title: Kano model

text: One of the main points of assessment in the Kano model is the threshold attributes. These are basically the features that the product must have in order to meet customer demands. If this attribute is overlooked, the product is simply incomplete. If a new product is not examined using the threshold aspects, it may not be possible to enter the market. This is the first and most important characteristic of the Kano model. The product is being manufactured for some type of consumer base, and therefore this must be a crucial part of product innovation. Threshold attributes are simple components to a product. However, if they are not available, the product will soon leave the market due to dissatisfaction. The attribute is either there or not. An example of a threshold attribute would be a steering wheel in a car. The car is no good if it is not able to be steered.


title: Kano model

text: The threshold attributes are most often seen as a price of entry. Many products have threshold attributes that are overlooked. Since this component of the product is a necessary guideline, many consumers do not judge how advanced a particular feature is. Therefore, many times companies will want to improve the other attributes because consumers remain neutral to changes in the threshold section.


title: Kano model

text: A performance attribute is defined as a skill, knowledge, ability, or behavioural characteristic that is associated with job performance. Performance attributes are metrics on which a company bases its business aspirations. They have an explicit purpose. Companies prioritise their investments, decisions, and efforts and explain their strategies using performance attributes. These strategies can sometimes be recognised through the company's slogans. For example Lexus's slogan is "The Pursuit of Perfection" (Quality) and Walmart; "Always low prices. Always" (Cost). In retail the focus is generally on assuring availability of products at best cost.


title: Kano model

text: Performance attributes are those for which more is better, and a better performance attribute will improve customer satisfaction. Conversely, a weak performance attribute reduces customer satisfaction. When customers discuss their needs, these needs will fall into the performance attributes category. Then these attributes will form the weighted needs against the product concepts that are being evaluated. The price a customer is willing to pay for a product is closely tied to performance attributes. So the higher the performance attribute, the higher the customers will be willing to pay for the product.


title: Kano model

text: Performance attributes also often require a trade-off analysis against cost. As customers start to rate attributes as more and more important, the company has to ask itself, "how much extra they would be willing to pay for this attribute?" And "will the increase in the price for the product for this attribute deter customers from purchasing it." Prioritization matrices can be useful in determining which attributes would provide the greatest returns on customer satisfaction.


title: Kano model

text: Not only does the Kano model feature performance attributes, but additionally incorporates an "excitement" attribute, as well. Excitement attributes are for the most part unforeseen by the client but may yield paramount satisfaction. Having excitement attributes can only help you, but in some scenarios it is okay to not have them included. The beauty behind an excitement attribute is to spur a potential consumer's imagination, these attributes are used to help the customer discover needs that they've never thought about before. The key behind the Kano model is for the engineer to discover this "unknown need" and enlighten the consumer, to sort of engage that "awe effect." Having concurrent excitement attributes within a product can provide a significant competitive advantage over a rival. In a diverse product assortment, the excitement attributes act as the WOW factors and trigger impulsive wants and needs in the mind of the customer. The more the customer thinks about these amazing new ideas, the more they want it. Out of all the attributes introduced in the Kano model, the excitement ones are the most powerful and have the potential to lead to the highest gross profit margins. Innovation is undisputedly the catalyst in delivering these attributes to customers; you need to be able to distinguish what is an excitement today, because tomorrow it becomes a known feature and the day after it is used throughout the whole world.


title: Kano model

text: As customer expectations change with the level of performance from competing products. Attributes can move from delighter to performance need and then to basic need.


title: Kano model

text: For example, In 2009, mobile phone charge would last 12 hours. As each new mobile phone generation improved battery life, the attribute of 12-hour battery life has shifted from delighter to less than a basic need.


title: Kano model

text: Kano proposes a standardized questionnaire to measure participants' opinions in an implicit way. The participants therefore need to answer two questions for each product feature, from which one is "functional" (formulated in a positive way) and one is "dysfunctional" (formulated in a negative way).


title: Kano model

text: Based on the combination of answers by one participant for the functional and dysfunctional questions, one can infer the feature category.


title: Kano model

text: Illogical answers (e.g., "I like it" for both the functional and dysfunctional questions) are usually neglected or put in a special category "Questionable". Various approaches for the aggregation of categories across multiple participants have been proposed, from which the most common ones are the "Discrete analysis" and "Continuous analysis", also “Satisfaction coefficients”.


title: Kano model

text: The data for the Kano model typically is collected via a standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire can be on paper, collected in an interview, or conducted in an online survey. For the latter, general online survey software can be used, while there also are dedicated online tools specialized in the Kano model and its analysis.


title: Kano model

text: Quality function deployment (QFD) makes use of the Kano model in terms of the structuring of the comprehensive QFD matrices. Mixing Kano types in QFD matrices can lead to distortions in the customer weighting of product characteristics. For instance, mixing Must-Be product characteristics—such as cost, reliability, workmanship, safety, and technologies used in the product—in the initial House of Quality will usually result in completely filled rows and columns with high correlation values. Other Comprehensive QFD techniques using additional matrices are used to avoid such issues. Kano's model provides the insights into the dynamics of customer preferences to understand these methodology dynamics.


title: Kano model

text: The Kano model offers some insight into the product attributes which are perceived to be important to customers. The purpose of the tool is to support product specification and discussion through better development of team understanding. Kano's model focuses on differentiating product features, as opposed to focusing initially on customer needs. Kano also produced a methodology for mapping consumer responses to questionnaires onto his model.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: José Antonio Torresola Ruiz better known as Frankie Ruiz (March 10, 1958 – August 9, 1998) was an American salsa singer and songwriter of Puerto Rican descent. He was a major figure in the "salsa romántica" subgenre that was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. During his youth, he developed a passion for percussion, later confessing that this would have been his second choice after singing.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Fan reaction to his work was diverse. Within the Latino community, he was regarded as "one of the best salseros ever", and Puerto Ricans abroad were particularly fond of it because it brought back memories of their homeland. Among non-Latinos, some admitted that his music had been responsible for their interest in salsa as a genre and even the Spanish language.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: As salsa moved closer to pop music, and toned down the eroticism in its lyrics during the 1990s, Ruiz was challenged, along with other "salsa romántica" performers, but he managed to record a number of hits during his late career. He suffered from years of drug and alcohol abuse. His personal shortcomings were exploited by the tabloid media but had little impact on his popularity. In 1998, Ruiz died due to complications from liver disease.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Frankie Ruiz was born in Paterson, New Jersey to Frank Torresola and Hilda Ruiz, a Puerto Rican couple who had moved to the city. After being born, he was initially adopted by his grandmother, Concepción, as his mother was 15 years old. Afterwards his custody passed to his parents and he was raised in Union City, along his brothers Viti and Juanito. He received his primary and secondary school education in Paterson, where his father served as education commissioner.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: At the age of 5, Ruiz played percussion instruments at the Roberto Clemente Park in Trenton and at other city venues. One of these performances earned him an award at a show held at the Majestic Theater in Paterson. During the following years, he continued performing with the support of his parents, meeting artists like Tito Puente in the process. Despite this, Ruiz was not enrolled in formal singing classes and mostly depended on practice. During this time, he developed a friendship with Joe Salvador, through which he met Rosemary Salvador, whose family sponsored his performances and those of his brothers. Both joined a local music group led by Charlie López, known as Orquesta Nueva (otherwise known as The Charlie López Orquesta), as vocalist and bass player, and started performing salsa at talent shows. He recorded his first song "Salsa Buena" with this band, which was followed by "Borinquen".


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: After their parents divorced, Hilda Torresola relocated to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico with the siblings. There they settled at Barrio Balboa to live with his grandmother, and other family members. By his early teens, Ruiz had begun performing at nightclubs. He became interested in a salsa band called La Solución, directed by Roberto Rivera, which he was able to join after multiple attempts. With this band, Ruiz re-recorded a new version of "Salsa Buena". As he became its lead singer and recorded the hit single titled "La Rueda" ("The Wheel"), the band was renamed Frankie Ruiz y La Solución and he toured with it for three years. Ruiz became an alcoholic and drug user following the death of his mother in a car accident and the murder of his girlfriend, an aspect of his personal life that was emphasized by the media.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Ruiz continued performing with other bands including La Dictadora and La Moderna Vibración. In 1982, Ruiz joined Tommy Olivencia and his Primerisima Orquesta, replacing Gilberto Santa Rosa as vocalist. He recorded the hit singles "Fantasía de un capintero" and "Como lo hacen", which were followed by "Lo Dudo", "Primero Fui Yo", Como Una Estrella", and "Que Se Mueran de Envidia". In total, Ruiz participated in the recording of three albums with Olivencia: "Un triángulo de triunfo", "Tommy Olivencia" and "Celebrando otro aniversario". As his career centered around music studios, Ruiz moved to Florida with Judith Ruiz and their son Frankie Ruiz, Jr. (born in 1984), whom he encouraged to become a musician by collaborating in hip hop songs. Despite this, he had little communication with his first-born daughter, Yaritza.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Ruiz's first album as a soloist, "Solista pero no Solo", was produced by TH-Rodven Records and directed by Willie Sotello in 1985. Led by the singles "Tú Con Él" and "La Cura", the record became the number-one Billboard Tropical Album. While Ruiz was involved in an international tour, the album reached the top spot on this list twice more, alternating with Hansel y Raúl. With singles "Esta cobardía", "Como le gustan a usted", "El camionero", "Cosas Nativas", and "Ahora me toca a mí" meeting lesser success, "Solista pero no Solo" ended 1986 as the best-selling Tropical/Salsa album of the year in the United States. During the tour that followed, Ruiz performed in unconventional locales including a soccer stadium (in Colombia) and a bullring in Tenerife, Spain. During this period, Tite Curet Alonso, who at the request of Richie Viera, the composer wrote a song for Viti based on the life of the brothers titled "Todo se Queda en Familia".


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Following the performance of this production, Ruiz became one of several soloists who popularized the subgenre known as "salsa romántica", including Eddie Santiago, Lalo Rodríguez, Tony Vega, Gilberto Santa Rosa and Tito Nieves. The success of this group led to a general resurgence of salsa which had been struggling before the expansion of merengue music in the tropical categories. His second album, "Voy Pa' Encima", was released in 1987 and performed well in Puerto Rico, Spain and the United States. Led by singles "Desnúdate Mujer" and "Mujeres", the album sold over 300,000 copies and earned Ruiz the Latin Artist of the Year Billboard Music Award. The former peaked at number six on the "Billboard" Hot Latin Songs chart. Like its predecessor, it would reach the top of the Billboard list three times, this time alternating with Eddie Santiago's "Atrevido y Diferente". A compilation album titled "Historia Musical de Frankie Ruiz" also reached the top of the Billboard list. His third album, "En vivo... y a todo color", was released a year later and managed to sell over 200,000 copies despite Ruiz's career being affected by his addictions.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: In 1989, Ruiz was involved in an altercation with a flight attendant for which he was sentenced to three years at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida. Parallel to this, recording label Rodven records released a new album, "Más Grande Que Nunca", which contained the hit "Deseándote". The album achieved platinum sales status and which were used to sustain his family. While in jail, Ruiz underwent a detoxification process. He was allowed a temporary return to Puerto Rico, where he did some recording with Vinny Urrutia.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: His contract with TH-Rodven expired during his sentence, but it was extended due to pre-established obligations, which led to the schedule of two albums before he was released. Approaching his release, Ruiz began promoting a purported lifestyle change and worked on the release of "Mi Libertad" (My Freedom). The album had 50,000 pre-sale orders. Two songs from the album, the title track and "Bailando", peaked at number ten on the Hot Latin Songs chart. "Bailando" was nominated in the category of Tropical Song of the Year at the 1993 Lo Nuestro Awards. The album was certified platinum after selling over 100,000 copies. During this timeframe he outsold Sergio Vargas, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Xavier, Juan Luis Guerra, Jerry Rivera, and Rey Ruiz.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: His collaboration with Urrutia led to a series of singles including "Hablame", "Amor a medias", "Soy culpable", "Obsesión", "Sueño dormido", "Tiene que saber que es ella", "Soledad", and "Nos sorprendio el amanecer", which would serve as the basis for Ruiz's next album, "Puerto Rico Soy Tuyo", released in 1993. During the following year, Ruiz was involved in a South American tour and events held in the tri-state area. In December 1994, Ruiz released "Mirandoté", with the eponymous single becoming his first to become the number one song on the "Billboard" Tropical Songs chart. Between 1995 and 1996, Rodven released a compilation of themes named "Oro Salsero", which was divided into two albums and was accompanied by presentations in the tri-state area. Following the death of his brother, Juan Félix Ruiz, his addictions were exacerbated and begun affecting his general health.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: His final album "Tranquilo" was recorded in a studio in Santurce, Puerto Rico and was released in 1996. Its lead single, "Ironía", became another number one song on the Tropical Songs chart and ended the year as the best-performing Tropical/Salsa song. For this achievement, the song won the award for "Tropical/Salsa Hot Latin Track of the Year" at the 1997 "Billboard" Latin Music Awards.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: In 1996, Ruiz's liver began to fail leading to a hospitalization and a temporary coma, during which his vocal cords were damaged when an intubation process was undertaken. Initially Ruiz was unable to speak and was worried about his career. The latter stages of his career were affected by a rocky relationship with his son, and an unstable singing career. Shortly afterwards, his relationship with Judith Ruiz ended, and he moved from Florida and settled in New Jersey. There he reunited with Joe Salvador and offered him a job as his agent and began a relationship with Rosemary Salvador. Their relationship was not well received by her religious family, who tried to enroll him in rehabilitation centers, and the couple relocated.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: In January 1997, Ruiz's health continued to decline as a result of his lifestyle, leading to the development of cirrhosis and hepatitis, which resulted in three hospitalizations that lasted for months and extended throughout August. The worst of these bouts resulted in a temporary coma, where he was placed on a respirator, his case considered virtually hopeless by the staff at University Hospital. Knowing the severity of his health, Ruiz developed an interest in religion, initially becoming involved with Santería and adapting his clothing and furbishing his house with figures of orishas.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Ruiz attended the "Billboard" Latin Music Conference that started on April 28, 1997, at the InterContinental Miami, where he received a recognition. Despite the hiatus, his popularity remained and Ruiz began working towards a comeback in November 1997. On November 8, 1997, he made a return appearance at the Tropicana club in North Bergen, New Jersey. The announcement of his performance drew a sizable crowd. Now possessing a rougher voice, Ruiz began a tour of clubs that continued in the Bronx.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Ruiz eventually grew tired of dietary restrictions and protocols and at the insistence of Salvador, became a born again Christian.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: As before, he opted to adapt his lifestyle to reflect this change in religious affiliation. Ruiz remained unaffiliated with any particular church, and avoided congregations, but reflected his new faith in these activities. A decision to become sober was met with a period of withdrawal that affected his mental health, which subsided leading to an improvement in his hepatic condition. During this timeframe, Ruiz only made select appearances. He began a career in religious music, a decision revealed to the public during the winter when he began wearing a large gold cross and preaching during several appearances.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Aware of the seriousness of his cirrhosis, Ruiz began making arrangements in his personal life. Consequently, he contacted his friends and family during the holidays and became engaged on December 24, 1997. In February 1998, the couple traveled to Puerto Rico to meet with his daughter and other relatives, including his grandmother.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Prior to leaving on vacation Ruiz was informed that PolyGram Records would soon be ready to record his next album, and he decided to hold a reunion with Urrutia, during this voyage. During this meeting, the singer negotiated the inclusion of a song that reflected the changes he had experienced – "Vuelvo a Nacer" written by Myriam Valentín (Urrutia's wife), who was a poet. On February 13, 1998, Paterson mayor Martin G. Barnes hosted a ceremony for Ruiz, during which he gave him the key to the city. Ruiz completed a hectic schedule during the remainder of February and March, which was further complemented by a number of impromptu presentations. During this period he experienced a decline in health and increasing pain that interrupted some performances and delayed the date scheduled to begin work on his next album. His final appearance took place at the Crystal Nightclub in Miami on April 24, 1998, during which Ruiz made an effort to hide his discomfort. While in Florida, he reunited with his son.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Recording of the new album began on May 3, 1998, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Urrutia and Valentín had already completed preliminary arrangements and begun production with Peter Velásquez as songwriter. Ruiz began experiencing liver pain shortly after arriving, but pushed through it. He familiarized himself with the arrangements and began recording, beginning with the singles "Vuelvo a Nacer" (along Domingo Quiñones) and "Que Siga la Fiesta". However, he was not satisfied with the initial results, realizing that his voice was worsening. Ruiz worked through the pain for weeks, recording and making public appearances despite growing exhausted. Eventually, he convinced PolyGram that he could continue and recorded a version of "Vuelvo a Nacer" that satisfied him. After completing the video for the single, Ruiz's condition had worsened the rest of the production was cancelled along an homage to Héctor Lavoe. Following the promotional photos, the couple returned to New Jersey for medical follow up.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Later that week, his condition worsened and he was admitted to University Hospital's intensive care unit. News of his condition drew fans and the media to the hospital. Days later, his condition improved and Ruiz gave an interview to Paco Navarro of Mega 97.9 to address his health, thank fans for their support, and assert that he had faith, as the station organized a tribute. On June 17, 1998, he was sent home and remained stable until July 9, when he suffered complications. Within a day, his condition had improved considerably, allowing him to attend the homage. Ruiz was introduced to the audience following a speech, and walked onstage aided by his brother to cheers that lasted for minutes. Overcome by emotion, he thanked the audience and wished them blessings, before receiving a trophy. During the following week, Ruiz's condition deteriorated rapidly, and he was unable to care for himself.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: On July 17, 1998, he was admitted to University Hospital and required assistance to do basic chores. Despite his condition, Ruiz tried to be amicable with both strangers, family, and acquaintances who visited daily. Ruiz was resigned to his situation and took refuge in his faith asking only that Salvador remain with him. Reporters were not allowed to see him but were updated indirectly. In Puerto Rico, news of his condition were released by PolyGram. Family members who lived abroad rushed to the hospital along with his children. During his final days, Ruiz was bedridden and immobilized and began making final arrangements. In August, Ruiz decided to propose as his last request, which was accepted. The impromptu wedding was planned to take place in his hospital room on August 7, but his condition forced it to be rescheduled for three days later. However, by the morning of August 9 his condition was critical and continued worsening until 11:40 p.m., when he died at the age of 40. Ruiz was survived by his children, grandchildren, his two brothers, and his wife. At least one obituary said he died of cirrhosis of the liver.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Ruiz's death affected Puerto Rican and Latin American fans and expressions of grief and affection were widespread. His music received a lot of attention and was played in Latin American communities throughout the world. Residents of Paterson played it on boomboxes and the local store quickly sold all of his albums. A large ribbon was placed on Ruiz's former house at Grove Street in Paterson.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: His body was placed in a golden coffin and a vigil began at Ortiz Funeral Home in the Bronx as he had planned. For three days thousands of fans paid their respects. His former booking agent, Carrie Sánchez, acknowledged that they had been preparing for this event since he first fell ill. The mass was large but ordinate, and mourners systematically passed through a set of barricades to give gifts, bring flowers, personal messages of appreciation, or to pray or pay homage to Ruiz in their own way. His coffin was covered by the flag of Puerto Rico, which became an ubiquitous gift brought by the masses visiting the funeral house. This demonstrated the impact that Ruiz had on Puerto Rican popular culture. Numerous Hispanics of other nationalities paid their respect as well. This outpouring of emotion, and the number of mourners surprised even those close to Ruiz, who wondered if the singer realized the reach of his work in life. His father was quoted as saying: "I knew my son was famous, but I never imagined he was so loved all over the world. He was much bigger than I thought he was."


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: The final day of his wake in this funeral house, his band fulfilled Ruiz's demand to provide a free show with Viti singing some of his brother's songs despite his grief. The following day, his body was taken to Newark Airport and transported to San Juan, along his family and friends. Back in Puerto Rico, it was transported to Mayagüez, where a similar public wake took place. In Puerto Rico, the process more closely resembled a baquiné, a local funerary rite usually reserved for children; instead of mourning, the person's life is celebrated and honored in joyous fashion; his body was received with plena (music and dance). A procession to Mayagüez began, with his family following the hearse carrying his body close by, and thousands of cars joining along the way. Pedestrians gathered along the road waving flags and, upon entering the municipality, his music was played at an event before thousands of attendees. Among the artists performing were: Tito Rojas, Ismael Miranda, Roberto Roena and his former bands La Solución and the Tommy Olivencia Orquesta. His body was placed in the Martínez Funeral Home, while the city mayor ordered flags to be flown at half mast out of respect. As the wake was opened to the public, the same reaction seen in New York repeated itself. The following day, his body was moved to the adjacent Mayagüez City Hall and received the honors reserved for a distinguished son; a public wake was held while more musicians played his repertoire.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Following this, Salvador visited the members of his family who lived in Puerto Rico, including his grandmother, to bid them farewell before returning to Paterson. There, Ruiz's final wake was held at the Minchin Funeral Home, attended by a similar numbers of public individuals and friends who lived in the area. Following the final rites led by a priest, the flag of Puerto Rico was placed over his coffin and a final procession took him to Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery, where his family members from Puerto Rico joined those in New Jersey. Following a ceremony led by a Catholic priest, his body was buried.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: A compilation containing "Vuelvo a Nacer" named "Nacimiento y Recuerdos" was released on August 25, 1998. "Nacimiento y Recuerdos" was certified platinum in the Latin field by the RIAA. The album debuted at number eight on "Billboard"'s Hot Shot Debut and became Ruiz's biggest chart success. His final single going on to become a hit.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: During the decade that followed his death, Viti decided to keep his brother's music alive, singing his hits as he grew successful throughout Latin America, particularly in Peru and Colombia. Among the songs that he reinterpreted were: "Desnúdate Mujer", "Viajera", "Que se mueran de envidia", "La Cura" and "La Rueda", which he would sing along with original singles. On June 9, 2007, the Copacabana nightclub in New York City hosted an homage to Ruiz, Ismael Rivera and Héctor Lavoe; Viti performed Ruiz's songs.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: After his father's funeral, Frankie, Jr. returned to Miami and lived there until his adulthood. He noted the number of people present at the event, and the emotions and admiration expressed during it. He then comprehended the kind of influence that his father had on the masses and his impact on tropical music. Prior to this, Ruiz, Jr. assumed that his father was a successful, yet not necessarily influential, artist. This notion was further fueled by the fact that while they were together, Ruiz, Sr. behaved like any other father and did not reflect a grandiose aura. It was only after seeing the masses mourning, and singing his songs, that Ruiz, Jr. embraced his role as the son of someone of influential in the genre, and accepted the responsibility of continuing this legacy. Ultimately, this inspired him to follow in his father's footsteps and he began taking singing classes with the approval of Judith Ruiz. During this process, he studied the work of his father extensively, but focused on creating his own personal style instead of copying, but he did adopt the pseudonym of "El Hijo de la Salsa" in his father's honor.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: On September 20, 2003, Ruiz, Jr. made his debut as a musician in an homage to his father that was held in Tenerife called "Va por ti, Frankie", singing the single "Puerto Rico" and joining several groups in recreating his father's repertoire. He performed at this event along with: Lalo Rodríguez, Roberto Torres, José Alberto "El Canario", Luis Enrique, Servando y Florentino, Hansel, Luisito Carrión, Paquito Guzmán, Tommy Olivencia, Adalberto Santiago, Tito Allen, Son Iyá, and local artist Caco Senante. In 2012 Ruiz, Jr. returned to Puerto Rico as a singer and confessed to being flooded with emotions remembering his last visit when he was 12 years old. His local debut was scheduled for El Día Nacional de la Salsa, a long running salsa event that is organized by Z-93, the largest local event of its nature, held at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on March 25, 2012. Despite admitting to being nervous prior to the event due to the presence of established salsa performers, Ruiz, Jr. hoped that his long training would prove sufficient to please a public that admired his father. He also noted that since the event was an homage of sorts to his father, his repertoire included several of his classics including "Bailando", "La cura," "Puerto Rico", "Soy tuyo" and "Desnúdate mujer", as well as original songs.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: On August 24, 1999, Cheo Feliciano released his own tribute to Ruiz and other late salsa singers, "Una voz... Mil recuerdos" in which "El camionero" was reinterpreted. That same year, Nino Segarra released an album titled "Romántico Salsero", which included that homage single, "Homenaje A Frankie Ruiz". Jerry Rivera, who met Ruiz when he was 13 years old, and whom he considered his idol, recorded a tribute album titled "Canto a mi Idolo...Frankie Ruiz" in 2003 with Ruiz's songs. The album cover contains a photo of Rivera and Ruiz taken by Rivera's father. The album received a nomination for Best Salsa Album at the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards. The video for the re-release of "Puerto Rico" was recorded in Mayagüez, as an homage. In 2004, another tribute album "Va Por Ti, Frankie" was released featuring various artists.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: During the summer of 2003, four singles composed for Ruiz, but never recorded, resurfaced at the hands of Urrutia. The songs, first composed in 1997–1998 during Ruiz's late career comeback, were stored for the next 16 years following the singer's death. One of the main reasons behind this decision was that Urrutia felt unsatisfied with the potential candidates to record the singles and opted to wait for someone that he felt could accomplish the task. Eventually, the sound engineer discovered Charlie Cruz, then a young salsa singer from Naguabo, Puerto Rico, who happened to have been inspired by Ruiz and Lavoe. Despite being hand-selected, Cruz acknowledged that Ruiz had a unique style and that he had no interest in copying it, or replacing him, or becoming a contemporary version of Ruiz.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: The singer attempted instead to record the themes using his own style as an homage, naming his production "Huellas" (meaning "footprints") in reference to the trailblazing done by Ruiz decades earlier. According to Cruz's own assessment, the single "Locos como yo" is the one that remains closest to its inspiration, with the others being "Me rindo", "Labios de púrpura", "Locos como yo" and "Hay que seguir palante" (in which Quiñones reprised his previous role. Urrutia was among those involved in its production, and the cover features an image of Cruz standing near Ruiz's grave and a note addressed to the late singer.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: In 1999, Universal Music Latino published a compendium titled "La Leyenda de un Sonero", which remastered some of his previous work. Five years after his death, Universal Music Latino released "Éxitos Eternos" which includes the unfinished track "Que Siga la Fiesta". The song's length was extended by repeating its "soneos" and choruses and was remastered to improve its sound.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: The 1999 Puerto Rican Festival of Massachusetts was dedicated to Ruiz, and featured Viti as one of its invited performers. The event was highlighted by a parade where his hits, especially "Puerto Rico", were played over the speakers. Its organizer, focused the narrative of the festival on an anti-drug message, and noted in a later interview that Ruiz was an example of an unexpected death caused by a life of excess that had impacted him personally.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: In 1999, the municipality of Mayagüez dedicated their yearly fiesta patronal to Ruiz; Viti was featured as guest singer. The municipal government later renamed an auditorium next to the "Palacio de Recreación y Deportes" in Ruiz's honor. The municipality of Carolina, Puerto Rico also held tribute shows as part of its Noches de Música Tropical series. At this event, figures like Elías Lopés and the La Mulenze orquesta performed some of his singles such as: "Esta cobardía", "La rueda", "Tú me vuelves loco", "Bailando", "Ironía" and "Mi libertad".


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: His was remembered by an event organized by SalSoul to commemorate its 50th Anniversary. His single "Puerto Rico", reinterpreted by Juan Pablo Díaz and Issac Delgado, served as the cornerstone of "Cuba y Puerto Rico son...", a cross-cultural project produced by Popular, Inc. which mostly centered around salsa.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: While performing, Ruiz was a tenor, and his voice was described as decidedly juvenile sounding despite his physical age, something that he employed to execute a style that was regarded as "dazzling" and "passionate". However, he was protective of his voice, usually speaking in a low tone, and performing exercises to help him perform, leading to a dichotomy between his singing and conversation tones which surprised new acquaintances. His tracks have been described as reminiscent of a hybrid between popular music and modern salsa, with the percussion being prominently featured. The narrative was heavily focused in the daily life of Latinos, from their hardships to their traditions. He became known for his improvisational skills, something that he expressed with creativity and expressiveness through his voice, and which were described as capable of turning mediocre lyrics into a hit song.


title: Frankie Ruiz

text: Ruiz was not particularly motivated by money or wealth, but rather by a sense that it was his destiny to become a singer. He continued enjoying showmanship, and would dance to the rhythm to provide additional entertainment. The quality of his performances was commonly characterized by an empathy between him and his public, where Ruiz would attempt to entertain a lively audience to the point of exhaustion and anthropomorphized the masses as a single entity, his "Public".


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo Zongtang, Marquis Kejing (also spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang; ; November 10, 1812 – September 5, 1885), sometimes referred to as General Tso, was a Chinese statesman and military leader of the late Qing dynasty.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Born in Xiangyin County, Hunan Province, Zuo sat for the imperial examination in his youth but obtained only a "juren" degree. He then spent his time studying agriculture, geography and military strategy. In 1851, he started his career in the Qing military by participating in the campaign against the Taiping Rebellion. In 1862, he was recommended by Zeng Guofan to serve as the provincial governor of Zhejiang Province. During his term, he coordinated Qing forces to attack the Taiping rebels with support from British and French forces. For this success, he was promoted to Viceroy of Min-Zhe. After capturing Hangzhou from the Taiping rebels in 1864, he was enfeoffed as a first class count. In 1866, as part of the Qing government's Self-Strengthening Movement, Zuo oversaw the construction of the Fuzhou Arsenal and naval academy. That same year, he was reassigned to serve as the Viceroy of Shaan-Gan, where he oversaw industrialization in Gansu Province. In 1867, he was appointed as an Imperial Commissioner in charge of military affairs in Gansu.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: During his term as Imperial Commissioner in Gansu, he participated in the suppression of the Nian Rebellion. In 1875, he was appointed Imperial Commissioner again to supervise military action against the Dungan Revolt. By the late 1870s, he had crushed the Dungan Revolt and recaptured Xinjiang Province from rebel forces. In 1875, the Guangxu Emperor made an extraordinary exception by awarding Zuo a "jinshi" degree – even though Zuo never achieved this in the imperial examination – and appointing him to the Hanlin Academy. In 1878, in recognition of his achievements, Zuo was promoted from a first class count to a second class marquis. He was reassigned to serve as the Viceroy of Liangjiang in 1881 and appointed to the Grand Council in 1884, before being made an Imperial Commissioner again to oversee naval affairs. He died in 1885 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and was given the posthumous name Wenxiang.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: While Zuo is best known outside China for his military exploits, he also made contributions to Chinese agricultural science and education. In particular, he promoted cotton cultivation to northwestern China as a replacement for cash crop opium and established a large-scale modern press in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces which published Confucian classics and newer works on agricultural science.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: The dish General Tso's chicken in American Chinese cuisine was named after Zuo, though there is no recorded connection between him and the meal.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo Zongtang's family name was Zuo and his given name was Zongtang. His courtesy name was Jigao () or Cun (). His art name (or pseudonym) was Xiangshang Nongren (), which means "peasant from Xiang". He often signed off by the name Jinliang (), which means "(Zhuge) Liang of today", since he liked to compare himself with Zhuge Liang.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: The titles of nobility he held were First Class Count Kejing () from 1864 to 1878, and Second Class Marquis Kejing () from 1878 to his death in 1885. Zuo's posthumous name, granted by the Qing imperial court, was Wenxiang ().


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo was born in 1812 in a land-holding family in Xiangyin County, Hunan Province. His family paid for him to attend a local private school starting from the age of five, where he mastered the Confucian classics. At the age of 20, he qualified to attend the Imperial Academy.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo's career got an inauspicious start when, in his youth, he failed the imperial examination seven times (ca. 1822–1835). He decided to abandon his plans to become an official and returned to his home by the Xiang River to farm silkworms, read, and drink tea. It was during this period that he first directed his attention to the study of Western sciences and political economy.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: When the Taiping Rebellion broke out in 1850, Zuo, then 38 years old, was hired as an advisor to Zeng Guofan, the governor of Hunan. In 1856, he was formally offered a position in the provincial government of Hunan. In 1860, Zuo was given command of a force of 5,000 volunteers, the Xiang Army (later known as "Chu Army"), and by September of that year, he drove the Taiping rebels out of Hunan and Guangxi provinces, into coastal Zhejiang Province. Zuo captured the city of Shaoxing and, from there, pushed south into Fujian and Guangdong provinces, where the revolt had first begun. In 1863, Zuo was appointed Provincial Governor of Zhejiang and an Undersecretary of War.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: In August 1864, Zuo, together with Zeng Guofan, dethroned the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's teenage ruler, Hong Tianguifu, and brought an end to the rebellion. He was created "First Class Count Kejing" for his part in suppressing the rebellion. He, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang were called "Zeng, Zuo, Li", the leaders in suppressing the rebellion.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: In 1865, Zuo was appointed Viceroy and Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang. As Commissioner of Naval Industries, Zuo founded China's first modern shipyard and naval academy in Fuzhou the following year.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo's successes continued. In 1867, he became Viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and Imperial Commissioner of the armed forces in Shaanxi. In 1884, his fellow Xiang Army officer, Liu Jintang, was appointed as the first governor of Xinjiang Province. The Governor of Xinjiang was the subordinate to the Viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: After this military success, Zuo marched west with his army of 120,000, winning many victories with advanced Western weapons in the Dungan Revolt in northwestern China (Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang provinces) in the 1870s.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Several Hui Muslim generals, such as Ma Zhan'ao, Ma Anliang, Ma Qianling, Dong Fuxiang, and Ma Haiyan from Hezhou, who had defected to Zuo's army, helped him crush the "Muslim rebels". Zuo rewarded them by relocating the Han Chinese from the suburbs of Hezhou to another place and allowing their troops to stay in the Hezhou suburbs as long as they did not live in the city itself.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: In 1878, Zuo successfully suppressed Yakub Beg's uprising and helped to negotiate an end to Russian occupation of the border city of Ili. He was vocal in the debate at the Qing imperial court over what to do with the Xinjiang situation, advocating for Xinjiang to become a province, in opposition to Li Hongzhang, who wanted to abandon what he called "useless Xinjiang" and concentrate on defending China's coastal areas. However, Zuo won the debate, Xinjiang was made a province, and many administrative functions were staffed by his Hunan officers.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo was outspoken in calling for war against the Russian Empire, hoping to settle the matter by attacking Russian forces in Xinjiang with his Xiang Army. In 1878, when tension increased in Xinjiang, Zuo massed Qing forces toward the Russian-occupied Kuldja. The "Canadian Spectator" stated in 1878, "News from Turkestan says the Chinese are concentrating against Kuldja, a post in Kashgar occupied by the Russians... It is reported that a Russian expedition from Yart Vernaic has been fired upon by Chinese troops and forced to return." The Russians were afraid of the Qing forces, thousands of whom were armed with modern weapons and trained by European officers. Because the Russian forces near the Qing Empire's border were under-manned and under-equipped, they agreed to negotiate.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo's troops were armed with modern German Dreyse needle rifles and Krupp artillery as well as experimental weapons.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: For his contributions to his nation and monarch, Zuo was appointed a Grand Secretary to the Grand Secretariat in 1874 and elevated to "Second Class Marquis Kejing" in 1878.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo was appointed to the Grand Council, the cabinet of the Qing Empire at the time, in 1880. Uneasy with bureaucratic politics, Zuo asked to be relieved of his duties and was appointed Viceroy of Liangjiang in 1881. In 1884, upon the outbreak of the Sino-French War, Zuo received his fourth and last commission as commander-in-chief and Imperial Commissioner of the military and Inspector-General overseeing coastal defences in Fujian Province.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo was admired by many generals who came after him. During the Republican era, the Kuomintang general Bai Chongxi wanted to reconquer Xinjiang for the Nationalist government, in Zuo's style, and expelled Russian influence from the area. Zuo was also referred to by Kuomintang general Ma Zhongying (a descendant of a Salar noble) as one of his models, as Ma led the National Revolutionary Army's 36th Division to reconquer Xinjiang for the Nationalist government from the pro-Soviet governor Jin Shuren during the Kumul Rebellion.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: While Zuo is best known for his military acumen, he believed that the key to peace and stability lay in an educated, prosperous citizenry. He sometimes referred to himself by his art name, "peasant from Xiang", and was keenly interested in agriculture. He advocated the scientific reform of commercial agriculture both as a way to strengthen China's economic self-sufficiency and also as a way to manage civilian populations by improving their standard of living and controlling the kinds of crops they grew. During the 12 years he spent in northwestern China, he undertook extensive agricultural research on different crops and methods. Comparing the benefits and indications of two ancient agricultural methods, the more established long field, crop rotation method () and the less common intensive, small-field method (), Zuo believed that the latter method, cultivating small fields of densely-planted monocultures, was more suitable to the dry, extreme climate of the northwest region. To promote this method, he authored two pamphlets explaining the method which were then distributed freely to local farming communities. Zuo also recognised the threat of opium to the nation's stability and economic health and advocated replacing opium poppies with cotton as the major cash crop in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. He authorised the large scale distribution of cotton seeds and published pamphlets on its cultivation and processing. In 1878, he also oversaw the establishment of a large weaving factory in present-day Mulan County, Gansu Province, with the aim of creating a new textile industry in the region and providing socially-acceptable employment to women.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: In addition to managing the peasantry by improving their economic circumstances, Zuo also believed that increasing access to traditional Chinese philosophy would help to pacify areas experiencing unrest and ultimately create a more contented and unified populace. To this end, Zuo set up a printing press in northwestern China which printed Chinese classics, as well as agricultural pamphlets. When Zuo first arrived in the region, a decade of constant warfare had virtually stopped all publishing in the region. Zuo prioritised reestablishing the printing industry a priority and thousands of copies of the publications he authorised were distributed in Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi and Xinjiang. Printing appears to have stopped when Zuo returned to Beijing, but the endeavour is credited with inspiring later printing presses.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: Zuo's great-grandparents were Zuo Fengsheng () and Madam Jiang (). His grandparents were Zuo Renjin () and Madam Yang (). His parents were Zuo Guanlan (; 1778–1830) and Madam Yu (; 1775–1827).


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: In 1832, Zuo married Zhou Yiduan (; 1812–1870), a woman from Paitou Township, Xiangtan County in Hunan Province. Zhou's courtesy name was "Junxin" (). They had four daughters and four sons as follows:


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: The dish General Tso's chicken in American Chinese cuisine was introduced in New York in the 1970s, inspired by a dish originally prepared by Peng Chang-kuei, a Taiwanese chef specialising in Hunan cuisine. Peng named the dish in honour of Zuo Zongtang.


title: Zuo Zongtang

text: One charming story, for which no evidence is offered, credits the Chinese and Southeast Asian stuffed pancake "Apam balik" to the general. He is said to have invented it as a way to use local products and save his men from more expensive ingredients.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: De'Vondre Campbell (born July 1, 1993) is an American football inside linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Hutchinson Community College before transferring to Minnesota, and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Arizona Cardinals.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: After playing at the junior college level for Hutchinson Community College, Campbell played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 2013 to 2015. As a sophomore in the 2013 season, he recorded 39 total tackles, three tackles-for-loss, and one forced fumble. In the 2014 season, he recorded 75 total tackles, 6.5 tackles-for-loss, 2.5 sacks, one interception, one pass defended, and three fumble recoveries. In his final collegiate season in 2015, he recorded 92 total tackles, 6.5 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, one interception, three passes defended, and two forced fumbles.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: The Atlanta Falcons selected Campbell in the fourth round (115th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. Campbell was the second linebacker drafted by the Falcons in 2016, behind LSU's Deion Jones. He was also the 16th overall linebacker drafted in 2016.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: On May 5, 2016, the Atlanta Falcons signed Campbell to a four-year, $2.90 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $565,528.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: Throughout training camp, Campbell competed to be a starting outside linebacker against Sean Weatherspoon and Philip Wheeler. Head coach Dan Quinn named Campbell the starting weakside linebacker to begin the regular season, alongside Deion Jones and Vic Beasley.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Atlanta Falcons' season-opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and recorded four solo tackles in their 31–24 loss. On September 16, 2016, it was reported that Campbell had sustained an ankle injury during practice. His ankle injury sidelined him for the next four games (Weeks 2–5). On October 23, 2016, Campbell collected a season-high ten combined tackles (six solo) during a 33–30 loss against the San Diego Chargers in Week 7. On November 27, 2016, Campbell recorded four solo tackles, made a season-high three pass deflections, andade his first career interception during a


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: 38–19 win against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12. Campbell made his first career interception off a pass attempt by Cardinals' quarterback Carson Palmer, that was originally intended for tight end Jermaine Gresham, to seal the Cardinals' victory in the fourth quarter. Campbell was inactive during the Falcons' Week 16 victory at the Carolina Panthers after suffering a concussion the previous week. He finished his rookie season in 2016 with 48 combined tackles (35 solo), seven passes defensed, one forced fumble, and one interception in 11 games and ten starts.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: The Atlanta Falcons finished first in the NFC South with an 11–5 record in 2016 and earned a first round bye. On January 14, 2017, Campbell started his first career playoff game and recorded four combined tackles during a 36–20 win against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round. The following week, the Falcons defeated the Green Bay Packers 44–22 in the NFC Championship Game. On February 5, 2017, Campbell started in Super Bowl LI and recorded four total tackles as the Falcons were defeated 34–28 by the New England Patriots in overtime.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: On February 8, 2017, the Atlanta Falcons fired defensive coordinator Richard Smith after they lost a 28–3 lead in Super Bowl LI and allowed the New England Patriots to score 31 points in the second half of the game. On February 10, 2017, the Atlanta Falcons announced their decision to promote secondary coach Marquand Manuel to defensive coordinator. Campbell entered training camp slated as the starting strongside linebacker after Vic Beasley was moved closer to an edge rushing defensive end role. Head coach Dan Quinn named Campbell the starting strongside linebacker to begin the regular season, alongside weakside linebacker Duke Riley and middle linebacker Deion Jones.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: On September 17, 2017, Campbell recorded eight combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made his first career sack on Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a 34–23 victory against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2. In Week 10, he collected a season-high 13 combined tackles in a 27–7 victory against the Dallas Cowboys. Campbell started in all 16 games in 2017 and recorded 92 combined tackles (61 solo), four pass deflections, and two sacks.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: Campbell returned as the starting strongside linebacker to begin 2018, along with Duke Riley and Deion Jones. He played in 16 games with 13 starts, finishing with a team-leading 94 combined tackles, and 1.5 sacks.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: In Week 4 against the Tennessee Titans, Campbell recorded a team-high 17 tackles in the 24–10 loss. In Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers, Campbell recorded a team-high 11 tackles and intercepted a pass thrown by Kyle Allen in the 29–3 win. In Week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers, Campbell forced a fumble on running back Matt Breida which he recovered in the 29–22 win.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: In Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins, Campbell recorded his first sack as a Cardinal on Tua Tagovailoa during the 34–31 loss. He finished the season starting all 16 games, recording 99 tackles (third on the team) and 2.0 sacks.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: On June 9, 2021, Campbell signed with the Green Bay Packers. He was named the starting inside linebacker alongside Krys Barnes.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: In a 35–17 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 2, Campbell notched an interception thrown by Lions quarterback Jared Goff. He caught his second interception on the season in a 25–22 overtime victory over the Cincinnati Bengals when he caught an errant pass thrown by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the first play of the extra period.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: On January 14, 2022, Campbell was named a first-team member of the 2021 All-Pro Team, becoming the first Packers inside linebacker to achieve this honor since Ray Nitschke in 1966. He finished the season as PFF's second-highest graded linebacker, behind Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys.


title: De'Vondre Campbell

text: On March 17, 2022, Campbell re-signed with the Packers on a five-year deal, worth $50 million. On October 23, 2022, during a Week 7 loss to the Washington Commanders, Campbell intercepted a pass from Taylor Heinicke and returned it 63 yards for his first NFL touchdown.


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: The 1999 American film "Fight Club", directed by David Fincher, presents social commentary about consumerist culture, especially the feminization of American culture and its effects on masculinity. The film has been the source of critical analysis. Academics Jans B. Wager describes the film as retro-noir, while Keith Gandal defines it as a "slumming trauma". Cultural critics Henry Giroux and Imre Szeman assert that "Fight Club" focuses too much on consumerist culture as society's problem. Academic Robert von Dassanowsky describes "Fight Club" as an examination of European fascism.


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: According to Jans B. Wager, "Fight Club" exhibits several film noir characteristics. The film's narrator is a white male protagonist who provides a subjective voice-over. He is involved in "an erotic triangle" with "a female object of desire" (Marla Singer) and a male antagonist (Tyler Durden), all of whom are white. The white masculinity in the film differs from noir films by focusing on the upper middle class instead of the lower middle class or the working class. Both of the narrator's counterparts are simultaneously like him and dangerous to him, and the plot takes place in "an urban, crumbling, criminal milieu". With these characteristics, "Fight Club" masquerades as neo-noir. It is instead best classified as a retro-noir since its presentation of gender roles is "diametrically opposed" to neo-noir films, which in contrast "allow their protagonists to survive, thrive, and commit or solve crimes, with and without male companionship or assistance". The films also present a "more organic" heterosexual coupling than "Fight Club".


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: The female character is introduced as a femme fatale, wearing a dress, hat, and sunglasses, smoking a cigarette, and possessing "voluptuous" red lips. Her presence, regardless of "action or agency", is meant to show that "she is the source of all the problems for the narrator". The femme fatale appearance at the beginning is replaced by a heroin chic appearance for the rest of the film. The male antagonist appears in direct response to the "intrusion" of this female object of desire, recalling how in some noir films, the femme fatale appearance is a catalyst to the everyman's entry into "a criminal and dangerous world". The female character is presented as "necessary but peripheral" since she is never fully aware of what is happening. Cultural critic Henry Giroux describes the nature of Marla Singer as "an ultra-conservative version of post-1960s femininity that signifies the antithesis of domestic security, comfort, and sexual passitivity". This brand of post-feminism ties into "commodities that call for and support constant body maintenance (femininity)". Marla Singer finds her commodities in others' laundry or thrift stores, so "she transgresses both through her sexual appetites and her flaunting of the consumption-oriented conventions of femininity".


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: Keith Gandal defines "Fight Club" as a "slumming trauma" in the sense that it falls between the genres of the sentimental slumming drama and the trauma film. Sentimental slumming dramas avoid "the sordid" and "degraded environment and social interactions". They contain "wholesome" heroes, who and whose counterparts usually have "young, beautiful faces and bodies" that do not bruise or do recover easily from bruising. Examples of sentimental slumming dramas include "Titanic", "Shakespeare in Love", and "Forrest Gump". In contrast, trauma films have "a penchant for disfigurement and disease", and they exhibit "blasted" nihilism in which the films' characters are paralyzed by trauma and even become "traumatizers" themselves. Examples of trauma films include "Gummo", "Kids", and "Welcome to the Dollhouse".


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: While "Fight Club" expresses "radical" slumming notions through lines like, "Only when you've lost everything are you free to do anything," the film is hostile to sentimental slumming. Gandal writes of the film's perception, "Sentimentalism is an insidious lie that denies the realities of human life and the human body as it promises a fairy-tale experience that doesn't exist." Additionally, one of "Fight Club"s main characters, Tyler Durden, advocates methods of "self-actualization and self-discovery", which are radical compared to those of "wholesome" heroes. While slumming dramas avoid physically degraded conditions, "Fight Club" embraces the conditions in a manner that "mystifies and romanticizes the sordid". This approach differentiates from trauma films' approach of these conditions. Instead of the characters being paralyzed by traumas, the traumas are "romantic" traumas that "shake people awake and remind them that they are alive and full of possibility". Through fight clubs, "the desecrated body is a central image in slumming trauma" with injuries being fetishes in the genre.


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: The romanticism is a paradox in the slumming trauma genre; the characters identify with decay as "purifying" and identify with the degraded as "transcendent". The paradox is unstable; there are suggestions of "humiliation and self-loathing". The love object Marla Singer accuses the narrator of having "serious emotional problems", and there is anger among fight club members that they will not be "millionaires and movie gods and rock stars". The narrator discovers that celebrity treatment as leader of the fight clubs prompts the question of how the narrator cannot be special. Gandal elaborates on the double-sided nature that results from the paradox: "Either the narrator is discovering his aliveness in the body's vulnerability and power to harm, or he is degrading his body and others' out of traumatic self-loathing and depression... Either the film is pushing humility or indulging in a martial, even fascist, fantasy of celebrity."


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: Love objects are degraded in trauma films, but in "Fight Club", degradation does not last to the film's conclusion. Gandal notes the separation, "[T]he abusive (and self-abusive) man and the degraded (and self-abusive) woman actually get together in the end—something seemingly unthinkable in a trauma film." "Fight Club"s ending has characteristics of slumming dramas' and trauma films' endings. Like the "wholesome" heroes, the nameless narrator ascends from "bohemian depths", but like in trauma films, the narrator is not "physically unscathed", suffering a gunshot wound through his cheek. Despite the protagonist and the love object uniting, the film remains hostile to sentimentality through the display of the gunshot wound and a spliced frame of a penis, one of Tyler Durden's hostile acts during the film.


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: Cultural critics Henry Giroux and Imre Szeman describe "Fight Club" as a failed critique which focuses on the consumerist culture and how it shapes male identity and ignores how neoliberal capitalism has dominated and exploited society. They write, ""Fight Club" has nothing substantive to say about the structural violence of unemployment, job insecurity, cuts in public spending, and the destruction of institutions capable of defending social provisions and the public good." The film is "dangerously seductive" because of how it offers through Project Mayhem "a possible vision of a collective response... however disturbing such a response might be." The vision, in the form of "regressive, vicious, and obscene" politics, is presented as the only possible alternative to defeat contemporary capitalism. "Fight Club" is a film that "very powerfully reveals the astonishing limits of our political imagination", focusing on masculinity and centering on a "hip, stylishly violent" narrative. The critics write, "It tells us very little... about the real circumstances and causes of our discontent, which lie in a very different place than in the seeming emasculation of that social group that wields perhaps the most concentrated power the world has ever seen—urban, upper-middle class, white, male technocrats."


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: Giroux and Szeman identify Tyler Durden as a failed icon of the revolution whose public appeal is more due to his cult personality than any "strengths of an articulated, democratic notion of political reform." Durden acts instead of thinking and thereby fails to envision democratic movements; he is described as "a holdover of early-twentieth-century fascism". While the narrator represents the crisis of capitalism as a crisis of masculinity, Tyler Durden represents "redemption of masculinity repackaged as the promise of violence in the interests of social and political anarchy".


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: In the film, Tyler Durden holds Raymond, a young Asian convenience store clerk, at gunpoint. Durden threatens to kill Raymond unless the clerk returns to veterinary school, a previous pursuit which Raymond had abandoned. The extortion is flawed because Durden treats choice as an individual act that can be willed through, ignoring societal dynamics. The critics write, "For Tyler, success is simply a matter of getting off one's backside and forging ahead; individual initiative and sheer force of will magically cancel out institutional constraints, and critiques of the gravity of dominant relations of oppression are dismissed as either an act of bad faith or the unacceptable whine of victimization."


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: The two critics outline three main absences in "Fight Club"s critique. First, the film assumes that capitalism and consumerism are "impenetrable", and there cannot be resistance or struggle against them. Secondly, the film focuses instead on defending "authoritarian masculinity". The fight clubs' violence are complicit with the system of commodification that it denounces because it ties into instant gratification, heightened competitiveness, and "the market-driven desire" to dominate and win in fights. Lastly, "Fight Club" ascribes to a world under the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes in which cynicism replaces hope. The critics write of this world, "The survival of the fittest becomes the clarion call for legitimating dehumanizing forms of violence as a source of pleasure and sociality." They summarize, ""Fight Club" appears to have no understanding of its own articulation with the very forces of capitalism it appears to be attacking. This is most evident in its linking of violence, masculinity, and gender. In other words, "Fight Club"s vision of liberation and politics relies on gendered and sexist hierarchies that flow directly from the consumer culture it claims to be criticizing." "Fight Club" is a reminder to have discourse about ethics and politics but its failed critique suggests "a more sustained and systemic critique" of societal conditions.


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: Robert von Dassanowsky identifies "Fight Club", alongside "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Hannibal", as an American film released at the turn of the 21st century that examines European fascism through cinematic metaphor and explores fascism's cultural and sexual politics. "Fight Club"s portrayal of the paramilitary Project Mayhem represents a response to the feminization of America, and the portrayal is reminiscent of the creation of Nazism in response to the "decadent" Weimar Republic of Germany. In the film, the counter to the feminized male is a model of male that is "an identity-less, violent and destructively nihilistic cadre that intends to discipline a world gone too tolerant". The paramilitary members' processing of human fat from liposuction into designer soap is a Holocaust reference. The process surpasses in potency "Soylent Green"s premise of processing people into food. Dassanowsky writes, "[It] is not only possible and marketable in the real world, but the very concept of this postmodern self-improvement elitism derives from the most horrific inhumanity in human history."


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: The film's embodiment of the crisis of masculinity is former bodybuilder Bob Paulson, played by Meat Loaf. As a result of steroid abuse, Bob has lost his testicles, developed "bitch tits", and become estranged from his family. His body and spirit are crippled by failed modernity's science and technology. He embodies how traditional patriarchy is being lost and how his generation fears feminization. Dassanowsky summarizes:


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: "Without his testicles and with female breasts Bob has become the extreme metaphor for middle-class, male-led panic in the postmodern era, a setting that features a recasting of the same factors of interwar German angst: dehumanization through (post)modernity and its technology: international economic and geopolitical instability; and lack of trust in social and political concepts and/or the national identity and role."


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: Paulson is killed accidentally while participating in one of Project Mayhem's "urban terrorist" operations. In his death, he becomes "a mythical icon" who receives his name back, having previously gone nameless like other members of the Project. The scenario retells how Nazi activist Horst Wessel's death by communist activists was exploited by the Nazi movement to portray Wessel as a fallen hero. Dassanowsky observes the effect of Bob's death and the response to it, "Mythology and the constructed enemy against which Bob perished in battle obscure the Fight Club's reactionary 'revolution.'"


title: Interpretations of Fight Club

text: Another member of Project Mayhem, Angel Face (played by Jared Leto), is disfigured by the narrator in Sadean destruction "of the 'normal' or ideal as sexual act". The disfigurement signifies how "there is no symbolic Other that is victimized or battles fascist oppression". The narrator himself is unable to recognize his actions as Tyler Durden. He attempts to rid himself of Durden, which is metaphoric of "the post-war trauma in dealing with fascist destruction". Fascism arises when humans fear inadequacy and losing social control. Audiences respond eagerly to the film's presentation of fascism, having a base desire "to experience the forbidden, to see the cornerstones of industry dynamited and collapse." "Fight Club" concludes with the narrator and his female companion watching Project Mayhem's successful detonation of buildings that hold credit card information to reset society's debt. Dassanowsky writes of the conclusion, "The ecstasy of a fresh start that can not be reversed... as the Narrator and [Marla] hold hands while the buildings sink, [is] as potentially wish-fulfilling as any hyperthyroid promise Hitler may have made to a tired and bruised nation in 1933."


title: Clapham

text: Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.


title: Clapham

text: The present day Clapham High Street is on the route of a Roman road. The road is recorded on a Roman monumental stone found nearby. According to its inscription, the stone was erected by a man named Vitus Ticinius Ascanius. It is estimated to date from the 1st century. (The stone was discovered during building works at Clapham Common South Side in 1912. It is now placed by the entrance of the former Clapham Library, in the Old Town.)


title: Clapham

text: According to the history of the Clapham family, maintained by the College of Heralds, in 965 King Edgar of England gave a grant of land at Clapham to Jonas, son of the Duke of Lorraine, and Jonas was thenceforth known as Jonas "de [of] Clapham". The family remained in possession of the land until Jonas's great-great grandson Arthur sided against William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of 1066 and, losing the land, fled to the north (where the Clapham family remained thereafter, primarily in Yorkshire).


title: Clapham

text: Clapham's name derives from Old English, meaning 'homestead or enclosure near a hill', with the first recorded usage being "Cloppaham" circa 880.


title: Clapham

text: Clapham appears in Domesday Book as "Clopeham". It was held by Goisfrid (Geoffrey) de Mandeville, and its domesday assets were three hides; six ploughs; and of meadow. It rendered £7 10s 0d, and was located in Brixton hundred.


title: Clapham

text: The parish comprised . The benefice remains to this day a rectory, and in the 19th century was in the patronage of the Atkins family: the tithes were commuted for £488 14s. in the early 19th century, and so the remaining glebe comprised only 11 acres in 1848. The church, on the site of the current St Paul's and belonging to Merton Priory was, with the exception of the north aisle which was left standing for the performance of burials, taken down under an act of parliament in 1774. A new church, Holy Trinity, was erected in the following year at an expense of £11,000 (), on the north side of the common.


title: Clapham

text: In the late 17th century, large country houses began to be built there, and throughout the 18th and early 19th century it was favoured by the wealthier merchant classes of the City of London, who built many large and gracious houses and villas around Clapham Common and in the Old Town. Samuel Pepys spent the last two years of his life in Clapham, living with his friend, protected at the Admiralty and former servant William Hewer, until his death in 1703.


title: Clapham

text: Clapham Common was also home to Elizabeth Cook, the widow of Captain James Cook the explorer. She lived in a house on the common for many years following the death of her husband.


title: Clapham

text: Other notable residents of Clapham Common include Palace of Westminster architect Sir Charles Barry, Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg and 20th century novelist Graham Greene. John Francis Bentley, architect of Westminster Cathedral, lived in the adjacent Old Town.


title: Clapham

text: In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Clapham Sect were a group of wealthy City merchants (mostly evangelical Anglican) social reformers who lived around the Common. They included William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton and Zachary Macaulay, father of the historian Thomas Macaulay, as well as William Smith Member of Parliament (MP), the Dissenter and Unitarian. They were very prominent in campaigns for the abolition of slavery and child labour, and for prison reform. They also promoted missionary activities in Britain's colonies. The Society for Missions to Africa and the East (as the Church Mission Society was first called) was founded on 12 April 1799 at a meeting of the Eclectic Society, supported by members of the Clapham Sect, who met under the guidance of John Venn, the Rector of Clapham. By contrast, an opponent of Wilberforce, merchant and slave-trader George Hibbert also lived at Clapham Common, worshipping in the same church, Holy Trinity.


title: Clapham

text: In 1848, Clapham was described in the "Topographical Dictionary of England" as a village which "has for many years, been one of the most respectable in the environs of the metropolis". At this time, the patronage of Holy Trinity church belonged to the Atkins family.


title: Clapham

text: After the coming of the railways, Clapham developed as a suburb for commuters into central London. Clapham High Street railway station opened in 1862 and the underground City and South London Railway was extended to the area in 1900. By 1900 Clapham had fallen from favour with the upper classes. Many of their grand houses had been demolished by the middle of the 20th century, though a number remain around the Common and in the Old Town, as do a substantial number of fine late 18th- and early 19th-century houses. Today's Clapham is an area of varied housing, from the large Queen Anne-, Regency- and Georgian-era homes of the Old Town and Clapham Common, to the grids of Victorian housing in the Abbeville area. As in much of London, the area also includes social housing on estates dating from the 1930s and 1960s.


title: Clapham

text: In the early 20th century, Clapham was seen as an ordinary commuter suburb, often cited as representing ordinary people: hence the familiar "man on the Clapham omnibus". By the 1980s, the area had undergone a further transformation, becoming the centre for the gentrification of most of the surrounding area. Clapham's relative proximity to traditionally expensive areas of central London led to an increase in the number of middle-class people living in Clapham. Today the area is generally an affluent place, although many of its professional residents live relatively close to significant pockets of social housing.


title: Clapham

text: Clapham was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. For poor law purposes the parish became part of the Wandsworth and Clapham Union in 1836. The parish was added to the Registrar General London Metropolis area in 1844 and consequently it came within the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855. The population of 16,290 in 1851 was considered too small for the Clapham vestry to be a viable sanitary authority and the parish was grouped into the Wandsworth District, electing 18 members to the Wandsworth District Board of Works. In 1889 the parish was transferred to the County of London and in 1900 it became part of the new Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1904, becoming part of the single Wandsworth Borough parish for poor law. The former Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was divided in 1965 and the area of the historic parish of Clapham was transferred to the London Borough of Lambeth, along with Streatham. Clapham gave its name to a Parliamentary constituency between 1885 and 1974.


title: Clapham

text: Translated to the postal system, Clapham fills most of SW4 and as defined, at least since the Norman Conquest until 1885, includes parts of SW8, SW9 and SW12, London. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth (the border between the two boroughs runs across the common), but Lambeth has responsibility for its management. According to the 2011 census, the Clapham Area has a population of 40,850 inhabitants. For administrative and electoral purposes, Clapham is made up of three Lambeth wards: Clapham Common, Clapham Town and Thornton ward. Parts of Clapham North lie within the Brixton electoral ward of Ferndale and the Stockwell electoral ward of Larkhall. The portion of the SW4 postcode north of Union Road and Stockwell Station falls within the area of Stockwell.


title: Clapham

text: Much of southern Battersea is often incorrectly referred to as Clapham, because of the misnomer of Clapham Junction railway station, and to stress Battersea's proximity to Clapham Common, as well as their relative distance from Battersea's historic nucleus. The railway station now known as Clapham Junction was originally named Battersea Junction by its architect to reflect its actual geographical location.


title: Clapham

text: According to the 2011 census, White British is the largest ethnic group, at 51% of the population, followed by 16% Other White. Clapham is home to one of the largest Australian communities in London.


title: Clapham

text: Clapham Common comprises 220 acres of green space, criss-crossed by footpaths, with three ponds, a Victorian bandstand and a large number of mature trees, including horse chestnuts and a significant avenue of London plane trees along Long Road. It is overlooked by a variety of buildings, including a number of Georgian and Victorian mansions. It also has Holy Trinity Clapham, an 18th-century Georgian church, important in the history of the evangelical Clapham Sect. Clapham Town comprises Clapham High Street and residential streets including Clapham Manor Street, home to Clapham Leisure Centre, as well as Venn Street with a cinema, restaurants, and a food market held every weekend throughout the year.


title: Clapham

text: The neighbourhood, where used, derives its name from a tube station—it has no fixed boundary from the rest of Clapham. Taking any definition in informal use, it is predominantly mid-rise and low-rise residential land, and usually takes in major parts of the Common. Where regard to historic Clapham parish and some street signs is had, this area includes a detached part: the land bounded by Nightingale Square, Oldridge Road and Balham Hill.


title: Clapham

text: Clapham North lies on either side of Clapham Road and borders the relatively modern creation 'Stockwell' in the historic Lambeth parish on Union Road and Stirling Road. There is a "Stockwell Town" Partnership sign north of Union Road demarcating the boundary between Clapham and Stockwell. The northern part of Clapham in the Larkhall ward includes the Sibella conservation area. The southern part is Ferndale ward and includes Landor, Ferndale and Bedford roads leading up to Brixton.


title: Clapham

text: As well as an extensive bus network, which connects the area with much of south and central London, Clapham has three tube stations and two railway stations.


title: Clapham

text: In 2012, the Overground East London Line was extended to Clapham High Street and Wandsworth Road stations. This links Clapham directly to stations including Shepherds Bush, Canada Water, Shoreditch and Highbury and Islington.


title: Clapham

text: Clapham Junction is one of the major rail transport hubs and network of railway junctions in England. There are frequent services to London Victoria (Westminster) and London Waterloo (South Bank).


title: Fairfax (TV series)

text: Fairfax is an American adult animated comedy streaming television series created by Matt Hausfater, Aaron Buchsbaum, and Teddy Riley. The series is voiced by Skyler Gisondo, Kiersey Clemons, Peter S. Kim, and Jaboukie Young-White. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on October 29, 2021. Season 2 was released on June 10, 2022.


title: Fairfax (TV series)

text: Four middle school best friends embark on a never-ending quest for popularity on Fairfax Avenue – Los Angeles' pulsing heart of hypebeast culture.


title: Fairfax (TV series)

text: The project was first announced to be in development at Amazon Studios on December 19, 2019, with Matt Hausfater attached as co-creator. On January 29, 2020, Amazon Prime Video gave the project a 2-season order consisting of 8 half-hour episodes per season, with Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley joining as co-creators and executive producing the project alongside Hausfater. It was also announced that Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, and Ben Kalina of Titmouse, Inc. were set to also executive produce the series alongside Serious Business. The characters for the series were designed by graphic designer Somehoodlum.


title: Fairfax (TV series)

text: On September 29, 2021, it was announced that Skyler Gisondo, Kiersey Clemons, Peter S. Kim, and Jaboukie Young-White would make up the main voice cast with Pamela Adlon, Yvette Nicole Brown, Rob Delaney, Zoey Deutch, John Leguizamo, Camila Mendes, Billy Porter, and Ben Schwartz among the guest stars.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: The Confederate States dollar was first issued just before the outbreak of the American Civil War by the newly formed Confederacy. It was not backed by hard assets, but simply by a promise to pay the bearer after the war, on the prospect of Southern victory and independence. As the Civil War progressed and victory for the South seemed less and less likely, its value declined. After the Confederacy's defeat, its money had no value, and both individuals and banks lost large sums.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: The first series of Confederate paper money, issued in March 1861, bore interest and had a total circulation of . As the war began to tilt against the Confederates, confidence in the currency diminished, and the government inflated the currency by continuing to print the unbacked banknotes. By the end of 1863, the Confederate dollar (or "Greyback", to distinguish it from the then-new "Greenback" paper US dollar, which was likewise put into circulation during the war) was quoted at just six cents in gold, and fell further still.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: The Greyback is now a prized collector's item, in its many versions, including those issued by individual states and local banks. The various engravings of leading Confederates, gods and goddesses, trains, ships and enslaved Africans on these hastily printed banknotes, sometimes cut with scissors and signed by clerks, continue to stimulate debate among antique dealers, with even some of the counterfeit notes commanding high prices.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: The Confederate dollar, often called a "Greyback", was first issued into circulation in April 1861, when the Confederacy was only two months old, and on the eve of the outbreak of the Civil War.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: At first, Confederate currency was accepted throughout the South as a medium of exchange with high purchasing power. As the war progressed, confidence in the ultimate success waned, the amount of paper money increased, and their dates of redemption were extended further into the future. Most Confederate currency carried the phrase across the top of the bill: then across the middle, the " [amount of bill] " (or " [amount of bill]" or " [amount of bill]").


title: Confederate States dollar

text: As the war progressed, the currency underwent the depreciation and soaring prices characteristic of inflation. For example, when news of the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg reached the public, the Confederate currency depreciated 20%. Confederate President Jefferson Davis asked private citizens to restore the value of the Confederate dollar by mutually agreeing to sell and buy items only at reduced prices. In October 1863, Confederate States Senator Louis Wigfall of Texas said that a Confederate soldier received per month in pay, which was worth the same as had been worth at the beginning of the war. In September 1864, one Confederate dollar was worth the same as three cents of United States currency. People tried to retain their wealth by buying gold to such an extent that, in Richmond, it was impossible to find someone who would sell their gold. At Christmas 1864, the Confederate dollar's worth had decreased to such an extent that a turkey sold for and a ham for . By the war's end, a cake of soap could sell for as much as , and an ordinary suit of clothes was ,700.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: Near the end of the war, the currency became practically worthless as a medium of exchange. This was because, for the most part, Confederate currency were bills of credit, as in the Revolutionary War, not secured or backed by any assets. The only two exceptions were in Mississippi, where in 1862 a series of notes were issued with the backing of cotton stored by the state's planters and in Florida, where notes were backed, in theory, by public lands. Just as the currency issued by the Continental Congress was deemed worthless (witness the phrase "not worth a Continental;" and see "The Federalist Papers", which also addressed this issue in the run-up to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution) because they were not backed by any hard assets, this too became the case with Confederate currency. Even though gold and silver may have been scarce, some economic historians have suggested that the currency would have retained a relatively material degree of value, and for a longer period of time, had it been backed by hard goods the Confederacy did have, such as cotton or tobacco. When the Confederacy ceased to exist as a political entity at the end of the war, the money lost all value as fiat currency.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: The Confederacy, being limited in skilled engravers and printers as well as secure printing facilities, often had to make do with unrelated designs in early banknote issues. Some such were abstract depictions of mythological gods and goddesses, such as the Goddess of Liberty. Typical Confederate themes included naval ships and historical figures, including George Washington. Of the 72 notes issued by the Confederate States of America, 5 designs depicted enslaved Africans in scenes of a sterilized narrative of slave labor.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: Since most engravers and bank plates were in the Northern states, Confederate printers used offset or lithographic process to copy scenes that had been used on whatever notes they had access to. Many variations in plates, printing and papers also appear in most of the issues, due in large part to the limits on commerce resulting from the Union blockade and the inadequate Confederate railroads in the American Civil War.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: People featured on banknotes include Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, Christopher Memminger, Robert M. T. Hunter, Alexander H. Stephens, Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, Clement Clay, George W. Randolph, and Lucy Holcombe Pickens, the wife of the Governor of South Carolina. There was also a bill featuring George Washington.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: Confederate Treasury Notes were hand signed by various clerks, with exception of the 50 cent issues that had the printed signatures of Robert Tyler and Edward C. Elmore. The first six notes issued were hand signed by the Register and Treasurer themselves. While hand signatures were considered an anti-counterfeiting tool, the sheer number of bills being produced could not reasonably be signed individually by two men each. Women were often hired as clerks to sign "for Register" and "for Treasurer". Up to 200 clerks were eventually hired for each.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: As the Civil War continued, the cost of the war loomed large. Any precious metals available in the South often made their way to Europe to procure war goods. But the CSA did manage to mint a few coins. In 1861, Robert Lovett Jr. of Philadelphia was commissioned to design, engrave and make a one cent piece for the Confederacy. On the obverse (front), he used the head of Minerva (French Liberty Head), which he had used on several store cards. The coins were struck using the then Federal standard of cupronickel for cent pieces. He made a few samples, of which only 12 are said to exist by the popular stories but research has shown that 14 are currently known to exist. Fearing prosecution for aiding the enemy, he stopped his work and hid the coins and dies in his cellar. The original dies were purchased later and used to make restrikes, first by John W. Haseltine and later by Robert S. Bashlow. The dies were donated to the Smithsonian Institution by Bashlow in 1962.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: In the aftermath of secession, the Confederacy seized U.S. Mint facilities at Charlotte, North Carolina, Dahlonega, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana. After seizing and appropriating the bullion reserves stored at the facilities, the Confederate Treasury, led by C. G. Memminger, determined that the cost of minting coins far outweighed the benefits. Circulating specie would be virtually nonexistent in the Confederacy throughout the entirety of the war. A wide variety of local token and scrip would attempt to fill this void, to little avail.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: In late April 1861, four Confederate half dollars were struck on a hand press by employees of the New Orleans Mint. Because of the high relief of the coin die, a test striking was made to determine if coins would release from the Confederate die. The die was made by a printing plate engraver (A.H.M. Peterson) in New Orleans who was unfamiliar with techniques required to engrave coining dies. These coins were struck using a U.S. obverse die (Seated Liberty) and the Confederate die made by Peterson. These coins are known as "originals", and the location of all four of the coins is known today.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: As the result of an 1879 article about the Confederate cent printed in a New York City newspaper, Benjamin F. Taylor, M.D. (Chief Coiner, New Orleans Mint, CSA) contacted coin dealer Ebenezer Mason. Taylor informed Mason of the existence of the Confederate half dollar and the die. Mason bought the die and coin from Taylor and sold them to J.W. Scott Co. of New York City, a coin and stamp dealer. Scott bought 500 1861 United States half dollars from a New York bank that were supposedly struck at the New Orleans Mint. Scott had the reverse of the half dollars planed down and performed a one-sided strike using the Confederate half dollar die. The Seated Liberty obverse of the coins were flattened some because of the one-sided strike. In addition, Scott struck 500 half dollar-sized tokens in white metal using the Confederate die and a newly made die to commemorate the restrikes of the Confederate half dollars. The Confederate half dollar die went missing during the 1920s and has not been seen since.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: Popular stories claim one of the Confederate half dollars was given to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. This story has no basis in fact. In an 1879 letter to Ebenezer Mason, Davis confirmed that a Union soldier (actually a Federal Officer) stole a coin from one of his wife's trunks, but could not confirm that it was like the then known Confederate half dollar. It is possible that the coin was a gold so-called Jefferson Davis dime struck at the Paris (France) Mint, which Davis described to coin dealer Ed Frossard in an 1880 letter. All known Jefferson Davis dimes were struck in silver at the Paris Mint. The Davis letter is the only known reference to a gold specimen, which was likely a special presentation piece made for Davis.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: Confederate Treasury Notes (banknotes) were ultimately issued in 50¢, , , , , , , , and denominations with a variety of designs, issuers and redeemable obligations. The amount of currency issued under the various acts of the Confederate Congress totaled .7 billion. Bills were released in 72 different note "types" in seven "series" from 1861 through 1864.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: Since there were many types of Confederate notes as well as notes issued by the states of the Confederacy, and since banks could issue their own notes, counterfeiting was a major problem for the Confederacy. Many of these contemporary counterfeits are identifiable today and they can be as valuable to a collector as a real note.


title: Confederate States dollar

text: Confederate dollars and coins remain the subject of a lively trade, with careful grading of damage and deterioration similar to booksellers' gradings.


title: Miss World 1994

text: Miss World 1994, the 44th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 19 November 1994 and marked the third consecutive staging of Miss World in Sun City, South Africa. 87 contestants from around the world competed for the title. Lisa Hanna of Jamaica crowned her successor Aishwarya Rai of India at the end of the event.


title: Miss World 1994

text: In December 2014, Aishwarya Rai was felicitated with a Lifetime Beauty with a Purpose Award by the Miss World Organisation at the 64th Miss World contest for her humanitarian works since she won the crown.


title: Samson Kayo

text: Samson Kayo (born 1991 or 1992) is a British actor, producer and writer. He was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2018 for the BBC sketch show "Famalam" and in 2022 for the Sky One sitcom "Bloods", which he created and wrote. He also created and stars in "Sliced", and his other credits include "Youngers", "Timewasters", and "Our Flag Means Death".


title: Samson Kayo

text: Kayo is of Nigerian descent. He said that growing up in Peckham, he only wanted to be a footballer, but developed an interest in comedy through Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and British comedian Jocelyn Jee Esien, who inspired him as a black person to enter comedy. He was a childhood friend of John Boyega, with whom he attended church. When he went out to pick up an iron for his mother, he found an open audition for the Channel 4 comedy "Youngers", and was cast.


title: Samson Kayo

text: Kayo was nominated for Best Male Comedy Performance at the 2018 British Academy Television Awards for his part in the BBC sketch show "Famalam". From 2017 to 2019, he was part of the main cast of the ITV2 sitcom "Timewasters", in which a Black British jazz quartet are transported through time to the London of the 1920s and 1950s in each series. He is the creator, writer and lead of the takeaway-based sitcom "Sliced" on Dave since 2019. He also created and plays the lead Maleek on paramedic-focused sitcom "Bloods", which debuted on Sky One in 2021 while being based on an eight-minute short film on Sky Arts. He was nominated for Best Male Comedy Performance at the 2022 British Academy Television Awards for this role.


title: Samson Kayo

text: In 2020, Kayo featured in Nick Frost and Simon Pegg's horror comedy series "Truth Seekers". A year later, he starred in David Jenkins and Taika Waititi's pirate-based romantic comedy series "Our Flag Means Death," which was produced in the United States. He told "The Irish Times" that although many British actors of colour found more opportunity in the United States, he was committed to making more British series.


title: Controversies about Opus Dei

text: Opus Dei is a personal prelature within the Roman Church that has been the subject of numerous controversies.


title: Controversies about Opus Dei

text: Throughout its history, Opus Dei has been criticized by many, including by numerary members who knew the founder and had roles in Opus Dei's internal government. The reports by former members in the USA, England, Spain, Latin America, France, Germany, and other countries are published. Journalists have described it as "the most controversial force in the Catholic Church" and its founder Josemaría Escrivá as a "polarizing" figure.