DSCOVR Mission May Be Gutted 29 Oct 08 Here is the latest twist in the bizarre story about the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) . Apparently, the US Air Force is in discussions with NASA to take over the mission, with one important catch: that all the Earth observing instruments be removed. It seems the Air Force is more interested in looking at the Sun than our warming planet and plans are being made to send the spacecraft 100 million miles distant – only to look the other way. DSCOVR is unique experiment that would place a spacecraft at a gravitational parking spot 100 million miles away where it could continuously observe the Earth as it circles the sun. This unique vantage point would allow us for the first time to directly measure the energy budget of our warming planet. This spacecraft would also immediately lay to rest any remaining scientific questions about the origins or seriousness of climate change. Strangely, this fully completed spacecraft remains in a box somewhere in Maryland, eight years and $100 million after it was built.

Audi Calamaro Flying Concept Car Takes Future Design Competitions To Higher Level This futuristic take on a flying car was designed by Hungarian design student Tibor for a design contest run by his native Porsche distributor. Inspired by the “bone of a cuttlefish,” the Audi Calamaro does a good job of looking kind of like its name suggests while still adapting current Audi design themes — check out the ‘beard’ air intake — to a product clearly intended for the distant future. We can spot no obvious means of propulsion, so can only assume it uses a Mr. Fusion.

Flying car based on Ferrari 'could be reality within two years' Last Updated: 8:52AM GMT 03 Nov 2008 The 'Autovolantor' - based on a £200,000 Ferrari 599 GTB - is being developed by "Moller International". It will have the ability to take off vertically and hover thanks to eight powerful thrusters which direct air down for take off. Vents then tilt so the car can fly forward. The car is expected to be able to do 100mph on the ground and 150mph in the air. The calculated airborne range is 75 miles and ground range is 150 miles. Designer Bruce Calkins says the car features a specially designed hybrid fuel and electric system to power the thrusters, creating as much as 800 horse power. He believes it will be able to fly at altitudes of up to 5,000ft. Mr Calkins said: "The Autovolantor is powered by eight fans mounted in the fuselage of the vehicle. "On the ground these fans push the vehicle around with a firm but not-too-powerful thrust of deflected air. "Small vanes in the exit area of the ducts can direct the air forward or back, or remain in the neutral position for vertical take off and landing. "Once in the air the vehicle manoeuvres like a helicopter, tilting nose down to move forward, rolling right or left for changes in direction. "While maximum altitude could be much higher, the energy to obtain altitudes above 5,000 feet would be significant so we expect it to stay below that height." He estimates a cost of around £500,000 per car.

My Other Car is a Jet Arthur van Poppel has built a jet that's so small that you can drive it around your mall parking lot. It's a copy of the F-35 from the Joing Strike Fighter Program and it can deploy the smoke, water and confetti effects (short of actual flying).

Hyperinflation: In Zimbabwe, Everyone’s a Multi-Billionaire Think that the economy is bad? Be thankful that we’re not in Zimbabwe, where $100 billion note buys you … three eggs! After the collapse of the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe in 2000, the inflation in that country skyrocketed to 231 million percent a year! Just think about it - 231 000 000%! Unemployment went up to 80% and a third of country’s population left it.

Oct 2008, 4:59 AM EDT Created: Thursday, 30 Oct 2008, 10:53 AM EDT Repeat sex offender living in parking garage Monitor staff October 29, 2008 - 7:16 am Jonathan Perfetto, a repeat sex offender, left prison eight days ago. He's living in a Concord parking garage and spending his days at the city library. He never finished sex offender treatment in prison, and he has no one supervising him. Perfetto's biggest fear, he says, is that he's going to reoffend. His measure of success isn't reassuring. "I haven't bought pornography yet, and I've been out (of prison) almost a week," he said yesterday. Perfetto's case is precisely the kind prison officials try to avoid, and they often do. Most inmates do well enough in prison that they win early release and gradually return to society with the help of a parole supervisor. But Perfetto is proof the system isn't perfect. He failed so frequently in prison that he "maxed out" his sentence last week and landed in Concord alone, broke and homeless. He can't get into a shelter, because none takes sex offenders. And he can't get treatment, because he can't pay for it. "It's a public safety issue," said city prosecutor Scott Murray. "Until the guy commits a crime, you can't do anything for him through the system. It's rare that someone just gets maxed out without some sort of safety net."

Vietnam Proposes Small-Chested Driver Ban Tuesday, October 28, 2008 HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam is considering banning small-chested drivers from its roads — a proposal that has provoked widespread disbelief in this nation of slight people. The Ministry of Health recently recommended that people whose chests measure fewer than 28 inches would be prohibited from driving motorbikes — as would those who are too short or too thin. The proposal is part of an exhaustive list of new criteria the ministry has come up with to ensure that Vietnam's drivers are in good health. As news of the plan hit the media this week, Vietnamese expressed incredulity. "It's ridiculous," said Tran Thi Phuong, 38, a Hanoi insurance agent. "It's absurd." "The new proposals are very funny, but many Vietnamese people could become the victim of this joke," said Le Quang Minh, 31, a Hanoi stockbroker. "Many Vietnamese women have small chests. I have many friends who won't meet these criteria." It was unclear how the ministry established its size guidelines or why it believes that small people make bad drivers. An official there declined to comment. The average Vietnamese man is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 121 pounds. The average Vietnamese woman is 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 103 pounds . Statistics on average chest size were unavailable.

Romanian man advertises wife for sale on used car website 29/ 10/ 2008 MOSCOW , October 29 (RIA Novosti) - A Romanian man has put his 25-year-old wife up for sale on a used car website, saying he was fed up with her, the Ananova news portal reported on Wednesday. Alex Cretu, 20, of Bucharest, placed the advert on a used car website hoping to fetch 4 million pounds ($6.4 million), but later lowered the price to 3,000 pounds ($4,800) for a "quick sale," the news portal said. His advert reads: "Wife for sale. Model 1983, good condition. Full option, nice suspensions, spacious boot, second owner." "Price is negotiable, comes with three-year-old and five-year-old accessories. Seriousness demanded." Alex said he got fed up with his wife who was grumbling all the time, and wanted to play a joke on her while she was working in Spain. He received several offers, but accepted none of them, as either the price was too low or the purchasers wanted to pay in installments, Ananova said.

Cops find crack pipe in woman's buttocks Thursday, November 6, 2008 Would you have a look between this woman's buttocks? Police who arrested a woman for stealing money from a car found a glass crack pipe hidden between her buttocks. Cops made the surprise discovery during a routine search on Evelyn Russo while she was being booked for taking $2 in change.

Oct 31, 2008 6:13 am US/Eastern Queens Priest Used Confessional To Pick Up Woman Father Elvis Elano Suspended After Being Named In Lawsuit QUEENS (CBS) ― A Queens priest who worked as a chaplain at a hospital has been suspended after apparently using his confessional booth to take advantage of a vulnerable parishioner and engaging in a sexual relationship with her. The alleged affair began at the Our Lady of the Snows Church in Glen Oaks, where Rev. Elvis Elano practiced. It was in a confessional there where the illicit liaison between the Catholic priest and a woman going through a divorce began. Laufer says his client, Judith Rodriguez-Lytwyn was vulnerable when she walked into the confessional where Elano allegedly told her, "Your presence struck me like a thunderbolt." The two soon starting dating. "They became intimate, engaging in sex," says Laufer. When Fr. Elvis left the building, he'd head to Rodriguez-Lytwyn's home, where the two carried on a seven-month affair, one that had parishioners stunned. Rodriguez-Lytwyn's lawyer says his client ended the affair this month when her lover sent an e-mail indicating the presence of a sexually transmitted disease he may have gotten from another woman. On Thursday, the diocese wasn't taking questions, but in a statement said: "In August of 2008 Ms. Judith Rodrigues-Lytwyn informed the Diocese of Brooklyn that she had been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a priest who had served in the diocese. Despite repeated requests on the part of diocesan officials, she neither would name the priest nor would she identify the parish in which the priest had served. "We understand that yesterday the parish Our Lady of the Snows was served with a summons. Today documents have been turned over to counsel for review. We have not had the opportunity to review the summons and therefore have no statement regarding the lawsuit at this time." Rodriguez-Lytwyn has filed a $25 million lawsuit, a suit her lawyer claims isn't about a payday or payback for a woman scorned.

AARP Eye Chart

"It's all make believe, isn't it?"

Marilyn Monroe "If I'd observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere"

Pamela Anderson "And I'm not an actress. I don't think I am an actress. I think I've created a brand and a business"

"I don't really think about anything too much. I live in the present. I move on. I don't think about what happened yesterday. If I think too much, it kind of freaks me out"

“ Every woman should have four pets in her life. A mink in her closet, a Jaguar in her garage, a tiger in her bed, and a jack-ass to pay for it all.” "

Paris Hilton "A true heiress is never mean to anyone - except a girl who steals your boyfriend"

Sharon Stone "A woman has many faces as she goes through her life. It's like we need more than one hair-do. We have many, many changes in the evolution of our lives. We have, we learn, and we grow; we view life differently, and life views us differently"

Madonna “ I am rich and famous. I have a talented and gorgeous husband and two beautiful children. I could go on.”