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He fouls off two pitches then drives one to the grass just past the infield.
He also wrote and directed two Wonderful World of Disney movies, Principal Takes a Holiday and Angels in the infield .
Bob—a pal—is 73 now, with a pair of hearing aids and a strip of infield grass stubbornly clinging to the sides of his head.

subset: commoncrawl


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SIAI Marchetti aircraft
Hendrik van der Veen
SIAI Marchetti SF.260
SF.260 production lists
Aermacchi F.260 production list
SF.260 military customers
Aerotech Industries Philippines Inc. working on glass cockpit
Two locations for the external power connector
IRAN - Inspect and Repair as Necessary
SIAI Marchetti S.205 - S.208
S.205 production list
S.208 production list
SIAI Marchetti S.211 production list
SIAI Marchetti SM.1019 production list
SIAI Marchetti aircraft -- HELP
Nardi - SIAI Marchetti FN-333 production list
N266SF Siai Marchetti SF.260 s/n. 2-29
3rd Annual Frati Festival - 60th Anniversary of the first flight of the Falco
Falco & SF.260 Fly-in - 23-24 May 2015 - Old Buckenham airfield, United Kingdom
link Fly-in Old Buckenham
Flyparty 2015 - 27-28 June 2015 - Montagnana airfield, Italy
100th anniversary of the SIAI Marchetti company
60th anniversary of the Falco F8L first flight
50th anniversary of the SIAI Marchetti S.205 first flight
European meetings of Stelio Frati - SIAI Marchetti - Cessna Birddog aircraft
D-ESMC Siai Marchetti SF.260AM s/n. 737/40-015
FFA AS.202 Bravo production list
Pilatus PC-7 in plain clothes
F.15F Excalibur
Dornier Do28A1 - B1 production list
Frati Festival: Falco and SF.260 Fly-in 25.05.2014 organiser David Moth
Siai Marchetti S205 - S208 Pilots & Owners Association
Golden Avio F.30
A new design by mr. Stelio Frati
Air Combat USA
Sequoia F.8L Falco
HB-EGO Siai Marchetti SF.260D s/n. 838
can you help me
Wanted: SiaiTelex, the Siai Marchetti factory magazine from the 1960ies and 70ies
Wanted: Xeros copy / scan of Italian Export Certificate of Airworthiness of your Siai Marchetti aircraft
Wanted: Annual Register Books published by Registro Aeronautico Italiano / Bureau Veritas
Wanted: surplus manuals about SIAI Marchetti SF.260, S.205, S.208, S.210 and/or S.211 aircraft, to expand my knowledge about these Italian aircraft
if you have any photos or slides of SF.260 aircraft, on the flight line, dismantled, wreckage, flying or crashed. And you are willing to make a copy, please contact me.
update: 4 Apr 2015.hhvdv


text:
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A service at St Patrick's Church in Wangaratta is held for Ned Kelly who will be buried at Greta after he was hanged in 1880. January 18 2013. Photo: Angela Wylie
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Fairfax cartoonists' unique view of the world.
The best pictures from the international wire services as chosen by the Picture Editors at the Sydney Morning Herald. Follow us at ...
An estimated 600 people marched from Sydney Town Hall to The Block in Redfern on Sunday afternoon to protest the forced closure of ...
Fairfax Media's talented team of Artists, illustrators and Cartoonists give us their very own humourous version of the news of the day
More than 400 images canvassing the work of more than 120 photographers form the basis of the largest exhibition of Australian photography ...
A week in photos from award winning Fairfax photographers for the week ending June 25, 2015. Like these photos? Selected images available ...
Fairfax Media's talented team of artists, illustrators and cartoonists give us their very own humorous version of the news of the day.
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The annual politicians Midwinter ball
Photos of the week
Picture Editor's Choice, 27th June, 2015
Sydney's rainbow sunset
Picture Editor's Choice, 26th June, 2015
Best of the world
David Pope
The Brisbane Times Good Food Guide 2016 launch
Cartoons for Wednesday July 1
Picture Editor's Choice, July 1, 2015
The remains of Australia's most famous outlaw, Ned Kelly, are finally to be laid to rest, 132 years after he was hanged for murder.
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With Modular cables, a 14cm quiet fan and 500 watts of power, can OCZ's ModXstream 500w take the mid-range crown?
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The present invention is a unitary pipe coupler having an internally mounted hollow tube stiffener which extends through the coupler. The stiffener serves as a guide over which ends of the pipes slide as the pipes are inserted into the coupler and provides communication within the coupler between the two pipes. As the pipes are inserted into the coupler, each pipe passes consecutively through an opening provided in the coupler, an O-ring, a plurality of rigid backward oriented gripper serrations provided on a gripper, a plurality of backward oriented flexible sealing serrations provided on a front boot seal, until the end of each pipe rests against a flexible boot seal which abuts a hub for mounting the stiffener to the coupler. The gripper serrations prevent the pipes from being pulled or pushed outwardly away from the coupler.
1. A coupler for securing a plastic pipe having uniform internal and external diameter and a planar end comprising:
a hollow rigid coupler shell;
a rigid tube stiffener secured internally of said shell by a hub member, said stiffener having ends at least one of which extends outwardly to adjacent an opening provided in said coupler shell, the stiffener having an external diameter less than said internal diameter of a pipe to be received by the coupling, the hub member being in the form of a short length tubular member having an internal diameter dimensioned to sideably receive said stiffener, the hub internal diameter being less than said external diameter of the pipe to be received by the coupling;
said coupler shell opening communicating via a separate narrowing internal portion with a separate straight internal portion provided within said coupler shell, said hub member being positioned in the straight portion;
a flexible hollow rear boot seal provided within said straight portion adjacent said hub means, the rear boot seal receiving said stiffener;
a flexible hollow front boot seal being movably provided in said coupler shell straight portion contiguous with said rear boot seal, an interior surface of said front boot seal being provided with a plurality of serrations;
a rigid hollow gripper having a frusto-conical external surface being in slidable engagement with said coupler shell narrowing internal portion, said gripper being movably retained within said coupler shell internal straight and narrowing portions, a plurality of gripper serrations being provided on an interior surface of said gripper, a rear face of said gripper movably engaging an outer end of said front boot seal; and
gripper retaining means being provided on said coupler shell to prevent said gripper from exiting said coupler shell internal narrowing portion through said coupler opening, whereby a pipe can be positioned within said coupler shell to encompass a portion of said stiffener, said end of said pipe being adjacent said rear boot seal.
2. A coupler according to claim 1 wherein said rear boot seal is provided with an inner side which abuts said hub and an outer side parallel to the inner side which receives the end of the pipe, said outer side being peripherally provided with a cylindrical portion which terminates in a pointed lip.
3. A coupler according to claim 2 wherein said front boot seal is provided with a V-shaped notch on its interior surface which receives said pointed lip of said rear boot seal.
4. A coupler according to claim 1 wherein said serrations provided said front boot seal are backwardly oriented so that they flex in order to admit the pipe and once the pipe has been inserted into the coupler form a plurality of ring seals around the pipe.
5. A coupler according to claim 1 wherein said gripper serrations are backwardly oriented so that said gripper is forced inward as the pipe is inserted through said gripper and once the pipe is inserted said gripper serrations bite into the pipe to oppose the pipe's removal from the coupler.
6. A coupler according to claim 5 further comprising an inwardly oriented lip provided adjacent said straight segment of said coupler shell so as to form a groove, and an O-ring provided in said groove.
7. A coupler according to claim 6 wherein said O-ring is retained within said coupler by means of a protective outer body which encases the coupler except for said coupler opening.
8. A coupler according to claim 1 wherein said hub encircles said stiffener approximately halfway between opposed ends of said stiffener, said hub being secured within an outer increased internal diameter end portion of said coupler shell.
9. A coupler acording to claim 8 further comprising a protective outer body provided around said coupler shell.
1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a stab-type coupler designed to couple together plastic pipes. The pipes are slid into the coupler around opposite ends of a hollow tube stiffener provided in the coupler, and once inside the coupler, the pipes are held in fluidtight connection therewith by means of boot seals and grippers provided within the coupler.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stab-type couplers are designed to secure together pipes, usually plastic or other non-metallic types of pipes. Often these types of couplers are used at a construction site to fasten together pipes that are being installed underground. In such work environments, it is desirable to have a coupler that employs a minimum number of separate parts that can be dropped or lost. Also, it is desirable that the seal created between the coupler and the pipes be easy to form, for example, by a workman wearing gloves that limit his manual dexterity. In addition, the seal between the pipes and the coupler must be fluidtight, i.e. sealed against leakage of either liquids or gases, and must be secure enough so that the pipes will not become detached once they are coupled.
The present invention addresses these needs by providing a unitary coupler that seals to a pipe simply by sliding an end of the pipe into the coupler, thus forming a fluidtight seal between the pipe and the coupler. Also, the gripping means provided with the present invention is designed so that when external pulling force is exerted onto the pipe in order to remove the pipe from the coupler, the gripping means tightens against the exterior surface of the pipe, thus preventing the pipe from being pulled from the coupler. The tightening action of the gripping means around the pipe functions in a manner similar to the way toy "Chinese Handcuffs" tighten around a child's fingers as the child attempts to pull his fingers out of the Chinese handcuffs; the harder the child pulls, the tighter the Chinese handcuffs tighten around the fingers.
Also, the gripping means of the present invention is designed so that increasing pressure from within the tubes will also cause the gripping means to increasingly tighten around the exterior surface of the pipe, thus preventing the pipe from being blown out of the coupler.
The present invention is a new stab-type coupler employing a retained hollow tube stiffener which extends through opposite ends of the coupler. Two pipes which are to be joined together are slid over the tube stiffeners and pushed into the coupler so that the stiffener serves to provide communication between the pipes. A hub, encircling the stiffener approximately midway between the ends of the stiffener, secures the stiffener to the coupler. The hub is retained within the coupler between two reduced internal diameter inner ends which are provided on the two shell halves. The shell halves are held together by a protective outer body which forms an outer covering for the entire coupler.
Each of the hollow shell halves is provided internally with a straight portion which abuts the hub, a narrowing portion adjacent the straight portion, and a lip located between the narrowing portion and an outer end of the shell half, Each of the lips is provided with a groove into which an O-ring inserts as a means of restricting moisture and/or dirt from entering the coupler along with the pipes. The lips taper outwardly, and the slope of the taper continues in the outer body forming openings in the coupler through which the stiffener extends and through which the pipes are inserted into the coupler.
Internal to each of the straight portions and adjacent to the hub, the coupler is provided with a flexible rear boot seal. The rear boot seal has an inner side such that a gap is formed between the inner side and the hub at the stiffener. An outer side is provided on each of the rear boot seals parallel to the inner side in order to receive an end of the pipe when the pipe is pushed into the coupler. The inner side is provided peripherally with a longitudinally extended cylindrical portion having a reduced internal diameter slightly smaller than an external diameter of each of the pipes so that the pipes enter the cylindrical portion. The cylindrical portion terminates at a pointed lip.
A V-shaped notch provided on an inner end of a flexible boot seal movably engages the pointed lip. An interior surface of the front seal is provided with backwardly oriented serrations which flexibly engage the pipe as the pipe is pushed into the coupler and which provide a tight seal against an external surface of the pipe. An outer end on each of the front boot seals movably engages the rear face of a rigid gripper. Each of the grippers has a frusto-conical external surface corresponding to the narrowing portion of the shell half with which it mates, a front face opposite the rear face which abuts the lip and thereby retains the gripper within the coupler and, an interior surface provided with backwardly oriented serrations which bite into the pipe to hold the pipe within the coupler. As the pipes are inserted into the coupler, each pipe passes consecutively through the coupler's opening, the O-ring provided in the groove of the lip, the gripper, the front boot seal, until it finally abuts the outer side of the rear boot seal.
Once the pipe is inserted, the serrations on the gripper prevent the pipe from being either pushed or pulled outward away from the coupler. Attempts to withdraw the pipe causes the gripper to be wedged between the narrowing portion and the pipe, thus causing the backward oriented gripper serrations to bite more firmly into the pipe.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional front elevation of a plastic pipe coupler constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially exploded and cut-away view of the plastic pipe coupler of FIG. 1 showing the outer body removed.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1.
Referring now to the drawings and initially to FIGS. 1 and 3, there is illustrated a coupler 10 for use in securing together plastic pipes 12. The coupler 10 is provided with a straight hollow tube stiffener 14 that extends through the coupler 10. The stiffener is preferably constructed of rigid material, such as plastic or metal. The stiffener 14 has stiffener ends 16A and 16B that protrude respectively from ends 18A and 18B provided on the coupler 10.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, the stiffener ends 16A and 16B each has an external diameter slightly smaller than an internal diameter of the pipes 12 in order to permit the pipes 12 to be slipped over the ends 16A and 16B and pushed along the stiffener 14. As the pipes 12 are pushed along the stiffener 14, they enter the coupler 10 via openings 20A and 20B provided respectively in the ends 18A and 18B, as will hereinafter be described more fully.
The stiffener 14 is secured within the coupler 10 by means of a hub 22 that encircles the stiffener 14 approximately midway between the stiffener ends 16A and 16B. The hub 22 is secured radially within the coupler 10 by means of two hollow inner shell halves 24A and 24B. Each of the shell halves 24A and 24B has an inner end 26 of enlarged internal diameter so that the inner ends 26 of shell halves 24A and 24B receive and secure the hub 22 between the shell halves 24A and 24B. A protective outer body 27 is provided external to the shell halves 24A and 24B and surrounding them. The protective outer body 27 serves to hold the shell halves 24A and 24B in position around the hub 22. The hub 22, the inner shell halves 24A and 24B, and the outer protective body 27 are all preferably constructed of rigid material, such as plastic.
Referring now to FIG. 2, each of the shell halves 24A and 24B has an outer end 28 opposite the inner ends 26. Adjacent the inner ends 26, each shell half 24A and 24B is hollow internally and is provided internally with a straight portion 30 having a uniform internal diameter. The hub 22 forms innermost vertical walls 31 for the straight portions 30. Adjacent to the straight portion 30 each shell half 24A and 24B is provided internally with a narrowing portion 32. Each of the narrowing portions 32 progressively decreases in internal diameter when moving outward from the straight portion 30 toward the outer ends 28 of the shell halves 24A and 24B. Adjacent each of the narrowing portions 32, the inner shell halves 24A and 24B are each provided with a reduced inner diameter straight segment 36 and with an inwardly oriented lip 37 located between the straight segment 36 and the outer end 28. As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the lips 37 slopes slightly inward, forming a groove 39 adjacent the outer end 28 into which an O-ring 41 inserts. The purpose of the O-rings 41 is to engage the pipes 12 as they enter the coupler 10 and thereby reduce the moisture and dirt which may enter with the pipes 12 as they enter the coupler 10. The outer body 27 abuts each of the O-rings 41 in order to capture the O-rings 41 in the grooves 39 and retain them in the coupler 10. The outer body 27 is sloped away from the lip 37 to form the sloped openings 20A and 20B in the coupler 10.
Adjacent to the hub 22 and enclosed within each of the straight portions 30 of the shell halves 24A and 24B is a hollow rear boot seal 38; adjacent the rear boot seal 38 and enclosed within each of the straight portions 30 is a hollow front boot seal 40; and adjacent the front boot seal 40 and enclosed within each of the straight portions 30 and the narrowing portions 32 is a hollow gripper 42.
Both the rear boot seal 38 and the front boot seal 40 are preferably formed of a compressible material, such as rubber. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rear boot seal 38 is provided with an inner side 44 that abuts the hub 22 and is provided with an outer side 46 so that the outer side 46 is parallel with the inner side 44. The inner side 44 is sloped away from the hub 22 at the stiffener 14 so as to form a gap 48 between the inner side 44 and the hub 22 at the stiffener 14. As the pipes 12 are pushed into the coupler 10, an end 50 provided on each of the pipes 12 is pushed against the outer side 46, thus deforming the rear boot seal 38 into the gap 48.
A cylindrical portion 52 is provided peripherally on the outer side 46 of each of the rear boot seals 38. The cylindrical portions 52 have an internal diameter slighter larger than an internal diameter of the pipes 12, thus allowing the ends 50 of the pipes 12 to enter the cylindrical portions 52. The cylindrical portions 52 are provided with a longitudinally extending pointed lip 54.
An inner end 56 of the front boot seal 40 is provided with a V-shaped notch 58 that movably engages the pointed lip 54 of the rear boot seal 38. A hollow interior surface 60 is provided in the front boot seal 40. The interior surface 60 is provided with a plurality of sawtoothed-shaped flexible ridges or serrations 62 that flex to allow the pipe 12 to be inserted into the coupler 10. Once the pipe 12 has been inserted into the coupler 10, the serrations 62 flex back against the pipe 12, forming multiple ring seals along the pipe 12. The serrations 62 are backwardly oriented so that they are forced into a tighter sealing engagement with the pipe 12 when pulling force is exerted on the pipe 12. Also, when the pipe 12 experiences high pressure internally, pressure is exerted on the inner end 56 of the front boot seal 40 forcing the serrations 62 into tighter sealing engagement with the pipe 12.
The front boot seal 40 is provided with an outer end 64 located opposite the inner end 56. The outer end 64 movably engages a rear face 66 of the gripper 42 which functions to retain the boot seals 38 and 40 within the straight portion 30.
External surfaces 68 provided on each of the grippers 42 are generally frusto-conical so that the external surfaces 68 coincide in shape and slope with tile narrowing portions 32 of the inner shell halves 24A and 24B. The grippers 42 are preferably constructed of rigid material, such a plastic. A front face 70 is provided on each of the grippers 42 opposite each of the rear faces 66. The front faces 70 movably engage the straight segments 36 of the inner shells halves 24A and 24B. The straight segments 36 prevent the grippers 42 from reaching the outer ends 28 of the inner shell halves 24A and 24B, thus causing the grippers 42 to be captured within the coupler 10. The grippers 42 in turn hold the front and rear boot seals 40 and 38 within the straight portions 30 of the shell halves 24A and 24B.
Similar to the front boot seal 40, each of the grippers 42 is provided with a hollow interior surface 72 which is shown in FIG. 2. Similarly, the interior surface 72 is provided with a plurality of sawtooth-shaped ridges or gripper serrations 74. However, unlike the serrations 62 found on the front boot seal 40, the gripper serrations 74 are not flexible. Thus, when the pipes 12 are inserted into the coupler 10, the grippers 42 are pushed slightly inward, pushing the exterior surfaces 68 of the grippers 42 inwardly along the narrowing portions 32 of the inner shell halves 24A and 24B until the rear face 66 of each gripper 42 abuts the outer end 64 of its associated front boot seal 40. Engagement of the rear faces 66 with the outer end 64 of the front boot seal 40 prevents further inward movement of the grippers 42 within the coupler 10. Additional pushing force exerted on the pipes 12 causes the pipes 12 to slide pass the gripper serrations 74 so that the pipes 12 pass within the hollow grippers 42.
Once the pipes 12 have been fully inserted into the coupler 10, the pipes 12 are held in place by the backwardly oriented gripper serrations 74 which bite into the pipes 12. If a pulling force is thereafter exerted on the pipes 12, the grippers 42 adhere to the pipes 12 by means of the gripper serrations 74. The pulling force causes the grippers 42 to be pulled slightly outwardly, causing their exterior surfaces 68 to travel outwardly along the narrowing portions 32. This outward movement of the grippers 42 wedges the grippers 42 between the narrowing portions 32 and the pipes 12 and causing their gripper serrations 74 to more tightly bite into the pipes 12, thus preventing the pipes 12 from being withdrawn from the coupler 10.
While the invention has been described in terms of a straight connecting coupler 10, the invention includes other configurations employing one or more coupler openings 20A, 20B, etc. Such other configurations may include, by way of example and not limitation, tees, elbows, outlets on saddle tees and end caps (not illustrated).
The claims and the specification describe the invention presented and the terms that are employed in the claims draw their meaning from the use of such terms in the specification. The same terms employed in the prior art may be broader in meaning than specifically employed herein. Whenever there is a question between the broader definition of such terms used in the prior art and the more specific use of the terms herein, the more specific meaning is meant.
While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.
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After 28 years at Mt. SAC, beloved Spanish professor Dr. Renée Andrade says adios as she plans to retire at the end of the spring semester.
Andrade said she is blessed to have worked at Mt. SAC and for living a beautiful life. Attending school for her doctorate while pregnant and having a part-time job was not easy. "I did it the hard way," Andrade said.
She attended school during the day and worked until 2 a.m. Andrade said she was lucky enough to have been able to receive her doctorate degree and immediately get a job in her profession at the University of California, Irvine, all while raising two young children.
Before beginning her career at Mt. SAC, Andrade taught at UCI and USC. Andrade said she believes that she is a "product of the community college," and compared Mt. SAC and university students. "I had all kinds of students at UCI, but you don't see that kind of diversity [at the universities]. We have students that come from all paths of life and background, so we have such diversity that it really enriches your life," Andrade said.
"I have had students that were 78 and students that were 14 years old, and students so bright that one even finished Mt. SAC in one year, and I have had students with all kinds of disabilities, so I appreciate [diversity] a lot."
Her office is filled with pictures of her family, colleagues, and former students. Andrade's former students remembered her as being a helpful and positive person.
"I have so many students at Mt. SAC that were my students and now they are my colleagues; it's beautiful," she said.
Andrade's colleague and former student, Spanish Professor Lorena Molina, was in her Spanish for Spanish Speakers class in 1995. "She was so energetic, her energy is contagious. Since then until now she hasn't changed," she said.
All of her students love her and like her, and she has a lot of recognitions and awards here in the college, the department is very lucky to have her," Molina said.
Molina is both happy and sad for Andrade.
"I feel happy for her because she is still young and can enjoy her life and her family, but at the same time sad because a very good teacher is going to leave. She is the best of the best."
Andrade remembered a time in her life when she lost her mother. She had a difficult time visiting her mother's grave.
A former student had worked at the graveyard. Soon after, Andrade noticed that every time she visited her mother's grave there would be fresh flowers. She learned that her former student would always make sure there were fresh flowers on her grave.
"It was a bond for life; I had made an impression on him," Andrade said.
Andrade said that teaching is not about the money but more about the rewards. "I always look forward to being in the classroom. It is very energizing to be in the classroom," Andrade said.
While Andrade said it is hard to leave the classroom, she is looking forward to spending more quality time with her children, three grandchildren, and her husband. She also wants to give back to the community.
Her goal is to teach English to Hispanic parents "so that they can communicate with their children's teachers." Andrade also said she is very close to her church. "I've been helping the homebound, the elderly," Andrade said.
She added that it is time to retire because she has seen two generations of students and does not want to stay to see the third. Andrade leaves her students with some words of wisdom.
"Even though times are hard, life is a cycle, even though the news are gloomy and dark, there is the cycle of life and things can only improve and as long as you improve your education. It is something that nobody can take away from you and you're going to not give up because of the cancelling of classes. There are things in life like money and fame, and any material thing that comes and goes, but nobody can take education away from you, and it will always open doors for you, and also make you a better person. Be positive and doors will open."
– Kathryn Banks
Features Editor


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The Board of Commissioners began discussing ways to rein in legal fees at Wednesday night's budget meeting, hearing recommendations from County Manager Tom Garrett and a proposal for in house legal services from Commissioner Nancy Schulz.
The first draft of the proposed FY16 budget sees an increase of $11,998,261 to $59,722,158, which the Board of Commissioners will start hammering back down in the coming weeks.
State Representatives Dave Belton (R-Buckhead) and Pam Dickerson (D-Conyers) announced that Governor Nathan Deal signed Kelsey's Law, or SB 160, into law at the State Capitol on Tuesday, May 5, 2015. Rep. Belton attended the bill signing ceremony for Kelsey's Law, which aims to protect minors from cyberbullying.
Chairman Keith Ellis announced Tuesday that the county had received $48,000 from the state to help cover the cost of repairing three roads damaged by the recent heavy rains.
Newton County's landfill manager James Peters resigned suddenly this week following months of speculation and debate over the future of the landfill.
Josephine Kelly has agreed to become Porterdale's second Main Street Director, filling the slot vacated by Teri Haler, who took a position as Tourism Director for the City of Conyers.
Conyers Middle School in on lockdown after a gun was reported to have been fired inside the school.
The Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to move forward with the purchase of the Cousins Community Center for $1.5 million pending appraisals of the property, buildings, environment and utility consumption over the coming months.
Water pressure issues along College Avenue have caused the Covington City Council to move the area ahead of schedule in the city's water main replacement project.
Georgia Perimeter College's 50th and final graduation under the GPC banner will take place Friday, May 8, at 10:30 a.m. at the Georgia World Congress Center. The college expects to become a unit of Georgia State University next January.
With the fiscal year winding down, the city of Covington got word that it is "in good, good financial shape," according to Miller Edwards of Mauldin and Jenkins CPAs, LLC, which presented its audit to the council Monday.
IN BRIEF: Interstate 20 westbound at Salem Road is shut down due to a tractor trailer fire. No injuries are reported. Check back later for more.
Monte R. Roden, DUI, 12 months probation, 90 days confinement, $1,000. DUI, merged with count 1. Failure to maintain lane, 12 months probation consecutive, $1,000. 40 hours community service, banished from Newton County.
Golf carts will be allowed on local streets across Georgia beginning in January.
ATLANTA - A pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay Georgia about $400,000 to settle a fraud lawsuit over a prescription drug for treating multiple sclerosis.
DECATUR - Police in DeKalb County say they are investigating how thieves were able to break into 36 police vehicles in the county's maintenance yard.
DECATUR - NASA astronaut Col. Eric A. Boe will speak at Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta.
ATLANTA - Someone stole a Georgia woman's car - with her grandmother's ashes inside - shortly after a memorial service for the deceased woman.
The Fairview Estates neighborhood is now home to a public park following the grand opening of the Fairview Community Park Wednesday afternoon.
The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program allows eligible special needs students to transfer to another public school, public school district, state school, or authorized participating private school. In order for a student to be eligible for this scholarship, the parent/guardian must be a current Georgia resident and must have resided in the state for at least one year. In addition, the student must have spent the entire immediate prior year in attendance at a Georgia public school in grades K?12. The child must also have an Individual Education Program (IEP) written by the school in accordance with federal ...
Newton County residents who lost income from the severe storms that struck last week may be eligible for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
Covington News columnist and One Fabulous Mama Beth McAfee-Hallman will be featured as Atlanta Fox 5's first guest blogger on their new website http://www.myatlantamoms.com/. beginning Friday morning. Billed as a couponing expert, McAfee-Hallman will be blogging about how to get started with couponing, insider tips for using coupons and how to make the most out of your coupons.
The Covington Fire Department is joining more than 100 other fire departments throughout the state of Georgia by participating in the 22nd annual "Give Burns The Boot" drive, benefiting the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation. This event will begin on Friday, May 6 and run three consecutive Fridays through May 20.
The chamber of commerce will hold its fourth annual Shred Day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today in the parking lot of Antiques and Stuff, 2177 Elm St., Covington.
ATLANTA - Gov. Nathan Deal has signed legislation that will create the state's first mental health court system, saying he is disturbed by the rate of repeat offenders and people crowding jails who suffer from addiction, developmental disabilities and mental illness.
The Newton County Special Olympics spring games ended with a bang today, when middle, high school and adult-aged athletes took to the field at Homer Sharp Stadium.
Woodlee's Christian Academy students recently celebrated Others Day by performing community service and volunteer activities.
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Smartphones eat up 5.9 percent of the electronic gadget marketSales of general purpose smartphones are causing the market for standalone gadgets such as cameras, camcorders and GPS devices to shrink, falling 5.9 percent overall during the holiday season in the US.
According to market research firm NPD Group, sales of all electronics reached $9.5 billion in the five weeks ending December 24. The year's decline was not quite as bad as last year, which was down 6.2 percent compared to the same period in 2009.
Sales of camcorders dropped by 43 percent, digital picture frames by 38 percent, GPS navigation devices by 33 percent and both MP3 players and "point and shoot" cameras were down 21 percent, all apparent casualties of the general purpose smartphone.
Sales of electronic devices that don't directly overlap in functionality with the smartphone fared better, with PC and TV sales down just 4 percent.
Desktop PCs were down 2 percent overall, while notebook sales were down 5 percent. Average Selling Prices of PCs actually inched upward $9 to hit $575, continuing last year's trend among PC makers of increasing prices for the holidays, NPD reported.
Sales of HDTVs larger than 50 inches helped reverse the decline among TVs, where sales of home theater systems increased by 10 percent and sales of stand-alone streaming devices (which appear to be led by Apple TV) jumped by 65 percent.
In contrast, Blu-ray players were down 17 percent after growing 3.8 percent last year, an endorsement of Apple's exclusive digital downloads strategy for media playback.
"The accelerated rate of decline in older technology categories such as DVD, GPS and MP3 players put a ceiling on how well the industry could perform during the holiday," wrote NPD's vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker.
A report by Canaccord Genuity predicts that Apple will report sales of 30.1 million iPhones for the holiday quarter, a jump of 31 percent over Apple's sales in the third calendar quarter. The firm says companies selling Android products will report shipments of an estimated 68.9 milllion devices, representing growth of 17.3 percent over the previous quarter.
On Topic: iPhone
- Custom iPhone 6 paint job hints at what a rose gold Apple 'iPhone 6s' could look like
- Apple's 'iPhone 6s' again said to be in production as parts leaks continue
- Apple's iPhone gains 2% marketshare in US as competitors falter
- Leaked Foxconn document backs 12MP camera, 2GB of RAM for 'iPhone 6s'
- Judge approves $50 million settlement from Sprint for phone bill cramming


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NEW YORK — Comcast Corp. has pledged that its $45.2 billion merger with Time Warner Cable Inc. will be good for consumers. Eric Raynal isn't buying it.
The first-year medical student, who gets his TV and Internet from Comcast, expects prices to go up and customer service to languish if the deal is approved.
"I anticipate this going badly for the customer," said Raynal, who studies at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Michigan. "Companies are in the business of making money and they go through mergers to make more money. It's ugly for the customer no matter how you spin it."
Raynal's reaction underscores the challenge facing Comcast as it tries to sell the Time Warner Cable deal to regulators and the general public. Though Comcast and Time Warner Cable don't compete in the same markets — mitigating the usual antitrust concerns about rivals merging — the two companies were already poorly rated by consumers.
Comcast and Time Warner Cable are the two worst-ranked companies for customer satisfaction in the cable business, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Among all industries — including airlines, banking and other businesses that frequently rankle customers — they placed second and third from the bottom. Out of more than 230 companies in 43 industries, only the Long Island Power Authority was lower.
On a conference call after announcing the deal Wednesday, Comcast and Time Warner Cable executives said the merger would improve customer service and let the combined company roll out new products more quickly. Comcast also expects to generate savings of about $1.5 billion and increase its cash flow.
"Scale matters," Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Officer
Robert Marcus said on the call. "Our customers will be the beneficiaries, as our combined scale will enable Comcast to deliver a truly great user experience."
Josh Barnett, a six-year Comcast subscriber in Bloomington, Ill., said he doesn't believe customer service is going to get better. Since Comcast took over the cable systems serving his area in 2007, the company's responsiveness and product quality have gone downhill, he said.
"A company just gets to a point where it's just too large to wrap its arms around anything, including customer service," he said.
Barnett dropped his TV package in September, keeping only his Internet from Comcast — the main provider of broadband service in his area. If another provider became available, he would switch, Barnett said.
"There is no reason to think that just the merger itself would change the level of satisfaction of the customer service," said Alexander Chernev, a marketing professor at Northwestern University. "Right now, each of the companies are large enough to be able to provide enough efficiencies of scale in service. There's no reason to expect an improvement."
Bobby Amirshahi, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable, said the company has made an effort in markets like New York and Los Angeles to improve network reliability. John Demming, a spokesman for Philadelphia-based Comcast, declined to comment beyond the announcement.
The merger also will undergo scrutiny from regulators, who may be swayed by public opinion. The deal faces "raw political pushback from cable critics," who would argue it goes too far, Christopher King, a Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst, said in a note this week. "But we ultimately expect the transaction will be approved."
Though customers may complain about the companies, the acquisition is going to accelerate competition in the industry, said Richard Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG. The deal will make it easier for Comcast to challenge satellite and phone services, such as Verizon Communications's FiOS.
"Getting bigger and controlling more of the country is going to allow Comcast to be a more aggressive competitor and offer better services to the consumer across a wider footprint," Greenfield said on Bloomberg Television.
Comcast also may get a fresh crack at customers in areas it didn't serve before, such as New York City. That will mean winning over customers like David Weller, a self-employed digital strategist in Brooklyn. After 15 years as a Time Warner Cable subscriber, he switched to FiOS in 2011.
After experiencing fewer service outages and shorter maintenance wait times with Verizon's service, Weller said he wouldn't go back to the new merged company. He's also concerned about Comcast being able to raise prices as it adds market share.


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Big Bus Dubai Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
Read what other Viator.com travelers think about the Big Bus Dubai Hop-On Hop-Off Tour. What they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved, it's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Click here for tour details, schedule and pricing
This tour was amazing!
this was our best idea to do it first!!!!!!
ticket for 24 or 48 houres best way to go and see everything!!!!!
Well worth the money. We bought the 48 hour ticket thinking we could use it at night but you need to book another ticket for that. With hindsight the 24 hour ticket would probably have been enough. Very informative.
I wrote a longer review but this site isnt user friendly. Tour was great. Highly recommend going at start of trip. Many attractions, malls, and culture to explore.
Super Friendly staff at the pick up site and a great way to see the sights. I would highly recommended it to anyone
Excellent way of getting a feel for Dubai.
Enjoyed the tour around Dubai we saw all we wanted to see
Great tour and wonderful guide. We got to see a soap opera and hospital movie being filmed and lots of sets. What a fun and interesting tour.
The best value of any tour I have done. I didn't get to do all the free things. I would do it again but concentrate on one circuit rather than do all the circuits.
The Abu Dabi tour wasn't as good, some things were closed and several of the audios didn't work.
Good value for money
This tour was all right.
Excellent way of seeing the city. So easy to hop on and off!
This tour was amazing!
This tour was amazing!
Simply awesome! we up graded to 48 hrs as there was so much to see! Bus touris a must do!
Fabulous tour. Three tours in one plus Dhow River Cruise, Walking tour of the souks and lots more. Very frequent buses with very helpful staff. A wonderful way to get a sense of Dubai in a short time. Very impressed.
Great tour just enough to determine where we wanted to focus our time while in Dubai. The guide on the ground wasn't very customer service oriented, actually she was quite rude.
Had a great insight into just how big Dubai is now. Great fun and worthwhile as you can do it independently at your own pace. Happy staff, and helpful at the stops.
For people with not much time to see Dubai, this is fantastic! Loads and loads of buses, friendly staff and lots of info about where you are. Dhow trip was very relaxing.
Wonderful way to see all the fantastic architecture and buildings. Quality photos should be taken while off the BUS. So many fantastic restaurants ! ! ! Many things to do, also ! !
Always a great way to get an over-view and orientate yourself to a city. A lot of extras including an hour boat ride on Dubai Creek and museum entrances.
The tour was fantastic, what an amazing place. I loved every minute of the bus and the boat. In 24 hours I managed to cover everything and I will be back.
A well organised trip with lots of great stop off - well worth the money! :)
great way of seeing dubai, we took the city and beach tours and both were really informative. spent some time at most of the stops then hopped on the next bus. highly recommended
Brillent tour got picked up from our hotel to bus stop everything we wanted to see was on the routes plus a lovely trip on the river in a dow boat, would recommendthis tour.


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Regulators worry too few insurers are taking Solvency II's PPP into account
Growing demand strengthens position of insurers
Capital management director Marcus Bowser explains UK insurer's aims
The online Certificate in Quantitative Finance program provides risk professionals with quant finance tools applicable to their roles, and now offers risk management electives. Download the CQF brochure.
More Features/Insurance articles
Insurers underusing ILS as a way to manage exposures, say experts
Diverging views remain on calibration of stresses
Europe's risk-based capital approach is adding clout to the role of the CRO
North-south divide as some say Eiopa approach is wrong
Dutch approach could be copied elsewhere in Europe
Firms are battling against a lack of data with which to model policies
Recovery plans catching on as domestic regulatory tool
Firms seeking common ground in the modelling of operational risk
Matching adjustment applicants using forex forwards have little time to adjust
Actuarial system vendors face growing competition
Savings and loan holding companies get used to closer scrutiny
The areas where firms must work hardest to show suitability
Some firms increasing holdings to benefit from grandfathering
Insurers must demonstrate standard formula is appropriate. But what this means is sometimes unclear
UK regulator sets out cashflow needs, but restates old concerns
Eiopa calculations show unexpected increase in fundamental spread
Insurers repurpose strategy used successfully by Japanese peers
This whitepaper reviews the fundamental changes of Liquidity Risk Management under Basel III. It discusses how institutions can meet the regulatory requirements on liquidity risk management by enhancing their liquidity risk analytics, funds transfer pricing methodologies, liquidity stress testing frameworks, and enterprise risk management platforms.
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This great custom product in black from our department Men and Sweatshirt category can be printed just for you in the size and style you like. The design diamondgalaxy.gif was created by EliteSwag32 and uploaded to Spreadshirt for you to have printed on a Sweatshirt. Next to a host of other great customized designs, you can find this diamondgalaxy.gif design in Spreadshirt's Hip Hop category. If you are interested in topics like DiamondSupply Galaxy or Crossfit, then you'll love diamondgalaxy.gif designs by EliteSwag32. Spreadshirt also offers a huge selection of custom t-shirts, hoodies and accessories for the category Hip Hop as well as top Cool clothing. EliteSwag32's designs have already impressed many of our customers, so we are sure that we've got right stuff for you! Spreadshirt is your destination for great designs of all kinds – whether it's DiamondSupply Galaxy, Crossfit or Cool. We are sure that you will find something nice in our shop, there are many amazing custom Hip Hop t-shirts, hoodies, or accessories for you to find! Tags: Design ID: 102762785
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University of Redlands > Academics >
Meditation Room >
Open Hours
Students practice Zen Meditation.
The Meditation Room is open to students, faculty and the community for private contemplative practice.
Open Hours Schedule:
Fall 2014
Thank you for your interest in the Meditation Room.
He is named after Clarence Howe Thurber, University president from 1933-37.
© 2015 University of Redlands. All Rights Reserved.


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ITD has been doing preliminary testing for Windows 8, a version of Microsoft Windows operating systems developed for use on desktops, laptops, and tablets.Read More
ITD is moving closer to migrating to FrontRange's new product platform, HEAT 2013, and had been asked to participate in FrontRange's Customer Reference Program. The results of ITD's Case Study were recently published on FrontRange's website.Read More
The Information Technology Department (ITD) sponsors quarterly IT Directional Meetings to share IT-related activities with customers.Read More
Desktop Study Update (Mike)
General Updates (Dan)
Security Updates (Dan)
Software Development Update (Doran)
Network Update (Duane)
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The 63rd Legislature passed SB 2021 in which Section nine of that bill requires the Information Technology Department (ITD) to perform a "study of all state agencies' information technology desktop support.Read More
ITD is extending an invitation to learn about today's critical IT initiatives for free from Gartner Analysts. Join them for an hour and walk away with tactical advice that can impact your top initiatives.Read More
The Minnesota Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) has engaged in an outreach effort for central North Dakota. The inaugural event will include an opportunity for project managers, executives, sponsors, business analysts, business leads, students, and others to network with peers while taking in a no cost presentation on The Dark Arts of Project Management.Read More
In 2014, a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Term Contract 095 will be issued as the current contract and associated vendors will expire on September 30, 2014. To plan for the future of the IT Vendor Pool, a short survey will be conducted.Read More
The GIS Strategic Plan has been updated for the 2013-2015 Biennium. To view theRead More
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Gary John Ballman
Position: FL-TE-SE-WR
Height: 6-1 Weight: 215 lbs.
Born: July 6, 1940 in Detroit, MI
Died: May 20, 2004 in Aurora, CO
High School: East Detroit
College: Michigan St. (school history) (Ballman college stats)
Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 8th round (104th overall) of the 1962 NFL Draft.
Drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 16th round (122nd overall) of the 1962 AFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 48 (1563rd overall since 1950)
2-time Pro Bowler (fine print)
Other SR Links: College Football at Sports-Reference.com
Let people know you like this site. Sponsor this page for $10. Your message will replace this ad.
The research for this page was done by Scott Kacsmar.
Read his extensive three-part article (Part I - Part II -
Part III) for full details.
View complete leaderboards for game-winning drives and comebacks.


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(Paperback - Reprint)
- Pub. Date: May 2008
- 336pp
- Sales Rank: 171,956
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: May 2008
- Publisher:Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Format: Paperback, 336pp
- Sales Rank: 171,956
- Edition Description: Reprint
The provocative and mind-bending new novel from the bestselling author of Fight Club and Haunted.
Rant takes the form of a (fictional) oral history of Buster "Rant" Casey, in which an assortment of friends, enemies, admirers, detractors, and relations have their say on this evil character, who may or may not be the most efficient serial killer of our time.
Buster Casey was every small kid born in a small town, searching for real thrills in a world of video games and action/adventure movies. The high school rebel who always wins – and a childhood murderer? – Rant Casey escapes from his hometown of Middleton into the big city and becomes the leader of an urban demolition derby called Party Crashing, where, on designated nights, the participants recognize each other by dressing their cars with tin-can tails, "Just Married" toothpaste graffiti, and other refuse, then look for special markings in order to stalk and crash into each other. It's in this violent, late-night hunting game that Casey makes three friends. And after his spectacular death, these friends gather the testimony needed to build an oral history of his short life. Their collected anecdotes explore the charges that his saliva infected hundreds and caused a silent, urban plague of rabies . . .
Expect hilarity and horror, and blazing insight into the desperate and surreal contemporary human condition as only Chuck Palahniuk can deliver it. He's the postmillennial Jonathan Swift, the man to watch to learn what's – uh-oh – coming next.
Excerpt from RANT:
Wallace Boyer (Car Salesman): Like most people, I didn't meet and talk to Rant Casey until after he was dead. That's how it works for most celebrities, after they croak their circle of close friends just explodes. A dead celebrity can't walk down the street without meeting a million best buddies they never met in real life.
Dying was the best career move Jeff Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy ever made. . . .
The way Rant Casey used to say it: Folks build a reputation by attacking you while you're alive–or praising you after you ain't.
Publishers Weekly
Buster Casey, destined to live fast, die young and murder as many people as he can, is the rotten seed at the core of Palahniuk's comically nasty eighth novel (after Haunted; Lullaby; Diary; etc.). Set in a future where urbanites are segregated by strict curfews into Daytimers and Nighttimers, the narrative unfolds as an oral history comprising contradictory accounts from people who knew Buster. These include childhood friends horrified by the boy's macabre behavior (getting snakes, scorpions and spiders to bite him and induce instant erections; repeatedly infecting himself with rabies), policemen and doctors who had dealings with the rabies "superspreader"; and Party Crashers, thrill-seeking Nighttimers who turn city streets into demolition derby arenas. After liberally infecting his hometown peers with rabies, Buster hits the big city and takes up with the Party Crashers. A series of deaths lead to a police investigation of Buster (long-since known as "Rant"�the sound children make while vomiting) that peaks just as Buster apparently commits suicide in a blaze of car-crash glory. This dark religious parable (there's even a resurrection) from the master of grotesque excess may not attract new readers, but it will delight old ones. (May)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information More Reviews and Recommendations
Chuck Palahniuk is the bestselling author of seven novels: Haunted, Lullaby, Fight Club – which was made into a film by director David Fincher – Diary, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, and Choke. He is also the author of the nonfiction profile of Portland, Oregon, Fugitives and Refugees, published as part of the Crown Journeys series, and the nonfiction collection Stranger Than Fiction. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.
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A reviewerby Anonymous
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May 27, 2007: Other reviewers say that if you like Palahniuk you will love this book. I could not disagree more. This book is just a recycled 'Fight Club'. Let's review. We are shaped by our families, culture and the media. If we do not understand that then we are leading someone else's life. If we do see through that veil we can follow our own true path within our society. Or we can Chuck the whole thing and realise we are just clever animals. We can take the idea that life is 'nasty, brutish and short' to its extreme conclusion. Your garden variety rebel distills life to sex and drugs and rock and roll. Your true rebel distills life to sex and destruction and rant and rage. The trap is that for every authentic anti-hero, like Tyler Durden or Rant Casey, there is a pathetic cast of wannabes ironically trying to live someone else's life. This book would have been OK if 'Fight Club' had not been written first. Chuck Palahniuk rages against the tame homogenized life so many of us live. I think that puts a greater burden on him not to recycle his earlier successes.
Pick any other Palahniuk but this oneby Anonymous
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February 27, 2011: I love Palahniuk's books. I give them to everyone after reading.I wanted to throw this one in the garbage after reading. It is as interesting as all the rest of the books until the last few pages. It's as if Chuck was simply tired of writing the story and finished it at 9am before a 10am deadline.
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Editorial Reviews -
From Barnes & Noble
Rabies "super-spreader" Buster "Rant" Casey added a whole new dimension to serial killing. After his apparent demise, assorted friends, enemies, and victims reminisced about this short-lived misfit, tracing his bloody path from small-town rebel to big-city mass murderer. Chuck Palahniuk's fictitious oral biography of Casey is set in a preferably unthinkable future where urbanites are designated either Daytimers or Nighttimers and assigned strict curfews. Unfortunately, the demolition derbies that he describes as favorite local entertainments might strike readers as the next logical step in extreme sports and reality TV. Intensely twisted satire.
Publishers Weekly
Buster Casey, destined to live fast, die young and murder as many people as he can, is the rotten seed at the core of Palahniuk's comically nasty eighth novel (after Haunted; Lullaby; Diary; etc.). Set in a future where urbanites are segregated by strict curfews into Daytimers and Nighttimers, the narrative unfolds as an oral history comprising contradictory accounts from people who knew Buster. These include childhood friends horrified by the boy's macabre behavior (getting snakes, scorpions and spiders to bite him and induce instant erections; repeatedly infecting himself with rabies), policemen and doctors who had dealings with the rabies "superspreader"; and Party Crashers, thrill-seeking Nighttimers who turn city streets into demolition derby arenas. After liberally infecting his hometown peers with rabies, Buster hits the big city and takes up with the Party Crashers. A series of deaths lead to a police investigation of Buster (long-since known as "Rant"�the sound children make while vomiting) that peaks just as Buster apparently commits suicide in a blaze of car-crash glory. This dark religious parable (there's even a resurrection) from the master of grotesque excess may not attract new readers, but it will delight old ones. (May)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
"As silly and brilliant as the others." –Russell Smith (from xyyz.ca)
"Ever since Fight Club . . . Chuck Palahniuk has enjoyed a reputation as a down-dirty, cultish kind of writer with his finger on the pulse." –Telegraph
"Chuck Palahniuk puts out books the way The Beatles and The Stones used to release records — nearly every year, with precision and artistry." –Metro Times
"Palahniuk's world might be a freakshow, but it's one that makes a disturbing amount of sense." –Telegraph
"[Chuck Palahniuk]'s a writer of remarkable talent, willing to look unflinchingly at despairing lives and their often-warped quests for even momentary redemption. He's a painfully deft chronicler of the meaningless job, the poisonous relationship, and of all the myriad damaging and deadening effects of so-called normal life." –The Boston Globe
"Rant is fast and true, savagely clearsighted and intelligent, a luxury to read, and so funny that your facial muscles soon tire." –The Guardian
"Just as Fight Club pondered the price of everyone becoming supermen, Rant goes one further and wonders the price of us all becoming gods. It is a common thread in Palahniuk's writing: the yearning for a ground zero of social parity versus our genetically programmed rebellion against hegemony." –Time Out
Praise for Chuck Palahniuk
"What elevates Palahniuk's best novels (e.g., Fight Club) above their shocking premises is his ability to find humanity in deeply grotesque characters."
—Publishers Weekly
"Palahniuk displays a Swiftian gift for satire, as well as a knack for crafting mesmerizing sentences."
—San Francisco Examiner
"To Palahniuk's credit, there is something here to appall almost every sensibility. The author has a singular knack for coming up with inventive new ways to shock and degrade."
—The New York Post
Library Journal
The life and early flame-out of a bad boy named Buster ("Rant") Casey. With a national tour. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Viciously incisive and lethally funny social commentary in a novel cast as an oral biography. Palahniuk's latest (Haunted, 2005, etc.) provides a parody of the oral biography format (Edie, Capote), offers homage to both James Dean and J.G. Ballard's Crash and serves to show just how much teenage angst has degenerated since the innocence of Holden Caulfield-all this before a time-warped finale that turns genealogy into some sort of Mobius strip. Though his voice appears minimally in the narrative, the hero (or is he?) of the novel is Buster (or Buddy) "Rant" Casey, who lives a short life of escalating destruction just to be able to do something, feel something and escape from the rural town that is living death to those who don't manage to leave it. A boy of peculiarly (even mystically) sensual intuition, he initially amuses himself by seeking bites from various animals and insects, launching a rabies epidemic as he passes his infections along through sexual encounters. With his move to the bigger city, he attracts a posse of "Party Crashers," joy riders who spend their evenings in wedding attire crashing into each others' vehicles. One crash kills Rant, who is dead (or is he?) as the novel begins and is eulogized by a Greek chorus of friends, neighbors, relatives and enemies, along with an eyewitness reporter for DRVR Radio Graphic Traffic and an historian whose involvement in the proceedings sustains a mystery through much of the novel. Many of the themes in the author's exploration of the dark underbelly of modern life and culture will be familiar to his ardent fans, but the formal inventiveness of the fictional oral biography provides a fresh twist. Not for everyone, but readers wholike to walk on the novelist's wild side will rave.
Full Product Details -
Product Details
- Pub. Date: May 2008
- Publisher:Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Format: Paperback, 336pp
- Sales Rank: 171,956
- Edition Description: Reprint
Read an Excerpt
RantAn Oral Biography of Buster Casey
By Chuck Palahniuk
DoubledayCopyright © 2007 Chuck Palahniuk
All right reserved.
1—An Introduction
Wallace Boyer (Car Salesman): Like most people, I didn't meet and talk to Rant Casey until after he was dead. That's how it works for most celebrities: After they croak, their circle of close friends just explodes. A dead celebrity can't walk down the street without meeting a million best buddies he never met in real life.
Dying was the best career move Jeff Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy ever made. After Gaetan Dugas was dead, the number of sex partners saying they'd fucked him, it went through the roof.
The way Rant Casey used to say it: Folks build a reputation by attacking you while you're alive—or praising you after you ain't.
For me, I was sitting on an airplane, and some hillbilly sits down next to me. His skin, it's the same as any car wreck you can't not stare at—dented with tooth marks, pitted and puckered, the skin on the back of his hands looks one godawful mess.
The flight attendant, she asks this hillbilly what's it he wants to drink. The stewardess asks him to, please, reach my drink to me: scotch with rocks. But when I see those monster fingers wrapped around the plastic cup, his chewed–up knuckles, I could never touch my lips to therim.
With the epidemic, a person can't be too careful. At the airport, right beyond the metal detector we had to walk through, a fever monitor like they first used to control the spread of SARS. Most people, the government says, have no idea they're infected. Somebody can feel fine, but if that monitor beeps that your temperature's too high, you'll disappear into quarantine. Maybe for the rest of your life. No trial, nothing.
To be safe, I only fold down my tray table and take the cup. I watch the scotch turn pale and watery. The ice melt and disappear.
Anybody makes a livelihood selling cars will tell you: Repetition is the mother of all skills. You build the gross at your dealership by building rapport.
Anywhere you find yourself, you can build your skills. A good trick to remember a name is you look the person in the eyes long enough to register their color: green or brown or blue. You call that a Pattern Interrupt: It stops you forgetting the way you always would.
This cowboy stranger, his eyes look bright green. Antifreeze green.
That whole connecting flight between Peco Junction and the city, we shared an armrest, me at the window, him on the aisle. Don't shoot the messenger, but dried shit keeps flaking off his cowboy boots. Those long sideburns maybe scored him pussy in high school, but they're gray from his temple to his jawbone now. Not to mention those hands.
To practice building rapport, I ask him what he paid for his ticket. If you can't determine the customer needs, identify the hot buttons, of some stranger rubbing arms with you on an airplane, you'll never talk anybody into taking "mental ownership" of a Nissan, much less a Cadillac.
For landing somebody in a car, another trick is: Every car on your lot, you program the number–one radio–station button to gospel music. The number–two button, set to rock and roll. The number–three, to jazz. If your prospect looks like a demander–commander type, the minute you unlock the car you set the radio to come on with the news or a politics talk station. A sandal wearer, you hit the National Public Radio button. When they turn the key, the radio tells them what they want to hear. Every car on the lot, I have the number–five button set to that techno–raver garbage in case some kid who does Party Crashing comes around.
The green color of the hillbilly's eyes, the shit on his boots, salesmen call those "mental pegs." Questions that have one answer, those are "closed questions." Questions to get a customer talking, those are "open questions."
For example: "How much did your plane ticket set you back?" That's a closed question.
And, sipping from his own cup of whiskey, the man swallows. Staring straight ahead, he says, "Fifty dollars."
A good example of an open question would be: "How do you live with those scary chewed–up hands?"
I ask him: For one way?
"Round–trip," he says, and his pitted and puckered hand tips whiskey into his face. "Called a 'bereavement fare,' " the hillbilly says.
Me looking at him, me half twisted in my seat to face him, my breathing slowed to match the rise and fall of his cowboy shirt, the technique's called: Active Listening. The stranger clears his throat, and I wait a little and clear my throat, copying him; that's what a good salesman means by "pacing" a customer.
My feet, crossed at the ankle, right foot over the left, same as his, I say: Impossible. Not even standby tickets go that cheap. I ask: How'd he get such a deal?
Drinking his whiskey, neat, he says, "First, what you have to do is escape from inside a locked insane asylum." Then, he says, you have to hitchhike cross–country, wearing nothing but plastic booties and a paper getup that won't stay shut in back. You need to arrive about a heartbeat too late to keep a repeat child–molester from raping your wife. And your mother. Spawned out of that rape, you have to raise up a son who collects a wagonful of folks' old, thrown–out teeth. After high school, your wacko kid got's to run off. Join some cult that lives only by night. Wreck his car, a half a hundred times, and hook up with some kind–of, sort–of, not–really prostitute.
Along the way, your kid got's to spark a plague that'll kill thousands of people, enough folks so that it leads to martial law and threatens to topple world leaders. And, lastly, your boy got's to die in a big, flaming, fiery inferno, watched by everybody in the world with a television set.
He says, "Simple as that."
The man says, "Then, when you go to collect his body for his funeral," and tips whiskey into his mouth, "the airline gives you a special bargain price on your ticket."
Fifty bucks, round–trip. He looks at my scotch sitting on the tray table in front of me. Warm. Any ice, gone. And he says, "You going to drink that?"
I tell him: Go ahead.
This is how fast your life can turn around.
How the future you have tomorrow won't be the same future you had yesterday.
My dilemma is: Do I ask for his autograph? Slowing my breath, pacing my chest to his, I ask: Is he related to that guy…Rant Casey? "Werewolf Casey"—the worst Patient Zero in the history of disease? The "superspreader" who's infected half the country? America's "Kissing Killer"? Rant "Mad Dog" Casey?
"Buster," the man says, his monster hand reaching to take my scotch. He says, "My boy's given name was Buster Landru Casey. Not Rant. Not Buddy. Buster."
Already, my eyes are soaking up every puckered scar on his fingers. Every wrinkle and gray hair. My nose, recording his smell of whiskey and cow shit. My elbow, recording the rub of his flannel shirtsleeve. Already, I'll be bragging about this stranger for the rest of my life. Holding tight to every moment of him, squirreling away his every word and gesture, I say: You're…
"Chester," he says. "Name's Chester Casey."
Sitting right next to me. Chester Casey, the father of Rant Casey: America's walking, talking Biological Weapon of Mass Destruction.
Andy Warhol was wrong. In the future, people won't be famous for fifteen minutes. No, in the future, everyone will sit next to someone famous for at least fifteen minutes. Typhoid Mary or Ted Bundy or Sharon Tate. History is nothing except monsters or victims. Or witnesses.
So what do I say? I say: I'm sorry. I say, "Tough break about your kid dying."
Out of sympathy, I shake my head…
And a few inhales later, Chet Casey shakes his head, and in that gesture I'm not sure who's really pacing who. Which of us sat which way first. If maybe this shitkicker is studying me. Copying me. Finding my hot buttons and building rapport. Maybe selling me something, this living legend Chet Casey, he winks. Never breathing more than fifteen inhales any minute. He tosses back the scotch. "Any way you look at it," he says, and elbows me in the ribs, "it's still a damn sweet deal on an airplane ticket."
2—Guardian Angels
From the Field Notes of Green Taylor Simms (Historian): The hound dog is to Middleton what the cow is to the streets of Calcutta or New Delhi. In the middle of every dirt road sleeps some kind of mongrel coonhound, panting in the sun, its dripping tongue hanging out. A kind of fur–covered speed bump with no collar or tags. Powdered with a fine dust of clay blown off the plowed fields.
To arrive at Middleton requires four solid days of driving, which is the longest period of time I have ever experienced inside an automobile without colliding with another vehicle. I found that to be the most depressing aspect of my pilgrimages.
Neddy Nelson (Party Crasher): Can you explain how in 1968 the amateur paleontologist William Meister in Antelope Spring, Utah, split a block of shale while searching for trilobite fossils, but instead discovered the fossilized five–hundred–million–year–old footprint of a human shoe? And how did another fossilized shoe print, found in Nevada in 1922, occur in rock from the Triassic era?
Echo Lawrence (Party Crasher): Driving to Middleton, rolling across all that fucking country in the middle of the night, Shot Dunyun punched buttons, scanning the radio for traffic reports. To hear any action we'd be missing out on. Morning or evening drive–time bulletins from oceans away. Gridlock and traffic backups where it's still yesterday. Fatal pile–ups and jackknives on expressways where it's already tomorrow.
It's fucking weird, hearing somebody's died tomorrow. Like you could still call that commuter man, right now, in Moscow, and say: "Stay home!"
From DRVR Radio Graphic Traffic: Expect a gapers' delay if you're eastbound on the Meadows Bypass through the Richmond area. Slow down and stretch your neck for a good long look at a two–car fatal accident in the left-most lane. The front vehicle is a sea–green 1974 Plymouth Road Runner with a four–barrel carb–equipped 440–cubic–inch, cast–iron–block V8. Original ice–white interior. The coupe's driver was a scorching twenty–four–year old female, blonde–slash–green with a textbook fracture–slash–dislocation of her spine at the atlantooccipital joint and complete transection of the spinal cord. Fancy words for whiplash so bad it snaps your neck.
The rear car was a bitchin' two–door hardtop New Yorker Brougham St. Regis, cream color, with the optional deluxe chrome package and fixed rear quarter–windows. A sweet ride. As you rubberneck past, please note the driver was a twenty–six–year–old male with a nothing–special transverse fracture of the sternum, bilateral rib fractures, and his lungs impaled by the fractured ribs, all due to impact with his steering wheel. Plus, the boys in the meat wagon tell me, severe internal exsanguination.
So—buckle up and slow down. Reporting for Graphic Traffic, this is Tina Something…
Echo Lawrence: We broke curfew and the government quarantine, and we drove across these stretches of nothing. Me, riding shotgun. Shot Dunyun, driving. Neddy Nelson was in the backseat, reading some book and telling us how Jack the Ripper never died—he traveled back in time to slaughter his mom, to make himself immortal—and now he's the U.S. President or the Pope. Maybe some crackpot theory proving how UFOs are really human tourists visiting us from the distant future.
Shot Dunyun (Party Crasher): I guess we drove to Middleton to see all the places Rant had talked about and meet what he called "his people." His parents, Irene and Chester. The best friend, Bodie Carlyle, he went to school with. All the dipshit farm families, the Perrys and Tommys and Elliots, he used to go on and on talking about. Most of Party Crashing was just us driving in cars, talking.
Such a cast of yokels. Our goal was to flesh out the stories Rant had told. How weird is that? Me and Echo Lawrence, with Neddy in the backseat of that Cadillac Eldorado of his. The car that Rant had bought for Neddy.
Yeah, and we went to put flowers and stuff on Rant's grave.
Echo Lawrence: Punching the radio, Shot says, "You know we're missing a good Soccer Mom Night …"
"Not tonight," says Neddy. "Check your calendar. Tonight was a Student Driver Night."
Shot Dunyun: Up ahead, a sliver of light outlines the horizon. The sliver swells to a bulge of white light, a half–circle, then a full circle. A full moon. Tonight we're missing a great Honeymoon Night.
Echo Lawrence: We told each other stories instead of playing music. The stories Rant had told, about his growing up. The stories about Rant, we had to piece them together out of details we each had to dig up from the basement of the basement of the basement of our brains. Everyone pitching in some memory of Rant, we drove along, pooling our stories.
Shot Dunyun: The local Middleton sheriff stopped us, and we told him the truth: We were making a pilgrimage to see where Rant Casey had been born.
A night like this with everybody in town asleep, the little Rant Casey would be ham–radioing. Wearing his headphones. As a kid, a night like this, Rant used to turn the dial, looking for traffic reports from Los Angeles and New York. Listening to traffic jams and tie–ups in London. Slowdowns in Atlanta. Three–car pile–ups in Paris, reported in French. Learning Spanish in terms of neumatico desinflado and punto muerto. Flat tires and gridlock in Madrid. Imbottigliamento, for gridlock in Rome. Het roosterslot, gridlock in Amsterdam. Saturation, gridlock in Paris. The whole invisible world of the traffic sphere.
Echo Lawrence: Come on. Driving around any hillbilly burg between midnight and sunrise, you take your chances. The police don't have much to do but blare their siren at you. The Middleton sheriff held our driver's licenses in the beam of his flashlight while he lectured us about the city. How Rant Casey had been killed by moving to the city. City people were all murderers. Meaning us.
This sheriff was boosting some kind of Texas Ranger affect, plugged into and looping some John Wayne brain chemistry. Boost a drill sergeant through a hanging judge, then boost that through a Doberman pinscher, and you'd get this sheriff. His shoulders stayed pinned back, square. His thumbs hooked behind his belt buckle. And he rocked forward and back on the heels of his cowboy boots.
Shot asked, "Has anybody been by to murder Rant's mom yet?"
This sheriff wore a brown shirt with a brass star pinned to one chest pocket, a pen and a folded pair of sunglasses tucked in the pocket, and the shirt tucked into blue jeans. Engraved on the star, it said "Officer Bacon Carlyle."
Come on. Talk about the worst question Shot could ask.
Neddy Nelson: You tell me, how in 1844 did the physicist Sir David Brewster discover a metal nail fully embedded in a block of Devonian sandstone more than three hundred million years old?
Excerpted from Rant by Chuck Palahniuk Copyright © 2007 by Chuck Palahniuk. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.


text:
- Comptroller: state payroll system antiquated
- Remember, fireworks are dangerous
- Wallace asks citizens to fight cuts
- Dispute over state payroll rolls on
- Why fight over free trade confounds partisan divide
- Still no state budget
- Crime control is not the responsibility of landlords
- Fly over to the Poplar Grove Wings and Wheels Museum benefit
- Local leaders warn of budget deadlock's impact
- SHUTDOWN: Illinois preps for the worst
Literary Hook: A morning meditation poem to start off October
By Christine Swanberg
Author and Poet
Haven't we had a beautiful, cool and lush summer with a lovely, toasty September? Is there anything that compares to a bright, crisp fall day?
Have you noticed the golden sunrises and coral sunsets lately? The slant of the September sun? The impending bite and fragrance of fermentation in the fall air?
Here is a morning meditation poem to start off October.
October Morning
The street is quiet as cotton here,
Today, and the air Nordic sweet—
A luscious alchemy of blue spruce,
White pine, Russian sage, lemon mint
And lavender gone to seed, blended
With smoky leaves and woods of autumn.
Here, the prairie garden wraps around us
With its limber maiden grasses, its tassels
Like a hundred wish-granting wands.
Hardy mauve sedum and goldenrod.
Let morning meander through lacey
Honey locusts as water trickles beneath
The periwinkle myrtle that winds
Beneath the service berry tree.
Let one red-veined leaf float
From the sunset maple and land
On the birdbath's lip. Let its yellow
Complications lift like cabbage moths.
Let this day begin.
This poem was first published in Who Walks Among the Trees with Charity, Wind Pubications, 2005.
Christine Swanberg is a local author and poet who has written several books of poetry.
From the September 30 – October 6, 2009 issue.