World's Most Expensive Cities To Live

 

Twenty spots where it's hardest to make ends meet.

The ride on a bus or subway in Tokyo costs $3.25. Grab a newspaper and a cup of coffee on the way and the total comes to $11.70. That's more than anywhere else in the world--24% more than what those same things cost in New York, even.

Tokyo is the world's most expensive city, according to Mercer's 2009 Worldwide Cost of Living survey released today, with the cost of living up 13.1% from 2008; the city ranked at No. 2 in 2008's survey. Japan's capital is followed by Osaka and Moscow, which held the top spot in last year's rankings. Geneva comes in fourth.

Yahoo! BuzzThe significant changes from last year are due to massive swings in exchange rates, with many currencies at their weakest in years against the U.S. dollar, during the March 2009 survey period. Because of this, New York moved up 14 spaces to No. 8 from No. 22. London dropped to No. 16 from No. 3 as the pound dropped as low as 1.37 against the U.S. dollar during the study period. Six months earlier, one pound was worth $1.86.

"Changes in exchange rate tend to be one of the major drivers, I would argue the major driver, in cost of living," says Rebecca Powers, a principal consultant at Mercer.

Even with the U.S. dollar weakening over the past four months--it's now worth $1.65--due in part to the Obama administration's stimulus package, the cost of living in London, when measured against the value of the U.S. dollar, is significantly lower than it was a year ago, when the pound was worth more than $2.

All U.S. cities included in the ranking also experienced a rise, including Los Angeles, up 32 places, and Washington, D.C., up 41 places.

Report By ARSALAN JILANI

Chocolate is Yummy and Funny

If you are feeling depressed, then reaching for a bar of chocolate will put the smile back on your face. There is now a definitive link between chocolate and your mood, say a group of US based researchers.


Scientific Proof Exists That Chocolate is Good For You
Dr. Natalie Rose from the University of California along with her colleagues observed that depressed people ate about 8 servings of candy whereas cheerful people ate only about 5 servings of chocolate over a similar period of time. Severely depressed people ate about 11 servings. One serving equates to 1 ounce of chocolate or just a small bar.

          Yummy By ARSALAN JILANI          

The Man With No Face

For the past 35 years, 51 year-old Jose Mestre, from Lisbon, has been losing his face to a massive growth, distorting it out of all recognition – and it's still growing. 

The tumour on Jose's face is a vascular malformation, a collection of blood vessels that have expanded, producing a raised red area on the skin. Jose was born with a strawberry-coloured birth mark on his upper lip; at puberty his face started growing, eventually smothering his lips, nose and one of his eyes.  It's now about 33cm long and weighs around 3kg.

The Man with No Face meets the man behind the 'mask' and attempts to understand what it is like to have such an affliction. How does he cope with day to day life - with  the stares, the ridicule and people taking photographs?

Surrounded by a loving family, it seems incredible that he has not been treated and his face was allowed to grow so big. However, through years of medical misinformation, some misdiagnosis, lack of finances, and reluctance to undergo treatment due to religious beliefs, the growth has continued to obliterate his face.

My Shocking Story follows Jose on a journey through Europe to seek medical advice for one last chance to stop his face from suffocating him. In this journey of a lifetime he will discover the truth about his condition, as he travels by train, via Paris, to Britain, to meet the top experts in London. He will go through a series of tests, consultations, and meet other patients with a similar affliction.  Here he will also spend time with his brother and the rest of his family, enjoy being a tourist in London, while making the biggest decision of his life:

Jose's dream is to live a long and normal life. Will he decide to change his religious beliefs, and risk an operation to remove his malformation, or will he decide against surgery and accept that he will continue living the rest of his life without a face?

Arsalan Jilani has collected some more links to this shocking story.

- See Image Gallery
- Watch Video clips

My Message

We must respect all the people in this world without discrimination of age, gender, religion etc. I saw full documentary of Mr. Mestre and really shocked when I saw that people treat him as Alien, taking photos, making videos etc. He is also a normal person like us and wanted to do job, play football and live life like us.

          Cover By Arsalan Jilani          

David Beckham

     SOME PEOPLE ARE BORN TO PLAY FOOTBALL     

After attending the Bobby Charlton Soccer School aged 11, impressing coaches with his natural ability (and becoming skills champion for his age group), David’s future was effectively secured when he signed for Manchester United as a trainee in 1991.

Following a short spell on loan at Preston North End, David fulfilled a dream when he made his Premier League debut with Manchester United in 1995 against Leeds. During the 1996/97 season, he famously scored from the halfway line (a feat not even the great Pele accomplished) against Wimbledon.

By the turn of the millennium, David was a household name. Not only as a treble winner with United, but also as a world renowned free-kick specialist and an England regular.

It was only a matter of time before he was granted the England captaincy, a major achievement and personal milestone for the player.

Now regarded as one of the world’s premier footballers and a hero to fans across the globe, he has established The David Beckham Academy in both London and Los Angeles, an exciting new football school focusing on the development of young players.

Through hard work and determination David realised his dream to be a professional footballer. It’s a journey that has taken him around the world to play on the greatest footballing stages for some of the biggest clubs.

And it is a journey that is not yet over….

     HIGHLIGHTED BY ARSALAN JILANI     

7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook

Following are the 7 things that should be avoided on Facebook otherwise it would be not safe for you and for your love ones.

1. Using a Weak Password

Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word "houses": hO27usEs!

             2. Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile             

It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.

3. Overlooking Useful Privacy Controls

For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.

4. Posting Your Child's Name in a Caption

Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.

5. Mentioning That You'll Be Away From Home

That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.

6. Letting Search Engines Find You

To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.

7. Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised

Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings.

          Research By Arsalan Jilani          

Iran sentences Bahari to 13 years in prison, 74 lashes

New York, May 10, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a 13-year prison sentence handed down to Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari in absentia on Sunday.

Newsweek correspondent Bahari, who was held in detention for four months on manufactured anti-state charges in 2009, was sentenced by a Tehran Revolutionary Court on Sunday to 13 years in prison, in addition to 74 lashes.

Bahari received a sentence of five years in prison for “congregation and mutiny with the intent to commit crimes against national security,” four years for “collecting and keeping confidential and classified documents,” one year for “propagation against the regime,” two years for “insulting the [Supreme] Leader,” six months for “insulting the President,” and one year and 74 lashes for “disruption of public order.” 

Authorities interrogated Bahari for four months, he told CPJ, and coerced him to “confess” to a host of serious criminal acts on Iranian television. He was then convicted for an entirely different set of crimes.

“We condemn the conviction of Maziar Bahari,” said CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, Mohamed Abdel Dayem. “Bahari’s trial bears absolutely no resemblance to a legal process. The sentence is arbitrary and punitive and is unrelated to the initial charges, which were themselves falsified. The conviction is a reminder to us that the dozens of Iranian journalists who remain in jail are at the mercy of a cruel and vindictive regime.”

Bahari has been part of an international campaign that includes CPJ called “Our Society Will Be a Free Society,” advocating for the release of imprisoned Iranian journalists and writers, and has made numerous statements and appearances on their behalf.

Today CPJ and the Overseas Press Club of America sent a letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling on him to bring an end to a nearly year-long campaign of harassment and intimidation of critical Iranian journalists working domestically and abroad. The letter was signed by nearly 200 prominent media figures who attended the Overseas Press Club’s awards ceremony in New York on April 22.

 

          Cover By Arsalan Jilani          

Inside Sandra Bullock's New $2.25 Million Mansion

 

When Sandra Bullock revealed in last month's jaw-dropping cover story in People that she'd adopted a baby boy from New Orleans, she spoke about raising him there, saying: "It's his city." Just a few weeks later, the actor  and single mom followed through on that promise. Bullock recently moved herself and baby Louis into a historic Victorian mansion in the city's Garden District.

The mansion, known as the Koch-Mays house, was built in the 1860s. It boasts 6,615 square feet, five bedrooms, four and a half baths, ornate chandeliers, and a lagoon-like pool in the backyard. Bullock bought the house for $2.25 million last June with her now-estranged husband, Jesse James. (She filed for divorce from James in April.)
Dramatic photos of the mansion, which were posted on a real estate site after her June 2009 purchase of the home, show rooms bedecked with opulent antique furniture, Victorian wallpaper, and huge, gold Gothic mirrors. But Bullock has most likely filled the home with her own décor by now: Moving vans were spotted late last month moving furniture, including a leather sofa, into the mansion.

Player of the year

Player Of The Year Is Finally Given To Mr. Arsalan Jilani.
Magazine includes: Arsalan's Pictures, Interview to Media and success story.
Magazine available in: USA, Pakistan and Australia.
Magazine Coming soon in United Kingdom and Asia.
Magazine Price: US$ 3 - PKR 150 - AU$ 10
Limited Time Free Home Delivery Available From May 12 - May 25, 2010

LEAVING ALL SOCIAL NETWORKS

Life is not "A Piece Of Cake" that every Tom, Dick and Harry come, set goals and achieve them. It is a "Game" where "One's Defeat Makes Someone Achieve".

There are so many things which could not be achieved without losing something. As the philosopher says: You have to leave something to gain something.

Life is about give and take. You can't get anything until you give something for it.

Today, I'm leaving my all social networks i.e Facebook, Myspace, Tagged, Orkut, Twitter etc.

Even I'm leaving Hotmail, Yahoo, Rediffmail and Gmail as well.

There is something I've to achieve in my life which I cannot describe here because there are so many black sheep which don't want to see me successful in my life.

Today I'm very much disappointed on what I've done before. I's very careless, involved in computer, sports and other social activities. It hurts when you failed to achieve the Primary goal of your life. I got everything I wanted from other activities but it is really disappointing when you got nothing from the main source. Its example is just like: Your supervisor is satisfied with you but your Boss disqualify you.
I've no words to describe: What I got and What I lose.

But whatever I got and whatever I lost is all from  Almighty Allah.

Allah knows better than us and did right for us.

I'll be connected with my Blog.

          Arsalan Jilani         

Small Asteroid or a FireBall Seen In Utah(USA) in Nov2009

A brilliant meteor that startled residents across parts of Idaho and northern Utah early Wednesday morning may have been a small asteroid, scientists say. It exploded in the atmosphere with a force equal to a thousand tons of TNT.
Spaceweather.com reports:
"Witnesses in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and elsewhere say the fireball "turned night into day" and "shook the ground" when it exploded just after midnight Mountain Standard Time. Researchers who are analyzing infrasound recordings of the blast say the fireball was not a Leonid.  It was probably a small asteroid, now scattered in fragments across the countryside.  Efforts are underway to measure the trajectory of the asteroid and guide meteorite recovery efforts."
Security camera footage of the event shows a flash that brightened the sky so much that a street light operated by a light sensor winked out for a time before the sky grew dark again.
Here's a video from local TV.

Day Of Judgement: Nasa Report On Sun Rising From The West

It is reported that speed of planet Mars has been decreasing in its course toward the eastern direction in the past few weeks to the level we notice the ‘waver’ between the east and the west and on Wednesday the 30th of July the planet movement stopped going toward the eastern direction.

Then in the months of August and September. Mars changed its course in the opposite direction to the West- and that until the end of September which means the sun will rise now from the west on Mars!! And this weird phenomena of the opposite movement is called “Retrograde Motion” Most scientist state that all the planets will go through the same once at least and our planet Earth is one of them. Planet Earth will move in the opposite direction some day and the sun will rise from the west!!

This might occur soon and we are unaware! The rise of the sun from the west is mentioned in the Hadith (sayings of Holy Prophet Muhammad) and this is the major sign of the day of judgement, most if not all, the minor signs have occurred. Wake up. Our beloved messenger Mohamed (Peace Be Upon Him) said: “One of the signs of the hour the sun will rise from the west, where no longer tauba (forgiveness) will be granted”

!And the strange thing most of our Shariah scholars mentioned that the rise of the sun from the west occurs only once on that day the sun will rise from the west then again from the east and continues until Allah wishes and this is similar to what is happening to Mars it stops, then it changes its course of direction for a short period of time then returns to way once it was.

And Abdullah Bin Amro (R.A.) said: (I memorised from the messenger (SAW) a hadith I will never forget I heard the messenger of Allah (SAW) say: The first aya to come the rise of the sun from the west) [Ahmad]. And the messenger SAW “Allah places HIS hand at night to forgive his morning sinners, and places in the morning to forgive his night sinners until the sun rises from the west” [Muslim].

This piece of news is very important as it brings with it a great sign of warning and remembrance of the coming of a new WORLD – the world of he Hereafter When we show this hadith that was told 1400 years ago about this miracle…you will see InshaALLAH, a lot will revert to right path…And the Muslims if they see this phenomena happening in Mars who knows maybe it would bring them closer to our CREATOR. May Allah keep all of us in the right path and provide us with success in this world as well as in the hereafter.

          Arsalan Jilani          

Italian Teenager Elisa Claps' Body Finally Found after 17 Years

Elisa Claps' body was found hidden in the roof of the church 17 years where she was last seen alive. The discovery of her body has international implication.

One September Sunday in 1993, the pretty, dark haired and brown eyed 16 year old school girl, Elisa Claps, wearing a jumper knitted for her by her mother, went to the Most Holy Trinity church in Potenza, in the Basilicata region of Southern Italy, to meet a man. She was never seen again until nearly 17 years later when her mummified remains were found in the roof space of that church.

Elisa Claps’ Body Discovered After 17 Years in Church Roof

In March 2010, workmen made their way up to the roof of the church in Potenza, where Elisa Claps was last seen, to investigate the source of a water leak about which the congregation had been complaining. However, their search for a leak led to the discovery of a more gruesome find. Concealed in a small alcove in the roof space of the 15th century church were the mummified remains of a young woman.

Clothing and other items found with her, such as her shoes, glasses and jewellery were positively identified by her family. Although DNA and other forensic tests hadn’t actually officially confirm the identification, the family was so confident it is Elisa that a memorial service attended by some 7000 people was held at the church towards the end of March, about a week after the discovery of the missing teenager’s body.

Suspect in Elisa Claps Disappearance Charged with Perjury

The young man that Elisa met on the day of her untimely death, according to several newspaper reports, was arrested and quizzed not long after her disappearance about his movements on that day. Not least because about an hour or so after his meeting with Elisa, he turned up at a local hospital for treatment to a wound to his hand which he said had been caused by an accident on a partially constructed escalator.

In 1996, three years after Elisa’s disappearance, he was judged guilty of perjury by an Italian court because his explanation of how he injured his hand was found to be false. He appealed against the court’s findings in 2000 but his appeal was overturned and he was given a two year prison sentence. It wasn’t long after this that he moved to Bournemouth and became a neighbour of Heather Barnett.

Research By Arsalan Jilani

Italian Teenager Elisa Claps' Body Finally Found after 17 Years

Italian Teenager Elisa Claps' Body Finally Found after 17 Years

Abraham Lincoln

 Abraham Lincoln.
1809 – 1865.  16th (Republican) President of the United States.
Outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery.

 

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
 

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
 

You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
 

You cannot help the wage-earner by tearing down the wage-payer.

You cannot further the brotherhood of mankind by encouraging class hatred.
 

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
 

You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
 

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
 

You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative.

 

You cannot help man permanently by doing for them what they could do and should do for themselves.