have the store loyalty cards too. Tesco Club card and Sainsbury reward card to name but two. You get a 1% discount. They never worry me too much. Just get on and shop, life is too short! If you don't want to be tracked, pay cash and don't use the card.

In the states, we're probably 5-10 years away from the point where you will have to give the retailer information about yourself and agree to accept email (or bluetooth messages on your phone) in order to get any price break. Retailers hate to give discounts to incent people to buy what they were going to buy anyway. For various reasons, retailers have become coupon and promo junkies, and have been looking for a way to kick the habit for years. What the retailer wants is to identify you, know what you're going to buy anyway, and cross-sell related items, possibly with some promo, to expand your use of the store. Those who don't want to share information about themselves will simply pay list price for everything.

She is one gorgeous woman.

Now for the shocker!

There is no such thing as a dollar! It is a total figment of the Federal Reserve's imagination and has been foisted upon both the US and the world for as long as the Federal Reserve has been in control of America's money supply. It is backed by nothing. Therefore, it is worth whatever the Federal Reserve says it is worth and if you don't like that you can take your dollars to any American bank where they will be replaced with more "funny money" that looks exactly like what you turned in.

Ain't it great?

Well, we tried having currency backed in gold a hundred years ago. When we got situations like this, a big line forms to redeem currency for gold, the central bank sees the gold shooting out of the vault and revokes the promise to redeem. Thus the currency degenerates to fiat money in the end.

Actually, the dollar is not technically worth what the Fed says it is. It is worth what other people will give you for it. If no one believed in the dollar, you wouldn't be able to trade with it at all, regardless of what the Fed says. If you don't like what the Fed says, your recourse is to not accept dollars, which is what the oil-producing nations are proposing to do.

A story: During the German 1923 hyperinflation, a guy was standing on line with his goods to purchase and his wheelbarrow full of marks. While he was waiting to get to the register, the store repriced all the goods (stores would reprice at least once a day at this time) and he now needed to have more money. So he figured, "no one is going to steal all this money; it's worthless." He left the wheelbarrow full of money at the store and ran home to get more. When he returned, he found out how right he was: the money was in a heap on the floor and the wheelbarrow was gone.

Yes, the good old USA really sucks; please send transportation for the illegal douche bags that are here and let them go back to the shit hole of a country they came from...

If the people coming to this country illegally were blond and blue-eyed, the citizenry would have no problem whatsoever with their presence here among.

The falling dollar owes much to the fact that some countries are now trading oil in Euros, which incidently, is what Saddam Hussein was threatening to do before the invasion.

Actually kind of the other way 'round, but still on track.

The dollar has been the world currency not only for oil trading, but also for world finance. That means that we Yanks pay interest on our debt in dollars. So if we print more dollars (technically, increase the money supply through open market operations), then we get to pay our interest in cheaper dollars. Neat trick, no? Bet you wish your country could do that!

However, the rest of the world isn't stupid. They know that we have printed our way out of every debt going back to the Civil War. The US government, irrespective of what party is in power, fears the replacement of the dollar with the euro as the world currency, which would mean that the dollar would lose its privileged position and the US government would be accountable to the rest of the world for its inflationary policies. Over the past 15 years, the Federal Reserve has walked a careful tightrope in setting expectations of the balance it would strike between fighting inflation and stimulating the domestic economy. The dollar is much more likely to be used as a creative financing tool of a government than is the euro.

Similarly, if you run an oil-producing nation, and you raise prices, the price-based inflation you provoke will lead you to be paid in cheaper dollars. There will be some of these pressures on the euro, but it appears that the German central bank will act to mitigate them, and it will be the politicians' problem to deal with the contraction that will result. So why wouldn't you want to price your oil in Euros? Iran also is threatening to do this. Saudi Arabia uses the implied threat as a policy lever to extract what it wants from the US. But the dollar isn't falling because of the threat of its replacement as a world currency; the threat of replacing the dollar as a world currency is arising because everyone knows our government will manage the dollar for its own purposes.

Ultrafeminine, especially if they are buttery soft leather and have high, pencil-thin heels.

Michou: Those are the classic quarter-strap sandals. Great skirt, too.

Back in my twenties, I felt the same way: I wanted to see closed pumps, no sides of feet, no toes. Since then, I have broadened my preferences (and my wardrobe) to include d'orsay ankle straps and peep toes. But pumps are still first with me, and always will be.

I will be happy when the whole Crocs thing goes away. I can not understand why "comfortable" means "ugly!"

"They will try very hard to maintain the image that they care very little about their image." -- Po Bronson, "The Seven Habits of Highly Engineered People"

They are lovely. I am looking forward to bows being back in style. In the '80s, stores used to sell clip-on bows.

1.) Men, have you ever worn footwear with an elevated heel? a) Yes 2.) Men, have you ever worn footwear with an elevated heel in public? a) Yes 3.) Men, how often do you wear elevated heeled shoes in public? Please specify X number of times per week, month or year or never. Seldom 4.) Men, if you wear elevated heeled shoes in public do you also wear other items of clothing that is 'socially determined to be ladies wear'? Yes sometimes 5.) Men, do your friends, family, work colleagues know of your wearing of elevated heeled footwear? Some yes, but I'm careful who I share it with. 6.) Men, if you do not share the knowledge that you wear elevated heeled footwear with friends, family, work colleagues, please can you provide the main reason why? Expectation of negative outcome 7.) Men, have you ever been to a 'Heelmeet' or similar arranged meeting? No 8.) Men, if you have attended a 'Heelmeet' how many other men were present also wearing elevated heeled footwear? (please refer to the last Heelmeet you were present at). n/a 9.) Men, if you have attended a 'Heelmeet' in elevated heeled footwear what has been the general public response to your attire with respect to your footwear? n/a 10.) Men, if you have attended a 'Heelmeet' how has the number of men attending wearing elevated heeled footwear changed? n/a 11.) Men, do you feel vunerable in your public surroundings wearing footwear with elevated heels? a) Yes 12.) Men, have you ever received any public negativity when or for wearing footwear with elevated heels? a) Yes 13.) Men, do you feel that an elevated heeled shoe could ever achieve unisex status as a mainstream fashion item? a) Yes 14.) Men, if the elevated heeled shoe ever became a unisex fashion item would it still hold the same appeal to you as the wearer? a) Yes 15.) Sorry forgot, please could I you to specify your age and country of residence? 45, USA

One evening Donna pointed out to me that I was walking a lot more confidently in my heels. I was wearing my wine sling pumps in the house, and she had me walk around for her. I was still in heaven every time I put my high heels on. For her part, Donna had discontinued her practice of walking around the house barefoot in the evening. She would typically wear pumps, but sometimes she would wear mary janes or ankle straps if she wanted me to fuss over her shoes. It was always my job, as shoeboy, to do her buckles. This evening, Donna stated, in a manner that did not invite dispute, that it was time for her to show off her shoeboy to other women. She was friends with some women she used to work with, and she wanted them to see me in my heels. I was too excited to argue, anyway. So Donna arranged for three of her friends to come over one evening. She had me wear a good shirt, khakis and my wine pumps. She wore a top with a low-cut scoop neck, a print skirt and her gold ankle-straps with 4" heels, which of course I had to buckle. She had me wait upstairs while she got the girls seated. Then she came up and led me downstairs by the hand, introducing me as her shoeboy. She walked me around the room, pulling up my pants leg so that everyone could see my sling pumps. My face burned bright red -- I had met these women, they were very opinionated and now they were seeing me in high heels. But they were enthusiastic, and congratulated her on finding someone who would appreciate her taste. All of them were wearing high heels themselves; Donna later told me she had asked them to. Donna had me fetch drinks for the ladies. As I walked into the kitchen, my heels clicked on the hard floor. I heard one of them call out from the living room, "I hear the sound of sexy high heels." When I returned and served everyone, Donna had me sit next to her. She lifted my legs across her lap and fondled my feet, as I had done to her many times in private. The guests evidently liked to watch me walk in my heels, as they repeatedly asked for things from the kitchen, so that I had to keep walking in and out. I would get a request, ask if anyone else wanted something, and they'd all say no. Then not five minutes later, someone else wanted a drink. After a while I got comfortable with it; when I sat down, I started pointing my feet to show them off for the guests. The affair lasted a little under three hours. When the last woman left, Donna put her arms around me and told me she was very proud of me. She led me upstairs to bed, and presented me with a foot. Before I undid her straps, I kissed every inch of her beautiful gold shoes. They were d'orsay cut on the side toward the other foot, and I also pushed my tongue firmly against her bare arch (do it too lightly and it just tickles). She returned the favor, kissing all over the toes of my pumps. The next evening, Donna told me that she had got calls from two of the women who were there and both "were thrilled to see her shoeboy in his pretty heels." Donna promised that we would do it again soon. "And of course, I promised them I'd take you shopping to expand your wardrobe."

I am on my second marriage now. My wife knows about my shoes and has seen some of them, but she has difficulty with the idea of my wearing them. One thing to remember is that none of this is rational — neither our desire to wear high heels or others' desire for us not to. As such, it is not something that can be solved by making logical arguments. I won't get any farther by saying, "Why is it that women can wear men's stuff but men can't wear women's?" than she will by saying, "You don't see other men wearing high heels." And don't bother asking about going to heel meets or other places where you will see men wearing high heels. Like I said, it's not rational. When I was in college, a woman my age told me that most women were fantasizing about their weddings back when we still thought girls had cooties. I think that they're walking around with images of what their lives will have been like since they were ten. And in most of those images, the man is emphatically not wearing "women's shoes." I would welcome hearing from the women on this board about this. I have been exercising patience, going out of my way not to force anything. We reached an agreement that I could wear my shoes when I am home and she's at work. And, just this month, she voluntarily offered me the chance to wear my shoes in front of her for the first time, as long as they were black.

Style first, but height helps. I have shoes I like in all different heel heights, but there are some shoes I would never wear no matter how high the heels were.

I love to see pointed toes, but round toes have their place. The style I have been attracted to is called "almond toe" by the stores. Given the opportunity, I would buy almond toes and pointed toes.