Funny Town

CNA Training Guide By Your own Training Coach

2010-09-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

Certified nursing assistants work underneath the direction of the registered nurse that provides support to help patients with daily life tasks.

Operating carefully along with patients, CNAs have the effect of fundamental care services for example bathing, self care as well as feeding patients, helping medical staff with medical gear, as well as examining patient crucial signs. CNAs provide patients essential social and emotive assistance and also provide essential information on patient problems to the medical staff.

If you interested in CNA Training maybe you should check on this grate Web site I find couple days ago, its just starting but it's alredy providing grate information about CNA Training and Certification for students, and people how interested in Nursing in general.

How to be CNA?

Secret TIPS FOR Successful online Dating

2010-05-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Some guy compile the e-book on how to find hot girls online and get into their pants and the best thing of all he ask money after you read the book, meaning if you like it and when proof it's working.

But this guy it's stupid as hell I actually like the book and will pay for it after he place link to his PP address which he doesn't have. Hurry up and download!

Successful online Dating/

Incredible Focus Illusion

2010-05-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

I got this incredible focus illusion from my friend who like Optical illusion so I though it'll be cool to post it here for you guys try to focus on it...IF you can :)..

The Smartest man

2007-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

A plane is about to crash. There are 5 passengers on board,
But there are only 4 parachutes.

The first Passenger says:

“I am Ronaldinho, the best football player in the world.
The football worlds need me, and I cannot die on my fans.”

He grabs the first parachute and jumps out of the plane.

The second passenger Hillary Clinton, says:

“I am wife of the former president of the United States; I am the senator
Of New York and I have a good chance of being president of the United States in the future.”

She grabs a parachute and jumps off the plant.

The third passenger, George W. Bush, says:
“I am the president of the United States of America. I have huge
Responsibilities in the world. Beside, I am the smartest president in the History of my country and can’t shun the responsibility to my people by dying.”
He grabs a pack and jumps off the plane.

The fourth passenger, the Pope, says to the fifth passenger,
a young school boy:

“I am old. I have lived my life as a good person as a priest should and so I shall leave the last parachute to you; you have the rest of your life ahead of you.”

To this the little boy says:

“Don’t fret old man…

There is a parachute for each of us!

The smartest president of America took my schoolbag…..“

Funny Ku Klux (New Fashion)

2007-03-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

After all this years Ku Klux boys are decide to change little bit their outfit in some kind stylish style , new style in 21th century, Who knows, maybe they will change slogan to
from "White Power" to "Gay is OK" . I certainly don't know what they up to , but I kind I like their New fashion style.

Made by Armani, just look into...colors, all that tasteful fruit :)

Made By Boss

This is old school boss look, if you are member of KKK feel free to
buy this wonderful.... whatever it is. Hate I mean

Armani again, obviously armani intend to become
a leader in this New style KKK adore.

Unowned If you know who is make this hate, please contact us.

All this I write here in this post related with Armani and Boss are lie.

Please don't sue us!

Funny Eggs Art

2007-03-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

And I though I saw everything, people sometimes can make some very interesting, amazing things from ordinary stuff like egg for example. Recently one of the visitors of this blog (Bob86) send me some interesting pictures about eggs, now you ask yourself what can be interesting about egg, only interesting egg is the one in my stomach :) I'm not very sure in that theory so have look in that famous eggs I talking about.

Unusual Sonny Cd Player

2007-03-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

Do you like Terminator movies? If your answer is yes, you should definitive get you self this incredible unusual CD player, but what if you don't like Terminator movies? Don't be scared Arni is not intend to terminate you, he is worry about for some other thing, like how to be a Leader.

When you look into picture above, you probably would thought , wtf it's one more bad Terminator movie, (Btw when I was a Kid, one of my favorites movies was Terminator of course)

But you will make mistake if you thin like I supposed you will, this is one of the many unusual Cd player on this Planet called Earth. This is not Cd-player made by Sonny. You wonder why I write "Sonny" in the title of this post. Let that be a mystery.

Ok when you open the Head, if your IQ it's bigger then IQ of the fish, you will realize what that odd thing is.

BTW I find these two pictures on the internet, so if anyone know original author, please let me know.

Digs for noseberries(Celebrities)

2007-03-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Sting polices his proboscis while perambulating in London, 2006.

Picky Michael Keaton does the polite pinky pull-pick in Santa Monica

Dwight Yoakam pokes 'em with a thumb-sweeping roundup in a Beverly Hills paper store... that apparently doesn't sell tissues

Lindsay dips in before taking a dip in Malibu, 2006.

Wilmer Valderrama picked orgasmically at an L.A. cafe in 2004.

Pam Anderson goes in deep while watching a baseball game in Malibu, 2006.

George Clooney does the scratch n' pick while strolling in Santa Monica, 2002.

Model Kelly Brook sticks a manicured finger in, while on a coffee break in L.A. in 2005.

Jake Gyllenhaal attemps to haul one out while on a call. Los Angeles, 2005.

Calista Flockhart squishes her beak while pecking around Santa Monica. 2005.

Penelope Cruz cruises for a cuzzy at a movie premiere. Cannes, 2004.

Marcia Cross goes undercover and plunks in a pinky in private. She thought. L.A., 2006.

Kate Hudson picks through the aisles of a sweater shop in Santa Monica, 2006.

Matthew McConaughey thumbs his way along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, 2006.

Nicky gets picky (and flips the bird) while picking up some stuff at a drugstore in Beverly Hills, proving that money can't buy class. 2003.

Ethan Hawke does the thumb-pinch eyebrow-raising pull, while strolling with a mystery blonde and his son. 2004.

Halle Berry digs for noseberries. L.A., 2004.

British comic Steve Coogan charges in for a boogie. L.A., 2006

Geoffrey Rush with a pinching thrust. West Hollywood, 2001.

Mischa Barton at Johnny Rocket's, plunges a pinky at a bugger while out for a burger. West Hollywood, 2004.

10 Coolest weapons we don't have

2007-02-28T06:44:00.000-08:00

10. Phased-Plasma Rifle in the 40-Watt Range (The Terminator)

Even though we don't ever see this gun in action, the mere mention of it so blows the mind of Mr. Futterman the Gun Shop Owner that we just know we have to have one. And the fact that the Terminator walks out of the store with enough firepower to invade Cuba and still seems disappointed tells you all you need to know.

9. Noisy Cricket (Men in Black)

What's pocket-sized but still capable of destroying a city block? (Hint: It's not a drunk Verne Troyer). It's the MIB's surprising li'l Cricket. This isn't a gun to wave around when you want to scare someone, it's one to whip out when you mean business. And think about it—it's dainty, shiny, and fits easily into a handbag. It's the perfect gift for the futuristic warrior woman in your life.

8. ZF-1 Assault Weapon (The Fifth Element)

The Swiss Army Knife of assault rifles. The ZF has rockets, darts, tracer bullets, netting, a flame-thrower, freezing gas-anything and everything you need to destroy the universe. The only problem is, a crate of these bad boys will set you back four ancient, mystical stones each. We don't care if you're the Sultan of Dubai, that's some serious scratch.

7. Glaive (Krull)

A mystical weapon of unknown origin, the glaive might not be the most versatile weapon on the list—it is, essentially, an over-sized ninja throwing star—but it more than makes up for its shortcomings in style. Even if all you intend to do with it is chop blocks of cheese or scare your cat, you'll look cool doing it. And it'll end an "ultimate Frisbee" match in seconds.

6. Organic gun (eXistenz)

We're not interested in this bizarre weapon because we want to get around metal detectors or anything, we're just really into recycling. What better way to use all those old bones, bits of teeth and gums, and partially rotting flesh you have lying around your house than cobbling them together into a gun? Circle of life, friends. Circle of life.

5. Lightsabers (Star Wars)

"An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age." Whether your particular brand comes in badass red, noble hero blue, or Samuel L. Jedi purple, the lightsaber is such an intimidator, it can even make a two-foot Muppet seem tough. You don't even have to use it, just flick it on and its unmistakable hum clearly says: "Somebody's walking out of here without a limb."

4. Sick Stick (Minority Report)

Cops in the future have come so far. No longer armed with lame wooden sticks that are only good for tapping on driver's side windows, these new sticks make anyone you touch vomit instantly. Seriously—no tequila, no pictures of Britney Spears' vagina, just a single touch! It's fun, and it'll also double as a convenient time-saver for your bulimic girlfriend.

3. Death Blossom (The Last Starfighter)

OK, first we need spaceships, obviously, but, c'mon-if the future doesn't at least have spaceships, then we're not even going. And the one thing we want standard issue on all fighters is the ol' "D.B." With a press of a button, your ship goes into a ballistic epileptic fit that decimates anything in the immediate area. It's like a lawn sprinkler of mass destruction.

2. Iron Giants (The Iron Giant)

What could be better than a 50-foot robot armed with advanced alien weaponry? One that can also babysit the kids! One part nanny, one part War of the Worlds, the Iron Giant would be the ideal home defense choice for families. Kidnapping would practically be rendered nonexistent if we had these things to chaperone the kids at the park or take them to school.

1. The Death Star (Star Wars)

Talk about home defense. The only thing more efficient than owning a weapon to protect your house is actually living inside the weapon. The Death Star can entertain a small country's worth of houseguests, has plenty of parking space, a recycling plant on the premises, and enough firepower to destroy an entire planet. You might want to slap a screen door on some of those thermal exhaust ports, but otherwise you're living in the lap of destructive luxury.

Top Christian Tourist Traps

2007-02-21T07:36:00.000-08:00

10. Golgotha Mini Golf - Cave City Kentucky

What better says family fun than an attraction that translates to “Hill of Skulls” in the original Aramaic? The first nine holes offers such old testament highjinks as the Garden of Eden and Moses parting the Red Sea while the back nine concentrate on the miracles of the new testament. Various angel statues dot the landscape while Christ himself stands watch at the 18th hole…talk about pressure to perform!

It’s evident that the owners were short of funds when creating the park since many of the scenes are recreated with whatever ornaments could easily be found. Small plastic statues of armadillos and poodles are lined up to enter a shoddily constructed ark and elves from the Wal-Mart garden department helpfully stand in for various religious icons. I never knew St. Peter wore lederhosen!

Alas, Jesus’s accession into heaven with a golf club has seen better days; when last I visited it shook my soul to see that the place has been closed for a few years and the religious fervor for putt putting on astroturf is slowly being consumed by crabgrass and kudzu. A realtor sign at the front gate confirms that, at least when it comes to golf, religion is for sale.

9. God’s Ark of Safety – Frostburg Maryland

In 1974 Richard Green kept having visions of a giant ark on the side of a hill. Night after night his sleep was troubled by visions of a gigantic boat filled with all of God’s creatures. Finally Richard decided this was the voice of God instructing him to build a full size replica of Noah’s ark. A few days later, with $300 to spend, Richard started construction on an ark that was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Work has been slow since it all depends on donations of manpower and materials but, as Richard says, “As God provides, we will build.”

32 years later, only the steel support structure is completed so far, but architectural drawings show how it will look when finished. Exciting touches include a theater that shows a film about the original vision to build the ark, a 4-story atrium complete with statues of cows and pigs, and a 2 story water cross in which unsaved souls can be baptized. At the current rate of progress the ark should be finished somewhere around the year 2085.

8. Cross Garden – Prattville Alabama

The Cross Garden isn’t pretty. It isn’t meant to be. It’s a warning about what awaits if you don’t find Jesus. Hundreds of home made crosses made from telephone poles, 2 by 4’s, and scraps of lumber, stand in the kudzu covered clay. Scrawled across all of them are warning labels of what lies in the afterlife. “Hell is hot, hot, hot” zigzags across one and “No ice water in hell” states another. The number 27 is painted mysteriously over and over again on the crosses, discarded washing machines, and mechanical debris that litter the site. This vista is a testament to a man with a feverous idea in his brain that he had to get out.

The creator of this foreboding landscape is W.C. Rice who spent over 20 years creating this masterpiece to the afterlife. He claimed to have been inspired from seeing a cross at his mother’s funeral and just kept on at it like “a bird building a nest.” W.C. passed on 2 years ago but his family says they have no plans to take the Cross Garden down. Indeed the place has become a local tourist attraction for outsider art enthusiasts and perhaps others who just need to be reminded of what is to come.

7. New Holy Land Tour – Eureka Springs Arkansas

Ever wish you could see what life was really like when Jesus walked the earth in leather flip flops? Well then look no further 'cause the fine folks in Arkansas have got an attraction for you! At the New Holy Land tour you can interact with the Big J and other classic good guys from the bible…or at least local teenagers being paid 7 bucks an hour to pretend to be them. Why travel to the real Mideast and dodge Hezbollah rockets and Israeli artillery strikes when you can stand around a man made pond in Arkansas and pretend it’s the real thing?

I think the place could really pack in the crowds if they would add a little more excitement to the place. Show an adulterer getting stoned to death by a crazed crowd. Have a Lot’s Wife salt water taffy stand. Get a zombie Lazarus running amok and trying to eat tourist brains. The possibilities are endless.

6. Super Sized Saviors – various locations

Nothing says USA like oversized icons and what better way to celebrate the Lord than by creating a huge statue of him. Like Godzilla stalking the citizens of Tokyo, these titanic Saviors gaze down upon the masses always ready to stomp a sinner down with an oversized foot.

One of my favorites has to be the “Drowning Jesus” in Monroe Ohio, a 62 foot statue of the Savior rising out of a lake with him arms outstretched. I hope someone is able to bring him some giant water wings pretty soon.

The “Christ of the Ozarks” in Eureka Springs Arkansas stands 70 feet tall and appears to have been caught in mid-exercise. Locals call him “Stumpy” because his feet were left off so the statue wouldn’t require a warning light for low flying aircraft. I’m guessing the creators didn’t think a blinking red light on the king of kings’ noggin was such a good idea.

Of course the champion of any duel between of the lofty Lords would have to be Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil whose 125 foot height puts him well above any of our local boys. However it’s well known that all foreign Jesus’ statues were created by heathens who will burn eternally in hellfire…so that statue doesn’t count.

5. Ave Maria Grotto – Cullman Alabama

Deep in the heart of Alabama lies a testament to one mans obsession with making tiny things. For over 40 years Benedictine monk Joseph Zoetti labored to reproduce in miniature the great religious sights from all over the world. Packed tightly together over a small area rests very small versions of St. Peters, St. Juan Capistrano, and even the city of Jerusalem. Zoetti made the creations in his spare time from shoveling coal at a power plant and used whatever he could get his hands on; stones, cement, and odd junk he found laying around the grounds.

While the results are beautiful, there are some rather odd design choices. Because the monk couldn’t visit any of the places he often only used a single photo to guide him on how a building should look. The result is that the size of a single structure varies widely from wall to wall and unknown sides of building would be given windows and doors as the monk saw fit. You’d do well not to mention any of this to the current monks who live there since they tend to get a little miffed at tourists talking trash about their “miraculous miniatures.”

4. Precious Moments Chapel – Carthage Missouri

This is definitely the creepiest place on the list. Built by Sam Butcher, the man who created those big-eyed figurines, the chapel stands proudly in Middle America as a tremendous icon of bad taste. Inside the large chapel is room after room of dead baby angel paintings with those huge eyes all staring down at you. These droopy-eyed monsters all share the same demented look of joy and it was all I could do to keep from screaming out in fear. One painting after another shows these sad eyed waifs cavorting in Heaven until you get the sense that the afterlife is only for kids who die before puberty. In fact the only adult you see in the place is Jesus and even he looks creeped out by all these big-eyed kids looking up at him.

Outside the joint is a large fountain filled with even more Big Eye kid statues that shoots huge geysers of water every few hours. It’s like being in Vegas at the Bellagio but instead of being surrounded by call girls and 2nd rate singers, you’re surrounded by tourists who think this would be the perfect time for the rapture to occur.

3. Holy Land USA – Waterbury Connecticut

Another landmark created by a man with a vision of the divine. Holy Land sits on a hill overlooking Waterbury like a crumbling version of heaven. A large neon cross still lights up the night sky, casting a soulful glow down onto the town. Built in the late 50’s by John Greco, this conglomeration of the highpoints in biblical history used to be a huge tourist draw in the 60's but fell upon hard times after the death of it’s owner in 1986. Greco willed the entire thing to a group of mysterious nuns who have refused almost all offers of help in maintaining the attraction. As a result the entire thing has been falling apart for 20 years, assaulted by the ravages of time and vandals.

But the property still holds a mysterious power to those who visit. The crumbling vistas of Bethlehem and the barren Garden of Eden are like the results of some epic power struggle between good and evil. Strange catacombs dug into the earth to give “the history of the church” now lend themselves to visions of ogres and molemen, eager to snatch up unwitting tourists. As time marches over the grounds of this strange attraction it only manages to enhance the weirdness.

2. Institute For Creation and Research – Santee California

There’s a lot of Christian museums out there that show how evolution is just hogwash but most of them come off as laughable because of limitations of budget and a devotion to the Lords “true word” that borders on obsession. The ICR is one of the few that has overcome that problem with its professional, well-designed experience. It’s only when you start looking more closely at the stuff they are presenting that you suddenly realize you’re in the midst of people who don’t go for all that “science mumbo-jumbo.”

Exhibits at the beginning show how both the Universe and the Earth were created at the same time. Another exhibit shows how the power of Universal Disorder is kept in check by the guiding hand of a higher power. Further on a helpful display shows how the theory of evolution being taught brought Hitler and the Nazi’s into power. Just beyond is a visual representation of the “tree of evolution” with such evil fruit as genocide, bestiality, murder, and the use of drugs all ready for the picking by us scoffers of intelligent design. Oh that nasty, evil, mean ole’ theory of evolution!

1. Holyland Experience – Orlando Florida

Topping the list at number one is the country’s only Christian theme park located just minutes away from that evil secular mouse. At Orlando’s Holyland Experience you can chomp down on a “Goliath” burger while you watch Jesus Christ get whipped by Roman guards and then nailed to a cross. This has to be the only place in the world that bills a public execution as “family fun.”

After leaving your child emotionally scarred for life, why not commemorate the experience with some souvenirs? The Roman shield and sword lets junior pretend to be a member of the ruthless ruling elite over any of his Jew friends while Bearnardo the Scribal Bear helps little Sally explore what life was like in the dark ages. Hey Sally, time to send your brothers off to kill the infidel Muslims!

Yes, the Holyland Experience is the perfect blend of tourism with Christianity. A celebration of the good old days when a man was the Son of God and a woman could get stoned to death for wearing too much jewelry. Don’t forget to bring the kids!

Complete Source: www.yesbutnobutyes.com

Earth-Shattering Nude Scenes

2007-02-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

10. Diora Baird in Wedding Crashers

It was kind of a "blink and you missed it" moment, but we're betting there were a lot of dry eyes in the house when Diora flopped down topless on a bed during the "wedding sluts" montage. You remember her, she was the one with assets big enough to satisfy as many Wilson brothers as the movie was willing to throw at her.

9. Ali Larter in Varsity Blues

While not technically nude, Ali and her strategically-placed whipped cream instantly became the stuff of legend and dessert-based fetishes. Of course, leave it to Dawson's Creek to fumble the play—dude, you'll never get such a golden opportunity to offer a girl a banana for her split again. Way to go, forehead.

8. Heather Graham in Boogie Nights

Reason #4,562 why hanging out with Burt Reynolds rules: With the wave of a finger, he can make Heather Graham slip out of everything but her rollerskates and mount you on a fine Corinthian leather sofa. That's class! And Heather's anything but shy about showing the goods, which is why we love her.

7. Kathy Bates in About Schmidt

Kathy Bates and Jack Nicholson buck naked in a Jacuzzi. Now, if this were 1968…actually, it'd still be pretty gross. Yes, we're kidding. Consider this a palate-cleanser before we move on to #6. We didn't want you getting all hot and bothered at work. All set? Good. Let's move on…

6. Reese Witherspoon in Twilight

OK, this isn't exactly a comedic romp and, honestly, the only thing notable about this movie is Reese's topless scene. And the only thing notable about Reese's topless scene is that, well, this is it, fellas. She's a Serious Actress™ now, so she won't be flaunting the sweater puppies ever again. Grab the opportunity while you can.

5. Denise Richards in Wild Things

Neve Campbell can keep her no-nudity clause, because even she couldn't dampen our appreciation of Wild Things' champagne-drenched threesome. Richards had no problem getting down and dirty, which is why we're still talking about her today. Campbell? Not so much. And before you say Wild Things isn't a comedy, we defy you to watch it without laughing.

4. Rebecca de Mornay in Risky Business

She was way too much woman for a high school kid to handle—especially a high school-aged Tom Cruise—but her full-frontal nude scene made a man out of every guy who was of appropriate age in 1983, and you know who you are. Not to mention Rebecca also made prostitution cool long before Julia Roberts.

3. The Pi Delta Pi Girls in Revenge of the Nerds

Yes, every last one of you. When the nerds get the brilliant idea to hook up surveillance cameras in the Pi sorority house, we're treated to a parade of naked, perky extras. This one went for quality and quantity, and scored on both counts. And let's just say Takashi wasn't the only one who learned what "hair pie" meant.

2. Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High

The standard against which teen movie nudity is measured. It may not be the most graphic or revealing, but it had all the key elements: A hot young actress you've been dying to see topless (erm, Phoebe), a completely gratuitous set-up (Judge Reinhold's masturbatory day dream), and a hilarious pay-off (she walks in on him mid-jerk). It's bulletproof, and it's a classic.

1. Shannon Elizabeth in American Pie

A question for the ladies: If you find yourself in a teenage boy's bedroom and he happens to leave the room for a second, do you immediately take off all your clothes and admire yourself in his mirror? No? Exactly. That's why Nadia changed the way we look at movie nude scenes. And that's why you aren't Shannon Elizabeth. Well, that and probably some other things, too.

10 Most Dangerous Destinations

2007-02-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

No 1. Somalia

iJet: 5
Control Risks: Extreme security and travel risk

The U.S. doesn't have an embassy in Somalia, putting American citizens who travel there out of reach of U.S. assistance. Somalia's federal government recently retook control of much of the country from the Union of Islamic Courts, but this could mean less stability ahead, not more. Interclan fighting and attacks on foreigners are frequent, as are abductions.

No 2. Iraq

iJet: 5
Control Risks: Extreme security, terrorism and travel risk

No region of Iraq is safe for visitors, not even Baghdad’s well-fortified Green Zone. The U.S.-led occupation has not tamed the insurgency, which is most concentrated in the central region that stretches from Tikrit in the north to Hillah in the south. Various criminal gangs and international terrorists are also active in Iraq and civilians die daily in attacks.

No 3. Afghanistan

iJet: 5
Control Risks: Extreme security, terrorism and travel risk

Travelers face the ongoing threat of kidnapping and assassination in Afghanistan, especially outside of Kabul. Former Taliban and al-Qaida operatives remain at large, and attacks with improvised explosive devices are on the rise. Large areas of the country are heavily land-mined or strewn with unexploded ordnance.

No 4. Democratic Republic of Congo

iJet: 5
Control Risks: High security and travel risk; extreme security and travel risk in northeast

The civil war has ended and the country held presidential elections last year, but dangers persist. Crime levels are high in the main cities, and strife continues in certain regions, especially the northeastern Ituri district and the provinces of North and South Kivu. U.N. observer forces, located around the country, are unable to prevent pillaging, carjackings, murders, rapes and kidnappings.

No 5. Côte d’Ivoire

iJet: 5
Control Risks: High security and travel risk; extreme security and travel risk in rebel-held north and near western border

Though a 2002 uprising supposedly ended in 2003, the north of the country remains under the control of armed rebels, and sporadic fighting has taken place in Abidjan, the commercial capital. The overall security situation remains potentially volatile, according to the State Department. Control Risks says that the rebellion exacerbated a rise in violent crime, including carjackings and armed robbery.

No 6. Pakistan

iJet: 4
Control Risks: High security and terrorism risk; extreme security and travel risk in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan

Domestic Islamic extremist groups, most of which are tied to al-Qaida, pose a serious risk to foreign companies and their workers. Car bombs, gun and grenade attacks and suicide bombings are aimed at Western targets, domestic politicians and local religious minorities and have frequently killed civilians. The capital, Islamabad, and tribal areas bordering Afghanistan are particularly dangerous.

No 7. Burundi

iJet: 4
Control Risks: High security and travel risk; extreme security and travel risk in provinces of Cibitoke, Bubanza and Bujumbura Rural

Because of poor security, few foreign workers remain in Burundi. A civil war that began in 1993 is ongoing, with rebel factions engaging in intense fighting with government forces. The parties agreed to a September 2006 ceasefire, but many of its provisions have not been implemented, and the rebels remain able to attack the capital, Bujumbura.

No 8. Sri Lanka

iJet: 4
Control Risks: Extreme security and travel risk and a high terrorism risk in Tamil-majority north and east; medium security, terrorism and travel risk in remainder of country

Lush tropical beauty once made Sri Lanka a popular holiday destination, but a ceasefire between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers broke down last year, making the country a new addition to our danger list. While foreigners are not directly targeted, the risk of becoming collateral damage is rising in the north and northeast.

No 9. Haiti

iJet: 5
Control Risks: High security and travel risk

There is no effective police force in Haiti, where the State Department calls the danger of kidnappings “chronic and growing.” General elections in February 2006 brought about some political stability, aided by the presence of 8,000 U.N. peacekeeping troops. But violence persists, says Control Risks, thanks in part to the proliferation of firearms, an inefficient judiciary and police corruption.

No 10. Lebanon

iJet: 5
Control Risks: High risk in at least one category and region

Hostilities with Israel ended last August, but political tensions within Lebanon have been on the rise. The armed Shiite group Hezbollah (also a political party in Lebanon) maintains a strong presence in many areas, and other extremist groups are active in Tripoli, Sidon and Palestinian refugee camps. In the south, the danger of encountering land mines and unexploded ordnance is significant.

By Elisabeth Eaves

Top 10 Most Powerful Women

2007-02-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

#1 Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of state
U.S.

She is the first African-American woman to become the U.S. secretary of state. She advises the leader of the world's largest superpower and has an unparalleled level of trust with and access to the president. And she has served two other U.S. presidents, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. For all of these reasons, and more, Rice, 50, is the most powerful woman in the world.
After a four-year role as national security adviser, Rice assumed the mantle of secretary of state in January. Rice has played a key, behind-the-scenes role in all of President George W. Bush's major decisions. "During the last four years, I've relied on her counsel, benefited from her great experience and appreciated her sound and steady judgment," the president said when announcing Rice's promotion. Bush needs her now more than ever, as his approval ratings and credibility sag, his domestic agenda is stalled, and the country grows more bitterly divided over the war in Iraq.

With her steely nerve and delicate manners (she has been called the "Warrior Princess"), Rice lately has reinvigorated her position with diplomatic activism, whether it's promoting Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to ease the Palestinian conflict, or encouraging six-party talks to get North Korea to stop its pursuit of nuclear weapons, or trying to stop Sudan's genocide—to the point where her diplomatic party was recently roughed up by Sudan's strongmen. Rice also has close relationships with world leaders, having accompanied the president on numerous trips to Europe and Iraq. Rice has visited 31 countries and logged in over 119,000 miles by midyear. An unofficial Web site proclaims, "Condoleezza Rice for President 2008," which might be a long-shot idea. But a run by Rice for the presidency would make history in the U.S.
—Tatiana Serafin

#2 Wu Yi
Vice Premier, minister of health
China

Having risen up the ranks of China's Communist Party leadership since 1962, Wu Yi, 66, became a member of the Central Committee in 2002, adding the post of minister of health in 2003. Wu Yi has been busy this year as she helps China battle disgruntled textile manufacturers, due to the lifting of World Trade Organization quotas. In a bold June speech in Hong Kong, Wu Yi called for an end to politicizing economic issues. One key move by her country should help here. Bowing to international pressure, in July China revalued the yuan by a modest 2.1%, scrapping the yuan's ten-year-old peg to the U.S. dollar and replacing it with a tightly managed float against a basket of unspecified foreign currencies, in which the dollar will likely occupy a prominent place.
—T.S.

#3 Yulia Tymoshenko
Former prime minister
Ukraine

Tymoshenko, 44, was one of the leaders of Ukraine's Orange Revolution last fall that toppled a stagnant, corrupt regime. For her support, the country's new president, Victor Yushchenko, appointed her prime minister, a post she is using forcefully to shake up Ukrainian oligarchs. Her bold moves to re-privatize industrial assets, allegedly bought on the cheap by billionaires like Rinat Akhmetov and Victor Pinchuk, have met with criticism both inside and outside Ukraine. The discontent has finally caught up with her. Tymoshenko was sacked by Yuschenko in September. But don't count her out quite yet. Tymoshenko is used to controversy, having fallen out with the sitting government in 2001, leading to her arrest and later dismissal. She will be back in parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2006.
—T.S.

#4 Gloria Arroyo
President
Philippines

Arroyo, 58, is now fighting to hold on to her job as the opposition party seeks to file impeachment charges against her over a series of scandals, and her attempts to fix Manila's weak finances are falling apart, causing frustrated technocrats to bolt from her government. After donning the mantle of president in 2001, Arroyo tried to work diligently on her governing platform, which includes the eradication of poverty, which helped her win re-election in 2004. Nevertheless, despite a growing economy (in 2004, the Philippines economy grew an estimated 6.1%, up from 4.7% in 2003), Arroyo's stewardship has been burdened by a Muslim insurgency and the Philippines' designation as the second most corrupt country in Asia, according to a survey of businessmen conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy. Arroyo, a former classmate of Bill Clinton's at Georgetown University and a onetime economics professor, is currently under investigation by lawmakers into allegations she cheated to win last year's election; to date Arroyo has declined to testify before her government's Congress.
—T.S.

#5 Margaret (Meg) Whitman
Chief executive, eBay
U.S.

As ruler of the world's biggest online auction site, Whitman, 49, has successfully beaten back stiff competition from Amazon.com and Yahoo!. To do that, she has swiftly fixed any problems, has faithfully tried to weed out the fakes on her site and has posted a consistent flow of profits, making eBay the world's most valuable Internet brand. All this is to be expected. Whitman has an impressive, blue-chip résumé, with executive stints at Hasbro, the Walt Disney Co. and Bain & Co., among others. Whitman also serves on the boards of eBay as well as DreamWorks Animation, Procter & Gamble and the Gap. Despite her stock's volatility, her personal holdings are valued at $1.6 billion, making Whitman one of the richest people on the planet.
—Anne Mintz

#6 Anne Mulcahy
Chief executive officer, Xerox
U.S.

Having pulled Xerox out of a near-fatal slump in 2002, Mulcahy, 52, is now looking to get her company back to the top of the tech world. Her ideas: color printing and lucrative consulting services. It's a tough space to exist in, with competitors like HP, Kodak and Dell battling for pieces of the printing, copying and services businesses. To highlight how Xerox has changed, Mulcahy, who took over the top job in 2001, has yanked the company's tagline, "The Document Company," in favor of going solo with the Xerox name. A Xerox veteran, she started as a lowly field-sales rep 30 years ago. Working at Xerox is all in the family for Mulcahy. Her husband is a retired Xerox exec, and her older brother now runs the global services group. One of the few elite women to run a top public company, Mulcahy is a coveted choice on corporate boards, serving on the boards of Citigroup and Target.
—Chana R. Schoenberger

#7 Sallie Krawcheck
Chief financial officer, Citigroup
U.S.

This former equity analyst, dubbed "Mrs. Clean" thanks to her frank demeanor and focus on ethics, has risen at a blistering speed to the top ranks on Wall Street. After two years heading Smith Barney, the business unit containing Citigroup's previously ailing equity research and global private-client groups, Krawcheck, 40, was tapped to be the finance chief of Citigroup. She is viewed as one of the company's next generation of leaders and is undoubtedly one of the most influential women on Wall Street. Her power may increase as upheaval in the top ranks roils her company, notably, the imminent departure of Citigroup President Robert Willumstad. But Krawcheck has been regarded as a stabilizing force. So far, the former Sanford C. Bernstein chief executive has received good grades for restoring the reputation of a division tarnished by charges of "spinning" initial public offerings and biased stock recommendations.
—Victoria Murphy

#8 Brenda Barnes
Chief executive officer, Sara Lee
U.S.

Barnes, 51, became chief executive earlier this year after Sara Lee announced a major restructuring that included the planned sale of product lines totaling $8.2 billion in revenue. At the same time, Barnes is tackling corporate inefficiencies by encouraging shared purchasing between divisions and less bureaucracy. Barnes raised eyebrows when she left PepsiCo in 1998 to spend more time with her family. Ever since Barnes got back on the "on-ramp" into the corporate world, she has been the most oft-cited example in the business press of a woman who ditched her corporate career to spend time with her family, only to regain corporate power.
—V.M.

#9 Oprah Winfrey
Chairman, Harpo
U.S.

With a net worth of more than $1 billion, an Academy Award nomination, a hit television show, a successful magazine (O, The Oprah Magazine) and a cable channel (Oxygen Media), there seems to be little else that Winfrey, 51, can do to add to her status as an international media phenomenon. According to her spokesperson, The Oprah Winfrey Show, launched in 1986, is aired in 112 countries, which includes the United States. Winfrey is also a vocal advocate for the education and well-being of women and children around the world, giving to those in need via Oprah's Angel Network and her personal charity, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation.
—Suzanne Hoppough

#10 Melinda Gates
Co-founder, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
U.S.

The numbers are both staggering and disturbing. Millions of children die every year of diseases that are preventable. Just half of all African-American and Hispanic students graduate from high school. Thousands of homeless people sleep on the streets every night. These are the statistics that have so distressed Melinda Gates, 41, and her husband, billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, that the two started an endowment, now at $28.8 billion, to fight for better health care and education for the poor around the world, as well as for at-risk families in Washington State and Oregon. Gates is also on the boards of The Washington Post Co. and drugstore.com.
—A.M.

source: forbes.com

Most Expensive Hotel Rooms

2007-02-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

No 14. The Peninsula Hong Kong

Peninsula Suite
$5,000 per night

The 26th-floor Peninsula Suite at the Hong Kong Peninsula was built with spooks in mind. Since many of the visitors to the suite are diplomats and heads of state, both the CIA and M15 were consulted on the design to ensure maximum security.

While we can't confirm whether or not the room is bugged, the room has direct access to the hotel's helipad for quick getaways, and there is also a security guard's room down the hallway. (The hotel can't reveal what else the CIA and M15 suggested, due to security reasons.)

Rent the suite and one of these babies can be yours.

Guests of the suite also have access to a 24-hour butler and a Rolls-Royce on standby. The suite has one master bedroom but can be converted to a seven-bedroom spread with adjoining rooms. The rooms are sleek and modern, with double-height ceilings and liberal use of pale, natural materials such as marble and limestone. The windows in the sitting area are floor-to-ceiling and offer views of the city, and the suite also has a fitness room, private study, dining room and kitchen as well as a terrace.

The Peninsula Hong Kong
Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Phone: 852 2920-2888
Fax: 852 2722-4399

No 13. Claridge'sThe Brook Penthouse

The Davies Penthouse
$5,482 per night

The honor, or should we say honour, of the most expensive hotel room in London technically belongs to the three-bedroom Royal Suite of the Lanesborough Hotel, which is 4,500 pounds, or $6,407, a night. However, the suite is being renovated and will not be open until April 2002. So the winner by default is the penthouse suite of Claridge's (there are actually two), and both come with a personal butler.

The Davies Penthouse is a two-bedroom suite decorated in a traditional style, complete with fireplaces, marble fixtures and hardwood floors. The sitting room has a barrel-vaulted ceiling and is decorated in shades of yellow. The Davies Penthouse also has a terrace, and both bedrooms feature four-poster beds and separate dressing rooms.

The Brook Penthouse is designed in an Art Deco style, with shades of mauve, pale oak floors and original 1930s fixtures. The sitting room has floor-to-ceiling French doors that open to a roof terrace, and the suite also has a dining room with its own cocktail bar and cloakroom. Both penthouses are £3,850 (approximately $5,482).

Claridge´s
Brook Street
London, England
Phone: 44 20 7629 8860
Fax: 44 20 7499 2210
E-mail: info@claridges.co.uk

No 12. The Bellagio

Bellagio Villas
$6,000 per night

We were surprised that the most expensive hotel room in Las Vegas--a private villa at the Bellagio--is only $6,000 a night, but hotels in Sin City are always lower than average since hoteliers know the real money will be blown on gambling. The Bellagio has nine separate villas in a quiet corner of the property. Each villa has a private terrace and pool, which is surrounded by topiary shrubs, chaise lounges and outdoor tables. Every villa has a private butler service and private limousine entrance.

The villas are both two and three bedrooms and come with a kitchen, dining room and fully stocked bar according to guests' preferences. The master bathrooms have his-and-hers bathrooms and steam showers and are stocked with Hermes bath products. Whoever designed the guest-to-bathroom ratio, as well as guest-to-telephone, had excess in mind. The two-bedroom suites have five bathrooms and 11 telephones, while the three-bedrooms have seven bathrooms and 12 telephones. Two-bedroom villas are $5,000 per night, while the three-bedrooms are $6,000.

Bellagio Hotel
3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, Nev.
Phone: (702) 693-7111
E-mail: guestservices@bellagiolasvegas.com

No 11. Burj Al Arab

Royal Suites
$6,850 per night

If Elton John and Donatella Versace teamed up to create a hotel, it would probably look a lot like Dubai's Burj Al Arab, which describes itself as "tremendously bold." The hotel's two Royal Suites are a gleeful explosion of all things gold, glittery and marble. Then again, what would you expect from a hotel that is shaped like a billowing sail and is the tallest hotel in the world (1,053 feet high, only slightly smaller than the Empire State Building)?

To put the Royal Suites in context, the Burj Al Arab also has its own submarine ride to an underwater restaurant complete with shark-infested aquarium, and it is built on top of a manmade island (merely crossing the bridge will cost you $55). Guests are met at the airport in a Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. The two Royal Suites, located on the 25th floor, are split-level rooms joined by a private elevator. The rooms feature a private cinema, whirlpool baths and rotating beds. Each room also has a meeting room, dining room, dressing room and butler's room with a separate entrance. The décor is a mix of Greek, Arabic and over-the-top Italian as interpreted by Versace (some of the bed linens are indeed Versace).

Burj Al Arab
Jumeirah Beach
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Phone: 971 4 301 7266
Fax: 971 4 301 7001
E-mail: reservations@burj-al-arab.com

No 10. Hotel Meurice

Belle Etoile Suite
$7,300 per night

The most expensive Parisian hotel room is the Belle Etoile Suite at the Hotel Meurice, located on the Rue de Rivoli. This penthouse suite is reached via private elevator, where it opens onto a marble entry hall. The entire suite is decorated in a Charles X style--heavy drapery, intricate wood paneling with gilt edges, chandeliers and murals.

The white-marble bathroom has double sinks and a round Jacuzzi tub, as well as panoramic views of the city (yes, the windows have shades). The 2,960-square-foot terrace has stone tiles, potted shrubs and a 360-degree view of Paris. The rate is 8,400 euros per night (approximately $7,300).

Hotel Meurice
228 rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris, France
Phone: 33 44-58-10-10
Fax: 33 44-58-10-15

No 9. The Çirağan Palace Hotel Kempinski

Sultan's Suite
$7,500 per night

The Çirağan Palace Hotel Kempinski in Istanbul, located along the Bosporus, was originally the home of the last Ottoman sultans, and different incarnations of the property have been built (and torn down) since the 16th century. The building was bought by the Kempinski hotel group in 1986 and underwent a renovation in 1991. Today, the hotel comprises two structures (the actual palace and the new hotel), and the Sultan's Suite is the most expensive room there.

The entire hotel is decorated in an opulent Arabic style, with marble, gold and mother-of- pearl accents, together with silk and velvet drapes, gilt chairs and crystal chandeliers. The Sultan's Palace Suite, located in the palace building, is 5,000 square feet. The two-bedroom suite comes with its own butler, and the floor-to-ceiling windows have a direct view of the Bosphorus. The master bedroom is decorated in deep red and gold, with silk-covered walls, a large sitting area and a crystal chandelier. The living room is done in shades of yellow and cream, with mosaic tile accents.

Çirağan Palace Hotel Kempinski
Çirağan Caddesi
Istanbul, Turkey
Phone: 90 212 2 58 33 77
Fax: 90 212 259 66 87
E-mail: reserve@ciraganpalace.com.tr

No 8. Regent Beverly Wilshire

Penthouse Suite
$7,500 per night

The Regent Beverly Wilshire is the grande dame of L.A. hotels and happens to be the same age as the Academy Awards--72 years old. Like all things L.A., the Wilshire has recently undergone an extensive face-lift and just last year added the Penthouse Suite. Located on the 14th floor of the Beverly Wing, the 5,000-square-foot Penthouse Suite features three bedrooms, a wraparound balcony, a formal dining room, living room, kitchen and den, and is decorated with contemporary furniture. The master bathroom has floor-to-ceiling windows and two glass-enclosed showers. And, luckily for those times when you decide to use the remote control combination toilet/bidet with a heated seat, there are also remote control operated blinds.

One of the perks that come with this $7,500-a-night suite is that it is stocked with your favorite things before you get there, thanks to a pre-stay "interview." "If a guest likes lilies, we will fill the room beforehand," says public relations director Deborah Damask. "And if the King of Swaziland is coming to stay, we will have a direct satellite TV with all of his favorite channels from Swaziland."

The Regent Beverly Wilshire
9500 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, Calif.
Phone: (310) 275-5200
Fax: (310) 274-2851

No 7. The Fairmont Hotel

Penthouse Suite
$10,000 per night

The 6,000-square-foot Penthouse Suite at the Fairmont Hotel on San Francisco's Nob Hill takes up the entire eighth floor of the hotel and has three bedrooms, a dining room that holds 50 people, an eat-in kitchen and a two-story, domed library with a ceiling painted with the constellations. There is also a billiards room covered floor-to-ceiling in Persian tiles, and four fireplaces inlaid with lapis lazuli. The bathroom fixtures are made of 24 karat gold, and a secret passageway is concealed behind the bookshelves on the library's second floor.

Welcome to the red room.

Famous guests who have used the suite include former Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, who used the Penthouse Suite in 1945 as his temporary headquarters when the United Nations charter was being drafted, and Sean Connery, who received a memorable onscreen haircut here in the 1996 action thriller The Rock.

The Fairmont San Francisco
950 Mason St.
San Francisco, Calif.
Phone: (415) 772-5000
Fax: (415) 772-5013
E-mail: sanfrancisco@fairmont.com

No 6. Hotel Cala di Volpe

Presidential Suite
$13,879 per night

The Costa Smeralda ("Emerald Coast"), on the eastern coast of Sardinia, became famous during the 1960s when the Aga Khan bought it and convinced his jet-set friends to start building villas and a yacht club on the beautiful but previously undeveloped island. The coast also served as the backdrop to the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. One of the Aga Khan's acquisitions was the 100-room Hotel Cala di Volpe, where the late Princess Margaret celebrated her 37th birthday in 1967.

The split-level Presidential Suite, which is located in the hotel's tower, has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and two sitting rooms. The highlight is the private, outdoor saltwater pool on the second floor. The style is rustic but luxurious, with whitewashed walls, exposed beams, thick down cushions and wooden accents. The bed frames are wrought iron, and the tiles are hand- painted ceramic. The suite also has its own gazebo and solarium, as well as a DVD library and Bang & Olufsen stereos.

Hotel Cala di Volpe
Costa Smeralda, Sardinia
Phone: 39 0789 976 1111 or 800-325-3589
Fax: 39 0789 976 617

No 5. Westin Excelsior

Villa La Cupola
$14,312 per night

Rome's "Villa La Cupola" suite within the Westin Excelsior has all things Roman and excessive--a cupola, a Pompeii-style Jacuzzi pool, frescoes and stained glass windows--except, perhaps, a vomatorium. Located on the fifth and sixth floor underneath the cupola of the hotel (which was made famous by Fellini's movies), the suite covers 6,099 square feet and has an additional 1,808 square feet of balconies and terraces. While it only has two bedrooms, five more can be joined to it. The entire suite was just remodeled in 1998 for a cost of around $7 million.

So what did the face-lift entail? The cupola itself is entirely hand-frescoed, and the fifth floor features the master bedroom, a terraced study that was paneled in Italian walnut and a living room. The stained glass windows in the living room detail allegories of a mythological figure paired with a modern one, such as Atlas and Television, Hypnosis and Neurosis, Hermes and Marketing, and Hermaphrodite and Fashion. The downstairs also has a private kitchen, and the dining room features an antique Murano glass chandelier, a private wine cabinet and an antique mosaic-tile-covered dining room.

And that's just the beginning. What really makes this suite over the top is a private cinema with Dolby surround sound. Such luxury makes even the private elevator that leads up to the fitness area and Jacuzzi--complete with mosaic floors, vaulted ceilings and frescoes--seem ordinary. (The painted horizons on the frescoes were designed to match perfectly with the real Roman one.) Now that's living la dolce vita. The suite with two bedrooms costs 11,400 euros (approximately $9,880); with the five optional bedrooms the price is 16,500 euros ($14,312).

The Westin Excelsior
Via Vittoria Veneto 125
Rome, Italy
Phone: 39 064 7081 or 800 228-3000
Fax: 39 064 826 205

No 4. The Plaza Hotel

Presidential Suite
$15,000 per night

Twenty years ago, the Presidential Suite at the Plaza was often used as Gourmet magazine's test kitchen. Today, you won't see editors scurrying around the French- chateaux-style suite but wealthy businessmen (the suite is rarely used by celebrities) or families who need a pied-à-terre as their home is being remodeled. The 7,802-square-foot suite covers nearly the entire 18th floor of the Plaza, with views overlooking Central Park. The walls are covered in silk, the reception area has a 10-foot-wide stained glass window and the hand-painted piano depicts scenes from the French countryside.

The suite has five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, two living rooms, a dining room, powder room and sauna. There are also three marble fireplaces, a terrace and a 2,000-bottle wine cellar (guests are charged extra for indulging). The Presidential Suite also comes with the use of a secretary/butler (who get their own office), and the Plaza's chefs are at your disposal. Of course, many who stay there prefer to bring their own personal chef with them, so feel free.

The Plaza
768 Fifth Ave.
New York, N.Y.
Phone: (212) 759-3000
Fax: ( 212) 759-3167

No 3. The Martinez Hotel

Presidential Suite
$18,000 per night

The Martinez Hotel in Cannes likes superlatives and bills itself as having the biggest, most expensive and only terraced penthouse suite on the Cote d'Azur. Perhaps some of this is Gallic swagger, but the price of the suites--$18,000--certainly makes them one of the most expensive in Europe. Both penthouse suites are 8,000 square feet and are decorated in the hotel's signature Art Deco style, with streamlined furniture, silk curtains and teak parquet floors.

While many of the hotel's rooms are painted in bright colors (peach, lime green), the penthouse suites are decorated in muted, understated tones (brown, cream and tan). Each suite has two bedrooms, a Turkish bath, kitchen, personal sauna and views of the Lerins Islands as well as the entire Bay of Cannes. The wraparound terrace is 2,000 square feet and can comfortably hold 100 people. It also has a Jacuzzi. Technophiles will appreciate the Bose plasma screen televisions and telephones and the DVD library. A private butler is on call 24 hours a day, and other amenities include use of a limousine, open bar and the option to join both suites into one très grand apartment.

The overarching attitude for the suite is "never say no to anything," which we hope is the case when you're paying $18,000. One Saudi sheik liked the suite so much he wanted to rent it for five years. The hotel said non.

Martinez Hotel
73 La Croisette
Cannes, France
Phone: 33 92 98 73 00
Fax: 33 93 39 67 82
E-mail: martinez@concorde-hotels.com

No 2. President Wilson Hotel

The Imperial Suite
$23,000 per night

At the sleek, modern President Wilson Hotel in Geneva, security takes as much precedence as luxury. Faster than you can say "Frette linens," the hotel's staff reassures guests that the security in the Imperial Suite is among the best in the world, ideal for celebrities or traveling heads of states who visit the United Nations headquarters next door at the Palais Wilson. (Considering how tight-lipped the hotel management was about the suite, guests can be assured of total secrecy.)

The Imperial Suite, which takes up the entire top floor of the hotel, is reached via a private elevator and has four bedrooms, all of which overlook Lake Geneva. The suite is decorated in a contemporary style, with marble and hardwood floors, and the bay windows overlook Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc. Off of the master bedroom is a dressing room as well as a study, and the suite has five bathrooms, all with mosaic marble floor, and a Jacuzzi and steam bath in the main bath. The living room has a billiards table, a library and a cocktail lounge with a view of the water fountain, and can accommodate 40 people. The dining room seats 26 people around an oval mahogany table. For the security-conscious or merely the paranoid, the Imperial Suite is also equipped with bulletproof windows and doors. The price of the hotel is 40,000 Swiss francs (approximately $23,600).

The President Wilson Hotel
47, Quai Wilson, 1211
Geneva, Switzerland
Phone: 41 22 906 6666 or 800-325-3589
Fax: 41 22 906 6667
E-mail: resa@hotelpwilson.com

No 1. The Atlantis

Atlantis Bridge Suite
$25,000 per night

The Atlantis Bridge Suite has the distinction of being the most expensive hotel suite in the world---it's $25,000 a night. So what do you get for that kind of money? For starters, location, location, location. The Bridge Suite is located on top of a bridge that connects the two Royal Towers buildings, so it overlooks the entire resort
and marina.

The ten-room suite is decorated in red, black and gold (lots of gold) and comes with its own butler, bar lounge and entertainment center as well as 12-foot ceilings. The master bedroom has a sitting area, his-and-hers closets, and hand-painted linens. The bathrooms have chaise lounges, marble baths, and dolphin fixtures. For those who are picky about their personal space, there are two separate master bathrooms. The kitchen also has its own entrance so the butler or cook neverbothers you.
How will you sleep after spending $25,000?

The Atlantis
Paradise Island, Bahamas
Phone: (888) 528-7155 or (242) 363-3000
Fax: (242) 363-6300

Bizarre Party

2007-02-01T05:06:00.000-08:00

What is the Bizarre Party (Nuit Dèmonia)?
It is the largest fetish event in France! The event takes place at LA LOCO, where you will be able to cruise all three levels of this famous disco, to enjoy dinner in a full-fledged restaurant, to admire the various exhibitions, to gather with friends for a drink in any of the four bars inside the premises, to dance on the huge dance floor, and to be entertained with the different Fe.ti.s.h and B.D..SM shows on the center stage (from 10pm to midnight). The Nuit Dèmonia is now competing with the greatest fetish events around the world. Don’t miss it…

Who can participate to the Nuit Dèmonia?
To gain admittance to the Nuit Dèmonia, one must be over 18 years of age and wear a fe.tish outfit.

Why is there a restaurant?
Because the event starts at 8pm and lasts until 5.30am. We recommend that you come as early as possible and therefore it is essential that you can share dinner with your Fetish friends on the spot. A set menu and various ‘à la carte’ entrees will be offered, covering a wide range of prices and culinary specialties, throughout the night.
Don’t forget to reserve a table well in advance, with the team of the shop.
You will be able to start your evening by meeting new friends at the restaurant (where you can have a drink only if you are not hungry) before attending the shows that will follow one another on the stage between 10pm and midnight.

How safe will it be?
Nothing to be feared: a discreet but very efficient security service will protect your privacy and will make sure that you enjoy the night fully, in a serene atmosphere.

Can I dance at the Nuit Dèmonia?
Yes, between midnight and 5am, six DJ' S, all well-known for their Fetish attitude and choice of music, will give their best to entertain you:

What does ‘fetish outfit’ mean precisely?
Even if we are not as strict as our English counterparts in this matter, we still require a specific ‘dress-code’ for the patrons. It is required to wear leather, vinyl or latex, to wear a uniform (such as pilot, maidservant, soldier, doctor, police officer, nurse…) or to be a transvestite. The bare minimum is defined as pants/skirt out of leather, vinyl or latex. The black cloth outfits will not be accepted but red latex is welcome. It is not so much a matter of color as of material. Obviously the more exotic the better! The Nuit Dèmonia is a unique event: don’t be shy and show off your most beautiful fetish attire. That’s what this party is for!

Who manages the Nuit Dèmonia?
The Nuit Dèmonia is primarily organized by the Démonia group, in partnership with the organizers of the Elastic Ball (the greatest fetish event in Paris) and those of Fetish Assembly (the greatest fetish event in Belgium), but many other people join the organization gradually.

source: nuitdemonia.com

Heven On Earth(Huvafen Fushi)

2007-01-28T05:38:00.000-08:00

If celebrity patrons are an indicator of a hotel’s popularity, the Maldives super-lux Huvafen Fushi is about as hot as it gets. George Clooney popped in for lunch last month, Kate Moss partied in her Ocean Villa, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes booked in a massage during their honeymoon, Alexander McQueen had left when I arrived and when I left the island, Stefano Gabbana of Dolce & Gabbana and John Galliano were set to arrive (separately).

Trendsetting Huvafen Fushi has been raising the benchmark since its first inception two years ago. Opening its doors to feature the world’s first underwater spa, Huvafen Fushi has since earned its spot on the coveted Condé Nast Traveller Magazines’ UK and US Hot List.

This discreetly luxurious, contemporary retreat is located on its own lagoon on a tiny island in North Malé Atoll. I arrived late into the night direct from Singapore, the flight doesn’t get in until 10pm (note: book Emirates instead to arrive during the day).

When I was escorted into my over-water bungalow, I felt like I’d walked into an Apple store/Armani showroom, with a bed in the middle surrounded by all my favorite gadgets. Surround sound Bose indoor/outdoor music system, Plasma TV screens, Bang & Olufsen phones, iPod Nano with an incredible selection of music that had already been installed – a separate massive bath which overlooks the ocean, my own private plunge pool, oversized king size bed, Frette linen, designer furniture (including pieces by Frank Gehry) electronic curtains, waterfall shower – the list goes on and on.

Waking up in the Maldives is something everyone should experience before they die. The view from the bed in my room overlooked the plunge pool which overlooks the Ocean. It’s an incredible sight, serious postcard material.

The day at Huvafen Fushi starts off with a buffet breakfast in Celcius, luxe-but-laid-back dining on a white sand floored deck branching out over the lagoon. Next it’s off snorkeling where you’ll see the most amazing colored coral and sea life including sting rays. It takes approximately 3 hours before you realize you have a tan, the sun is extremely bright and even with 30+ sunblock, you tan quite fast and you notice tan lines by the time you’ve finished breakfast.

My day was busy, yet I did nothing. I snorkeled, I tanned, I read, I snorkeled again, I read more, I walked over to the over-water gym, and walked back out (are you kidding – who can face the gym on holidays) and before I knew it, the sun was already setting. So I headed to Umbar to order a cocktail and sit back in the seriously comfy lounge chairs and watch the sunset while the chill band played, very Café Del Mar. The music, the sunset, the people, the atmosphere - it’s an amazing vibe. Dinner at Salt restaurant (barefoot) is a highlight. The food was fine dining at its best, as good as anything you’ll find in the world’s best restaurants.

Famously, the highest point in the Maldives is only four meters above sea level, so perhaps its not surprising that the Huvafen spa is underwater – something totally exclusive to this resort. It’s like entering a glamorous fishbowl where you are the main attraction to the fish. It’s the perfect environment for a massage. I chose the Maldivian monsoon ritual massage and it defies description. All I can say is that I don’t think I will ever be able to top the experience. Incredible is an understatement.

BEST TIME TO GO
NOW UNTIL MAY

COOL FACTOR
The friendly, laid-back staff: guests in pavilion accommodation get a 24-hour butler service, while the rest of the resort gets a FISH (Fast Island Service Host), which amounts to the same thing.

FACILITES
Three restaurants, a lively bar, a seriously cool well-stocked underground wine cellar, an over-water yoga pavilion and the world's first underwater massage treatment rooms complete the picture.

COST
Bungalows from US$880

This year, Huvafen Fushi is proud to announce three new initiatives. An übercool 70ft luxury yacht, an exclusive compilation with one of the world’s most famous DJ and Producer, Ravin from Buddha Bar, Paris as well as an uplift to the world’s first underwater spa.

When Huvafen Fushi first opened two years ago, Per Aquum Resorts • Spas • Residences, CEO, Tom McLoughlin, commented, “This is just the beginning. We will continue to refine the original Huvafen Fushi concept, while constantly pushing the boundaries in delivering the ultimate guest experience.”

Huvafen Fushi has certainly made this statement its driving force with more amazing concepts on the way

Frozen Cherries

2007-01-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

Frozen cherry tree. Beautiful, but very sad view.

Heven On Earth(Huvafen Fushi)

2007-01-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

Japanese Bunny

2007-01-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

Sweet bunny,seems he is scared.He speaks Japenese…?

Snake Skin Car (Cool body job)

2007-01-25T04:59:00.000-08:00

BMW,Audi no no, here is the car that painted like snake skin. I do like it.
Will you drive this car?

AMAZING Hand Art Paintings

2007-01-25T02:56:00.000-08:00

A great collection of art paintings on hands.
Maybe its just a painting of a hand with paint on it. it looks more like a painting than an actual hand...Ho knows but it's really incredible. My favorite is THE EAGLE.

Top 25 animated series

2007-01-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

25. The Jetsons

I did like The Jetsons and used to watch it when I was younger. Back in the day when the Cartoon Network was brand new, they didn't have their own shows and instead would play other cartoons, including The Jetsons. But what about The Flintstones? The shows were almost identical except for the setting. I think number 25 should of been a tie between The Jetsons and The Flintstones.

24. Aqua Teen Hunger Force

I think this show it's great. I'm kinda sad to see it so far down on this top 25 list though. The Mooninites rock! Carl rocks! And Master Shake is just funny as hell. You definitely have to be a special person to enjoy the humor in this show.

23. Spawn: The Animated Series

I've only seen a few episodes of this show when I was younger. I remember it would air late at night and on HBO. I don't remember much of it other than that it was geared toward adults. The animation style and darkness of the show was great. But that's all I remember.

22. Invader Zim

I've never heard of or seen this show before. So I guess I can't really judge it.

21. Sealab 2021

Along with Aqua Teen Hunger Force, this cartoon premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim TV block. I kind of have mixed feelings about Sealab. Sometimes it's entertaining and other times I can't stand it. It's almost too dumb and not very creative at times. I could go without seeing this show on this list.

20. Johnny Quest

Never really saw the original show, I used to watch The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest. That show was damn good. I take it The Real Adventures was pretty much like the original Johnny Quest except the Johnny and Haji were a little older and they introduced a girl name Jesse (Race's daughter).

19. Venture Bros

Alright! Glad to see this show on here. Venture Bros is my favorite show on Adult Swim right now. I love it. This show is kind of a spoof of the Johnny Quest series and other 70's adventure shows. I wish this show was higher on the list as it's quickly becoming one of my favorite cartoons ever.

18. Powerpuff Girls

I'll admit it. I used to watch this show. The shows creator was definitely thinking of anime style when he created this show. Only he put his own uniqueness/cuteness on the anime style. While watching the show I did see plenty of similarities between the two (especially with Dragonball Z). But the best character in the Powerpuff Girls was Mojo Jojo. He wins.

17. Justice League

Never really watched the show. Looks like it's just a re-make of the Super Friends show from a long time ago.

16. Aeon Flux

This was definitely a cool show. It was dark and adult themed. What more could you ask for in a cartoon? It was heavily styled on anime and really first introduced me to the anime style. So, thanks for that. Glad to see it on this list.

15. Spongebob Squarepants

I've seen bits and pieces of this show, but never watched an entire episode. This show is kind of weird. It looks like it's trying to be like Ren and Stimpy but toned down for a younger audience. "Who lives in a pineapple under the see?" (why do I know that?)

14. King of the Hill

Heh, I like this show. I don't know why. Maybe it's just the main character, Hank Hill. Or maybe it's just that awesome intro song. Or maybe it's their depressed neighbor, Bill. Or maybe it's their other conspiracy nut neighbor Dale. I don't really know, but if this show is on, I'll watch it.

13. Space Ghost: Coast to Coast

Just thinking of this show makes me laugh. This show is great and truly one of the first more adult styled cartoons to show on Cartoon Network. Space Ghost, Zorack, Moltar, and the occasional cameo of Brak was great. They were my own little cartoon family. I just wish I could see the show more often.

12. The Maxx

Never watched this show. Or, if I did, I don't remember it, which is never good.

11. Samurai Jack

Never watched it either, but heard it's a great show. Maybe I'll check it out someday.

10. Home Movies

I've seen this show on Cartoon Network plenty of times, but never really liked it. I just never found it that funny or entertaining. I'd watch it if nothing else was on but that's the only time I'd watch it.

9. The Critic

Err. Seen this show. It was ok. Don't think it deserves to be in the top 10. Maybe around number 20.

8. Ren and Stimpy

This show was hilarious and gross all at the same time. With such memorable characters and songs this show definitely deserves a spot in the top 10. Good choice IGN. Who could deny Powered Toast Man and the Log Song?

7. Star Wars: Clone Wars

This is a fairly new show on Cartoon Network that I haven't seen yet. Pfft.

6. Family Guy

When this show first aired I thought it was hilarious. I couldn't get enough of the show. It was so damn funny and appeared to be clever. But after a few seasons the show lost its shiny coat. Now every episode and every joke feel the same. It's not very funny and just kind of annoying now. I don't like seeing this show at number 6. I think it should be around number 10.

5. Beavis and Butt-Head

I love this show. I get some type of guilty pleasure out of this show. Maybe it's because it was controversial for its time, but Beavis and Butt-Head cracked me up. The situations they would get into and how they would handle those situations was great. Definitely earned their spot in the top 5.

4. Futurama

Ok, in all seriousness, this is probably one of my favorite cartoon shows of all time. I've seen hundreds of cartoons and for me to say this is one of my favorites is a big deal. This show is sheer genius! I'm so thankful that Cartoon Network shows re-runs of Futurama every night. For me though, this show should be number 1 or number 2 in the top 5. Honk if Bender is great!

3. The Flintstones

Ok, maybe it's because this show was before my generation, but I don't think it should be in the top 5. Yes, I will admit that it's one of the most well known cartoons ever and in many ways set standards for what a cartoon show should be. But seeing The Flintstones here at number 3 while The Jetsons are at number 25 doesn't make any sense to me. The shows were very much the same and really shouldn't be so far apart on the list. The Flintstones/Jetsons in the top 10? No. Top 5? No. The top 25? Yes.

2. South Park

I do like South Park. I think the writers are incredible talented, smart, clever, and witty. But I was never a huge, huge fan of the series. Don't get me wrong, I think the show is hilarious, but if I had to choose between watching South Park or another one of my favorite cartoons, I would choose the other cartoons. But I do love how South Park takes real world issues and parodies them into extremely clever and over-the-top jokes. This show should be in the top 5. Maybe not as high as number 2 though.

1. The Simpsons

Duh! What else did you think number 1 would be? Of course, the best animated show ever is The Simpsons. How could you deny The Simpsons the number 1 spot? It is by far one of the most popular and longest running series ever. And there's good reason for that. It's pure comedy genius. Actually, I was wrong when I said The Simpsons was my favorite cartoon show ever. What I should say is that The Simpsons is my favorite show ever. Even other non-cartoon shows that I enjoy get left in the dust when compared to The Simpson.

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Awesome Planet In Photoshop

2007-01-17T03:14:00.000-08:00

This video is just following a planet creation tutorial step by step. This exact was first created by Greg Martin.Part of his Capturing Heaven guide to new space artist using photoshop.

Thanks to Greg Martin I learn how to make this incredible Planet.

Awesome Planet In Photoshop - video powered by Metacafe

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10 Greatest Robberies of all time

2007-01-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

No 1. Central Bank of Iraq (2003):
Saddam took US$1 billion a day before the war

In March 2003, on several occasions beginning on March 18, the day before the United States began bombing Baghdad, nearly US$1 billion was stolen from the Central Bank of Iraq. This is considered the largest bank heist in history.

Approximately $650 million was later found hidden in walls in Saddam Hussein's palace by US troops. It is believed that this was the bulk of the stolen money. The remaining money is currently unaccounted for. Diyaa Habib al-Khayoun, general manager of the state-owned al-Rafidain Bank, claims that $250 million and 18 billion now worthless Iraqi dinars were also stolen, but by professional robbers unconnected to Saddam.

In March 2003, a hand-written note surfaced, signed by Saddam, ordering $920 million to be withdrawn and given to his son Qusay. Bank officials state that Qusay and another unidentified man oversaw the cash, boxes of $100 bills, being loaded into trucks during a five hour operation. Qusay was later killed by US troops in a firefight.

No 2. Boston Museum (1990):
Dressed as police officers, stole US$300 million worth in paintings

Hours after St. Patrick's Day festivities wrapped up in Boston on March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers knocked on the security entrance side door of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum at 1:24 a.m. "The policy has always been that you don't open that door in the middle of the night for God. Why on this one night they opened the door no one can explain," Lyle Grindle, the museum's current head of security, told Access Control & Security Systems, a security industry trade publication. Grindle was not in charge of security at the time of the 1990 heist. Just minutes after letting them in, the guards quickly learned that the late night visitors weren't real cops. Though they apparently did not brandish any weapons, the intruders managed to overpower the two guards. They handcuffed the guards, bound them with duct tape and left them in the basement.

In the fewer than 90 minutes that followed, the bandits went through the museum's Dutch Room on the second floor and stole three Rembrandts, including the Dutch artist's only seascape, "Storm on the Sea of Galilee." It was one of several works the thieves savagely cut to release it from its frame, leaving ragged edges of the canvas behind in otherwise empty frames, which continue to hang in the museum to this day. Also taken from that room was "The Concert" by Vermeer, as well as a Chinese bronze beaker located near the Rembrandt. The thieves also apparently tried to steal a fourth Rembrandt but were unsuccessful. Nearby, they also made off with "Landscape with an Obelisk," an oil painting by Govaert Flinck that was until recently attributed to Rembrandt, Flinck's mentor. On the other side of the floor, the thieves went into the Short Gallery and ripped five Degas sketches from the wall. Feet away a bronze eagle that adorned the top of a Napoleonic flag was also pillaged. A Manet portrait, located in the museum's Blue Room on the first floor, capped off the list of works the thieves stole.

It is not known in what order the rooms were ransacked, since the thieves ripped out the surveillance tape before fleeing the museum with it. To this day, the small museum isn't able to collect insurance, since it carried no insurance policy at the time of the heist.

No 3. Knightsbridge Security Deposit (1987):
Requested to rent a safe deposit box, then subdued the manager and stole US$111 million

The Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery took place on 12 July 1987 in Knightsbridge, England, part of the City of Westminster in London. Two men entered the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre and requested to rent a Safe deposit box. After being shown into the vault, they produced hand guns and subdued the manager and security guards.

The thieves then hung a sign on the street level door explaining that the Safe Deposit Centre was temporarily closed, whilst letting in further accomplices. They broke open many of the safe deposit boxes and left with a hoard estimated to be worth £40 million (equivalent to roughly US$66 million at the 1987 exchange rate; the inflation-adjusted value would be £63.6 million --$111 million-- as of 2005).

One hour after the robbers departed, one of the guards managed to escape his handcuffs to raise the alarm. Police forensic investigators at the crime scene recovered a fingerprint that was traced to the Italian Valerio Viccei. After a period of surveillance, Viccei and several of his accomplices were arrested during a series of coordinated raids on 12 August 1987 and later convicted of the crime. Viccei would later published a book on the robbery.

No 4 Kent Securitas Depot (2006):
Abducted the manager, then stole USD$92.5 million

The Securitas depot robbery was a robbery which took place in the early hours of 22 February 2006, between 01:00 and 02:15 UTC in England, an operation that succeeded in stealing the largest cash amount in British crime history. At least six men abducted and threatened the family of the manager, tied up fourteen staff members and stole £53,116,760 (about US$92.5 million or €78 million) in bank notes from a Securitas Cash Management Ltd depot in Vale Road, Tonbridge, Kent.

The manager of the depot, Colin Dixon, was abducted at about 18:30 on 21 February, apparently while driving his Nissan Almera to his home in Herne Bay. He was pulled over on the A249 just outside Stockbury, a village North East of Maidstone, by what he thought was an unmarked police vehicle due to the blue lights behind the front grill. A man approached him in high-visibility clothing and a police-style hat. The manager proceeded to get into the police imposter's car, thinking that he was a police officer, where he was then handcuffed by others in the vehicle. He was then driven west on the M20 motorway to the West Malling bypass where he was bound further, transferred into a white van and transported to a farm in an unknown location in west Kent.

As this was taking place, the manager's wife and eight-year-old son were being held hostage at their home in Herne Bay, after they answered the door to men dressed in police uniforms, who falsely informed them that the manager had been involved in a road traffic accident. They were then driven to the farm at which the manager was being held, where he was told at gunpoint that failure to cooperate could put him and his family in danger.

The depot manager, his wife and son were taken to the Securitas depot in Tonbridge at around 01:00, travelling in a plain white van, being held at gunpoint. At the depot, 14 members of staff were bound by robbers, armed with handguns and wearing balaclavas.

The heist came to an end at approximately 02:15, although it was still another hour before staff members, who had been tied up, managed to raise the alarm. Police officers arriving on the scene discovered staff, the manager and his family, bound but physically unharmed.

No5 Great Train Robbery (1963):
Stole US$74 million without guns

The Great Train Robbery was the name given to a £2.3 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.

The Royal Mail's Glasgow to London travelling post office (TPO) train was stopped by tampered signals. A 15-member gang, led by Bruce Reynolds and including Ronnie Biggs, Charlie Wilson, Jimmy Hussey, John Wheater, Brian Field, Jimmy White, Tommy Wisbey, Gordon Goody and Buster Edwards, stole £2.3 million in used £1, £5 and £10 notes — the equivalent of £40 million (US $74 million) in 2006.

Although no guns were used in the robbery, the train driver, Jack Mills, was hit on the head with an iron bar, causing a black eye and facial bruising. The assailant was one of three members of the gang never to be arrested or identified. Frank Williams (at the time a Detective Inspector) claims to have traced the man, but he could not be charged because of lack of evidence. Mills recovered fully from the attack and died in 1970 from leukemia.

Thirteen of the gang members were caught after police discovered their fingerprints at their hideout at Leatherslade Farm, near Oakley, Buckinghamshire. The robbers were tried, sentenced and imprisoned. Ronnie Biggs escaped from prison 15 months into his sentence, settling in Melbourne Australia, and later moving to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when police found out his Melbourne address. Charlie Wilson escaped and was living outside Montreal, Canada on Rigaud Mountain. In the upper-middle-class neighbourhood where the large, secluded properties are surrounded by trees, Wilson was just another resident who enjoyed his privacy. Only when his wife made the mistake of telephoning his parents in England was Scotland Yard able to track him down.

No 6 Banco Central in Brazil (2005):
Tunneled 255 feet up to the bank, then stole US$69.8 million

On the weekend of August 6 and August 7, 2005 a gang of burglars, suspected to be either the Gang of the Tattooed or Primeiro Comando da Capital, tunneled into the Banco Central in Fortaleza. They removed five containers of 50-real notes, with an estimated value of 164,755,150 reais (US$69.8 million, £38.6 million, €56 million). The money was uninsured; a bank spokeswoman stated that the risks were too small to justify the insurance premiums. The burglars managed to evade or disable the bank's internal alarms and sensors; the burglary remained undiscovered until the bank opened for business on the morning of Monday, August 8.

The Banco Central is a national banking institution charged with control of the money supply. The money in the vault was being examined to see if it should be recirculated or destroyed. The bills were not numbered sequentially, making them almost impossible to trace.

Three months earlier, the gang of burglars had rented an empty property in the centre of the city and then tunneled 78 meters (255 ft) beneath two city blocks to a position beneath the bank. The gang had renovated a house and put up a sign indicating it was a landscaping company selling both natural and artificial grass as well as plants. Neighbours, who estimated that the gang consisted of between six and ten men, described how they had seen van-loads of soil being removed daily, but understood this to be a normal activity of the business. The tunnel, being roughly 70 cm (2.3 ft) square and running 4 meters (13 ft) beneath the surface, was well-constructed: it was lined with wood and plastic and had its own lighting and air conditioning systems.

On the final weekend, the gang broke through 1.1 meters (3.6 ft) of steel-reinforced concrete to enter the bank vault. The bank notes weighed approximately 3,500 kg (approx. 7,700 lbs) and would have required a considerable amount of time and effort to remove.

On October 22 the body of the suspected mastermind, Luis Fernando Ribeiro, 26, was found 9 October on an isolated road near Camanducaia, 200 miles (320 km) west of Rio de Janeiro. He had been shot seven times and had marks on his wrists as if he had been handcuffed. Five men were arrested September 28 with about $5.4 million of the money and told the police they had helped dig the tunnel. So far, authorities have recovered more than $7 million but $63 million remains unaccounted for.

No 7 Northern Bank (2004):
Bank officials threatened to help steal US$50 million

The Northern Bank robbery was a large robbery of cash from the headquarters of the Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Carried out by a large, proficient group on 20 December 2004, the gang seized £26.5 million in pounds sterling, making it one of the biggest bank robberies in British history. The police and the British and Irish governments claimed the Provisional IRA was responsible (or had permitted others to undertake the raid), a claim vehemently denied by the Provisional IRA itself and the Sinn Féin political party. The robbery, and the allegations and counter-allegations surrounding it, threw the Northern Ireland peace process into crisis.

On the night of Sunday December 19, 2004 groups of armed men called at the homes of two officials of the Northern Bank, one in Downpatrick in County Down, the other in Poleglass, near Belfast. Masquerading as police officers, they entered the homes and held the officials and their families at gunpoint. Bank official Chris Ward was taken from Poleglass to Downpatrick, the home of his supervisor Kevin McMullan, while gunmen remained at his home with his family. Subsequently Mr McMullan's wife was taken from their home and held, also at gunpoint, at an unknown location. The following day both officials were instructed to report for work at the bank's headquarters at Belfast's Donegall Square West as normal. They did so, and remained at work after the close of business, and later in the evening they gave admittance to other members of the gang.

The robbers entered the bank's cash handling and storage facility. This held an unusually large amount of cash, in preparation for distribution to ATMs for the busy Christmas shopping season. Cash was transferred to one or several vehicles (possibly including a white "Luton" van) at the premises' Wellington Street entrance, and the gang fled. Shortly before midnight the gang holding the Ward family left, and those holding Mrs McMullan released her in a forest near Ballynahinch.

The haul included £10m of uncirculated Northern Bank sterling banknotes, £5.5m of used Northern Bank sterling notes, £4.5m of circulated sterling notes issued by other banks, and small amounts of other currencies, largely Euros and U.S. Dollars.

No 8.Brinks Mat warehouse (1983):
Broke into warehouse to find ten tonnes of gold bullion worth US$45 million

The Brinks Mat Robbery occurred on 26 November 1983 when six robbers broke into the Brinks Mat warehouse at Heathrow Airport, England. The robbers thought they were going to steal £3 million in cash; however when they arrived they found ten tonnes of gold bullion (worth £26 million). The gang got into the warehouse thanks to security guard Anthony Black, who was the brother-in-law of the raid's architect Brian Robinson. Scotland Yard quickly discovered the family connection and Black confessed to aiding and abetting the raiders, providing them with a key to the main door and giving them details of security measures. Tried at the Old Bailey, Robinson and gang leader Michael McAvoy were each sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for armed robbery. Black got six years, and served three.

Prior to his conviction McAvoy had entrusted part of his share to an associate John Perry. Perry recruited Kenneth Noye (who had links with a legitimate gold dealer in Bristol) to dispose of the gold. Noye melted down the bullion and recast it for sale. However the sudden movements of large amounts of money through a Bristol bank came to the notice of the Treasury who informed the police. Noye was placed under police surveillance and in January 1985 killed an officer he discovered in his garden. At the resulting trial the jury found him not guilty on the grounds of self-defence. In 1986 Noye was found guilty of conspiracy to handle the Brinks Mat gold, fined £700,000 and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Three tonnes of stolen gold has never been recovered. It is claimed that anyone wearing gold jewellery bought in the UK after 1983, is probably wearing Brinks Mat.

No 9 Dunbar Armored (1997):
Inside man steals US$18.9 million

The Dunbar Armored robbery is the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States. It occurred in 1997 at the Dunbar Armored facility in Los Angeles, California. The thieves made off with some 18.9 million U.S. Dollars.

The robbery was masterminded by Allen Pace, who worked for Dunbar as a regional safety inspector. While on the job, Pace had time to photograph and examine the company's Los Angeles armored car depot. He recruited five of his childhood friends, and on the night of Friday, September 13, 1997, Pace used his keys to gain admittance to the facility. Pace had timed the security cameras and determined how they could be avoided. Once inside, they waited within the staff cafeteria, ambushing the guards one by one. Pace knew that on Friday nights the vault was open due to the large quantities of money being moved. Rushing the vault guards, the robbers managed to subdue them before they could signal any alarms. In half an hour, the robbers had loaded millions of dollars into a waiting U-Haul. Pace knew exactly which bags contained the highest denomination and non-sequential bills. He also knew where the recording devices for the security cameras were located and took these.

The police immediately realized it was an inside job and closely examined Pace, but could find nothing. The gang worked hard to conceal their new wealth, laundering it through property deals and phony businesses. Eventually, one of the gang members, Eugene Lamar Hill, erred when he gave an unknowing associate a stack of bills still wrapped with the original cash straps. The associate went to the police and Hill was arrested. Hill soon confessed and named his associates. Allen Pace was arrested and sentenced to twenty-four years in jail. Only a fraction of the money was ever recovered. Some $10 million is still unaccounted for.

No 10 Lufthansa (1978):
US$5.8 million at Kennedy Airport

The 1978 Lufthansa Heist was planned by Jimmy Burke (immortalized in Martin Scorcese's Goodfellas), an associate of the Lucchese crime family, and carried out by several of his associates. It all began when bookmaker, Martin Krugman, told Henry Hill (an associate of Jimmy Burke's) about millions of dollars in untraceable money. The money was flown in once a month and was the money exchanged by servicemen and tourists in West Germany and that it was stored in a cardboard vault at Kennedy Airport. The information had come from Louis Werner, who owed Krugman $20,000 in gambling debts and worked at the airport.

On December 11th, at 3.12 a.m. a guard, named Kelly Whalen, patrolling the cargo terminal, spotted a black Ford Econoline van pulling into a bay near a loading platform, for vaults. Whalen walked toward the loading bay, to investigate this peculiar appartion and was struck over the head with a .45 pistol. A wiry man in a black ski mask pulled his mask over his face as the blood began to pour from Whalen's wound. Another man grabbed Whalen's gun and thus disarmed him. Whalen was ordered, by the two men, to disarm the silent alarm, after he did this he was handcuffed behind his back. He saw a series of other men, all carrying rifles or pistols, running into the cargo terminal and then another man took his wallet and said that they knew where his family were and that they had men ready to visit them. Whalen nodded to indicate that he would co-operate with the thieves.

Another guard, Rolf Rebmann, heard a noise by the loading ramp and when he went to investigate, 6 armed, masked men forced their way in and handcuffed him. They then used a one of a kind key from Werner and walked through a maze of corridors to where the two other employees would be. Once these two had been rounded up two gunmen ventured downstairs to look for unexpected visitors and then the other men marched the employees to a lunch room, where the other employees were on a 3 a.m. break. The gunmen burst into the lunch room and brandishing their firearms they showed a bloodied Whalen as an indication of their intentions if anyone got out of line. They knew each employee by name and forced them onto the ground. They made John Murray, the terminal's senior cargo agent, call Rudi Eirich on the intercom. The robbers knew that Eirich was the only guard that night who knew the right combinations to open the double door vault. Murray was made to pretend, to Eirich, that there was a problem with a load from Frankfurt and told Eirich to meet him in the cafeteria. As Eirich approached the cafe he was met by two shotguns and he saw the other employees, bound and gagged on the cafeteria floor. One gunman kept watch over the 10 employees and the other 3 took Eirich, at gun point, down two flights of stairs to the double door vault. He later reported that the men were informed and knew all about the safety systems in the vault and they knew about the double door system, whereby one door must be shut or the other one can't be opened or the alarm will be activated. The men ordered Eirich to open up the first door, to a 10-by-20 foot room. They knew that if he opened up the second door he would activate an alarm to the Port Authority. Once inside they ordered Eirich to lie on the ground and they then began sifting through invoices and freight manifests to determine which parcels they wanted of the many similarly wrapped ones. Finally they began hurling parcels through, one nearly hit Eirich's head, he saw it kicked open and said that inside was stacks and stacks of cash. Around 40 parcels were removed and Eirich was made to lock the inner door before unlocking the outer door because this would trigger an alarm to the Port Authority office. Two of the gunmen were assigned to load the parcels into the vans while the others tied up Eirich. A man, without a ski mask on, burst into the cafeteria and was euphoric, he said to the other gunmen that they had the money in the vans. He was quickly told to put on his ski mask by the other thieves, however some of the employees caught a glimpse of his face. They were told not to call the Port Authority until 4:30 a.m., when the men left it was 4:16 a.m. according to the cafeteria clock and no calls were made until 4:30, when a report of $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewels being stolen was made. The employees complied because they knew if the police caught the men they or their families would be harmed or even killed. The robbery took only 64 minutes and was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil at the time.

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Guitar Designs

2007-01-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

Very interesting work of designers with a lot of imagination, I would like to say, although jet imagination little bit twisted, so the guitar in shape of M –16 isn’t everyday thing and exactly this make worth and valid and also enough interesting for this site.

If are you an octopus or something similar with a lot of limbs or hands, this guitar would also even use it to present yourself like a real professional performer.

This made of guitar is rather impressive, although I can with safe what is about the word; I have to stress out that remind me on a little religious work from the Holly Bible book, but I am not sure for this!

As far as you haven’t a girlfriend, this guitar would satisfy some other yours needs besides the playing the guitar, in what I don’t suspect to play bad, but for sure don’t exaggerate, be careful and remember “ Medium is merit”.

This is P*** :), I have no idea what kind of guitar is, nor even what looks like, it was simply interesting for me and non everyday shape, and I have put it with the other
strange guitars.

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