Most Expensive Fighter Plane

The US F22 Raptor developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin Fort Worth and Boeing in the late 1990s cost approximately $13.3 billion - twice as much as its European counterpart, the Eurofighter.

World’s Most Expensive Laptop Costs $350,000: Cheapest Laptop is Just $100

Small world but huge difference. Today, I was searching about expensive laptops and I found one laptop to have price tag of nearly $350,000. It is Tulip E-Go Diamond. From the name you can rightly guess that it has a touch of diamond.

Image Source: AMDboard.com
I could find a nice description of this laptop in AMDboard.com:
“Tulip E-Go notebook inlaid with solid palladium white gold plates in which thousands of brilliant cut diamonds have been set. The quality is V.V.S. top-Wesselton and the total weight is 80.00 Crt.

The brilliant cut diamonds are microscopic and pave set with surgical precision. This magnificent end result is possible thanks to the use of brilliant cut diamonds with a large variety of diameters.”

I do not how many people can afford this laptop or even how many people are willingly spend so much after a laptop. However, I know that those people who would buy Tulip E-Go Diamond, would simply buy it for status symbol or as a fashionable item not to play games or watch a movie with it. About its technical specification, I am quoting from Softpedia:

“The E-Go laptop is hand bag shaped and it is targeted at ladies, so, not exactly for gamers. Though, the specifications are good. The system is based on an AMD Turion 64 processor, with an ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphic chipset and featuring 1 GB of DDR RAM PC3200 memory. The hard disk can store 100 GB SATA and the display is a 12.1 inch widescreen WHGA, supporting 1280 X 800 pixel resolution.

Also, a DVD-RW optical unit is available, a touch pad, a built in webcam with a LED illuminative point and a microphone for video and voice conferences. The connectivity is enabled by Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 1.2, the ExpressCard slot, by four USB 2.0 slots and the 10/100Base-T NIC. Additionally, VGA and S-Video port are available and a SD/MMC/MS/MS Duo card reader.

Tulip E-Go Diamond sound system is a 2.1 one stereo, while the battery has a four hour lifetime specification.”

Only four hour of battery life. I am extremely disappointed. I would not bother to pay $350,000 just to have 4 hours of battery life. Instead, I will try to have one unit of the world’s cheapest laptop at $100. Haven’t you ever heard of One Laptop Per Child project? Of course, if you are day dreaming about Tulip E-Go Diamond then you should not remember it. What is $100 laptop after all. You can find the answer in the project website:

“The proposed $100 machine will be a Linux-based, with a dual-mode display—both a full-color, transmissive DVD mode, and a second display option that is black and white reflective and sunlight-readable at 3× the resolution. The laptop will have a 500MHz processor and 128MB of DRAM, with 500MB of Flash memory; it will not have a hard disk, but it will have four USB ports. The laptops will have wireless broadband that, among other things, allows them to work as a mesh network; each laptop will be able to talk to its nearest neighbors, creating an ad hoc, local area network. The laptops will use innovative power (including wind-up) and will be able to do most everything except store huge amounts of data.”

Image Link: One Laptop per Child
Even this $100 laptop will have a way to charge it with alternative energy sources. So, I am a big fan of this $100 laptop. The only problem is that I am not a school children anymore. I still do not have a child of my own either. So, I will have to wait until a commercial version comes to the market at $200 or some more!

Which one would you like to buy?

Most Expensive Computer in the World

The Japanese government estimates the Earth Simulator cost $400,000,000, making it the most expensive computer ever built. The budget for the Earth Simulator project was authorized for the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) in 1997, and NEC Corporation made the winning bid for the Japanese project.

By May 2002, the 640 processor node supercomputer was benchmarked with Linpack as having 35.86 TFlop/s performance. This gave it the top spot on the TOP500 Supercomputer Sites list until 2004 when IBM’s BlueGene/L supercomputer took its place using an architecture that cost less than half as much to implement.

Each processor node in the Earth Simulator contains 8 vector processors running at 500MHz with 16GB of shared memory, and the total main memory in the machine is 10 terabytes. The operating system running on the supercomputer is NEC’s UNIX-based OS called “SUPER-UX” which is used on NEC’s SX Series of supercomputers.

This expensive computer is used for a wide variety of international projects, most of which are related to atmospheric, climate, and oceanographic simulation.

World's Most Expensive Jewelry

Rich and famous men traditionally look for special gifts for their ladies in jewelry boutiques. Gorgeous jewelry pieces have always been one of the best ways to show man's love and care. But what are the priciest jewels in the world? For more than a century Cartier house has been a pattern for jewelry producers from all over the world. It greatly combines traditions and innovative approach. The company also produces perfumery and wrist watches. There is a unique necklace in the new collection of Cartier jewelry house. The series named Inde Mysterieuse reminds of the first voyage of Cartier brothers to India in 1910. They immediately achieved success there. Enterprising Frenchmen got a lot of orders from rich and powerful Indian nobility. The Inde Mysterieuse is a necklace set in platinum with 37,88 carat briolette-cut emerald and brilliants.

The necklace Delices de Cartier looks differently. It is a necklace made of 18K white gold and set with diamonds, rubies, peridots, green beryls, amethysts, morganites, pink sapphires and mandarine garnets. This is a jewel made in romantic style.










These bangles adorned with diamonds are made of 18K gold and pearls from Tahiti and South Sea. Each Classic Combination bangle by Cellini costs about 21,000 dollars. There are different variations of pearl and bangles color - just choose what you like the most.












The Cellini necklace is a unique jewelry piece because all the jewels are in natural colors. Snow-white necklace in platinum and gold is set with diamonds. They keep the price for the necklace secret but it is available upon request.















Famous Bvlgari jewelry and watch company elaborated a very impressive necklace made of emeralds and diamonds of amazing beauty.














One of the world's most expensive jewels is a Bvlgari necklace with a huge 144K sapphire. It is a really impressive jewel that can be a great gift idea for her. If you are rich of course.

World's Most Expensive Camera

In this day and age, camera makers are vying for the rank of the best by rendering superlative features that are constantly out doing each other day after day. But here is a camera discovered from a dusty attic that is making news. Called "Daguerreotype," it is a wooden sliding box camera produced by the Paris company Susse Freres in 1839.

Discovered as part of an inheritance in Germany, the antique piece will allow photography enthusiasts rewrite history. Westlicht, a private photo gallery and auction house in Vienna, plans to auction off this piece of history on May 26. Believed to be the world's oldest commercially manufactured camera, Westlicht said the Vienna camera has never been restored.

Up to now, experts said that apart from some documents there was no proof that the so-called "Daguerreotype," a wooden sliding box camera produced by the Paris company Susse Freres in 1839, really existed. Discovered as part of an inheritance in Germany, the antique piece will allow photography enthusiasts rewrite history.

The camera belongs to a US-based scholar and was inherited from his father, a technical photography professor at Munich University. The starting bid is $132,000, but the final price for the 168-year-old gadget is expected to be way past a million euros ($1,329,000).

Invented by French chemist Lois Daguerre, a daguerreotype is an early type of photograph. It produces a direct image on a polished silver surface that bears a coating of silver halide particles, deposited by iodine bromide or chlorine vapours. As there was no negative original like in modern photography, no copies of pictures could be made.

Technical Specifications
- 1 gazillion Megapixels
- 1 Tripod- 1 Black curtain
- 1 Free top hat with every camera sold (probably)
- 1 Lens cap
- No Zoom
- No Autofocus
- No Red-eye
- No Image stabilization
- No Noise reduction
- No GPS EXIF information
- No Battery
- No Carrying Case

Most Expensive Cow

A Holstein cow

The most expensive cow in Australia was just sold for $70,000. The cow, a Charolais named Maxine, was sold from the Palgrove Charolais Stud near Warwick to another ranch in Queensland. This, of course, prompted us to wonder what the most expensive cow in the world is.

A farmer at Kelber Hill Farm in Gargrave, England, currently owns the world’s most expensive cow. One of a herd of Holsteins, the cow was purchased from America for $1 million. The farmer had some trouble getting the local planning committee to allow him to build a house in open countryside in order to protect the valuable cattle. His application was finally approved in 2007.

The Holstein isn’t the most expensive cow ever, though. According to Guinness World Records, that honor belongs to a Friesian purchased in 1985. The expensive cow was auctioned off in Vermont for an astounding price of $1.3 million.

World's Biggest and Most Expensive Ship

When launched next year, Royal Caribbean's $1.24 billion Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, and carry 5400 passengers

It's destined to be the world's largest cruise ship—when launched next year, Royal Caribbean's US$1.24 billion Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, and carry 5400 passengers (6,400 at a pinch). It's the most expensive ship in history, and it's longer, wider and taller than the largest ocean liner ever built, (Cunard's QE II), 43 per cent larger in size than the world's largest cruise ship, (Freedom of the Seas) and remarkably, bigger than any military ship ever built, aircraft carriers included. In a world where choice of amenities count, Project Genesis has yet another trump card—in the the center of the ship is a lush, tropical park which opens to the sky.

We like the idea of living in the same space and changing the scenery outside, be it permanently (residential cruise ships or air vehicles) or part-time (cruise ships). Cruise ships are a relatively new phenomenon, born from reinventing many of the passenger liners made redundant by affordable air travel. Beginning with refitted ocean liners, cruise ships quickly evolved into purpose-built five star hotels, and then being the biggest meant having the most on-board amenities.

With its intention of taking the best of the land to sea the aptly-named Central Park spans the length of a football field. The aim is to make the park a public gathering place like a town's central park, with pathways, seasonal flower gardens and a canopy of trees. Aiming to give the ship a number of distinct districts, the Central park neighborhood is one of seven neighborhoods to be unveiled on Project Genesis. Each neighborhood will provide vacationers with the opportunity to seek out relevant experiences based on their personal style, preference or mood.
Central Park's central piazza will be the ship's "town square" which will evolve from a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere during the day to a gathering space for alfresco dining and entertainment in the evening, where guests will enjoy concerts and street performances. The neighborhood is lined with balcony staterooms rising six decks high with views of the Park below and the sky above.

Surrounding this social space will be an array of restaurants, with choices ranging from fine dining to casual chic. Guests will have the option of an elegant dinner at the new 150 Central Park or a picnic lunch from the more casual Central Park Café, where they can sit outdoors and people-watch. Other dining choices will include: Giovanni's Table, an Italian restaurant; Vintages wine bar; and Royal Caribbean's signature Chops Grille steakhouse. Several bars will be scattered throughout the Park, including the Canopy Bar, located at one of two impressive glass-domed canopies, and the unique Rising Tide bar—the first moving bar at sea.

Truly an engineering feat, Rising Tide will span three decks and allow cruisers to enjoy a cocktail as they slowly ascend into Central Park and then descend back into the public spaces below.

"Our brand identity is founded in innovation and on delivering the best cruise vacation through 'WOW' experiences," stated Adam Goldstein, President & CEO, Royal Caribbean International. "Central Park is a true evolution of cruise ship design and allows us to provide our guests with not only a more varied selection of balcony accommodations, but also a stunning public venue that will be a central element of the ship, both during the day and at night."

Top 3 World’s Most Expensive Beer

A satisfying drink enjoyed throughout the world with many variations.

Vielle Bon Secours:This tops the list of the world's most expensive beer, costing around £500 (equivalent to around $1,000) per bottle or about £39 (equivalent to around $78) per pint. It can only be found in a bar called the Bierdrome in London.







Samuel Adams' Utopias:This beer is brewed by the Boston Beer Company, using the brand name of Samuel Adam's Utopias, named after one of the founding fathers of the USA. This comes second in the list of the world's most expensive beer which costs around $100 per bottle (24 oz) or about $67 per pint, sold in copper bottles resembling the copper brewing kettles which are used by brewers for hundreds of years.

The alcohol content is 25%, making it the strongest beer in the world (listed in the Guinness Book of Records). The process of making this beverage can take up to 12 years, giving it the unique and rich flavors. It is said that the production was limited to 8,000 bottles per year.

Tutankhamen Brew:The recipe of this brew is prepared according to the recipe and brewing method discovered by a team of University of Cambridge archaeologists/Egyptologists in the Queen Nefertiti's Temple of the Sun in Egypt. The brewery found in the corner of the said temple is believed to have been built by King Akhenaton who is King Tutankhamen's father. This is also the place where King Akhenaton queen, Nefertiti worshiped.The archaeologists sought expert advice from Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, Edinburgh and the beer is brewed in the Cambridge laboratory, costing around $52 per bottle. The production is also limited and the edition is also numbered.

World's Most Expensive Wines

When an enterprising young man named James Christie opened his sales rooms in London in December 1766, his first auction consisted of the estate of a "deceased nobleman" containing "a large Quantity of Madeira and high Flavour'd Claret." The records don't relate how much these delightfully described "high Flavour'd clarets" fetched but as the whole sale realized a grand total £175, it is a sure bet that if Christie had known that two hundred years later, in 1985, his now famous auction house would sell one bottle of wine for £105,000, or $160,000, he might have held back a bottle or two to enrich his future heirs.

This bottle was a Bordeaux, a 1787 Chateau Lafite, and, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, 18 years later it still is the world's most expensive bottle of wine. Its great age alone would have ensured a good price but what gave it its special cachet, especially to American collectors, and ensured the record price tag were the initials Th.J. etched in the glass.

The bottle had belonged to Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and one of the most revered of its founding fathers. A philosopher, scientist and statesmen, the aristocratic Jefferson was also an avid oenophile. When he was ambassador to France he spent much of his time visiting the vineyards of Bordeaux and Burgundy, buying wine for his own collection and on behalf of his friends back home. He is also associated with two other bottles of very pricy wine, a 1775 Sherry ($43,500) and the most expensive white wine ever sold, a 1787 Chateau d'Yquem ($56,588).

Of course none of these wines are actually drinkable now; it is unusual for even the best Bordeaux to last more than 50 years, and 200 years is beyond any wine's limit. The allure of these high-priced bottles of vinegar, and other wines of its ilk, is purely in the joy of collecting, not consuming. The 1787 Lafite was explicitly bought as a piece of Jefferson memorabilia, not as a bottle of wine, and it now resides in the Forbes Collection in New York. These wines are rather like old stamps, something to be collected, horded but never used, and they command such high prices not because of their utility but because of their scarcity and consequent appeal to collectors.

Compiling a list of the World's Most Expensive Bottles of Wine is not as simple as it might first appear. How do you compare the price paid for a double magnum--that's four bottles--to a single bottle? Do you rate them on the same scale or do you divide the price of the big bottle by four in order to determine its per-single bottle price?

So, rather than compiling a league table we determined 11 separate categories, then sought out the most expensive bottle in each category, and a pretty interesting search it turned out to be. One of the first things you'll notice is that all the wines on the list were sold at auction, because, except in rare occasions, the seller knows that the publicity surrounding a special bottle, and the heated atmosphere of competitive bidding, often results in even higher prices.

The world's most expensive bottle of wine that could actually be drunk today is also the most expensive wine ever sold in America, a Montrachet 1978 from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti that was hammered down at Sotheby's (nyse: BID - news - people ) in New York in 2001. The lot of seven bottles fetched $167,500, or $23,929 per bottle. This is an extraordinary price for a white wine, even in the rarified world of wine collecting. What happened was that two avid collectors were bidding against each other and got carried away, each refusing to yield as the price rose through the stratosphere.

Michael Broadbent, the former head of Christie's wine department, relates a similar story concerning the sale of the Jefferson Lafite. As the bidding approached £100,000 for this unique bottle, he changed bid steps, that is the amount the bids increased by. One of the two remaining bidders was Marvin Shanken, publisher of the Wine Spectator, and according to Broadbent, he didn't notice the change until, to his very obvious horror, he realized that he had just offered to pay £100,000 for one bottle of wine. As he sat there ashen faced a great hush fell over the packed auction room as everyone waited to see if the other bidder, Christopher Forbes, would come back in. He eventually did, at £105,000, much to Shanken's very palpable relief. Then there is the strange case of the most expensive bottle of wine never sold. In 1989 William Sokolin, a New York wine merchant, had a bottle of Chateau Margaux 1787, also with Jefferson's initials, on consignment from its English owner. He was asking $500,000 for it but had had no cash offers when he took it along to a Chateau Margaux dinner at the Four Seasons restaurant. (Why would it cost so much more than the 1787 Lafite? It didn't cost more than the Lafite, just that Sokolin was asking $500,000. I don't think he expected to get this much and had had no offers by the time of the accident. However, just by asking such a huge sum he generated a lot of publicity, which some people speculate was the whole point of the exercise. He did however get $225,000 from the insurance company which he claims, with some justification, makes it the world's most expensive bottle, even if it was never sold. Besides everything else it's a fun story about a very expensive bottle however you rate it.) At the end of the evening he was getting ready to leave when a waiter carrying a coffee tray bumped the bottle, breaking it. Luckily, Sokolin had the foresight to insure his valuable vin, and shared the $225,000 payout with the owner, which makes this the world's most expensive broken bottle of wine. History does not tell us what happened to the unfortunate waiter. What all these wines have in common, whether it's the undrinkable 1787 Lafite or the eminently drinkable 1945 Mouton, and what makes them command such astronomic prices, is their scarcity value. The world seems to have an ever-increasing appetite for collecting unusual old things, be they baseball cards, 1950s Formica furniture or steam train memorabilia, and it's only natural that rare wines are subject to this same collecting mania. Now, with more and more people discovering the pleasures of drinking wine, especially the newly rich of China and East Asia, the prices of all fine wines will continue to rise and it will only be a matter of time before Mr. Jefferson's bottle, and several others on our list, see their formally eye-popping prices surpassed as ever richer and ever more determined collectors compete for that one, must-have bottle of wine.

Saloth Sar (May 19, 1925 – April 15, 1998), also known as Pol Pot, was leader of the communist movement known as the "Khmer Rouge" (which means "Red Khmer", from Rouge, the French for red, and Khmer being the name of a tribe of ancient Cambodia). He was the Prime Minister of Cambodia (officially renamed Democratic Kampuchea under his rule) from 1976 to 1979, having been de facto leader since mid-1975. During his time in power Pol Pot imposed a version of agrarian collectivization whereby city dwellers were relocated to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects with the goal of restarting civilization in "Year Zero". The combined effect of slave labour, malnutrition, poor medical care and executions had an estimated death toll of 750,000 to 1.7 million (approximately 26% of the population at that time).[1]

In 1979, he fled into the jungles of southwest Cambodia after an invasion by neighboring Vietnam, which led to the collapse of the Khmer Rouge government. In 1979, Pol Pot was overthrown and imprisoned by other Khmer Rouge leaders.[2] He died while under house arrest by Khmer Rouge and it has been claimed that he was poisoned.

Biography

Early life (1925-1961)
Saloth Sar was born in Prek Sbauv in Kampong Thom Province in 1925 to a moderately wealthy family of Chinese-Khmer descent.[4][5] In 1935, he left Prek Sbauv to attend the École Miche, a Catholic school in Phnom Penh. As his sister Roeung was a concubine of the king, he often visited the royal palace. In 1947, he gained admission to the exclusive Lycée Sisowath but was unsuccessful in his studies. His future first wife, Khieu Ponnary, her sister, (née Khieu Thirith) Ieng Thirith and Khieu's future husband, Ieng Sary also attended the Lycée.[citation needed]

Prek Sbauv, birthplace of Pol Pot
After switching to a technical school at Russey Keo, north of Phnom Penh, he qualified for a scholarship that allowed for technical study in France. He studied radioelectricity at the EFR in Paris from 1949 to 1953. He also participated in an international labour brigade building roads in Yugoslavia in 1950. After the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh as the government of Vietnam in 1950, French Communists (PCF) took up the cause of Vietnam's independence. The PCF's anti-colonialism attracted many young Cambodians, including Saloth. In 1951, he joined a communist cell in a secret organization known as the Cercle Marxiste which had taken control of the Khmer Student's Association (AER) that same year. Within a few months, Saloth also joined the PCF. Historian Philip Short has said that Saloth's poor academic record was a considerable advantage within the anti-intellectual PCF, who saw uneducated peasants as the true proletariat and helped him to quickly establish a leadership role for himself among the Cercle Marxiste.[citation needed]

As a result of failing his exams in three successive years, he was forced to return to Cambodia in January 1954. He was the first member of the Cercle to return to Cambodia and was given the task of evaluating the various groups rebelling against the government. He recommended the Khmer Viet Minh, and in August 1954, Saloth, along with Rath Samoeun, travelled to the Viet Minh Eastern Zone headquarters in the village of Krabao at the Kompong Cham/Prey Veng border area of Cambodia.

Saloth and the others found that the Khmer People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP) was little more than a Vietnamese front organization. In 1954, the Cambodians at the Eastern Zone Headquarters split into two groups. Due to the Geneva peace accord of 1954 expelling all Viet Minh forces and insurgent, one group followed the Vietnamese back to Vietnam as cadres to be used by Vietnam in a future war to liberate Cambodia. The other group, including Saloth, returned to Cambodia.

After Cambodian independence following the 1954 Geneva Conference, right and left wing parties struggled against each other for power in the new government. King Norodom Sihanouk played the parties against each other while using the police and army to suppress extreme political groups. Corrupt elections in 1955 led many leftists in Cambodia to abandon hope of taking power by legal means. The communist movement, while ideologically committed to armed struggle in these circumstances, did not launch a rebellion because of the weakness of the party.
After his return to Phnom Penh, Saloth became the liaison between the above-ground parties of the left (Democrats and Pracheachon) and the underground communist movement. He married Ponnary on July 14, 1956. She returned to Lycee Sisowath but now as a teacher, while he taught French literature and history at Chamraon Vichea, a new private college.[6]

The path to rebellion (1962-1968)
In January 1962, the government of Cambodia rounded up most of the leadership of the far-left Pracheachon party ahead of parliamentary elections due in June. The newspapers and other publications of the party were also closed. This event effectively ended any above-ground political role for the communist movement in Cambodia. In July 1962, the underground communist party secretary Tou Samouth was arrested and later killed while in custody. The arrests created a situation where Saloth could become the de facto deputy leader of the party. When Ton Samouth was murdered, Saloth became the acting leader of the communist party. At a party meeting attended by at most eighteen people in 1963, he was elected Secretary of the central committee of the party. In March 1963, Saloth went into hiding after his name was published in a list of leftist suspects put together by the police for Norodom Sihanouk. He fled to the Vietnamese border region and made contact with Vietnamese units fighting against South Vietnam.

In early 1964, Saloth convinced the Vietnamese to help the Cambodian Communists set up their own base camp. The central committee of the party met later that year and issued a declaration calling for armed struggle. The declaration also emphasized the idea of "self-reliance" in the sense of extreme Cambodian nationalism. In the border camps, the ideology of the Khmer Rouge was gradually developed. The party, breaking with Marxism, declared rural peasant farmers to be the true working class proletarian and the lifeblood of the revolution. This is in some sense explained by the fact that none of the central committee were in any sense "working class". All of them had grown up in a feudal peasant society. The party adapted elements of Theravada Buddhism to justify their non-standard communism.[citation needed]

After another wave of repression by Sihanouk in 1965, the Khmer Rouge movement under Saloth rapidly grew. Many teachers and students left the cities for the countryside to join the movement.

In April 1965, Saloth went to North Vietnam to gain approval for an uprising in Cambodia against the government. North Vietnam refused to support any uprising because of agreements being negotiated with the Cambodian government. Sihanouk promised to allow the Vietnamese to use Cambodian territory and Cambodian ports in their war against South Vietnam.

After returning to Cambodia in 1966, Saloth organized a party meeting where a number of important decisions were made. The party was officially but secretly renamed the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). Lower ranks of the party were not informed of the decision. It was also decided to establish command zones and prepare each region for an uprising against the government.

In early 1966 fighting broke out in the countryside between peasants and the government over the price paid for rice. Saloth's Khmer Rouge was caught by surprise by the uprisings and was unable to take any real advantage of them. But the government's refusal to find a peaceful solution to the problem created rural unrest that played into the hands of the Communist movement.

It wasn't until early 1967 that Saloth decided to launch a national uprising, even after North Vietnam refused to assist it in any real way. The uprising was launched on January 18, 1968 with a raid on an army base south of Battambang. The Battambang area had already seen two years of great peasant unrest. The attack was driven off by the army, but the Khmer Rouge had captured a number of weapons, which were then used to drive police forces out of Cambodian villages.

By the summer of 1968, Saloth began the transition from a party leader working with a collective leadership into the absolutist leader of the Khmer Rouge movement. Where before he had shared communal quarters with other leaders, he now had his own compound with a personal staff and a troop of guards. Outsiders were no longer allowed to approach him. Rather, people were summoned into his presence by his staff.

The path to power (1969-1975)
The movement was estimated to consist of no more than 1500 regulars, but the core of the movement was supported by a number of villagers many times that size. While weapons were in short supply, the insurgency was still able to operate in twelve of nineteen districts of Cambodia. In the middle of the year Saloth called a party conference and decided on a change in propaganda strategy. Up to 1969, the Khmer Rouge had been very anti-Sihanouk. Opposition to Sihanouk was at the center of their propaganda. But it was decided at the conference to shift the party's propaganda to be against the right-wing parties of Cambodia and their supposed pro-American attitudes. The party ceased to be anti-Sihanouk in public statements, but in private the party had not changed its view of him.

The road to power for Saloth and the Khmer Rouge was opened by the events of January 1970 in Cambodia. Sihanouk, while out of the country, ordered the government to stage anti-Vietnamese protests in the capital. The protesters quickly went out of control and wrecked the embassies of both North and South Vietnam. Sihanouk, who had ordered the protests, then denounced them from Paris and blamed unnamed individuals in Cambodia for them. These actions, along with intrigues by Sihanouk's followers in Cambodia, convinced the government that he should be removed as head of state. The National Assembly voted to remove Sihanouk from office. Afterward, the government closed Cambodia's ports to Vietnamese weapons traffic and demanded that the Vietnamese leave Cambodia.

The North Vietnamese reacted to the political changes in Cambodia by sending Premier Phạm Văn Đồng to meet Sihanouk in China and recruit him into an alliance with the Khmer Rouge. Saloth was also contacted by the Vietnamese who now offered him whatever resources he wanted for his insurgency against the Cambodian government. Saloth and Sihanouk were actually in Beijing at the same time but the Vietnamese and Chinese leaders never informed Sihanouk of the presence of Saloth or allowed the two men to meet. Shortly after, Sihanouk issued an appeal by radio to the people of Cambodia to rise up against the government and support the Khmer Rouge. In May 1970, Saloth finally returned to Cambodia and the pace of the insurgency greatly increased.

Earlier, on March 29, 1970, the Vietnamese had taken matters into their own hands and launched an offensive against the Cambodian army. A force of 40,000 Vietnamese quickly overran large parts of eastern Cambodia reaching to within 15 miles (24 km) of Phnom Penh before being pushed back. In these battles the Khmer Rouge and Saloth played a very small role.
In October 1970, Saloth issued a resolution in the name of the Central Committee. The resolution stated the principle of independence mastery which was a call for Cambodia to decide its own future independent of the influence of any other country. The resolution also included statements describing the betrayal of the Cambodian Communist movement in the 1950s by the Viet Minh. This was the first statement of the anti-Vietnamese/self sufficiency at all costs ideology that would be a part of the Pol Pot regime when it took power years later.

Through 1971, the Vietnamese (North Vietnamese and Viet Cong) did most of the fighting against the Cambodian government while Saloth and the Khmer Rouge functioned almost as auxiliaries to their forces. Saloth took advantage of the situation to gather in new recruits and to train them to a higher standard than previously was possible. Saloth also put resources of Khmer Rouge organizations into political education and indoctrination. While accepting anyone regardless of background into the Khmer Rouge army at this time, Saloth greatly increased the requirements for membership in the party. Students and so-called middle peasants were now rejected by the party. Those with clear peasant backgrounds were the preferred recruits for party membership. These restrictions were ironic in that most of the senior party leadership including Saloth came from student and middle peasant backgrounds. They also created an intellectual split between the educated old guard party members and the uneducated peasant new party members.

In early 1972, Saloth toured the insurgent/Vietnamese controlled areas and Cambodia. He saw a regular Khmer Rouge army of 35,000 men taking shape supported by around 100,000 irregulars. China was supplying five million dollars a year in weapons and Saloth had organized an independent revenue source for the party in the form of rubber plantations in eastern Cambodia using forced labor.

After a central committee meeting in May 1972, the party under the direction of Saloth began to enforce new levels of discipline and conformity in areas under their control. Minorities such as the Chams were forced to conform to Cambodian styles of dress and appearance. These policies, such as forbidding the Chams from wearing jewelry, were soon extended to the whole population. A haphazard version of land reform was undertaken by Saloth. Its basis was that all land holdings should be of uniform size. The party also confiscated all private means of transportation at this time. The 1972 policies were aimed at reducing the peoples of the liberated areas to a sort of feudal peasant equality. These policies were generally favorable at the time to poor peasants and extremely unfavorable to refugees from towns who had fled to the countryside.
In 1972, the Vietnamese army forces began to withdraw from the fighting against the Cambodian government. Saloth issued a new set of decrees in May 1973 which started the process of reorganizing peasant villages into cooperatives where property was jointly owned and individual possessions banned.

The Khmer Rouge advanced during 1973. After they reached the edges of Phnom Penh, Saloth issued orders during the peak of the rainy season that the city be taken. The orders led to futile attacks and wasted lives among the Khmer Rouge army. By the middle of 1973, the Khmer Rouge under Saloth controlled almost two-thirds of the country and half the population. Vietnam realized that it no longer controlled the situation and began to treat Saloth as more of an equal leader than a junior partner.

In late 1973, Saloth made strategic decisions about the future of the war. His first decision was to cut the capital off from contact from outside supply and effectively put the city under siege. The second decision was to enforce tight command on people trying to leave the city through the Khmer Rouge lines. The city people were considered like a disease that needed to be contained so that it would not infect areas run by the Khmer Rouge. He also ordered a series of general purges. Former government officials, along with anyone with an education, were singled out in the purges. A set of new prisons was also constructed in Khmer Rouge run areas. The Cham minority attempted an uprising around this time against attempts to destroy their culture. While the uprising was quickly crushed, Saloth ordered that harsh physical torture be used against most of those involved in the revolt. As previously, Saloth tested out harsh new policies against the Cham minority before extending them to the general population of the country.

The Khmer Rouge also had a policy of evacuating urban areas to the countryside. When the Khmer Rouge took the town of Kratie in 1971, Saloth and other members of the party were shocked at how fast the liberated urban areas shook off socialism and went back to the old ways. Various ideas were tried to re-create the town in the image of the party, but nothing worked. In 1973, out of total frustration, Saloth decided that the only solution was to send the entire population of the town to the fields in the countryside. He wrote at the time "if the result of so many sacrifices was that the capitalists remain in control, what was the point of the revolution?". Shortly after, Saloth ordered the evacuation of the 15,000 people of Kompong Cham for the same reasons. The Khmer Rouge then moved on in 1974 to evacuate the larger city of Oudong.
Internationally, Saloth and the Khmer Rouge were able to gain the recognition of 63 countries as the true government of Cambodia. A move was made at the United Nations to give the seat for Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge. The government prevailed by two votes.

In September 1974, Saloth gathered the central committee of the party together. As the military campaign was moving toward a conclusion, Saloth decided to move the party toward implementing a socialist transformation of the country in the form of a series of decisions. The first one was that after their victory, the main cities of the country would be evacuated with the population moved to the countryside. The second was that money would cease to be put into circulation and quickly be phased out. The final decision was the party's acceptance of Saloth's first major purge. In 1974, Saloth had purged a top party official named Prasith. Prasith was taken out into a forest and shot without any chance to defend himself. His death was followed by a purge of cadres who, like Prasith, were ethnically Thai. Saloth offered as explanation that the class struggle had become acute and that a strong stand had to be made against the enemies of the party.

The Khmer Rouge were positioned for a final offensive against the government in January 1975. At the same time at a press event in Beijing, Sihanouk proudly announced Saloth's "death list" of enemies to be killed after victory. The list, which originally contained seven names, expanded to twenty-three, including all the senior government leaders along with the military and police leadership. The rivalry between Vietnam and Cambodia also came out into the open. North Vietnam, as the rival socialist country in Indochina, was determined to take Saigon before the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh. Shipments of weapons from China were delayed and in one instance the Cambodians were forced to sign a humiliating document thanking Vietnam for shipments of what were in fact Chinese weapons.

In September 1975, the government formed a Supreme National Council with new leadership, with the aim of negotiating a surrender to the Khmer Rouge. It was headed by Sak Sutsakhan who had studied in France with Saloth and was cousin to the Khmer Rouge Deputy Secretary Nuon Chea. Saloth's reaction to this was to add the names of everyone involved to his post-victory death list. Government resistance finally collapsed on September 17, 1975.

Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)

Skulls of Khmer Rouge victims
Main article: Khmer Rouge period (1975–1979)
The Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. Saloth Sar called himself the "brother number one" and declared his nom de guerre Pol Pot, from Politique potentielle, French equivalent of a phrase supposedly coined for him by the Chinese leadership. A new government was formed, at first with Khieu Samphan as prime minister and leader of the nation, but since holding an inferior position in the party, Khieu Samphan was obliged to hand Pol Pot the post, confirming him as prime minister and head of government on May 13, consolidating his power and making him de facto dictator of Cambodia. Khieu Samphan was instead made head of state after the abdication of Norodom Sihanouk in January 1976, as the new constitution was adapted and a republic proclaimed.

The name of the country was now officially changed to Democratic Kampuchea. The Khmer Rouge tried to impose the concept of "Year Zero" and targeted Buddhist monks, Muslims, Western-educated intellectuals, educated people in general, people who had contact with Western countries or with Vietnam, the crippled and lame, and the ethnic Chinese, Laotians and Vietnamese. Some were put in the S-21 camp for interrogation involving torture in cases where a confession was useful to the government. Many others were summarily executed. Confessions forced at S-21 were extracted from prisoners through such methods as removing toenails with pliers, suffocating a prisoner repeatedly, and skinning a person while alive.

Immediately after the fall of Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge began to implement reforms following the concept of "Year Zero" ideology and placed the former king, Norodom Sihanouk, in a purely ceremonial role. The Khmer Rouge ordered the complete evacuation of Phnom Penh and all other recently captured major towns and cities. Those leaving were told that the evacuation was due to the threat of severe American bombing and it would last for no more than a few days.

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had been evacuating captured urban areas for many years, but the evacuation of Phnom Penh was unique in scale. The first operations to evacuate urban areas occurred in 1968 in the Ratanakiri area and were aimed at moving people deeper into Khmer Rouge territory to better control them. From 1971-1973, the motivation changed. Pol Pot and the other senior leaders were frustrated that urban Cambodians were retaining old habits of trade and business. When all other methods had failed, evacuation to the countryside was adopted to solve the problem.

Pol Pot adopted the Maoist idea that peasants were the true working class. In 1976, people were reclassified as full-rights (base) people, candidates and depositees - so called because they included most of the new people who had been deposited from the cities into the communes. Depositees were marked for destruction. Their rations were reduced to two bowls of rice soup, or "juk" per day. This led to widespread starvation.

The Khmer Rouge leadership boasted over the state-controlled radio that only one or two million people were needed to build the new agrarian communist utopia. As for the others, as their proverb put it, "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss."

Hundreds of thousands of the new people, and later the depositees, were taken out in shackles to dig their own mass graves. Then the Khmer Rouge soldiers beat them to death with iron bars and hoes or buried them alive. A Khmer Rouge extermination prison directive ordered, "Bullets are not to be wasted." These mass graves are often referred to as The Killing Fields.

The Khmer Rouge also classified by religion and ethnic group. They abolished all religion and dispersed minority groups, forbidding them to speak their languages or to practice their customs. These policies had been implemented in less severe forms for many years prior to the Khmer Rouge's taking power.

According to François Ponchaud's book Cambodia: Year Zero, "Ever since 1972 the guerrilla fighters had been sending all the inhabitants of the villages and towns they occupied into the forest to live and often burning their homes, so that they would have nothing to come back to." The Khmer Rouge refused offers of humanitarian aid, a decision which proved to be a humanitarian catastrophe: millions died of starvation and brutal government-inflicted overwork in the countryside. To the Khmer Rouge, outside aid went against their principle of national self-reliance.

Property became collective, and education was dispensed at communal schools. Children were raised on a communal basis. Even meals were prepared and eaten communally. Pol Pot's regime was extremely paranoid. Political dissent and opposition were not permitted. People were treated as opponents based on their appearance or background. Torture was widespread. In some instances, throats were slit as prisoners were tied to metal bed frames.

Thousands of politicians and bureaucrats accused of association with previous governments were executed. Phnom Penh was turned into a ghost city, while people in the countryside were dying of starvation, illnesses, or execution.

The casualty list from the civil war, Pol Pot's consolidation of power, and the later intervention by Vietnam is disputed. Different estimates vary from 750,000 to over two million. Credible Western and Eastern sources[7] put the death toll inflicted by the Khmer Rouge at 1.6 million. A specific source, such as a figure of 3 million deaths between 1975 and 1979, was given by the People's Republic of Kampuchea. François Ponchaud suggested 2.3 million—although this includes hundreds of thousands who died prior to the CPK takeover and has been disputed;[8] the Yale Cambodian Genocide Project[1] estimates 1.7 million; Amnesty International estimated 1.4 million; and the United States Department of State, 1.2 million. Khieu Samphan and Pol Pot themselves cited figures of 1 million and 800,000, respectively.[citation needed]

Pol Pot aligned the country politically with the People's Republic of China and adopted an anti-Soviet line. This alignment was more political and practical than ideological. Vietnam was aligned with the Soviet Union so Cambodia aligned with the rival of the Soviet Union and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. China had been supplying the Khmer Rouge with weapons for years before they took power.

In 1976, Sihanouk ceased to be head of state. Some sources say that he was deposed and placed under house arrest. Other sources suggest he resigned. In either case, Sihanouk continued to serve the regime until the end and made the front of the UN security council in New York during the Vietnamese invasion. Pol Pot became the Prime Minister of Cambodia while his colleague Khieu Samphan served as President and official head of state.

In December 1976, Pol Pot issued directives to the senior leadership to the effect that Vietnam was now an enemy. Defenses along the border were strengthened and unreliable deportees were moved deeper into Cambodia. Pol Pot's actions were in response to the Vietnamese Communist Party's fourth Congress which approved a resolution describing Vietnam's special relationship with Laos and Cambodia. It also talked of how Vietnam would forever be associated with the building and defense of the other two countries.

Conflict with Vietnam
Main article: Cambodian-Vietnamese War
In 1977, relations with Vietnam began to fall apart. There were small border clashes in January mostly due to Vietnamese activity on the border. Pol Pot tried to prevent border disputes by sending a team to Vietnam. The negotiations failed which resulted in even more border disputes. On April 30, the Cambodian army, backed by artillery, crossed over into Vietnam. In attempting to explain Pol Pot's behavior, one region-watcher[specify] suggested that Cambodia was attempting to intimidate Vietnam, by irrational acts, into respecting or at least fearing Cambodia to the point they would leave the country alone. However, these actions only served to anger the Vietnamese people and government against the Khmer Rouge.

In May 1977, Vietnam sent its air force into Cambodia in a series of raids. In July, Vietnam forced a Treaty of Friendship on Laos which gave Vietnam almost total control over the country. In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge commanders in the Eastern Zone began to tell their men that war with Vietnam was inevitable and that once the war started their goal would be to recover parts of Vietnam, (Khmer Krom) which used to be part of Cambodia, in which its people were struggling to fight for independence from Vietnam. It is not clear whether these statements were the official policy of Pol Pot.

In September 1977, Cambodia launched division-scale raids over the border which once again left a trail of murder and destruction in villages. The Vietnamese claimed that around 1,000 people had been killed or injured. Three days after the raid, Pol Pot officially announced the existence of the formerly secret Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and finally announced to the world that the country was a Communist state. In December, after having exhausted all other options, Vietnam sent 50,000 troops into Cambodia in what amounted to a short raid. The raid was meant to be secret. The Vietnamese were defeated and driven back. Upon being defeated, Vietnamese army promised to return with support from the Soviet Union.[citation needed] Pol Pot's actions made the operation much more visible than the Vietnamese had intended and created a situation in which Vietnam appeared weak.

After making one final attempt to negotiate a settlement with Cambodia, Vietnam decided that it had to prepare for a full war. Vietnam also tried to pressure Cambodia through China. However, China's refusal to pressure Cambodia and the flow of weapons from China into Cambodia were both signs that China also intended to act against Vietnam.

In late 1978, in response to threats to its borders and the Vietnamese people, Vietnam invaded Cambodia to overthrow the Khmer Rouge. While Vietnam could justify the invasion on the basis of self-defense, it quickly became clear that Vietnam intended to stay in Cambodia and turn it into a dependent state similar to Laos.

The Cambodian army was defeated, the regime was toppled and Pol Pot fled to the Thai border area. In January 1979, Vietnam installed a new government under Heng Samrin, composed of Khmer Rouge who had fled to Vietnam to avoid the purges. Pol Pot eventually regrouped with his core supporters in the Thai border area where he received shelter and assistance. At different times during this period, he was located on both sides of the border. The military government of Thailand used the Khmer Rouge as a buffer force to keep the Vietnamese away from the border. The Thai military also made money from the shipment of weapons from China to the Khmer Rouge. Eventually Pol Pot was able to rebuild a small military force in the west of the country with the help of the People's Republic of China. The PRC also initiated the Sino-Vietnamese War around this time.

In the following years, the Vietnamese made attempts to suppress Pol Pot's remaining forces, but never sought to destroy them.[citation needed] Vietnam used the existence of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge forces to justify their continued military occupation of the country. They had no interest in destroying the Khmer Rouge because they were useful to Vietnam's overall plans for Cambodia.[citation needed]

After the Khmer Rouge were driven from power by the Vietnamese in 1979, the United States and other Western powers[specify] refused to allow the Vietnamese-backed Cambodian government to take the seat of Cambodia at the United Nations. The seat, by default, remained in the hands of the Khmer Rouge. These countries considered that however negative allowing the Khmer Rouge to hold on to the seat was, recognizing Vietnam's occupation of Cambodia was worse. Also, representatives of these countries argued[citation needed] that both claimants to the seat were Khmer Rouge governments, due to the fact that Vietnam's Cambodian government was formed from ex-Khmer Rouge cadres.

Aftermath (1979-1998)
The U.S. opposed the Vietnamese military occupation of Cambodia, and in the mid-1980s supported insurgents opposed to the regime of Heng Samrin, approving $5 million in aid to the Khmer People's National Liberation Front of former prime minister Son Sann and the pro-Sihanouk ANS in 1985. Regardless of this, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge remained the best-trained and most capable of the three insurgent groups who, despite sharply divergent ideologies, had formed the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) alliance three years earlier. China continued to funnel extensive military aid to the Khmer Rouge, and critics of U.S. foreign policy claimed that the U.S. was indirectly sponsoring the Khmer Rouge due to U.S. assistance given the CGDK in keeping control of the United Nations "seat" of Cambodia.[9][10][11] The U.S. refused to recognize the Cambodian government installed by the army of Vietnam or to recognize any Cambodian government operating while Cambodia was under the military occupation of Vietnam. In December 1984, the Vietnamese launched a major offensive and overran most of the Khmer Rouge and other insurgent positions.

Pol Pot fled to Thailand where he lived for the next six years. His headquarters was a plantation villa near Trat. He was guarded by Thai Special Unit 838.

Pol Pot officially resigned from the party in 1985 citing asthma as a contributing factor, but continued as de facto Khmer Rouge leader and dominant force within the anti-Vietnam alliance. He handed day to day power to Son Sen, his hand-picked successor. Opponents of the Khmer Rouge claimed that they were sometimes acting in an inhumane manner in territory controlled by the alliance but none of the forces fighting in Cambodia could be said to have clean hands.

In 1986, his new wife Mea Son gave birth to a daughter, Sitha, named after an experimental form of North Vietnamese cookery. Shortly after, Pol Pot moved to China for medical treatment for cancer of the face. He remained there until 1988.

In 1989, Vietnam withdrew from Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge established a new stronghold area in the west near the Thai border and Pol Pot relocated back into Cambodia from Thailand. Pol Pot refused to cooperate with the peace process, and kept fighting the new coalition government. The Khmer Rouge kept the government forces at bay until 1996, when troops started deserting. Several important Khmer Rouge leaders also defected. The government had a policy of making peace with Khmer Rouge individuals and groups after negotiations with the organization as a whole failed. In 1995 Pol Pot experienced a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body.

Pol Pot ordered the execution of his life-long right-hand man Son Sen on June 10, 1997 for attempting to make a settlement with the government. Eleven members of his family were killed also, although Pol Pot later denied that he had ordered this. He then fled his northern stronghold, but was later arrested by Khmer Rouge military Chief Ta Mok. In November he was subjected to a show trial for the death of Son Sen and sentenced to lifelong house arrest.

Death

Pol Pot dead
On the night of 15 April, 1998 the Voice of America, of which Pol Pot was a devoted listener, announced that the Khmer Rouge had agreed to turn him over to an international tribunal. According to his wife, he died in his bed later in the night while waiting to be moved to another location. Ta Mok claimed that his death was due to heart failure.[12] Despite government requests to inspect the body, it was cremated a few days later at Anlong Veng in the Khmer Rouge zone, raising strong suspicions that he committed suicide or was poisoned.[

List of highest valued currency units

No. State Currency Code United States dollarsUSD−1
1. Kuwait dinar KWD 3.685960.27130
2. Bahrain dinar BHD 2.652660.37698
3. Oman rial OMR 2.597000.38506
4. Latvia lats LVL 1.803860.55437
5. United Kingdom pound [6] GBP 1.485400.67322
6. Jordan dinar JOD 1.410440.70900
7. European Union (Eurozone) euro EUR 1.261060.79298
8. Azerbaijan manat AZN 1.235640.80930
9. Cayman Islands dollar KYD 1.18500 [5]0.84388
10. Cuba convertible peso CUC 1.080030.92590
11. United States dollar USD 1
12. Ghana cedi GHS 0.837071.19465
13. Switzerland franc CHF 0.836581.19535
14. Canada dollar CAD 0.809641.23511
15. Libya dinar LYD 0.768731.30085

Hotel in Cambodia

To Find Hotel Accommodation in Cambodia please click herehttp://www.tourismcambodia.com

Most Expensive Motorbikes in the World96

There are many different types of motorcycles – fast ones, big ones, good cruisers, motor crossers, all sorts. But this is about a different kind of bike – Insanely expensive, ridiculously trick, made-from-the-most-exotic materials-on-the-planet bikes.

Really, if you have to ask how much these are – you can’t afford one. I had to ask so you don’t have to, but if you see one of these on the road, just remember, the rider is probably as scared of scratching it as you are of dropping your baby. They are in no partucular order except that I have saved the most expensive for last.


MV-Augusta F4CC
Manufacturer’s Suggested Price - $120,000
You heard right, a hundred twenty thousand dollars, although if you stump up this much cash, you do get a free leather jacket and watch. It’s a pretty fancy watch, but it’s still just a watch. Claudio Castiglioni, the boss of MV said, “I decided to put my name to this bike as I originally dreamed of it for myself,” and 90% of the components are hand made to be as light as possible. In fact, the alternator cover saved 2 kilos in weight over the standard model.

Brembo racing brakes, hand made engine internals, a 1078cc engine, titanium racing exhaust, one-off mechanical slipper clutch. This weighs just 187 kilos and produces 200 hp. According to the designers, they were going for a “little black number.” Gimme gimme. Only 100 were made, and as far as I know, they didn’t sell them all yet, so you can still pick one up.

Aprilia RSV1000R Factory
MSRP $17,999
The Aprilia Factory RSV makes the MV look as insanely expensive as it actually is, but at 18K, that’s still a fair chunk of change compared to the competition – you can buy a GSXR-1000 and still have enough money left over to appease the spouse. The RSV has an extremely impressive spec sheet and pedigree, but in this class, it’s just too cheap. Fully adjustable front and rear Ohlins suspension, Ohlins steering damper, Brembo radial mount brakes and forged magnesium wheels make this a serious performance animal. Maybe if they gold plated it or something? It’s a nice looking bike though and universally acclaimed as a good ride.
Click thumbnail to view full-size


MTT Turbine SuperBike
MSRP $150,000
Perhaps the most impractical bike on this list, the MTT Turbine SuperBike is powered by a Rolls Royce Allison 250 Series turbine which produces 425 ft/lbs of torque at 2000 rpm and 320 hp at 52,000 rpm and drives through a two speed automatic gearbox. It’s a turbine so revs aren’t quite the same as a normal engine. The MTT was clocked at a record breaking 227 mph and according to the Guinness Book of Records is “The Most Powerful Motorcycle Ever to Enter Series Production.” At the time it was also the most expensive, but that is no longer the case. It’s available as a single or two-seater, but you wouldn’t catch me on the back of this.

Macchia Nera concept bike
MSRP $201,000
Nera means “Black,” in Italian. This was produced as a concept in 2004 and never got any further than that. Based on a Ducati 998 WSB engine, some Italian journalist suggested this was the perfect track day bike, but he was crazy – no one in their right mind throws a two hundred thousand dollar bike down a track. This was the one and only produced and if you are the guy who bought it, I would love to hear from you. This certainly qualifies as the “Most Exclusive Bike in the World.”

Dodge Tomahawk
MSRP $250,000
In true American style, the Dodge Tomahawk weighs in at a beefy 1,500 lbs curb weight. It’s no slouch though – at least in a straight line. I’m not sure I would try going round a corner on it though. And with a measly 3.25 gallon tank (little American gallons at that) I’m not sure you would get as far as a corner. Powered by a liquid-cooled 90-degree 8277 cc V-10 it produces 500 bhp @5600 rpm and 525 lb/ft of torque. A serious challenge for the "Most Impractical Bike in the World," award.


Ecosse Moto Works’ Limited Edition Titanium
MSRP $275,000
Last, but by no means least is the first ever Titanium motorcycle. With handcrafted, clear coated carbon fiber bodywork, hand painted tank and get this – a fuel injected, supercharged, intercooled 2,150cc billet motor, clear coated carbon fiber wheels and a hand made titanium exhaust system. This bike weights 440 lbs and puts out “more than,” 200 hp – at the rear wheel, and produces “more than,” 210 ft/lbs of torque. This is a little like the old expression from Rolls Royce when they were asked how much power their car engines produced – enough. Available exclusively from Robb Report.com Oh, and you get a free watch. I should bloody well hope so for over a quarter million dollars. Unlike the Dodge and Macchia, this one is actually in production - 10 have been built.

Top 10 Most Expensive Jeans

When you think of Haute Couture, you probably don’t think of faded denim. But in fact, the latest crop of designer jeans comes in a variety of custom-made options decked with rich embellishments, from embroidery to platinum rivets to precious diamonds accents. And the prices are just as extravagant, with some pairs costing as much as a luxury car or even more. Not all denim is created equal. When the price tag is sky high, you can expect the finest materials, including the best weaves, rarest batches of fabric and lots of hand-work and details that you won’t find in more mass produced clothing. And when the budget is unlimited, there are many fresh and eye-catching options to choose from. In addition, while style is important, so is fit. That’s why the best pairs of jeans are cut, finished and accented in all of the right places to enhance the wearer’s shape. Just keep in mind that not every buyer thinks newer is better. In fast, some prefer to stick with the real tried and true styles. That’s why several items on this list are either distressed or, in the case of number 9, date very, very far back in time.

10. Levi Strauss & Co.

The name Levi Strauss & Co. may conjure up images of basic, practical jeans, but the well-known company has recently taken its reputation up to new heights with the introduction of its premium denim. Called the Levi Capitol E jean, these high-end pants are sewn by hand out of high-quality denim and it can take as many as 30 people from start to finish to craft just one pair. Such intensive workmanship doesn’t come cheap. In fact, the most expensive cuts of these jeans sell for as high as $500 a pair and no two are exactly alike. (And it’s interesting to note that these actually aren’t even close to the most expensive Levi’s out there. See number 9 on this list for more about noteworthy Levi sales.)

9. 7 For All Mankind

The popular 7 For All Mankind brand has become known for its high quality fabric and exceptional cut. Pairs start at a few hundred dollars and are readily available at better department stores in a variety of colors, weaves and styles. The top of the line pairs can run as high as almost $1,000, and some fans of this line swear that the cut gives the illusion of thinner legs and leaner thighs, which just may make it a worthy buy. (DenimBlog editor’s note: I’ve never seen a pair of $1,000 Seven jeans, have you?!)

8. Earnest Sewn

Imagine having a pair of jeans made for your exact measurements and taste. That’s the lure of the Earnest Sewn Custom Fit Jeans, which are a hit among fashion lovers who demand a perfect fit. These jeans are also made from rare batches of fine hand-dyed denim, making them unique. When you order a pair, they are made to perfectly fit your individual size and body shape. In addition, you can select the details that you would like to add, such as rivet material and size. The cost for such a customized style is about $1,000.

7. Roberto Cavalli

If bling is your thing, then consider the bejeweled premium denim jeans offered by Roberto Cavalli. This is a favorite among celebrities and fashion insiders, including Jennifer Lopez, who is known for her cutting-edge style. The well-dressed cast of Sex in the City have also been known to wear the Cavalli clothing line. You can find these extravagant jeans at high-end department stores, or at the Roberto Cavalli boutique on Madison Avenue in New York City. A pair will cost you close to $1,200.

6. Dolce & Gabbana

The Italian design team of Dolce & Gabbana has an excellent track record for designing beautiful clothes for some of the best-dressed women. Therefore it should come as no surprise that they’ve captured a piece of the high-end jean market. Their take on this item is a distressed faded denim with an embroidered butterfly design. The finishing touch is an elegant gold D&G logo centered on a pink leather patch that decorates the back pocket and let’s people know who is the creator behind this attractive and eye-catching design. The price for a pair is just under $1,200 and this unique item is in limited supply, resulting in a waiting list worldwide.

5. APO Jeans

Do you prefer silver, gold or platinum hardware? When you select APO Jeans custom denim, you can choose rivets made from any of these three metals and can even opt for real diamonds in the place of a regular button. Further, the pockets are lined in pure silk and the zipper is polished and plated to perfection. Of course such luxurious details, in addition to the finest denim, doesn’t come cheap. APO considers its premium denim and detailing “cream of the crop,” and charges accordingly. In fact, the price tag for this product with all of the bells and whistles is $4,000. But in return, you receive a written appraisal from a prestigious New York City jeweler so you can protect your investment.

4. Gucci

There is an elegance and timelessness that is conveyed by anything Gucci. This premise holds true even when the item in question comes tattered and ripped. At least that’s the idea behind the Gucci Genius jeans, which were made from a pair of regular jeans that were specially treated and torn to make them look old and worn. Then the jeans were covered with African beading, feathers and buttons to give them a unique look. The finished product, which was unveiled on the Milan back in 1998, was priced at just a bit more than $3,100, earning it a mention in Guinness World Records. (Today this would be equal to just over $4,000.)

3. Escada

Do you like to be the center of attention? If so, then consider luxe designer Escada’s version of the custom jean, which lets the buyers select any details and styling their hearts desire. The finished item is priced accordingly. Some fans of this jean really exercise their creativity, adding a range of embellishments worthy of a princess or queen. The most expensive custom pair to date was decked in Swarovski crystals. The price for this indulgence was $10,000.

2. Levi Strauss & Co.

While most of the jeans on this list are new, the ones that hold the number two spot are a pair that is actually very, very old. These jeans are a pair of original Levi Strauss & Co. that date back to the 1880s and lots of history is captured within the weave of its vintage fabric. These jeans, which are an original example of the Levi 501 style, sold at auction on eBay in 2005 for a shocking $60,000. This translates today to more than $65,000. The winner was a Japanese collector who asked to remain anonymous.

While this is a record-breaking Levi sale, there are two others that are worth mentioning here. The first was a pair of Levi’s also from the late 1800s that were bought by Levi Strauss & Co. in 2001 for about $46,000 (today this equals more than $55,000). In addition, a recent EBay auction for a pair of Levis more than century old that were found in a California goldmine sold for more than $36,000.

1. Secret Circus

And the winner for the most expensive jeans is . . . an unusual pair that is designed by a new company called Secret Circus. The creators are banking on the idea that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, no matter whether you wear them around your neck or on your back pocket instead. That’s why they included a design made from a large collection of high-quality (and substantially-sized) diamonds on their pants. Rumor has it that the first pair was sold for a shocking $1.3 million.