text:
\section{Three-dimensional flat manifolds} \label{3Dmanifolds}
Since we assume the concordance model with zero curvature, it is helpful to summarize the mathematical classification of three-dimensional (3D) flat manifolds.
It has been proved that there are a total of 18 space forms \citep{nowacki1934euklidischen}, including the simply connected Euclidean space $\mathbb{E}^3$.
Figure 1 of \cite{2011A&A...529A.121F}, which was first published in \cite{cipra2002whats}, displays an illustration of the 17 multiply connected space forms, where the surfaces are identified in pairs by Euclidean isometries.

Mathematically, they are the quotients $\mathbb{E}^3/\Gamma$ of the simply connected space $\mathbb{E}^3$, where $\Gamma$ is a group of Euclidean isometries that are discrete and fixed-point free \citep[e.g.,][]{9783540152811}.

The isometries consist of three types: translation, screw motion (rotation followed by translation), and glide reflection (reflection followed by translation).
Because of symmetry, the possible twists of the screw motion are $\pi$, $2\pi/3$, $\pi/2$, and $\pi/3$.
Therefore, we need only consider six kinds of isometries (Figure \ref{Isometries}) to put constraints on the 17 multiply connected models\footnote{Strictly speaking, some manifolds are generated by other types of isometries, e.g., the Hantszche-Wendt space is generated by half-turn screw motions whose screw axis is not parallel to the translation direction. We do not consider such varieties separately, since they can be detected by our method as one of the six isometries displayed in Figure \ref{Isometries}.}.
Although the right-handed screw motions are displayed in Figure \ref{Isometries}, they might be actually observed as left-handed. The two cases are intrinsically the same, and the handedness distinction totally depends on our notion of right and left (Jeffrey Weeks 2013, private communication).

Ghost images are linked to each other by the isometries as seen in Figure \ref{Isometries}, which would leave a specific pattern in the distribution of objects.
The toroidal models, whose isometries are all translations, are relatively easy to constrain, since ghost images form a simple lattice pattern and ghost circles are always antipodal.
Indeed, most past works limited their targets to these models and there are some useful methods available (e.g., \citealt{2005A&A...435..427M, 2005JCAP...10..008M}).
The isometries of nontoroidal models, in contrast, include screw motions and glide reflections, and the pattern of topological lensing depends on the observer's location relative to the screw axis or the reflection plane.
In this work, we explore the possibility that our space has a nontoroidal topology using high-redshift quasars.
Although the space models compactified by glide reflection are nonorientable and physically unreasonable \citep[e.g., ][]{demianski2004topology}, we do not exclude these cases from our targets.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=50 85 550 605, width=7.5cm]{Fig1.eps}
\caption{The fundamental isometries of 3D flat manifolds: translation, screw motions of twists $\theta_{\mathrm{twist}}=\pi, 2 \pi/3, \pi/2$, and $\pi/3$, and glide reflection. From these isometries, we can generate 17 nontrivial groups that are discrete and fixed-point free; these correspond to the 17 multiply connected space models.} \label{Isometries}
\end{figure}

\section{Introduction} \label{introduction}

It is widely accepted that the local geometry of the Universe is well described by a homogeneous and isotropic Friedman-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric with perturbations.
The concordance $\Lambda$CDM model has achieved remarkable success in explaining various observations such as the faint galaxy number counts \citep[e.g.,][]{1990ApJ...361L...1F,1993ApJ...403..552Y,1995ApJ...444...15Y}, the large-scale distribution of galaxies \citep[e.g.,][]{1990Natur.348..705E,2004ApJ...606..702T,2010MNRAS.401.2148P}, the $m$--$z$ relation for type Ia supernovae \citep[e.g.,][]{1998AJ....116.1009R,1999ApJ...517..565P}, gravitational lensing statistics \citep[e.g.,][]{1999ApJ...510...42C,2012AJ....143..120O}, and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies \citep[e.g.,][]{2001PhRvL..86.3475J,2012arXiv1212.5225B}.
According to the model, our Universe has zero curvature ($\Omega_{\mathrm{tot}}=\Omega_m + \Omega_{\Lambda}=1$) and is described by Euclidean geometry.
However, the overall shape of space, i.e., the space topology, remains unknown.
As long as we assume space to be exactly flat and simply connected, i.e., any closed curve on it can continuously shrink to a single point, it inevitably has infinite volume, which is theoretically unfavorable \citep[e.g.,][]{1984NuPhB.239..257H, 1984MNRAS.207P..23Z, 2004JCAP...10..004L}.
This motivates us to consider multiply connected space models that have compact dimensions \citep[e.g.,][]{1971GReGr...2....7E, 1995PhR...254..135L}.

One such model is the flat 3-torus $\mathbb{T}^3 = S^1 \times S^1 \times S^1$, which can be visualized as a parallelepiped whose opposite surfaces are formally identified.
In this space, photons passing through one surface immediately return from the opposite surface, and there are many paths by which light can travel from one point (e.g., a galaxy) to another (e.g., the observer).
Therefore, if the side length or the compact dimension size is sufficiently small, we would observe multiple images of a single object, which we refer to as {\it ghosts}.
This phenomenon, often called topological lensing in analogy with gravitational lensing, was first mentioned by Schwarzschild in 1900 \citep[an English translation by][]{1998CQGra..15.2539S}.
For details on the observation in multiply connected spaces, see an extensive review by \cite{1995PhR...254..135L}.

Detection of ghost images is the strongest evidence that our space has a compact dimension, and it can be used to determine or constrain the space topology.
Moreover, it enables us to study the same object at different redshifts, so that we can directly trace the evolution of galaxies.
Some authors attempted to identify the ghosts of specific objects such as the Milky Way and the rich galaxy clusters \citep{1974JETP...39..196S, 1987MNRAS.224..527D,1987ApJ...322L...5F, 1997MNRAS.292..105R, 2003MNRAS.342L...9W}, while others applied statistical methods to the spatial distributions of cosmic objects \citep{1996A&A...313..339L, 1996MNRAS.283.1147R, 1999A&A...351..766U, 2005A&A...435..427M, 2005JCAP...10..008M}.
Unfortunately, no robust detections have been reported thus far, which may be reasonable because their methods either (both) need a large number of ghosts or (and) are only valid for toroidal topologies (Section \ref{3Dmanifolds}).

Over the last decade, the trend in ghost hunting has been to search the CMB map for ghost circles ({\it circles-in-the-sky} method; \citealt{1998CQGra..15.2657C}\footnote{For the historical accuracy, we note that the preprint version of Cornish et al. (1996), arXiv:gr-qc/9602039, described the method for the first time.}), which would arise from the self-intersection of the surface of last scattering along the compact dimension.
 This method and its varieties were applied to the all-sky CMB data obtained by space missions such as the {\it COsmic Background Explorer (COBE)}, the {\it Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)}, and the {\it Planck Surveyor}.
Although some authors claimed that antipodal ghost circles are likely to be excluded (\citealt{2004PhRvL..92t1302C, 2007PhRvD..75h4034K, 2011MNRAS.412.2104B}; \citealt{2013arXiv1303.5086P}), diverse results have also been obtained \citep{2008CQGra..25v5017A, 2008A&A...486...55R}.
\cite{2012PhRvD..86h3526V} extended the search to general (including nonantipodal circles) cases for the first time.
 Their analysis, however, is based on the coarse-grained ($N_{\mathrm{side}}=128$ in the HEALPix scheme; \citealt{2005ApJ...622..759G}) map, and it is not clear whether the topological signatures are detectable in such low-resolution maps.

Based on these situations, we consider it important to subject the multiply connected space models to different tests, especially for the nontoroidal models (see Section \ref{3Dmanifolds}), which have been studied very little in past works.
This paper presents a new, object-based method that is valid for these models.
It is an extension of the works of \cite{2011A&A...529A.121F} and \cite{2012A&A...540A..29F}, and herein, we apply it to a high-redshift ($z \geq 4$) quasar sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release 7 (DR7; \citealt{2010AJ....139.2360S}).
We consider this work timely because massive spectroscopic surveys such as SDSS have become increasingly important in recent cosmological studies.

All calculations herein are done considering comoving space.
The cosmological parameters of the concordance model, $\Omega_m = 0.27$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}=0.73$, and $h=0.71$, are used when translating redshift into comoving distance.
An incorrect selection of values of $(\Omega_m, \Omega_{\Lambda}, h)$ distorts the comoving distribution of objects; thus, we generally have to perform our analyses for a number of cosmological models.
However, we checked that our results do not change within the errors (a few percent) of the concordance model.
Unless otherwise stated, to represent a position in space we use the Cartesian coordinates
\begin{equation} \label{Coordinates}
x = r \cos \delta \cos \alpha, \ y = r \cos \delta \sin \alpha, \ z = r \sin \delta,
\end{equation}
where $r, \alpha$, and $\delta$ are the comoving distance, the right ascension (RA), and the declination (Dec), respectively.

A brief summary of three-dimensional flat manifolds is given in Section \ref{3Dmanifolds}.
In Section \ref{method}, we describe the method for detecting topological lensing effects in flat spaces.
The descriptions of our sample and simulated catalogs are given in Section \ref{results}, followed by the results and discussion in Section \ref{discussion_and_conclusion}.

\section{The four-point statistics method for detecting topological lensing} \label{method}

In this section, we propose a method to find ghost images from 3D positions of objects, in which a kind of four-point statistical analysis is performed.
It is essentially based on the works of \cite{2011A&A...529A.121F} and \cite{2012A&A...540A..29F}, however, some modifications are added that enhance the signal-to-noise ratio.
By using this method, any of the Euclidean isometries is detectable with high sensitivity.

Suppose that we have a sample of $N$ discrete sources whose comoving positions are $\Vec x_1, \Vec x_2, \cdots$, and $\Vec x_N \in \mathbb{E}^3$ in the Cartesian coordinates given by Equation (\ref{Coordinates}).
The separations between all pairs of points are calculated to identify {\it isometric twins}, i.e., a pair of twins $(\Vec x_i, \Vec x_j)$ and $(\Vec x_k, \Vec x_l)$ that have (nearly) equal distance: $| \Vec x_i - \Vec x_j | \approx | \Vec x_k - \Vec x_l |$.
They are possibly the topologically lensed images of each other, or {\it ghost twins}, since any isometry preserves distance so that ghost twins are always isometric.

When the Universe is multiply connected and we have a large number of ghosts, there would be more isometric twins (isometric $n$-tuples in general; see \citealt{1996MNRAS.283.1147R}) than normally expected.
This could be used as a test for multiply connected space models \citep{1999A&A...351..766U}, but in practice it is hard to detect the slight difference.
For example, the number of isometric twins in our SDSS sample (Section \ref{results}), within the tolerance of $10 \ \mathrm{Mpc}$, is as large as $\approx 2 \times 10^9$.
It is almost impossible to distinguish simply connected from  multiply connected space models by the number of isometric twins, unless the Universe is so small that the topological lensing effect is very strong, i.e., a large number of ghosts corresponding to a single object can be seen.

This difficulty, however, can be overcome by classifying the isometric twins according to their {\it linking isometries}.
Given a pair of isometric twins $(\Vec x_i, \Vec x_j)$ and $(\Vec x_k,\Vec x_l)$, an isometry $\gamma$ is called the linking isometry  when $\gamma$ links the two, i.e., $(\Vec x_k, \Vec x_l) = (\gamma \Vec x_i, \gamma \Vec x_j)$.
If the space is multiply connected and compactified by an isometry $\gamma$, the number of isometric twins that are linked by $\gamma$ would be higher than normally expected; this is the basic idea of our method.
Calculation of linking isometries proceeds as follows.

\paragraph{1. Translation}
When the twins are equal as vectors, i.e., $\Vec x_j - \Vec x_i \approx \Vec x_l - \Vec x_k,$ they can be linked by a translation.
The translation is fully characterized by the vector
\begin{equation}
\Vec L = L \Vec n = \frac{(\Vec x_k - \Vec x_i)+(\Vec x_l - \Vec x_j)}{2},
\end{equation}
where $\Vec n$ denotes the direction of translation and $L= | \Vec L |$ corresponds to the compact dimension size.
The parameter space for translation, $(\Vec n, L)$, is three dimensional.
We do not consider the translational isometries hereafter.

\paragraph{2. Screw motion}

When the twins make an angle of
\begin{equation}
\theta_{\mathrm{int}}=\cos ^{-1} \biggl[ \frac{(\Vec x_j - \Vec x_i) \cdot (\Vec x_l - \Vec x_k)}{| \Vec x_j - \Vec x_i | | \Vec x_l - \Vec x_k |} \biggr],
\end{equation}
they can be linked by a screw motion of twist $\theta_{\mathrm{twist}} \geq \theta_{\mathrm{int}}$, where the meaningful cases are $\theta_{\mathrm{twist}} = \pi, 2\pi/3, \pi /2$, and $\pi/3$.
A screw motion is characterized by a screw axis and a translation length.

The direction of the screw axis, $\Vec n$, is calculated first.
This is obtained by rotating a unit vector parallel to $(\Vec x_j - \Vec x_i)+(\Vec x_l -\Vec x_k)$ about the axis parallel to $(\Vec x_j - \Vec x_i)-(\Vec x_l -\Vec x_k)$ by an angle of $ \sin ^{-1} [ \tan (\theta_{\mathrm{int}} /2)/ \tan (\theta_{\mathrm{twist}} /2 ) ]$ or its supplementary angle (so there are two cases).
Seen from this direction, the two twins apparently make an angle of $\theta_{\mathrm{twist}}$.
The screw axis is represented by the equations
\begin{equation}
\Vec x = \frac{\Vec F (\Vec x_i, \Vec x_k ) + \Vec F(\Vec x_j, \Vec x_l)}{2} + t \Vec n, \label{AxisEquation}
\end{equation}
where $t \in ( - \infty , + \infty) $ is a parameter and $\Vec F (\Vec x, \Vec y)$ is a vector function defined by
\begin{eqnarray}
\Vec F(\Vec x, \Vec y) &\equiv& \frac{\Vec x + \Vec y}{2} \nonumber \\
&+& \frac{| \Vec x - \Vec y - [ ( \Vec x - \Vec y ) \cdot \Vec n ] \Vec n |}{2 \tan (\theta _{\mathrm{twist}} /2 )} \frac{(\Vec x - \Vec y) \times \Vec n}{|(\Vec x - \Vec y) \times \Vec n|}.
\end{eqnarray}
We then introduce a new coordinate system $(X, Y, Z)$ whose basis vectors are $\Vec e_Z = \Vec n, \ \Vec e_Y = (\Vec e_Z \times \Vec e_z)/|\Vec e_Z \times \Vec e_z| $, and $\Vec e_X = \Vec e_Y \times \Vec e_Z$, and whose origin is the Milky Way.
All points on the screw axis have the same $(X, Y)$ coordinates, which give the position of the axis.
Finally, the translation length is given by
\begin{equation}
L = \frac{[(\Vec x_k - \Vec x_i)\cdot \Vec n] + [(\Vec x_l - \Vec x_j) \cdot \Vec n]}{2},
\end{equation}
which corresponds to the compact dimension size.
In this way, given a pair of isometric twins, the linking screw motion of twist $\theta_{\mathrm{twist}}$ is determined. The parameter space of screw motion, $(\Vec n, X, Y, L)$, is five dimensional.

\paragraph{3. Glide reflection}

Any pair of isometric twins can be linked by a glide reflection.
A glide reflection is characterized by a reflectional plane and a translation vector on it. The normal vector of the plane, $\Vec n$, is given by the unit vector parallel to $(\Vec x_j - \Vec x_i)-(\Vec x_l -\Vec x_k)$.
By introducing the same $(X, Y, Z)$ coordinates as in the case for screw motion, all points on the reflectional plane have the same $Z$ coordinate:
\begin{equation}
Z = \frac{ (\Vec x_i + \Vec x_j + \Vec x_k + \Vec x_l )\cdot \Vec n}{4},
\end{equation}
which gives the position of the plane. Finally, the translation vector is given by
\begin{eqnarray}
\Vec L &=& \frac{(\Vec x_k - \Vec x_i) - [(\Vec x_k - \Vec x_i)\cdot \Vec n]\Vec n}{2} \nonumber \\
&+&\frac{(\Vec x_l - \Vec x_j) - [(\Vec x_l - \Vec x_j)\cdot \Vec n]\Vec n}{2}.
\end{eqnarray}
Since this vector always satisfies $\Vec L \cdot \Vec n = 0$, it has only two degrees of freedom: $L_X$ and $ L_Y$.
The glide reflection that links the twins is determined in this way.
The parameter space of glide reflection, $(\Vec n, Z, L_X, L_Y)$, is again five dimensional.

\

After calculating the linking isometries for all pairs of isometric twins, we then search for excess counts in the parameter space for each type of isometry.
We describe the process for the quarter-turn screw motion ($\theta_{\mathrm{twist}}= \pi/2$) here; the other cases can be studied in the same way.
First, for each object $\Vec x_i$, all pairs of isometric twins that include $\Vec x_i$ as a member are selected.
They give a set of points $(\Vec n_1, X_1, Y_1, L_1), \cdots, (\Vec n_{\alpha}, X_{\alpha}, Y_{\alpha}, L_{\alpha})$ in the parameter space of quarter-turn screw motion.
The five-dimensional (5D) parameter space is binned, and the number of points in a bin at $(\Vec n, X, Y, L)$ is denoted as $s_i (\Vec n, X, Y, L)$.
To extract bins that have excess counts, we define the ``score'' for each bin as
\begin{equation}  \label{StepFunc}
\chi (s_i)= \left \{
\begin{array}{l}
s_i, \ \mathrm{if} \ s_i \geq s_{\mathrm{min}} \\
0, \ \mathrm{otherwise}.
\end{array}
\right.
\end{equation}
In this paper, the threshold value was chosen to be $s_{\mathrm{min}}=3$, by which we trade off the detectability of ghost triples for reducing the noise level.
It is a reasonable choice because isometric triples are too common to be taken as evidence for topological lensing.

The total score is given by
\begin{equation}
S(\Vec n, X, Y, L) = \sum_{i=1} ^N \chi[s_i(\Vec n, X, Y, L)].
\end{equation}
Finally, we search for a bin whose score is much higher than the stochastic expectation, which might be a sign of multiply connected topology.
If there is a pair of isometric $n$-tuples (with $n$ higher than $s_{\mathrm{min}}=3$) that is linked by a quarter-turn screw motion, the corresponding score would be $S=2n(n-1)$.

We note that the two-step process, in which we first search for excess counts in $N$ subsets and next sum them, is indeed unessential but inherited from the previous works \citep{2011A&A...529A.121F, 2012A&A...540A..29F}.
It was originally adopted to favor a pair of isometric $n$-tuples over a large number of isometric twins, because the previous methods could not distinguish the two since the parameters of isometries were not fully used.
As long as we use the current improved method, the results would not change unless we adopt the two-step process.

\section{Quasar catalogs} \label{results}

\subsection{Observation}
Quasars are one of the most luminous ($M_B \leq -23$) sources in the Universe and can be observed at great distances, which makes them a good probe to constrain the global structure, i.e., the topology, of space.
Based on the four-point statistics method (Section \ref{method}), we aim to search for ghost images in the quasar catalog of the SDSS DR7 \citep{2010AJ....139.2360S}.
The SDSS  catalog is thus far the most massive spectroscopic set of quasar data, with $\approx 100,000$ objects at redshifts $z \lesssim 5.5$.
The typical redshift error is $\Delta z \approx 0.004$ \citep{2010AJ....139.2360S}.

From the original data, the most luminous ($M_i \lesssim -27.7$) 1,000 objects at redshifts $z \geq 4$ were selected, which made the sample almost complete (see the descriptions of imaging and photometric completeness in \cite{2005AJ....129.2047V} and \cite{2006AJ....131.2766R}, respectively) and enables us to explore the compact dimension size up to $15 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$.
As shown in Figure \ref{SkyMap}, the majority ($\approx \negthickspace90$\%) of items in the sample are in the North Galactic cap, whereas the South Galactic cap is only covered by three narrow stripes. The sky coverage significantly limits our test as described in Section \ref{discussion_and_conclusion}.
The comoving positions of objects were calculated using the set of cosmological parameters given in Section \ref{introduction}.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[trim=10 10 5 5, width=9.5cm]{Fig2_1.eps}
\includegraphics[trim=10 10 5 5, width=9.5cm]{Fig2_2.eps}
\caption{The celestial distribution of quasars in the Mollweide projection with Galactic coordinates. The dashed lines represent intervals of $30^{\circ}$. {\it Top:} Our sample selected from the SDSS catalog. {\it Bottom:} One of the mock catalogs that contains a pair of ghost quintuples (blue points). The ghosts are linked by a quarter-turn screw motion whose translation length is $14 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$.}
\label{SkyMap}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Simulations} \label{simulations}
For comparison with the data, mock catalogs in simply connected and multiply connected spaces were generated.
Since we assume a flat cosmology, the simply  connected space is $\mathbb{E}^3$.
As an example of multiply connected models, the quarter-turn space, $\mathbb{T}^3/\mathbb{Z}_4$, generated by a quarter-turn ($\theta_{\mathrm{twist}}=\pi /2$) screw motion with $L=14 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$ was chosen (sizes of the other two dimensions that are compactified by translation were set to be larger than the horizon scale).
The orientation and the position of the screw axis were set to $\Vec n=(-0.953, 0.219, 0.211)$, which corresponds to $(\alpha, \delta)=(167^{\circ}, 12^{\circ})$, and $(X, Y)=(-0.75, 3.25)$ Gpc, respectively, so that the ghost images were located within the sky coverage of SDSS (Figure \ref{SkyMap}).
Hereafter, all mentions of mock catalogs in multiply connected space refer to this model.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[trim=0 0 0 0, width=8cm]{Fig3.eps}
\caption{The number of quasars in each redshift bin ($\Delta z = 0.1$). {\it Green line:} our sample selected from the SDSS catalog. {\it Orange line:} one of the mock catalogs whose celestial distribution is shown in Figure \ref{SkyMap}. Mock quasars basically follow the same redshift distribution as that of the actual quasars.}
\label{RedshiftDistribution}
\end{figure}

The physical properties of quasars are modeled as follows.
First, the simple ``light bulb" model was used for the quasar light curve, in which each object emits radiation for a fixed duration $t_{\mathrm{life}} =100 \ \mathrm{Myr}$ with constant luminosity (the {\it i} band absolute magnitude $M_i$).
To take into account obscuration of the active nucleus by the dust torus, which reduces the number of observable ghosts, each object is covered by a spherical mask with antipodal holes.
The orientation of the mask is randomly selected, and the opening angle of the holes is given by
\begin{equation}
\theta_{\mathrm{open}} = \cos^{-1} \biggl [ \frac{1}{\sqrt{1+3(L_{5007}/L_0)^{1-2 \xi} }} \biggr ],
\end{equation}
where $L_{5007}$ is the [OIII] luminosity at wavelength $\lambda = 5007 \ \mathrm{\AA}$, $L_0 = 10^{42.37} \ \mathrm{erg \ sec^{-1}}$, and $\xi = 0.23$ \citep{2005MNRAS.360..565S}. That is, more luminous quasars are more likely to be observed as type 1.
To convert $M_i$ into $L_{5007}$, the empirical relation implied by the value-added catalog of \cite{2011ApJS..194...45S} was used:
\begin{equation}
\log L_{5007} = -0.307 M_i + 34.8,
\end{equation}
but we note that this relation has a large scatter.

We describe below how to construct mock catalogs, but for simplicity we first consider the simply connected space.
In this case, the mock quasars are randomly\footnote{Although the real quasars are clustered similar to ordinary galaxies \citep[e.g.,][]{2005MNRAS.356..415C, 2007AJ....133.2222S}, the effect of clustering on this test can be canceled by the third condition for selecting four points (Section \ref{discussion_and_conclusion}).}
generated in the infinite Euclidean space $\mathbb{E}^3$ every 10 Myr, whereas those that reach the end of their lifetime ($=100$ Myr) are removed.
Each object is assigned the luminosity $M_i$ so that the number density of type 1 quasars follows a luminosity function (LF) of the form
\begin{equation}
\Phi (M_i | z) = \Phi^{*} 10^{A_1 [M_i - (M^{*} + B_1 \xi + B_2 \xi ^2 + B_3 \xi ^3 )]},
\end{equation}
where
\begin{equation}
\xi = \log \biggl( \frac{1+z}{1+z_{\mathrm{ref}} } \biggr ).
\end{equation}
We adopted the maximum likely set of parameters obtained by fitting the LF to the SDSS DR3 quasars \citep{2006AJ....131.2766R}, $A_1 =0.78, B_1=0.1, B_2=27.35, B_3 = 19.27$, and $\log \Phi^{*} = -5.75$ (where $M^{*}$ and $z_{\mathrm{ref}}$ were set to $-26$ and $2.45$, respectively).
Figure \ref{RedshiftDistribution} shows that the observed redshift distribution is correctly reproduced in our simulation.

For the multiply connected case, we must also consider the topological lensing effect. It is mimicked by tessellating the infinite space $\mathbb{E}^3$ with identical copies of a polyhedron that represents the whole physical space, i.e., contains all objects but no ghost images, such that the copies are mapped onto each other by the corresponding group of isometries (see Section \ref{3Dmanifolds}). Thus the procedure is as follows: we first distribute mock quasars in one polyhedron in the same way as the simply connected case, and then tessellate $\mathbb{E}^3$ with their copies (i.e., ghosts) so as to match the topology considered.

The positional uncertainty primarily originates from the motion of objects with respect to the Hubble flow, which creates extra redshifts in addition to those of cosmological origin (known as the redshift space distortions).
We assign each object the peculiar velocity of $v=500 \ \mathrm{km \ sec^{-1}}$, which is a typical value, and with a randomly selected direction\footnote{A Gaussian distribution of peculiar velocity is probably more realistic, but it would not change the ``typical" displacement of comoving positions.}.
Then, the measurement errors were added to the true redshifts (Hubble flow plus peculiar motion), which are randomly selected from a Gaussian distribution of the rms of $\Delta z=0.004$.
Because of these effects, the comoving distance deduced from the redshifts deviates from the real value by $\lesssim 10 \ \mathrm{Mpc}$.

We note that, since ghost images are generally observed at different look-back times, there is another source of the positional uncertainty related to the peculiar velocity: the movement of objects in real space (e.g., \citealt{1996MNRAS.283.1147R,1999A&A...351..766U, 2000A&A...363....1L}).
However, this effect is much weaker (a few percent) than those considered above, since we consider ghost images at nearly the same look-back times (Section \ref{discussion_and_conclusion}).

\section{Results and Discussion} \label{discussion_and_conclusion}

The method described in Section \ref{method} is applied to the distribution of real quasars in this section.
All the pairs of twins, $(\Vec x_i, \Vec x_j)$ and $(\Vec x_k, \Vec x_l)$, that satisfy the following conditions were selected:
\begin{eqnarray}
\ast & \ & | |\Vec x_i -\Vec x_j| - |\Vec x_k - \Vec x_l | | \leq 10 \ \mathrm{Mpc}, \\[0.2cm]
\ast & \ & |t_i - t_k|, |t_j - t_l| \leq 100 \ \mathrm{Myr}, \\[0.2cm]
\ast & \ & \mathrm{and} \ |\Vec x_i - \Vec x_j|, |\Vec x_k - \Vec x_l| \geq 100 \ \mathrm{Mpc},
\end{eqnarray}
where $t_i, t_j, \cdots$ are the cosmic times corresponding to the comoving positions $\Vec x_i, \Vec x_j, \cdots$, respectively.
The latter two conditions were not mentioned in Section \ref{method}.

The first condition selects pairs of isometric twins; ghost twins are always isometric \citep[e.g.,][see also Section \ref{method}]{1996MNRAS.283.1147R, 1999A&A...351..766U} within the tolerance of $\approx 10 \ \mathrm{Mpc}$.
The second condition is useful when considering short-lived objects such as quasars, since the temporal separations between ghost images cannot be longer than the object's lifetime.
The last one reduces the false positives resulting from clustering: In a strongly clustered region, the mean separation between objects would be so small that any pair of twins would satisfy the first condition.
It would not reduce the topological signature since the real ghosts are unlikely to be clustered in a small region.
Those that are similar to the second and third conditions were also used by \cite{2005A&A...435..427M}, who explored the toroidal topologies using active galactic nuclei (AGNs).
When applied to mock catalogs in multiply connected space, the selection completeness of the above criteria were found to be sufficiently high: More than $99\%$ of ghost twins were correctly selected.
However, the selection efficiency is as low as $10^{-6}$ and we must classify the selected pairs of twins as described in Section \ref{method}.

First, to see how our method works, we applied the method to a mock catalog that contains a pair of ghost quintuples.
(The celestial distribution of the ghosts is displayed in Figure \ref{SkyMap}.)
We searched for the signature of the quarter-turn screw motion since the ghosts were modeled to be linked by an isometry of this type (see Section \ref{simulations}).
The result is shown in Figure \ref{ResultMock}, which is plotted with
\begin{equation}
n_{\mathrm{max}}(L) \equiv \frac{1}{2} + \sqrt{\frac{1}{2} \biggl( S_{\mathrm{max}}(L) + \frac{1}{2} \biggr )} \label{Vertical}
\end{equation}
as the vertical axis, where
\begin{equation}
S_{\mathrm{max}}(L) = \mathrm{max} \{ S(\Vec n, X, Y, L') \} _{L'=L},
\end{equation}
and with the translation length $L$ as the horizontal axis.
(Note that a pair of isometric $n$-tuples corresponds to $S=2n(n-1)$ when $n \geq s_{\mathrm{min}}+1=4$.)
For comparison, we also plotted the mean values averaged over 100 realizations in the simply connected space, as well as the ratio between the two curves.
Each realization is also plotted as small dots to show the variances in the simply connected case.

\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[trim=0 0 0 5,width=8.5cm]{Fig4.eps}
\caption{
The result of a ghost search for the quarter-turn screw motion.
\textit{Orange line:} The mean curve over 100 simulations in the simply connected space along with each realization.
\textit{Blue line:} The result for a mock catalog in the quarter-turn space, which contains a pair of ghost quintuples.
The ghosts are clearly detected as a spike of height $5$ at $L=14 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$.
The bottom figure is the same as the top one but normalized to the mean result of the simply connected model.
For the definition of $n_{\mathrm{max}}$, see Equation (\ref{Vertical}) and the text.
}
\label{ResultMock}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure*}
\centering
\includegraphics[trim= 0 0 0 0, width=8.5cm]{Fig5_1.eps}
\includegraphics[trim= 0 0 0 0, width=8.5cm]{Fig5_2.eps}
\includegraphics[trim= 0 0 0 0, width=8.5cm]{Fig5_3.eps}
\includegraphics[trim= 0 0 0 0, width=8.5cm]{Fig5_4.eps}
\includegraphics[trim= 0 0 0 0, width=8.5cm]{Fig5_5.eps}
\caption{Results of the quest for the topological signatures in the SDSS high-redshift ($z\geq 4$) quasar sample.
Five types of nontranslational Euclidean isometries were explored.
\textit{Green lines:} The results for the observed data.
\textit{Orange lines:} The mean curves over 100 simulations in the simply connected space along with each realization plotted as small dots.
In each case, the bottom figure displays the ratio between the observation and the mean result for the simply connected model.
From these curves we identified one candidate for the topological signature that satisfy $n_{\mathrm{max}}\geq 4$ and $r \geq 1.5$, for the sixth-turn screw motion (marked with vertical arrows; see Table \ref{CandidatesTable} for details).
However, this is consistent with the simply connected model and we do not detect any ``robust'' signatures such as that seen in Figure \ref{ResultMock}.
}
\label{ResultData}
\end{figure*}

As expected, we find a sharp spike of height $n_{\mathrm{max}}=5$ at $L=14 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$ that is produced by the ghost quintuples.
The spike occurs in the 5D parameter space at $\Vec n=(-0.95,0.23,0.23)$, $(X,Y)=(-0.72,3.28) \ \mathrm{Gpc}$, and $L=14 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$, which correctly reproduces the input parameters (Section \ref{simulations}).
This result shows that our method is practically useful for detecting the signature of nontoroidal topologies, without any assumptions on the orientation of the Universe or on the location of the observer.
If the observed catalog contains some number of ghost images, we would surely be able to identify them.

The method was next applied to the observed data.
With the SDSS sample, we searched for the signatures of the five types of nontranslational isometries, i.e., screw motions of twists $\theta_{\mathrm{twist}}=\pi, 2\pi/3, \pi/2$, and $\pi/3$, and glide reflection, whose results are shown in Figure \ref{ResultData} as was done in Figure \ref{ResultMock}.
It is obvious that, for every type of isometry, the observed data generally follow the prediction of the simply connected space model.
There are no such robust spikes as seen in Figure \ref{ResultMock}; however, we notice some spikes that could possibly be produced by ghost images.
In this paper, we consider the spikes that satisfy both $n_{\mathrm{max}}\geq 4$ and $r \geq 1.5$ to be candidates for the topological signatures.
This criterion is somewhat arbitrary; we rather aim to demonstrate our methodology here.

\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[trim=10 5 5 5,width=9.5cm]{Fig6.eps}
\caption{Candidates for the ghost images in the SDSS sample.
Blue points indicate a pair of isometric quadruples linked by a left-handed sixth-turn screw motion.
Details of the candidate are summarized in Table \ref{CandidatesTable}.
}
\label{SkyMapCandidates}
\end{figure}

For each candidate selected from the criterion, we identified the quasars that are responsible for the spike, and then excluded the false detections resulting from ``multi-counts''.
For example, suppose that there is a pair of twins $(\Vec x_i, \Vec x_j)$ and $(\Vec x_k, \Vec x_l)$ that are both linked by the same isometry $\gamma$ to the same twin $(\Vec x_m, \Vec x_n)$, i.e., $\Vec x_m \approx \gamma \Vec x_i \approx \gamma \Vec x_k$ and $\Vec x_n \approx \gamma \Vec x_j \approx \gamma \Vec x_l$.
Then the score of $\gamma$ will be overestimated since $(\Vec x_i, \Vec x_j)$ and $(\Vec x_k, \Vec x_l)$ are practically the same images but are double-counted.

We excluded such cases by eye to leave one candidate for the left-handed sixth-turn screw motion, whose parameters are $n=(-0.28,-0.82,0.50), \ (X,Y)=(1.9,11.2) \ \mathrm{Gpc}$, and $L=4.2 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$ (see Table \ref{CandidatesTable}). We find a pair of isometric  quadruples that are linked by this isometry whose celestial distribution is displayed in Figure \ref{SkyMapCandidates}. In Figure \ref{ResultData}, the corresponding spikes, whose heights are $n_{\mathrm{max}}=4.53$ and $r=1.78$, are marked with vertical arrows. As seen in the figure, the candidate is not statistically significant since we can find several spikes with comparable heights in the simply connected simulations. If the candidate is real, there should be some ghost images (discrete sources or CMB circles) caused by translation of length $6L \approx 25 \ \mathrm{Gpc}$, but it would be hard to observe them since the deduced direction of screw axis corresponds to low Galactic latitude, $b \approx -18^{\circ}$.

Until now, we have only considered 3D positions of objects to identify (the candidates of) ghost images.
We mention here some possible additional tests based on their astrophysical properties.
First, it is confirmed from observations of nearby AGNs that their optical continuum emission does not change color \citep{2010ApJ...711..461S} despite their variable flux, so that the ultraviolet--optical spectral index might be used to distinguish real ghosts from false positives.
The mass of the central black hole ($M_{\mathrm{BH}}$) would also be useful: For two quasars to be the ghosts of each other, they must satisfy $M_{\mathrm{BH, low}z} \geq M_{\mathrm{BH, high}z}$, since $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$ should monotonically increase with time.
However, it is unknown whether the optical color remains constant over a long period of time ($\lesssim 100 \ \mathrm{Myr}$), and at present estimation of $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$ has large uncertainties.
Therefore, these additional tests are currently difficult to perform because of both the observational uncertainties and our ignorance of the nature of AGNs, but they may be possible in the future.
Cross-checks from independent tests, which are based on other catalogs of objects or CMB maps, are more realistic at present.
For example, \cite{2013arXiv1302.4425R} discussed a further test on the 3-torus model that was identified from the CMB data analyses \citep{2008CQGra..25v5017A}, which makes use of bright star-forming galaxies at redshifts $z\lesssim 6$.

We note that our results do not exclude models whose signatures were not found: In other words, even if the sixth-turn screw motion candidate were rejected by other tests, there would still remain the possibility that we live in a ``small'' multiply connected Universe.
For quantifying it, we generated 100 mock catalogs in multiply connected space (with an analysis of one catalog being shown in Figure \ref{ResultMock}).
Among them, only 24 catalogs contained $\geq 5$ ghosts, and 49 contained $\geq 4$ ghosts (Figure \ref{GhostHisto}).
Therefore, even if real space has the same topology as assumed here, the possibility of detecting the topology is less than $50 \%$ (since by the choice of $s_{\mathrm{min}}=3$ in Equation (\ref{StepFunc}), we need $\geq 4$ ghosts for the detection).

\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[trim=0 0 0 0,width=8.5cm]{Fig7.eps}
\caption{The distribution of the number of ghosts in 100 mock catalogs for two cases of sky coverage.
{\it Green histogram:} The SDSS DR7 sky coverage.
{\it Orange histogram:} Full sky ($|b|\geq 30^{\circ}$) coverage.
If the full-sky data were available, the detectability of topological lensings based on this test would be enhanced by about a factor of 2.
}
\label{GhostHisto}
\end{figure}

This somewhat low detectability is due to the cosmic variance and to the patchy sky coverage of SDSS in the South Galactic cap (see Figure \ref{SkyMap}): Ghost images must be located on the narrow stripe regions or we cannot observe them.
To robustly constrain the space topology, we need the spectra of quasars over a wider and continuous region in the South Galactic cap.
As an example, mock catalogs with ``full sky'' coverage except for the low-Galactic latitudes, i.e., $|b| \geq 30^{\circ}$, were generated in the multiply connected space.
Of the 100 realizations, 84 contained $\geq 5$ ghosts and 89 contained $\geq 4$ ghosts (Figure \ref{GhostHisto}).
This explicitly shows that the detectability of this test can be much improved by additional data in the Southern sky.
Ongoing and future wide-field surveys, e.g., SDSS-III/BOSS, VST-ATLAS, LSST, and  Euclid, are expected to provide such data.

\input{Table1.tex}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


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text:
Home›Movie Reviews›Hereditary - Horror Runs in the Family!
Hereditary - Horror Runs in the Family!
Hereditary is directed by Ari Aster. The film stars Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, and Gabriel Byrne.
When Ellen Graham dies, her estranged family members begin investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. Following the tragedy, Ellen's daughter Annie, the mother of Charlie and Peter, goes to a support group where she meets the mysterious Joan. Following another family tragedy, Joan teaches Ellen how to conduct seances. What is the mystery surrounding Ellen's death and Joan's knowledge of the occult, and will there be further unexpected tragedies and mysteries?
Critics have been raving over Hereditary since its release, but mainstream audience reception is far less kind. This is one instance where the audiences have it right. Hereditary has some shocking images and moments which leave an impression. Unfortunately, the plot makes no sense and the end product feels like parts of a whole which never quite come together. You'll be polarized and puzzled by this film but probably not in the way you want a movie to have that effect on you.
Casting and atmosphere are where Hereditary shines. The actors cast as the Graham Family, including Toni Collette as the mother/wife and Alex Wolff (My Friend Dahmer, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) as the son/brother are all well suited to the film, and their reactions to events at hand are believable and invoke genuine audience reactions. Even if the rest of the film falls flat no one will knock its casting and the genuinely haunting and shocking moments which take place.
Sadly, the movie, despite its solid casting, haunting atmosphere, and numerous ideas, never quite manages to come together. The film starts with some moments which bring about a spooky and at times terrifying mood, but it isn't long before the movie goes off the deep end with all kinds of new ideas which never quite gel together. By the time we witness the final scene it no longer feels like the same movie, and audience members are left with a genuine "what did I just watch?" feeling, albeit not in a good way. One could argue the movie is practically an "art film," although whether that is a good or bad thing will depend on the viewer.
Hereditary does a good many things well, but shocking moments and solid casting can't keep the end product from being a dud, with a plot which makes no sense and goes increasingly off the rails as it progresses. It's a rental for the curious, but audiences should know what kind of movie they're getting here.
Rating: One-and-a-half stars out of four.
DISCLAIMER: All images in this review are the property of their respective copyright holders, including PalmStar Media, Finch Entertainment, Windy Hill Pictures, Entertainment Film Distributors, and A24. For promotional purposes only. All rights reserved.
Tagsalex wolffari asterhereditarytoni collette
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Cheryl, thank you for your openness, honesty & bravery about your grief & it's effects upon you.
The loss of a significant loved one has such a huge impact upon us, especially at an early age, we need to be kind to ourselves,while we process the grief.
And that is a very individual journey but, as you mentioned above, it does not need to be walked alone in the Lord, we have His family & His professionals as fellow supporting travelers.
I so appreciate your kind words. We desperately need the Lord and those He puts in our lives to support us. He always knows exactly what we need and knows exactly how to help us grow in Him through the trials and pain. His love holds us and comforts us. All praise and glory to Him! Sweet blessings to you too!
He absolutely does, all we need to do is to accept it!
I love that God gave him food and drink and let him sleep. God knew that this was what He needed right at that time, not a sermon or even a word of encouragement. He knows us intimately as well, and He cares for us just as much as He did for Elijah! Praise the Lord!
I thought it was also interesting what you said about how we sometimes miss God's love because we are looking for something else. Our expectations are in the wrong place. Great observation!


Submitted by Simon Coleman on Sat, 13 Jun 2015 - 19:27.
This is an additional skip and there will be another skip in late July. The skips usually get filled up by 11am so i would advise people to arrive as soon as possible on Saturday. Once the skip is full we will put a tarpaulin over the skip, please do not put more items in the skip if you see it covered.


text:
« KCATA and the KCMO Budget-Video of the March 6 hearing of the Finance, Governance and Ethics Committee
Online Transit Forum – Candidates for Mayor of WYCO/KCK – Election April 2 »
Last Chance – Speak up for KCATA Budget at KCMO Finance Committee Meeting Mar 20
Posted by Transit Action Network on March 19, 2013
The city council is almost finished working on the FY 2013/2014 budget. Tomorrow may be your last chance to comment in front of the council on the Public Mass Transportation Fund (1/2-cent Transposition Sales Tax) budget.
Finance, Governance & Ethics Committee
10th Floor Committee Room
414 E. 12th Street
In your testimony about the budget for the 1/2 cent Transportation Sales Tax and Ordinance 130173:
Encourage the committee to table the new ordinance, 130173, which is an attempt to deal with the transit issues we've have all been concerned about. The council hasn't had sufficient time to thoroughly discuss the ordinance and determined how to get the best result. It is possible to complete this budget with the current ordinance.
Even if the committee tables the new ordinance, which we hope it will, please ask them to comply with the existing ordinance relative to non-transit uses and restore funding to KCATA.
Ask that $5 million, currently allocated to non-transit uses, be moved to KCATA:
to comply with current ordinance 100951 to restore funding to KCATA.
to eliminate KCATA's need to use its emergency reserve account to maintain current transit service levels.
Ask that the streetcar only uses this funding source for one year, while an alternative funding source is identified.
Currently the FY 2013/2014 budget for the city's use of the 1/2 sales tax money includes $6 million dollars allocated to non-transit projects, $2 million to the streetcar, and $600 thousand to administrative fees.
Based on Ordinance 100951, city non-transit uses were supposed to start shrinking in 2011 so the KCATA budget could rise to 95% of the available funds from the ½ cent Transportation Sales tax by 2014. KCATA would only be allocated 71% of the available funds in the new budget.
The 2003 and 2008 elections for a 3/8 cent sales tax were based on the assumption that the ½ sales tax would continue to go to the KCATA but here is what actually happened.
Up until now the city has ignored its own ordinance and continued to spend money on other priorities.
Contrary to what most people think, KCATA has not been receiving 7/8 cents in sales taxes (sum of ½ cent and 3/8 cent sales taxes). In the proposed budget KCATA is budgeted LESS money from the ½ cent transportation sales tax than it received in 2003 although receipts have increased considerably.
In 2003/2004 the city was only using $1.3 million for non-transit uses from the ½ cent transportation sales tax.
Here's what we propose:
Table the new ordinance: it is not needed.
Move $5 million from Public Works Capital Improvements to KCATA. That would move the budget closer to complying with the current ordinance and eliminate the need for KCATA to use up its emergency money. Based on the ordinance, KCATA should be receiving close to 88% of the 1/2 cent Transportation Sales Tax for the proposed budget.
Due to the short time-frame, use $2 million from the Public Mass Transportation Fund for the streetcar for this one-year only.
Once the budgeting process is completed, begin working on alternative funding sources for the $2 million, preferably out of the TDD. The city sold the idea of the streetcar being funded out of the TDD. Do this and provide long-term financial stability for the streetcar using those new funds.
Convene the Transit Working Group that Councilwoman Circo proposed at the March 6 meeting of this committee, and let that group take some time to explore all of the transit-related issues involved. There are a lot of issues, and decisions related to transit should not be made in a vacuum.
Include Transit Action Network in that Transit Working Group, as we asked two weeks ago.
The council can work this out, but the time is running out. The budget has to be voted on next week.
Contact Kansas City Mayor and City Council
Mayor's office 816-513-3500 email Mayor@kcmo.org
Council office 816-513-1368
Go to http://kcmo.org/CKCMO/CityOfficials/CityCouncilOffice/index.htm for phone numbers and emails for specific council members
TAN has been writing about this issue since January when the city manager released his proposed budget for FY 2013/2014.
See previous articles for more information. KCATA and the KCMO Budget-Video of the March 6 hearing of the Finance, Governance and Ethics Committee
This entry was posted on March 19, 2013 at 6:15 PM and is filed under Action, Events, Local Transit Issues. Tagged: Kansas City, KCATA, KCMO2013-2014budget. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


text:
County fire department to get water supply trailer
By Margaret Allen Hays Daily News
During one large local wildfire in 2018, Ellis County Rural Fire Department firefighters had water, but couldn't use it.
"One of the biggest problems that we had, we had a whole bunch of farmers, businesses bringing out water and we had no way to get it off their trucks," said Darin Myers, fire chief and emergency manager. "Or if we could dump it into a portable tank, we didn't have enough set up to hold the amount of water that was out there."
While too much water is a good problem to have, it doesn't help fight fires if it can't be accessed, Myers told the Ellis County Commissioners on Monday evening during their regular meeting at the Ellis County Administrative Center, 718 Main.
"This year we have plenty of creeks out there full of water," Myers said, "but it was so muddy that you couldn't actually get close to them to be able to draft water out of it."
It won't be a problem too much longer, thanks to a grant from the Northwest Regional Homeland Security Council, which encompasses 18 counties.
The council has approved a $36,774 grant to cover the cost of building a water supply trailer that will provide a constant water supply. The trailer will be outfitted with six portable and collapsible tanks that can hold up to 21,000 gallons of water, plus a portable water pump that can float on static water and pump water into the trailer tanks or into a fire truck.
"When you look on a fire scene, time is of the essence, and if you have a farmer bringing out a thousand gallons of water, but they have a 10-gallon-a-minute pump, it's going to take 100 minutes to pump that water off there," Myers said. "That's almost two hours of time that you're not fighting the fire. When you can draft hundreds of gallons a minute, and refill your tank in two or three minutes, it is a significant addition to our fleet."
Myers thinks the trailer will be built and ready by the first of the year. It will be available to neighboring fire departments, too.
"Russell, Rooks or Rush counties can borrow it," he said. "The council actually liked it well enough, they asked me to create two trailers. We're going to build one for Ellis County, as well as one for probably in Logan County, and next year do two more."
Besides the trailers, the department was also approved for a PortaCount machine, which tests to make sure respirators are fitting firefighers correctly.
Without a proper fit, firefighters can lose air and also suck in hazardous particles during a fire. The test is a requirement of the Kansas Department of Labor for any employee wearing a rubber respirator. The machine will also be used throughout the region, Myers said.
Also at Monday's meeting, the commissioners approved Myers' request to hire an assistant director of fire and emergency management as a backup to his job by reclassifying the department's administrative assistant position.
The move fills a gap created in August 2015 when the department was realigned to save money by combining the fire chief, emergency manager and communications director into one. At the same time, the department's administrative assistant was hired by the public works department, leaving a vacancy.
An assistant chief will help with vehicle maintenance, fitness testing, ladder testing and training, among other things.
"The position would be of more benefit directly to the company chiefs and fire departments by taking some of the load off them," Myers said.
The county previously had an assistant chief, but the person left several years ago for an oil company job overseas, he said.
"No matter what kind of fire department you look at, if it's the county fire department or the city fire department, all are classified, rated and expected to perform at the same levels. We all know with a volunteer staff, that's almost impossible," Myers said. "However, we are rated to the same standards, and in doing so there's a lot of things we need to do in addition to just when the pager goes off, hopping on the truck and going and fighting fires or going to vehicle accidents and such."
He cited as examples prevention activities in fire and emergency management, pre-planning, inspecting every business each year and inspecting hydrants.
"I do realize this is probably the worst timing to ask for this position," Myers told the commissioners, given the county's budget crisis from 2020 forward.
However, he noted, if the department wins an Emergency Management Performance Grant from the state, that funding could pay for 50 percent of the position.
"I do believe that you need some kind of backup in your position," said Commissioner Butch Schlyer. "So it is a position that is needed."
Commissioner Dustin Roths said he echoes what Schlyer said.
So far, Myers said, he's had help from the station chiefs and assistant chiefs.
"I'm very grateful that we have a good group of leadership all within our fire officers in our county and they do step up," Myers said. "They are very knowledgeable, experienced and trained and they range from five years of service to almost 40 years of service. I have a great group that backs me up; however, as you know, they are volunteers, they have other full-time jobs."


Good Tuesday Morning and welcome to another post for the My Life in Arts N Craft DTs. The team has been working hard as usual to bring you some very unique and pretty cards today so let's just jump right in and see what inspirations they have to show.
and finally, Angela, decided on the jute twine for her card.
Check out the wide variety of twine, jute and burlap by clicking on the My Life in Arts N Crafts store button above and than you for joining us today.


Colin Little a retired steel worker from Rotherham is the lucky recipient of a pair of hearing aids from the National Campaign for Better Hearing, whose mission is to raise awareness of the importance of regular hearing tests.
Colin initially damaged his hearing working near noisy electric furnaces in the steel works without wearing any hearing protection. He's experienced further deterioration, and typically has left it 10 years before getting help. All too aware now that he's missing out on the jokes and it's putting a strain on his marriage.
In the end it was his wife fed up with constantly repeating things and being ignored also noticed that he was exhausted at the end of the day and just want to be in his own world – that decided enough was enough.
Audiologist from Hidden Hearing centre, Stephanie Lakin who tested and nominated Colin says, 'Colin is such a worthy recipient of this award. His hearing was affecting his relationships and causing him to withdraw from his world.
Colin says, 'This is absolutely brilliant.. I never win anything, so good to feel my luck's changed!
All you need to do is email: nominations@hiddenhearing.co.uk and in the email, give your name, number, address and who you'd like to nominate with their name, telephone number and address.
Please write a summary of why you would like to nominate that person for a free hearing test and potentially a free pair of hearing devices.


The Youth Health Center at Amherst Regional High School has been in operation since 1996. It is staffed full time by a Nurse Educator through a collaborative partnership between the Cumberland Health Authority and the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board. The services offered at the Health Center can include assistance with physical, emotional and sexual health issues such as over the counter medication for students who are feeling ill, advice on medical issues, birth control, counseling if they are dealing with emotional issues and many more. The service is confidential and clients are made aware of this as well as the limitations i.e. self harm, abuse, or harm to others. Referrals may be made to various community organizations such as Addictions Services, Cumberland Mental Health, etc. as there are many partnerships in place to assist youth as much as needed.
Programs such as an afterschool fitness group, SADD, GSA, Options to Anger, VOICES, and PARTY, offer many opportunities for youth to get involved in the school environment. All of these programs are generated and run through the Health Center. Is a resource for youth at E.B. Chandler Junior High School as well as ARHS and is available for both students and parents. If you require assistance and or information feel free to contact the Health Center through the school line 661-2540.


For more than 30 years, Randy Shepard has been providing dynamic, informative, and life-changing messages to the leaders and constituents of more than 2500 companies and organizations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Dr. Shepard has trained more than a quarter of a million people in live seminar events, providing humor and great insight resulting in a transformation both professionally and personally. He's been considered by many as one of America's most dynamic speakers and trainers, having educated and trained the leaders of such corporate giants as Wal-Mart, AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and numerous Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Shepard has an earned Ph.D. in Counseling and resides in the Kansas City area.
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At Acme Sledgeworks we hand craft each piece with pride. Like our customers, our products are unique, strong, and one of a kind. Whether your item is for work or working out we want you to feel the quality, power, and pride every time it's in your hands.
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Toyota is working on developing flying cars, with the aim of having a single driver vehicle ready to fly in time for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The idea is that a small flying car will be able to smoothly transition from driving to the skies, in order to delivery the Olympic torch for its last leg to officially open the games.
The project isn't yet ready to dazzle the world, as you can see in the Associated Press video above. This early prototype of the car is basically structural scaffolding, batteries and rotors, but it does manage to get about head height before ungracefully returning to earth.
The flying car is being created in partnership with Cartivator Resource Management, a small tech company that Toyota invested nearly $400,000 in to help bring this project to life. This test flight took place at a school field in central Japan, near Toyota's own home base.
Toyota has been exploring a range of new tech and transportation options, including luxury yachts under its Lexus brand. The company is also re-imagining itself as an energy concern — though it just ended a partnership with Tesla it had entered into to co-develop electric vehicle technologies last week.
Next steps for the flying car project include refining the design using the new money invested by Toyota, and hoping to fly with a pilot on board sometime in 2019, ahead of the intended launch of a fully functional vehicle in time for Tokyo's 2020 Olympic games.


text:
Another pick-six by Liddell helps undefeated Camarillo roll past Ventura
Grady Liddell grabs his sixth interception in five games and his third returned for a touchdown as unbeaten Camarillo rolls to a 48-21 win over Ventura.
Another pick-six by Liddell helps undefeated Camarillo roll past Ventura Grady Liddell grabs his sixth interception in five games and his third returned for a touchdown as unbeaten Camarillo rolls to a 48-21 win over Ventura. Check out this story on vcstar.com: https://www.vcstar.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2019/09/20/another-pick-six-liddell-helps-undefeated-camarillo-roll-past-ventura/2355671001/
Loren Ledin, Ventura County Star Published 11:35 p.m. PT Sept. 20, 2019
So, yep, this is definitely a trend.
"I guess so," Grady Liddell said through a smile at game's end.
Camarillo High's Jessie Valenzuela bullies his way into the end zone during the Scorpions' 48-21 victory over Ventura on Friday night at Moorpark College. (Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE COFFARO)
And yes, it's not getting old for Liddell or the Camarillo High football team.
The Camarillo senior defensive back/wide receiver racked up his sixth interception in five games — and his third pick-six of the season with a 44-yard return for a touchdown in the third quarter — and Camarillo rode its uncanny balance on offense to a 48-21 victory over Ventura in their nonleague matchup at Moorpark College on Friday night.
More: Scoreboard: Week 4 results for high school football
James McNamara completed 14 of 19 pass attempts for 193 yards and two touchdowns and Jesse Valenzuela rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns as the Scorpions built leads of 35-7 at halftime and 48-7 in the third quarter to remain perfect through five weeks at 5-0.
Valenzuela actually accounted for four touchdowns. Besides rushing for scores of 17, 3 and 1 yards, his 10-yard scoring reception from McNamara was Camarillo's second touchdown. McNamara also tossed a 42-yard scoring pass to Carter Alexander in the opening quarter.
Camarillo High's Jessie Valenzuela scors a touchdown during the Scorpions' 48-21 victory over Ventura on Friday night at Moorpark College. (Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE COFFARO)
The near-perfect pass-rush blend earned a smile from Scorpions offensive coordinator Mike Leibin after checking out the statistics.
"That's what we want," he said.
McNamara, the Scorpions' senior quarter back, also likes giving opposing defenses a lot to prepare for on any given Friday night.
"I really like the way we complement each other on this offense," he said. "If defenses want to come up and pack the box to stop (Valenzuela), then it's going to open things up for our receivers. If they want to play back and defend the pass, then that gives him room to run."
As potent as the Camarillo offense has been through Week 5, its the defense that likely holds the key to the Scorpions' eventual performance this season. Ahead lay the rugged Camino League, defending league and CIF-SS champion Grace Brethren and the stalwart competition in CIF-SS Division 4.
Ventura High quarterback Cade Ledesma tries to get a pass away while being tackle during the Cougars' 48-21 loss to Camarillo on Friday night at Ventura College. (Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE COFFARO)
"I think that's true, but we also like the pressure," said senior linebacker Ryan Lythgoe of the Camarillo defense. "We like to play fast and that means swarming to the football. On each play, it's our goal to put 11 hats on the ball carrier."
Liddell has been a veritable ball-magnet through the first half of the season, and was at it again Friday night.
Midway through the third quarter, Liddell jumped a pass through by Ventura junior quarterback Cade Ledesma and returned it 44 yards for the score.
"It's really a matter of everybody playing well and doing their jobs on this defense," he said. "The guys up front are putting pressure on the quarterback and forcing him to make a pass he doesn't want to back. If I put myself in the right position, then I can make a play."
The Camarillo High football enters the field before Friday night's game against Ventura at Moorpark College. (Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE COFFARO)
So Liddell now has at least one interception in each of the five games the Scorpions have played. Is there pressure to keep the streak going?
"Not really," he said with a grin. "We just need to go out and play our game each week."
Ventura falls to 2-3 through five games, but there is reason for optimism as Pacific View League competition begins in two weeks.
The running game, sparked by Dane Kapler and Ledesma, has been effective. Kapler's 31-yard scoring run in the first quarter pulled the Cougars into a 7-7 tied.
Backup quarterback Jordan Tanner showed he's ready to contribute with a solid performance vs. the Scorpions.
Ventura's Dane Kapler breaks away from the Camarillo defense en route to a touchdown run during Friday night's game at Ventura College. Camarillo won, 48-21. (Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE COFFARO)
After relieving Ledesma in the third quarter, his first pass was a 56-yard touchdown strike to Zack Rodriguez. Tanner ended up 6 of 7 for 116 yards.
Camarillo, meanwhile, continued sailing along, even on Homecoming Night. The effort has been typical of the Scorpions focus this season.
"Our coaches stressed to us that there was a lot going on this week, but we still needed to get ready to play a football game," said Lythgoe. "We were ready to play tonight."
Next up for Camarillo is its annual rivalry matchup next Friday against host Rio Mesa.
Ventura will open up Pacific View League competition on Oct. 4 at home vs. Oxnard.
Loren Ledin is the Prep Editor for The Star. He can be reached at loren.ledin@vcstar.com or 805-347-2878.
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Wednesday, January 3rd Doors at 6 PM. FREE with minimum $5 food or beverage purchase. Beer and Fry specials all night long! All ages. The best in B science fictions movies, drive-in classics, psychotronic weirdness and more!! FREE RAFFLE!! – Admission grants you one raffle ticket for a chance to win some very cool, very strange science fiction prizes including: movie tickets, figurines, posters, books, cards, VHS movies and more for that inner science fiction enthusiast in us all. In The Year 2889 "Nuclear war devastates much of the world, but old man John Ramsey (Neil Fletcher) manages to survive, and he holes up on his rural property with his daughter, Joanna (Charla Doherty). Because John always believed in the inevitability of nuclear apocalypse, he'd prepared the house with plenty of provisions. Other survivors of the disaster start to show up at the house demanding refuge. John reluctantly lets them in, but there is much tension. Then the mutants appear." ~ Google. Sponsored by Savage Henry Magazine, Scrap Humboldt, Phantom Wave Records, Daisy Drygoods, Vintage Avenger, Tin Can Mailman, The Clothing Dock, MEAT Clown Buttons, and more.
Friday, Jan. 5th Doors at 7:30 PM. Movie at 8:00 PM. 116 min. Rated PG $5. It is the year 1985 and Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is your typical 80s high school student with one exception, his kooky science genius friend Doc Brown who he regularly visits to escape his bickering family. Doc has been working around the clock on his newest invention: A sweet DeLorean sports car that has been rigged to travel through time! Marty and Doc are set to meet and test out the new machine when some Lybian Nationalists show up and start shooting up the place. In an effort to escape Marty accidentally sends himself back in time to 1955. In his confusion he accidentally interrupts his parent's first meeting when they fell in love, which sets in motion a series of events that endangers Marty's very existence!
Wednesday, January 10th Doors at 6 PM. FREE with minimum $5 food or beverage purchase. Beer and Fry specials all night long! All ages. The best in B science fictions movies, drive-in classics, psychotronic weirdness and more!! FREE RAFFLE!! – Admission grants you one raffle ticket for a chance to win some very cool, very strange science fiction prizes including: movie tickets, figurines, posters, books, cards, VHS movies and more for that inner science fiction enthusiast in us all. Attack of the Crab Monsters "A team of scientists land on a tropical island to study the effects of radiation fallout. When the island begins to break off into the ocean, giant crustaceans begin calculated attacks on the humans, forcing them to fight for their lives." ~ Google. Sponsored by Savage Henry Magazine, Scrap Humboldt, Phantom Wave Records, Daisy Drygoods, Vintage Avenger, Tin Can Mailman, The Clothing Dock, MEAT Clown Buttons, and more.
Friday, Jan. 12th Doors at 7:30 PM. Movie at 8:00 PM. 81 min. Rated R $5. This tongue-in-cheek sequel offers equal parts sword-and-sorcery style action,gore, and comedy. Bruce Campbell returns as the one-armed Ash, now a supermarket employee who is transported by the powers of a mysterious book, back in time with his Oldsmobile '88 to the 14th century medievel era. Armed with only a shotgun, his high school chemistry textbook, and a chainsaw that mounts where his missing appendage once resided, the square-jawed, brutally competent Ash quickly establishes himself as a besieged kingdom's best hope against an "army of darkness" currently plaguing the land. Since the skeleton warriors have been resurrected with the aid of the Necronomicon he agrees to face the enemy in battle.
Monday, Jan. 15th Doors at 7:00 PM. Movie at 7:30 PM. 108 min. Rated R $5. We would like to introduce Hollywood Clapback who will be screening movies here at the theatre on Monday nights. Controversial, Weird, Queer, and Interesting Movies – From Classical Hollywood to Contemporary Satires. Get Active, Get involved, Talk back to the movies! Brother From Another Planet "A slave from outer space escapes to earth. Except for his three-toed feet, he looks like an ordinary young black man. He crash-lands on Ellis Island, appropriately enough, and ends up in Harlem. There he makes friends with the owner and the regulars of a bar. Because he can fix any machine (by simply touching it), he's able to make money. He's mute, which proves more of an advantage than a disadvantage. And he can heal himself and others with nothing but his hands. His real troubles begin when two extraterrestrial bounty hunters attempt to recapture him and bring him back to where he came from." ~ IMDB.
Friday, Jan. 19th Doors at 7:30 PM. Movie at 8:00 PM. 100 min. Rated PG-13 $5. Based on the beloved video game series, Tomb Raider features Lara Croft. An antiques hunter for hire. In series first film adaptation, the planets are about to align. A celestial event that only occurs for a brief moments once every five thousand years. A secret society called, The Illuminati is seeking a talisman and key to harness to energy of this event to control time. Now it's up to Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) to use a letter from her deceased father to solve the mystery and beat the Illuminati to each of the ancient relics, before she runs out of time.
Monday, Jan. 22nd Doors at 7:00 PM. Movie at 7:30 PM. 122 min. UnRated $5. We would like to introduce Hollywood Clapback who will be screening movies here at the theatre on Monday nights. Controversial, Weird, Queer, and Interesting Movies – From Classical Hollywood to Contemporary Satires. Get Active, Get involved, Talk back to the movies! Tea & Sympathy A famous Hollywood "Pre-Code" film, Design for Living is a ménage à trois rom-com with fast-paced dialogue filled with nutty euphemisms and naughty double-entendres. Americans Gary Cooper and Frederic March each take their turns wooing the wonderful Miriam Hopkins in Gay Paris during the Great Depression.
Wednesday, January 24th Doors at 6 PM. FREE with minimum $5 food or beverage purchase. Beer and Fry specials all night long! All ages. The best in B science fictions movies, drive-in classics, psychotronic weirdness and more!! FREE RAFFLE!! – Admission grants you one raffle ticket for a chance to win some very cool, very strange science fiction prizes including: movie tickets, figurines, posters, books, cards, VHS movies and more for that inner science fiction enthusiast in us all. Attack the Block "Attack the Block follows an unlucky young woman and a gang of tough inner city kids who make an unlikely alliance to try to defend their turf against an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning a South London apartment complex into an intergalactic war-zone." ~ IMDB. Sponsored by Savage Henry Magazine, Scrap Humboldt, Phantom Wave Records, Daisy Drygoods, Vintage Avenger, Tin Can Mailman, The Clothing Dock, MEAT Clown Buttons, and more.
Friday, Jan. 26th Doors at 7:30 PM. Movie at 8:00 PM. 93 min. Rated PG-13 $5. It's 2415, four hundred years after a disease wipes out nearly all of the Earth's population except for one walled off city-state uptopia, Bregna. Among the survivors, Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron). A mysterious female assassin working for an underground group of rebels who next mission is to assassinate a prominent member of the council that rules over Bregna. After a devastating event, Aeon decides to to fail her mission and protect the person who was only just her target. Now with everyone after her, she must risk everything to keep the councilman safe while uncovering secrets of her lost past and the truth about the government and life in Bregna.
Sunday, Jan. 28th Doors at 5:30 PM. Movie at 6:00 PM. 115 min. Rated PG $5. There was a time when they could walk among us, when their very presence was a beacon of hope and incredible potential. Superheroes once watched over the city of Metroville until a series of unfortunate lawsuits by the very people they'd sworn to protect forced the government to put all supers into hiding. Now safe in a normal life, Bob Parr aka. Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and his wife Helen Parr aka. Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) live with their 3 children and things are going as you'd expect. Expect Bob isn't satisfied in this new life and longs for more when an opportunity mysteriously presents itself to the once Mr. Incredible.
Monday, Jan. 29th Doors at 7:00 PM. Movie at 7:30 PM. 91 min. UnRated $5. We would like to introduce Hollywood Clapback who will be screening movies here at the theatre on Monday nights. Controversial, Weird, Queer, and Interesting Movies – From Classical Hollywood to Contemporary Satires. Get Active, Get involved, Talk back to the movies! Design For Living A famous Hollywood "Pre-Code" film, Design for Living is a ménage à trois rom-com with fast-paced dialogue filled with nutty euphemisms and naughty double-entendres. Americans Gary Cooper and Frederic March each take their turns wooing the wonderful Miriam Hopkins in Gay Paris during the Great Depression.
Wednesday, Jan. 31st Doors at 6 PM. FREE with minimum $5 food or beverage purchase. Beer and Fry specials all night long! All ages. The best in B science fictions movies, drive-in classics, psychotronic weirdness and more!! FREE RAFFLE!! – Admission grants you one raffle ticket for a chance to win some very cool, very strange science fiction prizes including: movie tickets, figurines, posters, books, cards, VHS movies and more for that inner science fiction enthusiast in us all. Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe "An alien "policeman" arrives on Earth to apprehend a renegade of his own race who impregnates a woman with a potentially destructive mutant embryo." ~ IMDB. Sponsored by Savage Henry Magazine, Scrap Humboldt, Phantom Wave Records, Daisy Drygoods, Vintage Avenger, Tin Can Mailman, The Clothing Dock, MEAT Clown Buttons, and more.


text:
Kebbi people hostile, antagonistic to APC candidate's campaign team, pelt them with stones, satchets of water
PoliticsTop StoryTrending Story
…openly expressed disapproval of the party by booing Idris and his campaign team each time they went out to campaign in the major cities of Kebbi, Per Second News gathered.
…PDP candidate in Kebbi State, retired Gen. Aminu Bande, has been having a field day campaigning without any hindrance or let.
By Per Second News Last updated Jan 23, 2023
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is gradually losing grounds and foothold in Kebbi State as the people are becoming hostile and unwelcoming to the campaign team of the party's governorship candidate, Dr Nasir Idris, hurling stones and satchets of water at them.
The people openly expressed disapproval of the party by booing Idris and his campaign team each time they went out to campaign in the major cities of Kebbi, Per Second news gathered.
As a result of the hostile political environment currently pervading the state, supporters of Idris, who is the National President of Nigerian Union of Teachers, and Deputy National Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, are now afraid of coming out.
The situation is worrisome as it has hampered the campaign activities of the candidate, according to a party chieftain.
Usman Ibrahim, an APC supporter in Birnin Kebbi said: "We are afraid to campaign as the people get stoned with different dangerous objects each time they come out to campaign for APC."
The situation is getting messier by the day, causing a former Governor of Kebbi State and Director General of All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council, Alhaji Saidu Nasamu Dakingari, to plead with the North to vote for the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to fulfill the "promises'' they had with the South.
"We had an agreement in 2015 with the Southerners, that is 'amana (bond). We in the North are not people who betrayed or renege on our promises. Therefore, all of us should vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,'' he said.
Dakingari also begged the Kebbi people to vote for Dr Nasir Idris, the party's governorship candidate.
Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Kebbi State, retired General Aminu Bande, has been having a field day campaigning without any hindrance or let.
"He has been going about campaigning and enjoying a good reception by the people without any hostile reaction from the residents,'' Persecondnews quotes a politician as saying.
APCKebbi state
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The Day In Pictures: President Buhari commissions Lekki Deep Sea Port
Tinubu's outburst: Nigerians now know who is after CBN Gov. Emefiele —…


text:
De Anschluss (Duits voor 'aansluiting', 'verbinding', 'annexatie') is de internationaal gangbare, geschiedkundige term voor de Duitse annexatie van Oostenrijk in een "Groot-Duitsland" op 13 maart 1938. De annexatie kon rekenen op vrij algemene steun van de Oostenrijkse bevolking en werd voorbereid door de Oostenrijkse nazipartij. De annexatie geschiedde door een inval van Duitse troepen, waarbij echter geen schot werd gelost. Door de  Anschluss verloor Oostenrijk zijn zelfstandigheid, werd in het Duitse Rijk opgenomen en heette tot 1942 Ostmark en nadien Alpen- und Donau-Reichsgaue tot de bevrijding door de Russen in maart 1945.
 In bredere zin kan de term duiden op de vreedzame annexaties van Duitsland voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog, waaronder die van Oostenrijk, Sudetenland in Tsjecho-Slowakije en Memelland in Litouwen. In grote lijnen leek de annexatie van Tsjecho-Slowakije op Oostenrijkse Anschluss, met name de volksonlusten en openlijke intimidatie, gevolgd door vreedzame aansluiting. Er werd ook wel van ´bloemenoorlogen´ (Blumenkriege) gesproken omdat de Duitse soldaten in Oostenrijk en Sudetenland door de bevolking met bloemen werden ontvangen.

De Anschluss van Oostenrijk

In de eerste jaren van het Interbellum (1918-1939) was de Groot-Duitse gedachte door het ontstaan van Oostenrijk nieuw leven ingeblazen. Referenda in Oostenrijkse provincies wezen uit dat ten minste driekwart van de bevolking een samengaan met Duitsland wenste, nu de niet-Duitse (en een deel van de Duitse) rijksdelen verloren waren gegaan. De Fransen dreigden met sancties als dit soort referenda in de toekomst nog werden gehouden, en Oostenrijk begon zijn bestaan als zelfstandig land.

Oostenrijk kende al vanaf het begin van de jaren twintig een eigen nazipartij. Aangemoedigd door Hitlers demagogische radio-uitzendingen begonnen de Oostenrijkse nazi's hun land te terroriseren, een situatie die verergerde na hun verkiezingswinst in april 1932. Als reactie op de opkomst van de Oostenrijkse nazi's voerde kanselier Engelbert Dollfuss een dictatoriaal regime, georiënteerd op het fascistische Italië. De moord op Dollfuss (25 juli 1934) en op vele van zijn aanhangers (zie Juliputsch) maakte het de Oostenrijkse nazi's mogelijk het land politiek en cultureel te domineren. De staatsgreep mislukte evenwel en Dollfuss werd opgevolgd door Kurt von Schuschnigg. De verhouding van Oostenrijk met Italië, Engeland en Frankrijk was nu ernstig geschonden terwijl Hitler nog niet klaar was voor een invasie, en hij was dan ook woedend op de Oostenrijkse nazi's, die hij "amateurs" noemde. Schuschnigg was zich echter bewust van de penibele situatie en trachtte zich met zijn steeds geduchtere noorderbuur te verzoenen.

Door de toenadering tussen Mussolini en Hitler verloor Oostenrijk in 1936 de Italiaanse steun. Ook Frankrijk en het Verenigd Koninkrijk boden geen oplossing. In maart 1938 werd de druk opgevoerd. Een bezoek van Schuschnigg aan Hitler liep uit op regelrechte intimidatie door de laatste. Onder Hitlers druk werd de Oostenrijkse nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart als minister van Binnenlandse Zaken opgenomen in de regering. Na chantage door Hitler trad Schuschnigg op 11 maart 1938 af, waarna nazileider Seyss-Inquart op 12 maart 1938 tot kanselier van Oostenrijk benoemd werd. Zijn eerste daad was op 12 maart een, tevoren opgesteld, telegram te versturen waarin hij Duitsland vroeg om het Duitse leger te zenden "om vrede en veiligheid te brengen ... en om bloedvergieten te voorkomen".

Dezelfde twaalfde maart trokken Duitse troepen Oostenrijk binnen. Er werd geen enkele tegenstand geboden en de troepen werden met bloemen en gejuich begroet. Toch bleek de coördinatie tussen de troepen slecht en verdwaalden troepen nogal eens, wat door de generaals zwaar ter harte werd genomen. De blunders die bij de invasie van Oostenrijk voorkwamen zouden immers cruciaal zijn bij een tegenstander die zich wel zou verzetten. Hitler zelf stak die middag de grens over bij Braunau, zijn geboorteplaats. Die avond arriveerde hij in Linz, zijn lievelingsstad. De daadwerkelijke bezetting van Oostenrijk duurde drie dagen.

De Oostenrijkse nazi's hadden al langere tijd onrust veroorzaakt als deel van Hitlers strategie om Oostenrijk te ondermijnen. Na de benoeming van Seyss-Inquart en de daaropvolgende binnentrekking van Duitse troepen gingen alle remmen los. Politieagenten en burgers sloten zich bij Oostenrijkse nazi's aan in massale triomftochten door het hele land, die uiteindelijk ontaardden in rellen en mishandeling van joden, communisten en andere tegenstanders van de nazi's. In Wenen ontstond een run op het station om de trein naar Praag te halen, maar de bendes drongen stations en treinen binnen om Joden uit de trein te slepen en te mishandelen. Wie toch de grens haalde werd teleurgesteld: de Tsjechen stuurden iedereen die geen geldige papieren had terug. De wegen naar de grens stonden vol en men trachtte uiteindelijk te voet de grens over te steken. Sommige Joden pleegden zelfmoord. Degenen die dat niet deden, kregen al snel een voorproefje van wat komen ging: 's ochtends werden ze door nazibendes opgehaald om de Weense straten schoon te maken onder spot en hoongelach van omstanders.

Op 13 maart 1938 proclameerde Hitler de Anschluss van Oostenrijk bij Duitsland. Of hij direct volledige aansluiting wilde, was de eerste dagen nog onzeker: men dacht ook aan een soort personele unie, waarbij Hitler naast president en kanselier van Duitsland ook president van Oostenrijk zou worden. Tijdens de intocht in Oostenrijk, waarbij Hitler als een held werd onthaald, besloot hij op aandringen van Göring en omdat hij wist dat Mussolini geen bezwaar meer zou maken, tot een volledige fusie, waarna Oostenrijk werd uitgeroepen tot provincie van Duitsland. Seyss-Inquart werd de rijksstadhouder van Ostmark, de nieuwe naam van Oostenrijk. De Anschluss was daarmee compleet.

Dezelfde 13e maart vond Schuschniggs plebisciet alsnog plaats, nu echter onder Duitse supervisie. Dit plebisciet was vrij noch geheim. Bovendien was aan ongeveer 10% van het electoraat, voornamelijk Joden en ex-leden van linkse partijen, het stemrecht ontzegd. Stembiljetten werden door ambtenaren bij de stembus uitgedeeld en moesten in hun aanwezigheid ingevuld worden. De uitslag was overweldigend in het voordeel van aansluiting bij Duitsland, maar het was veelbetekenend dat sommige afgelegen delen van Oostenrijk die op dat moment nog onbezet waren in meerderheid tegen de Anschluss stemden.

Op 10 april werd opnieuw een volksraadpleging gehouden waarin de Oostenrijkers gevraagd werd of zij wilden terugkeren naar het Duitse Rijk. De uitslag was een duidelijk ja. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog was (en is) de algemene mening dat de nazi's deze uitslag gemanipuleerd hadden. De uitslag was immers 99% "ja", een ongeloofwaardig hoog getal. Wel staat vast dat veel Oostenrijkers de Anschluss wel toejuichten, ten dele vanuit de gedachte er maar het beste van te maken.

Op een receptie te Berlijn informeerde de Tsjecho-Slowaakse ambassadeur bezorgd of Duitsland geen territoriale eisen ten aanzien van Tsjecho-Slowakije koesterde. Hij werd gerustgesteld: "Dit is onze laatste eis".

De Anschluss van Sudetenland en Tsjecho-Slowakije

Na de annexatie van Oostenrijk bij Duitsland lag het in de lijn van de verwachtingen dat Hitler dit zou herhalen. Hitler wilde de gebieden die bij de Vrede van Versailles (1919) van Duitsland en Oostenrijk waren afgenomen, terugwinnen. Zijn volgende doel was Tsjecho-Slowakije en bij de voorbereiding van de vernietiging van Tsjecho-Slowakije (zie Fall Grün) begon Hitler eisen te stellen ten aanzien van Sudetenland, in de grensstreek van Bohemen. Het Sudetengebied werd bewoond door ongeveer 2,8 miljoen Volksduitsers en bevatte een groot deel van de natuurlijke hulpbronnen van Tsjecho-Slowakije en het grootste deel van zijn industrie. Ook lagen daar de hoofdverdedigingslinies van het Tsjecho-Slowaakse leger. Bovendien maakten Bohemen en Moravië, Tsjechië dus, vroeger deel uit van het Heilige Roomse Rijk, waar Hitler mee dweepte als het Erste Reich.

Tsjecho-Slowakije was schijnbaar een van de gelukkigere creaties uit het statensysteem van het interbellum. De economie floreerde en liet die van de meeste Oost- en Zuid-Europese staten achter zich. Ter bescherming van de lange grenzen vertrouwde Tsjecho-Slowakije op een leger van 180.000 man, weliswaar kleiner maar kwalitatief beter dan de Wehrmacht. Aangevuld met reservisten kon men bijna een miljoen man oproepen. Zwak punt vormden echter de minderheden: de Sudetenduitsers, Slowaken, Roethenen, Polen en Hongaren bleven mopperen. Hitler speelde hier op in, en was vast van plan Tsjecho-Slowakije te vernietigen. Polen en Hongarije hoopten te zijner tijd een deel te annexeren. De grootste Slowaakse partij, de Slowaakse Volkspartij, streefde naar onafhankelijkheid, terwijl de Sudeten-Duitse nazipartij de belangrijkste politieke partij in Sudetenland was (en de op een na grootste partij in Tsjecho-Slowakije), en werd gesteund door Berlijn.

De haviken in de NSDAP en Duitse regering stuurden doelbewust op een oorlog aan. De meest prominente figuren hierin waren Hitler zelf en ook Ribbentrop. Göring en een aantal anderen voorzagen echter dat Duitsland niet klaar was voor een oorlog. Niet alleen werd de oorlog niet algemeen gesteund door de bevolking, maar ook werden de krachten van Duitsland onvoldoende geacht. De voorraden aan strategische grondstoffen waren maar voor enkele maanden voldoende wanneer Groot-Brittannië een blokkade zou uitvoeren. De kleine Duitse Kriegsmarine zou daar niets tegen kunnen doen. Een Brits-Frans offensief met ruim 100 divisies zou het nog prille en onvoldoende getrainde nieuwe Duitse leger wellicht niet kunnen weerstaan, zeker niet wanneer ook op een tweede front tegen Tsjecho-Slowakije gestreden zou worden. En het was zelfs niet zeker of Duitsland dit laatste land wel kon verslaan. Slechts 55 Duitse divisies konden worden ingezet tegen 45 Tsjechslowaakse divisies in een sterke verdedigingslinie. Wanneer de Sovjet-Unie ook de kant van Praag zou kiezen zou de Duitse positie hopeloos zijn.

Na de bedreigingen door Hitler werd er in Britse, Franse, Italiaanse en Duitse diplomatieke kringen nauw overleg gepleegd om uit de impasse te komen en een oorlog af te wenden. Hermann Göring zelf zou, naar het schijnt, Mussolini benaderd hebben met het verzoek een voorstel voor een conferentie te doen. Op 20 mei 1938 mobiliseerde Tsjecho-Slowakije zijn leger gedeeltelijk en op 30 mei initieerde Hitler een directief dat operatie Fall Grün officieel bevestigde. Op 23 september 1938 mobiliseerde Tsjecho-Slowakije zijn leger geheel, nadat de politieke pogingen dreigden te mislukken. Hiermee anticipeerde het op een Duitse aanval op 1 oktober 1938. De uitvoering van operatie Fall Grün werd afgeblazen nadat op 30 september 1938 het Verdrag van München werd gesloten tussen het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Frankrijk, Italië en Duitsland. Dit verdrag verklaarde dat Sudetenland bij Duitsland werd ingelijfd, waardoor Tsjecho-Slowakije, tegen zijn wil, dit gebied tezamen met het grootste deel van zijn verdediging en vestingwerken op de grens verloor en nagenoeg weerloos achterbleef. Het land werd als Tweede Republiek Tsjecho-Slowakije een soort federatie tussen Tsjechië, Slowakije en Roethenië (Transkarpatië). De Britten hechtten zoveel waarde aan de Duitse belofte dat er geen verdere territoriale eisen in Europa zouden zijn, dat ze bereid waren de Tsjechen te laten vallen. De Fransen wilden niet in hun eentje een oorlog in en zo kregen de Tsjechen achteraf te horen (want zij waren immers niet uitgenodigd op de conferentie) dat ze niet gesteund zouden worden en Sudetenland maar moesten opgeven.

Ook Hongarije stelde territoriale eisen met betrekking tot het Tsjecho-Slowaakse gebied. Deze eis was tijdens het Verdrag van München blijven liggen, maar werd uiteindelijk op 2 november 1938 alsnog voor een belangrijk deel ingewilligd: Duitsland en Italië wezen de zuidelijke grensstrook van Slowakije toe aan Hongarije via de Eerste toekenning van Wenen. Daartoe behoorde ook 20% van Roethenië.

Vanuit het Duitse leger bestond een complot tegen Hitler. Dit werd opgezet door de zogenaamde groep-Ludwig Beck, waartoe ook admiraal Wilhelm Canaris behoorde en later ook Erwin Rommel en Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg zouden toetreden. De staatsgreep was gepland omdat de leiders Duitsland niet opgewassen vonden voor een nieuwe oorlog. De bedoeling was strategische punten in Duitsland te bezetten door loyale legereenheden en Hitler te arresteren en te berechten op het moment dat hij bevel zou geven Tsjechslowakije aan te vallen. De aanklacht zou luiden dat Hitler Duitsland "ruïneerde". Men vermoedde dat geallieerde oorlogsverklaringen de doodsteek voor Hitlers imago zouden betekenen daar een oorlog zelfs in nazikringen niet populair was. Haviken als Ribbentrop en Hitler waren nog redelijk geïsoleerd, de meeste hogere functionarissen en partijbonzen zoals Göring vonden dat Duitsland niet klaar was voor een oorlog. De samenzweerders trachtten dan ook via allerlei kanalen Engeland en Frankrijk tot een strijdbare houding jegens Duitsland aan te zetten. Het Verdrag van München doorkruiste echter dit plan: Hitler kreeg langs diplomatieke weg wat hij wilde, en was populairder dan ooit. Een staatsgreep zou geen algemene steun meer krijgen en het plan werd dan ook afgeblazen.

Hitler bleef alles doen om Tsjecho-Slowakije verder te ondermijnen. Hij moedigde de Slowaken en Roethenen aan zo min mogelijk rekening te houden met de centrale regering in Praag. Slowakije en Roethenië namen beide de kans waar om hun autonomie te bewerkstelligen. De Slowaken werden hierop gedreigd met een Hongaarse annexatie als ze niet de onafhankelijkheid uitriepen. Gesteund door Hitler riepen de Slowaakse separatisten op 14 maart 1939 de "onafhankelijkheid" van Slowakije uit, doch dit was in wezen een vazalstaat van Duitsland. In de nacht van 14 op 15 maart werd de Tsjechische president Emil Hácha, middels intimidatie, gedwongen de overgave te tekenen. Op 15 maart 1939 werd Praag door Duitse troepen bezet, waarna het resterende deel van Tsjechië met weinig weerstand door Duitsland werd geannexeerd. De Tsjechische soldaten bleven in hun kazernes en leverden hun wapens in.

Hongarije nam de door hen begeerde delen in, inclusief Roethenië, op regie van Hitler. Op 15 maart was de onafhankelijkheid van de Republiek Karpato-Oekraïne uitgeroepen, maar Duitsland had al eerder bepaald dat Roethenië bij de liquidatie van Tsjecho-Slowakije naar zijn bondgenoot Hongarije zou gaan. Een dag later kwam er, na de inval van Hongaarse troepen, echter alweer een einde aan deze onafhankelijkheid, en nog een dag later werd Choest door de Hongaren ingenomen en bereikten de Hongaren de Poolse grens. De Hongaarse regering wilde meer en Hongaarse troepen trokken zelfs niet-toegewezen delen van Slowakije binnen, waarop Hitler zich gedwongen zag hen tot de orde te roepen en de Hongaren zich in Roethenië terugtrokken.

Op 16 maart 1939 stationeerden Duitse divisies zich in het westen van de vazalstaat Slowakije en het Tsjechische kerngebied werd uitgeroepen tot Protectoraat Bohemen en Moravië, dat eerst zou worden bestuurd door de Rijksprotector Konstantin von Neurath.

Verdere annexaties van het Derde Rijk

Op 22 maart 1939 vond de laatste vreedzame annexatie door Duitsland plaats: Litouwen werd gedwongen om het in 1923 verworven Memelland terug te geven aan het Derde Rijk. In ruil hiervoor hoopten de Litouwers op Duitse steun bij hun aanspraken op de stad Vilnius, die door Polen was geannexeerd. Litouwen kwam bedrogen uit: het verkreeg uiteindelijk weliswaar Vilnius, maar de prijs hiervoor was dat het land zelf uiteindelijk door de Sovjet-Unie geannexeerd zou worden.

Nadat de Tweede Wereldoorlog op 1 september 1939 begonnen was, werd Polen veroverd. Grote gebieden in het westen van het door Duitsland verkregen deel van Polen werden direct bij het Rijk gevoegd: West-Pruisen en het Wartheland werden geannexeerd ondanks een Poolse meerderheid in die gebieden. Een Germanisering van de gebieden was het gevolg. De rest van West-Polen werd een Generalgouvernment onder Duitse bezetting, en dus een indirect deel van Duitsland.
Tijdens de oorlog werden bovendien delen van Slovenië (Stiermarken), Elzas-Lotharingen, de Belgische Oostkantons en Galicië in de Oekraïne (bij het Generalgouvernment gevoegd) geannexeerd, waardoor Duitsland zo verder vergroot werd.

Ausschluss
Dit in tegenstelling tot de Ausschluss, de uitsluiting van Oostenrijk uit Duitsland, meestal geïmpliceerd onder Pruisische dominantie van Duitsland. De Anschluss was het onderwerp van een debat dat voorafging aan de oorlog tussen Oostenrijk en Pruisen in 1866. Het verlies van deze oorlog door Oostenrijk maakte het Otto von Bismarck in 1871 mogelijk een door Pruisen gedomineerd Duits Rijk op te richten. Na de Eerste Wereldoorlog viel Oostenrijk-Hongarije uiteen. Op 12 november 1918 werd de republiek Deutschösterreich uitgeroepen als onderdeel van Duitsland. Het Verdrag van Versailles uit 1918/1919 verbood echter nadrukkelijk iedere aansluiting van Oostenrijk bij Duitsland, waarna een deel van Deutschösterreich een zelfstandige republiek werd. Aanvankelijk hield Oostenrijk nog verkiezingen, alleen voor mannen.

Zie ook
 Verdrag van München
 Resttschechei
 Fall Grün
 Enosis

1938
Tweede Wereldoorlog in Oostenrijk
Terminologie van nazi-Duitsland
Annexatie

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