title: Buck Owens

text: Also between 1968 and 1970, Owens made guest appearances on top TV variety programs, including "The Dean Martin Show", "The Ed Sullivan Show", "The Jackie Gleason Show" and seven times on "The Jimmy Dean Show".


title: Buck Owens

text: In the early 1970s, Owens and the Buckaroos enjoyed a string of hit duets with his protege Susan Raye, who subsequently became a popular solo artist with Owens as her producer.


title: Buck Owens

text: In 1971, the Buckaroos' bass guitarist Doyle Holly left the band to pursue a solo career. Holly was known for his booming deep voice on solo ballads. His departure was a setback to the band, as Doyle had received the Bass Player of the Year award from the Academy of Country Music the year before and served as co-lead vocalist (along with Don Rich) of the Buckaroos. Holly went on to record two solo records in the early 1970s, both were top 20 hits.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens and Rich were the only members left of the original band, and in the 1970s they struggled to top the country music charts. However, the popularity of "Hee Haw" was allowing them to enjoy large crowds at indoor arenas.


title: Buck Owens

text: After three years of not having a number one song Owens and the Buckaroos finally had another No. 1 hit, "Made in Japan", in 1972. The band had been without pedal steel since late in 1969 when Maness departed. In April he added pedal steel guitarist, Jerry Brightman, and Owens returned to his grassroots sound of fiddle, steel, and electric guitars, releasing a string of singles including "Arms Full of Empty", "Ain't it Amazing Gracie" and "Ain't Gonna Have Ole Buck (to Kick Around no More)". Owens' original version of "Streets of Bakersfield" was released in 1972.


title: Buck Owens

text: On July 17, 1974, Owens's best friend, the Buckaroos' guitarist Don Rich, was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and struck a guard rail on Highway 1 in Morro Bay, where he was to have joined his family for vacation. Owens was devastated. "He was like a brother, a son and a best friend," he said in the late 1990s. "Something I never said before, maybe I couldn't, but I think my music life ended when he died. Oh yeah, I carried on and I existed, but the real joy and love, the real lightning and thunder is gone forever." Owens would never fully recover from the tragedy, either emotionally or professionally.


title: Buck Owens

text: Before the 1960s ended, Owens and manager Jack McFadden began to concentrate on Owens' financial future. He bought several radio stations, including KNIX (AM) (later KCWW) and KNIX-FM in Phoenix and KUZZ-FM in Bakersfield. During the 1990s, Owens was co-owner of the country music network Real Country, of which, the Owens-owned station KCWW was the flagship station. In 1998, Owens sold KCWW to ABC/Disney for $8,850,000 and sold KNIX-FM to Clear Channel Communications, but he maintained ownership of KUZZ until his death.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens established Buck Owens Enterprises and produced records by several artists. He recorded for Warner Bros. Records, but by the 1980s he was no longer recording, instead devoting his time to overseeing his business empire from Bakersfield. He left "Hee Haw" in 1986.


title: Buck Owens

text: Country artist Dwight Yoakam was largely influenced by Owens' style of music and teamed up with him for a duet of "Streets of Bakersfield" in 1988. It was Owens' first No. 1 single in 16 years. In an interview, Yoakam described the first time he met with Owens:


title: Buck Owens

text: We sat there that day in 1987 and talked about my music to that point, my short career, and what I'd been doing and how he'd been watching me. I was really flattered and thrilled to know that this legend had been keeping an eye on me.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens also collaborated with Cledus T. Judd on the song "The First Redneck On The Internet" in 1998, in which Owens also appears in the music video.


title: Buck Owens

text: The 1990s saw a flood of reissues of Owens' Capitol recordings on compact disc, the publishing rights to which Owens had bought back in 1974 as part of his final contract with the label. His albums had been out of print for nearly 15 years when he released a retrospective box set in 1990. Encouraged by brisk sales, Owens struck a distribution deal with Sundazed Records of New York, which specializes in reissuing obscure recordings. The bulk of his Capitol catalog was reissued on CD in 1995, 1997 and in 2005. Sometime in the 1970s, Owens had also purchased the remaining copies of his original LP albums from Capitol's distribution warehouses across the country. Many of those records (still in the shrinkwrap) were stored by Owens for decades. He often gave them away as gifts and sold them at his nightclub for a premium price some 35 years later.


title: Buck Owens

text: In August 1999, Owens brought back together the remaining members of his original Buckaroo Band to help him celebrate his 70th birthday at his Crystal Palace in Bakersfield. Owens, Doyle Holly, Tom Brumley, and Wille Cantu performed old hits from their heyday including "Tiger by the Tail" and "Act Naturally."


title: Buck Owens

text: Long before Owens became the famous co-host of "Hee Haw", his band became known for their signature Bakersfield sound, later emulated by artists such as Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, and Brad Paisley. Buck inspired indie country songwriter and friend Terry Fraley, whose band "The Nudie Cowboys" possessed a similar sound. This sound was originally made possible with two trademark silver-sparkle Fender Telecaster guitars, often played simultaneously by Owens and longtime lead guitarist Don Rich. Fender had made a "Buck Owens signature Telecaster," and after his death paid tribute to him. In 2003, Paisley blended creative styles with this guitar and his own Paisley Telecaster, creating what became known as the Buck-O-Caster. Initially, only two were made; one for Paisley himself and the other presented to Owens during a New Year's celebration that Paisley attended in 2004.


title: Buck Owens

text: Following the death of Rich, Owens' latter trademark became a red, white and blue acoustic guitar, along with a 1974 Pontiac convertible "Nudiemobile", adorned with pistols and silver dollars. A similar car, created by Nudie Cohn for Elvis Presley and later won by Owens in a bet, is now enshrined behind the bar at Owens' Crystal Palace Nightclub in Bakersfield.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens would hand out replicas of his trademark acoustic guitar to friends, acquaintances, and fans. Each would contain a gold plaque with the name of the recipient. Some of these guitars cost $1000 and up.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens was married four times, three ending in divorce and one in annulment. He married country singer Bonnie Campbell Owens in 1948. The couple had two sons, one of which was Buddy Alan, and separated in 1951, and later divorced.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens married Phyllis Buford in 1956, with whom he had a third son. In the 1970s he had a relationship with Hee Haw "Honey" Lisa Todd and appeared with her as "Buck Owens and his gal Lisa" on the TV game show Tattletales. In 1977 he wed Buckaroos fiddle player Jana Jae Greif. Within a few days he filed for annulment, then changed his mind; the couple continued the on-and-off marriage for a year before divorcing. In 1979 he married Jennifer Smith.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens had three sons: Buddy Alan (who charted several hits as a Capitol recording artist in the early 1970s and appeared with his father numerous times on "Hee Haw"), Johnny, and Michael Owens.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens successfully recovered from oral cancer in the early 1990s, but had additional health problems near the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s, including pneumonia and a minor stroke in 2004. These health problems had forced him to curtail his regular weekly performances with the Buckaroos at his Crystal Palace. Owens died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack at his ranch just north of Bakersfield on March 25, 2006, only hours after performing at his club. He was 76 years old.


title: Buck Owens

text: Owens was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. He was ranked No. 12 in "CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music" in 2003. In addition, CMT also ranked the Buckaroos No. 2 in the network's "20 Greatest Bands" in 2005. He was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.


title: Buck Owens

text: In November 2013, Buck Owens' posthumous autobiography "Buck 'Em! The Autobiography of Buck Owens" by Buck Owens with Randy Poe was released. The book has a foreword by Brad Paisley and a preface by Dwight Yoakam.


title: Buck Owens

text: In "Buck Owens: The Biography" (2010) investigative journalist Eileen Sisk offers a critical account of Owens and the shortcomings in his private life.


title: ABC News

text: ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast "ABC World News Tonight with David Muir"; other programs include morning news-talk show "Good Morning America", "Nightline", "Primetime", and "20/20", and Sunday morning political affairs program "This Week with George Stephanopoulos".


title: ABC News

text: In addition to the division's television programs, ABC News has radio and digital outlets, including ABC News Radio and ABC News Live, plus various podcasts hosted by ABC News personalities.


title: ABC News

text: ABC began in 1943 as the NBC Blue Network, a radio network that was spun off from NBC, as ordered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1942. The reason for the order was to expand competition in radio broadcasting in the United States, specifically news and political broadcasting, and broaden the projected points of view. The radio market was dominated by only a few companies, such as NBC and CBS. NBC conducted the split voluntarily in case its appeal of the ruling was denied and it was forced to split its two networks into separate companies.


title: ABC News

text: Regular television news broadcasts on ABC began soon after the network signed on its initial owned-and-operated television station (WJZ-TV, now WABC-TV) and production center in New York City in August 1948. Broadcasts continued as the ABC network expanded nationwide. Until the early 1970s, ABC News programs and ABC in general consistently ranked third in viewership behind CBS and NBC news programs. ABC had fewer affiliate stations and a weaker prime-time programming slate to be able to support the network's news operations compared to the two larger networks, each of which had established their radio news operations during the 1930s.


title: ABC News

text: By the 1970s, the network had effectively turned around, with its prime-time entertainment programs achieving stronger ratings and drawing in higher advertising revenue and profits to ABC overall. With the appointment of then president of ABC Sports, Roone Arledge as president of ABC News in 1977, ABC invested the resources to make it a major source of news content. Arledge, known for experimenting with the broadcast "model", created many of ABC News' most popular and enduring programs, including "20/20", "World News Tonight", "This Week", "Nightline", and "Primetime Live". ABC News' longtime slogan, "More Americans get their news from ABC News than from any other source." (introduced in the late 1980s), was a claim referring to the number of people who watch, listen to and read ABC News content on television, radio and (eventually) the Internet, and not necessarily to the telecasts alone.


title: ABC News

text: In June 1998, ABC News (which owned an 80% stake in the service), Nine Network and ITN sold their respective interests in Worldwide Television News to the Associated Press. Additionally, ABC News signed a multi-year content deal with AP for its affiliate video service, Associated Press Television News (APTV), while providing material from ABC's own news video service, ABC News One, to APTV.


title: ABC News

text: Scandal erupted in 1985 over a decision by Arledge, president of ABC News and Sports, to kill a 13-minute report about Marilyn Monroe possibly due to his close ties to Ethel Kennedy. "20/20" drew criticism from the co-anchors of the program, Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters, and the executive producer, Av Westin. Arledge said that he had killed the piece because it was "gossip-column stuff" and "does not live up to its billing." Downs, however, took issue with Arledge's judgment. "I am upset about the way it was handled," he said in an interview. "I honestly believe that this is more carefully documented than anything any network did during Watergate. I lament the fact that the decision reflects badly on people I respect and it reflects badly on me and the broadcast." Additionally, Westin said: "I don't anticipate not putting it on the air. The journalism is solid. Everything in there has two sources. We are documenting that there was a relationship between Bobby and Marilyn and Jack and Marilyn. A variety of eyewitnesses attest to that on camera." Two other aspects of the unaired report, according to an ABC staff member who has seen it, are eyewitness accounts of wiretapping of Monroe's home by Jimmy Hoffa, the teamster leader, that reveal meetings between her and the Kennedy brothers, and accounts of a visit to Monroe by Robert F. Kennedy on the day of her death. Fred Otash, a detective who said he was the chief wiretapper, is interviewed on camera, and ABC staff members said his account was corroborated by three other wiretappers. In addition, several people not in the book say on camera that Monroe kept diaries with references to meetings with the Kennedy brothers, according to a staff member who has seen the report. "It set out to be a piece which would demonstrate that because of alleged relations between Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy and Monroe the presidency was compromised because organized crime was involved," he said. "Based on what has been uncovered so far, there was no evidence." Arledge's decision to kill the broadcast resulted in the subsequent decision of Geraldo Rivera to leave ABC entirely. Rivera was a "20/20" correspondent but did not work on that story. He had been publicly critical of Arledge's decision. Arledge, who was both a champion and defender of Rivera, said he thought the story needed more work. The story probed purported affairs between actress Marilyn Monroe and President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.


title: ABC News

text: On August 7, 2014, ABC announced that it would relaunch its radio network division, ABC Radio, on January 1, 2015. The change occurred following the announcement that Cumulus would replace its ABC News radio service with Westwood One News (via CNN). On September 20, 2019, ABC Radio was renamed as ABC Audio as the network has evolved to offer a podcast portfolio and other forms of on-demand and linear content.


title: ABC News

text: In April 2018, it was announced that "FiveThirtyEight" would be transferred to ABC News from ESPN, Inc., majority owned by The Walt Disney Company. On September 10, 2018, ABC News launched a second attempt to extend its Good Morning America brand into the afternoon with Strahan, Sara and Keke. In May 2019, ABC News Live, an news focused steaming channel, was launched on Roku. Following a reorganization of ABC's parent company, The Walt Disney Company which created the Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International segment in March 2018, ABC News Digital and Live Streaming, including ABC News Live and FiveThirtyEight, were transferred to the new segment.


title: ABC News

text: ABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC Audio, a division of the ABC News. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds through Skyview Networks with newscasts on the hour to its affiliates. ABC News Radio is the largest commercial radio news organization in the US.


title: ABC News

text: ABCNews.com launched on May 15, 1997, by ABC News Internet Ventures, a joint venture between Starwave and ABC formed in April 1997. Starwave had owned and operated ESPNet SportsZone (later known as ESPN.com) since 1995, which licensed the ESPN brand and video clips from ABC's corporate sister ESPN Inc. Disney wanted more control of their Internet properties, which meant ABCNews.com was operated as a joint venture with ABC News having editorial control. Disney had also bought a minority stake in Starwave before the launch of ABCNews.com and would later buy the company outright.


title: ABC News

text: The website initially had a dedicated staff of about 30. In addition to articles, it featured short video clips and audio from the start, delivered using RealAudio and RealVideo technology. Some content was also available via America Online. In 2011, ABC News and Yahoo News announced a strategic partnership to share ABC's online reporting on Yahoo's website; the deal expanded in 2015 to include the Disney/ABC Television Group.


title: ABC News

text: In 2018, ABC News, and Good Morning America specifically, ended the hosting partnership with Yahoo, instead opting to continue separate web presences.


title: ABC News

text: ABC News Live is a 24/7 streaming video news channel for breaking news, live events, newscasts and longer-form reports and documentaries operated by ABC News since 2018, The channel is available through Roku, Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Pluto TV, Xumo, FuboTV and the news division's other streaming platforms. The service is under the direction of Colby Smith, senior vice president and general manager of ABC News Digital and Live Streaming and Justin Dial as senior executive producer of ABC News Live.


title: ABC News

text: Satellite News Channel was a joint venture between ABC News and Group W that launched on June 21, 1982, as a satellite-delivered cable television network. SNC used footage from ABC News and seven Washington, D.C.-based crews, in addition to stories from other overseas networks to provide a rotating newscast every 20 minutes. However, this channel had difficulty getting clearance from cable systems, so ABC News and Group W decided to sell it to its competitor, CNN (a subsidiary of Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System). CNN ceased Satellite News Channel's operations on October 27, 1983. SNC was either replaced by CNN or CNN2 on most cable systems.


title: ABC News

text: ABC News Now was a 24-hour cable news network that launched on July 26, 2004, as a digital subchannel by ABC News, being the company's second attempt in the 24-hour cable news world after Satellite News Channel. It was offered via digital television, broadband and streaming video at ABCNews.com and on mobile phones. It delivered breaking news, headline news each half hour, and wide range of entertainment and lifestyle programming. The channel was available in the United States and Europe. Its Talk Back feature allowed viewers to voice their own input through the submission of videos and personal thoughts on controversial issues and current topics. It was shut down as a digital subchannel when after its experimental phase had ended with the President inauguration in 2005. ABC News Now was replaced on cable providers with Fusion on October 28, 2013.


title: ABC News

text: Fusion was a digital cable and satellite network owned and operated by Fusion Media Group, LLC, which was a joint venture between ABC News and Univision Communications. ABC and Univision formally announced its launch on May 2, 2012. Launched on October 28, 2013, Fusion features a mix of traditional news and investigative programs along with satirical content aimed at English-speaking Hispanic and Latino American adults between the ages of 18 and 34. The network replaced ABC News Now, a mainly streaming service of ABC News content. In December 2015, it was reported that Disney was in talks to sell its stake in Fusion to Univision. The split was complete on April 21, 2016; Univision alone would continue to operate Fusion until December 31, 2021, when it shut down the network.


title: ABC News

text: In Australia, Sky News Australia airs daily broadcasts of "ABC World News Tonight" (at 10:30 a.m.) and "Nightline" (at 1:30 a.m.) as well as weekly airings of "20/20" (on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., with an extended version at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays) and occasionally "Primetime" (at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays, with extended edition at 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays). Coincidentally, that country's public broadcasting, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, operates its own unrelated news division that is also named ABC News. The U.S. ABC News maintains a content sharing agreement with the Nine Network, which also broadcasts "GMA" domestically in the early morning before its own breakfast program.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: The Invention of Lying is a 2009 American romantic comedy film written and directed by comedian Ricky Gervais and writer Matthew Robinson in their directorial debuts. The film stars Gervais as the first human with the ability to lie in a world where people can only tell the truth. The cast also includes Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Jeffrey Tambor, Fionnula Flanagan, Rob Lowe, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tina Fey.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2009 and was released in the United States on October 2, 2009 by Warner Bros. Pictures and Focus Features. It grossed $32.7 million against a $18.5 million budget.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: The film is set in an alternative reality in which lying does not exist and people are straightforward about what they think and feel.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Mark Bellison is a screenwriter, in a film industry limited to historical readings because there is no fiction. One night he has a date with the beautiful and wealthy Anna McDoogles. She tells Mark she is not attracted to him, because of his looks and failing financial situation, but is going out with him as a favor to his best friend, Greg Kleinschmidt.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: The next day, Mark is fired from his job because of the lack of interest in his films (which are set in the lackluster 14th century), and his landlord threatens to evict him for not paying his rent. Crestfallen, he goes to the bank to close his account. The teller informs him that the computers are down and asks him how much money he has in his account. Mark then has an epiphany that enables him to tell the world's first lie, which is that he has $800—the amount he owed his landlord—in his account. He then lies in a variety of other circumstances, initially for personal gain; he prevents a police officer from arresting Greg for drunk driving, convinces a stranger to have casual sex with him to prevent the end of the world (but fakes a call from NASA confirming the world has been saved after deciding that this was exploitative), breaks the bank at a casino, and writes a screenplay about the world being invaded by aliens in the 14th century that ends with the claim that everyone's memories were erased. He becomes wealthy from the film's success. Mark soon realises that lying can also be used to help others, such as stopping his depressive neighbour Frank Fawcett from committing suicide. Soon after, Mark convinces Anna to go out with him again. She congratulates Mark for his financial success and admits that he would be a good husband and father, but she is still not attracted to him due to how his genetics and appearance would not be a good factor in what she wants her child to be and look like.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Mark then gets a call that his mother, Martha, has had a heart attack and rushes to the hospital. There, the doctor tells him that Martha is going to die. She is scared of death, believing that it will bring an eternity of nothingness. Mark, through tears, tells her that death instead brings a joyful afterlife and she dies happy. Mark soon receives worldwide attention as the news of his supposed information about death spreads. After encouragement from Anna, he tells the world, through ten main points, that he talks to a "Man In The Sky" who controls everything and promises great rewards in the good place after death, as long as you do no more than three "bad things".


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Some time later, Anna and Mark are together in a park and Anna asks him, if they marry, if his now being rich and famous would make their children more physically attractive. Mark wants to lie, but does not because of his love for Anna, and says "No". Meanwhile, Mark's rival, Brad Kessler, pursues Anna romantically, motivated by his jealousy at Mark's success. Though Brad's selfish and cruel manner makes Anna uncomfortable, she continues dating him and they become engaged. Before the wedding, Greg appears and convinces Mark that he has not missed his chance with Anna. Mark reluctantly attends Anna and Brad's wedding, where he objects to the marriage. The officiant, however, informs him that only the Man in the Sky can stop the wedding. Brad and Anna both ask Mark to ask the Man in the Sky what Anna should do, but Mark refuses to say anything and leaves, wanting Anna to choose for herself. Anna walks out and Mark confesses his ability to lie. Anna struggles to understand the concept and asks why he did not lie to convince her to marry him; Mark states that it "wouldn't count". Anna confesses that she loves him.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Some time later, Anna and Mark are shown happily married with a son, who appears by his actions to have inherited his father's ability to lie.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Matthew Robinson's script which was titled "This Side of Truth" at the time, was included in 2007 official Black List of the “most liked” un-produced scripts in Hollywood. Robinson and producer Lynda Obst sent Ricky Gervais the script out of the blue in the hopes that it would spark his interest. Gervais loved it and eventually flew Robinson to London to retool the script and make the movie. Robinson’s original idea for a feature film grew from a skit he wrote about two people on a date who do not have the ability to lie. He later expanded on the idea for more skits with the same premise and then adapted them into a full film script.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Media Rights Capital and Radar Pictures financed the film. However, 1821 Pictures sued Radar Pictures for breach of contract over failure to pay a $450,000 production fee. Shooting took place primarily in Lowell, Massachusetts; location shoots also took place in Quincy, Andover, North Andover, Sudbury, Tewksbury, Boston, Massachusetts, and Haverhill, Massachusetts. Principal photography was completed in June 2008. During production the film was originally titled "This Side of the Truth", same as the script.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: The soundtrack includes Elvis Costello's otherwise-unreleased rendition of the Cat Stevens song "Sitting".


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Songs also include: Eddie and the Hot Rods' "Do Anything You Wanna Do", Donovan's "Catch the Wind", Supertramp's "Give a Little Bit", and Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky".


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Warner Bros. owns the rights for the film's North American distribution, while Universal Pictures owns the rights to release the film outside of North America. The film was released in North America on October 2, 2009. Its world premiere occurred two weeks earlier at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2009.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: The DVD and Blu-ray were released on January 19, 2010. Gervais briefly promoted the DVD during his hosting duty at the 67th Golden Globe Awards in a joking manner, referring to its modest box office results.


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 56% of 188 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's consensus says, "It doesn't quite follow through on its promise, and relies too heavily on shopworn romantic comedy tropes, but "The Invention of Lying" is uncommonly sly and funny." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 58 based on 31 reviews, suggesting "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Invention of Lying

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" awarded the film three and a half stars out of four saying "in its amiable, quiet, PG-13 way, [it] is a remarkably radical comedy". Xan Brooks of "The Guardian" was also favourable, giving the film four out of five stars, although he was critical of some aspects: "It is slick and it is funny. But it is also too obviously schematic, while that romantic subplot can feel awfully synthetic at times." Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" called it a "mostly funny if melancholic defense of deceit" that "looks so shoddy that you yearn for the camerawork, lighting and polish of his shows, like the original "The Office", because, really, these days TV rarely looks this bad." In some scenes, Dargis says "lying becomes a means to transcendence, an escape from the quotidian, from our oppressive literal-mindedness, from our brute selves. For the most part, though, Mr. Gervais prefers to shock us with our own brutality...[with] unvarnished truths [that] begin to feel heavy, cruel."


title: The Invention of Lying

text: The film opened at #5 with $7,027,472 behind "Zombieland", "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" in its third weekend, the "Toy Story"/"Toy Story 2" 3-D double feature, and "Surrogates" in its second weekend. The film has grossed $18,451,251 in the United States, and $13,955,256 internationally, with a worldwide gross of $32,406,507.


title: Lexus LX

text: The is a full-size luxury SUV sold by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota since January 1996, having entered manufacturing in November 1995. It is Lexus' largest and most expensive luxury SUV. Four generations have been produced, all based heavily on the long-running Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs. The first-generation LX 450 started production in 1995 as Lexus' first entry into the SUV market. Its successor, the LX 470, premiered in 1998 and was manufactured until 2007. The third-generation LX debuted at the New York International Auto Show in April 2007. The fourth-generation LX debuted in October 2021.


title: Lexus LX

text: The first-generation LX 450 had a straight-six engine and seats for seven passengers. The second and third-generations had a V8 engine powertrain, a welded steel body-shell combined with full-size steel ladder frame (body-on-frame construction), and seats for eight passengers. The fourth-generation model has a twin-turbocharged V6 engine powertrain and seats for seven passengers as standard and four passengers as an option. The second-generation LX 470 shared exterior styling with the Japanese domestic market Land Cruiser Cygnus.


title: Lexus LX

text: According to Lexus, the "LX" name stands for "Luxury Crossover". However, some Lexus importers use the backronymic name, "Luxury Four Wheel Drive".


title: Lexus LX

text: Rapidly developed in the mid-1990s as a result of threatening US trade sanctions on Japanese luxury cars, the LX 450 started production in November 1995 and was released to the US in January 1996 as a 1996 model; Canada received the LX from 1997. The LX 450 was Lexus's first SUV and was almost entirely based on the sixth generation Toyota Land Cruiser (J80). Differences lay in a restyled, more luxurious interior and softer suspension settings. The first LX 450 rolled off the production line in December 1995.


title: Lexus LX

text: The LX 450 was powered by a 4.5-liter, twin-cam, four-valve inline-six engine that produced and of torque. Both front and rear axles were solid. Externally, the LX 450 was identical to the J80 series Land Cruiser, with the exception of the grille, side body cladding, and wheels. Side running boards give step-up access. The vehicle had additional sound-absorbing insulation.


title: Lexus LX

text: Amenities included leather seats and seating for seven passengers in three rows, the third row accessed by tilting the second row bench seat forward. The third row could be folded to the side and the second row folded down for further space. The vehicle was pre-wired for the Lexus remote telephone system, and had a remote entry key system. The three options consisted of a console-mounted 6-disc CD changer, electronic front and rear locking differentials, and a power moonroof. At the time of its sales debut in early 1996, the LX 450 was listed in the US at a suggested base price of $47,995, an approximately $7,000 premium over the Land Cruiser, with a base price of $40,678 in 1996, but a similarly optioned Land Cruiser would cost $46,968.


title: Lexus LX

text: Targeted against luxury SUV competitors such as Range Rover, the LX 450 sold over 5,000 units in 1996 and over 9,000 units in 1997. At its launch it sold out its initial production allocation, resulting in a two-month wait list, surpassing initial expectations which had called for 4,000 units that year. It was brought to market as US buyers showed greater interest in large SUVs, which had grown popular because of their high driver's vantage point and truck-like characteristics. Lexus customer research revealed that one in six owners were purchasing large SUVs to add to their garages. An additional factor was the US-Japan trade war of the mid-1990s. The US government threatened to place 100 percent tariffs on all Japanese luxury import cars, but not including SUVs. The LX 450 was produced as a rebadged model (in contrast with other Lexus efforts which were independently or divergently developed from Toyota vehicles), giving a model that was exempt from the tariff. Ultimately a gentlemen's agreement was reached and the threatened tariffs did not materialize.


title: Lexus LX

text: The LX 450 replaced the Land Cruiser in the Canadian market starting after 1996, reducing internal competition (big expensive SUVs have traditionally faced a difficult market in Canada) and avoiding the issue of selling a rebadged model (except for GM, Ford and Chrysler, rebadged models in Canada have not met with success). For a vehicle, the LX 450 was regarded by some critics as underpowered, leading to the shortening of its model cycle (despite sales increases) and replacement with a V8-powered successor.


title: Lexus LX

text: The LX 450 was the top-ranked full-size SUV in J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Survey, with the lowest number of problems during the first three months of ownership.


title: Lexus LX

text: In the mid-1990s, work started on a Lexus variant of the Toyota Land Cruiser (J100), the LX (J100). The final design by Hiroya Kitazumi was approved in 1995, with updates by Kitazumi approved in 2001 and 2004. Testing was conducted from the mid-1990s till late 1997. In December 1997, the second generation LX 470 debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show, going on sale in the second quarter of 1998. It shared the floor pan and most body panels with the equivalent Land Cruiser, and differed in its front appearance and had a more luxurious interior. Exterior design differences included a quad-headlamp forward fascia with larger grille and different wheels. It was powered by a LEV-certified 4.7-liter V8 engine, which initially produced , later upgraded to , then . The final torque value was . It was rated to tow with the tow package installed.


title: Lexus LX

text: The front gained independent suspension, and the optional electronic locking front and rear differentials were dropped – although the rear locking differential was still available in Canada in 1998–1999. Suspension included Adjustable Height Control (AHC) hydraulic suspension and Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS). The AHC could raise the vehicle for off-roading and return to a normal driving height reducing the center of gravity and wind resistance. The lowest setting for when the vehicle was stopped allowed for easier entry, exit and loading. AVS alters shock absorber firmness in under 2.5 milliseconds at each wheel, individually selecting from a range of 64 settings depending on road conditions and driver input such as steering-wheel activity, braking and acceleration. The AVS system used a switch for the driver's preferences including "normal", "comfort" and "sport" modes.


title: Lexus LX

text: Nakamichi stereo with in-dash six-disc CD changer was optional from 1998, and became standard in 2000. A DVD-based navigation system was offered starting in 2001 with the brand new standard Mark Levinson sound system. The navigation system would become standard from 2002. electrochromic Power folding side mirrors, and a smog sensor for the HVAC system were offered. For 2000 models, Vehicle Stability Control and brake assist were made standard, along with Toyota's new A-TRAC (Active Traction Control System).


title: Lexus LX

text: During 2002 for the 2003 model year, Lexus introduced minor tweaks to the exterior, a 5-speed transmission including larger standard 18-inch wheels, a new front bumper, etc. The interior was substantially overhauled, adopting the corresponding updates to the Land Cruiser's interior, and with Bluetooth and a backup camera now available. In the US, both were optional with the camera coupled with the navigation system, due to the shared screen. Lexus increased power from to . The updated engine now met CARB ULEV-II emission standards. Lexus added front row side torso airbags and side curtain airbags, electronic brakeforce distribution and rain-sensing windshield wipers as standard. An 11-speaker Mark Levinson premium sound system and a DVD Rear-Seat Entertainment System (RSES) were made optional. Other new features included Lexus Link, an emergency service similar to GM's Onstar, in North America.


title: Lexus LX

text: The Night View infrared camera safety system was offered as an option in 2002, projecting information on the windshield using a head-up display; the driver could vary brightness using a dimmer knob. The 2003 LX 470 came with Variable Gear Ratio Steering (VGRS) system, varying steering ratios from 12.4 to 1 to 18.0 to 1 (previously fixed at 19.8 to 1), allowing the driver to apply less steering input to maneuver in tight places such as parking lots. By changing the ratio on the highway, minor adjustments made by the driver would not create excessive vehicular movement.


title: Lexus LX

text: In 2005 for the 2006 model year, a refresher included LED tail lamps, adding VVT-i to the engine and increasing its power to . During 2006, for the final model year, 2007, Lexus produced 400 "Limited Edition" LX 470s with Black Onyx paint, stone leather interior, and specialized badging and scuff plates.


title: Lexus LX

text: On April 4, 2007, Lexus debuted the 2008 model year LX 570 at the New York International Auto Show. It was a complete redesign, and the first version to be debuted before its expected Land Cruiser counterpart. The design by Shinichi Hiranaka was approved in 2004, who also did the design update approved in 2010. It has a new UL EV-II certified 5.7 L "3UR-FE" V8 engine. Power output is with of torque. The more powerful engine helps give an increased towing capacity of up to . The engine is tied to a six-speed sequential-shift automatic transmission with an all-new 4WD system which uses a Torsen center differential. Development began on both the Land Cruiser (J200) and Lexus LX equivalent in 2002. The final design was approved in 2004, with testing being conducted into early 2007 on development prototypes and late 2007 on pre-production models. The final design patent for the J200 series Lexus LX was filed on March 27, 2007.


title: Lexus LX

text: The LX 570 is longer overall and wider, while retaining the same wheelbase. It loses the plastic lower body side cladding leaving the paint exposed. A third of the frame's body mass is made from high-tensile steel, along with the entire B-pillar, and all three crossmembers are hydroformed steel. Like the Toyota Tundra the tow hitch is integrated into the frame. The front suspension now uses double wishbones, replacing the torsion beam, which gives of suspension travel, while the rear continues to use a multi-link suspension with a solid rear axle for strength and durability. The LX platform has logged 240,000 test kilometers through subtropical forests, the Australian Outback and American deserts.


title: Lexus LX

text: The LX 570 comes standard with 20-inch wheels, a four-wheel electro-hydraulic suspension with an updated six-setting AHC system that can raise the vehicle by or lower it by from its normal ride height using a knob in the center console. The front suspension's air bag spring rates are variable, but not continuously like a fully active suspension arrangement. The AVS provides more immediate damper firmness adjustments that are diagonally cross-linked through a mechanical system using hydraulic fluid, similar to the 4Runner's X-REAS system.


title: Lexus LX

text: Other performance features include a Crawl Control (more advanced version of Downhill Assist Control) system that negotiates off-road obstacles in both forward and reverse at low speeds by automatically providing throttle and braking inputs for less experienced off-road drivers: an interior lever allows the driver to reduce speed. A multi-terrain anti-lock braking system gives shorter stopping distances on surfaces such as sand or gravel. Hill-start Assist Control (HAC) prevents rolling backwards on hills or slippery surfaces.


title: Lexus LX

text: The interior includes amenities, standard and optional, featured in the 2007 LS 460, such as semi-aniline leather seats, four-zone climate control, a 19-speaker 450 Watt Mark Levinson surround-sound stereo system with hard-drive memory storage, a hard-drive-based navigation system, XM satellite radio with NavTraffic as standard, a two-piece power liftgate/tailgate and Lexus Intuitive Park Assist, sonar parking assistance. Other features include Bubinga wood trim (a form of African rosewood also used in private aircraft and high-quality instruments), a center console cooler for storage of cold drinks, power sliding rear seats, power third row seats, and a DVD rear-seat entertainment system.


title: Lexus LX

text: It also has the updated Lexus fifth-generation hard-drive-based navigation system with an 8-inch high-resolution VGA display. Lexus' keyless SmartAccess with an ultra-thin "smart card" key is standard with 10 airbags including knee airbags for driver and front passenger and second row side torso airbags, and the Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) is standard, while the Pre-Collision System (PCS) and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control systems are options. Active front headrests debut this Lexus safety feature for the first time on an SUV in the U.S. A new Wide-view Front and Side Monitor system uses a camera mounted on the grille giving a 180-degree view in front and a camera mounted on the passenger side of the side mirror helps eliminate blind spots at low speeds useful in parking lots or off-road adventures. Night View was discontinued.


title: Lexus LX

text: In 2010 for the 2011 model year, Lexus introduced a mild facelift with a new front bumper, and for sports models a stick-on body kit on the front and rear bumpers. The new front bumper gave the effect of the new Lexus "spindle" grille without redesigning any of the major bodywork components. This was the first year to have the heated steering wheel option.


title: Lexus LX

text: A more substantial facelift arrived in 2012 for the 2013 model year, characterized by a new grille, bumpers, headlamps, tail lamp lenses and miscellaneous trim changes such as new wheel designs.


title: Lexus LX

text: Another facelift was unveiled in August 2015 at the US Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The update brought significant changes with an all-new interior, and the only exterior panels carried over were the doors and the roof.


title: Lexus LX

text: The fourth-generation LX was unveiled on October 13, 2021, which is based on the J300 series Land Cruiser. The "F Sport" trim is offered for the first time, replacing the previous "Sport" trim. The "VIP/Executive/Ultra Luxury" trim with 4 seats is also available. The "Offroad" trim with three locking differentials is available exclusively in Japan. Unlike the corresponding Land Cruiser, the fourth-generation LX is available in North America. The V6 engine options (twin-turbocharged gasoline unit for the LX 600 and 3.3-liter diesel unit for the LX 500d) are offered for the first time in the LX, which are mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.


title: Justin Welby

text: Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for just over a year. "Ex officio", he is the Primate of All England and the symbolic head "primus inter pares" of the worldwide Anglican Communion.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby was educated at the University of Cambridge where he read history and law. Later in life, he studied for ordination at St John's College, Durham. After several parochial appointments, he became Dean of Liverpool in 2007 and Bishop of Durham in 2011.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby's theology is reported as representing the "open evangelical" tradition within Anglicanism. Having worked in business before his ordination, some of his publications explore the relationship between finance and religion and, as a member of the House of Lords, he sat on the panel of the 2012 Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.


title: Justin Welby

text: Justin Portal Welby was born in Middlesex, England, on 6 January 1956, almost nine months after the marriage of his mother, Jane Gillian Portal (born 1929), to Gavin Bramhall James Welby (1910–1977). Jane had served as a personal secretary to Sir Winston Churchill from December 1949 until her marriage to Gavin Welby in April 1955. Soon after she had a brief relationship with the private secretary to Churchill, Sir Anthony Montague Browne (1923–2013). Welby believed that Gavin Welby was his biological father until paternity testing in 2016 showed that he was Browne's son.


title: Justin Welby

text: Gavin Welby, born Bernard Gavin Weiler in Ruislip, Middlesex was the son of Bernard Weiler, a German-Jewish immigrant and importer of luxury items who changed the family name to Welby shortly after the First World War broke out. Gavin Welby stood for Parliament in the 1951 and 1955 general elections as a Conservative candidate. Welby describes his early childhood as "messy": Gavin and Jane Welby were both alcoholics. They divorced in 1959, when Justin was three years old, and he was placed in Gavin Welby's custody. In 1960 Gavin Welby was engaged to the actress Vanessa Redgrave, who called the engagement off after her mother Lady Redgrave wrote to Vanessa's father, Sir Michael Redgrave, that Gavin Welby was "a real horror ... a pretty rotten piece of work". Gavin Welby died in 1977 of alcohol-related causes.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby's mother stopped drinking in 1968, and in 1975 married Charles Williams, a business executive and first-class cricketer who was made a life peer in 1985. Williams was the nephew of Elizabeth Laura Gurney, a member of the Gurney family of Norwich who were prominent Quakers and social reformers. Welby describes his stepfather as being supportive of him.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby's mother, Jane Portal, was the daughter of Iris Butler (1905–2002), a journalist and historian whose brother, Rab Butler, was a Conservative politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Their father was Sir Montagu Butler, Governor of the Central Provinces of British India and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Montagu Butler was the grandson of George Butler, headmaster of Harrow School and Dean of Peterborough; the nephew of educator George Butler (husband of social reformer Josephine Butler) and Henry Montagu Butler, headmaster of Harrow School, Dean of Gloucester and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge; and the grand-nephew of John Colenso, the first Bishop of Natal.


title: Justin Welby

text: Jane Portal's father was Gervas Portal, a half-brother of the World War II Chief of the Air Staff, Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford. Gervas Portal's mother Rose Leslie Portal "née" Napier was the granddaughter of General Sir William Napier and his wife, Caroline Amelia Fox. General Napier and his brothers, General Sir Charles James Napier and General Sir George Thomas Napier (respectively commanders-in-chief of the British armies in India and in the Cape Colony), were sons of George Napier (a sixth-generation descendant, via the Lords Napier, of John Napier, the inventor of logarithms) and his second wife Lady Sarah Lennox. Caroline Amelia Fox was the daughter of General Henry Edward Fox, younger brother of prominent Whig politician Charles James Fox; they were the sons of politician Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, and his wife Lady Caroline Lennox. Caroline Lennox and Sarah Lennox were two of the five Lennox sisters, daughters of the 2nd Duke of Richmond, son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of King Charles II and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby was educated at St Peter's School, Seaford between 1964 and 1968; Eton College; and Trinity College, Cambridge, where his great-uncle, Lord Butler of Saffron Walden, was then master. He graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and law; according to custom, he was later promoted to Master of Arts by seniority.


title: Justin Welby

text: In a 2013 interview with "The Daily Telegraph", Welby related his conversion experience when he was a student at Trinity College, Cambridge. He said that, while he was at Eton, he had "vaguely assumed there was a God. But I didn't believe. I wasn't interested at all." However, during the evening of 12 October 1975 in Cambridge, praying with a Christian friend, Welby said that he suddenly felt "a clear sense of something changing, the presence of something that had not been there before in my life". He said to his friend, "Please don't tell anyone about this." Welby said that he was desperately embarrassed that this had happened to him. In a 2014 interview, Welby said that his conversion had come when his friend had taken him to an "evangelistic address" which he found to be poor. After this, his friend "simply explained the Gospels" to him. Welby said that from that point onwards he "knew the presence of God". He has since said that his time at Cambridge was a major moment of self-realisation in his life.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby worked for eleven years in the oil industry, five of them for the French oil company Elf Aquitaine based in Paris. In 1984 he became treasurer of the oil exploration group Enterprise Oil plc in London, where he was mainly concerned with West African and North Sea oil projects. He retired from his executive position in 1989 and said that he sensed a calling from God to be ordained.


title: Justin Welby

text: During his oil industry career, Welby became a congregation member at the evangelical Anglican church of Holy Trinity in Brompton, London.


title: Justin Welby

text: In July 2013, following the report of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, Welby explained that senior bank executives avoided being given information about difficult issues to allow them to "plead ignorance". He also said he would possibly have behaved in the same way and warned against punishing by naming and shaming individual bankers which he compared to the behaviour of a lynch mob.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby was at first rejected for ordination by John Hughes, the Bishop of Kensington, who told him: "There is no place for you in the Church of England."


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby was subsequently accepted for ordination, with the support of the Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, Sandy Millar. Throughout his ministry Welby has been linked to the charismatic evangelical wing of the Church of England associated with Holy Trinity Brompton, and in a 2019 interview said: "In my own prayer life, and as part of my daily discipline, I pray in tongues every day."


title: Justin Welby

text: From 1989 to 1992, Welby studied theology and trained for the priesthood at Cranmer Hall and St John's College, Durham, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and a Diploma in Ministry (DipMin) in 1992. He was ordained a deacon at Petertide (on 28 June) 1992 and a priest the next Petertide (27 June 1993), both times by Simon Barrington-Ward, Bishop of Coventry, at Coventry Cathedral. He then became a curate at Chilvers Coton and St Mary the Virgin, Astley (Nuneaton) from 1992 to 1995. He then became rector of St James' Church, Southam, and later vicar of St Michael and All Angels, Ufton, Diocese of Coventry, from 1995 to 2002.


title: Justin Welby

text: In 2002, Welby was appointed a canon residentiary of Coventry Cathedral and the co-director for international ministry at the International Centre for Reconciliation. In 2005, he was appointed sub-dean and Canon for Reconciliation Ministry.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby was appointed Dean of Liverpool in December 2007 and was installed at Liverpool Cathedral on 8 December 2007.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has written widely on ethics and on finance, featuring in books such as "Managing the Church?: Order and Organisation in a Secular Age" and "Explorations in Financial Ethics". Welby's dissertation, an exploration into whether companies can sin, marks his point that the structure of a system can "make it easier to make the right choice or the wrong choice." His dissertation led to the publication of a booklet entitled "Can Companies Sin?: "Whether", "How" and "Who" in Company Accountability", which was published by Grove Books in 1992. He has said that the Benedictine and Franciscan orders in the Anglican churches, along with Catholic social teaching, have influenced his spiritual formation.


title: Justin Welby

text: Interviewed by the BBC in 2011, Welby said that to be appointed bishop of Durham was both challenging and a huge privilege: "I was astonished to be offered the role. It is a passionate desire to see a church that is vigorously full of spiritual life, serving Jesus Christ and serving those around it."


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby's election was confirmed at York Minster on 29 September 2011, and he left Liverpool Cathedral on 2 October. He was consecrated as a bishop at York Minster on 28 October 2011 by John Sentamu, Archbishop of York; and was enthroned in Durham Cathedral on 26 November 2011. He was introduced to the House of Lords on 12 January 2012, where he sits on the Lords Spiritual bench. He gave his maiden speech on 16 May 2012.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby emerged as a candidate to be the next archbishop of Canterbury; his appointment to the position was announced on 9 November 2012. In January 2013, Welby said that he initially thought it was "a joke" and "perfectly absurd" for him to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, because he had only been a bishop for a short time. His confirmation of election ceremony to the See of Canterbury took place at St Paul's Cathedral on 4 February 2013 (by this, he legally became Archbishop of Canterbury); on the following day it was announced that Welby would be appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, as all archbishops are; the order for his appointment was made on 12 February and he swore the oath on 13 March.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby was enthroned as archbishop at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013, which in the calendar of the Anglican churches is an observance of Thomas Cranmer.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby's schedule included an official visit to the Vatican on 14 June 2013, with visits to senior Curial officials, including Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, an official audience with Pope Francis and prayer at the tombs of Saint Peter and Pope John Paul II.


title: Justin Welby

text: In a 12 July 2013 interview with "The Daily Telegraph", Welby addressed questions about his religion. His answers included the following:


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby apologised unreservedly after allegations that barrister and evangelical Christian John Smyth beat boys in the late 1970s, mainly pupils at Winchester College, until their wounds bled and left permanent scars (Smyth was a senior member of Christian charity the Iwerne Trust in the 1970s and 1980s ). These allegations were suppressed for decades, although Smyth was asked to leave the UK.


title: Justin Welby

text: In February 2018, Welby expressed fears that Brexit was dividing UK society and the United Kingdom government austerity programme was harming vulnerable people. Welby wrote:


title: Justin Welby

text: In August 2019, Welby called for EU Remainers to "stop whingeing" and accept the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum.


title: Justin Welby

text: In January 2021, Welby received his first COVID-19 vaccine, writing on Twitter: "The rapid development of the vaccine is an answer to prayer – and it is central to the recovery from this terrible pandemic". He has spoken out against "malicious rumour-mongering" relating to the pandemic.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has also said he is concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom has exacerbated existing inequalities, and has spoken with bereaved families and added tributes to the National Covid Memorial Wall (representing those who died of COVID-19). He has called for the start of a COVID-19 public inquiry.


title: Justin Welby

text: In 2021, Welby, Pope Francis, and Bartholomew I, current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, made a joint declaration to address together the urgency of environmental sustainability.


title: Justin Welby

text: In 2013, Welby disagreed strongly with Lord David Freud, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Welfare Reform at the time, because Welby believes the UK government cuts to benefits have caused or contributed to the surge in food banks. Welby cited a Church of England investigation showing social services referred 35% of Durham residents who use food banks when benefits they were entitled to were not paid. Welby stated:


title: Justin Welby

text: In December 2014, Welby expressed concern about the increasing need for food banks which he said would have been "unthinkable" a decade ago. He called the plight of hungry poor people shocking because he did not expect that in the UK, saying that it was "a very sad fact that they're there, but also it's a great opportunity for the Church to demonstrate the love of Christ."


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby is concerned about rises in energy prices in the UK. He feels that energy companies have a responsibility towards customers and should take account of this rather than only maximising their own opportunities.


title: Justin Welby

text: In the run-up to the 2017 United Kingdom general election, Justin Welby and Archbishop of York John Sentamu campaigned over the need to address poverty, education, housing and health. The archbishops stressed the importance of "education for all, of urgent and serious solutions to our housing challenges, the importance of creating communities as well as buildings, and a confident and flourishing health service that gives support to all – especially the vulnerable – not least at the beginning and end of life."


title: Justin Welby

text: In July 2013, Welby spoke out against the payday lending sites and met with Errol Damelin, chief executive of Wonga. Welby pledged that the Church of England would support credit unions as society needs to "provide an alternative" to the "very, very costly forms of finance" that payday lending services represent. He noted that he did not want to make legal payday lending illegal as this would leave people with no alternative to using criminal loan sharks.


title: Justin Welby

text: Shortly after this well-publicised intervention in the public debate, it emerged that the Church of England's pension fund had invested money in Accel Partners, a venture capital firm that had invested in Wonga. This led to accusations of hypocrisy and Welby noted that the investment was "very embarrassing" for the church. Welby and the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group were unaware of their investment in Wonga.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby also said that the Ethical Investment Advisory Group ought to reconsider rules which allow investment in companies that make up to 25% of their income from gambling, alcohol or high-interest lending.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has expressed concern about inequality in the UK. In September 2017 he said, "Our economic model is broken. Britain stands at a watershed moment where we need to make fundamental choices about the sort of economy we need. We are failing those who will grow up into a world where the gap between the richest and poorest parts of the country is significant and destabilising." He has praised the welfare state as a Christian endeavour emanating from the likes of R. H. Tawney, William Temple and William Beveridge. He has also said that the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom has exacerbated existing inequalities, and has called for the building of "a new Beveridge".


title: Justin Welby

text: In July 2014, Welby acknowledged that there was a problem with Muslim youths travelling to the Syrian Civil War and elsewhere to wage jihad but the numbers were "extraordinarily small", and so he dismissed concerns over the potential for trouble as "hysterical... I think we're in danger of slipping into a very fearful culture". In 2015, he offered his support for British air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria. Welby believes that the problem of Islamic extremism is far deeper than combating Islamic jihadists such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda; and that the Gulf monarchies and Saudi Arabia need to be challenged as their "own promotion of a particular brand of Islamic theology has provided a source from which ISIL have drawn a false legitimization."


title: Justin Welby

text: In an interview with "The Daily Telegraph" in November 2016, Welby stated that claiming that the actions of ISIS are "nothing to do with Islam" was damaging efforts to combat extremism. Welby stipulated that it was essential to understand the religious motivation behind extremism in order to understand it and, similarly, also criticised the argument that claims that "Christian militia in the Central African Republic are nothing to do with Christianity."


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby condemns modern slavery as a crime against humanity. He joined with Pope Francis and leaders of other faiths, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim, in a joint declaration they would work together aiming to end modern slavery by 2020. Forced labour and prostitution, human trafficking and organ trade were specifically mentioned but all relationships that do not respect human equality, freedom and dignity were condemned.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby is concerned that Christians are persecuted in some parts of the world, notably in the Middle East, and fears that some risk their lives going to church. Welby also noted that Christians and other religious minorities were made to suffer terribly and were killed in Iraq, which violates article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Welby noted that Christians and other minorities face persecution for their faith in many areas worldwide; he cited Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic among others. Welby urged the United Kingdom to open doors to refugees.


title: Justin Welby

text: Referring to poverty in the UK in March 2013, Welby criticised UK government changes which cap benefits below inflation.


title: Justin Welby

text: In a speech at Christmas 2013 Welby said, "Even in a recovering economy, Christians, the servants of a vulnerable and poor saviour, need to act to serve and love the poor; they need also to challenge the causes of poverty." In a speech at Easter 2013 Welby said, "In this country, even as the economy improves there is weeping in broken families, in people ashamed to seek help from food banks, or frightened by debt. Asylum seekers weep with loneliness and missing far away families."


title: Justin Welby

text: Referring to poverty in the UK and generally Welby said that "we should all share concern for the poor and the marginalised, should work to build communities where people act responsibly towards one another, whether we are rich or poor we all have the same dignity. William Beveridge, R. H. Tawney and William Temple played a significant part in establishing the post-war welfare state in the United Kingdom and were committed Christians. We do not have the luxury of saying, 'Something must be done' without doing anything ourselves."


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has said that justice of the powerful is not justice at all and judges should decide issues based on truth and the common good rather than class and money. Welby quoted Nelson Mandela that "dealing with poverty was a matter of justice rather than charity." Welby felt that speaking out about poverty, fuel bills, financial insecurity affecting families and credit unions is part of the Christian duty to love one's neighbour.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby hopes that people will resolve to help deal with poverty in their own neighbourhoods. In a BBC television broadcast he said, "I want to suggest this year that each of us makes a resolution to try and change the world a bit where we are."


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has said that insecurity of income is also a problem for many people. He expressed concern that many people cannot save or plan for, for example a holiday because they do not know how much money will be coming in from week to week. In September 2018, Welby said:


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby disagrees with restrictions on child refugees being admitted to the UK. In 2017, Welby expressed fears that children were vulnerable to exploitation and even death.


title: Justin Welby

text: In March 2013, Welby stated that "My understanding of sexual ethics has been that, regardless of whether it's gay or straight, sex outside marriage is wrong." He reiterated this belief again later in 2013, further noting that "To abandon the ideal simply because it's difficult to achieve is ridiculous."


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby does not unequivocally affirm the Church of England's historic opposition to same-sex marriage. At his first press conference he spoke out strongly against homophobia and stated that he is "always averse to the language of exclusion, when what we are called to is to love in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us." He also said "I know I need to listen very attentively to the LGBT <nowiki>[</nowiki>lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender<nowiki>]</nowiki> communities, and examine my own thinking prayerfully and carefully." Before his enthronement, he stated that he did not have doubts about the church's policy in opposing same-sex marriages but remained "challenged as to how we respond to it". "You see gay relationships that are just stunning in the quality of the relationship", he said, adding that he had "particular friends where I recognise that and am deeply challenged by it".


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby sees problems with special services of blessing for same-sex couples, saying in 2014 "There is great fear among some, here and round the world, that that will lead to the betrayal of our traditions, to the denial of the authority of scripture, to apostasy, not to use too strong a word and there is also a great fear that our decisions will lead us to the rejection of LGBT people, to irrelevance in a changing society, to behaviour that many see akin to racism. Both those fears are alive and well in this room today ["a General Synod meeting in London"]. We have to find a way forward that is one of holiness and obedience to the call of God and enables us to fulfil our purposes. This cannot be done through fear. How we go forward matters deeply, as does where we arrive". In 2016, Welby confirmed he appointed a bishop, Nicholas Chamberlain, who is in a same-sex relationship, and that he supports clergy who are in celibate same-sex relationships in line with the church's policy.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has since said that he has become "much less certain" about his stance on human sexuality. In an interview with Alastair Campbell in October 2017, Archbishop Welby was asked if same-sex activity was sinful, and declined to give a clear answer, saying: "I don't do blanket condemnation of people". When asked if a stable relationship could be between two people of the same sex, Welby said "I know it could be", and accepted that faithfulness and love were the "absolutely central" aspects of relationships, but added:


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby maintains social injustice is widespread and entrenched in British society. Welby said the gig economy is just one of many injustices. Welby maintains the weakest people get the least secure pensions and the strongest get the most secure pensions. Welby said in September 2018:


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby maintains that tax avoidance is wrong and that many wealthy companies do not pay as much tax as they should. In December 2017, Welby said, "It is clear that a company that has a turnover of several billion and yet pays only a few million in tax, something isn’t quite working there. It is to do with transfer pricing, there are all kinds of explanations, but people who earn money from a society should pay tax in that society for the common good, for economic justice."


title: Justin Welby

text: In October 2022 Welby criticised the UK government for introducing tax cuts for the rich and for pursuing policies that disproportiontely affect the poor.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has expressed concern that Universal Credit is harming poor people and said in September 2018 that its rollout should be stopped. Welby said:


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby has been a strong supporter of Anglican consecration of women as bishops. In November 2013, Welby stated he aimed to ordain women as bishops while allowing space for those who disagree. In February 2014, Welby called on Anglicans to avoid fear, prejudice and suspicion and to grasp "cultural change in the life of the church":


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby would like discipline applied over appointments to prevent opponents of women as bishops feeling alienated. Welby says he hopes to avoid a zero-sum game where people feel gain for one side inevitably means loss for the other, he sees need for caution, co-operation and unity. Slightly revised legislation to allow women to be ordained bishops in the Church of England was agreed in July 2014 and became law in November 2014.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby's early grounding in Christian doctrine was rooted in the 'Bash Camp' network founded by Eric Nash. Welby became a dormitory officer at the camps held in the Dorset village of Iwerne Minster. The chairman of the Iwerne Trust (now operating as Titus Trust) in the late 1970s was John Smyth, a prominent evangelical and lawyer who had acted regularly for Mary Whitehouse. From 1978–81, Smyth carried out a series of brutal beatings on boys and undergraduates, recorded in a report written by Canon Mark Ruston in February 1982.


title: Justin Welby

text: Smyth was described by Welby in 2017 as "charming" and "delightful" and they swapped Christmas cards for some years in the 1990s. In 1978 Welby left the UK to work in Paris, and Welby stated that "I had no contact with them at all". It later materialised that Welby had attended the camp in this period and had continued to receive the camp newsletter. Andrew Atherstone in the biography, "Risk Taker and Reconciler", describes Welby as having been "involved in the camps as an undergraduate […] businessman and theological college student in the 1980s and early 1990s."


title: Justin Welby

text: In 2012, a victim of Smyth reported the abuse to the Church of England and Welby was informed in 2013. The Archbishop maintained that this was the first he had heard of the abuse by his old friend. "The New York Times" on 14 October 2017 quoted a senior Church of England figure as saying that "all senior members of the trust, including officers like Archbishop Welby, had been made aware of the allegations against Mr Smyth, even those who had been abroad". Questions have remained among Smyth victims as to when Welby first knew, and some have labelled the Archbishop an "observer", a term denoting a person who knew about abuse but who did not report appropriately. The Archbishop has said that he was not part of the inner circle of Smyth's friends and is on the record as saying that survivors must come first, not the Church's own interests.


title: Justin Welby

text: During the widely televised interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by Oprah Winfrey, first broadcast on 7 March 2021, the Duchess stated that the couple had got married by a private exchange of vows on Wednesday, 16 May 2018, three days before their official, public wedding on Saturday, 19 May 2018 and that Welby officiated at the ceremony, no other person being present. The Duke immediately confirmed this story. This created a controversy around the apparent irregularity of a secret marriage under English family law and Welby's participation in such an irregular ceremony. On 30 March 2021, Welby confirmed that he had presided over a private exchange of vows on the Wednesday. However, he also affirmed that the couple's legal marriage occurred on the Saturday, rejecting by implication suggestions that the earlier exchange of vows had constituted a legal marriage under an alleged exception to English law for royal marriages.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby is married to Caroline Eaton and they have had six children. In 1983, their seven-month-old daughter, Johanna, died in a car crash in France. Referring to the tragedy, Welby explained, "It was a very dark time for my wife Caroline and myself, but in a strange way it actually brought us closer to God." Welby established a special day for bereaved parents at Coventry Cathedral where there is now an annual service commemorating the lives of children who have died.


title: Justin Welby

text: His daughter Katharine has written of her experience of poor mental health. Another daughter, Ellie, has learning disabilities.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby acknowledges his privileged education and upbringing and has been praised for sending his own children to local state schools.


title: Justin Welby

text: Welby is a French speaker and an avid Francophile, having lived and worked in France. An announcement about his appointment as Bishop of Durham listed his hobbies as "most things French and sailing".


title: American Pickers

text: American Pickers is an American reality television series that premiered on January 18, 2010 on History, produced by A&E Television Networks in collaboration with Cineflix Media. In the series, the hosts travel across America in search of rare Americana artifacts and national treasures that they can buy from the collectors to add to their personal collections or sell in their antique shops.


title: American Pickers

text: The show follows antique and collectible pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, who travel around the United States to buy (or "pick") various items for resale, for clients, or for their personal collections. Danielle Colby runs the office of Wolfe's business, Antique Archaeology, from their home base in LeClaire, Iowa, and more recently at a second location in Nashville, Tennessee. They originally traveled in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van and now in a Ford Transit. Fritz sells his acquisitions at his own shop, and on his website, Frank Fritz Finds, upriver in Savanna, Illinois. The men go on the road, not only following up leads that Colby has generated but also "freestyling" – stopping at places that look like they might hold items worth buying. They also pick some places more than once.


title: American Pickers

text: The series introduction is narrated by Wolfe and Fritz. The first three seasons used a lengthy introduction, but beginning with Season 4, a shortened version began to be used:


title: American Pickers

text: Mike and Frank explore people's homes, barns, sheds, outbuildings, and other places where they have stored antiques and collectibles. They call upon amateur and serious collectors, hoarders, and also people who have inherited overwhelming collections of items that they don't know what to do with. Wolfe, who has been picking since age four, has a particular interest in antique motorcycles, air-cooled Volkswagens (pronounced “votes-wagon” by Wolfe), old bicycles and penny-farthings, while Fritz has a fondness for antique toys, oil cans, and old Hondas, with a special love for peanut-related items. They have purchased old advertisements and commercial signage, film posters, a rare 15-gallon visible gasoline pump, and a Piaggio Ape (pronounced: "ah-pay") that one of their friends told them is probably the only one of its kind in North America.


title: American Pickers

text: In December 2011, "American Pickers" revealed that Antique Archaeology had leased part of a former 1914 car factory in Nashville, Tennessee, which originally made the "Marathon" automobile, for a second business location to decrease the distance required to haul their finds from the southern states.


title: American Pickers

text: On March 13, 2018, Mike Wolfe made a cameo as himself on Season 15, Episode 17, of "NCIS", titled "One Man's Trash".


title: American Pickers

text: On July 21, 2021, The History Channel announced that Frank Fritz would be departing from the cast of "American Pickers". On July 21, 2022, various news outlets reported that Fritz was hospitalized with a stroke after Wolfe posted about it on social media.


title: American Pickers

text: The series debuted on January 18, 2010. The premiere episode of "American Pickers" had 3.1 million viewers, making it the highest rated History channel debut since "Ice Road Truckers" in 2007. The September 8, 2010, episode "Laurel & Hardy" garnered Nielsen ratings as high as 5.3 million viewers in the 25–54 age group. As of that episode, the show retained the title of #1 new non-fiction series of 2010 among all viewers and adults 25–54.


title: American Pickers

text: American Pickers has also been a hit in Australia, where it can be viewed on Channel "7mate". In 2013 An Australian version of the show called "Aussie Pickers" premiered on 7mate. The series ran until 2014, lasting two seasons. In 2019, Road to Riches was launched on A&E Australia


title: Helene Fischer

text: Helene Fischer (; German: ]; born Jelena Petrovna Fischer, 5 August 1984) is a Russian-born German singer. Since her debut in 2005, she has won numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards, four "Die Krone der Volksmusik" awards and three Bambi awards. She has sold at least 15 million records. In June 2014, her multi-platinum 2013 album "Farbenspiel" became the most downloaded album ever by a German artist and is currently the sixth bestselling album of all time in Germany. Her signature song "Atemlos durch die Nacht" was the bestselling song in Germany in 2014. She has had the best-selling album of the year in Germany five times, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018. She ranked No. 8 on Forbes' list of "The World's Highest-Paid Women In Music 2018", earning $US32 million. Fischer has been referred to as the "Queen of Schlager".


title: Helene Fischer

text: Helene Fischer was born Jelena Petrovna Fischer (, "Jeléna Petróvna Fíšer") in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, to Pyotr and Marina Fischer. Her father worked as a physical education teacher and her mother as an engineer. Her paternal grandparents were Black Sea Germans who were among those sent to forced settlements in Kazakhstan and Siberia. In 1988, at the age of three-and-a-half, she emigrated with her parents and her six-year older sister to Wöllstein, West Germany.


title: Helene Fischer

text: After graduating from high school, Fischer attended the Frankfurt Stage & Musical School for three years, where she studied singing and acting. During this time, she performed on stage at the "Staatstheater Darmstadt", as well as on the stage of the "Volkstheater Frankfurt".


title: Helene Fischer

text: During her time at the Stage & Musical School, Fischer's mother secretly copied a demo CD with six of Fischer's songs and sent it to different recording studios to gauge the reaction of professionals.


title: Helene Fischer

text: Fischer's debut on stage took place on 14 May 2005, in a programme by the TV channel ARD. It was a duet with the singer Florian Silbereisen. The two later became a couple.


title: Helene Fischer

text: She has won 17 Echo awards, the "Goldene Henne" award seven times, and the "Krone der Volksmusik" prize four times. All her albums and DVDs have achieved multiple gold and double platinum status. Her songs, with their stories of the everyday worries and woes of home-loving folks, are lyrically close to what could be called "country music" although musically quite different.


title: Helene Fischer

text: Her fanbase extends beyond Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Finland, the United States, and New Zealand.


title: Helene Fischer

text: She released her first English album, "The English Ones", on 7 June 2010. The album was produced by (Erich Ließmann), a German producer, composer and arranger. On singing in English, Fischer commented: "I have always dreamed of singing my songs in another language. English is the language of Country, the music that we call 'Schlager'. Language is a tool, but it is important that what you sing comes from the heart – and that is what this album is about."


title: Helene Fischer

text: On 4 October 2013, she released her album "Farbenspiel" in Germany. She went on tour in 2014 and a big stadium tour in 2015. She played in the Olympia Stadium in Berlin in front of 120,000 people. The album received platinum after five days in Germany, Denmark and Austria. "Farbenspiel" is the most successful release of a German female artist in the first week of release in the last 10 years. To date, over 2.4 million copies of the album have been sold.


title: Helene Fischer

text: On 13 November 2015, Fischer released a Christmas album entitled "Weihnachten". It consists of two CDs, the first being Christmas songs sung in German and German dialects, and the second is songs sung in English. The album reached number 1 of the year-end charts in both Germany and Austria and received altogether 14 platinums in both countries. It sold over 1.3 million copies.


title: Helene Fischer

text: In 2016, she sang the German version of "How Far I'll Go" ("Ich bin bereit"), the title song of Disney's "Moana".


title: Helene Fischer

text: On 12 May 2017, she released her eighth studio album, which bears her own name of "Helene Fischer". It was released by Polydor. The album debuted at number one on the Austrian, German, and Swiss Albums Chart and reached the top ten in the Netherlands and the Flemish region of Belgium. In Germany, "Helene Fischer" sold more than 300,000 copies in its first week of release, making it the highest-selling debut since Herbert Grönemeyer's 2002 album "Mensch". It won nine platinums in Germany and Austria and has sold over 1 million copies in both countries to date. She performed all her new songs and several hits from previous albums in the Kesselhaus, Munich and released the album "Helene Fischer – Das Konzert aus dem Kesselhaus" showcasing this performance. In June 2018, she started her second stadium tour, performing in Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Austria. In several locations on this tour, she performed up to five times in a row. Her show was developed together with 45 Degrees of Cirque du Soleil. In October 2018, "The New York Times" ranked Fischer seventh in terms of the world's biggest touring musician acts of the year. In the 2018 Forbes list of top-earning female artists worldwide, she ranked 8th. This also makes her currently the most successful non-English singer.


title: Helene Fischer

text: Fischer hosts the yearly music entertainment show , which is broadcast during Christmas on German public TV. In this show, she has performed with various artists, including David Garrett, Michael Bolton, Tom Jones, Max Raabe, Take That, Udo Jürgens, Olly Murs, Andrea Berg, Bryan Adams, Unheilig, Kiefer Sutherland, Freya Ridings, Nick Carter and Queen. She accompanied Lindsey Stirling with an acrobatic performance.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded February 21, 1951, by Robert O. Peterson (1916–1994) in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. The chain has over 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast of the United States. Restaurants are also found in selected large urban areas outside the West Coast, including Phoenix, Denver, Albuquerque, El Paso, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Baton Rouge, Nashville, Charlotte, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati as well as one in Guam. The company also formerly operated the Qdoba Mexican Grill chain until Apollo Global Management bought the chain in December 2017.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Food items include a variety of chicken tenders and French fries along with hamburger and cheeseburger sandwiches and selections of internationally themed foods such as tacos and egg rolls.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Robert Oscar Peterson already owned several successful restaurants when he opened Topsy's Drive-In at 6270 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego in 1941. Several more Topsy's were opened. By the late 1940s, Peterson's locations had developed a circus-like décor featuring drawings of a starry-eyed clown.


title: Jack in the Box

text: In 1947, Peterson obtained rights for the intercom ordering concept from George Manos who owned one location named Chatterbox in Anchorage, Alaska, the first known location to use the intercom concept for drive-up windows.


title: Jack in the Box

text: In 1951, Peterson converted the El Cajon Boulevard location into Jack in the Box, a hamburger stand focused on drive-through service. While the drive-through concept was not new, Jack in the Box innovated a two-way intercom system, the first major chain to use an intercom and the first to focus on drive-through. The intercom allowed much faster service than a traditional drive-up window; while one customer was being served at the window, a second and even a third customer's order could be taken and prepared. A giant clown projected from the roof, and a smaller clown head sat atop the intercom, where a sign said, "Pull forward, Jack will speak to you." The Jack in the Box restaurant was conceived as a "modern food machine," designed by La Jolla, California master architect Russell Forester. Quick service made the new location very popular, and soon all of Oscar's locations were redesigned with intercoms and rechristened Jack in the Box restaurants.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Peterson formed Foodmaker, Inc. as a holding company for Jack in the Box in 1960. At this time, all Jack in the Box locations—over 180, mainly in California and the Southwest—were company-owned. Location sites, food preparation, quality control, and the hiring and training of on-site managers and staff in each location were subject to rigorous screening and strict performance standards.


title: Jack in the Box

text: In 1968, Peterson sold Foodmaker to Ralston Purina Company. In the 1970s, Foodmaker led the Jack in the Box chain toward its most prolific growth (television commercials in the early 1970s featured child actor Rodney Allen Rippy) and began to franchise locations. The chain began to increasingly resemble its larger competitors, particularly industry giant McDonald's. Jack in the Box began to struggle in the latter part of the decade; its expansion into East Coast markets was cut back, then halted. By the end of the decade, Jack in the Box restaurants were sold in increasing numbers.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Around 1980, Foodmaker dramatically altered Jack in the Box's marketing strategy by literally blowing up the chain's symbol, the jack in the box, in television commercials with the tagline, "The food is better at the Box". Jack in the Box announced that it would no longer compete for McDonald's target customer base of families with young children. Instead, Foodmaker targeted older, more affluent "yuppie" customers with a higher-quality, more upscale menu and a series of whimsical television commercials featuring Dan Gilvezan, who attempted to compare the new menu items to that of McDonald's and other fast-food chains, to no avail; hence "There's No Comparison", their slogan at the time. Jack in the Box restaurants were remodeled and redecorated with decorator pastel colors and hanging plants; the logo, containing a clown's head in a red box with the company name in red text to or below the box (signs in front of the restaurant displayed the clown's head only), was modified, stacking the words in a red diagonal box while still retaining the clown's head; by about 1981 or 1982, the clown's head was removed from the logo, which would remain until 2009.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Television advertising from about 1985 onward featured minimalistic music by a small chamber-like ensemble (specifically a distinctive seven-note plucked musical signature). The menu, previously focused on hamburgers led by the flagship Jumbo Jack, became much more diverse, including salads, chicken sandwiches, finger foods, and Seasoned Curly Fries (at least two new menu items were introduced per year), at a time when few fast-food operations offered more than standard hamburgers. Annual sales increased through the 1980s. Ralston Purina tried further to mature the restaurant's image, renaming it "Monterey Jack's" in late 1985. The name change proved to be a disaster, and the Jack in the Box name was restored in early 1986.


title: Jack in the Box

text: After 18 years, Ralston Purina decided in 1985 that Foodmaker was a non-core asset and sold it to management. By 1987, sales reached $655 million, the chain boasted 897 restaurants, and Foodmaker became a publicly-traded company.


title: Jack in the Box

text: At their annual meeting in July 2018, the National Jack in the Box Franchisee Association, which represents the owners of about 2,000 of the chain's 2,240 restaurants, voted "no confidence" in the company's chief executive officer, Leonard "Lenny" Comma, and called for him to resign. In December 2019, Comma said he would be stepping down.


title: Jack in the Box

text: On December 6, 2021, Jack in the Box announced that it was acquiring Del Taco for $12.51 per share. Del Taco has approximately 600 locations in 16 US states. The acquisition was finalized in March 2022.


title: Jack in the Box

text: JBX Grill was a line of fast casual restaurants introduced in 2004 by Jack in the Box Inc. They featured high-quality, cafe-style food, avoiding most of the cheaper fast-food items typically served at Jack in the Box. The architecture and decor maintained an upbeat, positive atmosphere, and the customer service was comparable to most dine-in restaurants. Two of the Jack in the Box restaurants in San Diego (where Jack in the Box is headquartered) were converted to JBX Grill restaurants to test the concept. (The locations in Hillcrest and Pacific Beach still retain many of the JBX elements, including an indoor/outdoor fireplace and modern architecture.) There were also restaurants in Bakersfield, California, Boise, Idaho, and Nampa, Idaho. However, the concept later proved unsuccessful, and the last stores were reconverted to Jack in the Box in 2006.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Although best known for its hamburgers, Jack in the Box's most popular product is its taco, which it has sold since the first restaurant in the 1950s. , the company sold 554 million a year manufactured in three factories in Texas and Kansas. What makes the taco unusual is that it is created with the meat and hard taco shell in the Texas and Kansas facilities, then frozen for transport and storage. At the restaurant, it is then deep-fried, then prepared with lettuce, cheese, and mild taco sauce before serving.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Besides tacos, other Americanized foods from ethnic cuisines that Jack in the Box offers include egg rolls, breakfast burritos, and poppers. New items come in on a rotation every three to four months, including the Philly cheesesteak and the deli style pannidos (deli trio, ham & turkey, zesty turkey) which were replaced by Jack's ciabatta burger and included the original ciabatta burger and the bacon 'n' cheese ciabatta. Jack in the Box also carries seasonal items such as pumpkin pie shakes, Oreo mint shakes, and eggnog shakes during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. In some locations, local delicacies are a regular part of the menu. Locations in Hawaii, for example, include the Paniolo Breakfast (Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice platter) and teriyaki chicken and rice bowl. In the Southern United States, the company offers biscuits and sweet tea. In Imperial County, California, some locations sell date shakes, reflecting the crop's ubiquity in the region's farms. In the spring of 2007, Jack in the Box also introduced its sirloin burger and followed this up recently with the sirloin steak melt. Its more recent foray into the deli market was the less-popular Ultimate Club Sandwich which was initially removed in Arizona due to poor sales and has since been phased out at all locations.


title: Jack in the Box

text: The Bonus Jack was first released in 1970 and has been reintroduced to Jack in the Box menus at times throughout the years, still containing "Jack's secret sauce". In November 2009, the company discontinued its popular ciabatta sandwiches/burgers. In 2012, Jack in the Box introduced a bacon milkshake as part of its "Marry Bacon" campaign.


title: Jack in the Box

text: The Sourdough Jack, which uses two slices of sourdough bread with a hamburger patty, has been around since 1997 (although it was first introduced in 1991 as the "Sourdough Grilled Burger").


title: Jack in the Box

text: In September 2013, Jack's Munchie Meal was introduced. There are 4 different Munchie Meals: Spicy Nacho Chicken Sandwich, Sriracha Curly Fry Burger, Stacked Grilled Cheeseburger, and Chick-n-Tater Melt. Each meal also contains 2 tacos, halfsie fries (curly fries and french fries), and a 20 oz. drink.


title: Jack in the Box

text: In October 2016, the "Brunchfast" items were introduced. Those are Bacon & Egg Chicken Sandwich, Blood Orange Fruit Cooler, Brunch Burger, Cranberry Orange Muffins, Homestyle Potatoes, and Southwest Scrambler Plate.


title: Jack in the Box

text: In January 2018, the "Food Truck Series" sandwiches were introduced, including the Asian Fried Chicken, Pork Belly BLT, and Prime Rib Cheesesteak.


title: Jack in the Box

text: The restaurant rebounded in popularity in 1994 after a highly successful marketing campaign that featured the fictitious Jack in the Box chairman Jack character (formerly voiced by the campaign's creator Rick Sittig), who has a ping pong ball-like head, a yellow clown cap, two blue eyes, a pointy black nose, and a linear red smile that changes with his emotions, and is dressed in a business suit.


title: Jack in the Box

text: Jack was reintroduced specifically to signal the new direction the company was taking to refocus and regroup after the 1993 E. coli disaster, discussed below, which threatened the chain's very existence. In the original spot that debuted in Fall 1994, Jack ("through the miracle of plastic surgery", he says as he confidently strides into the office building) reclaims his rightful role as founder and CEO, and, apparently as revenge for being blown up in 1980, approaches the closed doors of the Jack in the Box boardroom (a fictionalized version, shown while the aforementioned minimalist theme music from the 1980s Jack in the Box commercials plays), activates a detonation device, and the boardroom explodes in a shower of smoke, wood, and paper. The spot ends with a close-up shot of a small white paper bag, presumably filled with Jack in the Box food, dropping forcefully onto a table; the bag is printed with the words "Jack's Back" in bold red print, then another bag drops down with the Jack in the Box logo from that period. Later ads feature the first bag showing the text of the food item or offer the commercial is promoting (both bags have featured text since 1998).


title: Jack in the Box

text: A commercial was released in 1997 where Jack goes to the house of a man who has records of calling Jack in the Box "Junk in the Box". When the man shoves Jack yelling "Beat it clown!", Jack chases him outside, tackles him to the ground, and forces him to try Jack's food and confess his deed. The commercial ends with Jack saying "I'm sorry for the grass stains." "Really?" "No".


title: Jack in the Box

text: The commercials in the "Jack's Back" campaign (which has won several advertising industry awards) tend to be lightly humorous and often involve Jack making business decisions about the restaurant chain's food products, or out in the field getting ideas for new menu items. While a series of ads claiming to ask when Burger King and McDonald's will change their ways about making their hamburgers featured a phone number, the caller used to be a recording of Jack himself (as of 2019, the number is a sex hotline). In addition, many commercials have advertised free car antenna balls with every meal, thus increasing brand awareness. Often different types of antenna balls were available during a holiday or major event or themed toward a sports team local to the restaurant. The antenna balls have since been discontinued due to the demise of the mast-type car antenna.


title: Jack in the Box

text: During the height of the now-defunct XFL, one of the continuing ad series involved a fictitious professional American football team owned by Jack. The team, called the Carnivores, played against teams such as the Tofu Eaters and the Vegans.