Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.

* I have a great idea for a Law and Order episode! A jealous lover sabotages her rival’s parachute, causing her to fall to her death on the big jump the whole love triangle decided to take together! I’ll spice up the story by saying the woman that was killed was actually a married mother with two kids, and the murderess was just the “weekend” girl! To make the story really pop, I’ll say the two women spent the night in the man’s home a week before the fatal jump! Wait… all this really happened? In Belgium? Dude. Harsh. Ok, fine, I’ll only charge half my usual script price. Call me, Hollywood. [BBC.CO.UK]

* How much do you think a toll worker should make a year? You know… those workers that make change for you at a toll booth? 35k? 55k? 75k? How about $321k! Welcome to Noo Joisey! Whadda yoo lookin’ at? [FOX NY]

* American is losing a big piece of fabulousness this year. The Liberace museum in Las Vegas is closing. According to Wikipedia, “during the 1950s–1970s he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world.” For good reason. The man was talented far beyond his time, a real virtuoso on the piano, as theatrical and flamboyant as Elton John ever could be, and was always a “happy” entertainer. [CNN] has the story about the museum closing. For those of you who have no idea who Liberace is, check out this appearance from the Muppet Show in the clip below.

* “A small mountain town in California now has phone service for the first time in history!” What? Seriously? Next up, ELECTRIC LIGHTS and PAVED ROADS!! Look out 19th century! Here we come!! [FOX NEWS]

* A recent study says “heart medication and cholesterol drugs may be causing memory loss and temporary dementia.” I can’t wait for the first defense attorney to float the “too many cheeseburger medication” defense. You know it will happen. [SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN]

* In a bit of seriousness, a ruling by a federal judge is coming pretty soon on Virginia’s lawsuit over Obama’s recent insurance law/mandate. Here’s the Scooby-Doo “jinkies!” worthy quote… “Judge Hudson’s sharp questioning offered some clues as to how he views each side’s case. He showed sympathy for the plaintiff’s contention that requiring Americans to carry health insurance amounts to regulating “inactivity,” and that Congress lacks such a power…Allowing such power, Judge Hudson said, could open the door for the federal government to require residents to buy a car, join a gym and “eat asparagus,” he said. “It’s boundless.”” [WALL STREET JOURNAL]

* If you’re going to go off and build your own space station, you should know there’s now an internationally accepted docking port design for use in all space stations. “The IDSS IDD is the result of a working group established in 2009 by the International Space Station partners (the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) assisted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos))…. The figures and tables in this initial IDSS IDD release depict the features of the docking interface. Some docking system features are defined by the basic IDD standard, some will be defined in the future and some are left to the discretion of the individual docking system designer.” Um, OK. By my last count I think I found there was ONE space station in existence, so who exactly is this for? Something coming up we should to know about? [INTERNATIONAL DOCKING STANDARD]

* And finally, a shocking new study has found that “Motherhood may actually cause the brain to grow, not turn it into mush, as some have claimed.” I think the “mush” part will be highly debated among new parents. [SCIENCE DAILY]

That’s all I got! Back Monday!