“What keeps you up at night?” is a standard question asked by management consultants. What if we asked that same question of the campaign managers of the leading candidates in the presidential race? How might they respond? I tried to put myself in their shoes, or rather, in their sheets. Mitt Romney’s team might toss and turn over today’s Union Leader endorsement of Newt Gingrich . The paper usually takes one of two paths; it either endorses strongly or all-out.  In the latter scenario, it has been known to run daily front-page editorials trashing their candidate’s opponents — essentially becoming a communications arm of their favored candidate’s campaign. From the tone of their endorsement, I would bet on shock and awe for Romney from New Hampshire’s leading newspaper. Read full article > >

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Thoughts that go bump in the night

“What keeps you up at night?” is a standard question asked by management consultants. What if we asked that same question of the campaign managers of the leading candidates in the presidential race? How might they respond? I tried to put myself in their shoes, or rather, in their sheets. Mitt Romney’s team might toss and turn over today’s Union Leader endorsement of Newt Gingrich . The paper usually takes one of two paths; it either endorses strongly or all-out.  In the latter scenario, it has been known to run daily front-page editorials trashing their candidate’s opponents — essentially becoming a communications arm of their favored candidate’s campaign. From the tone of their endorsement, I would bet on shock and awe for Romney from New Hampshire’s leading newspaper. Read full article > >

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Thoughts that go bump in the night

Reebok agreed Wednesday to refund $25 million to customers who bought its popular EasyTone and RunTone shoes as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which says the company did not have the science to back its “better way to a better butt” claims. The settlement, which must be approved in court, prohibits Reebok from making further unsubstantiated claims regarding the strengthening and toning benefits of the shoes. Reebok started making the pitch in print, television and Internet advertisements in 2009 but pulled the ads in the midst of the FTC probe. Read full article > >

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Reebok to refund $25M to customers who bought EasyTone, RunTone shoes

Not long ago, when my father was about to undergo a heart procedure, I hinted to the cardiologist, a colleague, that I wanted to be there, too, not just to offer comfort but also to be present for the play-by-play that would lead to a critical decision: whether to open his blocked arteries with a stent or to perform bypass surgery. Draped in an X-ray-shielding body suit over his blue scrubs, the doctor hesitated. I understand why. I’ve stood in his shoes and listened to family members say they want to be present 24/7 with their loved ones, often in the most challenging of hospital environments, such as the intensive care unit. Read full article > >

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Intensive care units grow more friendly to patients’ families at some hospitals

GOP candidates have been dropping out of the presidential race like flies, but that has not deterred the “Hermanator” from stepping in to fill their shoes. Cain, 65, announced his presidential run on Saturday at the Centennial Olympic Park in his…

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Herman Cain Announces Presidential Run

Casual leather sandals that aren’t your grandma’s comfort shoes Bi-continental shoe company Nom&Ada is named after its two founders: The “nomadic” Rie Sawai in Tokyo and the “adaptable” Kimy Andrade in Portland, OR. The two met while studying design at Parsons in NYC and remained close friends after graduating in 2004. Five years later they met halfway between their two homes in Hawaii, and when inspiration struck over iced Kona coffee they decided to embark on a joint venture. The duo recently launched their website and e-Boutique with their debut shoe, the “holoholo” moccasin. In Hawaiian, holoholo translates to “leisurely journey”—an apt name for the comfortable, casual riff on the classic T-strap sandal. Constantly on the move, Sawai and Andrade say they’re inspired by their travels and nostalgia, and the crepe-soled sandals are perfect for airline travel, with a pair of tights, or for impromptu hikes on a sunny weekend after brunch. Despite the great distance between the two business partners, Sawai and Andrade do their best to collaborate as much as possible. “The time difference definitely kills,” they said—they even answer e-mails jointly—”but it makes the times that we do get to work together in the same location that much more special.” There are also advantages to having a close friend halfway around the world, saying “It adds different perspectives to our technical and creative process, and gives us an excuse to travel!” They chronicle their finds and inspirations on their blog , which they also write together. “Even though the majority of our conversation is business nowadays, we find a moment or two to catch up on girl talk,” they said. The crepe-soled leather sandals are handmade in Japan and come in black, white and camel—with the camel available with both white and flamingo stitching. They sell online for $260.

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Nom&Ada

Furni taps decades-old craftsmanship to make limited-edition moccasins Fresh from Canada, Furni’s new moccasins bring an urban sensibility to the traditional footwear. To make the crepe-soled shoes, Furni looked to a 40-year-old, family-owned company. Known for the craftsmanship they put into their snowshoes, moccasins and other Indian handcrafts, the company is the perfect fit with Furni’s commitment to artisan techniques. The resulting collaborative design is a men’s mid-height moccasin that hits at the ankle. Each caramel-colored shoe is made to order using the finest Brazilian leather in a Montreal workshop. The “Rockassins,” a limited edition, sell on a first come first serve basis at a cost of $98 per pair. Production begins 21 February 2010 and will ship to clients roughly three-five weeks later. Place your order on Furni’s site .

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Rockassins

Bold color remixes in an up-and-coming Japanese label’s latest accessories Underlining Masataka Matsumura’s somber Autumn/Winter 2011 collection for GiulianoFujiwara , an assortment of colorful accessories adds a “rebellious kick” to the line’s sleek styling and distinct minimalism. Leather shoes with wedged rubber soles and artisanal Italian finishing give the collection a slightly punk vibe, while illustrating the brand’s fondness for smooth curves and sharp corners. Matsumura’s knack for experimenting with color (particularly noticeable in his Spring/Summer 2010 collection) affords him the freedom to experiment with bold details. The sunglasses’ hint of visible color completely changes the mood, perfectly outlining the frames’ retro shape for a PowderPuff-meets-steampunk effect. While some will see echos of recent Prada accessories, others might wonder if Miuccia has met her match.

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GiulianoFujiwara A/W 2011 Accessories

Jack Donaghy always was a man of many talents. Sources tell PopEater that MSNBC is considering Alec Baldwin to fill the shoes left empty when Keith Olbermann abruptly announced his resignation Friday. Baldwin has long expressed an interest in entering…

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Alec Baldwin: The New Olbermann?

LAS VEGAS — Two retired cops, one from New York, the other from Dallas, were sitting on a black faux-leather couch off a hallway of Central Hall. Both are men of a certain age. Bruce Powell, the Texan, has a glorious belly and moves like an old athlete, creaky but graceful. He calls the New Yorker, Artie Mahor, his partner. Artie, dapper in a surprising pink shirt, is the suspicious type, and he’s not too sure he wants a reporter sniffing around the CES security apparatus. He would be the bad cop, at least from my perspective. In fact, he’ll later tell me that he thinks “the press is a greater threat to the security of the United States than Osama bin Laden.” And he tried to look me in the eye while he said it. But terrorists don’t like to make eye contact, so I laughed into my shoes. There’s a woman in the room, too. Mrs. Davidson, I think I hear her called. She’s the sweet, silent type and listens with admirable patience as the boys tell her stuff that it seems impossible she could care about. They’d just finished lunch when I wandered into their midst and sat down. Powell was finishing up a Coke, which he got up to throw away. On his way back in, he let forth a tremendous belch, a and excused himself. “One Coke and look at me,” he said. He struck me like a gentleman. Or at least he seemed gentle, with his nicely combed gray hair, hearing aids, and made-for-walking sneakers. You wanted him to be your grandpa and teach you how to fix a car or use a band saw. He now lives in Arkansas near the Crater of Diamonds State Park. There’d been a third ex-cop in the room before. A guy by the name of Ron Duffy, who was one of the higher-ups in the Consumer Electronics Show security team. He’d been a Chicago beat cop, and took a joking (but real) pleasure in being the boss of Powell, who retired as a captain. Duffy was cut from a different cloth from either of the other, too. His passion was drag racing, and he even brought out photos of his son’s hotrod to prove it. He got his start in the part-time convention security business at the McCormack Place convention center in Chicago. He’d been helping guard CES shows for 17 years, since back in the days when the show was held twice a year, once in Chicago and once in Las Vegas. The key to the job, he said, was to “try to create the atmosphere and perception — perception! — that Big Brother is watching.” It didn’t seem like there was too much crime or punishment going on at the show. In fact, Duffy, out of all those 17 years, couldn’t think of a single war story, a single crime, or a single interesting incident. Mainly, he pointed out that doing hired-gun security work was a great way to make some coin in retirement. He was about the equivalent of a captain, I’d reckon. He had a special go-cart in the hall to help him get around the show to meetings and such. It had his name written on it. There were three other guys like him, and then a security director above them. All the plainclothes security guys had been cops. Duffy eventually had to run off to a meeting, and I was left with the two other ex-cops. We sat on opposite leather couches in the narrow room with Mrs. Davidson to my left behind a desk. Break time was over and they were readying themselves to head out and inspect the show floor. I asked if I could come along, the equivalent of a ridealong or something. When Duffy’d been there, he hadn’t seemed opposed, exactly, to my presence, but I’d noticed a creeping sense that I wasn’t wanted. Mahor didn’t like the look of me. Still, I pressed my request. First, Mahor said if I tagged along all I’d see was them looking at people. Exactly! I said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. “So I can come along?” He eyed me. “Have you gotten this cleared?” he asked. I felt my throat tighten a bit. I felt like he was about to shutdown my house party for not having the right permits. He’d used his cop magic on me. “Well, no, I haven’t run this by anyone, specifically,” I said, silently stifling the urge to toss in a “sir.” “No?” he said. “Then you can’t come. It’s nothing personal.” There was a down beat. The two ex-cops, me, and Mrs. Davidson sat there quietly. Then Powell patted his big hands on his big knees, and pushed off from the couch. “Ok, killer,” he said. “Truth, justice, and the American way,” Mahor said. “Let’s go fight some crime.”

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The Crimefighters of the Consumer Electronics Show

Jim Fallows and I made the shlep to Pentagon City a couple of days ago, to the unhandsome building that houses the Transportation Security Administration, in order to meet with John Pistole, the new chief of the — what do they say in journalese? — embattled air-safety agency.  Our extended interview can be found here . I’ll post more on this later — analysis, commentary, wisecracks — but let me just note for the record that the security personnel at the building entrance made Fallows take off his shoes. My shoes remained on my feet. This might be because I don’t look like a terrorist, whereas Fallows does. Sometimes, around the office, Jim will walk by and I’ll think, “Hey, is that Tamil Tiger Supreme Commander Velupillai Prabhakaran ?” But then I’ll remember that Prabhakaran is dead. We both found this business with the shoes amusing, naturally, but Pistole did not. He was genuinely surprised, even flummoxed, by this bit of news from the ground floor. It was pretty much the only time in our conversation that he did become flummoxed. One quick impression: He is a reasonably — maybe even more than reasonably — thoughtful man. Another quick impression — he knows that his agency and its tactics need a great deal of improving. A third impression: He knows that there are things he needs to do that he can’t do with the workforce he inherited. For instance, he seems to understand that an inspection regime that focuses on materials — shoes, toothpaste, computers, creamy dips and spreads — is thoroughly inadequate to the mission. Effective security would focus on the passengers, and not the things they carry. But that level of security — with its whiff of profiling — calls for a better-trained, more sophisticated workforce. And a fourth: He is not defensive about his agency and his work. This may be because he’s only been in the job since July, or it may be because he’s naturally not defensive. More on this interview soon. If you’re interested in this subject, please read the whole thing . And not to lecture, but you should be interested in this subject; it’s important.

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TSA Supremo: We’ll Move to Identity-Based Security

Everything’s coming up paisley in Keds’ new limited-edition sneakers Maybe it’s just another post-hippie moment but among all the fringe and tie dye in current fashion, something about the psychedelic patterns of paisley just feels right. For Ked’s ’70s installment of their Century Collection , the classic sneaker brand gets groovy with two new styles. Both limited editions, the men’s thin-wale corduroy ankle boot dubbed The Fab features a smooth satin paisley lining, while the women’s Champion Cool Cat sneaker shows off the print with a silky woven cotton exterior. Each style sells online exclusively from Keds. The Fab is available in Navy or Oxblood corduroy for $65 and the Champion Cool Cat comes in Smoky White or Fuschia paisley patterns for $45.

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Keds Far Out

Chief executive of the budget airline Ryanair, Michael O’Leary says he believes certain airport checks that require passengers to dispose of 100ml bottles and take their shoes off have “no effect on security what so ever”.

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Airport security measures ‘ludicrous’

An audience member has hurled his shoes at former Australian Prime Minister John Howard on a TV talk show in protest at his involvement in the Iraq war.

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Shoes thrown at former Australian PM

I accused my guardian angel of stealing my shoes

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Woman in the gauze mask