Invariants of 2+1 Quantum Gravity

In [1,2] we established and discussed the algebra of observables for 2+1 gravity at both the classical and quantum level. Here our treatment broadens and extends previous results to any genus $g$ with a systematic discussion of the centre of the algebra. The reduction of the number of independent observables to $6g-6 (g > 1)$ is treated in detail with a precise classification for $g = 1$ and $g = 2$.Comment: 10 pages, plain TEX, no figures, DFTT 46/9

Pakistan in 2008: Moving Beyond Musharraf

Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007 and national elections in February 2008, Pakistan struggled to distance itself from the discredited military regime of President (General) Pervez Musharraf. Competition between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), once led by Benazir Bhutto and subsequently by her widower Asif Ali Zardari, and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) led by Nawaz Sharif, however, threatened to thwart the cause of political stability in Pakistan

Pakistan in 2009: Tackling the Taliban?

Party-based political competition played an important part in shaping key events in Pakistan in 2009. This article examines the impact of party-based competition on the much-delayed restoration of Supreme Court Chief Justice Mohammad Iftikhar Chaudhry, efforts to address (with U.S. assistance) Pakistan’s growing Taliban-affiliated insurgency, and both federal and provincial economic policies. This article concludes that party-based competition will continue to shape Pakistan’s evolving security and economic situation in 2010

Additions to the Checklist of the Illinois Spiders

Five families and 140 species of spiders not included in former Illinois checklists are recorded. Two of these families, Antrodiaetidae and Scytodidae, and 40 of the species have been cited in earlier revisionary or other literature. The families Oonopidae, Symphytognathidae (slat.) and Ctenidae, and the remaining 100 species of spiders are recorded from Illinois for the first time. Locality data are given as counties only, and months of capture of mature specimens are presented. The total known spider fauna of Illinois now stands at 500 species in 27 families