text:
\section{Introduction}

Using the supersymmetry algebra, there is a standard procedure to
construct the supergravity multiplets of IIA and IIB supersymmetry.
Naturally, the field content of these multiplets is such that there
is an equal number of (on-shell) bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom.
However, it turns out that additional bosonic spacetime fields, which do
not describe propagating degrees of freedom, can be added
to these multiplets. They play an important role in describing the coupling of
supergravity to branes.

An example of this phenomenon is the addition of a nine-form
potential to the IIA supergravity multiplet \cite{Bergshoeff:1996ui}
which couples to a D8-brane. Integrating out this potential leads to
an integration constant that can be identified as the cosmological
constant parameter of massive IIA supergravity \cite{Romans:1985tz}.
Another example is the addition of a RR ten-form potential to the
IIB supergravity multiplet that couples to a D9-brane
\cite{Polchinski:1995mt}.  From a string theory point of view,
D9-branes take part in obtaining ten-dimensional type-I string
theory from type-IIB. Indeed, in the closed sector the orientifold
projection~\cite{augusto} generates a tadpole, and tadpole
cancellation, {\it i.e.} cancellation of the overall RR charge and
tension, requires the introduction of an open sector, corresponding
to D9-branes. The ten-form potential corresponding to these branes
does not have any field strength, and therefore there is no
supergravity solution corresponding to the D9-brane. Nevertheless,
the RR ten-form potential can consistently be included in the
supersymmetry algebra, and its gauge and supersymmetry
transformations formally determine the world volume action of the
D9-brane, from which the open sector of the low-energy action of the
type-I theory is obtained after truncation. In
\cite{Bergshoeff:1999bx} it was shown that the IIB algebra can be
extended in order to include the RR ten-form and a second ten-form
potential. Somewhat surprisingly, it has been pointed out that these
potentials cannot be related by an $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ transformation
\cite{fabio}.

Recently, these issues were sorted out when it was shown that the ten-form that
couples to the
D9-brane transforms as a component of a quadruplet representation
under the duality group $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ \cite{Bergshoeff:2005ac}
whereas the second ten-form potential of \cite{Bergshoeff:1999bx}
transforms as the component of a separate doublet representation.

Each of these ten-form potentials couples to a nine-brane.
It is the purpose of this letter to calculate which of these
nine-branes correspond to half-supersymmetric BPS objects and to
calculate their  tensions.

\section{Brane Tensions and BPS conditions}

To calculate the tension of a single p-brane and to determine the BPS condition
it is convenient to consider the leading terms of the full kappa-symmetric
brane action, assuming that such an action exists.
To be precise we consider (in static gauge) the Nambu-Goto term and the
term that describes the coupling of a $(p+1)$-form potential
$A_{(p+1)}$ to
the p-brane:
\begin{equation}\label{braneL}
{\cal{L}}_{\rm brane}\, =\, \tau_{\rm brane}\, \sqrt{-g} +
\epsilon^{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{p+1}}\,
A_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{p+1}}\,.
\end{equation}
Here $\tau_{\rm brane}$ is the brane tension which in
general is a function of the scalars at hand (a dilaton
for IIA and a dilaton plus axion for IIB).

We now consider the supersymmetry variation of the brane action
\eqref{braneL}, but keep only terms linear in the gravitino\footnote{
A similar variation was considered in
\cite{Bergshoeff:2000zn} in the context of a supersymmetric
Randall-Sundrum scenario, and was also discussed in \cite{Bandos:2001jx}.}.
In this letter we restrict ourselves to the
IIB theory. We will consider the IIA case in an upcoming work
\cite{upcoming}. The relevant
supersymmetry variations of the spacetime metric $g_{\mu\nu}$ and
the $(p+1)$-form $A_{(p+1)}$ are given by\footnote{
We work with real spinors in string frame, see section 6 of
\cite{Bergshoeff:2005ac}. All spinors are two-component vectors,
with each component being a 16-component Majorana-Weyl spinor.}
\begin{equation}
\delta\, g_{\mu\nu}\, =\, 2i\bar\epsilon \gamma_{(\mu}\psi_{\nu)}
+ {\rm h.c.}\, ,
\hskip 1truecm
\delta A_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{p+1}} \, \sim\, f\,\bar\epsilon
\gamma_{[\mu_1\cdots \mu_p} \sigma\psi_{\mu_{p+1}]}\,,
\end{equation}
where $f$ is a function of the dilaton plus
axion and $\sigma$ is one of the three Pauli-matrices\footnote{This is
not the generic situation. Sometimes
we are dealing, in the same supersymmetry variation,
with two terms each containing a different Pauli matrix and
a different dependence on the scalars.
 In that case the formulae below need a slight modification.
As an example of such a situation, see the discussion of the D1-brane
below.}.
For a half-supersymmetric
p-brane we require that the brane action is invariant under 16
of the 32 linear IIB supersymmetries (in addition there will be
16 nonlinear supersymmetries). For this to happen it is mandatory that the
supersymmetry variation of the brane action is proportional to a
projection operator  that projects
away half of the supersymmetry parameters.
In general we find
\begin{equation}\label{BPS}
\delta {\cal{L}}_{{\rm brane}}\,\sim\, \bigl (
\tau_{\rm brane}\mathbbm{1} + f \gamma_{01\cdots p}\,\sigma\bigr ) \epsilon\,.
\end{equation}
This variation is proportional to a projection operator
provided
\begin{equation}\label{tension}
\tau_{\rm brane} =  f \,.
\end{equation}
We conclude
that requiring supersymmetry in this sector not only determines
the brane tension, via \eqref{tension}, but also fixes the BPS condition
on the supersymmetry parameter, via \eqref{BPS} and
\eqref{tension}. Note that, in order
to have a projection operator in \eqref{BPS} we must have
$\sigma = \sigma_1$ or $\sigma=\sigma_3$ for $p=1,5,9$ and
$\sigma=i\sigma_2$ for $p=3,7$.

Instead of terms linear in the gravitino, one can also consider
terms linear in the dilatino. This requires varying the brane tension in
front of the Nambu-Goto term. In all cases, except for nine-branes (see
section \ref{nine-branes}) we find that all dilatino
terms cancel provided that the same
projection operator and the same brane tension is used that follows from
requiring the cancellation of the gravitino terms. This provides a
non-trivial check on our calculations.

\section{Strings, Three-branes and Five-branes}

As a key example we consider the fundamental
string F1 and the Dirichlet brane D1. These branes form a doublet under
$SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ in which D1 is the S-dual of
F1\,\footnote{In this paper we mean by S-duality the discrete $\mathbb{Z}_2$ transformation.}.

In a formulation where the world volume vector field has been
integrated out\footnote{Integrating out the worldvolume vector field is
optional. However, to preserve $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ symmetry one should
do this for both or none of the two branes.}
for both the F1 and
the D1 \cite{Townsend:1997kr},
the Nambu-Goto and Wess-Zumino terms are given by
($\phi$ is the dilaton and $\ell$ is the axion)\footnote{In this letter
all $p$-forms are real. With respect to \cite{Bergshoeff:2005ac}
in some cases the $p$-form is multiplied by a factor of  $i$. In the present
case $C=iC_{\rm old}$.}:
\begin{eqnarray}
{\cal{L}}_{\rm D1} &=& \tau_{\rm D1} \sqrt{-g} +
\tfrac{1}{4}\epsilon^{\mu\nu} C_{\mu\nu}\,,\\
&&\nonumber\\
{\cal{L}}_{\rm F1} &=&  \tau_{\rm F1}\sqrt{-g} + \tfrac{1}{4}
\epsilon^{\mu\nu}
B_{\mu\nu}\,.
\end{eqnarray}
Here $C_{\mu\nu}$ and $B_{\mu\nu}$ are two-form potentials
that transform as a doublet under $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$.
The relevant supersymmetry rules of these potentials are given by
\begin{equation}
\delta B_{\mu\nu} = 8i\bar\epsilon\,\sigma_3\gamma_{[\mu}\psi_{\nu]}\,,
\hskip 1truecm \delta C_{\mu\nu} = -8ie^{-\phi}\bar\epsilon\sigma_1
\gamma_{[\mu}\psi_{\nu]} +\ell\delta B_{\mu\nu}\,.
\end{equation}
This can be used to determine the tensions and the BPS conditions of
the F1- and D1-branes, as explained above. In this way we find for
the fundamental string:
\begin{equation}
\tau_{\rm F1} = 1\,,\hskip 2truecm \tfrac{1}{2}\bigl (\mathbbm{1} + \sigma_3
\gamma_{01}\bigr ) \epsilon = 0\,.
\end{equation}
The analysis of the D1-brane is slightly more subtle because,
due to the $\ell\delta B_{\mu\nu}$ term in the variation of $C_{\mu\nu}$,
the variation of the D1 Wess-Zumino term contains both terms with a
$\sigma_1$ and a $\sigma_3$ matrix:
\begin{equation}
\delta {\cal {L}}_{\rm D1} \sim \bigl (\tau_{\rm D1}\mathbbm{1} + (f\sigma_1
+ g\sigma_3)\gamma_{01}\bigr )\,
\epsilon\,,
\end{equation}
with $f= -e^{-\phi}$ and $g= \ell$. Since $\sigma_1$ and
$\sigma_3$ anticommute we  find instead of \eqref{tension}:
\begin{equation} \label{tension2}
\tau_{\rm D1} = \sqrt{f^2 + g^2} = \sqrt{e^{-2\phi} + \ell^2}\,.
\end{equation}
Our results so far are summarized in table \ref{Table1}. The table
also contains the results for the 3- and 5-branes which can be
derived similarly.

\begin{table}[ht]
\begin{center}
\hspace{-1cm}
\begin{tabular}{|c||c|c|c|}
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
potential & brane & tension &projection operator\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
$ C_{(2)}$ & D1& $\sqrt{e^{-2\phi}+\ell^2}$&
$\frac{1}{2}\bigl(\mathbbm{1}+
\frac{-e^{-\phi} \sigma_1 + \ell \sigma_3}{\sqrt{e^{-2\phi}+ \ell^2}}\gamma_{01}\bigr)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
$B_{(2)}$ & F1 & 1&$\tfrac{1}{2}\bigl(\mathbbm{1} + \sigma_3\gamma_{01}\bigr)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
$C_{(4)}$ & D3  &   $e^{-\phi}$     &   $\tfrac{1}{2}(\mathbbm{1} + i \sigma_2\gamma_{0123})$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
$C_{(6)}$ & D5  &   $e^{-\phi}$     &   $\tfrac{1}{2}(\mathbbm{1} + \sigma_1 \gamma_{01 \cdots 5})$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
$B_{(6)}$ & NS5 &$e^{-\phi} \sqrt{e^{-2\phi}+ \ell^2}$  &
$\frac{1}{2}\bigl(\mathbbm{1}+ \frac{e^{-\phi} \sigma_3 + \ell\sigma_1
}{\sqrt{e^{-2\phi}+ \ell^2 }}\gamma_{01\cdots5}\bigr)$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{The two 2-, 4- and 6-form potentials of IIB supergravity and the corresponding
branes in string frame. \label{Table1}}
\end{center}
\end{table}

We now consider a $(p,q)$-string (see \cite{Schwarz:1995dk}) where F1 denotes a $(1,0)$-string and
D1 a $(0,1)$-string:
\begin{equation}
{\cal{L}}_{\rm (p,q)} = \tau_{(p,q)}\,\sqrt{-g} +
\tfrac{1}{4}\epsilon^{\mu\nu}\bigl (p\, B_{\mu\nu} + q\,C_{\mu\nu}\bigr )\,.
\end{equation}
Again we find in the variation of ${\cal{L}}_{(p,q)}$ a combination
of two Pauli matrices:
\begin{equation}
\delta {\cal{L}}_{(p,q)} \sim \bigl ( \tau_{(p,q)}\mathbbm{1} +
((p+\ell q) \sigma_3
- e^{-\phi}q\sigma_1)\gamma_{01}\bigr )\, \epsilon\,.
\end{equation}
The tension now becomes
\begin{equation} \label{taupq}
\tau_{p,q} = \sqrt{(p+\ell q)^2 + e^{-2\phi} q^2}\,,
\end{equation}
which reproduces the tension formula of \cite{Schwarz:1995dk}.
Using Einstein frame this tension formula can be rewritten
in the manifest $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-invariant form\footnote{Note that
$\tau_{\rm string} = e^{-\tfrac{p+1}{4}\phi}\tau_{\rm Einstein}$ for a
$p$-brane.}
\begin{equation} \label{Einsteinstring}
\tau_{(p,q)}^{\rm E} = \sqrt{q^\alpha q^\beta {\cal M}_{\alpha\beta}}\,,
\end{equation}
with
\begin{equation}
q^\alpha = \begin{pmatrix}
q \cr p
\end{pmatrix}\hskip.5truecm {\rm and}\hskip .5truecm {\cal M} = e^\phi
\begin{pmatrix}
\ell^2 + e^{-2\phi} &\ell\cr
\ell & 1
\end{pmatrix}\,.
\end{equation}

\section{Seven-branes}

Before considering nine-branes, it is instructive to first consider
seven-branes. There are three eight-form potentials\footnote{There is a constraint on the nine-form field strengths
(see \cite{Meessen:1998qm,Dall'Agata:1998va,Bergshoeff:2005ac}), such
that the three eight-forms describe the same two propagating degrees of freedom
as the dilaton and axion.}
$C_{(8)}, D_{(8)}$ and $B_{(8)}$
that transform as a triplet under $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$, see table \ref{Table2}.
They correspond to the three seven-branes D7, I7 and ${\widetilde {\rm D7}}$,
where ${\widetilde {\rm D7}}$ is minus the S-dual of D7 and
I7 changes sign under under S-duality.
Note that all seven-branes have the same projection operator and hence
correspond to the single 3-form (or, equivalently, 7-form)
central charge in the IIB supersymmetry
algebra. This shows that a single central charge that is
invariant under S-duality may correspond to different branes that
transform non-trivially under S-duality.

\begin{table}[ht]
\begin{center}
\hspace{-1cm}
\begin{tabular}{|c||c|c|c|}
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
potential & brane & tension &projection operator\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
 $C_{(8)}$ & D7& $e^{-\phi}$&$\tfrac{1}{2}\bigl (\mathbbm{1} + i\gamma_{01\cdots 7}
\sigma_2\bigr)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
 $D_{(8)}$ & I7 & $\ell e^{-\phi}$&$\tfrac{1}{2}\bigl(\mathbbm{1} + i\gamma_{01\cdots 7}\sigma_2
\bigr)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
$B_{(8)}$ & ${\widetilde {\rm D7}}$ &
$e^{-3\phi} + \ell^2e^{-\phi}$&$\tfrac{1}{2}\bigl (\mathbbm{1} + i\gamma_{01\cdots 7} \sigma_2\bigr )$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{The three eight-form potentials of IIB supergravity and the
corresponding seven-branes. \label{Table2}}
\end{center}
\end{table}

Consider
now a combination of seven-branes:
\begin{equation}
{\cal{L}}_{(p,r,q)} \sim \tau_{(p,r,q)}\, \sqrt{-g} +
\epsilon^{\mu_1\cdots \mu_8}\bigl( p \, C_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_8}
+ r D_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_8} + q B_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_8}\bigr)\,.
\end{equation}
The D7-brane corresponds to $(p,r,q) = (1,0,0)$, the others accordingly.
We find that in the supersymmetry variation the terms linear in the
gravitino are proportional to
\begin{equation}
\delta {\cal{L}}_{(p,r,q)} \sim \bigl (\tau_{(p,r,q)} \mathbbm{1} +
i\bigl (p\,e^{-\phi} + r\, \ell e^{-\phi} + q\, (e^{-3\phi} + \ell^2e^{-\phi})
\bigr )\gamma_{01\cdots 7}\sigma_2\bigr)\epsilon\,.
\end{equation}
This is proportional to a projection operator provided that
\begin{equation}
\tau_{(p,r,q)} =
|p\,e^{-\phi} + r\, \ell e^{-\phi} + q\, (e^{-3\phi} + \ell^2e^{-\phi})|\,.
\end{equation}
Using Einstein frame this formula can be written in
manifest $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-invariant form as follows:
\begin{equation}
\tau_{(p,r,q)}^{\rm E} = |q^{\alpha\beta} {\cal{M}}_{\alpha\beta}|\,,
\end{equation}
with
\begin{equation}
q^{\alpha\beta} = \begin{pmatrix}
q&r/2\cr
r/2&p
\end{pmatrix}\,.
\end{equation}
In contrast to strings we can impose an $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-invariant
constraint on the matrix $q^{\alpha\beta}$:
\begin{equation} \label{constraint}
{\rm det}\, [q^{\alpha\beta}]\ = -\alpha^2\hskip .5truecm {\rm or}
\hskip .5truecm  pq - \frac{r^2}{4} = - \alpha^2\,,
\end{equation}
for some $\alpha$.
We see that the D7-brane and the $\widetilde{\rm D7}$-brane
belong to the $\alpha=0$ conjugacy class but that I7 belongs to the
$\alpha^2>0$ conjugacy classes.
The constraint \eqref{constraint} defines co-dimension 1 surfaces
in $\mathbb{R}^{2,1}$. For $\alpha \ne 0$ they are hyperboloids and for
$\alpha=0$ a cone. These hypersurfaces are homogeneous spaces\footnote{We thank
Patrick Meessen for discussions of this point.}, and, therefore,
all of them can be constructed as coset spaces $SL(2,\mathbb{R})/H_\alpha$
where $H_\alpha$ is the isotropy group for a given $\alpha$.
For instance, for $\alpha=0$, we find that  $H_0$
is the subgroup of matrices of the form
\begin{equation} \label{isotropy}
\Lambda = \begin{pmatrix}
1&&b\cr 0&& 1
\end{pmatrix}\end{equation}
that shift the value of $\ell$ by a real constant, which is isomorphic to
$\mathbb{R}$.

We can use the constraint \eqref{constraint}
to solve for $r$ in terms of $p$ and $q$:
\begin{equation}
r(p,q) = \pm 2\sqrt{pq+\alpha^2}\,.
\end{equation}
This provides us with a set of $(p,q)$ seven-branes that define a
two-dimensional ma\-nifold. For $\alpha^2=0$ this manifold is parametrized
by
\begin{equation}
(p,r,q) = (b^2, 2bd, d^2)\,,\hskip 1.5truecm b,d \in \mathbbm{R}\,.
\end{equation}

The $\alpha^2>0$ and $\alpha^2<0$ $(p,q)$ seven-branes form
distinct conjugacy classes whose elements cannot be obtained by any
$SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ transformation of the D7-brane which belongs to the
$\alpha^2=0$ conjugacy classes. Nevertheless, for each $\alpha$
they represent supersymmetric seven-branes whose solutions
have been constructed \cite{Bergshoeff:2002mb}. Using a basis with $r=0$ and
restricting ourselves to  $\alpha^2 = 0, \pm 1$ we can
write a representative for each conjugacy class as follows:
\begin{equation}
\alpha^2=0\,: \begin{pmatrix}1\cr 0\cr 0\cr\end{pmatrix}\,,\hskip 1truecm
\alpha^2=-1\,: \begin{pmatrix}1\cr 0 \cr 1\cr\end{pmatrix}\,,\hskip 1truecm
\alpha^2=1\,: \begin{pmatrix}1\cr 0\cr -1\cr\end{pmatrix}\,,
\end{equation}
where the 3-vector indicates a vector with components $(p,r,q)$.
This shows that elements of the $\alpha^2 = 1$ and  $\alpha^2 = -1$ conjugacy
class correspond
to duality transformations of bound states of D7 branes with
$\widetilde {\rm D7}$ branes and $\widetilde {\overline {\rm D7}}$ branes
(anti S-dual D7-branes), respectively.

\section{Nine-branes}\label{nine-branes}

We now consider the main topic of this letter: nine-branes.
As explained in \cite{Bergshoeff:2005ac} the ten-form potentials of
IIB supergravity organize themselves in a doublet and
quadruplet representation of $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$. Note that the
10-form potential $C_{(10)}$ that couples to the D9-brane is in the
quadruplet representation. Using the supersymmetry
rules given in \cite{Bergshoeff:2005ac} it is straightforward to
determine the tensions and BPS conditions of the different nine-branes
by requiring the cancellation
of all terms linear in the gravitino in the supersymmetry variation of the
different 9-brane actions. The results for the doublet and quadruplet are
summarized in tables \ref{doublet} and \ref{quadruplet}, respectively.
\bigskip

\begin{table}[ht]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c||c|c|c|}
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
potential &brane & tension & projection operator\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
${\cal{D}}_{(10)}$ &S9  &   $e^{-2\phi}$
    &$\tfrac{1}{2}(\mathbbm{1} + \sigma_3)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
${\cal{E}}_{(10)}$ & $\widetilde{\rm S9}$   &   $e^{-2\phi}
\sqrt{e^{-2\phi} + \ell^2}$ & $\tfrac{1}{2}\bigl(
\mathbbm{1}+ \tfrac{- e^{-\phi} \sigma_1 + \ell
\sigma_3}{\sqrt{e^{-2\phi} + \ell^2}}\bigr)$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{The doublet of 10-form potentials, their tensions and their
projection operators. \label{doublet} }
\end{center}
\end{table}

\begin{table}[ht]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c||c|c|}
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
potential &brane & tension $\tau$ and projection operator $P$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
\multirow{2}{*}{$C_{(10)}$}&\multirow{2}{*} {D9}    &   $\tau = e^{-\phi}$ \\
& &$P=\tfrac{1}{2}(\mathbbm{1} + \sigma_1)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
\multirow{2}{*}{$D_{(10)}$}&\multirow{2}{*} {--} &  $
\tau=e^{-\phi}\sqrt{\tfrac{1}{9}\,e^{-2\phi}+  \ell^2}$\\
& & $P=\tfrac{1}{2} \bigg(\mathbbm{1} + \frac{\ell\,\sigma_1 + \tfrac{1}{3}\,e^{-\phi}
\sigma_3}{\sqrt{\tfrac{1}{9}\,e^{-2\phi}+  \ell^2 }}\bigg)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
\multirow{2}{*}{$E_{(10)}$}& \multirow{2}{*}{--} &  $
\tau=e^{-\phi}\sqrt{(\tfrac{1}{3}e^{-2\phi} + \ell^2 )^2+
\tfrac{4}{9}\, \ell^2
e^{-2\phi}}$ \\ & & $P=\tfrac{1}{2} \bigg(\mathbbm{1}-
 \frac{( \tfrac{1}{3}\,e^{-2\phi} +
\ell^2  )\sigma_1 +
\tfrac{2}{3}\, \ell e^{-\phi} \sigma_3}{\sqrt{(\tfrac{1}{3}\,e^{-2\phi}+
\ell^2 )^2+ \tfrac{4}{9}\,\ell^2 e^{-2\phi}}}\bigg)$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
\multirow{2}{*}{$B_{(10)}$}&\multirow{2}{*}{${\widetilde{\rm D9}}$} &
$\tau=e^{-\phi} \bigl(e^{-2\phi} +\ell^2
\bigr)^{3/2}$  \\ & & $P=\frac{1}{2} \bigl( \mathbbm{1}-
\frac{ \ell \sigma_1 +
e^{-\phi} \sigma_3}{\sqrt{e^{-2\phi} + \ell^2}}\bigl)$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{The quadruplet of 10-form potentials, their tensions and their
projection operators. Note that there is no half-supersymmetric
nine-brane that couples to $D_{(10)}$ or $E_{(10)}$.
\label{quadruplet} }
\end{center}
\end{table}

The discussion of the doublet of nine-branes is rather similar to that
of the doublet of strings. We find that the tension of a $(p,q)$
nine-brane is given by
\begin{equation}
\tau_{(p,q)} = e^{-2\phi} \sqrt{(p+\ell q)^2 + e^{-2\phi} q^2}\,.
\end{equation}
In Einstein frame the tension is given by the manifest
$SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-invariant tension-formula \eqref{Einsteinstring}.

The discussion of the quadruplet of nine-branes is more subtle.
We first consider $(p,r,s,q)$-branes
\begin{equation}
{\cal{L}}_{(p,r,s,q)} \sim \tau_{(p,r,s,q)}\, \sqrt{-g} +
\epsilon^{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{10}}\bigl( pC_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{10}}
+ r D_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{10}} + s E_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{10}}+
 q B_{\mu_1\cdots \mu_{10}}\bigr)\,,
\end{equation}in which the $(1,0,0,0)$-brane
represents the D9-brane etc. We find
that the tension of a $(p,r,s,q)$-brane is given by
\begin{eqnarray}
\tau_{(p,r,s,q)} &=& \left[ \{ e^{-\phi}p+\ell e^{-\phi}r-
\left(\tfrac{1}{3}e^{-3\phi}+\ell^2e^{-\phi}\right)s-
\left(\ell^3 e^{-\phi} + \ell e^{-3\phi}\right)q \}^2\nonumber \right.\\
&&+ \left. \{ \tfrac{1}{3}e^{-2\phi}r- \tfrac{2}{3}\ell e^{-2\phi}s- \left(e^{-4\phi} +
\ell^2 e^{-2\phi}\right)q \}^{2} \right]^{1/2}\,.
\end{eqnarray}
In Einstein frame the manifest $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$-invariant
tension is given by
\begin{equation}
\tau_{(p,r,s,q)}^{\rm E} = \sqrt{q^{\alpha\beta\gamma} q^{\delta\epsilon\zeta}
{\cal{M}}_{\alpha\beta}{\cal{M}}_{\delta\epsilon}{\cal{M}}_{\gamma\zeta}}\,,
\end{equation}
where
\begin{equation}
q^{222} = p\,,\hskip .5truecm
q^{122} = -\tfrac{1}{3}r\,,\hskip .5truecm
q^{112} = -\tfrac{1}{3}s\,,\hskip .5truecm
q^{111} = q\,.
\end{equation}

So far we have only achieved the cancellation of the gravitino terms.
These cancellations merely serve to derive the tension formulae and
the BPS conditions. A first nontrivial check on supersymmetry is the
cancellation of the dilatino terms. Unlike the previous cases
we find that these dilatino terms only cancel
provided that
\begin{equation} \label{2constraints}
3qr+s^2=0\,,\hskip 1truecm 3ps+r^2=0\,, \hskip 1truecm
9pq -rs =0\,.
\end{equation}
Note that these constraints are  satisfied by the
D9-brane and its S-dual but {\it not} by the other two 9-branes.
For generic points $(p,r,s,q)$ the last constraint follows from the
first two but not for special cases. Therefore, it cannot
be omitted. For instance, the points $(p,0,0,q)$
solve the first two constraints for general $p,q$ but solving
the third constraint requires $p=0$ or $q=0$.

To understand the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ properties of the constraints
\eqref{2constraints} it is convenient to introduce the matrix
$
Q^{\alpha\beta} \equiv q^{\alpha\gamma\delta}q^{\beta\epsilon\zeta}
\epsilon_{\gamma\epsilon}\epsilon_{\delta\zeta}$ or
\begin{equation}
Q^{\alpha\beta} = \frac{1}{9}\begin{pmatrix}
2(3qr+s^2)&9pq-rs\cr
9pq-rs&2(3ps+r^2)
\end{pmatrix}\, .
\end{equation}
The constraints \eqref{2constraints} can then be written as
$Q^{\alpha\beta} = 0$ and transform manifestly as a triplet of $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$.
Using the constraints \eqref{2constraints} to solve for $r,s$ in terms
of $p,q$ we end up with a set of $(p,q)$ 9-branes
that define a two-dimensional
manifold in a four-dimensional space parametrized by
\begin{equation}
(p,r,s,q) = (d^3, -3bd^2, -3b^2 d, b^3)\,,\hskip 1,5truecm c,d
\in \mathbb{R}\,. \label{D9orbit}
\end{equation}
This manifold
can be identified as the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ orbit of the D9-brane.
It has the isotropy group \eqref{isotropy}. We thus end up
with the same homogeneous space that we encountered for the
orbit of the D7-brane. Unlike the case of seven-branes there are no
other conjugacy classes of half-supersymmetric nine-branes.

Finally, we consider the "quantized"
duality group $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$. We assume that the brane
charges are quantized. We first consider the linear doublet.
The orbit of the S9-brane is given by:
\begin{equation}
\begin{pmatrix}
a&&b\\
c&&d
\end{pmatrix}
\begin{pmatrix}1\\0\end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix}a\\chi\end{pmatrix}
\,\, , \,\,\, ad -bc =1. \end{equation}
For any pair $a,c$ of co-prime integers\footnote{If $a,c$ are not
 co-prime we consider
them as multiple copies of a fundamental brane, see \cite{Schwarz:1995dk}.}
we can use the
extended Euclidean algorithm to solve for integers $b$ and $d$. This
shows that if we
restrict the duality group to
$SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$, all branes are  in the orbit of the
S9-brane.
Note that the same argument applies to $(p,q)$-strings and $(p,q)$
5-branes. The
case of $(p,q)$ 7-branes, where different classes of constraints appear,
is more complex and was treated in \cite{DeWolfe:1998pr}.

We next consider the non-linear doublet, where we find a similar result:
 all 9-branes lie in the
$SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ orbit of a single D9-brane, if we do not count multiple
branes of the same type as independent. This can be seen as follows\footnote{A similar
analysis, with a similar result, can be made of the
$\alpha^2=0$ conjugacy class
of seven-branes, which contains the D7-brane.}
. All
9-branes lie in the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ orbit of
the D9-brane, given by the charges $(d^3, -3bd^2, -3b^2 d, b^3)$.
To verify our
claim we have to check
that all $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ transformations of the D9-brane
which lead to integer charges are
also elements of $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$. To obtain integer charges, we
must have $d^3 = u, \,\, d^2b = v$ for some integers $u,v$. If $d$ and $b$ are not
integers themselves, then without loss of generality this implies
$b = n d$ for some integer $n$\,\footnote{If only one of them is not an integer, then we do
not get integer charges and if both are integers, then there is either an
$SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ transformation which generates this brane from the D9-brane, or
we are dealing with a multiple brane.}. Any transformation of that kind, however, leads to a "multiple" brane
with charges $u (1,-3 n,-3 n^2,n^3)$, which we do not consider independent,
unless $u=d=1,\,\,b=n$. In the latter case the brane is connected to the D9-brane
by a
$SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$  transformation\footnote{To construct this
transformation, one can determine the values of $a,c$ with
the extended Euclidean algorithm, similarly to
the S9-brane case.}. This verifies our claim.

\section{Discussion}

In this work we have determined the tensions of all
half-supersymmetric branes of IIB string theory,
including a linear and nonlinear
doublet of $(p,q)$ nine-branes. A brief summary of the results is given in
table \ref{AllTensions}.

\begin{table}[ht]
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|c||c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
brane   & $\rm D1$          & $\rm F1$& $\rm D3$        & $\rm D5$      & $\rm NS5$     & $\rm D7$              & $\widetilde {\rm D7}$ & $\rm D9$ &
 $\widetilde{\rm D9}$& S9 &  $\widetilde{\rm S9}$\\
\hline \rule[-1mm]{0mm}{6mm}
tension & $g^{-1}_s$    & $1$ & $g^{-1}_s$  & $g^{-1}_s$& $g^{-2}_s$& $g^{-1}_s$&  $g^{-3}_s$ & $g^{-1}_s$ & $g^{-4}_s$ & $g^{-2}_s$ & $g^{-3}_s$\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{The tensions of the basic  half-supersymmetric IIB branes,
with vanishing axion. In the case of seven-branes we have not indicated the
half-supersymmetric branes corresponding to the $\alpha^2>0$ and $\alpha^2<0$
conjugacy classes of $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$.
\label{AllTensions} }
\end{center}
\end{table}

There are some surprises for the nine-branes. The standard D9-brane
is part of a nonlinear doublet. This nonlinear doublet is expected
to play a role in the construction  of strings with sixteen
supercharges, along the lines of Refs.
\cite{hull1,hull2,9812224}\footnote{Observe, however, that in these
papers the D9-brane was assumed to belong to a linear doublet
together with the $\widetilde{\rm D9}$ (there named NS9), which was
shown to have a tension proportional to $g_s^{-4}$ in the string
frame. We have shown here that this doublet is non-linear, with the
corresponding potentials belonging to a quadruplet.}. We find an
additional linear doublet of nine-branes that contains a S9-brane
whose tension scales as $g_s^{-2}$, i.e.~a soliton. An obvious
question to ask is: what is the world-volume dynamics of the
S9-brane? We hope to report in this direction in a forthcoming paper
\cite{upcoming}. The precise role of the S9-brane in IIB string
theory is still unclear. Perhaps it has a role to play in the
recently proposed non-perturbative open SO(32) heterotic string
construction of \cite{Polchinski:2005bg}\, \footnote{We thank Timo
Weigand for pointing out this reference to us.}.

\section*{Acknowledgements}

 We wish to thank Diederik Roest for an interesting discussion on
brane tensions and Ana Mar\'{\i}a Font for a remark about the S-duality
of 7-branes. E.B., M. de R., S.K.~and T.O.~are supported
by the European Commission FP6 program
MRTN-CT-2004-005104 in which E.B., S.K. and M. de R. are
associated to Utrecht university.
S.K. is supported by a Postdoc-fellowship of the German
Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
F.R. is supported by a European
Commission Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, Contract
MEIF-CT-2003-500308 and thanks the INFN for support and the Department of
Physics for hospitality at University of Rome `Tor Vergata'.
The work of E.B.~and T.O.~is supported by the Spanish grant
BFM2003-01090.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Your Inside Connections
Conversations with Corey: Nina Vaca on Representation and Success for Diverse Suppliers
By Corey Anthony, Chief Diversity and Development Officer
As the country continues to celebrate the culture and contributions of Hispanic Americans during Hispanic Heritage Month, AT&T is celebrating the community inside and outside of our walls. I'm proud of the strong relationships we've been able to build over the decades, especially with people like Nina Vaca, founder, chairman and CEO of Pinnacle Group.
Nina works closely with AT&T and many other corporations to provide workforce solutions, a much-needed service as businesses work to fill many open roles. Pinnacle Group has been one of AT&T's top Hispanic suppliers since 1999, and we continue to grow together.
Leaders like Nina are a great example of the growing economic influence Latinos have, in buying power and as innovative employees and business owners. The Selig Center at the University of Georgia estimates that Hispanic buying power reached $1.9 trillion in 2020 and, pre-pandemic, Latino-owned businesses employed more than 3 million people, according to the 2020 State of Latino Entrepreneurship report. Clearly there is momentum and economic empowerment is at the center of the transformation.
In this edition of Conversations with Corey, Nina and I talked about her upbringing as the child of Ecuadorian immigrants, how her father's business inspired her interest in technology and the tools she recommends for minority-owned business leaders. My favorite part of our chat was hearing her thoughts on the role of courage in building a business – I couldn't agree more, and I think you'll enjoy that part of the conversation.
Though we are nearing the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, the opportunities to learn, listen and foster understanding will continue. I'm grateful for Nina's transparency and for decades of a mutually beneficial business and personal friendship and I hope you enjoy watching this Conversation with Corey.
More than a Dream: Reflecting on Dr. King's Legacy
Join us in celebrating Dr. King as we listen in on some of his youngest admirers as they explain what his legacy means to them.
Helping Communities Close the Homework Gap and Narrow the Digital Divide for a Better Future
Here's what we're doing to help bridge the digital divide and to address inadequate internet access.
Ed-tech innovation is key to fun, engaging learning opportunities for all
This year's innovators focus on improving the distance learning experience in STEM, reading literacy and more.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The Swashbuckling Origins of One of America's Greatest Tattooers
by Anni Irish May 31, 2017 June 1, 2017
The show on Gus Wagner offers a rare look into the artist's life through his 150-page scrapbook, which has photographs, sketches, postcards, press clippings, and more.
Three Years After Sandy, South Street Seaport Gets $10.4 Million from FEMA
by Allison Meier August 14, 2015 August 14, 2015
This week the South Street Seaport got an essential boost.
South Street Seaport, Manhattan's Oldest Intact Neighborhood, Faces Uncertain Future
by Allison Meier April 30, 2015 April 30, 2015
Cut through by the rumbling FDR Drive and shadowed on one side by the towering skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan, the South Street Seaport is still surprisingly transporting to New York City's maritime past.
Seaport Museum Opens With Visual Display of Lower Manhattan's Past and Present
by Allison Meier February 7, 2012 February 10, 2012
Struck with financial troubles, the South Street Seaport Museum closed its doors in March of 2011. Although its future was then uncertain, it has now reopened under the direction of the Museum of the City of New York, fueled by a $2 million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Seaport's 19th C Print Shop Expected to Reopen
by Hrag Vartanian September 21, 2011 September 21, 2011
"The new managers of the struggling Seaport Museum New York have committed to reopen the 19th-century print shop Bowne & Co. Stationers, advocates said this week … at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, the leaders of the Museum of the City of New York, which is taking over the Seaport Museum, promised to "reactivate" Bowne & Co." [DNAinfo]
Struggling Seaport Museum Gets $2M Grant
by Hrag Vartanian September 7, 2011 September 7, 2011
Some good news for Manhattan's Seaport Museum, which has been in financial trouble for quite some time, as they received a $2 million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
NYC's Seaport Museum Will Stay Afloat With New Board, Land Sale
by Kyle Chayka May 17, 2011 May 17, 2011
Though it faces a budget crisis and problems with a misdirected leadership, New York City's South Street Seaport Museum will remain intact and its working tall ships will stay moored in New York City Harbor rather than sent away for storage. Under a new plan, the museum's president and board of directors will be replaced and land sold to the city to raise funds.
Save Seaport Museum's Bowne & Co. Printing Studio
by Kyle Chayka May 3, 2011 May 9, 2011
Following major funding and staff cuts this past February, New York City's Seaport Museum closed its Bowne & Company Stationers, a well-known and well-liked working printing studio as well as a documentary exhibit of historical printing processes. Now, efforts are underway to reopen the studio.
NYC's Seaport Museum Lays Off Staff, Closes 19th C Design Treasure Trove
by Hrag Vartanian February 18, 2011 February 17, 2011
A cornerstone of what was designed to be New York's equivalent of Baltimore's Harbor Place and Boston's Quincy Market, the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan is in trouble. The museum has put 32 members of its staff on unpaid furloughs and closed the Bowne & Company Stationers letterpress studio.


Maisha Petrus Ramoshaba (born 1 December), professionally known as Skillz max, is a South African recording artist and record producer. His dropping an EP (Every day) will be out very soon. He is currently unsigned.
Genre: Hip hop Currently lives: IRAQ ( Turf loop Mankweng ).


text:
Screenshot by Daniel Van Boom/CNET
Google to bring Waze-based ridesharing to San Francisco
It's not exactly an Uber competitor. In fact, Google hopes that its users *won't* end up turning into taxi drivers.
Andrew Krok
Aug. 30, 2016 1:44 p.m. PT
54 cents per mile is significantly cheaper than what Uber or Lyft charges, but again, there are large fundamental differences between what they do and what Google's doing.
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET
The ridesharing horse isn't dead, but goodness, tech companies sure are beating it like it is. There's yet another ridesharing outfit opening up in the San Francisco area, but unlike many others, it's not a startup. In fact, it's the opposite -- it's Google.
That's right, The Big G is getting into the ridesharing game, although I suppose a more appropriate name for its service would be commutesharing. The company is set to expand a small pilot program where users can hail a ride through the Waze app, The Wall Street Journal reports, the idea being that you can connect with regular folks who happen to share the same commute.
That's the big difference from Uber or Lyft right there. Its pilot program currently chargers riders 54 cents a mile, and Google doesn't get a cut. That's not enough to turn it into a job, which is fine, because Google doesn't want to turn it into a job. That wouldn't improve commutes -- it would put more cars on the road in the hunt for cash money. As the program currently stands, the money you'd make from offering up a seat would cover some gas or maybe a quick lunch.
Its pilot program allows folks to sign up as riders or drivers. Right now, riders are limited to two rides per day, because it's only supposed to be used for commuting. Drivers are not considered employees of Google, and the WSJ's source told the outlet that drivers would be vetted based on user reviews.
This actually isn't the first Waze-related foray into ridesharing. Google operates a similar carpooling scheme in Israel, and it was popular enough to expand to a full-time service, operating all around the country.
Now playing: Watch this: AutoComplete: GM teases its Army-spec Colorado fuel cell...
Car Industry Google Uber
Discuss: Google to bring Waze-based ridesharing to San Francisco


When I mention my love of cloth tablecloths and napkins (I never run out of either. I just do laundry!), one of the first objections is usually the expense. Especially if you have children who frequently spill things, which mean you need more tablecloths and napkins while the spoiled set is in the wash.
Kendra from My Insanity has a cute and festive solution! She made a tablecloth from bandanas, where you can get on the cheap at craft, fabric, or dollar stores.
Her red, white, and blue tablecloth screams Americana and is perfect for those odd shaped 4th of July picnic tables. She can use any leftover bandanas she has from the project as napkins. How cute would that be?
I love this project, the color possibilities are endless!
Brilliant. Inexpensive. Colorful and perfect for this time of year!


text:
Tag: Oakland
Benefit Concert for Oakland Ghost Ship Fire
by Nick Veronin on December 7, 2016
Roger Springall awoke this past Saturday to a missed call and strange voicemail, logged at 2:49am, from an unknown number. He was alarmed. He'd already learned of the deadly warehouse party fire in Oakland, which killed 36 late Friday night. "I have a 25-year-old son who lives in Oakland," Springall says. His…
G-Eazy Struggles to Find Voice on 'Dark' LP
by John Flynn on December 2, 2015
G-Eazy paid his dues. In the last seven years, the Oakland rapper shotgunned 11 projects at the Internet, starred in mega-popular music videos and established himself as a social media somebody—all before putting ink to a contract. His Web-based rise epitomizes the way recording artists get big nowadays. His proponents paint him…
The Phenomenauts Put a Sci-Fi Spin on Psychobilly
by Nick Veronin on November 25, 2015
The Phenomenauts are not unlike The Justice League or The Avengers. This rocket-fueled collective of rockabilly punks have been featured in their own comic books, each member of the group has an alias, and they hold meetings at a home base, known as The Command Center.


Royal Canin Breed Pug 25 complete dog food for adult dogs over 10 months. With its broad head and very short muzzle the pug is said to be brachycephalic. The size, shape and texture of our Pug kibbles make them easier to grip and encourage the dog to chew. Helps support the skin's role as a barrier and helps maintain healthy skin. Helps maintain the pug's muscle tone and preserve a healthy weight. Helps maintain vitality in older pugs thanks to a combination of polyphenols (grape and green tea) and vitamins E & C.
Protein 25%, Fat 16%, Fibre 2%, Ash 4.6%, Moisture 8%.


LogoChamp.co.uk is a venture of SamaDzines.co.uk and precisely offers customized and customer centric brand identity solutions provider. It's a one-stop solution for all businesses.
Logo Champ is a UK based digital branding agency that has a decade of experience, we have more than 80+ In-house production unit and over 4500+ satisfied clients all around the world. Logo Champ has a years of experience, and we have got the utmost best level of dedication and hard work from our team management which have led us to become one of the top logo design companies in United Kingdom.
Logo Champ is providing and Offering a vast variety of services such as logo designs, custom website design, corporate brochures, business cards, SEO, Web Portal development, video animation, CMS, e-commerce.
Our senior design consultants, after sales and support team along with the QA team works efficiently and enthusiastically to deliver you high quality oriented design art work from scratch that is unique, original and determines your business.
The Staggering reviews that we've perceived over the period have greatly driven us to outclass by accomplishing a higher rank of customer gratification. Logo Champ have been appraised positively not just by our customers but the critiques also. Logo Champ always holds an assertive approaches on major review platforms such as, Trust Pilot, Reseller Ratings, and Shoppers Approved etc.
Logo Champ – A Complete Web Design Solution Company. Established in 2004 from a one room office and now having a dedicated team of designers having more than 10 years+ experience. We have more than 5000+ Happy Customers and 12000+ completed project. Our specialization is in digital designing which includes; Logo Design Services, Website Design Services, Brochure design, flyers and pamphlet designs and stationery designs (includes business cards, letterheads, envelopes), we offer complete print designs solutions for t-shirt and billboards.
We have a group of highly dedicated and artistic in-house graphic designers. Each designer has a considerable experience in the art of designing logos, websites, brochures, etc. Having a highly creative team of designers allows us to guarantee unparalleled and high-quality work, efficient communication and complete attention to details. We are a result-oriented company and our designers enable us to offer desirable results to our esteemed clients.
Logo Champ is award winning company of "Best Branding Company" in Designers Award 2012, 2013, 2014 and "Best Creative Award" in Design SMX Texas 2015.
People Choose Logo Champ above all of the competitors. Why not You?


text:
Great one-offs – Juventus, 1983
The information in this post came from I Colori della Vittoria by
Nicola Calzaretta
When Juventus reached the final of the 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a third kit had to be created.
With Leeds United their opponents, Juve couldn't use their normal white change kit and so, seeking to harness nationalistic pride, they turned out in a blue strip.
While it wouldn't be immediately successful, with Leeds winning on away goals after a 1-1 draw at Elland Road (the re-fixed game in Turin, with Leeds in red, finished 2-2 – two days earlier the match had been abandoned due to heavy rain), Juve retained the blue as an alternative for the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s.
In 1982-83, the first with two gold stars on their chest, having won 20 titles, Juve began the campaign with the usual royal blue but, for the European Cup semi-final there was a change to the change.
Polish side Widzew Łódź, conquerors of Liverpool in the quarter-finals, were the opponents and they wore red as Juve triumped 2-0 in Turin, but the second leg saw the Italian side in a lighter shade of blue than previously.
A 2-2 draw was enough to advance to the final, their first since losing to Ajax a decade earlier.
Hamburg were the opponents in the decider, with Juventus winning the toss for choice of colours, but they fell to the German side.
The following season, a new yellow and blue change kit was worn and blue wouldn't return as the second choice until 1994.
Tags: Juventus Kappa
Previous: Great one-offs – Tottenham Hotspur, 1977
Next: One-offs – Crystal Palace, 1990
Rangers goalkeeper kits, 1996-97 1
Rangers goalkeeper kits, 1996-97
Season's Meetings – Atlético Madrid v Barcelona, 2015-16 2
Season's Meetings
Season's Meetings – Atlético Madrid v Barcelona, 2015-16
Season in Kits – Leeds United, 1992-93 3
Season in Kits – Leeds United, 1992-93
Bayern's unusual influences 4
Rarities and Oddities
Bayern's unusual influences
A (non-exhaustive) list of games where Arsenal wore change kits at home 5
A (non-exhaustive) list of games where Arsenal wore change kits at home
A brief history of European Cup shirt sponsorship 6
A brief history of European Cup shirt sponsorship
Great one-offs – Bayern Munich 'Humanrace', 2021
Great one-offs – Manchester United, 1991
Great one-offs – Ipswich Town, 2002
Great one-offs – Scotland, 1991
Allez les rouges
Great one-offs – Sampdoria, 2016
Commemorative Kits


Flu symptoms: Should I see my health care provider?
Flu season is here, and experts say this may be a particularly severe one. Across the country, people are coming down with the flu. Most people who have the flu have a mild illness they can manage at home with rest and self-care measures. Others must seek medical care. Learn more from Dr. James Steckelberg, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases expert.
Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, which is vital to good vision. Some forms of glaucoma can harm your vision without any signs or symptoms. Risk factors include being older than 60; family history of the disease; and certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and sickle cell anemia. Here's what you need to know.
Can omega-6 fatty acids cause heart disease?
Can antihistamines help me sleep?
Antihistamines can cause drowsiness, which might help you fall asleep for a few nights. But routine use of antihistamines for insomnia isn't recommended. Learn more from Dr. Eric Olson, a Mayo Clinic pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist.
Try sleeping on your side to prevent snoring. Lying on your back allows your tongue to fall backward into your throat, which narrows your airway and partially obstructs airflow. To stay off your back, sew a tennis ball to the back of your pajama top. Feeling the ball at night will remind you to roll over.


Two of America's premier poet/critics, Daisy Fried & James Longenbach, read their poetry; following is a discussion on the state of contemporary American poetry, moderated by National Book Award-winning poet Terrance Hayes. This is the inaugural event in the new Spotlight Series, presented by the Creative Writing programs of Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh.
Vanessa German delves into the sound and rhythm of words in this restaging of her one-woman show that explores the role of poet and audience in relation to the ritual of theater.
Join Angele Ellis and guest readers Renée Alberts, Madalon Amenta, Jan Beatty, Deb Bogen, Dana Killmeyer, Ellen McGrath Smith, Andrew Sydlik, and Don Wentworth to celebrate Angele's second book of poems, Spared (a runner-up in Main Street Rag's 2010 Chapbook Competition).
Vanessa German delves into the sound and rhythm of words in this re-staging of her one-woman show that explores the role of poet and audience in relation to the ritual of theater.
room of the Sphinx Hookah Cafe. This week's featured readers are Stacey Waite and Aaron Smith.
Join The New Yinzer for a special St. Patrick's Day installment of TNYPresents. Featured writers include Dave Newman, Jim Cvetic, and Bob Pajich.
The Minority Networking Exchange in association with the August Wilson Center presents: The Sanctuary Revisted featuring EARGASM, Pittsburgh's premier spoken word event. Hosted by Leslie "Ezra" Smith and Vernard "Networking King" Alexander. This month's featured artist is Chris "I AM Sincere" Greer.
Enjoy a night of words featuring Marc Nieson, Weave's own Andrew Mulvania, and Chassity "Yah Lioness" Cheatham.
The Carnegie Library's Sunday Poetry Reading Series hosts a reading by Kelli Stevens Kane.


text:
Can You Overdose on Kratom? What You Need to Know About Kratom Overdoses
Guide / By Kratom Insider
The Mitragnya speciosa plant, more commonly known as Kratom, is growing in popularity across the world. An increase in availability alongside more offerings from various brands means that Kratom use is at an all-time high, with the number of users still growing almost daily.
There are many beneficial reasons to use Kratom as an herbal supplement alongside potential side effects that need to be understood as they pose potential health risks. So can you overdose on Kratom? Kratom overdose is one of these dangerous side-effects that we will examine in further detail in this article.
Kratom – What is it and how is it used?
Kratom is a tree native to the tropical regions of Southeast Asia. The tree grows in the wild in areas such as Thailand and Malaysia, but more commercial growing situations are now common because of the plant's popularity around the world. There are now full-scale Mitragnya speciosa farms scattered throughout its native growing regions that supply the United States and beyond with various Kratom products.
Kratom has been used traditionally in Southeast Asia for many years by drying the leaves and brewing as a tea or ground into a powder that can be mixed into other forms of food or drink. Green vein, white vein, and red vein are the three main strains of Kratom, and within each of those are other varieties of the plant as well.
These various strains provide different effects resulting from their chemical composition in the form of alkaloids present within their leaves. The main alkaloid found within Kratom that creates its many benefits, and potential side-effects is known as 7-hydroxymitragynine. The effects of Kratom can vary from person to person and are also dose-dependent.
In the United States, Kratom is legal, but localized restrictions in place in some areas prohibit its use. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) does not classify Kratom in its list of controlled substances so it is unrestricted at a federal level, unlike opioids which are labeled as a Schedule 1 narcotic.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does warn against Kratom use due to potential side effects, substance abuse issues, and reported drug overdoses involving Kratom. For more information on the legality of Kratom, look here.
The most common way to use Kratom is in the form of dried leaves or a powder made from the leaves. Kratom users can also try a number of products now available including capsules, tinctures, and other options made from the powerful leaves of the plant.
What Are the Effects of Kratom Use?
There are various effects that can occur from Kratom use. Much of the experienced effects of Kratom has to do with the dose taken. Kratom is somewhat unique in that the dose you take can result in a very different result. It's always best to start with a low dose and work your way up from there if you are new to using Kratom.
Low doses of Kratom can result in increased energy levels, better mental clarity, and other stimulant effects. High doses can result in more calming and sedative feelings that have been compared to opioid-like effects. The vein and variety of the particular Kratom product being used can also result in different effects. More information about these differences in Kratom strains can be found here.
Kratom is also used to ease withdrawal symptoms resulting from substance abuse and addiction issues common with opioid users. Kratom can provide treatment for addiction to opioids, similarly to benzodiazepines, another common treatment for withdrawal symptoms.
Overdoses and Overdose Deaths – Is it Possible to Overdose on Kratom?
Drug use of just about any kind can potentially result in an overdose. Even though Kratom is often seen more as an herbal supplement and isn't classified as an illicit drug by the DEA, that doesn't indicate it is free of this risk. Mitragynine, the alkaloid present in Kratom, can produce opioid-like effects in higher doses, increasing the chance of potential overdose due to Kratom use.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were about 152 Kratom related overdose deaths over an 18-month period from mid-2016 to late-2017. With Kratom use on the rise, these figures can be expected to be higher today. A look at the toxicity results that were conducted post-mortem on these reported Kratom overdose deaths shows that a history of substance abuse and multiple substances were found in the bloodstream of most cases.
Calls reported to poison control centers and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) also show the potential for Kratom overdose and/or poisoning. These numbers have been rising, which is a sign of increased Kratom use, with almost 500 Kratom-related calls to poison control in 2016. This is under a third of opioid-related calls in that same timeframe but represents the very real possibility of Kratom overdose.
Drug overdoses with other more common drugs are higher in number, but it is possible to overdose on Kratom. Serious Kratom abuse, especially when combined with other drugs, such as prescription opioids, can even result in overdose deaths.
Signs of a Kratom Overdose
Even though Kratom overdoses are rare, they need to be dealt with quickly and effectively in order to potentially save the life of the person experiencing the issue. Especially when consumed with other substances, the possibility of a drug overdose is very real. It's important to contact a health care provider or emergency service immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms after consuming Kratom.
Signs of a Kratom overdose include:
Most of the above overdose-related symptoms come from high doses of Kratom. But with a lack of scientific study in exact dosing and each individual acting differently to the effects of mitragynine and other compounds within the plant, caution should be taken even at low doses. If you choose to use Kratom, always start with a lower dose and work your way up from there to avoid the potential of overdose.
Is Kratom Safe?
Most of the negative and potentially dangerous side effects of Kratom use come when consumed in high doses. As with any form of substance abuse, the more often an illicit drug or herbal supplement is used, there is an increased chance of risk and side-effects, including overdose, addiction, and any of the symptoms mentioned above.
That said, there are plenty of people who use Kratom without any issues whatsoever. These Kratom users tend to start with low doses and don't combine this dose with any other form of drug use. When taken in moderation, Kratom can certainly be safe. If you need higher doses, Kratom can still be beneficial and safe, but more caution needs to be taken to avoid serious side effects such as toxicity that can result in overdose symptoms.
As mentioned earlier, almost all of the deaths and overdoses associated with Kratom involve the presence of other substances and/or drugs. If you have a history of drug abuse or substance abuse, it is not safe to combine Kratom use with anything else. It is especially dangerous to combine Kratom with other pain-killers such as Fentanyl or similar opiates as these are very dangerous on their own and Kratom could cause extra unsafe complications.
Is Kratom Addictive?
According to American Addiction Centers, the possibility of Kratom addiction is possible with heavy use or abuse of the plant or products made from it. Chemical dependence is another way to describe addiction and this dependence occurs when pathways within the brain are altered because of substance abuse.
Kratom addiction can occur when 7-hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine, and other alkaloids found within Kratom begin to alter opioid receptors in the central nervous system in a way that results in dependence. Typically, this addiction takes hold of a Kratom user as they use more and more of the plant. Like other forms of addiction, a user will need more and more of a substance to feel its effects, resulting in higher doses of Kratom being used.
It's essential to recognize any potential signs of addiction when using Kratom. Addiction is more common with opiates, including prescription opioids for pain, than it is with Kratom. However, it is still an herbal supplement that has the potential for addiction if Kratom abuse occurs. Once the opioid receptors in a user's brain get used to a steady stream of the compounds found in Kratom, this dependence can occur quickly and be hard stop.
If you or anyone you know shows the signs of Kratom addiction, it's important to get the proper help. Addiction treatment can be available from your local health care provider. It should be pursued before Kratom abuse becomes more serious and poses a serious effect on your physical and mental health. There are various treatment options available to help anyone dealing with Kratom abuse and addiction.
Are Kratom Withdrawals Possible?
Kratom withdrawals are indeed possible if a user gets to the point of dependence. When the opioid receptors within the central nervous system no longer get flooded with the alkaloids from Kratom they are accustomed to, various withdrawal symptoms can be experienced. These can range from mild to severe and be different in each individual.
Like other illicit drugs, these withdrawal symptoms are usually associated with high doses of Kratom over a long and continuous time. Since a common use of Kratom is for pain relief, anyone who is dealing with chronic pain risks addiction with heavy use. This can be a better, and less addictive alternative to prescription opioids for pain treatment, but still comes with potential withdrawals when stopped.
Signs of Kratom Withdrawals
Signs of Kratom withdrawals can vary from person to person and range from moderate to severe, depending on the dose and how long someone has been addicted. But the symptoms below are all potential side-effects associated with withdrawals of heavy Kratom use.
The DEA lists these potential signs of Kratom withdrawals:
Achy joints and muscles
Mental health issues similar to depression
More severe symptoms can include:
These withdrawal symptoms are not inclusive and there are other potential side effects, especially from a mental health standpoint. Some of these side effects can appear as anger or depression, insomnia, and anxiety, to name a few.
Even though Kratom is an unregulated substance in the United States, it still comes with strong words of caution from the FDA due to its potential to be abused and result in adverse side effects. And while not as common as opioid overdose, increased popularity and access to Kratom provides easier access and increased risks.
Clinical toxicology reports show that Kratom overdoses almost always involve other types of substance use, but that doesn't mean that Kratom overdose on its own is not possible. If you choose to consume Kratom, remember that it's important to start with lower doses and increase from there to gauge its effects and power. If you consume extreme doses, adverse side effects, including overdose, are possible.
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Be an Angel
Khalid Islam
Khalid has 28 years of Pharma and Biotech industry experience. He is an advisor to the venture group Kurma Biofund (Paris), founder/co-founder of Sirius Healthcare Partners GmbH (Zurich), PrevAbr LLC (D.C.), BioAim LLC (L.A.) & Life Sciences Management GmbH (Zug).
He has been the Chairman and CEO of Gentium S.p.A. (a Nasdaq-listed company; 2009-2014) where he led the transition from a loss-making to a cash-flow positive and profitable company. Under his leadership Defitelio was granted Marketing Authorisation in the EU and the company value increased from 25m USD leading to a successful all cash 1billion USD merger with Jazz pharmaceuticals, plc.
From 1999-2008, he was President and CEO of Arpida AG where he transitioned the early-stage start-up to a SWX-listed company and raised 300m USD in the IPO and follow-ons.
From 1987-1999, he held various positions in HMR & MMD (now Sanofi-Aventis).
From 1977-1987, he worked in academia at Imperial College (Univ. of London) and in Milan University, where he was a contract professor. Dr. Islam is a graduate of Chelsea College and received his Ph.D. from Imperial College, University of London. He holds several patents and has published over 85 articles in leading journals and is a member of the Editorial Board of Current Drug Discovery and Technologies.
He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Karolinska Development (KDEV.ST; Stockholm), Molmed (MLM.MI; Milan), Fennec (FRX.TO; North Carolina) and OxThera (Stockholm) and has previously been a member of the Board of Directors of Arpida AG (Basel and DC), Rheoscience AS (Copenhagen); PCovery AS (Copenhagen), Adenium AS (Copenhagen) and C10 Pharma AS (Oslo).
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We've updated our Email Server product to fix some bugs reported by customers. All customers should upgrade to this latest build. The most important fix relates to a bug introduced by the Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 SP1. The System.Timer class is completely useless in this build and will cause the service to hang after 42 days of uptime. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact support.


The $75 deposit is non-refundable. You may reschedule your party up to 3 weeks before, but you will be charged a change fee of $25. If you would like to reschedule your party less than 3 weeks before, you will relinquish your $75 deposit, and be required to place another $75 deposit for the new date.
Every participant in a birthday party must have a parent sign a liability waiver. If a child does not have a parent-signed safety waiver, they will not be permitted to participate. There are simply no exceptions to this rule!
Any party participants that are under 3 under years of age must a have a parent or guardian attend to them during the party. This ensures the safety and enjoyment of the other guests.
A fee of $25.00 is charged on all returned checks.
We cannot hold any dates and times until we have your deposit in hand. The birthday party balance is then due upon completion of your child's birthday party. Our preferred payment method is cash or check. When paying by check, please make checks payable to Metro Stars Gymnastics. We also accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.
Boys may wear gym shorts or sweat pants and a T-shirt that can be tucked in securely. Girls may also wear gym shorts or sweat pants and a T-shirt, or they may wear leotards (any color or style). No tights or jewelry are permitted. Long hair needs to be pulled back and secured. No shoes or socks are allowed in the gymnastics area.


For anyone that doesn't know me or for anyone that know me but cannot understand my personality. I want to say that I am an introvert, which means that I am a quiet person. I think more and talk less. I am comfortable with my personality. So, if you meet me, please don't say anything or give me advice or trying to convince me to talk more. I have many friends that say something like "You need to talk more", "Why don't you talk?", "You need to go out more",… Blah blah blah, but with all due respects to those friends. I just want to say: Please! Leave me alone! I will talk when I have to talk. I am not comfortable with someone telling me what to do in order for me to be more talkative or more socially. I'm so sorry, but this is my personality. I am not shy with people. I will talk whenever I need to.
I know a lot! I know everything more than normal people if they are the same as my age. However, I am a bad explainer and bad story teller. So don't ask me why I know or what am I saying because I just know. Trust me, I just know but I cannot explain what I know to you.
One more thing, I don't like people who talk a lot about what they know. In my experience, 80% of those people who talk a lot don't know anything and I'm so sorry to say that I know more than them. If you are talking to me about your knowledge and see me having a smile but I don't say anything. That is because you are wrong and I am trying to prevent the socially award if I break your point. So if you see me having a weird smile when you talk, please stop or at one climax point I will stop you and you will be embarrased with your friends.


text:
Color Revolutions? Is Southern Africa About To Be Shaken Up By Hybrid War?
Par Andrew Korybko
Mondialisation.ca, 15 juillet 2016
Oriental Review 14 juillet 2016
Région : sub-Saharan Africa
Commonly thought of as a bastion of peace and stability in the continent ever since the turn of the century, the southern part of Africa is once more returning to the spotlight of global attention. Zimbabwean officials have alleged that the American and French embassies are behind the latest Color Revolution commotion in the country, stating that their ambassadors even met with the movement's newest leader, Pastor Evan Mawarire, before he began his campaign.
This accusation is echoed by regional leader South Africa, which described the latest tumult as "sponsored elements seeking regime change". If the US succeeds in its latest Color Revolution plot, then the collapse of Resistant & Defiant Zimbabwe could be the tripwire for automatically setting into motion a preplanned sequence of other destabilizations that might rapidly spread throughout the neighboring countries, thereby returning Southern Africa back to its Cold War-era of conflict and unexpectedly turning it into the New Cold War's latest battleground.
An Irresistible Target
Harare has always been very close to Moscow and especially Beijing, and this trilateral relationshiphas only intensified in the past couple of years. China openly stated that Africa is a priority area of its foreign policy and that its relationship with the continent is integral to the country's sustainable 21st-century economic growth. The $4 billion that President Xi promised Zimbabwe during his December 2015 visit there is expected to form the cornerstone of their future relations and yield tangible market benefits for China, all in accordance with its African grand strategy. Russia, just like China, also has many investments in the centrally positioned Southern African state, though they focus more on minerals and military equipment than on the real-sector economy. Still, when taken together in the complementary context of the Russian-Chinese Strategic Partnership, Moscow and Beijing's combined interests in Zimbabwe have made it an irresistible target for Washington's covert campaign.
More broadly speaking, the region of Southern Africa is internationally known for having the most developed infrastructure networks – a key component of China's One Belt One Road global vision of connectivity – and a relatively skilled labor force in comparison to the rest of Africa, thus also explaining why many companies rely on this part of the continent as their access point to the rest of it. The high level of physical connectivity between the Southern African states means that people and products can move throughout the lower half of the Southern African Development Community with ease, and while this might be a boon for business, it also inherently carries with it very serious security risks if something goes dangerously wrong in one of these states and insurgent and weapons start moving cross-border instead. Because of the economic importance that many global players attach to Southern Africa – China first and foremost among them – and the real risk that they could all be adversely impacted by the American-directed regime change operation in Zimbabwe, it's relevant to analyze the situation in depth and prognosticate some of its most likely consequences.
New Year, Same Strategy
Zimbabwe's economic and political woes aren't anything new, and their present manifestation is actually the evolution of a years-long policy of hostility that the US has been practicing against it. From the implementation of sanctions in the early 2000s to the first Color Revolution attempt in 2008, the US has been persistently trying to undermine President Mugabe for both for the sake of unseating a multipolar leader and because of the regional contagion effect of instability that the Zimbabwean state's collapse could trigger. Economic warfare against the country was responsible for historic hyperinflation rates of 231 million percent in late-2008, the timing of which was by no means a coincidence. Inflation had been exponentially multiplying in the run-up to the general election in March of that year and the second round that was eventually held in June, and the economic difficulties that Zimbabweans were forced to experience were manufactured by the US in a bid to break the population's support for the government.
"Opposition" rival Morgan Tsvangirai was ultimately unsuccessful in toppling the government, though Mugabe eventually had to concede to a form of 'Regime Tweaking' in appointing him as his Prime Minister. This post was specifically created in order to deal with the Color Revolution crisis and was abolished immediately after the American proxy's term was up, but during that four-year time, the US hoped to use Tsvangirai to weaken the government from within and subvert its sovereignty-exercising plans to integrate Zimbabwe within the emerging multipolar world order. It's clear that the US has been waging asymmetrical warfare on Zimbabwe for years already, and in fact, many of the lessons that it learned throughout this drawn-out operation have presently been applied to Venezuela as well. Furthermore, the riotous disturbances that are rocking the South American country right now have correspondingly proved to be invaluable lessons for the Color Revolutionaries in Zimbabwe, further demonstrating yet another example of interlinked continuity in the US' indirect adaptive approach to regime change, or Hybrid War.
Perfecting Timing
The latest outbreak of Color Revolution violence was obviously being prepared for a while, but the dual events that prompted its commencement are the signs of an internal power struggle within the ruling ZANU-PF party and Mugabe's elderly age, with the latter inevitably leading to the former. The President himself has had to address these rumors several times over the past year, chiding his supposed 'allies' for already conniving about what they will do once he eventually dies. The popular chatter is that his wife Grace will pick up the reins and carry on her husband's legacy, but Tsvangirai has already come out against her possible candidacy and is rallying his supporters to oppose her if she chooses to run. With so much political uncertainty in the air, and the economy still in dire straits, the US saw the perfect structural opportunity for asymmetrically striking against the Zimbabwean state and thus revved up its Color Revolutionaries for the coming battle.
Coordinating The Color Revolution
As it has been wont to do over the past couple of years in undermining targeted governments, the US is employing a syncretic approach in assembling as diverse of a crowd as possible to partake in the Zimbabwean Color Revolution. The figurehead who the US has designed to publicly lead this campaign is Pastor Evan Mawarire, and they purposely chose a religious representative in order to capitalize off of the piousness that pervades the country's population. Mawarire was just arrested by the authorities for inciting violence, but the US likely foresaw this event and has plenty of backup plans to exploit its proxy's 'official' 'religious' position in order to turn him into a Color Revolution martyr behind whom the anti-government crowds and their Western government backers can rally.
Relatedly, most of the people who are organizing against the government aren't doing so for explicitly regime change purposes, but rather to allegedly protest against the country's deteriorating economic conditions and alleged police violence. Truth be told, they're likely well aware of how their participation feeds into this scenario, but because they're not publicly announcing it, they're able to hide behind a thin veneer of 'plausible deniability' when they're accused of being the US' "useful idiots'. Admittedly, the government itself is responsible for mismanaging part of the country's economy in response to the US' disruptive aggression against it, and Mugabe made a major mistake in his 2000 "land reform" package that ultimately ended up destroyingZimbabwe's agricultural sector, but these incidents in and of themselves should not normally be grounds for launching a violent 'protest' movement years after they first occurred.
What's plausibly occurring then isn't that some Zimbabweans had a years-long delayed reaction to what has happened to their country, but that these 'protests' are engineered by the US as the final form of economic warfare against the country designed to push the fragile system past the tipping point and into a tailspin of collapse. "Stay-away day", as the first themed protest was called at the beginning of the campaign, was more of a nationwide strike than a protest, and it was meant to instantly exacerbate the country's economic turmoil and grind society to a halt, which would thereby – as the reasoning suggests – attract more dissatisfied people to the street in joining the burgeoning anti-government movement that the Western media would allege had 'organically' sprung up in response. Additionally, this sly form of externally triggered economic civil war (the US' strategic organization of foreign labor strikers against their own targeted economy) also had the unstated ulterior motive of provoking the authorities into a physical response that could then be used to generate intentionally misleading media reports that in turn induceeven more anti-government hostility among the masses and feed the Color Revolution movement.
Military:
The icing on the cake and the real power multiplier in this entire operation isn't the Color Revolution figurehead's religious affiliation or the economic civil war that the US has tried to provoke, but the fact that some respected war veterans from the country's independence struggle have withdrawn their support for Mugabe and are actively campaigning for his overthrow. They began signaling their discontent earlier this year during a series of government meetings and public statements, but in timed coordination with the Color Revolution that has now broken out, Secretary General of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) Victor Matemadanda proclaimedthat "Tsvangirai can be a better enemy because a defined enemy is an enemy you know, but a pretender is much serious, dangerous and can destroy anyone." He was speaking about the influential G40 faction within the ruling ZANU-PF party that some commentators believe will ascend to power in the wake of Mugabe's passing, but the salience of his statement is that he is openly plotting to work together with the pro-American 'opposition' agent in maneuvering his forces in a post-Mugabe reality. This was preceded by an organizational spokesman voicing support for the Color Revolution, and earlier this year, it's notable that the veterans were very loud in their opposition to Grace Mugabe and her political allies, obviously positioning themselves as some form of incipient 'nationalist opposition' to the government and its leader's assumed successor.
The involvement of the ZNLWVA is very important and shouldn't be overlooked by any observers. This constituency, however patriotic it may be, essentially represents an informal ally of the US in weakening popular support for the Mugabe Administration. There's no objection being raised to the organic development of a patriotic opposition to the government, but it's just that the ZNLWVA appears to be inadvertently furthering the exact same objective as the US at this moment, which is the diminishment of civil trust in the government and the promotion of a regime change agenda.
There's likely no contact between American intelligence agencies and this group, and they'd probably immediately reject any outreaches that could be or might have already been made, but the case of ZNLWVA proves that even presumably well intentioned patriotic organizations could unwittingly function as "useful idiots" in lending 'legitimacy' to the US' preplanned scheme, mostly in the pursuit of their own narrow self-interests but possibly also out of the conspiratorial actions of some of its co-opted members. ZNLWVA's partisanship on the side of the Color Revolutionaries is also meant to exert influence on the military and security forces who might understandably be reluctant to forcibly respond to "their own" if the government orders them to disband the riotous disturbances. The underlying purpose of the veterans' group is to form the core of a "patriotic-nationalist" opposition against Mugabe that could attract current servicemen and trigger defections, thus weakening the make-or-break powerbrokers that could hold the most control during the uncertain post-Mugabe transitional period (whether he dies or is overthrown).
Andrew Korybko is the American political commentator currently working for the Sputnik agency. He is the post-graduate of the MGIMO University and author of the monograph "Hybrid Wars: The Indirect Adaptive Approach To Regime Change" (2015). This text will be included into his forthcoming book on the theory of Hybrid Warfare.
La source originale de cet article est Oriental Review
Copyright © Andrew Korybko, Oriental Review, 2016
Articles Par : Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko est le commentateur politique étasunien qui travaille actuellement pour l'agence Sputnik. Il est en troisième cycle de l'Université MGIMO et auteur de la monographie Guerres hybrides: l'approche adaptative indirecte pour un changement de régime(2015).


The 2015-16 session of the North Carolina General Assembly convenes tomorrow and a lot of what will take place is very predictable. Just as it always does, the session will commence with a measure of pomp and circumstance, several self-congratulatory speeches and some grand promises about all the things that will be accomplished over the next six months or so.
What happens after that, however, is a little tougher to predict this year. Some political observers are forecasting a period of calmer seas, with legislative leaders focusing more on "governing" and less on enacting additional dramatic rollbacks of 20th Century progress. Others foresee a period in which the radical policy changes and accompanying political turmoil of the past four years continue unabated.
The explanation for these divergent views is easy enough to understand: Signals emanating from the powers that be in state government of late have been mixed. One minute, even ultra-conservative lawmakers are talking about the urgent need to spend more public funds on meaningful pay raises for veteran teachers. The next, others are promoting the idea of enacting still more radical policy changes like eliminating the corporate income tax – or even the income tax itself. Add to all this, the uncertain political dynamic created by the presence of a new and untested House Speaker, a veteran, seemingly all-powerful Senate leader and a Governor still trying to find his sea legs after two years and it's no wonder things are a tad murky.
Happily, as muddled as all these pre-session signals are, it is not at all difficult to forecast either the key issue or the central political figure of the drama that is to come. The issue is Medicaid expansion and the politician is Governor Pat McCrory.
To say that the decision on whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is the issue of 2015 is not to say that it is the only important issue of 2015. There are obviously dozens: taxes, teacher pay, university funding, unemployment insurance, marriage equality, redistricting reform, consumer lending, renewable energy, coal ash, reproductive freedom, mental health just to name a few.
A Families USA report in 2010 estimated that before the Affordable Care Act passed nearly 1,000 North Carolinians died each year between 2005 and 2010 due to lack of health insurance….
In 2012 researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that examined the health impacts on states that expanded Medicaid coverage to childless adults between 2000 and 2005. They found reduced mortality rates in states that expanded coverage amounting to 2,840 deaths prevented per year for each 500,000 adults gaining Medicaid coverage. Mortality reductions were greatest for racial and ethnic minorities and residents of the poorest counties.
In 2014 researchers from Harvard and the City University of New York combined data from the Oregon Health Insurance Study and two larger examinations of mortality and lack of health insurance to project that between 455 and 1,145 North Carolinians will die every year without expansion.
Think about that for a second: the political leaders of our state literally hold the very lives of thousands of their fellow citizens in their hands.
There are many other critical facts that militate in favor of Medicaid expansion – most notably the billions of dollars and thousands of jobs that would flow to the state and the simple dignity and reduction in stress and fear that would flow to hundreds of thousands of good human beings – but all of these ultimately pale in comparison to the death toll that could be dramatically reduced right away.
Even if it were somehow true that the state would face significant new expenses to effect such a reality (and as is explained here, it will most certainly not), it would still be the single best and most important thing that elected officials could do for their state and their fellow citizens in 2015 (or just about any other year).
And so it is that 2015 will serve as the defining moment in the gubernatorial term (and probably in the political career and life) of Pat McCrory. The Governor says he wants to expand Medicaid and though he's late to the party and muddled (sometimes absurdly so) in his explanations, he deserves credit for taking such a position.
That said, he has given little indication of any real capacity to deliver the goods on the issue –even with the Obama administration's willingness to agree to almost any conditions. As with so many other positions espoused by the Governor over the last two years, McCrory seems to be flummoxed about how to take charge and make it the law of the land. After having spent the better part of six years campaigning to be Governor, he seems surprisingly incapable of seizing the bully pulpit and appealing directly to the public for something in which he believes.
All of which in combination serves to make 2015 a defining year for the McCrory governorship. Will the man finally unearth his inner Jim Hunt and lead the state on the most important of issues or will he continue to meander along as a glorified caretaker and junior partner to the leaders of the General Assembly?
The bottom line: It's hard to say exactly what will happen this year in Raleigh, but come July, the presence of this most critical of issues assures that it won't be hard to assess the results. Stay tuned.


State and local governments discuss the benefits and pitfalls of software as a service.
For all the zeal surrounding the use of soft-ware as a service in government, a migration to cloud computing isn't as easy as one might assume.
The principle behind cloud computing says that when you buy an application from a service provider, that application becomes a utility. You don't need to sweat the details any more than you need to worry about how your power company generates electricity.
But computing in the cloud is much more challenging than simply switching on the lamp you've plugged into the wall. The reality is that as with any other IT project, the CIO overseeing a migration to software as a service must keep both feet planted firmly on the ground.
That proved true for Randi Levin, CTO and general manager of the Los Angeles Information Technology Agency (ITA) as she took Los Angeles into cloud computing territory where no large government had gone before. In 2009, Los Angeles announced that it planned to move all of the city's employees from Novell's GroupWise e-mail platform to Google's Gmail. As of last August, every city department except the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had made the switch — about 17,000 users in all. Los Angeles eventually expects to bring the police onto the system, and it plans to implement other tools in the Google Apps productivity suite.
At the time the deal was announced, Los Angeles became the first major jurisdiction to migrate its entire enterprise to Gmail.
"Certainly going first was difficult, just because there were no real models to look at," Levin said. Google and the city had to work out issues such as what data to move to the new platform and how to accomplish that transfer, she said.
Also important was figuring out how to ensure that the city's data would stay private and secure. In fact, that's the reason the LAPD has not yet migrated to Gmail.
Google's e-mail product didn't initially offer all the security safeguards the LAPD required, Levin said. "We've had to make some changes, and they're for the benefit of all public agencies that have a law enforcement component." The same would have been necessary if Los Angeles had chosen Microsoft's cloud services, she added.
Some government IT executives say cloud computing will offer greater security than their current internal applications. This is the case in Minnesota, which is implementing the dedicated version of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) for all executive branch communications and collaboration. The state also is making the service available to local governments.
Minnesota expects to complete the migration to BPOS this fall, Schlauderaff said.
In Wyoming, security was a topic of concern when federal officials from the IRS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inquired about the state's move to the Google Apps platform. "We demonstrated that the solution that we're implementing is a much more secure and robust environment than we currently have," said then-state CIO Bob von Wolffradt.
Wyoming is in the pilot phase of its project to move 10,000 civil servants to Google Apps for Government, primarily for e-mail and calendar functions.
While security is a crucial concern, the nuts and bolts of an enterprise cloud migration start with even more basic issues. The first order of business is to figure out which applications will be easiest to transfer to the cloud and then decide if it's cost-effective to move them, said Shawn McCarthy, a research director with IDC government insights in Framingham, Mass.
After deciding which applications to move, IT officials face the challenge of creating unity from diversity. In a decentralized organization, each agency might be operating in its own IT silo, with different technology platforms and operating procedures. Eliminate much of that variety before preparing to move to the cloud.
"Start moving toward a standardized data architecture and a way of standardizing things like the data fields that you use," McCarthy said. "The more standardized you are, the easier it is to plug into the type of service that can serve multiple agencies or multiple departments." Those services might involve line-of-business functions, such as accounting or human resources, as well as general office applications.
Standardization might also include replacing multiple legacy systems with a single application for the enterprise. Between January 2009 and December 2010, for example, Minnesota moved all of its executive branch agencies from four different e-mail platforms to a single implementation of Microsoft Exchange e-mail. "This will make it far easier to move to the cloud," Schlauderaff said.
Migrating to the cloud might be difficult, though, if the service provider isn't ready to meet a government's specific needs. That's what happened in Arlington County, Va., which had planned to implement Microsoft's BPOS for e-mail last March. The migration is now on hold until at least July, said county CIO Jack Belcher.
Having been courted by both Microsoft and Google, Arlington County chose the Redmond, Wash., firm because the county was already a Microsoft shop and officials had confidence in the company's customer support infrastructure. "But then the delays started occurring," Belcher said.
BPOS couldn't perform certain functions in the ways Arlington County was used to performing them.
Vendors providing software as a service can't expect to take a one-size-fits-all approach, Belcher said. "Your e-mail, which you've had for years, has been customized and managed. It has all kinds of mail lists and does certain things; it integrates with certain applications." For example, Arlington County's e-mail system receives data that citizens enter into online forms for reporting problems, such as potholes and graffiti. The information is then routed to the correct recipient.
Vendors don't always understand that users need customized solutions, Belcher said. "I think there's a tendency to say, 'Why don't you use what we have now, and you can live with it?'" Microsoft's developers are now modifying the software to provide the functions that the county needs, he said. Hence the delay.
Moving an application to the cloud also can cause roadblocks of a less technical nature. For example, members of the IT department might resist the move because they feel uncomfortable handing their responsibilities to a third party.
"People start to internalize that very quickly and ask, 'What am I going to do? How is this going to relate to my job, my future and my career?'" said von Wolffradt. To offset this anxiety, state officials in Wyoming made it clear that although the cloud computing project aimed to make state government more efficient, there was no plan to reduce head count.
Along with managing worried IT professionals, a CIO conducting a cloud migration needs to manage end-users who don't like the prospect of change. For a worker who has been using the same e-mail, document editor or other essential office tool for years, switching to a different platform might feel as awkward as shifting to an unfamiliar desk and chair.
In Wyoming, where each agency traditionally has chosen and managed its own e-mail interface, von Wolffradt and his team enlisted agencies to help solicit and evaluate bids for the new service.
"We've kept that agency team intact," von Wolffradt said. "They're actually the ones overseeing the implementation." Anyone who wanted to make a statement or voice a concern about the transition has been able to do so. "We just required them to be part of the solution as well," he said.
Another concern is whether moving data to facilities operated by a third party violates any local, state or federal regulations. For example, some government agencies aren't permitted to store data off their own premises.
This wasn't an issue for Los Angeles. "No city, I believe, is going to allow data to be stored outside the continental United States," Levin said. Off-premises storage within the U.S. is not a problem.
Like security issues, questions about proper handling of government data in the cloud have prompted some long-overdue discussions, said von Wolffradt. "We in IT have struggled with the legal ramifications of e-mail, storage, public records, discovery and all that for many years," he said.
Thoroughly understanding your needs and ensuring your vendor can meet them is key to a successful cloud migration.
Good governance and good communication are critical, as with any IT project. "Over-communicate. Assume nothing. Even be redundant in your communications to make sure that you're reaching everyone," said von Wolffradt. Numerous IT officials from other jurisdictions warned Wyoming of the importance of communication before the state embarked on its Google Apps project, and it has proven to be valuable advice, he said.
"Keep the lines of communication open with agencies throughout the decision-making process," said Schlauderaff. "Give technology leaders across the enterprise the opportunity to provide input and feedback and work toward an agreement that benefits all parties." Most importantly, she said, articulate the business benefits clearly, so everyone will understand and embrace the opportunity.
Contributing Writer Merrill Douglas is based in upstate New York.