title: The Girls Next Door

text: In 2008, Burns approached Wilkinson and offered her a series of her own. She later accepted and the series premiered on June 7, 2009. The series was a hit for "E!", averaging 2.6 million viewers in its first season and setting many records – including being the highest-rated premiere since 2002.


title: The Girls Next Door

text: In 2009, Burns revealed he was in talks to create two new series, one for Madison and one for Marquardt.


title: The Girls Next Door

text: In 2010, a backdoor pilot focusing on the "Playmate" House, titled "", aired on August 8, 2010, but the series was not picked up.


title: The Girls Next Door

text: In 2011, "Holly's World" was initially given a third season that was due to begin filming in September, however it was later confirmed the season had been canceled before the production had begun and that the series would not be returning. The cancellation came about in July when then-new "E!" president Bonnie Hammer vowed to "get rid of the more "Playboy" trashy element" from the network – a goal that was ultimately achieved as "Kendra" was also canceled in 2012.


title: The Girls Next Door

text: In 2012, a new series titled "Kendra on Top" that would premiere on WE tv in the summer of 2012 was announced as a follow-up to "Kendra". As with all other spin-offs, this show is also produced by Burns and his production company Prometheus Entertainment.


title: EST Gee

text: George Albert Stone III (born May 11, 1994), known professionally as EST Gee, is an American rapper. He is signed to Yo Gotti's Collective Music Group (CMG), Interscope Records and Warlike. His fifth mixtape, "Bigger Than Life or Death", released on July 21, 2021, and peaked at number 7 on the "Billboard" 200. It spawned the "Billboard" Hot 100-charting songs "Lick Back" and "5500 Degrees". A deluxe edition of the mixtape was released on December 3, 2021.


title: EST Gee

text: George Albert Stone III was born on May 11, 1994, in Louisville, Kentucky to George and Sheila Stone. He grew up in the now demolished Clarksdale Projects before moving to Tubman Court & Ellington Avenue in the southeastern region of the city. After graduating St. Xavier High School in 2012, Stone received a football scholarship to Indiana State University and majored in communications. He spent two years there before transferring to Sac City College after just a year he transferred again to Stephen F. Austin University. Stone dropped out of college in 2016. He was arrested for drug trafficking in the same year and was sentenced to four months of house arrest.


title: EST Gee

text: During his house arrest, Stone became motivated to pursue a rap career after watching rapper and future collaborator Lil Baby perform on TV. He initially adopted the name "Big Gee" before switching to "EST Gee", in which EST is an initialism for "Everybody Shines Together". He released his debut song "Stains" as "Big Gee" on YouTube on December 17, 2017. He continued to release consistently through YouTube, gaining himself a local fanbase. He released his first and second mixtapes "El Toro" and "Die Bloody" in June and August 2019, respectively.


title: EST Gee

text: EST Gee gained mainstream attention with his third mixtape "Ion Feel Nun" on March 6, 2020, following it up with his fourth mixtape "I Still Don't Feel Nun" on December 18, 2020. In January 2021, EST Gee signed a deal with Yo Gotti's Collective Music Group (CMG), Interscope Records and Warlike. He featured on Lil Baby's single "Real as It Gets", which became his first "Billboard" Hot 100 song, peaking at number 34. His fifth mixtape "Bigger Than Life or Death" was released on July 21, 2021. It features guest appearances from Future, Young Thug, Pooh Shiesty, Lil Durk, and more. He explained the meaning of the project to Audiomack: "It's just telling you what's going on. And what I got going on right now is bigger than life or death. Can't nothing affect me or stop me. Even if I die, that ain't gonna do nothing but make me bigger. I'm not dying until I make a hundred million, make that two hundred million". The mixtape debuted at number 7 on the "Billboard" 200 with roughly 30,000 units. It was followed by the release of a deluxe edition, "Bigger Than Life or Death, Pt. 2", on December 3, 2021, containing no features.


title: EST Gee

text: EST Gee's mother died in March 2020 due to leukemia and his brother died a week later in a shooting in Louisville.


title: EST Gee

text: EST Gee was shot five times in September 2019 following a music video shoot, getting hit in the stomach four times and once on his left eye. His brother was hit in the leg. They were transported to a hospital and Gee was discharged after two weeks. Following surgery, Gee has retained most vision in his eye.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: Charlie Says is a 2018 American biographical drama film directed by Mary Harron and starring Hannah Murray as Leslie Van Houten and Matt Smith as infamous killer Charles Manson.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: It had its world premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2018, and was released on May 10, 2019, by IFC Films.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: The film is based on the books "The Family", by Ed Sanders, and "The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten," by Karlene Faith.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: The film documents the work of Faith with the Manson women, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten, at the California Institution for Women, in the mid-1970s.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: It shows how Faith, as a graduate student, helped the Manson women come to understand the magnitude of their crimes, and eventually renounce Charles Manson.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: The film tells the story of Leslie "Lulu" Van Houten's life in the Manson Family cult and Karlene Faith's work to deprogram her, Patricia "Katie" Krenwinkel, and Susan "Sadie" Atkins after they were imprisoned for their involvement in the Tate and LaBianca murders. It interweaves scenes from various time periods.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: In the opening scene, Lulu slowly showers blood off her face after the LaBianca murders. Three years later, Lulu, Katie, and Sadie are in the Special Security Unit at the California Institution for Women. Karlene Faith, a University of California, Santa Cruz graduate student, is assigned to teach them college classes. Lulu, Katie, and Sadie are unusually gentle, polite, and welcoming, in contrast to she expects of convicted murderers. As Karlene gets acquainted with them, she sees that their belief systems were set for them by Charles "Charlie" Manson, whom they adore: she wants to change that.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: The film flashes back to Lulu's introduction to the Family and Charlie at Spahn Ranch. Fulfilling Charlie's requests for new recruits, Catherine "Gypsy" Share brings Lulu to the ranch. Katie becomes Lulu's mentor. Katie explains Charlie's and the Family's beliefs. The group follows Charlie's preaching, instructing them to let go of their egos, live in the now, and


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: be free about sex. Drugs are handed out to everyone. The members of the Family are happy and loving to each other. That evening, Lulu witnesses a deeply emotional scene involving another Family member, Sandy. In front of the group, Charlie tears down Sandy's personality and relationship with her parents, then constructs her a new interpretation of herself and seals the deal with group affirmation. Returning from the flashback, Lulu tells Karlene that every girl should have a daddy like Charlie. Incredulous, Karlene thinks that Lulu, Katie, and Sadie have been brainwashed and offers them copies of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" and "Sisterhood is Powerful".


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: Some days, Charlie sends the women out to panhandle and hunt through dumpsters for food. Some nights, he oversees Family orgies. He makes the rules for the group: women cannot hold money, and aren't allowed to serve themselves food until the men at the table have served themselves. After Lulu sees Charlie callously disregard the pain of a crying Family member, he explains his philosophy that the members of his group are trying to let go of their materialistic culture, to submit, and to get rid of their egos and hang ups. He says that there has to be some death of self. He then has sex with Lulu, and tells her to think of it ‘like making love to her daddy’, which he believes "is what all the girls want but can never have."


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: In various scenes, Lulu is chastised for questioning the inconsistencies in Charlie's mandates. In one scene, he takes her to a cliff and tells her that if she wants to leave the ranch, then she must jump. Charlie believes that some passages in the "Book of Revelation" refer to him and that he will lead mankind after a revolution caused by a race war. Lulu, Katie, and Sadie tell Karlene about Charlie's belief that they will wait out the revolution in a bottomless pit and that when it is over, some of them will become winged elves who fly to the surface. Karlene tries to get them to think rationally instead of believing what Charlie taught them, but they still are not able to do so.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: In another flashback, Dennis Wilson tells Charlie that the Beach Boys will record one of Charlie's songs, "Cease to Exist". Elated, Charlie thinks that he is going to be a rock star. When record producer Terry Melcher sees Charlie and his back-up singers perform "Look at Your Game, Girl", he is not impressed. This makes Charlie furious and, later that evening, he beats Sadie.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: His focus shifts from music to violence. He decides to kick-start the race war by killing some white people and blaming the killings on African Americans. He calls this "Helter Skelter".


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: He orders Sadie and Tex to go to Terry Melcher's old house, now occupied by Sharon Tate, to kill the residents. They are accompanied by Katie and Linda Kasabian.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: After the Tate murders, Charlie orders Katie, Tex, and Lulu to commit the LaBianca murders. Following Charlie's teaching, Tex believes that they can become invisible at will.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: Karlene wants to give Lulu, Katie, and Sadie back their own selves from the time before they met Charlie. However, as time goes by, she realizes that when Lulu, Katie, and Sadie are able to think for themselves again, they will realize how wrong the murders were. The murders were irrevocable and they will torment Lulu, Katie, and Sadie for the rest of their lives. The final scenes show Lulu realizing that the murders would not bring about a revolution, but, instead were for nothing.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: In January 2016, Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner were announced to be directing and writing a film based on the life and crimes of Charles Manson and his followers.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: In February 2018, the casting began, with Matt Smith cast to play Manson, and Hannah Murray, Odessa Young, Marianne Rendón, Merritt Wever, Carla Gugino, Kayli Carter and Suki Waterhouse among the supporting cast. Chace Crawford and Sosie Bacon were cast in March 2018, with Gugino no longer set to star in the film. Annabeth Gish joined the film in April.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: It had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2018. Shortly after, IFC Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, beating out A24, Momentum Pictures and RLJE Films in a bidding war. It was released on May 10, 2019.


title: Charlie Says (2018 film)

text: On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's consensus states: ""Charlie Says" approaches its infamous subject from a welcome new angle, but suffers from a disappointing lack of depth in its treatment of the story." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 57 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha or the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Madhya Pradesh state in India.


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Bhopal, the capital of the state. It is housed in the "Vidhan Bhavan", an imposing building located at the center of the Capital Complex in the Arera Hill locality of Bhopal city. The term of the Vidhan Sabha is five years unless dissolved earlier. Presently, it comprises 230 members who are directly elected from single-seat constituencies.33 constituencies are reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled castes and 45 are reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled tribes


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: The history of the Madhya Pradesh legislature can be traced back to 1913, as the Central Provinces Legislative Council was formed on 8 November of this year. Later, the Government of India Act 1935 provided for the elected Central Provinces Legislative assembly. The first elections to the Central Provinces Legislative Assembly were held in 1937.


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: After Indian independence in 1947, the erstwhile province of Central Provinces and Berar, along with a number of princely states merged with the Indian Union, became a new state, Madhya Pradesh. The strength of the legislative assembly of this state was 184.


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: The present-day Madhya Pradesh state came into existence on 1 November 1956 following the reorganization of states. It was created by merging the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh (without the Marathi speaking areas, which were merged with Bombay state), Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal states. The strengths of the legislative assemblies of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, and Bhopal were 79, 48, and 23, respectively. On 1 November 1956, the legislative assemblies of all four erstwhile states were also merged to form the reorganized Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. The tenure of this first Vidhan Sabha was very short, and it was dissolved on 5 March 1957.


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: The first elections to the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha were held in 1957, and the second Vidhan Sabha was constituted on 1 April 1957. Initially, the strength of the Vidhan Sabha was 288, which was later enhanced to 321, including one nominated member. On 1 November 2000, a new state, Chhattisgarh, was carved out of Madhya Pradesh state. As a result, the strength of the Vidhan Sabha was reduced to 231, including a nominated member. The present house, the fifteenth Vidhan Sabha, was constituted in December 2018.


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: The present building was designed by Charles Correa in 1967, and it was the recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1998.


title: Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly

text: On 4 December 2017, Madhya Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed a Bill awarding death to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 and below.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The economy of Sweden is a highly developed export-oriented economy, aided by timber, hydropower, and iron ore. These constitute the resource base of an economy oriented toward foreign trade. The main industries include motor vehicles, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, industrial machines, precision equipment, chemical goods, home goods and appliances, forestry, iron, and steel. Traditionally, Sweden relied on a modern agricultural economy that employed over half the domestic workforce. Today Sweden further develops engineering, mine, steel, and pulp industries, which are competitive internationally, as evidenced by companies like Ericsson, ASEA/ABB, SKF, Alfa Laval, AGA, and Dyno Nobel.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Sweden is a competitive open mixed economy. The vast majority of Swedish enterprises are privately owned and market-oriented. There is also a strong welfare state, with public-sector spending accounting up to three-fifths of GDP. In 2014, the percent of national wealth owned by the government was 24%.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Due to Sweden being one of the neutral powers during World War II, it did not have to rebuild its economic base, the banking system, and country as a whole, as did many other European countries. Sweden has achieved a high standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. Sweden has the second highest total tax revenue behind Denmark, as a share of the country's income. , the total tax revenue was 44.2% of GDP, down from 48.3% in 2006.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: In 2014 the National Institute of Economic research predicted GDP growth of 1.8%, 3.1% and 3.4% in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. A comparison of upcoming economic growth rates of European Union countries revealed that the Baltic states, Poland, and Slovakia are the only countries that are expected to keep comparable or higher growth rates.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: In the 19th century Sweden evolved from a largely agricultural economy into the beginnings of an industrialized, urbanized country. Poverty remained widespread, prompting a large portion of the country to emigrate, mainly to the United States. Economic reforms and the creation of a modern economic system, banks and corporations were enacted during the later half of the 19th century. During that time Sweden was in a way the "powerhouse" of the Scandinavian region with a strong industrialization process commencing in the 1860s. Moreover, the Swedish Riksdag had developed into a very active Parliament already during the "Age of Liberty" (1719–72), and this tradition continued into the nineteenth century, laying the basis for the transition towards modern democracy at the end of said century. Apart from relatively high levels of human capital formation, the result of the Reformation and related government policies, such local democratic traditions were the other asset that made the "catching up" of the Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, possible and this economic rise was probably the most remarkable phenomenon in that region during the nineteenth century.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: By the 1930s, Sweden had what "Life" magazine called in 1938 the "world's highest standard of living". Sweden declared itself neutral during both world wars, thereby avoiding much physical destruction and instead, especially after the First World War, profiting from the new circumstances – such as booming demand for raw materials and foodstuffs and the disappearance of international competition for its exports. The postwar boom, that was the continuation of strong inflationary tendencies during the war itself, propelled Sweden to greater economic prosperity. Beginning in the 1970s and culminating with the deep recession of the early 1990s, Swedish standards of living developed less favorably than many other industrialized countries. Since the mid-1990s the economic performance has improved.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: In 2009, Sweden had the world's tenth highest GDP per capita in nominal terms and was in 14th place in terms of purchasing power parity.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Sweden has had an economic model in the post-World War II era characterized by close cooperation between the government, labour unions, and corporations. The Swedish economy has extensive and universal social benefits funded by high taxes, close to 50% of GDP. In the 1980s, a real estate and financial bubble formed, driven by a rapid increase in lending. A restructuring of the tax system, in order to emphasize low inflation combined with an international economic slowdown in the early 1990s, caused the bubble to burst. Between 1990 and 1993 GDP went down by 5% and unemployment skyrocketed, causing the worst economic crisis in Sweden since the 1930s. According to an analysis published in "Computer Sweden" in 1992, the investment level decreased drastically for information technology and computing equipment, except in the financial and banking sector, the part of the industry that created the crisis. The investment levels for IT and computers were restored as early as 1993. In 1992 there was a run on the currency, the central bank briefly jacking up interest to 500% in an unsuccessful effort to defend the currency's fixed exchange rate. Total employment fell by almost 10% during the crisis.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: A real estate boom ended in a bust. The government took over nearly a quarter of banking assets at a cost of about 4% of the nation's GDP. This was known colloquially as the "Stockholm Solution". In 2007, the United States Federal Reserve noted, "In the early 1970s, Sweden had one of the highest income levels in Europe; today, its lead has all but disappeared...So, even well-managed financial crises don't really have a happy ending".


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The welfare system that had been growing rapidly since the 1970s could not be sustained with a falling GDP, lower employment and larger welfare payments. In 1994 the government budget deficit exceeded 15% of GDP. The response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms to improve Sweden's competitiveness. When the international economic outlook improved combined with a rapid growth in the IT sector, which Sweden was well positioned to capitalize on, the country was able to emerge from the crisis.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The crisis of the 1990s was by some viewed as the end of the much buzzed welfare model called "Svenska modellen", literally "The Swedish Model", as it proved that governmental spending at the levels previously experienced in Sweden was not long-term sustainable in a global open economy. Much of the Swedish Model's acclaimed advantages actually had to be viewed as a result of the post WWII special situation, which left Sweden untouched when competitors' economies were comparatively weak.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: However, the reforms enacted during the 1990s seem to have created a model in which extensive welfare benefits can be maintained in a global economy.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2022–2027). Inflation under 5% is in green.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Sweden is an export-oriented mixed economy featuring a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled labor force. Timber, hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. Telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. Agriculture accounts for 2 percent of GDP and employment. The armaments industry has a technologically highly advanced reputation.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The 20 largest Sweden-registered companies by turnover were Volvo, Ericsson, Vattenfall, Skanska, Hennes & Mauritz, Electrolux, Volvo Personvagnar, Preem, TeliaSonera, Sandvik, ICA, Atlas Copco, Nordea, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, Scania, Securitas, Nordstjernan, SKF, ABB Norden Holding, and Sony Mobile Communications AB. Sweden's industry is overwhelmingly in public and state control, the most prominent example of this is LKAB, a state-owned mining company, mostly active in the northern part of the country, with the largest noted market share out of all its domestic competitors.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Some 4.5 million residents are working, out of which around a third have a tertiary education. GDP per hour worked is the world's 9th-highest at US$31 in 2006, compared to US$22 in Spain and US$35 in United States. According to the OECD, deregulation, globalization, and technology-sector growth have been key drivers of productivity. GDP per hour worked is growing per cent a year for the economy as a whole and trade-terms-balanced productivity growth 2%. Sweden is a world leader in privatized pensions, and pension-funding problems are small compared to many other Western European countries. The Swedish labor market has become more flexible, but it still has some widely acknowledged problems. The typical worker receives only 40% of their income after the tax wedge. The slowly declining overall taxation, 51% of GDP in 2007, is still nearly double of that in the United States or Ireland. Civil servants amount to a third of Swedish workforce, multiple times the proportion in many other countries. Overall, GDP growth has been fast since reforms in the early 1990s, especially in manufacturing.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: World Economic Forum 2012–2013 competitiveness index ranks Sweden 4th most competitive. The Index of Economic Freedom 2012 ranks Sweden the 21st most free out of 179 countries, or 10th out of 43 European countries. Sweden ranked 9th in the IMD Competitiveness Yearbook 2008, scoring high in private sector efficiency. According to the book, "The Flight of the Creative Class", by the U.S. urban studies, Professor Richard Florida of University of Toronto, Sweden is ranked as having the best creativity in Europe for business and is predicted to become a talent magnet for the world's most purposeful workers. The book compiled an index to measure the kind of creativity it claims is most useful to business – talent, technology and tolerance. Sweden's investment into research and development stood, in 2007, at over 3.5% of GDP. This is considerably higher than that of a number of MEDCs, including the United States, and is the largest among the OECD members.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Sweden rejected the Euro in a referendum in 2003, and Sweden maintains its own currency, the Swedish krona (SEK). The Swedish Riksbankfounded in 1668 and thus making it the oldest central bank in the worldis currently focusing on price stability with its inflation target of 2%. According to "Economic Survey of Sweden 2007" by OECD, the average inflation in Sweden has been one of the lowest among European countries since the mid-1990s, largely because of deregulation and quick utilization of globalization.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The largest trade flows are with Germany, United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Denmark and Finland.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The Swedish economic picture has brightened significantly since the severe recession in the early 1990s. Growth has been strong in recent years, and even though the growth in the economy slackened between 2001 and 2003, the growth rate has picked up since with an average growth rate of 3.7% in the last three years. The long-run prospects for growth remain favorable. The inflation rate is low and stable, with projections for continued low levels over the next 2–3 years.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Since the mid-1990s the export sector has been booming, acting as the main engine for economic growth. Swedish exports also have proven to be surprisingly robust. A marked shift in the structure of the exports, where services, the IT industry, and telecommunications have taken over from traditional industries such as steel, paper and pulp, has made the Swedish export sector less vulnerable to international fluctuations. However, at the same time the Swedish industry has received less money for its exports while the import prices have gone up. During the period 1995–2003 the export prices were reduced by 4% at the same time as the import prices climbed by 11%. The net effect is that the Swedish terms-of-trade fell 13%.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: By 2014, legislators, economists and the IMF were warning of a bubble with residential property prices soaring and the level of personal mortgage debt expanding. Household debt-to-income rose above 170% as the IMF called on legislators to consider zoning reform and other means of generating a greater supply of housing as demand was outstripping supply. By August 2014, 40% of home borrowers had interest-only loans while those that didn't were repaying principal at a rate that would take 100 years to fully repay.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The government budget has improved dramatically from a record deficit of more than 12% of GDP in 1993. In the last decade, from 1998 to present, the government has run a surplus every year, except for 2003 and 2004. The surplus for 2011 is expected to be 99 billion ($15b) kronor. The new, strict budget process with spending ceilings set by the Riksdag, and a constitutional change to an independent Central Bank, have greatly improved policy credibility.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: From the perspective of longer-term fiscal sustainability, the long-awaited reform of old-age pensions entered into force in 1999. This entails a far more robust system vis-à-vis adverse demographic and economic trends, which should keep the ratio of total pension disbursements to the aggregate wage bill close to 20% in the decades ahead. Taken together, both fiscal consolidation and pension reform have brought public finances back on a sustainable footing. Gross public debt, which jumped from 43% of GDP in 1990 to 78% in 1994, stabilised around the middle of the 1990s and started to come down again more significantly beginning in 1999. In 2000 it fell below the key level of 60% and had declined to a level of 35% of GDP as of 2010.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Current economic development reflects a quite remarkable improvement of the Swedish economy since the crisis in 1991–93, so that Sweden could easily qualify for membership in the third phase of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, adopting the euro as its currency. In theory, by the rules of the EMU, Sweden is obliged to join, since the country has not obtained exception by any protocol or treaty (as opposed to Denmark and the United Kingdom). Nevertheless, the Swedish government decided in 1997 against joining the common currency from its start on 1 January 1999. This choice was implemented by exploiting a legal loophole, deliberately staying out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. This move is currently tolerated by the European Central Bank, which however has warned that this would not be the case for newer EU members.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: In the first years of the twenty-first century, a majority for joining emerged in the governing Social Democratic party, although the question was subject of heated debate, with leading personalities in the party on both sides. On 14 September 2003, a national referendum was held on the euro. A 56% majority of Swedes rejected the common currency, while 42% voted in favour of it.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Currently no plans for a new referendum or parliamentary vote on the matter are being discussed, though it has been implied that another referendum may take place in around ten years.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: In contrast with most other European countries, Sweden maintained an unemployment rate around 2% or 3% of the work force throughout the 1980s. This was, however, accompanied by high and accelerating inflation. It became evident that such low unemployment rates were not sustainable, and in the severe crisis of the early 1990s the rate increased to more than 8%. In 1996 the government set out a goal of reducing unemployment to 4% by 2000. During 2000 employment rose by 90,000 people, the greatest increase in 40 years, and the goal was reached in the autumn of 2000. The same autumn the government set out its new target: that 80% of the working age population will have a regular job by 2004. Some have expressed concern that meeting the employment target may come at a cost of too high a rate of wage increases hence increasing inflation. However, as of August 2006, roughly 5% of working age Swedes were unemployed, over the government-established goal. However, some of the people who cannot find work are put away in so-called "labour market political activities", referred to as "AMS-åtgärder".


title: Economy of Sweden

text: According to Jan Edling, a former trade-unionist, the actual number of unemployed is far higher, and those figures are being suppressed by both the government and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. In Edling's report he added that a further 3% of Swedes were occupied in state-organised job schemes, not in the private sector. He also claimed a further 700,000 Swedes are either on long-term sick leave or in early retirement. Edling asks how many of these people are in fact unemployed. According to his report, the "actual unemployment" rate hovers near 20%. Some critics disagree with this concept of "actual" unemployment, also termed "broad unemployment", since they do not see e.g. students who rather want a job, people on sick leave and military conscripts as "unemployed".


title: Economy of Sweden

text: According to Swedish Statistics, unemployment in June 2013 was 9.1% in the general population and 29% amongst 15- to 25-year-olds.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Around seventy percent of the Swedish labour force is unionised. For most unions there is a counterpart employer's organization for businesses. The unions and employer organisations are independent of both the government and political parties, although the largest confederation of unions, the National Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions or "LO" (organising blue-collar workers), maintains close links to one of the three major parties, the Social Democrats.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The unionisation rate among white-collar workers is exceptionally high in Sweden – since 2008 higher than for blue-collar workers. In 2019, blue-collar density was 60%, and white-collar density was 72% (full-time students working part-time excluded). Just before the considerably raised fees to union unemployment funds in January 2007, blue-collar and white-collar union density was the same (77% in 2006). The average union density was 70% in the years 2011–2014, 69% in 2015-2017 and 68% in 2018 and 2019. There are two major confederations that organise professionals and other qualified employees: the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees ("Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation" or TCO) and the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations ("Sveriges Akademikers Centralorganisation" or SACO). They are both independent from Sweden's political parties and never endorse candidates for office in political elections.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: There is no minimum wage that is required by legislation. Instead, minimum wage standards in different sectors are normally set by collective bargaining. About 90% of all workers are covered by collective agreements, in the private sector 83% (2018). The high coverage of collective agreements is achieved despite the absence of state mechanisms extending collective agreements to whole industries or sectors. This reflects the dominance of self-regulation (regulation by the labour market parties themselves) over state regulation in Swedish industrial relations.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: Sweden has not joined the EMU (the Economic and Monetary Union / the Euro) and will not in the foreseeable future. When the issue was at the agenda, the Swedish union movement was very split. In contrast to the very positive attitude of employers' associations, the union rank-and file opinion was so split that several unions, as well as the confederations LO, TCO and SACO, abstained from taking an official position.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The traditionally low wage differential has increased in recent years as a result of increased flexibility as the role of wage setting at the company level has strengthened somewhat. Still, Swedish unskilled employees are well paid while well educated Swedish employees are low-paid compared with those in competitor countries in Western Europe and the US. The average increases in real wages in recent years have been high by historical standards, in large part due to unforeseen price stability. Even so, nominal wages in recent years have been slightly above those in competitor countries. Thus, while private-sector wages rose by an average annual rate of 3.75% from 1998 to 2000 in Sweden, the comparable increase for the EU area was 1.75%. In the year 2000 the total labour force was around 4.4 million people.


title: Economy of Sweden

text: The Swedish government has announced that it will privatise a number of wholly and partly state owned companies. "The income from these sales will be used to pay off the government debt and reduce the burden of debt for future generations. The Government's ambition was to sell companies to a value of SEK 200 billion during 2007–2010."


title: This Old House

text: This Old House is an American home improvement media brand with television shows, a magazine, and a website (ThisOldHouse.com). The brand is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The television series airs on the American television network Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and follows remodeling projects of houses over a series of weekly episodes.


title: This Old House

text: Boston PBS station WGBH-TV originally created the program and produced it from its inception in 1979 until 2001, when Time Inc. acquired the television assets and formed This Old House Ventures. WGBH also distributed episodes to PBS until 2019, when WETA-TV became the distributor starting with the first episode of Season 41. Warner Bros. Domestic Television distributes the series to commercial television stations in broadcast syndication. Time Inc. launched "This Old House" magazine in 1995, focusing on home how-to, know-how, and inspiration.


title: This Old House

text: In 2016, Time Inc. sold This Old House Ventures to executive Eric Thorkilsen and private equity firm TZP Growth Partners (although it will continue to have a special partnership deal with its former parent company). On March 19, 2021, This Old House Ventures was sold to Roku.


title: This Old House

text: "This Old House" and its sister series "Ask This Old House" are often broadcast together as "The This Old House Hour", which was originally known as "The New This Old House Hour". Both shows are owned by This Old House Ventures, Inc. and are underwritten by GMC and The Home Depot.


title: This Old House

text: Two of the original underwriters were Weyerhauser and Owens-Corning. Weyerhauser, a lumber distributor, had donated more than $1,000,000 a year to the show by 1989. "This Old House" is also underwritten by State Farm Insurance, HomeServe, and Marvin Windows and Doors. Other underwriters throughout the show's tenure have included Parks Corporation, Glidden, Montgomery Ward, Ace Hardware, Kohler, Schlage, Century 21 Real Estate, Toro, ERA Real Estate, Angie's List, Amica Mutual Insurance, GAF, Mitsubishi Electric, and Lumber Liquidators.


title: This Old House

text: The third series to share the name is "Inside This Old House", a retrospective featuring highlights from previous episodes. Old episodes are also shown under the program name "This Old House Classics" and were formerly shown on The Learning Channel under the name "The Renovation Guide". Only the episodes with original host Bob Vila aired under that name. , "Classics" are also carried on the commercial non-broadcast DIY Network as well as syndicated to local TV stations.


title: This Old House

text: "This Old House" was one of the earliest home improvement shows on national television. As such, it was initially controversial among building contractors, and some cast members were afraid that they were giving away secrets of the building trades. As time passed the show grew into a cultural icon, and producer-director Russell Morash became known as the "Father of How-To".


title: This Old House

text: Begun in 1979 as a one-time, 13-part series airing on WGBH, "This Old House" has grown into one of the most popular programs on the network. It has produced spin-offs (notably "The New Yankee Workshop" hosted by Norm Abram), a magazine, and for-profit web sites. The show has won 17 Emmy Awards and received 82 nominations.


title: This Old House

text: Although WGBH acquired the first two project houses (6 Percival Street in Dorchester and the Bigelow House in Newton) for renovation, the series originally focused on renovating older houses, including those of modest size and value, with the homeowners doing some of the work as a form of sweat equity. The series covering the renovation of the Westwood house (Weatherbee Farm) became something of a cult classic because of an escalating dispute between the hosts, Vila and Abram, and the homeowners over the direction the project was taking. Vila remarked at the end of the Westwood series that the owners could have contributed more "sweat equity". As the show evolved, it began to focus on higher-end, luxury homes with more of the work done by expert contractors and tradespeople.


title: This Old House

text: Vila left "This Old House" in 1989 following a dispute over his doing commercials, and he created a similar show called "Bob Vila's Home Again". According to news reporter Barbara Beck, Vila was fired by WGBH Boston over making TV commercials for Rickel Home Centers, The Home Depot's competitor. Home Depot, the show's underwriter, dropped its local sponsorship for "This Old House" after Vila made the commercials. Vila was fired in an effort to have Home Depot return as a sponsor to the show. During Vila's tenure, the show drew 11 million viewers and had won five Emmys. Weyerhauser, at this time a supplier for The Home Depot, stopped underwriting the show.


title: This Old House

text: Steve Thomas took over hosting duties after Vila's departure, remaining with the program until 2003. Cast members later complained that Vila took up too much screen time for himself, and noted that the show became more of an ensemble production after he left.


title: This Old House

text: Since 2003, Kevin O'Connor has been the host of "This Old House". Before O'Connor joined the cast, he was a homeowner who appeared on "Ask This Old House", seeking help with wallpaper removal. While O'Connor has been the host, Abram's role has increased to that of a near co-host. In at least a few season-opening episodes (in Cambridge, Carlisle, and Austin), Abram has appeared alongside O'Connor to introduce the new project. Abram also filled in for O'Connor when his colleague's son was born during the Carlisle project.


title: This Old House

text: Beginning with the 2007–08 season, "This Old House" and "Ask This Old House" are presented in a high-definition television format.


title: This Old House

text: To celebrate its 30th anniversary season, "This Old House" worked with Nuestra Comunidad to renovate a foreclosed home in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. Nuestra Comunidad is a non-profit development corporation that acquired this 1870s-era Second Empire style home from a bank foreclosure.


title: This Old House

text: In 2016, Time Inc. sold "This Old House" to a joint venture operating as This Old House Ventures, LLC.


title: This Old House

text: To celebrate the 40th season in 2019, a retrospective and revisit of some of the more-notable projects were incorporated into a handful of episodes, with some of the original homeowners providing tours. The first house highlighted was the original 1979 project house in Dorchester.


title: This Old House

text: On March 19, 2021, TZP Growth Partners completed the sale of This Old House Ventures to Roku. All 1,500 episodes of "Ask This Old House" and "This Old House" will be made available to owners of Roku streaming products free with ads, and through their dedicated 24/7 Streaming TV channel. PBS will still have rights to air episodes on their platforms.


title: This Old House

text: For the first 23 seasons (1979–2002), "This Old House" used its first theme song, which was the clarinet sound of "Louisiana Fairy Tale", composed by Haven Gillespie, Mitchell Parish, and J. Fred Coots, performed by 20th century jazz artist Fats Waller. The theme song was changed after This Old House Ventures bought the series from WGBH. In Season 24 (2002–03), "Louisiana Fairy Tale" was removed entirely owing to copyright issues and was replaced by "This Old House '97", which was composed by Peter Bell. A new theme song followed in Season 30 (2009–2010). Bill Janovitz composed the show's current theme song, which was first used in Season 33 (2012–2013).


title: This Old House

text: In 2002, Time Inc. created a spinoff of "This Old House" entitled Ask This Old House. The show was inspired by a similar feature in "This Old House Magazine". It takes place in "the loft" of a rural barn somewhere in the Boston area. The regulars on the show have been Kevin O'Connor, Tom Silva, Richard Trethewey, and Roger Cook. Norm Abram does not appear on "Ask This Old House". In later seasons, the spin-off program added landscape expert Jennifer Nawada Evans, eventually replacing Roger Cook, who retired due to unspecified health issues. Other experts making regular appearances include masonry specialist Mark McCullough, paint and finish specialist Mauro Henrique, and electricians Scott Caron and Heath Eastman. Ross Trethewey (son of Richard Trethewey) leads the show's segment called "Future House", covering home automation and related technology.


title: This Old House

text: Magazine readers or show viewers submit home repair or improvement questions to the four regulars, who sometimes also invite guest experts to answer more-specialized questions. Most of the questions are answered in the home-base loft, but one or two homeowners in each episode receive an on-site visit from one of the show's hosts. The visiting host assists in starting or completing the task with the homeowners' hands-on participation. Over the course of several seasons, at least one of the traveling team members has been featured in a segment in each of the 50 US states.


title: This Old House

text: "Ask This Old House" had a program segment called "What Is It?". In this segment, three of the four regulars would offer lame humorous guesses as to the function of an unusual tool or device, before the fourth regular would reveal its actual use. Beginning with the 2007–08 season, "Ask This Old House" added a "Useful Tip" segment provided by a viewer of the show; this is a revival of a short-lived feature of "This Old House" when Bob Vila hosted the show. Another occasional feature is "Home Inspection Nightmares", in which viewer-submitted photographs of badly-made or deteriorated home installations are shown and commented on by the hosts.


title: This Old House

text: The opening sequence of "Ask This Old House" consisted of a GMC van towing the dark-blue "Ask This Old House" trailer from around Massachusetts before reaching the barn at the end. The 25-second version of the opening sequence showed Tom Silva, as passenger, picking up four coffees from a drive-through. The original version had Steve Thomas as the driver. The 40-second version of the opening sequence showed Kevin O'Connor as the driver. In both versions, after the van pulls into the barn driveway, the footage cuts to Richard Trethewey handing out the coffees to the other three regulars. The original opening sequence has since been modified, and still shows the travels of the small trailer which has the "Ask This Old House" logo prominently displayed.


title: This Old House

text: "This Old House" magazine was first published in 1995 by Time Inc. Published eight times per year, the magazine has a circulation of over 950,000 and reaches nearly 6 million consumers each month. Nathan Stamos is the publisher. , Susan Wyland, best known for her tenure on Time Inc.'s "Real Simple" magazine, became the magazine's editor in chief, replacing Scott Omelianuk, who had been editor for 12 years.


title: This Old House

text: ThisOldHouse.com is the brand's website and features how-to projects and inspiration and tips for homeowners. The website also serves as the online destination for the television show and includes bios on the cast, information on all of the home projects, and live webcams of the current house projects.


title: This Old House

text: A short-lived spin-off of the "This Old House" franchise, Inside This Old House was shown primarily on the A&E Network and originally aired from 2003 to 2004. The show was very much like "Ask This Old House": it was shot mainly in the "loft", was hosted by O'Connor, and featured the regular experts listed above and also Abram (master carpenter). However, unlike "Ask This Old House", usually one or two experts were used throughout the episode and a specific theme was discussed. The theme was usually a particular topic (e.g., landscaping, installing doors, etc.). Along with the in-house expert, and sometimes a guest expert, clips were shown of past episodes of "This Old House" (mainly the original episodes with Bob Vila) to further illustrate the point as well as revisit past projects undertaken over the previous 25 years to see what the homeowners have done since airing. Each episode ended with a segment called "Inside Out", which featured one of the two guest commentators, Jimmy Dunn and Doreen Vigue, and one of the experts, with a brief and comedic overview of what was discussed on the show.


title: This Old House

text: In 2017, The CW network began airing a new spin-off, "This Old House: Trade School". It is also hosted by Kevin O'Connor and is repurposed to meet E/I regulations for people 13 to 16 years old as part of the "One Magnificent Morning" program block. "Trade School" features the stars of "This Old House", Norm Abram, Tom Silva, Richard Trethewey, and Roger Cook, showing what it is like to work alongside these seasoned pros.


title: This Old House

text: The first host of "This Old House" was designer-builder and remodeling expert Bob Vila. He hosted the program from 1979 to 1989, when he left "This Old House" to become a spokesman for Sears Roebuck & Company. From 1990 to 2005 he hosted the spinoff program "Bob Vila's Home Again", and from 2005 to 2007 he hosted "Bob Vila".


title: This Old House

text: For the original program, Vila was followed by Steve Thomas, who hosted from 1989 to 2003. In 2003, Thomas left the show and was replaced by current host Kevin O'Connor.


title: This Old House

text: Like many successful programs, "This Old House" has found its way into the humorist's eye on occasion. The most famous example is "Tool Time", the "show-within-a-show" on the American television situation comedy "Home Improvement". Tim Allen played Tim Taylor, a character inspired by Bob Vila, while Richard Karn portrayed Al Borland, a character based on Norm Abram. Bob Vila also guest-starred from time to time as Tim's rival and archenemy. In one episode in 1994, Vila challenges Tim to a hot rod race and Tim tells Vila that he will kick Vila back to "That Old House". When Vila tells Tim that he's no longer on "This Old House" and that he started a new show called "Home Again", Tim says he'll kick Vila "Home Again".


title: This Old House

text: HBO's "Hardcore TV" parodied "This Old House" as "This Old Whore House", "This Old House of Style", and "This Old House Party". "Bill Nye the Science Guy" parodied the show as "This Old Brain", as well as "This Old Climate"; both featured Pat Cashman as Bob Liam. Nick at Nite's "On the Television" parodied the show as "This Old Backyard".


title: This Old House

text: In 1985, PBS produced its own parody of "This Old House" titled "This Old Shack", which featured "Bob Villa" and master carpenter "Paul Thumbs" in a three-part rehab in Arlington. In the seventh season of the second series of "ZOOM", there was a parody of "This Old House" retitled as "This Old Place" wherein "Abe Norman" (a parody of Norm Abram), played by Kyle Morrow, would fix something (e.g., a washing machine) that would never function as it should. On one occasion, he put a gown in a washing machine and it came out as the shirt he was wearing currently.


title: This Old House

text: The Disney Channel's "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" parodied the show as "This Old Home", which featured renovations on the candy house from Hansel and Gretel. Fred Newman portrayed Bob Vilalalala (a parody of Bob Vila). In 1986, "Late Night with David Letterman" parodied "This Old House" as "This House Needs Work with David Letterman", wherein Chris Elliott portrayed a head carpenter. In 2000, Blame Society Productions released a parody of "This Old House" titled "My Old House with Bob Voila". "Almost Live!" parodied "This Old House" as "This Here Place", which featured Pat Cashman as "Bob Bobbin".


title: This Old House

text: In 1988, John Larroquette portrayed Bob Vila on the NBC late-night sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" in a parody of "This Old House" with homeowners Tom (Kevin Nealon) and Peggy McGuinness (Victoria Jackson) in which he rehabilitates an 1865 Victorian farmhouse to have load-bearing walls that sweat blood. Another SNL sketch shows Phil Hartman portraying a robot named XG-7000 who hosts a PBS show called "Robot Repair". The robot objects to the title, saying that it misleadingly implies that robots are in need of repair rather than doing repairs, and asks the producer to change it. For the next several weeks, the producer responds by changing the title to something equally frustrating to XG-7000, such as "Robot Repair and You", "Explaining Robots", and "Let's Fix, Robots". Finally, after the title is changed to "This Old Robot", XG-7000 storms off the set to kill the producer, saying that he must be destroyed. The sketch would end with FOX show called "Fugitive Robots", (parody of "America's Most Wanted"), where an FBI agent (played by Jon Lovitz) remarked that XG-7000 was now wanted for murder, and the victim was the producer of a TV show called "Robot Restoration" and was supposedly about how to fix robots. The skit ends with the text reading onscreen: "Fugitive Robots, previously known as Robot Apprehension".


title: This Old House

text: Fox's long-running sketch comedy show "Mad TV" did a parody called "This Cold House". Fox's "In Living Color" parodied "This Old House" as "This Ol' Box". Damon Wayans portrayed a homeless person named Anton Jackson, who talks about renovating a large cardboard box where he lived.


title: This Old House

text: In the mid-1980s, a special on PBS station WTTW-Chicago starring Jim Belushi ostensibly showcasing three pilots for potential new programs featured Belushi as "Bobby Viola," the host of a parody titled "This Old Car."


title: Columbus Short

text: Columbus Keith Short Jr. (born September 19, 1982) is an American actor and choreographer. He choreographed Britney Spears's Onyx Hotel Tour and worked with Brian Friedman (of "So You Think You Can Dance" fame). He is best known for his roles in the films "Stomp the Yard", "Cadillac Records", "Armored", and "The Losers". He previously starred as a series regular in the ABC drama "Scandal", as Harrison Wright. On April 26, 2014, it was announced that Short would leave "Scandal" after three seasons with the show.


title: Columbus Short

text: Short was born in Kansas City, Missouri to a family he has described as "musical". His mother, Janette, has a talent management company. He has two brothers, John Rancipher and Chris Staples. Short relocated to Los Angeles when he was five years old and immediately began working in a youth theater. He attended Marcos De Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona, as well as El Segundo High School and the Orange County School of the Arts, before leaving to join the off-Broadway tour of Stomp.


title: Columbus Short

text: Short's acting debut came as a dancer in "You Got Served" and he later appeared in "Accepted", starring Justin Long. He then took lead roles in the direct-to-DVD movie "Save the Last Dance 2" alongside Izabella Miko and "Stomp the Yard". He has also appeared twice in the Disney Channel Original Series "That's So Raven" as Trey, a member of the fictional boy band "Boyz n' Motion." Other TV appearances include "ER" and "Judging Amy".


title: Columbus Short

text: In 2006, he appeared in NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" as novice show-writer Darius Hawthorne. He was among the presenters at the 2007 NAACP Image Awards. In 2007, Columbus appeared in the movie "This Christmas" also starring Chris Brown and Lauren London. In 2008, Short appeared in the movie "Quarantine", co-starring Jay Hernandez and Jennifer Carpenter, and played the part of musician Little Walter in "Cadillac Records", with Jeffrey Wright, Beyoncé Knowles, and Oscar-winner Adrien Brody. In 2010, he played "Pooch" in the film "The Losers", based on the graphic novel, co-starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, and Zoe Saldana, and directed by Sylvain White (who had already directed Short in "Stomp The Yard").


title: Columbus Short

text: He married dancer Tanee McCall in 2005. She filed for divorce twice once in September 2013 and again in April 2014. They have a daughter, Ayala.


title: Columbus Short

text: In August 2016, Short announced his engagement to Aida Abramyan. The couple wed in December of that year and have two sons together.


title: Columbus Short

text: In 2014, as part of a no-jail plea agreement, Short pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence and performed 30 hours of community service.


title: Columbus Short

text: Short also avoided jail by pleading no contest to a felony assault charge after throwing "a running punch" at his in-law during a family gathering at a bar. Short stated he was being taunted and acted in self-defense, and his opponent admitted he had removed his jersey and was prepared to fight Short before the punch caused a concussion and fractured eye socket.


title: Columbus Short

text: In an interview with "Access Hollywood Live", Short said that substance abuse, both alcoholism and cocaine use due to the stress of family issues and personal loss, led to his departure from "Scandal".


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., also known as American Eagle, is an American lifestyle, clothing, and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverman as a subsidiary of Retail Ventures, Inc., a company that also owned and operated Silverman's Menswear. The Silvermans sold their ownership interests in 1991 to Jacob Price of Knoxville, Tennessee. American Eagle Outfitters is also the parent company of Aerie.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: The brand targets male and female university and high school students, although older adults also wear the brand. As of January 2021, the company operated 901 American Eagle stores, 175 Aerie stores, and 2 Todd Snyder stores in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong. In 1977, the first American Eagle Outfitters store opened in Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, Michigan.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: Some of the brand's popular products are jeans, polo shirts, graphic T-shirts, boxers, outerwear, and swimwear.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle's beginning was with the Silverman family, which owned and operated Silvermans Menswear. By the mid-1970s, two of the Silverman brothers—the third generation of Silvermans in the family business—were running the business. Jerry Silverman was the president and CEO, while his brother, Mark, served as executive vice-president and COO. The Silverman brothers were convinced they needed to diversify their product offerings in order to continue growing their company. They also recognized that the addition of new family-owned chains would then enable them to operate more than one store in the same mall. Their first attempt was to open American Eagle Outfitters in 1977, positioning it as a proprietor of brand-name leisure apparel, footwear, as well as accessories for men and women, emphasizing merchandise suited for outdoor sports, such as hiking, mountain climbing, and camping. Stores were set up in shopping malls and a catalog was established. The chain grew for much of the 1980s. In 1989, the owners decided to refocus their business on American Eagle Outfitters, selling their other retail chains. At the time, there were 137 American Eagle Outfitters stores in 36 different states.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: Despite the plans for quick growth after the reorganization, American Eagle Outfitters opened only 16 new stores by 1991 and the company was losing money. At this point, the Schottensteins, who had been 50% owners of the chain since 1980, bought out the Silverman family's interest. This change in leadership resulted in American Eagle finding its present niche: casual clothing for men and women selling private label clothes.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: When the company began trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the second quarter of 1994, it had 167 stores and a healthy cash flow. With the cash infusion from the IPO, the company opened more than 90 new stores over the next year. Several new executives joined the company in 1995 and '96, leading to another change in the target demographic. Over the next five years, revenues quintupled to $1 billion by 2000. AEO opened the first Canadian store in 2000.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: As of January 30, 2016, the company operated 949 AEO brand stores, and 97 stand-alone and 67 side-by-side Aerie stores in shopping malls, lifestyle centers, and street locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company had 21 franchised stores operated by franchise partners in 10 countries. On January 22, 2014, then-CEO Robert Hanson stepped down and Jay Schottenstein became interim CEO.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: On March 15, 2005, the company adjusted its accounting of rent expenses and construction allowances after the Securities and Exchange Commission noted that a number of companies had been improperly logging these items. Due to "disappointing product execution in the women's category", American Eagle posted only a 3% gain in its 2013 second-quarter profits and the stock price dropped.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: On 27 July 2020, American Eagle Outfitters revealed it would sell a new range of fitness wear called "Offline" by Aerie, targeted at consumers who want apparel that can be used for both their workouts and relaxing.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In mid-2007, American Eagle moved its headquarters from Warrendale, Pennsylvania, to a more urban location at the SouthSide Works complex in Pittsburgh. The cost of the buildings and adjacent property was approximately $21 million (excluding interior finishing and additional construction costs). The addresses of the buildings are 19 Hot Metal Street and 77 Hot Metal Street, with the numbers symbolizing the first store opening in 1977. The Southside Works Campus includes a private garage, a lab store for each brand, a photo studio, and an in-house cafeteria. Other offices are in New York (design and production).


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In June 2009, the company signed the franchisee agreement with M. H. Alshaya, one of the leading retailers of the Middle East. The agreement saw the introduction of the first stores outside North America, with the first two opening in Dubai and Kuwait on March 16 and 25, 2010, respectively, and another that opened on October 15, 2011, in Kaslik, Lebanon. Another opened in June 2012 in Hamra Street, Beirut, followed by one in Beirut City Centre, Hazmieh.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: The company maintains distribution centers in Hazleton, Pennsylvania; Ottawa, Kansas; and Mississauga, Ontario.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: Items are placed on wooden shelving, tables, or clothes racks. The clothes in AEO Factory stores are hung on basic black hangers, and AEO stores have wooden hangers. There is usually a flat-screen television hanging in the back of the store or behind the cash wrap. The floors are typically wood or concrete. The theme and displays change based on seasonal lines and promotions.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In February 2006, American Eagle launched the aerie lingerie sub-brand, targeting American 15- to 22-year-old females. In addition to lingerie such as bras and other undergarments, the aerie line sells dorm wear, active apparel, loungewear, accessories and sleepwear. What started as a sub-brand quickly became a standalone concept in its own right, featuring a complete fitness line, called aerie f.i.t. The aerie brand is sold in American Eagle Outfitters stores, on the American Eagle website, and in stand-alone aerie retail stores. The first stand-alone aerie store opened in August 2006 in Greenville, South Carolina, and was followed by two more test stores later that year. As of December 2010, there were 147 stand-alone aerie stores in the U.S. and Canada. Aerie has started a campaign that focuses on promoting models' real bodies. This entails their slogan #AerieREAL and adding to their advertisements that models have not been retouched. In this way they take a stand against the use of photo manipulation in media. Iskra Lawrence, while she models for the lingerie line, is also the global role model for the brand.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: The company's second stand-alone lifestyle concept launched in 2006 and targeted men and women age 28 to 40. It featured cashmere sweaters and casual clothing for an older target audience. It also sold products by Fred Perry, Ray-Ban, Adidas, Onitsuka Tiger, and HOBO International. In March 2010, management announced that all 28 Martin + Osa stores would be closed, after a failure in retail markets, causing AEO, Inc. to lose up to $44 million.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In October 2008, American Eagle released and launched "77kids," a line of clothing aimed at children age two to ten. Initially an online only concept, AEO opened its first 77kids store on July 15, 2010, in The Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh, and eight others followed that year. Expansion continued throughout FY2011. 77kids stores, targeted at younger children, featured interactive games and activities throughout the stores that children could play with while shopping.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle Outfitters announced on May 15, 2012, that it would sell or close all 22 77kids stores by the end of July 2012. Robert Hanson, who became CEO in January 2012, said 77kids had a loss after taxes of roughly $24 million on sales of $40 million in the 2011 fiscal year. On August 3, 2012, American Eagle Outfitters completed the sale of its 77kids to Ezrani 2 Corp, a company formed by Ezra Dabah, the former chairman and CEO of The Children's Place. Ezrani renamed the stores "Ruum" in 2013.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In November 2015, American Eagle Outfitters acquired Todd Snyder's eponymous label, as well as his Tailgate Clothing Company, a brand centered on vintage-style collegiate apparel. American Eagle initially focused on Southeastern Conference and Big Ten colleges, hoping to gain more popularity among its target demographic of teenagers and college students.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: After its acquisition of Thiftys from Dylex, the 107 stores were rebranded as Bluenotes' in 2000, then sold off in 2004.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle Outfitters announced a $350 million acquisition of Quiet Logistics on November 2, 2021. The acquisition was completed on December 29, 2021.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle opened its first Canadian store in 2001 after it purchased assets of Dylex. In 2010, AEO opened stores in Kuwait, Riyadh, and Dubai. A store in Kaslik, Lebanon, opened on October 15, 2011. A store in Cairo, Egypt, opened in late 2011. In September 2011, two stores opened in Moscow, Russia. Its first store in Jordan opened in November 2011 in the brand-new Taj Mall. Its first store in Tokyo, Japan opened on April 18, 2012. The first store in Tel Aviv, Israel, opened in February 2012, after the Israeli-based clothing retailer FOX signed a contract with AEO, and expanded to Jerusalem. There are also stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. American Eagle Outfitters opened its first store in the Philippines in March 2013.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle is also opening stores in Mexico. The first opened in Mexico City at Fashion Mall Perisur on February 20, 2013, and at Centro Santa Fe in June. Another opened in Guadalajara later in 2013 at Fashion Mall Galerías Guadalajara. In 2014 the company financed the rescue and renovation of the Jardín Edith Sánchez Ramírez pocket park in Mexico City.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle expanded to the U.K. in November 2014, opening stores in Westfield London, Westfield Stratford City, and Bluewater. The Westfield London store opened on November 14, 2014, the Westfield Stratford City store on November 17, 2014, and the Bluewater store on November 19, 2014. All UK operations have ceased, with the UK website closed and all UK stores closed by the end of July 2017.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle Outfitters opened its first store in Muscat, Oman, on October 3, 2015. The company made its debut in the Indian market in June 2018 with first store launched in DLF Mall of India, Noida. Today it operates 17 stores across the country.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: AEO entered the Chilean market in September 2015, with the opening of its first store in the Parque Arauco shopping center. After its arrival in the Chilean market, the company's expansion was concentrated in Santiago.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In 2019, American Eagle Outfitters became one of only two major clothing companies with commitments in line with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In 2020, American Eagle Outfitters opened its first store in Prague, Czech Republic, in factory outlet center Fashion Arena Prague Outlet.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: American Eagle was the primary sponsor of New American Music Union, a music festival at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh on August 8 and 9, 2008. The concert featured Gnarls Barkley, Spoon, The Raconteurs, and Bob Dylan and his band. The festival, which had been planned as an annual event, did not recur, because American Eagle had moved away from using music as a marketing tool.


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: In 2004, textile and apparel workers union UNITE HERE launched the "American Vulture" back-to-school boycott of American Eagle in protest of alleged workers' rights violations at the company's Canadian distribution contractor National Logistics Services (NLS). On the 2007 second-quarter conference call, CEO James O'Donnell clarified the American Eagle's relationship with NLS and its effect on business. He explained,


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: Since 1999, Abercrombie & Fitch has sued American Eagle Outfitters at least three times for allegedly copying its designs and its advertisements. On all occasions, American Eagle prevailed in court on the grounds that A&F cannot stop it from presenting similar designs since such designs cannot be copyrighted in the United States. Nevertheless, American Eagle clothing designs have since trended away in appearance from Abercrombie & Fitch designs. American Eagle merchandise is considered "retro/vintage" cost-efficient clothing, whereas Abercrombie & Fitch merchandise has become an internationally known "near-luxury" line of clothing with "preppy", high-grade, and high-priced fashions, on the same level with that of companies such as Polo Ralph Lauren. Judges have generally ruled that giving Abercrombie exclusive rights to market its clothing in a certain way "would be anti-competitive."


title: American Eagle Outfitters

text: Locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong are operated directly by American Eagle, whereas other locations are operated under license agreements with third parties.


title: Porsche 981

text: The Porsche 981 is the internal designation given to the third-generation of the Boxster and second generation of the Cayman models built by German automobile manufacturer Porsche. It was announced on 13 March 2012 at the Geneva Auto Show with sales starting early summer 2012.


title: Porsche 981

text: The 981 reflects the new design language from the 911 (991) and 918, and features revised engine and transmission specifications. The chassis had been revised: it is 40 percent more torsionally rigid, the front track is wider, the rear track is wider, and the wheelbase has been extended by . There is a small weight reduction of up to compared to the outgoing 987. The 981 was the first Boxster/Cayman to use electronically assisted steering, and the parking brake in the car uses an electronic linkage. The instrument cluster features a 4.6" TFT color screen in conjunction with various sensors that can display accurate engine temperature, oil temperature and oil pressure. The Sport Chrono Package includes dynamic gearbox mounts. Another new feature was the auto start/stop system.


title: Porsche 981

text: The standard Boxster is fitted with a new 2.7-litre flat-6 engine, and the Boxster S is fitted with the existing 3.4-litre engine but with revised performance. The 2.7-litre engine is rated at while the 3.4-litre engine is rated at . Both engines are equipped with a 6-speed manual gearbox and an optional 7-speed reworked PDK. Both manual and automatic models are available with several technical options including Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) and a Sport Chrono Package that includes active transmission mounts, and makes the PDK-equipped model even faster. Porsche claims that the new generation Boxster provides fuel savings of 15% over the outgoing model.


title: Porsche 981

text: The range was expanded in March 2014 with the addition of the GTS derivative, with slightly altered front and rear bumpers and an additional from the 3.4-litre engine.


title: Porsche 981

text: Porsche unveiled the latest Boxster Spyder based on the 981 Boxster in April 2015 at the New York Auto Show. The Spyder is a lightweight high performance version of the Boxster and the lightest Porsche in the model lineup at the time, weighing . It is powered by the largest and most powerful engine used in a Boxster at the time, a 3.8 litre flat-6 shared with the Cayman GT4 and 911 Carrera S, rated at . This allowed the car to attain a top speed of . The Spyder is only available with a 6 speed manual transmission. The styling of the car is similar to the previous generation Spyder, continuing the twin hump rear deck and manually operated canvas top. It also shares some styling with the Cayman GT4, using the same front and rear fascia.


title: Porsche 981

text: The Spyder's lightweight design was achieved through the use of aluminum doors and rear boot lid, a manually operated canvas soft top with electronic assist, and unique lightweight 20 inch wheels. The manual soft top results in a weight saving of over the standard Boxster's electric powered top. Interior door handles were replaced with nylon door pulls for a weight savings of . The air conditioning and audio system were also removed, although they could be added as no cost options. Total weight savings amounted to when compared to a manual-equipped Boxster GTS despite the Spyder's upsized engine and chassis upgrades.


title: Porsche 981

text: The Spyder is the only model from the 981 generation to feature an updated faster ratio steering rack shared with 911 Turbo S for improved steering response and feel. It is equipped with a smaller diameter GT steering wheel used in both the 911 GT3 and Cayman GT4. The Spyder's brakes are enlarged over other Boxster models, using six-piston calipers with 340 mm rotors at the front and four-piston calipers with 330 mm rotors at the rear shared with the 911 Carrera S. The Spyder features a sports suspension with 20mm lower ride height than the standard Boxster. A limited slip differential with Porsche Torque Vectoring shared with the Cayman GT4 was also used.


title: Porsche 981

text: Reception was positive with high marks for its lightweight chassis and handling balance. Some reviewers preferred the Boxster Spyder’s chassis setup to the Cayman GT4’s, even if the latter has more ultimate grip. The Spyder was a limited-production model with 2,486 units in total made with 829 of those destined for North America.


title: Porsche 981

text: In 2019, Porsche revealed that in 2015, the executive board commissioned a project group from Weissach to build a sports car based on the 981, that was to be as light and minimalist as possible. 50 years ago, Porsche's engineers had built a car using similar constraints: the Porsche 909 Bergspyder. The 981 Bergspyder never entered production as it failed feasibility tests.


title: Porsche 981

text: The second generation Cayman was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The production version was introduced as a 2014 model in the spring of 2013. The new car was available in both the standard trim with a 2.7-litre engine, and in the S trim with a 3.4-litre engine. Both versions were available with either a 6-speed manual or a dual-clutch 7-speed PDK transmission.


title: Porsche 981

text: The 981 features upgrades including a new body, a longer wheelbase, a wider front track, and a redesigned interior that matches the firm's contemporary 911 models.


title: Porsche 981

text: The new model gained acclaim in the motoring press as one of the best handling sports cars at any price, due to its-mid engine layout and driving dynamics. The Cayman S benefitted from the same engine and running gear as Porsche's latest 3.4-litre version of the 911.


title: Porsche 981

text: The Cayman GTS was introduced in 2014, and is based on the 981 platform. It featured a marginally more powerful engine, a new body kit, new 20-inch Carrera S wheels, new Bi-Xenon headlights, and a new sports exhaust system. The Cayman GTS is longer than the Cayman and the Cayman S by due to its bumpers. The new, optional passive sport suspension allows the Cayman GTS to have a 20 mm lower ride height compared to the Cayman equipped with standard passive suspension or 10 mm lower compared to one with the standard-equipped PASM. The engine is rated at , and can achieve a acceleration time of 4.9 seconds with the manual transmission, 4.7 seconds with PDK and 4.5 seconds with PDK and Sport Plus mode, which is activated via the now standard Sports Chrono Package. The Cayman GTS weighs with the manual transmission and can attain a top speed of while the Cayman GTS with PDK can reach and weighs . The configuration changes made over a standard Cayman S resemble closely what Porsche did to its predecessors through Cayman S Sport and Cayman R in the 987 generation models.


title: Porsche 981

text: In 2015, a high performance track oriented version of the Cayman, named the Cayman GT4 was introduced, using a revised and a slightly de-tuned version of the 3.8-litre flat-six engine from the 911 (991) Carrera S. The GT4 was available only with a 6 speed manual transmission and weighed . It has a vented front bumper to improve cooling for the additional radiator, with a lower lip spoiler as well as a fixed rear wing for providing downforce. Compared to the standard Cayman, it features a 30 mm lower ride height, upgraded brakes from the 991 GT3, a limited slip differential combined with Porsche Torque Vectoring, and Porsche Active Suspension Management with dampers derived from the 991 GT3. A number of reinforcements were also made throughout the chassis to keep it stiff and well balanced. A Club Sport Package is also available, featuring a rear half rollcage, preparation for a battery cut off switch, a fire extinguisher and a six-point racing harness for the driver, compatible with a neck saving HANS device. Sport Chrono Package with unique Track Precision app is also available specifically for the GT4, adding an additional ECU to the car to deliver telemetry data to the driver's smartphone.


title: Porsche 981

text: In the United Kingdom, the GT4 could be ordered before its introduction at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show in March, and the first cars would arrive in dealerships in March.


title: Porsche 981

text: The Cayman GT4 has a projected Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of 7 minutes 40 seconds and has a top speed of . The GT4 has gained rave reviews from magazines like Evo and the likes of Chris Harris.


title: Porsche 981

text: On 6 October 2015, Porsche announced a racing version of the Cayman GT4 called the Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Developed by Porsche Motorsport, the Cayman GT4 Clubsport made its debut at the 2015 LA Auto Show in November. It is powered by the same 3.8-litre boxer 6 cylinder engine rated at at 7,400 rpm and of torque at 4,750 rpm found on the production Cayman GT4.


title: Porsche 981

text: As opposed to the road going Cayman GT4, the Clubsport version is fitted with Porsche's PDK double clutch transmission (albeit with the 7th gear disabled) with shift paddles on the steering wheel, as well as mechanical rear-axle locking differential. The Cayman GT4 Clubsport weighs and shares the same Performance Friction brakes and lightweight suspension strut front axle found on the Porsche 991 GT3 Cup. Its ABS is adjustable in 12 steps. A 100-litre FIA-approved "bag" fuel tank is available as an option for endurance racing. In addition to its lightweight features, it is supplied fitted with an FIA welded-in roll-cage, six-point harness and racing bucket seats.


title: Porsche 981

text: Sales of the new Cayman GT4 Clubsport commenced after its debut in November through Porsche Motorsport in Weissach or Porsche Motorsport North America.


title: Pete Duel

text: Peter Ellstrom Deuel (February 24, 1940 – December 31, 1971), known professionally as Pete Duel, was an American stage, television, and film actor, best known for his starring role as outlaw Hannibal Heyes (alias Joshua Smith) in the television series "Alias Smith and Jones".


title: Pete Duel

text: Duel was born in Rochester, New York, the eldest of three children born to Dr. Ellsworth and Lillian Deuel (née Ellstrom). His brother Geoffrey Deuel was also an actor, best known for his role in "Chisum" (1970) and numerous episodic television appearances of the 1960s and 1970s; their sister's name was Pamela.


title: Pete Duel

text: He attended Penfield High School, where he worked on the yearbook staff, campaigned for student government, and was a member of the National Thespians Society. He graduated in 1957 and attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he majored in English. He was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. He preferred performing in the drama department's productions to studying for his classes during his two years there. When his father came to see him in "The Rose Tattoo", he realized that his son was only wasting time and money at the university, and told him to follow a career in acting.


title: Pete Duel

text: Moving to New York City, Duel landed a role in a touring production of the comedy "Take Her, She's Mine". To find work in the movies, Duel and his mother drove across the country to Hollywood, California, in 1963, with only a tent to house them each night.


title: Pete Duel

text: In Hollywood, he found work in television, making small guest appearances in comedies such as "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." and dramas such as "Channing", "Combat!", and "Bonanza". In 1965, he was cast in the comedy series "Gidget" as Gidget's brother-in-law, John Cooper; he appeared in 22 of the show's 32 episodes.


title: Pete Duel

text: After "Gidget"s cancellation, Duel was quickly offered the starring role of Dave Willis, a newlywed apprentice architect, in the romantic comedy series "Love on a Rooftop". Although the show earned good ratings, ABC decided not to bring it back after its first season. Duel wished to move from sitcoms to more serious roles. Around 1970, he changed the spelling of his last name from Deuel to Duel.


title: Pete Duel

text: Duel appeared in "The Psychiatrist", "The Bold Ones", "Ironside", and "Marcus Welby, M.D."; he also made feature films during this time, beginning with "The Hell with Heroes" in 1968, playing Rod Taylor’s best friend and co-pilot, Mike Brewer, followed the next year by "Generation". After that film, he went to Spain to make "Cannon for Cordoba" (1970), a Western in which he played the mischievous soldier Andy Rice.


title: Pete Duel

text: In 1970, Duel was cast as the outlaw Hannibal Heyes, alias Joshua Smith, opposite Ben Murphy's Kid Curry, in "Alias Smith and Jones", a light-hearted Western about the exploits of two outlaws trying to earn their amnesty. During the hiatus between the first and second seasons, he starred in the television production of Percy MacKaye’s 1908 play "The Scarecrow".


title: Pete Duel

text: According to Quentin Tarantino, Duel was one of the inspirations for the character of Rick Dalton in the film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". In Tarantino's novelization of the movie, Duel and Dalton worked together, "enjoyed... each other's company" and were both "undiagnosed bipolar."


title: Pete Duel

text: Duel became involved in politics during the primaries for the 1968 presidential election, campaigning for Eugene McCarthy, in opposition to the Vietnam War. He attended the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and witnessed the violence that erupted.


title: Pete Duel

text: In the early hours of Friday, New Years Eve 1971, Duel died at his Hollywood Hills home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.


title: Pete Duel

text: Duel's girlfriend Dianne Ray was at his home at the time of his death and discovered his body. Ray later told police the couple had watched Duel's series "Alias Smith and Jones" the previous evening. She later went to sleep in another room while Duel stayed up. Sometime after midnight, Duel entered the bedroom, retrieved his revolver and told Ray "I'll see you later." Ray then said she heard a gunshot from another room and discovered Duel's body.


title: Pete Duel

text: According to police, Duel's friends and family said he was depressed about his drinking problem. He had been arrested and pleaded guilty to a driving under the influence accident that injured two people the previous June. Duel's death was later ruled a suicide.


title: Pete Duel

text: Duel's funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple on January 2, 1972, in Pacific Palisades. At the service, his girlfriend Dianne Ray read a poem he wrote, titled "Love". An estimated 1,000 friends and fans attended. His body was flown to Penfield, New York, where he was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.


title: Pete Duel

text: After his death, his role in "Alias Smith and Jones" was taken over by Roger Davis, who was previously the narrator over the opening theme of the show. The loss of Duel proved too great for the series to sustain and it


title: Maotai

text: Maotai or Moutai is a style of baijiu, a distilled Chinese liquor (spirit), made in the town of Maotai in China's Guizhou province. Produced by the state-owned Kweichow Moutai Company, it is distilled from fermented sorghum and comes in several different varieties. Maotai uses simple materials such as grain and water to produce its flavor. After four years of brewing in urns, it is ready to be sold.


title: Maotai

text: Maotai originated during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), when northern Chinese distillers introduced advanced techniques to local processes to create a distinctive type of baijiu. Thereafter Maotai was produced at several local distilleries. During the Chinese Civil War, People's Liberation Army forces camped at Maotai and partook of the local liquor. Following the Communist victory in the war, the government consolidated the local distilleries into one state-owned company, Kweichow Moutai (the name is an old romanization of "Guizhou Maotai"). It became a very popular drink at state functions and one of the country's most popular spirits.


title: Maotai

text: Maotai became the first Chinese liquor to be produced in large-scale, with an annual output of 170 tons. In 2007, more than 6,800 tons of Maotai were sold. Maotai is named after the town of the same name near Zunyi in Renhuai, Guizhou Province, where liquor distillery has a very long history. The Maotai of today originated during the Qing Dynasty and first won international fame when winning a gold medal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.


title: Maotai

text: During the Chinese Civil War, the current legend goes that the Red Army used Maotai to lift the spirits of their soldiers and disinfect wounds during the Battle of Chishui River. The Red Army victory in this battle is widely recognised as one of the tipping points in their eventual victory over the Kuomintang forces. Ever since then, Moutai has been used at state banquets and celebrations.


title: Maotai

text: Maotai was named a national liquor in 1951, two years after the founding of People's Republic of China. Maotai also claimed two gold medals separately at the Paris International Exposition in 1985 and 1986. Maotai has won 14 international awards and 20 domestic awards since the Chinese Revolution.


title: Maotai

text: Maotai has been used on official occasions in feasts with foreign heads of state and distinguished guests visiting China. It is the only alcoholic beverage presented as an official gift by Chinese embassies in foreign countries and regions. It received wide exposure in China and abroad when Zhou Enlai used the liquor to entertain Richard Nixon during the state banquet for the U.S. presidential visit to China in 1972. Zhou told Nixon that Maotai had been famous since it won recognition at the San Francisco World's Fair in 1915, and that during the Long March, "Maotai was used by us to cure all kinds of diseases and wounds." Nixon replied, "let me make a toast with this panacea." When Deng Xiaoping visited the United States in 1979, Henry Kissinger told him "I think if we drink enough Moutai we can solve anything."


title: Maotai

text: Maotai became both the drink of choice for greeting foreign dignitaries and the bribe of choice to high officials. Counterfeiters moved in to meet the new demand, and other distilleries copied the methods of the state-owned enterprise.


title: Maotai

text: In 2018, Maotai saw its output reach about 70,200 tons, with sales revenues reaching 73.6 billion yuan (about 10.5 billion dollars) and net profit 35.2 billion yuan (about 5 billion dollars).


title: Maotai

text: Beginning 1960s, China had tried to increase the output of Maotai by expanding the production methodologies of Maotai for other baijiu brands all over China, but none of the results are the exact duplicate of the original Maotai, and most of the derivatives of Maotai are of a heavy or thick fragrant flavor type, as opposed to the sauce fragrant flavor type. These attempts, however, did result in many more famous new brands of baijiu (Chinese liquor) based on Maotai, including:


title: Chelsea Kane

text: Chelsea Kane Staub (born September 15, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Stella Malone in the Disney Channel sitcom television series "Jonas" and the role of Riley Perrin in the Freeform sitcom, "Baby Daddy". She also voiced Bea Goldfishberg in the Disney Channel animated sitcom "Fish Hooks".


title: Chelsea Kane

text: Chelsea Kane Staub was born in Phoenix, Arizona on September 15, 1988. Kane is the only child of John and Becky Staub. She worked at Valley Youth Theatre.


title: Chelsea Kane

text: Kane made her professional acting debut in the 2001 short film entitled "Failure of Pamela Salt". She went on to guest star in the television series "Cracking Up", "Listen Up!", the pilot episode of "Summerland" and the 2004 direct-to-video film "Arizona Summer".


title: Chelsea Kane

text: In 2007, Kane starred in her first theatrical film role as Meredith Baxter Dimly, in the film "Bratz", playing the film's antagonist. She also performed two of the songs on .


title: Chelsea Kane

text: In 2008, she starred in "Minutemen" as Stephanie Jameson. She also appeared in one episode of "Wizards of Waverly Place" (the episode, "The Supernatural") and she starred in the Disney Channel original film "Starstruck" (2010). She played the role of Stella Malone, the stylist and long time best friend of the band J.O.N.A.S., in the Disney Channel series "Jonas" The series aired from 2009 to 2010. From 2010 to 2014, Kane co-starred in the Disney Channel animated series "Fish Hooks" voicing the role of Bea Goldfishberg.


title: Chelsea Kane

text: In 2010, Kane filmed a web series called "The Homes" written and directed by John Cabrera. The series premiered on January 27, 2011, on Lockerz.com. Kane was one of the celebrity contestants in season 12 on the American ballroom competition "Dancing with the Stars". Her professional partner was Mark Ballas, a two-time champion of the series. She made it to the season finale, but finished in third place behind Hines Ward and Kirstie Alley.


title: Chelsea Kane

text: In 2011, Kane joined the cast of the final season of The CW's "One Tree Hill" in a recurring role. She played a character named Tara, who is a love interest for Kane's real life ex-boyfriend Stephen Colletti's character, Chase. From 2012 to 2017, Kane co-starred as Riley Perrin in the Freeform sitcom "Baby Daddy".


title: Lily Cole

text: Lily Luahana Cole (born 27 December 1987) is a British model, author, film director, actress and entrepreneur. Cole pursued a modelling career as a teenager and was listed in 2009 by "Vogue Paris" as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. She was booked for her first "British Vogue" cover at age 16, named "Model of the Year" at the 2004 British Fashion Awards, and worked with many well-known brands, including Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier and Moschino. Her advertising campaigns have included Longchamp, Anna Sui, Rimmel and Cacharel. In 2020, Lily published Who Cares Wins, a book about how our lives impact the planet and how we can respond to the climate emergency challenges we face. In 2021, the book was turned into a podcast in which Lily invites guests with different perspectives to explore critical issues - and their relationship to the environment - from technology, food, to mental health and capitalism.


title: Lily Cole

text: Cole's first leading role as an actress was as Valentina in the 2009 film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". Her other film work includes "Passages", a short directed by Shekhar Kapur, and "There Be Dragons" directed by Roland Joffé. In 2013, Cole founded impossible.com, an innovation group and incubator (previously a gift economy social network, now renamed Impossible People).


title: Lily Cole

text: Cole was born in Torquay, Devon, to Patience Owen, an artist and writer, and Chris Cole, a fisherman and boat builder. She has no contact with her father, who left home when she was a baby; she and her sister were raised by their Welsh mother in London.


title: Lily Cole

text: Cole attended Hallfield Primary School, the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and St Marylebone School. At Latymer Upper School, where she completed her sixth form studies, she achieved A grades in her A-levels in English, politics, and philosophy and ethics.


title: Lily Cole

text: She gained a place to read Social and Political Sciences at King's College, Cambridge in 2006, deferring entry twice. In 2008 she switched to history of art and graduated in 2011 with a double first.


title: Lily Cole

text: Cole was photographed in 2001 at age 13 by fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco. According to the "Evening Standard" in 2004, her modelling career began in 2003 when she was approached in the street by Benjamin Hart of Storm Models. She signed with Storm and in 2003 was photographed by Steven Meisel for Italian "Vogue". Her distinctive red hair attracted significant media attention. At the 2004 British Fashion Awards, she was named "Model of the Year".


title: Lily Cole

text: Cole worked with many prominent photographers, including Craig McDean, Nick Knight, Juergen Teller, Arthur Elgort, Irving Penn and Tim Walker.<ref name="Elle 08/01"></ref> She has appeared on the covers of "Playboy" in France, "Vogue", "Citizen K", and "V", among others. She featured on "Vogue" "best dressed" list in December 2005, and had cover appearances on "Numéro" and "Interview".


title: Lily Cole

text: She modelled on the international runway circuit and at many fashion shows on behalf of Chanel, Shiatzy Chen, DKNY, Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace, Alexander McQueen, Jasper Conran, John Galliano and Louis Vuitton. She was nominated, for the second time, for the "Model of the Year" award at the 2007 British Fashion Awards. In December 2009 she was listed by "Vogue" Paris as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. Cole made a cover appearance on the January 2010 issue of the Canadian "Elle" and opened Hermès's winter 2010/2011 collection at Paris Fashion Week in March. Towards the end of 2010, she featured in a documentary chronicling the career of Rolf Harris in which he painted her dressing up as Titania from "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Cole has additionally graced the covers of "Vogue" (UK, Russia, Korea), "Harper's Bazaar" (UK, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Russia, Ukraine, Taiwan, Turkey) and "i-D".


title: Lily Cole

text: During the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, Cole was one of the British models wearing fashions created by British designers specifically for the event.


title: Lily Cole

text: Cole has appeared in advertising campaigns for Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Hermès, Longchamp, Cacharel, Topshop and Anna Sui cosmetics, as well as being the face for Moschino's perfume "I Love Love". In September 2007, Cole was announced as the follow-up model for Accessorize, taking the place of Claudia Schiffer, also designing a line of handbags for the collection.


title: Lily Cole

text: Cole has been modelling for cosmetics company Rimmel London since October 2009, as well as featuring in advertisements for jewellers Tiffany & Co. Along with Twiggy and others, Cole became a "face" of Marks and Spencer clothes advertising campaign, making her the youngest model to become involved in a campaign for the line.