Most Expensive Coffee in the World

The most expensive coffee in the world does not hail from Jamaica or Hawaii, but instead from Indonesia.

Kopi Luwak the most expensive coffee in the world does exist, and those who drink the expensive coffee insist that it is made from coffee beans eaten, partly digested and then excreted by the Common palm civet, a weasel-like animal.

“Kopi” the Indonesian word for coffee along with “luwak” is local name of this animal which eats the raw red coffee beans. The civet digests the soft outer part of the coffee cherry, but does not digest the inner beans and excretes them.

Apparently the internal digestion ends up adds a unique flavor to the beans, removing the bitter flavor, and then beans are then picked up by locals and sold. The most expensive coffee beans can cost up to $600 a pound, and up to $50 per cup, if you can get over the fact that you are drinking such a strange brew.

You would know if you drank the most expensive coffee in the world, because the quantities of it are tiny amounts.

A US Airways jet crashed

A US Airways jet crashed Thursday in the Hudson River in New York City after a flock of birds struck its engines, but everyone aboard survived.

Passengers were sent fleeing into the icy, 35 degree, waters when the Airbus 320 went down shortly after takeoff near 48th Street in Manhattan.

Two of the jet's engines were hit by a flock of birds, according to government officials. The Federal Aviation Administration said everyone on board survived and was off the plane.

Two of the jet's engines were hit by a flock of birds, according to government officials.

There were eyewitness reports the plane may have flown into a flock of birds," said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. "Right now we don't have any indication this was anything other than an accident."

An air traffic controllers union official said the pilot reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after takeoff and was headed for an emergency landing in New Jersey when he ditched into the Hudson River.

National Air Traffic Controllers Union spokesman Doug Church says the plane reported the bird striked about 30 to 45 seconds after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport and asked to return to the ground. As the controller began to turn the aircraft, the pilot radioed that he saw an airport below him and asked what it was.

Church said the controller in Westbury, N.Y., replied, "That's Teterboro." The pilot asked to land there. The last transmission between the pilot and controller was the controller's order to divert to Teterboro, N.J., for an emergency landing.

Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of US Airways Group, would not speculate on what caused the incident, but said at a press conference that the company will fully cooperate with investigators.

Most of the passengers were held at the New York City ferry terminal at 42nd Street after the crash, though at least two were taken away on stretchers. The New York City Fire Department said 78 people were injured, but the extent of the injuries wasn't immediately known.

Flight 1549 had just taken off from New York's LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. Thursday when it went down. The flight had 150 passengers and five crew — two pilots and three flight attendants —on board, and was heading to Charlotte, N.C., said Parker, who was leaving for New York.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows but remained completely intact. Rescue crews opened the door and pulled passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats — including commuter ferries — surrounded the plane, which appeared to be slowly sinking.

Passengers could be seen standing on the wings of the jet floating in the water immediately after the crash.

A number of Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. employees were on board the flight.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Eshet said three employees of the San Francisco-based bank were on US Airways Flight 1549, and all are safe.

At Charlotte-based Bank of America, spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie said the nation's largest bank was confirming the whereabouts of its employees and working with authorities to gather more information.

The U.S. Coast Guard said they are assessing the fuel situation on the plane, and working with several other agencies on a plan to salvage the plane.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said terrorism wasn't suspected.

"There is no information at this time to indicate that this is a security-related incident," Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. "We continue to closely monitor the situation which at present is focused on search and rescue."

Witnesses said the plane's pilot appeared to guide the plane down.

"I see a commercial airliner coming down, looking like it's landing right in the water," said Bob Read, who saw it from his office at the television newsmagazine "Inside Edition." "This looked like a controlled descent."

New York City firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard were responding to the crash.

"I saw what appeared to be a tail fin of a plane sticking out of the water," said Erica Schietinger, whose office windows at Chelsea Piers look out over the Hudson. "All the boats have sort of circled the area."

A team of US Airways employee volunteers are helping the passengers and crew who were affected, Parker said.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was a Christian theologian and Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions. Martin Luther was born to Hans and Margaretha Luder on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, Germany and was baptised the next day on the feast of St. Martin of Tours, after whom he was named. Luther’s call to the Church to return to the teachings of the Bible resulted in the formation of new traditions within Christianity and the Counter-Reformation in the Roman Catholic Church, culminating at the Council of Trent.

His translation of the Bible also helped to develop a standard version of the German language and added several principles to the art of translation. Luther's hymns sparked the development of congregational singing in Christianity. His marriage, on June 13, 1525, to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, began the tradition of clerical marriage within several Christian traditions.

Luther's Writings

The number of books attributed to Martin Luther is quite impressive. However, some Luther scholars contend that many of the works were at least drafted by some of his good friends like Philipp Melanchthon. Luther’s books explain the settings of the epistles and show the conformity of the books of the Bible to each other. Of special note would be his writings about the Epistle to the Galatians in which he compares himself to the Apostle Paul in his defense of the Gospel. Luther also wrote about church administration and wrote much about the Christian home.

Luther's work contains a number of statements that modern readers would consider rather crude. For example, Luther was know to advise people that they should literally “Tell the Devil he may kiss my ass.” It should be remembered that Luther received many communications from throughout Europe from people who could write anonymously, that is, without the specter of mass media making their communications known. No public figure today could write in the manner of the correspondences Luther received or in the way Luther responded to them. Luther was certainly a theologian of the middle-ages. He was an earthy man who enjoyed his beer, and was bold and often totally without tact in the blunt truth he vehemently preached. While this offended many, it endeared him all the more to others.

He was open with his frustrations and emotions, as well. Once, when asked if he truly loved God, Luther replied “Love God? Sometimes I hate Him!” Luther was also frustrated by the works-emphasis of the book of James, calling it “the Epistle of Straw, and questioning its canonicity. Also irritated with the complex symbolism of the Book of Revelation, he once said that it too, was not canon, and that it should be thrown into the river! He later retracted these statements, of course. Luther was a man who was easily misquoted or taken out of context. While a brilliant theologian, and a bold reformer, he would not have made a good politician. But then, he never aspired to any career in politics.

Martin Luther's Death

Martin Luther escaped martyrdom, and died of natural causes. His last written words were, "Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles... We are beggars: this is true."