magnum photographers advise wearing good shoes, among other things

I agree that Asian child labor isn't a really desirable situation for the kids involved, but it seems to be a stage that cultures go through. It was common in the US and Europe all throughout the nineteenth century, and still is in many family owned businesses. Look at it this way: If those kids weren't working they'd be starving or begging on the streets. In Eastern Europe, Haiti, large parts of Africa, many children are sold by their parents or kidnapped and often used in the "sex trade". I'd rather know that they were making shoes, had food to eat, and a place to live because of the money we spend on shoes.
 
I just got some new ones after a couple of years wearing my old shoes
 

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Al Kaplan said:
I agree that Asian child labor isn't a really desirable situation for the kids involved, but it seems to be a stage that cultures go through. It was common in the US and Europe all throughout the nineteenth century, and still is in many family owned businesses. Look at it this way: If those kids weren't working they'd be starving or begging on the streets. In Eastern Europe, Haiti, large parts of Africa, many children are sold by their parents or kidnapped and often used in the "sex trade". I'd rather know that they were making shoes, had food to eat, and a place to live because of the money we spend on shoes.
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A few weeks ago, in India, I understood what a Catch-22 is.

There was a young girl, about 7 years old, with her brother, about 2 years old. She followed me, the western businessman, for half an hour, asking me to buy a banana for herself and her brother. It was 10am, time to be at school. If you buy her something, her parents will keep on sending her out for begging. If you don't, they have nothing to eat. When I came back to that place at 8pm, I bought her a banana, and also for about 20 more children that seemed to appear from nowhere. It cost me 10 cent or so. That happened for three days until my departure

In this world, you can go to great lengths, but you are never perfect - what would you have done?

These days, in a crisis, we have one more reason to buy local products, and that is our neighbours, our societies, our communities.

But is that right? I am not sure whether it is better to finance a comparatively comfortable lifestyle for a GM or Opel worker or get a Hyundai and help people that have much less. In the end we all lose because globalization in the way we did it during the last ten years destroys our jobs, our environment, our political stability and helps some people abroad that are already rich.

Some things I decided for myself. I don't buy chinese counterfeit articles. In other words: no Benro tripods, Lucky films, Shen-Hao cameras... or chinese shoes. The chinese shoe factories are currently killing all the shoe industry in europe. The average wholesale price for a pair of shoes from China is about 6 dollars. Now, compare this with the recommended retail price or the street price... and imagine how much cheaper they could be if the chinese factory had not decided to equip their shoes with a second helping of carcinogenic substances...
 
Blundies (brilliant for getting through airport security), but on my next trip to Sydney I'm going to stop off at the RM Williams store and drop a bundle on a pair of their boots.
 
M like Leica M6 said:
A few weeks ago, in India, I understood what a Catch-22 is.

There was a young girl, about 7 years old, with her brother, about 2 years old. She followed me, the western businessman, for half an hour, asking me to buy a banana for herself and her brother. It was 10am, time to be at school. If you buy her something, her parents will keep on sending her out for begging. If you don't, they have nothing to eat. When I came back to that place at 8pm, I bought her a banana, and also for about 20 more children that seemed to appear from nowhere. It cost me 10 cent or so. That happened for three days until my departure

In this world, you can go to great lengths, but you are never perfect - what would you have done?
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What would I have done? If I had the power I would create jobs for her community. I would open up factories, thousands of them in her community for export. Soon after twenty years of steady rise in GDP when her country and her community are economically stable and wealth has been created she and her brothers and sisters will create demand for expensive foreign imports like Leicas thus keeping high paying jobs in Germany thriving.
 
I prefer having my former enemy states so closely tied economically that they'd never think of bombing me. Then again, when they misbehave, America can throttle back its economy with less pain than the Chinese and Oil Lords can....

But as for shoes -- I have huge flat, broken feet, 17 4E -- and the best so far has been New Balance cross-trainers. Timberland makes some decent off the shelf shoes too. Thank goodness for the big shoe stores on the internet.
 
I wear any of my shoes from converse to my DC's
Lately its been my DC's as they are the most comfortable shoes i have.
They also have the air cushions under the heels,a thick padded tounge.
I normally wear those or a pair of vans slip ons or the standard chuck taylors.
I have 13 pairs of shoes so i wear a different pair pretty much every day
 
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Eva Longoria advertises Magnums in Europe.

And here she's sold them all...

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ClaremontPhoto said:
Eva Longoria advertises Magnums in Europe.

And here she's sold them all...

1223362312.JPG
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Maybe she should add to the ad: "if you eat lots of this, you don't look like me". A Magnum has more calories than a portion of french fries...
 
Alden Shoes of Boston, specifically their style 405 boot.
Also known as the "Indy Boot", because Harrison Ford wore the same model in all four Indiana Jones movies.
They are handmade by the the oldest shoe maker in the USA which makes them a little pricey, but they last forever.
I just replaced a pair I'd worn for a decade and had resoled half a dozen times.
I am on my feet all day everyday so my shoes have to be comfortable, and these are the best I've found.

aldens.jpg


If I'm wearing shorts I go with Birkenstock clogs or sandals.

Travis
 
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