title: Circle (company)

text: Circle's mobile payment platform, Circle Pay, allowed users to hold, send, and receive traditional fiat currencies, until being slated for discontinuation in 2019. Up until December 2016, Circle Pay also operated as a Bitcoin wallet service to buy and sell Bitcoins.<ref name="re/code"></ref> It has since ceased to provide such service, claiming the company "is now more than ever not a consumer bitcoin exchange, and will continue to focus resources on global social payments and future next-generation blockchain technology".


title: Circle (company)

text: In June 2019 it was announced that the Circle Pay mobile and web apps would be discontinued on September 30.


title: Circle (company)

text: As of 2015 a Circle account could be funded in USD via "US-issued Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards" and US bank accounts. As of 2016, European customers can also use Circle in EUR and GBP. Circle plans to peg the conversion rate to the US Dollar. Britain's Financial Conduct Authority granted Circle an electronic money license in April 2016, expanding the use of Circle's services to the United Kingdom and broadening Circle's relationship with UK bank Barclays. In June 2016, Circle announced it will begin expanding its services to China, where CEO Jeremy Allaire believes "there’s an opportunity for Chinese consumers that want to share value globally with friends in other parts of the world."


title: Circle (company)

text: In December 2016 the Circle app stopped supporting the exchange of bitcoin but still allows money transfers. In October 2017, Circle launched a new service for group payments and cash transfers to US accounts.


title: Circle (company)

text: On February 26, 2018, Circle announced that they purchased the Poloniex cryptocurrency exchange for $400 million. Amid the developments around the acquisition, one of Circle's leaked documents detailing its plans on operating Poloniex revealed the company's moves to become "The US's First Regulated Crypto Exchange" supported by its mutual understanding with the SEC.


title: Circle (company)

text: While Circle announced the exchange would "spin out" in October 2019, it was revealed one month later that Justin Sun, founder of Tron, led the acquisition of Poloniex.


title: Circle (company)

text: In October 2018 SeedInvest announced they entered an agreement to sell to Circle, subject to FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) approval.


title: Circle (company)

text: On July 9, 2022, author Matt Taibbi released an extremely critical overview of Circle's business practices in his article titled "The Financial Bubble Era Comes Full Circle".


title: Adam Wylie

text: Adam Augustus Wylie (born May 23, 1984) is an American actor, magician and a former Crayola spokesman. Wylie is known most for playing Zack Brock, the youngest son of Doctor and Sheriff Brock's children, on "Picket Fences" from 1992 to 1996.


title: Adam Wylie

text: Wylie was born in San Dimas, California, the son of Karen and Leonard Wylie. He is one of five children, including brothers Eric, Ben, Aaron, and sister, Tai. He started his acting career at the age of four in a candy commercial. He attended Upland Christian Schools in Upland, California and Condit Elementary in Claremont, California.


title: Adam Wylie

text: By the age of nine, he was busy with voice-over work, including the voice of young Prince Derek in "The Swan Princess" (1994), and David in "All Dogs Go to Heaven 2" (1996). He then lent his voice to many animated series, including "Dennis the Menace" as the title character (1993–94), "Hey Arnold!" as Curly (1996–2002), "Crayola Kids Adventures", "Napoleon" as the title character (1997), "The King and I" (1999) as Louis Leonowens, and Walt Disney Television Animation's pilot "Kitty's Dish" (as Josh). Wylie's voice credits also include "Batman Beyond", "Pepper Ann" as Crash, "As Told By Ginger" as Ian Richton, "Midnight Club II", Jimmy Olsen in the 2007 direct-to-DVD movie, "", the roles of Fred Nerk, Nigel Thrall and Bananas B on "", "", "Ben 10", and the character Justin in "The Easter StoryKeepers".


title: Adam Wylie

text: He also starred as Mike Fowler in Focus on the Family's "The Last Chance Detectives" audio cases (2004).


title: Adam Wylie

text: Wylie also starred as the voice of Brainiac 5 and Colossal Boy in the animated television show "Legion of Super Heroes" and the voice of Ulraj in the "Secret Saturdays".


title: Adam Wylie

text: Wylie voiced the lead role in "Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince", the first series in Lamplighter Publishing's new radio drama Lamplighter Theatre. This radio drama is a two-hour production.


title: Adam Wylie

text: In 1993, he voiced Timmy and Chris on cartoon Christmas movie "Precious Moments: Timmy's Special Delivery". In 1994, he did one of the characters on cartoon Easter movie "Precious Moments: Simon the Lamb". Wylie first became widely known as Zack Brock, the youngest of Sheriff Brock's three children in the television series "Picket Fences" from 1992 to 1996. This was followed by appearances in many other television programs, including as a series regular in "Love and Marriage" as Max, "Ed" as David Mirsky (2001), and "Gilmore Girls" as Brad Langford (2001–2002), he played Garfield in The Biggest Fan (2002) and as a guest star in "7th Heaven" as Marvin, "Sliders" as Trevor, "Touched by an Angel" as Andy Erskine, "Judging Amy" as Nicholas Binkow, "MTV Undressed" as Owen, "Entourage", "Living Single", "Monk", "", and "Veronica Mars".


title: Adam Wylie

text: Wylie was cast as Garfield (Debbie Warden's older brother) in the Dream Street film "The Biggest Fan".


title: Adam Wylie

text: Wylie also appeared in the television films "Under Wraps" as Gilbert, "Out on a Limb", "Balloon Farm" as Charles, and "Michael Landon, the Father I Knew" as the best friend to the television star's teenage son.


title: Adam Wylie

text: Wylie's first motion picture appearance was in "Child's Play 2" (1990), which was followed by roles in films including "Kindergarten Cop" as Larry (1990), "Santa With Muscles" (1996), "" as Ezekial (1998), "Breaking Free" as Billy (1995), "Cutaway" as Cal (2000), "Can of Worms" as Nick (1999), "Flying Virus" as Adam (2001), "Daybreak" as Newton Warner (2001), "Rebound" (2005), and "" as Guy (2005). He also starred in several Crayola Kids' Club-produced films.


title: Adam Wylie

text: In 2009, Wylie was seen performing card tricks & coin tricks on syndicated magic show "Masters of Illusion."


title: Adam Wylie

text: In 2010 he had a small part as a cop opposite Kelly Monaco's character Sam McCall on "General Hospital".


title: Adam Wylie

text: Also in 2012, he guest starred as Andy the Android on Disney Channel's "Shake It Up: Made in Japan" and was in love with a Talking Toilet he named ToyToy.


title: Adam Wylie

text: In 2002, Wylie appeared as Jack in Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning revival of "Into the Woods" on Broadway.


title: Adam Wylie

text: He has also appeared frequently in regional theatre, including in "Camelot" as Merlyn-Tom-Morgan at the North Shore Music Theatre (Massachusetts) in 2005, "Big River" as Huck Finn, "110 in the Shade" as Jimmy Curry in 2004 at the Pasadena Playhouse (California), "On the Town" as Chip in 2003 at the Gateway Playhouse, Bellport, New York, "Footloose" as Willard, "Precious Sons" as Freddie Jr., "House Arrest" as Todd, and "Beauty and the Beast", as Chip. He also played Leo Bloom in a regional production of Mel Brooks' The Producers (musical) at Gateway Playhouse.


title: Adam Wylie

text: February 21, 2007 marked Wylie's debut in the musical "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles. He starred opposite such stars as Eden Espinosa, Jenna Leigh Green, Megan Hilty, and Carol Kane. He played his final performance on December 30, 2007, along with Espinosa and Kane, and was replaced by his understudy, Michael Drolet.


title: Adam Wylie

text: Wylie won Young Artist Awards for "Picket Fences", and "Dennis the Menace", and Hollywood Reporter YoungStar Awards for "Picket Fences" twice. He has been nominated for Young Artist Awards for "Under Wraps", and "All Dogs Go to Heaven 2", and YoungStar Awards for "Balloon Farm", and "Michael Landon, The Father I Knew".


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order (), usually known as the Ethics, is a philosophical treatise written in Latin by Baruch Spinoza (Benedictus de Spinoza). It was written between 1661 and 1675 and was first published posthumously in 1677.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: The book is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to apply the method of Euclid in philosophy. Spinoza puts forward a small number of definitions and axioms from which he attempts to derive hundreds of propositions and corollaries, such as "When the Mind imagines its own lack of power, it is saddened by it", "A free man thinks of nothing less than of death", and "The human Mind cannot be absolutely destroyed with the Body, but something of it remains which is eternal."


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: The first part of the book addresses the relationship between God and the universe. Spinoza was engaging with a tradition that held: God exists outside of the universe; God created the universe for a reason; and God could have created a different universe according to his will. Spinoza denies each point. According to Spinoza, God "is" the natural world. Spinoza concludes the following: God is the substance comprising the universe, with God existing in itself, not somehow outside of the universe; and the universe exists as it does from necessity, not because of a divine theological reason or will.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza argues through propositions. He holds their conclusion is merely the necessary logical conclusion from combining the provided Definitions and Axioms. He starts with the proposition that "there cannot exist in the universe two or more substances having the same nature or attribute." He follows this by arguing that objects and events must not merely be caused if they occur, but be prevented if they do not. By a logical contradiction, if something is non-contradictory, there is no reason that it should not exist. Spinoza builds from these starting ideas. If substance exists it must be infinite, because if not infinite another finite substance would have to exist to take up the remaining parts of its finite attributes, something which is impossible according to an earlier proposition. Spinoza then uses the Ontological Argument as justification for the existence of God and argues that God (which should be read as "nature", rather than traditional deity) must possess all attributes infinitely. Since no two things can share attributes, "besides God no substance can be granted or conceived."


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: As with many of Spinoza's claims, what this means is a matter of dispute. Spinoza claims that the things that make up the universe, including human beings, are God's "modes". This means that everything is, in some sense, dependent upon God. The nature of this dependence is disputed. Some scholars say that the modes are properties of God in the traditional sense. Others say that modes are effects of God. Either way, the modes are also logically dependent on God's essence, in this sense: everything that happens follows from the nature of God, just like how it follows from the nature of a triangle that its angles are equal to two right angles. Since God had to exist with the nature he has, nothing that has happened could have been avoided, and if God has fixed a particular fate for a particular mode, there is no escaping it. As Spinoza puts it, "A thing which has been determined by God to produce an effect cannot render itself undetermined."


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: The second part focuses on the human mind and body. Spinoza attacks several Cartesian positions: (1) that the mind and body are distinct substances that can affect one another; (2) that we know our minds better than we know our bodies; (3) that our senses may be trusted; (4) that despite being created by God we can make mistakes, namely, when we affirm, of our own free will, an idea that is not clear and distinct. Spinoza denies each of Descartes's points. Regarding (1), Spinoza argues that the mind and the body are a single thing that is being thought of in two different ways. The whole of nature can be fully described in terms of thoughts or in terms of bodies. However, we cannot mix these two ways of describing things, as Descartes does, and say that the mind affects the body or vice versa. Moreover, the mind's self-knowledge is not fundamental: it cannot know its own thoughts better than it knows the ways in which its body is acted upon by other bodies.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Further, there is no difference between contemplating an idea and thinking that it is true, and there is no freedom of the will at all. Sensory perception, which Spinoza calls "knowledge of the first kind", is entirely inaccurate, since it reflects how our own bodies work more than how things really are. We can also have a kind of accurate knowledge called "knowledge of the second kind", or "reason". This encompasses knowledge of the features common to all things, and includes principles of physics and geometry. We can also have "knowledge of the third kind", or "intuitive knowledge". This is a sort of knowledge that, somehow, relates particular things to the nature of God.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: In the third part of the "Ethics", Spinoza argues that all things, including human beings, strive to persevere their perfection of power in being unaffected. Spinoza states that virtue is equal to power (i.e., self-control).


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza explains how this desire ("conatus") underlies the movement and complexity of our emotions and passions (i.e., joy and sadness that are building blocks for all other emotions). Our mind is in certain cases active, and in certain cases passive. In so far as it has adequate ideas it is necessarily active, and in so far as it has inadequate ideas, it is necessarily passive.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: The fourth part analyzes human passions, which Spinoza sees as aspects of the mind that direct us outwards to seek what gives pleasure and shun what gives pain. The "bondage" he refers to is domination by these passions or "affects" as he calls them. Spinoza considers how the affects, ungoverned, can torment people and make it impossible for mankind to live in harmony with one another.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: The fifth part argues that reason can govern the affects in the pursuit of virtue, which for Spinoza is self-preservation: only with the aid of reason can humans distinguish the passions that truly aid virtue from those that are ultimately harmful. By reason, we can see things as they truly are, "sub specie aeternitatis", "under the aspect of eternity," and because Spinoza treats God and nature as indistinguishable, by knowing things as they are we improve our knowledge of God. Seeing that all things are determined by nature to be as they are, we can achieve the rational tranquility that best promotes our happiness, and liberate ourselves from being driven by our passions.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: According to Spinoza, God is Nature and Nature is God ("Deus sive Natura"). This is his pantheism. In his previous book, "Theologico-Political Treatise", Spinoza discussed the inconsistencies that result when God is assumed to have human characteristics. In the third chapter of that book, he stated that the word "God" means the same as the word "Nature". He wrote: "Whether we say ... that all things happen according to the laws of nature, or are ordered by the decree and direction of God, we say the same thing." He later qualified this statement in his letter to Oldenburg by abjuring materialism. Nature, to Spinoza, is a metaphysical substance, not physical matter. In this posthumously published book "Ethics", he equated God with nature by writing "God or Nature" four times. "For Spinoza, God or Nature—being one and the same thing—is the whole, infinite, eternal, necessarily existing, active system of the universe within which absolutely everything exists. This is the fundamental principle of the "Ethics"..."


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza holds that everything that exists is part of nature, and everything in nature follows the same basic laws. In this perspective, human beings are part of nature, and hence they can be explained and understood in the same way as everything else in nature. This aspect of Spinoza's philosophy — his naturalism — was radical for its time, and perhaps even for today. In the preface to Part III of "Ethics" (relating to emotions), he writes:


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Therefore, Spinoza affirms that the passions of hatred, anger, envy, and so on, considered in themselves, "follow from this same necessity and efficacy of nature; they answer to certain definite causes, through which they are understood, and possess certain properties as worthy of being known as the properties of anything else". Humans are not different in kind from the rest of the natural world; they are part of it.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza's naturalism can be seen as deriving from his firm commitment to the principle of sufficient reason (), which is the thesis that everything has an explanation. He articulates the in a strong fashion, as he applies it not only to everything that is, but also to everything that is not:


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza rejected the idea of an external Creator suddenly, and apparently capriciously, creating the world at one particular time rather than another, and creating it out of nothing. The solution appeared to him more perplexing than the problem, and rather unscientific in spirit as involving a break in continuity. He preferred to think of the entire system of reality as its own ground. This view was simpler; it avoided the impossible conception of creation out of nothing; and it was religiously more satisfying by bringing God and man into closer relationship. Instead of Nature, on the one hand, and a supernatural God, on the other, he posited one world of reality, at once Nature and God, and leaving no room for the supernatural. This so-called naturalism of Spinoza is only distorted if one starts with a crude materialistic idea of Nature and supposes that Spinoza degraded God. The truth is that he raised Nature to the rank of God by conceiving Nature as the fulness of reality, as the One and All. He rejected the specious simplicity obtainable by denying the reality of Matter, or of Mind, or of God. The cosmic system comprehends them all. In fact, God and Nature become identical when each is conceived as the Perfect Self-Existent. This constitutes Spinoza's "Pantheism".


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: According to Spinoza, God has "attributes". One attribute is 'extension', another attribute is 'thought', and there are infinitely many such attributes. Since Spinoza holds that to exist is to "act", some readers take 'extension' to refer to an activity characteristic of bodies (for example, the active process of taking up space, exercising physical power, or resisting a change of place or shape). They take 'thought' to refer to the activity that is characteristic of minds, namely thinking, the exercise of mental power. Each attribute has modes. All bodies are modes of extension, and all ideas are modes of thought.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza's ideas relating to the character and structure of reality are expressed by him in terms of "substance", "attributes", and "modes". These terms are very old and familiar, but not in the sense in which Spinoza employs them. To understand Spinoza, it is necessary to lay aside all preconceptions about them, and follow Spinoza closely. Spinoza found it impossible to understand the finite, dependent, transient objects and events of experience without assuming some reality not dependent on anything else but self-existent, not produced by anything else but eternal, not restricted or limited by anything else but infinite. Such an uncaused, self-sustaining reality he called "substance". So, for instance, he could not understand the reality of material objects and physical events without assuming the reality of a self-existing, infinite and eternal physical force which expresses itself in all the movements and changes which occur, as we say, in space.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: This physical force he called "extension", and described it, at first, as a "substance", in the sense just explained. Similarly, he could not understand the various dependent, transient mental experiences with which we are familiar without assuming the reality of a self-existing, infinite and eternal consciousness, mental force, or mind-energy, which expresses itself in all these finite experiences of perceiving and understanding, of feeling and striving. This consciousness or mind-energy he called "thought", and described it also, at first, as a "substance". Each of these "substances" he regarded as infinite of its kind (that is, as exhaustive of all the events of its own kind), and as irreducible to the other, or any other, substance. But in view of the intimate way in which Extension and Thought express themselves conjointly in the life of man, Spinoza considered it necessary to conceive of Extension and Thought not as detached realities, but as constituting one organic whole or system. And in order to express this idea, he then described Extension and Thought as "attributes", reserving the term "Substance" for the system which they constitute between them. This change of description was not intended to deny that Extension and Thought are substances in the sense of being self-existent, etc. It was only intended to express their coherence in one system. The system of course would be more than any one attribute. For each attribute is only "infinite of its kind"; the system of all attributes is "absolutely infinite", that is, exhausts the whole of reality. Spinoza, accordingly, now restricted the term "substance" to the complete system, though he occasionally continued to use the phrase "substance or attribute", or described Extension as a substance.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: As commonly used, especially since the time of Locke, the term substance is contrasted with its attributes or qualities as their substratum or bearer. But this meaning must not be read into Spinoza. For Spinoza, Substance is not the support or bearer of the Attributes, but the system of Attributes — he actually uses the expression "Substance or the Attributes." If there is any difference at all between "Substance" and "the Attributes", as Spinoza uses these terms, it is only the difference between the Attributes conceived as an organic system and the Attributes conceived (but not by Spinoza) as a mere sum of detached forces. Something is still necessary to complete the account of Spinoza's conception of Substance. So far only the two Attributes have been considered, namely, Extension and Thought. Spinoza, however, realised that there may be other Attributes, unknown to man. If so, they are part of the one Substance or cosmic system. And using the term "infinite" in the sense of "complete" or "exhaustive", he ascribed to Substance an infinity of Attributes, that is, all the attributes there are, whether known to man or not.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Now reality, for Spinoza, is activity. Substance is incessantly active, each Attribute exercising its kind of energy in all possible ways. Thus the various objects and events of the material world come into being as "modes" (modifications or states) of the attribute Extension; and the various minds and mental experiences come into being as modes of the attribute Thought (or Consciousness). These modes are not external creations of the Attributes, but immanent results — they are not "thrown off" by the Attributes, but are states (or modifications) of them, as air-waves are states of the air. Each Attribute, however, expresses itself in its finite modes not immediately (or directly) but mediately (or indirectly), at least in the sense to be explained now. Galilean physics tended to regard the whole world of physical phenomena as the result of differences of motion or momentum. And, though erroneously conceived, the Cartesian conception of a constant quantity of motion in the world led Spinoza to conceive of all physical phenomena as so many varying expressions of that store of motion (or motion and rest).


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza might, of course, have identified Extension with energy of motion. But, with his usual caution, he appears to have suspected that motion may be only one of several types of physical energy. So he described motion simply as a mode of Extension, but as an "infinite" mode (because complete or exhaustive of all finite modes of motion) and as an "immediate" mode (as a direct expression of Extension). Again, the physical world (or "the face of the world as a whole", as Spinoza calls it) retains a certain sameness in spite of the innumerable changes in detail that are going on. Accordingly, Spinoza described also the physical world as a whole as an "infinite" mode of extension ("infinite" because exhaustive of all facts and events that can be reduced to motion), but as a "mediate" (or indirect) mode, because he regarded it as the outcome of the conservation of motion (itself a mode, though an "immediate" mode). The physical things and events of ordinary experience are "finite" modes. In essence each of them is part of the Attribute Extension, which is active in each of them. But the finiteness of each of them is due to the fact that it is restrained or hedged in, so to say, by other finite modes. This limitation or determination is negation in the sense that each finite mode is "not" the whole attribute Extension; it is not the other finite modes. But each mode is positively real and ultimate as part of the Attribute.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: In the same kind of way the Attribute Thought exercises its activity in various mental processes, and in such systems of mental process as are called minds or souls. But in this case, as in the case of Extension, Spinoza conceives of the finite modes of Thought as mediated by infinite modes. The immediate infinite mode of Thought he describes as "the idea of God"; the mediate infinite mode he calls "the infinite idea" or "the idea of all things". The other Attributes (if any) must be conceived in an analogous manner. And the whole Universe or Substance is conceived as one dynamic system of which the various Attributes are the several world-lines along which it expresses itself in all the infinite variety of events.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Given the persistent misinterpretation of Spinozism it is worth emphasizing the dynamic character of reality as Spinoza conceived it. The cosmic system is certainly a logical or rational system, according to Spinoza, for Thought is a constitutive part of it; but it is not "merely" a logical system — it is dynamic as well as logical. His frequent use of geometrical illustrations affords no evidence at all in support of a purely logico-mathematical interpretation of his philosophy; for Spinoza regarded geometrical figures, not in a Platonic or static manner, but as things traced out by moving particles or lines, etc., that is, dynamically.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: For Spinoza, reality means activity, and the reality of anything expresses itself in a tendency to self-preservation — to exist is to persist. In the lowest kinds of things, in so-called inanimate matter, this tendency shows itself as a "will to live". Regarded physiologically the effort is called "appetite"; when we are conscious of it, it is called "desire". The moral categories, good and evil, are intimately connected with desire, though not in the way commonly supposed. Man does not desire a thing because he thinks it is good, or shun it because he considers it bad; rather he considers anything good if he desires it, and regards it as bad if he has an aversion for it. Now whatever is felt to heighten vital activity gives pleasure; whatever is felt to lower such activity causes pain. Pleasure coupled with a consciousness of its external cause is called love, and pain coupled with a consciousness of its external cause is called hate — "love" and "hate" being used in the wide sense of "like" and "dislike". All human feelings are derived from pleasure, pain and desire. Their great variety is due to the differences in the kinds of external objects which give rise to them, and to the differences in the inner conditions of the individual experiencing them.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza gives a detailed analysis of the whole gamut of human feelings, and his account is one of the classics of psychology. For the present purpose the most important distinction is that between "active" feelings and "passive" feelings (or "passions"). Man, according to Spinoza, is active or free in so far as any experience is the outcome solely of his own nature; he is passive, or a bondsman, in so far as any experience is due to other causes besides his own nature. The active feelings are all of them forms of self-realisation, of heightened activity, of strength of mind, and are therefore always pleasurable. It is the passive feelings (or "passions") which are responsible for all the ills of life, for they are induced largely by things outside us and frequently cause that lowered vitality which means pain. Spinoza next links up his ethics with his theory of knowledge, and correlates the moral progress of man with his intellectual progress. At the lowest stage of knowledge, that of "opinion", man is under the dominant influence of things outside himself, and so is in the bondage of the passions. At the next stage, the stage of "reason", the characteristic feature of the human mind, its intelligence, asserts itself, and helps to emancipate him from his bondage to the senses and external allurements. The insight gained into the nature of the passions helps to free man from their domination. A better understanding of his own place in the cosmic system and of the place of all the objects of his likes and dislikes, and his insight into the necessity which rules all things, tend to cure him of his resentments, regrets and disappointments. He grows reconciled to things, and wins peace of mind. In this way reason teaches acquiescence in the universal order, and elevates the mind above the turmoil of passion. At the highest stage of knowledge, that of "intuitive knowledge", the mind apprehends all things as expressions of the eternal cosmos. It sees all things in God, and God in all things. It feels itself as part of the eternal order, identifying its thoughts with cosmic thought and its interests with cosmic interests. Thereby it becomes eternal as one of the eternal ideas in which the Attribute Thought expresses itself, and attains to that "blessedness" which "is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself", that is, the perfect joy which characterises perfect self-activity. This is not an easy or a common achievement. "But", says Spinoza, "everything excellent is as difficult as it is rare."


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Shortly after his death in 1677, Spinoza's works were placed on the Catholic Church's Index of Banned Books. Condemnations soon appeared, such as Aubert de Versé's "L'impie convaincu" (1685). According to its subtitle, in this work "the foundations of [Spinoza's] atheism are refuted". In June 1678 —just over a year after Spinoza's death—the States of Holland banned his entire works, since they “contain very many profane, blasphemous and atheistic propositions.” The prohibition included the owning, reading, distribution, copying, and restating of Spinoza's books, and even the reworking of his fundamental ideas.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: For the next hundred years, if European philosophers read this so-called heretic, they did so almost entirely in secret. How much forbidden Spinozism they were sneaking into their diets remains a subject of continual intrigue. Locke, Hume, Leibniz and Kant all stand accused by later scholars of indulging in periods of closeted Spinozism. At the close of the 18th century, a controversy centering on the "Ethics" scandalized the German philosophy scene.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: The first known translation of the "Ethics" into English was completed in 1856 by the novelist George Eliot, though not published until much later. The book next appeared in English in 1883, by the hand of the novelist Hale White. Spinoza rose clearly into view for anglophone metaphysicians in the late nineteenth century, during the British craze for Hegel. In his admiration for Spinoza, Hegel was joined in this period by his countrymen Schelling, Goethe, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. In the twentieth century, the ghost of Spinoza continued to show itself, for example in the writings of Russell, Wittgenstein, Davidson, and Deleuze. Among writers of fiction and poetry, the influential thinkers inspired by Spinoza include Coleridge, George Eliot, Melville, Borges, and Malamud.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: The first published Dutch translations were by the poet Herman Gorter (1895) and by Willem Meyer (1896).


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Spinoza's contemporary, Simon de Vries, raised the objection that Spinoza fails to prove that substances may possess multiple attributes, but that if substances have only a single attribute, "where there are two different attributes, there are also different substances". This is a serious weakness in Spinoza's logic, which has yet to be conclusively resolved. Some have attempted to resolve this conflict, such as Linda Trompetter, who writes that "attributes are singly essential properties, which together constitute the one essence of a substance", but this interpretation is not universal, and Spinoza did not clarify the issue in his response to de Vries. On the other hand, Stanley Martens states that "an attribute of a substance "is" that substance; it is that substance insofar as it has a certain nature" in an analysis of Spinoza's ideas of attributes.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Schopenhauer claimed that Spinoza misused words. "Thus he calls 'God' that which is everywhere called 'the world'; 'justice' that which is everywhere called 'power'; and 'will' that which is everywhere called 'judgement'." Also, "that concept of "substance"...with the definition of which Spinoza accordingly begins...appears on close and honest investigation to be a higher yet unjustified abstraction of the concept "matter"." In spite of his repeated objections and critical remarks, Schopenhauer incorporated some of Spinoza's fundamental concepts into his system, especially concerning the theory of emotions; there was also a striking similarity between Schopenhauer's will and Spinoza's substance.


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: In fact, within the German philosophical sphere, Spinoza's influence on German idealism was remarkable. He was both a challenge and inspiration for the three major figures of this movement: Hegel, Schelling and Fichte — who all sought to define their own philosophical positions in relation to his. Schopenhauer, who detested these three philosophers to varying degrees of intensity, also had a similarly ambivalent relation to the Dutch philosopher. How Spinoza came to influence Schopenhauer is not clear, but one might speculate: it could have come from his exposure to Fichte's lectures, from his conversations with Goethe or simply from being caught up in the post-Kantian attempt to rethink the critical philosophy. Still, his engagement with Spinozism is evident throughout his writings and attentive readers of his chief work may indeed note his ambivalence toward Spinoza's philosophy. He sees in Spinoza an ally against the feverish culture of the West. For example, in the context of a rather favourable account of "the standpoint of affirmation" he notes that "[T]he philosophy of Bruno and that of Spinoza might also bring to this standpoint the person whose conviction was not shaken or weakened by their errors and imperfections". Moreover, in discussing Spinoza and Giordano Bruno, Schopenhauer also affirms that:


title: Ethics (Spinoza book)

text: Given Schopenhauer's respect for Hindu philosophy, comments like these indicate that he too felt intellectual kinship with Spinoza. Elsewhere, Schopenhauer points to more fundamental affinities, but he also criticizes Spinoza. These criticisms deal with fundamental disagreements about the ultimate nature of reality and whether it is to be affirmed or denied.


title: PSRL-1

text: The Precision Shoulder-fired Rocket Launcher-1 also known as the (PSRL-1) is a modified American clone of the Soviet/Russian RPG-7 shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenade launcher developed by AirTronic USA. The PSRL-1 is primarily manufactured for US-allied nations who are accustomed to Soviet-style weapons and international export.


title: PSRL-1

text: In 2009, the American company AirTronic USA revealed their modernized version of the RPG-7, named the RPG-7USA, which was later developed into the PSRL-1. The weapon was a Program of Record in the United States Special Operations Command by 2015, and the PSRL-1 entered production by mid-2016.


title: PSRL-1

text: The first confirmed sales were made to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2017. Ukrainian troops used it for the first time in a conflict during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. At least one was captured by Russian forces.


title: PSRL-1

text: Like the RPG-7USA, the PSRL-1 is fitted with a MIL-STD-1913 quad-rail for mounting accessories, is compatible with mil-spec M4 carbine–style pistol grips and stocks, and is backwards compatible with all existing RPG-7 ammunition. The PSRL-1 is typically equipped with a proprietary 3.5× optical sight with an illuminated etched reticle, or an EOTech sight with a holographic reticle. The manufacturer claims a 90% hit probability at with the standard magnified sight, although it is reportedly accurate at ranges from and guided rocket ammunition can extend range to .


title: PSRL-1

text: Compared to the RPG-7V2, the PSRL-1 is made of 4140/4150 ordnance-grade steel for a longer 1,000-round lifespan, is slightly lighter at unloaded without optics, and can separate into two pieces for compact carry.


title: PSRL-1

text: AirTronic also developed a more advanced GS-777/PSRL-2 model made of a high-strength polymer that reduced total launcher weight to , though the weight later increased to to further improve durability and life cycle.


title: PSRL-1

text: Although Airtronic launchers are compatible with Soviet RPG-7 rocket ammunition, AirTronic also manufactures their own modernized RPG-7 rocket ammunition within the United States, and fully owns the intellectual property of their rocket ammunition.


title: PSRL-1

text: Improvements have been made focusing on the fuzing, reliability, robustness, and manufacturing quality per United States Department of Defense standards. The warhead fuze features a dual safe and arm arrangement for improved handling safety, and the rocket motor ignitor fuze has been redesigned to improve motor ignition reliability. AirTronic recommends the use of their ammunition in their launchers to achieve the advertised level of performance.


title: PSRL-1

text: Inert training variants which match the ballistics of live ammunition are also available, allowing for safe training at a reduced cost. The inert warheads of training variants are filled with marking compound so that the impact of the round can be observed from afar.


title: PSRL-1

text: In conjunction with the weapon, the complete PSRL system includes different sighting systems, spare parts, slings, cases, ammo bags, and bipods for customization and transport. Additionally, AirTronic offers various optional Cerakote coatings.


title: BB-8

text: BB-8 (or Beebee-Ate) is a droid character in the "Star Wars" franchise. He appeared in the three films of the sequel trilogy, "" (2015), "" (2017), and "" (2019). He also appeared as a major supporting character in the animated series "Star Wars Resistance", appearing in the first 17 episodes of season 1. He is a BB astromech droid serving the Resistance, and is owned by Poe Dameron. Spherical with a free-moving domed head, BB-8 is portrayed by both a rod puppet and a remote-controlled robotic unit. The character has been well received by critics and fans, and has become one of the most beloved and recognizable characters of the "Star Wars" saga in recent years.


title: BB-8

text: BB-8's design was based on a sketch by "The Force Awakens" director J. J. Abrams. According to special effects artist Neal Scanlan, "It was a very simple sketch, beautiful in its simplicity of a ball with this little dome on top." His design included asymmetrical panels to make it easier for the viewer to track motion, because, Scanlan says, "If you had parallel patterns that ran around the circumference, they would be less informative as to the direction BB-8 was traveling".


title: BB-8

text: Abrams also named the character, saying, "I named him BB-8 because it was almost onomatopoeia. It was sort of how he looked to me, with the 8, obviously, and then the two B's." The name was conceived early on in the film's production and was one of the few to remain unchanged. Before receiving his final name, the droid was nicknamed "Surly" by the pre-production team.


title: BB-8

text: In August 2013, "The Force Awakens" cinematographer Daniel Mindel and "Episode VIII" director Rian Johnson each stated that Abrams would use little computer-generated imagery (CGI) and more practical, traditional special effects in order to recreate the visual realism and authenticity of the original "Star Wars" film. To that end, the droid BB-8 was a physical prop developed by Disney Research, created by Neal Scanlan and operated live on set with the actors. Seven BB-8 puppets were constructed for filming. The most prominent was a rod puppet, controlled by puppeteers Dave Chapman and Brian Herring. In addition, there were several radio controlled units and some static prop versions. A fully functioning, self-contained robotic unit was not practical for shooting, so most of the "walking" scenes were achieved by the puppet, with rods removed in post production. Later a self-standing remote controlled unit was constructed and used at promotional events.


title: BB-8

text: BB-8 is a spherical robot with a free-moving domed head. It is white, with orange and silver accents and a black optical lens on its headpiece. BB-8 also possesses multiple panels containing various tools or ports. Scanlan said of the robot's personality, "We always imagined BB-8 as being quite manipulative. I think he knows he's cute. He knows that he can win people over. And he uses that, like children do, to get his own way. In this film, he has a very important mission that he has to accomplish and so he uses his personality, his coyness, and all of those things." Of BB-8's gender he said, "I'm still not sure, dare I say, whether BB-8 is male or female ... BB-8 was female in our eyes. And then he or she became male. And that's all part of the evolution, not only visually, but in the way they move, how they hold themselves."


title: BB-8

text: Calling the robot a "Swiss Army Knife that shouldn't be trusted", he noted that while each of the BB-8's panels has a specific purpose, like a port or tool, not all of them have been absolutely defined to leave options for future films.


title: BB-8

text: The voice of BB-8 was supplied by comedians Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz, both credited as "BB-8 vocal consultants" in the film. The effect was created by Abrams manipulating Hader and Schwartz's voices through a talkbox attached to an iPad running a sound effects app.


title: BB-8

text: BB-8 was first seen in the 88-second "The Force Awakens" teaser trailer released by Lucasfilm on November 28, 2014. Its name was revealed by "Entertainment Weekly" in a Lucasfilm-designed Topps-style trading card mockup in December 2014.


title: BB-8

text: In the film, the robot is the astromech droid of the Resistance X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Poe entrusts it with a map that must be delivered to the Resistance headquarters in order to determine the whereabouts of Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. While Poe is captured and interrogated by the sinister First Order high-ranking member Kylo Ren, BB-8 flees across the desert of the planet Jakku and finds sanctuary with the plucky scavenger Rey. Eventually Rey, the renegade stormtrooper Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca bring BB-8 to Resistance leader Leia Organa, and ultimately reunite him with Poe.


title: BB-8

text: In "", BB-8 fixes Poe's X-wing weapons system by smashing his head into it. In Canto Bight, a drunken gambler repeatedly inserts coins into a slot in BB-8, thinking he is a slot machine. The droid later subdues several guards, allowing Finn and Rose to escape imprisonment. BB-8 then uses the coins to subdue a fourth guard. Later, he operates a First Order AT-ST in order to rescue Finn and Rose after they are captured by the First Order.


title: BB-8

text: BB-8 appeared in "" where, in mission with Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewie and C-3PO on Pasaana eventually befriended a droid named D-O. Later followed them on Kef Bir and Exegol in the last war against Emperor Palpatine and the Sith Eternal. After celebrating the victory of the Resistance on Ajan Kloss, BB-8 followed Rey on Tatooine where she buried Luke and Leia's lightsabers in the Lars homestead and, in the end, the droid watched the binary sunrise along with her.


title: BB-8

text: BB-8 makes several appearances in "Star Wars Forces of Destiny". In "Sands of Jakku" and "BB-8 Bandits", both of which take place shortly after Rey finds him in "The Force Awakens", Rey helps the droid evade a Nightwatcher worm and several bandits. In "Tracker Trouble", the droid, Rey, Finn, and Han help to get a tracker off the "Millennium Falcon" shortly after leaving Jakku. In "Shuttle Shock", which takes place during the journey to Canto Bight in "The Last Jedi", BB-8 is overloaded by electrical shocks from a jellyfish monster, forcing Finn and Rose to try and fix it.


title: BB-8

text: BB-8 is a point of view character in both the of "The Force Awakens" by Alan Dean Foster, and the 2017 novelization of "The Last Jedi" by Jason Fry. The droid also appears in the comic book series "", published by Marvel Comics in April 2016.


title: BB-8

text: The official September 4, 2015 launch of all merchandise for "The Force Awakens" included an mobile app-enabled BB-8 robot toy developed by Sphero. Sphero had participated in a Disney-run startup accelerator program in July 2014, during which Disney CEO Bob Iger showed Sphero executives on-set photos and imagery of BB-8 before anyone outside of the production team knew of the robot's existence. Sphero acquired the license in November 2014, completing the development and production of the toy in time for its September 2015 release. "Wired" called the BB-8 toy "the only truly cutting-edge item" in the "Force Awakens" collection. In 2015, Sphero sold over 1 million of the robots.


title: BB-8

text: Other BB-8 merchandising includes household items, luggage and bags, a life-size plush, a Lego "Star Wars" playset called Poe's X-wing Fighter, Hasbro's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Takodana Encounter set, and other action figures and other toys. The Lego versions of Poe and BB-8 have also appeared in the 2016 short form animated series "", and the short "Poe Dameron vs the First Order Snowspeeder".


title: BB-8

text: Anthony Breznican of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote of BB-8 in November 2015, "He bowled us over immediately. From the moment "Star Wars" fans laid eyes on the droid with the roly-poly body and the babyface, it was love." The droid has been called a breakout character of the film, and of 2015. "Time" Alex Fitzpatrick wrote in September 2015, "As a movie character, BB-8 feels destined to become a fan favorite. Some "Star Wars" fans have already tattooed likenesses of the droid on various parts of their body, and the movie isn't even out until December." Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" noted that "the hype for "The Force Awakens" has been so insane and the marketing so intense, we knew about BB-8 as a pricey and cool toy well before BB-8 ever made his big-screen debut. According to "Tor.com":


title: BB-8

text: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" wrote that "no one can steal a scene from BB-8". "The Hollywood Reporter" Todd McCarthy explained that the droid "serves as a welcome robot reboot from the sidelined (but hardly vanquished) R2-D2", and Emmet Asher-Perrin of "Tor.com" described BB-8 as "the perfect hybrid of R2-D2 and WALL-E". "Entertainment Weekly" Chris Nashawaty called BB-8 "that rolling gyroscopic weeble that, if possible, may out-cute R2-D2". Ann Hornaday wrote in "The Washington Post" that "BB-8, a roly-poly little Wall-E of a creature, rolls, beeps and blinks with such puppy-ish charisma that R2-D2 and C-3PO might want to call their agents to make sure they're in the next installment. Stephanie Zacharek of "Time" also praised BB-8:


title: BB-8

text: BB-8 appeared with several other "Force Awakens" characters on the December 2015 cover of "Rolling Stone", and alone on the cover of the December 18, 2015 issue of "The Hollywood Reporter". The droid was also featured alone on one of two alternate covers of the December 14, 2015, issue of "Time" (the other cover featuring R2-D2). This was the first time the magazine has offered two covers for editions worldwide. The "Time" cover photographer, Marco Grob, said, "The moment you meet BB-8, you almost build some form of weird human connection. It has this really cute way of looking at you."


title: BB-8

text: "The Force Awakens" received seven Visual Effects Society Award nominations, including one for Outstanding Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project for BB-8.


title: Tha Carter

text: Tha Carter is the fourth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on June 29, 2004, by Cash Money Records and Universal Records. The production on the album was mostly handled by Cash Money's former in-house producer Mannie Fresh, before Mannie left the label. The album spawned four sequels: "Tha Carter II", "Tha Carter III", "Tha Carter IV", and "Tha Carter V".


title: Tha Carter

text: The album debuted at number five on the US "Billboard" 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies in its first week. The album was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in September 2020.


title: Tha Carter

text: The album's lead single, "Bring It Back" was released on April 10, 2004, while its second single, "Go D.J." was released on October 5, 2004. Both songs were produced by and featured guest vocals from then-Cash Money's frequent record producer Mannie Fresh.


title: Tha Carter

text: The album's third single, "Earthquake" was released on March 27, 2005. The song was produced by and featured guest vocals from fellow record producer Jazze Pha.


title: Tha Carter

text: "Tha Carter" debuted at number five on the US "Billboard" 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies in its first week. This became Wayne's third US top-ten debut. As of November 2005, the album has sold 878,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On September 25, 2020, the album was certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of two million units in the United States.


title: Mulesing

text: Mulesing is the removal of strips of wool-bearing skin from around the breech (buttocks) of a sheep to prevent the parasitic infection flystrike (myiasis). The wool around the buttocks can retain feces and urine, which attracts flies. The scar tissue that grows over the wound does not grow wool, so is less likely to attract the flies that cause flystrike. Mulesing is a common practice in Australia for this purpose, particularly on highly wrinkled Merino sheep. Mulesing is considered by some to be a skilled surgical task. Mulesing can only affect flystrike on the area cut out and has no effect on flystrike on any other part of the animal's body.


title: Mulesing

text: Mulesing is a controversial practice. The National Farmers Federation of Australia says that "mulesing remains the most effective practical way to eliminate the risk of 'flystrike' in sheep" and that "without mulesing up to 3,000,000 sheep a year could die a slow and agonising death from flystrike". The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) "recognises the welfare implications of mulesing of sheep. However, in the absence of more humane alternatives for preventing breech strike, the AVA accepts that the practice of mulesing should continue as a sheep husbandry procedure". The AVA also supports the use of analgesics and the accreditation of mulesing practitioners. The Australian Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals accepts mulesing when the risk of flystrike is very high, when it is done properly, and even then only as a last resort. The animal rights organisation PETA strongly opposes mulesing, says the practice is cruel and painful, and that more humane alternatives exist, and claim that sheep can be spared maggot infestation through more humane methods, including special diets and spray washing.


title: Mulesing

text: In July 2009, representatives of the Australian wool industry scrapped an earlier promise, made in November 2004, to phase out the practice of mulesing in Australia by 31 December 2010. The New Zealand industry began phasing out mulesing in 2007 and a ban of mulesing sheep officially came into effect from 1 October 2018.


title: Mulesing

text: The Australian sheep blow fly (in fact an invasive species from South Africa) afflicts many sheep in Australia. In the late 19th century merino sheep in Australia were crossbred with loose-skinned merino sheep from Vermont. This resulted in such a productive fleece that it formed wrinkles on the animal. The popularity of Merino wool in the 20th century led Australian sheep breeders to continue selecting for the thickest possible fleeces on their sheep. This lucrative trait often meant that the thick, wrinkled wool on the sheep's rear readily attracted and held dirt and feces. This collection of unsanitary material as well as the skin ulcers it sometimes caused are very attractive to gravid female blowflies. Female blow flies seek out sheep with wounds and soiled wool to lay their eggs. Once the maggots hatch they gravitate to open wounds if any are present. This is "flystrike", a type of myiasis. Flystrike, also called "breechstrike", often leads to systemic secondary infections and death.


title: Mulesing

text: In the early-1930s an Australian rancher named John Mules was shearing an ewe when he accidentally cut off a small patch of skin near the ewe's breech (buttocks). The ewe had suffered from flystrike before and Mules carefully watched her progress in case she developed another infestation in the wound he had accidentally caused. To Mules' surprise once the wound healed it replaced tangled and dirty breech wool with smooth scar tissue. Blowflies were no longer attracted to this area on the ewe as it could collect little dirt or feces. No relapse of flystrike occurred. Mules and other soon developed this into a technique now known as "mulesing."


title: Mulesing

text: During this operation small strips of epidermis are peeled from a sheep's buttock using steel shears on either side of the anus and underside of the tail. This was formerly performed on mature sheep but it was later found that lambs recover more quickly and completely than older animals. For lambs older than two months the period of greatest discomfort seems to last for approximately two weeks, by which time healing is almost complete. Current codes of practice ban mulesing for sheep over 12 months of age.


title: Mulesing

text: Mulesing reduces the likelihood of flystrike by about 13 times. The practice became nearly universal during the 20th century. The success of animal rights movements in agitating for the procedure's curtailment has brought the proportion of Australian sheep ranchers who practice mulesing down to around 70% today. Successful international boycotts of Australian merino wool in the early 2000s set those invested in Australian sheep rearing on the hunt for alternatives. The publicity generated intense interest in finding a replacement for mulesing that domestic and international consumers will accept.


title: Mulesing

text: Mulesing is a procedure which, in Australia, is carried out by a person who has completed the mandatory accreditation and training programme, usually a professional mulesing contractor.


title: Mulesing

text: While the lamb is under restraint (typically in a marking cradle), the wrinkled skin in the animal's breech (rump area) is cut away from the perianal region down to the top of the hindlimbs. Originally, the procedure was typically performed with modified wool-trimming metal shears, but now there are similar metal shears designed specifically for mulesing. In addition, the tail is docked and the remaining stump is sometimes skinned. The cuts are executed to avoid affecting underlying muscle tissue.


title: Mulesing

text: The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries states in the Standard Operating Procedures that, "While the operation causes some pain, no pre or post operative pain relief measures are used". Antiseptics, anaesthesia and painkillers are not required by Australian law during or after the procedure but are often applied, as the procedure is known to be painful to the animal. Products have been approved for pain relief during the procedure, including Tri-Solfen. The minor use permit for Tri-Solfen makes the product available for use by both veterinarians and sheep industry employees, such as mulesing contractors and graziers.


title: Mulesing

text: After a heavy mules, non-wooled skin around the anus (and vulva in ewes) is pulled tight, the cut heals and results in smooth scar tissue that does not get fouled by faeces or urine. Most sheep have a light mules which does not leave the skin bare, but simply removes the skin wrinkle leaving a reduced area to grow wool and stain.


title: Mulesing

text: When managed according to the standards, policies and procedures developed by the CSIRO, lambs are normally mulesed a few weeks after birth. The operation usually takes less than a minute. Standard practice is to do this operation simultaneously with other procedures such as ear marking, tail docking, and vaccination. Because the procedure removes skin, not any underlying flesh or structure, there is little blood loss from the cut other than a minor oozing on the edges of the cut skin.


title: Mulesing

text: Mulesed lambs should be released onto clean pasture. The ewes and suckling lambs should receive minimal disturbance until all wounds are completely healed (about four weeks). Observation should be carried out from a distance.


title: Mulesing

text: Mulesing should be completed well before the flystrike season, or else chemical protection should be provided to reduce risk to the lambs and ewes.


title: Mulesing

text: Lambs that are slaughtered soon after weaning generally do not need mulesing because they can be protected by chemical treatment for the short time they are at risk.


title: Mulesing

text: Mulesing is different from crutching. Crutching is the mechanical removal of wool around the tail and anus (and vulva in ewes) in breeds of sheep with woolly points where this is necessary. Mulesing is the removal of skin to provide permanent resistance to breech strike in Merino sheep. Other breeds tend to have less loose skin and wool so close to the tail, and may have less dense wool.


title: Mulesing

text: Crutching has to be repeated at regular intervals as the wool grows continuously. Frequent crutching of Merinos reduces the incidence of flystrike, but not as much as mulesing.


title: Mulesing

text: Some animal rights activists consider unanesthetised mulesing to be inhumane and unnecessary. They have also argued that mulesing may mask genetic susceptibility to flystrike allowing for genetic weaknesses to be continued.


title: Mulesing

text: In October 2004, American fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. responded to pressure from PETA to boycott Australian Merino wool due in part to the use of mulesing in Australia. The National Farmers' Federation responded by stating "Abercrombie and Fitch does not use Australian wool". Then, in December 2008, one of the world's largest retailers, Liz Claiborne (in which PETA is a shareholder), banned the use of Australian Merino wool in its products in opposition to the mulesing practice; at the time an Australian Wool Innovations spokesman said "the company did not purchase any Australian wool". In June 2009, British department store chain John Lewis joined the wool boycott. The international fashion retailer New Look also refuses to stock products made from Australian Merino wool. The campaign by PETA also seeks to draw attention to Australia's live sheep-export trade. PETA's campaign has hurt the Australian wool industry with several American and European clothing retailers agreeing to the boycott.


title: Mulesing

text: Australian interior furnishing wholesaler Instyle Contract Textiles endorses the cessation of mulesing. In early 2008, the company signed an exclusive worldwide agreement with The SRS Company to source wool from non-mulesed Merino sheep that have been bred specifically to be naturally resistant to flystrike.


title: Mulesing

text: The controversy reignited after a television programme aired in Sweden. This programme alleged that a lobbying consultant, Kevin Craig, acting on behalf of the Australian Wool and Sheep Industry Taskforce offered a Swedish activist a free trip to Australia if the activist agreed not to go on camera nor do an interview. As a consequence, all clothing manufacturers and retailers in Sweden banned the purchase of wool from sheep that have been mulesed. Since then, the Swedish Agriculture Minister, Eskil Erlandsson, has said that "he was satisfied that Australia appeared to be responding to international concerns about mulesing and that bans or boycotts were not necessary". "But in the long run we hope there is going to be a final end to all sorts of mulesing."


title: Mulesing

text: Some European retailers have agreed to lift their ban on Australian Merino wool if pain relief is used during mulesing. The retailers have not been named in an effort to avoid any backlash.


title: Mulesing

text: In order to help comply with the 2010 deadline to phase out mulesing, Western Australia's governmental research stations ceased mulesing their sheep on 1 April 2008.


title: Mulesing

text: Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) had pledged to phase out mulesing by 2010, but PETA accused the Australian wool industry of trying to extend this deadline. On 27 July 2009, the Australian wool industry dumped its long-standing pledge to phase out mulesing by the end of 2010, a move that was harshly criticized by animal welfare groups and led to criticism by some farmers. The AWI maintains that pursuing a deadline approach to eliminating mulesing was not based on "sound health and welfare science" and risked a serious deterioration in the welfare of sheep. Alternative methods of mulesing, such as using clips and intradermals, were "not sufficiently developed to support a wholesale cessation of the procedure in 2010", AWI said.


title: Mulesing

text: The AWI's approach is "The ultimate long-term aim of the program is to reduce the reliance on mulesing." and "supports all woolgrowers in their choice of best practice animal health and hygiene in flystrike control", but aims to provide animal welfare improvements such as pain relief and antiseptics.


title: Mulesing

text: In December 2020, Four Paws compiled a list of fashion brands who have taken a stance against mulesing.


title: Mulesing

text: In response to intense consumer pressure for an alternative to mulesing an adaptation of the freeze branding branding process was hit upon in the 2010s. The new technique was soon christened "steining" after its developer, John Steinfort, a Australian veterinary scientist. In 2019 Australian Wool Network (AWN), a private corporation servicing the Australian wool industry, provided Steinfort funding to commercialize the technique.


title: Mulesing

text: During "steining" a set of clamping jaws designed by Steinfort is used to pinch up rolls of skin near the tail and anus of a lamb. Once sufficient skin is in the clamps liquid nitrogen is pumped through the jaws and onto the pinched skin. This rapidly freezes the lamb's skin. The goal is to achieve the level of cellular injury that prevents future hair growth but not so much that a 3rd degree cold burn is created. Pinching the skin is thought to mitigate the degree of the cold burn by removing it somewhat from the muscles and connective tissue beneath. The treated skin goes through the same stages of healing seen in the long method of freeze branding, terminating with permanent hairlessness. Studies show this method is at least as good at preventing flystrike as mulesing and carries few long-term consequences for the lamb's later growth and wool production.


title: Mulesing

text: Steinfort and others invested in the process have claimed it is less painful and distressing to the animals on which it is practiced. They argue that affected nerve endings are immediately numbed and that sensation does not return during healing, when a scab forms and is eventually sloughed in 6 to 8 weeks. A 2018 study found behavioral markers indicating pain and distress in lamb who had been steined without analgesic treatment compared to those who had been given analgesics. In 2020 a University of Melbourne researcher named Ellen Jongman was commissioned to study the issue by the company Steinfort formed to commercialize his technique, SteinfortAgVet. The name of Steinfort's company subsequently changed to AgVetInnovations. On December 22, 2020 Jongman released preliminary results from her study on the relative pain of mulesing and steining.


title: Mulesing

text: Jongman found that mulesing and steining were equally painful on the day of the procedure but that steined lambs appeared to be in less pain than mulesed lambs on subsequent days. Her study tracked and interpreted a series of lamb behaviors like the speed at which it returned to its mother after undergoing either mulesing or steining. She called for further research using physiological data such heart rate and blood sampling in addition to behavioral observations. Jongman's final report was released on January 25, 2021. In March of 2021 AWN cut ties with Steinfort and divested from this application of freeze branding.


title: Mulesing

text: As of July 22, 2021 the position of the RSPCA is that Australian merino sheep have not been ethically bred, as seen in their susceptibility to flystrike. They believe "any painful procedure to change the breech area should only be considered an interim, short-term solution that accompanies a breeding program that focusses on flystrike resistance, and is carried out only where absolutely necessary to manage at-risk sheep."


title: Mulesing

text: Merino sheep bred on selection principles may be more resistant to flystrike because they are plain bodied (lower skin wrinkling around the breech). Studies have shown that flystrike is lower in plain bodied sheep. However, mulesed animals had consistently lower flystrike than unmulesed regardless of body type.


title: Mulesing

text: The resistance of plain-bodied Merino sheep to flystrike arose from field investigations by Australian scientists, Drs H.R. Seddon and H.B. Belschner, in the early 1930s. Non-mulesed Merino ewe bodies were graded as plain (A class), wrinkly (B class) and very wrinkly (C class). The plain-bodied (A class) Merino ewes were much less susceptible to flystrike than wrinkly-bodied Merinos (B and C class).


title: Mulesing

text: In these Merino flocks, the sheep are plainer than the plain-bodied (A class) Merino ewes and therefore more resistant to flystrike. The rams and semen from these studs are used in over 3,000 of the 45,000 Merino farms in Australia. Using breeding principles, wrinkle-skinned Merino flocks which require mulesing have been transformed into plain-bodied and mules-free flocks within five years.


title: 2012 FIFA Club World Cup

text: The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 6 to 16 December 2012. It was the ninth edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations as well as the host nation's league champions. The tournament was hosted by Japan.


title: 2012 FIFA Club World Cup

text: Defending champions Barcelona did not qualify as they were eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League by eventual champions Chelsea.


title: 2012 FIFA Club World Cup

text: Corinthians won the title for the second time, winning 1–0 in the semi-finals against Al Ahly before beating Chelsea by the same margin in the final.


title: 2012 FIFA Club World Cup

text: Each team submitted a squad of 23 players, three of them goalkeepers. The squads were announced on 29 November 2012.


title: 2012 FIFA Club World Cup

text: The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup was the first FIFA tournament to use goal-line technology following its approval by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in July 2012. The two systems approved by FIFA, GoalRef (installed in Yokohama) and Hawk-Eye (installed in Toyota), were used in the two stadiums.


title: 2012 FIFA Club World Cup

text: The draw for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup was held at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland, on 24 September 2012 at 11:30 CEST (). The draw decided the "positions" in the bracket for the three representatives which entered the quarter-finals (AFC/CAF/CONCACAF).


title: 2012 FIFA Club World Cup

text: A minute's silence was held before the match to commemorate Dutch linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen, who had died following a violent incident at a youth competition four days before the match.


title: Fruit of Islam

text: The Fruit of Islam (FOI) is the security and disciplinary wing of the Nation of Islam (NOI). It has also been described as its paramilitary wing. The Fruit of Islam wear distinctive blue, brown or white uniforms and caps and have units at all NOI temples. Louis Farrakhan, as head of the Nation of Islam, is commander-in-chief of the Fruit of Islam, and his son, Mustapha Farrakhan Sr, is second in command as the Supreme Captain. The women's counterpart to the Fruit of Islam is Muslim Girls Training (MGT).


title: Fruit of Islam

text: The Fruit of Islam draws its membership from male members in Nation of Islam mosques. All men registered in the Nation of Islam as members are by default a part of the FOI. While NOI does not release membership figures, estimates made in 2007 for total membership in the NOI range from 30,000 to 50,000.


title: Fruit of Islam

text: The Fruit of Islam is one of the original institutions of the NOI, created by its founder W. D. Fard in 1933, shortly before his final disappearance. The men, mostly young, active members, were considered the "fruit" of the new nation. At the time the FOI was created to help defend the members of the NOI and all others. It existed until the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975. When Warith Deen Muhammad took control of the NOI he disbanded the FOI. The organization was then reorganized by Louis Farrakhan when he reestablished the NOI.


title: Fruit of Islam

text: In 1988 the NOI created a separate security agency using members of the FOI. The agency received contracts primarily to patrol and staff public housing complexes in tough urban areas like Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles and received at least $20 million in the 1990s for security work. NOI Security had notable successes in Washington, D.C. projects particularly, but had difficulty in others and faced opposition by some members of the United States Congress and the Anti-Defamation League, among others. It also faced scrutiny from federal agencies for racial and gender preference in hiring and from the Internal Revenue Service for failure to withhold taxes from employees.


title: Fruit of Islam

text: The FOI says its mission is to "teach civilization, and teach what they know to those who do not know." A NOI website urging men to enroll in the FOI describes members as "brave fighter[s] for Allah" engaged in "a unique war for the very heart and soul of a people." The site explains, "The responsibility of the F.O.I. is that of a head of house: protection, provision, and maintenance of the Nation of Islam (all Original People). The F.O.I. are militant in the sense that our operations are done as a unit."


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet's Coffee is a San Francisco Bay Area-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer owned by JAB Holding Company via JDE Peet's. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California, Peet's introduced the United States to its darker roasted Arabica coffee in blends including French roast and grades appropriate for espresso drinks. Peet's offers freshly roasted beans, brewed coffee and espresso beverages, as well as bottled cold brew. In 2007, Peet's opened the first LEED Gold Certified roastery in the United States. Peet's coffee is sold in over 14,000 grocery stores across the United States.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Alfred Peet grew up in the Netherlands, where his father owned and operated a coffee wholesale and coffee bean grindery. Peet trained with his father to roast and grind coffee. In 1938, at the age of 18, he moved to London where he was employed by Twinings coffee and tea company. He also spent time in New Zealand and Indonesia before moving to San Francisco in 1955 where he worked for a coffee and tea importer.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In 1966, Peet opened the first "Peet's Coffee, Tea & Spices" in Berkeley, California on Vine Street near the University of California, Berkeley campus. It originally sold coffee beans, not cups of coffee. His coffee beans were hand-roasted in small batches. The company grew to four locations and became known as "Peet's Coffee and Tea." Peet wanted to bring better coffee to the American market and became known as "the godfather of gourmet coffee in the U.S." The original location at Vine and Walnut remains open. The second location of Peet's Coffee was in Menlo Park, CA.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet sold his business to Sal Bonavita in 1979, but remained working with the company as a coffee buyer and consultant until 1983. In 1984, Jerry Baldwin, a Starbucks founder, bought Peet's four locations from Sal Bonavita. In 1987, Baldwin and his Starbucks co-investors sold Starbucks to focus on Peet's. Howard Schultz, Starbucks' new owner, entered into a four-year non-compete agreement in the Bay Area.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In 2001, the company was incorporated as Peet's Coffee and Tea Company and had its initial public offering. The company was listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol PEET, and 3.3 million shares were sold at $8 a share. Shares climbed to $9.38 and the company raised $26.4 million.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet's opened a roasting plant in Alameda in 2007. This new location replaced the former operations in Emeryville, California, and is the nation's first LEED Gold Certified roastery.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In 2012, employees at a Peet's location in Chicago formed Peet's Worker's Group to address concerns about compensation, irregular scheduling, sick leave, and working conditions which resulted in frequent wrist injuries. Three representatives from Peet's corporate visited their store, where they attributed workers' complaints to the performance of manager of that location, and declined to discuss further concerns except in one-on-one meetings. The group subsequently lost momentum, and the lead organizer was fired after clocking in late for the third time in one year. Remaining members of Peet's Worker's Group attributed her firing to a selective enforcement of the company's lateness policy.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In 2012, Peet's was taken private when it was acquired by Joh. A Benckiser, a German investment group, for $977.6 million, or $73.50 per share. At that time, the acquisition was one of the largest prices paid for a Berkeley-founded company. JAB Holding (Joh. A Benckiser) also owns minority stakes in the consumer products companies Reckitt Benckiser, Coty, Inc. and control of luxury brands Bally, Belstaff and Jimmy Choo. JAB Holding later acquired a portion of Caribou Coffee.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In August 2014, Peet's acquired Mighty Leaf Tea, a specialty tea brand based in the Bay Area, in partnership with Next World Group. It was announced in October 2015 that Stumptown Coffee Roasters would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Peet's. Later that same month, Peet's announced that it was acquiring a majority stake in Chicago-based Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In December 2016, Peet's announced that it was building a second roaster in Suffolk, Virginia. The 175,000-square-foot facility will cost $58 million and was set to open in 2018. At that time, the Alameda roaster was producing approximately 1 million pounds of coffee each week.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: On May 29, 2020, JDE Peet's, the owner of Peet's Coffee and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, raised $2.5 billion by taking the company public on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange in a deal that valued the company at $17.3 billion. Defying the coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown, it was the largest initial public offering in Europe during the first five months of 2020 and the second biggest IPO in the world.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: By 2018, Peet's operates over 200 retail locations in 11 states: California, Washington DC, Virginia, Tennessee, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland, and has expanded to China, opening a location in Shanghai.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet's formerly operated in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, but Peet's shuttered these stores in 2014 to focus on the areas where it is growing.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: By December 2016, Peet's coffee was sold in 14,000 grocery stores, universities, and wholesalers across the United States. They had over a dozen coffeebar locations in Chicago and Boston as well as 23 in the Washington D.C. area at that time.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet's has outlets at many transit centers, including several airports such as William P. Hobby Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Reno-Tahoe International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Sacramento International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport, and all three major airports in the San Francisco Bay Area.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In 2003, the first full-service Peet's coffeebar on a university campus was opened within the Clark Center building at Stanford University. Peet's coffee is also currently served at all Stanford dining locations. In 2005, UC Berkeley opened its own Peet's franchise on campus in Dwinelle Hall and as a campus restaurant near its existing dining area. Similarly in 2009, coffeebars opened at the UW–Madison's Memorial Union, Villanova University and UC San Diego.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet's donated $250,000 to the University of California, Davis to launch Coffee Center, a research hub dedicated to a multidisciplinary study of coffee, in September 2016. UC Davis is the first university in the world to dedicate a rigorous academic focus to post-harvest coffee. The program worked with the Specialty Coffee Association of America to get prospective graduates access to grants and fellowships. In April 2017, Peet's signed an agreement with UC Berkeley's University Partnership Program to help fund student programs including student travel grants, scholarships, and paid internship opportunities.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In September 2015, Peet's announced that it was adding all-day breakfast options to its menu. The change would be implemented in the Chicago market, and eventually, would be added at all locations.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet's Coffee started formulating the blend in 2014 and first added it to its coffeebar menu in summer 2015. In July 2016, Peet's released a complementary line of bottled cold brew coffee to 400 locations in the San Francisco area including Peet's coffeebars and grocery stores. Peet's coldbrew was initially offered in three flavors: Baridi Black, Coffee au Lait, and Dark Chocolate. Almond Milk was added to the line of bottled cold brew in May 2017.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: In December 2016, Peet's added a Slow Bar to its newest D.C. coffeebar, featuring French press, pour-over and siphon brewing methods.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: When the three founders of Starbucks were looking to start their company, they contacted Peet, who "became like a father mentor" to them. He allowed the three young men to copy the layout of his store and shared his suppliers.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Peet's was one of the first coffee bean and brewed coffee retailers to offer specialty grade coffee, and to roast the beans longer, producing a liquor that is darker, more bitter, with less of the sour taste of the coffees offered in the US at the time. Peet's is commonly regarded as one of the founding businesses in the gourmet coffee trade.


title: Peet's Coffee

text: Two British men who worked at Peet's in the early 1990s later established Union Coffee Roasters in the United Kingdom.


title: Mobility as a service

text: Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a type of service that, through a joint digital channel, enables users to plan, book, and pay for multiple types of mobility services. The concept describes a shift away from personally-owned modes of transportation and towards mobility provided as a service. This is enabled by combining transportation services from public and private transportation providers through a unified gateway that creates and manages the trip, which users can pay for with a single account. Users can pay per trip or a monthly fee for a limited distance. The key concept behind MaaS is to offer travelers mobility solutions based on their travel needs. Specialist urban mobility applications are also expanding their offerings to enable MaaS, such as Transit, Uber and Lyft.


title: Mobility as a service

text: Travel planning typically begins in a journey planner. For example, a trip planner can show that the user can get from one destination to another by using a train/bus combination. The user can then choose their preferred trip based on cost, time, and convenience. At that point, any necessary bookings (e.g. calling a taxi, reserving a seat on a long-distance train) would be performed as a unit. It is expected that this service should allow roaming, that is, the same end-user app should work in different cities, without the user needing to become familiar with a new app or to sign up to new services. Together with other emerging vehicular technologies such as automated driving, connected cars and electric vehicles, MaaS is contributing to a new type of future mobility, which is autonomous, connected, electric and shared vehicles.


title: Mobility as a service

text: Booming demand for more personalised transport services has created a market space and momentum for MaaS. The movement towards MaaS is fueled by a myriad of innovative new mobility service providers such as carpool and ridesharing companies, bicycle-sharing systems programs, scooter-sharing systems and carsharing services as well as on-demand "pop-up" bus services. On the other hand, the trend is motivated by the anticipation of self-driving cars, which puts into question the economic benefit of owning a personal car over using on-demand car services, which are widely expected to become significantly more affordable when cars can drive autonomously.


title: Mobility as a service

text: This shift is further enabled by improvements in the integration of multiple modes of transport into seamless trip chains, with bookings and payments managed collectively for all legs of the trip. In London, commuters may use a contactless payment bank card (or a dedicated travel card called an Oyster card) to pay for their travel. Between the multiple modes, trips, and payments, data is gathered and used to help people's journeys become more efficient. In the government space, the same data allows for informed decision-making when considering improvements in regional transit systems.


title: Mobility as a service

text: Mobility as a service may cause a decline in car ownership. If average vehicle occupancy for on-road time decreases, total vehicle-kilometres-travelled will increase.


title: Mobility as a service

text: MaaS could significantly increase the efficiency and utilization of transit providers that contribute to the overall transit network in a region. The predictions were validated by the Ubigo trial in Gothenburg during which many private cars were deregistered for the duration of the trial and utilization of existing transit services increased the efficiency of the overall network. Ultimately, a more efficient network coupled with new technology such as autonomous vehicles could significantly reduce the cost of public transit.


title: Mobility as a service

text: MaaS could improve ridership habits, transit network efficiency, decrease costs to the user, improve utilization of MaaS transit providers, reduce city congestion as more users adopt MaaS as a main source of transit, and reduce emissions as more users rely on public transit component, autonomous vehicles in a MaaS network.


title: Mobility as a service

text: MaaS equally has many benefits for the business world - understanding the Total Cost of Business Mobility could help travel decision makers in the corporate world save hundreds of thousands. By analysing data and costs attributed to "business mobility" (e.g. vehicle rental costs, fuel costs, parking charges, train ticket admin fees and even the time taken to book a journey) businesses can make informed decisions about travel policy, fleet management and expense claims. Some MaaS companies suggest that in journey planning alone, it can take up to 9 steps before a simple travel arrangement is booked.


title: Mobility as a service

text: However, there are also many anticipated challenges for sustainability and governance stemming from MaaS, ranging from increased energy use, reduced health effects, and up to conflicts across organizations.


title: Mobility as a service

text: MaaS also holds remarkable potential in the revolutionizing of public transport systems in developing countries. Since developing countries tend to depend heavily on informal and unstructured public transport modes, the concept of MaaS according to some researchers, could hold the key to providing more efficient, equitable and accessible transportation services. In these contexts however, MaaS may need to be re-envisioned, and tailored to the unique challenges of the developing world, in order to create the desired impacts.


title: Mobility as a service

text: The concept assumes use through mobile app, although the concept can also be used for any type of payment (transit card, ticket, etc.).


title: Mobility as a service

text: The Monthly subscription model assumes that enough users consume public transit services on a monthly basis to offer bundled transit service. Users pay a monthly fee and receive bundled transit services such as unlimited travel on urban public transport in addition to a fixed number of taxi kilometers. The monthly subscription model incorporates a well-funded commercially operated "MaaS Operator" which will purchase transport services in bulk and provide guarantees to users. In Hanover, Germany, the MaaS operator can purchase bulk transit services and act as the middleman through the product, Hannovermobil. It is not necessary that the operator include all forms of transport, but just enough to be able to provide reasonable guarantees. A monthly subscription will also provide enough funding for the MaaS operator to purchase significant enough transit services that it can use market power to achieve competitive prices. In particular, a MaaS operator may improve the problems of low utilization - e.g. in Helsinki, taxi drivers spend 75% of their working time waiting for a customer, and 50% of kilometers driven without generating revenue. A MaaS operator can solve this problem by guaranteeing a base salary to taxi drivers through existing employers.


title: Mobility as a service

text: The Pay-as-you-go model operates well in environments with a high number of "one-off" riders (tourists, transit networks in areas with high car adoption, etc.). Each leg of the booked trip (each train trip, taxi trip etc.) is priced separately and is set by the transport service provider. In this model, mobile applications would operate as search engines, seeking to draw all transport service providers into a single application, enabling users to avoid having to interact with multiple gateways in an attempt to assemble the optimal trip. Many cities have cards which pay for intermodal public transport, including Vienna and Stuttgart but none yet include taxis/on-demand buses in the service.


title: Mobility as a service

text: Both models have similar requirements, such as trip planners to construct optimal trip chains, and technical and business relationships with transport service providers, (i.e. a taxi booking/payment API and e-ticketing, QR codes on urban buses and metros, etc.).


title: Mobility as a service

text: As the development of the autonomous car accelerates, the company Uber has announced that it plans to transition its app to a fully autonomous service and aims to be cheaper than car ownership. Many automobile manufacturers and technology companies have announced plans or are rumored to develop autonomous vehicles, including Tesla, Mobileye, General Motors, Waymo, Apple, and Local Motors.


title: Mobility as a service

text: Autonomous vehicles could allow the public to use roads in low cost-per-kilometre, self-navigating vehicles to a preferred destination at a significantly lower cost than current taxi and ridesharing prices. The vehicles could have a large impact on the quality of life in urban areas and form a critical part of the future of transportation, while benefiting the traveler, the environment, and even other sectors such as healthcare.


title: Mobility as a service

text: Modelling scenarios were conducted on the deployment of shared autonomous vehicles on the city of Lisbon by PTV as part of the International Transport Forum's Corporate Partnership Board. This model shows that the positive impacts on transport networks and mobility in congested places will be realised to their greatest extent with increases in shared minibus/bus scale public transport in addition to ride-sharing; whereas autonomous taxis with individual passengers would see a large increase in vehicle kilometres and congestion.


title: Mobility as a service

text: In January 2016, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, secured funding to be used over the next ten years to support the development of autonomous vehicles.


title: Mobility as a service

text: In 1996, the concept of an "intelligent information assistant" integrating different travel and tourism services was introduced at the ENTER conference.


title: Mobility as a service

text: The concept first arose in Sweden. A well-executed trial was conducted in Gothenburg under the monthly subscription model. The service was well received; however, it was discontinued due to lack of support at the government level for third party on-selling of public transport tickets.


title: Mobility as a service

text: In June 2012, Agrion, an energy storage company, sponsored a 1/2-day conference in San Francisco, CA titled "E-Mobility as a Service" at which the concept of Mobility as a Service was discussed as a potential outcome of the confluence between the digital realm of smartphone technology and shared electric autonomous vehicles [hence the E-Mobility in the conferences title]. The notion of a digitally connected seamless multi-modal transportation network was discussed as a potential outcome of the real-time connectivity offered by the newly introduced smart phone. The idea was that this would become so ubiquitous and seamless that mobility could be "backgrounded" in the urban fabric similar to other essential utilities or services. It would come to be seen as common place as turning on the tap to get water or the light switch to get illumination; hence mobility-as-a-service.


title: Mobility as a service

text: The idea then gained widespread publicity through the efforts of Sampo Hietanen, CEO of ITS Finland (later founder and CEO of Maas Global), and Sonja Heikkila, then a Masters student at Aalto University, and the support of the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication.


title: Mobility as a service

text: MaaS became a popular topic at the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems 2015 in Bordeaux, and subsequently, the Mobility as a Service Alliance was formed.


title: Mobility as a service

text: In 2017 the MaaS Alliance published its white paper on Mobility as a Service, and how to create foundation for thriving MaaS ecosystem.


title: Mobility as a service

text: The EU-funded "Mobinet" project has laid some of the groundwork for MaaS, e.g. pan-European identity management of travelers, and payments, and links to trip planners.


title: Mobility as a service

text: In September 2019, Berlin's public transport authority Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) continued Mobility as a Service development by launching first in the world large scale and city owned project "Jelbi" together with a Lithuanian mobility startup Trafi.


title: Mobility as a service

text: In the United States, the US Department of Transportation began a series of demonstration projects called the "Mobility on Demand Sandbox Program" in 2016. Overseen by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the goals of the program included improved efficiency, effectiveness, and customer experience of transportation services. Eleven cities received almost $8 million to conduct demonstration projects which were evaluated based on performance measures provided by the project partners, as well as independent evaluators.


title: Foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war

text: Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War refers to political, military and operational support to parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria that began in March 2011, as well as active foreign involvement. Most parties involved in the war in Syria receive various types of support from foreign countries and entities based outside Syria. The ongoing conflict in Syria is widely described as a series of overlapping proxy wars between the regional and world powers, primarily between the US and Russia as well as between Iran and Saudi Arabia.


text: The Syrian government is politically and militarily supported by Iran and Russia, and actively supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah group, the Syrian-based Palestinian group PFLP-GC, and others. Since 30 September 2015, Russia, the only foreign power that has its military assets openly and legally stationed in Syria, has waged an intensive air campaign against anti-government forces in Syria, on the side of and at the request of the Syrian government. The military activity of Russia in Syria has been criticized by the US and its regional allies; Turkey overtly clashed with the Russian military in November 2015 over the alleged violation of its airspace by a Russian plane, as well as over Russia′s bombardment of the areas held by anti-government forces supported by Turkey.


text: The Syrian opposition, politically represented by the Syrian National Coalition, receives financial, logistical, political and in some cases military support from major Sunni states in the Middle East allied with the U.S., most notably Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey. From the early stages of the conflict in Syria, major Western countries such as the U.S, France, and the UK have provided political, military and logistic support to the opposition and its associated rebel groups in Syria.


text: The Syrian Democratic Forces of the Executive Council (Rojava), the government of Rojava, have received military and logistic support from some NATO countries, the US in particular. Since July 2015, it has been attacked by the Turkish military and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, leading to the Turkish occupation of northern Syria.


text: From 2014 until October 2017, a significant part of Syria's territory was controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an entity internationally recognised as terrorist, a number of Western and other countries, most notably the U.S., Russia, Britain, and France, have participated in direct military action against ISIL in both Syria and Iraq.


text: Russia has been a military ally of Syria since 1956, and during the Syrian Civil War it continued supplying Syria's government with arms, sending military and technical advisers to train Syrian soldiers to use the Russian-made weapons, and helping to repair and maintain Syrian weapons. Investigations by reporters suggest that Russia is helping to keep the Syrian economy afloat by transporting hundreds of tonnes of banknotes into the country by airplane.


text: In December 2012, it was reported that Russian military personnel under the guise of military advisers were inside Syria manning some of the anti-aircraft defenses sent by Russia. The depth and sophistication of Syria's air defences was cited as a major reason for the US decision not to intervene militarily against the Syrian government or impose a no-fly zone, despite a publicly voiced commitment to do so if the Assad government crossed the "red line" of using chemical weapons.