title: Prejudice

text: The justification-suppression model of prejudice was created by Christian Crandall and Amy Eshleman. This model explains that people face a conflict between the desire to express prejudice and the desire to maintain a positive self-concept. This conflict causes people to search for justification for disliking an out-group, and to use that justification to avoid negative feelings (cognitive dissonance) about themselves when they act on their dislike of the out-group.


title: Prejudice

text: The realistic conflict theory states that competition between limited resources leads to increased negative prejudices and discrimination. This can be seen even when the resource is insignificant. In the Robber's Cave experiment, negative prejudice and hostility was created between two summer camps after sports competitions for small prizes. The hostility was lessened after the two competing camps were forced to cooperate on tasks to achieve a common goal.


title: Prejudice

text: Another contemporary theory is the integrated threat theory (ITT), which was developed by Walter G Stephan. It draws from and builds upon several other psychological explanations of prejudice and ingroup/outgroup behaviour, such as the realistic conflict theory and symbolic racism. It also uses the social identity theory perspective as the basis for its validity; that is, it assumes that individuals operate in a group-based context where group memberships form a part of individual identity. ITT posits that outgroup prejudice and discrimination is caused when individuals perceive an outgroup to be threatening in some way. ITT defines four threats:


title: Prejudice

text: Realistic threats are tangible, such as competition for a natural resource or a threat to income. Symbolic threats arise from a perceived difference in cultural values between groups or a perceived imbalance of power (for example, an ingroup perceiving an outgroup's religion as incompatible with theirs). Intergroup anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness experienced in the presence of an outgroup or outgroup member, which constitutes a threat because interactions with other groups cause negative feelings (e.g., a threat to comfortable interactions). Negative stereotypes are similarly threats, in that individuals anticipate negative behaviour from outgroup members in line with the perceived stereotype (for example, that the outgroup is violent). Often these stereotypes are associated with emotions such as fear and anger. ITT differs from other threat theories by including intergroup anxiety and negative stereotypes as threat types.


title: Prejudice

text: Additionally, social dominance theory states that society can be viewed as group-based hierarchies. In competition for scarce resources such as housing or employment, dominant groups create prejudiced "legitimizing myths" to provide moral and intellectual justification for their dominant position over other groups and validate their claim over the limited resources. Legitimizing myths, such as discriminatory hiring practices or biased merit norms, work to maintain these prejudiced hierarchies.


title: Prejudice

text: Prejudice can be a central contributing factor to depression. This can occur in someone who is a prejudice victim, being the target of someone else's prejudice, or when people have prejudice against themselves that causes their own depression.


title: Prejudice

text: Paul Bloom argues that while prejudice can be irrational and have terrible consequences, it is natural and often quite rational. This is because prejudices are based on the human tendency to categorise objects and people based on prior experience. This means people make predictions about things in a category based on prior experience with that category, with the resulting predictions usually being accurate (though not always). Bloom argues that this process of categorisation and prediction is necessary for survival and normal interaction, quoting William Hazlitt, who stated "Without the aid of prejudice and custom, I should not be able to find my way my across the room; nor know how to conduct myself in any circumstances, nor what to feel in any relation of life".


title: Prejudice

text: In recent years, researchers have argued that the study of prejudice has been traditionally too narrow. It is argued that since prejudice is defined as a negative affect towards members of a group, there are many groups against whom prejudice is acceptable (such as rapists, men who abandon their families, pedophiles, neo-Nazis, drink-drivers, queue jumpers, murderers etc.), yet such prejudices aren't studied. It has been suggested that researchers have focused too much on an evaluative approach to prejudice, rather than a descriptive approach, which looks at the actual psychological mechanisms behind prejudiced attitudes. It is argued that this limits research to targets of prejudice to groups deemed to be receiving unjust treatment, while groups researchers deem treated justly or deservedly of prejudice are overlooked. As a result, the scope of prejudice has begun to expand in research, allowing a more accurate analysis of the relationship between psychological traits and prejudice.


title: Prejudice

text: Some researchers had advocated looking into understanding prejudice from the perspective of collective values than just as biased psychological mechanism and different conceptions of prejudice, including what lay people think constitutes prejudice. This is due to concerns that the way prejudice has been operationalised does not fit its psychological definition and that it is often used to indicate a belief is faulty or unjustified without actually proving this to be the case.


title: Prejudice

text: One can be prejudiced against or have a preconceived notion about someone due to any characteristic they find to be unusual or undesirable. A few commonplace examples of prejudice are those based on someone's race, gender, nationality, social status, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation, and controversies may arise from any given topic.


title: Prejudice

text: Transgender and non-binary people can be discriminated against because they identify with a gender that does not align with their assigned sex at birth. Refusal to call them by their preferred pronouns, or claims that they are not the gender they identify as could be considered discrimination if it occurs in the right circumstances. Especially if the victim of this discrimination has expressed repetitively what their preferred identity is.


title: Prejudice

text: Gender Identity is now considered a protected category of discrimination. Therefore, severe cases of this discrimination can lead to criminal penalty or prosecution(not to be confused with persecution; a term that is synonymous with discrimination.), and workplaces are required to protect against discrimination based on Gender Identity.


title: Prejudice

text: Sexism, also called gender discrimination, is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender(while related, these two concepts are not the same. Sex is based on an assessment of biological factors, while gender relates to one's identity..) Sexism can affect any gender, but it is particularly documented as affecting women and girls more often (more broadly, the female [relates to sex, but can be used to describe the correlated gender of "Homo sapiens". Although, it does not always match. See: Transgender, Non-binary, Gender identity, or the Gender identity section of this page for more information]). The discussion of such sentiments, and actual gender differences and stereotypes continue to be controversial topics. Throughout history, women have been thought of as being subordinate to men, often being ignored in areas like the academia or belittled altogether. Traditionally, men were thought of as being more capable than women, mentally and physically. In the field of social psychology, prejudice studies like the "Who Likes Competent Women" study led the way for gender-based research on prejudice. This resulted in two broad themes or focuses in the field: the first being a focus on attitudes toward gender equality, and the second focusing on people's beliefs about men and women. Today, studies based on sexism continue in the field of psychology as researchers try to understand how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence and are influenced by others.


title: Prejudice

text: Misandry (prejudice or discrimination towards men) and misogyny(prejudice or discrimination towards women) are two separate forms of sexism based on the gender of the victim.


title: Prejudice

text: Nationalism is a sentiment based on common cultural characteristics that binds a population and often produces a policy of national independence or separatism. It suggests a "shared identity" amongst a nation's people that minimizes differences within the group and emphasizes perceived boundaries between the group and non-members. This leads to the assumption that members of the nation have more in common than they actually do, that they are "culturally unified", even if injustices within the nation based on differences like status and race exist. During times of conflict between one nation and another, nationalism is controversial since it may function as a buffer for criticism when it comes to the nation's own problems since it makes the nation's own hierarchies and internal conflicts appear to be natural. It may also serve a way of rallying the people of the nation in support of a particular political goal. Nationalism usually involves a push for conformity, obedience, and solidarity amongst the nation's people and can result not only in feelings of public responsibility but also in a narrow sense of community due to the exclusion of those who are considered outsiders. Since the identity of nationalists is linked to their allegiance to the state, the presence of strangers who do not share this allegiance may result in hostility.


title: Prejudice

text: Classism is defined by dictionary.com as "a biased or discriminatory attitude on distinctions made between social or economic classes". The idea of separating people based on class is controversial in itself. Some argue that economic inequality is an unavoidable aspect of society, so there will always be a ruling class. Some also argue that, even within the most egalitarian societies in history, some form of ranking based on social status takes place. Therefore, one may believe the existence of social classes is a natural feature of society.


title: Prejudice

text: Others argue the contrary. According to anthropological evidence, for the majority of the time the human species has been in existence, humans have lived in a manner in which the land and resources were not privately owned. Also, when social ranking did occur, it was not antagonistic or hostile like the current class system. This evidence has been used to support the idea that the existence of a social class system is unnecessary. Overall, society has neither come to a consensus over the necessity of the class system, nor been able to deal with the hostility and prejudice that occurs because of the class system.


title: Prejudice

text: One's sexual orientation is the "direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes". Like most minority groups, homosexuals and bisexuals are not immune to prejudice or stereotypes from the majority group. They may experience hatred from others due to their sexual orientation; a term for such intense hatred based upon one's sexual orientation is "homophobia". "Queer" may be used as an umbrella term for individuals in the LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and others). However, more specific words for discrimination directed towards specific sexualities exist under other names, such as "biphobia".


title: Prejudice

text: Due to what social psychologists call the vividness effect, a tendency to notice only certain distinctive characteristics, the majority population tends to draw conclusions like gays flaunt their sexuality. Such images may be easily recalled to mind due to their vividness, making it harder to appraise the entire situation. The majority population may not only think that homosexuals flaunt their sexuality or are "too gay", but may also erroneously believe that homosexuals are easy to identify and label as being gay or lesbian when compared to others who are not homosexual.


title: Prejudice

text: The idea of heterosexual privilege has been known to flourish in society. Research and questionnaires are formulated to fit the majority; i.e., heterosexuals. The status of assimilating or conforming to heterosexual standards may be referred to as "heteronormativity", or it may refer to ideology that the primary or only social norm is being heterosexual.


title: Prejudice

text: In the US legal system, all groups are not always considered equal under the law. The gay or queer panic defense is a term for defenses or arguments used to defend the accused in court cases, that defense lawyers may use to justify their client's hate crime against someone that the client thought was LGBT. The controversy comes when defense lawyers use the victim's minority status as an excuse or justification for crimes that were directed against them. This may be seen as an example of victim blaming. One method of this defense, homosexual panic disorder, is to claim that the victim's sexual orientation, body movement patterns (such as their walking patterns or how they dance), or appearance that is associated with a minority sexual orientation provoked a violent reaction in the defendant. This is not a proven disorder, is no longer recognized by the DSM, and, therefore, is not a disorder that is medically recognized, but it is a term to explain certain acts of violence.


title: Prejudice

text: Research shows that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a powerful feature of many labor markets. For example, studies show that gay men earn 10–32% less than heterosexual men in the United States, and that there is significant discrimination in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation in many labor markets.


title: Prejudice

text: Racism is defined as the belief that physical characteristics determine cultural traits, and that racial characteristics make some groups superior. By separating people into hierarchies based upon their race, it has been argued that unequal treatment among the different groups of people is just and fair due to their genetic differences. Racism can occur amongst any group that can be identified based upon physical features or even characteristics of their culture. Though people may be lumped together and called a specific race, everyone does not fit neatly into such categories, making it hard to define and describe a race accurately.


title: Prejudice

text: Scientific racism began to flourish in the eighteenth century and was greatly influenced by Charles Darwin's evolutionary studies, as well as ideas taken from the writings of philosophers like Aristotle; for example, Aristotle believed in the concept of "natural slaves". This concept focuses on the necessity of hierarchies and how some people are bound to be on the bottom of the pyramid. Though racism has been a prominent topic in history, there is still debate over whether race actually exists, making the discussion of race a controversial topic. Even though the concept of race is still being debated, the effects of racism are apparent. Racism and other forms of prejudice can affect a person's behavior, thoughts, and feelings, and social psychologists strive to study these effects.


title: Prejudice

text: While various religions teach their members to be tolerant of those who are different and to have compassion, throughout history there have been wars, pogroms and other forms of violence motivated by hatred of religious groups.


title: Prejudice

text: In the modern world, researchers in western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic countries have done various studies exploring the relationship between religion and prejudice; thus far, they have received mixed results. A study done with US college students found that those who reported religion to be very influential in their lives seem to have a higher rate of prejudice than those who reported not being religious. Other studies found that religion has a positive effect on people as far as prejudice is concerned. This difference in results may be attributed to the differences in religious practices or religious interpretations amongst the individuals. Those who practice "institutionalized religion", which focuses more on social and political aspects of religious events, are more likely to have an increase in prejudice. Those who practice "interiorized religion", in which believers devote themselves to their beliefs, are most likely to have a decrease in prejudice.


title: Prejudice

text: Individuals or groups may be treated unfairly based solely on their use of language. This use of language may include the individual's native language or other characteristics of the person's speech, such as an accent or dialect, the size of vocabulary (whether the person uses complex and varied words), and syntax. It may also involve a person's ability or inability to use one language instead of another.


title: Prejudice

text: In the mid-1980s, linguist Tove Skutnabb-Kangas captured this idea of discrimination based on language as the concept of linguicism. Kangas defined linguicism as the ideologies and structures used to "legitimate, effectuate, and reproduce unequal division of power and resources (both material and non-material) between groups which are defined on the basis of language".


title: Prejudice

text: Broadly speaking, attribution of low social status to those who do not conform to neurotypical expectations of personality and behaviour. This can manifest through assumption of 'disability' status to those who are high functioning enough to exist outside of diagnostic criteria, yet do not desire to (or are unable to) conform their behaviour to conventional patterns. This is a controversial and somewhat contemporary concept; with various disciplinary approaches promoting conflicting messages what normality constitutes, the degree of acceptable individual difference within that category, and the precise criteria for what constitutes medical disorder. This has been most prominent in the case of high-functioning autism, where direct cognitive benefits increasingly appear to come at the expense of social intelligence.


title: Prejudice

text: Discrimination may also extend to other high functioning individuals carrying pathological phenotypes, such as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar spectrum disorders. In these cases, there are indications that perceived (or actual) socially disadvantageous cognitive traits are directly correlated with advantageous cognitive traits in other domains, notably creativity and divergent thinking, and yet these strengths might become systematically overlooked. The case for "neurological discrimination" as such lies in the expectation that one's professional capacity may be judged by the quality of ones social interaction, which can in such cases be an inaccurate and discriminatory metric for employment suitability.


title: Prejudice

text: Since there are moves by some experts to have these higher-functioning extremes reclassified as extensions of human personality, any legitimisation of discrimination against these groups would fit the very definition of prejudice, as medical validation for such discrimination becomes redundant. Recent advancements in behavioural genetics and neuroscience have made this a very relevant issue of discussion, with existing frameworks requiring significant overhaul to accommodate the strength of findings over the last decade.


title: Prejudice

text: Assumptions may be made about the intelligence or value of individuals who have or exhibit behaviors of mental disorders or conditions. Individuals who have a difficult time assimilating or fitting into neurotypical standards and society may be label "Low-Functioning".


title: Prejudice

text: People with neurological disorders or conditions observed to have low intelligence, lack of self-control, suicidal behavior, or any number of factors may be discriminated on this basis. Institutions such as mental asylums, Nazi Concentration Camps, unethical pediatric research/care facilities, and eugenics labs have been used to carry out dangerous experiments or to torture the individuals involved.


title: Prejudice

text: Most discrimination today is characterized by individuals making comments towards low-functioning individuals or by harming them physically by themselves, but some institutions practice unsafe activities on these individuals.


title: Prejudice

text: Humans have an evolved propensity to think categorically about social groups, manifested in cognitive processes with broad implications for public and political endorsement of multicultural policy, according to psychologists Richard J. Crisp and Rose Meleady. They postulated a cognitive-evolutionary account of human adaptation to social diversity that explains general resistance to multiculturalism, and offer a reorienting call for scholars and policy-makers who seek intervention-based solutions to the problem of prejudice.


title: Prejudice

text: The contact hypothesis predicts that prejudice can only be reduced when in-group and out-group members are brought together. In particular, there are six conditions that must be met to reduce prejudice, as were cultivated in Elliot Aronson's "jigsaw" teaching technique. First, the in- and out-groups must have a degree of mutual interdependence. Second, both groups need to share a common goal. Third, the two groups must have equal status. Fourth, there must be frequent opportunities for informal and interpersonal contact between groups. Fifth, there should be multiple contacts between the in- and the out-groups. Finally, social norms of equality must exist and be present to foster prejudice reduction.


title: Prejudice

text: Academics Thomas Pettigrew and Linda Tropp conducted a meta-analysis of 515 studies involving a quarter of a million participants in 38 nations to examine how intergroup contact reduces prejudice. They found that three mediators are of particular importance: Intergroup contact reduces prejudice by (1) enhancing knowledge about the outgroup, (2) reducing anxiety about intergroup contact, and (3) increasing empathy and perspective-taking. While all three of these mediators had mediational effects, the mediational value of increased knowledge was less strong than anxiety reduction and empathy. In addition, some individuals confront discrimination when they see it happen, with research finding that individuals are more likely to confront when they perceive benefits to themselves, and are less likely to confront when concerned about others' reactions.


title: Prejudice

text: One problem with the notion that prejudice evolved because of a necessity to simplify social classifications because of limited brain capacity and at the same time can be mitigated through education is that the two contradict each other, the combination amounting to saying that the problem is a shortage of hardware and at the same time can be mitigated by stuffing even more software into the hardware one just said was overloaded with too much software. The distinction between men's hostility to outgroup men being based on dominance and aggression and women's hostility to outgroup men being based on fear of sexual coercion is criticized with reference to the historical example that Hitler and other male Nazis believed that intergroup sex was worse than murder and would destroy them permanently which they did not believe that war itself would, i.e. a view of outgroup male threat that evolutionary psychology considers to be a female view and not a male view.


title: Viacom18

text: Viacom18 Media Private Limited is an Indian media and entertainment joint venture between TV18 and Paramount Global based in Mumbai. It was founded in 2007 and owns various channels, as well as content production studios in India.


title: Viacom18

text: In January 2010, Viacom18 went international with the launch of Colors in United States. The channel is called Aapka Colors. In July 2010, it got into 50/50 distribution joint venture with Sun Network to form Sun 18.


title: Viacom18

text: In January 2014, TV18 acquired the non-Telugu language TV assets of ETV Network for ₹2,053 crore, with a permission to use ETV brand name.


title: Viacom18

text: In March 2015, Viacom18 decided to rebrand all five non-Telugu language ETV regional general entertainment channels. ETV Marathi, ETV Gujarati, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla and ETV Odia were rebranded into Colors Marathi, Colors Gujarati, Colors Kannada, Colors Bangla and Colors Odia respectively.


title: Viacom18

text: The company also owns Viacom18 Studios. On 31 January 2018, TV18 announced its acquisition of Viacom's majority in the joint venture, taking operational control and leaving Viacom with minority interest. On 1 October 2019, Viacom18 launched Colors HD in Malaysia on Astro Malaysia; every serial will be served with Malay and English subtitles.


title: Viacom18

text: More recently, the company had signed a deal with the National Basketball Association in order to deliver live NBA games to all of their own networks.


title: Viacom18

text: In June 2020, Sony's Indian unit Sony Pictures Networks India was in talks with Viacom18 about a merger, with the talks getting advanced much later. If the merger was successful, Sony would be 74% shareholder in the merged company. However, in October 2020, Reliance Industries, majority share holder in Viacom18, called off the merger.


title: Viacom18

text: In June 2021, reports stated Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises were reportedly in talks about a merger. However, Zee denied any talks about a potential merger with Viacom18, later entering talks with Sony Pictures Networks India, which was also in talks about a merger with Viacom18 earlier.


title: Viacom18

text: In January 2022, there were reports that Lupa India, an investment company set up by Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, were in the final stages of picking up a 39% stake in Viacom18. thereby turning Paramount Global into a minority share holder with a 10% share in the company. Instead, Viacom18 and Reliance Industries ultimately partnered with Bodhi Tree Systems, a company owned by Lupa Systems, to form a giant streaming and TV company. Bodhi Tree plans to invest US$1.8 billion in Viacom18, with Reliance investing US$216 million and Paramount Global continuing to be a shareholder in Viacom18; JioCinema will be transferred to Viacom18. The deal is expected to closed by October 2022, pending regulatory approval.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: Dexter "The Blade" Jackson (born November 25, 1969) is an American retired IFBB professional bodybuilder and the 2008 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding champion and 2012 Masters Mr. Olympia. With 29 wins, Jackson has the most professional men's bodybuilding titles. He has the distinction of winning the Arnold Classic a record five times (2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2015). After winning the Arnold Classic in 2015, he proceeded to place second in the 2015 Mr. Olympia. He is from Jacksonville, Florida. He retired from professional bodybuilding following the 2020 Mr. Olympia.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: Dexter's first NPC (National Physique Committee) competition was the NPC Southern States Championship of 1992, where he took 3rd. He first competed professionally in the 1999 Arnold Classic, Night of Champions, and Mr. Olympia contests, placing 7th, 3rd, and 9th, respectively.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: At the 2007 Mr. Olympia, Jackson placed 3rd and many critics said he would not likely place any higher. On September 27, 2008, he defeated the reigning champion Jay Cutler to become the 12th man to win the title, and only the second man since Ronnie Coleman to win both Mr. Olympia and Arnold Classic title in the same calendar year. Jackson has won the Mr. Olympia title once, sharing this distinction with Chris Dickerson (1982), Samir Bannout (1983), Shawn Rhoden (2018) and Brandon Curry (2019).


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: 2008 was a great year for Jackson, as he won the Arnold Classic, Australian Pro Grand Prix VIII, New Zealand Grand Prix, Russian Grand Prix and the Mr. Olympia. Jackson placed 3rd in the 2009 Mr. Olympia contest.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: In 2012, Jackson placed 4th in the Mr. Olympia, then surprised everyone by winning that year's Masters Olympia at the age of 43 and then won his fourth Arnold Classic title in 2013.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: In 2015, Jackson showed he was still a force to be reckoned with at the age of 45 when he placed 2nd at the Mr. Olympia; his highest placing since winning the Mr. Olympia in 2008.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: In 2020, Jackson announced that he will compete at the Mr.Olympia and this will be his final show after competing professionally since 1999. He placed 9th at that show, the same placing as his Olympia debut in 1999.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: Jackson has been featured in many fitness and bodybuilding articles, including being pictured on the cover of Muscular Development and Flex magazine. He shot his new documentary DVD titled Dexter Jackson: Unbreakable with filmmaker Alex Ardenti of Ardenti Films in Florida and California which was released in 2009.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: In 2009, following his win at the 2008 Mr. Olympia, Dexter Jackson created his own bodybuilding competition - The Dexter Classic.


title: Dexter Jackson (bodybuilder)

text: In early 2021, just following his retirement Jackson announced he would be launching his own supplements line of products in April 2021. This will contain a full line of 27 SKU’s of Dexter Jackson Signature Series supplements. Jackson stated he had been planning this venture since his departure from Ultimate Nutrition in 2015.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012 with Manchester City sealing their third league title – their first since 1968 – with victory over Queens Park Rangers on the final day. The title was City's first Premier League success, making them the fifth club to win the Premier League in its 20-year history. City finished level on 89 points with Manchester United, but their goal difference was eight better than their local rivals', making it the only time the Premier League had been won on goal difference.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: The league was contested by 20 teams, 17 returning from the 2010–11 season and three promoted from the Football League Championship. Championship winners Queens Park Rangers and runners-up Norwich City gained automatic promotion whilst Swansea City gained promotion through the Football League Championship play-offs beating Reading 4–2 in May 2011, becoming the first non-English team to play in the Premier League. All three promoted clubs avoided relegation for the first time since the 2001–02 campaign. The season was voted as the greatest Premier League season in the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: Manchester City won the title in a tense finale, their first championship since 1968. City's local rivals Manchester United were the early pace-setters, leading the table until October when they drew at Liverpool allowing Manchester City to overtake them. The following week, City increased their lead to five points with a shock 6–1 away victory at Old Trafford, which they maintained until December, when they dropped points and their lead narrowed, but City remained in front until March, when a defeat at Swansea City saw them drop behind United. City's bad form continued for the next month while United went on a winning run, so that with six matches remaining United were eight points ahead of City and the title seemingly decided. However, United then faltered with a defeat and a draw in their next three games, while City won all three to narrow the gap to three points. City then beat United 1–0 at the City of Manchester Stadium to move back ahead of United on goal difference. Both sides won their penultimate matches to maintain the status quo.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: Going into the final matches, which were played simultaneously, City were top of the league, ahead of Manchester United on goal difference. However, a Wayne Rooney goal away to Sunderland gave United the advantage. A 39th-minute goal from Pablo Zabaleta, his first of the season, put City back on top at half time. In a dramatic second half Djibril Cissé equalised for Queens Park Rangers in the 48th minute. Shortly after, Joey Barton of QPR was sent off for elbowing Carlos Tevez; on his way off the pitch, he kicked Sergio Agüero, attempted to headbutt Vincent Kompany and squared up to Mario Balotelli. Despite the numerical advantage, City went behind after Jamie Mackie gave QPR the lead in the 66th minute. As time wound down in both matches, it appeared that Manchester United would win the title with their victory over Sunderland. But Edin Džeko equalised for City in the 92nd minute. While United players waited on the field at Sunderland for a possible trophy presentation, Manchester City's Sergio Agüero scored the game winner in the 94th minute to clinch the title on goal difference. The 6–1 loss was even more important than it seemed at the time, because if City had won by a single goal then both teams would have ended with identical records (points, goal difference, goals scored, win record, etc.) which by Premier League rules would have meant a play-off game at a neutral ground to decide the title.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: For most of the season, Tottenham Hotspur were in third place, a couple of points behind the Manchester clubs, and there was much speculation as to whether Tottenham could mount a title challenge. However, from late February onward their season collapsed, starting with a 5–2 defeat to local rivals Arsenal, whom they had been 10 points ahead of before the game, and just four wins in their last 13 games condemned Tottenham to finishing a point below Arsenal, who finished third to join Manchester City and Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, Arsenal completed a strong recovery from a disastrous start to the season including their 8–2 defeat at Manchester United in August. Tottenham finished in the fourth and final Champions League slot but missed out on qualification for the competition because Chelsea's victory in the 2012 Champions League Final automatically entitled them to defend their title in the 2012–13 tournament at the expense of the lowest ranked team that would otherwise qualify for the competition through league position. This was the first time that this rule had been implemented in the Premier League, having been introduced by UEFA after Liverpool's controversial qualification for the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League. This consequently marked the first time that the club finishing fourth in the Premier League had not qualified for the tournament since the fourth qualifying spot was introduced in the 2001–02 season. Newcastle United finished fifth and qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Everton finished 7th, just above local rivals Liverpool. Despite finishing above them for the first time in seven years, it was Liverpool who claimed the final Europa League slot, by virtue of winning the 2011–12 Football League Cup.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: Elsewhere in the league, QPR avoided relegation, despite losing to Manchester City; Bolton Wanderers could only draw at Stoke City, failing to overtake QPR, and therefore joining Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in being relegated to the Championship. For the second time in the Premier League's history, none of the three clubs promoted from the Championship in the previous season were relegated at the end of the season with the other two teams, Swansea City and Norwich City, finishing 11th and 12th respectively. The last time all three newly promoted teams stayed up (2001–02), Blackburn and Bolton were two of those teams.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: Liverpool's Luis Suárez was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra and was given an eight-match ban.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City, returning to the top flight after absences of fifteen, six and twenty-eight years respectively. This was also Swansea City's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Birmingham City, Blackpool and West Ham United, ending their top-flight spells of two, one and six years respectively. This was the first season in the Premier League era where a Welsh team competed and the first season where a Welsh team competed in the top flight of English football since the 1982–83 season.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: In addition, Nike had a new design for their match ball (white from August to October and March to May; high-visibility yellow from November through February) called Seitiro, featuring a modified flame design.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: On 21 December in a 2–1 loss to Arsenal at Villa Park, Marc Albrighton of Aston Villa was officially credited with the 20,000th goal scored since the formation of the Premier League in 1992. He was given £20,000 from league sponsor Barclays to donate to a charity of his choice. He chose Acorns Children's Hospice, who used to sponsor Aston Villa.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew, 50, received the Premier League Manager of the Season. Pardew was the first Newcastle manager to receive the award, and only the second Englishman after Harry Redknapp to do so.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: The Goal of the Season award was given to Papiss Cissé of Newcastle United for his second goal in their 2–0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 28 April, becoming the first player for the club to win the award since its inception.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: The PFA Players' Player of the Year was awarded to Robin van Persie. The other nominees were; Sergio Aguero, Scott Parker, David Silva, Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: The Premier League Golden Glove award was won by Joe Hart of Manchester City, who achieved 17 clean sheets.


title: 2011–12 Premier League

text: Swansea City won the Premier League Fair Play Award after finishing the 2011–12 Premier League top of the Fair Play Table. The award for best behaved fans went to Norwich.


title: Scimitar

text: A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, "scimitar" does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different Eastern curved swords inspired by types introduced to the Middle East by Central Asian ghilmans. These swords include the Persian shamshir (the origin of the word scimitar), the Arab saif, the Indian talwar, the North African nimcha, and the Turkish kilij. All such swords are originally derived from earlier curved swords developed in Turkic Central Asia (Turkestan).


title: Scimitar

text: The English term "scimitar" is attested from the mid-16th century and derives from either the Middle French "cimeterre" (15th century) or from the Italian "scimitarra". The ultimate source of these terms is corruptions of the Persian "shamshir." "Scimitar" became used to describe all curved oriental blades, in contrast to the straight and double edged European swords of the time.


title: Scimitar

text: The term "saif" in Arabic can refer to any Middle Eastern (or North African, South Asian) sword, straight or curved. "Saif" cognates with the ancient Greek "xiphos", which may have been borrowed from a Semitic language, as both "saif" and "xiphos" go back to an old (Bronze Age) wanderwort of the eastern Mediterranean of unknown ultimate origin. Richard F. Burton derives both words from the Egyptian "sfet".


title: Scimitar

text: The earliest evidence of scimitars is from the 9th century among soldiers in Khurasan. They were used in horse warfare because of their relatively light weight when compared to larger swords and their curved design, good for slashing opponents while riding on a horse. Nomadic horsemen learned from experience that a curved edge is better for cutting strikes because the arc of the blade matches that of the sweep of the rider's arm as they slash the target while galloping. Mongols, Rajputs and Sikhs used scimitars in warfare, among many other peoples.


title: Scimitar

text: The scimitar was widespread throughout the Middle East from at least the Ottoman period until the age of smokeless powder firearms relegated swords to dress and ceremonial function. The Egyptian khopesh, brought to Egypt by the Hyksos, resembled scimitars. The khopesh is sometimes considered a scimitar. Early swords in Islamic lands were typically straight and double edged, following the tradition of the weapons used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Though the famous double edged sword, Zulfiqar wielded by Ali was of a curved design, the curved design was probably introduced into central Islamic lands by Turkic warriors from central Asia who were employed as royal body-guards in the 9th century and an Abbasid era blade has been discovered from Khurasan. These Turkic warriors sported an early type of sabre which had been used in central Asia since the 7th century, but failed to gain wider appeal initially in Islamic lands. There is a single surviving Seljuk saber from approximately the year 1200, which may indicate that under that empire curved blades saw some popularity. Following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century the curved swords favored by the Turkic cavalry, formed lasting impacts across much of the Middle East. The adoption of these swords was incremental, starting not long after Mongol conquest, and lasting well into the 15th century. During Islamization of the Turks, the "kilij" became more and more popular in the Islamic armies. When the Seljuk Empire invaded Persia and became the first Turkic Muslim political power in Western Asia, "kilij" became the dominant sword form. The Iranian "shamshir" was created during the Turkic Seljuk Empire period of Iran.


title: Scimitar

text: The scimitar has been a symbol since ancient times. To the Akkadians, the scimitar, or "harpe", was represented in art as something held by kings and the goddess Ishtar. In the Old Babylonian period, art depicts gods such as Marduk, Ishtar, Ninurta, and Nergal holding scimitars as a symbol of royalty. A common scene depicted in this period is a king or a god trampling on an enemy, a scimitar in their left hand.


title: Scimitar

text: The sword (or "saif") is an important symbol in Arab cultures, and is used as a metaphor in many phrases in the Arabic language.


title: Scimitar

text: The word occurs also in various symbolic and status titles in Arabic (and adopted in other languages) used in Islamic states, notably:


title: Scimitar

text: The scimitar appears as a symbol of the Russians in the Finnish coat of arms of the Province of Karelia, which depicts two armored arms fighting with swords - one Western and one Eastern, representing Karelia's troubled history as a border region between the east and the west. From this context, the sword and scimitar have found their way into the coat of arms of Finland, which depicts a lion brandishing a sword and trampling a scimitar.


title: Scimitar

text: In "Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy", Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg argue that the scimitar has been appropriated by Western culture and Hollywood to symbolize Arab Muslims in a negative light. Even though Muslims used straight-edge swords for the first two centuries of the Crusades, European Christians may have more closely tied the Christian cross-like shape of the swords to their cause. The authors commented that American cartoonists use the scimitar to symbolize "Muslim barbarity", despite the irony in scimitars being worn with some American military uniforms.


title: Scimitar

text: Scimitars were used in 19th century orientalist depictions of Middle Eastern men. In the 20th century, they were often used to indicate that a character was Middle Eastern and occupying a villain role.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate football in the nation, and are considered the most "elite" conferences within that tier. The Power Five conferences have provided nearly all of the participants in the College Football Playoff since its inception, are guaranteed at least one bid to a New Year's Six bowl game, and have been granted autonomy from certain NCAA rules. The Power Five conferences are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC).


title: Power Five conferences

text: The term "Power Five" is not defined by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the origin of the term is unknown. It has been used in its current meaning since at least 2006. However, the Power Five conferences are identified individually under NCAA rules as "autonomy conferences," which grants them some independence from standard NCAA rules to provide additional resources for the benefit of student-athletes. The term is also occasionally used in other college sports, although in many non-football sports, most notably basketball, anywhere from six to 10 conferences may be considered "high-major" - The Big East, A-10, AAC, Mountain West, and WCC, in addition to the Power 5 football conferences.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The Power Five conferences make up five of the ten conferences in FBS; the other FBS conferences are informally known as the Group of Five (American Athletic Conference (the American or AAC), Conference USA, Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference). The FBS consists of the Power Five, the Group of Five, and a small number of independent schools (among those schools long-time independents Army and Notre Dame, along with other schools that typically stay independent for a few years before moving to a conference). Prior to the establishment of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the Power Five conferences, as well as the old Big East Conference, were called Automatic Qualifying (AQ) conferences, because the champion of each conference received an automatic berth in one of the five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games. The final college football season for which the BCS was in effect was the 2013 season. With the split of the old Big East in 2013, there are now five "power," or top-tier, conferences.


title: Power Five conferences

text: As of the conclusion of the 2021–22 school year, only two of the soon-to-be sixty-nine Power Five conference schools have never won a National Championship in any sport, Kansas State of the Big 12 and Virginia Tech of the ACC. Future Big 12 member UCF has never won an NCAA-recognized team title, but claims a piece of the 2017 football title. Subsequently, their title claim is recognized in the NCAA record books for 2017.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The ten current FBS conferences are listed below. For the Power Five, the member universities of each conference are also listed.


title: Power Five conferences

text: <nowiki>*</nowiki> The University of Notre Dame is a full voting member of the ACC, and although its football team does not participate in ACC football and competes as a football independent, it is obligated to play an average of five football games a year against ACC opponents. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame entered into a full ACC football schedule and was eligible for the conference's championship. Notre Dame fields 24 other varsity sports that compete in the ACC, as well as men's ice hockey which competes in the Big Ten Conference.


title: Power Five conferences

text: <nowiki>**</nowiki> The University of Oklahoma and University of Texas have announced they will leave the Big 12 Conference in 2025, and join the SEC. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF have accepted invitations to join the Big 12 in 2023.


title: Power Five conferences

text: <nowiki>***</nowiki> UCLA and USC have announced they will leave the Pac-12 and join the Big Ten beginning in 2024.


title: Power Five conferences

text: With the establishment of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the term "automatic qualifying conference" is no longer in use, as the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) has been discontinued. However, five of the six former AQ conferences are now known as the "Power Five conferences": the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Pac-12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The sixth AQ conference, the Big East, was split up during the 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment, with five members joining P5 conferences, Notre Dame establishing a relationship with the ACC, the remaining non-football members forming the new Big East Conference, and the remaining members forming the American Athletic Conference. It is unknown where the term "Power Five Conference" originated from; it is not officially documented anywhere by the NCAA.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The American, as well as Conference USA (C-USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference (MW), and the Sun Belt Conference are known as the "Group of Five" (sometimes called the G5).


title: Power Five conferences

text: The FBS also has seven independent schools as of the current 2022 season: Notre Dame, Army, BYU, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn, and UMass. Notre Dame is currently considered equal to the Power Five schools, being a full (with the exception of football) member of the ACC with an annual five-game football scheduling agreement with that conference; Notre Dame also has its own national television contract and its own arrangement for access to the CFP-affiliated bowl games should it meet stated competitive criteria. All Power Five leagues that require their members to schedule at least one Power Five team in nonconference play (currently the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-12) consider Notre Dame to be a Power Five opponent for such purposes. The ACC, Big Ten, and SEC also count BYU as a Power Five opponent for scheduling purposes, and the Big Ten and SEC count Army as well. Three of these schools will leave the independent ranks after the 2022 season—BYU will join the Big 12, thereby becoming a Power Five program, and Liberty and New Mexico State will join Conference USA.


title: Power Five conferences

text: Teams from the Power Five and the Group of Five play each other during the season, and sometimes also play against FCS teams. However, many coaches of Power Five schools have argued that Power Five schools should only be allowed to schedule games against other Power Five schools. In 2014, the NCAA gave the Power Five conferences greater autonomy in regard to issues such as stipends and recruiting rules. Some Power Five conferences, including the Big Ten and SEC, require their teams to play at least one non-conference P5 opponent each season.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The College Football Playoff rotates among six bowl games, with two bowl games used as each year as the national semi-finals, and four other bowls matching the remaining top teams in the country. These six bowl games are collectively known as the "New Year's Six" bowl games. Conference champions from the Power Five are not guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, and at least one will always be left out of the playoffs. While no rule makes Group of Five teams ineligible for the playoffs, no such team was ranked higher than #8 in the final CFP rankings (UCF in 2018) until Cincinnati was #4 in 2021; selectors regularly claim these teams typically have weaker schedules. The aforementioned 2021 Cincinnati team was the first Group of Five team to ever be ranked in the top four by the committee at any point during the season. Cincinnati along with the aforementioned UCF and Houston will also join the Big 12, thereby becoming Power 5 programs.


title: Power Five conferences

text: Each conference champion from the Power Five and the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion is guaranteed a spot in a New Year's Six Bowl. Every year, a non-Power Five team is guaranteed one bid to the New Year's Six bowls; however, so far no additional bids beyond that one have been granted.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The FBS has undergone several waves of realignment since the 1990s, when the Bowl Coalition was established. The first realignment occurred in the 1990s, and resulted in the demise of the Southwest Conference, which was a member of the Bowl Coalition and at times considered equal to some of the Power Five conferences; as well as many schools giving up independent status to join conferences. In the early 1990s, Arkansas left the Southwest Conference for the SEC; the original Big East Conference began sponsoring football, with eight former football independents joining either for all sports or football only; and other major independents such as Florida State (to the ACC), Penn State (to the Big Ten), and South Carolina (to the SEC) joined major conferences. In the 1996 NCAA conference realignment, the SWC dissolved, and four Texas teams from that conference joined with the Big 8 schools to form the Big 12 Conference.


title: Power Five conferences

text: During another phase of realignment in 2005, three schools (Boston College, Miami-FL and Virginia Tech) jumped from the Big East to the ACC, and Temple also left the conference (before eventually returning in 2013). The Big East responded by adding former basketball-only member Connecticut and three schools from C-USA.


title: Power Five conferences

text: College football underwent another major conference realignment from 2010 to 2014, as the Big Ten and Pac-10 sought to become large enough to stage championship games. Members of the original Big East left the conference to join the Big 12, Big Ten, and ACC. The Big 12 lost members to the SEC, the Pac-12, and the Big Ten, while the Big Ten also gained one former ACC member. The remaining members of the Big East split into two conferences: the American Athletic Conference (the American) and a new Big East Conference that does not sponsor football (only three of the original 10 members of the current Big East sponsor football, all at the second-tier Division I FCS level). The American, the football successor to the Big East, is no longer considered a power conference. Despite the major conference realignment from 2010 to 2014, relatively few schools dropped out of or joined the ranks of the power conferences. Two of the three non-AQ schools that had appeared in multiple BCS bowls left the Mountain West Conference and joined a power conference, as Utah joined the Pac-12 and TCU joined the Big 12. Former Big East members Temple, Cincinnati, and South Florida are all now part of The American; another former Big East member, UConn, left American Conference football after the 2019 season to become an FBS independent while otherwise joining the current Big East. Of these, only Temple was a founding member of the Big East in football.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The most recent major realignment is currently ongoing. During a period of less than two months in 2021, the Big 12 both gained and lost members. First, on July 30, the conference lost two of its mainstays when Oklahoma and Texas announced that they would leave for the SEC no later than 2025. The Big 12 reloaded by announcing four new members on September 10, initially announcing that American members Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF plus FBS independent BYU would join no later than 2024. BYU's initial announcement stated that it would join in 2023, and the other three schools' 2023 entry date was officially confirmed after they reached a buyout agreement with The American. On June 30, 2022, Pac-12 mainstays UCLA and USC announced they would move to the Big Ten in 2024.


title: Power Five conferences

text: At present, six of the nine former members of the Southwest Conference are in Power Five conferences: Arkansas and Texas A&M are members of the SEC, while TCU, Baylor, Texas, and Texas Tech are members of the Big 12. Houston and SMU are members of the American, with Houston now set to join the Big 12 in 2023, while Rice is a member of Conference USA and set to join The American in 2023.


title: Power Five conferences

text: From 1998 to 2013, the top teams in Division I FBS played in the BCS. It consisted of four or five bowl games, with a national championship game either rotating among the bowl sites (prior to the 2006 season) or played as a separate game. The BCS succeeded two other systems that were put in place after the 1991 season in order to ensure that one national champion could be crowned at the end of the season. The original Bowl Coalition consisted of the SEC, the Big Eight Conference (later succeeded by the Big 12), the Southwest Conference (SWC), the ACC, the Big East, and Notre Dame. The BCS added the Pac-10 (now known as the Pac-12) and the Big Ten, while the SWC dissolved in 1996. In 2013, the Big East split into two conferences, and its successor, the American Athletic Conference (The American), took the Big East's place for the 2013 season.


title: Power Five conferences

text: In addition to creating a national championship game, the BCS also created a set format for other major bowls. After the two top teams in the BCS rankings were matched up in the BCS National Championship Game, the other three or (after the 2005 season) four bowls selected other top teams. The term "BCS conference" was used by many fans to refer to one of the six conferences whose champions received an automatic berth in one of the five BCS bowl games, although the BCS itself used the term "automatic qualifying conference" (AQ conference). While the number of AQ conferences was technically variable, the BCS always had six AQ conferences since its inception in 1998. The Mountain West Conference (MW) was perhaps the closest of the other conferences to getting AQ status, but its request for AQ status was denied in 2012. Each of the bowls had a historic link with one or more of the six BCS conferences with the exception of the former Big East, and the bowl games selected a team from each of these conferences if it was eligible for a BCS bowl and not playing in the national title game. The conferences included in this group, with their traditional bowl links, were:


title: Power Five conferences

text: Notre Dame is an independent in football, but was a founding member of the BCS. Because of the "Notre Dame rule", it had guaranteed access to the BCS bowls when it met certain defined performance criteria.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The other five conferences (listed below) were non-AQ conferences because they did not receive an annual automatic bid to a BCS bowl game. The highest ranked champion of any non-AQ conference received an AQ bid if they ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS poll or ranked in the top 16 and higher than a champion of an AQ conference.


title: Power Five conferences

text: Of these appearances, all were via automatic qualifying bids, except Boise State's participation in the highly controversial 2010 Fiesta Bowl in which the Broncos were selected via at-large bid and played fellow BCS Buster TCU.


title: Power Five conferences

text: The following table lists the number of times that a member of each conference appeared in a New Year's Six bowl game or a BCS bowl game. For the 1998 to 2005 seasons there were four such games, from 2006 to 2013 there were five such games. Starting in 2014 there are six CFP associated bowl games (not including the national championship game) known as the New Year's Six. A * indicates a team from that conference won the national championship, while a ^ indicates a team from that conference was the runner-up in the national championship game.


title: Power Five conferences

text: Statistics reflect conference membership at the time of the game. Note that the American filled the Big East's automatic bid in 2013.


title: Power Five conferences

text: Men's Volleyball: As of the upcoming 2023 NCAA men's volleyball season (2022–23 school year), 29 Division I members sponsor varsity men's volleyball, with a large majority being mid-major programs. In fact, D-I men's volleyball schools are outnumbered by Division II schools; members of both divisions compete under identical scholarship limits for a single national championship. Before 2012, this championship was also open to Division III schools, but explosive growth in the sport at that level in the 21st century led to the creation of a separate D-III championship. The only D-I all-sports leagues to sponsor the sport are the mid-major Big West Conference and Northeast Conference. With that in mind, the five Power Five schools with men's volleyball programs are aligned as follows:


title: Power Five conferences

text: Men's Water Polo: Only 25 Division I members sponsor varsity men's water polo. As with men's volleyball, a large majority of the D-I schools that sponsor the sport are mid-major programs. The NCAA conducts a single national championship open to all member schools, regardless of division.


title: Power Five conferences

text: A women-only sport at the NCAA level, beach volleyball is sponsored by only one Power Five conference, the Pac-12. Nine of that conference's schools sponsor the sport (with the exceptions being Colorado, Oregon State, and Washington State). UCLA and USC have not announced a future affiliation in that sport. Other Power Five schools that sponsor the sport are aligned as follows:


title: Power Five conferences

text: Women's Water Polo: Only 33 Division I members sponsor varsity women's water polo. As with men's water polo, a large majority of the D-I schools that sponsor the sport are mid-major programs. The NCAA conducts a single national championship open to all member schools, regardless of division.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: The 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Kansas, with primary elections taking place on August 2, 2022. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly ran for re-election to a second term. Both Kelly and Republican State Attorney General Derek Schmidt won their respective nominations with little opposition. Libertarian Seth Cordell and independent Dennis Pyle were also on the ballot.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: This was the only Democratic-held governorship up for election in 2022 in a state carried by Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and the race was expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the nation. Some analysts and Kansas Republican Party officials also believed that Pyle, who was on the ballot as an independent politician, had a spoiler effect benefiting Kelly.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: Kelly won re-election to a second term. This was the first gubernatorial election in Kansas since 1986 in which the winner was from the same party as the incumbent president.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: Reporters noted the lack of attention towards abortion as an issue in the campaign by both major candidates, despite the defeat of an abortion amendment in August which was widely seen as a prominent victory for the pro-choice movement. In televised debates, Schmidt said that he respected the referendum results and accused Kelly of opposing existing abortion restrictions. Kelly denied the accusation, saying that she had stayed consistent on the subject, and further adding that she believed in "bodily autonomy" for women. When pressed on whether they would support retaining all justices in the state Supreme Court who ruled abortion as a fundamental constitutional right in 2019 and were up on the ballot, Kelly said that she would, while Schmidt said he would vote to retain some and not others.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: Instead, both candidates focused more on "kitchen-table" issues such as the economy and education, where polls showed that the former of which was the most important concern among voters. Kelly's campaign tied Schmidt with former Governor Sam Brownback and his Kansas experiment, highlighting Schmidt's defense of lawsuits regarding budget cuts to public education as the Attorney General. In the contrary, Schmidt's campaign tied Kelly with President Joe Biden by focusing on national issues such as the increase in inflation and gas prices, portraying them as "big-spending liberals". Other issues include criminal justice and transgender people in sports.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: Aside from state Supreme Court justice retention elections and other statewide elections, the election was also held on the same ballot as two referendums for proposed constitutional amendments. Question 1 would authorize the state legislature to veto any rules and regulations implemented by Kansas's executive branch with a simple majority. The proposal was spearheaded by Schmidt in 2021 in response to Governor Kelly's pandemic-related measures to close schools temporarily and he made COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates as a focal point in his platform. Kelly's campaign countered that the amendment would be a "power grab" that could create further gridlock in the state's legislative process. Question 2 would require most sheriffs to be elected directly by voters and that they could only be removed by a recall election or a challenge by the state Attorney General. In a press release, Schmidt said that he would campaign for the amendment, arguing that electing sheriffs would make them "uniquely accountable to the people". Critics pointed out that the amendment could create abuse of power as the authority to investigate the sheriff would be stripped from district attorneys in every county and the Attorney General could "play favorites" into which sheriff to investigate. In the end, Question 1 failed narrowly by a one-point margin, while Question 2 passed with 62% of the vote.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: Laura Kelly won the election by a margin of 2.2 percentage points over Derek Schmidt, similar to the percentage of votes that independent Dennis Pyle received. Kansas Republican Party Chair Mike Kuckelman pointed to this as an evidence that Pyle was somewhat responsible for Schmidt's defeat. However, Pyle insisted that "Kansas needed a strong conservative candidate" and instead highlighted Schmidt's underperformance compared to other Republican candidates in Kansas.


title: 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election

text: Kelly's personal popularity was also a factor in her victory, where a majority of voters approved of Kelly's job performance, while only a third did so for President Joe Biden. Her win was also propelled by Democratic candidates' increased strength in suburban areas, such as Johnson County, in spite of Schmidt's increased vote share from 2018 in the Republican strongholds of rural Kansas.


title: United States of Al

text: United States of Al is an American television sitcom created by David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari. It stars Adhir Kalyan and Parker Young, with Elizabeth Alderfer, Kelli Goss, Dean Norris, and Farrah Mackenzie in supporting roles. The series follows Al (Kalyan), an interpreter from Afghanistan who moves to Columbus, Ohio, with his friend Riley (Young), a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Executive produced by Chuck Lorre, it is produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Television Studios.


title: United States of Al

text: A television pilot for the series was announced in October 2019, with production beginning the following year. In November 2020, CBS gave the project a series order, scheduling it to premiere on April 1, 2021. Released to mixed reviews, "United States of Al" was criticized for its humor, use of antiquated tropes, and casting of an Indo-South African actor to play an Afghan lead with an inauthentic accent. However, the show was praised by some for its attempts to diversify television, and for the cultural representation of its main character. At the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, the show's pilot received a nomination for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on October 7, 2021. In May 2022, the series was canceled after two seasons.


title: United States of Al

text: The series follows the friendship between Riley, a combat veteran, and Awalmir (Al), an interpreter from Afghanistan who helped the former while he served in the Marines. As they readjust to their normal lives in Columbus, Ohio, Al moves in with Riley and meets his father Art. He later learns Riley is going through a divorce with his wife Vanessa, who has custody of their only daughter Hazel. Trying to help his friend, who is also dealing with PTSD, Al decides to make it his mission to get Riley and Vanessa back together.


title: United States of Al

text: On October 10, 2019, it was reported that a television pilot titled "United States of Al" from Chuck Lorre, David Goetsch, and Maria Ferrari had received a large production commitment from CBS. In December, Adhir Kalyan and Parker Young were cast as the leading characters on the show, with Dean Norris, Kelli Goss, and Elizabeth Alderfer joining the series the following year, and Farrah Mackenzie being cast soon after. On joining the comedy series after his main role in the drama series "Breaking Bad", Norris explained that he had met Lorre while working on six episodes for "The Big Bang Theory". In November 2020, on Veterans Day, CBS gave the project a series order, scheduling it to premiere on April 1, 2021, for the 2020–21 United States network television season. On creating the show, executive producer Reza Aslan said:


title: United States of Al

text: In May 2021, Brian Thomas Smith was cast in the first recurring role confirmed for the series. That same month, "Deadline Hollywood" predicted that the chances of the show being renewed depended on the status of "B Positive", another CBS series from Lorre. On May 15, 2021, CBS renewed both "B Positive" and "United States of Al" for second seasons. In June, it was announced that Rachel Bay Jones would star in a recurring role. In October, it was reported that Azita Ghanizada had been promoted to recurring. The second season premiered on October 7, 2021. On May 11, 2022, CBS canceled the series after two seasons.


title: United States of Al

text: A co-production between Chuck Lorre Productions and Warner Bros. Television Studios, the first season of "United States of Al" began production in a television studio located on 4000 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. Filming for the pilot took place in October 2020 with director Mark Cendrowski, while later episodes were filmed simultaneously with its broadcast a few weeks in advance.


title: United States of Al

text: Prior to airing, some of the show's promotional material received negative feedback. In particular, critics called out the casting of a South-African-born Indian actor to play an Afghan lead and his use of an inauthentic accent. Aslan defended the show on social media, stating in his response that the show has two Afghan-American and one Afghan writer, as well as two Iranian-American producers. Goetsch added that the show's development included extensive interviews with Afghan refugees and U.S. veterans. On August 16, 2021, an episode rerun of the show was removed from CBS' schedule in the midst of the 2021 Taliban offensive. In a statement, a CBS spokesperson told "Vice" that the episode was not aired "out of sensitivity to current events," and did not respond to questions surrounding the future of the series.


title: United States of Al

text: Production on the second season began in August 2021. On September 9, 2021, CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl said the series would address the withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan in its rewritten opening episode and that they had "been working hard to find the appropriate tone as the show moves forward." In a guest column for "The Hollywood Reporter", military consultant and writer Chase Millsap said the staff for "United States of Al", including seven veterans and five Afghans, did all they could to "help many Afghans escape the Taliban. Narratives have power. They help define who we are as a nation." Filming for the second season concluded on March 25, 2022.


title: United States of Al

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 31% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's critical consensus states, ""United States of Al" is well-meaning in its ambitions, but its limp humor and the one-dimensionality of its titular character proves that the road to dud sitcom can be paved with good intentions." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: United States of Al

text: In initial contemporary reviews, "United States of Al" received mostly negative feedback. However, the "Los Angeles Times" journalist Lorraine Ali examined reviews from several critics, and summarized them as illustrating "the minefield that exists around good-intentioned efforts to diversify scripted television" due to their ignoring of the cultural representation of the main character and the show's attempts to diversify television, calling the reviews "damaging to future representations of Muslims".


title: United States of Al

text: Daniel Fienberg, writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", shared his dislike for "the writers' choices for Al", referring to it as "a bad mixture". From "TV Guide", Diane Gordon gave the show only 2 out of 5 stars; her criticism leaned toward the show's fish out of water attempts at comedy she found to be "cheap and half-hearted".


title: United States of Al

text: Roxana Hadadi from "RogerEbert.com" criticized the series and its creators' in using antiquated tropes in attempting to be comedic. Caroline Framke from "Variety" also gave remarks to the show's writing, stating that the show "works so hard to make its Afghan protagonist palatable that it neglects to give him any complexity."


title: United States of Al

text: Afghan journalist Ali Latifi shared his criticism of the show in an op-ed for "Business Insider" and said "it's all flat characters, and cheap, uninspired jokes." While giving praise to Lorre's television series "The Big Bang Theory", he also shared a quote from a conversation with Afghan-American social rights activist Mariam Wardak, who he quoted as saying "rather than showing Afghan interpreters as brave men who are putting their lives on the line and are risking being ostracized in their community, we have a short, scrawny awkward brown man standing next to this GI Joe." The Afghan-American Foundation criticized the show's casting of the lead role while they also applauded the show's inclusion of Afghan-American writers as "commendable and unprecedented," hoping the show leads to further thoughtful representations of Afghan-Americans.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; ; 1894–1941) was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He had been active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, operating an amateur-radio station (SP3RN), and founding or running several other organizations and publications.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: On 10 October 1982, Pope John Paul II canonized Kolbe and declared him a martyr of charity. The Catholic Church venerates him as the patron saint of amateur radio operators, drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, and prisoners. John Paul II declared him "the patron of our difficult century". His feast day is 14 August, the day of his death.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Due to Kolbe's efforts to promote consecration and entrustment to Mary, he is known as the "Apostle of Consecration to Mary."


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Raymund Kolbe was born on 8 January 1894 in Zduńska Wola, in the Kingdom of Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire. He was the second son of weaver Julius Kolbe and midwife Maria Dąbrowska. His father was an ethnic German, and his mother was Polish. He had four brothers. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Pabianice.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe's life was strongly influenced in 1906, when he was 12, by a vision of the Virgin Mary. He later described this incident:


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: In 1907 Kolbe and his elder brother Francis joined the Conventual Franciscans. They enrolled at the Conventual Franciscan minor seminary in Lwow later that year. In 1910, Kolbe was allowed to enter the novitiate, where he chose a religious name Maximilian. He professed his first vows in 1911, and final vows in 1914, adopting the additional name of Maria (Mary).


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe was sent to Rome in 1912, where he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University. He earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1915 there. From 1915 he continued his studies at the Pontifical University of St. Bonaventure, where he earned a doctorate in theology in 1919 or 1922 (sources vary). He was active in the consecration and entrustment to Mary.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: In the midst of these studies, World War I broke out. Maximilian's father, Julius Kolbe, joined Jozef Piłsudski's Polish Legions fighting against the Russians for an independent Poland, still subjugated and still divided among Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Julius Kolbe was caught and hanged as a traitor by the Russians at the relatively young age of 43, a traumatic event for young Maximilian.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: During his time as a student, he witnessed vehement demonstrations against Popes Pius X and Benedict XV in Rome during an anniversary celebration by the Freemasons. According to Kolbe:


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: They placed the black standard of the "Giordano Brunisti" under the windows of the Vatican. On this standard the archangel, Michael, was depicted lying under the feet of the triumphant Lucifer. At the same time, countless pamphlets were distributed to the people in which the Holy Father (i.e., the Pope) was attacked shamefully.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Soon afterward, on 16 October 1917, Kolbe organized the Militia Immaculatae (Army of the Immaculate One), to work for conversion of sinners and enemies of the Catholic Church, specifically the Freemasons, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. So serious was Kolbe about this goal that he added to the Miraculous Medal prayer:


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. "And for all those who do not have recourse to thee; especially the Freemasons and all those recommended to thee".


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe wanted the entire Franciscan Order consecrated to the Immaculate by an additional vow. The idea was well received, but faced the hurdles of approval by the hierarchy of the order and the lawyers, so it was never formally adopted during his life and was no longer pursued after his death.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: In 1918, Kolbe was ordained a priest. In July 1919, he returned to Poland, which was newly independent. He was active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. He was strongly opposed to leftist – in particular, communist – movements.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: From 1919 to 1922, he taught at the Kraków Seminary. Around that time, as well as earlier in Rome, he suffered from tuberculosis, which forced him to take a lengthy leave of absence from his teaching duties. In those pre-antibiotic times, tuberculosis was generally considered fatal, with rest and good nutrition the best treatment.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: In January 1922, Kolbe founded the monthly periodical "Rycerz Niepokalanej" ("Knight of the Immaculata"), a devotional publication based on French "Le Messager du Coeur de Jesus" ("Messenger of the Heart of Jesus"). From 1922 to 1926, he operated a religious publishing press in Grodno. As his activities grew in scope, in 1927 he founded a new Conventual Franciscan monastery at Niepokalanów near Warsaw. It became a major religious publishing centre. A junior seminary was opened there two years later.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Between 1930 and 1936, Kolbe undertook a series of missions to East Asia. He arrived first in Shanghai, China, but failed to gather a following there. Next he moved to Japan, where by 1931 he had founded a Franciscan monastery, "Mugenzai no Sono", on the outskirts of Nagasaki.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe had started publishing a Japanese edition of the "Knight of the Immaculata" (: ). The monastery he founded remains prominent in the Roman Catholic Church in Japan. Kolbe had the monastery built on a mountainside. According to Shinto beliefs, this was not the side best suited to be in harmony with nature. However, when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, the Franciscan monastery survived, unlike the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, the latter having been on the side of the mountain that took the main force of the blast.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: In mid-1932, Kolbe left Japan for Malabar, India, where he founded another monastery, which has since closed.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Meanwhile, in his absence the monastery at Niepokalanów began to publish a daily newspaper "Mały Dziennik" ("the Small Diary"), in alliance with the political group National Radical Camp ("Obóz Narodowo Radykalny"). This publication reached a circulation of 137,000, and nearly double that, 225,000, on weekends. Kolbe returned to Poland in 1933 for a general chapter of the order in Kraków. Kolbe returned to Japan and remained there until called back to attend the Provincial Chapter in Poland in 1936. There he was appointed guardian of Niepokalanów, thus precluding his return to Japan. Two years later, in 1938, he started a radio station at Niepokalanów, "Radio Niepokalanów". He held an amateur radio licence, with the call sign SP3RN.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: After the outbreak of World War II, Kolbe was one of the few friars who remained in the monastery, where he organized a temporary hospital. After the town was captured by the Germans, they arrested him on 19 September 1939; he was later released on 8 December. He refused to sign the Deutsche Volksliste, which would have given him rights similar to those of German citizens in exchange for recognizing his ethnic German ancestry. Upon his release he continued work at his friary where he and other friars provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from German persecution in the Niepokalanów friary. Kolbe received permission to continue publishing religious works, though significantly reduced in scope. The monastery continued to act as a publishing house, issuing a number of anti-Nazi German publications.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: On 17 February 1941, the monastery was shut down by the German authorities. That day Kolbe and four others were arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison. On 28 May, he was transferred to Auschwitz as prisoner 16670.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Continuing to act as a priest, Kolbe was subjected to violent harassment, including beatings and lashings. Once he was smuggled to a prison hospital by friendly inmates.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: At the end of July 1941, a prisoner escaped from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander, "SS-Hauptsturmführer" Karl Fritzsch, to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! My children!" Kolbe volunteered to take his place.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: According to an eyewitness, who was an assistant janitor at that time, in his prison cell Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After they had been starved and deprived of water for two weeks, only Kolbe and three others remained alive.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: The guards wanted the bunker emptied, so they gave the four remaining prisoners lethal injections of carbolic acid. Kolbe is said to have raised his left arm and calmly waited for the deadly injection. He died on 14 August 1941. His remains were cremated on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: On May 12 1955 Kolbe was recognized by the Holy See as a Servant of God. Kolbe was declared venerable by Pope Paul VI on January 30, 1969, beatified as a Confessor of the Faith by the same Pope in 1971, and canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982. Upon canonization, the Pope declared Maximilian Kolbe as a confessor and a martyr of charity. The miracles that were used to confirm his beatification were the July 1948 cure of intestinal tuberculosis in Angela Testoni and in August 1950, the cure of calcification of the arteries/sclerosis of Francis Ranier; both attributed to Kolbe's intercession by their prayers to him.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man Kolbe saved at Auschwitz, survived the Holocaust and was present as a guest at both the beatification and the canonization ceremonies.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: After his canonisation, a feast day for Maximilian Kolbe was added to the General Roman Calendar. He is one of ten 20th-century martyrs who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Anglican Westminster Abbey, London.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe's recognition as a Christian martyr generated some controversy within the Catholic Church. While his self-sacrifice at Auschwitz was considered saintly and heroic, he was not killed out of "odium fidei" (hatred of the faith), but as the result of his act of Christian charity toward another man. Pope Paul VI recognized this distinction at Kolbe's beatification, naming him a Confessor and giving him the unofficial title "martyr of charity." Pope John Paul II, however, overruled the commission he had established (which agreed with the earlier assessment of heroic charity). John Paul II wanted to make the point that the Nazis' systematic hatred of whole categories of humanity was inherently also a hatred of religious (Christian) faith; he said that Kolbe's death equated to earlier examples of religious martyrdom.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe has been accused of antisemitism. In 1926, in the first issue of the monthly Knight of the Immaculate, Kolbe said he considered Freemasons "as an organized clique of fanatical Jews, who want to destroy the church." In a 1924 column, he cited the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as an "important proof" that "the founders of Zionism intended, in fact, the subjugation of the entire world", but that "not even all Jews know this". In a calendar that the publishing house of his organization, the Militia of the Immaculate, published in an edition of a million in 1939, Kolbe wrote, "Atheistic Communism seems to rage ever more wildly. Its origin can easily be located in that criminal mafia that calls itself Freemasonry, and the hand that is guiding all that toward a clear goal is international Zionism. Which should not be taken to mean that even among Jews one cannot find good people." Newspapers he published printed articles about topics such as a Zionist plot for world domination. Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek criticized Kolbe's activities as "writing and organizing mass propaganda for the Catholic Church, with a clear anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic edge." However, a number of writers pointed out that the "Jewish question played a very minor role in Kolbe's thought and work." On those grounds allegations of Kolbe's antisemitism have been denounced by Holocaust scholars Daniel L. Schlafly Jr. and Warren Green among others. Kolbe's alleged antisemitism was a source of controversy in the 1980s in the aftermath of his canonization.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: During World War II, Kolbe's monastery at Niepokalanów sheltered Jewish refugees. According to the testimony of a local, "When Jews came to me asking for a piece of bread, I asked Father Maximilian if I could give it to them in good conscience, and he answered me, 'Yes, it is necessary to do this because all men are our brothers.'"


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: First-class relics of Kolbe exist, in the form of hairs from his head and beard, preserved without his knowledge by two friars at Niepokalanów who served as barbers in his friary between 1930 and 1941. Since his beatification in 1971, more than 1,000 such relics have been distributed around the world for public veneration. Second-class relics, such as his personal effects, clothing and liturgical vestments, are preserved in his monastery cell and in a chapel at Niepokalanów, where they may be venerated by visitors.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe influenced his own Order of Conventual Franciscan friars, as the Militia Immaculatae movement had continued. In recent years new religious and secular institutes have been founded, inspired from this spiritual way. Among these are the Missionaries of the Immaculate Mary – Fr. Kolbe, the Franciscan Friars of Mary Immaculate, and a parallel congregation of religious sisters and others. The Franciscan Friars of Mary Immaculate are taught basic Polish so they can sing the traditional hymns sung by Kolbe, in his native tongue.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Our patron, St. Maximilian Kolbe, inspires us with his unique Mariology and apostolic mission, which is to bring all souls to the Sacred Heart of Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Christ's most pure, efficient, and holy instrument of evangelization – especially those most estranged from the Church.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe's views into Marian theology echo today through their influence on Vatican II. His image may be found in churches across Europe and throughout the world. Several churches in Poland are under his patronage, such as the Sanctuary of Saint Maxymilian in Zduńska Wola or the Church of Saint Maxymilian Kolbe in Szczecin. A museum, Museum of St. Maximilian Kolbe "There was a Man", was opened in Niepokalanów in 1998.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: In 1963, Rolf Hochhuth published "The Deputy", a play significantly influenced by Kolbe's life and dedicated to him. In 2000, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (US) designated Marytown, home to a community of Conventual Franciscan friars, as the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Marytown is located in Libertyville, Illinois. It features the Kolbe Holocaust Exhibit. In 1991, Krzysztof Zanussi released a Polish film about the life of Kolbe, "", in which Edward Żentara played Kobe's role. The Polish Senate declared the year 2011 to be the year of Maximilian Kolbe.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: There are examples of Catholic institutions around the world adopting Kolbe as their patron saint. An example of this is Kolbe Catholic College in Rockingham, Western Australia. Founded in 1989, the college is a secondary education institution that uses the motto of "courage, faith and excellence" to connect with Kolbe's charism. In 2014, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the College, staff and students went on pilgrimage to Poland and Italy to retrace the life of Kolbe. The pilgrimage includes Auschwitz to connect with "courage", Niepokalanow to connect with "faith", and Rome to connect with "excellence". The college has returned to Europe with around 16 students and 2 or 3 faculty members again in 2016, to coincide with World Youth Day celebrations in Krakow, and then again in 2018.


title: Maximilian Kolbe

text: Kolbe composed the Immaculata prayer as a prayer of consecration to the Immaculata, i.e. the immaculately conceived.


title: Grand Duchy of Finland

text: The Grand Duchy of Finland (; ; , , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed between 1809 and 1917 as an autonomous part of the Russian Empire.


title: Grand Duchy of Finland

text: Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the King of Sweden, the country became autonomous after its annexation by Russia in the Finnish War of 1808–1809. The Grand Duke of Finland was the Romanov Emperor of Russia, represented by the Governor-General. Due to the governmental structure of the Russian Empire and Finnish initiative, the Grand Duchy's autonomy expanded until the end of the 19th century. The Senate of Finland, founded in 1809, became the most important governmental organ and the precursor to the modern Government of Finland, the Supreme Court of Finland, and the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland.


title: Grand Duchy of Finland

text: Economic, social and political changes in the Grand Duchy of Finland closely paralleled those in the rest of the Russian Empire and in the rest of Europe. The economy grew slowly during the first half of the 19th century. The reign of Alexander II (1855–1881) saw significant cultural, social and intellectual progress, and an industrializing economy. Tensions increased after Saint Petersburg adopted Russification policies in 1898; the new circumstances saw the introduction of limited autonomy and the reduction of Finnish cultural expression. Unrest in Russia and Finland during the First World War (1914–1918) and the subsequent collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 resulted in the Finnish Declaration of Independence and the end of the Grand Duchy.


title: Grand Duchy of Finland

text: An extended Southwest Finland was made a titular Grand Duchy in 1581, when King Johan III of Sweden, who as a Prince had been the Duke of Finland (1556–1561/63), extended the list of subsidiary titles of the Kings of Sweden considerably. The new title Grand Duke of Finland did not result in any Finnish autonomy, as Finland was an integrated part of the Kingdom of Sweden with full parliamentary representation for its counties. During the next two centuries, the title was used by some of Johan's successors on the throne, but not all. Usually, it was just a subsidiary title of the King, used only on very formal occasions. However, in 1802, as an indication of his resolve to keep Finland within Sweden in the face of increased Russian pressure, King Gustav IV Adolf gave the title to his new-born son, Prince Carl Gustaf, who died three years later.


title: Grand Duchy of Finland

text: During the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia, the four Estates of occupied Finland were assembled at the Diet of Porvoo on 29 March 1809 to pledge allegiance to "Tsar" Alexander I of Russia, who in return guaranteed that the area's laws and liberties, as well as religion, would be left unchanged. Following the Swedish defeat in the war and the signing of the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on 17 September 1809, Finland became a true autonomous Grand Duchy within the autocratic Russian Empire; but the usual balance of power between monarch and diet resting on taxation was not in place, since the Emperor could rely on the rest of his vast Empire. The title "Grand Duke of Finland" was added to the long list of titles of the Russian Tsar.


title: Grand Duchy of Finland

text: After his return to Finland in 1812, the Finnish-born Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt became counsellor to the Russian Emperor. Armfelt was instrumental in securing the Grand Duchy as an entity with relatively greater autonomy within the Russian realm, and acquiring so-called Old Finland that Russia had annexed from Sweden in the Treaty of Nystad (1721) and the Treaty of Åbo (1743).


title: Grand Duchy of Finland

text: The formation of the Grand Duchy stems from the Treaty of Tilsit between Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Emperor Napoléon I of the French. The treaty mediated peace between Russia and France and allied the two countries against Napoléon's remaining threats: the United Kingdom and Sweden. Russia invaded Finland in February 1808, claimed as an effort to impose military sanctions against Sweden, but not a war of conquest, and that Russia decided to only temporarily control Finland. Collectively, the Finns were predominately anti-Russian, and Finnish guerillas and peasant uprisings were a large obstacles for the Russians, forcing Russia to use various tactics to quash armed Finnish rebellion. Thus, in the beginning of the war, "General roda Voysk" Friedrich Wilhelm "Graf" von Buxhoeveden, with permission of the Tsar, issued an oath of fealty on Finland, in which Russia would honour Finland's Lutheran faith, the Finnish Diet, and the Finnish estates as long as the Finns would remain loyal to the Russian Imperial Crown. The oath also dubbed anyone person who gave aid to the Swedish or Finnish armies a rebel.