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Tag Archives: Sudan
East Africa roundup for February: Rwanda, South Sudan, Kenya and Burundi
A roundup of East Africa democracy news and opinion:
Julian Hattem in World Politics Review explains that "Rwanda's Opposition is Disappearing Along With Kagame's Credibility", keyed off the death of popular gospel singer Kizito Mihigo in custody.
This is a good article and I recommend it (while I have to note my pet peeve that it indulges as so many accounts do in the Kagame mythology that the RPF "marched in from Uganda to end the genocide" rather than noting that they came across the border and began fighting years earlier than their march into Kigale in 1994.)
Is there a day coming where Americans notice the problem even of repression of religious freedom in Rwanda in spite of the lionization of Kagame and his willingness to transact with foreigners on terms not available internally?
In South Sudan, a formal unity government was announced to meet the extended February 22 deadline. Most important details are either unresolved, or to be executed from a dead start, but this was a necessary step for hope for deeper progress, especially for one day when the people are free of their current warlord leaders. Riek Machar upon being re-instated as First Vice President was accordingly released from IGAD "house arrest".
Update–Here is a report from the International Crisis Group: "A Major Step Toward Ending South Sudan's Civil War"
Kudos are in order for the diplomatic efforts to step up pressure on both sides, and in particular on Salva Kiir who had the most power and leverage through defacto control of the government. It seems that the State Department under Assistant Secretary Tibor Nagy in particular engaged and showed leadership. The US has a unique diplomatic responsibility and opportunity in South Sudan so it is encouraging to see us step up to the plate.
Not sure what to make of this article in which Kalonzo Musyoka and the reporter posit a leading role for himself as Kenya's envoy: "Kalonzo: How we brokered Kiir Machar peace pact":
Former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka returned to the country on Sunday from Juba after accomplishing a delicate peace deal that saw South Sudan President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar form a unity government.
The negotiators of the peace agreement heavily relied on Mr Musyoka to achieve the long-delayed process towards ending a six-year civil war that has led to loss of thousands of lives.
It is very much true that (1) Kalonzo was a Kenyan insider under Moi and then Kibaki's Foreign Minister on though the negotiation of the CPA in 2005; (2) Kenya is inevitably of importance in South Sudanese power struggles because of the role of Nairobi as at least the "back office" and "capitol of capital" for South Sudanese kingpins; (3) Gideon Moi (as reported by The Sentry) and certainly other leading Kenyan figures are major players in financial dealings at issue in South Sudan; (4) the U.S. as the leading international power involved in the nascent building of a South Sudanese nation is closest to Kenya and to Uhuru Kenyatta in particular among the IGAD members and leaders, so Kalonzo in representing Kenya and Uhuru presumably has standing with the US in addition to his own background with the negotiations.
Remember that after his deal with Mwai Kibaki during the 2007 presidential campaign to stay in the race and be appointed Vice President, Kalonzo was trusted enough by Kibaki and his men to represent them in Washington during the Post Election Violence in lobbying against a "unity government" with Raila. At that time in early 2008 Uhuru was also in Kibaki's initial cabinet Minister of Local Government, as he had been under Moi in 2000-2002, administering Nairobi issues in those pre-devolution days.
Speaking of Nairobi, Uhuru and devolution, the purported "sign over" of governmental powers from Nairobi Governor Sonko, to the Kenyatta Administration, while seemingly suspended from official action by court order and facing impeachment and criminal charges, is the big new story.
According to The Standard, "Human Rights Activist Okiya Omtatah and Lawyer Robbin Murimi filed separate applications at the High Court Nairobi challenging the move."
Close behind is the damning latest round of leaks of secret details of corruption and dereliction in the Kenya Railways/Standard Gauge Railroad saga.
Otherwise, as it has become more clear that the BBI is generating inevitable controversy, Ambassador McCarter has tempered his language of American support to emphasize a robust debate with wananchi involvement on "which provisions to enact". At the same time, three months now since the release of the original BBI Report and almost two years after the Handshake, it remains unclear (or undisclosed) exactly what the "deal" is.
Meanwhile, elections are coming up fast in Burundi on May 20. For the latest on the ongoing pre-election violence, see The New Humanitarian: "Killings, arrests as elections draw near in Burundi."
The EAC will send Observers since Burundi is a member:
EAC Secretary General Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko informed the UN delegation that the EAC observes elections within the context of the National Constitutions of the Partner States.
He assured the delegation that preparations were underway for the launch of a longterm EAC Observer Mission that will monitor the Burundi electoral process in its entirety, as well as a short-term EAC Observer Mission that will monitor the polling only.
"I am confident that the peaceful spirit we have experienced during the party nominations will continue during and after elections," said the secretary general.
"The EAC is calling on all the people of Burundi to sidestep violence, regardless of the situation," he added. In 2018, Burundi promulgated a new Constitution.
Posted in African Studies, Development in Africa, East African Community, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan	| Tagged devolution, East Africa, Kenya, Nairobi, Paul Kagame, Rift Valley Railways, Rwanda, SGR, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, Standard Gauge Railroad, Sudan, Uhuru Kenyatta	| Leave a reply
Good news and bad news on the effectiveness of American "democracy assistance": we spent most of the money where war precluded meaningful opportunity
The conjunction of war and democracy assistance has been brought back to the fore for me the publication by The Washington Post of its "Afghanistan Papers" series.
The bottom line on the Afghanistan war for me is that those who warned that we were risking losing Afghanistan to invade Iraq (who seemed persuasive to me at the time) turned out to be right:
Drawing partly on the interviews but largely on other government documents, SIGAR [the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction] published two Lessons Learned reports in 2017 and 2019 that highlighted an array of problems with the Afghan security forces. The reports followed several SIGAR audits and investigations that had pinpointed similar troubles with the Afghan army and police.
But the Lessons Learned reports omitted the names of the vast majority of those interviewed for the project, as well as their most biting critiques. The Post obtained notes and transcripts of the interviews under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after a three-year legal battle.
"We got the [Afghan forces] we deserve," Douglas Lute, an Army lieutenant general who served as the White House's Afghan war czar under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, told government interviewers.
If the U.S. government had ramped up training between 2002 and 2006, "when the Taliban was weak and disorganized, things may have been different," Lute added. "Instead, we went to Iraq. If we committed money deliberately and sooner, we could have a different outcome."
It may be that we never really had much chance to achieve a desirable outcome but we made an alternative choice that appears to have precluded what chance there was.
I cannot truly be surprised by pervasive "spin" about Afghanistan because of my experience in Kenya in 2007-2008 and the lack of response from the government and the official democracy assistance fraternity to the my disclosure of dishonesty in how we (the U.S. Government) addressed election fraud in Kenya and how we handled the inconvenient exit poll showing an opposition win and some of the inconvenient things we witnessed as election observers at the polls. [Not to mention what we all knew about Iraq by 2007.]
Even though most "name brand" experts and U.S. Government-funded institutions seem to agree that globally democracy is in some form of recession, it is hard to know whether serious and purposeful United States-funded democracy assistance programming might have potential benefits because most of the money and effort has gone to war adjunct "nation building" as in Afghanistan where it turns out that nearly everyone has "privately" been admitting that we do not know what we are doing or should be doing and thus have no real chance of genuine success.
During my time with the International Republican Institute in the late Bush Administration the dominant "democracy promotion" or "democracy assistance" programs were Iraq followed by Sudan. Shortly after I finished my time in the barrel in Kenya in mid-2008 the venerable Center for Strategic and International Studies convened a blue ribbon panel to look at the reputation problem of the term "democracy promotion" due to the association with experimental "expeditionary warfare" in Iraq. Thus the pivot from "democracy promotion" to "democracy assistance" for doing the same things in substance.
By the later Obama years Afghanistan, Iraq and the newly severed but failing South Sudan were getting most of the democracy assistance dollars.
A Government Accountability Office report on Democracy Assistance, GAO-18-136, notes "Total USAID democracy assistance funding for projects in Afghanistan was greater than for any other country, amounting to almost 39 percent of USAID's total democracy assistance obligations during fiscal years 2012 through 2015." Here are the totals for the top fourteen USAID democracy assistance FY 2012-16 "places of performance":
Afghanistan 1,650M
Iraq 238M
Regional/Global 201M
South Sudan 159M
Mexico 102M
Columbia 86M
Honduras 81M
Pakistan 79M
Bangladesh 76M
Haiti 73M
Liberia 68M
Egypt 65M
Kenya 60M
Indonesia 60M
*Note this is just USAID and does not encompass the separate Department of Defense and State programs, and much smaller amounts from the National Endowment for Democracy.
Back in 2007 in Kenya, a country on the brink of crisis, but supposedly of vital interest to the United States, most of the democracy assistance money being spent in the country was for the "back office" operations for the vast (as measured in dollars anyway) pre-independence Southern Sudan operation.
People in Washington paid so little attention to democratization in Kenya in 2007 as to fail to realize or at least act on the risks of having the Ambassador "looking and pointing the other way" as Kibaki rather openly stole re-election (even though the opposition was also pro-Western and friendly to the United States so there was no bona fide nation interest served by those Americans who subverted our own meager democracy assistance program).
In 2013, even after the disaster of 2007, we deliberately chose the path of non-transparency when our funded purchasing of the Results Transmission System for the election was botched and the system failed to work. Kenya's Supreme Court shut down a partial recount that showed serious problems and affirmed the questionable tally of the Electoral Commission (litigating with undisclosed American-funded assistance) to avoiding by a whisker the runoff that the pre-election polls predicted. The Supreme Court ordered an investigation into the procurement fraud cases, but the Kenyan executive authorities simply ignored the order. My FOIA research so far documents discussion among the donors involved in the UNDP "basket fund" including the United States, whether to cooperate with a subsequent investigation by Kenya's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, but I do not know the outcome as I continue awaiting processing of remaining documents from my 2015 request to USAID.
In hindsight, I should have read more into the decision of my late friend Joel Barkan to stay home and "watch" that election from Washington. By 2017, the incumbent Kenyan government was clearly not committed to providing a level playing field and I stayed home myself. No incumbent Kenyan president has been found by a Kenyan election commission to have failed to "win" his re-election. The misfeasance on the technology for 2017 was blatant enough in that instance for the Supreme Court to annul the presidential vote, in spite of diplomatic and observer support for the announced outcome. The environment was too fraught with mistrust at that point to provide a mutually acceptable platform for a re-vote and Kenyatta was re-inaugurated after an opposition boycott.
Kenya's political class is now focused primarily on the 2022 campaign. The joint "Building Bridges Initiative" report released this month proposes that the remnants of the Electoral Commission of Kenya from the 2017 vote be "bought out" and a new commission constituted, as was done following the problems in 2007 and 2013, but no action to implement this is yet pending.
In the meantime, much of our policy in Somalia has been a variable secretive melange of counter-terrorism, war and nation building with a sprinkling of democracy assistance. There is no Special Inspector General for the war in Somalia so we will not have created the kind of record that the Washington Post has been able to obtain on Afghanistan, but perhaps someday we will all know more. By May 2006 the Post did report: "U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia" and by that December we secretly supported the Ethiopian military invasion to re-instate the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu.
Posted in democracy, Kenya, Kenya 2013 election, Kenya 2017 election, South Sudan, United States	| Tagged Afghanistan, Afghanistan Papers, democracy assistance, democracy promotion, election observation, Freedom of Information Act, IFES, International Republican Institute, Iraq, Kenya, Kenya 2007 election, Kenya 2013 election, Michael Ranneberger, Mwai Kibaki, South Sudan, State Department, Sudan, United States, USAID, war, Washington Post	| Leave a reply
Some thoughts on US relations with the governments of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and the Armenian genocide, in the context of NATO, military vision and religious freedom and pluralism
This is a piece reflecting some partly tongue-in-cheek musing on complex and deadly serious larger questions of "who we want to be" in the world, with specific immediate relevance to the Sudan crisis, Libya and Yemen, along with current issues with Iran that I touched on in my last post.
I decided to subordinate the title and add this preface to make sure that it was clear that I hoped to be taken "seriously but not literally":
If we replaced Turkey with Saudi Arabia in NATO could we acknowledge the Armenian genocide while cutting hypocrisy on current support for religious freedom versus security interests?
Update: "Erdogan dealt stunning blow as Istanbul elects rival candidate" Bloomberg, June 23.
There are a few moving pieces here, but stay with me.
First, we have longstanding unfinished business on simply acknowledging historic fact on the Armenian genocide.
This was a basic premise of the Barack Obama presidential campaign in 2008–the whole "hope and change" versus fear and loathing thing. The whole Samantha Power to lead our Mission to the UN thing. Unfortunately, it got Overcome By Events, along with the notion that Obama's personal background, "story" and manner would allow him to be a sort of "Christian Islamist Whisperer" to realize the hopes reflected in his June 2009 Cairo "remarks to the Muslim world" from Al-Azhar.
Instead, we have let ourselves be embarrassingly bullied by Turkey. See "For Anniversary of Armenian Genocide Obama Calls It an 'Atrocity' Instead", NYTimes, April 24, 2014: ("Although Mr. Obama called the acts against the Armenians genocide as a presidential candidate in 2008 and vowed to do so once he reached the White House, he again chose not to follow through on his promise for fear of offending Turkey, a NATO ally that denies that the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians constituted genocide. Instead, Mr. Obama implied that he still thought it was genocide even if he did not say so directly."). To what benefit? While we have and will continue to have some interests in common with the regime in Turkey it is clear that Turkey continues to move away from democratic values, including respect for religious freedom and tolerance at the same time they have made it clear that the security relationship is very situational. What might have made sense during the Cold War when confronting the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact during Turkey's years of secular authoritarianism make less sense under Turkish Islamism now that even Greece has democratized, the Russians dissolved direct control of the various European and Central Asian republics previously colonized and the Warsaw Pact disbanded in accordance with the collapse of the Iron Curtain.
Of the Islamist governments in the region, it is Saudi Arabia with whom we seem to be mutually committed rather than Turkey. Likewise, in the context of NATO if there is one Western government more committed to the Saudis than we are, it is the UK (London), the other party to our "special relationship". Selling arms to the Saudis is a "national emergency" for the Trump Administration, and keeping the Saudis off the list of countries using child soldiers just now and earlier certifying that the Saudis were serious about trying to miss civilians in their Yemen bombings join our commitment to "knowing" as little as possible about the Khashoggi murder in demonstrating some extraordinary bond. Just as British "national security" trumped law enforcement by the UK on the BAE bribery in the al-Yamamah deals.
Our relationship with the Saudis predates the formation of NATO and a time of recognition of reality vis-a-vis Turkey may be the time to more formally recognize what the Saudi alliance has now come to be.
By recognizing the Armenian genocide while formally including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in mutual defense obligations, we can show that we disapprove historically of the purging of Christian and other minority religious populations while making clear that our own security as we see it in an immediate sense is our first and foremost priority and that we do not object to exclusivist and repressive Islamist governments that are willing to cooperate militarily and on national security. (And this could be another opportunity for President Trump to cooperate with Kim Kardashian on a policy initiative, as in some criminal justice reforms.)
For insight on a military view of the value of the alliance with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I recommend this writing contest piece from special forces officer Scott Horr in Divergent Opinions: "Assessment of the Impacts of Saudi Arabia's Vision2030 on U.S. Efforts to Confront Iran."
Amidst the continuing turmoil and instability that touches many parts of the Middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) maintain a fierce rivalry vying for regional and Islamic dominance. Both countries factor prominently into U.S. regional goals and interests as Iran (since its Islamic Revolution in 1979) serves as the preeminent regional threat and adversary to the U.S. while the KSA, in many ways, serves as the centerpiece of U.S. efforts to counter and degrade Iranian influence in the region[1]. As the region's premiere Islamic rivals, internal social, economic, and political movements within the KSA and the IRI inherently shape and inform U.S. actions and efforts aimed at undermining hostile (IRI) objectives while supporting friendly (KSA) initiatives. U.S. President Trump, for instance, was quick to voice support in early 2018 for protesters in Iran railing against (among other things) perceived regime inaction and contribution to the stagnant Iranian economy[2]. Alternatively, Trump preserved U.S. support to the KSA even after allegations of KSA government involvement in the killing of a prominent and outspoken journalist[3]. Such dynamics underscore how the inner-workings of regional rivals create venues and opportunities for the advancement of U.S. interests confronting regional threats by applying pressure and defining alliances using different elements of national power.
In 2016, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, known as "MBS," unveiled an ambitious and grandiose plan for economic, cultural, and social change in the Kingdom. In response to a worldwide decline in oil prices that drastically shrunk Saudi cash reserves and simultaneously highlighted the precarious state of the Kingdom's oil-dependent economy, MBS released "Vision2030"- a sweeping program of reform that aimed to create a vibrant society, build a thriving economy, and establish a culture of ambition within the Kingdom[4]. Motivating these ideas was a desire to increase the privatization of the economy and make Saudi society attractive to foreign investment to diversify the economy and decrease its dependence on oil[5]. Whether explicitly or implicitly, the mechanisms of change that drive the execution of MBS' Vision2030 rest on the extent to which Western values (namely free-market principles and social liberalism) can be inculcated into a historically conservative and closed society. Given the magnitude of Vision2030's scope, targeting all of Saudi society, the ideology involved in its execution (incorporating Western values), and the KSA's geopolitical status as a key U.S. ally against Iranian foreign policy objectives, the implementation and execution of Vision2030 cannot fail but to have far-reaching impacts on both Middle Eastern regional stability in general and U.S. efforts confronting Iran in particular.
For an appreciation of the extent to which things have fallen apart during the Bush, Obama and Trump Administrations, See Janine di Giovanni's "The Vanishing: the plight of Christians in an age of intolerance" in the December Harpers on the impact of war and oppression in Iraq, Syria and Egypt. And then last month, Emma Green's Atlantic piece, "The Impossible Future of Christians in the Middle East: An ancient faith is disappearing from the lands in which it first took root. At stake is not just a religious community, but the fate of pluralism in the region."
In terms of aid, the Trump Administration deserves credit for stepping up some overdue help and attention to minority religious communities beleaguered in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq and the rise of al-Queda in Iraq/ISIS. At the same time, they have turned a harder, colder shoulder to accepting immigrants while embracing the exponents of Wahabist ideological expansionism who have done so much harm to pluralism and tolerance even in areas where it once thrived.
For a more divergent take suggesting that things have just not been adding up over the years, see retired career soldier and historian Andrew Bacevich's "America's War for the Greater Middle East".
Posted in diplomacy, Security, Sudan, Uncategorized, United States	| Tagged al-Yamamah, Andrew Bacevich, arms deals, Barack Obama, Divergent Opinions, Donald Trump, Egypt, Iran, Islamism, Libya, MBS, military strategy, NATO, religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Turkey, UAE, Vision2030, Western Values, Yemen	| Leave a reply
Podcast recommendation: over the past six months Travis Adkins' "On Africa" from Washington has been a great resource
There has been an explosion of great work in English relating to Africa in the podcast genre recently, and as an amateur I am way behind in sampling the free learning available just from time constraints. Today I want to flag the relatively new "On Africa" podcast hosted by Travis Adkins which has been a great teacher for me.
Start with Episode One, on October 4 of last year with Amb. Johnnie Carson, who has lived the history of the relationship between the U.S. and Zimbabwe, on "Zimbabwe after Mugabe." November 6 on Cameroon as an "Electoral Dictatorship in Crisis" with Dr. Chris Fomunyoh of NDI was especially helpful for me since I focus on East Africa and do not have much background on the unique challenges there. Dr. Fomunyoh is a native of Anglophone Cameroon but attended university in Francophone Cameroon and has been a high level fixture for many years at NDI where he is Director for West and Central Africa.
Episodes of December 19, 26 and 31 on Sudan and South Sudan with Amb. Susan Page were especially good. Amb. Page has a personal background with the negotiations leading to the 2005 provisional government, served as NDI Regional Director and was appointed by President Obama as the first U.S. Ambassador following South Sudanese independence–so again, a sweep of recent history on into current events from an "insider" perspective.
Most recently for me, the February 13 episode with Zach Vertin, former diplomat now at the Brookings Institution Doha gives a 39 minute dive into the current "Red Sea Rivalries" shaking up international relations in the Horn of Africa region. Partin has a new book out on the birth of South Sudan which sounds fascinating and I have on my list.
Most of the best Africa podcasts I have been able to take time for in recent years have been more of an academic nature–what Adkins is doing at "On Africa" with accessible overviews of high level politics and diplomacy with people directly involved is a welcome addition for someone like me who wants to deepen and broaden their knowledge as an interested citizen with limited time due to other responsibilities.
Posted in African Studies, diplomacy, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, Sudan, United States	| Tagged Africa, "On Africa", Barack Obama, Chris Fomunyoh, diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Johnnie Carson, NDI, politics, Somalia, Somaliland, State Department, Sudan, Susan D. Page, Travis Adkins, United States, Zach Vertin	| Leave a reply
Expect US Africa policy to be led from Pentagon rather than State Department or White House, in near term if not for the next four years [updated]
(https://flic.kr/p/6fgHxc)
The President himself has never been to Africa and has shown no particular interest or inclination toward engagement on any of the various issues on his plate regarding the United States' activities in and relationships with African countries.
In some respects this suggests a level of continuity through inertia that is unavailable in those areas to which Trump has some personal connection or exposure through his business organization or personal relationships (Russia on one hand and Mexico on the other, for instance).
Trump seems to be networked into the Safari Club and is politically very much indebted to Franklin Graham (the American evangelist/missionary who has been especially engaged in Sudan and otherwise in Africa) but I don't think that this will put much claim on Trump's attention, as he already ordered a cutoff in U.S. funding to organizations that separately have connections to programs touching on abortion (a significantly broadened approach to the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations' rules) as an early low cost "deliverable" to "pro-life" supporters on an issue he doesn't personally have any particular feelings or opinions on. [Graham does not make specific candidate campaign endorsements–my perception of his influence for Trump is subjective from my vantage point as a white Southern American Protestant, who has been involved in congregational mission efforts that include support for one of Graham's programs.]
Trump did not get where he is by building a reputation for paying his debts (any more than for forgiving his debtors), so I will be surprised, pleasantly, if Graham were to influence Trump on non-abortion related health issues that involved spending rather than cutting, like famine relief or other things that had some political purchase under "compassionate conservatism" in Africa during the G.W. Bush administration.
Trump is pretty clearly anti-conservation domestically and probably disinclined to have anything much to do with things involving wildlife or the environment in Africa other than to reduce funding for any direct or international programming in these areas, Safari Club notwithstanding. Generally speaking my big game hunter friends are more concerned about wealth accumulation and tax cutting–Trump's policies will leave them net ahead even with a likely loss of habit and species diversity (and better situated to buy private reserves). Along with the expected big overall aid cuts, I would speculate that conservation programs may be especially attractive targets to "zero out" to give Congress political bragging rights for some program "kills".
So outside the military and Department of Defense we will probably see Trump to be as slow to fill key policy positions on Africa as Obama was, but with more turnover in the next tiers of the bureaucracy.
Because the Defense Department has already been the big repository of funding to maintain policy expertise in the U.S. on Africa (as elsewhere) during the Bush/Obama years, as funds and political bandwidth are reduced in other areas, we will be more dependent on those functions under the portfolio of Secretary Gen. Mattis at the Pentagon. It is very fortunate that he stands out as unusually well-qualified and genuinely respected.
In the event any of the major players in the hospitality/tourism/"conferencing" business–say the Kenyatta family of Kenya–were to entice the Trump Organization into their market, certainly that would be expected to profoundly change everything I have observed here.
In that regard, perhaps we will see "The Scramble for Trump" as a new frame for engagement in the post-development era.
Posted in African Studies, AFRICOM, diplomacy, Kenya, Security, South Sudan, Sudan, Tourism, United States	| Tagged Africa, AFRICOM, conferencing, conservation, Defense Department, Donald Trump, foreign assistance, Foreign Policy, hotels, international relations, Kenyatta Family, military, Pentagon, Safari Club, South Sudan, Sudan, Tourism, Trump Organization, Uhuru Kenyatta	| Leave a reply
Keeping the bar low for Election Observation Missions? ICYMI, IGAD congratulated Sudan's Bashir on "peaceable and largely credible" election
Posted on May 8, 2015 by Ken
From AllAfrica.com:
Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of IGAD, extended his warmest congratulations to President Omar Al-Bashir for his re-election to the presidency of the Sudan.
Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, noting the role of IGAD in observing the elections in Sudan, noted that the elections "were largely conducted in a peaceful and credible manner."
Ambassador Maalim said: "I congratulate you on your victory and wish to express IGAD's confidence that your leadership will continue to make earnest efforts to achieve lasting peace as well as prosperity for the people of the Sudan." the Executive Secretary added that "I also wish you every success in these efforts and wish to affirm that you can count on my continued support."
Here is the AU EOM preliminary statement as reported by the Sudan Vision. The AU's pre-election assesment had noted that predicate conditions were not in place for a fair election.
And "Seven Things to Know About Sudan's Election" from VOA.
Posted in African Union, democracy, elections, Kenya, Sudan	| Tagged al-Bashir, democracy, election observation, IGAD, International Criminal Court, Mahboub Maalim, Sudan, war crimes	| Leave a reply
New Congressional Research Service report on the U.S. response to the Lord's Resistance Army
Posted on June 5, 2014 by Ken
The Lord's Resistance Army: The U.S. Response was submitted by CRS on May 15 and has been published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The LRA is assessed to remain in much diminished capacity in a territory covering parts of Northern Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan and the Central African Republic, but still resilient in these remote areas.
The most recent concerns are the deterioration of the overall stability and governance of the Central African Republic and South Sudan–with related questions of U.S. and regional priorities. Likewise there are questions regarding the relationship of continued U.S. support for the Ugandan military to the intention to "review" overall U.S. relations in the wake of Uganda's new laws targeting homosexuals and more broadly to U.S. support for democracy and human rights within Uganda. In early 2013 AFRICOM's commander identified the anti-LRA operations, known as "Observant Compass", as the command's third highest operational priority after the anti-terrorism efforts in Somalia and Northwest Africa, but obviously a lot of things have been happening since then.
Posted in African Union, AFRICOM, DRC, International Criminal Court, Security, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, US	| Tagged AFRICOM, Central African Republic, International Criminal Court, Joseph Kony, Lord's Resistance Army, military assistance, Observant Compass, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, UPDF, Yoweri Museveni	| Leave a reply

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Sauðafellsalda är ett berg i republiken Island. Det ligger i regionen Austurland,  km öster om huvudstaden Reykjavík. Toppen på Sauðafellsalda är 754 meter över havet.

Trakten runt Sauðafellsalda är nära nog obefolkad, med mindre än två invånare per kvadratkilometer. Det finns inga samhällen i närheten.

Källor

Berg i Austurland
Berg i Island 500 meter över havet eller högre

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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AER Journal
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Ventricular Arrhythmias
» AER - Volume 5 Issue 1 Summer 2016
» Microvolt T-wave Alternans: Where Are We Now?
Microvolt T-wave Alternans: Where Are We Now?
Aapo L Aro
Tuomas V Kenttä
Heikki V Huikuri
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Microvolt T-wave alternans (TWA), characterised as beat-to-beat fluctuation of T-wave amplitude and morphology, is an electrophysiological phenomenon associated clinically with impending ventricular arrhythmias and is an important marker of arrhythmia risk. Currently, two main methods for the detection of TWA exist, namely, the spectral method and the time-domain modified moving average method; both are discussed in this review. Microvolt TWA has been associated with cardiovascular mortality and sudden cardiac death in several clinical studies involving >14,000 subjects with reduced as well as preserved left ventricular function. Although TWA appears to be a useful marker of susceptibility for lethal ventricular arrhythmias and cardiovascular death, so far there is no sufficient evidence from randomised clinical trials to support its use in guiding therapy. However, several ongoing trials are expected to provide more information about the clinical use of TWA testing.
Alternans, electrocardiogram, lethal arrhythmias, repolarisation, risk stratification, sudden death
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Heikki Huikuri, Medical Research Center, Research Unit of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Oulu and University of Oulu, P.O. Box 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland. E: heikki.huikuri@oulu.fi
Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology Review 2015;5(1):37–40
https://doi.org/10.15420/aer.2015.28.1
Heikki Huikuri was supported in part by Medtronic Bakken Research Center and by EU-CERT-ICD Collaboration Project funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme under grant agreement no. 602299.
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major public health concern worldwide, accounting for 50 % of cardiovascular mortality.1 Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is presently used to identify patients at high risk for primary prevention using implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy, but currently only a minority of patients meeting the criteria for prophylactic ICD receive lifesaving therapies from the device.2 On the other hand, in absolute numbers, the majority of SCDs occur among individuals considered to be at low risk based on LVEF, which has promoted vast interest in developing additional risk markers in order to identify these patients before the fatal event. As the immediate mechanisms of SCD are primarily electrical, much of the research has focused on different electrocardiographic risk markers.3
Physiological Bases of T-wave Alternans
Microvolt T-wave alternans (TWA), a subtle beat-to-beat fluctuation in the morphology and amplitude of the ST-segment and T-wave, has emerged as a promising tool to estimate risk of mortality and SCD in patients with cardiac disease. It reflects spatiotemporal heterogeneity of repolarisation that stems from beat-to-beat alterations in intracellular calcium handling, which is reflected in the shape and duration of the action potential at the level of cardiac myocytes (see Figure 1). These local differences in the repolarisation of the neighbouring myocardial regions can ultimately predispose the individual to lethal arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.4
Several physiological as well as pathological conditions can alter the levels of TWA, and the magnitude of TWA and risk of arrhythmias often concur. Conditions that are associated with increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias (e.g. increased heart rate, ventricular premature beats, coronary ischaemia and adrenergic stimulation) also amplify TWA, and conversely, interventions such as b-blockers, sympathetic denervation and vagus nerve stimulation that reduce susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias also cause TWA to diminish.5
T-wave Alternans Analysis Techniques
To analyse the microvolt level alternations in the ST-segment and T-wave, special equipment and/or software are needed. Several analysis methods have been proposed over the past three decades,6,7 but two of the most widely used TWA analysis techniques in clinical studies are the spectral method8 and the modified moving average (MMA) method.9 Both of these methods perform similarly in terms of risk prediction,5,10 but there are significant differences in their implementation and interpretation. The spectral method was first described nearly three decades ago.11 It requires the patient to achieve a target heart rate of 105–110 beats per minute for a period of time using a specialised exercise protocol, pharmacological agents or atrial pacing. As opposed to the time-domain MMA method, the spectral method also requires the use of proprietary high-resolution electrodes. In the spectral method, a composite power spectrum of the ST–T segment amplitude fluctuations is formed by applying fast Fourier transform technique to the beat-to-beat series of amplitude measurements along the JT-interval in 128 consecutive QRS-aligned ECG complexes (see Figure 2). The alternans voltage is defined as the square root of the spectral power occurring at the alternans frequency (0.5 cycles/beat) after noise reduction, which corresponds to the difference in voltage between the overall average beat and either the averaged even or odd-numbered beat (i.e. half of the difference between the averaged even and odd beats). A TWA level ≥1.9 µV with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for >2 min is defined as a positive test result, while a TWA level <1.9 µV is considered negative. However, as the spectral method requires a stable target heart rate to be achieved, a relatively large proportion (approximately 20–40 %) of tests are classified as 'indeterminate', either due to patient-related factors such as failure to achieve the target heart rate, excessive ventricular ectopy, atrial fibrillation or unsustained TWA, or technical problems such as noise in the recording.5
Open ppt
The MMA method is time-domain based, and employs recursive averaging (see Figure 3). The algorithm continuously streams odd and even beats into separate bins and creates averaged complexes for both bins. These complexes are then superimposed, and the maximum difference between the odd and even complexes at any point within the JT-segment is averaged for every 10 or 15 seconds and reported as the TWA value. The MMA method allows TWA analysis during routine exercise stress testing and also during 24-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring. No special electrodes are required using this technique, and as no target heart rate is required, indeterminate results are infrequent with the MMA method. Risk stratification is based on the peak TWA value using the MMA, and based on the study population, cut-off levels of ≥47 µV and ≥60 µV have been most commonly used to define abnormal and severely abnormal TWA, respectively.5
Prognostic Significance of T-wave Alternans
Microvolt TWA has been associated with cardiovascular mortality and SCD in numerous studies involving >14,000 individuals with both ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy, and with reduced as well as preserved left ventricular function. These prognostic implications were independent from several demographic and clinical factors associated with coronary artery disease and SCD, including LVEF. The spectral method has demonstrated TWA to be predictive of future cardiovascular events in >8,000 patients mostly with ischaemic heart disease and prior MI, but also in non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure.5 In most of these studies, the risk associated with TWA has been at least two- to threefold,5 but much higher hazard ratios have been reported in some patient groups.12,13 Indeterminate test results have been shown to predict mortality at least as well as positive tests,14 thus positive and indeterminate test results are often pooled together as 'non-negative' TWA, and compared with negative TWA.15 In some studies, the spectral method has failed to demonstrated significant association between TWA and SCD or mortality. These negative results are at least partly due to discontinuation of b-blocker therapy before the test,16 TWA testing shortly after occurrence of MI during ongoing remodelling17,18 and using ICD discharge as the endpoint.19
The prognostic significance of the MMA method has been demonstrated in >6,000 patients with reduced and preserved LVEF, including those with coronary artery disease and prior MI.5 To date, the largest study on TWA is the Finnish Cardiovascular Study (FINCAVAS) with nearly 3,600 patients with generally preserved left ventricular function referred to routine exercise testing and analysed using the MMA method.20,21 TWA was demonstrated to be associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and SCD rates, with higher TWA values indicating greater risk. In a meta-analysis on TWA in the setting of ambulatory ECG, the group with positive TWA had over a sevenfold risk of SCD compared with those with negative TWA.22
T-wave Alternans-guiding Prophylactic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Therapy
As it is well known that only a minority of patients qualifying for prophylactic ICD based on reduced LVEF ≤35 % receive appropriate therapies from the device,2 many TWA studies have tried to distinguish patients who are likely to benefit from ICD therapy from those that are not. In a pooled cohort of patients with EF ≤35 % but no ICD therapy, negative TWA was associated with a low incidence of SCD, compared with substantial SCD risk associated with both positive TWA and indeterminate TWA.23 In another study among patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy, ICDs were associated with lower all-cause mortality rate in patients with non-negative TWA, but not in patients with negative TWA.24
However, in the Microvolt T Wave Alternans Testing for Risk Stratification of Post MI Patients (MASTER I) study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT00305240), which enrolled MADIT-II (Second Multicenter Automated Defibrillator Implantation Trial) type ICD-patients with LVEF ≤30 %, risk of ventricular arrhythmias did not differ according to TWA classification, despite differences in total mortality rates.25 Similar results have been reported from a SCD-HeFT ICD-study (Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial; NCT00000609), in which TWA could not predict arrhythmic events or mortality.26 These results have been partly attributed to the use of ICD discharge as an endpoint, which may have underestimated the use of TWA.19 The ABCD (Alternans Before Cardioverter Defibrillator; NCT00187291) trial tested whether TWA can guide ICD therapy in patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia.27 Event rates were over twofold higher both among patients with positive TWA and positive electrophysiological study at the pre-specified 1-year endpoint. However, TWA did not predict endpoint events at 2 years.
Modification of T-wave Alterans
Pharmacological therapy with b-blockers significantly reduces the level of TWA, and can convert a positive test to negative in approximately in half of the cases.28 It is reasonable to assume, that while b-blockers may alter the development of TWA, they may similarly modulate susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias. In a meta-analysis among patients with left ventricular dysfunction on continuous b-blocker therapy, abnormal TWA testing was associated with a fivefold risk of ventricular arrhythmic events, whereas only weak association was noted in studies on which b-blocker therapy was withheld prior to screening.16 Consequently, any TWA testing is suggested to be performed under continuous medical therapy.
Recent evidence suggests that TWA may also detect influences of non-pharmacological interventions that are known to be associated with reduced mortality rates as well. In patients with stable coronary artery disease, exercise rehabilitation reduced TWA levels both patients with and without diabetes, and during the 2-year follow-up a large proportion of the patients with positive TWA converted to negative TWA.29 Thus, TWA seems to be a method that may capture and quantify influence of mainstream clinical interventions to arrhythmia susceptibility.
Role of T-wave Alternans Testing to Guide Therapy in Clinical Practice
A large body of literature has accumulated on the potential of microvolt TWA to assess cardiovascular risk in a broad range of patients with cardiac disease beyond traditional cardiovascular risk markers or left ventricular function. There is also emerging evidence that quantitative TWA assessment might be useful to determine the efficacy of clinical interventions such as pharmacological therapy and cardiac rehabilitation.30 According to the REFINE (Risk Estimation Following Infarction Noninvasive Evaluation; NCT00399503) study, TWA testing should be performed only 10 to 14 weeks after an MI, as TWA testing in the early recovery period did not reliably identify patients at long-term risk of cardiac death.10 It should be performed on permanent medication, as halting b-blocker medication prior to TWA affects the results and does not reflect the long-lasting circumstances.16 Repeated annual testing has been also suggested, as an individual's vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias may change over time.19
What are the current recommendations on the use of TWA? An expert consensus statement by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation on risk stratification techniques on SCD in 2008 asserted that TWA may be useful for SCD risk stratification, but further information is needed on how to implement this test in clinical practice.31 Similar recommendations were provided in a consensus document focusing specifically on TWA in 2011.5 The paper concluded that it is reasonable to consider TWA evaluation when there is suspicion of vulnerability to lethal arrhythmias, but also acknowledged that there is not sufficient evidence from interventional trials to suggest that TWA can be used to guide therapy. However, the recent European Society of Cardiology guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death made no recommendations for the use of TWA in risk assessment.32
Although abnormal TWA clearly has prognostic implications, and positive or non-negative tests have been associated with substantially increased risk, currently there is not enough evidence to recommend that TWA should be used to guide therapy, such as ICD implantation. However, the EU-CERT-ICD (Comparative Effectiveness Research to Assess the Use of Primary Prophylactic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators in Europe; NCT02064192) study should shed more light on this important issue. EU-CERT-ICD study is a large observational study in Europe, in which extensive risk stratification tests, including TWA, are performed in a large number of patients (n=2,600) receiving prophylactic ICD aimed at studying the clinical value of non-invasive testing in predicting the appropriate ICD shocks and mortality. The EU-CERT-ICD study employs the MMA method for TWA analysis.
At present, there is not sufficient evidence to recommend TWA to be used to exclude patients with LVEF ≤35 % from prophylactic ICD therapy either, despite some studies suggesting that subjects qualifying for primary prevention ICD based on reduced LVEF but with negative TWA test are at low risk of SCD and may not benefit from ICD implantation.19 However, this approach would need to be prospectively tested before it can be recommended for clinical practice.
Over the last decade, TWA has remained a promising tool to assess the vulnerability to lethal arrhythmias among patients with cardiac disease to identify individuals at highest risk who may benefit from further medical interventions, especially in borderline cases. However, at present, there is not enough clinical evidence to support the use of TWA testing in routine clinical practice to guide therapy. Randomised controlled trials are needed to determine whether strategies incorporating TWA analysis alone or in combination with other risk stratification methods would enable better identification of patients at highest and lowest risk for SCD. Unfortunately, a randomised controlled REFINE-ICD trial (NCT00673842) was recently suspended because of a low recruitment rate. Therefore, it is evident that definite answer about the clinical use of TWA testing will not be obtained in the near future.
Clinical Perspective
T-wave alternans (TWA) refers to beat-to-beat fluctuations of T-wave amplitude and morphology, and is associated clinically with impending ventricular arrhythmias and increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
TWA analysis can be done as part of an exercise stress test or during a long-term (Holter) ECG recording.
Absence of significant TWA in a patient with cardiac disease with congestive heart failure, low ejection fraction or a recent MI is associated with a low risk of sudden cardiac death.
Within candidates for implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy, a negative TWA test may be useful in identifying low-risk patients who are unlikely to benefit from ICD placement. However, currently there is not enough evidence to support the use of TWA in clinical practice to guide therapy.
Huikuri HV, Castellanos A, Myerburg RJ. Sudden death due to cardiac arrhythmias. N Engl J Med 2001;345:1473–82.
Crossref | PubMed
Sabbag A, Suleiman M, Laish-Farkash A, et al. Contemporary rates of appropriate shock therapy in patients who receive implantable device therapy in a real-world setting: From the Israeli ICD Registry. Heart Rhythm 2015;12:2426–33.
Wellens HJ, Schwartz PJ, Lindemans FW, et al. Risk stratification for sudden cardiac death: Current status and challenges for the future. Eur Heart J 2014;35:1642–51.
Narayan SM. T-wave alternans and the susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias. J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;47:269–81.
Verrier RL, Klingenheben T, Malik M, et al. Microvolt T-wave alternans physiological basis, methods of measurement, and clinical utility--consensus guideline by International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology. J Am Coll Cardiol 2011;58:1309–24.
Burattini L, Bini S, Burattini R. Comparative analysis of methods for automatic detection and quantification of microvolt T-wave alternans. Med Eng Phys 2009;31 :1290–8.
Martinez JP, Olmos S. Methodological principles of T wave alternans analysis: A unified framework. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2005;52:599–613..
Rosenbaum DS, Jackson LE, Smith JM, et al. Electrical alternans and vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias. N Engl J Med 1994;330:235–41.
Nearing BD, Verrier RL. Modified moving average analysis of T-wave alternans to predict ventricular fibrillation with high accuracy. J Appl Physiol 1985;92:541–9.
Exner DV, Kavanagh KM, Slawnych MP, et al. Noninvasive risk assessment early after a myocardial infarction the REFINE study. J Am Coll Cardiol 2007;50:2275–84.
Smith JM, Clancy EA, Valeri CR, et al. Electrical alternans and cardiac electrical instability. Circulation 1988;77:110–21.
Bloomfield DM, Bigger JT, Steinman RC, et al. Microvolt T-wave alternans and the risk of death or sustained ventricular arrhythmias in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;47:456–63.
Ikeda T, Yoshino H, Sugi K, et al. Predictive value of microvolt T-wave alternans for sudden cardiac death in patients with preserved cardiac function after acute myocardial infarction: results of a collaborative cohort study. J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;48:2268–74.
Kaufman ES, Bloomfield DM, Steinman RC, et al. "Indeterminate" microvolt T-wave alternans tests predict high risk of death or sustained ventricular arrhythmias in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;48:1399–404.
Chen Z, Shi Y, Hou X, et al. Microvolt T-wave alternans for risk stratification of cardiac events in ischemic cardiomyopathy: a meta-analysis. Int J Cardiol 2013;167:2061–5.
Chan PS, Gold MR, Nallamothu BK. Do beta-blockers impact microvolt T-wave alternans testing in patients at risk for ventricular arrhythmias? A meta-analysis. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2010;21 :1009–14.
Tapanainen JM, Still AM, Airaksinen KE, et al. Prognostic significance of risk stratifiers of mortality, including T wave alternans, after acute myocardial infarction: Results of a prospective follow-up study. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2001;12:645–52.
Huikuri HV, Raatikainen MJ, Moerch-Joergensen R, et al. Prediction of fatal or near-fatal cardiac arrhythmia events in patients with depressed left ventricular function after an acute myocardial infarction. Eur Heart J 2009;30:689–98.
Hohnloser SH, Ikeda T, Cohen RJ. Evidence regarding clinical use of microvolt T-wave alternans. Heart Rhythm 2009;6:S36–44.
Nieminen T, Lehtimaki T, Viik J, et al. T-wave alternans predicts mortality in a population undergoing a clinically indicated exercise test. Eur Heart J 2007;28:2332–7.
Leino J, Verrier RL, Minkkinen M, et al. Importance of regional specificity of T-wave alternans in assessing risk for cardiovascular mortality and sudden cardiac death during routine exercise testing. Heart Rhythm 2011;8:385–90.
Quan XQ, Zhou HL, Ruan L, et al. Ability of ambulatory ECGbased T-wave alternans to modify risk assessment of cardiac events: A systematic review. BMC Cardiovasc Disord 2014;14:198.
Merchant FM, Ikeda T, Pedretti RF, et al. Clinical utility of microvolt T-wave alternans testing in identifying patients at high or low risk of sudden cardiac death. Heart Rhythm 2012;9:1256–64.
Chow T, Kereiakes DJ, Bartone C, et al. Microvolt T-wave alternans identifies patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy who benefit from implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy. J Am Coll Cardiol 2007;49:50–8.
Chow T, Kereiakes DJ, Onufer J, et al. Does microvolt T-wave alternans testing predict ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and prophylactic defibrillators? The MASTER (Microvolt T Wave Alternans Testing for Risk Stratification of Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients) trial. J Am Coll Cardiol 2008;52:1607–15.
Gold MR, Ip JH, Costantini O, et al. Role of microvolt T-wave alternans in assessment of arrhythmia vulnerability among patients with heart failure and systolic dysfunction: Primary results from the T-wave alternans sudden cardiac death in heart failure trial substudy. Circulation 2008;118:2022–8.
Costantini O, Hohnloser SH, Kirk MM, et al. The ABCD (alternans before cardioverter defibrillator) trial: Strategies using T-wave alternans to improve efficiency of sudden cardiac death prevention. J Am Coll Cardiol 2009;53:471–9.
Rashba EJ, Cooklin M, MacMurdy K, et al. Effects of selective autonomic blockade on T-wave alternans in humans. Circulation 2002;105:837–42.
Kentta T, Tulppo MP, Nearing BD, et al. Effects of exercise rehabilitation on cardiac electrical instability assessed by T-wave alternans during ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring in coronary artery disease patients without and with diabetes mellitus. Am J Cardiol 2014;114:832–7.
Verrier RL, Malik M. Quantitative T-wave alternans analysis for guiding medical therapy: an underexploited opportunity. Trends Cardiovasc Med 2015;25:201–13.
Goldberger JJ, Cain ME, Hohnloser SH, et al. American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation/ Heart Rhythm Society scientific statement on noninvasive risk stratification techniques for identifying patients at risk for sudden cardiac death: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology Committee on Electrocardiography and Arrhythmias and Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. Circulation 2008;118:1497–518.
Priori SG, Blomstrom-Lundqvist C, Mazzanti A, et al. 2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death: The Task Force for the Management of Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) endorsed by: Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology (AEPC). Eur Heart J 2015;36:2793–867.
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Q: U-SQL Ignore Empty Files I receive a daily dump of files from a data provider. On occasion we  receive empty files (20bytes). Is there any way to automatically avoid processing or skip these files?
I have tried:
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But I seem to get a vertex failure related to what I believe is the empty files.

A: We recently added a FILE.LENGTH property as a computed virtual column that you can use to filter out files of a certain size.
For example the following should only operate on the files that are larger than 20 bytes:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Trail of Questions
A University of Idaho freshman wanders out of town and never returns
By Jacob Jones
Near the end, Joseph Wiederrick's footprints cut aimless circles in the snow-covered fields. A popular University of Idaho freshman with wavy blond hair, he had walked all night, straying several miles from the heart of Moscow, Idaho, out into the open hills beyond. With a starry sky against the distant mountains, he wandered the endless stubblefields until cold and exhaustion caught up with him.
Alone, he eventually came to rest beneath a small bridge, leaving a bright life unfinished and a trail of questions.
In the days since, local authorities and loved ones have struggled to understand what drove him out into the unknown. Witnesses say he was drinking, but others thought him lucid. Investigators continue to reconstruct his path, piecing together cell phone calls, brief encounters and his final footsteps.
"It's been a tragic event," Moscow Police Chief David Duke says. "It's shocked the community."
On Jan. 20, Wiederrick slipped out of an on-campus party shortly after midnight. He likely joined hundreds of other students on the streets of the small college town, stumbling into the frigid morning for a short walk home. But while others staggered back to the warmth of their dorm rooms, he turned north and headed away from campus.
No one knows why.
Investigators say Wiederrick called two friends and stopped by at least two random homes, but never really asked for help. All night he drifted through the city of 23,800 people. He told others he was heading home, but never returned.
His family lives with what could have been. What if he had stayed at the party? What if someone had called for help? What if he had been found sooner? His father, Bob Wiederrick, recounts his son's many interactions along his route and sees missed chances.
"It's just a senseless tragedy," he says. "He could have been saved at so many different times along the way."
Born and raised in Hailey, Idaho, Wiederrick grew up in the rugged backcountry of the Sun Valley region, east of Boise. His father says the 18-year-old enjoyed mountain biking, hiking, skiing and target shooting. He made friends easily.
"He was just a great kid," his father says. "He had a tremendous amount of friends. He was just very well liked and is very well missed."
Wiederrick, known as Joe, started at the University of Idaho in the fall. His father says he planned to study architecture. Even as a young boy, he had sketched out floor plans for buildings, giving structure to his imagination.
"He's always been a good artist," he says. "He was way more talented than I ever was."
When many of his friends headed to the University of Idaho, Wiederrick followed along, his father says. He shared a dorm room with a childhood friend in the Theophilus Tower residence hall on campus.
Wiederrick had barely started his second semester when another friend from Hailey invited him to a birthday party at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. The large brick fraternity house sits on Deakin Avenue near the eastern edge of campus, just a half-mile from Theophilus Tower.
Police Chief Duke says witnesses estimate about 120 students attended the party that night. Students reported Wiederrick was seen drinking, but they could not say how much. Nobody remembers seeing him walk out, but investigators believe he left shortly after midnight.
Wearing a blue winter coat, a backpack and lightweight Vans shoes, Wiederrick disappeared into the night. His roommate returned to their dorm room around 2:30 am, Duke says, and no one was there. Wiederrick continued to wander the streets.
"He was disoriented," Duke says, "and he apparently was lost."
At about 3 am, Wiederrick called his roommate. The roommate tells authorities Wiederrick did not say where he was or hint at any distress. Wiederrick just said he was on his way home. The roommate went to sleep.
Standing alongside a large black-and-white map of Moscow, Duke says investigators do not know exactly where Wiederrick went after leaving the party. The chief points to a secluded residential neighborhood in the northeast part of town where Wiederrick showed up two and a half hours later.
A woman living along the 1100 block of Highland Drive — about two and a half miles from campus — tells authorities she heard a door open just before 3 am. When she went to check, she found Wiederrick in her basement.
"He had entered a house through an unlocked door and laid down on the floor," Duke says. "The homeowner came down thinking it was her children and saw him laying there. … He said his name was Joe."
When the woman asked why he was there, Wiederrick reportedly said he thought he was still at the fraternity house. Duke says the woman saw Wiederrick was obviously confused, but he otherwise seemed fine. She asked if she could call anyone for him.
"He said no and apologized," Duke says. "[Then he] started walking out the door and apologized again."
Investigators believe this is when Wiederrick called his roommate as he walked south along Orchard Avenue back into the city. But instead of heading toward campus, Duke says, he appears to have turned east down D Street.
D Street would carry Wiederrick out past several blocks of single-family homes, past schools and playgrounds, past leafless trees and chain-link fences. A yellow "Dead End" sign stands at the far east end of the street, just shy of the city limits.
Investigators say Wiederrick appears to have walked past the sign and out beyond the edge of the city, down to the end of the road where it runs into a steep pasture. Weather records show the temperature had dropped throughout the morning, nearing 24 degrees as Wiederrick struck out into the field, stomping through several inches of snow.
As the body's core temperature drops, people often become confused and lose coordination. Medical studies show hypothermia starts with shivering and mumbling. Decision-making becomes muddled. Fatigue sets in. Hypothermia is known to cause apathy or lack of concern about perilous conditions.
"A person with hypothermia usually isn't aware of his or her condition, because the symptoms often begin gradually and because the confused thinking associated with hypothermia prevents self-awareness," a Mayo Clinic report states.
Alcohol can intensify the effects of hypothermia. Studies show alcohol causes blood vessels to expand, speeding up heat loss through the skin. Drinking also impairs judgment, further undermining decision-making.
Duke says deputies tracked Wiederrick's footprints up and over a snowy hill as he crossed through several wide fields on the outskirts of Moscow. He continued east through ankle-deep snow, away from the city.
"He walked quite a distance in snow," Duke says. "If you consider that all he had were Vans [shoes] on, then they were probably frozen [early] into his walk because he covered several miles in anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of snow."
Eventually, Wiederrick ran into Darby Road, northeast of the city, and appears to have returned to the pavement. Investigators found his footprints leading to a nearby house, but he either did not knock or no one heard him.
Signs indicate Wiederrick turned back west toward town. He followed Darby Road until it ends in a T-intersection with Mountain View Road. At this point, Wiederrick had wandered for nearly four hours. The temperature sat near 21 degrees. His shoes were frozen or packed with snow. The cold was likely taking hold of him.
As Wiederrick came to the intersection, he faced two distinct directions. To the south, he should have been able to see the city lights of Moscow. To the north, nothing but empty fields and the jagged outline of black mountains.
He turned north.
Paradise Creek, a slow, twisting stream, flows from its headwaters on Moscow Mountain down through the low, rolling pastureland outside the city. Little more than a weed-choked irrigation ditch in spots, the creek winds back and forth, skirting Mountain View Road, crossing the road under a small bridge before continuing to the Snake River.
Wiederrick appears to have followed Mountain View Road for more than a mile before breaking off to approach a farmhouse at about 4 am. Investigators say his tracks indicate he walked around the home, trying to get in or get someone's attention.
A woman answered the door and asked Wiederrick if he was OK, Duke says. Since the woman was alone, she asked him to seek help from the family across the street. When contacted later by a reporter, the woman confirms the encounter, but says the details are too difficult to discuss.
She says she watched Wiederrick head across the street toward the neighbor's house and returned to bed.
Allison Ryan, who lives across the street, says Wiederrick never came to her door. His tracks circle up around the back of the house, but never approach the porch. The family dog barked, she says, but they did not know anyone might be in need of help.
"We never heard him," Ryan says. "That's what I'm devastated about. He would have been welcome."
Investigators say his footprints cross the field behind their house and jump a fence. He then crossed the frozen surface of Paradise Creek as he curved back toward the road.
"The trail around the house he walked in circles," Duke says. "They weren't straight tracks."
As he tried to cross the creek a second time, he slipped and fell, Duke says. He appears to have hit his head on the ice. Snow and water soaked his clothes. He pulled himself up under the small bridge nearby, seeking shelter below the road.
Investigators believe Wiederrick tried to call a second friend at about 4:30 am. The friend did not hear the phone, and Wiederrick did not leave a message. Tired and cold, he lay down.
When Wiederrick's roommate woke up alone Sunday afternoon, he quickly reported his childhood friend missing. Police launched a search that same afternoon. Officers and deputies scoured campus. News reports broadcasted photos of the wavy-haired blond teen.
Authorities found Wiederrick's footprints in the snow late Sunday and followed them to Darby Road. Early the next morning, the Latah County Search and Rescue Council arrived with trackers, horse-mounted searchers and a rescue helicopter out of Fairchild Air Force Base.
Noticing the commotion, Ryan and her son decided to check their property, she says. Her son soon found Wiederrick under the bridge just as searchers closed in on the location at about 4 pm on Jan. 21.
"It's so sad," she says. "We're grieving. We're just devastated."
The Latah County Coroner later conducted an autopsy, concluding hypothermia contributed to Wiederrick's death. Duke says toxicology reports will take another two or three weeks.
Wiederrick's parents rushed to Moscow during the search. They watched with hope as officers, horsemen and helicopters combed the fields. Afterward, they stayed to collect his things, questioning how their son's life slipped through so many fingers.
"He'd been in contact with other people that night and I don't think they did the right thing," Bob Wiederrick says later. "That's been one of the distressing things for us. People need to watch out for each other."
The University of Idaho issued a statement of condolence. The national office of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity pledged to look into the circumstances leading to Wiederrick's disappearance.
His family takes some solace in the quick resolution, a small measure of closure. They hold tight to the memory of their outgoing son and brother, a dreamer of skyscrapers.
"We have no regrets," the father says. "He knew he was loved and he had a good life."
He pauses.
"Even though it was short."
In the fields along Mountain View Road, footprints still stitch the snow. The banks of Paradise Creek lie broken and trampled by searchers. But a few fresh tracks have appeared by the roadside, leaving flowers at the bridge over the frozen stream.
An occasional car passes with students headed to campus. This weekend many will drink and cheer and stagger home with the heady invincibility of youth. Paradise Creek will trickle on and the mountains will rise over the empty fields, ringing with a silence like an unfinished whisper.
Politicians put themselves in the public eye — perfect targets for inflammatory, insincere, digressive and cruel attacks from critics and harassers
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text: Q: List of cubical spaces Suppose I have a three-dimensional cube (I tend to think of it as a regular ideal cube in $\mathbb{H}^3,$ but you don't have to). I glue up its sides in some way to obtain topological spaces. The question is: has someone made a list of such? (if you think of it as an ideal cube, then the vertices, or their images after gluing, are not really in the glued up object). How many of these are manifolds/orbifolds (again, I am interested in both cases with and without punctures at the vertices).


text:
Aoun Discusses Paris Meeting on Lebanon with Kubis
by Naharnet Newsdesk 13 December 2019, 11:17
President Michel Aoun held talks on Friday with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis and discussed the outcome of the International Support Group for Lebanon meeting in Paris earlier this week, the National News Agency said.
On Wednesday, Lebanon's appeal for urgent aid received short shrift at the Paris conference, with France, the US, Russia and other countries making assistance conditional on the formation of a new reform-minded government.
Speaking at the end of the ISG meeting for Lebanon, host French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "The only possible criteria (for aid) is the effectiveness of the government in implementing the reforms awaited by the population.
"This is the only way that the participants around this table and beyond can mobilise to give Lebanon the support it needs."
Lebanon has been rocked by unprecedented popular protests over official mismanagement and corruption since October 17.
Hariri, who remains premier in the interim, had appealed for aid from Lebanon's allies to secure basic imports in the face of an acute dollar liquidity crisis.
Importers of fuel, medicines and wheat have warned of shortages if the situation persists.
But the international community has insisted that any aid be conditional on the implementation of wide-ranging reforms, from greater transparency to guarantees on the independence of the judiciary.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri stepped down two weeks into the revolt, but a deeply divided political class has failed to reach agreement on a new head of government.
SourceNaharnet


Join NFL Coach Paul Alexander and HOF candidate Willie Anderson as they spent an hour and a half talking and demonstrating elite pass protection concepts and techniques. It's not a drill video. It's the precious details, perspectives and observations from the hearts of experts. Consider it a master class. Willie Anderson was arguably the best pass blocker of his era …. allowing just a staggering low of 13 sacks in 12 NFL seasons. Coach Alexander, holds the record for the #1 offensive line pass protection statistic as compiled by Pro Football Focus over the 11 year span of the metric. Taped at a demonstration at APlus Performance Center in Alpharetta, GA 2/23/2019.
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Originally hailing from the Scottish borders and a former long-time resident of Edinburgh, Campbell, eager to flee the clamour and turbulence of the city, upped sticks a couple of years ago, setting up home - and studio - in a leaking, decrepit, asbestos-ridden school house in the shadow of Ben Nevis.
'Black River Promise' is very much a chronicle of this transition from the white noise of the city to the near-silence of his new highland home. Deep, rich, astonishing and lyrically engaging, the album effortlessly skips between melancholic introspection and joyful euphoria and includes a 10-piece string ensemble assembled by cellist / arranger Pete Harvey (King Creosote, Modern Studies, The Leg). This is a quick-sharp reissue from our buds Heavenly Recordings of the 2016 album, originally available in very low numbers on the Triassic Tusk label.


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Q: Inserting Powers and Fractions When Inserting Text I made a script that opens a sidebar that can enter symbols and math formulas when I click a button. However, I want it to be able to add powers without ^s and fractions with number over number instead of side by side. Is there a way to do this? Here's an example of a fraction:
function insertPyramidVolumeFormula() {
    DocumentApp.getUi()
  var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

  // Define a custom paragraph style.
  var style = {};
  style[DocumentApp.Attribute.HORIZONTAL_ALIGNMENT] =
    DocumentApp.HorizontalAlignment.LEFT;
  //style[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_FAMILY] = 'Asap';
  style[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_SIZE] = 18;
  style[DocumentApp.Attribute.BOLD] = false;
  style[DocumentApp.Attribute.COLOR] = '#91fb5e';
  // Append a plain paragraph.
  var par = body.appendParagraph('bh/3');
  // Apply the custom style.
  par.setAttributes(style);
}

By the way, I know the color doesn't work. It doesn't need to. Thanks!

A: Use the Google Docs Equation Editor:

*

*Use Equations in a Document


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Services for Geneice Ramsey, 95, of Lubbock will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 31, 2011, in Sanders Memorial Chapel with the Reverend Bruce Cotton officiating. The family will be receiving friends from 6 to 7:30 p.m. today at the funeral home. Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, in the Holly Springs Cemetery in Van Zandt Co., Texas.Geneice Goolsby Ramsey died Oct. 28, 2011. She was born April 25, 1916, and raised in Van Zandt County, Texas. She moved to Lubbock in 1952 with her husband, Mason, and two children, Phyllis Neil and William DeLane. They owned and operated three Kirby Vacuum Cleaner businesses in Lubbock, Brownfield and Levelland.She is survived by many family members who will miss her greatly.


Here's another pastel of my latest muse – the ocean. I miss the beach. We have lake and river "beaches" here, but nothing beats the cool, salty air of the ocean.
A reminder of my 5 year anniversary painting giveaway. If you are interested in being entered into the drawing, please leave a comment on my blog.
Thanks to those of you who've commented privately or on the blog. It's so great hearing such encouraging words. I'm feeling the love!
The drawing will be done on July 19. Good luck!
Visit A Fine Art Blog.
Happy to see you painting the ocean again – l have (and love) your orange beach umbrella!
I love the picture. You do such beautiful paintings.
Like the curl of that wave. I miss the ocean too!
"Can you feel the wind as it is blowing?
Do you see the waves crash on the rocks?
This is how i express my feelings for this picture. Superb!


At the NCSFA's 130th Annual Meeting and Annual Banquet the Board of Directors and membership honored two special award recipients. John Powell (pictured in the center of the top photo) received the Firefighter of the Year award. Firefighter Powell is from Winston-Salem Fire Department and was selected as this years recipient due to his continued acts of "…courage, professionalism, kindness and compassion…" as described by his nominator, Gerrod Hardy.
Also awarded this year was the first ever Medal of Valor Award to David Shelton (pictured to the right of the bottom photo) of Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department. Firefighter Shelton rescued someone from a burning structure prior to apparatus getting on scene back in April of this year. His nominator and Fire Chief, Joshua Norton, said that he is "…blessed to have such dedicated firefighters…" as Shelton on his department and as members of their community.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the membership of the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association, congratulations to both John Powell and David Shelton on being recipients of the 2017 NCSFA Awards, both are very much deserved.


The day after Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker survived his recall election, hundreds of activists marched in the streets of Milwaukee in non-violent civil disobedience from Pere Marquette Park to City Hall and into the banking district. Police used horses to push the demonstrators from the streets and pinned some of them against walls. Police on horses ripped banners from the demonstrators and chased them down Milwaukee's streets.
There were many groups represented, but all were united behind one message: Repeal Walker's union busting bill Act 10; reinstate the Equal Pay Act; and tax the 1%.
Those participating in the march included Occupy Milwaukee, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998, AFSCME Local 82, Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society, Youth Empowered in the Struggle, Peace Action WI, Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement, 9 to 5, Citizen Action, Welfare Warriors and dozens of other community organizations.
Four people were arrested for disorderly conduct. After the event many marched immediately to Milwaukee County Jail where the protesters are being held, demanding their release.
A recent report projects the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus decision will cut wages for government employees, and lead to a drop in U.S. economic activity of between $11.7 billion and $33.4 billion annually.
Palermo pizza co-owner Angelo Falluca refuses to meet with striking worker who marched 18 miles from the factory to his home.
Palermo's workers have now been out on strike for more than three weeks because strikers say management refuses to recognize their newly formed union, Palermo's Workers Union, as a legitimate bargaining unit.
Occupy Homes demonstrators launched a new campaign that they hope could solve two problems with the same remedy: moving those who lost their homes through foreclosure into abandoned properties.


text:
A history of a natural skin care company
The previous owner, a Canadian horse enthusiast, had been searching for a natural solution to treat her horses' various sores and skin issues but couldn't find a single product that was both natural and effective enough for her beloved equines. Relying on her knowledge of natural healing ointments she went on a mission to develop her own solution. Without knowing it at the time, she ended up creating an all-encompassing skin gel that worked not only for horses and other animals, but people too. It was at that time that Nature's Aid was born.
With its unique and effective blend of five core ingredients, this cure-all solution would grow over the next decade from a small home-based business, selling primarily to family and friends, to a national brand. Today, Nature's Aid is a must-have staple in many homes across the country with a loyal following of customers – human and pet alike.
With growing demand and such a loyal following, the previous owner felt she could no longer give the Nature's Aid brand the attention it deserved. Knowing her skin gel could fully flourish with new ownership, she decided to close her company and sell the brand.
Who We Are Today
The new owners, a Canadian family, were no strangers to Nature's Aid when they took it over. In fact, they come with a long time love of the skin gel and an eagerness to grow the brand. Nature's Aid will always hold the belief that personal care products should be as natural as possible and that your skins' health should be top of mind with any formulation. With those principles in mind, we are excited to announce there are new products in the works, so stay tuned!
View Our Ingredients
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Nature's Aid supports the following:
Nature Conservancy of Canada
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Shikhar Dhawan Pokes Fun At Bhuvneshwar Kumar's Romantic Picture With His Wife
Home > Cricket > Beating India gave us confident – James Faulkner
Beating India gave us confident – James Faulkner
Krishna Chopra, 3 years ago 2 min read 39
Australia might have disappointed in the T20I series against India lately, but their ODI performances were surely the bright spot. Before the T20I series commenced, the Kangaroos thrashed India 4-1 in the ODI series. The only loss came in the fifth ODI at the SCG when visitors successfully chased down 330 to grab a consolation win.
With the ODI series against New Zealand due to commence from tomorrow, Australian all rounder James Faulkner is pretty relaxed. The Tasmanian admitted that despite the T20I series loss, the Australians were confident due to their displays in the ODI leg of the tour. He admitted that beating a strong side like India gave the Kangaroos a lot of confidence.
"If anything we gained a lot of confidence beating India early on in the series," he said. "After the first three games , especially considering the team they are in the shorter formats, to chase the totals that we did and perform the way we did with new faces in our squad as well, more so with the bowling line-up, was a great bonus and achievement as a group, being really young," Faulkner said.
"And then with the T20s, what were are seeing is mixing and matching at the moment, everyone's having a game to see where we are at with this format – looking back at the last 12 months we only played one T20 game. So you can't expect too much straight up. And we know at the end of the day that there's a big carrot, the T20 World Cup and it's a matter of getting ourselves ready for that and spend some time as a group playing together," he added.
Faulkner however, admitted that the series against New Zealand would be a real tough one. "I'm expecting a really tough series. I think you are going to see a really good brand of cricket with the bat and the ball, and a very good, fierce competition. I think everybody in our group is excited for that and I'm sure New Zealand are as well," said Faulkner. "So we're just taking it one step at a time. At the moment it is this series that is coming up. And then the remainder of the series against New Zealand (T20Is), and then after that we'll worry about South Africa and the T20 World Cup. But we are just taking it game by game and not getting too far ahead of ourselves."
Lara warns of Windies threat but says India have edge
Rajkot IPL team named Gujarat Lions
Krishna Chopra
A cricket enthusiast who has the passion to write for the sport. An ardent fan of the Indian Cricket Team. Strongly believe in following your passion and living in the present.
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