title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: The 2018 revival of "Double Dare" premiered to positive reviews, particularly for host Liza Koshy. Reality Blurred's Andy Dehnart said that the reboot "did an excellent job of balancing the old and new," and praised the combination of Koshy and Marc Summers, saying she "can absolutely hold her own as host," and "her rapport with [Summers] felt natural and playful." Joel Keller of the "New York Post"'s Decider observed that "the show belongs to Koshy, who ad-libs well and makes the kids feel at ease," and gave "Double Dare" a favorable "stream it" rating.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: "Double Dare" was nominated for a CableACE Award in the Game Show Special or Series category at the 1989 and 1993 ceremonies, winning the award in 1989, but losing to MTV's "Lip Service" in 1993. Dana Calderwood was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series in 1989. Nickelodeon was nominated for a 1988 Golden ACE award, cable's then-highest programming honor, for its "pro-social television," including "Double Dare" by name. In January 2001, "TV Guide" ranked the show number 29 on its list of 50 Greatest Game Shows. At the 2019 Kids' Choice Awards, "Double Dare" was nominated in the category of Favorite Reality Show, and Liza Koshy and Marc Summers were nominated as a duo in the category of Favorite TV Host. "Double Dare" was honored at the 47th Daytime Emmy Awards in 2020 with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Game Show.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: "Double Dare" has been featured in a number of notable visual media since its premiere, often with one or more characters participating as contestants in homages to the series. On "Double Dare", a 2016 episode of the 1980s-set sitcom "The Goldbergs", Adam Goldberg (Sean Giambrone) tries to find the perfect partner to audition to be a contestant on "Double Dare". After rejecting his friend Emmy Mirsky (Stephanie Katherine Grant), he eventually runs through a mock obstacle course at a tryout with his grandfather Albert "Pops" Solomon (George Segal). Neither are selected to take part in the program. Benjamin Bauman and Amy Gross, real-life friends of series' creator Adam F. Goldberg who appeared as contestants on "Double Dare" in 1988, cameo as producers of the show. A first-season episode of the 2013 Nickelodeon series "Sanjay and Craig" titled "Trouble Dare" features the titular characters (voiced by Maulik Pancholy and Chris Hardwick), along with Sanjay's mother and father (voiced by Grey Griffin and Kunal Nayyar), leaving their home after a bug infestation. After asking Remington Tufflips (voiced by Chris D'Elia) to stay in his trailer, and finding that the Dickson family is already occupying it, Tufflips decides which family can stay through a game of "Family Double Dare" hosted by himself. Harvey (voiced by himself) is concerned with how Tufflips is running the game until Marc Summers (voiced by himself) appears and declares Sanjay's family the winners of a night's sleep inside the Pick It obstacle. Another "Family Double Dare" game is seen in the music video for rock band Good Charlotte's 2011 single "Last Night." The video shows an abridged game of "Family Double Dare", going through questions, physical challenges, and the obstacle course. Marc Summers appears as himself, guitarist Benji Madden appears as Harvey, and band members play contestants and stage assistants. In July 2020, an episode in season four of Nickelodeon's "The Loud House" aired titled "How Double Dare You!" in which the Loud family siblings attempt to get on "Double Dare".


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: "Double Dare" has also been subject to parodies and spoofs in various forms. The October 1988 issue of "Mad" has a spoof of "Double Dare" called "Double Damp". Marc Summers and Harvey are lampooned as "Muck Slummers" and "Hardly". The piece mocked the program's use of food products, the dangerous nature of some stunts, and the similarity to game show "Beat the Clock". Both Summers and Harvey consider being parodied in "Mad" a high point in their careers. A 2015 episode of the truTV sketch comedy series "Friends of the People" titled "Double Dare" guest stars Marc Summers as himself, hosting "banned" moments from "Double Dare". Sketches include a contestant exploding, and another being stuck permanently inside an obstacle. "March Dadness," a 2012 episode of "The Cleveland Show", features a flashback to a "Family Double Dare"-like program called "Dare Squared". A young Cleveland Brown (voiced by Mike Henry) has difficulty finding an orange flag in an oversized stack of pancakes at the end of the program's obstacle course. Marc Summers voices the frustrated host. Also, in a 2017 episode of "Billy on the Street", host Billy Eichner led guest Keegan-Michael Key through an obstacle course with gun law themes titled "Super Sloppy Semi-Automatic Double Dare." Eichner has cited "Double Dare" as a favorite show of his.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: Reebok has been a major sponsor of "Double Dare" throughout its run. Every contestant and stage crew member wore a pair of the company's shoes. Additional corporate sponsorships and tie-ins were proposed, including Casio putting their logo on the stage clock, and a "Double Dare"-branded breakfast cereal, but Nickelodeon declined the offers.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: From 1987 to 1995, various "Double Dare" live tours visited venues around the United States. Featuring a format similar to the TV show wherein members of a live local audience could participate, the tour would later incorporate aspects of "What Would You Do?", another show hosted by Marc Summers for Nickelodeon. Some events in these tours sold-out arenas they were held in, with attendance of more than 20,000 spectators. The tours and events resumed in 2000 to promote "Double Dare 2000". Beginning October 30, 2018, a version of "Double Dare" once again began touring nationwide. Marc Summers served as host, with previous "Double Dare" personality Robin Russo appearing as well. The tour ran through the end of 2019.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: "Double Dare"s lasting popularity has led to a variety of products being made available. Pressman Toy Corporation released two traditional board games based on the show: The "Double Dare" home game was released in September 1987 and "Wet 'N Wild Double Dare" was released in March 1989. Another board game titled "Double Dare: The Game" was manufactured by Mattel in 2001. GameTek published a PC game in 1988, and a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 based on the program. Stages based on "Double Dare" are playable in the 2020 racing game "", and as a downloadable content update in the 2021 fighting game "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl". Containing facts about the show, along with trivia and activities to host a home version of the game, two editions of "The Double Dare Game Book" were released by Parachute Press in 1988 and 1989. Based on substances referenced on "Double Dare" and "Double Dare 2000", Mattel and Jakks Pacific manufactured a series of toy slimes called Gak and Goooze. Other toys, apparel, lunchboxes, and school supplies have been sold featuring the show's logo and art.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: "Double Dare" was heavily featured in the summer 2016 "Remember When" promotion at New York concept store STORY. Their partnership with Nickelodeon offered exclusive in-store products like "Double Dare" T-shirts and other goods designed in the style of the program's themes. Patrons at STORY could also participate in "Double Dare" experiences, like running the One-Ton Human Hamster Wheel obstacle. As well, other "Double Dare"-inspired products available in-store, including Keds shoes and Stance socks, were offered online through retail partner Neiman Marcus.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: Four collections of "Double Dare" highlights and special features were released on home video by Kids Klassics on October 1, 1988,— "Double Dare: The Inside Scoop" and "Double Dare: The Messiest Moments." On October 17, 1989, a home party guide titled "How to Throw a Double Dare Party" was released by Elektra Video. Sony Wonder released "Double Dare: Super Sloppiest Moments" on May 31, 1994.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: Collections of episodes of the original "Super Sloppy Double Dare" and versions of "Family Double Dare" were made available for purchase via digital distribution on Amazon Prime Video and the iTunes Store throughout 2013. A DVD titled "Nickelodeon Games and Sports: All-Star Collection", released by Nickelodeon for Amazon.com on April 27, 2015, features an episode of the original "Super Sloppy Double Dare" and "Family Double Dare". Added at launch in August 2018, select episodes of "Double Dare 2000" were available to view on the now defunct NickSplat channel on Otter Media's VRV streaming service. 246 episodes from the first three years of the original "Double Dare" were added to the now defunct NickHits channel, available on Prime Video and Apple TV, in December 2019, and later added to Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) in January 2021. Recent versions were added to channels on Paramount Global's over-the-top streaming television service Pluto TV.


title: Double Dare (franchise)

text: Episodes of the 2018 version of "Double Dare" are available for purchase through many online video retailers, sold individually and in multi-episode volumes. The first season of the 2018 version was added to Paramount+ in March 2021, with the second season being added in December of that same year. In August 2018, a "Double Dare" game was released on Facebook Messenger, allowing users to play against friends or other Messenger users in a turn-based version of the program.


title: Common good

text: In philosophy, economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, or alternatively, what is achieved by citizenship, collective action, and active participation in the realm of politics and public service. The concept of the common good differs significantly among philosophical doctrines. Early conceptions of the common good were set out by Ancient Greek philosophers, including Aristotle and Plato. One understanding of the common good rooted in Aristotle's philosophy remains in common usage today, referring to what one contemporary scholar calls the "good proper to, and attainable only by, the community, yet individually shared by its members."


title: Common good

text: The concept of common good developed through the work of political theorists, moral philosophers, and public economists, including Thomas Aquinas, Niccolò Machiavelli, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, James Madison, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, John Maynard Keynes, John Rawls, and many other thinkers. In contemporary economic theory, "a" common good is any good which is rivalrous yet non-excludable, while "the" common good, by contrast, arises in the subfield of welfare economics and refers to the outcome of a social welfare function. Such a social welfare function, in turn, would be rooted in a moral theory of the good (such as utilitarianism). Social choice theory aims to understand processes by which the common good may or may not be realized in societies through the study of collective decision rules. Public choice theory applies microeconomic methodology to the study of political science in order to explain how private interests affect political activities and outcomes.


title: Common good

text: The term "common good" has been used in many disparate ways and escapes a single definition. Most philosophical conceptions of the common good fall into one of two families: substantive and procedural. According to substantive conceptions, the common good is that which is shared by and beneficial to all or most members of a given community: particular substantive conceptions will specify precisely what factors or values are beneficial and shared. According to procedural formulations, by contrast, the common good consists of the outcome that is achieved through collective participation in the formation of a shared will. It is when one another respects others dignity and rights.


title: Common good

text: Under one name or another, the common good has been a recurring theme throughout the history of political philosophy. As one contemporary scholar observes, Aristotle used the idea of "the common interest" ("to koinei sympheron," in Greek) as the basis for his distinction between "right" constitutions, which are in the common interest, and "wrong" constitutions, which are in the interest of rulers; Saint Thomas Aquinas held "the common good" ("bonum commune," in Latin) to be the goal of law and government; John Locke declared that "the peace, safety, and public good of the people" are the goals of political society, and further argued that "the well being of the people shall be the supreme law"; David Hume contended that "social conventions" are adopted and given moral support in virtue of the fact that they serve the "public" or "common" interest; James Madison wrote of the "public," "common," or "general" good as closely tied with justice and declared that justice is the end of government and civil society; and Jean-Jacques Rousseau understood "the common good" ("le bien commun", in French) to be the object of a society's general will and the highest end pursued by government.


title: Common good

text: Though these thinkers differed significantly in their views of what the common good consists in, as well as over what the state should do to promote it, they nonetheless agreed that the common good is the end of government, that it is a good of all the citizens, and that no government should become the "perverted servant of special interests," whether these special interests be understood as Aristotle's "interest of the rulers," Locke's "private good," Hume's and Madison's "interested factions," or Rousseau's "particular wills."


title: Common good

text: For the Ancient Greeks, the Common Good was the flourishing of the hierarchical network of people, known as the polis (one's city, or state).


title: Common good

text: The phrase "common good" then, doesn't appear in texts of Plato, but instead the phrase "the good of a city." In "The Republic", Plato's character Socrates contends repeatedly that a particular common goal exists in politics and society, and that that goal is the same as the goal for a flourishing human being, namely, to be a philosopher king, ruled by the highest good, Reason, rather than one of Plato's four lesser goods: honor-seeking, money-making, pleasure-seeking, or empassioned addiction. For Plato, the best political order is one in which the entire society submits to the dictates of the leaders' faculty of Reason, even communistically holding possessions, wives, and children in common, creating a "cohesion and unity" that "result[s] from the common feelings of pleasure and pain which you get when all members of a society are glad or sorry for the same successes and failures."


title: Common good

text: Plato's student Aristotle, considered by many to be the father of the idea of a common good, uses the concept of "the common interest" ("to koinei sympheron," in Greek) as the basis for his distinction between his three "right" constitutions, which are in the common interest, and "wrong" constitutions, which are in the interest of rulers. To Aristotle, Plato is wrong about the desire to simply impose top-down unity; for Aristotle, a common good is synthesized upwardly/teleologically from the lesser goods of individuals, and their various kinds of larger-and-larger partnerships: marital couple, or parent-over-child, or master-over-slave; household; then village; then state. In this teleological view, the good stems from objective facts about human life and purpose, which may vary, depending upon peoples' occupations, virtue-levels, etc. However, noting that only citizens have the salvation (common good) of the city at heart, Aristotle argues that, regardless of form of government, those who have more of a rational understanding of the needs of the state's salvation, are entitled to a greater share in administering and determining justice, within the light of its common good, than those who have less, or no such understanding or concern for it, such as selfish despots and political factions, as well as uneducated artisans and freedmen, women and children, slaves, etc. More than this, Aristotle argues that rational discourse itself is what the state's Common Good relies upon, identifying those who lack it, as "slaves by nature," while those who excel in it are nearly divine, possessing in themselves the whole purpose for which states exist, namely, the perfectly complete good/blessed life. In his Nicomachean Ethics then, Aristotle ties up the Common Good of the state, with that of friendship, implying by this, that friendly, rational discourse is the primary activity by which citizens and rulers bring about the Common Good, both amongst themselves, and so far as it involves their inferiors. According to one common contemporary usage, rooted in Aristotle's philosophy, common good then refers to "a good proper to, and attainable, only by the community, yet individually shared in, by its members."


title: Common good

text: During the 15th and 16th centuries, the common good was one of several important themes of political thought in Renaissance Florence. The thought goes back to Thomas Aquinas theory of common good being virulent in whole premodern Europe. In a later work, Niccolò Machiavelli speaks of the "bene commune" (common good) or "comune utilità" (common utility), which refers to the general well-being of a community as a whole, however he mentions this term only 19 times throughout his works. In key passages of the "Discourses on Livy", he indicates that "the common good ("comune utilità") . . . is drawn from a free way of life ("vivere libero")" but is not identical with it. Elsewhere in the "Discourses," freedom, safety and dignity are explicitly stated to be elements of the common good and some form of property and family life are also implied. Furthermore, the common good brought by freedom includes wealth, economic prosperity, security, enjoyment and good life. It is important to note, however, that though Machiavelli speaks of an instrumental relationship between freedom and common good, the general well-being is not precisely identical with political freedom: elsewhere in the "Discourses," Machiavelli argues that an impressive level of common good can be achieved by sufficiently autocratic rulers. Nevertheless, Machiavelli's common good can be viewed as acting for the good of the majority, even if that means to oppress others through the endeavor. Machiavelli's common good is viewed by some scholars as not as "common", as he frequently states that the end of republics is to crush their neighbors.


title: Common good

text: In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract", composed in the mid-18th century, Rousseau argues that society can function only to the extent that individuals have interests in common, and that the end goal of any state is the realization of the common good. He further posits that the common good can be identified and implemented only by heeding the general will of a political community, specifically as expressed by that community's sovereign. Rousseau maintains that the general will always tends toward the common good, though he concedes that democratic deliberations of individuals will not always express the general will. Furthermore, Rousseau distinguished between the general will and the will of all, stressing that while the latter is simply the sum total of each individual's desires, the former is the "one will which is directed towards their common preservation and general well-being." Political authority, to Rousseau, should be understood as legitimate only if it exists according to the general will and toward the common good. The pursuit of the common good, then, enables the state to act as a moral community.


title: Common good

text: John Rawls defines the common good as "certain general conditions that are...equally to everyone's advantage". In his Theory of Justice, Rawls argues for a principled reconciliation of liberty and equality, applied to the basic structure of a well-ordered society, which will specify exactly such general conditions. Starting with an artificial device he calls the original position, Rawls defends two particular principles of justice by arguing that these are the positions reasonable persons would choose were they to choose principles from behind a veil of ignorance. Such a "veil" is one that essentially blinds people to all facts about themselves so they cannot tailor principles to their own advantage. According to Rawls, ignorance of these details about oneself will lead to principles that are fair to all. If an individual does not know how he will end up in his own conceived society, he is likely not going to privilege any one class of people, but rather develop a scheme of justice that treats all fairly. In particular, Rawls claims that those in the original position would all adopt a "maximin" strategy which would maximize the prospects of the least well-off individual or group. In this sense, Rawls's understanding of the common good is intimately tied with the well-being of the least advantaged.


title: Common good

text: Rawls claims that the parties in the original position would adopt two governing principles, which would then regulate the assignment of rights and duties and regulate the distribution of social and economic advantages across society. The First Principle of Justice states that ""First: each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others". The Second Principle of Justice provides that social and economic inequalities are to be arranged such that "(a) they are to be of the greatest benefit to the least-advantaged members of society, consistent with the just savings principle" ("the difference principle"); and "(b) offices and positions must be open to everyone under conditions of 'fair equality of opportunity'".


title: Common good

text: The idea of a common good plays a role in Confucian political philosophy, which on most interpretations stresses the importance of the subordinination of individual interests to group or collective interests, or at the very least, the mutual dependence between the flourishing of the individual and the flourishing of the group. In Islamic political thought, many modern thinkers have identified conceptions of the common good while endeavoring to ascertain the fundamental or universal principles underlying divine shari‘a law. These fundamentals or universal principles have been largely identified with the "objectives" of the shari‘a ("maqāṣid al-sharī‘a"), including concepts of the common good or public interest ("maṣlaḥa ‘āmma", in modern terminology). A notion of the common good arises in contemporary Islamic discussions of the distinction between the fixed and the flexible ("al-thābit wa-l-mutaghayyir"), especially as it relates to modern Islamic conceptions of tolerance, equality, and citizenship: according to some, for instance, universal principles carry greater weight than specific injunctions of the Qur’an, and in case of conflict, can even supersede or suspend explicit textual injunctions ("naṣṣ") if this serves the common good.


title: Common good

text: In economics, the terms “public good” and “common good” have technical definitions. A public good is a good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable. A common good is simply non-excludable. A simple typology illustrates the differences between various kinds of goods:


title: Common good

text: The field of welfare economics studies social well-being. The approach begins with the specification of a social welfare function. The choice of a social welfare function is rooted in an ethical theory. A utilitarian social welfare function weights the well-being of each individual equally, while a Rawlsian social welfare function only considers the welfare of the least well-off individual.


title: Common good

text: Neoclassical economic theory provides two conflicting lenses for thinking about the genesis of the common good, two distinct sets of microfoundations. On one view, the common good arises due to social gains from cooperation. Such a view might appeal to the Prisoner's dilemma to illustrate how cooperation can result in superior welfare outcomes. Moreover, a cooperative equilibrium is stable in an iterated Prisoner's dilemma that is played for an indefinite period of time. Under these conditions, an individual does best by pursuing the course of action that is also optimal for society.


title: Common good

text: On the other hand, economic theory typically points to social gains from competition as a rationale for the use of markets. Thus, Smith described the “invisible hand,” whereby the mechanism of the market converts individuals’ self-interested activity into gains for society. This insight is formalized in the First Theorem of Welfare Economics. However, economic theory also points to market failures, including the underprovision of public goods by markets and the failure of self-interested individuals to internalize externalities. Because of these factors, purely self-interested behaviour often detracts from the common good.


title: Common good

text: There is an important conceptual difference between the sense of "a" public good, or public "goods" in economics, and the more generalized idea of "the public good" (in the sense of common good, public benefit, or public interest), "a shorthand signal for shared benefit at a societal level".


title: Common good

text: In a non-economic sense, the term is often used to describe something that is useful for the public generally, such as education, although this is not a "public good" in the economic sense. However, services like education exhibit "jointness of supply", i.e. the situation in which the cost of supplying a good to many users is the same, or nearly the same, as supplying it to one user. Public goods also exhibit jointness of supply, albeit with no diminishment of the benefits with increased consumption.


title: Common good

text: Social choice theory studies collective decision rules. Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, an important result in social choice theory, states that no aggregative mechanism of collective choice (restricted to ordinal inputs) can consistently transform individual preferences into a collective preference-ordering, across the universal domain of possible preference profiles, while also satisfying a set of minimal normative criteria of rationality and fairness. The Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem further demonstrates that non-dictatorial voting systems are inevitably subject to strategic manipulation of outcomes.


title: Common good

text: William H. Riker articulates the standard public choice interpretation of social choice theory, arguing that Arrow's Impossibility Theorem “forces us to doubt that the content of 'social welfare' or the 'public interest' can ever be discovered by amalgamating individual value judgments. It even leads us to suspect that no such thing as the 'public interest' exists, aside from the subjective (and hence dubious) claims of self-proclaimed saviors.” Thus, Riker defends a “liberal” conception of democracy, which centers on the role of constitutional checks on government. Public choice theorists have tended to share this approach. Buchanan and Tullock pursued this program in developing the field of "constitutional political economy" in their book "The Calculus of Consent".


title: Common good

text: More recent work in social choice theory, however, has demonstrated that Arrow's impossibility result can be obviated at little or no normative cost. Amartya Sen, for instance, argues that a range of social choice mechanisms emerge unscathed given certain reasonable restrictions on the domain of admissible preference profiles. In particular, requiring that preferences are single-peaked on a single dimension ensures a Condorcet winner. Moreover, many of Riker's empirical claims have been refuted.


title: Common good

text: Public choice theory (sometimes called "positive political theory") applies microeconomic methodology to the study of political science in order to explain how private interests inform political activities. Whereas welfare economics, in line with classical political economy, typically assumes a public-interest perspective on policymaking, public choice analysis adopts a private-interest perspective in order to identify how the objectives of policymakers affect policy outcomes. Public choice analysis thus diagnoses deviations from the common good resulting from activities such as rent-seeking. In "The Logic of Collective Action", Mancur Olson argues that public goods will tend to be underprovided due to individuals' incentives to free-ride. Anthony Downs provided an application of this logic to the theory of voting, identifying the paradox of voting whereby rational individuals prefer to abstain from voting, because the marginal cost exceeds the private marginal benefit. Downs argues further that voters generally prefer to remain uninformed due to "rational ignorance."


title: Common good

text: Public choice scholarship can have more constructive applications. For instance, Elinor Ostrom's study of schemes for the regulation of common property resources resulted in the discovery of mechanisms for overcoming the tragedy of the commons.


title: Common good

text: In many countries of the Commonwealth, charitable organizations must demonstrate that they provide a public benefit.


title: Common good

text: In deliberative democracy, the common good is taken to be a regulative ideal. In other words, participants in democratic deliberation aim at the realization of the common good. This feature distinguishes deliberative democracy from aggregative conceptions of democracy, which focus solely on the aggregation of preferences. In contrast to aggregative conceptions, deliberative democracy emphasizes the processes by which agents justify political claims on the basis of judgments about the common good. Epistemic democracy, a leading contemporary approach to deliberative democracy, advances a cognitivist account of the common good.


title: Common good

text: One of the earliest references in Christian literature to the concept of the common good is found in the "Epistle of Barnabas": "Do not live entirely isolated, having retreated into yourselves, as if you were already [fully] justified, but gather instead to seek together the common good."


title: Common good

text: The concept is strongly present in Augustine of Hippo's "magnum opus" "City of God". Book XIX of this, the main locus of Augustine's normative political thought, is focused on the question, 'Is the good life social?' In other words, 'Is human wellbeing found in the good of the whole society, the common good?' Chapters 5–17 of Book XIX address this question. Augustine's emphatic answer is yes (see start of chap. 5).


title: Common good

text: Augustine's understanding was taken up and, under the influence of Aristotle, developed by Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas's conception of the common good became standard in Roman Catholic moral theology.


title: Common good

text: Against that background, the common good became a central concept in the modern tradition of Catholic social teaching, beginning with the foundational document, "Rerum novarum", a papal encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, issued in 1891. This addressed the crisis of the conditions of industrial workers in Europe and argued for a position different from both laissez-faire capitalism and socialism. In this letter, Pope Leo guarantees the right to private property while insisting on the role of collective bargaining to establish a living wage.


title: Common good

text: Contemporary Catholic social teaching on the common good is summarised in the 2004 "Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church", chapter 4, part II. Quoting the Second Vatican Council document, "Gaudium et spes" (1965), this says, "According to its primary and broadly accepted sense, "the common good" indicates 'the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily'" (#164, quoting "Gaudium et spes", #26; italics original).


title: Common good

text: The "Compendium" later gives statements that communicate what can be seen as a partly different, more classical, sense of the concept – as not only "social conditions" that enable persons to reach fulfilment, but as the "end" "goal" of human life. ""[T]he common good [is] the good of all people and of the whole person... The human person cannot find fulfilment in himself, that is, apart from the fact that he exists "with" others and "for" others"" (#165; italics original). "The goal of life in society is in fact the historically attainable common good" (#168).


title: Common good

text: The Roman Catholic International Theological Commission drew attention to these two partly different understandings of the common good in its 2009 publication, "In Search of a Universal Ethic: A New Look at the Natural Law". It referred to them as "two levels" of the common good.


title: Common good

text: Another relevant document is "Veritatis Splendor", a papal encyclical by Pope John Paul II, issued in 1993 to combat the relaxation of moral norms and the political corruption (see Paragraph 98) that affects millions of persons. In this letter, Pope John Paul describes the characteristics and virtues that political leadership should require, which are truthfulness, honesty, fairness, temperance and solidarity (as described in paragraph 98 to 100), given that truth extends from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agreement with fact or reality in particular.


title: Common good

text: In contemporary American politics, language of the common good (or public wealth) is sometimes adopted by political actors on the progressive left to describe their values. Jonathan Dolhenty argues that one should distinguish in American politics between the common good, which may "be shared wholly by each individual in the family without its becoming a private good for any individual family member", and the collective good, which, "though possessed by all as a group, is not really participated in by the members of a group. It is actually divided up into several private goods when apportioned to the different individual members." First described by Michael Tomasky in "The American Prospect" magazine and John Halpin at the Center for American Progress, the American political understanding of the common good has grown in recent times. The liberal magazine "The Nation" and the Rockridge Institute, among others, have identified the common good as a salient political message for progressive candidates. In addition, non-partisan advocacy groups like Common Good are championing political reform efforts to support the common good.


title: Common good

text: Given the central concern for sustainable development in an increasingly interdependent world, education and knowledge should thus be considered global common goods. This means that the creation of knowledge, its control, acquisition, validation, and use, are common to all people as a collective social endeavour.


title: Common good

text: Common Goods for Health (CGH) can be defined as population related interventions or activities that require cumulative finances from either donors or government on the basis of two conditions. The first condition is contribution in economic progress and health. The second condition includes emphasis on public or common goods and large social externalities with clear economic foundation for health interventions based on market failures. The common goods for health must produce enormous health benefits to communities and not financed through market forces. Few examples of common goods for health are risk surveillance, disease control policies and strategies, vector control and public health emergency operation response services.


title: Common good

text: In the mid-20th century, the elites displayed a motivation for the Common Goods that was intended for health, and decisions were based on the elite rather than the public, since there was no public interest in the


title: Common good

text: After the 1950s, the government increasingly began to see the concept of addressing mutual issues for the benefit of the citizens, but it has yet to be completely adopted and will be much more compatible with appropriate expenditure.


title: Mary Hart

text: Mary Hart (born Mary Johanna Harum; November 8, 1950) is an American television personality and actress. She was the long-running host (1982–2011) of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up television program "Entertainment Tonight", the longest running entertainment magazine show of all time. She was Miss South Dakota 1970.


title: Mary Hart

text: Mary Harum was born in Madison, South Dakota. She was raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Denmark. She speaks English, Danish and Swedish fluently.


title: Mary Hart

text: She was crowned Miss South Dakota 1970 and subsequently was a semi-finalist in the Miss America 1971 pageant.


title: Mary Hart

text: While teaching English at Washington High School for two years, she also produced and anchored her own talk show on then-NBC affiliate KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls.


title: Mary Hart

text: Hart began her full-time television career in 1975 at WMT-TV (currently KGAN) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then moving to KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1976, she went to KTVY (now KFOR-TV) in Oklahoma City, where, with Danny Williams, she co-hosted the show "Dannysday". She also was a sales representative for a school yearbook company. Determined to leave journalism behind, she moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood in 1979 with $10,000 in the bank. Hart landed a small role on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" as well as some TV commercials. Nearly without money, she became a co-host on the Los Angeles version of the syndicated "PM Magazine". That led to a job in 1981 as co-host of Regis Philbin's first national talk show on NBC. When that show was canceled four months later, "Entertainment Tonight" interviewed her about what it felt like to be canceled. The day after the interview, she was hired as one of its correspondents. Thirteen weeks later, she was named the show's co-host, along with Ron Hendren.


title: Mary Hart

text: In 1984, Hendren was replaced by Robb Weller, who was replaced by John Tesh in 1986, who was replaced by Bob Goen in 1996. Hart began co-hosting "ET" with Mark Steines in 2004. Soon after her hiring by "ET", Hart chose Jay Bernstein as her manager.


title: Mary Hart

text: Hart is known for her shapely legs, leading to an endorsement contract with Hanes for that company's line of pantyhose in 1987. Jay Bernstein had her legs insured with Lloyd's of London for $1 million each. Executive Producer Linda Bell Blue described Hart as "the face of "ET"". On March 29, 1987 she participated in the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania III, serving as the guest timekeeper in the main event between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant.


title: Mary Hart

text: During the summer of 1988, Hart appeared in Las Vegas with comedian David Brenner at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, which realized another of her childhood dreams, singing and dancing on stage. She continued her work on "Entertainment Tonight" while performing in Las Vegas, flying between the cities after two shows in Vegas, the last at 11:00PM, to film "ET" the following morning at 8:00AM. In 1991, the "New England Journal of Medicine" reported that Hart's voice had triggered seizures in an epileptic woman. This was later referenced in an episode of "Tiny Toon Adventures" and the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld", where Kramer (Michael Richards) suffers from convulsions whenever he hears Hart's voice. Hart has been parodied in "Animaniacs" in the character Mary Heartless. She voiced the cartoon character Fairy Hart in an episode of "The Fairly OddParents" and in "The Fairly Oddparents" TV movie "Fairly OddBaby".


title: Mary Hart

text: In May 2009, Hart suffered a broken left wrist due to an accident at home (not due to any exotic activity, despite her jokes about it). While her wrist was healing, she wore various brightly colored slings designed to match or complement her wardrobe for each show. On August 5, 2010, Hart announced that she was leaving the show at the end of the upcoming 30th season, citing that she was ready for a change. Hart's final episode aired on May 20, 2011—ending her 29-year history with the program.


title: Mary Hart

text: Between 2014 and 2016, Hart was a recurring character on the ABC Family sitcom "Baby Daddy", as a fictional version of herself who hosts a morning show "The Mary Hart Show" and is the boss of Tahj Mowry's character Tucker Dobbs.


title: Mary Hart

text: On October 29, 2015, Hart made a guest appearance on "ET", being interviewed by then-current host Nancy O'Dell; her appearance was meant to kick off a month-long celebration of the program's 35th season.


title: Mary Hart

text: Hart was Master of Ceremonies at the July 4th celebration at Mount Rushmore on July 3, 2020. In her remarks, she said, "I remember well the tumultuousness, the tumult, the tragedy, but ultimately the triumph of the sixties. I was growing up then, and those were not easy times – for those of you who happen to be old enough like I am, to remember – but you know what, that was a terrible decade, but we turned out to be a better nation."


title: Mary Hart

text: Hart resided in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood of Beverly Hills, California, with her film producer husband, Burt Sugarman. before moving to a condo in the Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles and later, to Sierra Towers in 2015. They married in a private ceremony aboard a yacht in 1989 and have one son, Alec "AJ" Sugarman (born 1991), who was a special assistant to President Donald Trump for legislative affairs.


title: Mary Hart

text: Hart is a Republican and supported Marco Rubio in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries. She and Sugarman hosted a fundraiser for Rubio in October 2015.


title: Mary Hart

text: She hosted President Trump's Fourth of July celebration in 2020, at which she was accused of making a white power sign. She denied the accusation.


title: Mary Hart

text: Hart owns two mansions in Montana. One is a 7,000-square-foot home on 160 acres. Both homes are located within the Yellowstone Club residential community. Since 2000, Hart has also had a home in Palm Desert, California where she has supported local charities.


title: Mary Hart

text: She is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and has performed the national anthem prior to games on several occasions. She can often be seen, from the centerfield camera, behind home plate at Dodger Stadium.


title: Mary Hart

text: On August 17, 2011, Hart was announced as the official spokeswoman for the Edith Sanford Breast Cancer Initiative.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 2013, KFCO Wilrijk decided to integrate the identity of Beerschot AC when they were relegated in the 2012–13 season, not only through their league position but also due to losing their professional licence through financial issues, being officially declared bankrupt on 21 May 2013 and folding shortly afterwards. The club colours are purple and white, they play their games on the club's home ground the Olympic Stadium often referred to as 't Kiel.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: As a result of the introduction of a national third division in 1926, the club played national football for the first time in their then short existence. Unfortunately the club ended third last, leading to their relegation after just one season. In 1931 the number of participants in the divisions was increased, causing FC Wilrijk to be included on the national level for the second time. FC Wilrijk lasted two seasons before being relegated again.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: In 1935 the club was promoted once more. Unlike their previous third division stays, FC Wilrijk showcased dominant football. This resulted in a 3rd position in the 1935–36 season and even becoming third division champions in the 1936–37 season. After winning their division the club was promoted to the second division lasting two seasons before being relegated in 1939. After a lengthy stay in the third division, FC Wilrijk was relegated to the Provincial division in 1949 which set a trend for the following decades.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: In 1993 KFC Wilrijk merged with Olympia Wilrijk 72. This other Wilrijk-based club, was founded in 1972 and part of the Royal Belgian Football Association, being assigned the association number 7727. Both clubs shared forces as "KFC Olympia Wilrijk" and continued under KFC Wilrijks association number 155.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: In 1994, the club reached the 4th division, playing national football for the first time in 45 years. In the 1995–96 season KFCO Olympia Wilrijk came in 3rd only two points short of standing victorious in their division. After eight years KFC Olympia Wilrijk ended third last, which led to being relegated. Their absence was short-lived however, as KFC Olympia Wilrijk was promoted the following year resulting in a three-year stay before being relegated. In 2008 the club was promoted again, only to be relegated in 2010.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: After Beerschot AC's bankruptcy in 2013, KFCO Wilrijk decided to harbour its fans. KFCO Wilrijk followed up by incorporating the name Beerschot and their respective colours in their own identity. The KBVB however decided that due to the name change, the club was no longer eligible to use the handle "royal" in their club name. Hence the club's name is FCO Beerschot Wilrijk rather than KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk. In order to retrieve their "royal" status, FCO Beerschot Wilrijk filed a successful application in June 2017.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: FCO Beerschot Wilrijk, became an instant success. Their season opener against Ternesse VV was attended by 8500 fans, which was a record for the Belgian provincial division at the time. This record was broken on 15 February 2014 during their game against fierce title contender FC De Kempen which was attended by 8982 fans and topped again, during their title game against KFC Katelijne-Waver on 22 March. This game was attended by almost 12000 fans and won by 5–0, gaining the club mathematic certainty about crowning themselves 2013–14 division champions.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: Due to the club's high attendance – weekly attendance that tops several first division teams – KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk is required to play their home games at the Olympisch Stadion (city of Antwerp) to guarantee the safety of their fans. This is the home ground of the fallen Beerschot VAC. The club reached an average of 7000 fans at home games during its first season in the 1st division of the province of Antwerp, which is quite a feat. This reputation was upheld during away games by bringing on average over 1500 fans, whom took pride in causing friendly banter in the most obscurely hidden cities and stadiums that the province of Antwerp holds. The club's success and vibe often lead to opponents renting bigger stadiums because the prospected attendance exceeds their own stadium capacity.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: For the 2014–15 season, FCO Beerschot Wilrijk was promoted to the 4th division in Belgian national football. In mid-March 2015, they held a 10-point lead over their closest rival. They were promoted to third division as champions of their group. In 2015–2016 they became champions of the third division after a sensational winning goal in the last minute of their last game. In 2016–2017 they became the first champion of the new '1st Amateur League' and gained promotion to the Proximus League, the second tier of Belgian football.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: In February 2018, Saudi prince Abdullah bin Musa'ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, owner of the English Premier League side Sheffield United, announced his investment in Beerschot alongside Belgian construction company DCA.


title: K Beerschot VA

text: They played in the Proximus League for three seasons, and played the promotion final each year. Finally, after losing to Cercle Brugge K.S.V. and K.V. Mechelen , they gained promotion to the Belgian Belgian First Division A at the end of the 2019-2020 season.


title: Final Crisis

text: "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely by J. G. Jones; artists Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy and Doug Mahnke later provided art for the series.


title: Final Crisis

text: The storyline directly follows "DC Universe" #0 after the conclusion of the 51-issue "Countdown to Final Crisis" weekly limited series. Promotion about the limited series describes its story as "the day evil won". The series deals with alien villain Darkseid's plot to overthrow reality, and the subsequent death and corruption of various DC characters and their universe.


title: Final Crisis

text: "Final Crisis" came out of several ideas Grant Morrison had when they returned to DC Comics in 2003. Morrison said, "I pitched a huge crossover event called Hypercrisis, which didn't happen for various reasons. Some of Hypercrisis went into "Seven Soldiers", some went into "All-Star Superman", some went into "52" and some of it found a home in "Final Crisis"." According to Grant Morrison, work finally began on "Final Crisis" #1 in early 2006, with the intention of the series being a thematic and literal sequel to "Seven Soldiers" and "52", two projects that Morrison was heavily involved in at the time.


title: Final Crisis

text: References to "Infinite Crisis" as the "middle Crisis" gave readers the impression there would be at least one additional major follow-up to the original "Crisis on Infinite Earths". A May 2007 teaser poster confirmed this speculation with the tagline: "Heroes die. Legends live forever."


title: Final Crisis

text: "Final Crisis" was preceded by "Countdown", a year-long weekly series which was meant as a follow-up to "52". Halfway through, the series was renamed "Countdown to Final Crisis". However, the artwork met with delays. To keep the release on schedule, "Countdown" wrapped with issue #1 and its planned final issue (#0) was revamped as a 50 cent one-shot special called "DC Universe" #0. Besides hyping upcoming storylines such as "Batman R.I.P." and "Blackest Night," the issue was narrated by Barry Allen and featured Libra leading a group of super-villains in prayer for the "god of evil", Darkseid. The result is, as described by Morrison, that "we're watching him fall back through the present, into the past of "Seven Soldiers" where he finally comes to rest in the body of 'Boss Dark Side', the gangster from that story."


title: Final Crisis

text: To help readers identify events pertinent to "Final Crisis" and other major DCU events as the crossover approached, a "Sightings" cover banner appeared on various DC comics as "signposts, marking important storybeats and moments throughout the DC Universe." The first such headers appeared on "Justice League of America" (vol. 2) #21 and "Action Comics" #866, respectively (the "JLA" issue featured Libra's return and his recruiting of the Human Flame).


title: Final Crisis

text: The original intent was for Jones to pencil the whole series. Due to delays, however, Carlos Pacheco drew issues #4–6 with Jones and issue 7 was drawn entirely by Doug Mahnke. Jones said that "Any problems completing the series are my own. I love Doug Mahnke's art, and he would have probably been a better choice to draw this series in the first place."


title: Final Crisis

text: In addition to the core limited series the larger storyline includes a number of tie-ins, including one-shots and limited series.


title: Final Crisis

text: The one-shots comprise "Requiem," "Resist," "Secret Files" and "Submit". Also "Rage of the Red Lanterns" is the start of a storyline of the same name, that picks up on events in "" and continues in "Green Lantern" #36–38. It starts as a tie-in because, according to writer Geoff Johns, "events in "Final Crisis" have motivated the Guardians to proceed further with their attempted containment of the light".


title: Final Crisis

text: The limited series comprise "Superman Beyond" (a two issue mini-series also written by Grant Morrison), "" (a five-issue limited series focusing on the different incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes), "" (a five-issue limited series), and "" (a three-issue mini-series focused on the Flash Rogues).


title: Final Crisis

text: Following the final battle of the New Gods, the spirit of Darkseid tumbles through time itself, coming to rest on Earth, where it, along with the spirits of the other evil gods of Apokolips, manifests itself in the body of a human being. Darkseid's "fall" has sundered reality, creating a singularity at the heart of creation, into which all of space and time are slowly being drawn, setting the stage for the evil god's final victory, to be claimed in his inevitable death. Through his agent Libra, he arranges for a huge army of super villains to be gathered, who capture and murder the Martian Manhunter as the opening salvo of the conflict. Coinciding with the Manhunter's death is the arrival on Earth of Nix Uotan, an exiled member of the cosmic Monitors, who has been sentenced to become human as punishment for failure in his duties.


title: Final Crisis

text: Following the trail of a group of missing child prodigies, detective Dan Turpin discovers the dying body of Darkseid's son, Orion. The Justice League of America liaise with the Green Lantern Corps to investigate the murder, deducing the cause of death to be a bullet of Radion (a substance toxic to New Gods) fired backwards through time from the future. New God Granny Goodness, possessing the body of Green Lantern Kraken, stymies the investigation by framing Hal Jordan for the murder; when Batman deduces her true identity, she captures him and teleports him to Command D, a government bio-chemical weapons facility beneath the city of Blüdhaven that has also fallen under the control of Darkseid's minions. Slowly becoming aware of the threat the evil gods pose, Alan Scott enacts "Article X", a super hero draft, that readies Earth's metahuman forces for the coming war.


title: Final Crisis

text: With Batman and Jordan removed from play, the New Gods continue to eliminate the greatest threats to Darkseid's plan. Wonder Woman, while investigating Bludhaven, is infected by the Morticoccous bacterium by a Desaad-possessed Mary Marvel. Superman departs for the future in order to obtain a cure for Lois Lane after a bomb in the "Daily Planet" building mortally wounds her. The Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, is resurrected from within the Speed Force by and races back in time alongside Wally West in an attempt to outrun the Black Racer (the Death of the New Gods) and stop the bullet that will kill Orion.


title: Final Crisis

text: Turpin's search for the missing children leads him to the Dark Side Club, where he is confronted by Darkseid's human host, Boss Dark Side. The evil god transfers his essence into Turpin's body and brings him to Command D, where the detective is subjected to bio-genetic restructuring to transform his body into a replica of Darkseid's original form. Concurrently, Darkseid's agents release the Anti-Life Equation through all of Earth's communications networks, spreading it across the entire planet. The two Flashes, having failed to prevent Orion's death, emerge from the time stream one month after the equation's release and discover that the minds of nearly the entire population have fallen under Darkseid's control, with its super-human victims having been transformed into a military force of "Justifiers".


title: Final Crisis

text: With the help of the Tattooed Man, the Super Young Team and former allies of the New Gods of New Genesis Shilo Norman and Sonny Sumo, small cells of super heroes who have managed to resist the equation discover a possible salvation: a symbol from the alphabet of the New Gods that will break the equation's control over minds; it had been gifted to the cave-boy Anthro by Metron in prehistoric times. Meanwhile, a huge battle erupts between the superheroes and the Justifiers in Blüdhaven, during which the equation-controlled Wonder Woman infects the heroes with Morticoccous, which strips the heroes of their powers. However, the loss of these troops is soon mitigated by the turning of Libra's Justifiers, control over whom is usurped by Lex Luthor and Doctor Sivana so they can help defeat Darkseid. These twists and turns are observed by Nix Uotan, whose powers and memories of his true nature are unlocked with the help of Metron and a mysterious ape-like figure in a robe.


title: Final Crisis

text: Escaping confinement in Command D, Batman uses the Radion bullet to mortally wound Darkseid, while Darkseid in turn kills Batman with his Omega Beams. Superman returns to the present and tears Command D apart to recover Batman's corpse and faces off against Darkseid as the Flashes come racing into Blüdhaven, the Black Racer hot on their heels. As the heroes reach super-luminal velocity, time warps around the Flashes, creating the temporal eddy into which Darkseid fires the bullet, sending it back in time to kill Orion. Outpacing Omega Beams fired from the eyes of the humans in Darkseid's thrall, the Flashes lead both the beams and the Black Racer straight to Darkseid, finishing the job Batman had begun to kill him. Simultaneously, The Ray traces the Metron symbol across the face of the Earth in beams of light, liberating all those under the equation's control. The freed Wonder Woman uses her lasso of truth to release Darkseid's consciousness from Turpin's body.


title: Final Crisis

text: Although physically bested, Darkseid's dying essence is still dragging all of reality into nothingness along with it. Time and space break down as the effect worsens, until eventually, only Superman is left in the darkness at the end of creation, struggling to complete a copy of the "Miracle Machine", a wish-granting machine shown to him by Brainiac 5 during his trip to the future. Darkseid's essence re-emerges to claim the machine, but Superman destroys him for good by using the last of his super-powered breath to sing, countering the vibrational frequency of Darkseid's life-force.


title: Final Crisis

text: With Darkseid's end, however, the evil behind evils emerges: Mandrakk, the Dark Monitor, fallen father of Nix Uotan, who waits at the end of all things to consume what remains. Superman uses the solar energy in his own cells to power the Miracle Machine and makes a wish that is granted by the appearance of an army of Supermen from all across the multiverse. Nix Uotan joins the clash, using his Monitor powers to summon the Green Lantern Corps, the Zoo Crew, the Super Young Team, the armies of Heaven itself and more for a final battle with Mandrakk that culminates in the Corps spearing him with a stake made of pure light created by the combined energy of their rings. The heroes drag Earth out of the black hole that is Darkseid, and Nix Uotan returns to being human as the other Monitors cease to exist in accordance with the wish Superman had made: a wish for a happy ending.


title: Final Crisis

text: In the distant past, Anthro dies of old age in a cave. His body is discovered by Bruce Wayne—not killed, but having been sent back in time by the Omega Beams. He picks up where Anthro left off, drawing a bat symbol on the cave wall.


title: Final Crisis

text: The first issue of "Final Crisis" went on sale May 28, 2008. "Final Crisis" was seven oversized issues released over nine months starting in May 2008. Morrison explained that the sequence of stories in the main series and tie-ins is "Final Crisis" #1–3, "Superman Beyond" #1–2, "Final Crisis: Submit", "Final Crisis" #4–5, "Batman" #682–683, and finally "Final Crisis" #6–7.


title: Final Crisis

text: Several one-shots and mini-series were released as tie-ins to "Final Crisis;" three series ran in parallel to the main one and the one-shot, "DC Universe: Last Will and Testament", was planned to fit in the "break" between "Final Crisis" #3 and #4.


title: Final Crisis

text: Morrison, who wrote one of the "final" Batman stories in "Batman R.I.P.," stated, "First it's "R.I.P.", and we'll see how that winds up for Batman. Then the two-parter mentioned ("Batman" #682–683) goes through Batman's whole career, in a big summing up of everything that also ties directly into "Final Crisis". And "Final Crisis" is where we see the final fate of Batman."


title: Final Crisis

text: While not an official tie-in, the "Terror Titans" mini-series takes place during the events of "Final Crisis" and deals heavily with the Dark Side Club and the Anti-Life Equation.


title: Final Crisis

text: In a move Dan DiDio described as "inspirationally tied to "Final Crisis"," in early 2009, the villains took over the main DC Universe titles and some were featured in "Faces of Evil," a series of one-shots, all designed to examine the question "What happens when evil wins?"


title: Final Crisis

text: In the 1997–1998 "JLA" story arc "Rock of Ages" a future where Darkseid had enslaved the human race using the Anti-Life Equation was shown. This story arc resembles some similarities to events shown in "Final Crisis" and was also written by Grant Morrison.


title: Panch Kedar

text: Panch Kedar () refers to five Hindu temples or holy places of the Shivaite sect dedicated to god Shiva. They are located in the Garhwal Himalayan region in Uttarakhand, India. They are the subject of many legends that directly link their creation to Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata.


title: Panch Kedar

text: The five temples designated in the strict pecking order to be followed for pilgrimage for worship are the Kedarnath Temple () at an altitude of , the Tungnath Temple (तुङ्गनाथ)(), the Rudranath Temple (रुद्रनाथ) (), the Madhyamaheshwar Temple (मध्यमहेश्वर) or Madmaheshwar () and the Kalpeshwar Temple (कल्पेश्वर) (). The Kedarnath is the main temple, which is part of four Chota Char Dhams (literally 'the small four abodes/seats') or pilgrimage centers of the Garhwal Himalayas; the other three dhams are the Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. Kedarnath is also one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.


title: Panch Kedar

text: The Garhwal region is also called the Kedar-Khanda after Kedar — the local name for Shiva. The region abounds in emblems and aniconic forms of Shaiva sect of Shiva, much more than the Vaishnava sect. The western part of this region in particular, which constitutes half of Chamoli district being known as Kedar-Kshetra or Kedar mandala, encompasses in its ambit all the five temples constituting the Panch Kedar.


title: Panch Kedar

text: Visitors to Kedarnath shrine, the first of the Panch Kedar temples for which records are available, was an impressive 557,923 in 2007 as against 87,629 in 1987, a quantum jump in 20 years.


title: Panch Kedar

text: It is said that the Panch Kedar Yatra (pilgrimage) could be directly related to the Gorakhnath Sampradaya (recognized for their pilgrim traditions) of Nepal. As a proof, it is stated that the culmination of the pilgrimage was at Pashupatinath temple in Nepal, rightly where Shiva's head is worshipped and not at Kedarnath where the hump is venerated. A further supporting fact mentioned in this regard is that the emblem used in Kedarnath temple dome is the same as displayed in the Pashupathinath temple dome in Kathmandu.


title: Panch Kedar

text: Many folk legends related to the Garhwal region, Shiva and the creation of the Panch Kedar temples are narrated.


title: Panch Kedar

text: A folk legend about Panch Kedar relates to the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The Pandavas defeated and slayed their cousins — the Kauravas in the epic Kurukshetra war. They wished to atone for the sins of committing fratricide ("gotra hatya") and Brāhmanahatya (killing of Brahmins — the priest class) during the war. On the advice of Krishna, they handed over the reins of their kingdom to their kin and left in search of Shiva and to seek his blessings. First, they went to the holy city of Varanasi (Kashi), believed to be Shiva's favourite city and known for its Shiva temple. But, Shiva wanted to avoid them as he was deeply incensed by the death and dishonesty at the Kurukshetra war and was, therefore, insensitive to Pandavas' prayers. Therefore, he assumed the form of a bull (Nandi) and hid in the Garhwal region.


title: Panch Kedar

text: Not finding Shiva in Varanasi, the Pandavas went to Garhwal Himalayas. Bhima, the second of the five Pandava brothers, then standing astride two mountains started to look for Shiva. He saw a bull grazing near Guptakashi (“hidden Kashi” — the name derived from the hiding act of Shiva). Bhima immediately recognized the bull to be Shiva. Bhima caught hold of the bull by its tail and hind legs. But the bull-formed Shiva disappeared into the ground to later reappear in parts, with the hump raising in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tungnath, the face showing up at Rudranath, the nabhi (navel) and stomach surfacing in Madhyamaheshwar and the hair appearing in Kalpeshwar. It is believed that Shiva's throat fell on the Kedarkantha mountain. The Pandavas pleased with this reappearance in five different forms, built temples at the five places for venerating and worshipping Shiva. The Pandavas were thus freed from their sins.


title: Panch Kedar

text: A variant of the tale credits Bhima of not only catching the bull, but also stopping it from disappearing. Consequently, the bull was torn asunder into five parts and appeared at five locations in the Kedar Khand of Garhwal region of the Himalayas. After building the Panch Kedar Temples, the Pandavas meditated at Kedarnath for salvation, performed yagna (fire sacrifice) and then through the heavenly path called the Mahapanth (also called Swargarohini), attained heaven or salvation.. The Panch Kedar Temples are constructed in the North-Indian Himalayan Temple architecture with the Kedarnath, Tungnath and Madhyamaheshwar temples constructed in a similar manner.


title: Panch Kedar

text: After completing the pilgrimage of Shiva's darshan at the Panch Kedar Temples, it is an unwritten religious rite to visit Vishnu at the Badrinath Temple, as a final affirmatory proof by the devotee that he has sought blessings of Shiva.


title: Panch Kedar

text: The priests and pundits who worship in the Panch Kedar temples are from South India, except in Tungnath. Jangamas who areVeerashaiva


title: Panch Kedar

text: Lingayats founded by Panchacharyas are the chief priests at the Kedarnath and Madhyamaheswar temple.The chief priest of kedarnath is called Rawal and Jagadguru. Dasnami Gosains founded by Adi Shankaracharya are the chief priests in Rudranath and Kalpeshwar temples. The Tunganath temple is served by the Khasi Brahmins. In the case of Tungnath, it is also said that the local Brahmins from Mokumath officiate as priests.


title: Panch Kedar

text: The five temples lie ensconced in the region of the Upper Himalayas with the high, snow-covered hill ranges of the Nanda Devi, Chaukhamba, Kedarnath and Neelkanth peaks forming their backdrop. Kedarnath is located in the Mandakini River valley while the other shrines are situated in the highlands between the Mandakini valley and the Alakananda gorge. They are so remotely located that except Kalpeshwar, the other four are still not accessible by motorable roads but reached by strenuous trekking, starting from late April or early May till early October. For the rest of year (the winter season), the shrines are closed due to heavy snowfall. Kalpeshwar is accessible throughout the year by a short trek of about from the nearest road head. (See External links for schematic maps of the locations of Panch Kedar).


title: Panch Kedar

text: The village of Kedarnath is on the edge of Kedarnath mountain slope in a remote northern part of the Garhwal Himalayas. Kedarnath ranges drain into the Mandakini River that emerges from the steady edge of the Churabre glacier and forms the picturesque Mandakini valley. The Dudhganga, Madhuganga, Swargaduari and Saraswathi are the streams that flow in the valley behind the Kedarnath temple. Also seen close to the temple are four sacred ponds called Retah, Udak, Rudra and Rishi. Tunganath has an impressive backdrop of the peaks of Panchulli, Nanda Devi, Dunagiri, Kedarnath and Bandar Poonch. The Vaitarani stream flows near Rudranath. Kalpeshwar is located in the Urgam valley in a dense forest area. Urgam Valley has apple orchards, terraced fields where potato is grown extensively. Kalp Ganga river, a tributary of the Alaknanda, flows through the valley.


title: Panch Kedar

text: The Panch Kedar temples are accessible by only from the nearest road heads but in different directions, lengths and scale of difficulty (ruggedness, steepness and snow cover). The trek routes located in the Garhwal region provide a dazzling and enchanting display of the high snow peaks of Nanda Devi (), Trishul () and Chaukhamba (). Garhwal region is where the most worshipped Ganga River and its many tributaries originate adding to the reverence of the Panch Kedar temples.


title: Panch Kedar

text: The total trek length to cover all the five temples of Panch Kedar is about (including road travel up to Gaurikund), involving 16 days of effort. The trek starts from Gauri Kund, which has views of the Himalayan range of hills. The trekking is undertaken during two seasons; three months during summer and two months after the monsoon season, as during the rest of the period, except Kalpeshwar, the other four Panch Kedar temples are inaccessible due to snow cover.


title: Panch Kedar

text: The road from Rishikesh is the first entry point to Garhwal from the plains of Uttarakhand. Rishikesh is approachable from Delhi by road over a distance of . The road from Rishikesh leads to the Gaurikhund on the Rudraprayag–Kedarnath road from where the trekking would start to Kedarnath temple. The trek to Kedarnath is of , each way. After Kedarnath, road travel to Guptakashi and further to Jagasu covers a distance of . From Jagasu, the trek to Madhaymaheshwar temple via Gaundhar is over a distance of. This trek provides views of the Chaukhamba, the Kedarnath and the Neelkanth peaks. Returning from Madhyamaheshwar the road drive to Chopta via Jagasu is of . From Chopta, the trek is to the Tunganath temple over a distance of about . After the Tunganath trek, the drive along the road up to Mandal (known Cherrapunji of Garhwal due to heavy rainfall) is for a distance of. From Mandal, the trek to Rudranath temple is of . After visiting Rudranath temple the return journey is to Mandal and the drive down by road to Helang. From Helang, the trek to Kalpeshwar temple is for via Urgam village and is considered strenuous due to the steepness of the route. After completing the pilgrimage trek of Kalpeswar temple, the last of the Panch Kedar temples, the return road drive from Helong to Riishikesh via Pipalkothi is a distance of .


title: Panch Kedar

text: During the winter period when the temples are inaccessible due to snowfall, the sanctified symbolic Shiva idol of Kedarnath is worshipped at the Omkareshwar temple at Ukhimath, the representational idol of Tunganath is worshipped at Makkumath, the Rudranath symbolic image is brought to Gopeshwar, and the Madhyamaheshwar symbolic idol is venerated at Ukhimath.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The history of Lebanon covers the history of the modern Republic of Lebanon and the earlier emergence of Greater Lebanon under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, as well as the previous history of the region, covered by the modern state.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The modern State of Lebanon has existed within its current borders since 1920, when Greater Lebanon was created under French and British mandate, resulting from the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. Before this date, the designation “Lebanon” concerned a territory with vaguely defined borders, encompassing the mountain range of Mount Lebanon and its outskirts (mainly the Mediterranean coast and the plains of Bekaa and Akkar). The idea of an independent Lebanon, however, emerged during the end of the Mount Lebanon Emirate where Maronite clerics vowed for an independent nation.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Ksar Akil, northeast of Beirut, is a large rock shelter below a steep limestone cliff where excavations have shown occupational deposits reaching down to a depth of with one of the longest sequences of Paleolithic flint archaeological industry is a very well tained Upper Levalloiso-Mousterian remains with long and triangular Lithic flakes. The level above this showed industries accounting for all six stages of the Upper Paleolithic. An Emireh point was found at the first stage of this level (XXIV), at around below datum with a complete skeleton of an eight-year-old Homo sapiens (called Egbert, now in the National Museum of Beirut after being studied in America) was discovered at , cemented into breccia. A fragment of a Neanderthal maxilla was also discovered in material from level XXVI or XXV, at around . Studies by Hooijer showed Capra and Dama were dominant in the fauna along with Stephanorhinus in later Levalloiso-Mousterian levels.


title: History of Lebanon

text: It is believed to be one of the earliest known sites containing Upper Paleolithic technologies. Artifacts recovered from the site include Ksar Akil flakes, the main type of tool found at the site, along with shells with holes and chipped edge modifications that are suggested to have been used as pendants or beads. These indicate that the inhabitants were among the first in Western Eurasia to use personal ornaments. Results from radiocarbon dating indicate that the early humans may have lived at the site approximately 45,000 years ago or earlier. The presence of personal ornaments at Ksar Akil is suggestive of modern human behavior. The findings of ornaments at the site are contemporaneous with ornaments found at Late Stone Age sites such as Enkapune Ya Muto.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The earliest prehistoric cultures of Lebanon, such as the Qaraoun culture gave rise to the civilization of the Canaanite period, when the region was populated by ancient peoples, cultivating land and living in sophisticated societies during the 2nd millennium BC. Northern Canaanites are mentioned in the Bible as well as in other Semitic records from that period.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Canaanites were the creators of the oldest known 24-letter alphabet, a shortening of earlier 30-letter alphabets such as Proto-Sinaitic and Ugaritic. The Canaanite alphabet later developed into the Phoenician one (with sister alphabets of Hebrew, Aramaic and Moabite), influencing the entire Mediterranean region.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The coastal plain of Lebanon is the historic home of a string of coastal trading cities of Semitic culture, which the Greeks termed Phoenicia, whose maritime culture flourished there for more than 1,000 years. Ancient ruins in Byblos, Berytus (Beirut), Sidon, Sarepta (Sarafand), and Tyre show a civilized nation, with urban centres and sophisticated arts.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Phoenicia was a cosmopolitan centre for many nations and cultures. Phoenician art, customs and religion reveal considerable Mesopotamian and Egyptian influence. The sarcophagi of Sidonian kings Eshmunazzar II and Tabnit reveal that Phoenician royalty adopted Egyptian burial customs.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Phoenician traders exported spices from Arabia, such as cinnamon and frankincense, to the Greeks. This trade likely led to the transmission of the Phoenician alphabet to Greece. Herodotus attests that the Phoenicians "introduced into Greece upon their arrival a great variety of arts, among the rest that of writing, whereof the Greeks till then had, as I think, been ignorant."According to legend however, it is Cadmus, Prince of Tyre, who brought the alphabet with him to Greece in his search for his abducted sister Europa. Cadmus ultimately settles in Greece and founds the city of Thebes. Ancient Greek history accepts the Phoenician origin of the Greek alphabet. According to Herodotus, "[the Greeks] originally they shaped their letters exactly like all the other Phoenicians, but afterwards, in course of time, they changed by degrees their language, and together with it the form likewise of their characters."Herodotus attests the persistence of traces of the Phoenician alphabet in Greece on tripods in Delphi in what is now known as the 5th century BC.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The Phoenicians were equally reputed for their seafaring skills. They were allegedly the first to circumnavigate the African continent. Herodotus writes that Egyptian Pharaoh Necos, "[...] sent to sea a number of ships manned by Phoenicians, with orders to make for the Pillars of Hercules [the Strait of Gibraltar], and return to Egypt through them, and by the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians took their departure from Egypt by way of the Erythraean sea [the Red Sea], and so sailed into the southern ocean.


title: History of Lebanon

text: When autumn came, they went ashore, wherever they might happen to be, and having sown a tract of land with corn, waited until the grain was fit to cut. Having reaped it, they again set sail; and thus it came to pass that two whole years went by, and it was not till the third year that they doubled the Pillars of Hercules, and made good their voyage home. On their return, they declared - I for my part do not believe them, but perhaps others may - that in sailing round Libya [i.e., Africa] they had the sun upon their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya first discovered."The last phrase is usually regarded by modern historians as lending credibility to the Phoencian narrative, as they could not have otherwise known that the sun would be on their right hand side as they sailed southwards below the Equator line.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The Phoenicians founded various colonies in the Mediterranean. The most famous of them were Carthage in today's Tunisia and Cadiz in today's Spain.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Phoenicia maintained an uneasy tributary relationship with the neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian empires during the 9th to 6th centuries BC.


title: History of Lebanon

text: After the gradual decline of their strength, the Phoenician city-states on the Lebanese coast were conquered outright in 539 BCE by Achaemenid Persia under Cyrus the Great. Under Darius I, the area comprising Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria, and Cyprus was administered in a single satrapy and paid a yearly tribute of three hundred and fifty talents. By comparison, Egypt and Libya paid seven hundred talents. Many Phoenician colonies continued their independent existence—most notably Carthage. The Persians forced some of the population to migrate to Carthage, which remained a powerful nation until the Second Punic War.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The Phoenicians of Tyre showed greater solidarity with their former colony Carthage than loyalty towards Persian king Cambyses, by refusing to sail against the former when ordered.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The Phoenicians furnished the bulk of the Persian fleet during the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus considers them as "the best sailors" in the Persian fleet. Phoenicians under Xerxes I were equally commended for their ingenuity in building the Xerxes Canal. Nevertheless, they were harshly punished by the Persian king following the Battle of Salamis, which culminated in a defeat for the Achaemenid Empire.


title: History of Lebanon

text: In 350 or 345 BC, a rebellion in Sidon led by Tennes was crushed by Artaxerxes III. Its destruction was described by Diodorus Siculus.


title: History of Lebanon

text: After two centuries of Persian rule, the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great, during his war against Persia, attacked and burned Tyre, the most prominent Phoenician city. He conquered what is now Lebanon and other nearby regions in 332 BCE. After Alexander's death the region was absorbed into the Seleucid Empire and became known as Coele-Syria.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Christianity was introduced to the coastal plain of Lebanon from neighboring Galilee, already in the 1st century. The region, as with the rest of Syria and much of Anatolia, became a major center of Christianity. In the 4th century it was incorporated into the Christian Byzantine Empire. Mount Lebanon and its coastal plain became part of the Diocese of the East, divided to provinces of Phoenice Paralia and Phoenice Libanensis (which also extended over large parts of modern Syria).


title: History of Lebanon

text: During the late 4th and early 5th centuries in Lebanon, a hermit named Maron established a monastic tradition, focused on the importance of monotheism and asceticism, near the mountain range of Mount Lebanon. The monks who followed Maron spread his teachings among the native Lebanese Christians and remaining pagans in the mountains and coast of Lebanon. These Lebanese Christians came to be known as Maronites, and moved into the mountains to avoid religious persecution by Roman authorities. During the frequent Roman–Persian Wars that lasted for many centuries, the Sassanid Persians occupied what is now Lebanon from 619 to 629.


title: History of Lebanon

text: During the 7th century AD the Muslim Arabs conquered Syria soon after the death of Muhammad, establishing a new regime to replace the Romans (or Byzantines as the Eastern Romans are sometimes called). Though Islam and the Arabic language were officially dominant under this new regime, the general populace still took time to convert from Christianity and the Syriac language. In particular, the Maronite community clung to its faith and managed to maintain a large degree of autonomy despite the succession of rulers over Syria. Muslim influence increased greatly in the seventh century, when the Umayyad capital was established at nearby Damascus.


title: History of Lebanon

text: During the 11th century the Druze faith emerged from a branch of Islam. The new faith gained followers in the southern portion of Lebanon. The Maronites and the Druze divided Lebanon until the modern era. The major cities on the coast, Acre, Beirut, and others, were directly administered by Muslim Caliphs. As a result, the people became increasingly absorbed by Arabic culture.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Following the fall of Roman/Christian Anatolia to the Muslim Turks of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century, the Romans in Constantinople appealed to the Pope in Rome for assistance. There resulted a series of wars known as the Crusades, launched by Latin Christians (of mainly French origin) in Western Europe to reclaim the former Roman territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Syria and Palestine (the "Levant"). Lebanon stood in the main path of the First Crusade's advance on Jerusalem from Anatolia. Frankish nobles occupied areas within present-day Lebanon as part of the southeastern Crusader States. The southern half of present-day Lebanon formed the northern march of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (founded in 1099); the northern half became the heartland of the County of Tripoli (founded in 1109). Although Saladin eliminated Christian control of the Holy Land around 1190, the Crusader states in Lebanon and Syria were better defended.


title: History of Lebanon

text: One of the most lasting effects of the Crusades in this region was the contact between the crusaders (mainly French) and the Maronites. Unlike most other Christian communities in the region, who swore allegiance to Constantinople or other local patriarchs, the Maronites proclaimed allegiance to the Pope in Rome. As such the Franks saw them as Roman Catholic brethren. These initial contacts led to centuries of support for the Maronites from France and Italy, even after the later fall of the Crusader states in the region.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Muslim control of Lebanon was reestablished in the late 13th century under the Mamluk sultans of Egypt. Lebanon was later contested between Muslim rulers until the Turkish Ottoman Empire solidified authority over the eastern Mediterranean.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Ottoman control was uncontested during the early modern period, but the Lebanese coast became important for its contacts and trades with the maritime republics of Venice, Genoa other Italian city-states. ("See also Levantines")


title: History of Lebanon

text: The mountainous territory of Mount Lebanon has long been a shelter for minority and persecuted groups, including its historic Maronite Christian majority and Druze communities. It was an autonomous region of the Ottoman Empire.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Starting from the 13th century, the Ottoman Turks formed an empire which came to encompass the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa. The Ottoman sultan Selim I (1516–20), after defeating the Persians, conquered the Mamluks. His troops, invading Syria, destroyed Mamluk resistance in 1516 at Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo.


title: History of Lebanon

text: During the conflict between the Mamluks and the Ottomans, the amirs of Lebanon linked their fate to that of Ghazali, governor (pasha) of Damascus. He won the confidence of the Ottomans by fighting on their side at Marj Dabiq and, apparently pleased with the behavior of the Lebanese amirs, introduced them to Salim I when he entered Damascus. Salim I decided to grant the Lebanese amirs a semiautonomous status. The Ottomans, through the two main feudal families, the Maans who were Druze and the Chehabs who were Sunni Muslim Arab converts to Maronite Christianity, ruled Lebanon until the middle of the nineteenth century. During Ottoman rule the term Syria was used to designate the approximate area including present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The Maans came to Lebanon in 1120. They were a tribe and dynasty of Qahtani Arabs who settled on the southwestern slopes of the Lebanon Mountains and soon adopted the Druze religion. Their authority began to rise with Fakhr ad-Din I, who was permitted by Ottoman authorities to organize his own army, and reached its peak with Fakhr ad-Din II (1570–1635). (The existence of "Fakhr ad-Din I" has been questioned by some scholars.)


title: History of Lebanon

text: Fakhr al-Din II was born in Baakline to a Druze family, his father died when he was 13, and his mother entrusted her son to another princely family, probably the Khazens (al-Khazin).


title: History of Lebanon

text: In 1608, Fakhr-al-Din forged an alliance with the Italian Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The alliance contained both a public economic section and a secret military one.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Fakhr-al-Din's ambitions, popularity and unauthorized foreign contacts alarmed the Ottomans who authorized Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, Muhafiz of Damascus, to mount an attack on Lebanon in 1613 in order to reduce Fakhr-al-Din's growing power. Professor Abu-Husayn has made the Ottoman archives relevant to the emir's career available.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Faced with Hafiz's army of 50,000 men, Fakhr-al-Din chose exile in Tuscany, leaving affairs in the hands of his brother Emir Yunis and his son Emir Ali Beg. They succeeded in mainlining most of the forts such as Banias (Subayba) and Niha which were a mainstay of Fakhr ad-Din's power. Before leaving, Fakhr ad-Din paid his standing army of soqbans (mercenaries) two years wages in order to secure their loyalty.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Hosted in Tuscany by the Medici Family, Fakhr-al-Din was welcomed by the grand duke Cosimo II, who was his host and sponsor for the two years he spent at the court of the Medici. He spent a further three years as guest of the Spanish Viceroy of Sicily and then Naples, the Duke Osuna. Fakhr-al-Din had wished to enlist Tuscan or other European assistance in a "Crusade" to free his homeland from Ottoman domination, but was met with a refusal as Tuscany was unable to afford such an expedition. The prince eventually gave up the idea, realizing that Europe was more interested in trade with the Ottomans than in taking back the Holy Land. His stay nevertheless allowed him to witness Europe's cultural revival in the 17th century, and bring back some Renaissance ideas and architectural features.


title: History of Lebanon

text: By 1618, political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many of Fakhr-al-Din's enemies from power, allowing Fahkr-al-Din's return to Lebanon, whereupon he was able quickly to reunite all the lands of Lebanon beyond the boundaries of its mountains; and having revenge from Emir Yusuf Pasha ibn Siyfa, attacking his stronghold in Akkar, destroying his palaces and taking control of his lands, and regaining the territories he had to give up in 1613 in Sidon, Tripoli, Bekaa among others. Under his rule, printing presses were introduced and Jesuit priests and Catholic nuns encouraged to open schools throughout the land.


title: History of Lebanon

text: In 1623, the prince angered the Ottomans by refusing to allow an army on its way back from the Persian front to winter in the Bekaa. This (and instigation by the powerful Janissary garrison in Damascus) led Mustafa Pasha, Governor of Damascus, to launch an attack against him, resulting in the battle at Majdel Anjar where Fakhr-al-Din's forces although outnumbered managed to capture the Pasha and secure the Lebanese prince and his allies a much needed military victory. The best source (in Arabic) for Fakhr ad-Din's career up to this point is a memoir signed by al-Khalidi as-Safadi, who was not with the Emir in Europe but had access to someone who was, possibly Fakhr ad-Din himself.


title: History of Lebanon

text: However, as time passed, the Ottomans grew increasingly uncomfortable with the prince's increasing powers and extended relations with Europe. In 1632, Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha was named Muhafiz of Damascus, being a rival of Fakhr-al-Din and a friend of Sultan Murad IV, who ordered Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha and the sultanate's navy to attack Lebanon and depose Fakhr-al-Din.


title: History of Lebanon

text: This time, the prince had decided to remain in Lebanon and resist the offensive, but the death of his son Emir Ali Beik in Wadi el-Taym was the beginning of his defeat. He later took refuge in Jezzine's grotto, closely followed by Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha. He surrendered to the Ottoman general Jaafar Pasha, whom he knew well, under circumstances that are not clear.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Fakhr-al-Din was taken to Constantinople and kept in the Yedikule (Seven Towers) prison for two years. He was then summoned before the sultan. Fakhr-al-Din, and one or two of his sons, were accused of treason and executed there on 13 April 1635. There are unsubstantiated rumors that the younger of the two boys was spared and raised in the harem, later becoming Ottoman ambassador to India.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Although Fakhr ad-Din II's aspirations toward complete independence for Lebanon ended tragically, he greatly enhanced Lebanon's military and economic development. Noted for religious tolerance, the Druze prince attempted to merge the country's different religious groups into one Lebanese community. In an effort to attain complete independence for Lebanon, he concluded a secret agreement with Ferdinand I, grand duke of Tuscany.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Following his return from Tuscany, Fakhr ad-Din II, realizing the need for a strong and disciplined armed force, channeled his financial resources into building a regular army. This army proved itself in 1623, when Mustafa Pasha, the new governor of Damascus, underestimating the capabilities of the Lebanese army, engaged it in battle and was decisively defeated at Anjar in the Biqa Valley.


title: History of Lebanon

text: In addition to building up the army, Fakhr ad-Din II, who became acquainted with Italian culture during his stay in Tuscany, initiated measures to modernize the country. After forming close ties and establishing diplomatic relations with Tuscany, he brought in architects, irrigation engineers, and agricultural experts from Italy in an effort to promote prosperity in the country. He also strengthened Lebanon's strategic position by expanding its territory, building forts as far away as Palmyra in Syria, and gaining control of Palestine. Finally, the Ottoman sultan Murad IV of Istanbul, wanting to thwart Lebanon's progress toward complete independence, ordered Kutshuk, then governor of Damascus, to attack the Lebanese ruler. This time Fakhr ad-Din was defeated, and he was executed in Istanbul in 1635. No significant Maan rulers succeeded Fakhr ad-Din II.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Fakhreddine is regarded by the Lebanese as the best leader and prince the country has ever seen. The Druze prince treated all the religions equally and was the one who formed Lebanon. Lebanon has achieved during Fakhreddine's reign enormous heights that the country had and would never witness again.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The Shihabs succeeded the Maans in 1697 after the Battle of Ain Dara, a battle that changed the face of Lebanon when a clash between two Druze clans, the Qaysis and the Yemenis, broke out. The Druze Qaysis, then led by Ahmad Shihab, won, and expelled the Yemenis from Lebanon to Syria. This has led to an enormous decrease to the Druze population in Mount-Lebanon, who were a majority at the time and helped the Christians overcome the Druze demographically. This Qaysi "victory" gave the Shihab, who were Qaysis themselves and the allies of Lebanon, the rule over Mount-Lebanon. The Druze overlords voted for the Shihabs to rule Mount Lebanon and the Chouf by the threat of the Ottoman Empire who wanted the Sunnis to rule Lebanon. The Shihabs originally lived in the Hawran region of southwestern Syria and settled in Wadi al-Taym in southern Lebanon.


title: History of Lebanon

text: During the Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774, responding to Admiral Alexei Orlov's Russian naval First Archipelago Expedition operating in the Mediterranean, local Lebanese authorities briefly attempted to place themselves under Russian protection.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The most prominent Shihab, Bashir Shihab II, ruled as Emir of Mount Lebanon from 1789 to 1840. The events of 1799 tested his ability as a statesman when Napoleon besieged Acre, a well-fortified coastal city in Palestine, about forty kilometers south of Tyre. Both Napoleon and Al Jazzar, the governor of Acre, requested assistance from the Shihab leader; Bashir, however, remained neutral, declining to assist either combatant. Unable to conquer Acre, Napoleon returned to Egypt, and the death of Al Jazzar in 1804 removed Bashir's principal opponent in the area.


title: History of Lebanon

text: The Shihabs were originally a Sunni Muslim family, but converted to Christianity in the late-18th century.


title: History of Lebanon

text: In 1788 Bashir Shihab II (sometimes spelled Bachir in French sources) would rise to become the Emir. Born into poverty, he was elected emir upon the abdication of his predecessor, and would rule under Ottoman suzerainty, being appointed "wali" or governor of Mt Lebanon, the Biqa valley and Jabal Amil. Together this is about two thirds of modern-day Lebanon. He would reform taxes and attempt to break the feudal system, in order to undercut rivals, the most important of which was also named Bashir: Bashir Jumblatt, whose wealth and feudal backers equaled or exceeded Bashir II—and who had increasing support in the Druze community. In 1822 the Ottoman wali of Damascus went to war with Acre, which was allied with Muhammad Ali, the pasha of Egypt. As part of this conflict one of the most remembered massacres of Maronite Christians by Druze forces occurred, forces that were aligned with the wali of Damascus. Jumblatt represented the increasingly disaffected Druze, who were both shut out from official power and angered at the growing ties with the Maronites by Bashir II, who was himself a Maronite Christian.


title: History of Lebanon

text: Bashir II was overthrown as wali when he backed Acre, and fled to Egypt, later to return and organize an army. Jumblatt gathered the Druze factions together, and the war became sectarian in character: the Maronites backing Bashir II, the Druze backing Bashir Jumblatt. Jumblatt declared a rebellion, and between 1821 and 1825 there were massacres and battles, with the Maronites attempting to gain control of the Mt. Lebanon district, and the Druze gaining control over the Biqa valley. In 1825 Bashir II, helped by the Ottomans and the Jezzar, defeated his rival in the Battle of Simqanieh. Bashir Jumblatt died in Acre at the order of the Jezzar. Bashir II was not a forgiving man and repressed the Druze rebellion, particularly in and around Beirut. This made Bashir Chehab the only leader of Mount Lebanon. However, Bashir Chehab was depicted as a nasty leader because Bashir Jumblatt was his all-time friend and has saved his life when the Keserwan peasants tried to kill the prince, by sending 1000 of his men to save him. Also, days before the Battle of Simqania, Bashir Jumblatt had the chance to kill Bashir II when he was returning from Acre when he reportedly kissed the Jezzar's feet in order to help him against Jumblatt, but Bashir II reminded him of their friendship and told Jumblatt to "pardon when you can". The high morals of Jumblatt led him to pardon Bashir II, a decision he should have regretted.