title: 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire

text: The Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire (Persian: جشن‌های دو هزار و پانصد ساله شاهنشاهی ایران) was a national event in Iran that consisted of an elaborate set of grand festivities during October 1971 to celebrate the founding of the ancient Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great. The intent of the celebration was to highlight Iran's ancient civilization and history as well as to showcase its contemporary advances under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The celebrations highlighted pre-Islamic origins of the country while promoting Cyrus the Great as a national hero.


text: Some later historians argue that this massive celebration contributed to events that culminated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, although others argue that the extravagance of the proceedings were exaggerated by revolutionaries motivated to discredit the Shah's regime. As a result, many accounts of the event overstate its cost and luxury.


text: The planning for the party took a year, according to the 2016 BBC "Storyville" documentary, "Decadence and Downfall: The Shah of Iran's Ultimate Party". The filmmakers interviewed people tasked by the Shah to organize the party. The Cyrus Cylinder served in the official logo as the symbol for the event. With the decision to hold the main event at the ancient city of Persepolis, near Shiraz, the local infrastructure had to be improved, including the Shiraz International Airport and a highway to Persepolis. While the press and supporting staff would be housed in Shiraz, the main festivities were planned for Persepolis. An elaborate tent city was planned to house attendees. The area around Persepolis was cleared of snakes and other vermin. Trees and flowers were planted, and 50,000 song birds were imported from Europe. Other events were scheduled for Pasargadae, the site of the Tomb of Cyrus, as well as Tehran.


text: The Tent City (also called Golden City) was planned by the Parisian interior-design firm of Maison Jansen on . They referred to the meeting between Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. Fifty 'tents' (prefabricated luxury apartments with traditional Persian tent-cloth surrounds) were arranged in a star pattern around a central fountain. Numerous trees were planted around them in the desert, to recreate how ancient Persepolis would have looked. Each tent was provided with direct telephone and telex connections for attendees to their respective countries. The entire celebration was televised to the world by way of a satellite connection from the site.


text: The large 'Tent of Honor' was designed for the reception of the dignitaries. The 'Banqueting Hall' was the largest structure, and measured . The tent site was surrounded by gardens of trees and other plants flown in from France and adjacent to the ruins of Persepolis. Catering services were provided by Maxim's de Paris, which closed its restaurant in Paris for almost two weeks to provide for the glittering celebrations. Legendary hotelier Max Blouet came out of retirement to supervise the banquet. Lanvin designed the uniforms of the Imperial Household. 250 red Mercedes-Benz 600 limousines were used to chauffeur guests from the airport and back. The dinnerware was created using Limoges porcelain and linen by D. Porthault.


text: The festivities were opened on 12 October 1971, when the Shah and the Shahbanu paid homage to Cyrus the Great at his mausoleum at Pasargadae. For the next two days, the Shah and his wife greeted arriving guests, often directly at Shiraz's airport. On 14 October, a grand gala dinner took place in the Banqueting Hall in celebration of the birthday of the Shahbanu. Sixty members of royal families and heads of state were assembled at the single large serpentine table in the Banqueting Hall. They dined off a special dinner service of 10,000 plates commissioned from the English china manufacturer, Spode, each plate decorated in turquoise and gold, with the Shah's coat of arms. The official toast was raised with a Dom Perignon Rosé 1959.


text: The food and the wine for the celebration were provided by the Parisian restaurant Maxim's. 600 guests dined over five and a half hours, thus making for the longest and most lavish official banquet in modern history as recorded in successive editions of the "Guinness Book of World Records". A son et lumière show, the "Polytope of Persepolis" designed by Iannis Xenakis and accompanied by the specially-commissioned electronic music piece "Persepolis", concluded the evening. The next day saw a huge military parade of armies of different Iranian empires covering two and half millennia by 1,724 men of the Iranian armed forces, all in period costume, followed by representatives of the Imperial Armed Forces, with a large military band, manned by military musicians and providing the music for the parade, split into two - the modern band playing in Western instruments and a traditional band wearing uniforms of the bandsmen from different eras of Iranian history. In the evening, a less formal "traditional Persian party" was held in the Banqueting Hall as the concluding event at Persepolis.


text: On the final day, the Shah inaugurated the Shahyad Tower (later renamed the Azadi Tower after the Iranian Revolution) in Tehran to commemorate the event. The tower was also home to the Museum of Persian History. In it was displayed the Cyrus Cylinder, which the Shah promoted as "the first human rights charter in history". The cylinder was also the official symbol of the celebrations, and the Shah's first speech at Cyrus' tomb praised the freedom that it had proclaimed, two and a half millennia previously. The festivities were concluded with the Shah paying homage to his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, at his mausoleum.


text: The event brought together the rulers of two of the three oldest extant monarchies, the Shah and Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Emperor Hirohito of Japan was represented by his youngest brother, Prince Mikasa. By the end of the decade, both the Ethiopian and Iranian monarchies had ceased to exist.


text: Security was a major concern. Persepolis was a favoured site for the festivities as it was isolated and thus could be tightly guarded, a very important consideration when many of the world's leaders were gathered there. Iran's security services, SAVAK, captured and took into "preventive custody" anyone that it suspected of being a potential threat.


text: The Ministry of the Court placed the cost at $17 million (at that time); Ansari, one of the organizers, puts it at $22 million (at that time). The actual figure is difficult to calculate exactly and is a partisan issue.


text: According to the BBC documentary, Decadence and Downfall the celebrations cost about 120 million dollars, however, this claim has been described as having no real basis. For example, the documentary suggests supports Shah imported approximately 50,000 birds that died within a few days due to the desert climate, while historian Robert Steele has described this claim as infeasible, and given the October climate in Persepolis, the birds would have been accustomed to the local weather. The event has been subject to a lot of exaggerated cost estimates in many journalist and historian accounts inaccurately claiming the regime wanted to spend whatever was necessary. However, the Shah only approved the celebration plans after the scope was reduced to one-quarter of the original plan in order to reduce costs.


text: Queen Elizabeth II had been advised not to attend, with security being an issue. The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne represented her instead. Other major leaders who did not attend were Richard Nixon and Georges Pompidou. Nixon had initially planned to attend but later changed his mind and sent Spiro Agnew instead.


text: Some materials say that the attendee of China was Guo Moruo. According to his daughter, Guo was originally planned to attend, but he fell ill on the way arriving and then-Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Zhang Tong attended instead.


text: Iran's National Film Board produced a documentary of the celebrations, titled () in Persian and "Flames of Persia" in English. Farrokh Golestan directed, and Orson Welles who had said of the event "This was no party of the year, it was the celebration of 25 centuries!" agreed to narrate the English text, written by Macdonald Hastings, in return for the Shah's brother-in-law funding Welles' own film, "The Other Side of the Wind". The film was aimed at a Western audience. Despite a requirement to show the film in 60 cinemas in Tehran, its "overheated rhetoric" and popular resentment at the extravagance of the event meant it did poorly at the domestic box office.


text: Persepolis remains a major tourist attraction in Iran. In 2005, reports suggested that the Islamic regime of Iran intended to reconstruct the tent city created for the 1971 celebration. In 2005, it was visited by nearly 35,000 people during the Iranian new year holiday.


text: The tent city remained operating until 1979 for private and government rent, when it was looted after the Iranian Revolution and the departure of the Shah. The iron rods for the tents and roads built for the festival area still remain and are open to the public, but there are no markers making any reference to what they were originally for. The dedicated Shahyad Tower remains as a major landmark in Tehran, although it was renamed Azadi Tower in 1979.


title: Order of St. George

text: The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commissioned officers and generals by Empress Catherine the Great. After the October Revolution in 1917, it was awarded by the White movement under Alexander Kolchak until their collapse in 1921. The order was revived in the Russian Federation on 8 August 2000 by Decree №1463 of the President of Russia. The current award criteria were amended on 7 September 2010 by Presidential Decree 1099.


title: Order of St. George

text: The current Order of Saint George is awarded to highest and senior military officers for the conduct of military operations to protect the Motherland from attack by an external enemy which resulted in the complete defeat of the enemy, for the execution of combat and other operations in other states aimed at restoring international peace and security, or for being a model of military science with feats that exemplify military prowess; the Order is also conferred upon officers who were previously awarded state awards of the Russian Federation for distinction in combat.


title: Order of St. George

text: The Order of Saint George is divided into four classes, from the First Class to the Fourth class; the highest degree being the Order First class. The four classes are awarded sequentially from the fourth to the first. These four classes are individually identified by the size and manner of wearing the two principal insignia of the Order, the cross and the star.


title: Order of St. George

text: Cross: A white enamelled cross pattée with a central medallion bearing the image of Saint George on horseback slaying the dragon. The cross measures 60mm across in the case of the Order first class and is worn on a sash in the colours of Saint George (orange and black). The same 60mm cross is worn around the neck on a 45mm wide ribbon also in the colours of Saint George for the Order second class. The cross is 50mm across for the Order third class and is also worn around the neck but from a 24mm wide ribbon in the same colours. The Order fourth class is a 40mm cross worn on the left breast hanging from a pentagonal mount covered with a 24mm wide ribbon of Saint George.


title: Order of St. George

text: Star: A four-pointed silver gilt star with a gold central medallion bearing the cipher of Saint George "SG" topped by a crown and surrounded by a black enamelled band bearing the motto of the order "For Service and Bravery" (""Za Sluzhbu i Khrabrost""). The star is worn on the left breast for both the Order first and second classes.


title: Order of St. George

text: Ribbon: The ribbon of the Order of Saint George is orange with three black stripes, commonly called "George's Ribbon". It symbolises fire and gunpowder: the Russian "colors of military glory", and is also thought to be derived from the colours of the original Russian imperial coat of arms (black eagle on a golden background). It was subsequently associated to the colors of the Russian Guard units. Unlike the other classes, the Order of Saint George fourth class can be awarded to junior officers while the rest is for senior and flag officers.


title: Order of St. George

text: 25 people were ever awarded The First class cross, one should be a King or win a war to receive it. The full list goes as follows in timeline order:


title: Order of St. George

text: For The Second class one should win a Campaign. The first recipient was Lieutenant-General Plemyannikov for the Battle of Kagul, the last of 124 or 125, depending on sources, was either Nikolai Yudenich or Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: A professional competitor since 2010, Horiguchi formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the former Shooto Bantamweight Champion. He graduated from Sakushin Gakuin High School in Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi began training in karate at the age of five and was talented, as he soon began competing in full-contact competitions and went on to become a regional champion. At the age of 16, Horiguchi viewed a PRIDE Fighting Championships event and became drawn to mixed martial arts. Horiguchi began training in the sport at Norifumi Yamamoto's Krazy Bee Gym after graduating high school when he was 18 years old. Horiguchi said seeing Yamamoto knockout bigger men was what drew him to the fighter.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi made his professional MMA debut in Shooto in 2010, winning a decision over Ranki Kawana. Prior to this, Horiguchi was Bantamweight fighter, Norifumi Yamamoto's sparring partner. Just two fights later he would win the Shooto 2010 Rookie Tournament, finishing Seiji Akao by TKO early in the second round.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: His biggest victory up to that time would come over the 2009 Rookie Tournament runner-up, Yuta Nezu. Horiguchi's knockout power was on display early, knocking out Nezu in the first round. His nickname is The Typhoon.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi took on the former Shooto Bantamweight Champion, Masakatsu Ueda on January 8, 2012. Ueda controlled most of the bout with his superior grappling, nearly submitting Horiguchi numerous times. He lost by a majority decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi captured the Shooto Bantamweight Championship on March 16, 2013 when he defeated Hiromasa Ougikubo submitting him in the second round by rear-naked choke.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: On June 22, Horiguchi fought Pancrase Bantamweight Champion, Shintaro Ishiwatari, at VTJ 2nd, where Horiguchi acted as a Shooto representative. The two engaged in a competitive, back and forth fight. Many outlets had Ishiwatari leading on the scorecards heading into the final round. Horiguchi rallied early in the fifth round, landing a barrage of punches on Ishiwatari to force the stoppage and defend his title.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi made his promotional debut against Dustin Pague on October 19, 2013 at UFC 166. He was victorious in his debut, winning the fight via TKO in the second round.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi was expected to face Chris Cariaso in a Flyweight bout on February 1, 2014 at UFC 169. However, Horiguchi pulled out of the bout citing injury and was replaced by WEC veteran Danny Martinez.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi faced Darrell Montague on May 10, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 40. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: A rescheduled bout with Chris Cariaso was expected to take place on September 20, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 52. However, Cariaso was pulled from the bout with Horiguchi in favor of a matchup with current flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 178. Horiguchi instead faced Jon Delos Reyes. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horoguchi faced Louis Gaudinot on January 3, 2015 at UFC 182. He won the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi faced Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson on April 25, 2015 in the main event at UFC 186. Despite doing well during the first round, Horiguchi lost the otherwise one-sided fight via an armbar submission at 4:59 of the fifth round, resulting in the latest finish in UFC history.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi faced Chico Camus at UFC Fight Night 75 on September 27, 2015. He won the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi next faced Neil Seery on May 8, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 87. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi was expected to face Ali Bagautinov on October 15, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 97. However, the promotion announced on October 6 that they had cancelled the event entirely. In turn, the pairing was quickly rescheduled and took place on November 19, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 99.<ref name="Horiguchi/Bagautinov"></ref> He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: In joining RIZIN, Horiguchi says he felt more at home and enjoyed the shows RIZIN put on built around him.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: On April 16, 2017 Horiguchi made his debut in Rizin Fighting Federation, where he defeated Yuki Motoya by unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguichi next faced Hideo Tokoro in the first round of the Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix on July 30, 2017 at Rizin 6. He won the fight via knockout in the first round.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi competed in the rest of the Bantamweight Grand Prix in December 2017, fighting three times over two days. In the quarter-finals, he faced Gabriel Oliviera on December 29, 2017 at . He won the fight via TKO in the first round. He advanced to the next round, which was held on December 31, 2017 at . He faced Manel Kape in the semi-finals and won via arm-triangle choke submission in the third round. In the final, he faced Shintaro Ishiwatari and won via knockout early into the second round to become the inaugural RIZIN Bantamweight Champion.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi faced fellow UFC veteran Ian McCall in the main event at Rizin 10 on May 6, 2018. He defeated McCall just 9 seconds into the first round via KO. This was the second fastest stoppage in Rizin history.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: After a 9-second knockout victory, Horiguchi made a quick turnaround to face fellow Japanese champion Hiromasa Ougikubo in a long-awaited rematch. Ogikubo, the current Shooto bantamweight champion, had not lost since he last faced Horiguchi in 2013. Horiguchi won the bout via unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: On September 30, 2018, Horiguchi fought Japanese Kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin 13 under Rizin Kickboxing rules, and lost by unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi faced the reigning Bellator Bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell for the vacant Rizin Bantamweight Championship at Rizin 14 on December 31, 2018. He won the fight by submission via a guillotine choke.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi next faced Ben Nguyen in a 132 pound catchweight bout on April 21, 2019 at Rizin 15. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi headlined Rizin 18 on August 18, 2019 against Kai Asakura in a non-title bout. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi was expected to defend his Rizin FF Bantamweight Championship title against Kai Asakura in a rematch at Rizin 20 on December 31, 2019. However, Horiguchi pulled out of the fight in mid-November citing a knee injury that is expected to keep him out of action for approximately 10 – 12 months. In turn, his bantamweight title has been vacated.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: In April 2019, it was announced that Horiguchi would face Darrion Caldwell for the Bellator Bantamweight title on June 14, 2019 at Bellator 222. The pair previously fought in December 2018 in the Rizin promotion with Horiguchi winning by submission. Scott Coker, president of Bellator MMA disclosed to the media that Horiguchi's contract features a rematch clause. Should Horiguchi win the rematch, he will be obligated to defend the Bellator belt once a year. Horiguchi won the bout and title by unanimous decision. However, due to the injury suffered in October 2019, Horiguchi vacated his Bellator Bantamweight championship in late November 2019.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: After undergoing a successful knee surgery, Horiguchi is set to make his return to mixed martial arts, following a 15 month hiatus from the sport. He rematched Kai Asakura during Rizin 26 – Saitama. Going into the rematch with Asakura, Horiguchi said it was his goal to dispel any rumors about ACL injuries finishing an athlete's career. Horiguchi said he is also feeling almost completely healed leading into the fight. “I’m about 100% recovered. I had to start from zero after the surgery and built back the muscles that have gotten weak. But the hard work and long rehab has paid off and I am back.” Horiguchi won the fight by a first-round TKO.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: In September 2021, Horiguchi was announced to be a Bellator contracted fighter, however due to longstanding relationship between Bellator and Rizin, Horiguchi will remain the Rizin Bantamweight Champion, and the plan, once COVID travel restrictions ease, is for him to still fight in Japan on occasion.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi competed for the Bellator Bantamweight World Championship against champion Sergio Pettis on December 3, 2021 at Bellator 272. Despite having controlled most of the bout beforehand, Horiguchi lost the fight via knockout in round four.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: In the first round bout of the $1 million Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix Tournament, Horiguchi faced Patchy Mix on April 23, 2022 at Bellator 279. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Horiguchi faced Yuto Hokamura at Rizin 38 on September 25, 2022. After surviving an early knockdown, Horiguchi won the bout via a technical submission in the second round.


title: Kyoji Horiguchi

text: Moving down to Flyweight, Horiguchi is scheduled to face Hiromasa Ougikubo at Bellator MMA vs. Rizin on December 31, 2022.


title: Kappa

text: Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; , "káppa") is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 20. It was derived from the Phoenician letter kaph . Letters that arose from kappa include the Roman K and Cyrillic К. The uppercase form is identical to the Latin K.


title: Kappa

text: Greek proper names and placenames containing kappa are often written in English with "c" due to the Romans' transliterations into the Latin alphabet: Constantinople, Corinth, Crete. All formal modern romanizations of Greek now use the letter "k", however.


title: Kappa

text: The cursive form is generally a simple font variant of lower-case kappa, but it is encoded separately in Unicode for occasions where it is used as a separate symbol in math and science. In mathematics, the kappa curve is named after this letter; the tangents of this curve were first calculated by Isaac Barrow in the 17th century.


title: Kappa

text: These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style.


title: United States Northern Command

text: United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for non-military authorities in the U.S., and protecting the territory and national interests of the United States within the continental United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, The Bahamas, and the air, land and sea approaches to these areas. It is the U.S. military command which, if applicable, would be the primary defender against an invasion of the U.S.


title: United States Northern Command

text: USNORTHCOM was created on 25 April 2002 when President George W. Bush approved a new Unified Command Plan, following the September 11 attacks. USNORTHCOM went operational on 1 October 2002.


title: United States Northern Command

text: USNORTHCOM was established on 25 April 2002 when President George W. Bush approved a new Unified Command Plan, and attained initial operating capability on 1 October 2002.


title: United States Northern Command

text: USNORTHCOM's Area of Responsibility (AOR) includes air, land and sea approaches and encompasses the continental United States, Canada, Mexico and the surrounding water out to approximately . It also includes the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, portions of the Caribbean region to include The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The commander of USNORTHCOM is responsible for theater security cooperation with Canada, Mexico, and The Bahamas. In May 2011, NORTHCOM was mobilized in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to provide air, ground, and logistical support. In October 2014, NORTHCOM took administrative control of Alaskan Command.


title: United States Northern Command

text: Commander, U.S. Northern Command is concurrently Commander of the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The two are co-located at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. General Ralph Eberhart was the first CDRUSNORTHCOM.


title: United States Northern Command

text: USNORTHCOM headquarters has approximately 1,200 uniformed and civilian staff. In its first period of organising in 2002–03, one priority was to hire civilian staff which could help respond to a Weapons of Mass Destruction attack and to coordinate disaster recovery.


title: United States Northern Command

text: The commander of United States Northern Command is a four-star general or admiral in the United States Armed Forces who serves as the head of all U.S. military forces within the command's geographical area of responsibility. The commander of U.S. Northern Command concurrently serves as the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and is the head of all United States and Canadian joint aerospace military operational forces, stationed within the Northern American territories. The commander of U.S. Northern Command is nominated for appointment by the President of the United States and must be confirmed by the United States Senate. The commander of U.S. Northern Command typically serves for two years.


title: United States Northern Command

text: Note: The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 stipulates that at least one deputy commander of USNORTHCOM be a National Guard general officer unless the commander is already such an officer.


title: United States Northern Command

text: Northern Command has created several classified "concept plans" (e.g. "Defense Support of Civil Authorities") that are intended to address the 15 National Planning Scenarios that NORTHCOM must be prepared to respond to.


title: United States Northern Command

text: However the GAO found that the national strategy to defend the United States is several years out of date.


title: United States Northern Command

text: NORTHCOM operates extensive domestic intelligence operations which both share and receive information from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and other agencies maintain offices at NORTHCOM and receive daily intelligence briefings. The total of 14 agencies with representatives at NORTHCOM in December 2002 included the State Department, NASA, and the Federal Aviation Administration.


title: United States Northern Command

text: Northern Command has completed several joint training exercises with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).


title: United States Northern Command

text: In Exercise Vigilant Shield 2008, Northern Command, Pacific Command, the Department of Homeland Security, and numerous law enforcement agencies across the U.S. conducted exercises to test their "response abilities against a variety of potential threats".


title: United States Northern Command

text: The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and subsequent Department of Defense policy constrains any member of the United States Army, Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps, and the National Guard under federal authority from domestically intervening in a law enforcement capacity on United States soil. Several exceptions to the law have been used in the past, including protecting the citizens' constitutional rights in the absence of state and/or local assistance, such as protecting the Little Rock Nine students in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957, and using the Insurrection Act to quell civil disorders, such as the 1992 Los Angeles riots.


title: United States Northern Command

text: The Military Commissions Act of 2006 lifted many restrictions placed on the military to support non-military authorities by the Posse Comitatus Act, however the United States Supreme Court ruled in June 2008 that significant portions of the MCA were unconstitutional. The "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" H.R. 5122 (2006) effectively nullified the limits of the Insurrection Act when it was passed; however, the bill was amended in 2008.


title: United States Northern Command

text: On 1 October 2008, the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team was assigned to U.S. Northern Command, marking the first time an active unit had been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The force will be known for the first year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, and will serve as an on-call federal response force for terrorist attacks and other natural or manmade emergencies and disasters.


title: High as Hope

text: High as Hope is the fourth studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. It was released on 29 June 2018, by Republic and Virgin EMI Records. It was preceded by the singles "Sky Full of Song" and "Hunger". "Patricia" was released as the third and final single on 10 August 2018.


title: High as Hope

text: The album was executively produced by Florence Welch herself, along with Emile Haynie. Following "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" (2015), "High as Hope" features more minimalist, stripped-down productions and explores themes of heartache, loss, family, and finding comfort in loneliness. The album received positive reviews upon release, with music critics lauding Welch's vocal delivery and personal lyricism.


title: High as Hope

text: On 18 April 2017, Nathan Willett, the frontman of Cold War Kids hinted in an interview, that the band's fourth album is in the works by expressing that he had collaborated with Welch. The news was confirmed by Welch herself on 27 May 2017, in an interview for "The Daily Telegraph". On 28 February 2018, the band's drummer, Christopher Hayden announced via Instagram that he had parted ways with the band. In March 2018, the Dutch Record Store Day website revealed that a new single by the band would be released on 12 April 2018, titled "Sky Full of Song". The listing was later removed. The single was released on 12 April 2018. The song is accompanied by a video, which was directed by AG Rojas. On 6 April 2018, the BBC announced that the band would headline the BBC Music Biggest Weekend on 26 May 2018, where the band is expected to debut new work. The band was set to perform worldwide as well, with shows scheduled throughout 2018.


title: High as Hope

text: Talking about the title and the themes explored on the album in an interview with Universal Music, Florence Welch said: "There is loneliness in this record, and there's issues, and pain, and things that I struggled with, but the overriding feeling is that I have hope about them, and that's what kinda brought me to this title; I was gonna call it "The End of Love", which I actually saw as a positive thing cause it was the end of a needy kind of love, it was the end of a love that comes from a place of lack, it's about a love that's bigger and broader, that takes so much explaining. It could sound a bit negative but I didn't really think of it that way." Welch is a credited producer for the first time in her discography, as she decided to take charge in making the music, with six months alone spent on demos.


title: High as Hope

text: Welch's lyrics deal with wanting and love, with her describing “Big God” as “obviously, an unfillable hole in the soul, but mainly about someone not replying to my text.” Intimate subjects are discussed, such as "Hunger" referencing an eating disorder in the singer's teenage years, and "The End of Love" addressing her grandmother's suicide, a topic she has previously explored on the "Ceremonials" track "Only If for a Night". Welch also created "Patricia" in dedication to her idol Patti Smith.


title: High as Hope

text: The album title is taken from a poem Welch wrote after wandering through New York City with a friend: “Heady with pagan worship/of water towers/fire escapes, ever reaching/high as hope.”


title: High as Hope

text: "High as Hope" received positive reviews from music critics upon release, with critics praising Welch's vocals, her themes, and the minimalist production. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing for "The Daily Telegraph", Neil McCormick gave the album a perfect score, stating that "Welch's singing throughout is extraordinary, shifting gears effortlessly from melancholic softness to high-powered exultation, even ululation. Every gasp, growl and fluttery trill seems perfectly placed." Roisin O'Connor of "The Independent" awarded the record a rating of four stars out of five, praising several songs, saying "'Grace' is a moving love letter to her younger sister which asks for forgiveness for her past, chaotic behaviour" and "stirring violins open 'The End of Love' like a sinister eulogy; Welch's voice comes in with gorgeously textured harmonies, unfolding elegantly as she details a finished relationship with bittersweet recollections."


title: High as Hope

text: AllMusic critic Neil Z. Yeung wrote, "Straightforward and relatably human, "High as Hope" may not be the rousing version of Welch from previous albums, but as a document of her personal growth, it's an endearing and heartfelt study of truth and self-reflection." Sputnikmusic gave the album a perfect score, writing, "The easiest and most likely path to continued success for Welch and company would have been to attempt to re-create the spellbinding magic of "Ceremonials" or the anthemic qualities of "Lungs". "High as Hope" is neither, and that makes it hands down the most forward-thinking album of Florence and the Machine's care."


title: High as Hope

text: In a less enthusiastic review, "NME" gave "High as Hope" a rating of three stars out of five and called the album "safe", stating "Stripped to the bare bones of her soul and the sentiment, her truth shines – and there's a beauty in that. The only thing holding it back is a lack of risk, but there's still so much comfort in the familiar." Similarly, "Slant Magazine" reviewer Josh Goller also gave the album three stars out of five, and said "Welch widens the song's ['Hunger's] scope from a specific personal battle with an eating disorder to a broader emphasis on universal craving for love and acceptance, but trite statements about the destructive nature of fame and drugs are emblematic of the album's overall tendency to retreat into sweeping, generalized sentiments. Welch strikes a more effective balance between the personal and the universal on 'Big God'."


title: High as Hope

text: "High as Hope" debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, selling 40,304 copies in its first week. In the United States, the album debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200 with 84,000 album-equivalent units, including 74,000 pure album sales, becoming Florence and the Machine's third US top 10 album. The album was kept out of the top spot in both countries by Drake's "Scorpion". "High as Hope" has sold 80,700 in the UK as of September 19, 2018.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. In 2019, IÉ carried 50 million passengers, up from 48 million in 2018, and a record peak.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: Until 2013 Ireland was the only European Union state that had not implemented EU Directive 91/440 and related legislation, having derogated its obligation to split train operations and infrastructure businesses, and allow open access by private companies to the rail network. A consultation on the restructuring of Iarnród Éireann took place in 2012. The derogation ended on 14 March 2013 when the company was split in 2 sectors: Railway Undertaking and Infrastructure Manager.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: At the time of its establishment, the company referred to itself as Irish Rail and adopted the four rails "IR" logo. In 1994, the company brought the Irish form of its name to the fore, introducing a logo and corporate branding based on the letters "IÉ" (Iarnród Éireann) branding and logo. Both languages remained part of the official company name ("Iarnród Éireann – Irish Rail"). In January 2013, a new logo was introduced with a new bilingual branding; it made its first appearance in early January on online timetables, before officially launching on the 21st. In late 2013 the logo was updated again with a new font.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: "InterCity" services are long-distance routes radiating mainly from Dublin. The Belfast – Dublin service, jointly operated with Northern Ireland Railways, is branded separately as "Enterprise". Dublin's two main InterCity stations are Connolly and Heuston. Intercity services run to/from Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Ennis, Galway, Waterford, Rosslare Europort, Sligo, Westport, Wexford and Ballina. Dublin's third major station, Pearse, is the terminus for much of the suburban network in the Greater Dublin area. An additional InterCity service runs from Limerick to Waterford. This service formerly operated through to Rosslare Europort but services between Waterford and Rosslare Europort ceased after the last train on 18 September 2010. Bus Éireann now operates route 370 through the affected towns as replacement transport.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: A new service began on 29 March 2010 from Limerick to Galway, as part of the Western Rail Corridor, reopening the long-closed line.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: A January 2012 national newspaper article suggested that Iarnród Éireann was expected to seek permission in the near future from the National Transport Authority to close the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line and the Limerick–Waterford line.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: The majority of "Commuter" services are based in Dublin, which has four commuter routes: Northern (to Drogheda MacBride), Western (Connolly Station or Docklands to Kilcock/M3 Parkway), South-Western (to Sallins and Naas Railway Station) and South-Eastern (to Kilcoole). See Dublin Suburban Rail for more details.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: The Cork Suburban Rail currently has three Commuter services: to Mallow and Cobh, and a third service to Midleton which became operational on a part of the disused Youghal branch line on 30 July 2009.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: Limerick Suburban Rail currently consists of two lines to Ennis and Nenagh, with shuttle services to Limerick Junction. A Commuter service operates between Galway to Oranmore and Athenry.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: Commuter trains also operate on shuttle duty for branches from the main InterCity services from Mallow to Tralee (off the Dublin – Cork route) and from Manulla Junction to Ballina (off the Dublin – Westport route), as well as acting as InterCity trains for Dublin – Rosslare and some Dublin – Sligo services, and as the aforementioned Limerick – Limerick Junction – Waterford service.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: The north–south route along Dublin's eastern coastal side is also host to DART, Ireland's only electrified heavy-rail service. The DART consists of many types of trains, the oldest and most famous one being the 8100 Class which still operates, now extensively refurbished.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: The following is a simplified table of Monday - Friday off-peak services, various irregular calling patterns have been omitted for clarity.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: Iarnród Éireann also has responsibility for running freight services on the Irish network through its Freight Division – which recorded a tonnage decrease of 19.2% in 2019, and as of 2020, there are 3 freight flows running throughout the country. This operates both Railfreight trains and a network of road haulage through various distribution nodes throughout the country. Iarnród Éireann Freight is subdivided into three sections:


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: The Enterprise route (Dublin to Belfast) is well regarded. However, it is only double track and serves both local and intermediate Commuter as well as InterCity traffic. Hence any delay has knock-on effects. Also, there is limited platform availability at Connolly Station in Dublin. There was also a persistent problem with engine overloading, as Enterprise locomotives also supplied coach power. However, since September 2012, additional power is provided by separate Mark 3 generator vans.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: The Cork-Dublin route was formerly the "premier line" of the "Great Southern and Western Railway", one of the biggest pre-CIÉ operators. Rolling stock on this route consists of Mark 4 trains, which were built in Spain, complete with DVTs for faster turn-around. 22000 Class DMUs built in South Korea came into service from early 2007 replacing older coaching stock on most other InterCity routes. These 183 carriages are described by the company as the "Greenest diesel trains in Europe".


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: The former Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD had announced that an additional 51 railcars had been ordered for the company for a planned introduction on services between Dublin, Louth, and Meath. They were placed into service in 2011/2012 but this plan was badly affected by the recession with 21 surpluses to requirements at the end of 2012.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: Although the majority of Iarnród Éireann's stations are simply named after the towns they serve, a number of stations in major towns and cities were renamed after leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, on its 50th Anniversary in 1966:


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: IÉ's Network Catering unit used to provide a trolley service of food and drink, a snack car and (on some routes) a restaurant service. It also operated a restaurant at Dún Laoghaire. According to Iarnród Éireann's annual report, the unit lost €297,000 in 2004. In 2006, Iarnród Éireann outsourced the catering on the Dublin-Belfast service to Corporate Catering Ltd, and all InterCity services were taken over by Rail Gourmet in March 2007. Rail Gourmet later withdrew from the contract and no longer provides catering for any Irish Rail services.


title: Iarnród Éireann

text: IÉ's increasing fleet usage has led to requirements being made for the procurement of additional vehicles. DART services are running with all trains formed of 4–8 cars, while 54 sets of 63 fleet of ICRs are committed to services with 56 required on Friday. To this end, IÉ plans to purchase a significant number of new ICR vehicles – an initial purchase of 41 will be made for delivery in 2021, comprising three new trains, with the remainder planned as intermediate vehicles to lengthen existing units. The deal for the new vehicles is intended to include options for up to 40 further vehicles. There are also plans for a total replacement of the existing DART fleet, which will be combined with extensions to the DART network. The framework for the DART fleet is planned for up to 600 vehicles formed into four-car and eight-car sets, split into both pure EMU and BEMU trains. For immediate fleet capacity increases, IÉ planned refurbishment of its 2700 Class DMUs, which was subsequently cancelled. Instead, IÉ is discussing the possibility of sourcing surplus DMUs from the British network, with s and s available.


title: Information asymmetry

text: In contract theory and economics, information asymmetry deals with the study of decisions in transactions where one party has more or better information than the other.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetry creates an imbalance of power in transactions, which can sometimes cause the transactions to be inefficient, causing market failure in the worst case. Examples of this problem are adverse selection, moral hazard, and monopolies of knowledge.


title: Information asymmetry

text: A common way to visualise information asymmetry is with a scale with one side being the seller and the other the buyer. When the seller has more or better information the transaction will more likely occur in the seller's favour ("the balance of power has shifted to the seller"). An example of this could be when a used car is sold, the seller is likely to have a much better understanding of the car's condition and hence its market value than the buyer, who can only estimate the market value based on the information provided by the seller and their own assessment of the vehicle. The balance of power can however also be in the hands of the buyer. When buying health insurance, the buyer is not always required to provide full details of future health risks. By not providing this information to the insurance company the buyer will pay the same premium as someone much less likely to require a payout in the future. The adjacent image illustrates the balance of power between two agents when there is perfect information. If the buyer has more information the power to manipulate the transaction will be represented by the scale leaning towards the buyers' side.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetry extends to non-economic behavior. Private firms have better information than regulators about the actions that they would take in the absence of regulation, and the effectiveness of a regulation may be undermined. International relations theory has recognized that wars may be caused by asymmetric information and that "Most of the great wars of the modern era resulted from leaders miscalculating their prospects for victory". There is asymmetric information between national leaders, wrote Jackson and Morelli, when there are differences "in what they know [i.e. believe] about each other's armaments, quality of military personnel and tactics, determination, geography, political climate, or even just about the relative probability of different outcomes" or where they have "incomplete information about the motivations of other agents".


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetries are studied in the context of principal–agent problems where they are a major cause of misinforming and is essential in every communication process. Information asymmetry is in contrast to perfect information, which is a key assumption in neo-classical economics.


title: Information asymmetry

text: In 1996, a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was awarded to James A. Mirrlees and William Vickrey for their "fundamental contributions to the economic theory of incentives under asymmetric information". This led the Nobel Committee to acknowledge the importance of information problems in economics. They later awarded another Nobel Prize in 2001 to George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Joseph E. Stiglitz for their "analyses of markets with asymmetric information".


title: Information asymmetry

text: The puzzle of information asymmetry has existed for as long as the market itself but remained largely unstudied until the post-WWII period. It is an umbrella term that can contain a vast diversity of topics.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Greek Stoics (2nd century BCE) treated the advantage that sellers derive from privileged information in the story of the Merchant of Rhodes. Accordingly, a famine had broken out on the island of Rhodes and several grain merchants in Alexandria set sail to deliver supplies. One of these merchants who arrives ahead of his competitors faces a choice: should he let Rhodians know that grain supplies are on the way or keep this knowledge to himself? Either decision will determine his profit margin. Cicero related this dilemma in "De Officiis" and agreed with Greek Stoics that the merchant had a duty to disclose. Thomas Aquinas overturned this consensus and considered price disclosure was not obligatory.


title: Information asymmetry

text: The three topics mentioned above drew on some important predecessors. Joseph Stiglitz considered the work of earlier economists, including Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Max Weber. He ultimately concludes that though these economists seemed to have an understanding of the problems of information, they largely did not consider the implications of them, and tended to minimize the impact they could have or consider them merely secondary issues.


title: Information asymmetry

text: One exception to this is the work of economist Friedrich Hayek. His work with prices as information conveying relative scarcity of goods can be noted as an early form of acknowledging information asymmetry, but with a different name.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information problems have always affected the lives of humans, yet it was not studied with any seriousness until near the 1970s when three economists fleshed out models which revolutionized the way we think about information and its interaction with the market. George Akerlof's paper "The Market for Lemons" introduced a model to help explain a variety of market outcomes when quality is uncertain. Akerlof's primary model considers the automobile market where the seller knows the exact quality of a car. In contrast, the buyer only knows the probability of whether a vehicle is good or bad (a lemon). Since the buyer pays the same price (based on their expected quality) for good cars and bad cars, sellers with high-quality cars may find the transaction unprofitable and leave, resulting in a market with a higher proportion of bad cars. The pathological path can continue as the buyer adjusts the expected quality and offers even lower prices, further driving out cars with not-so-bad quality. This results in a market failure purely driven by information asymmetry, as under perfect information, all cars can be sold according to their quality. Akerlof extends the model to explain other phenomena: Why raising the insurance price cannot facilitate seniors getting medical insurance? Why may employers rationally refuse to hire minorities? Through various applications, Akerlof developed the importance of trust in markets and highlighted the "cost of dishonesty" in insurance markets, credit markets, and developing areas. Around the same time, an economist by the name of Michael Spence wrote on the topic of job market signaling, and was introduced a work of the same name. The final topic is Stiglitz's work on the mechanism of screening. These three economists helped to further clarify a variety of economic puzzles at the time and would go on to win a Nobel Prize in 2001 for their contributions to the field. Since then, several economists have followed in their footsteps to solve more pieces of the puzzle.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Akerlof drew heavily from the work of an economist named Kenneth Arrow. Arrow, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1972, studied uncertainty in the field of medical care, among other things (Arrow 1963). His work highlighted several factors which became important to Akerlof's studies. First, is the idea of moral hazard. By being insured, customers may be inclined to be less careful than they otherwise would without insurance because they know the costs will be covered. Thus, an incentive to be less careful and increase risk exists. Second, Arrow studied the business models of insurance companies and noted that higher-risk individuals are pooled with lower-risk individuals, but both are covered at the same cost. Third, Arrow noted the role of trust in the relationship between doctor and patient. Medical providers only get paid when a patient is sick, and not when a person is healthy. Because of this, there is a great incentive for doctors to not provide the quality of care they could. A patient must defer to the doctor and trust that the doctor is using their knowledge to their best advantage to provide the patient with the best care. Thus, a relationship of trust is established. According to Arrow, the doctor relies on the social obligation of trust to sell their services to the public, even though the patients do not or cannot inspect the quality of a doctor's work. Last, he notes how this unique relationship demands that high levels of education and certification be attained by doctors in order to maintain the quality of medical service provided by doctors. These four ideas from Arrow contributed largely to Akerlof's work.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Spence is unique among the three authors because his work was more innovative and original. Thus, he did not draw on significant scholarly work before him. In his seminal paper, Spence cited no sources for his inspiration. However, he did acknowledge Kenneth Arrow and Thomas Schelling as helpful in discussing ideas during his pursuit of knowledge. He was the first to coin the term "signaling", and encouraged other economists to follow in his footsteps because he believed to have introduced an important concept in economics.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Most of Stiglitz's academic inspirations were from his contemporaries. Stiglitz primarily attributes his thinking to articles by Spence, Akerlof, and a few earlier works by him and his co-author Michael Rothschild (Rothschild and Stiglitz 1976), each discussing various aspects of screening and the role of education. Stiglitz's work was a complement to the works of Spence and Akerlof and thus drew from some of the same inspirations from Arrow as Akerlof had.


title: Information asymmetry

text: The discussion of information asymmetry came to the forefront of economics in the 1970s when Akerlof introduced the idea of a "market for lemons" in a paper by the same name (Akerlof 1970). In this paper, Akerlof introduced a fundamental concept that certain sellers of used cars have more knowledge than the buyers, and this can lead to what is known as "adverse selection". This idea may be one of the most important in the history and understanding of asymmetric information in economics.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Stiglitz expanded upon the ideas of Spence and Akerlof by introducing an economic function of information asymmetry called "screening". Stiglitz's work in this area referred to the market for insurance, which is rife with information asymmetry problems to be studied.


title: Information asymmetry

text: These three economists' simple yet revolutionary work birthed a movement in economics that changed how the field viewed the market forever. No longer can perfect information be assumed in some problems, as in most neoclassical models. Information asymmetry began to grow in prevalence in academic literature. In 1996, a Nobel Prize was given to James Mirrlees and William Vickrey for their research back in the 1970s and 1970s on incentive problems when facing uncertainty under asymmetric information. The impact of such academic work can go unrecognized for decades. Differing from the topics presented by Akerlof, Spence and Stiglitz, Mirrlees and Vickrey focused on how income taxation and auctions can be used as a mechanism to draw out information from market participants efficiently. This award marked the importance of information asymmetry in economics. It began a greater discussion on the topic that later led the Nobel committee to award three economists again in 2001 for significant contributions to the aforementioned topics.


title: Information asymmetry

text: These economists continued after the 1970s to contribute to the field of economics and develop their theories, and they have all had significant impacts. Akerlof's work had more impact than just the market for used cars. The pooling effect in the used car market also happens in the employment market for minorities.


title: Information asymmetry

text: One of the most notable impacts of Akerlof's work is its impact on Keynesian theory. Akerlof argues that the Keynesian theory of unemployment being voluntary implies that quits would rise with unemployment. He argues against his critics by drawing upon reasoning based on psychology and sociology rather than pure economics. He supplemented this with an argument that people do not always behave rationally, but rather information asymmetry leads to only "near rationality", which causes people to deviate from optimal behavior regarding employment practices.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Akerlof continues to champion behavioral economics, that these breaches into the fields of psychology and sociology are profound extensions of information asymmetry.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Stiglitz wrote that the trio's work has created a substantial wave in the field of economics. He notes how he explored the economies of third-world countries, and they seemed to exhibit behavior consistent with their theories. He noted how other economists have referred to gaining information as a transaction cost. Stiglitz also attempts to narrow down the sources of information asymmetries. He ties it back to the nature of each individual having information that others do not. Stiglitz also mentions how information asymmetry can be overcome. He believes there are two crucial things to consider: first, the incentives, and second, the mechanisms for overcoming information asymmetry. He argues that the incentives will always be there because markets are inherently informationally inefficient. If there is an opportunity to profit from gaining knowledge, people will do so. If there is no profit to be had, then people will not do so.


title: Information asymmetry

text: The idea of information asymmetry has also had a significant effect on management research. It continues to offer additional improvements and opportunities as scholars continue their work.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetry models assume one party possesses some information that other parties have no access to. Some asymmetric information models can also be used in situations where at least one party can enforce, or effectively retaliate for breaches of, certain parts of an agreement, whereas the other(s) cannot.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Akerlof suggested that information asymmetry leads to adverse selections. In adverse selection models, the ignorant party lacks of has differing information while negotiating an agreed understanding of or contract to the transaction. An example of adverse selection is when people who are high-risk are more likely to buy insurance because the insurance company cannot effectively discriminate against them, usually due to lack of information about the particular individual's risk but also sometimes by force of law or other constraints.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Credence Goods fits in the adverse selection model of information asymmetry. These are goods where the buyer lacks the knowledge even after a product is consumed to disguise the product's quality or where the buyer is unaware of the quality needed. An example of this are complex medical treatments such as heart surgery.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Moral hazard occurs when the ignorant party lacks information about the performance of the agreed-upon transaction or lacks the ability to retaliate for a breach of the agreement. An example of moral hazard is when people are more likely to behave recklessly after becoming insured, either because the insurer cannot observe this behavior or cannot effectively retaliate against it, for example, by failing to renew the insurance.


title: Information asymmetry

text: In the model of monopolies of knowledge, the ignorant party has no right to access all the critical information about a situation for decision making. This type of information asymmetry can be seen in government. An example of monopolies of knowledge is that in some enterprises, only high-level management can fully access the corporate information provided by a third party, while lower-level employees are required to make important decisions with only limited information provided to them.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Countermeasures have widely been discussed to reduce information asymmetry. The classic paper on adverse selection is George Akerlof's "The Market for Lemons" from 1970, which brought informational issues to the forefront of economic theory. Exploring signaling and screening, the paper discusses two primary solutions to this problem. A similar concept is moral hazard, which differs from adverse selection at the timing level. While adverse selection affects parties "before" the interaction, moral hazard affects parties "after" the interaction. Regulatory instruments such as mandatory information disclosure can also reduce information asymmetry.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Michael Spence originally proposed the idea of signalling. He suggested that in a situation with information asymmetry, it is possible for people to signal their type, thus believably transferring information to the other party and resolving the asymmetry.


title: Information asymmetry

text: This idea was initially studied in the context of matching in the job market. An employer is interested in hiring a new employee who is "skilled in learning". Of course, all prospective employees will claim to be "skilled in learning", but only they know if they really are. This is an information asymmetry.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Spence proposes, for example, that going to college can function as a credible signal of an ability to learn. Assuming that people who are skilled in learning can finish college more easily than people who are unskilled, then by finishing college, the skilled people signal their skill to prospective employers. No matter how much or how little they may have learned in college or what they studied, finishing functions as a signal of their capacity for learning. However, finishing college may merely function as a signal of their ability to pay for college; it may signal the willingness of individuals to adhere to orthodox views, or it may signal a willingness to comply with authority.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Signalling theory can be used in e-commerce research. Information asymmetry in e-commerce comes from information distortion that leads to the buyer's misunderstanding of the seller's true characteristics before the contract. Mavlanova, Benbunan-Fich and Koufaris (2012) noticed that signaling theory explains the relation between signals and qualities, illustrating why some signals are trustworthy, and others are not. In e-commerce, signals deliver information about the characteristics of the seller. For instance, high-quality sellers are able to show their identity to buyers by using signs and logos, and then buyers check these signals to evaluate the credibility and validity of a seller's qualities. The study of Mavlanova, Benbunan-Fich and Koufaris (2012) also confirmed that signal usage is different between low-quality and high-quality online sellers. Low-quality sellers are more likely to avoid using expensive, easy-to-verify signals and tend to use fewer signals than do high-quality sellers. Thus, signals help reduce information asymmetry.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Joseph E. Stiglitz pioneered the theory of screening. In this way, the underinformed party can induce the other party to reveal their information. They can provide a menu of choices in such a way that the choice depends on the private information of the other party.


title: Information asymmetry

text: The side of asymmetry can occur on either buyer or seller. For example, sellers with better information than buyers include used-car salespeople, mortgage brokers and loan originators, stockbrokers and real estate agents. Alternatively, situations where the buyer usually has better information than the seller include estate sales as specified in a last will and testament, life insurance, or sales of old art pieces without a prior professional assessment of their value. This situation was first described by Kenneth J. Arrow in an article on health care in 1963.


title: Information asymmetry

text: George Akerlof, in "The Market for Lemons" notices that, in such a market, the average value of the commodity tends to go down, even for those of perfectly good quality. This is similar to the monetary principle of Gresham's law, which states that poor quality money is better than good money. Because of information asymmetry, unscrupulous sellers can sell "forgeries" (like replica goods such as watches) and defraud the buyer. Meanwhile, buyers usually do not have enough information to distinguish lemons from quality goods. As a result, many people not willing to risk getting ripped off will avoid certain types of purchases or will not spend as much for a given item. Akerlof demonstrates that it is even possible for the market to decay to the point of nonexistence.


title: Information asymmetry

text: An example of adverse selection and information asymmetry causing market failure is the market for health insurance. Policies usually group subscribers together, where people can leave, but no one can join after it is set. As health conditions are realized over time, information involving the health costs will arise, and low-risk policy holders will realize the mismatch in the premiums and health conditions. Due to this, healthy policyholders are incentivized to leave and reapply to get a cheaper policy that matches their expected health costs, which causes the premiums to increase. As high-risk policy holders are more dependent on insurance, they are stuck with the higher premium costs as the group size reduces which causes premiums to increase even further. This cycle repeats until the high-risk policy holders also find similar health policies with cheaper premiums, in which the initial group disappears. This concept is known as the death spiral and has been researched as early as 1988.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Akerlof also suggests different methods with which information asymmetry can be reduced. One of those instruments that can be used to reduce the information asymmetry between market participants is intermediary market institutions called counteracting institutions, for instance, a guarantees for goods. By providing a guarantee, the buyer in the transaction can use extra time to obtain the same amount of information about the good as the seller before the buyer takes on the complete risk of the good being a "lemon". Other market mechanisms that help reduce the imbalance in information include brand-names, chains and franchising that guarantee the buyer a threshold quality level. These mechanisms also let owners of high quality products get the full value of the goods. These counteracting institutions then keep the market size from reducing to zero.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Warranties are utilised as a method of verifying the credibility of a product, and are a guarantee issued by the seller promising to replace or repair the good should the quality not be sufficient. Product warranties are often requested from buying parties or financial lenders and have been used as a form of mediation dating back to the Babylonian era. Warranties can come in the form of insurance and can also come at the expense of the buyer. The implementation of "lemon laws" has eradicated the effect of information asymmetry upon customers who have received a faulty item. Essentially, this involves the customers returning a defective product regardless of circumstances within a certain time period.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Both signaling and screening resemble voluntary information disclosure, where the party having more information, for their own best interest, use various measures to inform the other party. However, voluntary information disclosure is not always feasible. Regulators can thus take active measures to facilitate the spread of information. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated Regulation Fair Disclosure (RFD) so that companies must faithfully disclose material information to investors. The policy has reduced information asymmetry, reflected in the lower trading costs.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Most models in traditional contract theory assume that asymmetric information is exogenously given. Yet, some authors have also studied contract-theoretic models in which asymmetric information arises endogenously because agents decide whether or not to gather information. Specifically, Crémer and Khalil (1992) and Crémer, Khalil, and Rochet (1998a) study an agent's incentives to acquire private information after a principal has offered a contract. In a laboratory experiment, Hoppe and Schmitz (2013) have provided empirical support for the theory. Several further models have been developed which study variants of this setup. For instance, when the agent has not gathered information at the outset, does it make a difference whether or not he learns the information later on, before production starts? What happens if the information can be gathered already before a contract is offered? What happens if the principal observes the agent's decision to acquire information? Finally, the theory has been applied in several contexts, such as public-private partnerships and vertical integration.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetry within societies can be created and maintained in several ways. Firstly, media outlets, due to their ownership structure or political influences, may fail to disseminate certain viewpoints or choose to engage in propaganda campaigns. Furthermore, an educational system relying on substantial tuition fees can generate information imbalances between the poor and the affluent. Imbalances can also be fortified by specific organizational and legal measures, such as document classification procedures or non-disclosure clauses. Exclusive information networks that are operational around the world further contribute to the asymmetry. Lastly, mass surveillance helps the political and industrial leaders to amass large volumes of information, which is typically not shared with the rest of society.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Zavolokina, Schlegel, and Schwabe (2020) state that Information asymmetry makes buyers and sellers distrust each other, which leads to opportunistic behaviour and may even lead to complete break down of the market. At the same time, lower quality provision in markets is also one of the consequences, as sellers do not get benefits enough to cover their production costs of providing higher quality products.


title: Information asymmetry

text: A substantial portion of research in the field of accounting can be framed in terms of information asymmetry, since accounting involves the transmission of an enterprise's information from those who have it to those who need it for decision-making. Bartov and Bodnar (1996) mentioned that the different accounting methods used by enterprises can lead to information asymmetry. For instance aggressively recognising revenue can result in preparers of financial statements having a much better understanding of the levels of future revenue then those reading the statements. Likewise, in finance literature, the acknowledgment of information asymmetry between organizations challenged the Modigliani–Miller theorem, which states that the valuation of a firm is unaffected by its financial structure. It challenges the theorem as one of the key assumptions is that investors would have the same information as a corporation. If there is not symmetry in information corporations can leverage their capital structure to get the most out of their valuation. Information asymmetry shed light on the importance of aligning interests of managers with those of stakeholders. As managers with significant power from information may make decision based on their own interest as opposed to the companies. When the level of information asymmetry and associated monitoring cost is high, firms tend to rely less on board monitoring and more on incentive alignment. Various measures are used to align interest of managers to stop them from abusing their power from information asymmetry such as compensating based on performance using a bonus structure. This field of study is referred to as agency theory. Furthermore, financial economists apply information asymmetry in studies of differentially informed financial market participants (insiders, stock analysts, investors, etc.) or in the cost of finance for MFIs.


title: Information asymmetry

text: The effect of blogging as a source of information asymmetry as well as a tool reduce asymmetric information has also been well studied. Blogging on financial websites provides bottom-up communication among investors, analysts, journalists, and academics, as financial blogs help prevent people in charge from withholding financial information from their company and the general public. Compared to traditional forms of media such as newspapers and magazines, blogging provides an easy-to-access venue for information. A 2013 study by Gregory Saxton and Ashley Anker concluded that more participation on blogging sites from credible individuals reduces information asymmetry between corporate insiders, additionally reducing the risk of insider trading.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Game theory can be used to analyse asymmetric information. A large amount of the foundational ideas in game theory builds on the framework of information asymmetry. In simultaneous games, each player has no prior knowledge of an opponent's move. In sequential games, players may observe all or part of the opponent's moves. One example of information asymmetry is one player can observe the opponent's past activities while the other player cannot. Therefore, the existence and level of information asymmetry in a game determines the dynamics of the game. James Fearon in his study of the explanations for war in a game theoretic context notices that war could be a consequence of information asymmetry – two countries will not reach a non-violent settlement because they have incentives to distort the amount of military resources they possess.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Contract theory provides insights into how various economic agents can enter contractual arrangements in situation of unequal levels of information. The development of contract theory is based on assuming its parties possess different levels of information on the contract's subject. For instance, in a road construction contract, a civil engineer may have more information on the various inputs required to undertake the project, than the other parties. Through contract theory, economic agents gain insights on how they can exploit information available to them, to enter beneficial contractual arrangements. The impact information asymmetry causes among parties with competing interests, such as games, has contributed to game theory. In no game do its players have complete information about each other; most importantly, no player knows the strategy the others intends to use to realize a win. This information asymmetry, together with the competing interests have resulted in the development of game theory (which seeks to provides insights as to how parties caught up in a situation where they are required to compete under a set of rules, can maximize their expected outcomes).


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetry occurs in situations where some parties have more information regarding an issue than others. It is considered a major cause of market failure. The contribution of information asymmetry to market failure arises from the fact that it impairs with the free hand which is expected to guide how modern markets work. For example, the stock market forms a major avenue through which publicly traded entities can raise their capital. The operation of stock markets across the world, is carried in a way that ensures current and potential investors have the same level of information about the stocks or any other securities that may be listed in that market. That level of information symmetry helps to ensure similar conditions to all parties in the market, which in turn helps to ensure the securities listed in those markets trade at fair value. However, cases of information sometimes arise, when certain parties obtain information that is not in the public domain. This can create market return abnormalities, such as an abrupt surge or decline in a security.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Tshilidzi Marwala and Evan Hurwitz in their study of the relationship between information asymmetry and artificial intelligence observed that there is a reduced level of information asymmetry between two artificial intelligent agents than between two human agents. As a consequence, when these artificial intelligent agents engage in financial markets it reduces arbitrage opportunities making markets more efficient. The study also revealed that as the number of artificial intelligent agents in the market increase, the volume of trades in the market will decrease. This is primarily because information asymmetry of the perceptions of value of goods and services is the basis of trade.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetry has been applied in a variety of ways in management research ranging from conceptualizations of information asymmetry to building resolutions to reduce it. A 2013 study by Schmidt and Keil has revealed that the presence of private information asymmetry within firms influences normal business activities. Firms that have a more concrete understanding of their resources can use this information to gauge their advantage over competitors. In Ozeml, Reuer and Gulati's 2013 study, they found that 'different information' was an additional source of information asymmetry in venture capitalist and alliance networks; when different team members bring diverse, specialized knowledge, values and outlooks towards a common strategic decision, the lack of homogeneous information distribution among the members leads to inefficient decision making.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Information asymmetry problems can be addressed by management through several approaches. First, is the usage of incentives to encourage the disclosure and sharing information. An example of this is partnering specifically with companies that disclose relatively more information. Second, is through precommitment, where actions are undertaken at the present to ensure future commitments. Third, is the usage of an information intermediary in which an intermediary is used to gather and relay information between two parties. A common example of this are financial analysts that gather information from financial statements of a company, and uses it to create reports and advice for potential investors and clients. Fourth, is the usage of monitoring and reward. Monitoring allows management to confirm information that was previously uncertain, such as performance and behavior. Monitoring can also be used alongside other incentives such as rewarding for performance.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Online advertising is a dominant form of advertising, and a potential source of information asymmetry. Online advertising consists of utilities(a good) being encoded into a message received by a customer who decodes the message, making a purchasing decision. Firms' messages are tailored to specific goals and intentions, and can be a source of information asymmetry due to interpretation, or intent. The nature of the internet and prevalence of social media in society has given firms opportunities to create promotional content in a less passive way than other forms of advertising. 'Noise' represents any techniques that are used with the intent of obstructing, altering, or blocking the interpretation of the message by the receiver. This can increase the amount of information asymmetry in a transaction, as the buyer may not understand the product to its fullest extent, even if they believe to fully understand the message being sent to them.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Firms communicate to the virtual marketplace through online advertising, and as such the feedback of consumers feeling manipulated or feeling the presence of information asymmetry may be indicative of the lack of transparency by a firm. Highly advertised and strongly promoted items are generally more likely to be bought by customers, even if the product is inferior to less advertised competition, introducing adverse selection. The power of the internet also changes how consumers deal with information asymmetry, as they have the means to find vast amounts of information about products with relatively little effort. While a consumer can use this power to assist their research to find a product that is not being marketed maliciously, this decision is made due to information asymmetry, not due to the customer being perfectly rational.


title: Information asymmetry

text: Some consumers are aware of the usage of strategies and techniques by firms to advertise and influence their media consumption, however do not necessarily alter their trust in the source of the information accordingly. Online advertising that appears trustworthy but can be malicious in intent can still be trusted by consumers, despite the information asymmetry, even if consumers themselves identify as critical of the medium. Social media personalities, much like other celebrities, also have influence over consumers who would otherwise consider themselves dissuaded by the advertising, providing firms another method of aggressive advertising with potential information asymmetry.


title: History of measurement

text: The earliest recorded systems of weights and measures originate in the 3rd or 4th millennium BC. Even the very earliest civilizations needed measurement for purposes of agriculture, construction and trade. Early standard units might only have applied to a single community or small region, with every area developing its own standards for lengths, areas, volumes and masses. Often such systems were closely tied to one field of use, so that volume measures used, for example, for dry grains were unrelated to those for liquids, with neither bearing any particular relationship to units of length used for measuring cloth or land. With development of manufacturing technologies, and the growing importance of trade between communities and ultimately across the Earth, standardized weights and measures became critical. Starting in the 18th century, modernized, simplified and uniform systems of weights and measures were developed, with the fundamental units defined by ever more precise methods in the science of metrology. The discovery and application of electricity was one factor motivating the development of standardized internationally applicable units.


title: History of measurement

text: The comparison of the dimensions of buildings with the descriptions of contemporary writers is another source of information. An interesting example of this is the comparison of the dimensions of the Greek Parthenon with the description given by Plutarch from which a fairly accurate idea of the size of the Attic foot is obtained. Because of the comparative volume of artifacts and documentation, much more is known today about the state-sanctioned measures of large, advanced societies than about those of smaller societies or about the informal measures that often coexisted with official ones throughout history. In some cases, there are only plausible theories and different interpretations can be matched to the evidences.


title: History of measurement

text: It is possible to group official measurement systems for large societies into historical systems that are relatively stable over time, including: the Babylonian system, the Egyptian system, the Phileterian system of the Ptolemaic age, the Olympic system of Greece, the Roman system, the British system, and the metric system.


title: History of measurement

text: The earliest known uniform systems of weights and measures seem all to have been created at some time in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC among the ancient peoples of Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, and perhaps also Elam (in Iran) as well.


title: History of measurement

text: Early Babylonian and Egyptian records and the Hebrew Bible indicate that length was first measured with the forearm, hand, or finger and that time was measured by the periods of the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies. When it was necessary to compare the capacities of containers such as gourds or clay or metal vessels, they were filled with plant seeds which were then counted to measure the volumes. When means for weighing were invented, seeds and stones served as standards. For instance, the carat, still used as a unit for gems, was derived from the carob seed.


title: History of measurement

text: The Egyptian cubit, the Indus Valley units of length referred to above and the Mesopotamian cubit were used in the 3rd millennium BC and are the earliest known units used by ancient peoples to measure length. The units of length used in ancient India included the dhanus, or dhanush (bow), the krosa (cry, or cow-call) and the yojana (stage).


title: History of measurement

text: The common cubit was the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was divided into the span of the hand or the length between the tip of little finger to the tip of the thumb (one-half cubit), the palm or width of the hand (one sixth), and the digit or width of the middle finger (one twenty-fourth). The Royal Cubit, which was a standard cubit enhanced by an extra palm—thus 7 palms or 28 digits long—was used in constructing buildings and monuments and in surveying in ancient Egypt. The inch, foot, and yard evolved from these units through a complicated transformation not yet fully understood. Some believe they evolved from cubic measures; others believe they were simple proportions or multiples of the cubit. In whichever case, the Greeks and Romans inherited the foot from the Egyptians. The Roman foot (~296 mm) was divided into both 12 "unciae" (inches) (~24.7 mm) and 16 digits (~18.5 mm). The Romans also introduced the "mille passus" (1000 paces) or double steps, the pace being equal to five Roman feet (~1480 mm). The Roman mile of 5000 feet (1480 m) was introduced into England during the occupation. Queen Elizabeth I (reigned from 1558 to 1603) changed, by statute, the mile to 5280 feet (~1609 m) or 8 furlongs, a furlong being 40 rod (unit)s (~201 m) of 5.5 yards (~5.03 m) each.


title: History of measurement

text: The introduction of the yard (0.9144 m) as a unit of length came later, but its origin is not definitely known. Some believe the origin was the double cubit, others believe that it originated from cubic measure. Whatever its origin, the early yard was divided by the binary method into 2, 4, 8, and 16 parts called the half-yard, span, finger, and nail. The association of the yard with the "gird" or circumference of a person's waist or with the distance from the tip of the nose to the end of the thumb of King Henry I (reigned 1100–1135) are probably standardizing actions, since several yards were in use in Britain.


title: History of measurement

text: There were also the Rod, Pole, Perch and Thumb for measurements of length. The following table lists the equivalents.


title: History of measurement

text: The grain was the earliest unit of mass and is the smallest unit in the apothecary, avoirdupois, Tower, and troy systems. The early unit was a grain of wheat or barleycorn used to weigh the precious metals silver and gold. Larger units preserved in stone standards were developed that were used as both units of mass and of monetary currency. The pound was derived from the mina (unit) used by ancient civilizations. A smaller unit was the shekel, and a larger unit was the talent. The magnitude of these units varied from place to place. The Babylonians and Sumerians had a system in which there were 60 shekels in a mina and 60 minas in a talent. The Roman talent consisted of 100 libra (pound) which were smaller in magnitude than the mina. The troy pound (~373.2 g) used in England and the United States for monetary purposes, like the Roman pound, was divided into 12 ounces, but the Roman uncia (ounce) was smaller. The carat is a unit for measuring gemstones that had its origin in the carob seed, which later was standardized at 1/144 ounce and then 0.2 gram.


title: History of measurement

text: Goods of commerce were originally traded by number or volume. When weighing of goods began, units of mass based on a volume of grain or water were developed. The diverse magnitudes of units having the same name, which still appear today in our dry and liquid measures, could have arisen from the various commodities traded. The larger avoirdupois pound for goods of commerce might have been based on volume of water which has a higher bulk density than grain.


title: History of measurement

text: The stone, quarter, hundredweight, and ton were larger units of mass used in Britain. Today only the stone continues in customary use for measuring personal body weight. The present stone is 14 pounds (~6.35 kg), but an earlier unit appears to have been 16 pounds (~7.25 kg). The other units were multiples of 2, 8, and 160 times the stone, or 28, 112, and 2240 pounds (~12.7 kg, 50.8 kg, 1016 kg), respectively. The hundredweight was approximately equal to two talents. The ton of 2240 pounds is called the "long ton". The "short ton" is equal to 2000 pounds (~907 kg). A tonne (t) is equal to 1000 kg.


title: History of measurement

text: The division of the circle into 360 degrees and the day into hours, minutes, and seconds can be traced to the Babylonians who had sexagesimal system of numbers. The 360 degrees may have been related to a year of 360 days. Many other systems of measurement divided the day differently -- counting hours, decimal time, etc. Other calendars divided the year differently.


title: History of measurement

text: Decimal numbers are an essential part of the metric system, with only one base unit and multiples created on the decimal base, the figures remain the same. This simplifies calculations. Although the Indians used decimal numbers for mathematical computations, it was Simon Stevin who in 1585 first advocated the use of decimal numbers for everyday purposes in his booklet "De Thiende" (old Dutch for 'the tenth'). He also declared that it would only be a matter of time before decimal numbers were used for currencies and measurements. His notation for decimal fractions was clumsy, but this was overcome with the introduction of the decimal point, generally attributed to Bartholomaeus Pitiscus who used this notation in his trigonometrical tables (1595).


title: History of measurement

text: In 1670, Gabriel Mouton published a proposal that was in essence similar to John Wilkins' proposal for a universal measure, except that his base unit of length would have been 1/1000 of a minute of arc (about 1.852 m) of geographical latitude. He proposed calling this unit the virga. Rather than using different names for each unit of length, he proposed a series of names that had prefixes, rather like the prefixes found in SI.


title: History of measurement

text: In 1790, Thomas Jefferson submitted a report to the United States Congress in which he proposed the adoption of a decimal system of coinage and of weights and measures. He proposed calling his base unit of length a "foot" which he suggested should be either or of the length of a pendulum that had a period of one second – that is or of the "standard" proposed by John Wilkins over a century previously. This would have equated to 11.755 English inches (29.8 cm) or 13.06 English inches (33.1 cm). Like Wilkins, the names that he proposed for multiples and subunits of his base units of measure were the names of units of measure that were in use at the time. The great interest in geodesy during this era, and the measurement system ideas that developed, influenced how the continental US was surveyed and parceled. The story of how Jefferson's full vision for the new measurement system came close to displacing the Gunter chain and the traditional acre, but ended up not doing so, is explored in Andro Linklater's "Measuring America".


title: History of measurement

text: The metric system was first described in 1668 and officially adopted by France in 1799. Over nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became the dominant system worldwide, although several countries, including the United States, China, and the United Kingdom continue to use their customary units. Among the numerous customary systems, many have been adapted to become an integer multiple of a related metric unit: The Scandinavian mile is now defined as 10 km, the Chinese jin is now defined as 0.5 kg, and the Dutch ons is now defined as 100 g.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: The 9K34 Strela-3 (, 'arrow', NATO reporting name: SA-14 Gremlin) is a man-portable air defense missile system (MANPADS) developed in the Soviet Union as a response to the poor performance of the earlier 9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail) system. The missile was largely based on the earlier Strela 2, and thus development proceeded rapidly. The new weapon was accepted into service in the Soviet Army in January 1974.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: The most significant change over the Strela 2 was the introduction of an all-new infra-red homing seeker head. The new seeker worked on FM modulation (con-scan) principle, which is less vulnerable to jamming and decoy flares than the earlier AM (spin-scan) seekers, which were easily fooled by flares and even the most primitive infrared jammers. The new seeker also introduced detector element cooling in the form of a pressurized nitrogen bottle attached to the launcher.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: The effect of cooling was to expand the seeker's lead sulphide detector element's sensitivity range to longer wavelengths (slightly over 4 μm as opposed to 2.8 μm of uncooled PbS elements). In practice this made possible the tracking of cooler targets over longer ranges, and enabled forward-hemisphere engagement of jets under favourable circumstances. The seeker also had better tracking rate, enabling the missile to track maneuvering of fast and approaching targets.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: A negative side effect from the aforementioned improvements was increased missile weight, which caused a slight decrease in the kinematic performance of the original Strela-2 (SA-7). Against relatively slow, low-altitude battlefield air threats the overall effectiveness was much improved.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: On 22 November 2003 an Airbus A300 cargo plane was hit by a Strela-3 missile after takeoff from Baghdad International Airport, but managed to land safely despite losing hydraulic power.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: On 6 May 2006, a British Westland Lynx AH.7 of the Royal Navy from 847 Squadron was shot down with a Strela-3 over Basra, killing five crewmen and crashing into a house.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: During the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993), a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by a Georgian Army SA-14 on December 14, 1992, resulting in the death of 3 crew and 58 passengers, most of them Russian refugees. A Georgian Air Force Su-25 was shot down over Nizhnaya Eshera on 4 July 1993 by SA-14, and several other aircraft on both sides may have been shot down by SA-14s.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: A British Sea Harrier FRS1 of 801 Naval Air Squadron, operating from aircraft carrier on 16 April 1994, was shot down during its attack on two Serbian T-55 tanks in Bosnia. The pilot, Lieutenant Nick Richardson, ejected and landed in territory controlled by friendly Bosniaks.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: A Zimbabwe Air Force Il-76 was shot down by Congolese rebels using an SA-14 on 11 October 1998 during the Second Congo War, resulting in the death of 40 troops and crew.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: SA-14s used by the Northern Alliance are credited with having shot down 8 Taliban MiG-21 and Su-22 fighters during the Taliban's 2000 offensive against Taloqan.


title: 9K34 Strela-3

text: A SA-14 (9K34 Strela-3) MANPADS was found during Operation Claw (2019-2020) in June 2019 in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq belonging to the PKK.