Thursday, June 30, 2011

Pope Alexander VI (1431 – 1503)



The reward for “Baddest Pope Ever” arguably goes to Rodrigo Borgia, who enjoyed the benefits of having an uncle who just happened to be Pope Calixtus III. Thanks to his convenient social status, Borgia passed through the ranks of bishop, cardinal, and vice-chancellor, gaining enormous wealth along the way. In 1492, he was actually able to buy his way into the papacy, defeating two other opponents by means of bribery.

Alexander was so corrupt that his surname eventually became a byword representing the hellishly low papal standards of the time. He sired at least seven different illegitimate children by his mistresses, and didn’t hesitate to reward them with handsome endowments at the church’s expense. When low on finances, he either established new cardinals in return for payments, or he slammed wealthy people with completely fabricated charges, jailed or murdered them for said false charges, and then stole their money.

Not surprisingly, there is very little about Alexander VI that can be considered godly or even lawful. His goals were selfish and ambitious, and the orderly government he initially administered quickly deteriorated until the city of Rome was in a state of complete disrepair. The words spoken by Giovanni de Medici (the future Pope Leo X) after Borgia’s election are telling:

“Now we are in the power of a wolf, the most rapacious perhaps that this world has ever seen. And if we do not flee, he will inevitably devour us all.”

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Westfield London Shopping Centre (England)



Westfield London is a shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The centre was developed by the Westfield Group, run by Frank Lowy on a site bounded by the West Cross Route (A3220), the Westway (A40) and Wood Lane (A219), and opened on 30 October 2008.

The centre is noted for its size: with a retail floor area of 150,000m² (1.615m ft²), the equivalent of about 30 football pitches. At the time of its opening it was reported to be the third largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Worlds highest restaurant

At.mosphere, the world's highest restaurant, has just been opened in Burj Khalifa - United Arab Emirates. The world's highest restaurant is situated 442 meters up in the sky on the 122nd floor of the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa. This place is truly amazing. At.mosphere can host more than 210 clients and features a spacious receiving area, main dining floor and cooking stations












Saturday, June 25, 2011

Miss Russia 2011

19-year-old Natalia Gantimurova won Miss Russia 2011 pageant. She competed against 50 contestants who previously had won their regional beauty pageants, and was officially named the most gorgeous woman in Russia. She is said to get the world’s most expensive white gold crown with diamonds and pearls (estimated price is over $1 million) and $100,000 that she decided to donate to charity. Now Natalia will represent Russian in 2011 Miss Universe pageant that will be held in Brazil in September.