davidelfuego risks as a slave to live as a tycoon every month between douala n dubaii

de bush et hitler moi je pense que bush est un gardeur de la paix pourtant hitler etait un criminel

The President of the United States makes $200 000 a year. A Supreme Court justice gets $170 000. The average annual American household income is $34 076. And Steven Segal? He makes $10 million per picture. We want celebrities to be like us, and then we don't. We want them to inhabit a world of glamour, but we don't want them to be stuck up. We want to gaze at their big faces on the screen, yet it's our own narcissism we are feeding. Yet one thing's for sure - we don't like to hear about them making $10 million for lousy movies. For the most part, celebrities are not worth

Take a gander...check it out. YOU paid for it (if you pay taxes to Uncle Sam!). Looking more like a tank than a car, the new DeVille limo has drawn some criticism for its "militaristic" look. Used by President Bush for the first time in the recent Inaugural Parade, the ominous-looking Caddy conversion looked very capable and frightening at the same time. "Functional" is probably an understatement! The car is the first in a series to fill the White House fleet, though the actual number of cars ordered is a secret. Parade cars of all kinds have unique needs. They must be able to idle for very long times and drive at very low speeds for long periods of time without overheating, not an easy thing in a vehicle this size and weight. The powerful V8 engine is probably based on the General Motors 502 cubic inch marine engine block. It's the largest Presidential limo ever built, both inside and out. President Clinton did say that the work space in the rear was huge and much more comfortable than the previous model. This limo was delivered to the White House fleet about a week before President Bush took office, so President Clinton got to road test it for a few days (at least he didn't take it with him when he left Washington!). The last limos were delivered for White House use by Cadillac in 1993. Those three vehicles delivered are estimated to have cost a total of near $10 million. We can guess some of the defensive and offensive items on-board. Run-flat, bullet-proof tires. Bullet-proof and shatter-proof glass all around. Layers of kevlar and other high-strength, blast- and bullet-proof materials under all of the car's sheetmetal from roof to under-carriage. Gun ports. Tear gas cannons. Redundant state-of-the-art communications systems. We do know there are TVs, VCRs and CD players in the rear for the passengers' enjoyment. The "retired" cars from the White House fleet are sent to US government stations around the nation and the world for use by ambassadors and other VIP's and dignitaries as they are replaced by these new models. Cars from the 1960s are still in use by the US government around the world. We can guess there are two of these new limos in the White House motor pool. One is kept in DC, and another is flown ahead to wherever the President is traveling in a military C47 transport plane, arriving just before Air Force One. Some of the conversion work is completed by O'Gara, Hess and Eisenhardt, a company which in various forms has been building VIP transportation for the government for almost 100 years. All the work is overseen by the Secret Service and no one without proper credentials gets too close to any of the cars. When Clint Eastwood directed and starred in IN THE LINE OF FIRE, a movie about a Secret Service agent, he tried to get the government to loan his production company one of the real limos for use in the film. The agency declined that request, though they did give much technical assistance to the production...but no one was spending any time with the car other than officials. The agency does not want anyone getting too good a look at the vehicle's armoring, weapons and other systems. But Eastwood did finally fool the government...turns out the company which built the actual Presidential limo keeps a look-alike model on-hand for their own use, trade shows and the like...and that's the car Eastwood used in the move, visually a double of the real thing! When the Secret Service agents helping with the filming saw the car on the set for the first time, they couldn't believe their eyes! They thought Eastwood had indeed gotten the actual Presidential limo for his film! It wasn't the real McCoy...but Eastwood fooled the Secret Service...and the rest of us, too! And if you think this car is interesting as far as weaponry and other cool stuff, if you ever get a chance to see a Presidential motorcade, check out one of the Chevy Suburbans directly behind the President's car. Inside you'll see a group of very scary-looking guys dressed in scary-looking SWAT-like costumes, carrying a bunch of scary-looking weapons. One can only image the arsenal in those vehicles! Years ago, while working as a volunteer in election campaigns (I thought I was the only Democrat in Orange County, CA), I had the chance to ride in such motorcades twice. The Secret Service cars were, as they say, literally bristling with every kind of offensive weapon you can imagine which would fit into the trunk. I'll never forget being in the back seat of one of the cars and seeing an M16 rifle stuffed into the space between the seat and the doors! And realizing...it was loaded, and the guy sitting next to me would use it in an instant! And that's not even to mention the four-wheel drive van with US government plates which contains an array of communications equipment that would make a TV station proud. And of course at the rear of any Presidential motorcade is a paramedic-equipped ambulance. And remember...EVERY US President gets this treatment, regardless of party affiliation! On a personal note, I always found the Secret Service agents to be very friendly, surprisingly normal people with very difficult, tiring jobs

Maybach, one of the world's most exclusive automotive names during the 1920s and 1930s, will be reborn in 2003 as a super-luxury car marque within the Mercedes-Benz division of DaimlerChrysler AG.

Official Mercedes photo released from the factory of a camouflaged Maybach.

"We are using the Maybach name to emphasize the unique nature of our future premium-quality product," said Professor Juergen Hubbert, DCAG board member in charge of the Mercedes-Benz and smart car division, "and to carry on the tradition of a legendary marque, whose exciting cars were the ultimate in design and technical perfection in the years between 1921 and 1940. We are pursuing these very same goals in the development of the new Maybach. Based on state-of-the-art Mercedes technology, these vehicles will set new standards in the world of premium cars, thus paying due honor to the great name of Maybach."

A New Emblem for a new Marque

Based on the distinctive emblem that adorned the much-admired Maybach cars, a new double-M insignia will recall the German luxury car brand of years gone by. Originally signifying "Maybach Motorenbau," the double-M badge in the future will stand for "Maybach Manufaktur ," highlighting the marque's original focus on individualized hand-craftsmanship.

Each Maybach Will Be Uniquely Handcrafted

Individuality, elegance and exclusivity are cornerstones of the Maybach marque, and giving each customer close attention will be a priority. An unprecedented range of fine materials and paint choices as well as innovative technical features will be available, ranging from specially designed inlays to high-tech business equipment for the rear-seat passenger area. As a result, each and every Maybach model will be a unique, custom-made specimen. High expectations for the Maybach name will be matched by the manufacturing process at the Sindelfingen plant, which is flexible enough to ensure that personalized equipment and trim requests can be fulfilled while guaranteeing the highest levels of hand-craftsmanship.

Pioneering Technological Innovations in Mercedes-Benz Style

In addition to individuality, aesthetics and quality, the new luxury marque is aiming for technological leadership. Maybach development is in the hands of top engineers at the Mercedes Technology Center in Sindelfingen, so the new car can benefit from a smooth transfer of expertise. The Maybach is thus destined to exceed established Mercedes levels of quality in important areas such as safety, reliability and longevity. Maybach customers will be able to choose between two basic versions - a standard- or long wheelbase model. Fewer than ten vehicles will be built each day in the Maybach Manufaktur , which will have a maximum annual capacity of 1500 cars. Top markets for the super-luxury model will be the U.S., Western Europe and Japan.

Twin-Turbocharged V12 Power

A newly developed 5.5-liter twin-turbo V12 will make over 500 horsepower and - even more impressive - 664 Ibs.-ft. of torque. At a mere 2,000 rpm, this Maybach engine produces 90 percent of its train-pulling power.


High-Tech Electronic Braking and Air Suspension

In addition to Maybach will be equipped with yet another Mercedes technology first - electronic braking, which provides faster brake response with exactly the right brake pressure at each wheel. The lightening-fast electronic controls also provide a number of other benefits to make driving safer and less stressful. A new type of electronic air suspension is designed to adjust for a wide range of driving conditions, to ensure highest level of active safety and driving comfort. Other appointments include four-zone automatic climate control, ventilated comfort seats and a new audio system that provides Dolby surround-sound at every seat.

Maybach - Inventor of the First Mercedes

Wilhelm Maybach was the technical director of the Daimler Motor Company and a close collaborator for many years with Gottlieb Daimler, who had developed the first Mercedes car in 1900. With its front-mounted, dual-camshaft engine and advanced honeycomb radiator, this car was the precursor of all modern passenger cars. Its inventor, Wilhelm Maybach, was considered the "king of engineers" at the time.

Maybach left the Stuttgart company in 1907 to start his own company. Specializing in designing large airship engines, "Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH," was to become MTU Friedrichshafen, now part of DaimlerChrysler AG.

This Mediterranean-style estate has grand proportions inside and out--good thing, since it's had to accommodate basketballers Rony Seikaly and Shaquille O'Neal. The eight-bedroom Star Island mansion comes with a gym, outdoor tennis court, indoor racquetball court, pool and 250 feet of dock space. The grounds extend for more than two acres, and include a separate guesthouse. Listed with Cori Nelson at Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate - Aventura South.