The Piatti Scooter was designed by the brilliant Italian Vincent Piatti

"The Piatti Scooter was designed by the brilliant Italian Vincent Piatti. After two years as a prototype, it was manufactured in Belgium, in 1954, by D’Ieteren. The bodywork was pressed in Italy and the engine was a Sachs. It was well-made. "Unfortunately, when Cyclemaster Ltd produced their version, in 1956, in Great Britain, it was nowhere near as well-made as the Belgian machine, and the 125cc Cyclemaster engine fitted to it was …how to put it kindly? …as reliable as a Norman Cyclemate. "Still, it looked good, and image was everything – remember Cyclemaster Ltd was really EMI, experienced in promoting music and selling records."

A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants

From the Democratic Underground. A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants. During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing some of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze. It turned out that a little green grass snake was hidden in one of the plants and when it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa. She let out a very loud scream. The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa. He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the butt. He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor. His wife thought he had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance . The attendants rushed in, wouldn't listen to his protests and loaded him on the stretcher and started carrying him out. About that time the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital. The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor man. He volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief. But in relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa, and the neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, he tried to use CPR to revive her. The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches. The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed he had been bitten by the snake. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat. By now the police had arrived. They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake. The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife. Just then the little snake crawled out from under the sofa. One of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table that was on one side of the sofa. The table fell over and the lamp on it shattered and as the bulb broke it started a fire in the drapes. The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car. Meanwhile, the burning drapes were seen by the neighbors and they called the fire department, and the arriving fire truck had started raising its ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires and put out the electricity and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area but they did get the house fire out. Time passed. Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car, and all was right with their world. A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night. The husband asked his wife if she thought they should bring in their plants for the night. That's when she shot him.

Torture songs spur a protest most vocal - from the Washington Post

At long last, my musical sensitivities confirmed!

Musicians call for release of records on Guantanamo detainee treatment

NOT-SO-JOYFUL NOISE: Former detainees say sensory assaults included repeat playings of the various artists, such as Christina Aguilera. (Associated Press)

By Joe Heim

Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 22, 2009

Was the theme to "Sesame Street" really played to torture prisoners held at Guantanamo and other detention camps? What about Don McLean's "American Pie"? Or the Meow Mix jingle? Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A."?

This Story

• Torture songs spur a protest most vocal
• Records sought

A high-profile coalition of artists -- including the members of Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and the Roots -- demanded Thursday that the government release the names of all the songs that were blasted since 2002 at prisoners for hours, even days, on end, to try to coerce cooperation or as a method of punishment.

Dozens of musicians endorsed a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the National Security Archive, a Washington-based independent research institute, seeking the declassification of all records related to the use of music in interrogation practices. The artists also launched a formal protest of the use of music in conjunction with torture.

"I think every musician should be involved," said Rosanne Cash in a telephone interview Wednesday. "It seems so obvious. Music should never be used as torture." The singer-songwriter (and daughter of Johnny Cash) said she reacted with "absolute disgust" when she heard of the practice. "It's beyond the pale. It's hard to even think about."

Other musicians, including Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Tom Morello, formerly of the band Rage Against the Machine, also expressed outrage.

"The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me," Morello said in a statement. "We need to end torture and close Guantanamo now."

The musicians' announcement was coordinated with the recent call by veterans and retired Army generals to shut Guantanamo. It is part of a renewed effort to pressure President Obama to keep his promise to close the prison in Cuba in his first year in office. Television and radio spots focused on the issue also launched this week by the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, led by Tom Andrews, a former congressman from Maine.

Hairy Dog Pub in Minehead, Somerset, England, UK

Amazing Sarah From Australia Loves Sausages!

Amazing Australian pooch, Sarah seems to actually like and consume sausages! According to Sarah's 12-year-old, coffee-sipping human, Miss C., Sarah loves to play with her own toys and has her own bed to take naps on! Astounding! Next thing we will be hearing about Sarah is that she likes steaks and back-scratches! In that regard, Sarah and her American cousin, Sparky, likes to nap too! Perhaps their other cousin, Zac, also naps? Clearly the unusual canine cousins are part human. I can actually see a strong family resemblance between these pooches and the human male members of their families! Zac & Sparky

When Life Imitates Art - from veryfunnypictures.com

http://tinyurl.com/yj46b69

The Mumbai Xpress Rickshaw Challenge invites participants into the heart of India,...

It is comforting to know that mankind still sets for themselves near insurmountable challenges worthy of noble resolute warriors such as Hamilcar Barca, aka Hannibal. The Mumbai Xpress Rickshaw Challenge is an extraordinary 13 day event that sees participants drive over 1,900 kilometers, from Chennai to Mumbai in India, in an auto rickshaw. Promoted as a race for the clinically insane, it certainly lives up to its reputation. Rickshaw Run Arrival Parade in Shillong, the finish line!

I Was You

This poem was composed years ago by a young lady inmate in an adolescent psychiatric ward where my sister worked as an RN. It was posted on the ward's bulletin board with inmate's drawings and written expressions. Every so often the board's content would be dumped into the trash... My sister was so gripped by the girl's near-silent scream that she rescued the poem from the bin. Her feelings echo...

I Was You Author Undisclosed I smiled your smile ‘til my mouth was set And my face was tight And it wasn’t right It was wrong. I was you baby, I was you too long. I said your words ‘til my throat closed up And I had no voice And I had no choice But to do your song. I was you baby, I was you too long. I lived your life ‘til there was no me I was flesh I was hair But I wasn’t there. It was wrong. I was you baby, I was you too long. And baby, baby The worst thing to it Is that you let me do it. So who was weak And who was strong? For too long baby I was you.