Billionaure Vission

It is a sight one would not expect in the Israeli-occupied West Bank:  An Italian villa complete with ancient Greek statues, Picassos, and manicured gardens reminiscent of Versailles.  Palestinian billionaire Munib Al Masri, whose personal wealth represents about a third of the Palestinian economy, has turned his extravagant dream into reality.  Al Masri invited correspondent Luis Ramirez to his lavish home near Nablus to talk about his vision for a Palestinian state. 

A palace on a hill overlooking Nablus, complete with authentic works of art from Europe.

"When I was 19, I was in Chicago and I saw a Palladian style house and I said to myself at that time when I go back to my home, Palestine, I would like to build a similar house," said Palestinian billionaire Munib Al Masri.Munib Al Masri calls it "Palestine House," and it represents a dream. "My dream is to have a state, to have a Palestinian independent state living in peace with the region, and especially living in peace with Israel," he said.

Al Masri just led an independent delegation to Egypt, where he says recent changes raise his hopes that the new Egyptian leaders might do more for the Palestinians than before.

"Before we went there, we were in doubt.  Maybe they will be busy or something, but on the contrary.  We found a lot of determination from the parties we met," he said.Al Masri is also working for reconciliation between the West Bank leadership and the rival Hamas group in Gaza. "With the country divided so much, we will never have a country," said the billionaire. "They always say, 'What is your address, is it Gaza, or Ramallah?"

Al Masri worked his way through college in the United States, partly as a bartender to Hollywood stars, before making a fortune in oil and gas.

Now, he is the largest private sector employer in the West Bank. He could afford to live anywhere. "I feel I have a lot of responsibility to be here, to do things and I feel satisfied.  Sometimes I hate myself, as if I didn't accomplish anything and sometimes when I see so many jobs being offered to people, so many things going, I feel satisfied," he said.

For Munib Al Masri, the job now is to turn yet another fantasy into reality.

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THE U.S PRESIDENT IN 1789-1797

1. GEORGE WASHINGTON 1789-1797

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."

Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.

He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.

From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.

When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.

He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.

He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances.

Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.

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The Most Expensive House

1. Antilla, Mumbai, India: $1 billion
This modern gorgeous structure is called Antilla. It’s a 27 floors building with 40,000 sq ft tower owned by the CEO of Mumbai based Petrochemical Giant Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani. The building is 570 ft tall and will have 400,000 square feet of interior space. For the parking alone, the building dedicate 6 stories because Ambani has around 168 cars collection. You can see nine elevators with lot of lounge and personal gym in each floor. The house is serving by 600 servant. You can imagine how luxurious this house. Looks like this amazing house will hold the record of world’s most expensive house for a long time as it’s far more expensive from the second most expensive house in the world.

About Antilia:

Antilia is the name of a twenty-seven floor personal home in South Mumbai belonging to businessman Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire Chairman of Reliance Industries There will be 600 full-time staff to maintain the residence, which is considered the most expensive home in the world. It has been described as the "Taj Mahal of 21st century India".

General information Location

Location           : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Coordinates      : 18°58′6″N 72°48′35″E

Status               : Completed

Constructed      : 2007-2010

Opening           : 28 Oct 2010

Use                  : Residential

Height

Roof                 : 173 metres (568 ft)

Technical details

Floor                : Count 27 (equivalent to 60 floors tower)

Cost                 : disputed

Companies involved

Architect(s)      : Perkins & Will

Structural engineer: Sterling Engineering Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.

Owner              : Mukesh Ambani

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Guinness World Record (46 Hours KISS )

It was one long kiss for a couple, one record-breaking embrace for mankind.

A determined Thai couple locked lips for 46 hours, 24 minutes and nine seconds to celebrate Valentine’s Day in this southern beach resort town, emerging victorious after a “kissathon” organizers claim marked the longest recorded smooch in history.

The previous record of just over 32 hours was set in 2009 by a couple in Germany, according to Guinness World Records, whose officials will have to verify the latest milestone for it to become official.

Fourteen couples kicked off the contest at 6 a.m. Sunday. By Monday afternoon, half had already beaten the record and were still puckering up on the white marble corridor of an oceanside shopping mall in Pattaya, Thailand. Passing tourists gawked, smiled and snapped pictures with mobile phones behind a red rope.

“We didn’t think we would find anybody that could break the record,” said Somporn Naksuetrong, the manager of Pattaya’s Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks museum, which organized the competition. That seven couples apparently did, he said, “is amazing.”

The winner was announced before dawn Tuesday: a Bangkok couple, Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat. They won a diamond ring worth 50,000 Thai baht ($1,606), and a 100,000 Baht ($3,213 dollar) cash prize.

According to the rules, the lovebirds’ lips could not part at any time. Any drinks could only be consumed through straws while continuing the kiss, and the couples had to remain embraced during bathroom breaks possible every three hours, accompanied by contest monitors.

The harshest rule: no sitting or sleeping. One woman participating with her boyfriend fainted just half an hour after it began Sunday.

Despite its reputation for having one of the biggest sex industries in the world, Thailand is still a conservative nation where kissing in public—even a small peck—is frowned upon. Participants had to prove they were either married or truly a couple. A letter from both parents or a marriage certificate was acceptable.

“We want to show that love is meaningful and powerful,” Mr. Somporn said. “It’s not easy to stand there and kiss for that long. They really have to help each other and support each other.”

A Thai and international soundtrack that included tunes like Sixpence None The Richer’s 1997 hit “Kiss Me” kept couples swaying two nights straight, some barefoot or striking yoga-like poses to keep awake.

About 35 hours into the marathon, 37-year-old Preedi Singhajan scribbled a note on a paper tablet to his 51-year-old partner, Rungnapa Rojananawin.

“Can you go on?” he asked.

She soon answered by ending their embrace. Attendants swiftly sat the couple down and a nurse took Ms. Rojananawin’s pulse.

“The competition is fierce,” she said, slumped in a metal chair as five other couples shimmied in a bizarre scene akin to a high-school dance tempered by bright floodlights. “These people aren’t giving up easily.”

Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks, a Pattaya wax museum, is under the management of Ripley’s World of Entertainment. Representatives of Guinness World Records were not immediately available to comment, but Mr. Somporn said they were aware of the contest.

The couples who took part were mainly Thai and ranged in age from 21 to 51. There was one German man with a Thai woman, and also a gay couple.

The official longest kiss was clocked at 32 hours, 7 minutes and 14 seconds long by Nikola Matovic and Kristina Reinhart in Germany in February 2009, according to Guinness.

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