text:
Exclusive: The Pentagon's Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed
In all, at least a mind-boggling $21 trillion of Pentagon financial transactions could not be traced, says one source.
By Dave Lindorff and cross-posted from The Nation
In November 15, Ernst & Young and other private firms that were hired to audit the Pentagon announced that they could not complete the job. Congress had ordered an independent audit of the Department of Defense, the government's largest discretionary cost center—the Pentagon receives 54 cents out of every dollar in federal appropriations—after the Pentagon failed for decades to audit itself. The firms concluded, however, that the DoD's financial records were riddled with so many bookkeeping deficiencies, irregularities, and errors that a reliable audit was simply impossible.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan tried to put the best face on things, telling reporters, "We failed the audit, but we never expected to pass it." Shanahan suggested that the DoD should get credit for attempting an audit, saying, "It was an audit on a $2.7 trillion organization, so the fact that we did the audit is substantial." The truth, though, is that the DoD was dragged kicking and screaming to this audit by bipartisan frustration in Congress, and the result, had this been a major corporation, likely would have been a crashed stock.
As Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, a frequent critic of the DoD's financial practices, said on the Senate floor in September 2017, the Pentagon's long-standing failure to conduct a proper audit reflects "twenty-six years of hard-core foot-dragging" on the part of the DoD, where "internal resistance to auditing the books runs deep." In 1990, Congress passed the Chief Financial Officers Act, which required all departments and agencies of the federal government to develop auditable accounting systems and submit to annual audits. Since then, every department and agency has come into compliance—except the Pentagon.
Now, a Nation investigation has uncovered an explanation for the Pentagon's foot-dragging: For decades, the DoD's leaders and accountants have been perpetrating a gigantic, unconstitutional accounting fraud, deliberately cooking the books to mislead the Congress and drive the DoD's budgets ever higher, regardless of military necessity…
November 30, 2018 Don QuijonesBig, Bad Brother, Cold War 2.0, Enron Accounting, United States, White Collar Grime
2 thoughts on "Exclusive: The Pentagon's Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed"
johnbarleycorn12
Reblogged this on John Barleycorn and commented:
No accountability whatsoever.
Ronnie Bell
No lost, not mising. It's in a piggy bank and the US Government dips in to it. Watched a vid on USA watchdog. Fella by the name of Holter. (Not sure.)
This explains why the jets are worn out. Equipment failures, reduced training chicks at sea ramming cargo ships etc. Can not win a war, the list goes on and on.
The US military gets the greatest cash budget on earth…ON PAPER. In reality the country going broke and they will just abandon the 800+ foreign bases and go quietly home.
Putin knows it, China and everyone else knows it.. Hense the back chat from "shit holes."
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Beautiful beaches, picturesque coastal villages, lots of sunshine and many good restaurants characterise this region. A holiday in one of our carefully selected holiday homes with private pool will not disappoint you.
Spain is a wonderful and affordable holiday destination. Eating out here, for example, is even more fun than usually since your meal won´t be spoiled at the end when the waiter brings you the check. Sports lovers and active people will find loads of things to do (see links below). Also theme parks for children are all around so that everyone has the best holiday ever. In some cases Matinina holiday rentals can also arrange discounted tickets for example for the water parks.
Trips to the villages in the area are a must, but do not forget the very beautiful cities of Valencia and Alicante which are only 1 hour´s driving away from our homes. By the way, did you know that the Costa Blanca owes its name to the beautiful white almond blossom that blooms around the month of February?
Do you have a question about a holiday home or this area? We would love to help and advise you!


Americans recently passed a milestone when federal officials reported that water use across the nation had reached its lowest level in more than 45 years: good news for the environment, great news in times of drought and a major victory for conservation.
What was surprising in the U.S. Geological Survey report released last week was how little of the 13% decline in national water usage was due to the public cutting back.
In drought-stricken areas, such as California and other states across the West, consumers are used to frequent warnings about the need to save water. Dry public fountains, limits on lawn watering and official requests for shorter showers have all been aimed at reducing water use at a time when reservoirs are shrinking and streams are running dry.
But it turns out that the public reduced water use by only about 5% from 2005 to 2010, the most recent period measured by the USGS.
The overwhelming savings came from big-scale industrial uses, government investigators found.
Molly Maupin, USGS hydrologist and lead author of the latest water survey, said about 75% of the decline in overall water usage is attributable to changes in electricity generation, and an additional 20% is due to new efficiencies in irrigation.
"Irrigation withdrawals in the United States continued to decline since 2005, and more croplands were reported as using higher-efficiency irrigation systems in 2010," Maupin said. "Shifts toward more sprinkler and micro-irrigation systems nationally and declining withdrawals in the West have contributed to a drop in the national average."
Still, the 5% reduction in public water use is important because it happened even as the population increased by about 4% and the number of people who had access to public water grew.
Per capita use declined to 89 gallons per day in 2010 from 100 gallons in 2005.
"Public supply's decline was significant because it was the first time we have seen that," said Maupin, who cautioned that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons for the decrease. "We are reluctant to say cause and effect because there are so many variables. Surely there is some level of conservation," she said of efforts to curb personal use. "We don't know how much."
In any case, industrial water use is key to understanding the overall decline.
In some cases, manufacturers have adopted techniques such as recycling of water to help lower costs. The 2007-09 recession brought downturns in production, and subsequent reductions in the amount of water needed to cool machines.
A crucial factor, the USGS found, was an increase in the number of power plants built or converted since the 1970s that use more efficient cooling-system technologies. Surveyors based their consumption estimates on flows in and out of 1,290 power plants.
Overall in the U.S., about 355 billion gallons of groundwater and surface water were used per day in 2010, compared with 410 billion a day in 2005.
Twelve states accounted for more than 50% of total water withdrawals. The largest was California, followed by Texas, Idaho, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, New York, Alabama and Ohio.
California accounted for 11% of the total withdrawals. Still, the state, the nation's top agricultural producer in terms of cash receipts, was able to sharply cut water use.
Californians in 2010 used an estimated 38 billion gallons of water a day, compared with 46 billion a day in 2005. The reduced use of surface water accounted for the savings; groundwater withdrawals were actually up because of the drought, which forced farmers to increase their reliance on irrigation.
Still, the overall savings was enough to give a big bump to the nation's conservation picture.
"What happens in California has an impact on the national trends," Maupin said.


Folder Description An integrated group of mostly young people sitting on the Atlantic City boardwalk. Many of them are holding signs showing support for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party(MFDP). They probably sought to be seated at the Democratic National Convention.


Sight I.D. as boulder opal, cut into a more free-formed shape. Stone measures 45 mm x 35 mm. Shades of pale sky blue, white, greys and black can be seen. The flare of design in argentium wire makes the finished height 65 mm.
Best fits a wrist measurement of ~ 6 - 6¼ inches. Slight size can be made. Weight 1.9 oz.


text:
Free meals for hard-hit students at Newham College
Nick Summers
Mon 24th Oct 2011, 11.23
Denise Brown-Sackey, Principal of Newham College
Newham College is giving out around 1,500 free meals to students each week in a bid to tackle cuts in government grants.
Managers have said that hundreds of learners would be unable to study at the college if they were not given luncheon vouchers.
Denise Brown-Sackey, Principal of Newham College, said: "The lunch is making a big difference. We want east Londoners to take part in a learning revolution and it's one of our options to help young people in difficult financial times.
"We've put a lot of thought into the nutritional balance of the food and I'm pleased that to date we've provided over 5,000 meals to our young students."
The scheme was implemented in September following an Association of Colleges (AoC) survey that blamed the scrapping of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for a drop in student numbers.
The meals, which benefit more than 1,000 students, are available to all learners under 18-years-old and to under 16s using the College for part of their school work.
Further Education and Skills loses Minister
SFA publish 2012/13 funding rules for a third time
Holt to apprenticeships review
Chesterfield College appoint new principal
Hayes announces concessions on 24+ Advanced Learning Loans
The EFA admit a DfE maths 'error'
SFA satisfaction survey
Funding for FE colleges to teach 14-16 year olds

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In the previous post we discussed about the posibility of tapping text messages. Now you will have the ability to write a more specific article which relates to parents and their kids.
Children nowadays get themselves in all sort of problems and who are responsible for them and need to help?
You guessed it: YOU.. as a parent.
Did you notice the people on the news that say " I wish I knew this before… I wish I have given more attention to my kid!"?This kind of sentences can be heard everytime something happens to their kids.
The solution is there: Text message monitoring for parents!
YES! It's that easy and this will help you so much and give you so much information that you will know if there's something wrong with your kid without needing to ask them anything.
Not only that… but you will give more freedom (apparently) to your kid and that will make him feel secure on himself because you trust them!
Don't you think that you should keep an eye on your kid's locations, texts and other useful information that can be pulled out of their cell phones? Then visit the best cell phone spy software or read these to-the-point spyware reviews.


Naturally flavourful with no aftertaste. Approx 5 drops equals one teaspoon of sugar sweetness. (500 Drops per 30ml / 1oz with 1000 drops per container) Stevia Max Liquid Sweetening Drops is sweetness at its best!
Zero carbohydrates and zero calories! Using a proprietary blend of specialized glycosides found within the stevia leaf, we let the taste speak for itself.
Spring water based. No glycerine, no alcohol and non-bitter.


On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:56:55 -0500, "[email protected]"
Experiment with ^s and ` `.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, Vince. However (and you didn't see it either) it's all due to a misunderstanding/screwup on my part. What I didn't realize (maybe due to my "exposure" to so many other languages) is that "@Replace" doesn't actually do the replacement(s) "in place", but instead returns the string with the indicated replacement(s) having been done! (DUH! :o) Anyway, sorry to have wasted your (and my) time!!!


text:
Q: How do I perform if/else operations in a jenkins workflow build? I'm sure there's an easy answer for this but I was unable to find it elsewhere.
I have a Jenkins workflow job with parameters. What I want is to skip a build job depending on the value of a parameter. Something like:
if(param["MYPARAM"]){
    build("jorb1")
}
build("jorb2")

Does anyone know how I'd accomplish this?

A: Turns out the answer is really easy. Hopefully this will help someone else. If statements do work in the DSL configuration. I guess its based on groovy (which I have zero experience with). Anyway my guess was just about right other than specifying the params incorrectly. Below is an example of checking a string parameter:
if(params["MYPARAM"]=="some_value"){
    build("jorb1")
}
build("jorb2")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Verve Display were commissioned to completely rebrand the Tower Shop at the iconic Tower of London, materials were 7 year plus and included reflective foils and golds to give that regal touch of class.
With over 25 years experience in transforming environments, we're ready to work with you to achieve great things.
We want you to know how our service works and why and how we handle your data. Please state that you have read and agreed to these terms and conditions.
Occasionally we would like to newsletters and offers and the latest info from Verve Display Limited by Email, post, SMS and other electronic means. We take your privacy very seriously and will only use your personal infomrmation to administer your account and to provide the services you have requested from us. If you consent to us contacting you for this purpose please tick to say how you would like us to contact you.


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YardSmart - Post Install Kit for 42 in. Railing - This railing is easy to install, and can be used as a surface mount on either a wooden deck or concrete surface.


text:
Q: Two different fields for GenericRelation in one model I have one model with generic foreign key for several models in my project, which define images for these models:
class GenericImage(models.Model):

    image = ImageField(
    )
    content_type = models.ForeignKey(
        ContentType,
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        blank=True,
        null=True
    )
    object_id = models.PositiveIntegerField(
        blank=True,
        null=True
    )
    content_object = GenericForeignKey(
        'content_type',
        'object_id'
    )

I want provide two different links to this model, one with GenericRelation for main image and one GenericRelation for other images.
class MyModel(models.Model):

    images = GenericRelation(
        GenericImage,
    )
    main_image = GenericRelation(
        GenericImage,
    )

The first thing that comes to mind is add boolean field main_image to GenericImage model and override clean method:
class GenericImage(models.Model):
    ...

    main_image = models.BooleanField(
    default=False
    )

def clean(self):
    obj = self.content_object
    if self.main_image and obj:
        if obj.images.filter(main_image=True).exists():
            raise ValidationError('main image must be unique!')

But it separate validation logic from main model and I'll have to change that boolean field every time when I want to change main_image.
Is there any elegant solution for my problem or I don't need ContentType framework at all, m2m link with intermediate table will be better.


Hard Road will be closed between Stanburn and Smokey Row this weekend. This is to the west of Worthington Kilbourne. So if you are traveling east on I-270 instead of taking the Sawmill Rd exit continue one more exit and go north on 315. You would then turn left onto Hard Rd.
STATE MEET: Friday 3/4 & Friday 3/5- ALL GYMNASTS need to plan to attend both days of this. We, as the host site, provide workers for this meet. It is a great honor and great representation of our program- as well as fun!
Friday March 11th & Sunday March 13th: Fundraiser- Set up and tear down for Follow Your Dreams Club Meet. More details to come.
The more the merrier! Any Parents, siblings, or other help are welcome!
Team Events- OSU Meet, and Team Sleepover at Fliptastic!
Team Meal- After practice at Coach Carol's House.
There are 3 Flights of competition in the AM Session & 3 Flights of competition in the PM session- This ONE MEET.
There will only be a return bus back to Bradley after the 3rd Session. (The Bus will be shuttling back and forth to get all gymnasts there, so it will be leaving before competition is done from the previous session) Gymnasts will be welcome to stay and cheer for the other teams- but if they would like to leave after their session – I will need a Bus/Absence Slip PRIOR to Saturday.


Welcome to the world, Baby C and Baby M! These two sweethearts were born in quick fashion at 35 weeks and Baby C arrived first, followed by Baby M. For proud parents Gina and Dan, it was love at first sight.
Congratulations to the K family!


Hair is important to how we look and feel -for the fellas who still have it of course 😉 And black hair care products are a necessary cornerstone of your grooming. Gota take care of your scalp and keep things clean up there….
Proper hair care is important. Beautiful and shiny hair always leaves a good impression. Taking care of your hair is self explanatory, yet many men fail to do so. Having a routine helps you avoid damage or issues that start you down the road to hair loss.
At the minimum, you'll want something with with Argan oil, which is an effective ingredient for hair thinning and breakage.
Try one of these! These conditioners are part of our list of black hair care products because they keep black hair shiny and sleek.
A little goes a long way, so be sure not to overuse styling cream to avoid flakey, crunchy hair. A nickel-sized amount should do the trick, unless you're rocking the curly fro or classic high-top, which may require a little more.
Each of the hair types usually requires different treatment and care.
Getting best results you need means, you will have check an array of oils such as coconut, argan, and castor oil.
In the case of thinning hair, you may be in the market for something that helps reverse the damage.
Finally, you'll need a good brush and comb – self explanatory. A good boar bristle brush goes a long way. It helps stimulate blood flow in the scalp and remove dandruff / excess sebum.
Time to share yours as well…. any other recommended black hair care products out there – if so, let us know!


3. At the top, go to 'Settings'.
4. Here you will need to add a part of your original CANDDi tracking code.
5. If you click the link with 'startHere' at the end, it will take you to the page where you originally got your tracking code.
8. Underneath this you will need to upload/drag and drop your company logo and click save.
Your CANDDi.Download account is now ready to use!


This is a conversion van with dual A/C units, 110,000 miles on the vehicle. Until this spring, the A/C has worked flawlessly.
In April, it stopped cooling even though it was holding a charge. I replaced the orifice tube, and it was dirty but not alarmingly plugged. I recharged the system and it worked fine until about a week ago. It has also been 90-110 degrees here in NC for about a month, so the A/C system has been taxed more than I would assume it ever has before.
I checked the low side (with a cheap recharge can gage) and it was 70psi. I took it apart and this time the orifice tube was not just plugged, it has a thick shell of metal shavings mixed with grease/oil absolutely coating the entire tube. Replaced tube again and now as I'm recharging, the compressor is making a slight groaning/grinding noise. It's barely noticeable above the normal engine noise, but it is distinctly coming from the compressor and it isn't the normal operating noise.
1) Where are the shavings coming from? I am a novice at A/C repair so I am assuming the compressor is the most likely place that could generate shavings, but is there anything else in the system that could be damaged?
2) Even if I put a new compressor on it, how do I get all these shavings out of the system? As badly as the orifice tube is coated, there must be significantly more shavings throughout the system that haven't made their way to the catch tube yet?
I don't have a good gage set or vacuum pump, and am assuming those will be required purchases if I have to replace the compressor. I do all of my own auto repairs so I would want something I could use in years to come, but I'm just a DIY'er with a couple of old GM cars so it doesn't have to be anything industrial quality. Any suggestions would be great.
You have the dreaded suction reed valve problem- your pumping is going south real quick- the material is stainless steel reed material- (non-ferrous- magnet won't attract)- you can do what I do- install new OT and then run it for 30 minutes and then reclaim refrigerant and install another new OT. Shavings won't go by the OT- and if they do- then install a screen (from V-5 service compressors) into HD-6 new compressor to guarentee no shavings make it back into the new compressor you'll need..
Old compressor probably turns really easy- with one finger- and has little "catches" as you rotate it- this is a prime indicator of the reed implosion..
Thanks man- I was just reading about flushing the system, and it said that removing the lines was the best way... this is a full size van and the rear lines snake through the body and interior panels. They must be 20+ feet long and were probably assembled before the conversion interior was put over them. I think your plan here is the best way- get as much as possible then try to make sure there's a screen anywhere shavings might try to get back in.


Dark Horse Espresso Bar has opened a new location further west (684 Queen Street West to be exact). It's a welcome addition to this neck of the woods considering we were in need of a decent independant coffe shop (sorry Quaff and Niche, but your lattes just don't cut it).
I stopped in this morning to check it out and the decor is in line with their two other shops (so cozy) and the lattes are just the same (yum!). Unfortunately I didn't have any cash and their debit machine is not up and running yet, so they gave me a latte on the house. Don't you love that?! It totally made my day so thank you barrista girl.
Drop in if you're in the neighborhood!


text:
The Best Way to Wash Fruits and Vegetables
You've probably been washing your produce all wrong. Here's the right way to do it so you can prevent some nasty illnesses
By Paige Fowler
Your vegetable drawer is the filthiest part of your refrigerator.
"Even if you washed every piece of produce before storing it, bacteria can still grow as foods spoil or things leak down in there," says Sandria Godwin, Ph.D., professor in the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences at Tennessee State University. "Some bacteria can survive in the drawer for weeks."
So how do you get your produce clean enough to eat? Running them under the tap for a few seconds isn't enough. Follow these steps to completely wash away the filth, dirt, and pesticides before you take a bite.
(For 2,000+ more life-changing health tips, check out The Better Man Project, the brand-new book from the editor in chief of Men's Health.)
How to store: Keep your fruit and vegetables in the grocery-store plastic bags instead of placing them directly in the bin—just be sure to loosen the bag to allow moisture to escape and prevent mold growth, Godwin says.
How to rinse: Godwin and a team of researchers at TSU found that properly cleaning produce can remove most bacteria—as long as you do it right.
You should hold your produce under cold running water for 30 to 60 seconds. Sure, that seems like a ridiculously long time to wash, say, one tomato, but putting in the effort will lower your risk of ingesting bacteria or germs that can lead to illness or—in some extreme cases—death.
And don't get suckered into buying an expensive vegetable wash or making a homemade solution. "Plain old water works," says Godwin.
How to scrub: "While rinsing, use your hands to scrub the skin, which helps release bacteria so it washes away more easily," she says.
Gently rub soft fruits or vegetables with the palms of your hands. Don't rub so hard you cause bruising. For firm produce, you can use a vegetable brush.
Related: The Best Way to Handle Your Meat
A clean toothbrush can also come in handy tackling tight crevices of broccoli and cauliflower, and for cleaning the core or the bottom of an apple where most microbes hang out. Let it air dry between uses, and toss it in the dishwasher to clean.
And scrub the outside of pineapples, oranges, and melons even if you plan to peel them. "When you cut into these foods with a knife, bacteria on the outside gets transferred to the inside, which can make you sick," Godwin explains.
How to soak: "Most fruits and vegetables don't need to soak," she says. Those that do: leafy greens such as kale, chard, and spinach because dirt can firmly cling to the leaves.
(Wondering if conventional produce is making you sick? Find out the 20 Best Organic Foods.)
"Soak the bunch in a bowl of clean water for several minutes and then dry it with a salad spinner," she says. In her research, rinsing and soaking produce removed up to 98 percent of bacteria.
Paige Fowler Paige Fowler is a health writer living in Chicago.
Why You Should Never Wash Ready-to-Eat Lettuce
Is It Safer to Buy Packaged Fruits and Vegetables?
Do You Really Need to Wash Fruit Before Eating It?
5 Easy Ways to Avoid Getting Sick At the Supermarket
Are You Washing Your Hands All Wrong?
A Safer Salad


text:
\section*{1.~Introduction}
\label{sec_intro}
         The minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) has been the most
popular extension of the standard model(SM) for three reasons. It provides a
natural solution to the hierarchy problem of the SM and a natural candidate
for the cold dark matter in terms of the lightest superparticle(LSP) along
with the unification of gauge couplings at the GUT scale. In particular there
is a great deal of interest in the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model as a
simple and well-motivated parametrization of the MSSM. This is described
by the four and half parameters~\cite{msugra}
\begin{eqnarray}
m_{1/2}, m_0, A_0, \tan\beta~{\rm and}~{\rm sgn}(\mu),
\label{eq:one}
\end{eqnarray}
the first three representing the common gaugino and scalar masses and
trilinear coupling at the GUT scale. The $\tan\beta$ stands for the ratio of
the two Higgs vacuum expectation values, while the last one denotes the sign
of the mixing parameter $\mu$ between them. The magnitude of $\mu$ is fixed
by the radiative electroweak symmetry breaking condition.

Astrophysical constraints on dark matter(DM) require the LSP to be colorless
and neutral, while direct DM search experiments strongly disfavor sneutrino
LSP. Thus the favored candidate for LSP in the MSSM is the lightest
neutralino,
\begin{eqnarray}
{\tilde\chi}^{0}_1 = N_{11}\tilde B + N_{12}\tilde W_3 +
N_{13}\tilde H_1 + N_{14}\tilde H_2.
\label{eq:two}
\end{eqnarray}
In the mSUGRA model the ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$ is dominantly bino($\tilde B$) over
most of the allowed parameter space. Since bino has no gauge charge, it can
pair-annihilate mainly via sfermion exchange. The large sfermion mass
limits from LEP~\cite{pdg} makes this annihilation process inefficient,
leading to an overabundance of DM over most of the mSUGRA parameter space.
There are essentially two narrow strips of cosmologically compatible DM
relic density~\cite{wmap} at the opposite edges of the parameter space,
corresponding to the large and the small $m_0$ boundaries, called the focus
point and the stau co-annihilation regions respectively~\cite{utpal,spa}.
There is also a narrow strip in the middle called resonant annihilation
region, but only at very large $\tan\beta$($\buildrel{\scriptscriptstyle >}\over{\scriptscriptstyle\sim}$40). Out of these only
the stau co-annihilation region is compatible with the muon anomalous
magnetic moment constraint~\cite{g2}, and also the only one which
can be completely covered at the LHC. Therefore the stau
co-annihilation region is a region of special interest to the SUSY
search programme at the LHC. In particular one is looking for a distinctive
signature which will identify the SUSY signal at the LHC to this region and
also enable us to measure the tiny mass difference $\Delta M$ between the
co-annihilating superparticles, which is predicted to be $\sim$5\% by the
DM relic density constraint. A distinctive feature of this region is
that a large part of the SUSY cascade decay occurs via
\begin{eqnarray}
\tilde \tau_1 \to \tau {\tilde\chi}^{0}_1,
\label{eq:three}
\end{eqnarray}
leading to a $\tau$ lepton along with the canonical missing $E_T$($\MET$).
Unfortunately, the $\tau$ leptons are very soft because of the small mass
difference between $\tilde \tau_1$ and ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$. But fortunately the $\tau$
polarization is predicted to be very close to +1 in the mSUGRA model.
In this work we hope to show with the help of a generator level Monte Carlo
simulation that the positive polarization($P_\tau=+1$) of this $\tau$
signal can be exploited to extract it from the negatively polarized $\tau$
($P_\tau=-1$) background as well as the fake $\tau$ background from
hadronic jets. Moreover, the steep $p_T$ dependence of the soft $\tau$
signal will provide a distinctive signature for the co-annihilation region
as well as a measure of the tiny mass difference between the co-annihilating
particles.

In section 2 we briefly describe how to use the $\tau$ polarization. In
section 3 we describe the stau co-annihilation region
with the help of an illustrative point in the parameter space of this region.
We also identify the main channels of SUSY cascade decay. In section 4 we
discuss the result of the simulated SUSY signal for this point. We show how
the polarization cut retains most of the $P_\tau=+1$ signal $\tau$-jets while
suppressing $P_\tau=-1$ background $\tau$-jets and practically
eliminating the fake $\tau$ jets. We also estimate the significance level
of the signal and the
$\Delta M$ measurement from the slope of the soft $\tau$ jet signal.
We conclude with a summary of our results in section 5.

\section*{2.~Using $\tau$ Polarization}
 The best channel for $\tau$ identification
is its 1-prong hadronic decay channel, accounting for 50\% of its
decay width. Over 90\% of this comes from
\begin{eqnarray}
\tau \to \pi^\pm\nu(12.5\%), \rho^\pm \nu(26\%), a_1^\pm \nu(7.5\%),
\label{eq:four}
\end{eqnarray}
where the branching fractions for $\pi$ and $\rho$ include the small K and
$K^*$ contributions respectively, which have identical polarization
effects~\cite{pdg}. The CM angular distribution of $\tau$ decay into $\pi$
or  a vector meson $v$($\rho,a_1$) is simply given in terms of its polarization
as,
\begin{eqnarray}
{1 \over \Gamma_\pi} {d\Gamma_\pi \over d\cos\theta} &=&
{1\over2} (1 + P_\tau \cos\theta) \nonumber \\
{1 \over \Gamma_v} {d\Gamma_{v L,T} \over d\cos\theta} &=&
{{1\over2} m^2_\tau, m^2_v \over m^2_\tau + 2m^2_v} (1 \pm P_\tau
\cos\theta)
\label{eq:five}
\end{eqnarray}
where L,T denote the longitudinal and transverse polarization states of the
vector meson. The fraction $x$ of the $\tau$ laboratory momentum carried by
its decay meson i.e. the (visible) $\tau$-jet, is related to the
angle $\theta$ via
\begin{eqnarray}
x = {1\over2} (1 + \cos\theta) + {m^2_{\pi,v} \over 2m^2_\tau} (1 -
\cos\theta),
\label{eq:six}
\end{eqnarray}
in the collinear approximation($p_\tau \gg m_\tau$). It is clear
from eqs.~\ref{eq:five} and \ref{eq:six} that the relatively hard part of
the signal ($P_\tau=+1$)
$\tau$-jet comes from the $\pi$, $\rho_L$ and $a_{1\rm{L}}$ contributions;
while for the background($P_\tau=-1$) $\tau$-jet it comes from $\rho_T$ and
$a_{1\rm{T}}$ contributions~\cite{martin}. This is the important part that
would pass the $p_T$ threshold for $\tau$ jets.

                    Now the $\rho_T$ and  $a_{1\rm{T}}$ decays favor even
sharing of the momentum among the decay pions, while the $\rho_L$ and
$a_{1\rm{L}}$
decays favor uneven distributions where the charged pion carries either
very little or most of the momentum. Thus plotted as a function
of the momentum fraction carried by the charged pion
\begin{eqnarray}
R = {p_{\pi^\pm} \over p_{\tau-jet}},
\label{eq:seven}
\end{eqnarray}
the longitudinal $\rho$ and $a_1$ contributions peak at very low or very
high R($\buildrel{\scriptscriptstyle <}\over{\scriptscriptstyle\sim} 0.2$ or $\buildrel{\scriptscriptstyle >}\over{\scriptscriptstyle\sim} 0.8$), while the transverse
contributions peak in the middle~\cite{martin,dp}.
The low R peak of the longitudinal $\rho$ and $a_1$ contributions are not
detectable because of the minimum $p_T$ requirement on the charged track
for $\tau$ identification ($R\ge$0.2). Now moving the R cut from 0.2 to 0.8
one cuts out the transverse $\rho$ and $a_1$ peaks
while retaining the detectable longitudinal
peak along with the single $\pi^\pm$ contribution. Thanks to the
complementarity of these two sets of contributions, one can effectively
suppress the former while retaining most of the latter by a simple cut on the
ratio
\begin{eqnarray}
R>0.8.
\label{eq:eight}
\end{eqnarray}
Thus one can suppress the hard part of the $\tau$-jet background($P_\tau=-1$),
while retaining most of it for the signal ($P_\tau=+1$), even without
separating the different meson contributions from one another~\cite{dp}.
This is a simple but very powerful result particularly for the hadron
colliders, where one cannot isolate the different meson
contributions to the $\tau$-jet in eq.~(\ref{eq:four}). This has been
used to enhance the $P_\tau=+1$ signal of charged Higgs boson at
Tevatron and the LHC
~\cite{dp,guchait1}. It can be also used with effect in the investigation
of the $P_\tau=+1$ SUSY signal coming from eq.(\ref{eq:three}) at Tevatron
and the LHC~\cite{guchait2} as well as the ILC~\cite{godbole}.

         This is the first application of the $\tau$ polarization effect,
however, in the context of probing the stau co-annihilation region.
As we shall see below the simple polarization cut of eq.~(\ref{eq:eight})
helps to
suppress not only the ($P_\tau=-1$) $\tau$-jet backgrounds, but simultaneously
the fake $\tau$ jet background from hadronic jets as well. We shall
also see that the conclusion of this section remains true even
after we add the non-resonant contributions to the $\tau$ decay of
eq.(\ref{eq:four}).

\section*{3.~Stau co-annihilation region of the mSUGRA model}
For illustration we have chosen one point in the stau co-annihilation region
of the mSUGRA model. We expect the results to hold equally for any other point
in this region. The input mSUGRA parameters are shown in Table-1 along
with the resulting weak scale superparticle spectrum calculated using
{\tt ISAJET}(v7.74)\cite{isasugra}. For simplicity we have taken
$A_0=0$ and positive sign for $\mu$ since our results are not sensitive to
them. The corresponding LHC
cross sections for the three strong processes at LO are,
\begin{eqnarray}
\sigma{(\tilde g \tilde g, \tilde g\tilde q,\tilde q\tilde q+\tilde q\tilde
q^\ast)}=(0.46,2.4,1.3){\rm pb}.
\label{eq:nine}
\end{eqnarray}
These are evaluated with the CTEQ3L\cite{cteq} structure functions
setting a common
factorization and renormalization scale at the average mass of the
superparticle pair. But the results are insensitive to either of these
choices. We have also checked that changing from CTEQ3L to the more
recent structure functions of CTEQ5L only change the total
signal cross-section of eq.(\ref{eq:nine}) from 4.16 pb to 4.11 pb,
although there are somewhat larger variations for the three individual
processes. The largest contribution to the third process of eq.(\ref{eq:nine})
comes from qq $\to \tilde {\rm {q}}\tilde {\rm{q}}$ because of the dominance
of the valence quark flux over gluon. Therefore, we expect uncorrelated
production of singlet(S) and doublet(D) squarks in all
the three processes i.e. SS:SD:DD=1/4:1/2:1/4.
Thus 3/4 of the events contain one or two doublet squarks. The doublet
squarks mainly undergo cascade decay via the $\tilde W$ dominated chargino
and neutralino states $\tilde\chi_1^\pm, \tilde\chi_2^0$,
into,
\begin{eqnarray}
\tilde\chi_1^\pm \to \tilde \tau_1\nu \to \tau\nu{\tilde\chi}^{0}_1, \\
\label{eq:ten}
\tilde\chi_2^0 \to \tau^\prime \tilde \tau_1 \to \tau^\prime \tau {\tilde\chi}^{0}_1.
\label{eq:eleven}
\end{eqnarray}
\begin{center}
 Table 1: Masses of superparticles(in GeV), for an illustrative mSUGRA point
in the stau-coannihilation region.
\end{center}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
$m_0$ & $m_{1/2}$& $\tan\beta$ & $\tilde g$&$\tilde q_L$ & $\tilde q_R$ & $\tilde \tau_1$ & $\tilde\tau_2$&
$\tilde\chi_1^\pm$& $\tilde\chi_2^\pm$&${\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$& ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_2$ & ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_3$&
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_4$  \\
\hline
223 &400 &40 & 942 & $\sim$884 & $\sim$856 & 172.5 & 356.8 & 307.5 & 526
 & 163 & 307 & 511.5 & 526 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

Thus one expects to see one soft $\tau$ in most cascade decays, sometimes
accompanied by a relatively hard $\tau'$. The lighter stau
\begin{eqnarray}
\tilde \tau_1 = \tilde\tau_R \sin\theta_{\tilde \tau} + \tilde\tau_L \cos\theta_
{\tilde \tau},
\label{eq:twelve}
\end{eqnarray}
is dominated by $\tilde\tau_R$, since there is no SU(2) contribution to
the RGE.
The resulting polarization of the soft $\tau$ from $\tilde \tau_1 \to \tau \chi $
is given by ~\cite{guchait2,nojiri},
\begin{eqnarray}
P_\tau &=& \frac{\Gamma(\tau_R) - \Gamma(\tau_L)}{\Gamma(\tau_R)+
\Gamma(\tau_L)}
= \frac{(a^R_{11})^2 - (a^L_{11})^2}{(a^R_{11})^2 + (a^L_{11})^2}
\nonumber \\
a^R_{11} &=& - \frac{2g}{\sqrt{2}}N_{11}\tan\theta_W \sin\theta_{\tilde\tau}
- \frac{g m_\tau}{\sqrt{2} m_W \cos\beta}N_{13}\cos\theta_{\tilde\tau}
\nonumber \\
a^L_{11} &=& \frac{g}{\sqrt{2}}[ N_{12} + N_{11} \tan\theta_W]
\cos\theta_{\tilde\tau}
-\frac{g m_\tau}{\sqrt{2} m_W \cos\beta} N_{13}\sin\theta_{\tilde\tau}.
\label{eq:thirteen}
\end{eqnarray}
The first subscript of $a_{11}^{L,R}$ refers to the $\tilde \tau_1$ and the second
to the neutralino $\tilde\chi_1^0$. Thus the dominant term is
$a_{11}^R \simeq - \frac{2g}{\sqrt{2}}N_{11}\tan\theta_W\sin\theta_
{\tilde \tau}$,
implying $P_\tau \simeq +1$. In fact in the mSUGRA model
there is a cancellation between the sub-dominant terms, so that
one gets $P_\tau\buildrel{\scriptscriptstyle >}\over{\scriptscriptstyle\sim}$0.9 throughout the allowed parameter
space~\cite{guchait2}.
In the stau co-annihilation region of our interest $P_\tau\buildrel{\scriptscriptstyle >}\over{\scriptscriptstyle\sim}$0.98.
So one can safely set $P_\tau=$+1.

The polarization of the hard $\tau'$ from eq.(\ref{eq:eleven}) is obtained
from eq.(\ref{eq:thirteen}) replacing $a_{11}^{L,R}$ by $a_{12}^{L,R}$. The
dominant contribution comes from
$a_{12}^L \simeq \frac{g}{\sqrt{2}}N_{22}\cos\theta_{\tilde\tau}$, implying
$P_{\tau'} \simeq $-1. There is a similar cancellation of the sub-dominant
contributions, leading to $P_{\tau'} \le$--0.98 in the
stau co-annihilation region. Thus one can set $P_{\tau'} $=-1.

   Finally it should be noted that probing the stau co-annihilation region
via the $\tau$ polarization cut of eq.(\ref{eq:eight}) should be applicable
in a wider class of MSSM with a $\tilde {\rm {B}}$ LSP. Since the coupling of
$\tilde {\rm {B}}$ to $\tilde\tau_R$ is 2 times larger than to $\tilde\tau_L$
in eq.~(\ref{eq:thirteen}) one gets $P_\tau \buildrel{\scriptscriptstyle >}\over{\scriptscriptstyle\sim}$ 0.6 as
long as the $\tilde \tau_1$ has a right component as least of similar size as the
left
component~\cite{vempati}. In that case
the R$>$0.8 cut will keep at least half of the soft tau signal.

\section*{4.~Event simulation, results and discussion}
        The SUSY signal events are generated using the event generator
{\tt PYTHIA(v6.23)}~\cite{pythia}, which simulates superparticle
pair production
and cascade decay for the spectrum shown in Table 1. The generated
$\tau$ leptons are then passed through the {\tt TAUOLA}{\footnote{The current
version of TAUOLA cannot simulate $\tau$ decay when it comes from sparticle
decay. One of the authors(MG) has modified it to include these
decay modes.}}
package~\cite{tauola}
to simulate $\tau$ decay, which includes the effect of $\tau$ polarization
in the hadronic decay channels of eq.(\ref{eq:four}) along with the small
non-resonant contribution. The generated events are then passed through the
CMSJET package~\cite{cmsjet} for jet reconstruction. The jets are
constructed using the cone algorithm in CMSJET with a cone size
of $\Delta R=$0.5. The kinematic cuts
for jet reconstruction are $E_T>$15 GeV and $|\eta|<$4.5. Finally, the
missing $E_T$($\MET$) is reconstructed by a vector summation of calorimetric
energies.

The events are then subject to the following selection cuts for triggering
and suppression of SM background:

\begin{eqnarray}
{\rm Number~of~jets}&\ge& 2~~{\rm with}\ \  E_T^{j_{1,2}}> 100~GeV,
|\eta_{j_{1.2}}|<4.5 \nonumber \\
 \MET &>& 250~GeV.
\label{eq:fourteen}
\end{eqnarray}
From the events passing this cut we select those containing at least one
$\tau$ jet at the generator level. We then require the softest $\tau$ jet in
each event to satisfy
\begin{eqnarray}
15~GeV \le p_T^{\tau-jet} \le 40~GeV.
\label{eq:fifteen}
\end{eqnarray}
This is our sample of soft $\tau$ jet events. We try to simulate the efficiency
of tracker isolation on the $\tau$ jet by requiring that (i) it has one and
only one charged track (leading track) of $p_T^{ltr}>$6 GeV within narrow
signal cone of $\Delta R_s=0.1$ measured with respect to its calorimetric
energy deposit, and (ii) there is no other charged track in a
surrounding isolation cone of $\Delta R_I=0.4$ with $p_T^{ch}>$3(1) GeV.
The $p_T^{ch}>$1 GeV isolation cut ensures higher purity of $\tau$-jets
at the cost of a lower efficiency of $\tau$ identification,
as genuine $\tau$ jets can be often accompanied by
such a charged track in the environment of the LHC.

It should be noted here that in a full simulation the tracker isolation cut
is supplemented with calorimetric cuts for complete $\tau$ identification
\cite{sasha}, which is beyond the scope of the present work.
Since the efficiency of these supplementary cuts is quite high ($\sim$0.8)
we shall simply assume it to be 1.
We know from full simulation studies\cite{sasha} that $\tau$-jets
identified via tracker isolation and calorimetric cuts match very
well(in direction and energy) with the generator level $\tau$-jets. Since
we are unable to incorporate the calorimetric cuts, however, we shall
work only with generator level $\tau$-jets, satisfying the tracker
isolation, as in the case of ref.\cite{drees}. We shall add to these
the fake
$\tau$-jets coming from the generator level hadronic jets, which satisfy
the tracker isolation cut. Thus we approximately incorporate the tau
identification efficiency and purity in our analysis.
Working with generator level $\tau$-jets allows
us to tag it to its 'mother'.
Thus we can separate the soft $\tau$ jet signal
of the stau decay of eq.(\ref{eq:three}) from the background coming from the
various other sources in the cascade decay; and look at the effect
of the polarization cut of eq.(\ref{eq:eight}) on each of them. This will
help us to understand the major contributors to the soft $\tau$
jet background. We shall also consider the largest SM background
to the soft $\tau$-jet signal, coming from $t \bar t$ and W+multijet
channels.

\vspace{0.5cm}
Table 2: Number of events for the process $\tilde q\tilde g$
with and without tracker isolation.
``Mothers'' of each $\tau$ jet, shown
below the 3rd row are found by direct tagging in the event generator.
(I) no tracker
isolation (II) with tracker isolation $p_T^{ch}>$3~GeV and $p_T^{ltr}>6$
GeV (III) with tracker isolation $p_T^{ch}>$1~GeV and $p_T^{ltr}>6$~GeV.
Below the 3rd row the parenthetic entry in each block is obtained with
the $R>$0.8 cut.
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Selection & I & II & II \\
\hline
No. of events simulated & 1500k & 1500K & 1500K \\
\hline
At least one $\tau$-jet &431283 &320207  & 254150\\
With 15 GeV $<p_T^{\tau-\rm{jet}}<$40~GeV & 156555 &108398  & 86137 \\
\hline
$\tilde \tau_1$ & 87061 &61925 &48415 \\
  & (42259) &(35239) & (28178)\\
\hline
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_2$ & 27073 &22813 & 19178\\
 & (10852) &(9475) & (7913)\\
\hline
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_3$ & 644 &573 & 509\\
  & (345) &(315) & (283)\\
\hline
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_4$ & 712 &639 & 548\\
 & (377) &(353) & (304)\\
\hline
W & 22419 &16532 & 13033\\
 & (6770) &(5358) & (4227)\\
\hline
Z & 787 &611 & 494\\
 & (320) &(265) & (212)\\
\hline
h & 2994 &2366 & 1925\\
 &(1189) & (1033) & (831)\\
\hline
$\tilde\tau_2$ & 98 &79 & 59\\
 & (40) &(37) & (30)\\
\hline
None of the above 'mothers' & 14767 &2860 & 1976\\
 & (5287) &(1265) & (939)\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\vspace{0.5cm}
We have generated 1.5 million events for the $\tilde q\tilde g$ production,
which has the largest SUSY cross-section of eq.(\ref{eq:nine}) i.e. 2.4 pb.
Thus it corresponds to an effective luminosity of about 600~${\rm fb}^{-1}$. This will
ensure that the predicted events have greater statistical accuracy than the
data, so that our error estimates are primarily controlled
by the latter. Table 2 shows the effects of the above mentioned cuts on these
events. The 2nd row shows that about 1/3rd of the events contain
at least one $\tau$-jet, where the suppression factor
includes the effects of the selection cut(\ref{eq:fourteen}) and
the 1-prong hadronic branching ratio of $\tau$ lepton. It also shows the
effect of the tracker isolation cuts in the three columns. We get an
efficiency factor of about 2/3(1/2) corresponding to the $p_T^{ch}>$3(1)
GeV on the accompanying
charged tracks. The 3rd row shows that about 1/3 of these events have the
softest $\tau$ jet in the $p_T$ range of eq.(\ref{eq:fifteen}).
The subsequent rows tag these $\tau$ jets to their 'mother' and
show the effect of the polarization cut of eq.~(\ref{eq:eight}) in each
of these cases in parentheses.
We see that about half of these soft $\tau$ jets come from the signal
process of eq.~(\ref{eq:three}) having $P_\tau=$+1. About 60\% of them
survive the
polarization cut. The background is dominated by the $P_\tau=$-1
$\tau$-jets coming from $\tilde\chi_2^0$ of eq.~(\ref{eq:eleven}), and
the W bosons
produced in cascade decay. About 30\%(40\%) of the $\tau$-jets from
W($\tilde\chi_2^0$) decay survive the polarization cut(\ref{eq:eight}).
The reason for the higher survival probability of the $\tau$ jets
from the $\tilde\chi_2^0$ decay(\ref{eq:eleven}) is that they are
quite hard to start with. Hence even the relatively soft
part of these $\tau$-jets, coming from the $\rho_L$
and $\pi$ decay channels given in eq.~(\ref{eq:five}), survive the
modest $p_T$ cut of
eq.(\ref{eq:fifteen}). The $\tau$ jets tagged to none of the listed
'mothers' are expected to come mainly from b hadron decay.
\\

Table 3: Estimation of faking efficiency for QCD and SUSY
($\tilde g \tilde g$) jet events; QCD jet events are for
$\hat p_T$ range of 15-40 GeV, where $\hat p_T$ denotes the transeverse
momentum in the partonic centre of mass frame.
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
 Selection & $p_T^{ch}>$1 GeV, $p_T^{ltr}>$6~GeV & $p_T^{ch}>$3~GeV,
$p_T^{ltr}>$6~GeV \\
\hline
process$\rightarrow$ & QCD \ \ \  \ \ \ SUSY & QCD~~~~~~~~~~~SUSY \\
\hline
No. of events simulated& $10^6$~~~~~~~~~~~~300K& $10^6$~~~~~~~~~~~~300K \\
\hline
Total no. of jets & 181377~~~~~~~~~~~~349989 & 827424~~~~~~~~~~~~347303 \\
\hline
Total no. of (fake)$\tau$ jets &6486~~~~~~~~~~~~9183&123100~~~~~~~~~~~~38473\\
Total no. of (fake)$\tau$-jets with R cut & 376~~~~~~~~~~~~313&
2496~~~~~~~~~~~~651\\
Faking efficiency & 0.034~~~~~~~~~~~~0.026&0.15~~~~~~~~~~~0.11\\
Faking efficiency with R cut&0.0015~~~~~~~~~~~0.0009&0.003~~~~~~~~~~~0.0019\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
 Table 3 demonstrates the effect of polarization cut on the fake
$\tau$ jets. It presents the fake $\tau$ jets coming from the hadronic
jets produced in SUSY($\tilde g\tilde g$) and QCD processes without the
selection cuts of eq.~(\ref{eq:fourteen}). It shows that the fake
$\tau$-jets background
from the hadronic
jets in this SUSY cascade decay are quite large, particularly
for the tracker isolation cut of $p_T^{ch}>$3~GeV. But it gets practically
eliminated by the R cut of eq.(\ref{eq:eight}).
The faking efficiency of 11(3)\% for the isolation cut of $p_T^{ch}>$3(1) GeV
falls to 0.2(0.1)\% after the R cut. For comparison we also show in this
table the faking efficiencies of hadronic jets for 1 million simulated QCD
events. The faking
efficiencies before and after the R cut are seen to be very
similar to those of the SUSY events. This is evidently a very powerful
result, which is not unexpected though. A hadronic jet can fake an
one prong $\tau$-jet by a rare fluctuation, when all but one of the
constituent particles (mostly pions) are neutral. Then requiring
the single charged particle to carry more than 80\% of the total
jet energy requires a second fluctuation which is even rarer.
Normally identification of $\tau$ jets down to
$p_T$=15~GeV would be difficult at the LHC because of the fake backgrounds,
which is alleviated now by the $R >$0.8 cut. Note that
the R cut automatically raises the $p_T$ threshold of the leading
track to 12 GeV.
\\

\vspace{0.5cm}
Table 4: The SM backgrounds from $t \bar t$ and W+multijet processes.
In the latter case separate simulations are done for the two $\hat p_T$
ranges of W, as shown in the table.
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
Process$\to$ & $t \bar t$ & W+multijets \\
& &$\hat p_T=$100-300 GeV~~~~~~~~~300-1000GeV \\
\hline
No. of events simulated & 3$\times 10^6$ &$10^6$~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$10^6$  \\
\hline
$\MET>$250 GeV &15318 &1996~~~~~~~~~~150073 \\
Jet cut & 15318 & 1996~~~~~~~~~~150072  \\
$M_{eff}>$750 GeV & 9277 &136~~~~~~~~~~73841 \\
One $\tau$-jet &1250 & 13~~~~~~~~~~12931\\
$M_T>$50 GeV & 417 &2~~~~~~~~~~2651 \\
15~GeV$<p_T<$40~GeV & 150  &0~~~~~~~~~~~602 \\
From W & 148 &0~~~~~~~~~~~601\\
With R cut & (40) &0~~~~~~~~~(143) \\
\hline
Raw Cross sections(pb) & 500 & 1500~~~~~~~~30 \\
Number of events for ${\cal L}$=10~fb$^{-1}$ & & \\
Without R cut & 247 & $<1$~~~~~~~180 \\
With R cut & (67) & ($<1$)~~~~~~~(43) \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
Since the $R > $0.8 cut practically eliminates the
fake $\tau$ jet
background for both the isolation cuts, we choose to work with
the $p_T^{ch}>$ 3 GeV
cut for two reasons. Firstly it is less demanding on the tracker momentum
resolution; and secondly it has a higher efficiency for identifying genuine
$\tau$ jet, as seen above.
We have found that imposing the selection cuts of eq.\ref{eq:fourteen}
suppresses
the QCD process very effectively in agreement with ref.\cite{drees}.
Supplementing this with the faking efficiency with R$>$0.8 cut makes the
QCD background to the SUSY signal completely negligible. The largest
SM background comes from the $t \bar t $ and W+multijet processes. In order
to control these backgrounds we supplement the selection cuts of
eqs.(\ref{eq:fourteen}),(\ref{eq:fifteen}), with two more kinematic cuts,
\begin{eqnarray}
M_{eff} = \MET + E_T^{j_1} + E_T^{j_2} > 750~{\rm GeV},\ \
M_T(\tau-jet, \MET)>50~{\rm GeV},
\label{eq:sixteen1}
\end{eqnarray}
where $M_T=\sqrt{2 p_T^{\tau-jet} \MET(1-\cos\phi(p_T^{\tau-jet},\MET))}$
and $\phi$ is the azimuthle angle between $p_T^{\tau-jet}$ and $\MET$.
Table 4 summarizes the effect of all these kinematic cuts on the simulated
$t \bar t$ and W+multijet events. In both cases the $\tau$ coming from
W decay has $P_\tau$=-1. The R$>$0.8 cut is seen to further
reduce these backgrounds to the 25\% level. The last two row show the
number of background events for luminosity ${\cal L}$=10~fb$^{-1}$.
Here we have
used the LO cross-sections for these SM processes for consistency
with the SUSY signal.

\vspace{0.5cm}
Table 5: Events from three SUSY processes
for tracker isolation, $p_T^{ch}>$3~GeV, $p_T^{ltr}>$6~GeV. In the last column
the total number of events are presented after normalizing the contributions
from various sub-processes with their respective cross sections for
luminosity of 10${\rm fb}^{-1}$. As in Table 2, the parenthetic entry
in each block is obtained with the R$>$0.8 cut.
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Process$\to$ & a & b & c & a+b+c  \\
&$\tilde g\tilde g$ &$\tilde q \tilde q+\tilde q\tilde q^\ast$
&$\tilde q\tilde g$&Lumi=10/fb  \\
\hline
No. of event simulated & 300K &800K &1000K &  \\
\hline
$\MET>$250 GeV & 183548 &624350  &744353  &    \\
Jet cut & 183548 & 624350 & 744352 &   \\
$M_{eff}>$750 GeV &155364 & 596914 & 685045&   \\
One $\tau$-jet & 35876 &114016 & 152093 & \\
$M_T>$50 GeV & 25083 & 76437 & 105108 &  \\
\hline
15~GeV$<p_T<$40~GeV & 8065 & 25618 & 34558 & \\
\hline
$\tilde \tau_1$ & 3209   & 17143 & 16827 & 731  \\
 & (1811) & (9681) & (9544)  & (414)  \\
\hline
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_2$ &1991 & 7043 & 8927 & 358 \\
    & (776) & (2841)  & (3651) & (146) \\
\hline
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_3$ & 84 & 10 & 235 & 7 \\
 & (46) & (5) & (112) & (3) \\
\hline
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_4$ & 80 & 57 & 223 & 7 \\
 & (45) & (31) & (130) & (4) \\
\hline
W & 2049 & 873  & 6084 & 191\\
 & (656) & (283) & (1937) & (61) \\
\hline
Z & 52 & 31 & 230 & 7 \\
 & (22) & (12) & (99)  &  (3)  \\
\hline
h & 219 & 396 & 861 & 30 \\
 & (94) & (153) &(343)  &  (12)  \\
\hline
$\tilde\tau_2$ & 13 & 1 &24 &$<1$ \\
 & (5) &(1) & (14) & ($<$1)\\
\hline
None of the above mothers & 368 & 64 & 1147 & 34\\
 & (166) & (30) & (508) & (15)\\
\hline
Fake as a $\tau$ jet & 1681  & 2006 & 5096 & 180 \\
With R cut & (40) & (62) & (126) & (5)\\
\hline
Total number of events:~Signal & & & & 731(414) \\
SUSY Background &&&& 814(249)  \\
SM Background & & & & 427(110)  \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
Table 5 shows the simulated SUSY events for
all the three processes of eq.(\ref{eq:nine}).
The effects
of kinematic cuts on the soft $\tau$ jet events and their distributions to
the various sources are very similar for the three production processes.
The last column gives the total number of events from the sum of the three
processes normalized by their respective cross sections, for a luminosity
of 10${\rm fb}^{-1}$. We see from Table 5 that without the R cut the total
background is almost twice as large as the signal. Imposing the R cut
eliminates the fake $\tau$ background and reduces the total background
to below the signal size.
\begin{figure}
\vspace{-2.0cm}
\hspace{-1.5cm}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=12cm,height=10cm]{pt_taujet_noRcut.eps}
\caption{
$p_T$(in GeV) of softest $\tau$-jet for signal(solid) and background
processes.}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

     Fig.1 shows the $p_T$ distributions of the soft $\tau$ jet signal and
the backgrounds before the R cut, where the contribution
from the fake $\tau$ jet background is indicated
separately by the dotted line.
The vertical scale on left gives the cross section
in fb/0.5 GeV, while that on right gives the number of events/0.5 GeV for a
luminosity(${\cal L}$) of 10${\rm fb}^{-1}$.
Fig.2 gives the corresponding distributions after the R
cut of eq.~(\ref{eq:eight}). It clearly shows a steep rise of the
soft $\tau$ jet
signal above
the background at the low $p_T$ end.

As we see from Tables 4 and 5, the SUSY background is larger than the SM
background because the former is not suppressed by the selection cuts.
Moreover while one can independently estimate the SM background, the
SUSY background depends on the relevant SUSY masses. It will be
very hard therefore to disentangle this background from the
SUSY signal. It is for this reason that the $\tau$ polarization
plays a very important role in signal extraction. The $P_\tau$=+1 signal
and the $P_\tau=-1$ background(SUSY and SM) are known a priori
to have very distinct R dependences. Likewise one knows the distinct
R dependence of the fake $\tau$ background from hadronic jets. Thus for a
given $p_T$ range of the $\tau$-jet events one can make use of the
observed R dependence to separate the $P_\tau$=+1 $\tau$ signal
from the $P_\tau$=-1 $\tau$ as well as the fake $\tau$ backgrounds.
We shall assume that when real data becomes available,
all the important SUSY masses, except the small mass
difference $\Delta M$ between $\tilde \tau_1$ and ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$, can be roughly
estimated (to $\sim$25\% accuracy, say), via mass reconstructions
using the hard jets along with the hard $\tau$-jet of $p_T>$40 GeV,
as widely discussed in the literature.
Then one can estimate
the size of the SUSY background from this hard $\tau$-jet
region of the data and parametrize it in terms of a cascade decay fit
to this data using these SUSY masses. One can then
extrapolate it to the $p^{\tau-jet}_T<$40 GeV region using
this parametrization. This will provide a fairly reliable estimate of the SUSY
background.
An observed excess of low $p^{\tau-jet}_T$ events
over the (SUSY+SM) background, which has been suppressed using the
polarization cut of
R$>$0.8(Fig.2), will constitute the soft $\tau$ signal from eq.(\ref{eq:three}).
Thus the procedure for estimating the SUSY background from real data is quite
clear. In the absence of real data, however, we see no better alternative
to estimate the SUSY background than the simple one adopted
here, i.e take it directly from the SUSY event generator along with the
signal for the illustrative mSUGRA point in the stau-coannihilation region of
interest. We feel it suffices for our main purpose of demonstrating
the importance of the polarization cut in extracting the soft $\tau$ SUSY
signal from background. The importance of this cut for signal extraction
is evident from a comparison of figures 1 and 2.

The steep slope of the soft $\tau$ jet signal from the $\tilde \tau_1$
decay of eq.(\ref{eq:three}) over
the low $p_T$ region can be used to extract the signal as well as to measure
the tiny mass difference $\Delta M$, responsible for this steep slope.
For this purpose, we divide the $p_T$ range of the soft $\tau$-jet of Fig.2
into two parts, $p_T=$15-25 GeV and 25-40 GeV. Then we consider the ratio
of the numbers of events coming from the two parts, i.e
\begin{eqnarray}
D_s= \frac{N_{15-25}=288}{N_{25-40}=126} =2.3
\label{eq:seventeen}
\end{eqnarray}
as a distinctive parameter for extracting the signal and measuring the
mass difference $\Delta M$. Being a ratio of cross sections this quantity
should be dominated by the statistical error.
\begin{figure}
\vspace{-2.0cm}
\hspace{-1.5cm}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=12cm,height=10cm]{pt_taujet_wRcut.eps}
\vspace{-0.7cm}
\caption{
Same as Fig.1, but with R cut of eq.(\ref{eq:eight}).
}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
From Fig.2 we can estimate
this ratio for the signal+background
and for the background only.
We get
\begin{eqnarray}
D_{S+B} &=& 467/306 = 1.52\pm 0.14 ;
\label{eq:eighteen}
\end{eqnarray}
\begin{eqnarray}
D_B&=&178/180=0.98 \pm 0.14;
\label{eq:nineteen}
\end{eqnarray}
where the statistical errors shown are for 10${\rm fb}^{-1}$
luminosity run of the LHC.
We see that this luminosity will be
enough to extract the signal at the 3$\sigma$ level. This will go up to
$\sim$10$\sigma$ level at the 100${\rm fb}^{-1}$
luminosity since statistical error goes down like the $\sqrt{{\cal L}}$.
\begin{figure}
\vspace{-2.0cm}
\hspace{-1.5cm}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=12cm,height=10cm]{pt_taujet_wRcut_dm15.eps}
\caption{
$p_T$(in GeV) of softest tau jet for signal(solid) and
background(dashed) processes. The
upper solid and dashed histograms are
for signal and background processes for $\Delta M=$15 GeV and the lower ones
are for $\Delta M=$10 GeV. These are subject to R cut of eq.(\ref{eq:eight}).
}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

  To estimate the accuracy in the determination of the small mass
difference $\Delta M$ between $\tilde \tau_1$ and ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$, we have chosen a second
mSUGRA point near that shown in Table 1, increasing $m_0$ by 6 GeV. It
increases $\Delta M$ from nearly 10 GeV to 15 GeV without practically
changing any other mass. Fig.3 compares the resulting soft $\tau$ jet
cross sections(signal and background) for the two points,
the RHS scale again corresponding to the number of events for a luminosity
of 10${\rm fb}^{-1}$. One can see a flattening of the low $p_T$ slope with increasing
mass difference. The ratio(\ref{eq:eighteen}) for the upper curves is
\begin{eqnarray}
D_{(S+B)}(\Delta M=15~GeV) &=& 552/411=1.34\pm 0.10.
\label{eq:twenty}
\end{eqnarray}
Thus one can estimate $\Delta M$ to 50\% accuracy at $\sim$1.5$\sigma$
level with a luminosity of 10${\rm fb}^{-1}$. The significance level goes up to
5$\sigma$ level for a luminosity
of 100${\rm fb}^{-1}$, which makes the statistical error smaller by factor
of 3.2.

Note that for estimating the small mass differences $\Delta M$ from the
$p_T$ slope of the soft $\tau$-jet one has to assume some
knowledge of the other SUSY masses. It follows from simple
kinematics that in the rest frame of the decaying
$\tilde \tau_1$ the $p_T^{\tau-jet} \sim \Delta M$. But the boost factor
relating it to the $p_T^{\tau-jet}$ in the laboratory frame,
$p_{\tilde \tau_1}$/M, depends on the other SUSY masses. As mentioned
above, we assume that these masses will be known
to $\sim$25\% accuracy, say, from the mass reconstruction
programme. Therefore, we need to check the robustness of our
result to a $\sim$25\% variation in the SUSY masses, other than $\Delta M$.
For this purpose we have chosen a higher point on the stau-coannihilation
strip with $m_0$ and $m_{1/2}$ values $\sim$25\% higher than those
of Table 1. The SUSY mass parameter for this point are shown in Table 6.
The resulting ratio for this point is
\begin{eqnarray}
D_{S+B}(\Delta M=13~{\rm GeV}) = \frac{641}{444}=1.44\pm 0.11.
\label{eq:twentyone}
\end{eqnarray}
Note that this mass difference, $\Delta M=13$~GeV, is approximately midway
between those of the two points represented in Fig.3, $\Delta M=$ 10 GeV and
15 GeV. So we expect the resulting ratio (\ref{eq:twentyone}) to be
nearly midway between those of eqs.(\ref{eq:eighteen}) and (\ref{eq:twenty}),
which is indeed the case. Of course there is room for a more detailed
investigation of the sensitivity of the $\Delta M$ estimate to the other
SUSY masses, which is beyond the scope of this illustrative work.
\begin{center}
 Table 6: Masses of superparticles (in GeV), for a higher mSUGRA point
in the stau-coannihilation region compared to that of Table 1.
\end{center}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
$m_0$ & $m_{1/2}$& $\tan\beta$ & $\tilde g$&$\tilde q_L$ & $\tilde q_R$ & $\tilde \tau_1$ & $\tilde\tau_2$&
$\tilde\chi_1^\pm$& $\tilde\chi_2^\pm$&${\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$& ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_2$ & ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_3$&
${\tilde\chi}^{0}_4$  \\
\hline
262 &500 &40 & 1156 & $\sim$1083 & $\sim$1043 & 219 & 425 & 390 & 635
 & 206 & 390 & 622 & 635 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
 It should be mentioned here that we have selected a large value of
$\tan\beta$ for our illustrative  mSUGRA point of Table 1 simply because
it gives stau-coannihilation region for comparable values
of $m_0$ and $m_{1/2}$. But we have also checked the results for a
low values $\tan\beta=$10. It gives stau-coannihilation region for
$m_0<<m_{1/2}$. However, the size of the soft $\tau$-jet SUSY signal and
background are similar to those of the present analysis.

Finally let us note that an independent method of probing the stau
co-annihilation region at the LHC has been investigated in~\cite{arnowitt}
via a
ditau-jet signal coming from ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_2$ decay given in eq.~(\ref{eq:eleven}).
It contains
a hard ($p_T>$40 GeV) $\tau$ jet along with the soft one, correspodning to
the $\tau'$ and $\tau$ of eq.(\ref{eq:eleven}) respectively. The background
is suppressed by taking the difference of opposite-sign and
same-sign ditau events. The upper edge of this di-taujet invariant mass plot
gives an estimate of the tiny mass difference $\Delta M$, again assuming
some knowledge of the other SUSY masses. We find
in our simulation, however, that the number of such soft and hard
di-taujet events
are suppressed by an order of magnitude compared to the soft taujet events
analyzed here. Therefore, the present analysis has the benefit of utilizing
a much larger fraction of the SUSY events, triggered
via the selection cut of eq.~(\ref{eq:fourteen}). But, of course, the di-taujet
channel offers an independent probe of this signal and hence should be
pursued independently. Let us point out that the $\tau$ polarization
effect can be also exploited to improve the result of this di-taujet
analysis. In
particular imposing the $R>$0.8 cut of
eq.(\ref{eq:eight}) on the soft $\tau$ jet and the complementarity cut on the
hard one will ensure that both the $\tau$ jets are leading ones - i.e
they carry most of the momentum of the respective $\tau$ leptons, with
accompanying soft neutrinos. This will steepen the upper edge
of the di-taujet invariant mass distribution
and improve the resulting estimate of $\Delta M$, apart from
suppressing the soft $\tau$-jet background.

\section*{5.~Conclusion}
The stau co-annihilation region of the mSUGRA model is a region of special
interests to the SUSY search programme at the LHC. In particular one is looking
for a distinctive signature, which will identify the SUSY signal at the LHC
to this region and also enable us to measure the tiny mass difference
$\Delta M$ between the co-annihilating superparticles, which is predicted
to be $\sim$5\% by the DM relic density constraint. A distinctive feature
of this region is that a large part of the SUSY cascade decay occurs via
$\tilde \tau_1 \to \tau {\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$, leading to a $\tau$ lepton along with the canonical
missing $E_T$($\MET$). Admittedly the resulting $\tau$-jets are very
soft because of the small mass difference between $\tilde \tau_1$ and ${\tilde\chi}^{0}_1$ states.
On the other hand its polarization ($P_\tau$) is predicted to be very close
to +1. We have shown here with the help of generator level Monte Carlo
simulation that the positive polarization($P_\tau$=+1) of this signal can be
exploited to extract it from the negatively polarized($P_\tau$=-1) $\tau$-jet
background as well as the fake $\tau$ background from hadronic
jets. Moreover, the steep $p_T$ dependence of the soft $\tau$-jet signal is
shown to provide a distinctive signature for this co-annihilation region
as well as a measure of the tiny mass difference $\Delta M$ between the
co-annihilating superparticles. The significance levels of this signal and
$\Delta M$ measurement are estimated for the LHC luminosicties of
10${\rm fb}^{-1}$ and 100${\rm fb}^{-1}$.

\section*{6.~Acknowledgments}

One of the authors(DPR) was supported
in part by the BRNS(DAE) through
Raja Ramanna Fellowship scheme and in part by MEC grants FPA 2005-01269,
SAB2005-0131. RMG and MG acknowledge support from the Indo French Centre
for Promotion of Advanced Scientific Research under project number 3004-2.
RMG wishes to thank KITP for hospitality for a
visit during which part of the work was finished.
RMG and MG wish to thank Sabine Kraml on related issues.
MG is thankful to Gobinda Majumdar for many useful
discussions.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Right before I went to the west part of Germany, then Luxembourg, Strasbourg (France), Trier (Oldest city in Germany) and finally Berlin for my birthday and new year's eve, I had this crazy week. . .
If you have a Couchsurfing account in a popular holiday city, you get dozens of requests a month. If you happen to have a few references you get a dozen per week. I decided to host as many as I could fit in my schedule, already loaded with last minute papers, presentations and a new job. I ended up meeting 4 people. Dave, Brena, Helen and Laura.
Boryeon, a traveller from South Korea arrived in Munich on a crazy week. I hosted her and another surfer named Helen, from Turkey, who joined us the next day. Boryeon was from South Korea, finishing her trip across Europe and a little more than a week away from heading home. We walked around, talked a lot, had food and our cultural differences were astounding. It was very nice to have a different dynamic based on our limited ability to communicate. But very quickly we developed a way to make things happen and exchanged complicity. Days later she was gone. She put up with my busy schedule, was autonomous, and every time I was free or willing to do something, made sure I was over with my homework before she said yes. We had an awesome time, and walked around the city with Helen as well, bierhall etc. Their eyes widening over the Marienplatz Christkindlmarkt were a beautiful thing to witness.
Laura sent me a request quite in advance and very personalized, I had to say yes after reading her profile and her message, I had a few things to confirm before seeing as I made plans for that same weekend but it was more than likely for them to get cancelled.
We met where I live in Munich; Studentenstadt, and started talking a bit.
Quickly over the first few awkward moments, we started to explore the city together. I was supposed to spend just a bit of time with her but we ended up doing most exploring together. Drinking Glüwein in Christmas markets, doing my multiple errands, eating my friend's Ole's cake, having Tea, going out for drinks with my Bavarian friends and ending up in a giant club, back home at 5 in the morning and just getting lost around town. When she left, she put my keys in the mailbox, left a little note with some tea boxes and a coin from Algeria, hinting to us meeting again.
Usually have a great time with people from Couchsurfing. . . A good thing that it is said we always meet twice in life.
A few days later, I was finishing papers, presentations and headed to Saarland for Christmas. I used Couchsurfing again when I needed to spend the night in Strasbourg, France, as my lift to Berlin was only leaving the next day. I was hosted by Maïté, a generous French girl, who despite working crazy shifts at a health institution and being back from a small trip herself, let me crash on her couch, made me warm cereals and shared a beer with me.
Couchsurfing restores your faith in humanity.


Participants were left with a framework they could apply to their businesses and examples and stories that provoked and inspired. By including peer presentations highlighting specific innovation challenges, the results obtained, and key lessons learned, participants also saw how the work of building an innovation-capable culture might be accessible to them, too. A quick "litmus test" of how each participant's company was doing at innovation was provided and this resulted in clear lessons that helped participants understand what they might do better in terms of: leadership; employees; processes; and, customers.


I have helped two clients bought studios at the 512 McClurg this year, one bought a studio on a high floor foreclosure from the bank, the other one bought from a regular sale on a mid to high floor. The closing price is between $170k – $185k.
Both units are rental properties and we get to rent them out within 30 days after the closing. This building has very low maintenance fees compare to buildings around it. One of the reasons is it does not have a swimming pool, however, it does have Homes gym in the building which residents could join with a discount. In the gym, there is a great indoor pool.


The rugby season in South Africa is at full pace with some big matches being played all over the country with the one in the Paarl between Affies and Paarl Gym the "big" one between the number six and number three ranked teams according to the Ruggas.co.za rankings taking place. In New Zealand, more and more schools start to become active with St Kentigern playing Hastings maybe the biggest one there.
Napier Boys High is playing in their first match against Westlake after their tour in South Africa and although Westlake has been the punching bag in this pre-season all eyes will be on Napier. St Kentigern already beat Westlake with 57-00 last week takes on Hastings BHS this weekend. St Kentigerns is ranked number three in New Zealand and Hasting number four, so this should also provide a lot of excitement.
Central Region - Welkom Gim who is having a great start to their season, apart from the 29-0 loss against Grey College play against Voortrekker Bethlehem which ended Goudveld's good start with a win of 39-38 last weekend. Goudveld will try to get their season back on track against Kroonstad AHS which themselves are not doing that bad.
Eastern Cape - A lot of quality games being played here with the game between Dale and Queen's steeped in history. There is a big history when it comes to these two schools playing against each other, where form is not necessarily the guide to who will win this game, but more the pride and passion that is displayed between these two Eastern Cape schools.
Grey High hosts Paul Roos in Port Elizabeth in a match that should see Paul Roos win with relative ease. Paul Roos' team as close as a dream team as it can be. Both teams are unbeaten with Grey High's only mishap a draw against St Andrew's (17-17) last weekend. Grey College travels to Selborne College in the other must be at game, in the Eastern Cape. Grey College is unbeaten and most pundits favourites to remain ranked #1 and unbeaten for 2019 should win this one as Selborne's loss to Jeppe (15-19) makes a lot of people question their 2019 team.
DHS had a horrible start to their season losing three from four is hosting Northwood who also is struggling, but DHS should win this one while Westville who lost to DHS last weekend hosts Jeppe from Johannesburg. This match should provide some great running rugby with Jeppe maybe just the favourites.
Glenwood hosts Monnas this weekend with Glenwood maybe not as strong as in previous years. Monnas is expected to come home with their loss last year at home against Glenwood revenged.
Noordvaal - The various PUKKE competitions are reaching quarter and semi-final stages and should provide a lot of excitement. A struggling Pretoria Boys High hosts Maritzburg College who must be the favourite after their close loss against Glenwood (7-15) last weekend. Nelspruit travels to Middelburg HTS this weekend to determine the champions of Mpumalanga with Middelburg HTS the favourites and also still unbeaten.
Garsfontein hosts Waterkloof with Garsfontein the favourites if the can keep the yellow cards away. Garsfontein received four yellow cards against Rustenburg last weekend ending the game with only twelve players on the field. Menlopark who lost against Monnas (8-30) host Ben Vorster in the other big game in Pretoria and should be too strong for their visitors.
Western Cape - Apart from the Affies vs Paarl Gim game most of the big dogs from the Western Cape is out of town.
Rondebosch hosts a Boland Landbou side that appears to be in fine form, having put their early 64-17 rout at the hands of Helpmekaar behind them. It is no secret that the Farmers produce their best rugby when they don't have a record to protect and their free-flowing play is a joy to behold. Bosch has a strong front row, which includes Lukhanyo Vokozela and Troy Fisher, but when they look up and see Tehan du Plessis and Hen-ko Smuts in front of them, even they are bound to feel just a little bit uneasy. One suspects that rangy lock Matt Gray will find himself up against it too.
Wynberg got a 62-31 hiding out at the Farm last week, while Stellenberg continued to build on their burgeoning reputation with a fourth victory in five starts, Stellenberg to take home the scalp of yet another Premier "A" side. Bishops visit Bellville, one of their bogey grounds in recent years, but should be able to subdue and conquer the local Lions.
Durbanville picked a wonderful time to break their duck for the year when they beat visitors SACS 33-24, but this week it's the Bulls of Oakdale who come to the lush edge of the northern suburbs. After an iffy start, Oakdale scaled a formidable peak last week when they edged the HTS Drostdy side 42-40 in Riversdale. The effects of that victory could have one of several consequences. Did that mighty tussle take a heavy physical and mental toll on the pride of Riversdale, or did it, in fact, reinvigorate them at just the right time as Wildeklawer looms in the not too distant future?


text:
MyUCSC
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What is a "Formal Delegation of Authority"?
Authority for making decisions at the University is communicated through various means. The Board of Regents is granted ". . . full powers of organization and government . . ." of the University by the Constitution of the State of California, Article IX Section 9. The Regents have delegated certain authorities to the President and to other University of California Officers in the Bylaws and Standing Orders.
In the Standing Orders of The Regents, certain authorities are conferred upon the President of the University of California by the Board. The President may choose to transfer certain responsibilities to other senior officers, including Chancellors of the campuses, by formally delegating authority in a published form. Within the Santa Cruz campus, specific operational responsibilities for actions and/or activities, including the authority to act, commit, or execute resources and documents legally binding to the University, are assigned to specified campus administrators by written delegation of authority statements. Additionally, responsibilities are delegated in policies or captured within job descriptions and policies.
The following templates are designed to assist process owners as they document re-delegation of authority from Chancellor to senior leadership at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Delegation of Authority Transmittal Sheet This transmittal sheet helps process owners document the review and approval process of new and revised re-delegations of authority.
Delegation of Authority Template This delegation of authority template is a pre-designed fixed format structure used to provide guidance and facilitate easy, consistent capture of all required delegation components.
Delegation of authority assigns formal authority and responsibility for actions and activities to specific campus administrators. This authority is usually originated by the President of the University. In addition, campus administrators have certain responsibilities inherent to their job responsibilities.
Principles:
Align authority with appropriate organization level of responsibility, i.e., place delegation (authority) where actual decision and financial accountability rests.
Ensure Consistency, i.e., ensure that delegations are consistent and do not conflict with Standing Orders of the Regents, Presidential delegations, current policy statements, financial bulletins, and manuals.
Provide authority for the position, i.e., Written authority is granted to a title and position rather than an individual.
©2022 Regents of the University of California. All Rights Reserved.
Sexual Violence Prevention & Response (Title IX)
Last modified: November 2, 2021 128.114.113.87


Random House, 2006. 312 pages. $25.95, hardcover.
Admittedly this reviewer approached What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat with more than a healthy dose of skepticism. I was immediately turned off by the way in which Louise Richardson, executive dean at the Radcliff Center at Harvard, begins her book by unbelievably alleging an absence of good books on terrorism or, as she says, the one definitive book on the subject. Her audacity in claiming to fill a void already occupied by the likes of Bruce Hoffman and Martha Crenshaw is at best rather surprising, and at worst, displays an ignorance for an increasingly well-developed field of study.
The author begins her book on a personal note. Her discussion of how she was "almost recruited" by a terrorist organization in Ireland comes across as superficial and unconvincing, and to some, could be perceived as rather offensive. According to most experts, the process of recruitment and radicalization is gradual, fairly lengthy and quite complex, and being Irish in itself is neither necessary nor sufficient for recruitment to the Irish terrorist movements. Statements such as "I was fourteen, and if the IRA would have had me I'd have joined in a heartbeat" (p.xiv) come across as a literary ploy to convince readers of her nonexistent bona fides as a terrorism expert or as someone who conducts primary research in this field. Unfortunately, neither claim (implicit or otherwise) is borne out by what is to follow.
Beyond such claims of "almost was a terrorist" and the oddness of claiming originality and authenticity, the book suffers from a variety of other shortcomings. Richardson's superficial and disorganized treatment in What Terrorists Want has little to contribute to our understanding of the subject. Unlike research developed after decades of study of the phenomenon (along the lines of the works by Martha Crenshaw, Bruce Hoffman or David Rapoport, or as a result of years of first-hand experience combating terrorism from an insider's perspective (e.g. of Michael Scheuer, Richard Clarke, or Daniel Byman) or even books based on personal interviews and actual field research (such as those by John Horgan, Yoram Schweitzer, or Jessica Stern) this book offers very little for the informed reader. Primarily it draws on secondary sources already published by many of the authors listed above.
The book skips temporally from one decade to the next, from one case to the next, and blends different kinds of cases of state terror, nationalist groups which employ violence, and groups engaged in suicide terror without any understanding of the distinctive environments in which each develop.
Professor Richardson's claims to original research are misleading, though she does assert to have interviewed as many terrorists as would talk to her. All of the interviews cited in the book were aired on TV, posted on websites, or conducted by others. Not one original interview (not even of the Irish groups who allegedly tried to recruit her) is listed within the copious footnotes.
The book itself repeats many oft-cited claims to understand the underlying rational motivations (practically nobody in the field still consider the terrorists "crazies," pp. 14, 69, 117) and the point is hardly worth laboriously stating yet again, to approach counter terrorism measures using soft power tactics (winning hearts and minds of the population), and to blame the war in Iraq for many of the problems in fighting terrorists today. All of this by now has been said time and time again.
The standard history of terrorism from below and above in Chapter Two has been produced three times in recent books on the subject (indeed, one from the very same publisher as Richardson's book, and written by Robert A. Pape). Unfortunately, there is nothing new or even slightly different here. Discussions of terrorist motivation at the individual, organizational, societal, and state sponsorship levels have been explored more comprehensively in a half a dozen books elsewhere and more convincingly to boot.
Subsequent chapters do not improve on this. The superficial discussion of religious terrorism in Chapter Four indicates a lack of understanding of the complex history and dynamics of Islam or the changes over time in Islamic ideology regarding the use of violence.
As I labored through the chapters, everything sounded so familiar until I realized that anyone who has read even a handful of books on the subject of terrorism will know all of this already. This raises the question: which audience is this book written for? Certainly not anyone who has the slightest knowledge of the subject matter since there is literally nothing new. Only someone with the most cursory knowledge about terrorism will benefit from this book.


text:
Student makes a heartbreaking testament 'for the security'
BIRMINGHAM – Basisscholier Javon Davies from Birmingham, Albama sums up his most important possessions on opposite WIAT: "Playstation, computer games, tv and cat'. He does this not without reason: he has made a will, to be sure. For if he is killed during a shooting at the school.
"I've just made in the event that something happens," he says. "Some children are sometimes herriemakers and can then, for example, someone shooting or something."
In the heartbreaking letter, he leaves everything to his best friend. But he also has a message to his family. "Dear family. I love all of you. Julie gave me clothes given and supporting me always. Love Javon."
Mother Mariama Davies had to cry by the action of her son. But also due to the fact that shootings in school are now so worried for the American youth that he has even the unthinkable has devised.
"It's really heavy, because he is still so young. He would totally not doing that. He is in group 8. You still have a life for you and you should not be doing, let alone there is also a time to think about it."
fraggle rock dog brooke van poppelen vince champ comedian ephemeral rift michelle biloon sean yseult drew lynch girlfriend turtle boy sports rob little ben kissel


text:
SirWriteaLot
Tales of a Clumsy Girl
Story Collection – Chaalbaaz
Story Collection – MSPM39
Story Collection - Chaalbaaz
Post-Death Syndrome
March 13, 2019 February 26, 2019 KP
Anant grabbed the knife and ran towards the open door. He knew he had a few minutes before Priya would wake up.
"Shit.. Shit.. Shit.. I shouldn't have stabbed her. I hope she's alive." Anant cursed himself and shut the door behind him. Ever since the outbreak of the virus, dying has become worse for the killer. If Priya died, he would have a real hard time. All he could hope was that he would be far away before she wakes up.
Anant had just reached his car when he heard Priya's voice.
"I knew it." Priya said looking at Anant from the door. Blood was gushing out of the cut that Anant had made. Priya's clothes were tattering because of the scuffle that they two had had.
"You won't catch me Priya." Anant said and jumped in the car. Even before he could start the car, Priya was at the door.
"No Anant. You don't get to run." Priya said and broke the window of the car and grabbed Anant.
Within a minute, Anant was on the road, his neck broken.
"I hate you." Anant said standing up.
"You still didn't have to kill me." Priya said an annoyed look on her face.
"I didn't want to. I just hate you so much that I couldn't control myself."
"Now, what are you going to do?" Priya asked. She was sitting down now, her body's strength seeping away. The virus that had activated her body post-death had used up the energy.
"I will probably go and tell Suhani about this. She lives a block away so I will reach her in time." Anant said.
"I wish I had the time to kill that bitch." Priya said and lied down.
The virus only became activated when a person died. However, during that period, the brain would be reactivated and the body gained huge energy surge. A person would get superhuman strength and speed for a flicker. Scientists called this Post-Death Syndrome. This reanimation would only happen in bodies with virus and almost 95% of humans were infected by the virus. As there were no other probable side-affects, the research for cure was limited.
"Goodbye Priya. I didn't want it to end this way. I'm sorry." Anant said and sped off.
"Bye Anant Chaudhary. I love you." Priya said to the wind Anant had left behind and then fell silent. The virus was done with her now.
Tagged death, Fiction, Relationships, Science Fiction, Story, Story Collection, Zombies
Published by KP
I read a lot and then, I write a lot. Stories, articles, technology, philosophy and everything else that is uncharted and unexplored.	View all posts by KP
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When I reached out to Victoria to let her know we'd be publishing her letter, she replied with a couple of other ideas she wanted to share. I invite you all to try out these two suggestions and see how things shift in your job search.
You made a mistake in your application…do you resend or just let it go? Some of us at Idealist were pretty split on this. What would you do?
Open thread: Is it time for nonprofits to tackle unpaid internships?


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Rescuers save kitten trapped on bridge
Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 3, 2010
VIDALIA — A freefall from the Mississippi River bridge could have ended badly for a Vidalia resident, but luckily a police officer was there to catch him.
But then, it's not too hard to catch something that only weighs a couple of pounds and is covered in fur.
The story began Tuesday night when two walkers on the riverfront heard the sound of mewing, and soon discovered a small, black kitten trapped in the right south side of the eastbound bridge structure over the riverfront.
"On our way down, I had heard a sound like a loud cat cry, but I didn't pay much attention to it because there were some cars in that area, and I thought maybe a child had a cat in one of them," said Pascha Brown, one of the walkers.
"I guess he fell through the drain on the bridge to a beam, which saved him, but he was trapped."
Vidalia Street Supervisor Lee Staggs said that it is not uncommon for feral cats to live in the bridge structure and eat the pigeons that roost there, but the kitten was on a 14-inch beam that the bridge cats don't go to.
"He was a little thing — I don't believe he had ever gotten out on his own," Staggs said. "He was stuck in a beam where they have put the new lights in. He could walk around, but he couldn't get out to get anything to eat or drink. It would have only been a matter of time before he expired."
Vidalia Animal Control Officer Toxie Burnette and Staggs made their way to where the kitten was on the bridge in an attempt to catch it.
"We tried to get him with the catch pole, but the pole was too short," Burnette said. "Lee Staggs and I went up on the bridge, and Lee pulled the cable out as far as he could to extend the pole a little longer, and he was trying to get the cat to grab at it so he could pull (the cable) and catch it."
After several attempts at hooking the kitten, Staggs yelled down to the people below to get ready to catch it and bumped the kitten with the pole, knocking it off the beam, Burnette said.
"He was tumbling in the air like he was trying to find his feet — he was just rolling," Brown said.
The kitten plunged into the outstretched jacket of Vidalia police officer Frank Duson, who was standing under the bridge.
"Where he was, the bridge is pretty high," Burnette said. "If that cat had fallen, it would have hurt him."
After the fall, the kitten ran away from the people on the riverfront once it was removed from the coat, but it was later found and has since been adopted, Burnette said.
"It is gentle as can be after it calmed down a little bit," he said.
How the kitten got to where it was is a mystery, but Burnette said it is not uncommon for cats to crawl under vehicle motors.
"There is a good chance he got under the chassis on a truck and then fell off when they were crossing over the bridge," he said.
Oil found on Mississippi barrier island for first time


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Castarède Réserve de la Famille 20 Year Old Armagnac
Size750mL Proof80 Proof (40% ABV) *Please note that the ABV of this bottle may vary
Aged for a minimum of twenty years, this armagnac is crafted by a sixth generation master distiller.
This product is available in: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, MO, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, WA Unfortunately, we can't ship to PO Boxes and APO addresses.
About Castarède Réserve de la Famille 20 Year Old Armagnac
Situated in southwest France, Maison Castarède was founded during the reign of Napoleon III and is the oldest armagnac trading house in the world. At the time of its founding in 1832, demand for armagnac was soaring as many believed that its consumption had therapeutic effects — doctors often distilled and prescribed the spirit in order to cure digestive and kidney ailments. Today, armed with six generations of family experience, Florence Castarède continues to shepherd her family legacy onward at the distillery founded by her great-great-great-great grandparents.
Castarède Reserve de la Famille 20 Year Old Armagnac is made from three unique types of grapes: Ugni Blanc, Colombard and Follie Blanche. While "cognac is almost entirely dominated by one grape variety," says Castarède, "there are more than 10 grape varieties permitted to be used in making armagnac. This allows a much broader range of flavors to be found in the final spirit." After the grapes are harvested, they are pressed and fermented into a white wine, before being distilled in a single pass through a traditional alembic still.
Following distillation, the armagnac is aged for a minimum of twenty years in hand-coopered Monlezun oak casks. Monlezun oak tends to be more tightly grained and richer in tannins as compared to French Limousin oak, and is ideal for a slower maturation process. Once the armagnac has begun aging in the Monlezun oak casks, the casks are stored in Maison Castarède's two cellars. The first cellar, which is situated on the banks of the Baïse River and is over a century old, enjoys a remarkable isothermic environment as a result of its unique location (a portion of the cognac maturing in this cellar is over 125 years old). The second cellar is situated in Mauléon d'Armagnac and is surrounded by Maison Castarède's vineyards.
After a two decade-long beautyrest, each cask of Castarède Armagnac is brought to proof before being bottled by hand. Castarède Reserve de la Famille 20 Year Old Armagnac has a rich, harmonious aroma of ripe fruits, chewy leather and cinnamon. The aroma gives way to notes of roasted coffee, butterscotch, vanilla and honey on the palate, which are well-balanced by a creamy, vanilla undertone. The finish, which is long and sweet, has a hint of caramel.
"Armagnac is for us much more than our business," says Castarède. "It is our passion and our heritage that we strive to preserve."Castarède Reserve Armagnac represents the culmination of six generations of family experience. Pick up a bottle today!
About Brandy
Brandy is typically produced from distilled wine and other fermented fruit juices like apples, pears, and other sweet fruits.
It is a perfect after-dinner digestif served neat or slightly warmed by holding the glass with your hands.
The kick can vary between 70-120 proof, and it gets its flavor from aging in wooden casks.
Check out our impressive selection of brandies, find your new favorite in the Top 10 brandies/cognacs, or explore the Best brandies under $100.
Rich, harmonious aroma of ripe fruits, chewy leather and cinnamon. Notes of roasted coffee, butterscotch, vanilla and honey on the palate, which are well-balanced by a creamy, vanilla undertone. Finish, which is long and sweet, has a hint of caramel.
Hardy XO Bronze Decanter Fine Champagne Cognac
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