title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: The Chevrolet Tracker, formerly the Geo Tracker, is a mini SUV produced for Chevrolet and Geo by CAMI Automotive in Ingersoll, Ontario. Although appearing as a compact SUV, the Tracker was actually certified as a light truck due to its off-road capabilities and body on frame construction. The Tracker was produced under many brands in several different editions and in many countries.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: The Geo Tracker was a mini SUV introduced in late 1988 as a 1989 model. It was developed by CAMI which was a joint venture between General Motors of Canada and Suzuki. North American models were to be built in CAMI's Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada plant alongside its almost identical twin, the domestic-built Suzuki Sidekick (Escudo). Nearly all 1989 and some 1990 Trackers were built in Japan and imported to the US because of delays at the CAMI factory in Canada. In late 1989, production began in Ingersoll with about 6,100 Geo Trackers finished, with annual production projected to be around 200,000 units. In the beginning, all Canadian-made Trackers were sent to the United States to circumvent the 25 percent Chicken Tax; the Canadian market was supplied entirely from Japan. Suzuki Sidekicks were added to the production line during 1990.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: The Tracker was originally powered by Suzuki's 1.6L SOHC four-cylinder engine producing . The trim levels in 1989 were base convertible, base two-door hardtop and LSi hardtop. LSi equipment included air conditioner, chrome rally wheels, intermittent wipers, rear window wiper/washer, spare tire cover, three-speed GM Turbo-Hydramatic 180 automatic transmission, tinted glass, and special red/black front and rear bucket seats. In 1990 the LSi trim was made available on the convertible models also. All Trackers were four-wheel drive until a base two-wheel drive convertible was introduced in 1992. The two-door hardtop models were available until 1995 when they were discontinued to make way for the four-door hardtop wagon that was to be introduced the following year. Although Suzuki started importing four-door Sidekicks in 1991, CAMI did not start producing them until the 1996 model year, when America got a four-door Geo Tracker, now powered by Suzuki's G16B 16-valve 1.6L boasting . In 1998 the Geo nameplate was merged back into Chevrolet and all Geo models, including the Tracker, were rebadged as Chevrolet in 1998.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: The Tracker was different from most other light SUVs on the market in that it is based on a rugged light-truck chassis and certified as a light truck. Although it appeared to be a comfortable passenger SUV, it was bolstered by a sturdy off-road four-wheel-drive system with a conventional light truck engine and transmission coupled to a hi-lo, 2-4 transfer case. The Tracker had a strong front suspension with a rugged recirculating ball steering box. The conventional front differential was rigidly mounted ahead of the engine, with CV axles connecting the coil-spring front hubs to the differential case. The rear axle was a conventional light truck unit on coil springs. As a result of the truck-like underpinnings, the Tracker had a fairly truck-like ride, but the benefit was its notable durability in harsh conditions.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: The production of the first-generation model of the Tracker (and Sidekick) came to an end in Ontario after 1998 in order to make way for the second generation of Tracker/Vitara. However, the first generation Sidekick continued in production in other countries until 2004.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: When the Geo Tracker was introduced in the United States, the Geo brand was not available in Canada. Because of this the Tracker was introduced there as both the Chevrolet Tracker and the GMC Tracker. The Chevrolet Tracker was sold at Chevrolet dealerships in Canada starting in 1989. Initially there were three models: a base convertible, base hardtop and a CL hardtop (CL is equivalent to the LSi in the Geo line). In 1990 a CL convertible was added to the line-up. 1991 was the last year for the Chevrolet Tracker as the Geo marque was brought to Canada in 1992 and all Chevrolet Trackers were renamed Geo Trackers, yet they continued to display the Chevrolet "bowtie" symbol on the front grille emblem until the end of production in 1998. All 1989–1990 Chevrolet Trackers were four-wheel drive. From 1991 on, the Geo Tracker sold in Canada was identical to its US counterpart. The GMC Tracker was also introduced for the 1989 model year to be sold at Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealerships in Canada. Just like the Chevrolet and Geo initially there were three models: base convertible, base hardtop and SLE hardtop (SLE being equipped the same as the CL and LSi of the other marques). In 1990 an SLE convertible was added to the lineup. 1991 was the last year for the GMC Tracker as GM introduced the Asüna marque in 1992 and the GMC Tracker was renamed the Asüna Sunrunner. The Sunrunner was marketed as more upmarket and had no base model, with all of the Sunrunners being equipped like the SLEs were. The Asüna brand did not last long though, and after only two years (1992 and 1993) the Sunrunner was rebranded as a Pontiac. The Pontiac Sunrunner was sold in Canada from 1994 to 1998 in both base and top-of-the-line GT trim. It was available in two- and four-wheel drive and in both convertible and hardtop body-styles. While the Geo Tracker was also sold as a four-door wagon beginning in 1996, the Sunrunner never got this body style. The Sunrunner was discontinued without a direct replacement in 1998.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: In 1999, the Sidekick was discontinued, and a second generation Tracker was introduced, differing from the Sidekick's successor, the Grand Vitara. A Suzuki version of this North American-exclusive Tracker was sold in the North American market as a Suzuki Vitara, which is shorter than the Grand Vitara. In Mexico, the second-generation Tracker remained in production and was sold there as Chevrolet Tracker. The Tracker series was discontinued in the United States and Canada in 2004, but all models including the LJ80/Jimny are still in production in other Suzuki plants. Some Trackers and Sidekicks were made at a Suzuki plant in Kosai, Japan.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: The later (1999 and up) Tracker models reverted to a lightweight automobile-type rack and pinion steering, and thus unpopular with rural and off-road users since the rack and pinion is easily damaged. The 1st generation Tracker was sold as the Chevrolet Vitara in Latin America, and the 2nd generation Tracker is sold as the Chevrolet Grand Vitara in Latin American countries. In North America, the first generation Tracker was sold as a Chevrolet in 1998 after GM discontinued the Geo brand. In Latin America, GM made the Suzuki Vitara/Grand Vitara and sold it as Chevrolet Vitara/Grand Vitara (Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela produced in GM Ecuador) or Suzuki Grand Vitara (Argentina) and Chevrolet Tracker (Brazil and Mexico) - both produced by GM Argentina.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: On January 27, 2004, production of the Chevrolet Tracker was discontinued at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, and replaced with the Chevrolet Equinox.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: Geo Tracker was sold since 1994 (Imported from Canada) three-door soft top 4WD or 2WD, automatic or manual transmissions. In 1996 Geo Tracker was dropped, and back 1998 from Canada as Chevrolet Tracker three-door soft top or five-door hard top available in 2WD or 4WD automatic or manual. In 2000, a new generation Chevrolet Tracker was available as a three-door soft top or five-door hard top 2WD or 4WD, manual or automatic; in 2001 the soft top was dropped. The V6 option with 2WD or 4WD automatic was available from 2002 to 2004. Even though the Tracker was discontinued in the U.S. and Canada, the Tracker continued sales in Mexico and Brazil imported from Argentina, although the model was face-lifted in 2005 from Suzuki Grand Vitara. For the 2006 model year, the silver GM logo was added on the front doors. The Tracker was replaced in the summer of 2008 by the Saturn Vue in the U.S. and Canada (Chevrolet Captiva Sport in Mexico).


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: In the Philippines, General Motors introduced the Tracker in late 1999, sold alongside the related Suzuki Grand Vitara. Imported from Canada, it was powered by Suzuki's 2.0 L J20A four-cylinder engine coupled to a 4-speed automatic transmission. Standard equipment included a leather wrapped steering wheel, power seats with lumbar support (driver side only), 4-speaker infotainment system with CD playback, rear seats, and central locking. Some were also equipped with spare tires at the back. Due to low sales, GM pulled the Tracker from the market in 2001.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: First-generation Geo Trackers made in Canada were never offered by GM officially. Still, private importers brought them to the country, even though Suzuki brought the Suzuki Vitara from Japan. Private importers also brought to the country soft-top and four-door Sidekicks made in Canada.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: For the second generation, it became initially available in the country in 2001, with only a diesel engine and four-door body style. Suzuki also offered the Grand Vitara at the time, with more engine choices and also a two-door hardtop and the XL-7. As the dollar soared, Suzuki left the Brazilian market in 2003.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: Even though the Tracker was discontinued in the U.S. and Canada, the Tracker continued sales in Mexico and Brazil, although the model received a facelift in 2005. For the 2006 model year, the silver GM logo was added on the front doors. The Tracker was finally replaced by the 4-cylinder versions of the already introduced Chevrolet Captiva Sport (Saturn Vue in the U.S and Canada, even though the Vue and Captiva are both built in Mexico) in the summer of 2008.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: According to a 1995 report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 1991–1993 two-wheel drive Geo Tracker had 21 driver fatalities for 66,210 registered vehicles, the highest incidence reported, at 3.2 per 10,000 vehicles. The 4x4 version, however, reported 48 driver fatalities for 271,355 registered vehicles (1.8 per 10,000). The IIHS states that the small utility class had a total of 366 driver fatalities for 2,144,891 total registered vehicles (1.6 per 10,000). This study was widely criticized for faulty comparisons. For example, this study does not note the difference between two-door models and four-door models. A later IIHS study clearly shows that, while two-door Trackers have a slightly below-average injury rate, the four-door models are "better" than the average for utility vehicles.


title: Chevrolet Tracker (Americas)

text: The Chevrolet Trax was sold in Russia and South America as the Tracker. In Russia, the name "Trax" would be too closely related to the word (Rus. ), which is a colloquialism for copulation.


title: Banquet of Chestnuts

text: The Banquet of Chestnuts (sometimes Ballet of Chestnuts, Festival of Chestnuts, or Joust of Whores) was a fête in Rome, and particularly a supper purportedly held in the Papal Palace by former Cardinal Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI on 31 October 1501. An account of the banquet is preserved in a Latin diary by Protonotary Apostolic and Master of Ceremonies Johann Burchard (it is titled "Liber Notarum"), but its accuracy is disputed.


title: Banquet of Chestnuts

text: According to Burchard, the banquet was given in Cesare's apartments in the "Palazzo Apostolico". Fifty prostitutes or courtesans were in attendance for the entertainment of the banquet guests. Burchard describes the scene in his "Diary":


title: Banquet of Chestnuts

text: Alexander Lee notes that, "The so-called 'Banquet of the Chestnuts' ... is, for example, attested only in Burchard's memoirs, and not only was intrinsically implausible, but also was dismissed as such by many contemporaries."


title: Banquet of Chestnuts

text: Vatican researcher Right Reverend Monsignor Peter de Roo (1839–1926), rejected the story of the "fifty courtesans" as described in Louis Thuasne's edition of Burchard's diary (vol. 3). While granting that Cesare Borgia may have indeed given a feast at the Vatican, de Roo attempts, through exhaustive research, to refute the notion that the Borgias – certainly not the pope – could have possibly participated in "a scene truly bestial" such as Burchard describes, on grounds that it would be inconsistent with:


title: Banquet of Chestnuts

text: De Roo believes that a more credible explanation for the alleged "orgy" is a later interpolation of events by those hostile to Alexander:


title: Banquet of Chestnuts

text: William Manchester's book "A World Lit Only by Fire", embellishes the story: "Servants kept score of each man's orgasms, for the pope greatly admired virility and measured a man's machismo by his ejaculative capacity... After everyone was exhausted, His Holiness distributed prizes." Professional historians, however, have dismissed or ignored the book because of its numerous factual errors and its dependence on interpretations that have not been accepted by experts since the 1930s at the latest. In a review for "Speculum", the journal of the Medieval Academy of America, Jeremy duQuesnay Adams remarked that Manchester's work contained "some of the most gratuitous errors of fact and eccentricities of judgment this reviewer has read (or heard) in quite some time."


title: Banquet of Chestnuts

text: The banquet is depicted in episode 4 of season 3 of the Showtime TV series "The Borgias". In the show, the Banquet is shown to be a trap to blackmail otherwise disloyal members of the College of Cardinals, and is officiated by Giulia Farnese, and witnessed by Burchard who chronicles the debaucheries of the Cardinals while hidden behind a screen. None of the Borgia family are seen to be present, and loyal Cardinals such as Cardinal Farnese are warned not to accept the invitation. In the series, the event takes place in .


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: Svetlana Viktorovna Khodchenkova (; born 21 January 1983) is a Russian film, television and theater actress. She is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2018).


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: Svetlana Khodchenkova was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. She briefly worked for a modeling agency.


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: In 2005 Khodchenkova graduated from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute, where she studied under the direction of Mikhail Borisovich Borisov.


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: Khodchenkova’s debut-role was in the film "Bless the Woman" (2003) directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. For this role she was nominated for "Nika" award as Best Actress. She continued her career in the role of a clairvoyant Cassandra historical television series "Talisman of Love" (2005).


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: She is also known for her roles in box office films "Love in the Big City" (2009), its sequel, "Love in the Big City 2" (2010), and "Office Romance. Our Time" (2011).


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: She starred in the TV-series "" (2011), and appeared as Irina in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (2011). Khodchenkova attended the premiere of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" at the 68th Venice Film Festival, on September 5, 2011. She co-starred with Hugh Jackman in the 2013 superhero film "The Wolverine" as Viper, one of the film's antagonists.


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: Khodchenkova played the leading role, Irina the Greek woman, in the historical action film "Viking" (2016).


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: On 13 December 2005, she married her classmate Vladimir Yaglych, a Russian actor. In 2010, they divorced.


title: Svetlana Khodchenkova

text: In May 2015, she was engaged to Moscow businessman Georgiy Petrishin. In February 2016, the couple called off the engagement.


title: Videotape format war

text: The videotape format war was a period of competition or "format war" of incompatible models of consumer-level analog video videocassette and video cassette recorders (VCR) in the late 1970s and the 1980s, mainly involving the Betamax and Video Home System (VHS) formats. VHS ultimately emerged as the preeminent format.


title: Videotape format war

text: Sony had demonstrated a prototype videotape recording system it called "Beta" to the other electronics manufacturers in 1974, and expected that they would back a single format for the good of all. But JVC in particular decided to go with its own format.


title: Videotape format war

text: Manufacturers also introduced other systems such as needle-based, record-style discs (RCA's Capacitance Electronic Disc, JVC's Video High Density disc) and optical discs (Philips' LaserDisc). None of these disc formats gained much ground as none was capable of home recording; however, they did hold small niche markets.


title: Videotape format war

text: Some sources say that VHS won over Betamax due to the greater availability of pornographic movies on the format. In the 1980s, the founder of Vivid Entertainment said "we pushed VHS harder, and in that sense we did have something to do with VHS winning out". Steve Duplessie, the founder of research firm Enterprise Strategy Group, disagreed, saying that VHS won over Betamax due to its more open format.


title: Videotape format war

text: Sony had met with Matsushita executives in late 1974/early 1975 to discuss the forthcoming home video market.


title: Videotape format war

text: Soon after, RCA met with executives at the Victor Corporation of Japan (JVC), who had created their own video format called "VHS" (which stands for "Video Home System"). But JVC also refused to compromise the picture quality of their format by allowing a four-hour mode. JVC's parent corporation, Matsushita, later met with RCA and agreed to manufacture a four-hour-capable VHS machine for RCA.


title: Videotape format war

text: When Betamax was introduced in Japan and the United States in 1975, its Beta I speed of 1.57 inches per second (ips) offered a higher horizontal resolution (approximately 250 lines vs 240 lines horizontal NTSC), lower video noise, and less luma/chroma crosstalk than VHS, and was later marketed as providing pictures superior to VHS's playback. However, the introduction of Beta II speed, 0.79 ips (two-hour mode), to compete with VHS's two-hour Standard Play mode (1.31 ips) reduced Betamax's horizontal resolution to 250 lines.


title: Videotape format war

text: Although Betamax initially owned 100% of the market in 1975 (as VHS did not launch until the following year) the perceived value of longer recording-times eventually tipped the balance in favor of VHS. By 1980, VHS had proven favorable among consumers and was successful in controlling 60% of the North American market. By 1981, sales of Beta machines in the United States had sunk to 25% of the VCR market. As movie studios, video studios, and video rental stores turned away from Betamax, the combination of lower market share and a lack of available titles further strengthened VHS's position. In the United Kingdom Beta held a 25% market share, but by 1986 it was down to 7.5% and continued to decline further. In Japan, Betamax had more success, but VHS was still the market leader. By 1987, VHS accounted for 90% of the VCR market in the United States. In 1988, Videofax magazine declared that Beta had lost the format war after Sony agreed to start adding VHS to the company's VCR lineup.


title: Videotape format war

text: Both Betamax and VHS were supplanted by higher-quality video available from laser-based technology. The last Sony Betamax unit was produced in 2002, while the last VCR/DVD combo unit was produced in 2016.


title: Videotape format war

text: What Sony did not take into account was what consumers wanted. While Betamax was "believed" to be the superior format in the minds of the public and press (due to excellent marketing by Sony), consumers wanted an "affordable" VCR (a VHS often cost hundreds of dollars less than a Betamax); Korean electronic manufacturers, such as Samsung and GoldStar (now LG Electronics), responded to Funai, Shintom, and Orion Electric for the availability of video cassette players (VCP) to movie rental stores, by offering first VHS VCR prices down to under $300 by year 1986. Sony believed that having better quality recordings was the key to success, and that consumers would be willing to pay a higher retail price for this, whereas it soon became clear that consumer desire was focused more intently on recording-time, lower retail price, compatibility with other machines for sharing (as VHS was becoming the format in the majority of homes), brand loyalty to companies who licensed VHS (RCA, Magnavox, Zenith, Quasar, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Hitachi, Sharp, even JVC itself, etc.), and compatibility for easy transfer of information. In addition, Sony, being the first producer to offer its technology, also thought it would establish Betamax as the leading format. This kind of lock-in and path dependence failed for Sony, but succeeded for JVC. For forty years JVC dominated the home market with its VHS, Super VHS and VHS-C formats, and collected billions in royalty payments.


title: Videotape format war

text: The video recording market was an unknown when VCRs first came on the market; as such, Sony and JVC were both developing technologies that were unproven. As a result of the desire to enter the marketplace faster, the firms both spent less time on research and development and tried to save money by picking a version of the technology they thought would do best without exploring the full gamut of options.


title: Videotape format war

text: Following the videotape format war, VHS was dominant until the creation of DVD technology. The major electronics corporations agreed on a single standard for playback of pre-recorded material on DVDs. A minor skirmish arose over DIVX, but it died a quick death. A later format-war resulted from a failure to agree on a single standard for DVD's high-definition successor (HD DVD) in May 2005. This format war ended in victory for the Blu-ray Disc Association's Blu-ray Disc in February 2008.


title: Senta Berger

text: Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include three Bambi Awards, two Romys, an Adolf Grimme Award, both a Deutscher and a Bayerischer Fernsehpreis, and a Goldene Kamera.


title: Senta Berger

text: Berger was born in Vienna to musician Josef Berger and teacher Therese Jany. She first appeared on stage at the age of four, when her father accompanied her singing on the piano. At the age of five she started ballet lessons.


title: Senta Berger

text: Berger also took private acting lessons. In 1957, she won her first small role in one of the final films directed by Austrian auteur Willi Forst. She applied for the Max Reinhardt Seminar, a famous acting school in Vienna, and was accepted, but she left shortly afterwards after accepting a film role without permission. In 1958, she became the youngest member of the Josefstadt Theatre in Vienna.


title: Senta Berger

text: In 1960, Bernhard Wicki and Artur Brauner produced the comedy film "The Good Soldier Schweik" with Berger and the German actor Heinz Rühmann. Brauner used Berger in several films, but she soon tired of musicals. In 1962, she went to Hollywood and worked with stars such as Charlton Heston, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Richard Widmark, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Yul Brynner. She returned to Germany to accept an offer for a role in a series, which would have included an obligation of several years.


title: Senta Berger

text: In 1963, Berger met Michael Verhoeven, son of the German film director Paul Verhoeven (not to be confused with the Netherlands Paul Verhoeven). In November 1964, she guest starred in an episode of the U.S. television show "The Man from U.N.C.L.E", entitled "The Double Affair". It was later expanded and released in cinemas as the feature film "The Spy with My Face" (1965). Also in 1965, she starred in "The Glory Guys", a dramatic representation of Custer's Little Big horn disaster, based on the novel "The Dice of God" by Hoffman Birney. Filmed by Levy-Gardner-Laven and released by United Artists, it stars Tom Tryon, Harve Presnell, Senta Berger, James Caan, and Michael Anderson Jr. Berger and Verhoeven started their own film production company in 1965, and married in 1966. Berger continued to develop her European career in France and Italy.


title: Senta Berger

text: In 1966, Berger co-starred with Kirk Douglas in the film "Cast a Giant Shadow". Berger played the role of Magda, a soldier in the Israeli army during the 1947–1949 Palestine war (1948). Also in 1966, the British film "Our Man in Marrakesh", called "Bang, Bang, You're Dead" in the U.S., was released, starring Senta Berger opposite Tony Randall. In "The Quiller Memorandum", a third film of hers released in 1966, she played opposite Max von Sydow and George Segal in the role of a German schoolteacher involved in neo-Nazi activity. In 1967, Berger acted in the pilot film for the Robert Wagner television series "It Takes a Thief", which aired on American television network ABC on 9 January 1968. She reprised her role in the series in October 1969, in an episode in which her character was killed off.


title: Senta Berger

text: In 1970, Berger starred for the first time in a film produced by her own company and directed by her husband. Other internationally successful films made by their joint production company included, amongst others, "Die weiße Rose" (1982), "The Nasty Girl" (1990) and "" (1995). In 1971, Berger took part in the media campaign "We've had abortions!" launched by German feminist Alice Schwarzer with a cover story in the "Stern" political magazine. In 1972, she also campaigned for Willy Brandt's Social Democratic Party.


title: Senta Berger

text: Following the birth of her first son, Berger soon returned to theatre work. She played at the Burgtheater in Vienna, at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg and at the Schiller Theater in Berlin. Between 1974 and 1982, she played the "Buhlschaft" in the play "Jedermann" at the Salzburg Festival with Curd Jürgens and Maximilian Schell. She also acted alongside Schell and James Coburn in a supporting role in the acclaimed war film "Cross of Iron" (1977). In 1977, she was head of the jury at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival. Twenty-one years later, she was part of the jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival.


title: Senta Berger

text: In 1985–86, Berger started a comeback in front of German-speaking audiences in the TV serial "Kir Royal". (In the 1980s, Berger discovered she was admired by Scottish drifter Arthur Richard Jackson who had attempted to murder American actress Theresa Saldana in 1982.) Further serial hits followed, like "Die schnelle Gerdi" ("The fast Gerdi", 1989–2002), where she played a taxi driver. In the same year, she also started a career as a singer of chansons. From 2003 to 2010, Berger was president of the German Film Academy, which seeks to advance the new generation of actors and actresses in Germany and Europe. Since 2005, the Academy assigns the annual German Film Awards or "Lola Awards".


title: Senta Berger

text: 2005 saw her in the film, "Einmal so wie ich will" ("Once according to my will"), as a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage who finds love on holiday, but turns her back on the relationship. In 2016, she played one of the leading roles in the film "Welcome to Germany", directed by her son Simon. The film grossed more than US$20 million, making it the most successful German picture of the year.


title: Senta Berger

text: She played the role of doctor Eva Maria Prohacek in the popular German crime television series "Unter Verdacht" ("Under Suspicion") from 2002 till March 2020, when she retired from the role.


title: Senta Berger

text: In the spring of 2006, Berger's autobiography was published in Germany: "Ich habe ja gewußt, daß ich fliegen kann" ("I Knew That I Could Fly"). Among her memories of Hollywood are a less-than-subtle attempt by Darryl Zanuck to get her on his casting couch, and of all the shallow people she met in Hollywood.


title: Senta Berger

text: Berger married German film director Michael Verhoeven in 1966; their sons are actor-director Simon Verhoeven (born 1972) and actor Luca Verhoeven (born 1979). She lives in Germany.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Highland Park is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, located in the city's Northeast region. It was one of the first subdivisions of Los Angeles and is inhabited by a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: The area was settled thousands of years ago by Paleo-Indians, and would later be settled by the Kizh. After the founding of Los Angeles in 1781, the Corporal of the Guard at the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, Jose Maria Verdugo, was granted the 36,403 acre Rancho San Rafael which included present day Highland Park. Drought in the mid-19th century resulted in economic hardship for the Verdugo family, which eventually compelled them to auction off Rancho San Rafael in 1869 for $3,500 over an unpaid loan. The San Rafael tract was purchased by Andrew Glassell and Albert J. Chapman, who leased it out to sheep herders. In 1885, during the 1880s land boom, it was sold to George Morgan and Albert Judson, who combined it with other parcels they had purchased from the Verdugo family to create the Highland Park tract in 1886. Two rail lines were built to Highland Park, which later helped the town to survive the burst of the property bubble. Highland Park was annexed to Los Angeles in 1895. In the early 20th century, Highland Park and neighboring Pasadena became enclaves for artists and intellectuals who were adherents of the Arts and Crafts movement.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: With the completion of Arroyo Seco Parkway in 1940, Highland Park began to experience white flight, losing residents to the Mid-Wilshire district and newer neighborhoods in Temple City and in the San Fernando Valley. By the mid-1960s, it was becoming a largely Latino district. Mexican immigrants and their American-born children began owning and renting in Highland Park, with its schools and parks becoming places where residents debated over how to fight discrimination and advance civil rights.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: In the final decades of the 20th century, portions of Highland Park suffered waves of gang violence as a consequence of the Avenues street gang claiming them and the adjacent neighborhood of Glassell Park as its territory. At the beginning of the 21st century, then City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, a Highland Park native, intensified efforts to rid Northeast Los Angeles of the Avenues. In 2006, four members of the gang were convicted of violating federal hate crime laws. In June 2009, police launched a major raid against the gang, rooting out many leaders of the gang with a federal racketeering indictment, demolishing the gang's Glassell Park stronghold. Law enforcement, coupled with community awareness efforts such as the annual Peace in the Northeast March, have led to a drastic decrease in violent crime in the 2010s.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: In the early 2000s, relatively low rents and home prices, as well as Highland Park's pedestrian-friendly streets and proximity to Downtown Los Angeles attracted people of greater affluence than had previously been typical, as well as a reversal of the white flight from previous decades. Of special interest were the district's surviving Craftsman homes, many of which had been demolished in the mid-20th century. One architecturally significant home made its way to Heritage Square Museum, thanks to the efforts of local activists dedicated to saving Victorian homes scheduled for demolition. Like Echo Park and Eagle Rock, Highland Park experienced rapid gentrification.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: In the 2010s, Highland Park experienced significant job growth, especially with businesses along Figueroa Street and York Boulevard. Its educational, health, and social service careers also developed robustly during this period. However, most workers employed in Highland Park do not live there but commute from surrounding areas instead.In the 21st century, Highland Park has been economically revitalized, but its benefits have been experienced unevenly, bypassing many of the area’s longtime Latino residents.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Highland Park’s boundaries are roughly the Arroyo Seco Parkway (California Route 110) on the southeast, Pasadena on the northeast, Oak Grove Drive on the north, South Pasadena on the east, and Avenue 51 on the west. Primary thoroughfares include York Boulevard and Figueroa Street.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Highland Park sits within the Northeast Los Angeles region along with Mount Washington, Cypress Park, Glassell Park, and Eagle Rock.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: The 2000 U.S. census counted 56,566 residents in the 3.42-square-mile neighborhood—an average of 16,835 people per square mile. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 60,841. The median age for residents was 28.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: The ethnic composition of Highland Park in 2000 was Latinos, 72.4%; Non-Hispanic Whites, 11.3%; Asians, 11.2%; Blacks, 8.4%; and others, 2.6%. Among the 45% of residents born abroad, Mexico and El Salvador are the most common countries of origin.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: The median household income in 2008 dollars was $45,478, and 59% of households earned $40,000 or less. The average household size was 3.3 people. Renters occupied 60.9% of the housing units.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: The percentage of never-married men was 41%. The 2000 census found that 21% of families were headed by single parents. There were 1,942 military veterans in 2000, or 4.9% of the population.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: According to the 2020 United States census, the Latino population dropped by 10% since 2010. Overall, the population of Highland Park decreased by 7%.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Highland Park was served by a series of public libraries starting in 1890. It housed a collection of 50 books at the now demolished Miller's Hall, formerly located on York Boulevard between Avenues 63 and 64. As the library's collection grew, it was moved to other locations along nearby Avenue 64 in order to accommodate. A grant from Andrew Carnegie made possible a purpose-built facility which eventually became the original Arroyo Seco Library. Its location was decided upon in 1911 as a compromise between the competing residential centers of the district, as well in order to adhere to the stipulations of the grant. The library was opened in 1914.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: On October 17, 1960, a newly constructed Arroyo Seco Library was opened to the public, replacing the original building after 46 years of service. Designed by architect John Landon, the second Arroyo Seco Library was the base of operations for the entire northeast region of the Los Angeles Public Library system. It also was equipped with rooftop parking which had access to the library's front door, a feature that was first of its kind among public libraries in the United States. This building would itself be replaced by another, modernized facility in 2003.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Highland Park is home to a wide array of religious practitioners. The St. Ignatius Church has been the house of worship for followers of Roman Catholicism in the district since the early 20th century. Originally located on Avenue 52, the church was moved to its present location on the corner of Avenue 60 and Monte Vista Street in 1915.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock was founded in Highland Park in 1923 and constructed its building in 1930. It is the second oldest synagogue in Los Angeles still operating in its original location, after the Wilshire Boulevard Temple (built in 1929).


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: The following List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments on the East and Northeast Sides are located in Highland Park:


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Residents are zoned to Luther Burbank Middle School and Benjamin Franklin High School. Los Angeles International Charter High School and Academia Avance Charter also serve the community.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Television and features films have used the old Los Angeles Police Department building in the 6000 block of York Boulevard.


title: Highland Park, Los Angeles

text: Smith Estate, an historic hilltop Victorian house, has been a shooting location for horror films such as "Spider Baby", "Silent Scream" and "".


title: Cells at Work! Code Black

text: In contrast to the main series, which is set in a generally healthy human body, "Cells at Work! Code Black" is set in a "black" environment of a body suffering an unhealthy lifestyle. The story follows the anthropomorphic cells struggling to maintain the body against threats such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and sexually transmitted diseases.


title: Cells at Work! Code Black

text: The manga is written by Shigemitsu Harada, with illustrations by Issei Hatsuyoshiya and supervision by Shimizu. It ran in "Weekly Morning" from June 7, 2018 to January 21, 2021, and collected eight "tankōbon" volumes.


title: Cells at Work! Code Black

text: In April 2020, the 20th issue of "Morning" magazine revealed that an anime adaptation of "Cells at Work! Code Black" was in production. The series aired from January 10 to March 21, 2021. The series is directed by Hideyo Yamamoto with series composition by Hayashi Mori. Yugo Kanno is composing the music, Eiji Akibo is designing the characters for animation, and Liden Films is producing the series. Aniplex of America licensed the series and streamed it on Funimation starting on January 7, 2021, two days before the Japanese broadcast. Crunchyroll also streamed the series a month later. Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia and will stream it on iQIYI and Bilibili. The opening theme is "Hashire! with Yamasaki Seiya (Kyūso Nekokami)", while the ending theme is "Ue o Mukaite Hakobō with Sekkekkyū/Hakkekkyū", both performed by Polysics. On March 10, 2021, Funimation and Aniplex of America announced the series would be dubbed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, with the first episode premiering the next day.


title: Warby Parker

text: Warby Parker is an American online retailer of prescription glasses, contact lenses, and sunglasses, based in New York City. Warby Parker was founded as primarily online retailer, but now sells primarily (about 90%) through approximately 160 physical retail store locations across the U.S. and Canada.


title: Warby Parker

text: The company was founded in 2010 in Philadelphia by Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider and is headquartered in New York City. The name "Warby Parker" derives from two characters that appear in a journal by author Jack Kerouac. The company's official corporate name is JAND Inc. and "Warby Parker" is the company's trade name.


title: Warby Parker

text: The company was started in the Venture Initiation Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where the founders all studied. The company received $2,500 seed investment through the program and launched in February 2010. Shortly after launching, the company was covered by "Vogue". In May 2011, Warby Parker raised its first round of funding totaling $2.5 million. In September 2011, the company raised a Series A round of $12.5 million. In fall 2012, it raised a $37 million Series B round, with an additional $4 million announced in February 2013 with investors American Express and Mickey Drexler. In 2011, Warby Parker shipped more than 100,000 pairs of glasses and had 60 employees. By the end of 2012, the company had grown to around 100 employees. As of April 2015, the company was valued at $1.2 billion.


title: Warby Parker

text: In 2016, the company announced plans to create an optical lab in Rockland County, New York, to create and manufacture their glasses in-house instead of paying external manufacturers. The proposed lab would have 34,000 square feet and would employ 130 staff. The company said it had planned to invest $16 million to create the facility. The optical lab was opened in 2017.


title: Warby Parker

text: On March 14, 2018, Warby Parker raised $75 million in Series E funding, making its total funding about $300 million.


title: Warby Parker

text: On August 27, 2020, Warby Parker raised $245 million, valued at $3 billion. The $245 million was a combination of a Series F round and a Series G round.


title: Warby Parker

text: On September 29, 2021, the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange via a direct listing, opening at $54.05 a share.


title: Warby Parker

text: The company primarily sells eyewear online and through its multiple locations throughout the United States and Canada. Warby Parker's "Home-Try-On program" is a strategy used by the company in which its customers select five frames from the website, which they receive and try on at home within a 5-day period, free of charge. The company has programs where customers upload a photo and try on frames virtually through their mobile app.


title: Warby Parker

text: Warby Parker began operating online exclusively in 2010 and opened its first store in 2013. As Warby Parker's revenue started to grow, the company began opening brick-and-mortar showrooms across the country. Following the opening of its retail stores, the company announced its plan to build its own point of sale (POS) system, which was being used in their stores by 2015. It also expanded in 2015 with the brand's first national retail partnership with Nordstrom, which allowed the company to establish six curated pop-up shops nationwide. As of 2017, Warby Parker operated around 71 locations in 28 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., according to Slice Intelligence, along with two stores in Toronto and one in Vancouver. According to CNBC, due to steady growth and the success of the physical storefronts, the company planned to operate nearly 100 stores across the U.S. by the end of 2018.


title: Warby Parker

text: Warby Parker designs its product in-house, and sells directly to consumers through its website and stores. The company orders its own materials, such as acetate, from Italy and then manufactures frames at the same Chinese factories as competitors such as Luxottica. On average, a Warby Parker customer completes more than one order per year and buys an average of 1.5 units per order. In addition to eyeglasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses, Warby Parker sells monocles, which are available with prescription lenses.


title: Warby Parker

text: In 2019, the company introduced a virtual try-on augmented reality app to show users how a pair of glasses would look on their face. This was recognized as one of the "100 Best Inventions of 2019" by "Time".


title: Warby Parker

text: Warby Parker uses a social entrepreneurship model, described as "buy one, give one". For each pair of glasses purchased, the company pays for the production of another pair of eyeglasses for the nonprofit organization VisionSpring. In June 2014, Warby Parker announced that it had distributed one million pairs of eyeglasses to people in need. As of 2022, the company has distributed over ten million pairs of glasses through their "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" program. The company also claims to be 100% carbon neutral.


title: Warby Parker

text: The company received B Corp certification soon after its founding but let the status lapse by choosing against reincorporating as a public benefit corporation. Warby Parker later became a public benefit corporation in mid-2021 just prior to their initial public offering.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Atra-Hasis () is an 18th-century BCE Akkadian epic, recorded in various versions on clay tablets, named for its protagonist, Atrahasis ('exceedingly wise'). The "Atra-Hasis" tablets include both a creation myth and one of three surviving Babylonian flood myths. The name "Atra-Hasis" also appears, as king of Shuruppak in the times before a flood, on one of the "Sumerian King Lists".


title: Atra-Hasis

text: The oldest known copy of the epic tradition concerning Atrahasis can be dated by colophon (scribal identification) to the reign of Hammurabi’s great-grandson, Ammi-Saduqa (1646–1626 BC). However, various Old Babylonian fragments exist, and the epic continued to be copied into the first millennium BC.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: The story of Atrahasis also exists in a later Assyrian version, first rediscovered in the Library of Ashurbanipal, though its translations have been uncertain due to the artifact being in fragmentary condition and containing ambiguous words. Nonetheless, its fragments were first assembled and translated by George Smith as "The Chaldean Account of Genesis", the hero of which had his name corrected to "Atra-Hasis" by Heinrich Zimmern in 1899.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: In 1965, Wilfred G. Lambert and Alan R. Millard published many additional texts belonging to the epic, including an Old Babylonian copy (written c. 1650 BC) which is the most complete recension of the tale to have survived. These new texts greatly increased knowledge of the epic and were the basis for Lambert and Millard’s first English translation of the Atrahasis epic in something approaching entirety. A further fragment was recovered in Ugarit.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: In its most complete surviving version, the "Atra-Hasis" epic is written on three tablets in Akkadian, the language of ancient Babylon.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Taking place, according to its incipit, “when gods were in the ways of men," Tablet I of "Atra-Hasis" contains the creation myth of Anu, Enlil, and Enki—the Sumerian gods of sky, wind, and water. Following the "cleromancy" ('casting of lots'), the sky is ruled by Anu, Earth by Enlil, and the freshwater sea by Enki.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Enlil, god of Earth, assigned junior "" () to do farm labor, as well as maintain the rivers and canals. After 40 years, however, the lesser rebelled and refused to do strenuous labor. Enki, who is also the kind, wise counselor of the gods, suggested that rather than punishing these rebels, humans should be created to do such work, instead. The mother goddess Mami is subsequently assigned the task of creating humans by shaping clay figurines mixed with the flesh and blood of the slain god Geshtu-E ('ear' or 'wisdom'; 'a god who had intelligence'). All the gods, in turn, spit upon the clay. After 10 months, a specially made womb breaks open and humans are born.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Tablet I continues with legends about overpopulation and plagues, mentioning Atra-Hasis only at the end.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Tablet II begins with more human overpopulation. To reduce this population, Enlil sends famine and drought at formulaic intervals of 1200 years. Accordingly, in this epic, Enlil is depicted as a cruel, capricious god, while Enki is depicted as kind and helpful, perhaps because priests of Enki were writing and copying the story. Enki can be seen to have parallels to Prometheus, in that he is seen as man's benefactor and defies the orders of the other gods when their intentions are malicious towards humans.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Tablet II remains mostly damaged, but it ends with Enlil's decision to destroy humankind with a flood, with Enki bound by oath to keep this plan secret.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Tablet III of the "Atra-Hasis" epic contains the flood myth. It tells of how Enki, speaking through a reed wall, warns the hero Atra-Hasis ('extremely wise') of Enlil's plan to destroy humankind by flood, telling the hero to dismantle his house (perhaps to provide a construction site) and build a boat to escape. Moreover, this boat is to have a roof "like Abzu" (or Apsi; a subterranean, freshwater realm presided over by Enki); to have upper and lower decks; and to be sealed with bitumen.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Atra-Hasis boards the boat with his family and animals, then seals the door. The storm and flood begin, and even the gods are afraid. After seven days, the flood ends and Atra-Hasis offers sacrifices to the gods. Enlil is furious with Enki for violating his oath, but Enki denies doing so: "I made sure life was preserved." In conclusion, Enki and Enlil agree on other means for controlling the human population.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: The words "river" and "riverbank" are used in Tablet III, probably in reference to the Euphrates, the river upon which the ancient city Shuruppak, ruled by Atra-Hasis, was located.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: In later versions of the flood story, contained in the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and the Sumerian creation myth, the hero is not named Atra-Hasis.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: In "Gilgamesh", the name of the flood hero is Utnapishtim, who is said to be the son of Ubara-Tutu, king of Shuruppak: "Gilgamesh spoke to Utnapishtim, the Faraway... O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubara-Tutu." Many available tablets comprising the "Sumerian King Lists" support the lineage of the flood hero given in "Gilgamesh" by omitting a king named Shuruppak as a historical ruler of Shuruppak, implying a belief that the flood story took place after or during the rule of Ubara-Tutu.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: In the Sumerian creation myth, first recorded in the 17th century BC (i.e. the Old Babylonian Empire), the hero is named Ziusudra, who also appears in the "Instructions of Shuruppak" as the son of the eponymous Shuruppak, who himself is called the son of Ubara-Tutu.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: The "Sumerian King Lists" also make no mention of Atra-Hasis, Utnapishtim, or Ziusudra. Tablet "WB 62", however, provides a different chronology: Atra-Hasis is listed as a ruler of Shuruppak and a" gudug" priest, preceded by his father Shuruppak, who is, in turn, preceded by his father Ubara-Tutu, as in "The Instructions of Shuruppak". This tablet is unique in that it mentions both Shuruppak and Atra-Hasis.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Subsequent versions of the flood myth in the Ancient Near East evidently alter (omit and/or editorially change) information about the flood and the flood hero found in the original "Atra-Hasis" story. In particular, a lost, intermediate version of the "Atra-Hasis" flood myth seems to have been paraphrased or copied in a late edition of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" (Tablet XI). This modern addition of "Gilgamesh", known as the 'standard version', is traditionally associated with the Babylonian scribe Sîn-lēqi-unninni ("circa "1300–1000 BC), though some minor changes may have been made since his time.


title: Atra-Hasis

text: Regarding the editorial changes to the "Atra-Hasis" text in "Gilgamesh", Jeffrey H. Tigay comments: "The dropping of individual lines between others which are preserved, but are not synonymous with them, appears to be a more deliberate editorial act. These lines share a common theme, the hunger and thirst of the gods during the flood."


title: Vernon Jones

text: Vernon Angus Jones (born October 31, 1960) is an American politician who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001 and from 2017 to 2021.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Between his periods in the Georgia House of Representatives, Jones was Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County from 2001 to 2009. He has also run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, and DeKalb County Sheriff.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones began his political career as a Democrat, but became a Republican in 2021 after endorsing Donald Trump for re-election and speaking at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Jones initially ran for Governor of Georgia in the Republican primary against incumbent Brian Kemp in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election before running unsuccessfully for the U.S. House.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Born in Laurel Hill, North Carolina, Jones grew up on a farm in rural North Carolina. His father was a veteran of World War II who worked in a mill; his mother and siblings worked on the family farm. Jones was the fifth of six children, with four brothers and a sister. He attended North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina, and became a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity there, before graduating with a B.A. in business administration in 1983. Jones also completed the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Executive Program.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones began his career in the telecommunications industry, first working with MCI Communications (which later became MCI Inc.) and later BellSouth Corporation. At BellSouth, he was part of a team that established wireless communications in Montevideo, Uruguay. Jones has served on the DeKalb Board of Health, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the DeKalb Library Board, the DeKalb Pension Board, and the Board of Visitors for Emory University and North Carolina Central University.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1992, representing District SH 071, succeeding Sidney Pope Jones Jr. Jones served from 1993 to 2001, during which time he was a member of the Appropriations Committee, the Insurance Committee, and the Health & Ecology Committee, as well as the Banking Committee, and a special Judiciary Committee. Jones also chaired the Chairman of the Health Professions Subcommittee. Among the proposals Jones sponsored or co-sponsored in the Georgia House was a bill to remove the Confederate battle flag emblem from Georgia State flag, and a bill that would have banned minors from purchasing music with explicit lyrics. Jones did not stand for reelection in 2000, instead running for DeKalb County CEO, and was succeeded in the Georgia House by Ron Sailor.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones was elected as chief executive officer of DeKalb County, Georgia, in 2000, winning 64% of the vote, and was re-elected in 2004 with 54% of the vote. Jones is the first African American to serve as CEO of the county. In April 2001, shortly after Jones became CEO, he voted, along with five other DeKalb County Commissioners, to offer life and health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of gay and unmarried County employees. DeKalb was the first county in Georgia to offer such benefits. During his administration, DeKalb County established the first local Homeland Security Office in 2001. He requested and received Congressional designation of Arabia Mountain as a National Heritage Area. Jones was also primarily responsible for creation of DeKalb County's first economic development department, which generated $4 billion in new investments.


title: Vernon Jones

text: However, Jones's term as DeKalb County CEO was also known for controversies and accusations of improprieties. Shortly after taking office Jones went back on his campaign pledge to keep the homestead exemption sales tax in place. He was criticized for vetoing pay raises for police officers. In January 2005, the Georgia State Ethics Commission sanctioned Jones for campaign contribution limit violations in his 2004 reelection campaign. Under a Consent Order, Jones returned all excess contributions and personally paid a $7,500 civil penalty. Jones apologized and stated that changes in campaign finance laws between the initial election and the run-off election were the reason for his acceptance of nineteen improper campaign contributions. He was initially accused of illegally using campaign funds to promote the 2005 bond referendum, but the State Ethics Commission "found no reasonable grounds" for the complaint.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008, but was defeated 60% to 40% in the 2008 run-off for Georgia's Democratic U.S. Senate primary.


title: Vernon Jones

text: On March 23, 2007, Jones announced he was running for the United States Senate against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss. Jones was criticized by his chief rival Jim Martin over his more conservative politics and past support for George W. Bush. Jones' campaign was also marred by two new controversies. Jones sent out a flier in which he appeared in a digitally altered picture next to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama with the words "Yes We Can." However, Obama himself stated he not only never posed with Jones, he did not endorse Jones or any other candidate for the Democratic nomination for Senate. In response, Jones blamed his "liberal opponents backed by the liberal media" for trying to ruin his campaign. Jones also received criticism for the appearance of the tagline "Vote Vernon Jones for GA Senate" on tickets, produced using county funds, for the Dekalb County Blues and Jazz Festival. The company who printed the tickets, supporters of Jones' campaign, took responsibility for the incident; saying that they were unaware campaign finance laws made such an action illegal.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In the July 15, 2008 Democratic primary election, Jones won a plurality of votes in the Democratic primary. However, Georgia law requires a majority; if no majority is reached by a candidate, the two top vote-getters must face one another in a runoff. On August 5, 2008, Jones lost the run-off election to Jim Martin by a margin of 20 points. Jones unexpectedly lost to Martin in his home base of Dekalb County. Jones had lost support within the black community before the runoff election, and only captured two-thirds of the black vote in the head-to-head match up against Martin. The black turnout in the run-off was also substantially lower than the initial primary election, further hurting Vernon Jones' chances in the runoff.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In 2010, Jones launched an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Congress in Georgia's 4th congressional district. In 2014, Jones ran unsuccessfully for Sheriff of DeKalb County, GA. He lost to incumbent Sheriff Jeff Mann, 76% to 24%.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In March 2016, Jones filed to run for Georgia House of Representatives, this time in House District 91, an open seat vacated by Dee Dawkins-Haigler. In the May 2016 Democratic primary election, Jones came within sixty votes of an outright victory, but was forced into a runoff election with Rhonda Taylor. Jones won the July runoff election and in November 2016, once again won election to the Georgia House, defeating Republican Carl Anuszczyk.


title: Vernon Jones

text: On April 14, 2020, Jones became the first state elected Democratic official in Georgia to endorse President Donald Trump's re-election bid. Jones said he had no plans to switch political parties and cited Trump's "handling of the economy, his support for historically black colleges and his criminal justice initiatives" as reasons for his endorsement. Jones was swiftly disowned by Georgia Democrats, many of whom announced support for Jones' primary challenger, Rhonda Taylor. After initially saying he would resign from the state House, Jones reversed himself and said that he would complete the rest of his term, but would not seek reelection.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones addressed the Republican National Convention in August 2020 and reiterated his endorsement of Trump. On October 16, 2020, Jones spoke at a Trump rally in Macon, Georgia and crowd-surfed afterwards, which drew criticism as it occurred in the middle of a pandemic with a mostly maskless crowd.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones promoted and perpetuated Trump's false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Jones withdrew his bid for re-election in 2020 and his term ended on January 11, 2021. On January 6, 2021, he spoke at a rally in Washington D.C. before Trump's own speech, saying that he stands "firm for President Donald J. Trump" and announcing that he was changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican amid cheers from the audience; after the rally, the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol occurred.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In April 2021, Jones announced his intention to declare a run in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election against incumbent Republican Brian Kemp. He was joined by 107th Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani and 40th New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik in his announcement. His announcement came after movement from Republicans to challenge Kemp in the challenge, after Donald Trump criticized Kemp for refusing to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones trailed Kemp and former Senator David Perdue in the Republican primary polls. In February 2022, Jones announced that he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Perdue.


title: Vernon Jones

text: After withdrawing his candidacy for governor, Jones announced he would for the United States House of Representatives in Georgia's 10th congressional district. He entered the crowded Republican primary with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Jones pledged if elected, he would introduce articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. In May 2022, Jones placed second in the primary behind trucking executive Mike Collins. Neither candidate got above 50% of the vote so the two advanced to a runoff in June 2022 which Jones lost.


title: Vernon Jones

text: During his 2008 Senate campaign, Jones described himself as a "conservative Democrat" who favors "tough immigration laws and fiscal responsibility" as well as "supporter of gun rights and a staunch environmental advocate". During his 2008 campaign, he stated that he opposed same-sex marriage. OnTheIssues.org rated Jones as a "Moderate Libertarian Conservative". Jones stated that he voted for George W. Bush in 2004, and supported Barack Obama in 2008. Jones donated $2,464 in two separate donations to the Georgia Republican Party in 2001. In a 2014 press release, Jones characterized himself as an "advocate for limited government, security and protections for all citizens, balanced budgeting, ethical and efficient elections, [and] job creation". Jones was the only Democratic cosponsor of the bill to legalize the concealed carry of firearms on Georgia's college campuses.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones has been unclear about his position on abortion. While he was a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, he voted against Georgia House Bill 481, an anti-abortion law that sought to prevent Georgia physicians from performing an abortion beyond six weeks. He claimed at the time that he would become Speaker of the Georgia House because of the anti-abortion bill if Democrats took the House. While running for the Republican nomination for the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election, he told the University of Georgia's College Republicans organization that he voted against HB 481 because the bill did not go far enough to protect unborn children.


title: Vernon Jones

text: Jones opposes civil rights for LGBT people, having told Steve Bannon, "civil rights for Blacks, and gay rights for gays, are two different things."


title: Vernon Jones

text: According to a 2021 examination of Jones' record by the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution", "Jones has a long history of problematic behavior toward women, repeatedly accused of threatening, intimidating and harassing women in his personal and professional lives" over three decades. The newspaper reviewed several previously reported episodes, as well as new details that had not previously been reported. In June 1989, three years before his election to the state legislature, Jones (who was then 28 years old) was arrested on a charge of pointing a pistol at a woman in her home in Doraville. Criminal charges were dismissed, and Jones was ordered to attend anger management classes instead.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In 2003, a community activist who complained about Jones' handling of flooding issues said that a disheveled Jones, accompanied by a plainclothes county police officer, confronted her in the evening at her home, approaching her with waving arms and clenched fists and mentioning her husband's recent death. The activist said that she felt threatened and intimidated by Jones. A prosecutor declined to charge Jones with criminal trespass, but warned Jones to stay away from the activist. The activist sued Jones for trespass and assault; the case was settled out of court on confidential terms in 2009.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In 2004, DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer made a complaint to Decatur police that Jones "deliberately walked into her and made hard shoulder-to-shoulder contact" after a heated public meeting; she did not pursue charges against Jones, but accused him of verbally abusing commissioners and staff and making "derogatory and degrading comments."


title: Vernon Jones

text: A woman accused Jones of raping her in late December 2004 at a party at his home. Before detectives could take the statement of the woman, the police chief of DeKalb telephoned Jones to inform him of the allegation; a Georgia Attorney General's Office investigation concluded that the chief's call was inappropriate. The woman's name was later leaked to the media, and in 2005, the woman declined to press charges, citing the emotional distress that it would entail. Jones was not prosecuted, and the allegation did not cause him significant political damage.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In 2003, Jones was investigated by a grand jury for his security detail, which cost $800,000 a year. The cost of the detail far surpassed other county officials. The grand jury investigation found that Jones' five-officer protective detail was "a very expensive decoration" but not unlawful.


title: Vernon Jones

text: In 2004, two current (Michael Bryant, John Drake) and two former (Becky Kelley, Herbert Lowe) senior employees of the Parks Department at the time filed suit against Jones (as CEO of the county), as well as three of Jones' subordinates (former parks director Marilyn Boyd Drew, his former executive assistant Richard Stogner, and Morris Williams), and DeKalb County. The plaintiffs alleged racial discrimination, or in the case of Lowe, "retaliation for refusing to assist in racial discrimination". Kelly, Bryant, and Drake were white, while Lowe was black.


title: Vernon Jones

text: The defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds of qualified immunity. In 2006, U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. denied their motion, holding that the law does not allow "a public official defendant to engage in calculated racial discrimination costumed in a racially neutral garb of administrative actions so it can masquerade as a qualified immunity defense". On November 21, 2006, Duffey ruled that the case could go forward to a jury trial. In 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected an appeal by Jones and other defendants, upholding the denial of summary judgment. Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat, writing for the court, wrote in the ruling that DeKalb County had "embarked on a wholesale plan to replace its white county managers with African Americans" and that Jones had "devised the plan and monitored its execution".


title: Vernon Jones

text: At a jury trial in 2010, the plaintiffs' attorneys called witnesses from across county government in an attempt to demonstrate a countywide policy of discrimination. Jones denied any discrimination. Testimony revealed that during the first five years of Jones' term in office, the number of white senior county managers had dropped from 61 to 57, and the number of African-American senior county managers had risen from 33 to 61.


title: Vernon Jones

text: On April 2, 2010, the jury awarded damages to two of the four plaintiffs (to Bryant, who died before the trial, and to John Drake). The jury found DeKalb County liable for intentional discrimination. The jury found that Jones, Stogner, and Drew "created and maintained a hostile work environment"; they were ordered to pay $185,000 in damages, which was lower than the $2 million requested by plaintiffs. Jones was ordered to personally pay $27,750 in damages, which was covered by DeKalb County's liability insurance policy.


title: Vernon Jones

text: While the verdict was initially hailed as a victory for Jones, the judge later awarded the plaintiffs an additional $1.9 million in legal fees. In a post-trial settlement, DeKalb County ultimately agreed to pay the plaintiffs a total of $1.3 million for legal fees and damages.


title: National Insurance

text: National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their families.


title: National Insurance

text: Introduced by the National Insurance Act 1911 and expanded by the Labour government in 1948, the system has been subjected to numerous amendments in succeeding years. Initially, it was a contributory form of insurance against illness and unemployment, and eventually provided retirement pensions and other benefits.


title: National Insurance

text: Currently, workers pay contributions from the age of 16 years, until the age they become eligible for the State pension. Contributions are due from employed people earning at or above a threshold called the Lower Earnings Limit, the value of which is reviewed each year. Self-employed people contribute partly through a fixed weekly or monthly payment and partly on a percentage of net profits above a threshold, which is reviewed periodically. Individuals may also make voluntary contributions to fill a gap in their contributions record and thus protect their entitlement to benefits.


title: National Insurance

text: Contributions are collected by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). For employees, this is done through the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) system along with Income Tax, repayments of Student Loans and any Apprenticeship Levy which the employer is liable to pay. National Insurance contributions form a significant proportion of the UK Government's revenue, raising £145 billion in 2019-20 (representing 17.5% of all tax revenue).


title: National Insurance

text: The benefit component includes several contributory benefits, availability and amount of which is determined by the claimant's contribution record and circumstances. Weekly income and some lump-sum benefits are provided for participants upon death, retirement, unemployment, maternity and disability. In order to obtain the benefits which are related to the contributions, a National Insurance number is necessary.


title: National Insurance

text: The current system of National Insurance has its roots in the National Insurance Act 1911, which introduced the concept of benefits based on contributions paid by employed people and their employer. William Martin-Smith was issued with the First NI number A1. The chosen means of recording the contributions required the employer to buy special stamps from a Post Office and affix them to contribution cards. The cards formed proof of entitlement to benefits and were given to the employee when the employment ended, leading to the loss of a job often being referred to as being "given your cards", a phrase which endures to this day although the card itself no longer exists.


title: National Insurance

text: Initially there were two schemes running alongside each other, one for health and pension insurance benefits (administered by "approved societies" including friendly societies and some trade unions) and the other for unemployment benefit which was administered directly by Government. The Beveridge Report in 1942 proposed expansion and unification of the welfare state under a scheme of what was called social insurance. In March 1943 Winston Churchill in a broadcast entitled ""After the War"" committed the government to a system of "national compulsory insurance for all classes for all purposes from the cradle to the grave."


title: National Insurance

text: After the Second World War, the Attlee government pressed ahead with the introduction of the Welfare State, of which an expanded National Insurance scheme was a major component. As part of this process, responsibility passed in 1948 to the new Ministry of National Insurance. At that point, a single stamp was introduced which covered all the benefits of the new Welfare State.


title: National Insurance

text: Stamp cards for class 1 (employed) contributions persisted until 1975 when these contributions finally ceased to be flat-rate and became earnings related, collected along with Income Tax under the PAYE procedures. Making NI contributions is often described by people as "paying their stamp".


title: National Insurance

text: The National Insurance Funds are used to pay for certain types of welfare expenditure and National Insurance payments cannot be used directly to fund general government spending. However, any surplus in the funds is invested in government securities, and so is effectively lent to the government at low rates of interest. National Insurance contributions are paid into the various National Insurance Funds after deduction of monies specifically allocated to the National Health Services (NHS). However a small percentage is transferred from the funds to the NHS from certain of the smaller sub-classes. Thus the four NHS organisations are partially funded from NI contributions but not from the NI Fund. Less than half of benefit expenditure (42.1%) now goes on contributory benefits, compared with over 65% in 1978–79 because of the growth of means-tested benefits since the late 1970s.


title: National Insurance

text: An actuarial evaluation of the long-term prospects for the National Insurance system is mandated every 5 years, or whenever any changes are proposed to benefits or contributions. Such evaluations are conducted by the Government Actuary's Department and the resulting reports must be presented to the UK Parliament. The most recent review was conducted as at April 2015, with the report being published two years later.


title: National Insurance

text: The contributions component of the system, "National Insurance Contributions" (NICs) are paid by employees and employers on earnings, and by employers on certain benefits-in-kind provided to employees. The self-employed contribute partly by a fixed weekly or monthly payment, and partly on a percentage of net profits above a certain threshold. Individuals may also make voluntary contributions, in order to fill a gap in their contributions record and thus protect their entitlement to benefits. Contributions are collected by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) through the PAYE system, along with Income Tax and repayments of Student Loans and Postgraduate Loans.


title: National Insurance

text: People in certain circumstances, such as caring for a child, caring for a severely disabled person for more than 20 hours a week or claiming unemployment or sickness benefits, gain National Insurance credits which protects their rights to various benefits.


title: National Insurance

text: National Insurance is a significant contributor to UK government revenues, with contributions estimated to comprise 18% of total revenue in the 2019/2020 financial year.


title: National Insurance

text: National insurance contributions (NICs) fall into a number of classes. Class 1, 2 and 3 NICs paid are credited to an individual's NI account, which determines eligibility for certain benefits - including the state pension. Class 1A, 1B and 4 NIC do not count towards benefit entitlements but must still be paid if due.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 1 contributions are paid by employers and their employees. In law, the employee contribution is referred to as the 'primary' contribution and the employer contribution as the 'secondary', but they are usually referred to simply as employee and employer contributions.


title: National Insurance

text: The employee contribution is deducted from gross wages by the employer, with no action required by the employee. The employer then adds in their own contribution and remits the total to HMRC along with income tax and other statutory deductions. Contributions for employees are calculated on a periodic basis, usually weekly or monthly depending on how the employee is paid, with no reference to earnings in previous periods. Those for company directors are calculated on an annual basis, to ensure that the correct level of NICs are collected regardless of how often the director chooses to be paid.


title: National Insurance

text: There are a number of milestone figures which determine the rate of NICs to be paid. These are the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL), Primary Threshold (PT), Secondary Threshold (ST) and Upper Earnings Limit (UEL), though often the PT and ST are set to the same value. The cash value of most of these figures normally changes each year, either in line with inflation or by some other amount decided by the Chancellor. The PT is normally indexed to inflation using the CPI, while other thresholds remain indexed using the RPI.


title: National Insurance

text: As indicated above, the rates at which an individual and their employer pay contributions depend on a number of factors. Consequently, there are many possible sets of employer/employee contribution rates to allow for all combinations of the various factors. HMRC allocate a letter of the alphabet, referred to as an 'NI Table Letter', to each of these sets of contribution rates. Employers are responsible for allocating the correct table letter to each employee depending on their particular circumstances.


title: National Insurance

text: Each tax year, HMRC publish look-up tables for each table letter to assist with manual calculation of contributions, though these days most of the calculations are done by computer systems and the tables are available only as downloads. In addition, HMRC provide an online National Insurance Calculator.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 1A contributions were introduced from 6 April 1991, and are paid by employers on the value of company cars and certain other benefits in kind provided to their employees and directors, at the standard employer contribution percentage rate for the tax year. Class 1A contributions do not provide any benefit entitlement for individuals.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 1B contributions were introduced on 6 April 1999 and are payable by employers as part of a PAYE Settlement Agreement (an arrangement whereby the employer meets the tax liabilities on certain benefits). Class 1B contributions are paid at the same rate as Class 1A contributions and do not provide any benefit entitlement for individuals.


title: National Insurance

text: The general rates for the tax year 2022/23 between 6 November and 5 April are shown below. For those who qualify for the mariners rates, the employee rates are as shown below and the non-zero employer rates are 0.5% lower than those shown below.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 2 contributions are fixed weekly amounts paid by the self-employed. They are due regardless of trading profits or losses, but those with low earnings can apply for exemption from paying and those on high earnings with liability to either Class 1 or 4 can apply for deferment from paying. As of January 2020, self-employed National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be categorised as Class 2 when profits are between £6,365 and £8,631.99 a year. If a self-employed worker earns £8,632 or more a year they will be categorised as Class 4. Class 2 contributions are charged at £3.00 per week and are usually paid by direct debit. While the amount is calculated to a weekly figure, they were typically paid monthly or quarterly until 2015. For future years, class 2 is collected as part of the tax self-assessment process. For the most part, unlike Class 1, they do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for contributions-based Jobseekers Allowance, but do count towards Employment and Support Allowance.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 3 contributions are voluntary NICs paid by people wishing to fill a gap in their contributions record which has arisen either by not working or by their earnings being too low.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 3 contributions only count towards State Pension and Bereavement Benefit entitlement. The main reason for paying Class 3 NICs is to ensure that a person's contribution record is preserved to provide entitlement to these benefits, though care needs to be taken not to pay unnecessarily as it is not necessary to have contributions in every year of a working life in order to qualify.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 4 contributions are paid by self-employed people as a portion of their profits. The amount due is calculated with income tax at the end of the year, based on figures supplied on the SA100 tax return.


title: National Insurance

text: Contributions are based around two thresholds, the Lower Profits Limit (LPL) and the Upper Profits Limit (UPL). These have the same cash values as the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit used in Class 1 calculations.


title: National Insurance

text: Class 4 contributions do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for any benefits, including the State Pension, as self-employed people qualify for these benefits by paying Class 2 contributions.


title: National Insurance

text: People who are unable to work for some reason may be able to claim NI credits (technically "credited earnings", since 1987). These are equivalent to Class 1 NICs, though are not paid for. They are granted either to maintain a contributions record while not working, or to those applying for benefits whose contribution record is only slightly short of the requirements for those benefits. In the latter case, they are unavailable to fill "gaps" in past years in contribution records for some benefits.


title: National Insurance

text: The benefit component comprises a number of "contributory benefits" of availability and amount determined by the claimant's contribution record and circumstances. Weekly income benefits and some lump-sum benefits to participants upon death, retirement, unemployment, maternity and disability are provided.


title: National Insurance

text: To administer the National Insurance system, a National Insurance number is allocated to every child shortly after their birth when a claim to Child Benefit is made. People coming from overseas have to apply for a NI number before they can qualify for benefits, though holding a NI number is not a prerequisite for working in the UK. An NI number is in the format: two letters, six digits and one further letter or a space. The example used is typically QQ123456C. It is usual to pair off the digits - such separators are seen on forms used by government departments (both internal and external, notably the P45 and P60).


title: National Insurance

text: National Insurance contributions for all UK residents and some non-residents are recorded using the NPS computer system ("National Insurance and PAYE Service"). This came into use in June and July 2009 and brought NIC and Income Tax records together on one system for the first time.


title: National Insurance

text: The original National Insurance Recording System (NIRS) was a more archaic system first used in 1975 without direct user access to its records. A civil servant working within the Contributions Office (NICO) would have to request paper printouts of an individual's account which could take up to two weeks to arrive. New information to be added to the account would be sent to specialised data entry operatives on paper to be input into NIRS.


title: National Insurance

text: NIRS/2, introduced in 1996, was a large and complex computer system which had several uses. These included individual applications to access or update an individual National Insurance account, to view employer's National Insurance schemes and a general work management application. There was some controversy regarding the NIRS/2 system from its inception when problems with the new system attracted widespread media coverage. Due to these computer problems, Deficiency Notices (telling individuals of a possible shortfall in their contributions), which had been sent out on an annual basis prior to 1996, stopped being issued; the Inland Revenue took several years to clear the backlog.


title: National Insurance

text: As noted above, the employee contribution was a flat rate stamp until 1975. After this, the rates have been as follows:


title: National Insurance

text: On 7 September 2021, the government announced an increase of NI rates by 1.25 percentage points for the 2022–23 tax year, breaking its 2019 manifesto promise. From 2023, a new health and social care levy charged at the 1.25% rate would be introduced with NI rates reverting to their previous rates. This move was reversed by new chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng effective 6 November 2022.


title: National Insurance

text: In the early 2000s the lower threshold for employee contributions was aligned with the standard personal allowance for Income Tax but has since diverged significantly, as illustrated in the following table.


title: National Insurance

text: The upper limit is currently set at the figure at which the higher rate of Income Tax becomes chargeable for a person on the standard personal allowance for Income Tax in all parts of the UK except Scotland (which can set its own level for the tax threshold, but not for the NI upper limit).


title: National Insurance

text: For 2015-16 there was therefore up to £304.80 payable by someone who has not reached the point where they are liable for Income Tax. This has risen to £352.80 for 2016–17, to £400.32 for 2017–18, to £411.12 for 2018-19 and to £464.16 for 2019–20. This fell to £360 for 2020–21.


title: National Insurance

text: The current Government's manifesto in the 2019 General Election promised to restore the parity between the NI and Tax thresholds by the end of their first term in office. The limits were harmonised on 6 July 2022.


title: National Insurance

text: The limits and rates for the following tax year are normally announced at the same time as the Autumn budget made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Current rates are shown on the hmrc.gov.uk website.


title: National Insurance

text: The calculation of contributions for employees has to be made on each pay period (for non-directors of a company). As a result and unlike UK income tax, a weekly paid employee will face a charge in any week where earnings exceed 1/52 of the annual limit. It is therefore possible for a charge to arise on someone who earns below the limit on an annual basis but who has occasional payments above the weekly limit.


title: National Insurance

text: A further complication is that an employee has an allowance per employer, unlike income tax where the allowance is split between employers via the person's tax code. So a person with two low paid jobs would pay less, possibly nothing, than someone who earned the same amount from one job.


title: Paul Dinello

text: Paul E. Dinello (born November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, and writer, best known for his collaborations with Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris. He portrayed Geoffrey Jellineck on Comedy Central's "Strangers with Candy", and later became a writer and supervising producer for "The Colbert Report" and then "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."


title: Paul Dinello

text: Dinello was born in Oak Park, Illinois to Frank Anthony Dinello, the head of DePaul University's Mental Health Clinic, and Ann Lee Dinello (née Zeiler). He's the fourth of five siblings: Donna, Lori, Linda and David. His uncle Dan Dinello, who piqued his interest in directing, is an independent filmmaker and professor emeritus at Columbia College Chicago.


title: Paul Dinello

text: Dinello graduated from Oak Park River Forest High School and later attended DePaul University where he graduated from its College of Communications in 1985. He is also an alumnus of Chicago-based The Second City, Improv Institute, and Annoyance Theatre.


title: Paul Dinello

text: In the late 1980s, he was hired to perform with Second City's touring company. It was there where he met Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert with whom he often collaborated later in his career. By their retelling, the three comedians did not get along at first – Dinello thought Colbert was uptight, pretentious and cold, while Colbert thought of Dinello as "a semi-literate thug" – but the trio became close friends while touring together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility.


title: Paul Dinello

text: When he and Sedaris were offered the opportunity to create a television series for HBO Downtown Productions, Colbert left The Second City and moved to New York to work with them on the sketch comedy show "Exit 57". The series debuted on Comedy Central in 1995 and aired through 1996. Although it lasted for only 12 episodes, the show received favorable reviews and was nominated for five CableACE Awards in 1995, in categories including best writing, performance, and comedy series.


title: Paul Dinello

text: A few years later, Dinello worked again with Sedaris and Colbert to develop "Strangers with Candy". Comedy Central picked up the series in 1998.


title: Paul Dinello

text: "Strangers with Candy" was conceived of as a parody of after school specials, following the life of Jerri Blank, a 46-year-old dropout who returns to finish high school after 32 years of life on the street. Most noted by critics for its use of offensive humor, it concluded each episode by delivering to the audience a skewed, politically incorrect moral lesson. Dinello served as a main writer with Sedaris and Colbert, and portrayed Jerri's naïve and self-centered art teacher, Geoffrey Jellineck, seen throughout the series not actually teaching anything to his classes. Dinello took inspiration for his character from a teacher he used to have in high school.


title: Paul Dinello

text: Thirty episodes of "Strangers with Candy" were made, which aired on Comedy Central in 1999 and 2000. Though its ratings were not remarkable during its initial run, it has been characterized as a cult show with a small but dedicated audience. Dinello reprised his role for a film adaptation, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and had a limited release in 2006. The film received mixed reviews. Dinello directed and produced the film as well as co-wrote the screenplay with Sedaris and Colbert.


title: Paul Dinello

text: Since 2005 until the show's end in 2014, Dinello worked as a writer and supervising producer for "The Colbert Report". He made some appearances as Tad, the building manager. The character often is berated by Colbert, who forces him to do dangerous things.


title: Paul Dinello

text: In 2015, along with the rest of "The Colbert Report" crew, he moved to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" working as a writer and supervising producer. He sometimes appears on camera helping Colbert with some of the show's segments or on the cold open sketches.


title: Paul Dinello

text: In 2003, Dinello co-wrote the novel "Wigfield" with Sedaris and Colbert, which they promoted by creating a traveling play.


title: Paul Dinello

text: With Sedaris, Dinello co-wrote "Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People", published in 2010. He can be seen with Sedaris in the "Mummified Hand" episode of the Science Channel show "Oddities".


title: Paul Dinello

text: Dinello has said his creative influences include comedians Ernie Kovacs, Buster Keaton, Peter Sellers and Monty Python; filmmakers Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Terry Gilliam, Federico Fellini; and photographers: Diane Arbus and Mary Ellen Mark.


title: Paul Dinello

text: Dinello dated his "Strangers with Candy" co-star Amy Sedaris for eight years after they met at Second City.


title: Paul Dinello

text: Dinello met his wife, photographer Danielle St. Laurent, while working on the artwork for the book "Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People". They got married in 2011. The ceremony was officiated by his long-time friend Stephen Colbert, for whom he had served as best man. The couple has two sons. Sedaris is their godmother.


title: Sugarloaf Mountain

text: Sugarloaf Mountain (, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. It is known worldwide for its cableway and panoramic views of the city and beyond.


title: Sugarloaf Mountain

text: The mountain is one of several monolithic granite and quartz mountains that rise straight from the water's edge around Rio de Janeiro. Geologically, it is considered part of a family of steep-sided rock outcroppings known as non-inselberg bornhardts.


title: Sugarloaf Mountain

text: The name Sugarloaf was coined in the 16th century by the Portuguese during the heyday of sugarcane trade in Brazil. According to historian Vieira Fazenda, blocks of sugar were placed in conical molds made of clay to be transported on ships. The form of the peak reminded them of the well-known resulting "sugarloaf" shape, and the nickname has since been extended to be a general descriptor for formations of this kind.


title: Sugarloaf Mountain

text: A glass-walled cable car ("bondinho" or, more formally, "teleférico"), capable of holding 65 people, runs along a route between the peaks of Sugarloaf and Morro da Urca every 20 minutes. The original cable car line was built in 1912 and rebuilt around 1972–73 and in 2008. The cable car goes from a ground station, at the base of Morro da Babilônia, to Morro da Urca and thence to Sugarloaf's summit.


title: Sugarloaf Mountain

text: To reach the summit, passengers take two cable cars. The first ascends to the shorter Morro da Urca, high. The second car ascends to Pão de Açúcar. The Swiss-made bubble-shaped cars offer passengers 360° views of the surrounding city. The ascent takes three minutes from start to finish.


title: Sugarloaf Mountain

text: There are rock climbing routes on Sugarloaf that are mostly multipitch and are a mixture of sport and trad. There are also two other mountains in the area with technical rock climbing, Morro da Babilônia and Morro da Urca. Together, they form one of the largest urban climbing areas in the world, with more than 270 routes, between 1 and 10 pitches long.


title: National Bureau of Investigation (Philippines)

text: The National Bureau of Investigation (, abbreviated as NBI) is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Justice, responsible for handling and solving major high-profile cases that are in the interest of the nation.


text: The NBI was modelled after the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when it was being established.


text: The Division of Investigation, later renamed the National Bureau of Investigation, came into existence on June 19, 1947, the date Republic Act 157 was approved. Its history goes back to November 13, 1936, when a Division of Investigation (DI) under the Department of Justice was created with the enactment of Commonwealth Act No. 181 by the First National Assembly. Section 1, C.A. No. 181 provides:


text: A Division of Investigation under the Department of Justice is hereby created. It shall be composed of such personnel as may be necessary, in the discretion of the Secretary of Justice, and its duties shall be to help in the detection and prosecution of crimes; to acquire, collect, classify and preserve criminal identification records; and to obtain information on all matters affecting the public interest.


text: The DI was the brainchild of Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon and the then–Secretary of Justice José Yulo. A veteran American police officer, Capt. Thomas Duggan of the New York Police Department (NYPD), and the only Filipino member of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Flaviano Guerrero, were hired by the Philippine government to organize the Division of Investigation of the Department of Justice.


text: The formation of the DI generated considerable public interest and more than 3,000 applied for the initial 48 positions of NBI Agents. Physical and medical examinations were conducted by doctors from the Philippine General Hospital and San Lazaro Hospital. Of the 3,000 applicants, only 150 were allowed to take the mental test and, of this number, less than 100 passed. After further screening, 48 were certified for employment and of these successful candidates, only 45 actually accepted appointments as Agents.


text: The DI was then formally organized in 1937 and was composed of forty-five (45) Agents and approximately 100 officials and employees. These included lawyers, doctors, chemists, fingerprint technicians, photographers, research assistants, clerks, stenographers, janitors and messengers. The DI office operated in Manila, where its Agents and technical personnel were dispatched to the provinces from time to time to investigate crimes of public interest or when the necessity arose.


text: The DI operation was suspended upon the surrender of the Commonwealth Government to the occupying Japanese forces during World War II. The Japanese, however, revived the DI and allowed it to function as a division under the Department of Justice until the establishment of the Japanese puppet Philippine Republic of President José P. Laurel. During the Laurel administration, the DI was merged with the Secret Service Division of the Metropolitan Constabulary (Manila Police Department or MPD) and the Intelligence Unit of the Japanese-run Philippine Constabulary.