Trump Shows Off New $100M Plane

Everything that can be gold-plated has been gold-plated

(NEWSER) - If you've never wanted to hear the phrase, "And here we are in Mr. Trump's bedroom," then turn back now. Dropping $100 million to retrofit a 757 jet that used to belong to that pauper Paul Allen apparently wasn't enough for the Donald. He also had to show off said luxurious space by posting this over-the-top video tour on YouTube . Buckle up your 24-karat gold-plated seatbealts and watch. Hat tip to the Atlantic. More»

Learn to appreciate food, wine, and bread in style

(NEWSER) - There's no better time than autumn or winter, the harvest seasons, for foodies to embark on a luxurious gastronomic adventure. Consider these premier gourmet trips, rounded up by the Wall Street Journal :

• Wine: Spend 3 days refining your palate as you learn to taste, select, and pair top wines at the annual Wine Geek 101 event at Blackberry Farm , nestled in the foothills of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains. $1,200 per person.

Quite a bit—but it likely won't happen

(NEWSER) - Warren Buffett made waves yesterday when he told the federal government to stop "coddling" him and other wealthy Americans and raise taxes on the rich. His plan would roll back the Bush tax cuts on people who earn more than $1 million and on capital gains and dividends income, and would close the loophole that allows a lower tax rate for hedge fund managers. But how much would it actually help? Quite a bit, writes David Kocieniewski in the New York Times : "The tax increase on all three fronts would generate as much as $500 billion in new revenue over the next decade." More»

And he's proud of it, God bless him: David Brooks

(NEWSER) - Donald Trump gets the cultural anthropologist treatment today from David Brooks, who sees the billionaire as the product of "deep currents" in our society. For starters, Trump is that rare breed so impressed with himself he feels compelled to give the rest of us his "every stray thought" with "impregnable certitiude," Brooks writes in the New York Times . He has, in other words, "entered the realm of Upper Blowhardia." Annoying, sure, but "there has always been a large clump of voters who believe that America could reverse its decline if only a straight-talking, obnoxious blowhard would take control." More»

Champagne, butlers, and Maybachs, oh my!

(NEWSER) - To stay at the top of NYC's Four Seasons Hotel, you have to fork over $35,000 a night (no matter who you are—no discounts given). The four-room 4,300 square-foot Ty Warner Penthouse (named for the hotel's owner/Beanie Baby mogul) took 7 years to design and $50 million to construct. So what do your mega bucks get you? The Wall Street Journal takes a look:

• a personal butler on-call 24 hours a day
• unlimited room service (unless you want thousands of dollars of caviar; that's extra)
• living room carpet made of white silk, handmade Venetian silk bedspread, bathroom sinks made of rock crystal