The Moller Skycar is a prototype personal VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft – a “flying car” – invented by Paul Moller who has been attempting to develop such vehicles for forty years.

The craft said to be currently under development, the M400, is purported to ultimately transport four people; single-seat up to six-seat variations are also planned and is described as a car since it is aimed at being a popular means of transport for anyone who can drive, incorporating automated flight controls, with the driver only inputting direction and speed required.

The Skycar demonstrated limited tethered flight capability in 2003 by hovering only. Scheduled tethered flight tests, which were to occur in mid-2006, were apparently canceled. Moller upgraded the Skycar’s engines in 2007, and the improved prototype is now called the “M400X” According to a 2008 article in the media, a prototype is supposed to be flying in 2012, with certified versions “a few years later”. Moller announced that a public test flight was scheduled for October 11, 2011 in Vacaville, CA. However, this flight was postponed in an announcement on September 27, 2011, with no further announcement of a date.

Moller International’s website claims that $100 Million has been spent in R & D at Moller International. The company is also developing a more advanced model called M600, with an intended capacity for 6 passengers or a payload of about 2000 lbs (900 kg).

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Dr. Shireen Fernandez, creator of Society’s Choice, enjoying a little beach time last year.

The name Christian Louboutin has been synonymous with a generation of elegance, over-the-top glamour and foot fetishes for over 2 decades.

To call him a “footwear designer” would be the greatest understatement, as Louboutin not only designs shoes, he designs a woman. One who is fearless, exciting and willing to induce pain for fashion. The red sole has become recognized and coveted by designers, models, celebrities and everyday glamour-pusses as a symbol of status and elegance and to celebrate 20 years, Louboutin has released a stunning book featuring glimpses of some of his most iconic shoes and those who have worn them. With a 5-piece fold-out cover, a binding of pink faux-leather, an interior pop-up, gilded pages and stunning photography from French artist Philippe Garcia, this book is a piece of art within itself.

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The Giant Panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China.

It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. The panda’s diet is 99% bamboo. The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. As a result of farming,deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived. The panda is a conservation reliant endangered species. A 2007 report shows 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country.

Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that the number of pandas in the wild is on the rise. However, the IUCN does not believe there is enough certainty yet to reclassify the species from Endangered to Vulnerable.

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Brazil is the largest country in South America and the world’s fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population, with over 192 million people.It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas.

It is particularly famous for its carnival in Rio and its Soccer team.

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Emmy Rossum returned to television for the second season of Showtime’s “Shameless.” She plays Fiona Gallagher, daughter of an always-drunk working class antihero played by William H. Macy. Based on the British television series of the same name, “Shameless” has received warm reviews from critics since it first aired last year.

We can only assume part of that had to do with Rossum’s innate charm.

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…born Angelina Jolie Voight (June 4, 1975) is an American actress.

She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has been cited as the world’s “most beautiful” woman, a title for which she has received substantial media attention. Jolie made her screen debut as a child alongside her father Jon Voight in Lookin’ to Get Out (1982), but her film career began in earnest a decade later with the low-budget production Cyborg 2 (1993). Her first leading role in a major film was in the cyber-thriller Hackers (1995). She starred in the critically acclaimed biographical television films George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998), and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Girl, Interrupted (1999). Jolie achieved wide fame after her portrayal of video game heroine Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), and established herself among the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood with the sequel Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003).

She reinforced her reputation as a leading action star with Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and Wanted (2008)—her biggest non-animated commercial successes to date—and received further critical acclaim for her performances in the dramas A Mighty Heart (2007) and Changeling (2008), which earned her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie now lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, and three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne.

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Ai Cherie is 24 and a Singer/Songwriter and Model.

She is of Chinese and French descent but her nationality is American.

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The cab pulled up and we stepped into a quiet Gold street near the brooklyn bridge. As a man I somewhat learnt everything I know about this process from TV shows and movies. There were no doctors rushing around or wheel chairs being urgently pulled up to a screeching halt at our feet. There was no yelling or flurry of monitors and clip boards.. It was quiet. The night shift was on. One guy at reception looking at my pregnant wife and at her ridiculously nervous husband and points up and simply says “sixth floor”

Within a few minutes Tammy was hooked up to a monitor, well technically two. The hearts of two of the most precious people in the world to me creating a rhythm I’ll never forget. Sounded a little like a riff of a reggae song.

Look, I am not going to give the female version here of events so don’t expect anything too technically sophisticated but here is what I remember. A nurse comes in and says you are 6cm. We are going to draw some blood. When the results come back we’ll talk about the plan.

I swear the next thing I remember is we were laying in the delivery room and Tammy was eagerly eyeing up anyone with an epidural needle. Here’s what they don’t tell you about a man’s pain.. A woman is in agony and she’s entirely consumed with pushing out this thing that has already got a name, a gender, a personality a favorite cocktail. Basically she’s already real. You, the man are thinking about that of course but you’re also watching the woman you love most in the world in agony and it’s horrible. You can’t say anything, you can’t show you are in pain watching her cry out your name.. You are not there for you, you are there for them. I texted our doctor who is close by, driving down from Scarsdale – Dr Fong.. more about her later but man she rocked. You need to literally love your doctor at this point.

We were at 9cm (actually only Tammy had to endure that but we live in a society where ‘we are pregnant’ – I don’t think a man could endure the pain a woman does here.. Shit this push present just got way more expensive). They gave Tammy the epidural (basically she had the lion’s share of a natural birth at this point). She was sweating and under the harsh hospital lights she had never looked so beautiful. No I mean it!

Ok, doc is here. PUSH…

I can’t speak for ever man out there of course but I had previously decided to stay at the head end of this procedure for two very important reasons.. One is the sight of blood absolutely scares the crap out of me and will likely result in my falling ungraciously to the floor. The second is that as a young couple with a firm idea on preserving some mystery in our personal life I was somewhat worried that I would never look at this part of the her anatomy with the same wanton glare. What if every time after this incredible event rather than seeing a sexually desirable woman I was looking at a portal for a six pound baby (standard issue canon ball from her majesty’s royal navy).

We are several big pushes in and I decide to take a peek.. jesus I can see matted black hair! This is unbelievable. I am shocked as though that bump had provided no clue to the fact that this would happen. A baby is a surprise. who knew?

I look at Tammy and her at me.. She’s exhausted. Still swearing, still absolutely beautiful. I am not feeling faint. I go back in.. PUSH! 10, 9, 8, 7… I am helping. Christ I am really surprising myself now. not only am I still upright I seem to have some kind of role to play here. The nurses are laughing at me and saying “you’re too big to go down on us”. I give them the all clear.. 3, 2, 1..

silence…

Now the room was pretty hectic at this point. My peripheral vision was mildly aware of noise, lots of activity but I swear you hear nothing. with a final pull (from the doctor’s perspective), she’s here. They really promote the idea of immediate skin to skin contact (how have they not always done this).. So your baby is laying on the chest of an exhausted mother. I tell tammy her face was a perfect blend of fear, excitement, pure joy and fear (I know I typed fear twice). She tells me I got that exactly right.

There is less blood than you imagine. They are doing stuff I don’t want to think about at the business end but we are all tears and laughter up top. I am cupping my baby girl’s head. She’s perfect.

So here is what I learnt. You don’t see the blood or smell the smells they tell you about. It’s not gore, it’s glory. You feel the victory of battle above all else. It’s as though your biological adjustment is that you are more prepared than you think you are. Every bit as profound as a woman’s hormonal change, you have undergone some incredible transformation. Yes she is a mother, but don’t forget you just became a father at the exact same time..

I cut the umbilical cord. ok, that’s me done. who’s the big winner? I want to do a victory lap.. I want to tell the world.. actually I just, for now, want to hold my wife’s hand and tell her how proud I am of her. ‘you did great baby.. you made us a little girl’

For more from Paul Johns, visit his blog at: 

http://luluandpinot.blogspot.com/