Jockstrip: The world as we know it

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

The major fast food chains are being sued by a 5-foot-10-inch, 272-pound man who says they are partly responsible for his obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

The class action suit was filed in New York by Caesar Barber, 56, and says millions of Americans potentially could join as plaintiffs.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages from McDonald's, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King.

Barber claims fast food chains should do more to tell customers about the calories, fat and sodium content of their foods.

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

The owners of Missy, a 15-year-old collie-husky mix, are mourning her death and that she never got to meet her replacement.

Joan Hawthorne and John Sperling's Missyplicity Project -- ongoing while Missy was alive -- was not able to get a clone version of Missy to carry to term and live birth before the elderly dog's death, the Washington Post reports.

Sperling, an Arizona millionaire, donated $3.7 million to Texas A&M University, which cloned the first cat, CC, last December. More millions have been spent on cloning Missy.

"We had hoped that a clone would be born in Missy's lifetime," Lou Hawthorne, son of Joan Hawthorne and head of Genetic Savings & Clone, the corporate part of the Missyplicity Project, told the Post.

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

A Midwest girl working in the Big Apple hopes generous strangers will bail her out of her financial troubles -- $20,000 in credit card bills she's run up by living way beyond her means.

The New York Times reports the 20-something Karyn -- no last name and no hometown given -- has raised about $700 from her plea for money issued through her Web site, savekaryn.com. In the month it's been up, Karyn's site has received some 70,000 hits.

Karyn admits she spends more than she makes -- expensive clothing, manicures and luxury items -- and concedes she often makes questionable purchases, the Times reports.

Karyn explains on her Web site she lost her job in television production, which made her way behind on paying her bills. She has a new job, but it doesn't pay as well and she's being hounded by creditors.

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

This summer may be a scorcher but Peter Palazzotto in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., is keeping his cool -- and his money. The Orlando Sentinel says solar panels on the roof of his 2,900-square-foot house are so efficient and effective he often can sell back surplus electricity to a local utility.

"In the summer I break even. But in the winter, they usually owe me $10 to $20," Palazzotto, a part-time builder, told the newspaper. "I hardly ever pay for electricity."

Even on cloudy and rainy days, when Palazzotto has to use utility-generated electricity, it's a drop in the bucket -- $14 or so for the month.

New Smyrna Beach has an aggressive solar energy program but it still is an expensive venture. Only about 100 homes in Florida have solar-energy systems producing electricity for the actual home and New Smyrna Beach has nine of them.