Last but not least: shoes are good for you

Imelda Marcos, ex-wife of the former dictator of the Philippines, already knew the importance of good footwear. Several thousand pairs were piled up in her chambers in the magnificent ruling palace in Manila. Now the Iraqi journalist Muntaser el Saidi has brought the shoe back into the spotlight in a unique publicity stunt when he threw them at the American President George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad. Quite apart from the political significance and the rather tragic consequences for the shooter, the TV recording is an extremely amusing little strip. Bush's ability to react is also astonishing. Perhaps, like his former predecessor Ronald Reagan, a former actor, he has simply missed his calling. With reflexes like that, he's a dodgeball pro.
In the Arab world, shoes have become a symbol of resistance to the American occupation since Saidi's action. On Thursday, the AFP news agency reported that the pair of shoes thrown at Bush had now been tested for explosives and destroyed. The shoe thrower's lawyer sharply criticized the destruction of the shoes: "These shoes were sacred," said the lawyer.