Is there no end to the wealthy chasing more and more expensive status symbols? It has become the surreal world of bling culture - all that flashes, glitters and shouts "I'm fucking rich."

A month ago the Financial Times ran a feature on how department stores are trying to cater for "the consumer who has Arrived".

But the unspoken theme of the article was that no one arrives - the destination keeps shifting. The problem, an executive from Chanel explained, is that luxury has been "over-democratised".

The rich are having to spend more and more to distinguish themselves from the herd: in the United States the market in goods and services designed for this purpose is worth £720bn a year.   more »

George Pangloss Bush who lives in the best of all possible worlds (as, he would have us believe, do the Iraqis) said that ordinary life in that country was returning and pulling out now would cause a humanitarian nightmare, leaving it to the listener to come up with words to describe what has been going on since he invaded.

Ignoring the effects of his deceptively begun war he said it was up to us to help Iraq "defeat those who threaten its future," ignoring the fact that he is the man who set in motion the events that threaten its future.

To cap it all off, Bush placed a Panglossian gloss on the entire tragedy by taking off in a flight of rhetorical fancy saying that Iraqi leaders had "asked for an enduring relationship with America" as though he were speaking of an infatuated couple after a one night stand.   more »

At the tail end of yesterday afternoon’s Republican presidential debate, CNBC’s Maria “The Money Honey” Bartiromo asked Fred Thompson how his first appearance on-stage with the rest of the G.O.P. field had gone.

“I’ve enjoyed watching these fellas,” he finally managed, after stumbling for something sufficiently light-hearted to sat, “But I gotta admit: it was starting to get a little boring without me.”

Actually, Fred, it was much, much worse with you.

It almost feels like piling on, given the reams of negative reviews Mr. Thompson’s entry into the race has generated, but his performance in Dearborn was pretty close to a catastrophe for the low-key Tennesseean.   more »

Since 2004 Israel has been successful in pressuring American policy positions vis-à-vis Iran to more closely model the positions taken by Israel, up to and including a characterization of Iran as a nation pursuing nuclear weapons ambitions, operating as a state sponsor of terror, and possessing a government which is fundamentally incompatible with regional and global peace and security.

The Israeli perspective on Iran is driven by two primary factors:

A “zero tolerance” for the acquisition of nuclear weapons by any nation deemed a threat, either real or potential, that is so strict even nuclear energy-related programs permitted under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (which Iran contends, and the IAEA concurs, is the case regarding its nuclear activities) are deemed unacceptable, and an inability to diplomatically resolve the reality of the Lebanese Hezbollah Party on its northern borders.

The Israeli posturing regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and America’s unquestioning support of the Israeli position, has nullified any chance of meaningful diplomacy in this regard.   more »

When, in mid-September, General David Petraeus testified before Congress on "progress" in Iraq, he appeared in full dress uniform with quite a stunning chestful of medals.

The general is undoubtedly a tough bird. He was shot in the chest during a training-exercise accident and later broke his pelvis in a civilian skydiving landing, but until he went to Iraq in 2003, he had not been to war.

In the wake of his testimony, the New York Times tried to offer an explanation for the provenance of at least some of those intimidating medals and ribbons.

Including the United Nations Medal (for participants in joint UN operations), the National Defense Service Medal (for those serving during a declared national emergency, including 9/11) and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (for… well, you know…).   more »